Rory's Adventure (short story)

Rory’s Adventure was a short prose story published in August 2011 by BBC Children's Books. It tells half the story of an alien invasion of Spaceport One. The other side of the story is told in Amy's Escapade.

Summary
Arriving at Spaceport One, a huge leisure and shopping complex on the outskirts of Dorfnan City, the Doctor stays in the TARDIS. Amy and Rory have some free time to explore. While Amy heads off to the shops Rory heads off for the gadget stores but is soon drawn by the smells of freshly baked bread coming from the back of a bakery.

Seeing an open door, Rory decides to cut through the kitchen to the shop front. When a large archway flickers into life, Rory hides behind a desk. He sees a large reptilian dressed as a baker go over to some controls and send a message to a waiting fleet of invading Reptilidons. The baker identifies himself over the coms as General Mystan and confirms the transmit gateway will be powered up and ready for the army to pass through when the shop is closed.

As the baker returns to the shop, a small boy (Paulus) wanders into the kitchen. Rory tells the boy to run away because it's dangerous. Just then, the baker notices that one of his doughnuts has gone missing. With the baker distracted Rory attempts to sabotage the gateway, but accidentally sets it off. Reptile soldiers in full armour start to appear ahead of the main invasion fleet.

Rory tries to make his escape as Paulus returns – sent back by his friend to find out what’s going on. With a distraction at the front of the shop door, Rory makes a dash for it and runs into the upright rhinoceros that are the Judoon spaceport security guards. The Juddoon take a scan of Rory. When he tells them of a planned invasion led by the baker General Mystan, their records reveal Mystan as a designated Reptilodon enemy.

As the Judoon leap into action to stop the invasion, Rory runs away, before his non-existent papers can be checked. Passing the bakery window, he sees the chaos of a bun fight, but doesn’t hang around before heading back to the TARDIS, where he rejoins Amy.

It seems Amy doesn’t want to explain the jam in her hair, or her lack of shopping bags. They enter the TARDIS. Inside the Doctor has finished his recalibration earlier than he thought and is munching away on a doughnut he nipped out and collected earlier from a nearby bakery!

Characters

 * Eleventh Doctor
 * Amy Pond
 * Rory Williams
 * Paulus
 * Major Mystan

Continuity

 * The Judoon are the guarding police used on Spaceport One.