Prologue
A mottled red and brown planet hung silently in space.
Even though it was the middle of the night in the jungle, it was still stiflingly hot and humid. A slight mist drifted through the warm air. Huge grey-brown trees twisted their way to the top of the dark, leafy canopy, their trunks festooned with thick, fleshy creepers that dangled to the jungle floor. The ground was covered in dense, lush foliage and long grasses that competed with each other for space. In the distance, the low growls and cries of exotic, alien creatures filled the night air.
Suddenly, the bushes and grass began to thrash about as something crashed through the night. Hoarse panting replaced the animal noises as a figure stepped into a small clearing. About the size of a man, but taller and leaner, the creature resembled a living tree. It had humanoid features but grown from wood, with bark instead of skin, and shoots and leaves that sprouted from its head. It wore a white and copper robe that was mud spattered, dirty and torn. It was a Cheem, and it knew it was close to death. What it had discovered could mean the end of the colony, but it knew that it would never return to the comforting branches of its Home tree.
The only hope that it clung to was that its brother Cheem was safe. Kloon was little more than a stripling, his branches still green and strong, but they had grown in the same soil; shared their minerals and water.
The Cheem looked wildly about as it heard a strange rustling from behind. It held one arm awkwardly, cradling it in the other as brown blood seeped from a nasty slash just below the shoulder and dripped freely to the ground.
It paused, grimacing in pain as it fought to find breath, the sap pumping through its veins. Then its eyes widened in terror as it heard a rustling from the depths of foliage. The creature was getting closer. Stifling its panic in a whimper, the Cheem started running desperately away from its terrifying pursuer.
Suddenly, something reared up in front of it and the Cheem fell backwards to the ground with a cry. It looked up in horror as the creature stood over him, hissing and chittering in triumph, its many dark eyes filed with cruelty and malice.
The jungle night was interrupted by a terrifying scream………..
1.
The Federation spaceship Darwin emerged from hyperspace with a flash and flew towards the small red and brown planet.
"Now entering the Lanos system Captain," reported the pilot from the front of the bridge. "We'll be at Lanos III in a few minutes."
"Understood, thank you." Doctor Ian Taylor shifted uncomfortably in the command chair. He would never get used to being called 'Captain', even on a smaller science ship like the Darwin.
Next to Taylor stood the Doctor, now dressed in a new dark crimson suit but still with his familiar long brown coat. He put on his glasses and gazed at the planet on the view-screen as they approached. "Yup, this is it," he nodded, "this is where we answered the Ice Warrior's distress call all right." He took off his glasses and smiled at Taylor. "Lanos did you say? What's down there?"
"Not much," shrugged Taylor, "it's fairly hot being close to the sun – mostly jungle and swamp I think. But it's a Cheem colony world. Heard of them?"
The Doctor nodded. "Met them once too!" His mind drifted back to Platform 1 so long ago. "Incredible species – living trees!"
"We'd better contact them," Taylor signalled to the comms officer sitting next to the pilot who nodded and started to push buttons on his console.
The door to the bridge rolled open and a pretty and elegant young woman entered. Katherine de Gallois, the Doctor's companion was now dressed in fawn trousers, brown boots and a dark green top with a matching short jacket over it. She walked past Taylor and touched him affectionately on the arm. "Are we there yet?" she grinned cheekily at the Doctor.
"Just about," smiled the Doctor, putting his arm over her shoulders as she approached him.
Katherine looked at the planet on the screen. "Doctor, it could be anywhere!"
The Doctor shook his head. "The TARDIS is down there somewhere – we just have to find it!"
"But how?"
He tapped his nose slyly. "Oh, I have my methods!"
"Contact with the Cheem colony Captain," reported the comms officer.
The image on the screen changed to show an older female Cheem dressed in a sumptuous green robe. The colour of her bark-like skin was a dark grey and the leaves and shoots on her head were partly brown.
"Greetings Captain," said the Cheem inclining her head with respect, "I am Councillor Malk."
2.
"I'm Captain Ian Taylor of the Federation science vessel Darwin Councillor," Taylor replied, unconsciously straightening his blue and white uniform jacket.
"How can we help you Captain Taylor?"
Taylor paused. "I'm afraid the Federation has, ah, lost some equipment that has landed on your planet."
Malk's eyes flashed angrily. "If you mean the debris from the Martian ship, then most of it burnt up on entering our atmosphere. If it had not, there would have been a catastrophic loss of life!"
Taylor held up his hands. "Yes I know Councillor, it was a most unfortunate accident, but I thought you only had a small colony on Lanos III?"
"All the jungles and forests are life Captain!"
Taylor was getting flustered – he was a doctor not a diplomat! "Of course….. the missing equipment is not dangerous I assure you, just a large blue box apparently." He glanced at the Doctor who just nodded. "Would you allow us to land?"
Malk's expression changed. "Land? I will…..have to consult with the council. I will contact you…shortly."
The image the screen changed to the planet again as Malk cut the connection.
The Doctor had been watching Malk. "She's hiding something," he said thoughtfully.
Lieutenant Zoe Peters, the Darwin's security officer, piloted the shuttle expertly as it descended into the atmosphere of Lanos III. Next to her sat Katherine who gazed out of the cockpit window with wonder. Entering this strange, new world reminded her of the aqua-pod on Lemeria when the Doctor had left her and Megan at Reef City One.
Katherine glanced across at Zoe and grinned.
Zoe smiled back. She was a little older than Katherine, probably in her early thirties and a few inches taller too. She had mid-length straight blonde hair, blue eyes that were both warm and efficient at the same time, and a strong, angular jaw.
In the seats behind the two women sat the Doctor and Taylor, and behind them in the rear of the shuttle were two security personnel – Michaels and Carver.
"At least they let the shuttle land," shrugged Taylor.
The Doctor nodded absent-mindedly. "Hmm, well there wouldn't be anywhere for the Darwin to land except the colony itself, and we don't want to go there yet anyway."
"Don't we?" asked Taylor.
"Nope!" The Doctor reached over Zoe and tapped some buttons on the sensor controls. "Aha!" He flashed a grin. "There she is!"
3.
The Doctor pointed to some co-ordinates that registered on a display screen. "Try and bring us in as close to there as you can."
"But the sensors didn't pick up anything over there just now?" frowned Zoe, checking the controls.
The Doctor winked at a smiling Katherine. "Well, they wouldn't know what to look for!"
The shuttle soared over the vast jungle of the alien planet as it dropped below the grey, oppressive clouds. Enormous trees twisted and snaked up from the ground tangling together to form an enormous green canopy that seemed to stretch in all directions as far as the eye could see.
With surprisingly delicate manoeuvres, the shuttle extended its landing struts, folded up the flight wings so they were vertical and landed gently in a small clearing that wasn't much bigger than the vehicle itself.
A mist drifted through the air as the hatch in the side of the shuttle rolled open and a ramp extended until it touched the marshy ground below. With the Doctor in the lead, the six-strong crew walked slowly down the ramp and came to stand in the clearing.
The Doctor looked around him with interest, a grin on his face as he took a deep breath of air. It tasted soft with a pungent sulphurous tang, but the grin never left his face. "Lt. Zoe Peters, that was truly incredible piloting," he beamed.
Zoe replied with a nod and a small smile while she checked that her Federation blaster rifle was primed. She glanced across to Michaels and Carver who, to her satisfaction, were doing the same. They both nodded back to her.
In contrast, Taylor, still unused to his new command, had slung a medical kit over his shoulder. 'Hard to shake the habit," he confessed with a shrug.
Katherine picked her way carefully through the muddy ground and peered into the darkness of the dense, alien foliage around her. "Have we landed far from the TARDIS?"
The Doctor blew a breath from his cheeks. "No, not really; a few minutes walk, that's all." He held up his finger, waggled it about and then pointed into the jungle. "This way, come on." He switched on a torch and started off.
Katherine rolled her eyes with a smile and walked after the Doctor. Cautiously watching all around them, the four Federation officers followed the two time travellers into the shadows.
The jungle mists swallowed them up.
4.
They had walked through the dark and humid jungle for nearly ten minutes, and Katherine could see that the Doctor's frown was getting deeper and deeper
"Shouldn't we have found the TARDIS by now?" she asked, pushing a vine out of her way as she walked.
He nodded with frustration. "If only the Ice Warriors had returned my sonic screwdriver." He stopped and swivelled on his heels, looking all around him with frustration. "It should be here!"
Suddenly, a terrible high-pitched wail burst from the jungle behind them.
Katherine jumped and grabbed at the Doctor's arm as the terrifying noise echoed through the jungle night air before abruptly ending. "What was that?" she gasped nervously.
Zoe, Michaels and Carver raised their blasters higher and Zoe glanced at the Doctor. "I don't know, but it doesn't sound friendly! Some kind of hostile jungle life Doctor?" she asked.
The Doctor nodded slowly, scanning the dense foliage for any further movement. "Yup – probably very large and very hungry…..."
Taylor looked behind them as some of trees and bushes began to move wildly. "Are we just going to stand here and talk about it?"
The Doctor looked through the dark jungle night. Something was coming towards them. "Nope! Run!"
He grabbed hold of Katherine's hand and, followed closely by the Federation officers, they ran deeper into the jungle.
The creature, that resembled a small dinosaur with a brown and green hide, a ridged crest that ran down its back, and a mouth full of very large and very sharp teeth, gave another bellow and started to run after them.
Katherine thought her lungs were going to burst. The Doctor was running through the jungle at incredible speed and she was glad that his grip on her hand was firm. She had stumbled a few times over the rough terrain and each time the Doctor had hauled her to her feet and kept her going.
Behind them, the Federation security guards ran a rearguard action, occasionally squeezing off a shot at the hostile creature. "I think it's gaining on us!" Carver hollered.
"Then keep running!" yelled the Doctor.
Suddenly, the ground simply gave way beneath the Doctor and Katherine. Katherine thought she was actually flying through the air until she realised that they had stumbled into what felt like a ravine. The alien fronds and foliage had disguised the edge until it was too late.
5.
Taylor watched with horror as the Doctor, Katherine and then Zoe simply disappeared into the ground in front of him. He staggered to a halt and turned to warn Carver and Michaels of the danger and his eyes widened in fear. The creature was almost upon them.
Katherine held her breath, her hand still tightly gripped by the Doctor, as they fell. A terrifying picture of them lying at the bottom of a cliff, their limbs broken and twisted, flashed through her mind.
Then it was over, and all the breath was knocked from her lungs as she hit the ground – or rather the Doctor. He had, with amazing agility, managed to twist in midair so that he cushioned her fall.
"You're heavier than you look!" he muttered from underneath her.
Katherine got unsteadily to her feet, still dazed. She shook her head to clear it. "What happened, are you alright?" She offered the Doctor her hand and he jumped up, dusting off his long brown coat.
"We took a bit of a tumble, that's all," he said looking up.
"We could have been killed!" Katherine gasped.
The Doctor grinned. "Yeah, but we only fell about twenty feet, and we landed on something soft. Well, you did anyway – me!" He looked up again at the sound of a roar from the creature. "What happened to the others?"
"Doctor, Katherine?" came Zoe's voice from above them. "You two okay?"
The Doctor and Katherine exchanged a glance before the Doctor picked up his torch where he had dropped it in the fall. Miraculously it still worked and he shone it upwards. The bright beam of light cut through the jungle darkness to reveal Zoe swinging on the end of a jungle creeper about fifteen feet above them.
"What's happening up there Zoe?" shouted the Doctor
Zoe kicked against the side of the pit to turn herself around and then looked down at the Doctor and Katherine. "I don't know."
There were some more shots from above, the sounds of people running, the heavy thuds of the creature as it moved, and then a terrible human scream.
Zoe looked up. "That was Michaels!" She started to scrabble up the vine.
"Don't move!" ordered the Doctor. "There's nothing you can do."
Katherine reached over to hold the Doctor's hand as they waited. They heard the sounds of the creature moving away into the jungle and then there was a terrifying silence.
6.
The Doctor squeezed Katherine's hand as a tear rolled down her cheek. Katherine was a compassionate woman and unnecessary and violent death upset her – even after being with the Doctor for so long. He swept the torch around them. "It looks like we're in some kind of pit Zoe."
Zoe was frozen, her face a mask of shock. She swallowed, shook her head, and then started to crawl down the vine she hung from. "Wait a minute, I'll get down to you."
"No," the Doctor shook his head. "Find out what happened and then find some more vines or creepers."
Zoe nodded. "OK, I get it. Tie them together and make a rope."
The Doctor nodded, trying to summon up a smile at a stricken Katherine. "That's the idea." He shone the torch upwards again, and could just see Zoe as she pulled herself over the edge of the pit. "Be careful." he shouted up to her.
The Doctor put his arm around Katherine. "There was nothing we could do," he whispered. She just took a deep breath and nodded.
After a few seconds, Zoe peered back down into the pit. "The creature killed Michaels, but there's no sign of Captain Taylor or Carver."
Katherine's eyes lit up with hope. "Then they could still be alive."
"They probably tried to lose it in the jungle – there's still hope," smiled the Doctor. "Zoe, can you raise them on your communicator?"
Zoe nodded. "I'll give it a go." She pulled the communicator from her belt and switched it on but there was only the buzz of static. She shook it with frustration and then leant over the pit again. "It must've been damaged when I fell."
"Then take a quick scout about and see if you can find those creepers."
"Back as soon as I can." Zoe said and vanished with a wave.
Katherine heard her move off into the jungle as the Doctor put his hand on her shoulder. "Well, now she's gone, what shall we do? Sing campfire songs, tell each other ghost stories?" His voice dropped in a mock menacing tone.
She shook her head. "I'll pass thanks."
The Doctor swept the torch about again, the beam cutting through the darkness revealing the earth and rock around them. The hole they had fallen into was, he estimated, about thirty feet in diameter. "Could try to look for a way out down here?"
"Doctor……..is this thing natural or……."
"Did someone – or something – dig it out?" The Doctor finished her sentence. "I thought you didn't want to hear ghost stories." His tone became serious. "Zoe will be back in a minute, but let's not waste the time, let's have a look around."