A/N: This is probably the quickest update in forever! :o

Just a note, I had to look up the size of the biggest spider on Earth for this. It wasn't a nice Google session. For your information, it's the Goliath Bird-Eating tarantula. It grows up to a foot in length and has one-inch fangs, and is considered bigger than the Huntsman spider as it's heavier. You're welcome.

Chapter 7 - C is for Creipian Maneating Spiders

Leah was very bored.

They had been on Colossus Major for two days, and although the inhabitants of the village had been exceptionally hospitable and lovely, nothing, to Leah, had actually happened. There had been no more abductions, and Uncle Brax seemed reluctant to actually do anything. He wouldn't let her investigate the muddy patch in the hut, or even stray from the village. He wouldn't even let her out of his eyesight.

So the third night in, she decided she'd had enough.

Uncle Brax was nowhere to be seen, and Auntie Gwen and Uncle Ianto were fast asleep on their beds with Uncle Ianto snoring gently. Deciding that no one was left outside she carefully and quietly pulled back her cover, turned on the bed and placed her feet on the rug below. She counted to three, and pushed herself upright.

The bed creaked loudly. A brief flutter of panic shot through her hearts and she froze as still as a Weeping Angel as she stared across the room at her Aunt and Uncle. Uncle Ianto groan and turned slightly, but didn't wake up. Auntie Gwen was still fast asleep.

She counted to ten, and then crept - ever so slowly - towards her backpack and shoes. She picked them up, fearing another creak, but it didn't happen. She paused, took a few calming breaths, and finally started towards the door.

The latch was the worst part. She raised it, micron by micron, until it was clear. She then dared to pull the door, before finally stepping outside ten minutes after she'd set off.

The village was utterly quiet and empty. She could see a few dying fires through the windows of the surrounding huts, but couldn't hear anyone or anything asides from the wildlife and the wind rushing through the village., making an ominous howling noise.

She carefully closed the door behind her before she finally pulled on her shoes and hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders. She then checked the village again for any sign of Uncle Brax, but there was none.

She started straight towards the hut the last abduction had been from, walking across the open ground. It quickly began to feel like an exceptionally bad idea as she quickly realised she was completely alone in the dark. If these things, whatever they were, pulled people underground, nobody would be able to save her…

Not that she had a choice. She continued to the hut, opened the door and slipped inside.

It was just as they'd left it. Tentatively she moved forward to the mound of dirt - it was utterly still and decidedly unthreatening-looking, but she still she treaded carefully. She moved to it, looking at it intently, but couldn't see much. She dared to move forward even more, and ended up on her knees burrowing through the dirt to try and see what was underneath.

There was a strange white material underneath. She experimentally pushed it with one finger before quickly backing off, but whatever the material was, it was rock hard. She tried again, and even knocked on it. She knocked on it a little harder.

Suddenly there was the sound of a strange clicking, like the sound when she wound up one of her wind-up toys. Only it wasn't coming from one of her toys. It was coming from the ground.

She got up immediately, freezing in position. The clicking noise was becoming louder…

Without any further hesitation Leah bolted out of the hut, wide-eyed with her dual hearts beating out a charleston. For a moment she just stood there outside of the door, panting out of pure fear, until her hearts calmed and she finally convinced herself to look back inside the hut.

The clicking was gone, but her acute Gallifreyan hearing was picking up a low voice, somewhere in the distance.

She frowned, ducking her head back out of the hut again. It was coming from somewhere out of the village. It sounded anxious, and desperate not to be overheard.

Her father's DNA got the better of her as soon she found herself walking tn the direction of the voice. She followed it out of the village, through a small trail and to a small forest opening.

It was Uncle Brax, standing in the clear holding his palm near his face. Leah ducked behind a tree.

'Jack, I don't care about your plan. If he's getting attacked then you get out, okay!?'

'Don't be stupid, we need this, you know that.'

Leah frowned. That was Uncle Jack's voice, tinny and quiet.

'This is far too risky.'

'It's not like we get a choice.'

Uncle Brax sighed. 'I know. Look…'

'Don't bother,' Uncle Jack interrupted.

'No, not that… Look, you didn't tell him about… the thing, did you?' Uncle Brax asked, sounding nervous.

'No.'

'Thank you.'

'Don't thank me yet, I still might,' Uncle Jack replied, sounding a bit bitter.

'I just wanted to keep an eye on him,' Uncle Brax protested.

'Spy on him, you mean.'

'You're making a mountain out of this. I just want to know he's safe.'

Uncle Jack laughed. 'Safe? We're in the most dangerous prison in the universe, trying to get to the most dangerous planet in the universe. Of course he's not safe.'

'You know what I mean.'

'Do I?'

Uncle Brax sighed. 'Look… just keep me informed.'

'Sure,' Uncle Jack replied shortly. 'How's Leah?'

'She's fine, she's asleep.'

'Good. Because if anything happens to her I'm telling him about the VitChip. And yeah, by the way, that's blackmail.'

'I understand, but…'

'Bye, Braxiatel,' Uncle Jack snapped, before there was a quiet beep and Uncle Brax lowered his hand. He sighed, for a moment just standing there before he suddenly turned and headed straight towards Leah's hiding place.

Leah panicked, trying to move before he could reach her but he'd clearly already noticed someone there. He immediately broke into a run, reaching the bushes and launching a hand in to grab Leah's coat. She yelped, finding herself pulled out into the open.

'Leah!' he realised, shocked. 'What are you doing out here!? It's dangerous!'

Leah decided she was going to own this conversation. 'What were you talking about?'

He ignored her. 'Come on, back to the village,' he ordered, pulling her by her coat.

Leah abruptly pulled away from him, his grip slipping. 'What were you talking about?' she repeated.

'Nothing,' Uncle Brax replied, taking her arm. 'Get back to the vi-'

Leah pulled away again. 'What's a VitChip? What did you do? What isn't Uncle Jack telling Daddy?'

'Nothing!' Uncle Brax replied, beginning to sound annoyed. 'The vill-'

'Tell me!' Leah wanted to know, standing her ground. 'Or I'll tell everyone you're a big fat liar!'

Uncle Brax fumed, launching out a hand to grab her arm, gripping so tightly it hurt. 'Do as I say!'

'Let go of me!' she wailed, struggling to pull away but he was holding her arm far too tightly.

'I've had just about enough of you!' Uncle Brax snapped.

'Get off!' she screamed, flailing.

'You're just a child! You can belt out all the facts from your book that you like, you can't even begin to understand the magnitude of this situation! Now come back to the village or you're going back to the Tardis, and I'll lock you in your room if I have to! You're just a stupid little girl!'

Leah stared at him for just a moment. He faltered, his eyes widening at what he'd said as his grip slackened. She then turned, and ran.

'No, wait, I'm sorry! Leah!' Uncle Brax called after her, but she was barely listening. She slalomed through the trees and bushes and skidded through the mud, out of the forest and into the field with the giant cows. He was chasing her.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!' Uncle Brax yelled desperately. 'Please, Leah!'

She ran, and kept running until she could run no further, panting for breath. Uncle Brax was still with her.

She gave up, turning back to him to shoot him a ferocious look. 'Get away!' she warned him, pulling out the sonic and shakily pointing it at him with her finger on the button.

Uncle Brax approached cautiously. 'Leah, please, I was angry and worried about your father. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. Truly. Please come back to the village with me.'

'No!' she shouted back.

'Please…'

Suddenly that strange wind-up toy clicking noise returned. Confused, she looked around, but couldn't pinpoint the origin. She looked at her uncle. He was stood absolutely rigid.

'Leah, don't move,' he muttered, his eyes fixed to the ground. 'Let me just…'

He stepped forward.

Suddenly something black, thin and furry burst out of the ground in front of her, right where Uncle Brax was standing. Uncle Brax cried out as the thin black thing wrapped around his leg and pulled him straight into the ground in a plume of mud and grass, his arms waving frantically.

Leah screamed, desperately wanting to run but mostly petrified by utter fear as Uncle Brax's cries continued from somewhere under her feet, begging her not to move. Then suddenly he went quiet.

Then, silence, asides from the clicking.

'Uncle Brax?' she tried in a half-hearted whisper.

The thin black furry thing reappeared out of the hole it had just made, feeling, ever so carefully, around the edge. It was a leg, Leah realised. A long, black furry leg…

The leg suddenly darted towards her, and on instinct she stepped back, tripping on a rock and landing on her bum in the dirt. She froze, terrified, but the leg hadn't seem to have noticed. After a moment the leg slipped back in the hole, and once again all was silent.

For a moment she just sat in the dirt, listening to the clicking sounds as she desperately tried to decide what to do.

'Uncle Brax,' she tried again, a little louder. No reply. 'Uncle Brax.'

She finally made a decision, pushing herself to her haunches before commencing a crawl to the hole. She psyched herself up, and peered over the edge.

There was Uncle Brax, lying on the ground straddled by - what seemed to be - a giant black furry spider.

Leah backed away quickly, resisting the urge to scream as almost immediately every nightmare she'd ever had in her short life assailed her consciousness simultaneously...

No, she decided. She was getting nowhere that way.

She eased away from the hole, checking her backpack for her notebook. She went straight to S, then frantically read her notes she'd copied from her lesson with her dad from the page.

'Spiders,' her Dad began loudly, pointing at a crude drawing he'd done on the board for her. 'Known to be descendants of the Racnoss, did we do the Racnoss yet?'

Leah nodded.

'Good. Spiders as we know them are basically devolved Racnoss. They're indigenous to the Ugala system from the planet Creipia, but during their evolutionary stages in Universal year circa 1645CE, they spread to most of the solar system. The spiders of Creipia can grow up in ten feet in diameter and are highly poisonous to construct six and below lifeforms. They like warm vibrations and have a tendency to turn up in the engines of large spaceships, particularly cargo and passenger ships. When they're not doing that, they live in nests underground and protect their queen so she can lay the eggs for the next generation of spiders. She can lay up to a thousand eggs at once. They usually hunt in packs of up to fifty, are carnivorous - well, you are if you're that big - and have a lifespan of eight universal years. When they catch you, if they're hungry they'll tear you apart, else they'll just wrap you up in a cocoon and store you for later.'

Leah stared at him, utterly terrified. He didn't seem to notice.

'It's only recently been proposed by a Professor of Earthonomics at the Atax University that the spiders on earth may be subspecies of the Creipian spiders. He proposes in a paper that on Earth most of the spiders are killed in infancy before they can grow to maturity. Good read. Lots of pictures.'

'Um…' Leah began, her voice wobbling. 'You mean the spiders on Earth can grow up to ten feet?'

He shrugged noncommittally. 'Well, most are probably subspecies that are genuinely just a few inches across, but some could be Creipian. We'll never know really, as every human that's ever existed has at least once in their life killed a spider on sight whilst screaming, and also Earth's atmosphere could be toxic to them over an extended exposure. But that's just my theory.'

'Okay,' Leah squeaked.

'The Creipian spiders are a chronic problem throughout the universe, are known to be pests. They've killed many people and consequently are routinely killed with pesticide by most civilised planets.'

'Err… They can't get in the Tardis, can they, Daddy?' Leah asked nervously.

'Your mum found one at full maturity in the second console room once and she went practically catatonic for a week,' he said, laughing at the distant memory. 'That's the only reason I keep the harpoon in my tool kit.'

Leah stared at him. 'You killed it?'

'Believe me, Creipian spiders are a killed-or-be-killed species,' her Dad told her seriously. 'They're not like the Racnoss or other insectivorous lifeforms - they haven't developed a consciousness or show any signs of sentience or intelligent communication. You can't reason with one. They're categorised as extreme pests by the Universal Wildlife Protection Agency and Universal Law recommends you kill on sight or call in pest control. If you see one, you'd better hope you can kill it, because you can't outrun it. They're averse to sonic noise for a while, but that's about it. They're not smart, but there's so many of them that if you find yourself in their larder, you might as well start adding herbs to make yourself taste nice for them.'

Leah stared at him, mortified. Once again he barely noticed, already moving onto the next animal.

There was no utterly doubt these were Crepain spiders. And they had Uncle Brax.

She had to do something.

She made to get up and run back to the village, but she'd barely managed to get to her knees before suddenly the ground from beneath her seemed to cave in, and with a tiny high-pitched yelp she found herself descending down into the dark dirt.