A Strange Man in a Strange Box

2.4 Noticing Something Wrong

As the meat was cooking on the fire, the others came and gathered around. They talked and laughed, and generally seemed relaxed. It reminded Y/n of the times she had been to BBQs with her family, or going to the beach with her friends from college.

The children all ran around laughing and playing. They seemed to have decided that the Doctor and Y/n were not a threat, and so had gone back to their usual behaviour.

After Y/n had told Torg that she was a vegetarian, he had gone out again to gather more fruit for her to eat. She was now sitting with a pile of fruit in her lap. Along with the small green banana things, there was also some wild mangos, and some little white fruits that were kind of like lychees. They all tasted delicious, and she happily munched on the fruit.

The Doctor was standing off to the side with a slightly serious expression on his face. Y/n looked at him for a moment to see if she could work out what he was concentrating on. He seemed to be watching some of the hunters, so Y/n turned her attention to them instead.

When she watched them more closely, she realised that some of the hunters appeared to be behaving differently from the others. Three of the men seemed to be moving slower than normal. They also were not eating anything. Instead they seemed to be only sipping at some water.

"What's going on with them, Doctor?" Y/n asked.

The Doctor stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I'm not sure," he said.

Suddenly the Doctor sprang forward and walked over to one of the men. Y/n quickly put down the fruit she was eating and hurried over to join the Doctor.

"What's wrong with you?" asked the Doctor, as he poked his shoulder and stared at him.

"That's not very good bedside manner," said Y/n. "You should start by getting to know your patient first."

The Doctor looked at him expectantly.

"Horga," he said.

"Okay then. Horga. What's wrong with you?" asked the Doctor, as he started poking at him again.

"Strength gone. Feel heavy," said Horga.

"Hmmm, yes. And loss of appetite too," said the Doctor thoughtfully.

"Food make sick," said Horga.

The Doctor reached inside his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He flicked it on, then ran the screwdriver quickly over Horga's head and body.

"Hmmm, he has radiation poisoning," said the Doctor, as he studied the readings from his sonic screwdriver.

"But how is that possible?" Y/n asked.

The Doctor stroked his chin thoughtfully again. "I'm not sure," he said. "Well, when was it you first got sick?"

"Big rock fall from sky," said Horga. "Make dizzy when touch."

"So some kind of radioactive meteorite?" Y/n asked.

"No, the wrong kind of radiation," the Doctor muttered, as he looked at his sonic again.

"So what could it be?" Y/n asked.

"I'm not sure," said the Doctor. "This rock from the sky, can you show it to me?"

"No. Walk too far," said Horga.

"Me show you," said Torg. "Me see rock fall, but not touch."

"Ah yes. That would be marvellous," the Doctor said, with another of his big grins.

"Go now," said Torg, as he went to grab his spear.

"Yes, no sense in waiting," said the Doctor, excitedly. "There's something potentially dangerous and life threatening, and I have no idea what it is. It's so fun, I can't wait to find out."

Y/n frowned at him. "I think you and I have a very different idea of what's fun," she said.

"Horin. Kol. With us," said Torg.

Two of the other hunters nodded their agreement, and then also grabbed their spears. Then they followed Torg as he started to walk out of the camp.

Before they could leave, Tala ran over and stopped them. She threw her arms around Torg and kissed him.

"Be safe," she said.

"Always," said Torg.

Tala let go of Torg, and let him leave. Then she went over and picked up Mia, who waved goodbye to her father. Torg gave a grunt and nodded, then led the way out from the camp.

The group made their way quietly through the long grass. The hunters were keeping alert at all times, their eyes scanning their surroundings, looking out for any sign of danger.

Onwards they walked, the sun was getting lower on the horizon behind them, as they made their way in an easterly direction. They moved away from the valley where the TARDIS was parked, and in the direction of some mountains in the distance.

Eventually, Y/n's legs were starting to get tired, and her feet were starting to hurt.

"Is it much further?" Y/n asked.

"No. Here," said Torg, and he pointed ahead of the with his spear.

When Y/n looked, she could see he was pointing towards a patch of trees a few hundred metres away. There were thin trails of smoke visible, slowly rising from between the trees. When the Doctor saw this, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver to take some more readings. After a moment, he stared at his screwdriver and frowned.

"Hmmm, strange," he said.

After another five minutes walking, they walked over the crest of a small hill. When they did, the place where the meteorite landed came into view. Except, it didn't look like a meteorite.

A huge grey object was half buried in the ground in front of them. Y/n could see why they had called it a rock. It almost looked like one with its shape and colour. A dull grey colour, and curved around. Like a piece of granite that had been brought up from the bed of a river. Worn smooth and rounded from the action of the water rushing over it.

And yet, it wasn't a rock. It was something else.

"That's not a meteorite," said Y/n. "That's a spaceship."