The Lake of Fire
A short story by Keith Redhead

The second story in TimeLord Down
Part of the Sixth Doctor Fiction collection

The Doctor pursed his lips, as he looked at his hastily drawn map, before replying. "I know, why don't we go to here?" He pointed at the map with a finger. "It sounds ideal for our needs."

Grant looked at there the Doctor was pointing to and gulped. "The lake of boiling sand? Doctor, are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am Grant," the Doctor replied with a grin. "We need some raw sulphur to refine a few things later on anyway. This way we can collect as much of it as we need and have some left over to trade with."

"It could be deadly dangerous," Grant protested.

"Yes, exciting isn't it?" The Doctor ordered two more glasses of water so they could celebrate.

***

They left Zenith behind like a bad smell, however the sulphurous lake of boiling sand promised nothing less than a whole lot more. He didn't notice it at first but the vast desertified region with its rare and bleak patches of scrubland had somehow given way to a hard, chalky crust. This shiny white surface was cracked quite badly in some places, the forces of erosion had found flaws in the hard surface and worked them away using almost constant wind power and the brief but heavy seasonal rains. Brown and sometimes green grasses poked out of many of the thin fissures, making the land look almost like a vast jigsaw puzzle for someone with an infinite reserve of patience.

The Doctor found a small smooth boulder large enough for the both of them to sit upon and rest for a few minutes. He handed Grant the flask of water and waited patiently for his companion to sate his thirst before taking a few sips himself.

"Is it me or is it cooler here?" Grant asked, eager to get a conversation going.

"Yes," the Doctor replied slowly. "We've been travelling on a very slight incline. I'd say we were almost five hundred feet high now."

"Shouldn't we get warmer the closer we get to the sun?" Grant asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "Callisteron's troposphere cools down with altitude, much like Earths, however it seems to be a little thinner that Earths. This high up on Earth and you wouldn't have noticed any great change in temperature if any at all."

Grant took in what the Doctor was saying; everything he said seemed to make sense although he did feel a bit like a student in a lecture theatre sometimes. He even wondered if he should be writing down notes sometimes. "So what exactly can we use this sulphur for?" he asked.

"It reacts with impure Machonite ore and removes the impurities. You have to have the temperature just right or the whole thing blows up in your face. If done correctly the impurities react with our sulphur to form a couple of rather foul smelling, but harmless, gases."

"What can we use the Machonite for?" Grant persevered in his questioning.

"Oh various things." The Doctor folded his arms as he continued to inform Grant about the many uses of Machonite. "Apart from its decorative qualities it's used in many structural parts of the TARDIS's internal workings. Its tough qualities can also be used in further trading if we really need to."

***

Ezikbah Yydell liked the think that he was a broad-minded traveller and explorer of remote and unseen landscapes. He played with his long black dread locks while he surveyed the landscape as it headed down towards the fabled Lake of Boiling Sand. If anyone had returned here since the ill-fated expedition of '06 then they hadn't lived to tell anyone about it.

Pibbon, chief of the Goondikes, stood next to the boss and waited patiently for instructions. The Goondikes were accustomed to hiring their services to explorers like the boss and as their chief he passes on the boss's commands to the other Goondikes.

Yydell made up his mind and signalled to Pibbon that they should fork right at the approaching split in the road. "We'll set up camp here." He pointed at the map. "That gives us five hours to walk a mere ten selim."

***

Grant started to whistle a merry tune as they continued their trek towards a possible certain death. To his surprise the Doctor joined in, playing melody, harmony and counterpoint all at the same time! The smell of rotten eggs hit his nose like a sledgehammer striking a damp tissue paper. He wretched and almost threw up that morning's breakfast immediately.

The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "They say a little hydrogen sulphide is healthy."

"They also say that too much of anything is bad for you," Grant replied.

The Doctor nodded his head and took out two small pieces of cloth. "I made these myself, they'll filter out the worst of it. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth."

Grant found that the cloth was actually a pouch of slightly pungent herbs and he carefully attached them to his face exactly as the Doctor instructed. He would probably look ridiculous anywhere else but here the Doctor informed him it was essential.

The Doctor pointed forward and then made a thumbs up sign before walking forward into the poisonous air.

Grant took a last look around before following the Doctor, noticing the air getting a little yellower after only a few minutes.

***

Yydell brought the men to halt by a natural spring. He was tired and he knew that they must be. He considered himself to be a fair-minded and forward thinking person so he gave the porters a generous ten-minute break. He took a wooded cup and let it fill with water before letting the cool, refreshing liquid trickle into his mouth and down his throat. He had learned from experience the folly of gulping water when on such a grand expedition as this.

Pibbon approached the boss and crouched down near to where his employer sat. "We are nearly there sir." The fair skinned leader of the Goondikes informed his ebony skinned paymaster. "If we push on we can reach there by nightfall."

"We have made good time," Yydell replied. "If the spirits smile upon us then we shall be the first to make this journey and live to speak of it."

"They will speak your name for centuries sir," Pibbon said, buttering the boss up a little.

"Perhaps. I would rather that they remember not because I do this but because I'm trying to disprove that silly superstition."

***

The Doctor seemed to be in his element, Grant mused to himself. His friend had the sort of grin usually reserved for the under tens left alone inside a sweet shop after being told to eat whatever you want. As they walked, clouds of hot yellow and white gases erupted out of holes in the ground like an asthmatic clearing his chest.

The Doctor pointed to a particularly large eruption, a vast plume of sulphurous compounds shot up towards the sky before drifting off to their right and coming down like a fine yellow rain.

Grant tried looking down one of these small holes after an eruption but there was nothing to see. Disappointed he looked up to see the Doctor pointing towards a large cavern about seven or eight miles away in the distance.

"We need to go in there," the Doctor mumbled through his mask of protective herbs.

"Okay," Grant replied, taking the lead just as a cooler spray of gas turned his white shirt into a dirty yellow. He frowned at the Doctor who seemed to be laughing. "Great," he muttered. "Show some compassion why don't you."

***

Deep inside the cave system a lizard scuttled across the yellow crust when suddenly something broke through the surface and dragged the startled animal into its boiling lair and consumed it.

***

"We'll make camp here," Yydell said, bringing the expedition to a rest. They were at the mouth of a large cave, exactly as recorded in the chronicles of Alabaster the Mad. In the near distance he saw a vast plain of gas vents, he knew that to venture into that landscape was certain death. Once the bearers were settled he rolled out his own sleeping mat and settled down upon it for some quiet contemplation.

Pibbon knew better than to disturb the boss at this time so he unpacked the salted meats and boiled up a thick soup of plant leaves and animal blood. The rest of his people eagerly sank their teeth into the simple but delicious meal, not one eating pot retained any traces of the repast.

They all made themselves comfortable under the darkening sky, unaware of the two approaching figures.

***

The Doctor saw the people lying sprawled around the entrance of the cave. He rushed forward, thinking that they had succumbed to the toxic atmosphere only to find that he emerged out of the cloud of poisoned air. Once Grant was clear he removed his own mask and took in a deep breath. "Ah smell that sweetness Grant." He motioned for Grant to remove his mask. "Don't worry, we're quite safe now."

"Who are all these people?" Grant indicated the sleeping people nearby.

"I'm not sure." The Doctor looked at the slumbering mass before looking back at Grant. "I think we should find out, don't you? It would be rude of us not to introduce ourselves after all."

Grant shrugged his shoulders as the Doctor walked over to wake one of the people and introduce himself. He hurried after his friend as he invariably got himself into trouble.

"Excuse me," the Doctor said to the nearest man as he shook him awake. "Wakey wakey, there's a good chap."

Rauul woke up from his dream to find a strangely dressed man smiling down at him. "What do you want?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Now is that any way to greet a potential new friend?" the Doctor exclaimed to all and sundry.

"You did wake him up Doctor," Grant informed the Doctor. "Perhaps he's not at his best at the moment."

"Of course," the Doctor said enthusiastically. "My dear fellow you cannot begin to realise my profound sorrow upon this matter." He all but pulled the man to his feet as he slowly and sleepily stood up.

"Keep yer noise down," Rauul said to the two strangers. "You don't want to wake the boss up. He's been in a right mood these last few days."

"Not a mellow chap I take it?" The Doctor grabbed Grant by the shoulders and pulled him into the conversation. "I am known as the Doctor and this is my best friend Grant Markham."

Grant looked around the camp of sleeping men. "So why are you here? Out side this cave I mean? Wouldn't it be safer in the caves?"

"Not at night son," Rauul replied. "These caves are haunted. It's only safe to enter them by daylight. They say a foul and terrible creature lurks within the caves and will devour anyone unwise to venture in there after dark."

The Doctor looked at a disbelieving Grant. "I've never heard such wild superstition either." His words however were drowned out by sudden screams.

Rauul shone the light of a night lamp at the entrance of the cave. He gasped in terror as he saw the flailing body of one of his friends inside the mouth of a massive and horrifying monster. "By the spirits," he exclaimed before handing the lamp to Grant and running away.

The Doctor strode forward, towards the creature. The man was clearly still alive and with his expert medical care he might be able to save the poor unfortunate's life. The creature was clearly a large reptile, not unlike an Iguana from Earth but with purple and green stripes on its scaly hide. He found a thick wooden club and picked it up, intending to use it to prise open the beast's jaws.

Grant hurried after the Doctor, trying to keep up with the Doctor's long stride. He had almost reached his friend when something struck him in the chest and winded him. He found the Doctor was attending to him, massaging the spasming muscles back to normal. "Save that guy, I'll be fine," Grant insisted.

"There's no need Grant. The creature killed him, you were struck my his severed head."

Grant didn't know whether to yell or be violently sick. Then he saw a stern looking dark skinned man standing over him and he mercifully passed out due to the recent traumas.

***

It was early morning when he finally opened his eyes. Grant found the Doctor deep in conversation with the man he had seen last night. Then the Doctor saw he was awake, said something to the man and walked over to see him. "Big night last night huh?" Grant joked.

"Yes," the Doctor replied after a few seconds hesitation. "How are you feeling?"

"Queasy," Grant sat up slowly. "I never want to see anything that horrible again."

"Neither do I Grant, death is never easy even when it's a stranger that you didn't know." The Doctor peered at Grant's eyes. "You'll be fine" he pronounced, "now come and meet Yydell, he's a most interesting fellow."

Grant found the tall dread-locked Yydell to have an amazing dry sense of humour, as he recounted some of his many travels around the four continents of Callisteron. "What was it like when you looked down at the ground below you?" He wanted to hear everything about Yydell's balloon flight across the planet's chilly ice capped poles.

"Cold," Yydell replied in his deep, quiet voice. "It was also the most exciting time of my life, I'm thinking of trying it again this winter."

"Wow," Grant exclaimed. "I wish I could see what it was like." He turned to the Doctor.

The Doctor held up his hands and shook his head. "I'm sorry Grant but repairing our ship must be our number one concern. Once the TARDIS is rebuilt then we can see about pleasure trips."

"It is no pleasure trip," Yydell insisted. "It is a true test of Callistan courage. The biting cold, the bleak loneliness and the uncertainty if your balloon will survive the journey or send you plummeting to certain doom."

"Speaking of courage." The Doctor pointed towards the cave. "Isn't it time we headed down into there? Grant and I have a lot of sulphur to mine and I suspect you are going to track that creature and kill it."

Yydell smiled as he stood up. "It would make an epic story." He frowned. "However it won't bring him back will it?"

"No," the Doctor said simply. "Revenge is never the solution my friend."

"Come on you layabouts," Yydell called out. "Lets go and find this treasure, then maybe we can lay our fallen friend to rest." He waved at the men to hurry up. "We'll leave the heavy stuff here in the camp, break out spears and nets. If that monster comes near us again, we'll give it something to think twice about."

***

The cave was initially large and descended quite steeply at first but as they went down the sides the roof closed in around them, giving the place a claustrophobic and almost sinister feel to it, as they were forced to march in single file formation. Yydell led the way, sword in one hand and lantern in the other. The Doctor followed behind Yydell, then Grant and finally Yydell's band of hired men brought up the rear.

Soon enough they found that a section of freezing cold cave water filled the bottom of the cave and they trudged through the icy water, feeling the protests of their feet and toes. On the other side their feet soon warmed up again as the rock beneath their feet gradually got warmer and warmer.

"We're getting close to the lake," the Doctor commented. "It's heating these rocks up rather nicely don't you think?"

"I hope it doesn't get much hotter," Grant replied.

"I'm afraid I think it will." The Doctor looked ahead. "Remember it will take a great heat to get molten rock to form on Callisteron's surface."

"Yes," Grant replied. "So which way do we go now?"

"This way." Yydell pointed forward with his sword blade and everyone followed him.

***

Onwards they continued their search of the caves as they opened up into a vast network of caverns almost maze like in their complexity.

The Doctor and Grant stuck together as they followed their noses towards the scent of sulphur.

One thing was puzzling Grant however, these caves were unlike anything he had seen on Earth or quite a few other planets. "Doctor, where are the stalagmites hanging down from the top of the cave?"

"Stalactites," the Doctor replied before giving Grant a fuller explanation. "These caves were certainly created a long time ago by water eroding the rock. However there is precious little water here in this desert clime. Besides this isn't limestone, or anything remotely close. These are Ignatius rocks not unlike good old silicon and magnesium basalt back on Earth. I'd say we are deep inside an old volcanic dyke, a large up thrust of lava. I've seen them vary in size from tens of metres to several kilometres in length and depth."

Grant tried to imagine the forces at work to create the caves and was in awe of nature's might. "Hey, we've gotten separated from the others." He looked at the Doctor.

"They have their own reasons for coming here remember Grant. I'm not sure my lecture on revenge was well received. I do hope they don't do anything foolish. You know being here reminds me of the time Peri and I visited Androzani Minor. Now that was an experience I don't want to repeat anytime soon."

***

Yydell heard something, a scraping sound. He advanced forwards, his sword raised, when it came at them from the side.

The ambush predator sunk its teeth into Tefflonn while his fellows stabbed at the beast with the points of their spears and others tried to throw nets over its head.

"Aim at its eyes!" Yydell shouted as he raced towards the purple and green scaled monster. "Kill it!" Finally making it over he swung his sword down on the creatures flank, opening a large wound on its exposed flank. He grinned with satisfaction at its roar of pain.

***

The heat was getting oppressive now and the sweat was pouring out of Grant's forehead and running down his face like it was rainwater and he was caught outside in a thunderstorm. He sat down on the hot cave floor and took another mouthful of water, his third in as many minutes. He looked over at the Doctor; he had hardly broken a sweat.

"You should go back Grant," the Doctor said to his dehydrated companion. "I am more used to this heat than you."

Grant shook his head. "Not leaving you alone," he croaked with a dry throat. "You need me to keep you out of trouble."

"Stuff and nonsense," the Doctor protested. "I do not need a minder."

"Remember Vijax Doctor?" Grant asked with a grin on his face.

"I'm not going to risk your life Grant," the Doctor insisted.

"It's not yours to risk Doctor," Grant replied. "I'm going with you, that's the way it should be."

The Doctor helped Grant back to his feet. "You're being a fool Grant, but I would appreciate the company."

***

Yydell drove his sword deep into the creature's side again and again until blood ran over the floor of the large cavern and it soaked everyone's clothes and covered their arms and faces.

With a final roar the reptilian creature died and thudded down onto the floor to the ringing cheers of everyone.

"No one attacks the people under my command," Yydell said with almost a whisper. "Now to chart these caverns and find this lost treasure." He pointed forward with his blood-covered sword.

***

The heat died off as they made their way through a cooler passage. The Doctor pondered about an underground breeze that made some areas much warmer than others. However his ponderings came to a stop when he found a large mass of yellowy rock in the middle distance. "Look Grant, sulphur!" He pointed at the yellow outcrop.

"Oh yay," Grant murmured. "How are we going to shift all of that? There are only two of us."

The Doctor fished inside his coat pockets and pulled out a number of metal rods. He began assembling them into a large box-like affair. "Anti gravity hover pod," the Doctor announced like a used car salesman. "We can get quite a lot in here. More than enough for our needs."

Grant walked forward slowly, the heat had taken his strength away but now in this cooler part of the vast cave system he felt it slowly return. The Doctor handed him a small metal hammer and he used it to cleave large chunks of sulphur free from the large mass.

The Doctor joined Grant in the slow but easy work, slowly the small pod was filled and they rested once it was half full and again once it had been completely filled.

***

Yydell rounded the bend of the passage to find that it opened out into a large flat expanse. Most of the cave was filled with a huge patch of yellowy sulphur. "The Doctor would love to see this I'll wager." He stepped forward to cut away a chunk of sulphur. Underneath the crust came a huge blast of heat. It was a lake of sulphur, the lake of boiling sand. Yydell laughed, so it was true.

No one noticed when a distant section of the crust started to churn as if it was boiling.

***

"Come on Grant." The Doctor waited for Grant to take another drink of water before they effortlessly pushed the sulphur-filled hover pod.

"It's a pity we can't build something a little larger with an engine," Grant quipped as the caves became warmer once more. "We could get around a lot quicker."

"If I didn't know you better Grant I'd think you had become delusional with all this heat," the Doctor laughed and slapped his friend playfully on the back.

***

They burst from under the yellow crust like a tide of purple and green water with sharp teeth and sharper claws. They were smaller than the behemoth they had slain earlier but just as ferocious.

"Run!" Yydell shouted and ran for his life.

The Goondike porters were not so quick thinking and the creatures fell upon many of them, driven wild by the smell of their mother's blood on their clothes. Teeth bit and claws slashed the soft flesh and they had their fills.

***

Grant was almost knocked over as Yydell ran past them. "I wonder where he's going in such a hurry?" he asked the Doctor.

"I'm not sure," the Doctor replied. "Lets find out, shall we?" They followed the fleeing explorer back towards the surface.

***

Yydell paused for breath, he was not old but neither was he a young man any more. He stood there, back bent over gasping for air when the Doctor and Grant caught up with him.

"Take slow deeper breaths," the Doctor snapped ay Yydell. "If you don't you'll hyperventilate." He fished into an inside pocket and produced a brown paper bag. "Breathe into this, it will help." He scrunched the open hole up smaller and passed it to Yydell.

After a few experimental breaths Yydell found it working and he calmed down. "It was terrible," he said at last. "They were everywhere. They killed everyone. Only I survived."

Grant looked nervously down the passage they had just come from. "Get him on this gizmo, we can push him out."

"Good idea Grant." The Doctor helped Yydell to sit on top of the pile of sulphur and along with Grant they pushed him effortlessly along.

After ten minutes Yydell had recovered his strength enough to help the Doctor while Grant rested. He found that they only had to apply a minimum of forward pressure to counteract the weight of the pod; the anti-gravity device cancelled out the sulphur and Grant's weight.

***

They emerged out of the cave to find the camp and a reminder of the people they had lost down there in the cave. "Now I know why this place is cursed," Yydell said after offering a silent prayer to the spirits of the Goondike people. "We must block this cave up, it's the only way to ensure no one else makes the same mistake I did."

The Doctor handed Yydell a small metal pineapple-like device. "This will seal the cave up for good." He handed it to the embittered explorer.

Grant looked at the grenade. "You had that with us? I thought you didn't approve of weapons?"

"Just a precaution Grant, in case we had trouble mining this sulphur." The Doctor handed the grenade to Yydell. "Pull this thin metal ring; it will release the safety pin. Whatever you do, don't let go of the handle until you've thrown it. You only have ten seconds before it explodes."

***

The sound of the explosion was still ringing in Grant's ears long after the actual detonation. They trudged slowly back towards the TARDIS, the Doctor draping his thick coat over the sulphur as he sat on the hover pod and let Grant and Yydell do the pushing.

"Ah this is the life, a warm day, good friends and a pleasant conversation." He spotted the tiny blue speck on the horizon. "Once we drop this lot off we can find this Motsuc we missed last time Grant."

"Motsuc?" Yydell asked. "I've been all over these parts before, about ten years ago and I never heard of such a place."

"Perhaps it was built since then?" Grant pondered.

"Well there's nothing like a good walk is there? Now we know the local conditions I'm sure we can find some warm weather wear in one of the TARDIS's store rooms, providing I can pick a lock or two."

"You'll like the TARDIS Yydell," Grant said. "Although it is in a bit of a state at the moment."

"That blue box?" Yydell laughed. "This I have to see!"

