Fearing it would
suck away their atmosphere, they went into suspended animation in
shelters below the ground.' The Doctor stood up, trying to look out of
the window, but continued his narrative. 'Unfortunately for them, the
moon went into orbit around the Earth so they remained a sleep. Then
millions of years later, a huge meteor struck the Earth all the
dinosaurs and paving the way for mammals to take over.
A surprising
number of their bases survived though, and they have been accidently
reactivated once or twice. Perhaps,' he mused, 'they are origins of the
stories about trolls and goblins in Earth's legends.'
'Ssssh' Leela interrupted. 'Something's coming.' They collapsed onto the straw, seemingly a sleep.
One of the homo
reptillia appeared carrying a tray with food bowls on it. His third eye
glowed briefly and the cage door opened. The Silurian was just about to
leave when another reptile appeared.
'What do you want?' the first Silurian gargled.
'I,' began the second, drawing himself to his full height, 'I am a Zoologist.'
'And I,' replied the other, eyeing him warily, 'I am a Zoo Keeper, so?'
Patiently, the first explained that he had been given a permit to examine the new creatures.
The Zoo Keeper
sighed. 'An object was found in the woods, because of the equipment
these two had on them, it was assumed that it was one of their things.'
'Really? How fascinating. Please show me.'
With a sour glance, the Zoo Keeper bade the scientist to follow, 'It's in the museum...'
As soon as they were gone, the Doctor and Leela sat up. 'At last,' the Doctor said, 'We know where our stuff is.'
Leela, he noticed was crouched in a decidedly aggressive pose, sniffing the air. 'What's the matter?'
She indicated
the tray, 'Three food bowls and only two of us.' Her eyes fixed on the
far wall. 'He must be in that pile of straw!' Without a second thought
she dived into the pile, scrambling about and finally emerging with a
weak, emaciated figure.
The Doctor
rushed over. The pitiful thing was a man, his clothes were decidedly
20th century, lay in rags. His skin was full of blisters and in the last
stages of skin cancer. Clearly, he didn't have long to live, minutes at
the most.
The Doctor tried to make him comfortable but the man struggled and started to speak, his voice sounded desiccated.
loose end page 2
he
Doctor was the first to come to, only to find his clothes were damp
with sweat. It was uncomfortably hot and his aching muscles tempted him
to return to the sanctuary of sleep. When he opened his eyes, he
examined his surroundings. He was in a small room with bars at one end
and a window at the other. Straw covered the floor and formed a small
mountain below the window.
