The Gift (comic story)

Synopsis
Many years ago Monektoni Shug, piloting a Deep space load lugger, miscalculates the space geography, runs out of fuel, and crash lands into an uncharted satellite of an obscure planet.

Meanwhile the Doctor and Peri enjoy the beaches of the planet Halcya, Frobisher is bored, and asks for a party. Heading back to the TARDIS, the Doctor and the crew scout through invitations until Frobisher picks out an invitation for the Twenty First Birthday Party of the Lorduke of Zazz. Zazz is a planet created by Earth colonists, whose culture is reminiscent of early twentieth century America.

They head to a building on a mountain, where Professor Strut is preparing a rocket for the moon, but his brother, the Lorduke, stopped him from launching it. Asthey head back to the TARDIS, Strut, happier now, stops them, and hands the Doctor a present for the Lorduke.

The TARDIS arrive in Harlm Town, and the crew head for the Kotn Klub and meet the Lorduke. After dancing for quite a while, they crew must rest, and Frobisher ponders with the Lorduke about the squareness of his brother. The Lorduke says that they shouldn't meet Strut, as he's in exile after crashing a rocket and wiping out the hi-de-ho klub. The Doctor fetches the present, and as soon as the Lorduke has opened it a spider like robot emerges, sticking anything metal to it. The monster flees as it is shot at, but the Lorduke demands it is destroyed.

As the TARDIS crew leave, they are stopped by a guard and told to sleep in the Klub.

In the middle of the night the robot returns and destroys the Lorduke's Duke box before again fleeing. The crew and the Lorduke step outside to see more robots, self replicating scavenger robots, ripping up the city. The Doctor suggests they speak to Strut, if he hasn't taken off.

As Peri is being held hostage by the Lorduke, singing old songs to calm the Lorduke, the Doctor and Frobisher go. Strut is quite unprepared for the news, as he thought there were only one. As Frobisher threatens to launch the rocket, Strut tells all. He explains the robot came back from the moon in a rock sample a probe took, the same probe that crashed on the hi-de-ho klub. Strut repaired one robot's energy cells to have revenge on his brother. The Doctor tells Frobisher to guard Strut as he goes to the moon in the TARDIS.

The Doctor lands the TARDIS just after Shgu crashes onto the moon. The Doctor sees this, noting that all organic life forms would be destroyed. A Servatron robot struggles out of the wreckage to survey damage and repair, as it is programmed to do. It recreates its damaged self by scavenging parts from the ship. The Servatron realises that it will wear out before fixing the ship, and so it must reproduce and create new robots, teaching each survival. An entire robot culture is created on the moon, using solar power, and abstract thought. The Doctor tries to find how such a species was sent back to the level the probe showed. The Doctor, remembering a disaster on the way into the past, sends the TARDIS to this time. A meteor shower is attacking the city, and all the robots head to a bunker to rest, waiting for an all clear. However, a giant meteor hits, burying the buildings of these robots under rubble. When the storm dies down, the Doctor puts on a NASA suit and heads out. The robots, underneath, need energy in the darkness, is clouding out the sun. They scrabble to the surface, pushing aside rocks until they reach the surface, but there is no solar power, as the dust caused by the meteor is clouding the sun. What the robots do notice is the Doctor, and as they run out of power, they fire at him, thinking he is raw material.

On the moon, the Doctor discovers the dust is clogging the solar receptors in the robots, so when the air clears, they still won't be able to reactivate themselves. Now he knows about the robots, he wonders how he can save Zazz. He needs a way to gather them together and send them off Zazz, preferably to the moon. It's too risky to use the TARDIS, even though the TARDIS' recording of the meteor alarm would assemble them.

Arriving back to Strut and Frobisher, and proceeds to investigate the rocket, alterating it until he is sure it can just fly. The Doctor explains that humans could never survive the rocket flight, but the robots could. He tells Frobisher to supervise the professor programming the rocket to land on the moon, and to put the TARDIS' transmitter inside the rocket.

The TARDIS lands outside the klub, where the robots continue to wreck the city. He explains his plan. But, after an hour there is no change. As the robots attack the TARDIS, the Doctor realises the signal must be too weak. Watching helplessly as the robots rebuild the city like their buildings on the moon, Peri recites the poem for the Pied Piper of Hamlyn. This gives the Doctor an idea, and he rounds up the musicians for the loudest marching band ever, playing a piece very similar to the Recall Alarm. The Doctor hopes to lead the robots in reach of the transmitter.

As the Doctor shows the music to the band, Peri accepts a drink from the Lorduke.

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Frobisher
 * Peri

Continuity
to be added