First Contact

Chapter 10


Just before the tour of Pixie Hollow was set to begin the four Starfleet officers noticed something amiss. The fairy creatures were beginning to panic. They scattered, their frightened jingles sounding like terrified screaming to Picard and his officers.

"What is it?" Picard asked Dr. Lizzy Griffiths. "What has frightened them so?"

An ear piercing screech caught their attention. Elizabeth looked up and pointed. "The hawk!"

High in the clear sky was a hawk. It circled briefly before diving on prey.

"It's going to kill one of the fairies," Dr. Griffiths said as she ran off. "Away! Away!" she yelled while waving her hands.

Picard recognized that she was trying to drive away the huge predator before it could snatch up and eat one of the fairies.

"We can't let these magnificent creatures die," Beverly announced.

"Agreed, Doctor," Picard said. "Data, Mr. LaForge, suggestions."

Data took his tricorder and quickly offered that it could be adjusted to emit a sound which would cause the predator mild distress in its inner ear, driving it away without causing it any harm. Picard approved. Data's hands flew with a blur making the adjustments to his tricorder. In less than two seconds it was ready and began to emit a frequency that only the hawk or other birds could hear. Data was careful to direct the high frequency beam towards the diving predator. The hawk, which had a fairy inches from its claws, suddenly turned, screeching in pain. It flew off and as far away and as fast as its wings could take it.

Satisfied, Data reset his tricorder to its default state and returned it to its holster. He was about to take a step when the purple clad fairy flew up into his face and jingled angrily at him.

"What got into her?" Geordi asked. "You would think she would be grateful."

The purple clad fairy, which Dr. Griffiths had earlier identified as Vidia, then swept down to the ground and to the side of another of the winged creatures. This one was lying on the ground, curled up in the fetal position. Her hands covered her ears.

Without a word Dr. Crusher carefully crouched next to the fallen fairy and waved her medical tricorder over her. "Doctor, what happened?" Picard asked.

"I'm not certain," she answered. Just as before there were no readings except when the little fairies utilized their dust.

Dr. Griffiths returned and upon seeing what had happened ran to the scene. Several other fairies, including Tinker Bell gathered around the fallen female. Lizzy spoke to them and Tinker Bell jingled back. "She heard an ear splitting sound," Dr. Griffiths translated. "She was in so much pain."

Queen Clarion arrived and heard Lizzy's explanation. Picard had to confess how the sound was created.

"It was intended only to drive away the predator," he said calmly. "Our apologies, we had no idea it was possible to cause pain to one of your own in this manner."

"Why this one and not others?" Crusher asked.

Elizabeth Griffiths explained that Fawn was an animal talent fairy. She could converse with the animals directly. "All animal talents can speak fluently, hear and understand every animal spoken by each animal species on Never Land. That sound you made drove away the hawk, but it also caused pain to any animal fairy that heard it."

Data knelt down and looked at the tiny fairy. She was dressed in oranges and browns. Her skin tone was consistent with humans of Latin American nations. Her dark brown hair was long and braided almost to its tip.

"Fawn," Data said, addressing the animal fairy. "My apologies. I am unfamiliar with fairy physiology and was not aware that this specific audio wavelength would cause discomfort to the unique members of your species."

Fawn and the others who had gathered around her stopped cold and stared at Data, their faces conveying total confusion. Dr. Griffiths translated. "He's sorry for making your ears hurt."

The animal fairy jingled. "Apology accepted," Lizzy said.

Moments later the little animal talent was on her feet and feeling better. The ringing in her ears had stopped. Queen Clarion descended and offered her thanks for rescuing her people from the hawk. The predatory bird had killed thousands of her subjects over the centuries. "We've been able to drive it away by pelting it with pebbles, berries and nuts, but only after it has descended into Pixie Hollow and threatened our populace. Never has there been such a method of repelling it during or even before it attacks."

Picard smiled. This act of kindness had helped to encourage the very bonds of trust he needed to accomplish his diplomatic mission. Immediately the tour of Pixie Hollow began.

~O~

Queen Clarion began her tour of Pixie Hollow with Springtime Square and its component fields and orchards. This included a forest of Cherry Blossoms in full bloom. Then there were fruit bearing plants which were at the flowering stage. They had the most fragrant and colorful flowers. Finally was the staging area where the fairies gathered to take spring to the mainland. The trees and grasses in this area were particularly green and vibrant.

The fauna of the area was also amazing, with newly hatched or born forest animals found here. For Picard and his away team it was like witnessing an earthly paradise. Everything was fresh and new.

Quite a few fairies lived here. Some were tucked away in tree trunks, some inside of the flowers, a few even made their homes in hovels built out of the dirt. Nearby was Tinker's Nook. A place where the famed Tinker Bell lived with the others of her guild. Their homes were built from sticks, twigs, vines and leaves tied together into tiny houses.

These domiciles were far too small for any human to see inside of, however Data was able to use his tricorder and arrive at an approximation of what was found inside these Tinker homes.

Geordi looked over the analysis and smiled. "They're like engineers," he said. "Tools, drafting tables and paper. It's what I would use in a preindustrial society."

Picard nodded in agreement. The tinkers were indeed like engineers. A plump woman in green approached the small group of four humans. Tinker Bell and Queen Clarion spoke with her. This little woman was Fairy Mary. She was the overseer of the tinker guild. When Dr. Elizabeth Griffiths explained what that meant, Picard compared it to a department head on his starship.


From the spring season the tour moved into the Summer Glade. Here were some of the most glorious flower gardens Dr. Crusher had ever seen. A fairy in a pink dress with shoulder length brown hair greeted the queen and her guests. Several more such fairies arrived and zoomed off in formation. They flew over the flower beds and as if on command the flowers opened revealing their delirious, colorful majesty.

Picard, Crusher and Geordi were floored by this dazzling sight. It was as if the fairies could make the flower petals open and close at will. Then another garden fairy showed Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard a flower with white petals. "Now watch this," she jingled.

The little fairy took a bag with what Lizzy described as being similar to dry paint. The garden fairy dipped a brush into it and carefully spread it onto the petals giving them their color.

"Fantastic," Dr. Crusher gasped.

"That's not all," Lizzy told them. Further down the path was Butterfly Cove, where all the butterflies lived and nested. Thousands of the winged creatures flitted about in the air in such a marvelous display. Even the butterfly that Dr. Crusher had identified earlier as being extinct was found her in numbers. "Come with me."

Dr. Griffiths took them aside to a place where several fairies in oranges and browns were gathered. This included the little fairy with the long braid. Fawn introduced herself properly and showed them a tree where several newly emerged butterflies were sitting. Like the flower petals, their wings were white.

Fawn and the other animal talents used palettes with wet pigments to apply hues to the wings of the butterflies. This was just as, if not more astonishing than what the garden talents did with the flowers. The three humans and the android watched as the little fairies meticulously applied those pigments into the proper designs humans had recognized for ages.

"Captain," Data inserted quietly, "this does not conform to any known scientific fact. Flora and fauna have been directly examined for centuries and there has been no indication that any such outside presence was necessary for procreation or coloration."

"I'm quite aware of that Mr. Data," Picard replied. In his mind, Picard viewed what he was seeing as proof positive that this was all an elaborate illusion. Everything they witnessed ran counter to all that they knew about life on planet Earth. The tour continued, but now more than ever Picard was specifically looking for flaws that would expose this place for what it was. Artifice, pure and simple.


Thank you for your patience. I hope you have enjoyed this new chapter. The Winter Woods and Lord Milori should appear in the upcoming chapter. Stay tuned.