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Jo had hidden herself a little too well in the TARDIS, for she had lost herself in the maze of corridors and only managed to find her way back to the control-room about half an hour after the ship had landed. However, stepping from the TARDIS, she (unlike the Doctor) did into find herself on a plain of white sand, but in a plain grey room - small, metallic and dull. In one corner sat a rotund little man in neat steal-grey uniform, dozing on a metal stool.
'Excuse me,' she half yelled in a panicked yet polite tone.
'Stone me,' he grumbled dazedly, lost in a dream. 'Oh should I know the name of some card dealer on "Rocket Trail"? I ask you'
'Pardon?' said Jo, giving him a good shake, 'Have you seen the Doctor?'
'Oh, 'hello Miss,' he laughed, coming round and jumping to attention. 'Now, where 'ave you come from then? Out of the TARDIS? Now, you sit down there. That's right. Hasjat's the name - Deputy Security Officer Hasjat!'
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 he Doctor was lost.
He normally had an excellent sense of direction. However, surrounded as he was by oceans of sands, there were no points of reference here, except the odd dune or two which, whenever he tried to retrace his steps by them, seemed to have shifted their position. He felt giddy and light-headed, with a temperament verging on extreme paranoia.
This was a dead world, and as such its atmosphere could hardly be said to be conductive to the sustenance of life. Perhaps the sterile air (unfed, as on Earth or Gallifrey) contained a slightly psychedelic element which was effecting the Doctor's perception of his situation. If only he might gaze through the smooth yellow clouds, he could at least ascertain the identity of the planet by the stars above.
Was this Gallifrey? Yellow clouds...white sands...he was sure he had used the correct co-ordinates. If this was Gallifrey, then something was terribly wrong.
Just then, there came a faint and muffled rumble from behind him. He was almost to tired to look, but look he did. Several monstrous war vehicles tumbled over some dunes towards him. He made no attempt to escape. With base-sections like U.N.I.T. jeeps, their headlights blazing in the heat-haze, they were huge conical brutes; a man's head could be seen at the top of each cone, though there were probably more men inside. Each vehicle had a canon fitted to his mid-section. Indeed, these "jeeps" were...rather like crude interpretations of something more familiar. But the Doctor was too tired to consider the likeness any further. He collapsed in the sand before them...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 o was frightened and confused. How did this man come to be in possession of the TARDIS? Where was she? Where was the Doctor? She began to cry.
'Oh, come now madam,' said Hasjat, 'Don't take on so! Now, pull yourself together. Come on...you have to shape up for the interrogation.'
'Interrogation?' Jo screamed.
'Well...ahhh...err...'Hasjat began to explain, clumsily. 'More of a friendly little chat with the C.O., actually He was the one who told me all about the TARDIS...Well, not all about It, of course. Now, don't be afraid. You'll like 'im. Stone me, 'e does 'ave away with the ladies. Can't 'elp admiring 'im! You'll like 'im no end, miss.'
Jo looked at Hasjat's beaming smile, which changed, almost unperceived, to a sad, yet belligerently comical expression which had the aspect of a bloodhound. She began to brighten up. Perhaps this Commanding Officer, if he knew about the TARDIS, was a friend of the Doctor's and knew where he was.
A green light-bulb flashed in one corner of the room, and a panel slid open in the ceiling through which a metal ladder descended to meet the floor.
'He'll see you now, miss,' said Hasjat, motioning to the ladder, 'Don't do anything I wouldn't do eh?'
Hasjat's attempt at mirth was not appreciated by Jo as she climbed into the blackness above her head. Blackness - the room above was completely dark. After some fearful sounds, alight was flashed in her face; a warm, soothing light There was a deep chuckle from somewhere, followed by a voice, warm and soothing...
'My dear Miss Grant...' (Well, need I tell you who it was?)
 
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