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Now they could see that the screens were in fact observation windows, looking down on what appeared to be a swamp. The surface of the swamp was wreathed with a drifting green mist, and as Sam looked closer she realised that what she had instantly taken for moss-covered trees and bushes and rocks were in feet peculiar tangled structures, made of some furry green substance she couldn't identify, but whose shapes reminded her of vast wax sculptures that had been exposed to too much heat and had drooped and sagged and partly melded together.

So incredible was this sight that she didn't notice the Skarasen until they started to move.Then she realised that there were two of them, massive reptiles each thirty to forty feet long, weaving through the scum and the mist, eyes rolling in their savage, blunt-snouted heads, their silver-scaled bodies possessing an unnatural metallic sheen.

All at once the two Skarasen began to thrash and writhe in the scummy water, apparently squabbling over a chunk of meat. One of the cyborgs had the meat clamped in its jaws and the other was lunging forward, attempting to tear it from its companion's grasp.

Litefoot stiffened.'Gad,' he murmured.

'What's up, Professor?' asked Sam.

He turned to her, his nostrils flaring with distaste. Evidently making an effort to control the horror he was feeling, he said, 'I believe you would be well advised to avert your gaze from the distressing scene below, Miss Samantha.'

Immediately Sam looked down into the swamp with renewed interest.'Why?' she said.'I don't see what -'And then she did see. 'Oh my God!'

The two Skarasen were not merely tearing at a chunk of meat, but at a partly devoured human corpse. The legs of the corpse were already gone, and even as Sam watched, a good portion of the torso disappeared with a rending of flesh and a crunching of bones.The Skarasen that was still clinging to its prize, shook the corpse in its jaws, like a predator subduing its prey. Sam saw an arm and a head flop like those of a rag doll. Then the Doctor's hand curled around her shoulder and he drew her gently away.

'That was... horrible! 'she said,putting her hand to her mouth.

'Yes,' said the Doctor gently,'it was. But if it's any consolation, I don't think the poor chap was eaten alive.'

'The scoundrels murdered him first, do you mean?' exclaimed Litefbot.

The Doctor shook his head.'No, I think it's more likely that the body was stolen from its grave. To feed the Skarasen the Zygons would need an almost endless supply of bodies. I think dozens of murders in such a short time in so small an area would be bound to attract attention, don't you?'

Litefoot glanced down into the swamp once more. 'I've never seen creatures of such size,' he marvelled.

'Oh, those are just babies,' said the Doctor, 'like the one that attacked us in the cellar. Even the one that killed Tom Donahue still had quite a bit of growing to do. I suspect the Zygons are pumping the meat full of hormones to speed up the creatures' growth rate.'

'Whatever for?' asked Litefoot.

'Oh, invasion. Colonisation. Something boring like that.' The Doctor gave Sam a reassuring squeeze, then turned back to the control panel. He tweaked a few more ganglions and the membranous shutters slid back across the eyelike windows.

'How are we all feeling?' he asked, looking at Sam.

'Fine,' she said defiantly.

'Splendid. Then we'd better move on. Places to go, people to see and all that.'

'Forgive my curiosity, Doctor,' Litefoot said,'but what precisely, now that we are here, is our plan of attack?'

The Doctor shrugged. 'I thought we'd introduce ourselves, have a little chat, perhaps some light refreshment.'

'You're not serious,' said Sam.

'I'm always serious,' said the Doctor. He led them across the observation chamber and through another of the crystalline doors.

For a while they weaved through the Zygon ship, Sam feeling like a little kid walking through