Chapter Three

As the sun crept gently over the horizon, Frederick Wells pulled himself out of bed making sure not to disturb his wife. If he'd had a shilling for every time he was told off for waking her up, he'd be a millionaire by now. Chuckling to himself lightly at this thought, he slipped one arm into the sleeve of a red checked shirt, pulling it fully on while reaching for his brown corduroy trousers. Once he was fully dressed, he made his way down the wooden stairs of his home, grabbing a slice of bread from the cupboard and taking a bite from it.
"Great.. stale bread" he whispered sarcastically, pulling open the door and tossing it onto the grass before pulling on his boots. Glancing up at the sky, he smiled to himself, pulling the door closed behind him. If there was anything he loved about Africa, it was mornings like this, when everything was relatively calm and totally beautiful. The smile remained on his face as he walked to work.

From their hiding place outside the mine, Ophamech watched the entrace to the mine closely, while Chapivosh slept beside him. Glancing down at his boss, Ophamech grumbled. Why was he always the one stuck doing the work? Because he was smaller and weaker? Probably. Because Chapivosh was just a bully? Maybe. Because Ophamech was scared of the bigger, stronger man? Definitely. He glanced down at the object he had been carrying earlier. It was still 12 hours until it was discovered, and the pair of aliens would just have to wait until then. They couldn't disrupt the time line. Chapivosh grunted and rolled over in his sleep, causing Ophamech to look up from the device and remember what he was supposed to be doing. He turned and glanced back over to the mine entrance, just in time to see a man in a red checked shirt and a pair of brown corduroy trousers slipping inside.
"What time is it?" Donna Noble's voice broke the comfortable silence that lay between the three figures walking along the dusty path.
"Five minutes since you last asked" the Doctor glanced at her before grinning
"Well, what time was it five minutes ago?"
"5:55" the Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets as he and his companion walked behind their pretty African tour guide. So far, she'd showed them the water hole where the various animals would come to drink, and a strange rock that Donna thought looked oddly like Pride Rock from the Lion King. Now, they were following her to where she had been going in the first place and then they were being shown the local diamond mine.
"God, travelling through Time and Space sure does funny things to your body clock.." Donna muttered to herself, glancing around at the grassy fields around them.
"Wide awake or really sleepy?" the Doctor asked, amused as he glanced at his ginger companion
"Wide awake" Donna replied, rolling her eyes.
"We're nearly there" Zina's gentle voice reached their ears and they both turned their heads to look at her.
"Brilliant" the Doctor grinned, pulling his hands out of his pocket and fiddling with his sonic screwdriver.
"What are you doing?" Donna hissed, glancing between the Doctor and Zina. If the girl had noticed anything, she'd decided not to ask.
"I.. something's off.." he shrugged, fiddling with the different controls of the screwdriver.
"Oh something's off.. that's enlightening, thank you" she rolled her eyes. After a few minutes walking, they stopped outside a wooden shack and Zina gasped in horror. The Doctor and Donna looked at what she was staring at. The door to the hut had been knocked off it's hinges and lay flat on the floor.
"That's.. never good" Donna muttered to the Doctor who frowned at her briefly, pressing a button on the sonic screwdriver and listening to the gentle humming. Zina stepped forward, looking into the hut and very nearly fainting. Her eyes were instantly drawn to the thick blood which lay in a pool on the floor, before flicking up to the source. His eyes were still open and stared straight through her as she stepped slowly towards him. Salah, her only allie in the emotional battle against her father, was no longer here to help her. What was she going to do now? Donna and the Doctor stood in the doorway, watching as the young girl made her way towards the lifeless boy before crouching down and closing his eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks and Donna, being Donna, instantly ran towards her and pulled her into a hug, comforting the girl. The Doctor glanced over the body. It never got any easier, seeing dead people, it never would. Frowning, he looked at the wound, biting on his lip before glancing at Donna and mouthing one word. Alien.