Part 1 (2/2)

'What are you looking for, Doctor?'

'That phaser, I know I put it somewhere safe...'

'In your pocket?'

'No.'

'Doctor...' Peri said in exasperation and began hunting through the debris that littered the floor of the TARDIS.

Finally, behind a pair of Venusian lung clamps, she located the dangerous weapon that had caused them to travel through s.p.a.ce to Thoros-Beta.

'Ugh!'

'What is it, Peri?'

'This thing feels nasty... Sticky...'

'Oh, that'll be from the blood of the dead Warlord.

Bring it along, Peri, bring it along.'

'Doctor...'

But her companion had already ambled away out of the control room and seconds later she heard the exit doors open.

Crossly, she followed, holding the phaser gingerly at arm's length from her.

If from a distance the planet had seemed a wild hotchpotch of colour, on closer acquaintance Thoros-Beta held a brooding menace that owed much to the precipitous purple mountains that rose steeply from near to the rocky sh.o.r.e on which the TARDIS had materialised.

'What a dump,' Peri said, surveying the sh.o.r.eline then staring up at the bane cliffs that towered above them.

'Peri, can you see any vegetation?'

'Over there.' Peri pointed at a ma.s.s of creepers that intertwined into a tangled ma.s.s at the foot of a rock-face a little way from them.

'Are you sure this is the right place, Doctor?'

'Yes,' the Doctor said, surveying the coast first one way then the other.

'Doctor, there's no sign of life, none at all.'

'Never mind. Fancy a swim?'

'In that goo... no thanks.'

'Pretty colour, though. So much better than the blue and green water on that Earth of yours.'

Peri thought of her honre planet and experienced the longing that she knew could so quickly become homesickness. In order to stem the feeling she said, 'I can't get over the weirdness of this place.'

'No?' The Doctor took the phaser from Peri's hand and began to examine the strange weapon for the umpteenth time. 'This was manufactured here. I'm sure of it, Peri.'

'Oh, yes.'

'It seems to have a multiple function...' Nimbly the Doctor's fingers began to manipulate panels and interlocking segments on the ornately tooled b.u.t.t of the weapon. 'Mm. That must give a varying range of force projection...' Peri watched the Doctor make an adjustment, then, to her constemation, she saw the phaser begin to glow and then release a blinding beam of laser force. As luck would have it, the force bolt beamed away from them and centred on a sizeable boulder that stood a dozen paces away.

'Doctor, look, the rock, it's melting!' Fascinated they watched the boulder start to return to its molten state.

Before meltdown was complete, the moleculer structure shattered, showering the beach with burning fragments.

Fortunately none touched Peri and the Doctor but the flash of force had been a fearsome reminder of the potency of the sophisticated energy weapon that they had discovered on the barbaric world of Thordon.

Peri and the Doctor stared at the burnt patch of rubble where the boulder had been, then at each other.

'Quite advanced,' the Doctor said, turning a restrainer ring that he hoped was the safety mechanism.

'Is that all you can say? That rock...'

'Yes. Yes. don't be a scaredy cat, Peri.'

'Doctor, don't point the gun at me!'

'Sorry.'

Warily Peri pointed at the phaser. 'Are you sure that was made here?'

'Oh, yes. A dying warlord wouldn't use his last breath to lie.'

'Then where is everybody, Doctor?'

'Peri, if aliens landed in the centre of the Sahara desert, what impression would they receive of your honre planet?'

'Oh, all right.' Peri moved away impatiently. The Doctor stayed where he was, staring thoughtfully at the jumbie of rock and s.h.i.+ngle that comprised the beach.

'Mm,' the Doctor said examining a chunk of rock.

'Soft... bit like limestone... chalk... flaking.'

'Come on, Peri,' the Doctor said, striding along purposefully towards the jumble of blackened vegetation at the foot of the purple cliff.

Hurrying to keep alongside him, Peri soon lost her breath and was pleased when the Doctor paused and began to examine the incoming tidal currents of the pink sea.

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