Post by Cornelia_Africana on Nov 28, 2005 15:20:00 GMT
Saoirse felt her knees turning to jelly as the white glowing figure, now recognisably a human form, approached them. She gripped the Doctor’s arm. The next thing she knew, there was not just one. From all the megaliths which formed the outer wall of the Mound, the glowing figures were emerging, and soon the stone circle was full of them. They approached them eerily, their arms outstretched. The air seemed to be full of music that impinged on consciousness just at the edge of hearing.
“Don’t be afraid!” the Doctor whispered. “I don’t think they mean us any harm.”
In fact, at that moment Saoirse stopped being afraid. The trembling feeling left her, and she felt an overwhelming sense of well-being, like a warm rush. The music now seemed more audible, and suddenly she realised it was the voices of the beings she was now seeing. The Doctor was speaking to the one that had first appeared, and was now closest to them.
“What are you?” he asked. “Why do you come here?”
A voice was heard that sounded like crystal or glass had spoken. It seemed to float in the moonlit air. “Tuatha de Danaan.”
“Yes, I know your name. But why do you kidnap people? Why do you keep them in your world…. wherever you come from… and then return them years later, into a world they don’t know. That is cruel.”
“It is not…. our doing…..” the ethereal voice replied. “It is….the portal….we do not control… the portal…”
“What portal?” the Doctor cried out. “What do you mean?”
The being seemed to be fading and struggling to speak. At last it managed to come out with some words.
“Beware…portal.” The same words were repeated by the other glowing beings that were now milling round them, and echoed around the circle of stones. “Beware….the dark power…..” The voice faded away, and even as it did so, the glowing figures seemed to shrink and retreat, and glide back into the Mound from which they had come, leaving the Doctor and Saoirse standing alone amidst the megaliths.
* * *
While all this was happening, Giles was engaged in his own encounter with the dark power he obeyed. The box was open, the crystalline structure was glowing with its sickly greeenish light, but the voice which emerged from it was anything but happy. It seemed to writhe, as though its owner was in pain.
“Aahh!” it groaned. “Energy…. I am being depleted of energy. Something is happening at the portal…. it is draining my energy…”
“Perhaps the human soldiers are up to something.” Giles suggested, hardly daring to speak. He did not want to antagonise his master while it was in this mood.
“No, I could use the humans… it is my enemies… they are using the portal… blocking my access. And the Time Lord is there too. He must suspect…” Suddenly the evil light flared, and the atmosphere in the room became even more oppressive. “Human, you must act, before he learns my plans. You must persuade the humans to act. I will give you your instructions.”
“I am at your service my lord” Giles replied. “But.. is it not time you acted yourself?”
The light flared again. This time when the voice came, it was thick with suppressed rage.
“Do not presume to question me, human! You will act as I tell you. Fail to obey me, and I will destroy you!”
Giles grovelled before it. He felt no doubt that the threat would be carried out. It was one he had heard many times before. His fear of the power he obeyed was such that it never occurred to him to consider that in all his encounters with it, it had never shown any ability to act by itself. In all things, it relied completely on him. But he never thought of that.
* * *
Some hours later, the Doctor and Saoirse were discussing the night’s events with Colonel O’Brien, the head of the UNIT task force. Katsumi and Francois were also present, but Mr O’Reilly had returned to the village with the boy. The Colonel, a hard-headed military man, was not the type to believe in fairies.
“What do you suppose the being meant by “portal”?” he asked. “Do you suppose the Mound is being used as some sort of base for an alien invasion? Are these creatures some sort of spearhead, maybe.”
”Well, if they are, they’re taking a long time about it,” the Doctor replied. “There are stories of sightings of the fairy folk at the Mound for as long as records have been kept. What kind of alien invasion takes that long? Besides, I sensed no malice in their presence tonight. If anything, they were trying to warn us of something. No, that can’t be it.” He got up and started walking around. “Saoirse, remind us all of the legends of the Tuatha de Danaan again.”
“Well, they were the original inhabitants of Ireland,” she replied. “They came on ships that floated through the air” – the Colonel grunted here, it was obvious what he was thinking of – “and built the megalithic monuments. Years later, when Ireland was under attack by a pirate people called Formorians, they disappeared. According to legend, they made their escape through the sidhe mounds – fairy mounds – and went to Fairyland. But of course – that can’t possibly be true…..” her voice tailed off.
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Mademoiselle” said Francois. “Consider what we know about these monuments. There is virtually always a magnetic anomaly at stone circles. There is always the presence of quartz, which has peculiar electrical properties. And how often do legends tell us that something unusual happens at the full moon at these sites? I have already said that it might be possible to induce altered states of consciousness at these monuments. But perhaps more is involved. Perhaps at certain times, such as the full moon, a particular combination of electromagnetic and gravitational forces can open…”
“…A portal into another dimension!” the Doctor cried. “Of course, that’s it! The Mound is a portal! But not to an alien spacecraft, or another planet! At certain times, it opens up a gateway into another dimension, existing alongside our own, but not generally accessible. That’s what the Tuatha de Danaan passed through, all those many years ago, and what they occasionally slip through now, when the time is right. That’s why they said they couldn’t control the portal. There is no conscious control involved, it’s just that at certain times the veil between the worlds lifts, so to speak, and they can slip into our universe.”
“And presumably, we can also slip into theirs” Katsumi added.
“Yes. That would account for the supposed abductions, as well as for people returning after vast stretches of time, while thinking they’ve only spent a few days there. Along the other dimensions of time, the perception of the rate at which time passes will be different.” He turned to Francois. “How long have you known this?”
“I have not known it until now” the Professor replied. “I have only surmised it. But I am glad to see that you concur with me, Doctor. Perhaps you will concur with me on another matter too. According to legend, the Tuatha de Danaan were good beings, and your account of tonight bears that out. But consider this – if good beings can slip through the portal – what would stop an evil being from doing so too?”
“Don’t be afraid!” the Doctor whispered. “I don’t think they mean us any harm.”
In fact, at that moment Saoirse stopped being afraid. The trembling feeling left her, and she felt an overwhelming sense of well-being, like a warm rush. The music now seemed more audible, and suddenly she realised it was the voices of the beings she was now seeing. The Doctor was speaking to the one that had first appeared, and was now closest to them.
“What are you?” he asked. “Why do you come here?”
A voice was heard that sounded like crystal or glass had spoken. It seemed to float in the moonlit air. “Tuatha de Danaan.”
“Yes, I know your name. But why do you kidnap people? Why do you keep them in your world…. wherever you come from… and then return them years later, into a world they don’t know. That is cruel.”
“It is not…. our doing…..” the ethereal voice replied. “It is….the portal….we do not control… the portal…”
“What portal?” the Doctor cried out. “What do you mean?”
The being seemed to be fading and struggling to speak. At last it managed to come out with some words.
“Beware…portal.” The same words were repeated by the other glowing beings that were now milling round them, and echoed around the circle of stones. “Beware….the dark power…..” The voice faded away, and even as it did so, the glowing figures seemed to shrink and retreat, and glide back into the Mound from which they had come, leaving the Doctor and Saoirse standing alone amidst the megaliths.
* * *
While all this was happening, Giles was engaged in his own encounter with the dark power he obeyed. The box was open, the crystalline structure was glowing with its sickly greeenish light, but the voice which emerged from it was anything but happy. It seemed to writhe, as though its owner was in pain.
“Aahh!” it groaned. “Energy…. I am being depleted of energy. Something is happening at the portal…. it is draining my energy…”
“Perhaps the human soldiers are up to something.” Giles suggested, hardly daring to speak. He did not want to antagonise his master while it was in this mood.
“No, I could use the humans… it is my enemies… they are using the portal… blocking my access. And the Time Lord is there too. He must suspect…” Suddenly the evil light flared, and the atmosphere in the room became even more oppressive. “Human, you must act, before he learns my plans. You must persuade the humans to act. I will give you your instructions.”
“I am at your service my lord” Giles replied. “But.. is it not time you acted yourself?”
The light flared again. This time when the voice came, it was thick with suppressed rage.
“Do not presume to question me, human! You will act as I tell you. Fail to obey me, and I will destroy you!”
Giles grovelled before it. He felt no doubt that the threat would be carried out. It was one he had heard many times before. His fear of the power he obeyed was such that it never occurred to him to consider that in all his encounters with it, it had never shown any ability to act by itself. In all things, it relied completely on him. But he never thought of that.
* * *
Some hours later, the Doctor and Saoirse were discussing the night’s events with Colonel O’Brien, the head of the UNIT task force. Katsumi and Francois were also present, but Mr O’Reilly had returned to the village with the boy. The Colonel, a hard-headed military man, was not the type to believe in fairies.
“What do you suppose the being meant by “portal”?” he asked. “Do you suppose the Mound is being used as some sort of base for an alien invasion? Are these creatures some sort of spearhead, maybe.”
”Well, if they are, they’re taking a long time about it,” the Doctor replied. “There are stories of sightings of the fairy folk at the Mound for as long as records have been kept. What kind of alien invasion takes that long? Besides, I sensed no malice in their presence tonight. If anything, they were trying to warn us of something. No, that can’t be it.” He got up and started walking around. “Saoirse, remind us all of the legends of the Tuatha de Danaan again.”
“Well, they were the original inhabitants of Ireland,” she replied. “They came on ships that floated through the air” – the Colonel grunted here, it was obvious what he was thinking of – “and built the megalithic monuments. Years later, when Ireland was under attack by a pirate people called Formorians, they disappeared. According to legend, they made their escape through the sidhe mounds – fairy mounds – and went to Fairyland. But of course – that can’t possibly be true…..” her voice tailed off.
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Mademoiselle” said Francois. “Consider what we know about these monuments. There is virtually always a magnetic anomaly at stone circles. There is always the presence of quartz, which has peculiar electrical properties. And how often do legends tell us that something unusual happens at the full moon at these sites? I have already said that it might be possible to induce altered states of consciousness at these monuments. But perhaps more is involved. Perhaps at certain times, such as the full moon, a particular combination of electromagnetic and gravitational forces can open…”
“…A portal into another dimension!” the Doctor cried. “Of course, that’s it! The Mound is a portal! But not to an alien spacecraft, or another planet! At certain times, it opens up a gateway into another dimension, existing alongside our own, but not generally accessible. That’s what the Tuatha de Danaan passed through, all those many years ago, and what they occasionally slip through now, when the time is right. That’s why they said they couldn’t control the portal. There is no conscious control involved, it’s just that at certain times the veil between the worlds lifts, so to speak, and they can slip into our universe.”
“And presumably, we can also slip into theirs” Katsumi added.
“Yes. That would account for the supposed abductions, as well as for people returning after vast stretches of time, while thinking they’ve only spent a few days there. Along the other dimensions of time, the perception of the rate at which time passes will be different.” He turned to Francois. “How long have you known this?”
“I have not known it until now” the Professor replied. “I have only surmised it. But I am glad to see that you concur with me, Doctor. Perhaps you will concur with me on another matter too. According to legend, the Tuatha de Danaan were good beings, and your account of tonight bears that out. But consider this – if good beings can slip through the portal – what would stop an evil being from doing so too?”
