The Lost Ones (short story)
The Lost Ones was the third short story published in the The Dr Who Annual 1966.
Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Dr Who finds himself on an unknown planet inhabited by large creatures resembling ants and bees in the middle of a war. When he is trapped in the centre of it, can he find his way out or will he perish?
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Dr Who arrives on an unknown world and decides to investigate his surroundings. After momentarily losing control of his body, he is rescued by the Menoptera and made their prisoner. They believe that the Doctor is a member of the race attacking them.
The Menoptera quickly move Dr Who to an underground lair for questioning. They explain that, generations before, a Zarbi queen led the Zarbi to war against the Menoptera, who then fled to the moons of Vortis. The Menoptera who captured the Doctor are of an advanced scouting party who were sent to spy on the Zarbi. The party had been attacked by creatures similar to the Doctor and the Menoptera want to know more about them.
The Menoptera bind Dr Who to an operating table and prepare for dissection. Realising the bonds are weak, he snaps them and makes a break for the cavern's entrance. Before he gets far, a man appears on a ledge on the wall opposite to the cavern's mouth and, scrambling up the wall, Dr Who joins him. The Doctor realises that this is no normal man, but an eight foot tall giant with bright red hair and pale white skin.
The man is surprised to see someone like Dr Who, and leads him to his ship. The Doctor learns that the man's name is Axatil, and his people call themselves the Sons of the Sun. The Captain soon arrives to scold Axatil for bringing "vermin" into their ship. After Axatil shows the Captain and the other seven crew members that Dr Who is a man, there is much interest in how he came to this world. As the Doctor explains that he is a scientist, the Captain and crew mistake him for a long-travelling scientist from their own world and their attitudes toward him change.
The Captain explains they were soldiers in Expedition Number 3398, and their ship's instruments were damaged in battle. After being lost for ten years they crashed on Vortis about a year earlier and have spent that time killing Menoptera, for although they could take off again, they won't get very far unless they find a way to repair their instruments. He asks for Dr Who's help in the repairs so they may journey home to make their report to the Supreme Council of the World-City of Atlantis.
Dr Who quickly works to remember all of the stories of Atlantis and begins to wonder not where he is, but when, eventually deciding that he must be very far in the past. Over six days he studies the ship's instruments and learns how to repair them, but he also knows that the Atlanteans are extremely violent and must not be loosed upon the universe again.
He informs the Captain that he must return to his ship for the parts necessary to make the repairs and the Captain and his men escort Dr Who through underground tunnels to the TARDIS. When the Doctor refers to the Tardis as his ship, the Captain disbelieves him, states that he must be an imposter and orders him shot, but in the vicinity of the Tardis is a great battle between the Zarbi and the Menoptera. Dr Who dodges into the battle to avoid being shot and makes his way back to the TARDIS. From there he watches as the Atlanteans are cornered and killed by the natives of Vortis.
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Atlantean ship is made of impervium.
- Dr Who compares the Menoptera to butterflies.
- The Atlanteans often invoke the name of Zeus.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The concept of Atlanteans surviving as a space-faring race was explored in the popular 1940s stories of Richard Sharpe Shaver, which were later presented as truth in PROSE: Are We Alone? [+]Loading...["Are We Alone? (feature)"]. Authorship of text in the Annuals is uncertain, but the author of Are We Alone? may have also authored The Lost Ones. PROSE: Before the Legend [+]Loading...["Before the Legend (short story)"], a later Annual story, also featured an account of the Atlanteans with elements inspired by Shaver.
- The Dr Who Annual 1968 later featured the "factual" text The Lost Continent of Atlantis, which gave a history of Atlantis with elements reminiscent of this story.
- When the Doctor lies to the Atlantean and says he is "on business of the Supreme Council" and that he left Earth fifty years ago, an editorial footnote says, "Dr Who is prevaricating because, of course, he did not come from Earth." However, the Doctor had identified himself as "from the planet we know as Earth" earlier in the story without a similar footnote, and other stories in the anthology refer to him as an "Earthman" in the narration. It is unclear whether the footnote means that the Doctor is not an Earthling or just that he did not arrive at that planet directly from Earth.
- In these early adventures, the Doctor is exploring on his own, perhaps looking for a new home where he and Susan can be safe.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Vortis, the Zarbi, the Menoptera and atmospheric density jackets all first appeared in TV: The Web Planet.
- The story seems to occur before TV: The Web Planet: the Zarbi are already ruled by a warlike intelligence, the Menoptera have already fled, and the Doctor doesn't recognise either species when he first sees them.
- This is the Doctor's first visit to Vortis. He later visits Vortis in PROSE: The Lair of Zarbi Supremo (despite that story being placed prior to this one in the publication), TV: The Web Planet and COMIC: On the Web Planet.
- The Second Doctor returns to Vortis in PROSE: Twilight of the Gods.
- The Fourth Doctor revisits Vortis in COMIC: The Naked Flame.
- The Fifth Doctor also re-visits Vortis in AUDIO: Return to the Web Planet.
- The Doctor meets Atlanteans in this story. He later visits Atlantis itself in TV: The Underwater Menace and TV: The Time Monster.
- An Atlantean shops at the Frenko Bazaar in COMIC: Bazaar Adventures.
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
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