Chapter 1: The Unpleasant Planet
The Doctor stared at the landscape around him, grey rocks and dust all over. There was a forest in the distance that was just as grey as everything else and beyond that a bright gleaming city. Something terrible had happened here, he could feel it in the air. He turned back towards the TARDIS; he couldn't see any sign of external damage done by the Raston Warrior Robot except…
"It's still a Police Box."
"Why's that a problem?" Ian asked staring at it, "I know it's an odd shape for a time machine but there's no point in complaining."
"No you don't understand Chesterton, it's supposed to change its shape to fit in with the surroundings," the Doctor explained his temper rising just a fraction, "So when it materialised in that museum place it took on this appearance as one of the exhibits."
"Well how does it work then?"
"I told you I don't know."
"Oh. What do you think it would have become this time then?"
"Probably a lump of rock," Susan suggested.
"Well that would have made it very hard for us to find it then," Ian said, "There are loads of rocks round here."
"Yes but the whole point is that nobody else finds it," the Doctor said, "The system that operates the disguise thing seems to have been damaged as well as a few other vital operational systems. We need to find help."
"Because you don't know how to fix it," Barbara commented.
The Doctor replied to this with a very intimidating stare and Barbara turned away.
"Well I suppose the best place to find help would be that city," Susan said.
"Yes but it's an awfully long way from here," Ian said, "Plus well have to go through that forest which doesn't look very pleasant to me."
"Ian no part of this planet looks very pleasant," Barbara said.
A few of the forest trees had been knocked down from the impact while others had just had some branches casually removed. These now lay in a heap on the floor. The heap shifted, and then was thrown away revealing a shining silver man. The Raston Warrior Robot. It sent a report back to its base then awaited orders.
It took them a while to reach the forest, nearly an hour. They made there way through it carefully, trying not to trip over any roots or branches. The Doctor then noticed something about the ground and he bent down to have a look.
"Doctor this is no time to be looking at the floor," a frustrated Ian said.
The Doctor ignored this comment, "Chesterton what do you think this ground is made of?"
"Soil presumably."
"No," the Doctor said and took a handful of it and held it out to Ian.
"Ashes," Ian was shocked to see this, what could turn a large area of soil into ashes.
"Exactly, look around you, what does the appearance of these trees tell you?" the Doctor asked.
The other three looked round at their surroundings, and then Barbara spoke.
"A fire perhaps?"
"Yes I should think so," the Doctor said.
"Then why are all the trees still standing?" Ian asked, "If there was a fire intense enough to do that to the soil then the trees would have been burnt out of existence, and with ashes instead of soil they certainly wouldn't have grown back again."
"No I don't think they have either been burnt down or re-grown," the Doctor said. He grabbed a branch off one of the trees and broke it off in his bare hands, "Petrified," he announced to his stunned audience.
"This can't have been a fire then," Susan said looking round.
"Then it must have been something much worse," Barbara said.
"Yes well we'll have time to find that out when we get to the city," the Doctor said, "I think we should press on.
Hidden deep in the petrified foliage a man watched the Doctor and the others; he couldn't hear what they were saying from this distance though. Then they walked off. The man stayed where he was for a few minutes longer then departed as well.
Barbara felt very nervous as they walked through the forest; these feelings increased the longer then went. It was at least five hours before they were distracted again. They'd just found there way into a clearing when Susan collapsed.
"Susan what's the matter?" Ian asked, sounding worried.
"I…I'm alright," Susan said as the Doctor and Ian helped her get to her feet, but she collapsed again.
"Evidently you're not alright child," the Doctor said.
Ian looked up at the sky; it seemed to be getting darker. Not that it couldn't get much darker then before, it had been pretty murky when they arrived.
"Hey Doctor how soon do you think night falls here?" Ian asked.
"I don't know, why?"
"Because it seems to be falling now," Ian said.
"I see you're point. I don't think it would be wise to carry on at night though; maybe we should stay here until it gets lighter. Maybe get some sleep."
"Good suggestion," Ian said, "Barbara what do you think?"
"I agree with the Doctor," Barbara said.
"Me too," Susan added.
The Raston Warrior robot had remained where it was since it had sent out its message, it would take a while for the signal to reach its destination and then the same amount of time for the reply to come.
Susan woke up with start. She'd been having a nightmare about the Raston Warrior Robot. It had been chasing her down several completely deserted dark streets until finally it had cornered her in a dead end. Then it had leapt out at her. Susan looked round the clearing. Ian was and the Doctor were both lying on the ground sleeping and Barbara…wasn't there. Susan stood up a little unsteady. She looked through the gaps in the trees round them; there was no sign of Barbara. The sky was lighter now, just. How long had they all been sleeping for. Susan decided to wake the Doctor and Ian to tell them the bad news.
Barbara was moving through the forest on her own. She felt dizzy and was completely unaware of where she was or what she was doing. She hadn't been able to sleep unlike the others; they hadn't been actually injured by the Raston Warrior Robot. She'd been feeling very disorientated, then she just got up and wandered off. She'd been going through the forest for several hours now, stumbling and falling every so often. Then finally she collapsed on a shining metal floor.
The Doctor, Ian and Susan were calling out Barbara's name in a desperate attempt to find her again. They'd been searching for at least half and hour and hadn't found anything.
"It's not like Barbara to wonder off on a strange planet," Ian commented, "I don't see why she would."
"What exactly are you suggesting Chesterton?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm suggesting that maybe someone has turned up and abducted her Doctor."
"And what evidence have you got for that possibility? We have seen any sign of life since we got here and if she was abducted why where the rest of us left behind?"
"Well if she was it was probably because she's a woman," Ian said.
"Then why didn't they take me as well then?" Susan asked.
"Probably because Barbara is a bit older then you Susan," Ian said.
Message received and understood.
Current situation considered.
40 possibility of targets on same planet.
Suggested action scan planet for life signs, find any which may be the targets and kill them.
The Raston Warrior Robot processed the information quickly and started sending pulsing signals out across the planet. It detected several different blips as the signals spread out across the planet. It locked on to the blips; it was now able to track the movements of all life on the planet. It selected any that might be its targets, the Doctor and Susan. It selected any groups of two where once was male and the other female. It singled out the nearest group and headed straight for them.
Barbara woke up, she looked round where she was. It wasn't the forest. She now in what she presumed was a street. The walls of the buildings seemed to be made from metal, as was the floor. Barbara tried to remember what had been happening to her, but all she could remember was sitting in that clearing with the others then a sense of dizziness, nothing else. She didn't know what had happened in between, she decide she didn't want to know. All she knew that she must now be insider the city they'd been heading for. She couldn't see anyone around; perhaps it was devoid of life like the rest of the planet seemed to be. But perhaps everyone was indoors; every building seemed to have an open door. There weren't any windows in the buildings though. All the building seemed to be connected together, so perhaps the whole city was just one massive structure. There were covered bridges passing over the streets at intervals. Barbara thought she could hear a faint rumbling coming from a few of them, as though a vehicle was passing over them. This must mean that there was someone here. She peered round all the buildings, then selected one at random and went inside.
The Doctor watched Ian as he climbed up one of the trees to try and get a better view. He'd warned Ian that the fact that the trees could be broken easily would make this exercise very dangerous; in fact Ian had already sent several different branches to the ground which had all shattered like glass on impact. Now the Doctor and Susan were standing back from any more debris Ian planned on introducing to the force of gravity. Ian finally got to the top and looked at the vast view. There wasn't much, there certainly wasn't any sign of Barbara.
"I can't see her Doctor," Ian called down, "But we seem to be quite near the city now."
"Well come back again carefully and we'll be getting even nearer the city," the Doctor said.
"Grandfather, do you think Barbara's gone to the city?" Susan asked.
"I don't know my dear, I really don't know. Now mind that falling branch."
The Raston Warrior Robot was getting nearer its first targets now; it could hear them in the distance. It prepared itself to strike, and to kill.
Barbara wandered through a puzzling maze of corridors that didn't really seem to lead anywhere, except into more corridors, she was now completely lost. She'd tried to find a way back out again but had just got even more lost and confused then before. The corridors themselves were also made entirely out of metal; there were a series of small spheres mounted into the wall near the ceiling about a metre apart from each other. Barbara had noticed them when she came in and hadn't really been looking at them since. If she had she would have noticed that each one was rolling over to reveal a round lens set into it, and each lens was being turned towards her. Watching her, and following her. Barbara carried on through the corridors; she seemed to have been wandering through them for hours. Eventually she decides to have a rest and sat down against one of the walls. She stayed there for at least fifteen minutes before standing up again. What would she do know? She'd try and retrace her steps back outside again. Then something grabbed her from behind. She looked round to a round hole had opened up in the wall and a robotic tentacle had come out of it, it had three curved claws (at least that's what they seemed to be) on the end. And these claws were now locked tightly around Barbara's right wrist. She tried to pull away from it but another tentacle came out of the wall and grabbed her other wrist. Then pulled her back against the wall and a smaller hole opened up and a metal cable came out and wrapped it self round her neck, another round her waist, then two more round her ankles. Barbara was now completely pinned to the wall with no way of escaping, then part of the wall in front of her opened up to reveal another corridor. Only this time there was something in it, only a few metres away from her. Barbara stared at it in horror and then it released a blinding flash of light.