Growing Higher (short story)
Growing Higher
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Growing Higher was the second short story in theShort Trips anthologyShort Trips: Zodiac. It was written byPaul Leonard. It featured theEighth Doctor andFitz Kreiner.
Summary[[edit] |[edit source]]
Eighty-two-year-oldSewa Singh lives onthe Moon with his nineteen year old lover,Bernadette Franklin. Four months ago the artificial worldKuppam was destroyed resulting in the death of more than fifty thousand people. Sewa was responsible for the bearings' quality control and is blamed by the Earth authorities for the deaths.
United Nations officials are dispatched to bring him back toEarth to stand trial. Given his medical conditions, his lifespan would be significantly reduced were he to return to the higher gravity planet. Many lunar colonists believe that Singh is being used as a scapegoat and the trial threatens to spark a civil uprising in the colony.
Rather than let this happen, Singh decides to end his own life by walking on the lunar surface in a space suit with only a limited oxygen supply, committing suicide and avoiding a slow, painful death on Earth. The Doctor andFitz arrive in the colony before the UN officials, distracting Bernadette for long enough to allow him to carry out his plan.
Characters[[edit] |[edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] |[edit source]]
- Fitz and the Doctor pose asUN officers.
- Kuppam is an artificial world built by theYamoyata Company.
- Khadri is atiger reserve orbitingEarth.
- Sewa Singh was born in2012.
Notes[[edit] |[edit source]]
- There is no reason given forAnji Kapoor andSam Jones' absence in the story; ifCompassion is accompanying them, she is learning to become human on Earth.
- The stories inShort Trips: Zodiac are inspired by the signs of thezodiac. This story's theme isTaurus.
Continuity[[edit] |[edit source]]
- Discreet blue eye-shadow was fashionable for men ten years earlier. (TV:Warriors of the Deep)