Hespell was on guard duty. Not that there was much to guard the creature still seemed unconscious. Most humans would recover from a stun charge like that in a matter of hours, but you never could tell with aliens. Or so he'd heard. Hespell hadn't actually met many aliens. Humans from distant colonies, yes, but not many real count-the-eyes, freaky aliens.

He pulled out his EntPad and started playing one of his favourite games. It was a cla.s.sic shoot-em-up adventure, a real retro gaming experience without even the most primitive kind of virtual neural feedback, but it was still pretty exciting. Well, more exciting than doing nothing anyway. Within minutes he was totally absorbed in the game's fictional scenario, sending his team of avatars out on the first stage of their quest.

Behind him, unnoticed, the hairy beast's eyelids began to twitch. It was beginning to awaken at last.

Rez was finding it difficult to keep up. Both the Doctor and Rose had been speaking nineteen to the dozen since they'd met up and it was 98 giving him a headache. So, ignoring them, he turned his attention to his surroundings. The sky boat was everything he had imagined it would be: full of strange electrical sounds and magical machines. It was the most advanced technological thing he had ever seen and yet, despite the very alien nature of everything around him, he found it strangely comforting. It was almost as if he was meant to be part of this world. Perhaps the ship he'd been born on had been something like this.

Rez didn't often spend much time thinking about his origins. He still had the remains of his escape pod, the keepsakes and the mysterious cube that had been placed in it with him, but that was all he had of his life before Laylora and that was all he wanted. If he stopped and thought about the mother and father who had put him into that pod he got upset, even though he had no idea about who those people might have been. He had concluded long ago that speculation was pointless and, anyway, the only person who deserved the t.i.tle 'mother'

was Jaelette, who had taken him in. The Tribe of the Three Valleys were the only family he had ever known.

Leaving the Doctor and Rose to catch up, Professor Shulough had joined Rez, who was staring into s.p.a.ce.

'How did a human teenager come to be on this planet, then?' she asked.

He told her his story, but she seemed more interested in the tribe and the planet than in what had happened to him. She asked him lots of questions about the way they lived and how the planet provided for them, and seemed fascinated by the answers he gave. The professor must be a few years older than Mother Jaelette, thought Rez, but she was nothing like her. He couldn't imagine anyone being comforted by a cuddle with this woman. She seemed so cold and distant. Underneath her severe exterior, however, Petra Shulough found herself strangely intrigued by the young man. Something in his story resonated deep inside the most private part of her being. Was it some long-buried maternal instinct? She doubted it; she'd never been conscious of a desire to parent before. So what was it? She had never been very good at expressing herself 99 emotionally she preferred to keep people at a safe distance but as she listened to the young man speaking about his life, she felt an urge to reach out and hold him tight. She found herself wondering what it had been like for him to grow up among aliens, cut off from his own people. It must have been so hard. She knew there was no loneliness quite like that of an orphan.

Cross with herself for thinking like this, she took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the facts. This boy represented an opportunity; a unique resource. His knowledge and his experiences could be the key to confirming that this was Guillan's paradise.

'So what's the story with these monsters, then?' Rose was asking the Doctor.

'I don't know,' he confessed. 'At least not yet.'

'Not run into them before?'

'I don't think they're the travelling kind,' he murmured, deep in thought. Suddenly he snapped out of it. 'What was this drink, then?'

The sudden gear change threw Rose. Annoyed with herself, she asked, 'What drink?' like a total amateur.

'This jinnera stuff. You said it stopped the creature.'

'Yeah, it certainly seemed to. . . like they were allergic or something.'

The Doctor leapt up from his seat and dashed across the room to where the professor was interrogating Rez. 'The jinnen plant can you show me?'

'Of course,' replied Rez.

Luckily it didn't take Rez long to find a jinnen bush, heavy with fruit, not too far from the s.p.a.ceship. He showed the Doctor the leaves they used to brew their hot drink, the peach-like fruit, which they ate, and the seeds of the fruit, which, when dried, were used to make a sleeping potion.

'What an incredibly useful plant,' commented the Doctor, impressed.

'Laylora provides,' replied Rez automatically.

100.'Does she really? That's very convenient. . . '

The Doctor turned to Kendle, who had insisted on accompanying them into the forest. 'I take it you have lab facilities on board?'

Kendle nodded.

The Doctor gathered a handful of the leaves and the fruit, then stood up. 'Let's find out what makes this stuff tick, shall we?'

A short time later work was under way in the s.p.a.ceship's laboratory. At least it was for the Doctor. Rose had been relegated to the position of observer. The Doctor was slicing up bits of the jinnen plant and its fruit, subjecting them to various pieces of testing equipment. It was all a long way from any science Rose had done at school, and she felt a bit annoyed at the lack of explanation that the Doctor was giving her.

'Anything I can do?' she asked for the umpteenth time, hoping that she could at least pa.s.s him things, like a good a.s.sistant, but apparently even that was asking too much.

'Not really,' the Doctor said, carefully adding a lumpy ma.s.s of pulverised jinnen seed to a beaker of hot water. 'Why don't you take a wander around the ship? I think the professor was going to show your friend around. . . '

Rose could see that there was little advantage in hanging around here, counting test tubes. The Doctor was in his element, playing the mad scientist, but that really wasn't Rose's thing. She was more of a people person. She decided to take his advice and have a look around. The Humphrey Bogart Humphrey Bogart wasn't that large a ship (at least not compared to the TARDIS) and Rose managed to find her way to the bridge without too much trouble. When she got there she could see the professor and Kendle but there was no sign of Rez. The two of them were deep in discussion, so she waited at the open door, not wanting to interrupt. Neither of them could see her and, although Rose didn't like to eavesdrop, she couldn't help hearing what they were saying. wasn't that large a ship (at least not compared to the TARDIS) and Rose managed to find her way to the bridge without too much trouble. When she got there she could see the professor and Kendle but there was no sign of Rez. The two of them were deep in discussion, so she waited at the open door, not wanting to interrupt. Neither of them could see her and, although Rose didn't like to eavesdrop, she couldn't help hearing what they were saying.

'There's nothing in the book about creatures like those things,'

Kendle was insisting.101.

'But that doesn't mean this isn't the planet,' replied the professor, with equal certainty. 'Look at the evidence. The size matches, the atmosphere's right, the gravity. The name. It all adds up.'

Kendle shrugged. 'There are lots of Earth-like planets out there. You know the statistics. Planets with essentially the same properties as Earth are common throughout known s.p.a.ce. And more than one planet can share a name.'

'OK, I agree it's possible that another planet in the same area could have been given the same name, but I still think that this is the one the Armstrong Armstrong found. This has to be the Paradise Planet that Guillan discovered.' found. This has to be the Paradise Planet that Guillan discovered.'

Kendle shook his head. 'It's no paradise. Guillan said the planet he found was totally in balance. Its ecosystem was perfect. Right?'

Shulough nodded. 'You don't need to tell me what's in that journal. I know it by heart.'

'The Doctor was talking to the boy when we were outside looking for the plant. He said that things have been bad on this planet recently, earthquakes and floods, wild weather. . . Doesn't sound very benevolent to me.'

The professor was unimpressed. 'Oh yes, Rez said something about that to me too, but that's just native superst.i.tion surely. It doesn't mean anything.'

Rose could see that the argument was going to run and run, so she decided not to interrupt. Instead she backtracked down the corridor and set about exploring for herself. Rez must be around here somewhere. Rez was already on level nine of the game, much to Hespell's chagrin. The boy had found him playing on his EntPad and had instantly wanted to have a go himself. Hespell had shown him the basic controls, not expecting him to have much success, but Rez had taken to it like a duck to water.

As Hespell looked on, with increasing disbelief, Rez had raced through the basic levels of the game and was now close to matching, if not overtaking, Hespell's own best performance. 102 Hespell sighed, wondering if he'd ever get a chance to have another go himself.

Ania Baker, the young crew member who had been injured in the second Witiku attack, had joined the Doctor in the laboratory. Ania explained to him that she was getting bored lying on her own in the MedLab and wanted to help, but the Doctor suspected that it was other company she was really after, not his.

'Isn't Jonn here?' she'd asked when she came into the room, adding, 'I mean Hespell,' by way of further clarification. The Doctor told her that her friend was guarding the captured creature and noted with some amus.e.m.e.nt the slight blush on the young woman's face at his use of the word 'friend'. He then asked her to help him transfer the finished jinnen solution into the various containers they had managed to a.s.semble.

'How does this work?' she said, watching the brown liquid fill a plastic container.

'Are you a scientist?'

The young woman shook her head. 'Not really. Navigation is my field. But I'm curious.'

The Doctor smiled. 'Nothing wrong with curiosity.'

'So what does this stuff do?'

'If it works, it should stop the creatures in their tracks.'

'But will it kill them?'

The Doctor looked away.

'You don't know the answer, do you?'

He turned back to her and met her gaze. 'Not entirely, no. But I'm hoping it won't be fatal. I want something to use defensively. I don't want to kill unless I have to. We know it had a noticeable effect on the Witiku in a small dose, so I'm hoping a much larger amount will have an even greater effect. There's only one way to find out, though. We need to test it.'

Baker realised what the Doctor was suggesting. 'You want to try it on the creature we caught?'103.

'Of course not. That would be cruel and dangerous. No, we need to take a cell sample from the creature and use the liquid on that.'

The Doctor looked around and started picking up bits of equipment.

'What are you doing?'

'Well, I don't think we're going to get the patient in here, do you? So we'd better take what we need to the cargo bay and do our little experiment there.'

'Boys!' sighed Rose as she walked through the cargo-bay doors and found the pair of them absorbed in their game. Neither the crewman nor Rez acknowledged her presence. She walked up behind them and tried to get a look at the playing field, which was a football-sized hologram projected from the device. Inside the hologram she could see a number of zombie creatures, which Rez appeared to be shooting at. Rose shook her head. The more things change, the more they stay the same, she thought. It was obvious that she wouldn't get any sense out of them until the game was over, so she wandered across to take a closer look at their prisoner.

Lying on its back, chained to the floor, the thing which Rez had called a Witiku didn't look quite as frightening as it had last night, but Rose was still nervous to be this close. The chains holding it in place were heavy and it didn't look very comfortable. She found herself feeling sorry for the poor creature. In the cold light of day it seemed more of an animal and less of a monster. Something sparkling on its chest caught her eye could it be some of the jewels that the villagers wore? Leaning over, Rose gave it a closer examination. It was one of the necklaces that the Laylorans all wore and, furthermore, Rose was fairly sure that she had seen one just like this before, although she couldn't pinpoint exactly where.

While she was trying to remember, she noticed that the creature's chest was rising and falling in a new rhythm. But before she could react, its whole body suddenly buckled, knocking her off balance and causing her to fall face first into its hairy chest. With a roar of fury, the creature stopped pretending to be asleep and pulled at the chains with each of its four arms. For Rose it was like being on a bucking 104 bronco, as the creature used all its strength to yank at the bonds. To her horror, the chains were not up to the strain. They twisted and then snapped simultaneously. The creature sent her flying as it stumbled to its feet.

Rose found herself colliding with Hespell, who was reaching for his weapon. The two of them fell in a heap on the floor. Rez dropped the EntPad and backed against the nearest wall as the creature moved towards him.

Rose looked around to see where Hespell's weapon had fallen. Her heart sank as she saw that it had skidded right across the room. The Witiku was moving towards Rez, who looked petrified. Its talons sprang out from the back of each paw and it raised its highest arms, ready to strike.

Rose rolled to her feet. 'Oi, what about me, then?' she called, and managed to distract it momentarily before it changed course and headed towards her. So much for that plan.

Rose backed away in the direction of the weapon that Hespell had dropped. Her foot hit something hard and, without taking her eyes off the creature lurching towards her, she squatted and reached down. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't the weapon it was the end of one of the broken chains and was no use at all. The Witiku swiped one of its arms at her and Rose jerked back just in time to feel the edge of the talon brush through the ends of her hair.

Suddenly the doors opened and the Doctor was there. Even in her vulnerable state, Rose felt a sudden burst of hope. The Doctor was guaranteed to sort it out. Scrambling backwards, like some kind of human crab, she realised that the Doctor didn't seem to have a weapon. Instead he had his arms full of what looked like laboratory equipment. Behind him the female crew member, Baker, was carrying a large plastic container full of some brown liquid.

'Change of plan,' announced the Doctor, and threw the armful of equipment in the path of the Witiku. But the creature just batted it away with its four arms and kept coming.

Baker tossed the container of liquid to the Doctor. 'Try this,' she suggested.105.

The Doctor looked torn, not wanting to harm the Witiku if he could avoid it.

'Doctor!' Rose urged him, ducking out of the way of another swipe of claws.

She was backed into a corner now, with no way to escape. The Doctor had no choice but to act.

'Sorry, fella,' he muttered as he tore the cap off the container and threw the contents at it.

The creature screamed as the liquid hit him, then fell to the floor. Rose was also splashed with the liquid, which is when she realised that she wasn't being soaked by water.

'It's jinnera!' she gasped.

The creature was still on the floor, screaming.

The Doctor looked pained. 'I wanted to test it on a cell sample first,'

he explained.

Rose understood. 'You didn't have a choice,' she told him. Baker helped Hespell get to his feet. Across the room Rez groaned and clutched at his head.

'Look!' cried Baker, pointing at the creature, which was still lying on the floor but was now shaking like a leaf and its hair seemed to be shrinking.

The Witiku continued to react to the soaking it had received. As they watched, amazed, the creature began to change right in front of them. Its hair retracted and its whole body shrank. It became mansized. With a sudden burst of inspiration, Rose realised what was happening. 106 [image]

'The Witiku they're the missing people!' Rose announced. Even as she said it the transformation of the Witiku that had been captured was complete. A confused, dazed and naked Brother Hugan was lying on the floor. The Doctor hurried forward and gave the poor man his coat to preserve what little dignity he had. Ania Baker was open-mouthed at what she had seen.

'How is that possible?' she asked. 'How can something change its form like that?'

Rose glanced at the Doctor and smiled to herself. 'Oh, you'd be surprised,' she muttered.

'There are more things in heaven and earth,' started the Doctor, before stopping himself mid-quotation. 'Sorry, channelling old Will again. Bad habit.'

The Layloran shaman was still looking pale and shaky. He didn't seem to know where he was.

'Brother Hugan! Are you all right?' Rez asked him urgently, his concern overcoming the shock and fear of the last few minutes. Brother Hugan did not answer, but just stared into s.p.a.ce, shivering uncontrollably.107.

The Doctor looked at Rez with a serious expression. 'I'm sorry. I don't think he's very well at all.. Let's get him to the MedLab.'

The medical computers hummed happily and the readout screens showed that the vital signs were normal, in so far as Professor Shulough could tell what normal was for the natives of this planet.

'How is he?' asked the Doctor, who was looking on with interest. Ten minutes had pa.s.sed since they'd brought the shaman into the MedLab and so far there was no sign that the attention he was receiving was having any effect.

'He'll live,' she told him coolly, before turning away to deal with what she considered more interesting matters.

Rose saw the Doctor bristle and knew that he was biting his tongue. This Professor Shulough was a cold fish all right and Rose had taken an instant dislike to her.

'How did you know the jinnera would have that effect?' the professor demanded.

'I didn't, it was just a theory based on Rose's observation.' The Doctor winked at Rose.

'When the Witiku attacked the village I threw my drink at one of them and it reacted badly,' she explained.

'Do you make a habit of throwing drinks at people?' asked the professor sarcastically.

Rose shot her a dark look.

'So I brewed up a little solution and, when the creature threatened to escape, we used it,' continued the Doctor, ignoring the interruption, 'and now we know where all these monsters are coming from.' He smiled, pleased with their progress.

The professor still wanted more answers. 'But why is it happening?'

The Doctor thrust his hands into his pockets. 'Why? Oh, why can come later. Right now the important thing is that we've got a way to deal with the creatures. And not just a weapon, a cure.'

'You think it's some kind of illness?' asked Rose.