Episode 1: The Box and The Pyramid

Part 1

Gentle gusts of wind flow over dunes of fine sand and around the ankles of the line of men making their way across the desert, their sandals keeping them from feeling each sore they had surely developed from their weeks of travel. At the head of the group, a man riding a horse, its fine brown coat glistening under the harsh sun, pulls on the reigns and brings the convoy to a stop at the top of a ridge. Looking down the steep slope, a smile spreads across his face beneath the shemagh he wears as he sights their destination; a village near the side of the water, white buildings almost shining back at him as strongly as the water shimmers, lined with fields of crops planted in the wet mud. From behind, one of his party calls out to him.

"Qar! Do you see somewhere to rest?"

"Yes, Neferu," He calls back, "And I think they'll have a Doctor!"

Between the gusts blowing the dust and sand between the houses in the mid-morning light, larger winds start to shift the loose ground around from nowhere, as if a ghostly force were pushing it all away to make room against the side of the farmhouse, before quickly being joined by an ethereal wheezing.

Slowly, the forces come together with more sounds and a light, before the shape of the very out of place police box materializes into space from nowhere against the side of the building. A door swings open with small squeak, followed by a voice from the still seeming closed box.

"Ah. Close! Try just turning her a little bit!"

The wheezing starts again, and the light atop the box starts flashing over again, just for a few moments as the structure fades out of existence, then immediately back in, this time facing away and not against the stone wall. The door opens once more, and out steps an excited and proud looking Doctor, squinting as she raises her hand to shade her eyes from the sun above.

"Oh, beautifully done! Gold sticker for that one, Student Driver Khan!"

From behind The Doctor, Yasmine Khan steps from the same set of doors, closing them behind her and giving a quick tug to be sure before stepping away to join her instructor standing in the light.

"Thanks, but I don't think I've got the directions down just yet. Does it have to spin all the time?"

"Of course, it does, that's the fun of it! It would look silly if it was just moving straight, like a big elevator! I will have to put another IOU on that sticker though, I still haven't picked any up…"

"All of time and space and you haven't found the time to pop to a shop yet?" Yaz shakes her head as she steps further down the path, leading The Doctor out from between the buildings and into a view across the Nile; lush greens line the shores between fields of dark mud and half-grown crops, scatterings of locals toiling slowly in the heat and a couple of children in the distance playing next to the water's edge.

"Why pop to a shop for stickers when we can pop here? Egypt, some point during the Twelfth Dynasty… Mmm, somewhere above Memphis!"

Yaz turns, grimacing a little at the sound of sand being chewed on, a small pile still sitting in the left hand of The Doctor. Letting it go with a small smile and acceptance of her quirks, she looks away from the river and towards the rolling dunes instead, an odd sight against the watery view the other direction, and a sight that slaps her across the face with the realization that she never took her jacket off before leaving the safety of their ship.

"Bit warmer than I'm used to… don't suppose we have anything in the wardrobe for this sort of heat?"

The Doctor lets the sand drain between her fingers with a grin and nods back towards the TARDIS, before leading them both back with an excited 'cmon!'

A few minutes later, the pair are walking again, this time towards what seems to be the bustling market at the edge of the village. Yaz, feeling much more comftably in her white linen dress and shawl, and The Doctor, in a similar outfit but with a shawl made of different coloured cloths (something about needing to keep the rainbow branding going), keep pace with each other as they browse the stalls set up alongside a wider path than the others around the village, leading out of both ends and up and down the Nile. Taking in the scene, and letting that familiar feeling of awe wash over her, Yaz lets herself get washed away in the crowd of passers by and workers as The Doctor darts between stalls, the boundless energy she runs on keeping her hopping from one to the next as Yaz lets out an endearing smile at the sight.

One end of the village path, a little aways from where the two had reached, becomes suddenly hushed, and then altogether more full of chatter. Pushing herself up onto her tip toes and trying to get a look at the cause of the commotion, Yaz barely notes her companion joining her once more, an arm full of rolls of papayas parchment.

"Someone big visiting today? Wanna go have a look?"

Yaz has to only smile quickly at The Doctor to give her confirmation, before turning to a slightly confused gaze at her arm.

"What? I'm running out of pages in my diary. Nothing like writing on genuine Egyptian paper!" is the answer she receives, before deciding that was as much sense as she was going to likely get, leading the pair towards the other end of the market.

Standing slightly aways from the throngs of people, some cheering and some even chanting at the passer-by, the two share an idea as they both pull up their weight using the poles of one of the market stalls, letting them see just over the crowd and at the centre of attention. A noble man of some kind, wearing a white tunic with a layer of spotted fur over a shoulder and shaved bald, half-lays on a seat on the back of a beautifully painted cart of some kind, a pair of horses pulling him along as he waves gently at the people who have gathered to see him pass. A procession of guards travel in front and behind him, also riding horses and armed, weary-looking, as they keep their post.

"Any idea who it is?" Yaz asks to her left over the sound of celebration.

"Noble, looks religious maybe? Probably passing through on the way somewhere more important, slowed down to wave to the fans!" The Doctor calls back, before excitedly waving with both hands like someone seeing their mate across the street, much to Yaz's slight embarrassment.

The sounds of cheers, horse steps and awe are quickly and suddenly silenced, however, as a quick and deadly whistle cuts the air and stops suddenly as it started. A beat of silence hangs before screams and uproar take their place, along with the hard thud of the nobleman's body hitting the ground to the side of his cart, the wooden arrow embedded deeply in his chest. The horses of the guards in front rear up suddenly, as if scared to continue forward, the gathered people running in every direction while a couple try their luck at grabbing what they can from the cart before making a run for it themselves. Yaz and The Doctor drop from their positions on the stall, weaving through the panic and to the body, The Doctor quickly planting her hand on the side of his neck. She looks to Yaz and shakes her head, delivering the verdict solemnly. Pursing her lips, Yaz stands, turning to the direction the cart had been travelling towards, and the direction the arrow had come from, scanning the people as they ran for safety and the guards as they struggle with their horses (for what seemed to be far too long for guards of someone this fancy, Yaz notes). Passing her gaze over a set of buildings, she whips back to check again as she notices a figure, human but with their face mostly covered by their own head wrap of some kind, stood still and watching without a sign of panic. Without thinking, and with all the training taking over what probably should have been common sense, a shout of "Hey!" leaves her lips as she begins running towards the stranger, himself noticing the approaching girl and turning to run behind a building himself.

The Doctor, having looked back down to give a moment of thought to the body, squints as her eyes pass over the wound. From what should be an open hole directly where his heart lay, rather than blood or really fluids of any kind, a barely-noticeable mist of green smoke rose, like a recently put out fire. Quickly pulling her sonic from her rainbow shawl, she flips it on and scans the spot, before turning to read the results.

"That's not Egyptian… That's not even human! Yaz, this…" her sentence trails off as she looks up, seeing her friend not next to her still, but instead a good way down the road, full bolt sprinting towards a row of houses behind the market stalls.

"Yaz! Wait!" is all she gets out before jumping up and starting a run of her own, turning her energy to trying to catch up.

Ahead, Yaz had reached the spot she had first singled out the suspicious individual, turning the corner of the building and continuing to run as he enters her eyeline again, still running with good speed away from her, the two of them dodging panicked market-goers and piles of baskets and pots outside of simple homes. Pushing over one of these piles as he passes it, and turning right between another two buildings, he disappears to leave Yaz to make a split-second decision. Turning right herself before ever reaching the baskets laying across the ground, she spots him immediately on the other side of the much clearer row, pushing herself to catch up as he slows, probably to the thought of having put her off or slowing her down. Instead, she is upon him within a couple of minutes, going for an admittedly brave tackle with a loud grunt, sending the both of them falling to the dirt below, his chest landing hard against the cracked floor. Letting out a groan, he barely has time to register as she grabs his arms, keeping him from rolling and planting a knee harshly on his back.

"Stay still! Stop it!" She lets out loudly as she lets him try to wriggle loose, knowing full well the difficulty he's have now that she had him down and secured as best she could without any cuffs.

What she hadn't accounted for, and what she probably couldn't have, was the sight of the back of this man's body to start wriggling separate from him, the surface of his skin and even clothes seemingly moving like a sack of potatoes being moved, lumps and bumps raising before seeming to start to morph and change, even the colour shifting to a dark red as more of his body quickly followed. Taking the hint that she may be somewhat out of her depth, Yaz pushes off of his body, keeping him down second longer to give herself time to stand back and quickly step away, watching with somewhat a look of disgust as he slowly stands, his back already unidentifiable from what it looked like moments ago. Hearing the skid of The Doctor's sandaled feet coming to a stop behind her, Yaz could barely take in her words as the creature turned to face them, still morphing.

"Yaz! It… It's not human, It'sa…" Her voice trails off, watching alongside a horrified Yaz as the man finishes transforming, its suckered hand outreaching towards them as it let out a hiss of warning.

"…It's a Zygon…"