Part 5 (2/2)

R&R.

'Just a bit of peace and quiet, Doctor,' pleaded Peri. 'Fresh air, beautiful scenery, unspoiled nature. Surely there must be at least one planet in the galaxy which isn't awash with murderous monsters or hostile intelligent life forms!'

The Doctor took a sip of tea and smiled. 'Of course there are, Peri,' he said amiably. 'Of course, you have to pick your era.

A time when the savage dinosaur-type creatures have died out and the one really dangerous species hasn't yet evolved.'

'What one really dangerous species?'

'Man, of course or his equivalent!'

They were sitting in the Doctor's study in the TARDIS, a cosy, oak-panelled, book-lined room, recovering from their latest adventure. At least, Peri was still recovering. The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed completely at ease. He was sitting in a deep leather armchair by the coal fire that flickered perpetually in the old-fas.h.i.+oned grate. As usual, he looked immaculately Edwardian in striped trousers, fawn blazer and crisp white s.h.i.+rt, his fair hair brushed sleekly back. He was drinking tea and leafing through his beloved first edition of The Time Machine The Time Machine. He smiled as he read the scrawled inscription on the t.i.tle page.

'To the Doctor with affection and respect H.G.'

Peri, on the other hand, felt restless and jangled.

'It's all right for him,' she thought resentfully, looking at the Doctor's placid figure. 'He's used to risking his neck and saving the universe on a regular basis. He doesn't seem to realise other people have nerves.'

At which point she made her impa.s.sioned plea for peace and quiet and the joys of unspoiled nature.

'All I want is a bit of R & R,' she concluded.

The Doctor raised an interrogative eyebrow.

'Rest and Recreation,' explained Peri.

'Ah!' said the Doctor. 'An Americanism!'

He studied her for a moment.

She was wearing a simple white linen dress and her dark hair was brushed neatly back. She looked, thought the Doctor dispa.s.sionately, quite beautiful. But some of her usual warmth and vitality was lacking, and there were lines of strain about her eyes and the corners of her mouth.

He finished his tea, laid down his book on a leather-topped occasional table, stood up and moved towards the door. 'Where are you off to?' demanded Peri.

'Control room to set a course for a nice peaceful planet still unspoiled by civilization,' He paused. 'You might want to change into something more suitable.'

'Like what?'

'Safari suit, boots, a nice big hat. Basic explorer's gear.'

'Right,' said Peri happily, and followed him from the room.

She felt better already.

An hour later, subjective time, the Doctor and Peri stood outside the TARDIS, gazing at a landscape of spectacular beauty.

The TARDIS had landed on a mountain ledge and the scenery all around them was breathtaking. Behind rose a range of jagged mountain crags, their misty peaks tipped with snow.

Below the terrain fell away steeply, down to a jungle plateau.

A broad river flowed across it, fed by a mighty waterfall that thundered down the mountainside, its turbulent waters gleaming in the morning sunlight.

Peri looked at the Doctor, her face aglow with delight. 'You certainly delivered, Doctor. This place is terrific.'

'Not bad, is it,' said the Doctor modestly. 'Maybe I should set up a galactic tourist agency.'

Peri looked at the jungle below. 'And it's safe?'

'I don't think there's much down there that would harm you, not if you were careful. If I got my temporal coordinates right, we've arrived after the dinosaurs and before the sabre-toothed tigers.'

'Do the life forms on all planets evolve like those on Earth?'

'Only very roughly, there are all kinds of variations. But you often find an age of huge, clumsy, armoured beasts, followed by a time of sharp-toothed predators. Then a variety of life forms, one of which evolves into the dominant intelligent species. Not always the apes, of course. The fish people of Aquaria, for instance...'

'Maybe later, Doctor,' said Peri, cutting short the impending lecture. Sometimes the Doctor had a tendency to tell you a lot more than you wanted to know. 'Can we take a look around down there?' She pointed. 'There seems to be some kind of path.'

'Why not? We could take something to eat and drink and have a picnic down by the river. Maybe even do a bit of fis.h.i.+ng.

Old Isaac always said there was nothing like '

Peri never heard the rest of what old Isaac used to say.

Death dropped down from the sky.

As the Doctor had said, evolution allows for many variations.

One of them was watching them from a rocky spur high above.

Its ancestors had been very much like pterodactyls. Its descendants would turn into something closely resembling Earth's feathered birds.

The creature on the crag was still at an evolutionary stage somewhere in between, a hangover from the days of savage armoured beasts. Its vast, leathery wings were spa.r.s.ely scattered with feathers. It glided more than flew, though it could achieve laborious upward motion by clumsily flapping its wings and using the upward thermals. Once in a suitably high place, it waited and watched. It had an oversized head on the end of a long, scrawny neck, a powerful beak lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth and huge, incredibly efficient eyes.

Its hunting method was simple. Once it had attained a suitably high vantage point, it would watch and wait. The big head on the long neck circled to and fro, the saucer-like eyes alert for any flicker of movement.

Once movement was detected, the huge eyes focused, magnifying the image, checking for size and strength and ability to resist attack. If the prey looked too dangerous, too powerful, it would be ignored. But if it was small and weak...

The sudden appearance of the blue box on the ledge had alarmed the watching beast. It crouched motionless, a.s.sessing the situation. But when the two creatures emerged, its interest was aroused. It studied their magnified images for a moment or two, chose its prey and struck.

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