Sergeant Benton arrived to find the Doctor and Jo looking over the prone form of Jed Kathan. He walked up to stand beside Jo. "I guess I missed the excitement this time."

"You might say that," said the Doctor. "I doubt it's over, though."

"Well, this man looks like he's in rough shape," said Benton, leaning down and checking Jed's pulse. "Don't you think we should get him to the infirmary?"

"They asked us to stay here and keep an eye on him," said Jo. She frowned in the direction of the rest of the ship. "Somehow, I think they may be hiding something."

The Doctor sighed. "No, I think it's something rather more personal."

"What could that be? Haven't you been helping them?"

The Doctor grimaced and rubbed his neck. "Well, yes and no. I may have... accidentally insulted Mr. Washburne in his wife's earshot."

Jo looked thoughtful, then nodded. "They do seem very fond of each other. That could be it."

Benton said, "You don't suppose it could be all the aliens and such showing up?"

"What do you mean?" said Jo. "Don't they always show up?"

"Well, I've been talking with that preacher, and he said that there have never been any records of actual aliens around here. He said that most of them have mentioned looking for you specifically. Begging your pardon, Doctor."

The Doctor stared at him a long moment.

"Well, it's just a thought. That, or it might be the fact their ship seems to be pretty much a wreck right now. I'll go to the infirmary myself and see what their doctor recommends." He turned and walked away.

"Doctor?" said Jo, laying a hand on the Time Lord's arm.

"My goodness," he said, "I can't believe I hadn't considered that. Mind you, with my TARDIS off line, I hadn't thought of much else. Perhaps I've been simply inured to their presence around humans because of my travels, or UNIT being the type of organization that actively looks for them." He took a look around the hold, and sighed. "And, I suppose, I am more responsible for the current state of their vessel than I've admitted."

He took another look at Jed, then leaned down and lifted him into a sitting position against the wall of the hold."He should be all right for the moment."

He took up the case the Master had given him, opened it and looked at the contents. "I'll have to be careful with these," he murmured. "They do look to be standard issue, but you never know..."

He continued muttering to himself as he strode toward the TARDIS and opened the door.

"Doctor, what are you doing?"

The Doctor looked up from the case. "Something I've been trying to do for a while now. I'll be doing some repairs; I think our presence here might be causing more serious problems than I suspected."

With that, he entered the TARDIS and shut the door.

Jo sighed and sat down on the floor beside Jed, arranging herself as best she could to be comfortable. "I shouldn't be surprised," she said. "I get left practically every time." She glanced over at his slumped form, then looked away, leaning her chin in her hand. "Stuck with being the nurse. You're not even good company."

"Oh come now, I'm sure you'll find I have my good points."

Jo jerked and looked back at Jed, who now appeared wide awake. He grinned at her.

"What are our options here?" said Book.

"I just told you; I don't know," said Simon. "I know some researchers and surgeons who've been working on brain restoration, but it's all cutting-edge work. We don't have the funds to get their attention, and even if we did…" He looked out the window where his sister had gone. "It's mostly government funded and monitored. I don't dare get River anywhere near them."

"There's got to be something," said Zoe.

Simon considered this. "There are some drugs left that we could try," he said. "Mostly standard nerve agents; I think we sold off the really specialized ones."

"Do what you can. I'll see if any of our contacts -"

They looked over as Benton opened the door.

"Sorry to be a bother," he said, "but there's an injured man down in the hold."

Simon looked at Zoe, who was still looking at Benton. She nodded. "Jed got hit by something, got knocked out." When he reached for his bag, Zoe put a hand on his arm. "There's Feds sniffing around down there, too. Besides, don't you think you have something just a little more urgent right here?"

Benton looked at her, confused. "Begging your pardon, miss-"

Book caught his eye, and looked down at Mal a moment before looking back.

"I see," said Benton. "Well, do you have any supplies I could take down – blanket, an ice pack perhaps?"

Simon took a small pack from one of the cabinets and handed it over. "That should cover most of what could be needed," he said.

Benton took the pack. He looked at it for a moment, then shook his head. "Well, I'd better be getting back." He nodded at them, then left.

"Well, let's see what we're working with."

The Doctor set down the case, the knelt beside the main console, removing one of the steel panels and setting it aside.

The door opened, and footsteps entered.

"Ah, Jo. I did tell you to stay there, but since you're..." His voice trailed off. "River, what are you doing in here?"

She ignored him, walking through the far door further into the ship.

He pushed the panel closed, stood, and started after her. "What is it you want in there?"

As he came to the door, she was already pushing past him on her way back out, a device in her hands.

"Hats for the hats man," she said as she trotted past. She reached and was out the door before he could get out another word.

"Wait, what did you want that for now? Blast it..." He ran after her, pausing only to scoop up his sonic screwdriver as he left the control room.

River burst into the med bay with the Doctor at her heels.

"Simon!" she said, holding up the device.

"River, what - " Simon caught it in one hand, switching to both as he looked it over. "Did – did you want me to use this after all?"

River rolled her eyes as the Doctor arrived. "Too many voices already, he doesn't even have his own." She pointed at Mal.

"What is that thing?"

Simon looked at Mal, then at Zoe. "It might be what we need, if what the Doctor said is correct," he said.

"No, it isn't!"

Zoe looked at Simon. "How could it help?"

"I specifically offered it for River's use!" said the Doctor sharply. "I was already bending the laws of time. I can't allow this to change the course of history."

"She has hope of being cured other ways," said Simon. "Mal doesn't have that choice! If we don't do anything he could die!"

"What are you talking about?" said the Doctor. "Multiple concussion is dangerous, yes, but -"

"He's brain dead, Mángrén lǎo pì!"

The Doctor paused. He looked back at Mal's face.

He suddenly looked very tired.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said.

"So, let's set up -"

"It changes nothing."

"Excuse me?"

"I can't allow it's use," said the Doctor. "Your time lines – they're set. Another item that's my fault, I'm afraid. I can't take part in events and then change them."

"Wait," said Zoe. "Let me get this straight. This machine – even Simon is convinced that it could bring the Captain back."

Simon nodded.

"And you're saying you can't – what was it – interfere?"

The Doctor, head hanging, somehow missed Zoe's change of tone. He nodded.

He also mistook the sound of her motion. He started at the cold of the muzzle of her pistol on the side of his ear.

"Let me make this real easy for you. If he dies, you die." Zoe took the device from Simon with her free hand and shoved it into the Doctor's arms. She stepped back, covering him. "Now get that set up."

The Doctor stared at her in disbelief. "You are making a grave mis -"

"I really don't like guns in here," said Simon. He looked over at the Doctor. "I can't say I disagree with her right now, though."

The Doctor looked between them. His face hardened. "You are walking a very dangerous path. Do you really want to do this?"

Zoe's voice was ice. "As dangerous as all the Dìyù bān de èmèng you already shoved down our throats?"

Before the Doctor could reply, River was beside him, whispering in his ear. She stepped back and traced her finger down the barrel of Zoe's gun.

"River, get away from -" Simon began, but she was gently pushing the gun aside, whispering in Zoe's ear as well. Zoe listened a moment, nodding, then lowered it, putting the safety catch back on.

"Well?" said River.

"I – I can't promise it will work as it would have with her," said the Doctor, staring at the device. "There are resources you have, resources you don't have for the captain."

"What do we need?" said Simon.

"You don't have scans of his head like the ones of your sister's, for a start," said the Doctor. "She's also at the far end of the age bracket where this treatment would be safe, or predictable in its result."

Simon nodded. "What kind of complications could we be looking at?"

"I'll try to set the controls and regenerative matrices to avoid overgrowth," said the Doctor. "I will need your expert opinion, as far as it will apply with this technology – I'm not that kind of doctor. The best I can tell you is that it will probably do a genetic reset."

"What's that?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I'm sorry, the one who gave this to me was trying to put it in layman's terms. At this stage, I have no idea if any memory will still be there. His brain will be repaired to new – possibly better – but for all I know, that's all that will be there."

"So… he might have to relearn everything, then," said Simon.

"I'm sure you've seen enough of those, with lesser injuries," said the Doctor. "Still, his life expectancy will be much better, at any rate."

The Doctor quickly set up the device, reconnecting the power cords where he had before. He fished another device out of his pocket and attached it to the main one with another cord.

"Backup power," he said. "I'd rather not have this quit in the middle of the regenerative cycle."

He brought Simon next to him as he began to program the device. Both worked quietly, the Doctor stopping on occasion to point something out or ask Simon a question. They finally stepped back.

"One last thing," said the Doctor. He placed two remote electrodes on each side of Mal's head and two on the base of his skull. He then turned to Zoe.

"Mrs. Washburne, would you care to do the honors?" he said. He indicated a large blue button.

Zoe pushed it, and a rising hum came from the machine, finally settling to a pitch just below the upper range of hearing. Three red lights and two yellow began to flash in rhythm.

Nothing else happened.

"Now what?"

The Doctor shook his head and looked at Simon. "They always expect a magic wand, don't they?" He looked back at Zoe. "It could be a while before analysis is done; then it can begin regeneration." He smiled. "At least the crisis is averted for now-"

Sergeant Benton burst in, followed closely by Jayne. "Miss Grant and that man have disappeared!"

Jayne shoved a thick folder and sheaf of x-rays at Simon. "Here's the stuff ya wanted. See what you can do."

"Uh, thanks."

He turned to the Doctor. "You comin' or what?"

The Doctor nodded. "Of course I am." He followed Jayne and Benton at a run out of the med bay and down the corridor.