Merry and the Doctor Ch 5

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            Doru, Merry and Stjarna walked out of the room and down the hall.  Merry wanted nothing more than to stay by the Doctor’s side, but now that she knew the cure, she had to find a way to help everyone. 

            “Do you have more inciver?” Doru asked.

            Merry held up the tiny vial and looked at it, “Not much.  I’ve only got enough for one more dose like I gave the Doctor.”

            Stjarna began to get fussy.  “I think she is hungry,” Merry said.  "Can we take her back to the school?  I guess they would have food for her there.”

            Doru nodded, “Yes, we can take her back.”

            He and Merry went outside.  The sky was purple.  It was almost night.  They climbed into a waiting carriage.   It seemed to Merry that the carriage service was like that of a taxi service on Earth.  They went back to the school.  The ride was not long, but Stjarna had fallen asleep in Merry’s arms by the time they arrived.

            Carefully Merry carried the sleeping child into the school and back to the room she had originally run out of.  The care taker of the room strode over to Merry and they gently transferred Stjarna from Merry’s arms to the caretaker.  Merry kissed the child’s face.  They quietly said good bye and Merry went back out to the waiting carriage.

            She sat down next to Doru. “What do we do now?” she asked.

            “I don’t know,” he replied.  “We know that inciver is indeed the cure we seek, but we still don’t have any.”

            Merry sighed, “If the Doctor was well, I could have him take me home.  I have lots of ginger there, but I’m afraid that by the time he is well, many more of your people will have died.”

            The carriage drove along the road.  Merry watched the landscape in the dark.  Lights were shining from buildings.  A street lamp lit up a small garden in someone’s yard.  It gave Merry an idea.

            “Do you have a garden?  An arboretum of some sort?” Merry hoped the words would translate.

            “Yes we do,” Doru said.

            “Let’s go there and look for an inciver plant.  You were looking for the root and not the plant.  Maybe you have lots of it, but you didn’t know.”

            Doru told the carriage driver to go to the public gardens.  The driver turned down a new street.

            “But I still don’t know what the plant looks like,” Doru said.

            “I do,” Merry replied.

            Doru told the driver to go faster.  Several minutes later they were standing in front of a large glass domed building.  By now it was very dark.  There were few lights in the garden.  Doru gave Merry a torch.  This was going to be very difficult.

 

*************

The deep dreamless unconscious sleep the Doctor had been in slowly started to lift.  More and more the Doctor became aware of his thoughts and the heavy feel of his body.  He listened to the rhythmic beatings of his hearts.  He became aware of an unusual taste in his mouth.  Slowly he opened his eyes and looked around.  The room was dark.  He tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea and dizziness washed over him.  He lay back down.

            He tried to remember what had happened and how he got there.  He remembered a child and a woman.  He remembered the woman holding his arm.  The taste in his mouth became more distinct.  It was familiar.  What was it?  A voice.  There had been a kind voice telling him he’d be alright.  The voice had been soothing and reassuring.  He let his body relax.  Everything was going to be alright.

*************

            The search was slow going in the dark.  Merry had completely lost track of time, but she was sure they had been out there for a long time.  The gardens had been closed when they arrived, but Doru used a pass card to get in.  He spoke with the security guard when they had arrived and explained the situation.  The guard had let them through without a fuss, but he was keeping a close eye on Merry.

            Merry’s legs were starting to ache.  The night was growing cooler and while the jeans and t-shirt she had on had been fine during the day, it wasn’t enough for the chilly night air.

            Merry’s torch light passed over a couple of plants. “Ginger!” Merry cried.  She ran to the cluster of plants, ready to dig one of the them up.

            “Freeze!” a voice called behind Merry.

            She stopped in her tracks and turned to see the guard had a gun pointed right at her.  She slowly lifted her hands in the air.  “But it’s ginger.  It is inciver.  This is the plant we are looking for!”  She turned to Doru, “Why won’t he let me near that plant?”

            “It is the sacred plant.  No one can touch it.  The penalty for destroying the sacred plant is death,” Doru explained.

            Merry was angry, “What?”

            “Long ago, our ancestors planted those sacred plants.  We were told they were to never be destroyed because if the plant was destroyed, we would die,” Doru said.

            “You are going to die if you don’t dig up this plant,” Merry pleaded.

            The guard pulled out at communicator from his pocket.  “Get the Mayor to the city gardens right away.  We have a stranger here that is threatening the sacred plant.”

            “I’m not a vandal!” Merry shouted.  “I don’t want to destroy your plant for no reason.  I don’t want to destroy it at all.  I want to dig it up to get to the root.”

            The guard took a step closer to Merry and held his gun in her face, “Quiet Human!” he shouted.

            Merry stood with her hands in the air.  She was breathing hard in anger.  Their people were dying and they wouldn’t let her dig up the one plant that could cure them all.  It was only a matter of minutes before Merry heard a siren and carriages pulling up in front of the garden.  A dozen people ran into the gardens and right up to Merry.  Two large men grabbed her by the arms and pushed her down to her knees.  Several other men raised guns at her.  Merry kept very still.  She was frightened.  She wished the Doctor was there with her.  He’d know what to do.

            The Mayor stood in front of Merry.  He was dressed in a night robe.  He did not look at all happy to be out in the cold and dark and deal with a human intruder.  “What is the meaning of this, Human?” he bellowed.

            Merry’s voice trembled, “Mayor, it is inciver.  Your sacred plant is inciver.  It is the cure to your plague.”

            The Mayor looked over Merry’s shoulder at the plant.  “That is not the plant.  I’ve seen a picture of the inciver and that is not it.”

            “What you’ve seen,” Merry began, “is the root.  It is the part of the plant that is under the ground.  The root is what you need to cure your people!”

            The Mayor and Doru exchanged glances.

            “Where is the Doctor?” the Mayor demanded.

            “He got sick, Mayor,” Doru explained.  “The Doctor picked up the virus after arriving here.  It seems his species is quite susceptible to the plague and within an hour of the first symptom, he was almost dead.  Merry realized the inciver plant is a common plant on her home planet.  She had a tiny amount of inciver powder with her.  She gave it to the Doctor, who was at death’s door, and it helped him.  His health began to restore immediately.”

            “This powder,” the Mayor yelled, “what is it?”

            “On Earth, it is called ginger, but it is the same as your inciver plant.”  Merry’s voice sounded calmer and cooler than she actually felt.  “The tiny amount I had helped the Doctor.  Think of what this plant has to offer your people – a cure!”

            The Mayor and Doru exchanged glances again.  Merry couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

            “Look Mayor, what is this plants’ proper name?” Merry asked.

            “It is the sacred plant,” he answered.

            “Why is it called that?  Why doesn’t it have a proper name?”

            The Mayor looked calm, but his voice was showing hints at his anger, “It has no other name.  It needs no other name.  It is the sacred plant.  Our ancestors told us that the day this plant is destroyed our people would die.  No one is allowed to touch it.”

            “Sir, your ancestors said this because they knew that if a plague like this one they experience returned, the inciver would be the cure you would need.  Without the inciver, your sacred plant, your people will die!”

            The Mayor took several steps towards Merry.  “You seem to know an awful lot about our past, Human.  It makes me wonder who you and the Doctor really are.  Perhaps my father was deceived by the Doctor and he is here not to help, but to…”

            “No!” Merry shouted, interrupting the Mayor.

            Doru quickly approached the Mayor, “Sir,” he said, “Merry knows a little of our history because I told her.  We are here because I brought her.  She felt certain that she could find inciver in our gardens.  I had no idea it would turn out to be the sacred plant.  Do not punish her.”

            “So I need to punish you?” the Mayor sneered at Doru.

            “Sir, I’m only doing my job.  My own family has died from this plague.  I’m trying to find a cure,” Doru pleaded.

            The Mayor turned to Doru.  Merry could see that Doru was in big trouble.  Her mind was working fast.  She had to help.  Hundreds of children were orphans, hundreds more of the people were dying.  The Doctor had only just escaped death.  She couldn’t let Doru or anyone else suffer and die.

            “I offer you a proposition!” Merry shouted.

The Mayor turned back to her. “A proposition you say?  Well, let’s hear it.”

Merry took a deep breath, “Let me dig up one of the plants.  If it is inciver, Doru will prepare it and give it to your sick.  If it cures the people, you let me go.  If it does not, I will accept death as a penalty for digging up the sacred plant.  My life will be yours and you will have your justice.   Come on,” Merry pleaded, “It is the death of one plant or the death of your entire civilization!”

The Mayor stood quite still.  He considered her offer.   Finally he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, “Get her a shovel.”

Merry’s breath returned to normal.  Her guards released their tight grips on her shoulders.  She was handed a spade.  Slowly Merry approached the plants.  She knelt down alongside the closest ginger plant.  She could smell the fragrance of the familiar plant.  She knew she had the right one.  Carefully she grasped the plant with her left hand and with the spade in her right, she dug around the base of the plant.  Despite the coldness of the night, she could feel beads of sweat running down her face.  The plant was beginning to loosen from the soil. After several moments, Merry pulled the plant from the ground.  A large ginger root hung below the leaves of the plant.

She held it up for Doru and the Mayor to see.  They shined their torch lights on it.  Doru approached the plant and Merry.  He looked over the root.  “This is it!” he cried out.  “It looks just like the picture.”  He grabbed the plant from Merry and ran out the garden doors.

Merry tried to run after him, but her guards grabbed her by the arms again and held her back.  The Mayor turned to look at her.  “Put the human in the cell.  She will wait there until the cure begins to work… if it does.”  The Mayor sneered his teeth at her.  He turned on his heels and walked away.  The two guards pushed Merry to the door.  They roughly pushed her into a caged carriage and drove off in the opposite direction that everyone else had just gone.  When they arrived, they pulled her out and practically dragged her into the jail.  Down a dark hall in the basement of the building were rows and rows of doors.  One of the guards opened one of the doors.  The other guard shoved her in.  She fell to the hard floor, heard the door close and a loud click.  She was locked in.

CHAPTER 6

Merry and the Doctor Ch 4

If you are just finding this site and would like to start at the beginning of the story, see sidebar for links to chapters 1 - 8.

The Deputy left the room and led them out of the building.  The Doctor was very casual about it as if he had visited this place a hundred times.  Merry felt excited about walking on the ground of an alien planet.  She looked all around as they walked.  Everything was familiar, yet different.  Outside, a vehicle was waiting for them.  To Merry, it looked like an old fashioned carriage, but no horse pulled it.  Merry could feel the motor under her seat as the Doctor helped her in. A Weyk driver took them down the streets of the city.

            “I remember a much busier place the last time I was here,” the Doctor noted.

            “It’s the plague,” Gweri said.  “Many have died and those who are not sick stay indoors now.”

            They came to a stop several minutes later in front of a large stone building.  “This is our school,” Gweri explained, “but recently, it was converted into an orphanage.  Hundreds of children are there, their parents dead.  Killed by the plague.”

            Merry and the Doctor got out of the carriage and followed Gweri into the building.  The sounds of the children filled the building.  Merry heard children crying, laughing and singing.  The Deputy led them down a long corridor.  Merry peeked into the rooms.  She saw children of all sizes and ages in the rooms.  There were few adults.  Maybe one adult per room.  Merry wasn’t too sure.

            Gweri began to explain the situation to the Doctor.  The sick children were in one wing of the school and all the well children were in another.  They were all orphans.  Daily more children arrived at the school after their parents died.  Some arrived sick, some well.  Merry was shocked.

            An adult pushing a cart of food walked past the visitors and into one of the rooms.  The sound of excitement from the children could be heard as the food arrived.  One of the doors on Merry’s left opened and a small child ran out of the room and attached herself to Merry’s leg.  The Doctor and Gweri stopped their walking down the hall and turned to see Merry.  She knelt down to the child.

            “Hello there, what’s your name?” Merry asked.

            The child was silent.  Merry looked into her face.  Her black hair had a small streak of red in it.  Her eyes were violet and her face was wet, like she had been crying.  Merry guessed the child was probably just two years old.

            An adult stepped out of the room where the child had just run out from.  She walked up to Merry and the child.  “I’m so sorry,” the adult said.  “Stjarna keeps trying to run away.  She has only been here for two days and she just doesn’t understand why she can’t go home.”

            “It’s alright,” Merry said.  She knelt down in front of the child again.  “Stjarna, is that your name?  It means ‘star.”

            The tiny child put her arms around Merry’s neck.  Merry hugged the child and picked her up and held her tightly.  She looked over to where the Doctor and Gweri waited.  The Doctor smiled.

            “Can Stjarna come with me for a little while?” Merry asked the caretaker.  “I’m getting a tour of the city with the Mayor’s Deputy, Gweri.  I’ll bring her back later, when my tour is over.”

            The care taker looked concerned.  It would be so much easier for her to care for the other children if she wasn’t constantly keeping an eye on Stjarna, but could she trust the alien stranger?  Alien or not, Stjarna had become quite attached to the stranger. 

            “You don’t have to take her, but if you want to, I think it would be very nice for Stjarna,” the caretaker said.

            Merry smiled.  She looked the child in the face and asked, “Do you want to go with me and ride in a carriage?”

            The child nodded.  Merry held her close.  “We’ll be back later.”  She turned to face the Doctor.  His smile was broad and encouraging.  Merry smiled back.  They followed Gweri through the halls and then back outside.  The Doctor talked with Gweri and got as much information as he could about the situation.  Merry was no longer listening.  She was enjoying the feeling of holding a child in her arms too much.  She knew she missed her children since they had died, but she had not realized how very much her arms had ached for a child to be cradled in them.  She talked quietly to the child.  Stjarna listened to Merry and nodded her head whenever she heard something she liked, but she never spoke.  Merry felt so sad for the child.  She thought how Stjarna must miss her mother and father just as much as Merry missed Liam and Ailish. All of the children in that school were orphans and Merry’s heart ached for them.

            Stjarna enjoyed the ride in the carriage.  The driver took them to another large building.  It looked like a hospital.  Gweri and the Doctor got out of the carriage.  The Doctor lifted Stjarna and held her while Merry got out of the carriage.  Stjarna reached one of her small hands to the curl of hair that hung down over the Doctor’s forehead. She twirled her fingers through the curl with all the interest of a young child.  The Doctor chuckled.  He untangled Stjarna’s fingers from his hair and he passed the child to Merry.

            Merry and the Doctor followed Gweri into the building.  He led them to a room and asked them to wait.  Merry sat on a chair with Stjarna in her lap.  The Doctor paced the room.

            “Doctor?  All the people here have black hair with a color streak in it.  Does the color mean anything?”

            “No.  It’s a genetic thing, like hair color on Earth.  Humans have black, red, brown, blond and white hair.  These people have black hair with a color streak in it.  It’s passed on generation to generation.  When a person with a blue streak mates with a person with a red streak, their children could be red, blue or purple.  Just like humans and their hair colors.”

            Merry smiled and looked at Stjarna.  “Can I ask you another question, Doctor?”

            “Sure,” he said.  He seemed a little agitated, but not at her.  At least she didn’t think it was directed at her.

            “This child’s name means ‘star.’  How do I know that?”

            “I told you,” the Doctor said.  “The TARDIS translates for you.”

            “No, this is different.  They told me the child’s name is Stjarna, but I know the meaning of the word is ‘star’,” Merry said.

            The Doctor stopped his pacing and faced Merry.  His shoulders slumped a bit, “I don’t know.”  He coughed.

            Merry put Stjarna down and went to the Doctor.  “Did you just cough?” she asked him.

            “No.  It was just a tickle in my throat.  That’s all,” the Doctor explained.

            Merry watched the Doctor a moment longer before turning her attention to Stjarna, who was running around the chairs and their legs.  Merry laughed, “She seems happy to be free to run around.  It can’t be fun for her in that orphanage.  Are you sure you’re alright, Doctor?”

            He nodded, but as soon as he did, he coughed again, harder and longer this time.  Merry turned him around and laid her hand on his back.  She couldn’t feel anything through his thick velvet coat.  Then she pressed her ear to his back.  She could hear it, the rattling in his lungs.  It was just like Peter had when he was sick.  She turned him back to face her. “Doctor, you’re sick.”

“No I’m not,” he shot back at her.

            “Yes, you are.  I heard it in your lungs, just like Peter.  We’ve only been here a few hours.  How is it you’ve gotten sick so quickly?”

            The Doctor slumped down into one of the chairs.  He looked very tired.  “My physiology is different.  I’ve got two hearts, to start with.  I guess this illness progresses faster on two hearted species.”

            “You have two hearts?” Merry asked.

            The Doctor nodded.

            “No wonder,” Merry smiled.

            The doctor looked up at her in surprise.  “What do you mean by that?”

            “Two hearts.  No wonder you are so kind.”

            A smile spread across his face before he began coughing again.  The door opened and several men came into the room, including the emerald green haired man Merry had spoken with at the meeting with the Mayor.  When they saw the Doctor coughing, they rushed up to him.  The green haired man pulled out a curious instrument from his pocket and held it to the Doctor’s head.  He looked at its readings.

            “He’s got it, Gweri.  Let’s get him moved to a room.”

            A bed was brought in.  Merry took hold of one of the Doctor’s arms and Gweri took his other arm.  The Doctor stood with their help and was able to get onto the bed.  He couldn’t believe how fast this sickness was attacking him.  He felt weak and by the time they had wheeled the bed out of the room, he had lost consciousness.

            Merry watched in shock as they wheeled him away.  It had happened so quickly.

            The man with the green hair turned to Merry.  “My name is Doru,” he said.  I’m chief healer here.”

            “My name is Merry and this is Stjarna.”

            Doru went to the child and placed a hand on her head.  “Yes, I know Stjarna.  Her mother and I were classmates.  Why do you have her?”

            Merry picked up the child, “She was in the orphanage and she same running to me to be held.”

            “She was in the orphanage?”  Then her family is dead?”  Doru’s eyes lowered to the ground in sorrow.

            “I’m so sorry,” Merry said quietly.

            “This plague is so bad; we can hardly keep track of who has died anymore.  I didn’t know about Stjarna’s family.”  Doru looked up at Merry, “I’m sorry to see the Doctor is sick.  We had hoped he could help us, but now…” his voice trailed off.  “I’m afraid at the speed the plague seems to be spreading through him he won’t live to see the sun set.”

            Merry stared in horror at the healer.  “What can we do?”  she asked.

            “Nothing.  Unless you know where we can get some inciver,” he sadly answered.

Merry’s grip around Stjarna tightened.  “What is this inciver and how do you know it will cure them?”  Merry asked.  She was starting to feel slightly hysterical.

            “We can only guess,” Doru explained.  “We have some old documents of a plague that seems very similar to this one we are experiencing now.  The people were dying, but they discovered inciver cured them.  Apparently the plant was available widely back then.  They left us drawings of the plant and instructions on how to prepare it, but the plant is no longer found on our planet.  That’s why we’ve sent scouts and scientist into space, to see if they could locate the plant.  But, no one has returned with anything or any news.”

            Merry thought about the Doctor.  His life was going so fast.  She couldn’t let him die.  “You said you have a picture of this plant.  Will you show it to me?” she asked.

            “Certainly.  Come with me.”  Doru led them down several halls.  Once in a while he would point out one room or another and explain the things they were researching or experimenting with.  Merry held Stjarna’s hand.  The little girl skipped along down the hall, humming to herself. 

            Doru finally opened a door and they walked into a library.  He pulled down a book and started to flip through the pages.  Stjarna was getting restless.  Merry picked her up and held her close.  After several moments, Doru set the book down in front of her.  He pointed to a picture.  “Here is the inciver plant.”

            Merry looked at the picture.  “Inciver,” she whispered to herself.  The word was familiar.  “Inciver.”  She looked closely at the picture.  “Ginger!” Merry shouted.  Her yell startled Stjarna and Doru.  “This is a ginger root!  No wonder you couldn’t find the plant.  What you’ve been looking for is the root!”

            Merry laughed.  She quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, thin, black box.  She put it on the tabled in front of her and opened it.  It was an herbal medicine kit that she carried around with her.  Inside were 10 tiny vials with various colored powders. Quickly she started to lift up the vials, one by one and look at them.  She was sure one of them was ginger.  When she finally found it, she held up the tiny vial and examined it.  There wasn’t much in there, but there was a small amount of the yellow powder.

            Merry looked at Doru triumphantly.  She noticed the window behind him.  The light outside was changing.

            “Is that sunset?” Merry asked.

            “Yes it is,” Doru answered.

            “Where’s the Doctor?  Take me to him, quickly!”  Merry jumped up.  She stuck the black box into her pocket.  She held the tiny vial of ginger in one hand and grabbed Stjarna with the other.  She hoisted the child on her hip and ran out the door.  Doru ran down several halls.  Merry was very aware of the changing color in the hallway due to the setting sun.  She ran faster.  She had to get to the Doctor right away.  Finally Doru pushed open some large doors.

            “Where’s the Doctor?” Doru asked as he walked in.  The room attendant pointed to a bed in a corner.

            The Doctor lay on the bed.  He looked deathly white.  His breathing was shallow and labored and growing slower by the moment.  Merry set Stjarna down.  She went to the Doctor’s bedside.  She popped the lid off the vial and stuck her little finger into the yellow powder.  Then she gently put her finger, which was covered in the ginger powder, into the Doctor’s mouth. 

            He suckled her finger for a moment and then swallowed.  Merry laid her ear to his chest.  Already his breathing seemed less labored.  She listened for several moments to his double hearts beating.  The only time she had ever heard anything similar to the Doctor’s double heart beats was when she was pregnant with the twins and could hear their two hearts beating.  She sat back up and looked at him.  His face had some color again.  The ginger was working.

            Doru was staring in amazement.  He walked up to the Doctor and pulled out his scanner from his pocket.  He placed the scanner on the Doctor’s head again.  “It can’t be!  He is getting better.  This is impossible!”

            Merry turned back to look at the Doctor. “He loves the impossible,” she smiled. 

            “What did you give him?” Doru asked.

            “Ginger root powder.  Inciver is ginger.  That is why the name was so familiar to me.  Back on Earth, I’m a nurse, but I’ve studied some herbal medicine and remedies, too.  Ginger is an ancient plant had has long been used as a spice and a cure.  ‘Inci Ver’ is an ancient name for ginger root.”

            Next to her, the Doctor stirred, but he didn’t wake up.  Merry put a hand on his head and began to stroke his head through the curls of hair.  She leaned in close to his face.  “Just rest Doctor.  You are going to be just fine.”  She kissed his forehead and then stood up.  “Come on Doru, we need to talk.”

CHAPTER 5

Merry and the Doctor Ch 3

If you are just finding this site and would like to start at the beginning of the story, see sidebar for links to chapters 1 - 8.

They walked together to the blue police box.  Merry could feel the spring in his step as he walked.  It seemed he was on a grand adventure and Merry began to capture his infectious enthusiasm.   As they approached the box, the Doctor stuck his left hand into a pocket and pulled out an odd shaped key.  He stuck it into the lock, turned they key with a click and pushed open the door.

Merry stepped inside and stopped in her tracks.  She had seen many movies about space ships, but nothing she had seen or could have ever dreamed could have prepared her for what she saw inside that police box.  In the center of a very large room was a hexagonal control panel.  In the center of the control panel was a tall glass tube that went up into the ceiling.  It emitted a blue glow.  Everything had an old fashioned steam-punkish feel to it, but with a futuristic twist. Merry wasn’t sure what to think or do.  She felt a hand on her back.  It gently pushed her further inside the box.

“It takes some getting used to,” the Doctor said.  He closed the door behind him and bounced down the steps.  He went to the hexagonal console and began to turn knobs and flip switches.

Merry felt a slight movement, as if someone on the outside had just shoved the box.  Two glass panels inside the large central glass tube began to go up and down and a sound unlike anything Merry had ever heard began to hum.  It was rhythmic and rather hypnotic.

            Merry slowly approached the center of the room.

            “It’s alright.  Come on over,” the Doctor held out his hand.  Merry went closer.  He took her by the elbow and brought her right up to the controls.  “See here, this is the navigation controls, here is the accelerator, the regulator, compass, and the emergency brake.  This thing is the time rotor and here’s a clock, in case you want to know the local time, and well, there’s a bunch of other knobs and switches that do stuff.”

            Merry looked over the console in amusement as she watched the Doctor walk around flipping more switches and turning more knobs.  She took a moment to look around the rest of the room.  It was filled with candles, book shelves, dark mahogany drawers, several globes, a coat rack, a large collection of ticking clocks, a couple of unusual ferns and a piano.

            “You have a piano in your spaceship?”  she asked.

            The Doctor looked over in the direction of the piano.  “Yes,” he said, “I like good music.  Do you play?”

            “No,” Merry chuckled.  “Do you?”

            “I can,” he said.  The Doctor flipped one final switch on the console and then he walked over to the piano.  “Would you like to hear?”

            “Yes, please,” Merry said.  She stood beside the piano.  The Doctor lifted the lid and began to play.  The notes were sweet and clear as a bell.  The piano was a beautifully made instrument and the TARDIS provided perfect acoustics.  The song was soft and slow and slightly melancholy. 

            “That was beautiful, Doctor,” Merry said when he had finished.

            “Thank you.  It’s an old Gallifreyan lullaby.”

            “Gallifreyan?”  Merry asked.

            “That is where I’m from, Gallifrey.  I used to sing it to,” the Doctor abruptly cut himself off.  “Well, here we are!”  He hopped off the piano bench and bounced back to the center console.  The humming machinery had stopped and everything was quite still.  “We’ve made it to Weyk.”

            Merry quietly closed the piano lid.  She walked up and stood alongside the Doctor.  He was watching a stream of information on the monitor overhead.

            “Doctor,” Merry said quietly, “as a parent who just lost her children, I recognize the look in your eyes just now.  You’ve had children and lost them, haven’t you?”  Merry watched a tear fall down the Doctor’s cheek.  She took his arm in both of her hands.  “I’m so very sorry.”

            “Thank you,” he whispered.  “It happened a long, long time ago.  Most of the time, I don’t think about it.  Time is wonderful like that.  It does heal.  Oh, the pain never really goes away, but it does get easier.  You’ll find this out too, one day.  I’m afraid your story has hit me rather close to my hearts and that is why I want to help you find peace.”

            Did he just say hearts, she wondered.

            Merry couldn’t help herself.  She flung her arms around the Doctor and hugged him.  The gesture surprised him at first and then he hugged her back.  He smelled just like his handkerchief and immediately, Merry felt calm.

            “Thank you,” she whispered into his shoulder.  They released each other and looked into each other’s face.  His smile grew wide.

            “Shall we go?” he asked.

            Merry returned the smile and nodded.  He took her by the hand and led her to the door.  He pulled the door open and Merry stepped out.

            Merry was starting to get use to the stream of surprises that one seemed to encounter with this Doctor, but somehow, she figured when the doors of the TARDIS opened, she would see her tree lined street.  But, this was not her street.  They were inside a building; a large, finely decorated building.

            The Doctor stepped out behind Merry and closed the door to the TARDIS.  He quickly surveyed the environment and decided which direction to head.  Merry followed him.  It wasn’t long before they arrived at what Merry guessed would be a reception desk in an office building.  Behind the desk sat a humanoid creature.  It was just like Peter had described – larger head, lightly greenish tint, and eight fingers.

            “Good afternoon,” the Weyk said as the Doctor and Merry approached the desk.

            “Good afternoon,” the Doctor replied.  “I would like to meet with your mayor.”

            “I’m afraid he is rather busy and in a meeting right now.  May I have your name please?” the receptionist asked.

            “I’m the Doctor and this is Merry,” he answered.

            “The Doctor? Are you really?”  The receptionist stood up, “Wait right here, please.”  The Weyk walked out.

            The Doctor began to rock on his heels and whistle.  Merry was amused by the complete casualness he displayed.  She, on the other hand, was feeling slightly overwhelmed.  She was standing in an alien building and had just seen and heard an alien speak.

            “Wait just a moment Doctor,” Merry said after a sudden thought.  “What kind of trick are you playing on me?”

            The Doctor looked shocked and hurt, “What do you mean?”

            “When Peter saw these Weyks in the back yard, he said they spoke another language that he could not understand.  He had me memorize the words, which I could not understand.  Well, until now.  When I think about it, a few of those words are slightly familiar,” Merry trailed off in thought for a moment before she remembered the trick the Doctor was playing on her.  “I understood the receptionist when she spoke.  She spoke English.”

            “No, no,” the Doctor smiled, “you are only hearing English.  It’s the TARDIS; it translates languages for you, in your head.  You are hearing them speak English and they will hear you speaking Weykver.  That is what their language is called.  I would never trick you like that.”

            The door the receptionist had passed through opened and a man stepped through it.  He quickly walked up to the Doctor, put his fist on his chest and bowed.  The Doctor did this also.

            “You are the Doctor?” the man asked.  “You don’t look a thing like I expected.”

            “Well, it’s probably the shoes.  I changed them quite recently,” the Doctor answered.

            “No sir, I mean, well, forgive me, but my father met you years ago.  He described you very differently.  I suppose you are not the same person.”  The man looked a little disappointed.

            “Your father, he was Mayor Drem, right?” the Doctor quietly asked.

            “Yes,” the Mayor was surprised.

            “Oh yes, I remember meeting him.  He was a good man,” the Doctor said.

            “Indeed sir.  You are the same man then?” the man asked.

            “I am.  I changed clothes.  Got rid of the scarf.”  The Doctor grinned.

            Merry was puzzled, but she was getting used to that as well.  Everything about this Doctor puzzled her.

            The man turned to Merry, “Welcome Human.  It has been a long time since one of your species visited us.  I’m Mayor Dremkers.” He bowed to Merry.

            “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mayor,” Merry said. "My name is Merry."

            “Now, if you would both follow me please,” the Mayor said, turning to the door and passing through it.  The Doctor and Merry followed.  They went through a series of long halls before the Mayor opened another door and led them into a large room.  It was a conference room like one would find in any office building on Earth.  It had a long table, chairs, glasses and water on the table, and several landscape paintings on the walls.  The biggest difference between this conference room and one on Earth were the Weyks who were sitting around the table.  They all rose from their seats when the Doctor and Merry walked in.  The Mayor walked to the head of the table and sat down.  The Doctor held out a chair for Merry.  She sat down in it.  The Doctor sat next to her and finally all the others in the room sat back down into their seats.”

            “Fellows,” the Mayor addressed the room, “This is the Doctor, whom you all heard my father, Mayor Drem speak of, and his assistant, Merry.”

            Everyone in the room looked at the strangers and nodded their heads.  The Doctor, who seemed quite use to this kind of thing smiled and waved a hand.  Merry felt her cheeks go red at all these aliens looking at her.  She smiled.

            “Doctor, we are meeting today to discuss the terrible plague that has overcome our people and is quickly killing them.  We have had many such meetings and so far and have come to no avail.”  The Mayor was grave.  “We have done everything we can think of.  We sent troops of our best men and scientists into the furthest reaches of space, hoping to find a cure.  Every one of them, who have returned, has come back empty handed.”

            The people around the tabled nodded their heads again.  “Quite frankly,” the Mayor said dismayed, “we have exhausted all of our ideas and resources.”

            “Excuse me, if I may,” Merry spoke.  She was terribly nervous addressing the council of people that sat around the table.  She didn’t know their protocol or if aliens were allowed to speak at all.  When no one objected to her speaking she continued, “I would like to know, what is inciver?”

            The group around the table looked astonished and began to whisper to each other.

            “How do you know of inciver, Human?” another man at the tabled asked.

            This man was smaller than the Mayor and his hair was blacker.  Merry was amused that each head of black hair she saw sitting at the table each had a single streak of a bright color in it.  The Mayor’s was a turquoise blue and the man who had just spoken to her had a streak of emerald green.  She wondered if they dyed their hair according to their rank or office in society.

            “One of your ships came to Earth and my husband spoke to your people,” Merry explained.

            One of the other men in the room stood up.  “Earth?  I went to Earth.  I’ve actually been there twice.” He reached into a pocket and pulled something out in his fist.  He opened his fist in front of Merry.  She laughed and cried at the same time when she saw in his hand, a small white button.

            “Peter’s button!”  she said.  “You were the one who met Peter when he was a child and then returned several months ago, but more than 20 years later.”

            “Yes, that was me.  He was such an eager child.  I was so happy to find him again all those years later.  He remembered me, I believe,” the man was quite excited.

            “He most certainly did.  He was thrilled at having seen you,” Merry laughed.

            “Did you bring him here with you?” the man asked.

            “No, I’m afraid he died.  Caught your sickness, I believe.”  Merry’s voice lowered.  “Still, I know that he was very, very happy at having seen you again.”

            The man’s head hung low, “I’m sorry.  He was my favorite encounter with an alien in all of my space travels.”

            “Excuse me, Human.” The green streaked haired man said.  “I’m sorry to hear of your husband’s death.  He told you about the inciver?”

            “Well.  It’s rather difficult to explain.  Your ship came and they spoke with each other,” she motioned to the man who was holding Peter’s button in his hand, “and you said the word ‘inciver’ several times.”

            The man nodded sadly.  The Doctor watched the interactions between Merry and the Weyks with great interest.  As much as he loved humans, they were always a little funny when it came to space travel and aliens from other worlds.  He knew that when they Mayor first spoke to her, she was nervous and afraid, but now she was holding emotional and complex conversation with them.  He was very impressed with her.

            “What is inciver?” Merry asked.

            The green streaked man sat back into his chair.  “Inciver is a plant.  We believe it is the cure we seek.  Sadly though, no one can find the plant.  It is not to be found here and we have found it nowhere else in our travels.”

            An alien plant.  Merry was disappointed.  She knew about a few herbs and plants back on Earth, but even then, she only knew a few.  There was no way she could know about an alien plant.  The meeting didn’t last much longer.  Everyone had run out of ideas and no one had new information to discuss.

            “Doctor,” the Mayor approached him and Merry.  “This is Gweri, my Deputy.  He will show you around.  Thank you for coming here, although I’m not sure what you can do for us.”

            The Mayor turned and left.  Merry noticed that Gweri had a streak of orange in his black hair. Gweri bowed slightly and said, “Follow me, please.” 

CHAPTER 4