Chapter Three - Daisies

Amy and Rory

"It's a lovely… town here." Rory said loudly as the Tellexian pointed out different mounds of sand. Amy laughed quietly. He nodded at everything he was shown and gave a few well placed mhmms and ahhhs, wanting to be polite but not understanding anything that was happening. It was a large colony but there wasn't a great deal to see. The moon's surface was grey sand and the buildings were just small hobbit mounds. Where the daisies came from was a complete mystery. There were no clouds in the sky or obvious landmarks except for a huge, sheer sand bank. It reminded him of the cliffs of Dover, but really smooth. For a race that communicated through body language, there wasn't much of it. They needed a game of charades to understand what was in each mound. The Tellexian seemed quite pleased with her performance, closing her eyes and cocking her head every now and again, explaining at great length which piece of sand it was they were looking at. Of all the places and people they had seen, Rory felt this was the strangest. Following a praying mantis around a desert pretending to talk to it.

Amy whispered to Rory, mimicking him, "It's a lovely town here."

"Shut up, this is so awkward."

"Why do they give tours? She's just pointing at sand."

"Stop being so Scottish, she's trying to make us feel welcome."

As they began to draw closer to the sand bank both Amy and Rory spotted a large tatty sheet that badly concealed a cave entrance, the Tellexian sped up. There was a warmth emanating from the cave and the sheet swayed ever so slightly in gentle breeze. "What's in there?" Rory pointed and looked up at his insect tour guide. She snapped loudly and kept walking. It was quite literally the only thing to look at on the tour. Amy glanced at Rory before speaking, "Are you frightened of it?" she reached for the sheet, trying to gauge her reaction. The Tellexian snapped her mandibles in Amy's face and flexed her wings. "Alright, alright, message understood, don't look behind the curtain." Both Amy and Rory knew that at some point, they'd find themselves behind said curtain.

Rory spoke up, trying to break the tension. "Erm, so, where do you get the daisies?" He shook his wrist, showing her the daisy chain. With a few happy clicks, she lowered her wings and scuttled over a few dunes. Rory touched Amy's arm, "definitely mentioning the secret curtain to the Doctor." Amy nodded in response. They arrived at another indistinguishable mound with the same round opening. Rory was waved inside. Amy stepped forwards to follow but the Tellexian placed a claw on her shoulder to stop her.

"Why can't I go in?" she frowned, folding her arms. Still clicking softly, the tour guide reached under her wing and pulled out what looked like a small taser. She pointed it at Amy with one claw and pressed a button with the other. Before she had a chance to react, Amy was engulfed in a blue-ish glow. She felt as though she was being sucked into the device by the strange light, her panic seeped away almost as soon as it rose. Almost immediately, the sands and the sky dulled into nothing and Amy was left in darkness.

The Doctor

The surface colony may have been quiet, but inside it was bustling. The visitors' centre couldn't have been further from natural habitat of the Tellexians. It had been designed to meet any and all needs of the many species that visited the moon as a stop off point to Kellek. It was clean and white like a hospital, but everybody inside was smiling and chatting. An Ood bowed his head and handed the Doctor a drink as he headed to the centre of the room. He thanked the Ood and searched for a native to test the device he had been repairing. The Tellexians were perfect for it. Just the right size, just the right shape and just far enough away from looking human. He couldn't think of anybody with such a similar general appearance to the original owner.

"Hello," he approached a small group of male Tellexians. "I'm the Doctor, I was wondering if I might borrow one of you to perform a final test on one of my gadgets." The males looked at each other, clacking, then nodded. "Perfect, thanks. It's a perception filter that should make you appear human, even to each other." He smiled, excited to bring the repairs to their conclusion. His smile faded as he looked back at the Tellexians, they were all shaking their heads and backing away from him. "It won't hurt, I promise." They continued to shake their heads and dispersed. The Doctor frowned, confused. It was unheard of. Tellexians were the most accommodating race known to the universe. It was like a Dalek offering him a cup of tea. Without poison. He approached another and received the same strange response. Something was amiss. Feeling uneasy, the Doctor sipped his drink and casually left the centre. Why would the Tellexians have an issue with a perception filter?

Amy and Rory

Rory was suitably impressed with the inside of the daisy mound. Grass grew in a perfect circle and daisies sprouted in a perfect blanket. The only sunlight came from the small doorway, it was only just enough to see by. Growing anything in these conditions couldn't have been an easy feat. He stepped back outside, wearing his best wow face for the Tellexian. "Amy, you have to see that, its pretty cool." His wife was standing exactly where he left her with their tour guide. Amy went inside and came out beaming, just like Rory had.

"How do they get them to grow in there?" she asked as she came out.

The Tellexian closed her eyes and bowed before scuttling into a nearby hobbit hole. The tour was apparently over. Amy and Rory stood alone in the desert, no idea what was what. Rory tutted. Amy smiled at her husband and looked away. Just for a second, her eyes shone with an eerie green light.