Free Doctor Who: The Ark by Paul Erickson

and a Monoid looked on.
    ‘This may take a while,’ said the Doctor. ‘But it’s already proving effective with that young companion of mine.’
    ‘But you’ve already said that he has defensive antibodies in his system to help him,’ Rhos observed. ‘Whereas the Commander has none.’
    ‘All that may mean is that the treatment may take longer to realise its full effect,’ the Doctor replied. ‘But I am hoping that the eventual outcome will be the same.’
    ‘I’m sure that you’re right,’ Mellium stated. ‘Somehow I have faith in you, Doctor.’
    ‘Thank you. No doctor could ask for more.’
    Automatically he reached for the Commander’s wrist, then paused to glance at Rhos. ‘Just one main pulse in the wrist?’ he asked.
    ‘That’s right,’ Rhos nodded.
    The Doctor made a note of his findings, then invited Rhos to check.
    ‘A little better, I think,’ he said, ‘Do you agree?’
    Rhos concentrated for a moment, then nodded his head.
    ‘Yes, I agree.’
    ‘Good! Then let’s make our rounds of the other patients,’ the Doctor suggested. ‘Lots of work to do, very little time to do it in.’ He started out, Rhos following, then paused to address Mellium. ‘But still keep your father warm, my dear. Warm and comfy!’
    Mellium nodded. ‘I will.’
    As they made their way along a corridor, Rhos addressed the Doctor.
    ‘How long do you think it will take?’ he asked.
    The Doctor shook his bead uncertainly. ‘No way of telling... not for sure.’
    ‘I hope for your sake – for all our sakes – that it is proved quickly. Zentos is poised like a vulture, ready to swoop if the treatment doesn’t work.’
     
    The Doctor sighed, then perked up as they entered a large room that had been converted into a ward.
    ‘Ah! Good morning, everyone!’ he announced in his best bedside manner. ‘Or afternoon... or evening... or whatever! Ready for our treatment, are we?’ The rows of patients stared back at him in some amazement. He glanced around. ‘Well, where’s the ward sister, then?’
    ‘Ward sister?’ Rhos asked, uncertainly.
    ‘Yes!’ Then the Doctor shrugged. ‘But never mind.
    Let’s get on with things as best we can.’
    He and Rhos went over to the first patient.
    Zentos was pacing up and down near the main panels in the Control Room. He paused to address Manyak, who was in the Commander’s seat.
    ‘What are our course readings?’ he asked.
    ‘Firmly on path according to the Main Edicts. We should not have to make a course correction for at least a hundred years.’
    Zentos smiled thinly. ‘Any decision on that will have to be made by our children’s children.’ Then he frowned.
    ‘That’s if there are any.’
    ‘From what I’ve heard, the treatment prepared by the Doctor is having some good effect.’
    ‘I am still cautious of him and his companions,’ Zentos replied. ‘They could pull off some kind of temporary trick, just to fool us and put us off our guard.’ He paced restlessly. ‘Oh, I know you think I’m too distrustful,’ he continued. ‘But I have to be careful. This mission means everything to me.’
    ‘It does to us all,’ Manyak replied quietly.
    Zentos glanced at him and paused for a moment.
    ‘Yes, of course,’ he agreed, in a suddenly subdued tone.
    ‘I know that, and I am sorry for behaving as though I am the only one who cares.’ Then he turned his attention to the Monitor screens. ‘Let’s see how the treatment is affecting the patients in the main ward.’
     
    Manyak punched up a view of the ward on the screen. It showed the patients lying in rows, apparently quiet, while Guardians and Monoids wearing protective masks moved about, nursing them.
    ‘I fail to see any progress there,’ Zentos observed.
    ‘Where is the Doctor now?’
    Manyak searched on his bank of screens and then pointed. ‘There. In the desert.’
    The Doctor was riding on a fast moving conveyor across sand dunes, accompanied by Rhos and a Monoid. The Doctor mopped his