18th April 1888

Vastra had insisted on Jenny resting for the remainder of the day, curling up beside her most of the time, attempting to sleep. The image of the countdown imprinted on Jenny's neck kept returning to the front of her mind. Eventually, so as not to disturb Jenny, who was snoring lightly, Vastra got up and asked Mrs Jenkins for a horse. She received a few stares when, instead of hitching a cart to the cob she was given, she mounted and rode away down the street.

By horse it was only half an hour or so and navigating the uneven path on horseback required her attention. Enough to distract her from distressing visions and thoughts. She looped the reins over a low hanging tree branch and left the horse sedately cropping as she once again approached the pool. It seemed just as gloomy during the day as it had at night. But no foliage rustled to indicate any presence other than her own. The only sign of unnaturalness was the spaceship, still half sunk into the ground. She examined the trees around and found only faint traces of damage. The aliens must've been here for a while. She hadn't recognised them and they hadn't introduced themselves. The Doctor no doubt would've known them. She wished her old friend were here. It was still April and Jenny had nearly died, right in front of her and she'd been powerless to stop it.

She circled the protruding stern and found a small circular door still open. She ducked in and found cramped quarters, pull down bare beds. The rough conditions indicated it was no cruise ship. Transport or cargo? She wondered. Or perhaps even exploration. Although they seemed a bit murderous for peacefully exploring the galaxy. An invasion force would hardly crash land. She moved further down, bracing herself against sliding all the way. The technology was advanced, even by Silurian standards. She ran her fingers over the patches and bodged repair jobs as she made her way down to the bridge.

She lit a lamp as she descended past the point where light found its way in but lights flickered on, shining dimly as she walked past. Most of the technology seemed to be dormant. The lights gave her hope of finding the cause of Mari's slumber still active somewhere on the ship. Vastra assumed some sort of back-up power or generator was still operating.

The bridge door had been jimmied open, probably to escape after the initial crash. None of the consoles were usable. It was understandable why they had accepted so easily "Me"'s offer of a new home, hidden from humanity. How long had they been here, desperately attempting to get home, knowing that it would be impossible? She couldn't forgive them for threatening to kill Jenny, but she felt no small amount of empathy at being trapped on a world with no prospect of getting home, unable to build a new one due to the violence of apes against anyone who didn't look like them.

She cursed loudly as she tore her dress climbing back through to the main body of the ship. There were no obvious devices, flashing or generally looking ominous that she could see. The only other option was to find the power source and turn it off. There'd been a promising looking trap door half way through the body of the ship that looked like it could lead to some engineering compartment. Vastra heartily wished she could wear her bank robbing cat suit. Or even her Silurian warrior garb. Still, she tugged the trap door open and peered down into the darkness. The first few rungs of a ladder were visible. She propped the trap door open and descended, lamp in mouth, hissing at the sensation. As she climbed down, lights came on as before to reveal a large hold. Most of the barrels and containers were empty. The ones that remained held parcels labelled in a strange language. She cautiously opened one but it seemed to be nothing but a sort of food pellet. An exploratory ship then.

Towards the back of the hold there was a door, warped in its frame, surrounded by pipes leading away from it. Vastra put her hand on it and was surprised to feel warmth beneath her hand. The rest of the ship had been cold and clammy. She tugged at the handle and managed to jerk the door open wide enough to let her see into the room beyond.

It was small and circular, filled with a complex network of pipes and the occasional bare wire. Heat leaked out through the gap in the door and a miasma floated up above, fed by small emanations from cracks in the pipes. They all led to a small cylinder set into an alcove in the wall. It didn't glow or belch smoke. It didn't even have a faint rainbow of an oily sheen. It was the dull grey of useful metal and that was all.

Vastra edged a shoulder into the small opening and shoved hard, bracing herself on the door frame. After a few moments of straining, the door grated open a few more inches. With her dress on, getting through was an impossibility, but there wasn't an abundance of people round to observe her without it on. She stripped down to her shift and slid through the gap. Careful not to brush against any of the loose wires hanging down, she made her way over to the cylinder.

There wasn't an obvious off switch, or a specific pipe that looked like a primary power supply. The pipes were welded on. Vastra gingerly brushed a fingertip against one. It was hot, as she'd expected. She was confused. This was clearly some kind of power source and it was still working, so why hadn't they been able to fly? The aliens had wanted her to fix their ship, despite their lack of hope in it. Were they overlooking something obvious? After the length of time they'd been here, they surely must've explored every possibility. She didn't want to break the system, not if there was a chance for them to take their ship and repair it elsewhere and get home.

Vastra traced some of the pipes to another trap door, circular, not unlike a manhole cover, leading further down into the depths of the ship. After considering it for a moment, Vastra tugged at its handle and nearly fell head first, it had slid to one side so easily. A second ladder descended into darkness. Biting down on the lamp's handle once more, she climbed down. Lights failed to flicker on and she had to use her lamp to look around at…

"Stasis pods." Vastra breathed. "Of course." Each unit was empty but around the chamber were a few scattered boxes filled with small vials and pill bottles. Clearly, it was drugs that induced the sleep state, the pods merely providing a place of rest and monitoring. She examined the vials and bottles. "But which did they give to Mari? And how much…" The aliens had said Mari would wake when they left, that they'd been keeping her asleep through herbs alone. Vastra had thought there must be a device, something on the ship or in Mari's room that was keeping something going, to consistently administer the drug, but they'd found nothing in either place. If the girl was asleep merely because the sheer amount she'd been given in one go, then there was no telling how much longer she'd sleep for.

"With no ability to know when they were going to leave, I must conclude the sleep state is permanent, reversed only by the administering of another drug. But is the 'herb' in the pill or the liquid. It would've been nice if they'd told us before going off with "Me"." Vastra sighed. There was one way to test it, but she doubted Jenny would be very happy. Or convinced.

19th April 1888

"You are not takin' one of them things just to see which one it is. You don't know whether it's either of 'em keepin' her asleep!" It was the following morning, Jenny was sat up in bed and not happy. "Sides, you're a Silurian. Might not work either way. Diff'rent bodies."

"It seems to be effective across species." Vastra pointed out.

"No."

"Well we can't just inject her with both. Another dose might send her into a deeper sleep or even kill her. We can't even accurately monitor what the "herb" has already done."

"I doubt Mr and Mrs Jenkins would like if we kidnapped their daughter to put her in an alien stasis pod. They might get alarmed." Jenny could see the next thought Vastra was having. "Don't it say on the bottles? On our medicines, it has labels saying what's in it and how to take it."

"I'm sure it does, if I could read Alien-ese." Vastra handed her a pill bottle, where there was indeed small neat lettering in an undecipherable language.

"Should've got 'em to tell us how to lift it before they went off with Bird Girl." Jenny sighed and handed it back. "I could…"

"Oh, if I'm not taking it, you're certainly not." Vastra held the pill bottle away from Jenny. "You're ill."

"I'm recoverin'." Jenny snarled back.

Vastra was about to reply but the pill bottle being snatched from her outstretched hand distracted her. She turned to see Peggy, backing towards the doorway.

"No!" Jenny cried out.

"I c'n take it. I ain't got nuffin' to lose and nobody to lose me. 'Sides, I owe you a debt." Peggy muttered, before tipping one of the pills into her mouth.

"Peggy!" Jenny leapt out of bed and rushed over to the ex-rat speaker.

"Remember, Mari was able to walk all the way back down the mountain before she sank into her sleep." Vastra pointed out, as Peggy assured Jenny she didn't feel any different.

"So…" Jenny was breathing heavily. "So, we monitor her." She grabbed Peggy by the shoulder and dragged her over to the bed. "You don't leave. You don't touch anything. You don't do anything."

"You gave me my life remember." Peggy said in a small voice.

"And I didn't do that so as you could go throw it away at the first available opportunity!"

"Jenny…" Vastra laid a hand on her arm.

"Just…just rest." Jenny allowed Vastra to pull her away from the bed and out the door. "What?" she asked Vastra eventually.

"I understand your protectiveness…"

"Oh, so you're fine with her taking it, just not me." Jenny folded her arms. "Is this that I'm an exception to the rule stuff again? Happy to risk everyone else's life but mine? You don't understand my protectiveness at all!"

"Peggy is trying to be useful. Trying to prove her worthiness."

"She don't have to do that."

"Whether she does or not is irrelevant, that's what she's trying to do. And you getting angry at her devalues her attempt, whether it's necessary or not. Whether we approve of it or not. It is, after all, her life. You gave it to her. Allow her the grace of making her own choices with it."

"And if those choices result in her dyin'?!" Jenny hissed angrily. "The Doctor told me if I save someone's life I'm responsible for it."

"Making someone feel useless and worthless is hardly being responsible."

"I brought her up here. She's helpin' out. What more does she want?"

"To return the favour." When Jenny didn't look convinced, Vastra sighed heavily. "Do you remember when you first came to live with me?"

Jenny's face softened. "Yeah."

"I offered that you could stay with me, that I would not kick you out. When you enquired whether I'd gotten to like having you around, I replied that I felt responsible for you. The Doctor had told me the same thing. You…weren't impressed." Vastra gave a wry smile. "And you endured many hardships to return the favour, so I would not have to return to the circus. You risked many things to gain us money, including your own life."

"Yeah well…" Jenny shifted. "Didn't like feelin' like I owed you something."

"Well there you go. Being responsible for someone does not mean making every decision for them or controlling their actions and not allowing them their personal freedom."

"So how come you didn't allow me to take it? Ain't that controllin' my actions?"

"You forbade me from taking it first." Vastra smiled at the expression on Jenny's face. "We were not able to prevent Peggy from taking such an action. Devaluing her efforts serves no purpose and will not change what has been done." She continued matter-of-factly. "And from what you've told me, it is what she was brought up to believe. She owed a debt to the rats and her life was expendable."

Jenny snorted. "Well it's not anymore."

"Indeed." Vastra paused. "You're right of course. I am far happier allowing her to take the risk than you. I would sacrifice a great deal to keep you from harm, to keep you safe."

Jenny stared at Vastra thoughtfully. She didn't know what she was willing to sacrifice. Would she sooner let someone else die than Vastra? Vastra had told her that she was responsible for many ape deaths, if she wished to save humans, she should end Vastra's life. Her mind swirled and she could reach no conclusion. In the end, she supposed, at least Vastra was honest about it. "C'mon. We'd best keep an eye on her."

They returned to the room to make Peggy as comfortable as possible, bringing up food from Mrs Jenkins. When asked what progress they were making, Vastra informed her they were conducting a test which they had high hopes would bring about a result which would enable them to cure her daughter in a day or two. She seemed slightly baffled by the roundabout language but optimistic that they were working on it. Mr Jenkins was less impressed by the bluster but didn't argue the point, merely making a mental note that if there wasn't a significant improvement in two days to start having words about payment, mostly regarding whether or not it happened.

An: Nothing, because the author having been laid up in bed with a dire illness could not with good conscience make anything happen that would require Jenny leaving her bed just for dramatic effect. Also Vastra is way too genre savvy.