They sped out of the colony and into the baron wilderness beyond. There was a solitary path through the weeds and wild flowers that was just wide enough for the transport to get through. The journey was also a silent one – everyone felt very nervous, since their escape from the government complex had been a very narrow one. Nicola was clearly the most frightened of the escapees. After living all twenty four years of her life inside a place full of people who looked not too dissimilar from one another, being with a bunch of complete misfits deeply troubled her.
After about an hour, the transport finally came to a halt on the outskirts of a dense forest.
"Follow me" said the red-haired woman authoritatively.
The Doctor; Martha; Jack; and Nicola followed the woman deeper into the thick forest. They could see a dim light up ahead, which was the mark of a primitive settlement. Martha began to worry about what they had got themselves into since the experience so far seemed to have come straight out of Robin Hood mould. She was worried that she had been seconded into Robin Hood and his merry men. Except this wasn't Earth and it certainly wasn't historical England.
When they finally reached the settlement, they found a series of small wooden shacks built on and by old, towering trees in a small clearing. There was a camp fire in the middle of the clearing and a series of precariously suspended solar panels hung on the branches of some of the taller trees. There were several people with phasors keeping a look out for any nearby predators. In contrast to the other Human settlement, Jack noted, these people were quite ordinary in appearance. There were some strikingly beautiful people, but most would not have met the grade in the Golgafrincham colony. All in all, Jack estimated, there must have been about one hundred people living in this primitive settlement.
The Doctor was the first to speak.
"Very nice place you have here. I'm impressed!" he said "Though, saying that, I don't think your electricity supply is very reliable".
The red-haired woman ignored him and made her introductions.
"Welcome", she announced, "to Sherwood. My name is Rhea Burns. I'm the chief of this camp"
"Nice to meet you Rhea" said Martha. "My name's Martha. This is the Doctor; Jack; and Nicola"
At that moment a tall, skinny young man with long curly hair rushed towards them.
"Uh oh. Watch out for the geek" said the Doctor under his breath. Martha giggled.
"You've arrived. You've finally arrived!" said the geek excitedly. "I can't tell you how long we've waited for this moment"
The Doctor, Martha and Jack were all puzzled. Helpfully, Rhea explained.
She told the newcomers that her group had successfully stolen some long range communications equipment from Golgafrincham with the aim of contacting a passing ship from Earth. They had wanted to inform Earth of the practises of President Lohan and to remove him from office.
"We hoped", finished Rhea, "That you could help us remove him from his Presidency"
The Doctor, Jack and Martha all looked at each other worriedly. After what was a long minute, the Doctor answered.
"I'm afraid we're not from Earth" he said carefully. "We're not really supposed to be here"
"But we'll help you. Won't we Doctor?" said Martha.
Jack rolled his eyes as the Doctor responded.
"Well, I suppose we'll have to now" he said.
"Thanks Martha" he added quietly.
With that, Rhea showed them to a small, empty shack.
Over in the colony, Charles Valli had been given orders to search the house of the fugitive Nicola Newton. Just outside, he discovered a rather strange large blue box. He called over to one of the Constables to blast open the doors to the box. It obliged and took a shot at the door. Much to Charles's annoyance nothing happened - the door remained firmly, defiantly, locked. There was nothing left for him to do – the house itself had provided very few clues as to where the fugitives were heading and who their friends were. He activated his radio and asked for some assistance in moving the strange object, which he sent to the Police laboratory for further analysis. Apart from one blue box, the trail of the fugitives had gone cold. The president would not be pleased.
Half an hour later Charles was sat in his large office in the President's building. One of his juniors had sent him a long case file, full of camera footage, via the interlink. The only details the file provided him were that the escapees had left the colony and the place where they exited. Unimpressed, he left his office and walked towards the Police laboratory to get the latest on the blue box.
Several forensic scientists were standing around the object in awe. Charles walked up to the chief forensic scientist Newby, a middle aged woman with what Charles regarded as a low-life's accent.
"Well?" he said simply, but impatiently.
"Nothing yet. Well, nothing of much practical use anyway" the blonde, blue eyed scientist replied.
Newby explained to Charles that one of her assistants had searched a one hundred year old database named the Torchwood archive for "Police Telephone Box". The single, short result that the search had turned up was a list of classified entries omitted from the public copy of the archive. Charles's eyes opened. Then, a brief moment later, his surprise turned to worry. A classified entry meant one of two things. Either it was alien in origin which, given the English lettering, was highly unlikely, or it was a secret piece of Earth government property. Charles began to march hurriedly out of the Laboratory.
"Wait" said Newby. "There's another database which lists it a kind of direct telecommunications link to the nearest Police station".
Charles turned round in confusion.
"Then why can't you open it?" he asked, sneering at her.
"Maybe it's just a practical joke" she replied in distain. "We will have to do some more tests on it".
With that, Charles exited the laboratory and rushed to President Lohan's office.
Martha felt a very sharp pain in her trouser pocket. After a few seconds of gritting her teeth, she managed to pull the TARDIS key from out of it. It was flashing in the palm of her hand. Luckily for her, the pain had now stopped.
"Doctor!" she shouted.
The Doctor had felt the same sharp pain. He held the other TARDIS key in his hand and walked into the shack.
"The TARDIS key, it's glowing" said Martha.
"Yes, I know" the Doctor replied. "It means only one thing – they've found her. We've got to go back to the colony"
The meeting with President Lohan had been short. One clear instruction had been given out: "Find them!" Sheepishly, Charles Valli left the President's office and headed to the only lead that he had – the exit point at the edge of the city.
It didn't take him long to get there, along with a squad of Constables. By now the bright sun was setting and the planet's twin moons were making their appearance. Visibility was poor, but one of the Constables soon spotted the narrow track leading out of the colony. Charles called in for additional backup and moments later a further three squads of constables appeared.
"Right. Follow that trail" Charles shouted.
With a salute, the small army of Police marched along the trail with Charles at the front.
It was two hours later when one of the camp's lookouts spotted the mass of Police troops walking towards Sherwood. The alarm was raised and the camp became a fury of activity.
"What's happening?" the Doctor asked as he rushed over towards Rhea.
"It's the Police. They've found us" she replied gravely.
End of Chapter Three