Jacqueline RaynerCHAPTER ONE
The room was briefly lit up as the Doctor left the TARDIS. Then he shut the doors of his time machine behind him, and the room became dark again.
The Doctor started to walk forward, but stumbled. He pulled a torch out of his pocket and switched it on. Pointing the beam at his feet, he looked to see what had tripped him up. There on the ground was a pair of thick rubber boots and what looked like a toolbox.
He raised the torch, and a pale face screamed out of the blackness at him.
The Doctor barked in surprise, sounding like a startled seal. The torch beam wobbled for a moment as he stepped backwards. Then he laughed in relief, as he saw that this was no deadly alien - it was just a young woman. She was wearing a swimming costume, which seemed strange to the Doctor, as it was obviously the middle of the night. But then perhaps on this planet his blue suit, brown coat and trainers would look odd.
'Where did you come from?' he asked the young woman. 'There was no one here a minute ago!' Then he remembered his manners, and added, 'I'm sorry I scared you.'
She didn't answer, just asked him the same question. 'Where did you come from?'
'Just now? Oh, the planet Pootle,' the Doctor replied. He waved his hand in the air to indicate somewhere a long way off. The light from the torch bounced around the room as he did so. 'Ever been there?'
She stared at him for a moment and finally said, 'No.'
'Lovely beaches, but the sharks are deadly. As in, three metres tall with guns. So I made a quick getaway and ended up here, in your lovely, er, house.'
'You mean BASE,' the girl said.
'Base? Like an army base? Base camp?'
'No, this is BASE. The British Academy of Sporting Excellence.'
The Doctor screwed up his face. 'British? So, I'm on Earth?'
'Yes,' she replied, earning a giant grin from the Doctor.
'Great! I love Earth!'
'Mm. Me too,' said the young woman. She was giving the Doctor an odd look. There again, he thought, it might just be an effect of the torchlight.
From somewhere to the left of the Doctor came the sound of a door opening. He swung the torch round, making the young man who'd entered fling up a hand to shield his eyes. The youth blinked a few times, then squinted ahead. 'Oh, it's you, Emma,' he said, sounding annoyed. 'What was all that yelling and screaming about? After what happened to Laura and the others...'