"Let's go someplace even you've never gone before."
The Doctor grinned; Rose was a girl after his own hearts. "Well, I could set the randomizer on full-automatic. What d'you think? Should we let it choose a destination for us?"
Rose flashed him a delighted smile. "Let's do it."
The Doctor worked at the console, adjusting various settings and twisting knobs. "All set. Care to do the honours?" He indicated a large, rarely-used button on the console. She mock-swaggered up to him and punched the button. The Tardis lurched and she stumbled into him, his arms – and quick reflexes - breaking her fall. He stared down at her for a moment while she felt herself flush, and then, responding to an unspoken agreement, they separated and turned their attention to the monitors.
"Year three hundred fifty-two thousand twenty-three," he pronounced when the Tardis had stopped. He studied the coordinates. "Hmm… This doesn't look familiar. Far as I know, there shouldn't be anything here at all."
"Well, we've obviously landed on something," Rose pointed out.
"Perhaps we should – "
"Go somewhere else?" They both laughed.
Stepping out of the Tardis, they took in their surroundings.
Rose gasped. It looked like they had landed in the middle of a huge forest fire - but there was no smell of smoke. The Doctor grinned impishly and she realized her mistake. The trees which spread out over the surrounding hills weren't burning. The leaves of brilliant red, orange, and yellow hues were actually glowing in the light of the setting sun.
"It's gorgeous!"
The Doctor gazed around in rapt wonder. This was the sort of moment that had kept him traveling all these centuries. There was so much in this amazing universe that he still didn't know.
"Fancy a stroll?" He offered her his arm. She took it, smiling.
"Have you ever seen trees like these before?"
"Nothing on this scale, but many planets produce some form of bioluminescent life."
"Like glow-worms?"
"Right, but the chemical reactions taking place in those leaves must be creating an enormous amount of energy. I've never seen anything like it. And look at the size of that fruit!" He indicated an orange bulbous form, like a very large breadfruit, hanging from a branch nearby.
They continued their walk, hand-in-hand. The sky was growing darker, but the trees provided plenty of light. So intent were they upon the beautiful canopy around and above them that the Doctor almost didn't notice several darker shapes following along at a discreet distance until another figure stepped out from behind a tree right in front of them.
Camouflage was clearly a major element in this being's evolution. It was humanoid, of unclear gender - tall, slim, with a very long neck and shiny, mottled skin of brown, red, and orange. It wore simple, drab clothing. What Rose at first thought were dreadlocks were actually knobby plumes of the same colours, creating a tufted mane around the being's face, which was striped, with large, oval eyes, tufted eyebrows, and long nostrils. The large mouth betrayed no expression as it studied them.
"Hello!" said the Doctor, brightly. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler."
"You are new to Aktum."
The creature's voice was pleasant, low and resonant.
"Is that the name of this planet? Yes, we just got here. Lovely place," she added.
"You must join us." Whether this was a command or request was unclear, and the creature's behavior offered no hints. Five more of the creatures materialized around them, but they carried no weapons, nor did they behave in a threatening manner.
"Why not?" the Doctor replied, as though they'd just been invited for a round of drinks at the local pub. For all he knew, they had.
They fell into step in the middle of the group. The creatures appeared friendly enough and, in answer to their questions, the leader – these people didn't use names - explained that its people referred to this world as Aktum, which in their language simply meant "home". They were being led to a nearby village, also called Aktum, where they would be welcomed as friends.
The village was small, with a smattering of huts built from forest brush and situated around a central square. A very few adults (judging from their size) busied themselves with household chores and kept watch over a surprisingly large number of children at play.
Their guide explained that most of the other villagers were off tending to the forest, but would return shortly for the evening meal. They were invited to explore the village until it was time to eat. A hut would be prepared for them where they could retire after the evening's festivities.
Rose smiled as she watched the meal, mostly root vegetables, being prepared. It looked awful, but smelled appetizing. There was something very comforting about this place; the villagers welcomed them warmly and treated them as honoured guests.
The Doctor left Rose by the communal fire pit (which was situated safely away from the surrounding forest) and wandered over to where a small group of children played with dolls fashioned from sticks, stones, and fabric made from the husks of some type of plant. Even the game being played by the children indicated the peaceful nature of these people; there was no pretend-fighting among the toy props, only friendly conversation and cooperation. One toy, in particular, caught his eye. It was more intricately crafted than the others, roughly cylindrical in shape with small, shiny stones affixed to the outside of the fabric body. He bent down and asked the small child holding it whether he might take a closer look. The child rose and handed it to him.
The Doctor felt a chill sweep over him, despite the warmth of the evening. The object was crudely shaped, but there was no mistaking what it was meant to represent.
He was holding a toy Dalek.
Carefully hiding his alarm, he gently asked the child, "Can you tell me what this is?"
"That's a Dalek, of course."
"Have you ever seen a real one?" he asked. The child nodded. "Are there any Daleks here now?"
"Yes. "
The Doctor glanced over at Rose, who was deep in conversation with several of the cooks. "Can you tell me where?"
The child pointed toward a larger, windowless hut which he had taken for a storage shed. He handed the toy back to the child, drew his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, and moved cautiously toward the door of the hut. It didn't seem possible that Daleks would be hiding here - the villagers would all be dead, for starters. He nudged the door open just a crack and peeked in, but it was too dark to make anything out. He set the screwdriver to emit a faint beam of light and tried again. Most of the hut was filled with food stores. Shifting the light into a corner, he found what he was looking for. Half a dozen Daleks were crowded into a small area between a crate of potato-like roots and a pile of drying brush.
Something wasn't right here. He forced himself to calm and entered the hut. The Daleks did not move, and he quickly realized why.
They were dead.
Someone came in behind him – their guide from earlier.
"What are…these… doing here?" the Doctor asked, unable to keep the anger and disgust from his voice.
"They came to Aktum many years ago," the guide replied. "They were sent here to survey our world for resources, but they chose to remain. They lived with us for many years, and when they died, we buried the bodies as we would our own, but the shells remain."
"That's not possible."
The guide shrugged. "It happened long before my time, but the stories are told often among us."
The Doctor decided to let it go for now; at any rate, these empty Dalek casings were clearly no threat. He returned to the communal fire where Rose, smiling, handed him a bowl of stew.
"You've got to try this. It's amazing!"
The Doctor took a sip from the bowl. It was rather bitter, but edible. He didn't think much of it.
While they ate, he told her about his discovery. She seemed to take it in stride.
"Also, I think I've worked out what this world is – why the Tardis had no record of it," he told her as she worked on her second helping. "A long time ago, the Time Lords identified a number of planets with very unique evolutionary patterns, threatened by exploitation from other worlds. Bit like the Galapagos Islands on Earth, in fact. Anyway, they declared these worlds to be protected reserves, removed them from the charts, and placed a type of perception filter around them to prevent rediscovery. Of course, that policy ended long ago, so I'm not sure why this world is still unknown - especially given the potential of the biochemical energy generation here."
Rose nodded. "Those trees are definitely different," she offered.
"Yes, but I think there's more to it than that. These people appear to have some sort of symbiotic relationship with the forest. They don't just scratch out a living here; they actually play a part in the forest's lifecycle."
"Like what?" she asked.
"I don't know, exactly."
"Well, plenty of time to find out – which reminds me, we're going to be in that hut over there." She pointed to a small structure near the center of the village.
He nodded. "Just as well, I suppose. Walking all the way back to the Tardis in the dark doesn't sound appealing. Nice of them to put us up for the night."
Rose looked troubled. "Actually, I was thinking… Maybe we could stay here a bit longer. It's so nice here, so…homey, and – and it would give you more time to figure out all the, um, evolutionary stuff."
"How long were you thinking?"
"I dunno. A week, or…more, maybe. " She shrugged. "We could just play it by ear."
He gave her a sidewise glance. This was more than a bit out of character for Rose, who was normally as anxious to move on as he was. Well, perhaps they had been overdoing it a bit lately. A vacation, perhaps a long vacation, might be just the thing, and it was pleasant here, dead Daleks notwithstanding...wait.
The Daleks had stayed of their own volition, living peacefully with the villagers.
"Rose," he whispered, "I think we need to leave now. Tonight."
"No."
"What? Rose, listen to me," he grabbed her shoulders, turning her to look at him. "It's time to go home."
"This is home," she replied woodenly. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that all of the villagers were standing still, watching them. The trees, on the other hand, seemed to be buzzing with excitement.
The truth dawned on him in an instant, but he didn't have time to marvel at it. He had to get Rose back to the Tardis and away from here. He grabbed her hand and started to drag her away, but the villagers surrounded them, not overtly threatening, but intentionally blocking their path.
He stopped. "Okay, I get the point." He let go of Rose's arm and stepped back, and the villagers relaxed and stepped away. He walked back to the firepit and sat down, apparently sulking and idly poking the fire with a stick. Rose stomped into their hut and closed the door.
Once the villagers had stopped paying much attention to him, he began to examine the stick more closely, tasting it and using his screwdriver to analyze its structure. Then he smiled and stood up.
"Well, that's it for me then – I'll just be turning in. You've been lovely hosts," and with that, he turned and went into the hut. Rose was there, sitting on one of the sleeping mats, waiting for him.
"I'm so glad you changed your mind, Doctor," she said, standing up and throwing her arms around him.
He flashed her a smile and said, "Kinda dark in here, don't you think? How's about some light?" He brought out the screwdriver, which emitted a bright light and made an odd humming sound.
"What are you – " She stopped, reached for her head, then promptly collapsed back onto the mat. The Doctor spared a glance out the window; the villagers were falling and the light from the nearby trees was growing dimmer.
Rose stirred, then came to. She looked up at him and grinned ruefully. "I think something was messing with my head – but you knew that."
The Doctor gave her a fond look. "Kind of obvious."
She looked out the window at the fallen villagers. "Was it them, d'you think?"
"No," he said. "The same thing that got to you is controlling them."
"Can we help them?"
"They don't need our help. This is normal for them." Before she could object, he explained, "They're sentient, but not a separate species. They don't even reproduce, not directly, anyway. "
"But, all those children –"
"Seeds," he said.
"Huh?"
"They're seeds – well, seed dispersers - all of them. They carry the seeds from the trees in their hair, plant them where they'll grow best, and clear the underbrush while they're at it. The children aren't fully developed yet, the seeds aren't ready. The babies would have been dropped very recently."
"Dropped? Wait…That orange fruit we saw…"
"Exactly," he said.
"Ewww. So what was that in my head?"
"The forest. It's aware - and apparently has a very powerful psychic power, a kind of gestalt intelligence, I imagine. Fascinating."
"What are you doing to them - it?"
"This? Oh, nothing serious." He smiled. "Just administering a sedative. Come on."
They hurried out the door, out of the village and into the forest. The nearby trees were dim - asleep, but the ones further in were still brightly lit.
"This is going to be tricky. The people will wake up in a minute and come after us, but we're moving too quickly for the sedative to affect the rest of trees before we get to them."
As if to confirm this, a tree root pushed up from the ground right in front of them, tripping them up. They scrambled over it and pushed their way through suddenly-dense branches as the tree started to dim and backed off. This pattern continued all the way back to the Tardis, and now they could hear the sound of pursuit behind them. The villagers, unhampered by the angry trees, were closing in.
Covered with dirt and scratches, they reached the clearing where the Tardis sat just as the villagers caught up to them. The Doctor handed her the sonic screwdriver while he fished out the key to unlock the door. Feeling hands grabbing her clothing and dragging her back, Rose desperately adjusted the light on the screwdriver and flashed it directly in her attacker's eyes, blinding the creature. The door opened, and the Doctor grabbed her other wrist, pulling her in and slamming the door behind them.
The Doctor immediately busied himself at the console; the Tardis whined to a start and disappeared, leaving behind a group of astonished seed-people.
Once they were safely away, Rose said "What they did to me – making me want to stay – that's how they've managed to stay hidden all this time, isn't it? They did the same thing to the Daleks, and probably everyone else who's come here."
"Good point," he said. "That would explain it."
"But it didn't affect you at all?"
He thought about that "long vacation" he'd been considering. "It…may have affected me," he admitted. "Just a little."
She gave him a skeptical look, but dropped the subject.
"So, where to now?"