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Chapter Three And Alf goes hunting. Alf looked through the foliage at the advancing party of Crocodilemen. The battle computer on her eye placed targets on all six of them, feeding her with information of velocity, heart rate and other useful things. The computer was also busy formulating combat strategies, and running simulations. She’d watched long enough. She jumped from the undergrowth arcing over the path the lizard people had been using, stretching out one arm and pivoting about that as she curved her legs to her chest and barrelled by into the foliage on the other side of the path. The weapon on her wrist had automatically fired at three of the targets. The first had had his skin torn open by miniature explosive charges placed in the flechettes. He’d died instantly. She landed, rolling over into a combat stance. The suit she was wearing muffled any noise. She turned around again and twitched her wrist. She watched as the remote detonation signal on the other flechettes activated, killing two more of the Crocodilemen. She could see the explosions through the foliage. She was getting better and better with the suit and the combat techniques. She downloaded them days ago, and had spent a lot of time practising. If she was honest with herself, which she was not likely to be, that was probably just to avoid meeting Nick. She was… uncomfortable around him these days. But she’d still spent the time practising them, and it was coming in useful, as were the suit and the battle computer. The battle computer was the size of a contact lens, but it accessed her brain directly through the optic nerve. It was incredible. She had a database of species information in her head, and the combat techniques and ordinance to take down every single person in this zoo, and nobody had an idea she was even here, let alone of her capabilities. They wouldn’t know what hit them. The Doctor woke up again. He was lying on a comfortable leather sofa which didn’t squeak when he moved. He realised he must be dreaming. He looked about him and saw the swirling blue void with odd blobs of moving colour. And he saw the frail little man with the giant head. ‘Hello,’ he said to the Collector. ‘Where am I?’ ‘Physically, or mentally?’ In the Doctor’s experience that was never a good response to that question. ‘I’m not dead again am I?’ he asked tentatively. ‘No, not dead. Just displaced.’ This encouraged the Doctor somewhat. ‘Your mind is here, in my head. I had been storing you in my hindbrain but I fancied a bit of company so I fished you out.’ ‘So where’s my body?’ ‘In the medical bay. You were attacked remember.’ ‘All I remember,’ the Doctor confessed, ‘is… pain.’ He thought for a bit longer. ‘Oh, and you were opening a zoo. How did that go?’ ‘Less than swimmingly.’ ‘Oh dear. Well, I’m sure it’ll turn out okay in the end. These things often do.’ ‘Well one would hope so, yes. Just a mo… I’m going to download all the events that have taken place since the attack, into your short term memory.’ ‘Okay.’ The Doctor waited. There was a slight mental thump as his memory was filled in. ‘You did make a pig’s ear of things, didn’t you.’ ‘Hmm, just a bit.’ ‘Well, firstly, I know who attacked me.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Yes. It was an ancient evil from the dawn of time.’ ‘As serious as that, eh?’ ‘They’re more common than you think.’ ‘Well, okay, that’s nice to know. But, umm, what do you think we should do about it?’ ‘Well, before you return me to my body, I have a plan.’ The Collector showed the Doctor where they were. The giant jellyfish was lying down among scattered chairs, trying to breathe in three feet of water. ‘To tell the truth, Doctor, I don’t think we have to worry about that any time soon.’
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