The Doctor walked across the manicured lawn with the air of a man out for a morning constitutional. The grass was spot lit and silence reigned in the garden. The only indications that anything was wrong were the flames dancing on the frond of a nearby palm tree. The Doctor reached a pair of French windows that stood open, their curtains washing to and fro in a gentle breeze. He braced himself and stepped through them.




The large Cufic appeared like a conjurer in a cheap magic show, causing even the well-disciplined Sontarans in the room to do a double take. He had hair on his face and wore the creamy, hooded robes of the desert tribes. Laal was about to order his death when two troopers brought their weapons up to fire.

'Lower your weapons this instant!' exclaimed the intruder. 'How dare you treat me in this manner? Do you know who I am?' The Cufic moved further into the room, examining the armoured soldiers before coming to a halt before Laal. 'I take it you are in charge here?' he asked.

Laal was dumbfounded. 'Give me one good reason not to kill you this instant,' he said. The Cufic seemed to consider this for a brief second.

'I can give you a hundred good reasons why you shouldn't kill me - thousands perhaps. Although, I think the one you're after is that I have come a very long way to speak to General Sontaris concerning the future of the Sontaran race.'

Laal stared at the stranger in disbelief. Could the General really know this dirty Cufic? It seemed most unlikely. Yet he possessed information that only Sontaris could have imparted.

'What is your name?'

'I do not have time for explanations, inquisitions or even a good game of cribbage. I need to speak to General Sontaris right now and you are wasting precious time, Lieutenant.'

Laal bridled at the commanding tone of this non-citizen, but something told him that he should bring this intriguing Cufic before the General.

'Very well. Come with me.' Laal indicated that the new arrival should precede him out of the room.




General Sontaris' troops had broken open the door to the room over an hour ago and Sontaran scientists were pouring over the machinery and instruments within. They had requested Sontaris' presence to show him their find and now the General stood at the centre of the chamber, receiving reports and conjecture as to the equipment's function. One of the scientific corps was speaking.

'The computer attempted a complete shut down and erasure of data the moment we blew the door,' he explained. 'However, we were able to patch in a Buliseye override device and retrieve most of the information stored on the drive. Having analysed the files and programming, it appears that the computer's main function was to monitor temporal or other dimensional activities.'

'Temporal?' asked Sontaris, his eyes gleaming. 'You mean time travel?'

'Did someone mention time travel?' asked a voice from the door.

Sontaris spun round. 'Who are you?'

'It seems I have adopted the moniker of Hakim,' replied the intruder.

'He walked into the villa five minutes ago demanding to see you,' explained Laal, forcing Hakim aside so he could also enter the small room.

'With considerable ease, I might add,' said Hakim.

'Excellent, Laal. You let an unarmed Cufic enter a secured building and then you lead him straight to me.'

'Please don't berate the poor lieutenant, General,' said Hakim with a smile. 'He really had no choice in the matter. And incidentally, I'm not a threat.'

'Oh!' laughed Sontaris. 'I can see that!'

'I do however have news of the gravest importance.'

'Really?' Sontaris did not sound convinced.

'Your planet is about to be invaded by a species of very dangerous beings that is unknown to this universe.'

'Take him away and kill him, Laal,' Sontaris growled.

'Please, General. If I may crave your indulgence for just a few minutes, I can prove what I say to be true.' Hakim moved over to the seat positioned before the primary access panel and squeezed his ample figure in to it. 'May I?' he asked.

'You have two minutes, Cufic, and then I will kill you myself.'

Hakim's fingers started to flow over the control panel as if he had built the computer himself. 'I hear your scientists have guessed that this machine monitors dimensions above and beyond the fourth?'

'That is right. You heard as much as you came in. You have one and a half minutes.'

'Now, I presume you are familiar with the NEMO killings?'

'I am.'

'They were carried out by one of the aliens I was telling you about.'

'Please,' the Cufic beckoned the scientist who had been delivering his report over to the console. 'You will confirm that I have set up the computer to display anything with trans-dimensional and/or temporal residue.' The scientist nodded to Sontaris. 'Now you can see that - oh dear - these green icons represent the very few remaining doses of a drug created by Jeret Seth to contact these aliens. You don't have very many left, do you? Is that why you came here?'

Sontaris stared at the Cufic. 'Irrelevant. You have thirty seconds.'

'Well, you see it isn't irrelevant, because I will need a dose of that drug to travel to the dimension from which these crystalline creatures originate.'

A buzzing in Laal's helmet interrupted Hakim. The Lieutenant looked perplexed for a moment and then turned to Sontaris. 'Sir, unit seven has just reported engaging a hostile gem-like creature that has killed most of the squad.'

'What?'

'Perfect timing,' whispered Hakim. 'You see?' he said. 'I am telling the truth!'

'Proceed,' Sontaris growled.

'At the moment, Seth is in their dimension gathering his troops, but he intends to return with them to Yahanis. I must stop him.'

Sontaris considered the strange giant of a man seated before him and then turned to Laal. 'Order the remaining doses of the drug brought here immediately. You and a squad of troopers will be injected and destroy these aliens.' Laal started speaking into this throat mike.

'Ahh,' said Hakim. 'Not a good idea. For starters, I am the only person who knows anything about the, um, aliens and secondly your troopers won't stand a chance.'

'You dare to speak to me like this?' screamed Sontaris.

'WE-DO-NOT-HAVE-TIME-FOR-THIS, GENERAL!' shouted the Cufic even louder. Sontaris took an involuntary step backwards. 'I apologise if I have offended you, but Seth will be here any minute with an army the likes of which this dimension has never seen. Trust me, I know what I'm doing.' A beat of silence. 'If you must send troopers into the dimension, then at least let me go with them.'

'Your slight is forgiven,' said Sontaris weakly. 'Laal, you and a unit nine will accompany Hakim.'

'Thank you, General.' Breathed Hakim.

'You think like a warrior but you do not act like one; it's most perplexing...' replied Sontaris.




Nick had followed Kovalis and his new entourage into a vast office on the top floor of Buliseye Headquarters. Now he was standing over an equally impressive holo-table, hands resting on the edge, as Kovalis marshalled the citizens' flight from the city as if he were born to the role.

The Yahanan had ordered that what Surti and Buliseye officers remained to disengage the Wasi and instead to take control of all Geco ports and skimmer stations. Messages were being broadcast on every medium telling the people of a potential volcanic eruption. They were advised to leave their homes immediately and make their way to the ports and stations for evacuation.

Nick had insisted that an addendum to the message be included, asking that if she could, a Cufic named Alf should make her way to Buliseye HQ. Kovalis had grudgingly agreed, but although the first broadcast had been made over 15 minutes ago, there was no sign of her.

Nick turned to the wall of TV screens that showed news reports detailing the Wasi attacks and the mass evacuation in equal measure. There was speculation that the two were linked, but no one seemed to have much time to pursue that line of investigation. Nick started as he suddenly recognised one of the Yahanans being ushered onto the back of a yellow, rounded vehicle resembling a truck. It was Orsah, the old woman who had helped him and Alf at the shelter. He smiled. At least she would get out. What about Alf?



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