 ou
should feel at home here, Leela,' came a voice through the trees.
'Wherever "here" is of course.' it added as an after thought.
There was a
sharp crack of twigs and the frightened squealing of a small lizard
before a man, with hair like iron wool and immense bulging eyes stepped
through the calamites and into the clearing. The Doctor sniffed the foul
air, mentally congratulating himself for leaving his scarf and coat in
the TARDIS, the heat was stifling.
Quickly, a
grumbling Leela followed him, scanning the area with her blue eyes,
which looked out of place in her deeply tanned face and brown hair.
'There are strange scents,' she sniffed, her hand moving to the knife in
her belt. It was Vince's knife, she remembered.
'Of course you don't recognise any of the scents,' said the Doctor testily, 'You've never been here before.'
Leela grinned mischievously. 'How do you know if I haven't been here before if you don't know where "here" is?'
Leela's feel of
triumph at having finally won an argument with the Doctor vanished as he
said, 'Because you would have recognised the scents.'
Swiftly, the
Sevateen drew her knife. For a moment the Doctor was mildly alarmed, 'If
you want to win a discussion that badly,' he thought but Leela
interrupted him.
'A large animal approaching. Very large.'
A distant roar
rent the air, followed by the sound of toppling trees. The source of the
sounds, they were sure, was getting nearer and nearer. 'It's between us
and TARDIS,' Leela murmured.
The Doctor grabbed her arm, but she gave a hiss of pain and drew back. 'My arm,' she whispered examining it. 'Is sunburned.'
'What? We've
only been out five minutes,' The Doctor looked at his own exposed skin.
It was beginning to redden alright. He looked up at the light filtering
through the canopy of leaves above. It looked too weak to do them any
harm. Perhaps they were allergic to something? Anyway, first things
first.
They ran through
the forest, almost unable to see ahead of them because of the dim
light. All around was the stench of dung and the screech of carrion
animals. Huge insects buzzed noisily past, or were crunched underfoot as
they fled, but all the time the crashing sounds and roars of their
pursuer got closer.
|
Suddenly the all
enveloping trees vanished as they plunged out of the forest into bright
sunlight which dazzled them. Without pausing, but exhausted, they sped
on. Finally, they had to give into tiredness and collapsed hiding
themselves in a field of bracken-like plants.
Then the
creature that had been chasing them appeared. It stood twenty feet high,
and was covered in large scales which the sun glinted from, as if from a
mirror. Its tale moved slowly from side to side and stood on two
incredibly massive and muscular hind legs. In contrast, t had two weedy
little arms projecting from its chest. The head though was enormous,
with two small nostrils, green eyes and a gaping mouth with teeth,
fifteen centimetres long, slanted backwards and serrated.
Between the two
massive jaws, the Doctor glimpsed a course tongue which lolled lazily
about, causing saliva to dribble down its neck. He could even see the
condensation in its breath and hear its rasping gasps for air. Leela
knew, that it knew where she and the Doctor were, but why didn't it just
come in and get them?
Suddenly, the monster let out a bellow of what might have been frustration and walked back into the forest.
After a long
while, the Doctor and Leela stood up. 'Tyrannosaurus Rex, Leela,' said
the Doctor as if he had shown a biology class a particular interesting
specimen. 'A carnivore from Earth's past. We've not moved in Space, but
in Time.'
Leela looked about. 'That explains why there's no lighthouse, but where's the sea?'
The Doctor
beamed, 'Continental drift. It takes millions of years...oh dear!' he
exclaimed looking up at the glaring sun. 'The Van Allan Belt,' he
groaned. 'No wonder we burned so quickly. We must get back to the
TARDIS!' He started off, but Leela wasn't with him. When he turned back
he saw her surveying the area. 'Well, come on.' |
