Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.

Chapter Two

'You should really get some seatbelts for this thing,' Xan remarked indistinctly.

'More fun this way,' the Doctor said in a muffled voice.

'Or at least stick some cushions on the walls.'

'Why would I want to do that?' the Doctor asked, in a tone of genuine bewilderment.

'Shut up both of you and get up,' Rose said faintly.

The three of them were lying in a pile in a corner of the TARDIS. Everything inside, including its passengers, had gone flying into one corner when they had crashed landed somewhere, and now they were all buried under a pile of debris.

'It's a matter of health and safety,' Xan said, getting to his feet and offering Rose a hand. She took it and he pulled her up. 'You could get seriously hurt by crashing this thing. Do you have a licence to fly?'

'Are you serious?' the Doctor said, giving him a funny look. 'It's all part of the fun.' He looked at Rose. 'Isn't it?'

'I'm with him on this one,' she said, nodding at Xan.

Xan smirked. 'I really can't talk,' he confessed.

'No?' The Doctor smiled slightly. 'Why?'

'I once flew a space cruiser through a meteor storm.'

The Doctor threw his head back and laughed. 'You never!'

'I did.' Xan grinned, looking pleased with himself. 'It was great. I got disciplined for it later, but it was so worth it.'

'What's a space cruiser?' Rose asked him.

'It's a form of transport for maybe five or six people for short trips into space,' Xan explained. He grinned. 'I was the best pilot in my training class and someone bet me I couldn't get through a meteor storm without a single scratch on my cruiser.'

'Did you?' the Doctor asked with great interest, examining the console of the TARDIS.

'I sure did.' Xan shook his head. 'Tell me something, did you ever take a test to drive this?'

'Hey, flying a TARDIS is the test.' Doctor looked proud. 'Mine is probably the only species in the universe capable of utilising a TARDIS to its full potential. You monkeys can't even come close.'

'However,' Xan said mildly, 'I am capable of making your mind turn to soup and come down your nose, so watch it, mate.' He grinned.

The Doctor smiled and gave a little laugh, as if he appreciated that this was a joke, but that he saw something underneath Xan's joking manner that wasn't funny at all.

'Well,' Rose said brightly, 'I think we should step outside and take a look around. What do you say?'

'Good idea,' Xan said cheerfully.

Rose hurried over to the door and threw it open. She sighed. Xan looked out over her shoulder and frowned. The Doctor watched them both, bemused, and then followed them.

'Well, we've been to more interesting places,' Rose said, sounding disappointed.

'Wow,' Xan said flatly.

The Doctor shrugged. 'We can't get ancient civilisations, incredible cities and beautiful landscapes every time, folks.'

'I think this qualifies as an ancient civilisation,' Xan said. 'So ancient it's dead and buried with a stake through its heart.'

Even the Doctor had to agree roughly with that statement. What lay outside the TARDIS was a dull, barren landscape the colour of dull rain clouds. It was grey. Everything was grey. The ground was grey, the sky was grey, what little vegetation was scattered around was grey and the crumbling ruins surrounding them were also grey.

These ruins were barely ruins, they were so ancient. There were a few walls tumbling down nearby and shapeless pillars that might once have been statues but the place had clearly been ravaged by time and the elements and now it was barely recognisable as the ruins of some kind of settlement. There was almost nothing to indicate that there had ever been life here and what there was would soon be gone.

'It looks like the bottom of an abandoned quarry,' Rose observed.

'It does a bit,' the Doctor said. He was staring past the ruins, to a wall of stone some way away.

'Looks like this place was deserted years ago, if not centuries,' Rose continued.

'You'd think,' the Doctor said thoughtfully. 'Did either of you see that?'

'See what?' Xan asked. He had been looking in the other direction.

'I saw a – shadow,' Rose said slowly.

'It was a movement,' the Doctor said. 'There's something there.'

Xan frowned, concentrating. 'I can't feel anything…' he said slowly.

'I saw a shadow again!' Rose exclaimed. 'It moved!'

'Very slight,' Xan said, looking up. 'Getting stronger. There's something there, intelligent life. It's afraid.'

'Of what?' Rose asked.

'Us, probably,' the Doctor said. 'Shall we take a look around?'

'Sure, if you think it's safe,' Rose said.

He gave a lop-sided smile. 'Since when have we ever worried about safe?'

'True,' she nodded. 'Coming, Xan?'

The hybrid nodded, tucking his hands into his pockets. 'We're being watched,' he said as he walked slowly after them.

'You know who by?' the Doctor asked.

'No.'

'Having a telepath is useful?' Rose queried, seeing the Doctor frown.

'Yes, it is,' he said, still frowning.

'You're worried, though.' She glanced over her shoulder at Xan. 'I thought you trusted him?'

'Oh, I do,' he assured her quickly. 'I'm just – concerned. I think we're going to have to have a little talk about his abilities and exactly how far they extend.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'He's a hybrid, Rose. That means we can't say what his abilities really are and he's young – he probably doesn't know himself.'

'That's a problem?'

'Could be, for him.' The Doctor saw her expression. 'And us. Don't worry, I'm not worried about him hurting us or anyone deliberately. I'm more worried about him hurting someone by accident – or hurting himself.'

'This sounds serious,' she muttered.

'It could be.' He brightened. 'On the other hand, I could just be worrying about nothing.'

'But you don't think you are.'

He shrugged but didn't reply and that shrug could have meant anything.

'Hey, come and take a look at this,' Xan called. He was stood quite some way away from them, looking at something that neither of them could see. They hurried over.

'You found something?' Rose asked.

He gave her a half amused, half irritated look. 'No, I just felt like making you do some work. Of course I found something.'

'That's – unexpected,' the Doctor said.

'What, that he found something?' Rose quipped and grinned when Xan pulled a face at her.

'No,' the Doctor said, thoughtfully. 'That.' He pointed and this time Rose saw it too.

It was a small, black crack in what had previously appeared to be a rocky wall. He crouched down and peered inside, carefully flashing the sonic screwdriver into the black chasm.

'See anything?' Rose asked.

'Not sure,' the Doctor murmured. 'Although…I think there might be something…it's a hidden door, people.' He reached inside with the hand holding the sonic screwdriver and there was a high-pitched buzzing. 'Ah, got it,' he said, sounding pleased. He got up and kicked the wall.

It creaked and then slowly swung open.

'There we are,' the Doctor said, rubbing his hands together. 'The right amount of force in the right place can do wonders, don't you think?'

'Depends,' Xan said absently.

'Shall we take a look?' The Doctor was wearing that wide, almost child-like smile that said he was dying to go take a look, no matter what turned out to be in those dark depths.

'Let's go!' Rose said eagerly.

The Doctor stepped into the darkness and the other two followed him. Using the sonic screwdriver to illuminate their way, they could just about see in the dim blue glow. The passage way was narrow, hewn out of the grey rock, the roof clearing their heads by several feet in places, then dropping so low that the Doctor and Xan both had to ducked to avoid hitting their heads. In other places the three of them could walk beside each other, and in others they had to move sideways to get through. The passage seemed to have no end and was leading them deeper and deeper under ground.

'Maybe we should go back,' the Doctor said eventually.

'Never thought I would ever hear you say that,' Rose said. 'But I think I would have to agree with that – '

Xan's hand grabbed her shoulder and he hissed, 'Quiet!' She froze, more in surprise than anything and Xan dropped his voice lower. 'We're not alone,' he breathed. 'Theirs is someone else here. Several someones.'

Everything went very quiet.

'There's no one here,' the Doctor said, shining the light around.

Xan stared at him. 'I can feel them!' he snapped. 'They're here!'

'Where?' the Doctor asked, quite calmly.

Xan took a deep breath. 'I'm not exactly sure – ' he began, when something hurtled out of the darkness and crashed into him. The domino effect sent Rose tumbling to the ground, taking the Doctor down with her. The sonic screw driver fell onto the ground and rolled a few feet away. There was more shouting and more shadows appeared from the darkness, leaping out from cracks in the ceiling, from around corners ahead and behind them. The Doctor ran for the sonic screwdriver, crashing past several dim figures as he did so, hurled himself to the ground and grabbed it before it fell down a narrow crack in the floor. He heard screams and shouts and Rose yelling furiously. He rolled over onto his back and made to leap up.

A knife point pressed down against his throat. He looked up.

'Hello,' he said cheerfully and waved the sonic screwdriver. 'Sorry, just needed to grab this.'

The face staring down at him was humanoid, covered in black and grey markings that the Doctor realised were caused by face paint. It was dressed in loose fitting grey clothing that was also streaked in places with the paint, creating an effect camouflage for the caves. The knife was in fact a sword, roughly crafted from some dull coloured metal that was smeared with black paint to take the shine off the blade, but however rough or crude the weapon it was, the edge was razor sharp.

'Get up,' the figure said. The voice was female.

The Doctor got slowly to his feet, holding his hands up in the air. The woman prodded his arm with her sword.

'What is that?' she demanded, gesturing to the sonic screwdriver.

'It's a tool,' he said.

'Drop it.'

He did so, although reluctantly. She kicked it away and one of the other figures picked it up quickly and carefully, hiding it away in a pocket somewhere. Another figure came forwards and proceeded to tie the Doctor's wrists securely.

There was a faint light in the caves now, emitting from white coloured stones that the people wore looped around their necks or tied onto the end of a spear. It was a warm, welcoming light, easy to see by.

The Doctor looked over at Rose. She was being tied up, her wrists bound tightly behind her back. She gave him a shaky smile, but apart from a couple of bruises and a scratch on her face, she looked fine. Xan did not look quite so fine. There was a bloody gash down the side of his face which was dripping blood, his nose was bleeding and there a ring of bruising around his left eye. Several of their attackers were holding his arms, one with a short bladed knife held against his throat so hard that it was drawing blood. He was being tied far more tightly than Rose had been, the narrow ropes cutting visibly into his wrists. Quite a few of the group around him were bearing nasty cuts and bruises, far worse than what he had suffered, and there were a couple of broken noses there. A couple were still on the ground, groaning as they came round. Clearly, Xianfrith had not taken being attacked at all well and their attackers were taking no chances with him.

'You are trespassers,' the woman said to the Doctor. 'You must come with us.'

'Where are we going?' the Doctor asked.

'Be quiet.' She gestured sharply and three of the other figures dropped black cloth bags over the heads of the Doctor, Rose and Xan. 'You must be blindfolded,' the woman continued.

The Doctor wanted to protest, but decided that now would not be the time to start making a fuss. They hadn't been killed so far, so that was a good sign. Or not, as the case may be. He decided to keep that thought to himself. 'All right,' he said. 'We'll come with you.' He guessed that both his companions would be intelligent enough not to make a fuss about this and come quietly.

'Good. Try to escape and you will die.' Someone took hold of the Doctor's arm and pulled him along, not gently and not very carefully either, since he kept tripping over cracks and bumps in the cave floor and several times hit his head on the cave ceiling. He wondered exactly what was going to happen to them when they finally reached wherever they were going.