###########

They had only been on the planet for two minutes before they were captured and interrogated. Of course that slimy brown-noser Turlough had gotten away and that really depressed Tegan more than the thought of being shot as a spy. Luckily however their captors were stand up enough to admit they’d made a mistake, good on them. However that didn’t do much to alleviate her mood and the Doctor wasn’t exactly being his usual chirpy self either. "How long are they going to keep us locked up in here, Doctor?"

"I don’t know, Tegan," the Doctor replied slowly. "Why don’t you just sit down and stop thinking about it so much, the time will pass more quickly if you don’t brood so much."

"I’m not brooding." Tegan bit the Doctor’s head off, figuratively speaking. "I just don’t trust that Turlough. He could be away in the TARDIS by now."

"I think you’re being most unfair," the Doctor said to his companion. "Turlough was lucky not to end up down here. I’m sure he’s quite safe. Also, I’d sense it if the TARDIS was gone." He tapped the side of his nose. "Time Lord’s intuition."

Tegan laughed, she didn’t believe it at first herself. "Okay, so how are we going to get out of here? You could have built a new sonic screwdriver."

"Oh, there’s plenty of time for that," the Doctor replied. "I have much more important things to think about. Like why are they keeping us locked in here if they don’t want to keep us locked up?"

###########

They watched the female and male intently, wondering if the mating cycle had begun.

##########

Turlough kept his head down while the security patrol walked past the clump of plants he was hiding in. Every second he was sure he was going to be found and captured. However he was determined to find the Doctor and Tegan, as he needed the Doctor to pilot the TARDIS to get him off this forsaken planet. "Maybe one of those other Doctors will pass by and rescue me?"

###########

After an hour there was still no activity. They increased the temperature in an attempt to make the female produce more pheromones to tempt the male.

########

"Strewth!" Tegan said to herself. "It’s hot enough in here to boil a wallaby in its own skin." She had removed her jacket and shoes in an attempt to cool down and the Doctor hadn’t even broken out into a sweat yet. How unfair was that?"

"Brave heart, Tegan." The Doctor said to cheer his companion up. "I’m sure this is a natural geological condition."

"That’s all right for you to say, Doctor. You haven’t even taken your jacket off."

"Thermal regulation. Time Lords have a much greater tolerance to extremes of heat and cold than humans. If you’re uncomfortable I can always turn around and give you some privacy."

"It might yet come to that." Tegan was not looking forward to stripping down to her bra and knickers in front of the Doctor. Not for the millionth time she wished Nyssa hadn’t left so abruptly.

#########

There was still no activity, although the female was starting to show unusual behaviour. She was complaining about the heat and lack of toilet facilities. It was decided to go to Plan B.

#######

Turlough found the alien city almost totally deserted, he found he could wander down the streets without seeing anyone at all. However he had no clue at all about where to find the Doctor, but he resolved to keep looking until he did find them, or some terrifying monster leapt out of the shadows and killed him. Knowing his luck both would happen at the same time. However, his luck was holding as he came across what appeared to be some sort of refreshment area. Carefully, he tasted the food to make sure it was edible and then he cautiously sipped the drinks to make sure that they weren’t pure acid or something equally as nasty.

########

Things were beginning to happen now. The female was starting to display to attract the male’s attention, however he was still being coy.

######

"Hell’s teeth." Tegan felt woozy with the heat. "I’m going to pass out in a minute."

"Yes, it is getting rather warm." The Doctor removed his jacket and returned his attention to the door. "I’m sure I have something in my pockets that can pick this lock." He did a thorough search of them and discovered nothing useful except for a pear, which he started to eat. "Maybe if I had a length of wire."

"Say no more." Tegan started to remove her bra. "It’s too hot to wear as it is." Her soft skin was beginning to get prickly heat from the combination of sweat and heat. She pulled her thin t-shirt over herself to cover her modesty. "You can look now," she said to the Doctor, who was acting like a 5 year old. "No wonder you’re still single."

The Doctor removed the one of the wires from Tegan’s bra. "Ah, ha, got it. I knew I would." He handed his jacket to Tegan. "It’ll be cold out there, you could catch a chill with the sudden change in climate."

########

Plan B was proceeding as normal. Soon they would consider themselves safe and the female would express her thanks with a display of emotions and try to initiate the mating ritual.

#####

Turlough felt refreshed after his nap. He stretched his arms and yawned until it felt like he was going to suck all the air out of the room. He spotted a TV screen in the corner and there was a remote near by. He switched the TV on and it come up as a cooking channel. He flicked up the channels through sports and soaps and quiz shows. Finally he found a channel that was showing the Doctor and Tegan! They were wandering around inside some sort of maze and Tegan seemed to be acting very oddly indeed.

#####

It was obvious that the female was trying to initiate the fertility rites of her species, but the male was either choosing to ignore her or he was not of the same species as her. Closer examination revealed that she had only one heart whereas the male possessed two. This was deemed the cause of the male’s rejection of the potential mate. They proceeded to Plan C.

#####

Tegan rubbed the lint off the Doctor’s pull over jersey. "You don’t have to get dirty, Doctor. Mind you, you hardly ever change clothes so I’m not surprised. You should bathe more often."

"I’m trying to think, Tegan." The Doctor sat down on a rock. "Something’s not quite right here. I think we’re lost."

Tegan blew gently into the Doctor’s ear. "I think we’re exactly where we’re meant to be." She held his hand in hers. "Face it, Doctor, we’re never getting out of here. Lets just make the best of things."

"Brave heart, Tegan." The Doctor stood up.

Tegan pounced but she went through empty space. "Rabbits."

"That’s it." The Doctor grinned. "It’s a case of tetrionic architecture with a non-conformist geometry in Euclidian sub space."

"That’s easy for you to say," Tegan muttered.

"In other words, the maze keeps moving. We’ve probably been walking around in circles the whole time."

#####

The plan had been discovered. However, the female had already been sedated and the operation to install the new heart had begun.

#####

Turlough’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw a floating robot stun Tegan and then cut her open. He stood up and resolved to rescue her and the Doctor. He found himself utterly lost within minutes, but didn’t give up trying.

#####

The operation was over in seconds. The female’s wounds were repaired and not even a scar remained.

#####

The Doctor picked Tegan up off the floor. "This is strange. You have a double pulse."

"A what?" Tegan felt funny.

"If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you have two hearts."

Tegan laughed. "Don’t be silly, Doctor."

The Doctor put his ear against Tegan’s back. "Two…hearts. I can hear them both. When did this happen? You’re not a Time Lady, I’d know. Unless They were involved."

"I really don’t know what you’re on about." Tegan stood up. She felt refreshed, invigourated. "Come on, let's go for a run."

The Doctor set off after his companion. "At least she’s back to normal, whatever normal is for Tegan."

#####

The female was now leading the male in the classic pursuit ritual. This was considered a sign that Plan C was working.

#####

Turlough found himself outside a huge metal building. There seemed to be a rusty metal ladder leading up to some sort of viewing port. Carefully he climbed up it. Once at the top he looked through the viewing port to see a huge network of tunnels below. He could see the Doctor and Tegan running through the network and every now and again they would shift and change to form new routes. He found there was a door up here but it was locked. However he forced the door and the mechanism must have been corroded because it gave after only a few tries.

#####

Alert, security breach. Unauthorised contamination.

#####

The Doctor spotted Turlough nearby. "Tegan, this way."

Tegan ran to see what the Doctor wanted. Her happy mood dissolved instantly the second she saw Turlough. "What do you want?"

"And here’s me rescuing you two." Turlough started to walk away. "I don’t know, you make an effort and you’re never appreciated."

The Doctor and Tegan followed. "We’re grateful, aren’t we, Tegan?"

"I suppose so." Tegan scowled.

#####

Security drones were dispatched but the contaminant had destroyed the experiment beyond repair.

#####

The walk back to the TARDIS was dull and uneventful as no-one said anything, until they were confronted by the security drones.

"Halt!"

"I’m the Doctor," the Doctor said brightly.

"You are to be purged."

"I don’t like the sound of that," Turlough said quickly.

"Me neither," Tegan agreed.

"Perhaps we can talk about this?" the Doctor wondered.

"Negative, unauthorised impurities are to be cleansed."

"Cleanse this." Turlough threw the contents of his pockets at the nearest drone. It popped like a balloon. "Come on." He picked up stones from the floor.

Tegan and the Doctor joined in with the throwing, Tegan actually nearly hit one too. Finally the drones were defeated.

"We did it." Tegan hugged the Doctor.

"We should get back to the TARDIS." The Doctor unfurled his panama hat and put it on.

#####

Activate secondary defences.

#####

The TARDIS dematerialied seconds before the whole city exploded. Inside of it the Doctor listened as Turlough explained what he saw. "They cut Tegan open and stuck an extra heart in her."

"Whatever for?" Tegan wondered.

"I don’t know." the Doctor replied. "I know a couple of surgeons if you want to get it removed."

"Maybe. Right now though I just want to wear something a little more supportive." She left the boys and went back to her room to put on a new bra. All in all the day was pretty much par for the course. Sometimes she did wish that Nyssa was still around, though.

#####

The experiment had failed. Time to begin again.

#####

The Doctor and Dodo woke up.

"I wonder where we are," Dodo pondered.

The Doctor looked around. "I don’t know, my child, but I have some very nasty suspicions."