PROLOGUE
He stared blankly ahead, his limbs shaking. He had been somebody once. But he couldn't remember who that someone was. In fact, he couldn't remember anything of significance, other than the fact that he was there to serve.
He took a few faltering steps in the bleak empty terrain, before falling to the ground. He couldn't remember falling.
So he wasn't aware that he was about to die.
Just a short distance away, the air shimmered as a square indentation settled into the ground. A form began to appear, accompanied by a strange sound that echoed through the air. Gradually the shape solidified into something resembling a London Police Box. The TARDIS had landed.
Stepping out from the craft, its occupant wore a green frock coat with black trousers. The red velvet shirt was open at the neck, the multi-checked waistcoat completing the ensemble. The clothes fitted a tall, slim figure with shoulder length fair hair. "So this is the planet Vestos. Well, I've seen better – and worse, come to that. So…"
Keen eyes fell on the fallen figure in the distance. The time traveller was beside the body in seconds, checking for any signs of life. "No external injuries, but the poor fellow seems done in." Hands were laid on the chest, face and throat. "No tissue displacement, so nothing resulting from a blaster or anything similar. Eyes - dull and lifeless, but may have been that way sometime before death. The face - pale. In fact, the whole state of the body, despite being well developed, suggests some form of malnutrition." There was puzzlement. "Age - no more than twenty years old, at least in Earth terms. But that doesn't equate with this after-death shaking of the limbs. Clothing - seems to be a soldier of some kind, so where are the rest of his troop? Why is he so far from home?"
"And what could have killed him?"
A city was spied on the horizon. "Well, whoever you are I think you must come from there. So I might as well do the decent thing." The body was gently hefted up from the ground, and was draped over the shoulder, in a variation of the fireman's lift. "Right. Let's see about getting you home." And the long journey to the city began.
It was just past the hour when the time traveller arrived in the city. People gathered around almost immediately, as the traveller gently laid the body to the ground. "Is there a Doctor of some description here?" The question was decidedly loud, in an effort to gain some attention.
After a brief moment a short, portly man pushed through the growing crowd. "I'm Dr Nassus. What… oh my word."
"Is he from here?"
"Yes, he was from our regiment. His name… his name was Arus. Where did you find him?"
The traveller pointed toward the distance. "Out there, maybe a couple of miles from here. I'm afraid he was dead when I found him, poor devil."
Dr Nassus quickly oversaw the delivery of the body to the medical wing, and the crowd dispersed. "Well, thank you for you help, err…" He paused, his attention now focussed on the visitor. "Excuse me Madam, but just who are you – what are you doing here?"
The young woman shrugged, brushing the dust from her coat. "I'm just a traveller. As for my name – well, I'm the Doctor."