Chapter 3

The Doctor was getting annoyed.

For one thing, he hadn't had nearly enough time to properly explore his new surroundings; being taken away from a fascinatingly new alien structure irritated him and he wished now the coin he had flipped to decide the way had been tails instead.

For the other, these odd brown-and-white streaked people, he thought, were far too clingy. They held his arms firmly, leading him heavens knew where.

"What do you want?" the Doctor demanded once again. He shook one of them off of his arm. "Unhand me, there's no need to be pulling me along."

"You are hurt?" one of them asked. It's voice was rather creaky but quite understandable.

"No. And I am quite capable of walking by myself!"

In truth, he had to admit the strange people were not being ungentle, if anything they seemed to be taking great care that he not be injured in the slightest; they helped him over any protrusions or irregularities in the path, a long and seemingly endless rounded tunnel that ran beneath the surface of the planet. Here and there the small fissures still trickled light through, other smaller round tunnels branched off from the main, or fibrous opening such as the one he had inadvertently fallen through when he leaned against it went by.

"You walk well for one your age."

He harrumphed. "I should think so. I've had plenty of practice." He considered their own walking; they were as thin and sinewy as drawn leather, swaying as they went.

"Are you afraid?"

"No. Not in the slightest. I just very much prefer the courtesy of my freedom." He looked at them sternly. "And why do you ask? Do you think I should be?"

They looked at one another. "He is very intelligent for his age."

The Doctor looked at them indignantly. "And you expected otherwise?"

They didn't answer.

He studied them as they continued pulling him along. Not only thin, but almost narrow and quite flexible, their skin and thickly braided hair almost uniformly streaked in shades of brown and cream as if in a natural camouflage. In such a people, if they were like the samples before him, flexibility would be considered a normal characteristic, therefore, he thought, it stood to reason their elderly would grow stiff. Perhaps they thought he might be brittle.

"As I said, I'm perfectly capable of walking unaided. I won't break. Now let me go." Moving suddenly, he slipped backwards out of their hold and quickly ran towards the nearest smaller tunnel. Pushing through the hanging fibers he was dismayed to find it rapidly closed down to an opening far too small for him to fit through. Someone took his arm.

They drew him back to the main passage. "This way. You are very lost!"

"How do you know? Maybe I know my way around these tunnels like the back of my hand. Have you ever thought of that? Hm? I can find my own way." He blustered and tried to shake them off again which only accomplished their becoming slightly amused; it rather wounded his dignity.

He paused as two long, rounded creatures scuttled out from another side tunnel, their chocolate-coloured segmented bodies reminding him strikingly of the small arthropods of Earth. His escort didn't seem alarmed but continued to gently guide him along. The creatures came forward, right up to them, waving a mass of feathery antennae.

The native on the Doctor's left brought a ball of something from a small woven pouch he wore and tossed it to the creature, who eagerly grabbed it and stopped to eat it. The second one scuttled after them.

"Here, you can feed them. They will not hurt you." They seemed amused at his guarded caution towards the large arthropods. He considered the apple-sized mass in his hand, which was a little soft and slightly sticky, like toffee. He held it up to the dim light, then sniffed the woody-sweet scent of it before finally tossing it to the remaining creature who, like its companion, quickly caught the ball and set about consuming it.

"Hm!" he said. His fingers felt tacky and he resisted the childish urge to lick them to see what it tasted like. "Treats for pets? Or bribing something to not eat you instead?"

They just shook their heads, amused. He was still trying to decide whether it was worth pursuing the topic again when they slowed and turned.

The long, rounded tunnel opened up to one side and he was escorted into a small bay resembling a low-ceilinged room. Two more natives came to their feet as they entered.

"What is this?" one of them asked.

"We found this one in the tunnels, he is from the strange pod."

"You know of my ship, then?" the Doctor asked. He tried to keep his tone courteous; for all he knew these might be the rulers of this world. "It's called a TARDIS, not a pod, if you don't mind my setting the matter straight." He faced the more forward native, who appeared the same as the rest except for her having a few streaks of oranges and yellows among her browns. "If I may introduce myself, madam, I am called the Doctor."

To his irritation, they ignored this and talked right around him. "They should not have let him go out alone," said the one he had addressed.

There was a mutual swaying, apparently of agreement. "No, it was fortunate he was found," said his escort. "Will you keep him safe until they seek him?"

"Of course we shall. Come to me, come to me," crooned one of them, taking the Doctor's hand. "There, there."

He wasn't sure what to make of this. Was he exhibiting some kind of distress or dotage in their language? "I assure you, I do not require comforting. I am in control of all of my faculties. I am quite all right."

The hands of the other one fluttered. "Listen to him talk!"

He drew himself up. "Of course I talk!"

The first group swayed together. "He has been like this the entire time. Unusual. Care well for him." One of them brought something like a vine over from one of the walls. It bent down and brushed the tip against the Doctor's ankle, causing the tip to immediately wrap around him in a natural manacle.

"That really isn't necessary," he protested.

"We will keep him safe" they were swaying in reply. The ones that had brought him slipped back out leaving him in the dim, brown room with his two keepers.

He bent and tugged at the vine. It was fibrous and strong, thick around as his wrist, but it didn't hurt him; it simply held on.

"Look at him. They never want to stay where they need to be, do they?"

"And where do you think I need to be?" he asked. He straightened back up. "Tell me: is there some reason that I am being restrained like this?"

"Astonishing."

"I wonder if they will all be like that." One of them swayed closer to him and put out a hand to smooth down a bit of his hair. "How many seasons are you?"

He pulled away from the ministrations and gave them an incredulous look, sticking out his chin. "What do you mean, how many seasons am I? What does my age have to do with this ridiculous treatment?"

The two of them clucked together like hens. "Poor dear. Do you know where your parents are?"

"What?" The Doctor was completely baffled by this one. "My parents? Whatever do you mean inquiring after my parentage may I ask?"

"Do not be afraid. You should not have left your pod. We will keep you safe until they come for you."

"As I said before you haven't alarmed me. And what do you mean, until who comes for me?"

"Your parent," they said together soothingly.

"What? I assure you, madams, no such person will come. Now if you please…"

"Your parent is no doubt seeking you, we will keep you safe."

The Doctor considered this remarkable statement and phrased his next question delicately. "And how would you, er, describe my…parent?"

They seemed amused by this. "Like you, but coloured of course!"

"I believe we may have some kind of misunderstanding here. If you would just release my leg…"

"Oh no, you are much too young to be out alone, we will keep you safe."

He stopped and raised his brows rather pointedly at them. "Young…?"

. . .

Barbara pulled at the fibers, digging her fingers into them to try to force them back apart. Susan had slumped back to the floor, rubbing at her ankle. It hadn't been that far of a fall really, a little less than a yard, but being caught by surprise neither of them had managed to land right.

"Can't we get out?" she asked anxiously.

Barbara pulled and pushed at the tacky fibers. "I can't get it to open back up. It was almost like a reflex, like we triggered something."

"Well, then there should be a trigger of some kind on this side too," Susan reasoned.

"Unless it's like a venus fly-trap," Barbara said unhappily.

"Venus doesn't have flies," Susan pointed out, making her smile in spite of her worries.

The older woman carefully sat beside her and rubbed at her own legs. Neither of them was really in shape for a long walk right now and a bit of rest seemed prudent. "I wouldn't know, but if we get out of here maybe you can ask your grandfather to show us." She looked up at the dim light filtering down on them. "I didn't even realize those gaps were there when we were outside."

"It's going to be very dark in here at night," Susan said after a moment.

"Yes. Well, let's hope we won't still be here then."

"What do we do? Wait for them to find us?"

"They won't find us if we're invisible. We're under the ground now, and it's a ground that absorbs sounds too. But if there was a way in, there's got to be a way out. We'll just have to look, that's all. See how this room is shaped?"

"I was noticing that too. It's a tunnel."

"Tunnels usually lead somewhere."

"But where?" Susan took Barbara's arm, holding it to her for comfort. "What if there's more of those creatures down there, or worse?"

"Come on, Susan," Barbara said encouragingly. She took the girl's chin in her hand and made her look at her. "There's no call to go imagining disasters. It's just as likely, or more really, that it leads up and out. Let's go find out."

"All right," she said, trying to be brave.

Barbara stiffly got to her feet and helped Susan up. "That's the way of it," she encouraged.

The two of them hobbled along the passage, stopped to rest, then hobbled again, choosing to ignore a few smaller passageways in favor of the one they were in but really with little sense of what direction they were even going anymore. At one point they found a small cul-de-sac of sorts to one side, filled with any number of large, oblong empty casings, each more than a yard across. Susan tentatively reached out and touched one then backed away.

"They look like eggs," she said in a trembling voice.

Barbara touched one also, curious in spite of herself. It was softer than expected, the inside lined with something like quilt batting. "They're more like cocoons than eggs," Barbara said. "But at least they're empty. Whatever was here, let's hope they've all moved on, as should we. Come on." She took Susan's hand and pulled her back to the main passage, trying not to think about how big something might be if it hatched from such a casing. Or how large its parent. The sooner they found an exit the better.

"Don't you think we should've found a way out by now?" Susan asked despairingly as they stopped to rest a second time.

"I don't know," Barbara admitted. "I wish I knew where Ian and the Doctor went."

"Do you think they could be in these tunnels too?"

"Maybe, but calling out doesn't seem to do much good around here."

"I'm so thirsty."

"I am too. Let's see if we can… Susan?"

"Yes?"

"How about let's move just a little further on?" Barbara got to her feet a little too fast, taking Susan's hand.

"But… Barbara. What's wrong?"

"Nothing…nothing at all…"

"You're not fooling me." Susan looked around in the dimness as she climbed back to her feet as well. "Did you see something?" she whispered.

Barbara gave a resigned nod, her eyes gesturing back the way they had come. Susan's eyes followed and Barbara grabbed her, stifling her against her chest as the girl fought to keep in a scream. After a moment of gasping, she seemed to get her reactions back under control.

"Was…that…antennae?" Susan finally trembled out in a whisper as they began moving away from it.

"Let's hope not. Maybe it's just some of these roots, come loose." Barbara whispered back in a determined voice. It didn't help knowing that anything down here would find it easy to creep up on them soundlessly. She couldn't help but keep glancing back over her shoulder.

Susan was looking back too. "Barbara!" she suddenly screamed, pointing.