Grant was upset; angry and upset. It wasn't the Doctor's fault of course; it was his own as usual. Why did he let things build up until everything just got too much? The cheery brightness of the console room became a harsh, bleak landscape of bleached out colour and depressing shadows. Even his own white shirt and black jeans added to this monotone feel. He looked at the Doctor, the only smudge of colour inside the room. "Where are we going this time?" he asked, more bitterness creeping into his voice than intended.
"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked, looking at his companion, an encouraging smile not far from his lips.
"I've been thinking about our voyages of late Doctor. Killer computers, Cybermen, Daleks and last week Autons when we were supposed to be on holiday in Hong Kong." Grant couldn't meet the Doctor's gaze so instead he looked at the ground apprehensively.
"Yes, well perhaps the last few months have been a little hectic," the Doctor admitted as he hastily reprogrammed the TARDIS's destination co-ordinates. "I know a place where we can relax and have a real holiday. The seas are flat and calm and the landscape is enchanting everywhere you investigate." A broad smile finally found it's way onto his face. "The Eye of Orion is a treasure trove of placid serenity and relaxation. A cosmic jewel for a more laid back lifestyle."
"Okay, okay," Grant gave in. "You're starting to sound like a timeshare tout."
"Am I?" the Doctor asked. "Well the place doesn't need me to sell itself." With a flourish the Doctor pressed the final button to divert the TARDIS's journey.
Grant was thrown against the wall of the TARDIS as it span out of control. In the distance he could hear the doom-laden sound of the Cloister Bell tolling its bleak and ominous warning of impending disaster.
The Doctor tried to work the controls but the console started to explode in showers of white-hot sparks and he was forced to retreat. "What's going on old girl?" he asked the ship, but there was no reply.
Grant watched as the Doctor backed away from the controls. He had never seen the Doctor retreat from anything so it must be very bad. "What's going on?" he finally shouted over the riot of sounds filling the room.
"Systems overload," the Doctor shouted back. "I can't cut the power. We need to find a nearby planet to materialise on before the ship is torn to pieces." The Doctor headed towards the inner door. "There's nothing more we can do here, we'll have to shut the power down manually. I'll need your help Grant."
Grant followed the blaze of colour that was the Doctor. Even as they walked inside the TARDIS's corridors the evidence of the surge was plain to seen. Roundels flared with light before darkening again like a cheap strobe light effect.
"This way Grant." The Doctor pointed their direction when they came to a junction. "It's a good thing I know these corridors like the back of my hand."
Grant followed the Doctor down the corridor before they turned around and took the other corridor. "Doctor, about the backs of your hands..." Grant started to make a joke at the Doctor's expense.
The Doctor looked at Grant. "Well perhaps I need to spend our time in the Eye reminding myself what they look like?"
They travelled up staircases, along corridors, down elevators and along more corridors before finally arriving at a large swimming pool.
"I wondered where this went to." The Doctor admired the calm blue pool of water. "A few lengths would do much to calm the nerves a little."
"Come on Doctor, we have to save the TARDIS." Grant took the yellow plastic duck out of the Doctor's hands.
"Oh," the Doctor complained. "Well I suppose work does come before pleasure."
***
The power room was like a cheap version of the Louvre in Grant's opinion. Everything seemed geared towards saving the odd penny here and there. "Sunflowers by Van Gogh?" he exclaimed. "I thought it was on Earth Doctor."
"Yes, well the copy is," the Doctor confessed. "I got the original just after it was painted. Nice chap, bit hard of hearing though."
Grant rolled his eyes at the acidic joke. "Next thing you'll be saying is that you have the Mona Lisa."
"No, of course not. That was destroyed. I did get one of the fakes though." The Doctor pointed to Da Vinci's most celebrated painting.
Grant found a peculiar painting. "Broken Home by Kenny Davidson...hey Doctor, you're in this picture." He picked the painting up and showed it to the Doctor.
The Doctor smiled. "Yes, Peri got it made for my 905th Birthday. I remember a cold winters night spent near a warm fire and the sound of content family life."
Suddenly Grant remembered why they had come to this place. "Doctor, we need to cut back on the power remember?"
The Doctor smiled once more. "I was wondering when you would remember that." With a few deft moves he revealed the hidden control panel and set about draining power away from the flight controls. He gasped suddenly. "The whole system is dangerously unstable, the sooner we can land somewhere safe, the better." He set off once more.
"Where are we going this time?" Grant asked the Doctor.
"Secondary console room. We can land the old girl from there. You can give the place a good dusting if you like, no one's been there for a couple of centuries."
"Er, yeah, whatever," Grant muttered. "So why didn't you mention it before?"
The Doctor stopped and looked at Grant. "One console room should be more than enough for you, besides the whole room needs redecorating. All that wood panelling looks like something out of a Jules Verne movie adaptation."
***
The secondary console room did look like a Jules Verne movie set, although one made by the BBC with little expense and even less care. Some of the wood had warped quite badly but in its heyday it must have looked better. "It's awfully dark in here," Grant said finally, "it could do with a bit of cheering up."
The Doctor concentrated on the smaller bank of controls and the heavy wooden shutters snapped over to reveal an orangey looking planet with seas and continents peeking out of the thick cloudbanks. "Callisteron?" the Doctor asked himself. "We're even more off course than I had realised. Not the most hospitable of worlds but it may have what we need." He pressed more buttons and the TARDIS began to shake once more.
"I thought we fixed this," Grant complained.
"It's just the residual charge," the Doctor explained. "It'll drain soon enough and then we can land safely and give madam here a complete overhaul." He gestured at the control console. "I may even have another go at the chameleon circuit."
Grant was thrown about once more, as the shaking got worse. "Doctor, do something!"
"This isn't right." The Doctor stood with his hands on his hips. "Is this because I talked about overhauling you?" he asked the TARDIS.
Grant staggered over to the Doctor. "We're getting closer to that planet." He pointed at the display; the planet more than filled the screen.
"Oh dear," the Doctor said simply. "The TARDIS is on a collision course."
"Do something!" Grant shouted before frantically pushing buttons.
"Those won't help." The Doctor moved around to another panel and opened the wooden cover. Thick oily smoke belched out of it and started to fill the room. "Yes, I think I can see the problem now." He closed the hatch and opened another one. "Ah yes, this should do it. Good old HADS." He pushed the big green button seconds before the TARDIS impacted into the planet like a fiery meteor.
***
Grant woke up, his head seemed to be occupied by a swarm of killer hornets but he had more important things to consider. The Doctor lay unconscious nearby and carefully he picked him up before heading towards the new exit. He retraced his steps and began jabbing buttons once more, looking for the switch or button that opened the exit. Finally the black doors swung inwards and he carried the Doctor over towards them.
Outside he laid the Doctor down behind the protection of a large rock, he was about to go back in to get a few odds and ends when a large ball of fire erupted out of the double doors with a whoosh and shot upwards into the air, leaving a blanket of heat in its wake. Deciding not to risk it he sat down next to the Doctor's inert body and waited for him to wake up.
***
It was dark when his eyes snapped open. Damn it, he had fallen asleep when he should have been watching over the Doctor. The Doctor! He looked down to see that his friend's body had gone. Fearing the worst he struggled to his feet and went to look for him. Hearing a sound emerge from inside the TARDIS he went to go inside only to find the Doctor emerging from the double doors as he reached them. "Doctor! You're alive, thank goodness."
"It's ruined," the Doctor said glumly. "Oh I'm glad to see you too Grant. The TARDIS is ruined."
"You can repair it though, can't you Doctor?" Grant asked.
"Of course I can," the Doctor said with a smile. "That's not the point. I need a lot of specialised equipment and raw materials. It's going to be a while before we're going anywhere Grant."
"What can we do? What do we need and where can we get it?" Grant asked.
"Callisteron is not without some resources," the Doctor explained. "I'm sure we can find something usable although some things will have to be built from scratch. We can use the primary control room once I find the fault, but the internal workings will need to be rebuilt and there could be some damage to the old girl's mind."
"So we're stuck here then?" Grant asked.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," the Doctor replied.
"Great, a holiday at last!" Grant laughed. "I can sunbathe and you can potter, it's the best thing that's happened to us."
The Doctor just stared at his companion before joining in on the laughter. "Did I ever tell you about the time Peri and I ended up on Varos? It all began when the TARDIS ran out of power..."
Grant listened as the Doctor began to tell his story. He wasn't surprised by some of what he heard. Some of it sounded very familiar.
***
PART TWO: THE ROAD TO ZENITH
Their first week had been spent sorting through the damaged components of the TARDIS. Three piles were quickly assembled. The first was things that only needed a few repairs, the second was broken items that could be cannibalised and the third were parts so badly damaged they were beyond repair but of some commercial value for trade. As the Doctor had explained to Grant, many traders were like magpies, creatures of curiosity attracted to bright shiny things.
No matter how much Grant tried to divert the Doctor's attention he finally had to travel with him towards the nearest village. It was long and slow work, the heat of the sun parched him and his water bottle was all but drained as they got within sight of the ramshackle huts.
"Hello strangers." A herder of goat like creatures nodded to Grant and the Doctor, easily deducing the fact that they weren't local.
This was Grant's first look at a native; he was relieved they were bipedal humanoids. Not so much down to prejudice but more practicality, it was far easier and far safer for a humanoid using the facilities on planets populated by other humanoids. He shuddered when he remembered the time he confused a public drinking fountain on Kaggilula Fraxin with a bidet for the large insect like Kaggiluans.
"We need to ask directions to the nearest city," the Doctor announced. "There should be a small tavern or inn around here where we can get some more water and a comfortable seat." He started to walk towards a large building.
"I hope you know where you're going," Grant muttered.
"Of course I know where I'm going," the Doctor replied, "I just hope everything knows where it should be."
***
The tavern turned out to be a tavern, although it was rather more cramped than Grant had hoped for. They had refilled the water bottle before getting a wooden mug of water each too.
"Water is essential in these warmer climates," the Doctor reminded Grant for the fourth time. "Dehydration will kill you with more certainty than a group of Special Weapons Daleks in bezerker mode."
Grant took a sip of the cool water and felt his parched mouth cool down and moisten. "Ah," he sighed with self-satisfaction. "That certainly hits the spot."
The Doctor looked around the tavern until he saw a fellow traveller hunched over a table nursing a pitcher of beer.
"My dear fellow, how are you?" The Doctor sat down opposite the man. "I'm sure you'd be better off with water you know. Alcohol will only exaggerate the dehydration effect of this dry and hot climate."
"Wotcha want?" the man asked the Doctor.
"Merely directions to the nearest large town or city," the Doctor smiled harmlessly. "My friend and I are new around these parts."
"I couldn't tell that stranger," the man replied with a touch of sarcasm. "Go that way for half a day and maybe more." He pointed with his finger. "You'll reach Motsuc before nightfall if you leaves now."
The Doctor thanked the stranger and as a way of saying thanks bought him a glass of water. "Just stay healthy my friend," he said, before rejoining Grant.
"So I take it we've got more walking to do?" Grant muttered. "At least I can look forward to a bath and comfortable rest in this Motsuc right?"
"Yes Grant," the Doctor said before taking another mouthful of water. "We both deserve a rest after today's activities."
***
It was another hour before they began their second journey, heading out under the hot afternoon sun. The parched landscape of bleached rocks and sandy soil sweltered in the baking heat.
"Callisteron is a bit closer to its star than the Earth." The Doctor broke the languid silence of their trek by telling his companion a few facts and figures about their new, hopefully temporary, home. "Luckily its simpler technology means that there are none of the problems with its thinner ozone layer."
Grant simply nodded at the Doctors words, he didn't want to waste any energy by talking.
"Another thing is there are no tectonic plates, Callisteron's lithosphere is one solid mass which is about four times thicker than Earth's. In many ways it has more in common with Venus rather than the world of your ancestors."
Grant was puzzled; if there were no plates then there should be no volcano's right? He spied a large smoking peak off in the distance and finally broke his silence. "That's not a volcano, right?"
"I'm afraid it is Grant." The Doctor looked worried. "It doesn't look far from blowing its top either, judging by all the micro quakes I've been feeling since we got here."
"How can a volcano be formed here?" Grant asked the fount of all wisdom and knowledge, as the Doctor liked to think of himself from time to time.
"Do you want the quick answer or the slow answer?" the Doctor asked.
"Quick answer please," Grant asked.
"Hotspots," the Doctor replied before looking at the odd rock on the ground that caught his eye.
Grant looked at the Doctor. "The long answer, please Doctor."
"Oh, very well." The Doctor took in a deep breath of air.
Grant started to feel like he was part of a children's education broadcast.
"Hotspots are thought to be regions of hotter-than-usual activity inside a planet's mantle. The mantle is composed of a sort of rock and metal called magma, which while still technically a solid behaves as if it was a liquid due to severe distortion by the sheer pressure and temperature. This superheated magma is forced up due to the extra heat and forms a large chamber inside the crust. Above a volcano is formed and when the pressure inside the underground magma chamber gets too much it erupts out of the weakest part of the crust, the volcano. The classic example of this on Earth are the Hawaiian islands..."
Grant yawned, involuntarily.
"If you're not prepared to listen to the answer, you shouldn't ask the question," the Doctor snapped at Grant.
"Sorry, Doctor for some reason I feel really sleepy." His legs buckled and he fell against the Doctor.
The Doctor caught Grant and then smelled something that resembled partially burnt air. "Carbon Monoxide?" He realised they had wandered into a pocket of the deadly gas. He hauled Grant's body onto his shoulders and began to run forwards as fast as he could go.
***
Finally the Doctor stopped and gently he placed Grant's unmoving body down on the ground. "We're clear of it now," he spoke softly. "Grant?" He looked at his companion and realised he wasn't breathing. Gingerly he felt for a pulse, there was one but it was slow and faint. There was also a slow methodical lub-dub heartbeat in Grant's unmoving chest. Quickly he tilted his companion's head back, took a deep breath and pressing his lips against Grants. While pinching the nose closed, he blew the air into Grant's lungs. He repeated this several times until, with a spluttering cough, Grant started to breathe for himself once more.
Grant opened his eyes, slowly; he had a raging headache and felt like he was going to be sick. He tried to talk but his tongue was swollen in his mouth.
"Welcome back," the Doctor said gently. "We wandered into a pocket of carbon monoxide, you're lucky to be alive. I got you out just in time."
He looked at the Doctor and managed to ask "what about you?"
"Me? Oh I'm fine. Respiratory bypass, works wonders when you need it. We should get going, I know you won't feel up to it but believe me it will be far worse if we're stuck out here at night." He hauled Grant to his feet. "Lean on me, yes that's it..." He supported his companion's weight as they headed in the directions they had been given back at the small tavern. He took hold of Grant's bottle of water and slipped it into one of his large coat pockets for safekeeping.
The afternoon gave way to evening and then twilight. In the distance they could see the twinkling lights of their destination. It looked a happy sight as it sat welcomingly on the horizon.
"Soon be there now," the Doctor said cheerfully to Grant. "Only another couple of hours to go and we'll be there."
It took almost four hours to reach their destination and the cold desert air was beginning to bite at their faces and hands. The Doctor pushed the heavy wooden gate open to allow the two of them inside before carrying Grant to the nearest inn. He made his friend drink two pitchers of water before allowing him to fall into the arms of a much-deserved slumber.
***
Three things woke Grant up, the shouting of the street traders outside, the smell of a hot breakfast and the Doctor shaking him.
"Come on Grant, rise and shine." The Doctor moved the tray of food over to the small table beside the bed. "A good breakfast is the perfect start to the day, get ready and meet me down stairs, we have a lot of bartering to do today in fair Zenith Town."
Grant managed to force the food down his throat with only a minimum of fuss, it may have looked and smelled strange but it tasted delicious and he felt better for it. A quick soak in the tub and an even quicker laundry of his clothes before letting them dry in the morning sun saw him ready to face the new day. However the lack of a razor meant that the rough stubble on his face and neck would turn into a beard until he could acquire one. Then he headed down the stairs to look for his multi-coloured friend.
***
The Doctor was deep in concentration. He was playing a complex game that seemed to be a hybrid of chess and Pacman. He looked up when Grant announced his presence. "Ah there you are, be with you in a minute." However his concentration was lost and he resigned the game less than two minutes later.
"Where do we start looking?" Grant asked the Doctor once his grouchy face had worn off.
"I deliberated that perhaps we ought to peruse the commodities on proposal initially and then determine what we require most urgently."
Grant looked at the Doctor. "Are you feeling all right Doctor? You sound like you've swallowed a thesaurus. Is it the heat?"
"What I'm trying to say Grant, is that we should have a look around first and then see what we need the most. I do wish you would learn to elaborate your philosophical and cogitative almanacs." The Doctor looked around the large, busy streets of market stalls. "This way I think." He headed off in a random direction, travelling where the winds of chance took him ever onwards to.
The zocalo was packed with traders, buyers and many others including beggars, religious types and pimps. Grant was almost overwhelmed by the whole experience but as all his possessions, bar his clothes and water flask, were locked safely inside the TARDIS; he couldn't take advantage of the possibilities even if he wanted to.
"Looking for something?" a scantily dressed woman of ancient employment asked Grant as he walked by. "Everything's reasonable."
"Er, no thanks." Grant hurried to catch up with the Doctor.
The Doctor moved from stall to stall picking up things, running his fingers and eyes over them, scrutinising every millimetre of their surface. Inside this huge mass of life he actually felt happy, until there was a knife at his throat.
"Give us yer money," the man with the knife demanded.
"That may be rather difficult, my companion and I came here to barter not buy."
"Where is your companion?" the thief asked.
Grant tapped the bandit on the shoulder. "I'm here." He waited until the robber turned around and took the blade away from the Doctor's throat, before throwing a classic right hand as seen in the old movie. He yelled in pain as the impact jarred his knuckles. "This never happened to Errol bloody Flynn."
"Thank you Grant," the Doctor said. "I do wish you hadn't hit him quite so hard though, I could have given him a stern lecture on the folly of his ways."
Grant smiled. "I think he got off lightly then." He let the Doctor use ancient Venusian massage to relive the pain in his hand.
"I hope this shows you a valuable lesson Grant; violence never solves anything." The Doctor set off once more on their inspection of the goods on offer.
***
The list had been narrowed down to three items, a large reel of copper wire, a flask of mercury and a mass of fused metals the Doctor was sure had been part of a quark level anti-matter star drive.
"What do we need the most Doctor?" Grant tried to help the Doctor to rationalise their choice. "Which item is the least likely to be found anywhere else? Which one will be the most effective?"
"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "The wire we can use to link up the ship's key components, the mercury can fill the fluid links and the star drive can give the old girl a jump start."
"Here's one more question Doctor." Grant waved his hands at the three stalls. "Which one do you think we can get back to the ship without arousing any suspicions?"
"Well the mercury of course," the Doctor snapped. "The others are too large to carry without drawing attention to ourselves."
"Well then," Grant grinned at his own logic. "The answer's simple."
"The star drive?" the Doctor asked.
Grant slapped his brow in frustration. "For f...oh what's the point?"
"Or maybe the copper wire?" The Doctor stroked his chin in thought. "Yes, maybe."
"Doctor, we'll take the mercury okay?" Grant demanded.
The Doctor walked over to the stall. "My dear sir, I'd like to take that flask of mercury off of you. I can trade you some of the finest and rarest metals you are ever likely to see."
Samalonious, the stallholder, looked at the clown-costumed man and mentally rubbed his hands together. "This mercury sir? This flask of purest mercury? This rare and expensive flask? You wish to barter with me sir? For this?"
"We can always get the copper wire Grant." The Doctor turned to walk over to the stall where the large reel of wire lay.
"Sir, you obviously have an eye for detail, perhaps we can come to some sort of a deal?" Samalonious waved the flask under the customer's nose. "Why don't we, negotiate?"
***
Grant smiled as they walked back to the inn, looking forward to a nice meal. "That was a classic Doctor. You practically had him begging on his knees once you produced that bar of gold."
"Gold?" the Doctor asked. "Oh, you mean the Osirinium? Believe me, the fellow got a bargain."
"What's so special about Osirinium?" Grant asked.
The Doctor opened the inn door. "It has many strange and curious qualities, one of them is that it dissolves if left exposed to an oxygen atmosphere; if you try to polish it that is."
"You tricked him?" Grant gasped.
"I gave him exactly what I said I would, one of the finest and rarest metals he will ever see. I never said it would be one that he had seen before. Greed is a sin Grant, which is why I let him have so much of it."
Grant walked over to the bar. "Two water's please sir, and two of your best meals too. There's nothing like a nice filling meal after a good day's shopping." He walked over to the table the Doctor had occupied and spread a crudely drawn map out upon its wooden surface. "So what do we do now? Back to the TARDIS or do we try our luck somewhere else?"
The Doctor pursed his lips, as he looked at his hastily drawn map, before replying. "I know. Why don't we go to-"
