he Doctor was speechless as
he plodded out of the TARDIS onto the mind boggling landscape of
Ashralis, the popular tourist resort of the ninety-zenith quadrant.
Jamie followed also quite speechless, jaw hanging lower than ever
before. Their mouths made a few uncoordinated wobbles, while their
eyeballs tried their best to climb out of their sockets. They continued
to stumble around in this ridiculous state for about seven minutes and
twenty-eight seconds when the Doctor finally said:
'Jumping, gobstoppers, Jamie!'
'W-where?'
'No,no .I mean, it's...it's...well...it's indescribable, isn't it?'
'Aye!'
Spreading out in every direction was a thoroughly, indescribable sight.
Rippling blue sands, whisked into sweeping dunes, and deep, hypnotic
velvet pools. The sky constantly melting from orange to pink and then to
orange once more. Glittering crystal and rock formations climbing from
misty mountain tops...that sort of thing. Ultra pleasant.
'Yes, yes. This is definitely one of my favourites of the seven hundred
wonders of the Universe. Although, that collective title is little
inaccurate now, mainly due to the high criminal element in the galaxy at
the moment...'
Jamie groaned a quiet Scottish groan. The Doctor was waffling again.
They started to walk away from the TARDIS and towards a large, purplish
crater about half a mile away.
'For instance,' the Doctor continued, 'take the famous alcohol springs
of Inebrius 4. All the fifth zone breweries opened up there, totally
pushing any fourth or sixth zone competition out of business, so they
pooled their resources and blew up the planet's sun! Everything dried
up...terrible waste. Nobody ever did find out whether it had twin suns
or not. Anyone who got within sight of the place were also within
sniffing distance and was in no state to tell...'
'Yes, alright, Doctor. I'm more interested in how we got here.'
'Well the theory of time travel is a bit difficult for you to grasp, but in a nutshell...'
'Och, no, Doctor! I mean do the Time Lords still have control of the TARDIS?'
'I'm afraid so, Jamie.'
'But I thought we'd finished with the Sontarans after that Destari business?'
'So did I.'
As the two figures strolled further and further away from the TARDIS, a
grubby, bleeding, pathetic figure crawled from a small rocky sand pit
and shambled towards the TARDIS. Reaching the door, he smiled as it
slowly opened. Inside, he collapsed.
~~~~~
