CHOChapter5

Rose showed River around Lourdes. As she did, she felt Lourdes' unmistakable approval. "She likes you," Rose smiled as she told River, who thoughtfully stroked a strut.

"She's a lovely ship," River smiled. "Would you like a tour of her mother? There's something there I think you should see."

"I already was inside her, I saw the console room and the med bay," Rose shrugged. "She's quite beautiful, I like the way she looks now."

"But there is something else you should see," River gently insisted. "Come on."

"But I don't think the Doctor particularly wants to see me." Rose said doubtfully.

"Oh, don't let him concern you," River said dismissively. "He's probably buried in some book in the library. That's what he does when he's agitated and there's nothing to repair."

As they walked over to the TARDIS they saw the others building a campfire. The Doctor was notable by his absence, and Jon was engaged with Jack in a discussion of the proper configuration of the firewood. None of them took notice of the two women. They entered the TARDIS and sure enough, there was no sign of the Doctor. Rose followed as River walked up the other set of stairs that led away from the console room, and down a passageway. There, much to Rose's surprise, was a door, right where it should be, with the familiar inscription, 'Rose'. She stood and stared at it.

"Go on, go in," urged River.

As if everything were happening in slow motion, Rose found herself reaching for the door handle, twisting it, feeling the latch release, and opening the door to her room. Her room. She felt one corner of her mouth turn up in a wry smile. It was the room of a typical young adult female human. A bit slovenly, but not too much so. Everything was just as she'd left it.

"Even after all this time, he could never bring himself to jettison it," River observed.

Rose saw one of her backpacks sitting on the floor, and she walked over and picked it up, stuffing some pictures of her Mum, a bottle of her favorite perfume, and other mementos of her former life inside it. She looked around one more time, then they left the room. Closing the door, she said to River, "Tell him to let it go. There's no reason to keep any of it anymore. And thank you, River." With that, she left the TARDIS. River watched her leave, then turned and went into her own room for the night.

On her way back to Lourdes, Rose paused. Jon, Jack, Amy, and Rory were sitting around the fire toasting marshmallows and talking in low tones. As she approached them, she was amused to find Jack was telling a ghost story. It brought back bittersweet memories of time as a kid once spent at church summer camp. She knelt next to Jon and whispered in his ear,

"I'm ready to go when you are."

Jon whispered back, "Why don't you sit down? We're making s'mores. We can leave anytime."

She sighed. She really wasn't in the mood for this, but... "Oh, alright."

Jack finished his story with a creepy florish, and everyone jumped, even Rose.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Amy exclaimed. "I've got fireworks!"

"Fireworks? That's brilliant! Where'd you get them?" Jon asked.

As Amy took her package out, she said, "A woman at market gave them to me, She said they were free because I have red hair." She giggled as she threw the package on the fire. Even as she did so, a memory surfaced in Jon's mind.

"AMY, NOooo...!"

The package hit the flames even as Jon's cry echoed through the woods. It burst into a spectacular display of lights, which sparkled as they settled upon the campers. They settled first on Rose, then one by one, Rose, Jon, and Jack suddenly slumped, out cold. Amy and Rory stared at each other, then rushed to try to wake them. Frantically they first patted them, then shook them, then slapped them, to no avail.

"Amy, go get the Doctor!" Rory urged.

Amy ran into the TARDIS. "DOCTOR!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "DOCTOR!"

The Doctor emerged from the passageway leading to the library. "What is it, Pond?" he asked, rather impatiently.

"Something's happened to Jon and Jack and Rose, they've passed out and we can't wake them!"

A frown of concern replaced the impatient one he'd been wearing. "Tell me exactly what happened!" he ordered as he stepped up his pace and followed Amy out the door.

"I just threw a package of fireworks on the fire, these lovely lights burst all over, then when they settled, they all passed out."

"Where did you get the fireworks from?" the Doctor asked as they hurried over to the prone victims.

"A lady at market gave them to me."

"Gave them to you?" This immediately gave him alarm, no one on Shen Shan gave anything away.

"Yeah, she said it was free because I have red hair."

The Doctor was aghast at this. "Oh no, Amy, oh no, no, no... you should never take anything from strangers, didn't your parents ever tell you that?" By this time they had reached them and Amy stopped, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, glaring at him.

The Doctor quickly scanned Rose's limp form, looked in her eyes, and felt her pulses, then moved onto the others. He finally stood up and sighed.

"Doctor, what's wrong with them?" Amy asked anxiously, peering around his shoulder to get a better look at the readings from his sonic.

"Amy, do you remember the Psychic Pollen from the Candle Meadows of Karass Don Slava?"

"You meant the stuff that gave us those horrible dreams with the Dream Lord?" Amy asked.

"Exactly! The stuff that market lady gave you, Amy, is very similar. They're dreaming. We won't be able to wake them up, they're going to have to find their way out by themselves. We can take them on board the TARDIS and make them more comfortable, however."

"But why aren't we affected, Doctor?" Rory frowned.

"You're immune. We conquered the original pollen, so this stuff has no hold over you."

"I don't understand, do they do this to all strangers?" Amy asked.

"No." the Doctor said darkly. "They don't. This was no chance encounter. Whoever did this knew you were with me. We should get them aboard the TARDIS as soon as possible!"

Amy stood guard as one by one, the Doctor and Rory picked the sleeping victims up and carried them into the TARDIS med bay.

"Now," he announced, "we wait."