Mondas Down (Chapter 5)

Chapter 5 (Crash-landing)

The ship burst through the atmosphere trailing flame and smoke. From the outside it was quite obvious that the ship had been severely damaged with a huge gash extending from where the airlock used to be and to the right-side engine. The ship slowly tipped downwards towards the planets surface.

Below, the surface was a mixture of desert areas, tall palm-tee-like trees that become thick, dense jungles and large lakes of clear water. Strange, alien birds wheeled in the sky and swooped out of the way as the ship streaked past.

Inside the Doctor and Natalie were at the navigational controls desperately trying to level their descent.

Holly clung onto a railing for support, Brax was now unconscious with Roy partially laying over him to keep him safe. Saragon and Chartell stood over the Doctor and Natalie supervising, Fletcher and Grant were holding onto metal beams at the side of the control room, Rick was frantically trying to move equipment into the ante-chamber to get it out of the way for when the inevitable happened, and Lilly was leant up against the wall.

Holly could feel the panic rising up inside of her. She was briefly reminded of a scene from a Star Trek film she had seen once when the USS Enterprise had crash-landed on a nearby planet. She hoped that she would be as lucky as those guys were.

The Doctor turned from the console and addressed the room. “We’ve managed to level off our descent, and we’re heading for a large lake, but we’re going to hit the trees before we hit the lake, so prepare for some turbulence”

Lilly shuffled over to Holly and looked at her. “You alright?” she asked.

Holly was speechless. Was Lilly actually concerned about her? “I’m scared,” said Holly. “I’ll admit that. I’m scared.”

Lilly slid down the wall to sit next to her and then, to Holly’s amazement, she grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. “We’ll be fine. Just hold on.”

Holly looked at Lilly and for the first time she saw a normal, frightened young woman who was just as terrified as she was.

“Everybody hold on!” shouted Natalie over the rapidly rising sound of the ship creaking and falling apart.

The initial impact was unlike anything Holly had ever felt before. When she had been 14 she had gone on a school trip to the Science Museum in London and the school had hired out a small minibus. Halfway into the journey a car had crashed into the back of the minibus and her and the rest of her classmates had been thrown forward. There had been, thankfully, no serious injuries, but the majority of them had suffered whiplash and it had taken a few months of physiotherapy to get her back to normal.

That had hurt.

This hurt more.

The whole ship lurched forward, but instead of everyone being thrown forwards, they were thrown upwards and on her way down Holly hit her forehead on a metal barrier.

Mercifully, Holly was knocked out cold and never witnessed the carnage that followed.




When she opened her eyes again she was part-propped up against the same railings she had knocked herself out with. Something wet was trickling down her forehead and down the side of her face. It was warm and sticky.

Blood.

She put her fingers to her face and then brought them away, staring curiously at her red, sticky fingers glistening in the flashing lights.

“Holly. Holly,” came the Doctor’s voice as she saw him bound across the room and drop down to a crouch in front of her. “Take it slowly, Holly.”

“What…?”

“We crashed,” he said, grabbing a handkerchief from somewhere within his coat and placing it against the cut.

She winced in pain and felt like throwing up. “I know that, silly.”

“You just need to take it easy,” he said again.

“Is everyone alright?” she said, trying to take in her surroundings.

The Doctor looked crestfallen. “Rick’s dead. His neck was broken whilst he was trying to clear the control room.”

“Oh god…” trailed off Holly.

“Doctor, we need you,” said Lilly, appearing at the edge of her vision.

“Just lie still,” said the Doctor as he got up and returned the blurred chaos in front of her.

The blurs faded to grey and then to blackness as she drifted out of consciousness again.




She could hear birds tweeting above her somewhere. At least she thought they were birds. They sounded a little different. Their song wasn’t something she was familiar with, and they sounded more low-pitched than she was used to.

She dared to open her eyes again. Above, the sky was blue and she could see palm-tree-like trees swaying gently in the breeze. The breeze felt good on her skin and she felt a little more comfortable. Underneath her was sand and she could hear the gentle lapping of water nearby.

“How you doing?” came Lilly’s voice.

Holly turned a little to see Lilly standing over her, her jeans ripped down one leg, a large gash on her arm and her face blackened with smoke with her bright blue eyes shining brighter than ever.

“Concerned for my wellbeing twice in one day?” said Holly, arching her eyebrows.

“Actually,” said Lilly. “I’m trying to make sure you don’t die.”

“What?” said Holly, edging up on her elbows and getting herself into a sitting position.

“I’m trying to help the Doctor prove a point.”

“Which is?” said Holly, feeling the bandage that had now been placed around her forehead.

“That not everyone who travels with him winds up dead.” She got to her feet and then threw Holly a bottle of water. “Drink up, Dangerfield.”

Holly took in her new surroundings. She was sat on a small beach with a large lake stretching out in front of her. Behind her were the trees that had been partially crushed by the ship. The ship was scattered all around the jungle and somewhere back a few metres away there was a trail of smoke rising from behind the trees. In the distance, across the lake, was a large mountain range and what looked like a metal structure - two curved arches meeting in the middle.

Fletcher and Grant were sat with their knees drawn up to their chests, staring out across the lake whilst Natalie was consoling Roy in her arms.

The Doctor, Brax, Chartell and Saragon where nowhere to be seen.

“Drink up, I said,” said Lilly, nodding towards the bottle. “You don’t wanna become dehydrated.”

Holly did as she was told and gulped down almost half the bottle.

“Easy though,” said Lilly, taking the bottle away from her.

“Where’s the Doctor?” asked Holly, gasping for air after the huge gulp of water.

“He took off that way,” said Lilly, pointing towards the mountain range. “Him, Brax and Saragon. Reckoned they were going to get help from that structure.”

“How long ago?”

“About an hour,” said Lilly.

“An hour?! Jesus! I’ve been out cold for an hour?”

“That’s what I said,” said Lilly. “He told us to wait here, but I think we need to find shelter. It’s going to get dark soon,” she said, her blue eyes looking up at the already darkening sky.

“What about Chartell? Did she go with them?”

Lilly shook her head. “Chartell’s disappeared. The Doctor reckoned she must have been ripped out of the ship as it fell apart.” She looked at the jungle towards the smoke. “She’s out there somewhere. Dead or alive.”




Brax could barely keep up with Saragon and the Doctor. Saragon he could understand. He was, after all, a superhuman, cyber-augmented man, but the Doctor was just like him - flesh and blood. He didn’t let up.

They had walked into the lake and swam across. Brax was tired by the time they’d arrived at the other side, but Saragon and the Doctor had continued on, barely allowing time for their clothes to dry. Now they were walking in a narrow valley set into the mountain range, the metal structure looming up in the distance.

“We need to stop soon,” said Brax, out of breath.

“A fit man like you?” said the Doctor, glancing back.

“As fit as I may be, I’m not a superhuman.”

The Doctor chuckled. “Neither am I, Mr Brax. I’m just flexing my muscles. Enjoying it.”

“Enjoying what?” said Brax, finally stopping and sitting on a rock.

“The adventure.”

Saragon stopped and looked back. “We should continue moving.”

“In a moment,” said the Doctor, joining Brax, taking a swig of water, and sitting down on the ground next to him.

“And you’re enjoying the adventure?” said Brax, shaking his head. “Have you forgotten that Rick Hobbin is dead?”

“I never forget anyone’s death,” said the Doctor. “I remember every single one of them. I didn’t used to, of course, but life is precious. You have to remember death to remind you of how precious it is.”

“Doctor,” said Brax, “it’s a bit too deep for me, you know? I’m knackered.”

“Harry,” said the Doctor, clapping him on the back, “you can rest when you’re dead.”

Brax laughed. “Hopefully not any time soon, eh? And you better remember my death!”

Saragon stood in front of him. “Your conversations are confusing. You laugh about your demise.”

“Listen, Saragon,” said the Doctor, looking up at the giant, “you may not be able to feel, but surely you remember something before you were converted?”

“It was a long time ago,” said Saragon, suddenly looking a little distant. “I was converted during the first run. I used to be a vicar.”

“A vicar? That’s….fascinating.”

“I do not see what is fascinating about it. My people simply eliminated the irrational belief of a deity and replaced it with calculations and logic.”

“And you were comfortable with this?”

“It would be illogical to not be comfortable with it.”

“And what about Chartell?” said Brax. “The female one.”

“There is no gender within the Cyber-race.”

“But she was a woman, wasn’t she?”

“She was my daughter.”

“I’m sorry,” said the Doctor sadly. Sometimes he forgot that the Mondassians were once people with lives and jobs and family.

“Do not be sorry,” said Saragon, turning and beginning his march again. “I may not agree with forcing others to become like us, but we chose to be this way. It was the logical choice.”

The Doctor looked at Brax, but neither men said a word as the giant walked away.




Fletcher was lost in his own thoughts as he watched the flames dancing about in the breeze. The temperature had dropped considerably since they had arrived and the Doctor, Brax and Saragon had been gone for over three hours. Chartell hadn’t shown up either. Another death, perhaps? He felt angry with himself for letting the Doctor lead the small party away. He was the captain. He should be leading; setting an example.

It was Angie that had convinced him to stay with the rest of the group.

“You are the captain of this crew,” she had said as she wiped the nearly-dry blood off the side of her face. “The ship may be gone, but you’re still it’s captain.”

Fletcher hadn’t the energy to argue. He had simply stood aside as the Doctor led the other two out into the lake and swam away.

“Sir,” said Angie, coming out from behind the foliage of the jungle behind.

Fletcher turned to her as she emerged with two steaming mugs of coffee. He smiled at her.

“I found my ration pack,” said Angie, handing him and mug and sitting beside him. “Used water from the bottles and boiled it on the fire back towards the wreckage.”

It was the policy of all NESP officers that they should carry emergency rations in the back pack of their spacesuits. The rest of the team had removed their suits and Fletcher presumed they were now scattered around the jungle. Angie had gone looking and had found the rations lying around.

“Did you get any for the others?” said Fletcher.

“Fair do’s, captain, there were only two packets.”

“Angie,” said Fletcher, disappointed.

“It’s alright,” said Angie, holding a hand up, “I found some powdered orange juice. They’re enjoying it now.”

“Good,” said Fletcher, looking relieved.

“How are you doing, sir?” said Angie, giving a rare-sympathetic smile.

“Well, I’ve just lost my ship and stranded us all on an alien world full of possible cybernetic killers.” He looked at her and laughed at the madness of it all. “I’m doing fine, thanks.”

There came the sound of frantic footsteps in the jungle foliage and Natalie emerged from the foliage, looking flustered and worried.

“What’s up?” said Angie, getting to her feet.

“I was taking a pee and I heard footsteps somewhere back there,” she said, pointing back towards the jungle. “Twigs and branches cracking.”

“Where they close?” said Lilly, who had run up with Holly.

“I have no idea, but they sounded heavy.”

“It’s Chartell. It’s got to be.”

“There was more than one set of footsteps, believe me.”

“Gotta be Cybermen, yeah?” said Holly, looking back towards the darkened jungle, nervously. “They must have heavy feet.”

“Possibly,” said Fletcher. He looked at the fire. “Put that out, grab our things and we’ll move out of here.” He looked over to a smaller fire further down the beach where Roy was sat staring morosely at it.

“I’ll get Roy,” said Natalie, jogging away.

Fletcher, Lilly, Holly and Angie began gathering their things together and then they covered over the fire with handfuls of sand, extinguishing the flames.

After a few moments Natalie returned with a very dejected looking Roy in tow.

“You alright?” said Fletcher.

Roy nodded. “We need to get Rick out of the ship.”

“Not now,” said Fletcher. “There’s something moving about in the jungle. We need to move away from here.”

“But-”

“No buts, Hobbins,” barked Angie. “You’re still on an officer. You follow your captains orders.”

Quickly and quietly the group moved away from the campsite and headed further down the beach, careful to stay as close to the tree line as possible to keep camouflaged as best they could.

When they were about 50 yards away they heard a branch break.

“Quick!” said Holly, as they all crouched down just inside the tree line and peered out at what was back where they had been.

Emerging from the jungle was a group of six Cybermen, but these Cybermen looked different to Saragon and Chartell. They were more metallic. More solid. Their faces were not cloth-like either. They were solid, hard steel. They were blank and emotionless. These Cybermen were shining silver and they carried weapons. Large weapons that were slung over their shoulders.

“These lot certainly look different,” said Holly.

“Yep,” said Lilly. “Very different.”

“And not very friendly,” continued Natalie.

“Be fair,” said Holly, “Chartell and Saragon don’t exactly look friendly.”

The lead Cyberman turned to what they presumed was his lieutenant and spoke. It’s voice was more of a buzz and sounded harsh and electronic. “Report on life signs?”

The lieutenant replied. “Readings indicate a small group of Humanoids were here. They have only just left.”

“Bring out the prisoner.”

To the groups horror, Chartell was pushed out of the jungle, collapsing to her knees.

“Where are they?” said the Cyberleader.

“I don’t know,” said Chartell.

“You will tell us.”

“Why?” said Chartell.

“Because they must be destroyed.”

To be continued...