Mini Ep. 6: Cactus Town

The Doctor stepped out from the TARDIS, and Georgia followed, slipping on her shoes.

“Where are we?” she asked.
“Cactus Town,” the Doctor beamed. “Come on!”
“Cactus Town?” Georgia frowned.
“Its real name is far too complicated to pronounce,” the Doctor shrugged, heading along the corridor. “I’ve always had trouble with the word Xylophone.”

Georgia headed after him, looking at the dilapidated doors and rusty walls as they passed. She thought about Conner, and how the Doctor had left him at home. Apparently, ‘he needed to spend more time with Beth, cos someone wouldn’t get their act together and ask him out’. Georgia still didn’t fully understand this, but thoughts of Conner drifted from her mind as she saw yet another rusting door.

“Why don’t they take better care of this place?” she asked. “The people who live here, I mean.”
“Because they’re cactuses,” the Doctor replied. “They can’t move if their roots are in the ground.”
“Yeah, cos that makes sense,” Georgia said sarcastically. “Build a place that you can’t look after. How did they build it anyway? You said they can’t move.”
“I dunno,” the Doctor shrugged. “Cactus Town was built years ago, nobody knows who by. Ah, here we our – I present, our mode of transport…”

Georgia’s mouth fell open. It was a zip-wire consisting of a small seat to wrap your legs around, and a flimsy wire leading off into the darkness over a colossal drop. Before she could so much as gulp, Georgia saw the Doctor flying off into the darkness. He landed on the other side with a thump, and after a few footsteps he fell silent. There was a whirring, and the zip-wire shot back to Georgia, almost hitting her in the face.

“Here goes nothing…” she muttered.

She climbed onto the zip-wire, wrapping her legs around it. Out of nerves, she threw herself from the ledge a little too hard, and flew to the other side. But instead of stopping, the wire became tight, and pulled her backwards due to the speed. When she opened her eyes, she saw she was hanging over the large dark chasm, alone.

“Doctor?” she asked helplessly.

The Doctor blinked, and found that he had moved. He looked around, and found himself in a small contained room.

“Hello?” he called.
“What is your name?” a voice asked back.
“The Doctor. Who are you?”
“We are the Cactus Union,” the voice replied. “We were watching you on the monitor – you said that we couldn’t move.”
“You’re the cactuses?” the Doctor frowned.
“We learnt to walk,” the Cactus Union said. “And we learned to fight. We’re as fast as ninjas now.”
“Ninja Cactus people, that’s a first,” the Doctor remarked. “I guess that’s how I ended up here – you’re so fast, I didn’t even see you take me here. That is fast, cos I’m not human, and my eyesight is much faster than an average human…”
“We’re as fast as ninjas now,” the Cactus Union repeated.
“Yeah, well I’m a Time Lord,” the Doctor replied.

The Cactus Union gasped.

“You’re bluffing,” it growled.
“Look me up,” the Doctor said.

There was a whirring of machinery, and the doors opened. The Doctor stepped out of the sealed room, and came face to face with a Cactus.

“You may leave,” the Cactus Union said.
“What about my friend?” the Doctor frowned. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Cactus Union glared. “Now leave, while you still have the chance.”

Georgia’s arms were getting tired, and before she knew it, she was slipping from the zip-wire. Suddenly, she let go, and fell through the darkness, screaming. Something crashed into her, and by the time she opened her eyes, she was being carried over the shoulder of a Cactus to a dark room. She blinked once more, and found herself being thrown into a cage. The cage was then hung out of the window, waiting for the Doctor.

“Let me go!” Georgia cried.

The Cactus ignored her, and left the room. The Doctor headed back the way he had previously come, keeping an eye out for Georgia. Maybe she had returned to the TARDIS, unwilling to try the zip-wire? Or maybe the Cactus’ had her… He reached the zip-wire, and grabbed hold of it. A few seconds later, he reached the TARDIS, and was opening the doors. Immediately he could tell Georgia was not there; she would be waiting for him by the console, or running towards him as soon as he stepped through the door, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Right, I know how to locate her…” the Doctor muttered.

He pulled the scanner so it was in front of him, and began to work. Georgia waited in the cage, and gasped when she heard the TARDIS materialising.

“The Doctor’s here!” the Cactus guarding her gasped.

It ran for the safety of the door, but missed, and hit the wall instead, knocking itself out. The Doctor left the TARDIS, and grinned at Georgia.

“Well that was easier than I thought it would be,” he commented.
“Get me out of here!” Georgia said, spluttering with laughter.

The Doctor raised the Sonic Screwdriver, and the cage opened creakily. Georgia climbed out, and ran over to the Doctor.

“Right, now what?” she asked excitedly.
“Hang on…” the Doctor thought. “Wait here.”

He disappeared into the TARDIS, leaving Georgia waiting beside it. Seconds later, he reappeared, with a small glowing sphere.

“What’s that?” Georgia asked.
“It’s devolutioniser,” the Doctor explained. “It will take the Cactus Union back to their original, unmoving forms, and slow down their evolution. They’re becoming too confident, and before long they’ll try and fight other planets. It’s doing everyone a favour really.”
“Nice,” Georgia grinned.

She watched as the Doctor headed over to the window, and threw the sphere out of it. He quickly raced back to the TARDIS, and shoved her inside. He slammed the doors behind them, and the TARDIS dematerialised.

“That was quick,” Georgia noted.
“The devolutionary gases had escaped into the atmosphere, and I didn’t want any of them to reach us, cos you know, that would be bad,” the Doctor nodded.
“So now where?”

The Doctor thought for a moment, before setting the TARDIS on course.

“Well, after picking Conner up, I thought we could go for lunch,” he suggested. “I mean, if you don’t want to, it’s fine… But I was gonna pay…”
“You’re gonna pay?” Georgia laughed. “Now that is something new. Sure, we’ll come. Where were you thinking of going anyway?”
“The Parlours of Rickstaan,” the Doctor smiled. “They do the most amazing ice-cream.”

He led the way out of the TARDIS, which was now parked near Beth’s house. Georgia smiled, and followed him.

The End