May Day
If you've ever been to Ireland, then you know how beautiful it is there. The mist that comes off the surface of the water and after the rain sets a mood that is quite indescribable. The 'forty shades of green' are like looking at a paint palette, all so vivid and bright. When we stepped out of the TARDIS onto the soft green grass on the outskirts of Cork, my breath was taken away. I felt like throwing off my shoes and running forever through the uncut grass of the countryside, letting the sweet wind, scented by the heather, blow through my hair. I was thinking about how free it was there, how peaceful I felt, when all of a sudden, a woman with curly hair approached us.
"Hello sweetie," the woman said to the Doctor, "How have you been keeping?"
"Doctor?" I said with confusion.
"River! This is my…" He hesitated, "This is my friend, Tara. Tara, this," he paused to look into her eyes with a strange familiarity, "is Dr. River Song."
"Professor of archeology. Pleasure to meet you," she held out her hand as if I was supposed to want to shake it. I didn't.
"Yeah, okay, so Doctor," I started anxiously, "Weren't we just about to leave?"
"What? Oh yeah, well, no. I mean yes, but," he softened, "we can stay."
"Are you sure? I don't want to hold you back sweetie, I would hate for that."
"Well…" the Doctor hesitated.
"However, I've been getting readings of extremely advanced alien tech that I've never seen or heard of before. Perhaps its nothing, but if it is…" River seemed to be seducing him with adventurous notions.
"Ah! New alien tech! I'm on it!"
The Doctor seemed oddly happy to hear about this, and to see this strange woman. I was a little uncomfortable with the whole thing.
"So where are we off to River?" the Doctor asked River.
"Well, there's this fishing town off the coast of Ireland. Ballycotton, near here actually. I was visiting some old friends there on vacation in 2976, April or May. That's where I first detected something weird. Then I traced your TARDIS to here."
"You can trace the location of my TARDIS?" He seemed confused and happily surprised.
"Of course! It's the only TARDIS in the universe; it's easy to narrow the scan for alien tech to the specifications of a TARDIS. Then when I receive a signal, its safe to assume it's you, because who else could it possibly be?"
"Oh," he dragged out the sound, seemingly pensive. "Well let's go!"
We all trekked together back to the TARDIS, and through it's little door which I had just stepped so excitedly out of, and started the trip through time to Ballycotton.
When we stepped out of the TARDIS for the second time in Ireland, I noticed a change. It definitely wasn't 1876 anymore. The town of Cork seemed to reach the heavens with their buildings and even their vehicles, which I don't think I could even call cars anymore. Ballycotton, which is where the trouble seemed to be, was still small compared to Cork. There was just a huge fishery now, but it seemed much more mechanical and industrialized than way back in the 19th century. There were no fishermen, and I wondered if maybe the sport of fishing had all but died.
Tara, we are definitely not in Kansas anymore, I thought to myself.
"Well this looks bleak," the Doctor started, River cut him off.
"Actually, this is probably the cleanest and quaintest you'll find in this era. Anywhere!"
"Well I'm glad I won't be alive to see it!" I started, but I realized, I'm seeing it now. I'm living it now. I'm here, in the future, now. This time travelling thing will take some getting used to.
"You seem to be seeing it now my dear," River teased.
"Right, well let's get to it then, shall we? Where did the trouble seem to be coming from?" the Doctor started, he picked up a newspaper that had evidently blown from within the town. "April 29th, 2976. It's almost May Day! Oh goody!" He seemed quite excited, a little too excited…
"Doctor? What's May Day?" I asked.
"'What's May Day?' You must be kidding." He turned to River, "She's kidding right?" Then to me again, tentatively he said, "You're not kidding are you. What do they teach in your silly schools nowadays?" He seemed exasperated now.
"Nothing." I shrugged.
"May Day," River began, "is the first day of every may, on which there are festivities including a May pole dance, with ribbons and circles, yadda yadda. It makes the Doctor here quite dizzy," she smiled flirtatiously at the Doctor.
"Hey, this is interesting," the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at something. River and I rushed over to see what it was he could possibly find interesting here.
"Mmm, yes. Delfoy Gel. From the Mancha Islands of Treglar. Now how did this get here?" The clever Doctor seemed at a complete loss.
Then River chimed in, "Ah, of course. Treglar." Then to me she explained, "One of the oldest and most rapidly advancing planets in the universe. No wonder I didn't recognize the signal. It must be new since the last time I encountered them. The Bosheen. Fascinating race."
"Bosheen." I pondered that for a while. It was still new to me that there was life outside the earth.
"Yes, Bosheen." River confirmed, "from Treglar."
"Mmm, Treglar," the Doctor chimed in. "And the Delfoy Gel." Still playing with the screwdriver.
"Delfoy gel." I wondered what in the world this was.
"Delfoy gel. The Bosheen's residue. Like snails." River clarified.
"Snails?" I hate snails.
"Good way to describe it River, I like that. Bosheen, like snails." The Doctor commented.
"So basically, we know that there are some alien snails here who leave behind this… stuff, and are… here." I said dumbly.
"Yep." He dragged out the yeeee sound so that it sounded more like eeeyep.
"But why are they here?" River chimed in.
"I don't know." He seemed deep in thought. Then he leaped up excitedly and announced, "Let's go find out!"