Andiba and the Four Slitheen (short story)

 was the twelfth short story in Time Lord Fairy Tales.

Publisher's summary
Out walking in the hills one day, a young woman called Andiba hides when she sees several strange creatures beside an odd metal craft. Can she stop their dastardly plans for the local distillery before it's too late?

Plot
Andiba lives in a remote town that is home to a winery and distillery. She works in a small bakery and is always happy to see Vash, the son of the winery's manager. Outside her job, Andiba goes for a walk in the valley beyond the town so she can hear the wind whistling and the birds singing.

One day, Andiba is walking through the valley when she hears some unusual voices. Sneaking through the trees, she comes across a strange silver building with four tall green creatures standing outside it. One of the creatures assures the others that the ship will be safe in its current location as they believe that no one ever ventures as far as its location, while another one assumes that even if someone did find it, they would assume it was merely a building that they cannot enter without the verbal code.

Andiba continues to listen to the creatures' conversation, and is horrified to overhear their plan to mine the madranite after they have destroyed the town where she lives. One of the Slitheen suggests that they continue their conversation inside their ship where their computer will have downloaded all data on the town so they can plan their attack on it. After one of them says "Open, six one three," the door opens and they make their way into the spaceship.

Andiba considers returning to the town so she can tell everyone about the Slitheen, but then decides to know more about the Slitheen's plan. So she quietly approaches the Slitheen's ship and says the verbal code that the Slitheen spoke to open the door. Once inside the ship, Andiba manages to find a room full of crates containing countless jewels. She then hears the Slitheen talking about the distillery that they wish to destroy so that the townsfolk cannot use the vinegar it produces to kill them.

The Slitheen only have one bodysuit, but the sight is enough to terrify Andiba who decides to leave the spaceship and get to the distillery. After saying the ship's verbal code to open the door she came through, Andiba rushes back to the distillery to tell the owner about the Slitheen and their plan to destroy the town. Unfortunately, the manager doesn't believe her and points her towards the main doors so she can leave.

A furious Andiba leaves the distillery and then bumps into Vash who sits down with her on a bench. The young girl explains to Vash about the Slitheen and their plan to destroy the town and Vash believes her. Just then, a cart carrying four wooden barrels pulls up and its driver steps off, allowing Andiba to recognize him as one of the Slitheen wearing the one skinsuit they have. The disguised Slitheen enters the distillery to talk to Vash's father about a new distilling process he claims to have developed.

Vash goes to his father's office to find out what is going on. Later, the disguised Slitheen returns to the cart and supervises a group of workmen who carry the barrels into the distillery before opening one of the barrels so he can show its contents to Vash and his father. Once the Slitheen has left, Vash returns to Andiba so he can tell her that he avoided the vinegar and that he claimed that the barrel contained the best wine that they will ever taste and that they shouldn't taste it until he returns.

Both Vash and Andiba decide to taste the wine. Vash recounts that his father thought there was something odd about the man who gave them his so-called wine. Once the workers have left the distillery for the day, Vash's father tastes the liquid in the barrels to find that it's merely water. Andiba tells him about the Slitheen's plan to infiltrate the distillery by hiding within the barrels.

After some discussion, Vash convinces his father that vinegar is the Slitheen's weakness. They attach a hose to the outlet atop one of the vats of vinegar before Vash's father opens one of the barrels, from which emerges a Slitheen who is soon destroyed after Vash sprays it with vinegar. The other two slitheen also emerge from their barrels and are killed by the vinegar. The trio realize that the last Slitheen will return to see if the plan to infiltrate the distillery has worked.

The next day, the disguised Slitheen returns to the distillery. Vash's father explains to the Slitheen that he had some new equipment delivered to the distillery and they have had to store it on top of the barrels that had been delivered the day before. Vash and Andiba give the Slitheen a wine bottle and a glass before telling him to drink their "wine" which has an unusual color. After a moment of hesitation, the Slitheen drinks the wine, only to find out with horror that he has actually drunken vinegar.

Once the last Slitheen is dead, Andiba is given a new job of coordinating the business strategy at the distillery. During this job, she soon falls in love with Vash and they soon share the jewels that were within the Slitheen's ship with the rest of the townsfolk. At Andiba and Vash's wedding, Vash's father serves his finest wines.

Characters

 * Andiba
 * Vash
 * Vash's father
 * Slitheen

Worldbuilding
to be added

Continuity
to be added