Risking another glance at his surroundings, the Doctor sighed, frustrated that he'd still failed to figure out what had happened. He was still trying hard to recall if he had ever experienced similar phenomena before on other planets.
The harder he tried to remember, the more frustrated it left him.
Not to mention the more worried he'd grown over what had happened to Jamie and Zoe. Where they could have gone, and what had caused their disappearance.
Or, his disappearance …?
It must have had something to do with the atmosphere. He had a feeling about it, as if he had experienced something like this before.
"But I can't just go on feelings —I need actual, scientific proof!" he exclaimed. Having no instrumentation of any kind with him, he knew that was impossible. Deciding to make sure, he checked the deep pockets of his coat.
Nothing. All his instruments were back in the TARDIS. He needed to go back. With a resolute nod, he turned around and started to walk.
He'd walked about ten feet when he abruptly stopped, looked around and sighed in futility.
If he could only remember which direction the TARDIS was in …
Zoe took a seat at the long, cafeteria-style table in the mess hall, pausing to stretch her arms before tucking into her breakfast. She smiled, feeling quite refreshed and rested this morning.
Jamie seemed to notice. "Ye're in a giud mood."
"Yes, I am. I slept quite well the rest of the night." She smiled again. "Thanks for being so supportive, Jamie."
The Highlander's brow furrowed as he gazed at her in confusion. "Eh?"
"You know, last night. In b—"
His eyes quickly widened and he held a hand up in front of her. "Aye, aye, I know," he interrupted, reddening as the words tumbled from his mouth in record speed. He gazed at all the people passing by and nearing the table before turning back to her.
"Ye dinnae have tae let the whole room know," he hissed out of the corner of his mouth.
Zoe turned to find a small group had already congregated at the table and she flushed. A young male scientist approached, taking a seat next to them on her side.
"Good morning!" Zoe chirped at him.
The scientist nodded with a kind smile. In her peripheral vision, Zoe could see Jamie eyeing him with a wary expression which slid into a gentle smile as she turned back to him. "An' ye're welcome," he told her softly.
Zoe nodded with a smile of her own. "Well, we've got a big day ahead of us."
"Aye, doin' that … um … science stuff …" Jamie waved his hands about nebulously before trailing off with a wince.
Zoe frowned at him. "We're helping them catalog the new samples that were brought back," she hissed, hoping the young man next to her hadn't overheard. Turning slightly, she breathed a sigh of relief as she found him engrossed in conversation with two other scientists.
"Alreeeight!" Jamie hissed back. "Ye dinnae have tae get all hyte aboot it, ye know."
"We're both supposed to be renowned scientists. Do you want to get us thrown out of here? Then we'll have no chance of finding the Doctor."
Jamie heaved a sigh. "Ye're right. 'm sorry, Zoe. I'll try harder." He gave her a small, embarrassed smile.
Zoe smiled at him, giving his shoulder a small pat.
As the day wore on, she noticed that Jamie really was trying harder — getting more actively involved, hovering around the scientists and going out of his way to ask more intelligent questions.
But he still managed to slip up every so often.
"So, what exactly are ye doin', there?"
The forty-ish male scientist with thinning light brown hair, paused in his work and looked up at Jamie, blinking. "Shouldn't you know?"
At a loss for words, the Highlander stared blankly at him.
The scientist regarded him incredulously. "Extraction of the cores via integrated propulsion. It's your technique!"
Jamie flushed to the roots of his hair. "Oh, aye," he muttered, trying to look away as he noticed the other man gazing dubiously at him. "Well, it looks different to the way I did it!"
"How?"
"Well…" He trailed off, then looked desperately around the room for a distraction. He rushed over to another scientist who had opened a sample bottle and was inspecting its contents.
"Could ye hand me that … circle contraption thingy?" he asked, pointing to a compass on the table.
The young female scientist stared passively at him. "Yes. Of course." She handed the instrument to Jamie.
"Thank you," he muttered softly with an awkward smile before turning the instrument over in his hands and closely scrutinizing it.
Zoe quickly turned away from him and sighed. Jamie looked puzzled as he fingered the instrument and she was uncomfortably reminded of the way he'd studied the Doctor's magnets when they were trapped on the Alpha Four Beacon and hiding from those space pirates.
"Not what I was expecting of the man who wrote the definitive essay on horizontal core sample extraction," she overheard Dr. Sillsbeck, the scientist Jamie had earlier spoken to, commenting to his colleague.
The petite scientist briefly shut her eyes in frustration before resolving to get herself back into her work. Moving the sample vials on the table a bit closer, she flipped open her ledger and continued her analysis where she had left off.
Several minutes had passed when she heard approaching footsteps stop alongside her and the sound of a man clearing his throat. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she assumed it was Jamie, but when she looked up it faded upon the sight of Dr. Sillsbeck standing before her, gazing at her in earnest curiosity.
"Dr. Galliwup, may I ask you a question?"
"Certainly."
"Did you ghost-write your husband's paper—don't worry, you can be honest with me."
Zoe uttered a sheepish chuckle, startled by his question at first and then amused. Still, the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass Jamie. She quickly stitched together what she hoped was a plausible excuse.
"My husband is not the most eloquent at expressing himself, but they are all his ideas. I only polish up his writing before it's published." She forced a smile.
She wasn't expecting him to reach over and pat her shoulder. "I understand you completely," he told her with a gentle smile. "My wife is the same way—she couldn't tell slate from shale." He chuckled briefly before his amused expression softened. "But I love her all the same."
Zoe forced another smile. As the man turned and walked away, her smile became an uncomfortable grimace. She glanced down at her watch and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. It was nearly time for the day to end.
She was suddenly aware of a whistling sound which quickly grew louder. Turning in its direction, she discovered it was coming from the greenhouse area. "What is that?"
"Another sandstorm. I know they can sound alarming, but they're nothing to worry about."
Zoe nodded but found herself swiftly approaching the area in question. She had been in the middle of that sandstorm outside before they arrived here, but she now felt a swell of curiosity rising within her at the prospect of observing these phenomena from somewhere safe.
Her footsteps slowed to a stop mere inches from the large windows overlooking the outside courtyard and she watched in awe as the winds picked up the red sands, making them twirl about in the air in a corkscrew pattern before being broken apart and scattered haphazardly over the landscape. She stood motionless, transfixed by the images before her that she nearly failed to notice the tension rising in the voices around her.
"Have all the pieces of equipment been secured?" Dr. Argnan asked.
"I'm … fairly certain they have."
"No, they have. We'd brought them in before the last sandstorm," Maura confirmed.
Zoe nearly jumped at the loud crash that resonated outside, a little too close for comfort. Taking a few steps, she followed the other scientists who, peering out the windows, had discovered the outer edge of a drainage system had flown off and hit the side of the building.
She suddenly picked up on hurried footsteps and felt someone clutch her arm. Turning, she found Jamie at her side, gazing at the other scientists worriedly.
"It's alright," Maura insisted, trying to sound reassuring over the howl of the wind. "This has happened before. It—"
SMASH!
A shower of fine, sharp glass particles rained on the immediate area, leaving a hole about three feet tall and wide. Before Zoe could react, Jamie had leapt in front of her, quickly turning with his back toward the window as he grabbed her by the shoulders. The petite scientist then heard nothing but commotion as a flurry of scientists scrambled to secure the area. She briefly turned her head to find a group of them carrying a large lens of what appeared to be Pyrex and holding it firmly over the hole to shield the room from the fierce winds.
"Jamie! Are you alright?" she finally asked, her voice barely carrying over the sounds of chaos and alarm.
"Aye. I think so," he replied, sounding a bit dazed.
Zoe frowned as she noticed several small cuts on the back of his neck, as well as a couple along the edge of his right ear.
She barely noticed that Maura had now joined them and was examining them. "Nothing serious, but he should still get checked out by the first aid team."
Jamie appeared ready to protest when Zoe grabbed his arm, nearly dragging him out of the room toward the infirmary.
"It's nice to see such a devoted couple," she overheard one of the scientists commenting as they left the room.
Once they had arrived inside the infirmary, Zoe had led Jamie over to the medical personnel, trying to tamp down her concern and explain what had happened as calmly and professionally as possible. They had patched up the Highlander expediently but with great care, disinfecting the cuts on his neck and ear, and applying some small, adhesive bandages.
"There you go, Dr. Galliwup," one of the nurses told him with a gentle smile. "Just a few minor cuts that should heal quickly in no time."
"Aye, tha's what I was tryin' tae tell her," he said, hooking his thumb in Zoe's direction.
Zoe barely suppressed an eyeroll before slapping on a pert smile. "Well, no harm in being cautious, is there?"
"Oh, of course not," the nurse replied. "That windstorm came on very quickly and they are capable of doing much damage. It's certainly understandable you'd be concerned, especially as someone who hasn't had any experience with them."
"Thank you," Zoe returned, lifting her chin a bit before offering Jamie a sidelong glance. The Highlander uttered what sounded like a long-suffering sigh. "May we have several more bandages, in case he needs them to be changed?"
"I don't think you'll need to worry, but I'll give you some fresh ones just in case." The nurse grabbed a small stack of individually wrapped adhesive bandages and handed them to Zoe. The petite scientist nodded in thanks before gesturing to Jamie for them to leave.
Zoe hovered over him as he was seated on the sofa back in their quarters, looking at a booklet filled with various pictures of the planet's landscape. The Highlander risked a curious glance at her before returning his eyes to the printed papers.
Zoe then reached for the bandage along the back of his neck.
Jamie tore his eyes from the booklet. "What're ye doin'?" he asked her, almost a bit nervous as he attempted to scoot away.
"I just want to check and see how you're healing."
"Och, come on, it's a wee cut. I'm gonna be fine."
"There's no harm in checking."
Knowing she wasn't about to give up, Jamie sighed, holding out a hand patiently.
Zoe nodded and then carefully lifted the edge of the small bandage away from his skin, closely inspecting the cut underneath.
Jamie was suddenly aware of how close she was when he felt her breath tickling his exposed skin. He gave an involuntary giggle, but then, as she continued, his heart began to race. When Zoe gently ran a finger over the cut on his ear, Jamie shivered and sucked in a breath.
"Och, away wi' yer fussin'," he exclaimed, his voice embarrassingly hoarse.
A frown of confusion and a little bit of hurt knitted Zoe's brow. As she recovered the bandage along the edge of his ear she noticed how red both his ears had become.
"Alright, I'm done," she said, a smile twitching on her lips.
Jamie practically jumped to his feet.
"I-I'm gettin' a wee bit tired. Think I'll turn in now."
That didn't sound like a bad idea. Zoe was starting to feel the busy day catching up on her. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea."
Nearly an hour later, what sounded like a good idea certainly hadn't yielded good results. There was no question their long day had left Zoe exhausted, but she was unable to fall asleep thanks to the sandstorm outside whipping up a frenzy. Whether this was the previous storm which had paused for a time and then resumed in earnest, or it was a completely new one remained to be seen. But the overwhelmingly loud effects wore on her nerves just as badly.
Her eyes darted over to Jamie resting in the chair, eyes shut with his head tilted against the back of the chair, almost pointed toward the ceiling. She gazed incredulously at him. How could he remain so calm through all this?
"J-Jamie?" she called out timidly, nearly cringing at the shaky sound of her voice.
The Highlander's eyes opened abruptly and he lowered his head to meet her gaze. "Wha' is it, Zoe?" he asked groggily.
Zoe lowered her gaze, fixing it upon the threads of the sheet that her fists had closed upon. "I … can't sleep. All that whistling and rattling …"
"Eh? It's jist the wind against the building, and the sand. Ye know that."
"I know, I know, that horrible sandstorm is still raging out there. But what if something comes tearing through the building? The walls seem so flimsy. I'm just … a little frightened," she finally admitted.
Jamie ungracefully rose from the chair and quickly approached the bed. He looked down at her a moment, his hazel eyes warm with compassion. He then gave a short sigh of resignation and climbed into the bed next to her.
Zoe blinked in surprise. "What happened to 'just this once'?"
"Weel, this time I really mean it. Sleep now, lass."
Zoe felt herself blush, feeling half embarrassed, but mostly moved. "Okay …" she replied softly.
Suddenly another sandy gust hit the side of the building with a violent thud. Zoe whimpered and scooted closer. Jamie turned over and gathered her into his arms. His heart warmed as he felt the wee lass curl into him.
"Dinnae fash yerself, Zoe," he crooned softly, "I'll keep ye safe." Jamie felt her take a deep breath and relax in his arms. Soon, her breathing slowed and deepened and Jamie knew she was asleep. A smile of contentment spread across his lips and his own eyes drifted closed.