Horror of the Vervoids

The TARDIS arrived on planet Florus Minor. The planet was a frontier world, with settlers from several different species co existing. This was the time of the Galactic Federation, consisting of Earth, Mars, Alpha Centauri, Vega Nexos, Arcturus, Peladon and many others. The streets were filled with beings from a dozen different worlds. It was a relatively small colony, not many miles wide, and not very technologically advanced. There were one or two advanced buildings, and advanced vehicles, but the whole place was just sitting in the dirt. Only one paved road.

The Doctor and Peri strolled slowly through the shopping district, gazing in the many windows. When Peri stopped to look in the window of her fifth shoe store, the Doctor couldn't take it anymore. "That's it. I'm going back to that cafe' we saw by the dinosaur statue."

"I thought you were on a diet," Peri said as she went into the shoe shop.

The Doctor thought of a very good retort that would put her in her place while simultaneously making himself look like the towering wit that he was, but he would have had to go inside the shoe shop to say it at this point. And it was too late now to appear witty. If he had responded at this time, it would simply have looked petty. So, he did what he said he was going to do and went to the café.

#

Some time later, Peri joined the Doctor at the café while wearing her new shoes. She made sure to stand where he could get a good look at her feet. The shoes were orange, to match her leotard. They had lots of thin straps that snapped into place. Only he didn't notice. She cleared her throat quietly and turned to the side. He still didn't notice. Finally she sat down and fiddled with the salt and pepper shakers as he finished his pastry.

"Hello, there," said a man who came up to their table. "I don't recognize you two. You must be new around here." He had a neatly trimmed beard, very short hair, and wore baggy trousers and a baggy jacket, about three sizes too large.

"That's right," said the Doctor. "We're just here for the patries."

"My name's Woody. I wonder if I could welcome you two here with a ceremony of enlightenment?"

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "What does this ceremony involve?"

"We'll go to my church. We experience the universal connection of all life through an understanding of plants. We meditate and pray and... other things."

The Doctor was immediately alerted by his less than clear meaning. "What other things, precisely?"

"Oh, the smoking of a certain local plant. Cool shoes," he added, smiling at Peri.

The Doctor smiled insincerely, "We don't smoke."

"You don't have to partake. But the ceremony is very spiritual, and it's really insulting to refuse the invitation."

But the Doctor was not to be persuaded. "I rather think it is you who insult me by not accepting my answer that we don't smoke. Now go away."

"Hang on," Peri said. "I'm actually a botany student. I love plants. I think I might want to go and at least listen to what they have to say."

Woody's face lit up. "Wonderful. This way." And he started to lead her out of the cafe'.

Peri paused as she noticed that the Doctor wasn't coming. She leaned in closely and whispered, "Why don't you wanna go?"

"Well first off, I'm a man of science. I'm not interested in some crack-pot hippie religion. And secondly, he seems too anxious. And thirdly, the more determined he is to have us as guests, the more determined I am to refuse."

"Well, I'm going." She suddenly looked worried. "Unless you really think I shouldn't."

"Suit yourself," the lazy Time Lord said stubbornly. "You know where the TARDIS is when you're finished."

"Okay," she said. "But don't leave without me."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Don't tempt me."

Peri pulled a look of mock surprise, "Grouch." Then she turned to follow Woody to his church.

As they approached, Woody explained some of his philosophy, "Plants are so at one with the cosmic all. They don't need shopping malls or computers or vehicles or any of that. They simply stand peacefully, completely fulfilled in life. At one with nature. They are nature."

"We all are," Peri pointed out.

They arrived at what looked like little more than a barn. As soon as they opened the door, they were enveloped by a cloud of smoke. Peri coughed. The interior was just what one would expect from the exterior: an empty barn. There were gardening tools propped up against the walls. In the middle of the room was a large hookah. And around the large hookah were seven other people who were clearly stoned. Some sat on the floor, and others stood up with their arms out, as though they were trees. And they all swayed slightly as though they were each listening to their own private piece of music.

Woody introduced them, "That's Rose. That's Clove. That's Basil. Daisey. Ginger. Jasmine. And Ash. Come on," he said, sitting down next to the hookah.

Peri hesitated, and then sat down as well. "What is that you're smoking, anyway?" she asked, coughing some more.

Woody grabbed a stray mouthpiece and took a huge hit… held it… then blew it out. He paused as he stared at nothing… and then he said, "Did you say something?"

"What is it you're smoking?" Peri asked again, thinking it was about time to leave.

"There's a race of plants here on Florus Minor. Sentient, intelligent plants. For us, they represent the purity of a simpler form of life. We don't quite worship them. But they're kind of a focusing point for our appreciation of life. And to honour them, we smoke them when they die."

Peri coughed again, her eyes getting more and more irritated. "You smoke the ashes of an intelligent plant?" She coughed again, feeling more and more light-headed with every cough. Finally, she got up to go, but immediately fell right back down. She tried to think how she could get out of the barn. But she had trouble remembering which way was up. Something was pressing up against her… which was probably the floor… which meant she could crawl… but now the direction to the door eluded her… it could have been anywhere… and it was so far away…

And she passed out.

#

It was finally morning. Peri had been out all night. The Doctor worked with the TARDIS' console, flipping switches uselessly. Then checking the scanner screen for Peri. He pressed a pointless button or two. Then checked the scanner screen for Peri. He clasped his hands behind his back and circled the console… and then left to go look for her.

The town was small, so he finished his initial search quite quickly. And then he noticed the local Federation Ordinance Office and went inside. The front office was very small, with four seats in the front waiting area, and a single desk where a man sat inspecting his fingernails. The man looked up as the Doctor entered, "Can I help you?"

"Yes," said the Doctor. "A friend of mine has gone missing." He held up a hand to stop the protest he knew would come with the next bit of information. "I know. It's only been a couple of hours. But we're new in town. And she was last seen in the company of a very suspicious person."

The man behind the desk took down Peri's name and physical description. "All right. Have a seat, and I'll be back in a couple minutes."

The Doctor did not sit. Instead, he examined the office. There was a giant wall map of the area. There were general helpful posters on the wall suggesting safety and concern for one's fellow colonist. There were helpful pamphlets lying about. The Doctor picked one up that was titled, "Who is the Alien?" and offered helpful tips on dealing with scary-looking people from other planets, and suggested they might not be so scary on the inside.

A couple minutes later, an Ice Warrior entered the room. The giant reptile was followed by the man who had taken down the Doctor's information. The lumbering green Martian marched up to the Doctor and stood towering over him, breathing heavily. "Can I help you?" the Ice Warrior growled.

"Ah," said the Doctor, quickly realizing he hadn't paid enough attention to that pamphlet. "Yes, I hope so." And he related his story once more, this time in more detail. And when he was finished, the Ice Warrior showed the Doctor photos on the computer screen of different people.

The Doctor finally recognized one of them. The Ice Warrior and the man exchanged significant glances. "That's Samuel 420, but he goes by the name Woody. He's a Vervoid rights activist."

"Vervoid?"

"Yes," the Ice Warrior slurred. "They were created by Earthlings as a labor force. But then other humans formed a Vervoid rights movement and set them all free. This planet now serves as their colony.

"Recently, however, there have been several people reported missing. And we suspect it is the Vervoids. Their colony is about two miles away. And these missing persons were last seen heading in that direction."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Only the last week or so. But before that, there have been some minor skirmishes with the Vervoids ever since they arrived five years ago."

The Ice Warrior turned to the man, "Frobisher, escort the Doctor to their village. If his friend is with Samuel, and they are not here in town, then that is where they will be."

The Doctor shot a surprised look at the man. "Frobisher!?"

"Yeah. Deputy Frobisher."

"Ah." Then he realized that since Frobisher hadn't not recognized him, this was therefore when they first met. He also realized that he had made too much of the name, and Frobisher would think it odd if this had been the first time he was meeting the Doctor. So, the Doctor simply shook the man's hand. "How do you do? I'm the Doctor."

"Hiya, Doc. Well, come on. I'll take you to the Vervoid village."

As soon as they left the office, and stepped outside, the Doctor said, "Are you a Wifferdill, by any chance?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Just a guess."

They got into a small open-topped air car and took off.

#

Peri woke up. She was outside, on the grass under a large shady tree. She sat up, very disorientated. There were some people nearby, a couple of whom she recognized from that smoking ceremony where she had passed out. Had they kidnapped her?

She got slowly to her feet and continued to survey her surroundings. And then she saw them! Plant people! They were bipeds covered in leaves, and their heads looked like some weird pointy kind of vegetable. Woody came up to her.

"You're awake. Good."

Still not sure what was going on, she took a hesitant step back. "Where am I?"

"This is the Vervoid village. It's okay," he said with a smile.

Peri looked for buildings or any kind of structure. There weren't any that she could see other than a shed or something in the distance. "I guess plants don't need houses and buildings."

"That's right. It's like what I was saying earlier. They don't need an of the trappings of our electronic, computerized society. They can just stand there and simply… be in the moment, in the soil, in the universe. Let me show you around."

Woody took her hand and escorted her up to a couple of the Vervoids who were just standing there. "Peri, these are the Vervoids. Guys, this is Peri."

She wasn't sure whether to stick out her hand or not. And they didn't offer theirs, so she didn't bother. "Don't you have names?" she asked.

"We do not." Their voices sounded strained to Peri. Like speaking was not something they did naturally, and they had to make an effort to do so.

She looked closely into the faces of the creatures. As far as she could see, they were all completely identical.

Woody and one of the Vervoids went off to stand there and simply be, leaving Peri speaking to the other, who seemed quite friendly. It asked her what planet she was from, what her life was like back home, and seemed genuinely interested.

Peri looked at the leaf-covered plant person in front of her. It was a miracle of life. A sentient plant. Living… breathing… or was it? "Do you guys breath… or eat or drink?"

"We do not breath in the way that animal kind does. We do not have lungs. But we take in carbon dioxide and let out oxygen. We also absorb water through the roots at the base of our feet. And of course, we need the sun."

Peri looked up to see the sun shining behind the branches of a large tree nearby. Some distant cousin of the Vervoids, perhaps. That was all they needed to be content. She could definitely see the appeal. Woody and the other hippies had a point. To simply stand and be.

The Vervoid reached out an arm/branch. The soft tips at the end, like fingers made of rose petals, brushed against Peri's cheek very gently. She reached up and took the hand in hers. "It must be nice," she said.

"It is not," the Vervoid said. "Others of your animal kind have been cruel to us. There has been fighting off and on for some time. All we want to do is live in peace."

"I'm sorry," she felt obliged to say.

"We know it is not all of you. But enough…"

#

The Doctor and the Frobisher set down in their air car. There were many Vervoids about, and a few humans. And as the Doctor climbed out of the air car, Peri came up to him. They immediately hugged each other in relief. "I was worried!" the Doctor shouted through a veil of concern.

"I'm fine. Come and meet them, Doctor. They're real nice."

But they did not seem nice at the moment. Recognizing Frobisher's official vehicle, angry Vervoids and humans converged on their new visitors. "What is it now? Why do you continue to harass our kind?"

Frobisher held up defensive hands, "We're not. We were just looking for this young lady."

"You have found her. Now go!"

"Yeah, get outta here!" Woody shouted.

"Perhaps we'd better had," the Doctor said as he tried to escort Peri into the air car.

But she did not want to go. "Why are you causing trouble? They just wanna be left alone!"

Frobisher said to the Doctor, "As long as I'm here, I'm gonna take a brief look around." Confident that his deputy badge would keep him safe from attack, he began strolling through the area. There were one or two small dwellings, but mostly for the benefit of their hippie visitors. Vervoids preferred to stand outside in the soil. He headed away from the center of their "village." The woods were quiet and uneventful… until he found a pile of what looked like compost. And it smelled particularly bad. He shoved some of the brush away with his foot and saw another foot. Someone had been buried there! He cleared more brush out of the way and saw that there were four dead beings there, of various different species.

He looked around to make sure he wasn't going to be next. But nobody was watching. He took out his communicator and alerted the Ice Warriors.

He walked back to join the Doctor, Peri, Woody and the Vervoids. "Doc, your friend here was lucky. I just found four dead bodies back there."

The Doctor raised a questioning eyebrow at Peri.

"They attacked us! This was self-defense!" one of the Vervoids insisted.

"Then you should'a reported it," Frobisher said.

"We do not trust you."

Before they could argue any further, a single Vervoid came running at them, seemingly from nowhere! Arms flailing, he charged right at them! Frobisher drew his sidearm and shouted a warning, "Stay back!" But the Vervoid didn't even slow down! With the mad creature nearly upon him, Frobisher fired three shots into its chest. It crumpled and fell… and lay still.

And then there was silence.

Everyone stared at the corpse of their fallen brethren. One by one, they raised their eyes to look at Frobisher.

The Doctor tugged his arm gently, "I think we ought to be leaving now."

They turned and headed for the aircar. The Doctor detoured slightly to try to take Peri's hand. But she tore it out of his grasp. "Peri," he said forcefully. "We have to go."

Peri shook her head, keeping her eyes on the fallen Vervoid. It was an intelligent plant. A completely different form of life to anything she had ever seen. And she thought it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen in all her travels with the Doctor. She breathed heavily, shaking her head. "That plant, that creature, that intelligent being was alive until you and your friend here showed up."

"Peri, we had no choice. You saw that."

She knelt down and brushed her fingers on the green leaves of the dead body. "Just go, Doctor."

As the other Vervoids moved in, obviously readying for a charge, the Doctor turned and joined Frobisher in the aircar. Within seconds, they were safely away.

Woody and the Vervoids joined Peri as they sat and mourned the loss of their friend.

#

The Doctor and Frobisher got back to the Federation Ordinance Office. After hearing the full report, Izlargh the Ice Warrior reached a conclusion; "They must be destroyed. All of them."

"I hardly think that's necessary," the Doctor protested.

The large reptile stepped forwards and used his size to intimidate the Doctor, "Fortunately, I am in charge. And I say they are a threat which we can no longer tolerate. They must be destroyed." He turned to his lieutenant, "Prepare the short-range missiles."

"The what!? But what about the humans in the village!?" the Doctor insisted.

The Ice Warrior turned to Frobisher, "What humans?"

Frobisher answered, "There are a couple in their village. You know, the Vervoid smokers, as well as a friend a' the Doc's."

"Are they being held against their will?"

"Nah."

"Of their own volition?!" the Ice Warrior was baffled and angered by the stupidity of these human hippies. "I am tempted to let them die with their precious plants." He hissed a moment in contemplation, and then said, "Deputy, return to their village and remove the humans."

Frobisher saluted and turned to go. The Doctor followed him. They climbed into the larger of the three aircars parked in the small lot outside. There were enough seats in the rear to accommodate the humans from the village.

#

As they approached, a bright orange spot on the ground caught their attention. It was Peri's eighties pastel garments that she wore. She was running just outside the village. And she was running from what appeared to be three crazed Vervoids.

Frobisher brought the aircar down right in her path. She tried to make for it, when she tripped on something. The Doctor got out to help, fully aware of the pursuing Vervoids who were seconds away. He saw that Peri had been tripped by a vine that was moving! He tried to get it off her ankle, but it wasn't letting go!

"Hurry up, Doc!" Frobisher shouted, gun at the ready as the Vervoids came at them at a full run!

Then other vines came at them, squirming along the ground like snakes on the attack!

The Doctor grabbed the sonic lance out of his pocket, set it to cut, and hacked through the vine around Peri's ankle! They were on their feet in a second and leapt into the aircar! Frobisher had them in the air the moment they were in!

The closest Vervoid leapt onto the hood of the aircar. Frobisher tilted it to one side. There was nothing to catch hold of, and so the crazed plant creature slid off the smooth metal surface and fell to the ground below.

They rose higher into the air; safe.

They flew around the general area, looking for the others. And they found them quickly enough. They too were also fleeing the plants. In all, they picked up five of them, including Woody.

They continued to circle for a few minutes, to make sure they had rescued everybody.

As he sat there, the Doctor pondered the situation. Plants that attacked rang a nasty little bell in his head. And then he saw it! A Krynoid! It was at least fifty feet high and moving along the ground towards the main area of town. And there were several Vervoids near it. Moving alongside, completely under its spell.

"I need to use your radio," he told Frobisher as he grabbed the microphone, "Izlargh, are you there!? It's the Doctor! Listen to me! It's not the Vervoids you need to worry about! It's a Krynoid! It's controlling them! Making them hostile!"

"Get back here," was all the Ice Warrior had to say.

They flew quickly into town and landed. The Doctor climbed out of the aircar and took a quick moment to notice just how much foliage there was in town. Bushes, trees, ivy everywhere. And all of it, potential soldiers in the Krynoid's army. The hippies wandered off while Frobisher, the Doctor and Peri ran into the Ordinance Office. Izlargh greeting them, "Where is this Krynoid?"

They went to the giant wall map where the Doctor pointed out exactly where it had been, and where it was heading. It was heading directly to this town. Fortunately, the Ice Warriors were familiar with Krynoids, so the Doctor was spared the conversation he had been dreading, in which he had to convince someone that this giant space plant was controlling all the local plants and turning them hostile. "We must destroy this creature!"

"But it's surrounded by the Vervoids now. They're all under its control. They don't even know what they're doing. We've got to separate them."

At that moment, a man and a woman burst through the door. The woman was in tears and they were both out of breath from running. The woman was clutching her leg, holding a makeshift bandage around her calf which was covered in blood. "You have to help!" the man uttered as he tried to catch his breath.

Frobisher helped the woman into a chair. "What's happened?"

"I know it sounds crazy. But my wife here was attacked by our ivy. The vines just…" he caught his breath again, "just attacked her!"

He turned to his wife, who elaborated, "They wrapped around my leg and neck and tried to choke me!"

"It's true," her husband confirmed. "I saw it."

The Ice Warrior turned to the Doctor, "We no longer have the luxury of time." The Doctor sank his head. He couldn't think of a way around it. He said nothing as Izlargh walked into the back room filled with control panels and monitor screens.

"Stop him!" Peri insisted.

The Doctor shook his head slowly. "There isn't time," he said gently.

"Is the missile ready?"

"Yes, commander."

"Then fire!"

"No!" Peri shouted. But the button had been pressed. They could hear the whoosh of the nearby missile take to the sky outside. And she immediately began to cry.

And then they heard it. A far away explosion, like thunder from a distant storm.

Izlargh said to the Doctor, "Problem solved." He turned to his lieutenent, "Scorge, go and verify it has been destroyed."

"Yes, sir." The other Ice Warrior marched out.

"You guys wiped out a whole species! How DARE you!"

"I'm sorry, Peri," the Doctor said.

"Don't apologize to me! You didn't even TRY to stop them! You didn't even TRY to save the Vervoids!" She ran outside.

The husband and wife were confused, "But," said the husband, "What about our problem? How is this going to help?"

The Doctor looked at the Ice Warrior, "You explain it." And he went outside. Peri sat nearby on a public bench, finding comfort in the arms of Woody. The two saw the Time Lord and got up and walked away from him.

The Doctor didn't know what else to do. He sat down on the front steps of the Federation Ordinance Office. And he stayed there the rest of the afternoon.

Eventually Frobisher joined him. "Still here, huh? Listen, Doc. I can't do this no more. I just turned in my resignation. If you're leaving the planet, do you think you might gimmie a lift maybe?"

"Why not?"

"I'd like to go somewhere nicer than this. Maybe Zambraya Zeta or Salayshun or somewhere like that."

The Doctor turned to Frobisher and stuck out his hand, "I'd be happy to have you join us."

He shook Frobisher's hand, then turned back to try to find Peri, but she had walked away. He looked, and then found her at the end of the road, walking slowly in the direction of the Vervoid settlement. But from that direction, all they could see was smoke rising from the missile impact.

Woody had gone, and so the Doctor walked up next to her where she had stopped. He stood by her side, not quite sure if a comforting arm across the shoulders would be welcome. "I don't know what else to say, except it that was necessary in order to save everyone else. Krynoids destroy all animal life on any planet where they land."

Peri shook her head silently.

"Are you ready to go?" the Doctor asked.

"I am," she said. "I need to go. I can't do this anymore. I just wanna go home," she said over a sob.

"Peri," the Doctor tried to say soothingly.

"No," she whispered. "I'm done." Finally, she looked up into the Time Lord's eyes, "Take me home."