Hearts of Stone (short story)



Hearts of Stone was the eighth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Companions. It was written by Steve Lyons. It featured the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric.

Summary
The TARDIS has landed on a planet devoid of intelligent life. Adric and Nyssa are playing chess outside the TARDIS, and Adric is grumbling. Finally, Nyssa loses her patience and leaves him alone. Adric wanders the TARDIS, and suddenly he hears a voice that sounds like his own but appears to be coming from somewhere else.

Adric accompanies the Doctor on a walk. They come across a huge area filled with statues. The Doctor is intrigued, and a little worried, that these statues are on a planet with no intelligent life. Nyssa and Tegan are brought to see the statues. Adric hears the voice again and yells at the others that the statues are not a threat. He and Tegan argue.

That night, the voice calls to him, and he leaves the TARDIS while the others sleep. The voice seems to know him and understand him. He makes his way to the statues, and one of them is of him. The voice promises him that he belongs here. He feels the stone pressing around him, but it is warm. He is starting to become one of them.

To Adric's surprise and horror, he is rescued by the Doctor. As the Doctor drags him away from the statues, Adric argues with him and tries to return to the statues.

Days later, the TARDIS has left the planet. Adric has avoided the others, but finally Nyssa is able to coax him out of his room. They play chess, and Nyssa explains to Adric that he wouldn't have been happy if he had stayed. She tells him the Doctor says the forest of statues exists out of time and is guided by an intelligence. Adric convinces her that he should be brought back to the planet, but she only agrees if he waits for a few months. She knows he will not want to go back.

Back on the planet, the statue of Adric fades away.

Characters

 * Fifth Doctor
 * Adric
 * Nyssa
 * Tegan

Continuity

 * The statues remind Nyssa of the Melkur on Traken. (TV: The Keeper of Traken)
 * One of the statues is of a Terileptil. (TV: The Visitation)