STILL LOST
by William Albert

The gray haired man sat back against a rock wall with one hand resting on an over turned bucket next to him. He slept peacefully knowing that he was far enough away from the camp that no one would find him and he would be able to return to it later. The garden he was supposed to be tending was at least 50 meters west and would still be there when he got to work on it on another day.

He was awakened only slightly at the wheezing and groaning sound of the TARDIS as it materialized a few yards away from him. He yawned and rolled to one side.

After a few moments the police box door opened and the Doctor stepped onto the sand of this mostly desert covered planet. He took off his hat and surveyed the landscape.

"Do you see anything," a woman's voice called from inside the TARDIS.

"No, no, dear Barbara," the Doctor called. "Keep your eye on the screen while I look around, will you?"

"Of course," Ian Chesterton called from inside.

The Doctor walked around the time machine until he saw the sleeping man a short distance away. The Doctor walked to the figure and tapped it lightly on the boot with his cane.

"Excuse me," the Doctor called politely.

"Leave me alone. I'm tired," the man said without opening his eyes.

"Could you tell me which planet we're on," the Doctor asked as he prodded the man again.

"I said leave me alone," the man said more tersely.

"Such insolence," the Doctor spat and hit the man harder with his cane.

Infuriated by the interruption the man jumped up and started to protest but stopped when he did not recognize the face of his attacker.

"Could you please tell me where we are," the Doctor insisted again.

"Doctor," an urgent call came from the TARDIS as Barbara, followed by Ian and Vicki, came outside. They all looked in each direction and it was Vicki who spotted the Doctor.

"Here he is," she called.

The others, both excited and scared, found the Doctor and began talking all at once. The Doctor waved his hand for them to be quiet as Ian managed to be heard above the rest.

"The Dalek ship is moving in, Doctor."

"Blasted," the Doctor said. "How long before they catch up with us?"

"Only a minute or so."

"We'd better be moving then," the Doctor hastened them on. "Get inside quickly," he pushed them toward the TARDIS. "As for you, young man," the Doctor said to the stranger he had met, "there are going to be some very evil and violent beings through here very soon, so for your sake I'd suggest you hide somewhere very far away until they leave." Feeling he had said enough, the Doctor ran into the TARDIS and closed the door behind him.

Before the man could react the light on the top of the police box flashed on and off and the TARDIS dematerialized into nothing.

After a few seconds of calm the man finally gained enough strength to shake his fear away. He sat down just for a moment and wiped sweat from his forehead when another box appeared. It stood exactly in the same place the first had occupied but this box was slightly smaller with a sharper, more structural look to it.

Just as the second box's light stopped flashing a large, pepper pot shaped machine known as a Dalek came out of a blank door. It too faced the older man.

"Where are they," the Dalek Leader demanded in it's monotone voice.

The man stuttered looking for words but before he found them three more of these strange mechanical machinations came onto the surface. Unable to comprehend the possibility of four of these robots in such a small, moveable, box the man finally gained control of his senses, screamed, and ran like hell.

The Dalek called a warning for the man to stop but the man was out of sight to soon.

"Scan for the Doctor," the lead Dalek called to the other Daleks.

"Affirmative," the Daleks responded as a chorus.

They each turned in a different direction and searched the surrounding area with their sensors. After a few quiet moments the returned to their leader to report that they had found nothing.

"The Doctor is aware that we are following him," the Dalek Leader informed them. "We must continue the chase," it said as it entered the time machine followed by the others.

A few minutes later the older man returned to the empty spot followed by a young red haired boy and a robot. The man searched desperately for some evidence to support his claim of what had happened but other than a slight depression in the sand where the TARDIS and the Dalek machines had sat there was nothing.

"My sensors detect no evidence of a ship or ships landing," the robot said. "No residual heat or radiation."

"Who asked you, you meddling mechanical moron," the man said harshly.

"Are you sure you didn't just imagine it," the young man inquired, "or maybe you just dreamt it."

"Dreamt it," the man protested. "Will, do you mean to insinuate that I was sleeping instead of tending the garden like Professor Robinson ordered me to? I was working very hard with the rich soil before this strange device appeared directly in front of me."

"It landed in front of you?"

"Yes."

"Right here?"

"Yes."

"This is no where near the garden, Doctor Smith."

"It isn't?"

"No, it is not," the robot said as it pointed it's accordion like arm in the appropriate direction. "It's that-a-way."

"Indeed," Doctor Zachary Smith said as he realized he had made a mistake. He took his handkerchief and wiped his face clean. "I must be exhausted from all this hard work," he claimed as he sat down. "My dear boy, heat stroke is very common amongst elderly gentlemen, like myself, who have to toil in the field all day. I must rest," he said as he made himself comfortable.

"You had better get some work done today. Dad and Don have been working on the Jupiter 2 for hours now and they'll be hungry when they're finished."

Doctor Smith smiled and said, "I'll get to it right away. Just a few brief moments rest before I continue."

Will threw his arms up in the air and walked away in frustration. The robot turned and followed.

"Oh my delicate back," Smith said to no one. "Oh, the pain, the pain."