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“Here we are,” the Doctor smiled happily, “The planet Shiroom.”
“Sounds nice,” Beth admitted.
“Mmmhmm,” the Doctor agreed, locking the TARDIS doors, “Oh, by the way,” he said, reaching into his pocket, “It’s about time I gave you this.”In front of Beth on a long golden chain was another TARDIS key. He handed it over to Beth and she smiled, “Thank you.”
An overwhelming sense of pride swept through Beth, she at least knew now the Doctor trusted her.
She placed the key in her pocket and the Doctor said, “Take care of that, if you lose it… well…” he raised his eyebrows and Beth nodded.
“Don’t worry,” she smiled, “I never lose anything.”
“What about your scarf the other day?” the Doctor asked.
“That was an exception…” Beth sighed.
The planet which they were on was one completely covered in snow. Everywhere Beth looked, her face was grabbed by an icy cool breeze. The gloves and jacket which the Doctor had advised her to wear were coming in handy…
They walked forward and passed several, what Beth thought, were huts. The area in front of them was so misty and foggy that they had no idea what was ahead. Still, that wasn’t going to stop them.
“Why’s it called Shiroom?” Beth asked as they sat down on a frostbitten bench. Beth’s legs clattered together as the Doctor spoke.
“Well,” he took a long pause, “I don’t exactly know. But…” he said quickly, “I think it’s because a special species of animals live within the snow and they’re called Shirromi. I don’t know though, last time I visited here was… ooh…” he squinted to think, “100 years ago. Maybe more, but still, it hasn’t changed, it’s still absolutely beautiful. The last time I was here was with my friend Bob, not the builder, just Bob. He moaned all the time about the cold and I would say to him “I told you to bring some thermals!” and he would say…”
Beth held out her hand, “You’re babbling again,” she smiled.
“Am I?” the Doctor stopped, “Sorry. I can’t help it, I’ve just got a big gob.”Beth laughed, “Really? I never noticed,” she said sarcastically.
“C’mon,” the Doctor said, “We need to explore.”
Beth placed her hand on the bench to help herself up when suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her finger; a splinter.
“Ouch!” Beth squealed, launching into a series of swear words.
The Doctor desperately said, “Ssh! Beth! Ssh!”
But it was too late. People around them were beginning to close in on Beth, tutting at her and grabbing her arms. Some even spat at her feet. Beth looked at the Doctor, a bemused look on her face.
“Beth,” he said sadly, “Remember I said on some planets you could get executed for swearing?”
Beth’s eyes widened, “No!” She looked around at the angry faces, “You could have warned me!” she said, trying to ignore the guns that some people held and were pointing at her.
Beth found herself being suddenly dragged away. She wailed, “Doctor! Help me! Please! Stop them! I didn’t mean it!”
The Doctor tried to push his way through the crowd but he was pushed to the floor and within minutes, the crowd had disappeared into the mist. The Doctor stood up, breathless, and ran into the distance, hoping that they hadn’t ended Beth’s life already.

Gogo waddled back into his hut. Around him, Mashu was trying to control the bundle of crying children.
“Mashu,” he said, “There has been a blasphemer!”
Mashu dropped the milk bottle she was holding and dropped her mouth in awe, “Who?”
“A filthy woman, wrapped up in all fancy clothes, thinking she is better than all of us!” he spat.
“Well she deserves what’s coming to her,” Mashu cackled and they sat there, waiting for news on the time of the execution.

The Doctor barged past all the crowds, his brown coat flapping in the sinister breeze. He could feel his ears freezing, and he wondered if his nose began running, would the droplets turn into icicles? He shook his head, reminding himself he had to prevent someone’s death. Again.
He pushed forward and realised he had no idea where this execution was taking place. He turned to a man beside him and said, “Sorry, I was just wondering, where’s today’s execution taking place?”
“Up on the Shiroom mountains,” the man said, pointing to a snow covered, high mountain, “In…” he glanced at his watch, “1 hour.”
The Doctor rubbed his eyes, “1 hour?!” He pelted off, leaving the man standing in awe. He couldn’t understand how someone could be so rude, yet get away with it. He sighed, and headed for the in a random route to take him to the execution site.

Beth yelped as people around her jabbed at her sides with sticks and guns. She prayed the Doctor would get her out of it. Or if not him, there was someone else she could rely on…
She shook her head and thought things through.
Right, she thought, they are probably going to chop my head off because I happened to swear, something that everyone does anyway! But still, surely I could wriggle out of their grasp and leg it… But they’ve got guns; it wouldn’t be long before they’d shoot me. OK, plan B… the Doctor. Surely he’ll think of something, he always does. But he won’t know where I am… he won’t know what will happen to me…
Beth’s thoughts were interrupted as she realised the air was suddenly a lot colder. She then noticed she was being dragged up a high mountain. The place where the Doctor had said the Shirromi were.
As the realisation of what was probably going to happen to her hit Beth, a tear trailed slowly down her cheek, and she regretted ever agreeing to this whole thing.

The Doctor had managed to get his hands on some climbing equipment. He had gone into a local shop and simply asked the lady behind the counter. He grinned as he realised just how persuasive his charms could be. You’ve still got it… he smiled.
He forced his way up the icy mountain, knowing he only had a matter of minutes. He thought that Beth must be up the mountain by now. That didn’t leave him long. He pursued forward, the longing for another death being stopped taking over him. He couldn’t face losing someone else.

Beth gulped as they reached the top of the mountain. She looked in front of her to see a wooden cage and wailed again as it was surrounded by bags, which she assumed were full of meat.
She felt like cursing until her tongue was sore, but she realised that probably wasn’t the greatest idea at the moment.
The people gave her one last filthy look and shoved her into the cage. Her arms and ankles were tied together with tough rope, and she could feel some pain creeping in where they were rubbing against her skin. She heard the men talking.
“Only 10 minutes now,” they laughed.
One man looked at her with disgust, “Yes, she will get her punishment.”

The Doctor saw that he only had a few steps left to go as he could hear the growing crowds jeering. He pushed his legs further up the hill, then was alarmed by a growling sound. He slowly turned around and realised, the Shirromi truly did exist, and boy were they big…
He watched as the creature, covered in white, hoarse fur, slowly approached him, taking in his scent. Its yellow talons stood out and its black eyes seemed full of hunger. Its huge chest moved in and out rapidly as it longed to devour the Doctor.
“OK…” the Doctor said slowly, “Now listen, you really won’t like the taste of me! I’m not your average human; I probably taste a bit too sweet actually,”
The creature’s eyes seemed to narrow for a moment, then became wide with fury.
The Doctor took a small, subtle step back, but the creature noticed this and growled, its fearsome cry echoing throughout the mountain.

Beth heard this cry and shivered. She looked around at the immense amount of people and thought of them viewing her death. What was so pleasurable about seeing her suffer? Couldn’t they just stay home? Surely swearing wasn’t worth her life being taken away…
I’ve got so much left to do; she thought to herself as the men said, “It’s time.” I haven’t even said goodbye to my family… I’ve let everyone down… the Doctor… he’ll think it was his fault! Will he ever tell my family? Or just leave my body, forever decaying on a distant planet? Will there be anything left of my body?
She couldn’t control her sobbing as the men stepped into the cage to unwrap the bags of meat. Beth slowly closed her eyes, then a wonderful thought hit her head and she reached for her wrist.

The Shirromi that was facing the Doctor lunged at him and tore at his ankle. The Doctor shouted out as its teeth sunk into his skin. The creature suddenly recoiled away, and was sniffing once more. It leapt away, allured by a more delicious smell. The Doctor frowned as he saw his blood seeping onto the snow, turning it a deep crimson colour.
“Beth!” he thought, and struggled to get up. He tried to walk along, but found his ankle agonising. He couldn’t walk a step further, so had to drag himself across the freezing snow. He just hoped he could make it in time.

Beth looked at her watch and pressed a button. The voice talked to her once again.
“Help me!” she wailed. “What’s the matter?” the cold voice snapped.
“I’m in a spot of bother…” Beth stuttered.
As she explained her problem to the person, he said, “Tell them this… Under the code of 9362, I demand you let me go. If you damage me, you will anger…”
Before he could finish, Beth began repeating the sentence loudly, knowing exactly how to finish. Gasps passed through the stunned crowd, and the guards quickly removed Beth out of the cage, just before the Shirromi flooded in to eat the meat. The guards shut the gate and the crowd watched in silence as the meat was torn apart. Beth looked on in horror, thinking that the meat could have been her.
The men turned around to look at her, then said, “We are so sorry, you are free to go.”
Beth nodded, and quickly fled the scene, searching for the Doctor.

It didn’t take her long. She found him clutching his ankle, surrounded by a pool of blood.
“Doctor!” she gasped.
“Beth!” the Doctor shouted.
Beth ran towards him and hugged him tightly.
“How did you get away?” the Doctor asked, ignoring his ankle.
“Oh it’s a long story,” Beth said, “Anyway, what happened to you?”
“A Shirromi decided to chew on my leg,” he said, wincing.
“Let’s see if there’s a hospital around here, shall we?” Beth said, hoisting him up and resting his arms on her shoulder.
The Doctor smiled as they slowly hobbled down from the mountains.

“Ow!” the Doctor said, as the nurse completed the final stitch, “That’s the most painful set of stitches I’ve ever had!”
The nurse rolled her eyes and walked away.
The Doctor slowly got up and said, “Right, we’re off then? Before the people change their minds?”
“Yeah, perhaps that’s best,” she replied, then frowned, “How are you gonna cope with your ankle?”
“It’ll be fine,” he said, “Within a few days, it’ll be like nothing happened.”
He stood up straight, putting the weight onto his ankle then winced and swayed. Beth caught him and raised an eyebrow.
“OK, maybe a few days rest,” the Doctor said in a small voice.
Beth laughed, “It’ll be fine, it’s not like I’m subjecting you to some more shopping!” she said with a grin.
The Doctor just groaned as Beth helped him to the TARDIS and they flew away once more, the Doctor leaping around the TARDIS, despite his damaged ankle.