The provided text is an excerpt from the Doctor Who novelization, The Savages, focusing on the arrival of the Doctor and his companions, Steven and Dodo, on an alien planet. The Doctor initially believes they have landed in an age of great advancement and peace, but Steven and Dodo are immediately wary of the desolate landscape and the presence of primitive, fear-filled savages being hunted by guards. They soon discover a highly advanced, aesthetically beautiful City ruled by the Elders, who maintain their superior civilization by extracting the life energy from the indigenous people, the savages, in a scientific laboratory. The narrative tracks Dodo's accidental discovery of this horrific truth, the Doctor's subsequent capture and forced energy transference, and Steven's plan, aided by the newly conscientious Elder, Jano, and the savages, to destroy the life-draining mechanism and bring equality to the planet, culminating in Steven choosing to stay behind as a mediator.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.