The Vanishing Man, Chapter 2

Fire. Burning. Orange, burning fire. And screams and cries for help. Pain. Indescribable pain. And then confusion and a figure kneeling down. And then a hand extending towards him.

His saviour.




Cole woke up with a start. He was slumped on the seats in arrivals. He had tried for the past two hours to get out of the airport, but it had been impossible. Every time he tried to get out he would appear back in arrivals, always on the same seat as well. He had tried the train again, a bus, and even walked over the hills surrounding the complex to try and escape, but it had been to no avail.

Every time he tried to get away he would fail and end up back in arrivals. He didn’t understand it and when he tried to tell airport security they just told him he was being stupid. And no sooner had he told them, but they soon forgot he’d even been there in the first place.

The taxi driver that had crashed had even forgotten why he’d crashed. Even when Cole had walked up to the ambulance and made himself known to the taxi driver, he hadn’t recognised him. It was like he was a snowflake. There for the briefest of moments before melting away as if it had never existed.

So now he was going to try something else. He walked right up to airport security and tapped the guard on the back.

The guard turned around and Cole noticed his firearm attached to his belt.

“Can I help you, sir?” said the stocky man.

“Yeah, you can actually. I’m armed and dangerous,” said Cole, blankly.

With that the guard reached for his weapon, drew it and ordered Cole to get down on the ground.

All around the arrival hall people screamed and ran out of the way. Cole obediently got to the ground and put his hands on the back of his head.

“Don’t move,” said the guard as he radioed for back-up.

Ten minutes later Cole was being bundled into the back of a police car, handcuffed and flanked by two police officers.

The police car turned the corner that led out of the car park and he closed his eyes, praying that he wouldn’t wake up back in arrivals.

But he did. He opened his eyes and there he was again. And everything seemed to return back to normal. Curious onlookers where wondering exactly why they were curious and why they were onlookers.

Cole walked up to the same security guard who he had spoken to before and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Can I help you, sir?” he asked again.

“Do you remember me?” asked Cole.

For a moment the guard looked confused, almost as if there was some recognition, but then he just shook his head. “No, sir. Never seen you before in my life. Should I remember you?”




It was getting dark outside and Cole had walked all around the airport. He had tried to explain the situation to the airport authorities, but they had just laughed it off and had slowly forgotten him. Even when he had threatened a member of staff, they had soon forgotten who he was.

And it was the same over and over again. He tried to leave the airport in so many different ways. He walked along the train line…and appeared back in arrivals. He stole a car…and ended up back at arrivals. He even tried to board another plane and ended up back at arrivals. He could walk all around the airport, but he just couldn’t leave it.

Now he was checking his mobile for numbers. Strangely, though, they had all disappeared.

“This is getting stupid,” said Cole. “There’s got to be someone I can call.”

He was about to dial 999 when the whole airport violently shook. It was like a minor earthquake. There were screams and people began to panic, running for the exit, but the earthquake soon passed and everyone returned to normal. Everyone had forgotten.

It was during the tremor that he had heard the sound. The sound of grinding, wheezing engines…and then they were gone.

He made his way back along the sky link, stopped at a vending machine, got himself a drink and then headed towards T3 Departures. Somehow he had to get to the bottom of this.

And then he spotted the man. He looked quite young, probably in his mid-thirties, with short, blonde hair and a nasty scratch on his arm. He was crouched down, examining something on his wrist, and he looked a little worried.

“Excuse me,” said the man, looking up at Cole. “Could you tell me where I am?”

That seemed like a slightly odd comment, thought Cole. Surely he knew where he was. Even after the weird day that Cole was having, he still knew where he was.

“You’re at Manchester airport,” said Cole, crossing over to him. “How don’t you know that?”

“I-I don’t know,” said the man.

Cole looked at him more closely. He was dressed all in black and he had a number of bruises and burns on him.

“Do you need help?”

“I’m not sure,” said the man. “I’m confused. I’m not quite sure how I got here.”

“Come on,” said Cole, “let’s get you to a nurse. Perhaps we can both help each other.”




The Doctor, Caroline and Danny were standing on the cold platform at Sheffield station. They weren’t able to land the TARDIS any closer to the airport. Every time they did, the TARDIS would start screeching and wailing, as if putting it’s breaks on, and the Doctor would be forced to ease off.

It was only when they were over the city of Sheffield that they were able to put the TARDIS down quietly and safely.

It was getting on for 11pm and the train had been delayed. There was frost about and both Caroline and Danny were wearing scarves and gloves.

The Doctor was standing beside a vending machine, examining the contents inside.

“Anything you fancy?” called Caroline. “I’ve got a bit of change.”

“Ninety-five pence for a packet of Mini Cheddars!” exclaimed the Doctor. “No thank you.”

He walked back to the bench that Danny and Caroline were sat on.

“Even in 2003 the prices were way too steep,” said Caroline.

“This is weird,” said Danny, with a little smile on his face. “It’s like we’re in the past, but we’re not, if you get what I mean.”

“Yeah,” grinned Caroline, “I’ve been thinking that too.”

“I’ve been trying to think about what we were doing back in 2003.”

“Well I was at Hypersave,” said Caroline, glumly. “Still am at Hypersave if I ever get my life back on track.”

“And I got a job at Harper’s Advertising!” said Danny, remembering. “My first job after Uni.”

“What were you doing in 2003, Doc?” asked Caroline.

“I’ve been to this year several times,” said the Doctor, looking up and down the platform impatiently. “I could have been doing any number of things.”

“Illusive as always,” said Caroline with a roll of her eyes.

“Where’s that train?” grumbled the Doctor.

“You can tell you don’t use public transport much,” laughed Danny. “It’ll come.”

“It’s not good enough.”

“And it won’t get better. Even in 2011 the trains are still running late.”

The Doctor winced and put a hand to his chest.

“You okay?” asked Caroline.

“Same as usual,” said the Doctor, taking a pill from his pocket and popping it into his mouth. “Being almost fried to a crisp on an electric chair didn’t help matters and neither did being tortured by Tressure.”

“Do you know what this illness is yet?” asked Caroline. “You haven’t been very clear about that.”

“No change there,” said Danny. “We don’t have answers about anything.”

The Doctor clearly didn’t want to discuss the matter and crossed over to Danny. “You still haven’t told me why you attacked Kate.”

“Don’t change the subject,” said Danny, refusing to make eye contact.

“Why not? What are you afraid of, Danny?”

“What are you afraid of?” asked Danny.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re quite happy to keep us in the dark about your condition. Why should I tell you about mine?”

“A-ha!” said the Doctor, with a clap of the hands. “So there is something wrong?”

“I’m just a little stressed out. This has all gotten too much for me.”

“It’s more than that,” said the Doctor. “That Apparite is still inside you, isn’t it?”

“Don’t be daft,” said Caroline, shifting uncomfortably on the bench. “Why would it still be inside of him?”

“I’ve never heard anything so stupid in my life,” said Danny, crossing his arms and looking away.

Just then there was a sound from down the tracks. Soon two pinpricks of light came into view. It was the train.

“I’m not coming,” said Danny, getting up and walking away from the bench.

“What?” said Caroline. “You have to? What are you going to do?”

“Stay out of his way,” he said, nodding to the Doctor as the train pulled up and the doors opened.

“But it’s the middle of the night, Danny,” said Caroline. “You can’t just hang around a station.”

“I’ll be fine,” said Danny. “I’ll get a hotel room. If you’re not back at the TARDIS by lunch time tomorrow, I’ll take a train down there. I just need some time on my own.”

“Danny-” started the Doctor.

“Shut up,” he snapped back and turned to walk away. “See you later, Caz.”

Caroline looked back as Danny disappeared down the steps leading to the passageway running under the station.

“Come on, Miss Parker,” said the Doctor as the doors began beeping, signalling them closing.

“I hope he’ll be alright,” said Caroline.

They made their way into the carriage and sat down at a table seat, opposite each other.

Caroline watched as the train pulled out and the station slowly moved past them, her chin resting on her hand.

“Everything okay?” asked the Doctor, who had found a packet of peanuts in his coat pocket and was busy popping them one at a time into his mouth.

“Not really,” said Caroline. “Why do you think the Apparite is still in him?”

“Because Kate told me. He told Kate that he was still possessed and that’s when he attacked her.”

“But you can’t be sure?”

“It’s not that I can’t be sure. I know it’s still there, but it must be hidden so deep inside him that there’s nothing to prove that it’s in there.”

“We’ve got to help him,” said Caroline.

“And we’ve got to help you, as well,” said the Doctor. “It’s so easy for these things to be forgotten. We’ve all got our problems, but things keep getting in the way.”

“And you need to start coming clean with us,” said Caroline.

The Doctor sighed and leaned back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling. “To be honest with you, Caroline, I don’t quite know what happened to me. It’s all a bit of a blur. It was soon after I regenerated.”

Caroline nodded, remembering what Ivy Coldstone had told her about the Doctor’s people being able to change their faces and renew their bodies.

“I felt different. More different than normal. I felt…sick. It seems that as soon as I regenerated into this body…well, it was like I was already dying and my body wanted to regenerate into my next incarnation.”

“Has that happened before?”

“No. Never. It was like this incarnation had failed right at the start.”

“So why didn’t you regenerate?”

“That’s when Aleena came along. She said that I couldn’t regenerate anymore.”

“But it’s still trying to happen?”

“Yes,” said the Doctor sadly. “If I don’t keep taking these pills, my body will quickly wither away and I’ll die.”

The conductor bustled in and Caroline and then Doctor handed their tickets over to have them stamped. They waited for him to pass and then returned to their conversation.

“Aleena did extensive tests on me and all of my regenerative cells have died.”

“So if you allowed yourself to wither away and die-?”

“Then that‘s it. That’s the end. No come back. No encore. I’d be dead.”

The Vanishing Man, Chapter 1

Matthew Cole opened his eyes. For a moment he had forgotten where he was. And then it dawned on him. The echoing of voices, the speaker system announcing names and the sound of suitcases being rolled along the ground.

He was at the airport.

Specifically Manchester airport. He had only sat down for five minutes and had drifted off momentarily. He tried to recompose himself, trying not to get embarrassed that he had just fallen asleep in public, but nobody seemed to have noticed anyway.

He stood up and walked over to the toilets.

Once inside he went over to the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked a mess. His hair was becoming a bit untidy and was in desperate need of combing, he’d grown a little bit of stubble on the flight over and his tie was askew.

He straightened himself out, slicked his hair back a little and splashed cold water on his face.

“Much better,” he said to himself. He smiled and left the toilets.

He made his way across the arrivals hall and headed towards the railway station which was situated just outside of the airport.

He walked through the sky link that connected the terminals to the station and looked out of the curved windows that looked out over the airport complex. The sun was beginning to set and a little bit of the snow they had gotten had started to melt.

Good. He didn’t like snow.

Eventually he reached the escalators leading down to the platform and purchased a ticket from the self-service booth.

He looked up at the departure board. Not long to wait. There’d be a train in three minutes that would take him straight to Manchester Piccadilly.

Sure enough the train arrived and Cole boarded it.

He took his seat in the quiet carriage and closed his eyes again. He was determined not to fall asleep, but if he did, he was sure that falling asleep on a train was not as embarrassing as falling asleep in arrivals.

Slowly but surely, as the train made it’s way out of the station, he found himself drifting off. It was only when some kids ran past him in the aisle that he woke…

…And found himself back in arrivals.

He looked from left to right, unsure of whether to move, unsure of whether this was all just a dream.

But no, he was definitely back in the airport.

He checked his watch. He had left arrivals fifteen minutes ago at 7:37pm and sure enough it was fifteen minutes later. So he hadn’t been dreaming. He had really boarded the train, fallen asleep and somehow ended up back here.

He started to panic and got to his feet. This time he walked briskly from arrivals and back to the train station.

There was another train due to arrive in five minutes, and so he waited.

Five minutes passed and Cole boarded the train once again. He sat down, this time in a regular carriage, and forced himself to stay awake. And he waited.

They went through the tunnel that would take the train under the motorway when…

…He was back at arrivals again. And this time he knew it wasn’t a dream. So was he going mad? He started panicking and this time ran to the taxi rank outside.

He hopped into the nearest black cab.

“Piccadilly please.”

“Right-o,” said the diver, putting his foot down on the pedal.

He was just beginning to relax when the taxi turned the corner to leave the car park and…

…He was back at arrivals once again.

Cole screwed his eyes closed and rubbed his forehead. And then, from outside, he heard the screeching of tyres and cries of shock outside.

He got to his feet and made his way outside following the small group of people that were running towards the car park exit. In the distance he could see the taxi he had just been in a few seconds before. It had crashed and someone was helping the terrified driver out of the drivers seat.

Cole could overhear him babbling to people who were helping him out.

“He just vanished. He just vanished. Like a bloody ghost.”

Cole run his hands through his hair, looked at the car park exit and ran full pelt towards it. A car almost hit him, but he carried on running. He just got to the exit when…

…He appeared back in arrivals…




On board the TARDIS, the Doctor was flicking through a pile of old books that he had gotten down from the TARDIS library. Occasionally he would turn to a page and spend what Caroline thought was an age reading something, and then he shake his head, close the book and go onto the next one.

“What exactly are you looking for?” asked Caroline.

“Information,” he replied, blowing dust off the cover of a red, leather-bound book.

“Information on what?” asked Caroline.

“On the Ancestor’s.”

“You mean what Captain Nivere belonged to?” she asked, remembering back to the mystery name that had been mentioned on Theen.

“That’s right,” he said, sitting down, putting his feet up on the console and turning to the end of a particularly thick, black book.

“Have you tried looking it up on Wikipedia?”

“Funny,” said the Doctor, giving her a sideways glance.

“Your life is just a bunch of riddles, isn’t it?” she said, sitting down on the sofa near the stairs and turning to a dusty book written in a foreign language.

“Indeed it is. Well, it is at the minute.”

Caroline looked up when she heard a beeping sound coming from the Doctor.

“Alarm?” she asked.

“In a way, yes,” he said, taking his pills out of his pocket and taking a few.

“Aren’t you going to talk into your tape recorder? To Aleema?”

“It’s AleeNA,” corrected the Doctor, “and no, there’s no point. The TARDIS is still refusing to take me there. And I still can’t get messages to my friend.”

“And me?”

“Still no joy with that, unfortunately,” he said, throwing the heavy book onto the floor with a large ‘thud’.

“And your scans haven’t come up with anything since you cleared out the system?”

“No. Nothing at all. If you’ve got some form of hidden power it’s buried deep inside. The TARDIS just can’t detect it.”

Caroline sighed. “And what about Danny?”

“Where is he?” asked the Doctor, looking around the console room.

“In his room. Says he has a headache. Again.”

The Doctor tutted. “I need to have a good, long chat with that young man. Especially after what happened at Sherman prison and then with that putty monster.“

“So, we’re calling it a Putty Monster now. Is that it’s official designation?”

“What happened down there was difficult for all of us.”

“What was it that Walters was talking about? When he said you’re half a man.”

“I’ve been through a lot,” said the Doctor. “A considerable amount actually. It takes it’s toll sometimes.”

“What you two need is a holiday. What I need is a holiday.”

“I’m game,” said Danny, emerging from the inner doorway that led to other parts of the ship. “I reckon somewhere in the Pacific would do me.”

“How you feeling?” asked Caroline.

“Good,” said Danny with a smile. “I’m feeling…better.”

“You’ve been through a lot,” said the Doctor, jumping to his feet and flicking a few controls. “What with the Apparite taking over your body and then your silly plan of letting Tressure take control of you. And it must have taken it out of you fighting against Walters.”

“Hey, we won, didn’t we?” said Danny, flopping down next to Caroline.

“Yes, we won,” said the Doctor, “but what about what happened back at the prison?”

“What do you mean?” asked Danny, sheepishly.

“Kate said you attacked her.”

“What!?” spluttered Caroline.

“When did she tell you that?”

The Doctor thought for a moment. “At the funeral.”

Danny laughed. “Don’t be stupid. She was dead.”

“She came back and spoke to me.”

“Why did you attack her?” asked Caroline, her arms folded.

“Is that Apparite still in you?” asked the Doctor. “Think about this, Danny. I need to know.”

“No,” said Danny. “Don’t be so stupid.”

“Be very careful about what you say to me,” said the Doctor, grabbing his sonic screwdriver and shining a light into Danny’s eyes.

“Get off,” said Danny, pushing him back.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything. A little pressure behind the eyes…”

“Stress,” said Danny. “Like I said. I’m game for a holiday.”

The Doctor looked down his nose at him and then nodded. “Okay. But if you need to speak…speak to me.”

There were a series of repeating beeps coming from one of the panels on the console and the Doctor looked intently at a readout.

“Anything exciting?” asked Danny, hoping to draw the Doctor away from the previous discussion.

“Hmm, maybe,” he said. “Hold tight you two. We’re off the Manchester airport.”

“Really?” asked Danny, leaping to his feet. “Surely we don’t need a plane to go to the Pacific.”

“I’m afraid this isn’t a holiday,” said the Doctor. “This is a genuine trip to Manchester airport.”

“Aww,” whined Caroline. “Why?”

“The TARDIS is picking up an interesting power source. I’ve never seen anything like it…I don’t think.”

“Hey, if we can get to Manchester airport, perhaps I can take the train back to Thornsby and try and get some answers from my parents.”

“I’m afraid not, Miss Parker,” said the Doctor, turning the lever and setting them on course for Manchester. “This power source is coming from January 2003, a little bit before your time.”

“Yeah,” she said, “but even still. I’d be able to get some answers.”

“No, I’m sorry,” he said sadly, “I can’t have you risking the web of time.”

Caroline sighed and sat back down. She wondered if she’d ever see home again. She glanced over to Danny. Since coming on board the TARDIS they had gotten more and more distant, and now with this talk of Danny attacking people…she wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. Indeed she’d even witnessed it back in the TARDIS when he attacked the green alien guy. It wasn’t like Danny. It just wasn’t.




A few minutes later and they were ready to land, but something was wrong. The TARDIS was shaking and rumbling and the engines sounded like they were grinding against something.

“What’s up?” asked Danny, crossing over to the console and flicking a few switches.

The Doctor slapped his hand away. “The TARDIS doesn’t seem to want to land at the airport.”

“Does this machine ever go where you want to go?” asked Caroline, joining the two men at the console.

“Sometimes,” said the Doctor. “Maybe,” he added quickly.

The engines continued to grind and sparks flew from underneath a panel.

“Alright, alright, old girl,” he said, patting her on the side of the console. “If it hurts you that much then we’ll not land there.”

“So we’re not investigating this power source?” asked Caroline.

“We are,” said the Doctor, “but we’re going to have to land on the outskirts and take a train into the station.”

Story 1.6: The Vanishing Man

“I’m slowly dying. Aleena’s been trying to find ways to help me, and I’ve been fighting it off with medication and tablets, but in the end I will die. It’s just a matter of time.”

Manchester Airport, January 2003. Matthew Cole tries to leave arrivals, but every time he attempts it he ends up back in the airport again. And his memory is fading...

The Doctor, Danny and Caroline arrive to investigate the strange source of power emanating from the airport, but Danny soon finds himself caught up in a different situation involving a beautiful, dark-haired young lady called Emily.

Caroline and the Doctor, however, find themselves meeting an old friend...or enemy...


Equinox, Sometime in the future and in the Doctor's past - Aleena rescues a newly regenerated Doctor and nurses him back to health - except it's likely that his health will never return.

This is the sixth and final story of season 1 in a continuing range of adventures starring the Doctor, Caroline and Danny, and introducing Claire Danes as Aleena, and Henry Ian Cusick as Matthew Cole.

Putty Love, Chapter 10

Caroline smacked the gun out of his hand, whilst Danny pushed him to the ground. Desiato let out a cry of anger, snarling at him.

‘Let me go! He’s out to kill us! He’s leading us to our deaths!’

‘What he hell are you on about?’ said Caroline, whilst the men struggled.

‘Let him up,’ said the Doctor. Danny did so slowly, keeping a careful eye on the captain. The Doctor passed Desiato the gun.

‘Doctor, he just tried to kill you with that!’

‘Don’t worry Danny, the power supply ran out yesterday. I don’t think Captain Desiato was thinking straight. Were you, captain?’

Desiato seemed to regain some of his composure. ‘Sorry, Doctor, I don’t understand what I was thinking. For some reason…’

‘Walters is influencing your mind, captain. Breeding hatred in you, to use against us. You must control your thoughts. Can you do that, or do I have to send you back to the surface?’

‘I’ll be all right Doctor.’ Desiato struggled to keep his temper down, especially as the Doctor now seemed to be talking to him as if he were a schoolboy. The voice faded from his mind, and his thoughts began to order themselves once more.

‘Good.’ The Doctor resumed his march onwards. ‘The cavern opens up ahead. Follow me.’

Desiato, Caroline and Danny did as they were told. They trailed the Doctor into a vast expanse that seemed carved away from the rock. The grey gloop of the symbiote’s tissue spread over the contours of the cavern walls, thick, arterial tubes emerging from it. The vein-like protuberances ran over the rock face, converging on the far side of the cavern, some twenty metres away. As they met, they swelled into a large blob of matter, which convulsed and contracted with a steady rhythm.

‘It’s a heart,’ said Caroline.

‘I think you’re right,’ said the Doctor. ‘It must pump the symbiotic matter through the rock, right across the planet. It’s incredible.’

‘Indeed it is, Doctor,’ said a snide, superior voice from the roof of the cavern. They looked up. Walters was descending towards them, his feet supported by an entwined knot of grey tentacles.

‘You finally made it here,’ he sneered, coming to a gentle halt on the rock floor. ‘I was wondering how long it would take you. You’re not quite the prevailing hero you make yourself out to be, are you Doctor?’

‘I never claimed to be such.’

‘Oh, but that is the impression you give. Fighting the good fight, your trusty companions by your side. But you’re nothing really, are you? You’re half the man you were once.’

The Doctor looked angry and bewildered. ‘What do you mean by that...?’

‘Your hypothesis concerning my psychic abilities was very close to the truth, Doctor. However, you underestimated me. At this range, I no longer need the symbiote to be in your system in order to read and influence your mind. Its presence at this level boosts my power. I am surrounded by a living psychic amplifier.’

‘Still, it must have taken you time to break through my mind. I am a Time Lord, with the inherent strengths and defences.’

‘A Time Lord? You’re not even close to that any more. You‘re a failure. A broken and shattered man.’

‘Doctor?’ said Caroline. ‘What does he mean?’

‘Don’t listen to him, Caroline,’ warned the Doctor. ‘He’s just playing with us.’

‘And these kids you bring with you. They are nothing to you, really. You like humans for company, as inferior little pets - ’

‘That isn’t true. These people are my friends.’

‘You condescending freak!’ screamed Walters. ‘How can you lie to yourself even now?’

‘You’re lying. I know what you’re thinking. You’re like an open book to me now, all that anger flowing through you, it’s like a beacon. It illuminates your worst thoughts. Why should you be so angry? You should be proud to have Human beings as companions, despite how pathetic they are.’

‘Better that than an alien?’ shouted Desiato.

‘Ah, the monsters’ friend,’ said Walters, pursing his lips in a grotesque mockery of a kiss. ‘Let’s all be chums, Mister Alien, come and have a big friendly hug. You’re worse than him. You should know better.’

‘I have learnt to put aside my anger with the Tarrokku, to view them as equals. Why do you despise them so badly?’

‘They’re just animals, Desiato. Parodies of humanity.’

‘For someone who hates aliens, you hang around with some strange company,’ piped in Danny.

The grey glutinous mass quivered around him. ‘Such creatures have their uses – if they serve my purpose. I control this creature, it failed to control me.’ He looked curiously at Danny, as if he’d spotted a blemish on his face. ‘I didn’t focus on you before, so I didn’t see it. How strange. You’re less human than he is,’ he said, gesturing towards the Doctor. ‘There’s alien in you, isn’t there? Something truly alien. Something evil.’

‘Stay out of this.’ He looked defiantly at Walters. ‘I know you’re just messing with me. It was you who made me angry earlier, made me attack the Tarrokku in the ship.’

‘Oh no it wasn’t, young man. That was nothing to do with me.’

‘Why should we believe anything you say?’ said the Doctor.

‘Because I do not lie. I expose your inner truths, your real hatreds.’

‘Why have you turned on the humans?’

‘They fought against what they knew to be right. If they want to be friends with creatures, then they don’t deserve their humanity.’

‘You are insane, Walters, you really are. What’s your grand plan? Kill everyone on the planet and spend the rest of your life here alone, with only a blob for company?’

‘Actually Doctor, that is where you’re going to help me. You TARDIS is an excellent energy source for my pet, but I can’t pilot it. It won’t let me access any of its systems. I need you to help me.’

‘You must be joking. I’d sooner see the TARDIS dead than let you loose on the Universe.’

‘Trust me Doctor, when I’m through with you, you’ll do anything I tell you to do.’

A tentacle ripped out from the ceiling, lashing at Desiato, Caroline and Danny. They flew backwards, smacking into the rock wall. More tendrils followed, enmeshing and coagulating into a single impenetrable wall.

‘A little time alone I think, Doctor.’

Danny, Caroline and Desiato pounded against the wall of rock-like matter in a futile attempt to break through.

‘It’s no use,’ said Caroline, falling to her knees in resignation. ‘It won’t budge.’

‘There must be someway to break through,’ said Danny, digging his nails into the mass. ‘Can’t we prize the tentacles apart?’

‘No, it’s completely fused together,’ said Desiato. ‘If Walters is holding it together, there’s no way we can persuade to budge.’

Danny continued to claw at the wall, small fragments of grey tissue unpeeling, only for the face of the barrier to reform moments later. Still he continued, ripping a fingernail out as it embedded in the wall. He yelled at the sudden pain, slowing his efforts, but not stopping, and as he did so, he felt the anger swell up in him again.




‘So what now?’ goaded the Doctor, staring into the face of his adversary. ‘You offer me a share of the Universe if I let you into the TARDIS systems? You threaten my friends? You carry on with a bit of a gloat? Whatever you’re planning, I’ve seen and heard it all before. You won’t get me to help you.’

‘Doctor, I am fully aware of how stubborn you can be. I did consider bargains and threats, but I soon realised they would have little sway with you. So,’ he chuckled, ‘I thought I’d just rip the information from your mind.’

The Doctor felt a light penetrate his mind, heard a knife cutting into his brain, tasted a tear running from his eye as the pain increased. Walters was forcing his mind into the Doctor’s, and the Doctor could not resist.

‘Not quite the great mind you once were, are you Doctor?’

‘I may not be the man I once was,’ gasped the Doctor, desperately trying to fight the probe, ‘but at I am still a good man. Can you say the same? You despise monsters – but you are no more than a monster yourself!’

‘Be quiet, Doctor, I am fast running out of patience with you. Give me what I need.’

The Doctor screamed.




Danny saw through the wall.

‘He’s weaker. He’s using his power on the Doctor.’

‘What?’ said Caroline.

‘I can see what he’s doing. I don’t see how but I can. He’s attacking the Doctor, and I will stop him.’

Danny felt the anger rise inside him, and he let it out, channelling it forward into Walters’s own mind.

Walters felt the Doctor fighting back at him, at the same time Danny pushed his way in. He lost control of the symbiote, focussing his efforts on the Doctor.

Danny could feel the life form all around him, he could feel it’s basic mind yearning for instruction.

‘Leave,’ he told the part of it that formed the wall, and it shrivelled away, slithering into the darkness.

‘Danny, did you do that?’ asked Caroline, baffled.

‘I think so,’ he replied. ‘I don’t know how.’

‘Give me the TARDIS!’ cried Walters, and with that outburst, the huge, pumping heart behind him exploded, freeing the police box shaped craft.

‘Never!’ cried the Doctor. ‘Danny, whatever you’re doing, help me!’

Danny saw the symbiotes in Walters’s body. They cried out to him, abandoned by their master, needing someone to guide them. Danny told them what to do.

Walters collapsed to the ground, his eyes bulging.

‘What is happening?’ he whispered, before he fell forward.

‘Is he dead?’ asked Desiato.

‘Yes,’ said Danny. ‘He is.’

‘Danny, how did you do that?’ cried Caroline.

‘I’m not sure. Somehow I connected with Walters and I felt the symbiote’s tissue in his body. I told them to attack his cells. I think he died of shock.’

The Doctor got to his feet, sweat running down his head.

‘Thank you, Danny. I’m not sure how you did it, but thank you.’

The Doctor walked over to Desiato, putting a hand on his shoulder.

‘Thank you, Captain. I think we’ll be leaving now. I have no desire to stay here any longer.’

‘I can understand that, Doctor. But I do. I have a lot of work to do. Everyone here does. The creature will behave like it did before now, I take it?’

‘As far as I can tell, everything will be back to normal. As normal as it was, anyway. Do you need any help getting back to the surface?’

‘I’m sure I’ll manage. Thank you for your help, all of you.’

The trio bid their goodbyes, and climbed into the TARDIS.

‘Will the TARDIS work okay now,?’ asked Caroline.

The Doctor flicked a few switches. The console hummed into life.

‘The old girl’s got plenty of life left in her yet.’ He set a few more controls, and the central column began to rise and fall, the familiar groaning sound accompanying it.

‘Where are we going?’

‘Somewhere quiet, I think. I hope. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed. It’s been a very tiring day.’

‘I think I will to,’ said Danny. ‘I think I’d like to be on my own for a while.’

As they walked through the corridor to their respective rooms, the Doctor stopped Danny,

‘I don’t understand what happened today, and I don’t think you do either. But rest assured, we’ll get to the bottom of it. Don’t worry.’

The Doctor walked away, closing the door to his room behind him.

At the edge of his hearing, Danny thought he heard someone laugh.

THE END

Next time: The Vanishing Man

Putty Love, Chapter 9

The Doctor gingerly eased the rope down into the ragged fissure in the ground. He tied the other end around a handy piece of jagged rock at the rim, which seemed just about stable enough to hold his weight.

‘Right,’ he said, rallying his companions, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this alone. I’ll need you both to help me, but be on your guard – we have no real idea what we’ll find down here.’

‘We’ve got your back, Doctor,’ said Caroline. ‘Haven’t we, Danny?’

‘Oh, of course,’ said Danny, somewhat disingenuously. ‘You want us to follow you into almost certain death? Jump at the chance, me.’

‘You don’t have to come,’ said the Doctor, beginning to shimmy down the rope. ‘You can stay up here while Caroline risks her life for you and the colonists.’

Danny considered a retort, but thought better of it. ‘All right, I’m coming. But I don’t understand why some of this lot can’t help us.’

‘The colonists are in hardly any state to be cooperative. They’ve been deliberately manipulated to become aggressive towards each other. Hopefully they can hold off from tearing each other apart for a while, but I doubt they’ll be much use in a life or death situation.’

‘A little harsh, Doctor,’ said Desiato, overhearing.

‘Pragmatic, captain, merely pragmatic. I need people I can trust with me. Your people are more under Walters’ power than I think you realise.’

‘I’m coming with you Doctor, at the very least. The seconds-in-command can look after their respective crews. You need someone who knows this planet helping you.’

‘You may know the surface of the planet, captain, however - ’

‘I’m coming with you, and that’s final. This is my world now, and my people. I am going to protect them.’

‘Very well,’ said the Doctor, sliding down the rope. ‘Follow me down, one at a time,’ he called up, ‘the rope should hold one person.’

‘Should?’ said Danny.

‘Get down there,’ said Caroline, elbowing him in the ribs. ‘And stop being an arse. I don’t know what’s come over you since we started travelling with the Doctor.’

‘It might have something to do with me not knowing what I was letting myself in for,’ said Danny, nodding his head towards the certain doom that was surely lurking below the surface.

‘I just want you to speak to me,’ said Caroline, putting a hand on his shoulder and trying to look into his eyes.

Danny shifted his head, trying to look past her and refusing to make eye contact. ‘I’m okay. Really, I’m okay.’

Caroline smiled sadly. ‘I really wish I believe that.’

The Doctor’s voice came from down below. ‘Oi! You two! Get a move on!’

Danny grabbed the top of the rope and cautiously clambered down. When he reached the bottom, the Doctor shone a torch in his face.

‘I knew you wanted to help really,’ he said, grinning widely.

He shone his torch about the cavern they were now standing in. grey, bulbous shapes stood out from the gloom. The Doctor reached out and poked a wall. It stuck to his finger, stretching out towards him as he pulled his hand back, until it snapped back into the surface.

‘The symbiote completely ensconces this planet’s crust,’ he stated. ‘It must work its way through the ground, enveloping the world. As if the planet itself was a single life form.’

Caroline slid down beside them.

‘All the smaller life forms become suffused with it,’ continued the Doctor, awestruck. ‘They become part of it, like mitochondria in cells, or bacteria in the small intestine.’

‘Delightful,’ said Desiato, landing with a thud. ‘I’ve never been compared to intestinal flora before. Well, only once.’

‘It was meant in the kindest possible way, captain,’ said the Doctor, waving the light about and peering into the gloom. The bulbous knots of rock-like material gave way in a cleft to his right. ‘This is the only way Walters could have gone.’ He walked through the breach. ‘Come on, chop chop! Last one up against a homicidal loon is a rotten egg!’

The others followed him through, quickly enough to keep sight of him but slowly enough to keep watch in the shadows. Bizarre and worrying shapes jutted out from the cave walls, and they had to be constantly on guard not to walk straight into one and have an eye poked out.

Desiato bounded after the Doctor, catching up with him.

‘Yes, captain?’ queried the Doctor quietly.

‘Doctor, what you were saying before, about being under Walters’s powers. What did you mean? I realise he’s been manipulating us with these killings, but the what you said suggested something more.’

‘I’m afraid that Walters has most likely been influencing your very minds and emotions. It’s difficult to know for sure, but it certainly seems to be the case. Tell me, captain, how did your two crews first enter into this alliance?’

‘Well, when we both crashed in the same area, with little food or resources, alone with little hope of contacting the outside Universe, we had to cooperate to survive.’

‘Just like that?’

Desiato wondered what the Doctor was getting at. ‘Well, yes. We had no choice.’

‘Two crews, of wildly different species, enemies in a space war that had claimed the lives of thousands of their comrades, and you just sat down and said, “Oh well then gents, let bygones be bygones, let’s have a cup of tea and start farming”? Much as I’d like to think that your two species could cooperate on such a level, I am rather disinclined to believe it.’

‘Well, that is how it happened. After a couple of weeks in which we’d mostly tried to avoid each other, so as to keep tensions low, we started talking properly.’

‘A couple of weeks eating the planet’s wild plants and animals?’

‘Well, we obviously to had to eat.’

‘From the point you began ingesting the life forms of this world, the symbiotic entity was within you all. It subtly manipulated your subconscious minds – making you more susceptible to cooperation. Exactly as it’s been doing to life on this world for millions of years.’

‘You think so, Doctor? I’m not sure I like the sound of that.’

‘Well, it’s only a theory,’ said the Doctor, smiling reassuringly. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it. The life form was just doing a little friendly prodding to help you get along. Walters’s higher than normal ESP must have allowed him some awareness of the creature. As he grew used to it, he began to control it, imposing his will. And if he could do that, as we have seen only to well he can, then he could have taken it a step further.’

‘And used the symbiote to influence us?’

‘Exactly. Making you more aggressive to one another, rather than less. Destroying all your progress. Whatever the symbiote did to help, that was still your triumph. And now Walters has jeopardised all of it.’

This new information disturbed Desiato greatly. He had spent years in the fleet, defending the colonies of the Earth Empire against marauding aliens, only to end up fighting wars with species whose only crime was to defend their own worlds. Oh, he’d hated them for being enemies of humanity, swallowing propaganda, but deep down he’d felt more and more guilty of his role in the wars. The Tarrokku were one in a series of many such peoples. When their two crews had been marooned on this world, he’d felt almost relieved – this situation was an ideal opportunity to rebuild some of the relations between the Empire and Tarrokk. Of course, he’d eventually come to accept that a rescue was not going to be attempted. Their success in building a two-species society was not going to be reported to the Galaxy at large. However, he had still gained immense satisfaction from the thought that he and his people had made it work; and by now he’d come to think of them all as his people. He’d hatred of them had completely waned, and he found it hard to think that he’d ever felt that way. The news that some other alien force had helped them succeed robbed him of much of his pride in the colony. It did not disturb him as much, however, as the knowledge that it could very well have been for nothing; that it was all to lead to a return to bloodshed.

It all started when the Doctor had arrived. He’d admitted that his ship had provided power to the monster that had killed his people; his coming here had caused the deaths of those Desiato had sworn to protect. And now he was telling him that he hadn’t even been helping them, it was because of some alien, controlling them. And him! An alien monster infiltrating his mind. Making him want to live amongst creatures like the Tarrokku. Living in this primitive world, light years from home with only monsters for company.

What had the Doctor said earlier? He wasn‘t Human. What was he? Some kind of impostor? Another eetie, here to ruin Desiato’s work? To manipulate him? To murder him?

Hatred simmered in the captain’s mind. Give in, something was telling him. The Doctor is the enemy. Kill him and you can return home in his ship. Take your crew with you and the monsters here. Do it now.

The rage filling his mind, Desiato removed the blaster from his jacket. He took aim at the Doctor’s head, squeezed the trigger…

Putty Love, Chapter 8

‘I think,’ said the Doctor gingerly, ‘that I may have found the answer.’ He sat at the desk, deep in the analysis of the symbiotic tissue. He’d harvested further samples from the structure of the building around him, and had subjected them to every test that the equipment he possessed allowed.

‘I believe that I can alter the… identity, for want of a better term… of the life form’s cells.’

‘How?’ said Caroline, who was rather eager for the Doctor to simply explain what he was doing.

‘Indeed Doctor,’ said Desiato, striding towards them, ‘please explain.’

‘All cells have a distinct chemical signature, that the immune system’s white blood cells detect. I think I’ve found a way to fool the white cells into thinking the alien tissue is part of the body’s own tissue. You see, the alien adapts to its environment, so if I chemically stimulate it correctly, its own chemical signature will alter. Et voila, Bingo’s your uncle.’

‘So can you try it out on the patients?’ asked Desiato.

‘Certainly, but it will take some time to take affect. This isn’t a quick fix.’

The three of them walked to the young blond man in the bed nearest.

‘As I examined this gentleman’s tissue, it seems best to begin the procedure on him. I already know the chemical signature of his blood.’ The Doctor performed a number of calculations on his homemade tricorder. He grabbed one of the nurses by the shoulder. ‘Could you make up twenty milligrams of this exact solution please?’

‘Sir?’ he said, looking at Desiato.

‘Go ahead. I believe we can trust the Doctor’s judgment.’

‘Don’t worry, lad,’ said the Doctor to the unconscious patient. ‘We’ll soon have you marching stiffly and blindly obeying orders again.’

The nurse returned with a syringe full of the substance. The Doctor took it from him.

‘Thank you. Here goes; my reputation put to the test.’ He injected into the patient’s left forearm. The Doctor studied the display on his gadget intently. ‘The symbiotic matter is altering… it’s matching with the blood signature… the antibody levels in the area are dropping.’ He straightened up, grinning with a mixture of relief and self-satisfaction. ‘Gentlemen, I believe we have a treatment.’




Two hours later, and the Doctor had, with the aid of the medical staff, synthesised compounds tailored to each of the patients’ biologies. All had been injected, and were beginning to show signs of improvement.

‘They’ll need to be treated in the same way at least once a day for several weeks,’ said the Doctor to Desiato. ‘Keep monitoring their progress and judge for yourselves when they’re ready to stop the treatment.’ He smiled. ‘I do enjoy a triumph. It must be my natural arrogance.’

‘Doctor,’ said the captain, ‘I realise I may have been unfairly harsh to you earlier, but I am deeply grateful for what you have done for us. If there is – ’

‘ – anything you could do for me in return?’ he finished. ‘Certainly, you can help me get my TARDIS

back before its swallowed for ever and I am marooned on this planet with you lot. If it’s not too much of an imposition.’

‘Certainly, Doctor. I’ll get some men together and we’ll join in your search. There are some caves towards the foot of the mountains that lead into the areas beneath us; they haven’t been explored far, but I’m sure what knowledge we have can help you.’

‘Thank you, Captain, it’s nice to get a little gratitude every once in a –’

There was an almighty thump on the wall of the building, the putty-like material deforming slightly under the force before returning to its original structure.

‘What now?’ complained Desiato.

The pair walked outside, to be greeted by what was clearly a brawl brewing. Seven Tarrokku stood, hackles raised, staring with undisguised hostility at three humans. Others were gathering to watch the fracas – the humans and Tarrokku divided roughly down the middle.

The tallest of the Tarrokku, standing at the front of the knot, was walking towards the humans, his yellow teeth bared like an angry dog’s. His body was poised in a predatory stance, muscles taut and ready to spring, arms raised slightly in preparation for combat.

Hesper approached from the crowd. He did not move to stop the approaching fight – he merely watched. There seemed to be, amongst the colonists, an air almost of resignation; as if to say: ‘This was going to happen eventually. Lets watch and see who comes out with the most interesting bruises.’

Caroline spoke: ‘Doctor, shouldn’t we do something? Couldn’t you step in, and stop this from breaking into a fight?’

‘A fight is going to happen, sooner or later. Tensions have built up to breaking point. It may as well happen now.’

The presence of the audience had, naturally, not gone unnoticed amongst the antagonistic groups. One of the humans, displaying the chimpanzee pack mentality, inevitably had to shout something out to appear the toughest.

‘What the cruk did you say about us, Green Gilbert?’ he bawled, using a traditional affront against non-human life forms.

The lead Tarrokku did not require a great deal of provocation.

‘I said it’s not surprising, sharing a planet with blood-thirsty animals like you lot.’

‘What’s not surprising?’ asked one of the onlookers.

Oh, dear, thought the Doctor. Someone’s joined in. Here it comes.

‘The murder,’ yelled another of the Tarrokku. ‘More of our people, viciously killed by you humans.’

‘A classic example of the disregard by Homo sapiens for higher species,’ said a smart-arse Tarrokku.

‘Only doing our job,’ said the lead human, ‘ridding the galaxy of bug-eyes.’

Then the fur flew.




Deep within the planet, the entity felt the anger and hatred rise in its partner, ready to be summoned.




The seven Tarrokku leapt at he humans, pinning them to the ground, landing sloppy, angry punches and violent hoofed kicks to their bodies. Three against seven, clearly being unfair, led several more humans to join in, launching themselves at the assailants and wrenching them off their fellows. Having extended the brawl, more individuals from both sides joined the throng. Those who entered to rescue their friends, or to attempt to break things up, were drawn into the melee as punches flew their way. Mutters of ‘Typical primates,’ and ‘bloody greenies,’ and suchlike were evident from the less physical of the company, serving only to aggravate those in the skirmish further.

‘That’s enough!’ shouted Desiato. He seized a small few of his crew from the throng, berating them.

‘How dare you behave like this? Do you want this society to collapse? As if we didn’t have enough problems without this.’ And so forth.

Hesper deep bellowing at his people went further to calm to fight, cutting through the noise it generated.

‘If you could discipline your crew a little, Captain,’ he began.

‘It was your own crew who started this damn thing,’ he replied.

‘Perhaps they had good reason to,’ the Tarrokku captain growled.

‘What exactly do you mean by that?’

Deprived of its only stabilising influences, the brawl continued in earnest.

‘That is ENOUGH!’ the Doctor shouted, his voice considerably louder than it appeared possible for a mere humanoid. ‘This hatred has continued long enough. You have lived together on this planet for five years. Look how much you have built – and now you throw it away for the sake of a fist-fight!’

The struggle had, astoundingly, dwindled to almost nothing.

‘What is wrong with you people?’ the Doctor bellowed, his face reddening. ‘Why can’t you just live together?’ He took a deep breath. ‘Are you nothing but animals, squabbling over territory?’

The last fighting pair, a Tarrokku holding a man stretched between his arms like an accordion, looked up to the Doctor, suddenly noticing the quiet. The Doctor simply stared around himself, looking at the masses before him, with undisguised contempt.

‘There is a serious threat to you on this world,’ he said, with more restraint. ‘Something that has been both feeding upon and sustaining the antagonism between your peoples. If we are to stop it, we need to work together. Fighting amongst yourselves will only help it destroy you more quickly.’

‘You are correct, Doctor,’ said Hesper. ‘However, the creature of which you speak has only killed Tarrokku; no humans have been harmed by it. I have also been led to believe that you yourself think a human is responsible for its actions. True?’

The Doctor’s resolve faded somewhat. ‘I do believe that to be the case, yes. However, whoever has been provoking the creature’s attacks will only be served by this hostility.’ He looked at the humans in the crowd, trying to isolate one who looked more hostile. He tried another tactic.

‘I believe that the one responsible for these attacks is here amongst us – and is simply provoking the rest of you into doing his dirty work. He wishes to put himself above the rest of you. He wants not only the extermination of the Tarrokku, but the satisfaction that he has bent you all to his whim.’

The crowd began to look around themselves with suspicion.

‘Furthermore, this individual is nothing more than a coward; afraid of those different to himself, and afraid to take action himself. Instead he uses an innocent alien to destroy those he fears. He is nothing more than your typical megalomaniac – convinced of his own importance, yet ultimately impotent. And against the combined might of us, he doesn’t stand a chance.’

‘Good speech, Doctor,’ said Caroline, sotto voce.

‘Well, Doctor,’ said Desiato, ‘you have certainly gained the attention of all those present. Do you, however, have any idea how to find the one who is causing the killings?’

‘To your left,’ said the Doctor.

To the left of Desiato, Walters was walking towards the Doctor, a childlike sneer on his face.

‘Very well, Doctor,’ he said, ‘here I am. If your little speech was designed to provoke me into revealing my guilt, then it worked perfectly. However, your idea that you can stop me is rather unfounded –’ he looked around at the crowd surrounding him, ‘and if you must insist on associating with these creatures, then I will simply have to dispose of the lot of you.’

The ground began to shake.




The planet being sensed its partner reach out in communion with it. It fed off the anger, channelling the hatred, and became ready for the attack.




The earth below was splitting. The alien grass was pushed aside as the soil bulged and ruptured, fragments of rock spat into the air by the force emerging from below. The ground tore open, a crevasse widening on either side of Walters, leaving him standing – isolated from the terrified crowd – on a trembling plinth of rock. A deep groaning rumble emanated from deep within the freshly created chasm, as the planet’s own defences turned to the offensive.

‘Everyone, back! Get as far away from the hole as you can!’ shouted the Doctor, knowing full well that retreat would buy only a little time for them all.

The ground continued to tremble as the vast grey mass of the creature squeezed out of the fissure, its body sloppily oozing out like wet mortar between bricks. It bulged upwards out of the gap, gradually wrenching itself out into the world. Its body stretched and distorted, mutating into the grotesque human parody that was its fighting form. Now, standing a good three feet above the tallest Tarrokku, the monstrosity stood like a putty-snowman, the folds of false flesh wobbling against its bulk.

It turned its malformed head at the Doctor, its tiny, sightless eyes staring at him.

With a deft swivel, the Doctor turned and ran.

‘Doctor!’ cried Caroline.

‘Don’t worry about him,’ said Danny, ‘I’m sure he’s got somewhere safe to hide.’

The golem lurched towards them, its arms outstretched and –

- walked right past them.

‘It’s after the Doctor,’ said Caroline. ‘While it’s chasing him, its not hurting anyone else.’

Walters turned to look at them, as if to say, ‘That’s what you think.’

Around them, the buildings, formed from the alien’s symbiotic tissue, began to distort and unentwine,

growing simple arms with misshapen fingers that reached out to them.

Arms and tendrils extended out, grabbing the colonists, ensconcing them. People screamed as limbs were snapped by the grasping tendrils. A fat tentacle smothered a Tarrokku, her legs twitching as she suffocated. A human was crushed as one of the smaller buildings lurched its entire bulk over on top of him.

‘He’s not just killing Tarrokku any more,’ muttered Caroline.

Desiato, meanwhile, had organised a small group of troops, armed with simple shears and scythes for work in the fields. They hacked away at the lurching monsters the buildings had become, slicing off tentacles and chunks of grasping flesh, but it was ultimately useless. One man hacked off two tentacles that went for him, only to find them growing back immediately and wrapping around his neck.

Caroline turned away, unable to watch any more. She was then pulled to the floor, a grey, twisting arm wrapped around her foot, dragging her to the now monstrous structure that had once served as the sickbay. What had once been a door was now a horrific, gnashing maw, and Caroline was being pulled towards it.




On the other side of the building, the Doctor was still on the run from the golem. Fortunately, the creature’s form was designed to smash and destroy, and it was having some trouble keeping up with him. He stopped at the hospital. The monster was a short way behind him, leaving him perhaps thirty seconds head start to do what he needed to do. He removed his photon knife from his inside pocket, adjusting the beam to produce a fiery red blade. It cut easily through the material of the building, scalding it badly enough to prevent regrowth long enough for him to enter. He clambered through the newly cut doorway, making for the workbench, which housed the chemical analysis equipment. He took out his homemade tricorder, studying the readings he’d serruptiously taken whilst Walters was ranting, and hurriedly began to mix the correct formula.

The monster lurched through the rip in the building. It approached the Doctor, as the walls around it began to close in, entwining with the creature. It reached out for him.

‘One moment please,’ said the Doctor, stirring furiously with a spatula. He rapidly loaded the mixture into a hypodermic, simultaneously ducking out the creature’s way as it lurched for him. He dashed for the door, which had now seemingly given way to some kind of approximation of a mouth. Slashing with his knife, he tore the mouth away from its moorings. He leapt through the collapsing wall, his photon knife now embedded in the alien’s flesh.

‘Hello Caroline,’ he said, as he landed in front of her. The monstrous arms relinquished their hold on her as the building collapsed in on itself.

‘Blast,’ said the Doctor, helping his companion to her feet, ‘I’ll never find another knife like that. How am I meant to make my neutronium sculptures now? The neutron star gosling will never be finished.’

What had once been the hospital had now coalesced into a quivering mass. It stretched itself out, developing into the golem that had formed part of it – now at least double its former size.

‘Doctor, I think we have more to worry about than that,’ said Caroline, as the creature lurched towards them.

‘Indeed,’ said the Doctor, as, whipping round, he threw the hypodermic at Walters. He shouted as it embedded in his arm, delivering its chemical load into his bloodstream.

‘Just what was that supposed to accomplish, Doctor?’ he sneered. ‘Oh, what the -’ he muttered, falling from his precarious perch, plummeting into the depths of the planet.

The golem stood over Caroline and the Doctor, its arms reaching towards them, and stopped, dead in its tracks. All around them, the carnage had ceased, the monstrous creatures that the settlement had become simply frozen in their positions.

‘What happened?’ said Danny, who had appeared along side the creature.

‘I tailored the treatment I had created to Walters’s biology. Only, this time, I altered the symbiotic tissue in such a way that it would be rejected by his immune system. It disrupted his hold on the creature, and severely weakened him to boot.’

Desiato finished untangling one of his fellows from a dead tentacle.

‘So he’s lost his power over the creature?’

‘Only temporarily. Now he’s down there,’ the Doctor nodded towards the fissure, ‘surrounded by the creature. Once he recovers, we’re in trouble again. We need to go down there and stop him once and for all.’

Putty Love, Chapter 7

To the outside Universe, the Doctor was asleep. In truth, he was calculating biochemical equations and levels of symbiotic sub-cellular matter. He was crouched in a chair, his head between his knees.

‘Doctor?’ said Desiato, prodding him gently with an outstretched finger.

The Doctor looked up at the captain, his eyes sharp and piercing.

‘Crumpets,’ said the Doctor.

‘I don’t understand…’ said Desiato, giving the Doctor a suitably baffled look.

‘The symbiote’s bio-structure,’ the Doctor elucidated, ‘is a lot like a crumpet. It absorbs foreign materials, building them up inside, and using them as raw matter from which to produce more of itself.’ He seemed to think about it a little further. ‘A little like a crumpet sopping up butter, I thought, though it’s a strained analogy, now that I say it aloud.’

‘Doctor, there’s been another attack.’

‘Where? When?’ the Doctor leapt up.

‘On the edges of the crop fields, in the early hours of the morning. I think you should come and see…’

‘See what?’ said the Doctor, doubting it was anything comforting.

‘You’ll understand when you see it.’




The Doctor and Desiato walked out of the settlement, towards the fields. Over the bank of the silver, shimmering river, stood a wall of seven-foot tall blue crops, their sturdy branches twisting around each other, forming a single vast barrier. A pathway had been hacked through their solid, almost military unity. Desiato led the Doctor along the path. They strode along the rough soil, surrounded by the towering plants, tough, leathery leaves whipping their faces. The Doctor had to tug his coat off the boughs on which it snagged several times, tutting with irritation as he walked. Quite suddenly, the crops ceased, the tangle of leaves and branches opening into a wide, sparse field. And that is when the Doctor saw it. Even he, who had seen many horrors in his time, felt a wave of nausea roll over him. He clamped his hand to his mouth as he looked at it.

The Doctor concluded five Tarrokku were in the field, but only by counting their heads. Tufts of green fur lay around the corpses, their limbs twisted into sickening shapes. Deep maroon blood stained the soil. Bones poked through flesh, their sharp, broken edges tearing through the tough skin. One of the Tarrokku’s arms – lying some distance away from the rest of the remains – was still clutching a makeshift hoe, raised in a futile attempt at defiance.

‘An act of pure hatred,’ whispered the Doctor, truly horrified.

‘Doctor?’ said Desiato, not quite hearing him.

‘Whoever is controlling the creature is motivated by a burning hatred of the Tarrokku. Surely you cannot think otherwise after seeing this?’

‘No, Doctor, I cannot. I also cannot see how we can stop someone who has control of a life form capable of such destruction.’

The Doctor turned away from the carnage, unable to look at it any longer.

‘In my travels through space and time, I have seen things you would not believe. I have seen beauty so breathtaking I could scarcely blink for fear of missing the tiniest second of it. I have also seen terror and despair, destruction on scales that would appal the most cruel and uncaring of individuals. I have seen things that have made me give up all hope. And I have seen triumph. I have seen the repressed fighting back; I have seen the weak and helpless find the strength to overcome those who would destroy them. I know we will stop whomever is behind this slaughter before he can continue.’

‘We should bury the bodies,’ said Desiato. ‘Once we’ve, uh, sorted them into individuals. The Tarrokku don’t place any spiritual importance on the body; a ceremony will be held to commemorate them when we go back.’

‘Did any of them have family here?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Tau and Reta were brothers. Other than that, no. But we all consider ourselves as part of the same family, in a way. At least, some of us do. It’s clear that others don’t.’

The Doctor picked up a spade that lay on the ground, its handle twisted; presumably an attempt had been made to use it for defence. He started digging.




The Doctor and Desiato trudged back into the settlement in silence, dust and dirt caking their clothes.

Danny and Caroline ran up to him. The Doctor saw the anxiety and fear in their eyes.

‘What’s happened?’ he grabbed Caroline by the shoulders.

‘The alien thing,’ she gasped, ‘it killed one of Hesper’s people, and then, then…’

‘Then it swallowed the TARDIS,’ said Danny.

‘It did what?’ shouted the Doctor. ‘How did this happen?’

‘It forced its way in, and started feeding off the stone eye,’ said Caroline.

‘It fed off the Eye? How? It must be draining energy via the Eye from the TARDIS energy banks – this is very serious. And you say it swallowed the TARDIS?’

‘It sucked it underground. We used an escape pod to get out.’

‘More of an escape fridge, really,’ said Danny.

‘Well, at least you’re safe. The TARDIS, however, may not be so lucky. If we can’t find it soon, it may be totally drained of power. And then we won’t be going anywhere.’ The Doctor grabbed the bag out of Caroline’s hands. ‘At least you found my medical equipment. If I can find a way to neutralise the symbiotic tissue, I may be able to help those who are dying from its effects – or lack thereof – and find a way to free the TARDIS. Perhaps I can even find a way of stopping the golem creature that has been attacking the Tarrokku.’

The Doctor dashed sideways and ran towards the ‘hospital’. Caroline and Danny darted after him. When they entered the building, the Doctor was already sitting at the makeshift medical desk, unloading various gizmos from his medical bag. He removed the sliver of flesh from under the microscope and loaded into a small perspex sample box. He activated a small black box from his bag, which immediately sprung into life, lights flickering on its display.

‘What’s that Doctor?’ asked Danny. ‘It looks like a tricorder out of Star Trek.’

‘Yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘Well, I saw the programme from time to time when it was first broadcast, and I thought to myself what a good idea it was. I decided to build one for myself, but I didn’t have the components for a long time. But recently I got the chance to put one together, and I think it works rather well.’

He loaded the sample box into the front of the machine, which flickered as it analysed the structure. The Doctor stood up and walked over to the various patients suffering from the disease, scanning them with his gadget. He nodded thoughtfully, and began to scan the various nurses who were caring for the patients.

‘Do you mind,’ said one middle-aged woman, who was recording the temperature of one of the sick.

‘Not at all,’ said the Doctor absently, continuing his readings. ‘Carry on.’

She returned, irritated, to her work.

‘Aha!’ cried the Doctor, causing the nurse to jump a short distance into the air and drop her equipment.

‘What Doctor?’ asked Caroline.

‘It’s just as I thought. The cells of most of the humans on this planet are ensconced in the symbiote’s tissue, but the sick cells are not – they’ve fought the symbiote as if it were a pathogen.’

‘I thought it was a pathogen causing the illness.’

‘No that’s what the colonists believed, although – of course! It makes perfect sense now.’

Caroline waited for several seconds, before, sighing deeply, asking ‘What does, Doctor?’

‘Hhm? Oh, yes, well, there must have been a pathogen to start with – some organism that was capable of penetrating the symbiote’s defences, probably with the help of its own symbiotic tissue. The bodies of the infected could have adapted to fight it off, like any other infection, and that would have been fine if it had stopped. The problem arose because the immune system now identified the symbiotic tissue as a threatening foreign body. The bodies of the sick still need the life form to survive prolonged exposure to this environment, but now they’re fighting it off.’

The Doctor was becoming over-excited, as he often did when he’d come to some intriguing conclusion. Caroline decided to bring him back down to Earth a little – his ego did sometimes get the better of him.

‘So Doctor, just how do we help them now?’

‘Ah, well you see, all we need do is convince their immune systems that the symbiote is not a threat. Oh. I see what you mean. That will be difficult.’ The Doctor looked rather smaller than had done moments before. ‘I’m sure I’ll come up with something.’




The planet was infused with the life form. It spread through the rocks, assimilated microbes, entered plants and assisted animals. It helped the other life on the planet live together – in many ways, it was the planet. In return for maintaining the ecosystem, its own system was cleansed and nourished by the other life on the world. It had existed like this for millions of years, unchanging as the other life of the world evolved and adapted. For all this time it had existed, but had been unaware of its existence – it neither thought, nor felt, it simply lived. Now, however, things were slightly different.




Life forms had arrived on the planet from somewhere else. This had never happened before. It sensed their arrival, as it would sense any other life form in its aegis, entering and absorbing them, as they became part of its world. For a time, this was good. As part of the great entity, they thrived, a new harmony created between them. Then, after some time, one of the creatures contacted him. It had not meant to, but its emotions had overcome its mind and reached out. Now, for the first time, the planet life form felt thought, and assimilated it into its system. In return, those parts of it touched by thought belonged to the creature. It was a new level of cooperation. The two life forms’ influence on each other grew, and for the first time, the world felt anger. And it was good.




The world being started aping the form of its new benefactor, to better express its rage. For the first time, it had become violent, and its growing self-awareness allowed it to relish the experience. As it grew stronger, it had also grown hungrier. It had lacked the energy to act in great force, until another group of life forms arrived on the surface; one of the beings, that carried the others within itself, was a source of tremendous energy; the world being, in another change of behaviour, turned predatory. Part of it was no longer acting in symbiosis, but as a parasite, and as it fed, its strength grew. As did its anger.




Under the surface of the planet, the TARDIS stood, alone, the alien infesting its structure draining its energy. It needed the Doctor. But the Doctor could not hear its cries.

Putty Love, Chapter 6

‘Telepathic?’ said Desiato. ‘Some of them do have basic ESP – Walters, Mendez, Puri. It’s routinely tested in the fleet, but none of them have ever shown any great psychic skill.’

‘Perhaps not,’ said the Doctor, getting to his feet. ‘However, what if the presence of the alien organism in their cells has created a bond between them? A psychic link, if you will? One of your crew could be telepathically controlling the life form – perhaps consciously, perhaps instinctively, but controlling it either way.’

‘Why one of my crew? Why not one of Hesper’s?’

‘The creature took on a humanoid form. To me that suggests a human master.’

‘The Tarrokku are humanoid, Doctor.’

‘But recognisably alien, captain, don’t you see? The creature formed itself into an almost human shape, and was acting out the will of its master. It’s a kind of puppet, or golem.’ The Doctor looked pleased with his deduction.

Desiato snorted derisively. ‘You’re grasping at straws, Doctor. You have no more idea about what this creature truly is than I do.’

‘You aren’t willing to accept the truth!’

‘Not the truth, Doctor, your theory.’

The Doctor sighed. ‘Well, I suppose I could be mistaken. It has been known to happen. From time to time.’ He sat back down. ‘Whatever is causing the golem’s attacks, it appears to have stopped for now. I hope my friends get back soon with my equipment. Then maybe I can find out what is causing the symbiotic organism’s breakdown.’




The alien matter was oozing its way through the crack between the TARDIS doors. It glistened as it seeped through, spreading further into the console room. The normally stone grey floor was becoming enveloped by the grey mass, expanding through the room with at a terrifying rate.

‘I think we should get away from here,’ said Hesper.

‘I agree,’ said Caroline.

As one, the five of them swivelled on their heals (or hooves, in the cases of the Tarrokku) and bolted for the rear door of the room. Glancing behind him, Broon saw the monstrous mass expanding, stretching tendrils out towards them. He thought, for a moment, that he could see a face forming in the mass, but such concerns were driven from his mind as the tentacles wrapped around his body.

‘Help!’ he bellowed, as the writhing entity lifted him off his feet, dragging him towards the main body.

‘Broon!’ cried Hesper, in the futile way that people have when unable to act. He and Romat bolted to help their comrade, but they were too late. The tentacles were tightening around his body. There was an audible cracking, as his ribs snapped under the strain. He grunted in pain, unable to cry out as his lungs were crushed. The cracking became crunching as Broon’s body was wrung beyond tolerance. He died,

suspended in the air by the creature’s tentacles, which dropped him, unceremoniously, to the floor.

For a moment, none of the TARDIS’ occupants could speak. Hesper was the first to regain a hold of him.

‘We have to escape form this ship. Is there an emergency exit? An escape pod?’

‘Er, yes, yes, I think so,’ stuttered Caroline, still shocked by what she had just seen. ‘Yes,’ she said, more resolutely, ‘the Doctor showed it to us.’

The four of them hurriedly left the console room, the thrashing heap of tentacles following them. Danny grabbed the food supplies and closed and locked the door.

‘I doubt that will hold it for long,’ he said, ‘we have to get out of here. Do you remember the way to the escape pod?’

‘Yes,’ said Caroline. ‘I think so,’ she added under her breath.

They followed her down the corridor. It was much like the console room, gently illuminated roundels on white walls. It opened into a vast chamber, quite unlike the console room: ancient, baroque pillars surrounded a central well, inside which a single huge stone sphere lay. The room stretched away and upwards into shadow, giving a sense of unlimited volume.

‘Where are we?’ asked Hesper.

‘The Cloister Room,’ said Caroline. ‘I think it’s sort of like the engine room.’

‘Then this is where the creature will be heading.’

‘For the power,’ realised Caroline.

‘Where is the escape pod?’ asked Romat.

‘Through here,’ said Caroline, leading them across the room to an archway that lead to another corridor. Behind them, with a moist thud, a vast chunk of the alien matter burst into the room, sprouting tentacles that reached hungrily towards the stone sphere that enclosed the power supply.

‘Run!’ yelled Danny, somewhat redundantly, for the others had already broken into a sprint towards the exit.

They hurried down the corridor. It appeared constructed from ruddy stonework, quite like the console room. It stretched onwards into darkness. As the two humans and two Tarrokku ran, they passed all manner of oddities – a human skeleton, propped up on a stand and sporting sunglasses and a cigar; a sundial, illuminated by an unknown light source to read four o’clock; a bookshelf, stacked with tomes in unknown languages marked the corner where the passage veered right.

Danny ran directly into it, knocking books flying, and himself falling flat on his backside. With a comedy flourish, a large, leather-bound volume landed on his head with a thump.

‘Danny!’ cried Caroline, turning back to help him.

‘Is he injured?’ asked Hesper, in a voice that conveyed little care or concern.

‘I’m fine,’ replied Danny, grumpily. He lifted off the book that was now perched on his head. ‘Xtineyuuu Aff Innmmmtrelx’ it read, which Danny had no idea how to pronounce. ‘Looks like a good read,’ he quipped, as Caroline helped him up.

‘It looks like the creature has stopped pursuing us now that its found its power source,’ said Hesper, ‘but we still need to find our way out of here.’

‘Yes,’ said Caroline, vaguely, looking at one of the books. ‘The Book of Lies,’ she read from the blackened cover. ‘Oh, it’s through here,’ she said, snapping to attention. She led them through one of the old oak doors that lined this stretch of corridor.

‘Caroline, this is a kitchen,’ said Danny.

‘This is where he said it was. He showed us through this door. Don’t you remember?’

‘I don’t know which door he showed us through, but I’m sure he didn’t take us to the kitchen.’

She looked across the array of ovens, utensils and spice racks.

‘The Doctor said it periodically camouflages itself. He said we have to looked for an ‘E’ symbol, and that will be the escape pod.’

‘All right,’ said Danny sceptically, as he began to search.

The four of them overturned pots and pans, scanned doorways, opened ovens and even searched the sinks. Eventually Danny found what they were looking for.

‘It’s over here,’ he called. The others crossed the enormous kitchen to where he was standing. In front of him, in the corner of the room, was a six-foot tall white refrigerator with a pink capital ‘E’ imprinted upon its door.

‘It’s the fridge,’ he said.

‘I honestly don’t know who’s worse,’ said Caroline, ‘the Doctor or his ship.’

A sudden violent tremor knocked them to their knees. Various utensils and containers fell to the floor.

‘It would seem that the creature is becoming active again,’ said Hesper.

‘We’d better get out of here then,’ said Danny, getting to his feet.

He reached out for the stainless steel handle of the fridge. He pulled firmly. With a soft hiss, the door opened. The four of them peered inside.

Inside the fridge was a luxuriously furnished room. Three sofas and a bed, upholstered in aged brown leather, surrounded a beautifully woven rug of eastern design. In one corner of the room (which was at least ten times as large as the interior of the fridge should have been) there was a mahogany chair and bureau. On the opposite wall, a blank screen was draped with golden curtains. A teapot and six teacups with saucers sat on an elegantly carved table in the room’s centre.

‘Well, it’s a very nice escape pod,’ said Caroline.

‘It’s nicer than anywhere in the TARDIS I’ve seen,’ said Danny.

The four of them went inside. The door closed itself behind them – on this side it resembled an ancient submarine airlock, with a large, steel wheel serving as its opening mechanism.

Hesper and Romat sat down on one of the sofas.

‘It’s very comfy,’ said Romat, who up to this point had had little to say.

Danny picked up the teapot.

‘It’s warm,’ he said. ‘How? No body’s been in here – not since we started travelling with the Doctor.’

Caroline shrugged, and walked over to the bureau. She carefully opened it, swinging the wooden flap down. She sat down in front of it. Inside was a complex array of controls that appeared similar to those on the TARDIS console.

‘I’ve found the controls,’ she said, ‘but I don’t know how to use them.’

Danny walked over and gave the levers and dials a discerning examination. Then he thumped the thing. The screen opposite, and its smaller twin in the bureau flickered into life.

He shrugged off Caroline’s look. ‘It works for the Doctor,’ he said.

The screen rather unhelpfully informed them that an unknown hostile was entering the TARDIS, and requested if evacuation procedures should begin.

‘How do we work this?’ said Caroline in a nervous tone.

Hesper looked over her shoulder, startling her. He stooped close enough for his green moustache to brush the controls.

‘Although this is not a Tarrokku vessel, the control configurations do not seem entirely alien. I believe that this should be the launching mechanism.’

He reached over and pulled the big red lever at the edge of the controls.

‘Of course,’ said Danny, ‘it’s always the big red one.’

The room shuddered, and a momentary alarm gripped all four passengers, before they realised it was the launching process starting. A quiet hum emanated from the foundations of the pod, and a whirring noise, not unlike that of the TARDIS’ own engines, resounded throughout.

Caroline looked over at the centre of the room. She wasn’t even surprised to see the coffee table moving up and down.

Almost as soon as it started, the whirring stopped.

‘It doesn’t sound as though we’ve travelled far,’ she said.

Danny walked over to the door, and began turning the wheel. With the same sighing hiss, the door swung open.

He looked out. He saw the TARDIS, ensconced in grey biomatter, a few metres away.

‘We’ve landed in practically the same place,’ he complained.

‘Presumably we are at a safe distance,’ suggested Hesper.

The four occupants left the pod, the exterior of which was still distinctly fridgey in design. With a groan, the pod faded away, returning to the TARDIS.

‘Why has it gone?’ asked Danny.

‘Perhaps the power drain has affected it. Maybe it can’t stay outside the TARDIS for very long,’ said Caroline.

They watched as the TARDIS began to sink, the grey tentacles pulling it down into the earth. It descended with an unpleasant creaking sound, as the soil move aside to allow it passage. The grey monstrosity slithered over the top, and as the roof-light disappeared from view, it plugged the newly formed gap, seemingly as if it were bare rock.

They stared, dumbfounded, for a moment.

‘We’d better get back to the Doctor,’ said Danny. ‘Have you still got some supplies?’

Caroline held up the small bag she had managed to keep a hold of during the commotion. Danny held up his own bag.

‘Good. I’ve still got some food in here. That should lighten the Doctor’s mood after we tell him that his ship has been eaten by a space monster.’

Putty Love, Chapter 5

The Doctor took a step back and viewed the slowly calming mayhem. The colonists were beginning to cease panicking. It’s hardly surprising, he thought, that they should react so excessively; they had, after all, been living a very quiet life since their arrival. Other than the strange disease that had started to spread, of course. The Doctor rubbed his bald head in thought. They were surely connected. This wasn’t Earth; inexplicable events weren’t so common on planets so under populated.

‘Walters, what the hell happened there?’ barked Desiato.

Walters looked cautiously into the eyes of his fuming captain.

‘I’m sorry, sir,’ he stuttered, shaking. ‘I don’t know what came over me. I was just… shocked, that’s all.’

Desiato softened. ‘Yes, well, we all were. Doctor,’ he said, turning to him, ‘do you have any idea what that thing was?’

‘I am ruminating on the possibilities,’ said the Doctor. He narrowed his eyes in thought. ‘That entity was clearly comprised of the same flexible symbiotic organism that pervades the earth and life on this planet. I don’t understand, however, why it had taken on a humanoid form. It’s so impractical for a life form of that manner. It was far more efficient in its initial form. Which leads me to conclude that it is directly related to your presence here.’

‘How, Doctor?’ said Desiato. He motioned to some of his subordinates, who picked up the wrecked body of Huhrun, and took it into the main hall.

He walked up to the Doctor. ‘We’ve been on this planet for five years. Nothing like this has ever occurred before. You, on the other hand, arrived this morning. Hours later, a violent alien attacks my people. I’d certainly say that your presence here is more to blame than ours.’

The Doctor gave the captain the tired look of one who has been accused of such things far too many times before. ‘Are you suggesting that I caused that attack?’

‘Well - ’ began Desiato.

‘What would I possibly have to gain by coming here and setting an animal on your people? It hardly seems worth all the bother for the scenery.’

‘Fair point, Doctor. But you must admit that it is far more likely that your presence is the key here, not ours. Perhaps that spacecraft of yours has something to do with it. It certainly doesn’t sound like a conventional craft. You say it is larger on the inside than the outside. What other properties does it have?’

‘Well,’ the Doctor reluctantly conceded, ‘that could be a possibility.’

‘Exactly. We don’t know what this thing wants, why it’s suddenly started behaving like this.’

‘True, but I consider it very likely that the life form is being controlled by an intelligence. Nothing else could drive such a benign entity to act in this way. It’s a symbiont, and somehow its reliance on other life forms has left it susceptible to exploitation.’

‘Why would any of my people exploit it? What would they have to gain from the death of their fellows?’

The Doctor sighed again. ‘I don’t know, captain. I don’t know everything, you know, no matter what my reputation may suggest. But I would wager that this was an act of unmitigated hatred.’

The Doctor waved a hand to silence Desiato’s reply. ‘While the creature is dormant, I suggest we get on the matter at hand. Your plague isn’t curing itself.’

The Doctor led the way back to the makeshift infirmary.

‘Your companions haven’t yet returned with your equipment, Doctor,’ Desiato reminded him.

‘You say you have examined the food supply for pathogens. Thusly, you must possess some form of microscope.’

He entered the building, and headed straight to one of the delirious patients, a young fair-haired man.

As he frothed at the mouth and quivered in his bed, the Doctor carefully reached into his pocket, extracting a small thumb-sized device.

‘What is that?’ asked Desiato.

‘A photon knife,’ replied the Doctor. He flicked a tiny switch, causing a short, blue beam of energy to emit from the end of the contraption. He turned it onto its side. The blade was so thin as to be invisible. The Doctor lent forward, slowly and carefully. ‘It’s alright,’ he said, soothingly. ‘This won’t hurt.’ He shaved an extremely thin sliver of skin off the man’s arm.

‘Hold this, would you,’ he said, passing it to Desiato, who looked at it with just a hint of distaste. The Doctor adjusted the knife, forming the blade into an almost imperceptibly thin tube, which he used to remove a deeper sample of tissue. He stood up and crossed to a shoddy workbench, upon which laid a few meagre pieces of equipment.

‘Your “laboratory”?’ he asked. Desiato nodded.

He ejected the tissue sample onto a petri dish. ‘Pass me that skin layer, would you?’ he said. The captain did so. The Doctor placed the sample in the small microscope, and began examining.

‘Anything?’ asked the captain. The Doctor made a negative sort of noise. He removed the skin, and tweezed the tiny tissue sample into the microscope.

‘Ahh, ‘ he ahhed, looking through the eyepiece. ‘Look at this.’

Desiato stooped and looked through the lens. ‘What?’ he said, after a pause.

‘Really, I would have thought a little medical knowledge would be prerequisite for a starship captain. The cells are not normal. A very thin layer of the symbiotic tissue surrounds them. Its cell structure is very fine, if it has one. It must be permeable, to allow chemical transference. Excuse me.’ The Doctor jabbed Desiato’s neck with his photon knife. He loaded the captain’s tissue into the microscope. ‘If you see here, your tissue also features the substance.’ Desiato peered. ‘But compare it with the young gentlemen’s. In his body, the alien tissue has begun to break down. His body is rejecting it, which gives it the appearance of pathogen cells. Most of the colonist’s bodies aren’t – it probably filters out hazardous chemicals in the food and water to feed upon. That’s how it survives, in a symbiotic relationship with all other life.’

‘We discovered that in the indigenous life, but never thought to check ourselves.’

‘For some reason, those afflicted with this disease have started to reject it – and they’re being poisoned by whatever it usually filters out. You’re dependent on this life form, captain.’

‘But now it’s become hostile.’

‘Yes.’ The Doctor rubbed his head in thought again. ‘Someone has gained control over the being. How I don’t know.’ He thought for a moment. ‘Tell me,’ he said, ‘do any of your crew have telepathic abilities?’




The TARDIS shook violently from side to side as the creature began to draw it in. The ship’s occupants were thrown to the floor of the console room.

‘What’s happening?’ cried Caroline, crashing onto her side.

‘It’s the being,’ said Broon, panicking, ‘the creature that infests this planet. It’s devouring us!’ His green fur was standing on end around his neck.

‘How has it grown so much?’ said Hesper. ‘It never acted so quickly, even around the power sources from the pods.’

‘Probably because the TARDIS produces a lot of power,’ said Caroline. ‘It must have absorbed a lot more when the door opened.’

They struggled to their feet, the ship still rocking. Danny looked angrily at Hesper.

‘You knew this would happen!’ he shouted. ‘You tricked us into coming here so we’d be destroyed with our ship!’

‘Danny, don’t be ridiculous,’ chided Caroline.

‘You heard the way he was talking. He hates humans. He wants all of us dead.’

‘I admit I once had enmity for humans,’ said Hesper, ‘but, living here, I have grown past such bigotry. I certainly had no intention of harming you.’

‘He’s lying! He wants us to be destroyed.’

‘Danny, what’s gotten into you?’

Danny wasn’t listening any more. He’d stopped thinking properly – he’d made a judgment, and nothing would sway him. Their denials just made him angrier. The aggression that had begun to take hold of him recently was greater than ever before. He didn’t understand it. He didn’t understand anything any more. All he knew was the anger. He no longer cared what had caused it. Deep within his mind, a part of him watched, detached, terrified by the rage that what overwhelming him, unable to understand why it was there. It was as if a fist was squeezing his very mind, crushing it, breaking through, taking control. It was a pain unlike any he had known. A loss of self that he could not stop.

He launched himself at Hesper, knocking him to the ground, pounding him with the increased strength that only adrenaline can give. He tore at the green fur. Hesper flayed his arms, taken unawares by the ferocious attack. He quickly regained his strength, however, pushing Danny off of him, smashing him into the console room wall.

Danny grabbed him again, all thought lost save for the desire to hurt the Tarrokku. Even in his frenzied state, however, he could not match the strength of the alien, and was flung across the room, into the arms of the other Tarrokku, who pinned him to the floor. Hesper smacked him hard across the face. Caroline shrieked, and ran over to him.

Danny lay dazed on the floor. ‘Are you okay?’ she cried.

‘I… I don’t know,’ he stammered.

‘What the hell just happened to you?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said again. He really didn’t. What had just happened to him? He didn’t understand why he had, just for a moment, hated Hesper so badly. The anger had taken control; he hadn’t been Danny any more. He didn’t comprehend how the anger had controlled him. He felt frightened and ashamed. What was wrong with him?

‘I think we have more to worry about than your psychotic friend,’ said Hesper. Caroline looked behind her.

Through the tiny crack between the doors, the creature’s putty-like flesh was seeping in.