5. Earth Death Complete.
An observation station overhead observes as the Solar Flare completes encircling the Earth. "Earth death complete," the tannoy announces tranquilly.
The Doctor approaches Meran and smiles. Ommera pauses hugging him.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to know how the Master knew where to find you. After your travels with us, we left you at home on Slint. How long had you been home for?" (Ref. 23.)
"I'd been home for just a week," Meran replies. "I'd only been away from home for a few weeks during all my travels with you. I'd been able to resume from where I had left off. My boss gave me a ticking off for not booking the annual leave!"
"I'm sorry about that. And then did the Master just turn up?" Ommera asks.
"Yes," Meran replies. "Out of the blue. I opened my door and – Horror! What a shock I got!"
"But how did he know where to find you?" Ommera says.
"I've an idea," the Doctor says. He frisks Meran and retrieves a small trinket box. "There you are, a tracker box!"
"A tracker box?" Meran says. "But I like it so much!" He reaches for the tracker box, but the Doctor deftly moves it out of his reach.
"Please let the Doctor swap it," Ommera says quickly.
The Doctor returns a similar but harmless trinket box to Meran. "I've rendered it harmless," the Doctor says, smiling.
Ommera knows the Doctor must have swapped it already. She steps up to the Doctor. "What will you do with the real tracker box?" she asks under her breath. "The Master is bound to try again."
"Yes, he will," the Doctor says quietly. "We might use it as bait to get him to go somewhere one day… I'll wrap it up well and leave it in our rest room out of the way."
The present for the Wisp.
A short while later, the Doctor is already thinking about their next mission.
"Ommera, do you recall that I said that we should help the Wisp?" the Doctor says.
"Yes," Ommera replies. "Those beautiful Meerkat-like people. I'd love to help them. I've been waiting for you to ask."
"I promised I'd take you to help them," the Doctor says, smiling.
"Let's do it," Ommera says encouragingly.
The Wisp Headquarters had been taken over by the Sontarans after the Sontarans had forced them to do their bidding, but mysteriously what the Sontarans had demanded hadn't stayed that way.
"I've got a lovely present for the Wisp," the Doctor says. "They'll really enjoy it. Several sets of Squash racquets and balls. I hope they know where to aim to knock out a Sontaran! Practice makes perfect, so they'll be able to take on the Sontarans if need be. Could you wrap them up for me please, Ommera? I've left everything ready in our rest room."
Planet Wisp.
Ommera looks at the Tardis Console monitor screen. "I thought only the Wisp inhabited Planet Wisp."
"It's a bit like planet Earth," the Doctor says. "There are more than Humans that inhabit Earth."
"Wow, what's that?" Ommera says, pointing at the monitor screen.
The Doctor looks closer. "Oh, it's a sabre-toothed puss-cat!" he concludes. "You're a bit large to be its prey, but they can give you a nasty injury. Wear shin pads if you're worried!"
They emerge from the Tardis and start to walk towards Wisp City, not far away.
"The Wisp HQ building is just over there," the Doctor says. "We will easily arrive before sunset."
A sabre-toothed puss-cat runs at them aggressively; they run.
Ommera recognises that Meran has no regenerative capability, so she stops and steps between the puss-cat and Meran. She raises a finger as if to say "No"! The puss-cat stops. Ommera freezes in terror as it walks slowly up to her, its sabre teeth glinting in the evening sunlight. The puss-cat starts purring and brushes its body against her shins.
"You can pet the cat," the Doctor says. "It will enjoy that."
Ommera tears herself away from her frozen terror and pets the cat.
This isn't what she had imagined lived on Planet Wisp.
As she looks at the puss-cat, she recognises that the cat is beautiful, like the Wisp people.
Meran is in awe of Ommera's action in defending him. "Wow, Ommera, you faced him up!"
"I had to, so that I could protect you," Ommera says.
"Wow," Meran says. "You did that to protect me? You put your life at risk for me?"
Ommera can't take all of that credit. "I didn't put my life at risk, just a possible injury."
"But you were petrified of it, but you still did it," Meran says. He's incredibly grateful and impressed. He recalls school days with Ommera, even insects had defeated her. She has come a long way since then!
The Boat.
They approach the Wisp HQ building. It is surrounded by a lake with Wisp City nearby.
Ommera falters when she recognises she must go across in a boat.
"It's only a hundred yards, you'll be fine," the Doctor insists.
Meran understands. He has known Ommera through school days. "Ommera has been averse to deep water for all the time I've known her, after her brother drowned."
Meran has a suggestion to help the situation. "Doctor, you distract her, hold her attention by looking into her eyes while I row us across the water."
Ommera manages to get into the boat and is alright near the shore, but before they reach any significant depth of water, the Doctor holds her hands and looks into her eyes. They play Blink, each trying not to be the first one to blink.
"That could come in handy sometime," the Doctor says. He recalls that he hasn't mentioned The Weeping Angels to Ommera yet.
The sabre-toothed puss-cat stays on the shore watching them and mewing disappointedly as it watches them in the boat.
What has happened to the Wisp that they need help? the Doctor seems to know.
What can they do to help the Wisp?