Chapter Seven

"Oh, you're a Fyeth! 'Course you are, should've known straightaway!" the Doctor exclaimed. They had walked in to see Gus moving slowly toward what looked like a tall human completely covered in silver fur. Grey, really, but silver's a nicer word, the Doctor thought.

"Lucky us that you have to rely on the power of persuasion or we'd never have caught up! Can't alarm the prey," he raised his eyebrows challengingly.

"Who are you?" the alien's voice was hoarse, as though he didn't use it often. He drifted curiously toward the Doctor, forgetting about Gus entirely.

"I know quite a bit about the Fyeth," the Doctor ignored the question, "I happen to know that Fyeths feed on each others' thoughts. They need to think to each other or starve. Whole society trusting each other implicitly in order to survive. Fantastic! But you're alone," the Doctor's voice grew hard, "and humans have latent psychic abilities at best. What's a poor Fyeth to do?"

Shawn edged quickly around the two aliens and rushed over to Gus. "Gus, snap out of it!" Shawn hissed. He smacked Gus's cheeks a few times.

"Shawn? W- weren't we just at the station?"

"Shh, I'll explain later, just be quiet and follow our lead."

"Our lead? What are you-" Shawn clamped a hand on Gus's mouth just before he screamed at the sight of the Fyeth.

"I think it's a brain-eating alien, but you're ok, this guy knows what he's doing," Shawn whispered reassuringly. Gus's eyes widened in frustrated skepticism.

"You understand then," the Fyeth rasped.

"Oh, I understand," the Doctor spat, "but I absolutely cannot allow it to continue."

"You would condemn me to death!" the Fyeth cried in despair.

"No! No I would not," the Doctor snarled, "though the families of the innocent people you've murdered might wish otherwise." The Doctor seemed overcome with a great weariness, but his eyes burned even brighter. "No, I'm going to make you an offer. Let me take you home. But if you stay here and continue what you've been doing, I'll have to stop you. I will stop you. Is that completely understood?"

The Fyeth shifted uncomfortably, Shawn almost thought ashamedly, and whispered, "You say you can take me home. But you are a mere human. How is that possible?"

"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I travel through all of time and space in a little blue box, and with me . . . anything is possible."