7 He reached down, unwrapped the creature from
the Doctor's boot, and let it curl around his arm. "They visit all the
time," he explained. "For some reason they like us, I don't know why.
You get kind of used to them after a while. "
8 North stepped into the beam and rode it up. He waited for
tbe others on the platform then was ceremonially brought aboard.
9 They ate in a very large conference room and their host stared at the
Doctor endlessly, even though several beautiful women served the table.
Then a thought struck North. "Old exploration ships," he remarked,
"didn't have women!"
10 "I wondered," laughed his host, "how long it would be before you
realized that! Come here, my dear." One of the women came over to the
Commander. "Would you be so kind, my dear," he continued, "as to show
the General your heart?"
11 The woman put down her tray, lifted her blouse, and opened her
chest. Through a maze of wires and cables North could see a pulsing
light.
12 "We got lonely," the Commander explained, "for female companionship.
The Engineer built these, one for each of us. I'm afraid we kind of
think of them as real. The Doctor is the first real woman we have seen
in thousands of years! I hope she doesn't find our behavior offensive!"
13 "Of course not!" the Doctor assured. "I understand perfectly."
14 North looked at his watch. "Well, we have to go," he announced,
"we've got a ship with problems up there, you know."
15 The strange Commander looked terrified. "Yes," he pleaded, "I
understand, but you are coming back, aren't you? You're not going to
leave us, you are going to take us home? We've waited so long….so very
long!