RSANDRIC, THREE CYCLES AGO

 The darkness of the cave brought tears to Ramble's eyes. He saw confinement and tradition. He saw misery and solitude. He saw isolation and entrapment. He saw the Scrahbethst.

 Ramble was the youngest Scrahbethst. Born to Yak and Babble, Ramble had lived in these caves with the other Scrahbethst for the half cycle he had been alive.

 The Scrahbethsts were currently joined together and were forming the Nkama, a structure they made every day to pay respect to Scrah, the god who gave them shape.

 Ramble had hidden in attempt to avoid the Nkama. Suddenly out of the goo that was the Scrahbethsts, a voice was heard.

 "Ramble!" It was his mother. "Ramble!"

 Ramble realised that his absence had been discover and morphed into a humanoid form, running out of the caves.

 "Ramble, no!!!" his mother shouted. "Rsand!"

 Ramble stopped and yelled back at his mother. "Rsand and Scrahbethsts live in peace, Mother!"

 "Yes, my son. But long as no violation of lands..."

 "But I have to see, Mother!" Ramble continued. "Have to see why such noise."

 "Be careful, my son." Ramble turned and smiled at the pool of transparent goo. Suddenly, another figure emerged from the pool. Jabber, his older sister, stepped forward.

 "I accompany you," she said. "For parents' sake." Ramble nodded and together they went to the edge of the cave.

 They looked out from the mouth of the cave into the sky and saw it covered in black objects moving at fantastic speeds. Ramble had been told about them before. Through early negotiations the Rsand and the Scrahbeths had arranged their lands. The Rsand lived in a hive, the Scrahbethsts lived in the caves. The Rsand had told the Scrahbethsts of their spacecraft and then they had never met again.

 All of a sudden, an explosion rocked one of the black objects and it tumbled out of the sky. Intrigued, Ramble watched it land in a forest nearby, and signalling to Jabber, he stepped out of the cave to find it.

 Ten minutes later, Ramble was startled by a sudden noise that came from behind one of the huge trees that dominated the forest.

 V-worp! V-worp!

 Ramble had never heard a sound like it in his life, and had never seen a creature like the one who stepped from behind the tree.

 "Hello there, Ramble!!" the stranger said.

 "You know my name!" Ramble replied.

 "Of course I do; long time no see!!"

 "I don't know you."

 "Well, we haven't met yet, but we will. You know, this is the second time I've become trapped in your universe. I hope I get back to Sam in time."

 "Who are you?"

 "I am the Doctor."

 Jadi Morok slowed the speed on the craft and used the controls to bring him closer to the Rsand ship. He'd had some experience with piloting spacecraft and felt he could control this little baby easily.

 Then, energy weapons rocked the ship and it began spinning round out of control. Jadi held on to the sides of his control panel and tried to look back at Angela. He couldn't see her.

 *Get a grip, Morok,* he thought, and turned his attention to steadying the ship. The ship suddenly stopped its free-fall and came to a complete halt. Jadi tried to move closer to the station but the panel failed to respond. He climbed from his seat and scrambled into the back to look for Angela.

 "The Doctor?"

 "You've heard of me?" the Doctor replied.

 "Never."

 "Oh..." the Doctor said. "Very well."

 "Why are you here, Doctor?"

 "I was in the neighbourhood, thought I'd call. You don't have a cafe' here, do you?"

 "'Cafe'?"

 "Never mind."

 Ramble looked at the stranger as he came closer. He had a kind face and a beaming grin.

 "What are you doing here, anyway?" the Doctor asked.

 "I saw a Rsand spacecraft crash nearby. We're investigating."

 "We?"

 Suddenly, out of the trees came Jabber.

 After a brief introduction between Jabber and the Doctor, Ramble walked towards the craft. Moments later, he found it. Lying on its side, the ship's black hull shone in the moonlight.

 "Ah-ha-ah..." the Doctor said and began to mend a section of circuitry that was sticking out. While the Doctor repaired the damage, Ramble looked over the ship. He opened a hatch and out fell a Dead Rsand, dressed in body armour. Ramble stepped back but was startled by a rustling in the bushes nearby, followed by the emergence of a group of armed Rsand.

 The Doctor, disturbed by the rustling, pushed Ramble and Jabber into the ship. "You must go now!" the Doctor ordered.

 "But we can't fly this!" Jabber said.

 "Yes, you can. Just press the A button and look at the computers. You'll soon learn."

 "But Doctor--"

 "Please go, now!"

 Ramble sealed the door and ran to the cockpit of the craft. He saw the A button and pressed it. A voice sounded, asking for orders.

 "Please state command."

 "GET US OUT OF HERE!" Ramble yelled. "Hold on tight, Jabber!"

 The Doctor ran away into the trees and watched the power of the vessel's jets floor the Rsand guards. After seeing the object ascent to the sky, he ran to his TARDIS, opened the door, and smiled before stepping in. Moments later, the blue telephone police box had gone.

 Unbeknown to him, a number of figures began to form near the Scrabethst's caves as the Rsand recovered and walked towards them.

 The Doctor was in his element, Wil thought. He was the only person who could relish being caught by armed guards.

 "Hello, there!" the Doctor said. "I wondered when you'd find me."

 "Come with us," the lead Rsand said.

 "Very well, but allow me to introduce myself first. I'm the Doctor, this is my companion Wil and my new friend Ramble."

 The Rsand looked at Ramble and yelled. "Scrabethst! Scrabethsts!" The Rsands cried out and grabbed their guns.

 Ramble yelled and pulled Wil along with him as he ran down the corridor.

 "After them!" the lead Rsand cried and four of the guards followed the path Ramble and Wil had taken.

 "Well, I guess it's just us," the Doctor said, now left with the lead Rsand and another officer.

 "Hi there," she said.

 "Hi."

 "Out long?" she asked.

 "Oh, just ten minutes."

 "At least we didn't fall into each other this time."

 "Yeah."

 "Morok?"

 "Yeah?"

 "How bad is it?"

 "How bad is what?"

 "The bleeding on my head."

 "Oh...that. It's pretty deep. We need to find the Doctor."

 "Well, you'd better pilot us back up there," Angela said.

 "I can't."

 "You can't?"

 "The panel's blown."

 "Oh cruk--"

 "Yeah, oh cruk," Morok said and looked at Angela.

 The ship rocked again, and for the third time in one day, Angela landed on top of Morok. A brief, silent pause between the two was disturbed by the sound of laser cannons nearby.

 "We're sitting ducks!" Angela cried as the ship rocked again.

 "We're trapped!" Wil said. Spying an air vent, Wil turned to Ramble. "Escape through there," he said.

 "But, would leave Wil-Wil-Young--"

 "I'll be OK; go now!" Wil said, pointing towards the vent.

 "OK," Ramble replied, and with that, he dissolved and slid into the air vent.

 The four Rsand guards ran up to Wil and kicked his legs, causing him to collapse to the floor. All four guards surrounded him and Wil heard one guard talking to someone through the intercom in his helmet.

 The guard stopped talking and looked each of his three comrades straight in the eye. "As ordered, all those in contact with the Scrabethst will be executed."

 Wil looked up to see four laser rifles pointed downwards at him...

 TO BE CONTINUED...