Chapter 6

The Eleventh Hour

Knock, knock, knock, knock. 'They gone, then? Yeah, good-o. If you could let me out?' Wilf said from inside the glass cubicle.

'Yeah,' the Doctor said sadly.

'Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of a noise.'

'Oh my God!' Rose gasped in disbelief. 'It was him! It was him all along. He wasn't just leading you to the prophecy, he was the prophecy.'

The Doctor looked down at her. 'The Master left the Nuclear Bolt running. It's gone into overload.'

'And that's bad, is it?' Wilf asked.

'No, because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing.'

'Oh. Well, you'd better let me out, then.'

'Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods. Even this would set it off,' he said, holding up his sonic screwdriver.

'But we can't leave him in there. We've got to do so somethin'.' Rose said.

Wilf realised what he'd done. This was his time to go. 'I'm sorry.'

'Sure,' the Doctor replied.

'Don't worry,' Rose said. 'We'll think of somethin', we'll get you out.'

'Look, just leave me.'

'Okay, right then, I will,' the Doctor said.

'What?' Rose asked incredulously. 'Over my dead body!'

'No, mine!' the Doctor shot back. 'Because you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh yes. Because that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time.'

'No really, just leave me. I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time.'

'Well, exactly. Look at you. Not remotely important. But me? I could do so much more. So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair!'

'Oh Love, don't,' Rose said, stroking his cheek before kissing his lips and hugging him.

'Oh. Oh. I've lived too long,' he declared. He stiffened up and reached for the empty cubicle door.

'DON'T YOU DARE!' Rose shouted as she forced herself between him and the door.

'No. No, no, please, please don't. No, don't! Please don't! Please!' Wilf pleaded.

'Look, there must be another way,' Rose told him. 'C'mon, use that brilliant, superior intellect ya keep boastin' about. Remember Torchwood Tower and how I improvised a safety line?'

'Yes . . . Right . . . nice knickers if I remember correctly. We need to make a remote button pusher, so that when we close the door, something pushes the button.' He ran his fingers through his hair as he looked around the room. He only had a few minutes before the Nuclear Bolt would automatically vent through Wilf's cubicle.

'Mousetrap!' Rose exclaimed.

'Eh?' the Doctor asked. 'I don't see any mousetraps around here.'

'Oh I get it,' Wilf said. 'The board game Mousetrap. We used to play it with Donna when she was a nipper. Do you think you can do it in time?'

'What's Mousetrap?' the Doctor asked.

Rose grinned at him and started talking quickly. 'You build this contraption so that when you turn a wheel a boot kicks a ball down some zig-zagging stairs and gutterin'. It knocks a hand that causes a bowlin' ball to drop in a bath and then onto a seesaw which catapults a man into a washtub which drops the cage onto the mouse.' She drew in a breath. 'You'd love it.'

'Brilliant!' he said, identifying objects in the room. Within seconds, he'd got a design in his head. 'Grab that candelabra by the door,' he instructed. He went over to the chairs where she and Wilf had been tied up and grabbed the rope. He picked up a discarded security guard's helmet, and Wilf's revolver.

Rose hurried back with the candelabra, and he put it in the cubicle next to the control desk so that one of the four arms was directly over the red button. He then took the helmet and fastened the chinstrap, dropping the revolver inside to add weight.

Rose had measured a length of rope that she tied to the handle of the door. The Doctor took the other end and tied it to the chinstrap. He hooked the rope over the candelabra and checked that the helmet was hanging directly over the red button.

'Get ready Wilfred,' he said to the old soldier, and Wilf leaned against the door. 'One, two, three!'

The Doctor slammed the door shut, which lowered the weighted helmet down onto the red button. Rose caught Wilf as he stumbled out of his cubicle. The empty cubicle was flooded with a red glow as radiation was vented through it.

'You did it!' Rose cried as she hugged Wilf around his neck.

'Ooh, I say gal. Steady on,' Wilf said with a chuckle.

'Hah! It worked. Not as extravagant or elaborate as Mousetrap, but every bit as effective,' the Doctor said with a satisfied grin.

'Here, here,' cheered Wilf.

Rose grabbed the Doctor's lapels and pulled him into a passionate kiss. 'Thank you. I knew you could do it.'

He returned the kiss. 'I couldn't have done it without your idea . . . What a team.'

'So is that it then Doctor? Have they gone for good?'

'Yep. They're back inside the time lock, safe and sound.' He put his arm around his wife's shoulders. 'C'mon, let's go and celebrate Christmas.'

Wilf stood to attention in front of them and saluted. 'Sir . . . Ma'am. I know we've missed Christmas day, and I know it's not your way to have a fuss made of you, or tributes paid for what you've done. But it would be a privilege and an honour if you would celebrate a late Christmas with us.'

Rose looked up at the Doctor, and he looked down at her. They both smiled and looked at Wilf. 'Wilfred Mott, we would be delighted to spend Christmas with you, late or otherwise.' He held his hand out and Wilf shook it.

They made their way through the mansion to the outside and through the courtyard to the stables.

'Do you want to do the honours?' the Doctor asked, handing Rose the key fob.

She gave him her tongue through her teeth smile and pressed the button. They heard the familiar wheeze of the TARDIS as it materialised back into view.

'Oh you're a sight for sore eyes,' Rose said, fondly stroking the wooden exterior. She was about to push the door open, when it flew open on its own.

'Oh thank God,' Donna said. 'You're back, and you're you.'

'Hello Sweetheart,' Wilf said, accepting a hug from her.

They all entered the TARDIS and the Doctor shut the door. He followed them up the ramp as Donna explained to Wilf.

'Oh Gramps. We were so worried when you answered the phone an' I couldn't hear ya. We'd been watchin' the news, when everyone's face went all blurry and turned into a blonde nutter.'

'Nah. The Doctor protected us and sent them packing. He was brilliant, as usual,' Wilf told her.

'You're tellin' me,' Rose said with a broad smile.

The Doctor had a smug look on his battered face as he started the Time Rotor.

'Blimey! Skinny boy there looks like he's been in the wars,' Donna said, giving him a worried look.

'Nothing a few nanogenes can't fix,' he told her. 'I'll just nip to the Sickbay.'

'Right. You lot go through to the livin' room, and I'll make us all a cuppa,' Donna said.

'How's Andrea been?' Rose asked.

'Oh she's a little angel. I gave her her feeds, and had lots of cuddles, and Shaun even changed her nappies. That bodes well for the future,' Donna said with a cheeky smile.

After a visit to the Sickbay, and a cracking cup of tea, the Doctor landed the TARDIS across the road from the Noble's house. The passengers started to make their way down the ramp, when the Doctor hurried past them.

'Wait a minute, there's something I need to do first.'

'Whatcha up to?' Rose asked him.

'You'll see,' he replied as he reached above the door and pulled a lever. There was a "pfutt" sound, and he started to count to ten. 'There we are,' he said with a smug grin as he opened the door for them.

'Have you just done what I think ya've done?' Rose said with a big smile.

'Oh, it's snowin',' Wilf said from outside.

Sylvia had heard the TARDIS land, and had run to the front door to see her family emerge from the TARDIS, along with Rose, Andrea and the Doctor.

'Oh, she's smiling,' the Doctor said with a grimace. 'As if today wasn't bad enough.'

Rose giggled. 'Behave yourself. Remember it's the season of goodwill. Peace to all men . . . and Sylvia Noble in your case.'

'Thank God you're all safe,' Sylvia said, hugging each of her family in turn. 'I've been worried sick all night. And there was this madman laughing in my head. He was pure evil. Some of the thoughts he had running through his head made Charles Manson look like a boy scout.'

'Well, that's all done now Sweetheart, so how about the Christmas dinner that we missed yesterday?' Wilf said.

'You mean celebrate Christmas a day late?' Sylvia asked with a frown.

'Well, there are eleven of them left,' the Doctor told her with his eyebrows raised in expectation.

'He's got a point,' Shaun said. 'It's two turtle doves today.'

'Oh yeah,' Rose said. 'They were really into their birds in the old days, weren't they?'

'I know one bird they don't mention,' Donna said. 'The one that's waitin' to be heated an' eaten inside. Come on Mum, let's go an' prepare a turkey dinner.'

'One, two, three, four, five,' the Doctor counted as he moved his mouse over the board. 'Ooh, ooh. I get to turn the wheel,' he said excitedly and turned the little plastic handle. The stop sign moved back and then snapped forwards, hitting the suspended boot which kicked the bucket which held the small metal ball.

Both the Doctor and his daughter on his lap, watched in fascinated anticipation as the ball zigzagged down the little rickety staircase. Rose had a broad smile on her face as she watched their faces.

The metal ball wound its way down the guttering to hit the plastic pole at the bottom. Andrea gave a little chuckle, and her father had a little giggle. As one, their eyes shot up to the "helping hand", as it pushed the plastic bowling ball down into the bath, where it disappeared from view.

It dropped out of the bottom of the bath, and Andrea chuckled again. It hit the see saw below and catapulted the little man through the air and into the wash tub.

'Hah!' The Doctor exclaimed, and Andrea squealed with delight as the little plastic cage wobbled its way down the ratcheted pole to trap Donna's mouse.

'Brilliant!' The Doctor said with joy. 'Top banana. Absolute genius, I can't believe I missed this one,' he said, referring to the game itself.

'Told ya you'd like it,' Rose said as she and everyone else laughed with him.

They finished the game, and spent the rest of the evening and night, watching Christmas specials on the television, and chatting about anything and everything. It was the early hours of the morning, when the Doctor stood up and helped Rose to her feet.

'Well, I think it's time we should be going now,' he said to his hosts.

'Right' Wilf said, climbing to his feet. He hugged Rose, and she kissed him on the cheek. He kissed his fingers, and gently stroked the sleeping Andrea's forehead. 'God bless little one.'

He pulled the Doctor into a hug and patted his back. 'You take care now, you hear? Of yourself and your family.'

'Don't worry, I will,' he replied.

Donna and Shaun exchanged hugs and kisses. 'You'll let me know the date of the weddin'?' Rose asked her.

'Yeah. I'll text ya,' Donna replied.

'Well, Mrs. Noble. Thank you for inviting us into your home to celebrate the second day of Christmas with you,' the Doctor said formally, shaking Sylvia's hand.

'Please, call me Sylvia, and it's been a pleasure. I've got to admit that when I first met you, I thought you were a dangerous and disruptive influence on my daughter and father,' she told him. 'And I was right! But having spent the day with you and your family, I can see you are a caring and loving husband and father. And in my book, that's worth a lot.'

'Thank you Sylvia . . . Merry Christmas.'

Rose came and gave her a one armed hug, being careful not to squash Andrea. 'Thank you Sylvia. That's the first proper family Christmas we've had since my Mum . . . sort of emigrated.'

'Oh, it was my pleasure dear, and that daughter of yours is such a cutie. You must be very proud,'

'Yes, we are,' Rose said, looking down at her sleeping daughter with a warm smile. She joined her husband, and they stepped out of the front door, crunching through the two inches of snow that had fallen.

They entered the TARDIS, and it slowly disappeared to the grating, wheezing sound of time and space warping out of shape. In the weeks and months that followed, meteorologists scratched their heads as to how a near circular patch of snow could have fallen in a half mile radius around an ordinary street in Chiswick.

And for once, Donna Noble hadn't missed a weird Christmas event. This time, she was right in the middle of it . . . literally. In the past, she'd missed the space ship made of rock, hanging over London. She'd missed the Christmas Star over London, because she was under the Thames with the Doctor and Rose. And she'd missed the replica of the Titanic just missing Buckingham Palace.

The conspiracy websites were buzzing with theories about the Chiswick snow circle, as though it were a new version of a crop circle. Donna would sit in the pub and tell the customers it was an alien. She'd seen him. The people in the pub would suddenly be interested, and listen with interest to what she had seen.

And then she would tell them that the alien wore a brown pinstriped suit and his space ship was a blue wooden box. At that point, people would return to their own conversations, thinking that she had probably had a little too much to drink.

Knock, knock, knock, knock. 'Hello, is anyone at home?' the Doctor called through the letterbox.

'Four knocks? That's riskin' it a bit ain't it?' Rose said.

He gave her a big grin. 'Nah. It's my lucky knock now.'

'Fancy bein' back here in Leadworth,' Rose said, looking around the messy front garden of the large Edwardian vicarage, and along the path leading to the quiet terraced street beyond the stone wall where the TARDIS was parked. 'Is it just a coincidence, or is it one of those timey-wimey things?'

'Hmmm. Good question,' he replied. 'Of course, there's timey-wimey . . . ness in Leadworth because of our wedding,' he said, waving his hands around to indicate the whole village. 'That's why I didn't spot the anomaly straight away. It was hiding in the background, er . . .'

'timey-wimeyness?' Rose finished for him.

They heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and a Scottish woman calling out. 'Yes, there is someone home. I'm coming.'

The door opened,and they saw a young woman police officer in a micro-skirted police uniform. 'Yes?' she said in a no nonsense tone of voice.

The Doctor and Rose were taken by surprise. 'Oh, er, has somebody already reported it then?'

'Reported what,' the WPC said with a frown. 'Look, I'm a bit busy at the moment. I've, er, got a job on.'

'Yes, of course you have,' the Doctor said. 'Investigating a report of an unusual occurrence in a big old house.'

The WPC looked surprised. 'How did you know about that?'

Rose looked at the woman's uniform, and focussed on the particularly short skirt. 'Doctor . . . I don't think she's . . .'

But the Doctor had engaged his mouth into overdrive. 'Have you found anything? A strange light? Voices? A crack in a wall somewhere?'

The WPC now looked nervous and suspicious. 'Who are you people?'

'Oh, sorry,' the Doctor said, taking out his psychic paper. 'John and Rose Smith. CSI.'

The WPC looked at the paper in the wallet. 'CSI? And who's she?' she said, nodding at their six month old daughter in her pushchair. 'A sniffer kid?'

Rose snorted a laugh. 'Sniffer kid! Oh that was good. I like her. You're gonna have to come up with a new cover story now we've got Andrea.'

'So who are you, really? Because you're not CSI,' the WPC said with her hands on her hips.

'And you're not a police officer,' Rose said. 'Not in a skirt that short.'

'What?' the Doctor said in surprise. 'She's not?'

Rose rolled her eyes and smiled at the young woman. 'He's the Doctor, I'm Rose, this is our daughter Andrea, and you have got a serious problem with this house.'

The Doctor had recovered from his surprise. 'You asked us how we knew about some unusual occurrences when we mentioned them. Do you want to tell us about them? We can help.'

The young woman sighed, and her shoulders sagged. She removed her hat, and a shock of red hair fell around her shoulders. 'I'm Amy, Amy Pond. I live here . . . You'd better come in.'

'Thank you,' the Doctor said. 'Nice to meet you Amy Pond.'

'So why the police uniform?' Rose asked conversationally as she lifted Andrea out of the pushchair.

Amy blushed slightly. 'Well, when I said I had a job on, I have. I'm a kissogram. Got a 21st birthday party later . . . I'm the surprise guest.'

'Oh, right,' the Doctor said, and then looked at his Wife. 'What's a kissogram?'

Amy answered. 'I go to parties and I kiss people . . . With outfits . . . It's a laugh.'

He raised his eyebrows and grinned. 'We'd better get a move on then. Wouldn't want to disappoint the birthday boy, would we?'

Amy led them up the stairs to her bedroom, where she quickly closed the wardrobe door as the Doctor and Rose followed her in. Rose could see some white, lace material sticking out of the wardrobe door, and presumed it was one of her kissogram costumes.

She showed them a "W" shaped crack in the plaster of the wall, about three to four feet long.

'You've had some cowboys in here,' the Doctor said, referring to the standard of plastering. 'Not actual cowboys, though that can happen.' He took a large, "Sherlock Holmes" magnifying glass out of his pocket and inspected the crack. 'This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it.' He turned to face Rose and Amy. 'So here's a thing. Where's the draught coming from?'

Rose leaned past him and put her hand to the crack. She could feel a gentle current of air coming from the cracked plaster. 'Oh yeah.' She turned and smiled at Amy. 'I told you he was good.'

He took out his sonic screwdriver and started scanning. 'Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey . . . You know what the crack is?'

'What?' Rose and Amy asked together.

'It's a crack,' he told them with a cheeky grin. 'But I'll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall.'

'Oh my God!' Rose exclaimed.

Amy frowned in confusion. 'Where is it then?'

'Everywhere. In everything . . . It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom. Sometimes, can you hear? . . .'

'A voice. Yes!' Amy said, and the room was filled with a vague growling. The Doctor took out his stethoscope and listened to the crack.

['Prisoner Zero has escaped,'] a gruff voice announced.

'Prisoner Zero?' a puzzled Doctor said.

'Who's Prisoner Zero?' Rose asked him.

'Prisoner Zero has escaped. That's what I hear,' Amy told them. 'What does it mean?'

['Prisoner Zero has escaped.']

'It means that on the other side of this wall, there's a prison and they've lost a prisoner,' the Doctor said. 'And you know what that means?'

'What?' Amy asked.

'She needs a better wall?' Rose joked.

The Doctor flashed her a grin. 'Yeah. Now, the only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut . . . Or . . .'

'What?' Amy asked.

'You know in those scary films, when the hero tells his female sidekick that everything's going to be fine. And you know they're lying to make them feel better?' the Doctor explained.

'Yes,' Amy agreed.

The Doctor looked at her seriously. 'Everything's going to be fine.'

'Uh-oh,' Rose said. 'I'll just take Andrea outside for a minute then.'

'Hang on Rose. I'm coming with you,' Amy said, and followed her out of the room, where they turned and peeped around the edge of the doorway.

'Oh, now she decides to stay out of the way,' he said sarcastically. 'If I'd told you to stay downstairs, you'd be standing right behind me.'

Rose rolled her eyes. 'Look, just get on with it.'

'Is he always like this?' Amy asked her in a whisper.

Rose laughed. 'You have no idea.'

The Doctor aimed the sonic screwdriver at the crack and pressed the button. The crack widened and flooded the bedroom with a bright, white light.

The gruff voice became louder and clearer. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped. Prisoner Zero has escaped.'

'Hello?' the Doctor called out. 'Hello?'

Suddenly, a giant blue eye appeared in the gap and looked at him.

'What's that?' Amy asked.

'Doctor? Is everythin' all right?' Rose enquired, just as a bolt of light hit the Doctor, causing him to double over onto the bed. The crack closed again, and disappeared.

Rose ran in and sat on the bed beside him. 'Are you okay? What happened?'

The Doctor put a reassuring arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a kiss. 'There, you see? Told you it would close. Good as new.' he kissed his daughter on her head.

'What's that thing?' Amy asked as she entered the room. 'Was that Prisoner Zero?'

'No. I think that was Prisoner Zero's guard. Whatever it was, it sent me a message,' he said taking out the black wallet.

'What, on your I.D card?' Amy asked.

'Psychic paper. Takes a lovely little message.' He flipped it open and read the message. 'Prisoner Zero has escaped. But why tell us? Unless . . .'

Rose knew that tone of voice. 'What? Unless what?'

'Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here. But he couldn't have. We'd know.'

They went back out onto the landing where the stairs went up. There was a door across the way, one on the same wall in the far corner, and two at the far end where the staircase went down again.

The Doctor looked around the landing. 'There's something I'm missing. In the corner of my eye.' He took Andrea off Rose and walked along the landing. 'What we need, is a fresh pair of eyes.'

He turned slowly on the spot, watching his daughter as he did. He then turned back the other way, and grinned.

'Did you see?' he asked the women.

'See what?' Rose asked.

He started turning again. 'Show Daddy, Sweetheart. What do you see?'

As he turned, Andrea's attention focussed on the end of the hallway, and her head swivelled to stay focussed on a particular part of the wall at the end. She lifted her arm and pointed at the wall.

'Ooh, that's spooky,' Amy said. 'What's she pointing at?'

'She's pointing at something that is being deliberately hidden with a perception filter. Except that under two's perceive the world differently to everyone else. They have very few preconceived ideas of what they should see . . . plus she's got her dad's brilliant brain.' He kissed her on the cheek, and she hugged him around the neck.

'How many rooms?' he asked them.

'I'm sorry, what?' Amy asked in confusion.

'On this floor . . . How many rooms on this floor? Count them for me now.'

'Why?'

The Doctor looked at her with his intense, ancient eyes. 'Because it will change your life.'

Amy rolled her eyes and sighed at the pointless exercise. 'Five. One, two, three, four, five.'

'Six,' the Doctor finished for her.

'Six?' she asked, as though he was obviously wrong.

'Oh my God!' Rose said, seeing a door at the end of the hallway that she hadn't seen before.

'Look,' he told Amy.

'Look where?'

'Exactly where you don't want to look. Where you never want to look. The corner of your eye. Look behind you.'

Amy turned and looked at the end of the hallway. 'That's . . . that is not possible. How's that possible?'

'Like I said, there's a perception filter all round the door. Should've seen it.'

'But that's a whole room. That's a whole room I've never even noticed,' Amy said.

'The filter stops you noticing. Something came a while ago to hide . . . its still hiding.'

'Prisoner Zero!' Rose said.

'Will that door hold it?' Amy asked.

'Oh, yeah, yeah, of course. It's an interdimensional multiform from outer space. They're all terrified of wood,' the Doctor said sarcastically.

'Oi!' Rose chided. 'She was only askin'.'

Around the edges of the wooden door, which interdimensional multiforms from outer space apparently were terrified of, a bright light could be seen.

'What's that? What's it doing?' Amy asked.

'I don't know. Getting dressed?' he suggested.

The door fell down to reveal a workman in overalls and tool belt, with a black dog. The Doctor handed Andrea back to Rose, and stood between them and the man with his dog.

'But it's just . . .' Amy was about to tell them it was a man called Barney, but the Doctor interrupted.

'No, it isn't. Look at the faces.'

The man barked. 'What? I'm sorry, but what?' Amy said.

'It's all one creature,' the Doctor told them. 'One creature disguised as two. Clever old multi-form. A bit of a rush job, though. Got the voice a bit muddled, did you? Mind you, where did you get the pattern from? You'd need a psychic link, a live feed. How did you fix that?'

The man in the hallway opened his mouth to reveal long needle-like teeth. 'Stay, boy! Them and me, we're safe. Want to know why? The policewoman sent for back up.'

'I didn't send for back-up!' Amy told him.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. 'I know. That was a clever lie to save our lives. Okay, yeah, no back up. And that's why we're safe. Alone, we're not a threat to you. If we had back up, you'd have to kill us.

'Attention, Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded.'

'What's that?' Rose asked, looking around for the source of the voice.

'Well, that would be back up. Okay, one more time. We do have back up and that's definitely why we're safe,' he corrected.

'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'

'Well, safe apart from, you know, incineration.'

'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'

The Doctor took Rose's hand, and they felt that old familiar tingle. 'Run!' He looked at Amy. 'Run!'

They ran down the stairs, and the Doctor grabbed the pushchair as he went past. 'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'

'What's going on? Tell me. Tell me!' Amy called to him as they ran into the garden.

'An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house. Any questions?'

'Yes!'

'Plenty,' Rose said.

'Me too,' he said, turning back to the door and putting his key in the lock. He rushed inside and hurried up the ramp to the console.

'Er, Doctor,' Rose called to him, and he turned around to see Amy standing there with her mouth open and her eyes wide.

'Ah . . . Right. Where do you want to start?' he asked her as he started the Time Rotor.

'What happened? I went into that wooden box. How did I end up here? Where is here?'

'Here is inside the wooden box,' he told her.

Rose rubbed her upper arm in comfort. 'It's bigger on the inside. All this is inside that small wooden box.'

Amy frowned. 'Is it alien? Like the crack in my wall, the hidden room, and the escaped prisoner?'

'Ooh, she's good,' the Doctor said. 'I like her.'

'Yeah, it's alien,' Rose confirmed. 'It's our space ship . . . It's our home . . . Are you okay?'

Amy gave a weak smile and nodded. 'Yes.' She then frowned and shook her head. 'No . . . Sort of.'

'Well that's a good start,' the Doctor said with a smile. 'Now, let's find where Prisoner Zero has gone, and have a word with the Atraxi.'

He moved around the console, adjusting the controls before shutting down the Time Rotor. He flicked a switch under the monitor. 'Oi, Atraxi! Did you think no one was watching when you threatened to burn down someone's house?'

'Prisoner Zero has escaped. The human residence is surrounded. Prisoner Zero must be captured or be incinerated,' the gruff voice said.

'Yes, yes, I know all that. But there's no one surrounding the house. You're all in orbit . . . around the planet!'

'Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated.'

'The human residence. You mean the planet, don't you? Well. I'm invoking article fifty seven of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established level five planet, and you think you can just come along and burn it? Not on my watch!'

'Prisoner Zero will vaca . . .'

The Doctor waved his hand in dismissal. 'Yeah, yeah, you said. Why don't you just pick him up and go?'

'Prisoner Zero is hidden from us,' the gruff voice told him.

'Ah, the disguise. You can't detect him. Okay, here's what's going to happen. One: You will stop threatening to burn the planet, or I'll take your matches off you. Two: I will find Prisoner Zero for you. And "C" . . . sorry. Three: You will take Prisoner Zero and leave this planet and NEVER return. Is that understood?'

Amy leaned close to Rose. 'Blimey. He's good.'

Rose flashed her a smile. 'He's the best!'

'Your proposal is acceptable.'

'It had better be, 'cos it's the only one you're getting.' He shut off the comms channel and turned to the ladies. 'Now, we have something that the Atraxi don't.'

'What?' Rose asked.

'Amy Pond and her local knowledge. when you saw Prisoner Zero, you said "but it's just", as though you recognised him.'

'Yeah, it's Barney, the village odd job man.'

'And how is it that he was able to use Barney the odd job man as a template?'

'Well, that's the weird thing. Barney fell off a ladder months ago and had a head injury. My . . . friend Rory has been nursing him in the coma ward.'

'Rory?' Rose asked teasingly. She heard the hesitation in her voice.

'But that's not the best of it,' Amy continued. 'Rory's been taking pictures of his coma patients around the village. I thought he was just Photoshopping them as a joke, but now, I'm not so sure.'

'Right then. That's our destination, the hospital.' He started up the Time Rotor again and set the coordinates for Royal Leadworth Memorial Hospital.

'Right! Hello. Am I late?' he said as he stepped out of the TARDIS. A male nurse looked up in confusion.

'Oh my God we've moved!' Amy said as she stepped out behind the Doctor.

'Amy? What's going on?' the male nurse asked.

'Ahh. I'm guessing you're Rory. Nice to meet you Nurse . . . Williams,' the Doctor said, looking at his badge. 'What's going on is that an alien is using your patient's identities to disguise itself.' He took out his sonic screwdriver. 'But I'm here to tear the mask off, like they do on Scooby Doo.'

'Do you think, Time Lord?' Prisoner Zero asked; who was now appearing as a woman with her two daughters.

'Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies.' The prisoner didn't know he'd made a deal with the Atraxi, and he wanted to keep it that way.

'The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire.' That was why he didn't tell the prisoner about the deal.

'Ho-kay. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again. Just leave.'

'I did not open the crack.'

The Doctor frowned. 'Somebody did.'

'The cracks in the skin of the universe, don't you know where they came from . . ? You don't, do you?' She changed to a little girl's sing-song voice. 'The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know. Does-n't know. Does-n't know!'

She changed back to the adult voice. 'The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall.'

'What does that mean?' Rose asked. 'What's the Pandorica?'

'A fairy tale. According to legend, the Pandorica was the prison of a warrior or goblin who dropped out of the sky and tore the world apart until a good wizard tricked it and locked it up.' He took out his sonic screwdriver. 'Nurse Williams, do you have your phone on you?'

'Er, yeah,' he said as he reached into the pocket of his tunic. 'But what's all this got to do with me?'

'You noticed your comatose patients wandering around the village,' he told him, and then addressed Prisoner Zero. 'And this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favourite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here.' He sonicked Rory's phone. 'Ooh, and being uploaded right about now.'

A bright light shone through the window. 'Oh! And I think they just found us!'

'Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained.'

'Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall,' Prisoner Zero said as it faded away.