Chapter One

Now that he was inside, the Doctor could see the bodies strewn below him, across the cabin. Seven people, most with broken necks. If he had doubted that this was a military 'copter then one look into the cabin would have confirmed it. The decor was gloomy, with equipment hanging from rails or stored in functional metal boxes. Most of the men were still secured in their webbing belts.

The Doctor climbed down into the wreckage, checking the pulses of the men. They wore black uniforms, and looked like military police. The floor was littered with metal and plastic containers, making it difficult to move. He also needed more light. On one of the bulkheads along the starboard side of the aircraft, the side that was pitched over to face the ground, there was a sliding door. The Doctor tried to release the handle, but it was jammed shut - the fuselage must have twisted in the crash. The sonic screwdriver released the mechanism, and a couple of swift tugs got the door moving.

Bernice was standing underneath the door, and she helped slide the door all the way open.

'Don't come in,' the Doctor advised her, ducking back inside.

'Is anyone alive?' she called up, biting her lip.

'I don't think so. I'm double-checking.' It was certainly too late for the two nearest the door with their heads lolling over their chests. Another had been impaled by a support strut that had broken loose. A third bore all the signs of a heart attack.

The fourth was alive, barely. The Doctor cradled his head.

'I'm the Doctor,' he said, 'what's your name?'

'C-caldwell,' the man coughed. He was about forty, with a neat moustache. He was in civilian clothes, a smart single-breasted suit, not the military police uniforms of his colleagues. 'Christian,' he continued.

'Caldwell Christian?' the Doctor asked softly, unsure if that was what the man meant.

'Christian escaped. Soil.'

'All right. You're going to be all right.' Speaking was clearly too much of an effort, but he was conscious, and breathing. The Doctor tried to make him comfortable. all the time being careful not to disturb his neck or spine. The mistake people made in these sort of accidents was to try and move the patient. The Doctor cleared some of the wreckage from the man's lap.