Crying from the Moon
Chapter 3: Three Brothers
"You are not our brother," a Monsirlap said to Rory.
"But you hold what is left of him," the other continued.
"We shall honor him through you."
"You can communicate?" Amy asked.
The Monsirlaps kept quiet, as almost to say that they merely chose to not speak before.
"Are you going to kill us?"
"We will be satiated for a long time."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I love her," Rory said to the Monsirlaps. "Please respect her life. When the time comes for her to leave, let her leave."
The Monsirlaps held out bent right arms with the sides of their hands facing Rory, a sign of agreement.
"We will not grant such mercy to the human that hurt you."
"Nor can we grant such mercy to the one that can keep us fed for so long."
"The human was in the supply room for the main recreation center," Rory said as he held out his left palm. "Amy knocked him unconscious, so he might still be there."
The Monsirlaps left to find Jon.
"That didn't look like a supply room," Amy quietly said.
"As much as I dislike Jon, I don't want to send two Monsirlaps to kill him. Come on." Rory ran towards the magnets and combustor with Amy next to him.
"So what is going on? Why did they think you're their brother?"
"Their brother consumed most of the humans on this ship, including the Alfaros. For some reason, their brother took the form of the Alfaros. He even thought he was them. Maybe it had something to do with that rift the Doctor mentioned. He absorbed their minds and memories like I did, but he felt them in his head and his heart."
"They were dead this entire time?"
"Yeah, that was never them. It was the Monsirlap thinking he was them."
Rory and Amy reached their target. Rory used the Monsirlap's memories to permanently disable the combustor by accessing the control rods and ripping wires out of them. He then turned to the magnets and broke the polarity amplifiers.
"Right, let's find the Doctor."
The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to destroy the magnets' amplifiers when he heard a scream. The Doctor recognized the voice as Jon's and worked quickly to disable the combustor.
As soon as he finished, the Doctor ran towards the TARDIS. He was close when he bumped into the two Monsirlaps. The force of the impact made the Doctor stumble and fall. He looked up.
"Do not fear for your life. We will not kill you yet. We are beyond satiated."
The Monsirlaps grabbed the Doctor and dragged him away.
Amy and Rory arrived just in time to see the Doctor.
"I think he'll be all right for now," Rory said. "They said they weren't hungry. They'll probably keep him for later."
"Come on," Amy whispered. They followed the Monsirlaps and the Doctor from a distance.
"Can they detect you?" Amy asked.
"No, they just instinctively recognized their brother."
Amy and Rory saw the Monsirlaps push the Doctor into a room and place a lock on the door. They ducked into another room as the Monsirlaps walked by. As quickly as they could, they ran to the room and Rory unlocked the door.
"Nice work," the Doctor commented. He exited and Rory placed the lock back on.
"TARDIS?" Rory asked.
"No," the Doctor answered. "I can get this ship moving again and set it and the statues off away from civilization. I need to get to the main control room."
"This way," Rory said, guiding the Doctor and Amy through a corridor. "Doctor, would it be possible to send this ship to a specific location?"
A pair of loud reverberating groans emanated through the hallways before the Doctor could respond.
"They're angry," Rory informed. "They must have found out about the magnets and combustor."
"They're going to either be looking for you two or going to get me and see that I'm gone," the Doctor said.
"I hope they saw the ones that you broke," Rory commented. "Their goodwill towards me might be advantageous later on. I should probably try to keep that as long as possible."
A section of the floor began to break away, but the trio was able to move around it. They reached the main control room, thankful that it also had thick doors that they could close behind them.
The Doctor ran to a control panel. "I was able to connect enough systems to manage almost everything from here," he indicated as he typed in several commands and used his sonic screwdriver to activate a pair of operations. "I just need a single major burst of energy to get everything started."
The ship seemingly came to life as lights came on and machines started to hum.
"It worked," the Doctor said quietly, smiling.
"This can fly now?" Amy asked.
"It'll be able to cross half the star system and then die, but then it will just continue drifting away from Royuhan and leave everyone in peace."
"What about the Monsirlaps?" Rory asked.
"They'll just drift aimlessly with the ship."
Rory looked disappointed.
"Wait, what did you call them?" the Doctor asked.
"Oh. The Alfaros were actually a Monsirlap that took their form. I have his knowledge in my head."
"Oh, okay."
"Doctor," Amy said. "You said you could control almost everything. What's left?"
"The thrusters, the most important component. We just need to turn them on, but the controls here are out of sync with the thruster controls. Luckily, we can take care of that near the TARDIS. Let's go. Maybe we'll also be lucky enough to avoid the Monsirlaps."
Rory was closest to the door. He opened it slowly, but the door suddenly rushed open. A Monsirlap advanced, followed by the second. The first gripped Rory's left shoulder, though Rory noticed that he wasn't exerting much force.
"You betrayed us."
"I had no choice. You could have killed more people," Rory responded.
"We were lucky that six beings arrived this day. We were beginning to hunger."
"I know. I have your brother's memories."
"For that, you will remain alive, but we will keep your two co-conspirators here to feed us."
"The Doctor can be more than a meal," Rory told them. "You don't have to stay here and wait for your trap to work. The Doctor can take you both home."
The Monsirlaps looked at each other.
"I promise, he can take you home. You don't have to do this anymore and you can't with the magnets weakened and combustors broken. Please, trust me."
The Monsirlaps held out bent right arms with the sides of their hands facing Rory.
Rory looked at the Doctor and nodded slightly. "Doctor?"
"Let's go."
The Doctor led the way back to the TARDIS, slightly nervous about being followed by the Monsirlaps and having them in the TARDIS. Rory and Amy followed behind the Monsirlaps.
The Doctor reached a control panel on a wall and looked at Rory. "Are there any more lifeforms on this ship?"
"No."
"Then I'll tap into the navigational controls and send this ship into the star."
Rory nodded.
"So where is Monsirl?" the Doctor asked as he manipulated the controls.
"In the Katchetsomri sector, Millivig system," a Monsirlap answered. "It is the fourth planet there."
Everyone felt the ship start to move and then heard a loud blast. The Doctor went to the TARDIS and gestured at everyone to enter.
Soon, the TARDIS was on Monsirl and the two Monsirlaps exited.
"I'll honor your brother's memory," Rory told them. "I'm sorry about his death."
The Monsirlaps turned and extended their arms towards Rory, before turning again and walking away.
Rory closed the TARDIS doors and the Doctor set the controls to take them back to Royuhan.
"I know I shouldn't have invited them into the TARDIS and promised them a trip home without asking you first," Rory began. "I was afraid they wouldn't feel secure if I had to ask."
"It's all right Rory. You did the right thing. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. I've adjusted."
"What's wrong?" Amy asked. She noticed the way that Rory was handling himself.
"I know I shouldn't sympathize with them after they killed everyone, but they had a hard life on that moon. They crashed there accidentally. Their ship couldn't do anything except provide the magnets and the combustors. They only made that city-ship crash so they could survive. They've been calling out all that time, trying to get someone home to hear, but no one could."
"Are they what caused the interruptions on the planet?" Amy asked. "Or was it the Alfaros' psychic energy? Or something else with the ships?"
Rory shrugged.
"Maybe a combination, but probably not the Monsirlap plank ship," the Doctor answered. "We'll never know, but the psychic energy, the Monsirlaps, and the city-ship are all gone now. Royuhan's problem should have stopped."
The Doctor approached the TARDIS doors and Amy and Rory followed.
"Now, let's see if there are any more competitions we can watch, shall we?"
Amy smiled as she bounded out of the TARDIS. Rory nodded as he walked past the Doctor, who then exited, closed the doors, and headed to see more of the planet.
...
Thanks a lot for reading, especially to Darkwolve, Dyani, and The Goddess of Books, who followed this story. I hope it lived up to expectations and that the denouement didn't come too quickly.