Volcanic rocks jutted up all about, or lay in tumbled ruins.

The aftermath of one too many earthquakes, he supposed.

There wasn't an ounce of colour in the whole place, except for the depressing grey of the rocks. Vents of steam whispered awy in the background. The place must still be volcanically active. Maybe a youngish world, then? But without the slightest sign of even the most primitive plant life. The Doctor bent to examine the soil. Good volcanic residue, perfect place for plants. He could get a good vegetable garden going here, if he had the time.

A slight bubbling noise caught his ears. Nice to know they were working well. He trailed the sound through the rocks to a pool of seething liquid. The vapours gathered in the air left him in no doubt as to what the pool contained pure mercury. Maybe he should take a cup of it back to the TARDIS. You never could tell when the fluids links would need topping up. He began to rummage through his pockets, hoping he'd remembered to bring along a tin mug or something.

After a moment, he realized that he hadn't. Well, when he returned to the ship he could get one and make a quick trip back. After all, he needed to test out the state of this new body. His eye fixed on a large, flat rock, about six-feet long. His fingers fastened around a tape measure. Pulling it from his pocket, he measured the rock. Twenty-nine kroliks. Kroliks? Oh yes... He'd picked this up on... Now what was the name of that planet? Oh well. He dropped it back in another of his pockets and slapped his legs.

'Time I put you through a few tests, I think!'

He peered through his s.h.a.ggy fringe at the rock. Really, he had to get that hair cut! He chuckled. Freshly regenerated, and already in need of a short back and sides.

Anyway, first things first. Rubbing his hands together happily, he took several strides backwards. He had almost backed into the mercury pool when he decided he had enough of a runway. Giving a quick mental countdown, he dashed towards the rock, then leapt into the air.

He cleared the far edge quite handsomely and landed with a bit of a clatter in the loose volcanic sand. A glint of metal caught his eye, and he instantly concentrated on the rocks close by. Traces of mercury on the edges. Hmmm...

He glanced back over his shoulder at the mercury pool.

Maybe not so much of a pool as a geyser, he thought. It might not be all that safe here after all. The nagging thought that had been troubling the back of his mind finally stepped out into the light: mercury is quite poisonous mercury is quite poisonous to human beings. to human beings. And Ben and Polly were human beings. And Ben and Polly were human beings.

Time to find them and tell them that nothing could live here for very long. A desolate wilderness of rocks, volcanoes and geysers. No signs of life having --A man stepped from a clump of boulders ahead of him.

The Doctor stopped dead, astonished. The stranger was a little taller than him, and quite clearly human. Hints of grey at the corner of his temples suggested an age in the late forties. Craggy features, but shrewd eyes. He was dressed in a casual tunic, boots and thick trousers.

As he caught sight of the Doctor, his eyes widened. Not in shock or surprise, but relief. Odd.

'Ah!' he said briskly. 'So you've come at last. I'm from Earth. I'm the Exami '

His eyes suddenly bulged. From somewhere off in the jumble of rocks, the Doctor heard the crack of a gun of some kind. The man in front of him started to speak again, then raised his hand towards his head before collapsing in a crumpled heap.

The Doctor's first instinct was to run for cover. He almost followed the impulse, until he realized three things almost at the same time. Firstly, the man in front of him might not be dead, but could need immediate medical help. Secondly, there wasn't any cover close enough anyway if there came a second shot. And thirdly, Ben and Polly were probably utterly oblivious to whatever was going on here.

What was was going on here? He had to find out. going on here? He had to find out.

Overriding the impulse to duck and hide, the Doctor edged over to the fallen man. Nervously scanning the rocks, he turned the man over quickly. There was neither sight nor sound of the gunman or gunwoman so he chanced a quick look at the victim.

It was instantly clear that he was dead. He'd been struck by some sort of energy beam that had fried the left side of his head. n.o.body could live after such a wound, but the Doctor checked for a pulse anyway. As he'd expected, there was none.

He did see something clutched in the man's left hand, though. It was a small wallet of some kind. Prying it from the dead man's grip, the Doctor saw that it opened up to show two pockets. On one side was a metal badge. It looked terribly official, like some sort of police badge. The other pocket in the wallet held a small laminated card. The Doctor reached from habit into his pocket for his spectacles. He pulled the wire rims over his ears and then bent back to study the card.

It was a white blur. Puzzled, the Doctor waved his hand in front of his eyes. It looked like a package of sausages, waving around like that. Then he realized what was wrong and chuckled at his own stupidity. Of course! He'd been renewed, hadn't he? That included his eyes. He didn't need his gla.s.ses any more. He pulled them off and stuck them in his pocket. To his relief, he could make out everything on the card perfectly.

EARTH EXAMINER, it read in solid, official-looking lettering. ACCORD EVERY ACCESS. Under this and an illegible signature had been typed the single word VULCAN.

Curious. What could this all mean? The Doctor pondered the meaning, oblivious to what was happening around him.

The a.s.sa.s.sin slipped through the tumbled rocks carefully.

He was watching where he placed his suited feet. It wouldn't do to alert this stranger by kicking a rock at the wrong moment. Whoever it was, he wasn't one of the colonists. Was it possible that the Examiner had brought an a.s.sistant? Sometimes they did work in teams.

There was no chance he'd be recognized. Not only was this interloper a stranger to the planet, but also the a.s.sa.s.sin wore an atmospheric suit. Typical of these Earth bureaucrats to ignore the warnings of danger in this area and forget their suits. The killer chuckled to himself they could get a fatal case of mercury poisoning.

The pistol he'd used to kill the Examiner rose slowly to target the silly-looking figure who was stooped over the dead body. Well, two corpses were as good as one.

His finger tightened on the trigger.

Polly joined Ben outside the TARDIS doors, pulling them closed behind her. She stared around the bleak landscape and shuddered. 'What a dump,' she muttered.

Ben seemed to be fascinated, though. He moved away from the safety of the ship, staring around as if he had been suddenly transported to paradise. 'Pol,' he breathed, 'just look at it!'

She sniffed in contempt. 'What a hole,' she said.

'Don't you realize where we are?' Ben asked her, the light of wonder still in his eyes. 'Look at the sky! Look at these rocks!'

'Margate on a rainy bank holiday Monday?' she suggested sarcastically. Honestly, sometimes Ben found the most absurd things interesting.

'Pol,' he said happily, 'we're on an alien planet!' He gestured at the grey-tinged sky and the washed-out colour of the rocks. 'There's nowhere on Earth like this. Believe me, I know.' He shook his head in wonder. 'An alien planet! The Doctor always said his old ship could make these journeys, but I never really believed him. I mean, all we ever seem to have seen was the Earth. But this... it's...'

He seemed at a loss for words.

'A real dump,' Polly finished for him. She did feel a sort of sense of wonder though, knowing that Ben was right.

For the first time in her life, she no longer walked on the surface of the Earth. This was a whole alien planet, most likely one that no other people from the Earth had ever even imagined, let alone seen. She and Ben and the maybe-Doctor were most likely the first people ever to step out on to its surface.

But... Well, she'd have been a lot more impressed if the place had been more interesting. No signs of life, no faerie castles or beautiful grottoes or anything. Just dirty, dusty rocks as far as the eye could see. And some kind of horrible stench in the air. All that didn't seem to be bothering Ben too much, though. He was wandering about in a sort of dare, examining everything and laughing with a sort of insane delight she couldn't share.

Then he came to a halt, staring at a bubbling pool of what looked like mercury. 'Blimey!' he exclaimed.

'Steaming hot, ain't it?'

He was right she could see the thick vapours seething over the surface of the mercury. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. 'Do you think the air's like this all over, Ben?'

Ben seemed to notice the stench for the first time.

'Don't want too many lungfuls of this, do we?' he asked.

Then, answering her question, he added: 'It may just be around here, d.u.c.h.ess. Air varies a lot.' He grinned at her.

'We used to live opposite a brewery when I was a kid. You could take a walk and get tipsy all in one go.'

Ignoring this comment, Polly knelt beside the gently bubbling pool. The dim light played over the surface of the bubbles in an intriguing manner. Despite her original feelings, Polly was entranced. 'It's very beautiful.'

'Don't touch it!' Ben cautioned her.

How stupid did he think she was? 'I wasn't going to,'

she snapped back at him.

Explaining his alarm, Ben gestured at the pool.

'Quicksilver gets through the pores.' Then, looking ahead of them, he frowned. 'I wonder where he's he's got to?' got to?'

Polly didn't need to ask who Ben meant. As the sailor looked around for any sign of the man who claimed to be the Doctor, there was a faint burping sound from the mercury pool. Polly gazed at the surface as a small gout of what appeared to be steam erupted. Alarmed, she was about to jump back. At that instant, a second jet flashed into life in front of her. Vapour and drops of mercury blew into her face.

She gave a cough and a cry as her nose and throat suddenly filled. Her head spun as she suddenly couldn't catch her breath. With a choking cry, she collapsed backwards into Ben's arms, unconscious.

Tapping the wallet in his palm, the Doctor was struggling to make some kind of sense out of what had happened.

Obviously his initial conclusion that there was no life here was completely mistaken. The dead man had been expecting someone to meet him, somebody he didn't know, since he'd clearly mistaken the Doctor for his contact. And he was some kind of Earth official but this was definitely not the Earth. Some kind of colony world, perhaps? Or 'Doctor!' Ben's voice was faint, blurred by distance, but unmistakable. 'Or whoever you are!' That was Ben, all right. Not giving an inch in his convictions. 'Over here!'

There was a distinct note of panic and urgency in Ben's voice now. 'Something's happened to Polly!'

The Doctor jumped to his feet and peered around, trying to judge where the voice was coming from. It was coming from behind him, back toward the TARDIS.

'Where are you?' Ben yelled again. 'Over this way!'

The Doctor started back at a run. Even if they didn't trust him, he had to help the youngsters out. They weren't as used to alien worlds as he was, and might stumble foolishly into all kinds of danger that his wiser head would cunningly avoid.

As he pa.s.sed a clump of rocks, a white-suited figure stepped out behind him. The a.s.sa.s.sin's pistol had now been reversed, and he brought the b.u.t.t of the weapon down with as much force as he could manage on the Doctor's head.

The Doctor crashed forward and lay still. His hat and the mop of hair had cushioned him from some of the effects of the blow, but he was dangerously close to the brink of unconsciousness. This early into his regeneration that could prove to be very dangerous. If he pa.s.sed out before this new body was firmly in place, he might go through the whole process again, and he couldn't stand that.

He was vaguely aware of someone in white close by him.

His hand closed about something hard, and he clutched at it instinctively. He was too busy concentrating on not losing consciousness to take in what was happening. From an immense distance, he could vaguely hear Ben's voice call out again.

The white boots ran of in Ben's direction.

The a.s.sa.s.sin was on the verge of panic and unreasoning anger. This had seemed like such a simple ch.o.r.e. Kill the Examiner before he could be met, then get out of the area.

Now just look at it! The Examiner was dead, all right.

But that first intruder, he'd been forced to simply stun him. And now there was a second, and this one was yelling about a girl in trouble. How many more people were there here? The more there were, the greater the danger he'd be found out. As it was, some of the other colonists had to hear all this racket and come running. Especially the people who'd come to meet the Examiner in the first place.

The a.s.sa.s.sin simply had to shut this newcomer up so that he'd have a chance to hide.

Gripping the gun tightly, he ran on.

Ben was scared stiff. Polly's face was going red, and she didn't seem to be able to breathe. Her chest was heaving convulsively, but there had to be something blocking her air pa.s.sages. He knew that whatever had happened to her might well he lethal, and he felt utterly helpless. He needed help right now, even that of the bogus Doctor.

He tried to raise Polly up, bending low over her struggling body. His face was barely inches from the mercury pool as he struggled to get his arms under her.

The exploding jet of liquid-mercury caught him full in his startled face. He fought to get a breath, but his mouth and nose had been filled with the mercury vapours.

Giddily, he crashed to the ground beside Polly. As he lost consciousness the prelude to slipping into death two things flashed through his mind.

The first was that someone dressed in white had stumbled on to the scene.

The second was that the fake Doctor had managed to get rid of him and Polly, and that there was now n.o.body to stop the fraud from taking over the Doctor' ident.i.ty unchallenged.

5.

They're Not Going to Stop Me Working on the Capsule on the Capsule The Doctor was still concentrating on staying conscious when he heard footsteps approaching him and a sharp intake of breath. Then someone bent over him. The struggle of staying awake left the Doctor no energy to even open his eyes. He wasn't so much feigning unconsciousness as teetering precariously on the brink.

The man who had discovered him was completely unaware of this. He was a youngish man in his late twenties, still with the brashness of youth about his cheery face. He wore one of the white protective suits that all of the colonists dressed in when in the mercury swamps. This included a hood that covered his thick, sandy-brown hair, and goggles. Pushing the gla.s.ses on to his forehead, Quinn knelt down to examine the Doctor. His hazel-brown eyes flickered in astonishment at the clothing this peculiar figure wore. Before he could even try to feel for the man's pulse, another white-clad person stepped around the rocks.

It would have been hard to find anyone less like Quinn than Bragen. Older by more than a decade, Bragen had a cynical been-there-and-seen-it-all-before look chiselled into his hawklike features. His dark eyes held black fires that took in all he surveyed. He looked like a wolf in almost literally sheep's clothing. His dark, swept-hack hair gave him the appearance of a predatory bird, an impression strengthened by the way he seemed to hover, constantly ready to swoop down on someone or something. He constantly lived on the edge of a precipice, poised to strike.

'My men have found two more by one of the pools,'

Bragen said. His voice was level and controlled. It gave away absolutely nothing of what he felt about his discovery.

Quinn glanced up, and then indicated a discoloured area on the back of the Doctor's neck. 'This one's got a nasty bruise on the back of his head.' He sighed. 'Fallen over his feet and knocked himself out, I expect.'

Bragen shrugged. 'I suppose so.'

'Look at the way he's dressed!' Quinn said in sudden anger. 'Don't they know how dangerous this area is? Why don't they ever use the kit that we send them?'

Bragen didn't bother replying. His face said enough: Earth never takes us seriously. Earth never takes us seriously. Instead, he gestured over his shoulder. 'The other two caught pretty bad doses of the fumes. Well, the girl has.' Instead, he gestured over his shoulder. 'The other two caught pretty bad doses of the fumes. Well, the girl has.'

'Girl?' Quinn asked.

'Yes. She'll need treatment back in the city. The young man with her is responding to treatment fairly well and should recover.'

As they were speaking, two more men in white suits arrived through the tumble of boulders. They could have been brothers for all that Quinn knew they were both large, muscular blond men with absolutely impa.s.sive faces.

One of them carried Polly, who had a face-mask clamped over her mouth. She was breathing regularly. but was obviously out to the world. The second guard was lending a supportive though not sympathetic arm to help Ben stay on his feet. Ben was a little woozy, but seemed to be aware of what was going on. His eyes kept slipping in and out of focus, but if he concentrated he could pay attention.

'These comic-opera guards of yours do seem to have some uses, Bragen,' Quinn observed, a hint of a smile on his lips.