Chapter One
Long, green grass waved gently in a summer breeze. Then the sound of engines filled the air and the grass fluttered wildly as air was forced out of the area to make way for a solid blue London police box that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The whirring engines ground down into silence. A few seconds later, the doors opened.
"Warm. And quiet," Zoe Heriot commented, stepping out onto the grass. "You actually did it."
"Ye of little faith," the mysterious gentleman known as the Doctor said, looking a bit cross. "I got us to the hospital OK, didn't I?"
Jamie McCrimmon, a younger man wearing a kilt, followed them out of the police box and shut the door behind him. "Oh, y' mean that hospital where they put chips in my head and robots in my arm and Cybermen strapped me to a table and tried to cut my brains out?"
"Well, yes," the Doctor agreed. "But they did fix your broken bones."
"It's quite nice here," Zoe commented, laying a blanket out on the grass and sitting herself down. "Where are we?"
"Not a clue," the Doctor admitted. "There wasn't a name for this planet on the TARDIS data banks. Shall we go find out?"
"Let us have our lunch first," Jamie told him. He placed a large picnic basket on the blanket and settled down next to Zoe. The two of them produced books and began reading. The Doctor couldn't help but smile at them as he noticed that Zoe was reading a book on advanced nanotechnology in medicine, while Jamie was reading a 1970's Beano annual.
"Hand me a sausage roll, will y'?" Jamie asked, not lifting his gaze from the comic book.
"Get it yourself," Zoe retorted, eyes trained on her own book. "And get me one too."
The Doctor rolled his eyes and dropped a sausage roll on both of their books. Then he sat down on the grass and gazed across the landscape. "That's odd," he commented after a few minutes.
"What is?" Jamie and Zoe asked in unison, continuing their reading.
The Doctor reached over and snatched the books away. "Look at the wheat growing over there," he said, pointing into the distance.
"What are we looking for?" Zoe asked irritably.
Jamie gasped. "It's moving!"
"No, no, it's not moving, I rather think it's growing," the Doctor corrected.
"That's impossible," Zoe said.
The Doctor absent-mindedly handed her the Beano annual. "Well, shall we go and see about that?"
Zoe and Jamie pulled faces at his back as he strode across the grass, and then ran to catch up.
"See?" the Doctor said excitedly.
"All right, it's not impossible," Zoe said grudgingly as a green shoot popped out of the ground before her. "Can we go back to our picnic now?"
"What?!" The Doctor sounded horrified. "You mean you don't want to find out why it's growing so fast?! Wheat shouldn't grow this fast! It's impossible!"
"But I thought it wasnae?" Jamie said, confused, waving at the wheat which was growing around his ankles. "I mean, it's happening."
"Well, it shouldn't be," the Doctor said decisively. "It's unnatural. Something's going on here and we're going to find out what."
"But… our picnic…" Zoe protested weakly, knowing that nothing would stop the Doctor investigating once his curiosity had been aroused. She groaned and handed Jamie the Beano book. "Oh, here."
Jamie looked longingly back at the picnic basket, then sighed and began following his friends. "So what exactly are we looking for?" he asked, batting wheat out of the way with the book.
"Anything suspicious," the Doctor said, striding over the crest of a hill. "Burnt-out buildings, doors in rocks, unicorns…"
"Crashed spaceships?" Zoe suggested, pointing downhill to a blackened, corroding metal monstrosity of a spaceship that rather looked as if it had been stepped on by a giant, Godly foot.
The Doctor nodded happily at it. "Yes, that's exactly the sort of thing. Come on!"
He skipped down the hill and skidded to a halt next a rusted gash in the metal wall. "Ah yes, we can get in this way I think. Be careful here, you two, this looks a bit sharp."
"Do we have to?" Zoe asked, looking warily at the darkness within. "It doesn't look very safe."
"I'll go first and help y' through," Jamie said gallantly. The Doctor produced a small penlight from his pockets and handed it over. The Scotsman shone the light inside the wreckage and carefully stepped inside. Immediately, a humming noise began and the lights switched on. He leapt out again with a yelp. "It's alive!"
"It's automatic," the Doctor corrected. He stepped past Jamie and into the wreckage. "Motion sensitive. Perhaps it's not all as badly damaged as it looks."
"I am," Jamie said unhappily, holding up his arm. "I cut my arm."
"You'll be fine," the Doctor said heartlessly, taking another step into the ship. "Come on, the interior appears to be stable."
Zoe stepped daintily into the ship after him. After another miserable look at the bleeding cut on his arm, Jamie followed.
The interior of the spaceship looked like every other spaceship Jamie had set foot in. Metal, soulless and stale-smelling. The sunlight disappeared rapidly and the air grew heavier as the trio walked deeper into the wreckage, footsteps echoing on the metal walkways.
After several minutes of walking, they found themselves in front of a large and heavy door. They exchanged glances, then the Doctor stepped forward and pushed it open.
"Oooh," Jamie breathed, looking around the room in interest. Lights of all colours glittered on the metal walls. A large counter stood in the centre of the room, and was covered in a variety of tempting buttons and levers.
"What is it?" Zoe asked, sounding equally awed. She wandered over to the counter and ran her hands longingly across the edge.
"I'm not sure," the Doctor admitted, turning around in a circle. "It's not the navigation systems, and it doesn't appear to be cryogenic or maintenance controls." He wandered across the room to another door and peered into the room beyond. "I wonder if this computer still works?" he questioned aloud, stepping out of the room.
Jamie smiled at Zoe, who was still lovingly stroking the mysterious panel. "Och, you're as bad as the Doctor with t' TARDIS," he teased.
"It's lovely," Zoe breathed. "I wonder what it does? I should like to study it."
"Aye, well no' before we find out if it's dangerous or no'," Jamie warned, waggling a finger at her.
"Oh no, it's far too beautiful to be bad," Zoe said dreamily. She ran her fingers along a line of buttons. "But it probably doesn't work anymore anyway," she added sadly.
"Well, don't go touching anything, just in case now," Jamie warned.
Zoe pulled a face at him. "Why? Scared?"
Jamie puffed out his chest haughtily. "I'm no' scared o' some silly buttons."
"Oh really?" Zoe suddenly reached out and jabbed a blue button then laughed as Jamie squeaked in fear. "Oh Jamie, it does-"
A bright blue light enveloped Jamie, freezing him in place.
"Ah." Zoe took another look at the buttons. "Oh. Perhaps it does work after all."
"Zoe," Jamie said slowly. "Go and get the Doctor."
"Oh no, don't worry, it's all right," Zoe said brightly. "It's all perfectly logical. I can undo it."
Jamie pressed his hands against the blue light, trying to break free of its hold. "No, don't press anything else, just get the Doctor."
"Shh, I'm trying to concentrate," Zoe said crossly. "Hmm. OK. Yes, I think I've got it."
"Zoe, please," Jamie said desperately. "Just get the Doctor and leave t' buttons alone."
"Oh honestly, Jamie McCrimmon!" Zoe exclaimed crossly. "I'm just as clever as the Doctor, you know that! Now, I got you in there, I'll get you out." And with that, she jabbed several buttons in quick succession.
A golden glow enveloped Jamie from head to toe. Red specks began to whirl around him, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Zoe shielded her eyes as the light began to glow brighter. There was a blinding flash and she blinked rapidly to clear the dots in front of her eyes.
After a few seconds, her vision cleared and she gazed in a mixture of horror and amusement at her friend. "You know what, I think I'll just get the Doctor."