Counting with Fairies Ch 7

Chapter 7

A Poikyo in rich purple clothing approached.  "Your name please," he asked quietly.

"I'm the Doctor and this is Sally Armstrong."

The Poikyo turned around and faced the center of the cave.  "Announcing the Doctor and Sally Armstrong!" he cried.

The two Poikyo with spears flanked the Doctor and Sally.  They began to fly further into the cave.  The Doctor understood and stepped forward, following the guards.  Sally was one step behind the Doctor.  They stopped when they were approached by three finely dressed Poikyo.  The one in the middle was dressed in a fine white gown and the two on either side were dressed in similar gowns, but they were light blue in color.  It was the Queen and her ladies in waiting.

"I am Queen Shai, ruler of the Poikyo."

The Doctor nodded his head, "Queen Shai, it is an honor to meet you."

The Queen lazily flew in a circle around the Doctor and Sally.  They stood quite still.  The Doctor knew better than to move suddenly in the presence of other unfamiliar species, especially their royalty.  One wrong move would find him with a fierce small spear stuck unpleasantly into his flesh.  So far Sally was showing similar common sense.

"They tell me you know our home planet," the Queen said as she finished her circle around her guests.

"I do," the Doctor said.  "I visited there once, a long time ago."

"And you, female?" the Queen addressed Sally, "Have you been to our home?"

"No, your majesty," Sally said.  She had never addressed a royal before and hoped her language was appropriate.  "I am from Earth and have never left the planet."

"I see," the Queen said. 

"You are far from home here on Earth," said the Doctor.  "How is it you have come so far? Why did you leave Bhafaigja?"

The queen chuckled, "It has indeed been a long time since you were on Bhafaigja if you do not know why we left.  But right now, I am the one asking questions and you are the ones giving the answers."  She flew and stopped in front of the Doctor's face.  She studied him for a moment before continuing.  "You Doctor are not from Earth?"

"No, I'm from a planet in the constellation Kasterborous.  You can see Kasterborous from Bhafaigja."

"Kasterborous?  Then we are both a long way from home."  the Queen said.  The Doctor nodded his head.  "Doctor, many years ago, Bhafaigja was hit by a large meteor.  It set off a chain reaction of events that destroyed our planet.  Our kind was facing extinction."

"I am sorry to hear about your home," the Doctor said.  "How did you end up here, on Earth?"

"We were in our final days.  Some of the other species found ways to leave the planet.  We begged they take us too, but we could find no one with passage enough for our species.  We reached the end of our hope.  Our homes and food had been destroyed.  We found one creature with a space ship.  He agreed to take us with him, to his home planet, but on one condition.  Once the new planet was reached, he wanted us to use our power to erase his memory."

"What?" the Doctor cried out.  "Why did he want that?"

"He said he had seen too much.  His memories haunted him.  We did not question.  He was willing to help my people.  I agreed to his terms.  The whole population of the Poikyo went aboard his ship.  True to his word, the man took us away.  Unfortunately, the ship suffered some damage while leaving Bhafaigja's gravitational pull.  The damage was to his engines.  In the end, it took us two of our years to make the journey.  Half of our population died on the journey.  We are all that is left."

"Half?" Sally exclaimed.  "That's terrible."

"Indeed.  We arrived here several weeks ago.  We kept our promise and used the power of the Poikyo to erase the man's memory.  He went away and we have not seen him since.  Now, we are here.  We are grateful to be alive and away from Bhafaigja, but now we are stuck in an unfamiliar place with hostile natives."  The Queen snarled on the last words.

"Ah, yes, the local fairies.  I wanted to talk to you about them," the Doctor began.

"You have been giving aid to them?"  the Queen yelled.

"I spoke with them.  I heard their side of the story."

"If you aid them, you are an enemy to us!"  The whole of the Poikyo population yelled in response to their queen's pronouncement.  They closed in on the Doctor and Sally.

"Now wait a moment," the Doctor said calmly, but with authority, "I am on no one's side.  I am like you.  I don't belong to this planet.  I want to help you.  But you must understand, I like this planet and its inhabitants.  I do what I can to help them too."

"Why are the local fairies your enemy?"  Sally asked. "What is it they have done?"  Until now, Sally had been quietly watching.  It was obvious to her that the Doctor had a great deal of experience in these matters and since he and the Poikyo were aliens to Earth, he would understand them best, so she had let him do all the talking.

"After arriving we searched for our new home.  We were able to find this cave.  We were performing a protection ceremony when they came and interrupted us.  They disturbed the ceremony, entered my presence without permission and told us this cave is in their realm."  The Queen was quite agitated now.  The blue glow she emitted was growing bright, like a blue star. 

"Queen Shai, they do not know your customs," the Doctor said, "and yes, this cave is probably in their realm,"

He was interrupted by the very angry Queen, "You take their side!  You are an enemy!"

"Ouch!" the Doctor and Sally cried out at the same time.  The guards that were on either side of them had jabbed their spears into the Doctor and Sally's arm.  The spears didn't go deep, but had drawn blood from both of their victims.

"Now wait just a moment, Queen Shai!" the Doctor yelled.  "You are on their planet.  It is their customs that should be observed.  I'm sure they didn't mean harm.  They were only protecting their homes.  Let me help you!"  He felt a sharp spear poking at his neck.  "I can help you.  There are millions of worlds out there.  I can take you to any of them."

"I will not lose the rest of my people on another space journey."

"My spaceship isn't like that.  It would take almost no time at all and would be very safe,"  The Doctor said.  That was mostly true.  Most of the time he could get the TARDIS where he wanted it.  Still the Poikyo and Sally didn't need to know his piloting track record.

"No!" the Queen shouted.  "I have taken a liking to this place.  The cave is a good home base.  We prefer trees, but as soon as we conquer the fairies, we will have their forests as well.  The village will provide us our entertainment and the occasional slave child we require.  No Doctor, we will stay.  We will wage war on the fairies, defeat them and make a very nice place for ourselves."

"It doesn't have to be this way," the Doctor pleaded.  "You don't have to go to war.  Let me help you find a new home."

"We have a new home," the Queen replied in a smug voice.  She turned and flew away.  Her blue glow showed the Doctor there were chamber and tunnels that led out of the main cavern.  She began to enter one of the tunnels when she turned around and faced the Doctor and Sally again.  "Lock them up." She smiled and disappeared into a side chamber.

Chapter 8