Chapter One

(Pete's World, on a distant planet in the outer spiral of the Milky Way galaxy…)

The man gasped, as he was shoved to his knees in front of the dais. He had been captured and brought to this room to face punishment for trying to orchestrate a rebellion against the woman who, at the moment, was sitting on a plush, high-backed, red, velvet chair in the middle of the dais. The man looked at the guards surrounding him. All of them were dressed in black outfits with black skullcaps on their heads. He stared defiantly at the one closest to him and received a backhand across his face for his insolence. The man looked back at the woman, who was staring at him, quietly, with a look of contempt on her face. She was dressed in a black, off-the-shoulder dress and a long, black cape that reached down to her ankles. Her honey blonde hair was swept up in a bun, and her beautiful face was twisted in a sneer, as she looked down at the prisoner before her.

"I assume you are Haban, leader of the resistance?" she said.

Haban straightened up and returned her haughty look.

"I am," he said, simply.

She snorted.

"Your little resistance didn't do much good, did it?" she said. "Most of your friends are dead, and here you are, at my feet awaiting your punishment."

"You may kill me, but others will rise up and take my place," Haban said. "You are despised, my lady, I am not the only one who wants you dead."

"Then, I will deal with the others in the same manner I will deal with you."

"Yes, but someday, someone will defeat you and end your tyrannical reign forever."

"Pity you won't be around to help make that happen," she replied.

She looked at the guards.

"Throw him in the dungeon. He'll be transferred to the lab in the morning."

"Yes, Lady Rose," the guards said, in unison.

"Take him away."

Haban grunted and tried to pull away from the soldier's grip, when they seized him by the arms. He yelled and screamed curses at Lady Rose, while she sat on her chair and watched his struggles, nonchalantly.

She sighed and looked at a nearby guard when Haban was finally pulled out of the room.

"Bring in the next rebel," she said.

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(Meanwhile on Pete's world's Earth…)

"Torchwood, Rose Tyler speaking. How may I help you?"

"Yes, miss, there's an alien in my loo. It's small, and green, and covered with shite. Can you come out with a net and a plunger, and flush it out of there?"

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Funny, Frank," she said to her boyfriend. "You're a load of laughs, you are."

"Well, you're sitting in your office, which means you aren't out catching aliens. And since you're being lazy, I'm gonna give you something to do."

"I'm not being lazy, you git, I'm sitting here doing paperwork. That is also part of the job."

"Oh, I see, so, you're really just a glorified secretary, then," Frank teased. "Well, since you are sitting there filling out boring paperwork, perhaps I can come over, and spice things up a bit."

"Ooo, sounds kinky. But, I have a feeling my bosses will frown on us shagging on my desk," Rose said, seductively.

"Ah, those sods are just jealous because you have a cute boyfriend, and they don't."

Rose smiled.

"Yup, that could be the reason."

Frank laughed.

"So…" he said. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Um, I'll probably go home and veg out in front of the telly."

"Ugh, sod that nonsense. Come over. I'll fix some linguini and garlic bread, and we can have a nice candlelight dinner."

"Hmmm, that sounds great, actually."

"So, it's a date?"

Rose smiled.

"Yeah, it's a date."

She giggled, when Frank let out a whoop.

"Honestly, you act like such a kid sometimes," she said.

"Hey, you're only as young as you feel."

Rose snorted.

"Well, in that case, I feel like I'm eighty, most days."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm fixing linguini then. They say one bite can make you feel young again."

"That so? Well, I'll have to get Torchwood out there to investigate that. Might be some kind of alien herb you're sneaking in the recipe."

"Darn, you figured it out. Guilty as charged."

Rose laughed.

"Well, listen, I'd love to chat, but I have a feeling they might dock my paycheck for not working, so I'll see you tonight, yeah?"

"Yeah, six o' clock, be there or be square!"

"I will. I love you, Frank."

"I love you too, sweetheart. Have a great day at work."

"Yeah, you too, talk to you later, bye."

"Bye."

Rose hung up the phone. With a contented sigh, she picked up her pen and went back to her paperwork.

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(Meanwhile, back in the whirlpool galaxy…)

The Lady Rose strode down the corridor towards her laboratory. As she walked, her long, cape billowed out behind her like a sail. As she passed by a window, she glanced out and noticed that the lavender sky was slowly becoming a deep purple, as the sun dipped below the horizon of Valpora. This was her favorite moment of the day. She loved standing on her balcony, watching the twin moons, as they slowly climbed into the night sky. As a child, she imagined the moons were the eyes of some huge creature that was watching the planet, and she used to spend countless hours talking to it, hoping it could hear her. She had been so young then, so innocent. It had been a happy, peaceful time. Before the Zazarians came, killed her family, and took her away to be held as a political prisoner on Zazaria. There had been no love lost between her and her uncle when she was growing up, and when he learned she was a hostage, he did nothing to save her. He simply seized the throne for himself and ruled with an iron hand, while she spent 12 years toiling as a slave. Finally, when she grew strong enough, she was able to poison the emperor's food, escape the Zazarian palace, and make her way back home. She found her uncle asleep in his bed and slaughtered him without mercy. After that, she followed his example and seized the throne. Then, she made sure that she would never be usurped by killing the last remaining members of her family and other potential rivals to the throne.

It was during this time that she made the acquaintance of Josiah. She had been searching for efficient ways to kill her rivals, and he came offering his services to her. She had been skeptical at first when he suggested he be allowed to experiment on some of the prisoners for scientific purposes. However, Josiah convinced her to go to his laboratory, high in the hills, with several guards, and she witnessed some of his work. Josiah, she noticed, was especially interested in creating hybrids. He had several people who would go to other worlds, kidnap subjects, and bring them back. After which, he would take the sperm and eggs of different species, combine them in a Petrie dish, and put them back into the females to see if they would produce a viable being. He had shown her a few that had lived. The results were both fascinating and horrific. Some of the hybrids turned out well, while others were hideous to look at.

"That is not all I can do, my Lady," he said. "I have also conducted other experiments, including some that will benefit the Valporian race. But, I need a bigger lab and funds to carry out more in-depth experiments. These hybrids that you see before you, might serve a greater purpose. I can keep experimenting and create hybrids that possess super strength that can serve you as bodyguards, or hybrids with super intelligence that will become your advisors, or help in my lab. I can create weapons that will make Valpora supreme. All I need is your permission to move into the palace, and I promise, my Lady, I will make it worth your while."

It was a fascinating proposition, and Lady Rose decided to take him up on his offer. That had been a year ago and since that time; Josiah had been hard at work. He had created several muscular hybrids that had quickly grown to adulthood with the growth accelerator he had invented. These hybrids became her guards, and they had served her well. Now, he was working on something monumental. He wouldn't tell her what it was, but he promised it was nearly completed and then she would be able to see it. Lady Rose couldn't help but wonder what it was. But, that was before they had discovered the existence of the rebels, and since then, she had been busy having them captured, and either put to death, or given over to Josiah for experimentation.

She had just finished sentencing Haban when Josiah came into the room. He walked up to the dais and prostrated himself before her. He apologized for interrupting her and told her that his experiment was completed, and he wanted her to come and look at it before she saw any more prisoners. She agreed, and now, she found herself outside his laboratory door. She knocked on it; Josiah opened the door and bowed low.

"My Lady, it is an honor," he said.

Lady Rose sighed.

"Enough with the formalities, Josiah, show me this invention. I'm busy."

"At once, my Lady, step inside."

He opened the door wider. Lady Rose stepped inside and looked around. She could see a couple of steel lab tables with restraints on them. There was a counter at the back of the room. Jars of unidentifiable things in multicolored liquids were sitting on top of it along with surgical instruments. Above the counter was several cabinets, and diagrams and charts hung on the wall next to it. On the other side of the room, there were several cages, only one of which was currently occupied. Inside the cage was a white skinned, horse-like alien that had a unicorn horn in the middle of its forehead. It had been spliced with a dolphin-like creature, so from the torso on down, it had a dolphin body and tail, resulting in a bizarre looking mer-creature. The hybrid flopped around in the straw that served as its bedding and stared at her, mournfully. Lady Rose gave the thing a disdainful look and turned her attention back to Josiah.

"This way, my Lady," he said.

He pointed to a large object in the back of the room that was hidden beneath a tan tarp. Lady Rose walked over to it and stared at it silently, while Josiah walked around the other side. With a flourish, he pulled the tarp off. Lady Rose stared at the huge gun that sat on a large tripod. Josiah walked around it, stood beside her, and gave her a proud smile.

"Behold, my Lady, my latest invention. I call it the multi-dimensional tractor beam."

"What does it do?"

"It penetrates the void between dimensions and allows me to capture objects from other universes."

"Really? And what use is that?"

"Oh, it has many uses, my Lady. For one thing, it will allow me to carry on with my hybrid experiments by allowing me to capture species from other dimensions. Not only that, we can also capture technology that will be used to conquer our enemies."

Lady Rose nodded.

"And how will you know that your…tractor beam has found objects in other dimensions, Josiah?"

He smiled.

"I have radar and sonar built into the device. All I need to do is shoot the tractor beam up into the air; it will open a small hole in the fabric of reality, go through the void and out into another dimension. The radar and sonar will then began scanning for objects and life forms. Once I have found something, I can then lock onto it, and pull it back through the void and into our reality. The other good thing about this device is it can also be used in this dimension as well, so I can also target any planet in this universe that is currently out of our reach."

Fascinating, Josiah. Once again, you have outdone yourself," Lady Rose said. "Perhaps a quick demonstration is in order then?"

"As you wish, my Lady," Josiah said. "Would you like me to find something in this dimension or another?"

"Another dimension," Lady Rose said. "I want to see what lies out there in the universes beyond ours."

"Of course, my Lady, follow me."

Josiah grabbed the back of the device and wheeled it out through the back door. Lady Rose followed him.

"I see that the device is portable," she commented.

"Yes, my Lady, I used light materials when I constructed it, that way we can move the tractor beam, and aim it wherever we want."

He wheeled it out onto a nearby balcony and aimed it up at the sky.

"Now, my Lady," he said, looking at her. "Let's do a little fishing between dimensions and see what we can catch, eh?"

He pushed a button, and they watched as a bright beam of light shot up into the night sky.