Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child

Za watched bemused, as the Doctor patted his pockets. What does he do now?'

'See, he is Kal's creature,' said Kal. 'He will make fire only for Kal.'

The Doctor abandoned his search in despair. 'Take me back to my ship, and I'll make you all the fire you want,' he said hopefully.

Za swung round on Kal. 'This is more of your lies, Kal. The old man cannot make fire.'

'There was a tree,' said Kal desperately. 'It came from nowhere.

The old man came out of it, and there was fire in his fingers. Smoke came out of his mouth.'

The men of the Tribe were muttering discontentedly. With the Doctor's failure to perform the promised miracle, opinion was beginning to swing against Kal.

Za seized his moment. Pushing Kal aside, he sprang onto the rock himself. 'Kal wants to be as strong as Za, son of the great firemaker. Yet all he can do is lie. You heard him say we would have fire - and still we have no fire. Za does not tell you lies. He does not say, "Tonight you will be warm," and then leave you to the cold. He does not say, "I will frighten the tiger away with fire," and then let the tiger come to you in the dark. Do you want a liar for your chief?'

There were shouts of 'No!' Men began to glare threateningly at Kal.

Kal brandished his axe above the Doctor's head. 'Make fire!'

The Doctor looked up helplessly. 'I cannot.'

'You are trapped in your own lies, Kal,' said Hur mockingly.

She moved closer to Za.

Za gave a great roar of laughter. 'Look at the great chief Kal who is afraid of nothing! Oh great Kal, save us from the cold! Save us from the tiger!'

Kal saw his hopes of leadership dissolving in the laughter of the Tribe. He grabbed the Doctor by his shoulder, lifting him almost off his feet. 'Make fire, old man! Make fire come from your fingers, as I saw today!'

'I can't,' shouted the Doctor. 'I tell you I've lost my matches. I can't make fire - I can't!'

Za was almost helpless with laughter. 'Let the old man die. Let us all watch the great Kal as he fights this mighty enemy!'

Kal drew a stone knife from beneath his skins and held it to the Doctor's throat. 'Make fire! Make fire, or I will kill you now!'

'We will keep the great Kal to hunt for us,' bellowed Za. 'It is good to have someone to laugh at!'

Kal raised his knife.

'No!' screamed a voice. Susan ran into the centre of the circle of astonished Tribesmen. She stumbled and fell at Kal's feet.

Close behind her came Ian and Barbara.

Ian leaped forward and grappled with Kal. For a moment they struggled furiously. Another Tribesman raised a stone axe above Ian's head. He was about to strike when the Doctor shouted commandingly, 'Stop! If he dies, there will be no fire!'

The Tribesman halted the downward movement of the club, and looked inquiringly at Za. 'Kill them,' shrieked Old Mother.

Za considered. 'No. We do not kill them.'

'They are enemies. They must die!'

Impressively, Za said, 'When Orb brings the fire to the sky, let him look down on them as his sacrifices. That is the time they shall die - and Orb will be pleased with us, and give us fire. Put them in the cave of skulls.'

The four strangers were dragged off struggling. Kal looked thoughtfully at Za, and slipped away.

Horg put his hand on Hur's shoulder to draw her away, but Za stepped down from the rock, and took Hur's arm. 'The woman is mine.'

'My daughter is for the leader of the Tribe.'

'Yes,' said Za. 'I am leader. The woman is mine.'

Horg sighed. 'I do not like what has happened. I do not understand.'

'Old men never like new things to happen.'

'In the time of your father, I was his chief warrior. He was a great leader of many men.'

'Yes, many men,' repeated Za bitterly. 'They all died when Orb left the skies and the great cold was on the ground. Now Orb will give me fire again. To me, not you. Just as you will give me Hur.'

Consolingly, Hur said, 'Za, too, will be a great leader of many men. If you give me to him, Za will remember, and always give you meat.'

Accepting the inevitable, Horg bowed his head and moved away.

Old Mother stared broodingly at Za. 'There were leaders before there was fire,' she muttered. 'Fire angers the gods. Fire will kill us all in the end. You should have killed the four strangers. Kill them!'

Za shook his head, looking into the gathering darkness. 'It shall be as I have said. We wait until Orb shines again in the sky. Then they will die.'

Arms and legs trussed like captured animals, Ian, Barbara, the Doctor and Susan lay in a smaller cave, just behind the main one.

After binding their arms and legs, their captors had thrown them into the cave and retreated hastily, almost as if they were afraid to stay, rolling a great stone to block the door.

The cave was small and dark, and it stank of death. There were skulls everywhere, arranged in pyramids on the ground.

'Are you all right?' gasped Ian. 'They didn't hurt you?'

'No, I'm all right.' Barbara's voice was trembling. 'I'm frightened, Ian.'

Ian could offer little consolation. 'Try and hang on. We'll get out of this somehow.'

There was hysteria in Barbara's voice. 'How? How are we going to get out of it?'

'We shall need to be cunning,' said the Doctor thoughtfully. He seemed remarkably spry after his ordeal, already he was busy struggling with his bonds. After a moment he said, 'I hope you can get yourself free, Mr Chesterton - because I can't.' He looked at the others. 'I'm sorry. All this is my fault. I'm desperately sorry.'

'Grandfather, no,' sobbed Susan. 'We'll find a way out. You mustn't blame yourself.'

('Why not,' thought Ian sourly. 'The old fool's quite right, it is all his fault!')

The Doctor looked at the pile of skulls in front of him. He shoved one towards Ian with his feet. 'Look at that, young man!'

Clumsily Ian picked it up. (Luckily, their hands had been tied in front of them.) 'It's a skull.' He tossed it aside, leaned forward and picked another from the pile, and then another examining them carefully. 'They're all the same,' he whispered. 'The crowns have been split open!'

7

The Knife

The Tribe was sleeping.

Huddled together for warmth, wrapped in such skins as they possessed, the cave people slept, dreaming of fire, trying to forget the deadly cold that seeped through the caves - the cold that would grow fiercer, stronger, night by night. Unless the fire came back soon, there would come mornings when the weak ones, the women and children and the old would not wake. When the cold was at its fiercest, even strong men died in the night.

Only Old Mother was still awake. Fire leaped in her mind too, but not as a saviour, a protector. To Old Mother fire was an evil demon. Her confused mind associated it with the death of her husband, Gor, and with all the misfortunes that had come upon the Tribe.

The strangers threatened to bring fire. The strangers were evil, too. Old Mother thought for a long time, wondering how she might save the Tribe from the menace of fire. At last she thought of a way.

She rose stealthily, creeping across the silent cave to the place where Za lay sleeping, Hur at his side. Za's precious knife lay close to his outstretched hand. The knife was a long thin sliver of stone, its edge ground sharp. Old Mother reached out for it.

Za twitched and muttered in his sleep, as if suspecting her intention and she drew back her hand. He slept again. Old Mother snatched up the knife, and scuttled away.