Counting with Fairies Ch 14

Chapter 14

"Now Sally," he said with a half-smile, "If I remember correctly, we were on our way to see the Pascaline."  He turned a few knobs and threw a lever and the blue bars in the central time rotor began to move.

Sally smiled, "Yes, I think we were."  The Doctor said nothing more.  He only smiled.  Several minutes later the blue bars stopped moving, indicating they had landed.  He approached Sally and her wheel chair.

"Doctor, I won't let you carry me all the way to town," Sally said.

"I didn't think you would, so I have this," he held up a black wooden cane.

Sally took the cane from him  She looked at it and saw the most beautiful circles carved into the wood.  "Doctor, this is lovely," she said.

"It was mine a long time ago.  Back when I was an old man."

Sally looked at the Doctor, completely confused by what he had just said.  She chuckled nervously.  He helped her to stand up.  She leaned against the cane.  It was a perfect size and much more comfortable to use than the stick she had found last night to use. 

The Doctor pulled out a clean red over tunic and held it up for her to see.  "Can't have you going out  into the streets of Rouen in your petticoats."

Sally noticed for the first time she was in clean clothes.  She remembered when she fell asleep, she was muddy and wearing the Doctor's jacket.  "How did I get clean clothes on?"  she asked.  Her face flushed.  Had he dressed her?

"The Poikyo.  When they came on board the TARDIS, Queen Bai was concerned for your injury.  She had some of her people use their magic and made you and your clothes clean."  He pulled the tunic over her head.  She stuck her arms through the sleeves.

"Really?" Sally asked.

"Really," the Doctor answered.  He tied the last lace.  "Now then, shall we go?"  He held out his elbow.  Sally held his arm with her right hand and used the cane in her left.  She was able to walk, or limp, along fairly comfortably.

The Doctor opened the door and stepped out, then he held out a hand to help her out.  They were in the middle of a city street.  No one seemed to notice the blue box in the road.

Sally looked around at the busy goings on in the city street.  People hurrying from one place to another, buying food from vendors, chatting with friends, bartering goods.  Even in the 17th century, city life was city life and Sally felt a little more at home.  They begin to walk down the street.

The Doctor answered Sally's question before she could even ask.  "I spoke with Columbine and asked her if she knew a Blaise Pascal and his mechanical calculator.  You wouldn't believe what she said," the Doctor paused.

After several moments of silence, Sally tugged at the Doctor's elbow. "Go on then, tell me," Sally said.

He smiled, "She told me of course she knew Pascal.  His first mechanical calculator had one fault that kept it from working properly.  She said he was incredibly frustrated that he just couldn't figure out why it didn't work."

"Wait, Doctor, did she do something fairy-like and mischievous to his Pascaline?" Sally asked.

"I asked her the same thing, but she only smiled sweetly at me," the Doctor grinned.

"I can't believe it," Sally said.

"Anyway, it only helped him to create a new and better model and she told me where he lived.  That's why the TARDIS brought us here, instead of the countryside again."

They stopped walking in front of a two story stone building.  It was in a long line of other similar buildings.  Sally heard some nearby people talking at one of the food vendors.

"Oh yes, he showed it to me," one man was saying.

"And did it work?" another man asked.

"It did.  I couldn't believe it.  He turned the wheels to a set of numbers, turned the little cranks and would you believe it?  It worked.  It added those numbers together," the first man said.

"Oh, it's just a silly toy," a woman spoke up.  "A clock adding up numbers? Silly thing."

Sally looked at the Doctor, his eyes were twinkling.

"First doubters of the usefulness of computers," he whispered.  They approached the door and the Doctor knocked on it.  A young man of about nineteen opened the door.

"Ah, good day, sir," the Doctor said cheerfully.  "I heard you have a most fascinating clock here.  One that adds numbers?"

"It's not a clock sir, it's called the Pascaline and it does more than just add numbers.  Would you like to see it?" the boy said.

"Indeed," the Doctor said.  The boy opened the door wider and the Doctor and Sally stepped in.  "I'm the Doctor and this is Sally," he introduced them.

"I'm Blaise Pascal.  I created the Pascaline for my father to use.  He's a tax receiver."

Sally stared at the young man.  So young.  She had built her first computer at his age, but she hadn't invented any of it, just put it together.  He had invented it all.  A man was sitting at a table near the window.  On the table in front of him was a metal box the size of a loaf of bread.  Young Pascal began to explain it, how to put in the numbers to be added and how to turn the metal cogs to get the correct answer.  Sally watched in absolute amazement.  Right in front of her was the first computer, it's creator and the first computer user.  Blaise Pascal beamed with pride as the Doctor congratulated him on his achievement.  After several more demonstrations at the Pascaline's ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide large numbers, the Doctor and Sally said farewell to the Pascal men and they left.

"Doctor, that was absolutely amazing.  Thank you for taking me to see it and to meet the man himself."

"My pleasure, Dr. Armstrong," he said.  He gave her hand, which was tucked into the crook of his elbow, a squeeze.  He led them back into the TARDIS, but instead of taking her to the wheelchair, he led her to a tall-backed armchair.  She sat down.  It was much more comfortable than the wheel chair and Sally rested her injured foot on the footstool.

"Well, Sally," the Doctor began to fiddle with the knobs and switches on the console, "if you want, I could take you back home.  Back to London, 1971 and the Ides Scientific Institute.  Or, I could take you to Florida to see the Apollo 14 take off and then home after that. " He smiled his half-smile at her.

"You would do that for me?  I mean, don't you have more important things to do than treat me to amazing moments in Earth's history?"

"Time machine, Sally.  I have all the time in the universe."  The Doctor knew exactly what he was doing.   He knew how to bait his prey.  He felt guilty about that, but he wasn't ready to be alone again.  He liked Sally.  She was intelligent and calm.  She would be fun to take around the universe and show her the amazing things it had to offer.  "So, do you want to go to Florida or not?"

Sally grinned, "Of course I want to see the Apollo 14."

"Let's go then!" the Doctor threw several switches.  "Besides Sally, I can't take you back to the Institute with a sprained ankle.  What would people think?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Sally said.  Honestly that thought hadn't crossed her mind at all.  It was a valid point, after all.  How would she explain leaving the institute with a stranger and returning with a bad foot?

"I guess you'll just have to stay with me until it heals," the Doctor said.  He didn't want to trick Sally.  He hoped she'd want to go anyway even without the premise of waiting to return her after her foot healed.  Still, he wasn't ready to be alone again.  Not yet.  "After the Apollo 14, I could take you to the London summer games in 2012 or I could take you back to Greece for the first Olympics or, if you like sports, we could go to Kirola, a planet that is completely devoted to the improvement and playing of every sport in the universe.  Sports teams and coaches from all over the universe go to Kirola to practice and hone their skills.  It's fascinating.  I went years ago to see the biggest cricket tournament in the universe.  I had a real liking for cricket years ago."  The Doctor was practically flying around the console in excitement.

Sally could do nothing but laugh.

She wanted to get back home to the institute.  After seeing the Pascaline, she felt inspired to get back to work on her own projects, but at the same time, the Doctor had shown her there was so much more to life and the universe than computers and robots.  There were amazing creatures like fairies and Poikyo.  There were worlds where grass was purple and the fruit off a tree was silver.

Her foot was injured.  Really, she couldn't go home just yet.  It would just bring up too many questions.  She also realized that the Doctor, for all his calm, knowledge and diplomacy, seemed lonely.  She could see his was desperately trying to keep her with him.  She like the attention and he could show her things that would only inspire her more for when she finally did get back home to her work at the institute.  "Well, Doctor, let's get to Florida and see the Apollo 14.  Then we can decide from there where to go next.  Either home or off to another adventure."

"Fair enough," he said.  It was.  He was happy to have her along, even if only for a little while longer.  He set the coordinates into the TARDIS.  "Do you like music, Sally? Mind if I turn some on?"

The Doctor flipped on an old phonograph player and the sounds of Glenn Miller and his orchestra filled the TARDIS.  They were off to their next adventure.