As Nyssa's hand slipped away from the figures, the Doctor watched the interior of the hollow. He sensed a change in the air; a very slight prickling seemed to crackle against his skin. The hollow became shrouded in thick shadow. He pulled Nyssa, who was still slightly groggy, back.
For an instant the interior of the hollow was solid black. Then the darkness faded to gray, and a mist appeared to fill the indentation. As it dissipated, the Doctor saw a vague shape that solidified before his eyes.
"Adric!" cried Nyssa, coming back to her senses fully.
Adric lay slumped over in the hollow. Over his shoulder Nyssa and the Doctor saw Tegan; her arms were still clasped around the boy, but her head lolled back languidly.
"Let's get them out, now," said the Doctor, already reaching for Adric. The boy's arm and leg were in splints; the Doctor tried to move him carefully to the ground.
Nyssa knelt beside Adric, feeling for a pulse in his neck as the Doctor pulled Tegan forward then lay her on the sandy earth. He reached for her wrist as he looked back at Nyssa. Her eyes met his.
"He has a pulse," she said with relief.
"So does she," the Doctor responded.
"Will they be all right?" asked Nyssa, still somewhat anxious.
The Doctor had moved back to Adric to examine his injured leg. "I don't know. I have no idea what happened to them."
----------
Tegan was first aware of the warm sun upon her face. It seemed so bright, even through her closed eyelids. She lifted her hand to cover her eyes.
"Tegan?" Nyssa's soft voice was close to her. "Doctor! She's coming around."
Tegan opened her eyes to see the Doctor and Nyssa leaning over her. She realized that she lay flat on the ground. They were kneeling beside her.
Tegan blinked and rose up on one elbow. The Doctor slipped his arm behind her back to bring her to a sitting position.
"Welcome back," he said with a wide smile. "How do you feel?"
"Strange," she murmured.
"Strange?" he asked with some concern. "How so?"
"No, I feel fine—maybe a little woozy. But whatever happened was really strange."
She shook her head slightly. To her left lay Adric. She saw that the splints had been removed from his arm and leg. His eyes were closed.
"Adric!" she cried, leaning toward him. She looked at the Doctor. "Is he... is he dead?"
The Doctor appeared confused for a moment. "No, Tegan, he's going to be fine. I imagine he'll wake soon."
"But his arm and his leg—they're broken. Why did you take the splints off?"
The Doctor's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Because they are nearly healed now."
"Really? He said that he would heal quickly, but he was still in a lot of pain and had a lot of swelling just before we... we arrived here."
"Hmm," responded the Doctor. "That is quite interesting. How was the wound on his forehead?"
Tegan glanced at the young Alzarian. A small, narrow cut was visible across his brow. "It was much worse than that."
Nyssa had moved back toward Adric to place his head in her lap. She brushed her fingers over his cheek softly. "Poor Adric."
The Doctor focused his gaze on Tegan. "Tell me what happened to you and Adric. Where were you, and how did you get back here?"
Tegan shook her head. "I'm not sure. We were somewhere very far away—we couldn't understand the language there, so we must have been a great distance from the TARDIS. I think it was another planet; the sky was purple, and there were two moons at night."
"Really?" asked the Doctor with interest. "Do you have any idea of the planet's name?"
"No. But we stayed in a village there... I think it was called Tlan Arrana. It was quite similar to the ruins here, but well-populated. The villagers had found Adric and taken him back with them before I got there. He was hurt very badly. When I arrived I found a scrap of Adric's clothing, and I saw tracks leading to another mesa. I woke up in a hollow a lot like this one. After I saw the bit of cloth and the tracks, I decided to go after Adric."
"But Tegan, you were so ill," said Nyssa.
"From the heat, right?"
The Doctor gave a curt nod, saying, "Please continue."
"All right. I felt pretty weak. I drank most of the liquid from the flask—it was still with me. Then when I felt a bit better I followed the tracks to the village. The inhabitants took me up into their dwellings, but they didn't seem to want to let me or Adric go."
"They held you there?" asked the Doctor.
"Yes, in a manner of speaking, although they treated us well. But we weren't the only ones from somewhere else. There was an old man there, too. He said he'd come from Earth originally to study the ruins here on Anahsti. Somehow he'd ended up there, and they had kept him for years."
"Did you happen to get his name?" asked the Doctor.
Tegan nodded. "Adam. Adam Martin."
"So that's where he went!" exclaimed Nyssa.
"Do you know who he is?" asked Tegan with some astonishment.
"Yes," replied the Doctor. "He was an archaeology student who disappeared from here over fifty years ago."
"I still don't understand how any of us got there," Tegan said, her forehead wrinkling in confusion.
The Doctor and Nyssa exchanged glances. "We're not entirely sure," said the Doctor. "We believe that this indentation serves as some sort of transport, possibly a dematerialization chamber."
"You mean we were scrambled?" Tegan asked with some alarm.
"Perhaps," the Doctor said with a smile, "but fortunately you were reassembled quite nicely on the other end."
"Very strange," said Tegan somberly. She was quiet for a minute, trying to process all that had occurred. Finally she looked at the Doctor. "So Adric and I, and Adam long ago, were transported to another planet from this hollow?"
"It seems that was the case," the Doctor replied.
"So we could return there?"
The Doctor appeared surprised by her question. "I'm not sure. Why would you want to do that?"
"That poor old man, Adam. I think he'd like to go home."
The Doctor glanced back at the hollow. "I'm really not certain how this works. It seems to be activated by a specific sequence of touches on those figures, and apparently it only responds to certain individuals."
"Did you activate it just now, when we came back?" asked Tegan.
The Doctor nodded. "I believe that Nyssa did. You didn't activate it from the other side?"
"No," replied Tegan. "There didn't seem to be any way to do that. There weren't any characters or carvings."
The Doctor appeared sober. "Then I believe, Tegan, that it would extremely unwise to attempt to return using this device. We have no way of knowing whether we could get back here. I think it was a very fortunate coincidence that Nyssa happened to activate the transport when you and Adric were in the chamber on the other side."
"Could we go after Adam with the TARDIS?" she asked.
"Possibly, but we'd have to know the name of the planet where you were."
"Doctor," said Nyssa, "Adric's waking."
Tegan and the Doctor moved toward the boy. His eyes opened slowly, and he looked at the familiar faces that stared down at him.
"Doctor," he said with considerable relief. "I'm awfully glad to see you."
The Doctor gave his shoulder a squeeze. "As am I you."
Adric's eyes moved upward to find Nyssa's smile directly above him. With a slight start he realized that he lay partially on her lap. He sat upright immediately, his torso wobbling slightly at the sudden motion.
Nyssa placed her arm around his shoulders to steady him. Adric's cheeks flushed, and he swallowed. Tegan touched his hand to draw his attention to her.
"Remember what I told you," she said softly.
Adric swallowed again and seemed to calm somewhat. He looked down at his leg then moved his arm slightly. "My leg—my arm," he muttered in awe. "They were broken."
"Well," said the Doctor cheerfully, "they're nearly healed now. You'll need to stay off of your leg for a day or two, and I wouldn't advise hitting any cricket balls for a while, but you appear to be close to full recovery."
"But how?" asked Adric.
The Doctor's eyes moved back to the hollow. "It must have had something to do with the transport process."
"But they were still broken when I arrived at the other place," said Adric.
The Doctor frowned. "Well, considering the distance that you fell, I would guess that you were very severely injured. Your crawling into this chamber and activating it for transport probably saved your life."
"Really?" Adric felt steadier and leaned away from Nyssa.
"The chamber must have helped you, too," Nyssa said to Tegan. "You were terribly ill."
The Australian nodded. "I guess. Doctor, what about Adam?"
The Time Lord's focus had shifted from his companions to the stretch of desert beyond the mesa. He squinted in the sunlight.
"Doctor?" asked Tegan.
"Hmm?" he responded absently.
"Can we try to get Adam back to Earth?"
"Perhaps. But at the moment we need to return to the TARDIS, and we need to go now." He leaped to his feet.
"What's the matter?" Nyssa inquired.
"Sergeant Modory is coming, and I'm rather certain that he's brought at least one friend." The Doctor pointed toward the far edge of the mesa. A small, open vehicle was just visible, churning dust in its wake.
"Who's Sergeant Modory?" asked Tegan.
"Later," the Doctor said briskly. He hurried toward the ladder and ascended it rapidly as his friends stood.
Adric found that he could not put his full weight on his leg. Nyssa's offer of support, however, was declined with a blush.
"You can't walk all that way by yourself," Nyssa was saying with gentle insistence when the Doctor returned with the bags.
"I can manage," the boy replied in a husky voice.
"Come on, Adric," said Tegan wearily, taking his arm, "I'll help you. What's a few more kilometers?"
Nyssa appeared slightly hurt by Adric's rebuff. The Doctor, however, handed her one of the bags and gave Tegan the other, saying, "I'll take Adric. We need to move quickly, and I have a height advantage."
They began walking at a rapid pace, the Doctor and Adric in the lead and Tegan and Nyssa slightly behind. Tegan had momentarily forgotten the brutality of the desert heat; the other planet had been cooler. Within a few minutes she felt sweat trickle down her cheeks.
Tegan looked back once at the vehicle. The distance between them and their pursuers had decreased, but Modory and his cohort were still more than a kilometer away.
"Why is he after us?" Tegan asked Nyssa.
"Sergeant Modory," the Traken replied, "arrested us for failing to have a permit to explore the ruins."
"Arrested you? You were in jail?"
"For a few hours, yes," said Nyssa. "But the Doctor managed to get us out and lock the sergeant inside his own cell. It looks like he's enlisted some help."
The Doctor glanced back, too. "Come on," he urged the young women, "we must hurry!"
Conversation ceased for some time, until the distinctive sound of a gunshot shattered the hot, still air. All four travelers paused to turn around. Modory and the other man were less than half a kilometer away. Modory was standing with his gun raised, and the faint sound of his shout drifted across the land.
"How much further to the TARDIS?" asked Tegan, wiping a hand across her face. She was tiring rapidly.
"Another kilometer," said the Doctor. Adric leaned against him; the swift movement and jarring had clearly caused him some pain.
The Doctor looked down at the young man then back at Tegan. He lowered Adric's arm, saying, "You two help him; keep walking as quickly as you can. I'm going to run ahead and try to move the TARDIS closer to you."
"But what about the ruins?" Nyssa asked.
"I'm afraid that we must take the risk." Without further comment, he sprinted away over the shimmering sand.
Tegan took Adric's arm and placed it over her shoulder. Nyssa reached for his other arm, but he winced slightly at her touch.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"It still hurts," he said.
Tegan glanced at the boy with a slight shake of her head. "Come on," she said resignedly, taking a step forward.
"Tegan, if you're tired I can help him," Nyssa offered.
"I'll be fine," Tegan said. "We all will be." She gave Adric a slight nudge with the fingers wrapped around his shoulder and continued walking.
After a few minutes, Tegan felt the burden of Adric's weight. Despite the apparent restorative effects of the chamber, she could tell that her efforts in helping him to escape had taken a toll on her. She stumbled and fought to keep her balance as Adric was forced to plant both feet on the ground.
A small cry of pain escaped him as he and Tegan steadied themselves.
"This is too much for you," said Nyssa, taking Adric's arm from around Tegan's shoulders.
Adric stammered, "I can make it by myself."
Nyssa wrapped her arm around his waist. "You don't have to. I want to help you."
"Thank you," breathed Tegan. She turned her head to glance at the vehicle that trailed them. "Hurry!" she exclaimed, giving Nyssa a small push. Modory and his colleague were rapidly nearing.
A second shot crackled overhead, and this time Modory's voice was clear: "Halt, or you'll be shot."
"Come on," Tegan said, "run!"
Nyssa and Adric hobbled forward as quickly as they could. Tegan jogged beside them.
"Stop!" Modory shouted. Another gunshot split the air. It was close enough to make Tegan jerk her head to the side. The sound of the vehicle's engine hummed across the sand.
"The next one's aimed right at your backs!" yelled the sergeant.
Tegan and Nyssa both looked back; Modory and the other man were only twenty yards away. Both held rifles.
"Stop now!" Modory commanded, leveling the gun directly at Nyssa.
"Keep going!" Tegan cried. "They're still too far away to aim accurately, especially while they're driving. Come on!"
Two shots rang out, and coarse sand sprayed Nyssa's feet. The bullets had hit the earth only inches from her.
"Tegan," she panted, "we have to stop. He's going to shoot us if we don't."
With a nod of defeat, Tegan ceased moving. The three travelers stood huddled together, waiting for the sergeant's vehicle to stop. He had his gun aimed solidly at Nyssa's chest; the other man kept his rifle steadily pointed at Adric.
As Modory exited the vehicle and strode toward them, he asked, "Where's that other man, the Doctor?"
Tegan and Nyssa exchanged looks, but neither responded.
"Come on," Modory ordered, "tell me. He's facing charges for assaulting a government agent."
"Assaulting a government agent?" asked Adric. "That doesn't sound like him."
"The sergeant wasn't harmed," Nyssa said softly, "at least not permanently."
"I won't ask again," Modory growled, thrusting the rifle barrel toward Nyssa.
Tegan stood up a bit straighter. "The Doctor ran off and left us. He's somewhere out there." She swept her hand out toward the expanse of desert.
Modory held a hand over his eyes, squinting at the distance. "I'll find him; he can't hide out there forever—not in this heat. Come on, then, get in." He gestured toward the vehicle with his rifle.
"Where are we going?" asked Tegan.
Modory shoved the rifle at her stomach with a rapid flick of his wrist. "Back to headquarters."
Tegan took a step back. "Look, you can't just arrest us without cause."
"Oh, I've got plenty of cause." He poked the rifle at Nyssa. "She helped that Doctor to assault me."
Tegan gave Nyssa a surprised glance. "If you say so. But Adric and I have done nothing wrong. You can't hold us."
"I can do whatever I please out here. I'm the agent in charge. You're associating with a wanted criminal, and I doubt that you have the necessary papers for exploring the ruins. That's a crime here on Anahsti."
"What makes you think we were at the ruins?" asked Tegan, trying to remain stationary as long as possible. She knew that he Doctor would return near where they stood. If they were taken in the vehicle, he would have trouble finding them.
Modory grunted. "Oh, you were there all right. Your friends—this little spitfire and the Doctor—were looking for you. They told me all about it. You've talked enough. Come on, get in."
He tapped at Adric's arm with the rifle. The boy flinched visibly at the rough touch.
"Hey!" Tegan cried, reaching out to push the rifle away. "Don't do that! His arm's been broken."
At Tegan's movement, Modory jerked the rifle back, cocking it instantly and leveling it at her chest. "Restrain her," he directed the other man.
Modory's colleague moved behind Tegan, grabbing both of her wrists and pulling them behind her back.
"Don't try that again," the sergeant growled. "Take her to the vehicle," he added.
The other man pushed Tegan forward, twisting her arms painfully as they moved. She gave a small cry.
"Stop it! You're hurting her!" cried Adric, reaching for the man's arm.
"That's enough!" Modory shouted, striking Adric soundly on the shoulder with the rifle.
The blow sent a wave of pain down Adric's arm. He gasped, foundering to his knees. Nyssa immediately knelt by his side.
"You didn't have to do that!" she said, looking up at Modory. "He was only trying to protect her, and you knew his arm was broken."
"All right," Modory said officiously, "you three are more trouble than you're worth. Durmon," he looked at the other man, "there's got to be a commendation in it for two agents who stop fleeing criminals. No one's going to question use of force in a case like that."
Durmon, still gripping Tegan's wrists, nodded. "You're probably right."
"No more trips out to this hellhole for you, and a post in town for me," Modory added. "This'll cancel out the reprimand for their escape. Demote me, will they?"
Modory's expression had darkened as he spoke; he was clearly livid. His mouth twisted slightly as he gestured with the rifle. "Up," he ordered Adric and Nyssa. She helped the boy to rise.
"Let her go," the sergeant told Durmon; he released Tegan and shoved her toward her two friends.
Each man readied his gun.
"No one's going to believe that we were running away," Tegan said desperately. She looked all around for any sign of the Doctor or the TARDIS, but the desert was empty.
"They will if you're shot in the back," Modory replied calmly. "Turn around."
"You can't do this!" Adric implored.
"We can, and we will. Turn around!" He jabbed at Adric's arm again with the rifle.
Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan's eyes met. Each reached for the other's hands; their fingers entwined tightly.
"You take this one and the boy," Modory was saying to Durmon, "I want the girl."
"Nyssa," Adric said, his voice steady despite his fear, "I'm sorry."
Tegan squeezed his hand as all three closed their eyes and waited for the sound of the guns.
----------