Tegan awoke at first light. She lay for several minutes listening; the house was quiet, and she heard little noise from the village. She looked toward the doorway and was somewhat surprised to see that the sentry was no longer blocking the entrance. Perhaps he had, in fact, been guarding against something from the outside.
She rose and crept into Adric's room. He still slept, but his breathing was more normal and his heartbeat was somewhat faster.
"Adric," she whispered near his ear.
She saw his eyes move beneath his lids, so she said his name again and shook his shoulder lightly. He opened his eyes and looked at her groggily.
"Tegan?" he croaked.
She noticed that a cup of water sat on the floor next to him; she tasted it first to be certain that it contained nothing else. Then she lifted his head and held the cup to his lips. He drank several swallows, and his eyes became clearer.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Sort of numb."
She nodded. "They gave you something that knocked you out completely. I don't think you should drink anything else they offer you unless it's water."
Still somewhat bleary, Adric blinked at her. "We're still with them? The strangers, I mean?"
"Yes, but I'm going to go back to where I woke up and try to find the Doctor and Nyssa. I'll be gone for a while, but I think you'll be safe here. Aside from drugging you, they seem to be taking good care of you."
Adric closed his eyes. "I think it was for the pain."
Tegan placed her hand on his cheek. "Is it bad?"
Adric turned his head away. Her touch left him embarrassed, remembering how uncomfortable he had made her and Nyssa.
"I'm sorry," Tegan said. "Have I hurt you?" She withdrew her hand.
"I just—" he stammered. "I'd just rather you didn't do that."
Tegan placed her hands in her lap. "All right. Anyway, I'll be back as soon as I can."
She stood, but he turned his face back to her. "Wait, Tegan. I don't think you'll be able to find them anytime soon."
"It's a long walk, but it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours—"
"No, that's not what I mean. I don't think we're anywhere near them. We must be very far away."
"They're probably just on the other side of the mesa—"
"No, they're not. Didn't you stop to wonder why we can't understand these people? We've never had that happen before."
"Well, their language is really different, I suppose—"
"That's not it. It's because we're too far from the TARDIS for the translation circuit to work."
Tegan's eyes widened in understanding. With a shake of her head, she said, "Why didn't I think of that? How far away do you think we are?"
"I don't know, but it must be awfully far—farther than a day's walk, I'm sure."
Tegan thought for a minute. "Well, you and I both got here somehow, so there must be a way back. I still think I need to return to the mesa where I woke up. I found a piece of fabric from your shirt there. That must be where you arrived, too."
Adric nodded. "I woke up outside, somewhere else, not in here. I think they found me and brought me here."
"All right. I'll be back as soon as I can." Tegan clasped his hand briefly then walked toward the door, turning to give Adric a reassuring smile as she stepped through the doorway. He had closed his eyes again, and his cheeks were flushed.
She hurried toward the outer door, determined to find the Doctor and Nyssa at all costs. Adric clearly needed them. The house was still quiet, and Tegan paused for a moment to take a small jug from the table and fill it with water. When she stood up from the large water container, she found the guard stationed solidly at the doorway once again.
"Excuse me," Tegan said, gesturing for him to move.
He shook his head and turned the spear to block the door completely.
"Look, I need to go," she said, trying to indicate this with her hands.
The guard spoke sharply to her and tilted his head toward the back of the room. With a sinking heart, Tegan realized that her first impression of this man had been correct: He was here to keep her inside. She took another step toward the door, but the guard quickly lifted the spear and pointed it at her.
Hands gripped her shoulders from behind. Fear swept over Tegan; she was trapped, and she had no idea why.
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Nyssa awoke to the gray dawn light creeping into the small cave. Her head rested against the Doctor's shoulder, and her hand was propped up against his chest. He sat with the file folder open in his hands, spectacles balanced on his nose as he squinted slightly in the dimness.
Nyssa lifted her head and twisted her shoulders; they were stiff from the night's exertions. The Doctor turned his head to glance down at her.
"Good morning," he said.
She smiled, glad for the daylight and relieved to know that, for the moment, she and the Doctor were safe.
"Are the dogs gone?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yes. They departed about half an hour ago."
"I didn't hear them during the night."
"No? You were sleeping quite soundly. How does your hand feel?"
Nyssa flexed her fingers slightly. "I'll be all right."
"I'm sure you will be, but that doesn't answer my question."
"It's still sore."
"Has the sensation returned completely?"
She nodded. She could see that the back of her hand had swollen during the night, and a deep bluish bruise had formed.
"It will heal more quickly if it's immobilized," he said. "I'm sure we can find something to use as a splint on our way back to the dwellings." He tucked the file back into his waistband.
The Doctor shifted around, swinging his legs out from the mouth of the cave. In a moment he had dropped to the ledge. He helped Nyssa from the cave then to the ground. The morning grew bright as they began to walk.
"The dwellings should be on the other side of the mesa," he was saying, eyes alternating between the ground and the rock face to their left.
"Did you find anything else useful in the file?" Nyssa asked.
"No." The Doctor's tone contained disappointment. "Perhaps I shouldn't have burned those pages... There was mention of other similar disappearances, however. As Sergeant Modory indicated, at least a half a dozen people have vanished from the vicinity of the dwellings."
"Where could they have gone?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Possibly into the mesa, through some sort of hidden passageway." He stopped and bent to the ground. He held up what appeared to Nyssa to be a reed covered in holes. It was about two inches wide and four inches long. The Doctor ran his fingers over it, commenting, "Quite smooth, and just the right size, I think."
"What is it?" Nyssa asked.
He held the object between his hands then stuck his thumbs inside it, snapping it in two lengthwise. "It's a cactus rib," he said. "Actually, it's the fibrous interior of a cactus—all that remains after the flesh has disintegrated. The material closely resembles wood, but it is quite light. It should make a passable splint."
He placed the two pieces against Nyssa's palm; they extended upward to touch her fingers. He wrapped his handkerchief around her hand, securing the splint to her palm. They continued walking, now looking carefully at the rock face for any signs of openings or evidence of their friends. After a time they rounded the edge of the mesa and walked toward the section containing the dwellings. They found no trace of Adric or Tegan, and both felt discouraged when they reached the ladder.
Once again they called out their friends' names, and again only a faint echo of their own voices responded. They climbed up into the dwellings to continue their search on the slight chance that Tegan or Adric had returned, but the houses were empty.
By mid-morning they had set out for the TARDIS, the Doctor intent on fabricating a portable scanning device. They grew quieter as they walked, both becoming increasingly concerned about their missing companions. Both knew that Adric had been hurt badly from his fall, and that Tegan had been terribly ill from the heat. The Doctor and Nyssa both feared for their friends' lives if they were not found soon.
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Tegan sat morosely on the pallet against the wall. After the guard had blocked her passage, her hostess had guided her back to the bed. Tegan had not been mistreated; indeed, she had been given a breakfast of thin, flat bread with a sweet, orange jelly and more of the slightly sour, pink juice. The woman had not threatened her, but still, Tegan felt discouraged by the guard's continued presence. Clearly she was to be kept in this dwelling, although she could not imagine why.
Her hostess had gone into Adric's room shortly after dawn to reapply the saffron liquid to the cloths covering his leg and arm. She had then busied herself about the house, preparing the food for Tegan, weaving some dried grass into a basket, and attending to the flowers that grew just inside the doorway in clay pots. Now she sat at the table grinding some grain with a mortar and pestle.
Tegan had grown impatient and resentful of her captivity. She stood and approached the woman, saying, "I need to go back to the mesa where I woke up," gesticulating toward the doorway and beyond. She knew that her words were meaningless, but she could think of no other way to communicate.
The woman looked up at her, watching her hands motion toward the door. She shook her head and said something; her tone was kind yet firm.
"Look," Tegan said, her voice becoming insistent, "I have to go back and get the Doctor. Adric needs his help." She motioned toward the room where the boy lay, then again out toward the ground below. "Please, you must let me go."
Tegan stepped quickly toward the doorway. A new sentry had taken over and now stood several feet to the left of the door, talking with another man. Tegan looked to the right; she saw no one in the immediate vicinity. Without hesitation, she dashed out the doorway.
The woman called out sharply, but Tegan sprinted forward along the stone pathway. She dodged several women who walked along carrying baskets. Her eyes scanned the edge of the path, looking for a ladder to take her to the ground.
She heard shouting behind her, but she continued to run. After a minute she saw the top of a ladder, less than three yards ahead of her. She hurried toward it, falling to her knees and grabbing at the top rung. She swung her legs over the ledge just as strong hands gripped her wrists and pulled her upward, back onto the path.
"Let me go!" Tegan demanded, writhing against the grasp of the sentry. She kicked at his legs, but he held her fast.
Her hostess appeared next to the guard. The regal man to whom she had been taken the previous day was beside the woman; his expression was stern, and he had crossed his arms tightly over his chest. He and the woman spoke. Tegan felt that she was pleading with him, but he seemed firm in his responses. Finally, however, she thought that he relented. She saw him nod and drop his hands to his sides.
The woman placed her hand on Tegan's arm, pushing the guard's hand away. She said something to Tegan in a tone that seemed explanatory, then she led Tegan down the path. The guard and the stately man followed closely behind.
They walked for some time, finally stopping before a dwelling at the far end of the village. Tegan noticed immediately that this home, unlike all of the others, had a door across the front. It was constructed of long, narrow pieces of light colored wood, and a bar was drawn across it, secured in a hole in the stone at the side of the doorway.
The guard removed the bar and stepped back as the other man pushed the door open. The woman led Tegan inside. She found that the dwelling resembled the others, with a simple table, bench, and stone counter along the back. The open door allowed light to flood the room. In a corner, along the wall, Tegan saw a pallet much like the one upon which she had slept. A figure rested upon it, half sitting against several cushions.
The woman gestured toward the pallet and pushed Tegan forward gently. She stepped toward the figure. She could see that it was an elderly man. His eyes appeared to be closed; she thought that he was sleeping. As she neared him, he stirred.
The woman spoke to him; she seemed to call him by name. To Tegan's ears, the word sounded like Ah-dahm.
The man's eyes opened fully, and he looked up at Tegan. He appeared disoriented at first, blinking in the light then reaching out to clasp Tegan's hand. She knelt before him and gasped; his eyes were bright blue. As far as she could tell, all of other inhabitants of the village had brown eyes. She could see, too, that his skin was fairer than that of the others.
He spoke to her in a gravelly, weak voice; his fingers seemed to close over her hand more securely.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I don't understand."
He blinked at her again, then he closed his eyes. His brow wrinkled in concentration, and his lips moved silently for nearly a minute. Finally, he said, "You—speak—Eng—lish."
Tegan rocked back on her heels. "Yes," she responded with considerable surprise. "I do."
"Where—from?" His lips seemed to twist with the effort of speaking the words.
"I'm from Earth."
He looked at her quizzically. "Earth?" he repeated, then he closed his eyes.
"Please," she enjoined, reaching out to shake his shoulder gently, "help me. Help me to communicate with them. I have to leave—"
His eyes opened. "Leave?" The word seemed almost foreign to him.
She nodded vigorously. "Yes. My friend is here, but he's hurt badly. I have to go back to where I woke up and find the Doctor—"
"Doctor?" he asked slowly. "Doctor of Philosophy." He nodded, his gaze wandering toward the ceiling. A small smile played on his lips. "Research for it." He nodded again. "Doctor."
Tegan was confused by his rambling words. However, his knowledge of English gave her hope that he could help her to speak with her captors. "Listen," she said, "please help me. Please tell them to let me go."
"Oh." His blue eyes fixed on her. "They will not... let you go. They want me to tell you that." He glanced up at the two villagers.
"Why not?"
"No," he shook his head, "no, never go. You will stay—years and years and years."
"Is that how long you've been here? Years and years?"
He smiled sadly. "Years and years. The moons have waxed and waned, and the years have gone away."
"Where did you come from?"
He cocked his head. "Where? Me?
"Yes. Are you from Earth? You speak English—"
"Earth. Yes, the planet Earth, so long ago..." His eyes closed, and his head lolled back against a cushion on the wall.
"No," Tegan said firmly, giving his thin arm a small shake. "Come on. Ah-dahm. Is that your name?."
His eyelids rose and a dry chuckle rasped from his throat. "Ah-dahm. Yes, that's what they call me. But it's Adam—it was Adam, long ago."
"How did you get here?"
His gaze was unfocused, but Tegan leaned in toward him. She looked directly into his eyes. "Tell me how you got here," she instructed again.
His forehead creased, and he tilted his head to the side. "From the ruins. I came from the ruins."
"On Anahsti?" Tegan's voice rose in anticipation.
"Anahsti? Yes, that was the name." He rocked forward, clasping his hands. "Anahsti, and the ruins. Doctor—Doctor of Philosophy. That's what I was going to be, from studying the ruins."
"So you were a student?"
He looked at her in confusion; his eyes had lost their focus, and she could see that he was tiring quickly. However, Tegan felt that she could not allow him to rest until she had secured more information from him, and, she hoped, assistance in telling the others to release her.
"Adam!" She rested her hands on his cheeks; his skin felt like delicate parchment.
His eyes rose languidly to her face. He smiled puerilely then uttered several words in the native language.
"Adam," she said again, "please tell them to let me go."
His expression showed confusion. "Let you go? They can't. You are a gift from the stone—you can't go."
"Please just ask them."
He shook his head. "They won't let you. It's no good. You have to stay."
"For how long?" Tegan's tone was bordering on panic.
"Forever." His eyes closed and his head fell forward; he was asleep.
Tegan shook his shoulder, but her hostess drew her away, speaking softly yet admonishingly. Tegan sensed that the woman was protecting Adam. Indeed, she sensed a vague reverence for the man from all present in the room.
The woman led Tegan back to her own home. The guard followed closely behind and once again positioned himself at the doorway. Tegan went to Adric immediately and found that he was awake.
"Adric! There's someone here who speaks English!" she told him, sitting down next to the mattress.
"Really?" he asked. His voice was tired, and his eyes appeared dull; she wondered if he had been drugged again.
"Are you all right?" She looked closely at him then lifted the cup next to his bed to sniff it. The same acrid smell met her nose. "Adric," she chided, "I told you not to drink anything but water."
"They made me," he said helplessly. "But I spit some out. I didn't drink it all."
"All right. I'll stay in here with you from now on so that they don't give you anything else."
"But Tegan," he muttered, a note of desperation in his voice, "it helps with the pain."
She leaned forward to stroke his forehead. "Of course," she said gently. "But I don't like the way it leaves you. I'm afraid it might be harming you. Can you try to go without it?"
He nodded. She held a cup of water to his lips and encouraged him to take a deep drink. This seemed to revive him slightly.
"Did you go... back to where you woke up?" he asked, struggling to recall the previous afternoon's conversation.
"No. They wouldn't let me leave. But they took me to an old man; he's locked up in a home way down there." She gestured toward the edge of the village. "He's from Earth, but I think he's been here a long time. He's terribly confused—rather senile, I guess. But he was on Anahsti doing research years ago."
"Anahsti? So he got here somehow, too. Did he tell you how?"
She shook her head. "No. He was sort of in and out of it. I'll try to talk to him again later."
"Did he tell you anything else?"
"I asked him to tell them to let me go, that I had to leave, but he said they won't."
"Why?"
"I don't know. They've treated us well enough. And they seemed to have some sort of deep respect for him. It doesn't make sense. We haven't been threatened, but we aren't permitted to leave."
"How long has he been here?"
"I'm not sure, but he said he was a student doing research when he arrived, and he's at least eighty now."
"So he's been here at for fifty to fifty-five years."
Tegan smiled and squeezed his shoulder. "That's our Adric—always first with the calculation."
He flushed slightly and seemed to turn away from her touch.
"Did I hurt you?" she asked, pulling her hand back.
"No—you just—just please don't touch me."
Tegan remembered that he had made a similar request the day before. "What's the matter, Adric?" she asked, concerned by his behavior.
"Nothing. I'm just tired still."
"Then rest. I'll just sit here."
He glanced at her. "You don't have to stay."
"I told you I would so that they won't give you any more of this." She pointed at the cup.
As his mind had grown more lucid, Adric had recalled with increasing discomfort his conversation with the Doctor while they worked at the ruins. "I'd rather be alone."
Tegan was growing slightly piqued; she was trying to help him in the best way she knew. "Look, Adric, if there's something else you want me to do for you, just tell me. I know I'm not the most comforting person in the world... I'm sure you'd rather that Nyssa were here—"
"No." Adric's voice seemed to shake slightly.
"Well, the Doctor then, although I wouldn't exactly call his manner soothing, though he'd certainly know how to help you better than I can..."
"Just—" Adric's jaw clenched. "Please, just let me sleep."
Tegan nodded. "All right."
"And you really don't have to stay. You can watch from out there, can't you?"
"Are you sure?"
"I really just want to be alone. I can rest better that way."
Tegan stood. "Call me if you need me."
She walked out to the large common room. Her hostess was working at the counter, preparing a noon meal. Tegan sat at the table and watched the guard as he paced before the door. With a sigh, she rested her chin on her hand. At the moment there was little she could do aside from keeping Adric safe. She recalled, then, Adam's word: forever.
Her hand fell to the table, making an angry thump. Forever was simply not an option.
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