Author's Note: I'd planned for this to be the last chapter, but there were just too many loose ends to tie up to fit it all in so we will have one more, probably brief, chapter after this, which I hope to have up by Monday.
Rory and Amy clung to each other for several minutes, until the sound of a throat being cleared reminded them they weren't alone. Rory drew back reluctantly, not wanting to break contact with Amy. He settled for keeping one arm around her shoulder as they turned to face the Doctor, and felt a rush of pleasure when she snaked her arm around his waist, holding him close to her. The Time Lord's face was flushed and he was smiling nervously.
"So… you two are good then?" he asked. Rory glanced at Amy. She was grinning, her face pink and her eyes dancing. She nodded her agreement and he smiled before looking back to the Doctor.
"We are good," he announced, and the Doctor beamed, obviously delighted. Rory stared at him, sobering a little at the sight of the fading bruises on his face. He wanted to take a closer look at the Doctor so he started forward, bringing Amy with him. "You… you said the madness was over?" he asked, hoping to disguise his scrutiny with conversation. He reached the edge of the bed and noted with approval that the Time Lord's filthy bandages had been replaced with fresh squares of gauze.
"Yes," the Doctor replied, shifting a little on the bed. "Once they shut down the perception filter, everyone started returning to normal." Amy let go of Rory long enough to adjust the pillow behind the Doctor's back. He leaned into it with a sigh. He didn't seem to be hurting, but there were shadows under his eyes. Rory didn't want to keep him up for long, but he did have questions.
"What about Loora? Is she ok?" he asked, hoisting himself up to sit on the foot of the bed. Amy came to stand by him, leaning against the bed and claiming one of his hands.
"She's fine," she told him. "She and Roona don't like the ship so they're camping outside."
"And Noora?"
"She went with them," the Doctor said.
"She wanted to stay," Amy added, chuckling. "She finds the ship fascinating. She kept following Steed around, asking him questions." Rory nodded.
"So this is a… a space-ship?" he asked, looking around at the medical bay. It looked a lot like a hospital ward, except that the beds were attached to the floors and there were no windows.
"This is a scout ship," the Doctor said, his eyes lighting up. He launched himself into a detailed lecture about the model of ship, the standard crew complement, and the age of the vessel. Rory struggled to pay attention but it was too much information for his tired brain to process. He gathered that the ship was a scout vessel, sent out from a larger mining craft. This one was supposed to be surveying a planet near the outside of this solar system, but their navigational computer had malfunctioned.
"Why come here?" he asked, cutting off a more detailed description of the computer.
"This is the only planet in system with a breathable atmosphere." The voice came from behind him and Rory turned to see Raneri standing in the doorway. "We didn't trust the rest of our systems to stay up and running after the nav comp crashed," she continued, "so we decided we'd better land somewhere that wouldn't require life-support."
"Oh. That makes sense."
"It turned out to be a very good idea. No sooner did we get the nav system back up and running than another system went down. It's been one thing after another for the past two weeks."
"Why didn't you call for help?"
"The comm system is one of the ones that crashed. By the time we got it up and running, the command ship was out of communications range. They'll be back in range tomorrow, waiting for us to tell them we're ready to be collected." She cleared her throat, crossing the room to the bed and reaching for the cuff on the Doctor's arm. "I think we've had enough story-hour for one night."
"I'm fine," the Doctor said, sighing when she kept hold of his arm.
"You're mostly fine," retorted Raneri, staring down at the monitor. "You still need to rest."
"I've been resting…"
"Your friends need to rest too," she said, reaching for the pillow the Doctor was propped up against. Rory slipped off the bed as she lowered the Time Lord. She started to pull the blanket up around his shoulders and he huffed.
"You don't need to fuss." Rory tried, and failed, to stifle a yawn. Amy tugged on his hand.
"C'mon," she murmured. "I'll tuck you in." She pulled him around the end of the Doctor's bed and toward the gap in the curtains surrounding his own.
"You've got two minutes, Miss Pond," Raneri said, not turning away from the Doctor. "Remember, he's supposed to go to sleep." Rory felt his face warm and Amy giggled, pushing aside the curtain and pulling him toward his bed.
"Amy…"
"Ssh," she said, putting a finger over his lips. She moved in closer to him, sliding her arms up around his neck. When she kissed him, he forgot all about his embarrassment.
Despite Amy's two (and a half) minute goodnight, Rory had no trouble dropping off to sleep once he climbed into bed. When he woke up, the lights in the medical bay were brighter and he could smell food. He wanted to follow the delicious aromas of bacon and eggs but there was another, more pressing matter he needed to attend to first. He sat up, wondering where he might find the loo, and the curtain surrounding his bed was pulled aside. Raneri stood there, holding a stack of folded clothing.
"Got your clothes," she said brightly. "Breakfast's on in the cafeteria. Are you hungry?"
"Yes," Rory said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "I… uh…"
"Head's down past the last bed," Raneri told him, passing him the clothing. "To get to the cafeteria, make a left out the door. It'll be the third door on the left. You won't miss it – we're a noisy bunch at meal time." Rory thanked her and headed down the medical bay toward the bathroom. All the other beds were empty and he wondered how late he'd slept.
The cafeteria was easy to find. Raneri hadn't been exaggerating about the noise. When Rory stepped in the room he saw the place contained one long table, with benches on either side. The benches were full, with a dozen crew members as well as the Doctor, Amy, and the three Mullette women. Amy and the Doctor looked up at his entry, waving him toward a spot on the end of the bench beside Amy. Noora, Loora, and Roona were across from them but they were too engaged with each other to notice his arrival. They weren't speaking, but their gestures and expressions made it clear they were carrying on a telepathic conversation.
Rory was almost to the table when he realized he had no idea what the Mullettes were discussing. His steps faltered as he tried to reach out to them. His efforts produced no results; the only thoughts in his head were his own. He continued to the table, feeling a mixture of relief and disappointment.
"Something wrong, Rory?" asked the Doctor.
"I… I'm not telepathic anymore." Rory dropped on to the bench next to Amy.
"Isn't that a good thing?" she asked. The Doctor nudged her and she looked up at the Mullettes, her face flushing. "No offense."
"None taken," Noora replied, smiling.
"It's not bad," Rory said. "It's just… sudden."
"You became telepathic rather suddenly too," the Doctor pointed out. He looked like he wanted to say something else but a loud voice from the other end of the table made everyone turn in that direction.
"We have to tell the company what happened here," Steed was saying. "They have to know that this perception filter is dangerous for telepaths."
"But if we tell them, we have to admit we violated the level 4 restrictions," objected another man. He had one arm in a sling and Rory guessed he must be the man Loora shot.
"I don't see how we can avoid that, Guss," said Raneri. "Steed's right – this p.f. has to be removed from use."
"But it's not just us getting in trouble," Guss pointed out. "The… visitors did too." He waved his good hand toward their end of table.
"What happens if they find out about us?" Amy asked.
"Regulations state that if we find someone violating the restrictions, we hold them until they can be turned over to the proper authorities," Steed said.
"We can't do that," objected Raneri. "They didn't do any harm; if it weren't for them we wouldn't have found out about the filter."
"Raneri's right. We can't detain them."
"We have a… vehicle," Rory said, glancing at the Doctor. The Time Lord nodded.
"My ship is about a day and a half's walk from here," he confirmed.
"We can't wait that long to call in," Guss complained. "Command's going to be in range in a few hours and expecting to hear from us."
"We'll use the ground vehicle to return you to your ship," Steed said, "but you'll have to lie low there. Command will see you on their scanners if you try to leave the planet."
"That won't be a problem," replied the Doctor, looking amused.
"This is never going to work. How can we explain figuring out that the perception filter was causing the natives problems without mentioning them?" demanded Guss.
"I think we can come up with a story to cover that," Raneri told him.
"And my arm? We're going to have to admit to leaving the ship."
"If all you're worried about is who takes the blame, put it on me," Steed snapped. "I'm the one who led us out in the first place." He glared at the other man and Guss glared back. Commander Kelly cleared her throat, waiting until all eyes were on her before speaking.
"I thank you for your offer, Mr. Steed, but as commander of this ship, final responsibility rests with me," she said. "I believe we can make a plausible explanation to command without including the involvement of Amy, Rory, and the Doctor. That is what I intend to do." There were murmurs amongst the crew but one by one, they nodded their agreement. Guss was the last to consent.
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