‘Caroline, Danny, come here,’ said the Doctor, ushering them over to him with one hand, whilst the other was pressed up against the wall of one of the structures.
‘What is it?’ said Danny. There was a note of weariness in his voice, Caroline thought. She couldn’t understand why he seemed to have no interest in this world at all. He just wasn’t the exploring type, she supposed.
‘Put your hand against it,’ the Doctor said. Caroline and Danny both did so.
‘What is it?’ asked Caroline, not grasping what she was feeling for.
‘Can’t you feel it? There’s a force there. It’s almost humming with energy. It appears to be ceramic upon visual inspection, but when you touch it… it’s so clearly alive.’
‘Yes,’ said Caroline, ‘I can feel it.’ The Doctor was right, she thought. It did feel alive. There was movement. It was subtle, but it was there. The substance felt like it was pushing back against her hand. Gingerly, she pinched it, taking a small amount between her fingers. Gently, she tugged.
‘It feels like silly putty!’ she exclaimed.
‘Yes, it does, doesn’t it?’ said the Doctor, amused. ‘I do so like silly putty. I used to play with it a lot in my last incarnation. I loved blowing bubbles through it. I got one to the size of my entire torso once.’
‘I can’t tell what you’re feeling for,’ said Danny. ‘It doesn’t feel alive to - ’. He was suddenly cut short. A look of fear crossed his face.
‘Danny, what’s wrong?’ cried Caroline.
He looked round, an expression of pain and horror in his eyes. Then he grinned.
‘Had you there, didn’t I?’ he chuckled.
‘Oh, Danny, that’s not funny!’
‘Yes Danny, that’s quite enough of that sort of thing,’ said the Doctor, suddenly serious.
Danny looked slightly hurt. I was only joking, he thought. He started to feel a little angry. Why does the Doctor treat me like a liability? He felt aggravated by the unfairness of it. He never wanted to come to this planet, so why should he be punished for trying to enjoy it?
Wait, he thought. What am I thinking? I’m thinking like a child. What is wrong with me today?
Before he had a chance to say anything by way of apology, Hesper called them over. He pointed ahead with his three hoofed fingers.
‘Desiato is in the central hall,’ he said. ‘Come with me.’
They followed the alien towards what was by far the largest structure in the village. It appeared to be formed of spires, much like the smaller buildings, but they had twisted together into a huge circus-tent-like object.
Hesper walked up to the wall of the structure, and put his hand onto a screen that appeared almost grafted into it. The screen lit up, apparently scanning his palm, and, with a sloppy creaking sound, like a man sucking a sherbet lemon, a rift opened in the material of the wall, expanding to form an archway.
Hesper gestured the three travellers through the doorway. They walked through, into a cavernous hallway.
‘Fascinating,’ said the Doctor.
Though the outside of the building looked almost alive, the inside looked like a Hammer scientists laboratory. It was a fusion of life and machinery, looking not unlike how one would imagine the inside of oneself. Cables, humming with power, twisted their way up the curved walls, embedded in the material and grasped by tentacular protuberances that grew from the walls. Cameras protruded from the walls, and were the walls met at the very top, a huge cluster of light bulbs sprouted. Caroline had the distinct feeling the building itself was watching her.
The hall was filled with seats, simple growths that extended from the floor and stretched to form a bottom-shaped cavity. They were positioned in a rough circle. One seat was positioned slightly forwards from the rest, facing the doorway. In it sat an imposing looking man with short cut fair hair and a strong, masculine face. To his right sat another of the Tarrokku, one with a bluer tinge to his fur than the two the travellers had previously met. To his left, a younger looking human, a thin man with very short black hair, who looked suspiciously at the trio.
‘So you are our mysterious visitors,’ said the man in the middle.
‘Mysterious?’ said the Doctor, smiling slightly. ‘Glad that I can still pull that one off. One never wants to be obvious.’ He bowed his head ever so gently, parting his hands in a gesture of goodwill. ‘Captain Desiato, I presume?’ he said, snapping his head up to look the man in the eye.
‘I am. This is Walters, my weapons officer, and Huhrun, Captain Hesper’s first officer.’
Huhrun bowed gently towards the travellers, while Walters merely gave them a false-looking grin, just a step away from a derisive sneer.
‘I am the Doctor, and these are my friends, Caroline and Danny,’ the Doctor announced.
‘Hello,’ said Caroline, waving and smiling a little nervously.
‘Hi,’ said Danny, sneering back at Walters.
‘And your other friend…?’ queried Desiato, raising a eyebrow.
‘Hmm?’ The Doctor looked around, and noticed that Polly was still on his shoulder. ‘Oh, I’d forgotten about you.’ He looked back at Desiato. ‘Just a friendly native we picked up on the way.’
The captain slid down from his chair and walked towards the Doctor. He fixed him with his tried-and-tested steely gaze.
‘Excuse me for being blunt, but just how did you come to be here? We had no indication that any ships were approaching; our remaining instruments would have told us something as conspicuous as that. Ha, we would have seen you with our own eyes!’ He chuckled slightly, though not much, since it wasn’t funny.
‘We arrived in a time-and-space machine that’s the size of a planet on the inside but smaller than a Portaloo on the outside,’ said Danny.
‘Forgive me,’ said Desiato, ‘but that does sound a little unlikely.’
‘Well, you only have to live with the idea; I have to live in the damned thing!’
‘Although my companion sounds as though he is attempting a joke, he is in fact being entirely serious,’ interjected the Doctor. ‘We have indeed travelled here in a temporal travel capsule. It is called the TARDIS. It stands for-’
‘Doctor, this is indeed fascinating, but you must again forgive me for questioning you,’ said the captain. ‘What I really need to know is this: what supplies does this vessel of yours contain? We urgently need medical supplies, parts to repair our machinery. Meat, too, would be received gratefully, if it could be spared.’
‘Nothing larger than that creature lives on this world,’ said Hesper, indicating Polly.
‘By all means, you may have as much as you need,’ said the Doctor. ‘The TARDIS contains plenty of food and medicine, and I dare say I could find enough bacon for a round or too of sandwiches for all. How many of you are there on this planet?’
‘Fifty-six,’ said Desiato. ‘From an original total of both crews of two hundred and one.’
The Doctor closed his eyes, and sighed remorsefully. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘The trip through the wormhole was not a easy one,’ said Hesper, ‘Much of our medical staff were killed.’
‘On both sides. Very few of either crew made it to the surface. Thankfully those who did land were not badly injured for the most part. Living without doctors has not been too much of a difficulty, until-’
‘Until the disease began,’ said Walters, stepping forward at last. His voice had a high, nasal quality.
‘Disease?’ queried the Doctor.
‘It seems that some kind of pathogen has been infecting the human members of our colony,’ said Hesper. ‘Our limited supplies have been useful in treating some of the symptoms, but we have not been able to purge the infections from the patients systems.’
Caroline and Danny both took involuntary steps backwards.
‘We do not believe it is spread through the air,’ said Desiato. ‘It seems to have been contracted through the food supply.’
‘With nothing to fall back on, you must continuously take in the microbes,’ observed the Doctor.
‘Indeed,’ said Walters. ‘But only the humans are affected. The Tarrokku are immune.’ A note of distaste entered his voice as he spoke the name of the race.
Huhrun finally spoke, his sonorous voice booming at them.
‘Are you again implying something, Walters? Or is your voice stuck in that snivelling tone?’
‘Gentlemen,’ said Desiato. ‘Please. There is no need for these squabbles.’
‘I’m glad you two captains have put aside your differences. It’s good to see that some people are willing to look beyond past differences.’
‘You said that the war finished recently, Doctor,’ said Hesper. ‘For us it finished when we became marooned here. This planet cares not what race we are; we are equal as aliens in this land.’
‘He’s used that speech before,’ said Desiato, a grin on his face. He seemed to be lightening up somewhat. ‘You say you are a doctor? Perhaps you can help defeat this disease.’
‘I’m not that kind of doctor, but I do have some expertise. We’ll be happy to help. Won’t we?
‘Of course we will,’ said Caroline.
Danny said nothing.
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