The soundtrack for Ellis Island was similar to how it was everyday, with the contented mumbles of visiting public conversing with each other or staff. The intricate rifts of blaring ship horns caused a constant disquiet while the piercing calls of Herring gulls was enough to distract anyone from their conversation. However, something was about to happen on Ellis Island that had never happened before. A groaning sound of ancient engines reverberated the air around the base of the large statue as a Type 40 TARDIS began her materialization programme. A large blue box began to fade in and out of being as the old ship parked herself to the co-ordinates she was sent.
After a short delay her door finally squeaked open and a dark skinned woman emerged from the police box, a wondrous smile etched on her features as she looked at the vision in front of her. She pulled her small black fringe away from her features, her eyes sparkling with anticipation as she studied the city. She simply turned back towards the police box to see her companion stumbling from his home, and his large trench coat bellowing in the wind as he came to stand at her side.
"Ah! Smell that Atlantic breeze!" The Doctor chimed with a large smile. He cricked out his shoulders as he sauntered around his friend, looking down at her wondrous expression. "Nice and cold, lovely." He finished as he stepped around in a circle before realization washed to his being. He knew exactly where they had parked. "Martha, have you met my friend?" he finished as he placed his hands to the pockets of his suit trousers, the wind ruffling his thick mob of brown hair as he took in the emerald green statue rising high up into the air.
"Is that….?" Martha breathed, struggling to find her words as the shock, surprise and excitement engulfed her at the same time. "Oh my god, that's the Statue of Liberty!" She cried as she finally recognized the woman holding onto her book and torch while decorated with an elaborate crown.
"Gateway to the new world. Give me your tired, your poor, you huddle masses yearning to breathe free." He quoted, his eyes shining with emotion as he spoke with his eyebrows lifted high.
"That's so brilliant." Martha smiled "I've always wanted to go to New York. I mean, the real New York, not the new, new, new one." She expressed, fluttering her eyes between the Doctor and the Statue in front of her as she tried to engrain every little detail she was seeing into her mind.
"Well, there's the genuine article." He replied, turning around again and pointing his head to the direction of the Manhattan Skyline, leaving Martha to catch up with him as he slowly dawdled towards the edge of the island. "So good they named it twice." He expressed again, noticing as Martha jogged back to his side to take in the high rising buildings, the sailing boats, the lights and the sheer impressiveness of the American skyline. "Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to sat twice, no wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam New Amsterdam." The Doctor joked.
"I wonder what year is it?" Martha questioned with a smile, her eyes narrowing due to the intensity of the sunlight. She couldn't help but look up at the Doctor, taking in the way his skin glowed due to the UV rays, how his hair follicles waved in the wind while he stood with his hands in his pockets. She knew she didn't have the right to ogle at him, especially considering she had only known him for a few days, but a girl could window shop right? There was no harm in checking him out? After all, he was a pretty attractive bloke. "'Cause look, the Empire State Building's not even finished yet." She expressed as she lifted her hand to point towards the unfinished building. It seemed that the last few floors were yet to be completed.
"Work in progress. They're still got a couple of floors to go." The Doctor stated, his eyes never leaving the building. He was so wrapped up in his ability to show off he hadn't seen Martha look over her shoulder towards the bench and the newspaper that seemed to be unaffected by the wind. She just unfolded the paper, still listening to the Doctor as he rambled a little to himself. "And if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around…."
"November 1, 1930."
"You're getting good at this." The Doctor complained as he frowned down at her, finally understanding as to where she got her Intel. She had taken a leaf out of Mickeys book and found a newspaper. The Doctor struggled to keep himself composed as he thought back to a time where he and his wife travelled with her childhood friend. Images of those adventures shined within the front of his mind and he had to try and stop his hearts from battering against his rib cage as those painful images of his Rose's smiling features overwhelmed him. If only for a moment.
"Eighty years ago. It's funny 'cause you see those old newsreels, all in black and white like its so far away, but here it is." She said in awe, her eyes once again staring at the sight in front of her, unaware of the frown on the Doctor's features after he had taken the paper from her hands. "It's real, its now." She laughed, her teeth curling around her bottom lip as she struggled to compose her excitement. "Come on you, where do you want to go first?"
"I think our detour just got longer." The Doctor moaned as he held out the corners of the paper so Martha would be able to get a better look. A small frown took hold of her features, trying to concentrate considering she had moved remarkably close to the Doctor and his intoxicating smell momentarily distracted her.
"Hooverville mystery deepens. What's Hooverville?" Martha asked
"Come on, lets try and get to the mainland and ill tell you all about it." He expressed as he wrapped his hand around Martha's arm to get her moving before the pair headed down the long causeway with the trees bellowing dangerously in the wind. Today was only just starting and things could get a little more complicated.
0-0-0
The boat that was carrying the passengers back to the mainland was rocking perilously against the choppy tide, the foam spitting up at the deck as several commuters gripped onto the barriers, Martha being one of them. He couldn't stop the small smile from washing to his lips as he took in the happiness that Martha was admitting as she took in the older clothing of the Americans, she was living old New York for the first time and her happiness was almost infectious.
The pain in his hearts ached in that moment for it had been a great many years since he had seen that exact look on the features of his wife. The twinkling of her eyes, the large tongue between teeth smile and the melodic sound of her laughter as she shared an experience with him. Back then he had taken every thing for granted. The universe had granted them with a happy ending and he was damned sure to savor every second and to look out for her. But much with the way of his life, his happy ending wasn't to last as long as he would have wanted. Now he was on his own, desperately searching every star, every planet and every time in hope of finding her again. Seven years had already gone by…. He was adamant that he wouldn't let another seven go by without having found her. He needed her back with him, he needed her warmth, her smile, her laugh and her unique way of seeing the universe. She was the light at the end of the tunnel and she was the one to make him see things in a different light, even when the darkness of the universe overwhelmed him. She was shiver to his shake, Chewie to his Han and Spock to his Kirk. Together they made an unbeatable team and her absence was tearing him apart.
He wished he could join in Martha's plethora but since they had landed his head had began to ache and as they moved closer to Manhattan it was only getting worse. The pain was all too familiar which was why it was causing him some concern. Before he had bonded with Rose whenever they grew close, especially during their more intimate moments, the burning of his mind made it near impossible to think straight. He knew why. When he tried to discuss things with Rose, no words could ever match the pure emotions he felt for her. But bonding with another person was usually so powerful that once it was created all emotions and thoughts were poured into the other. He had never experienced it himself, but when he was with Rose, the whole idea of bonding didn't scare him. What terrified him was that she may never have been able to form the bond and that she would never want that kind of commitment.
He should have known that she would accept him in all his flaws, all his burdens and all his desires. She already trusted him completely and she wanted to be with him for who he was. He could still remember how she said that his burdens and his past was what made him who he was, and she was just overjoyed that he wanted to share that part of him, especially considering it was his form of a wedding proposal.
But all of this still didn't explain the pounding of his head.
It was in these moments that The Doctor wished he could forget everything, go back to the TARDIS and hide from the rest of the universe. It was times like these when he wished Rose was with him, so he could talk to her, to gain the comfort he needed and to just revel in her company to try and forget the troubles of the universe. The sad thing was that Rose was the reason he was feeling like this which just made everything worse.
The Doctor simply pulled himself from his reprieve as he headed down towards one of the seats anchored onto the deck and lifted his hand to rub at his temple. He could see Martha soaking up the rays of sunlight but he was becoming light sensitive. What the hell was going on? He closed his eyes, delving back into his mind, to try and sense for any telepathic communications being sent to him, but as he moved into his mind nothing was different. The golden light that symbolized Rose was pulsating a little, but that could have meant anything.
She could be in trouble wherever she was, she could be feeling a little more emotional than usual or she could also be closer to him. However, as he concentrated on her presence their link was stretched thin meaning she was too far away from him, he would get nothing from her, for it remained the same as it always did. Silent and unimportant.
So the Doctor just opened his eyes, wincing as the sunlight streamed into his eyes but as Martha plunked herself onto the chair next to him he gave her a wide smile, ignoring the throbbing of his skull as he moved into a prattling monologue about boats and the 'fascinating' history behind them.
0-0-0
It had taken them over three hours to make it to Central Park but the sun was still shining brightly in a clear blue sky. The trees were a variety of colours such as red, oranges and dull browns as the autumnal winds bellowed through the branches, displacing many of the leaves as they floated down to the ground. A great many gardeners were seen working within the grounds, raking, sweeping and picking up piles of leaves in hopes of making the Park a little safer. However, as the Doctor and Martha headed down the pathway, small cobbled stones embedded to the soles of his converses, while the wet slippery leaves that engulfed the pathways cracked under foot.
The wind was also a little chilly; Martha was clinging onto the lapels of her jacket as she folded her arms across her chest in hopes of trying to retain some of her body heat, her fringe moving all over her features due to the wind. The Doctor kept his hands to his pockets, feeling his trench coat blowing around at his ankles as the pair moved through the park, relaxing at the sound of 'In to the ritz' that was playing over the radio speakers that belonged to the Gardeners.
"Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the USA, came to power a year ago." He expressed. "Up till then, New York was a boom town, the Roaring Twenties." He voiced, using his left hand to make a point, his eyebrows raised once again as Martha fluttered her eyes up towards him and the ground in front of her. "And then…."
"The Wall Street Crash, Yeah?" Martha questioned as she looked up towards him. He was looking down towards the ground at this point, trying to push passed the ever growing pain in his skull before looking back towards his companion. "When was that? 1929?"
"Yeah." He said with a nod "Whole economy wiped out overnight. Thousands of people unemployed. All of a sudden, the huddled masses doubled in number with nowhere to go. So they ended up in Central Park." He explained, moving to the left side of a park bench as he allowed a cyclist to go past.
"What, they actually lived in the park? In the middle of the city?"
Before the Doctor could answer her question they came to the entrance of 'Hooverville'. A hive of activity and the constant buzz of private conversation could be heard as the pair of them moved away from the cobbled paths and onto mud. Martha could see tents and metal huts, all rotting and falling apart. People were cooking, servicing bikes or hanging out laundry. She had no doubt that the encampment was a quick put together with no planning for streets, sanitation or ease. Instead it was a jumble of everything; a tent here and there, a fire barrel maybe put here and a wash basin there.
They moved passed a sign post and she gave a small smile to two young men huddled in worn clothing by a fire barrel, they in return just looked at them with skepticism as they slowly moved passed them in hopes of finding someone of authority.
"Ordinary people, lost their jobs. Couldn't pay the rent and lost everything." He said sadly, a sad smile on his lips as he observed an older man sitting outside his tent with a younger chap sitting in the chair in front of him, getting a hair cut that appeared long over due. The leaves and muddy grass was littered around the front of the tent and the fire barrel. It seemed they didn't have the means to keep their tent clean. "There are places like this all over America. No one's helping them. You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go."
Martha looked up at her friend, seeing the sadness etched to his expression as he looked towards the people of Hooverville. She had seen that look on his features a few times but never with this much force. She lowered her hand to intertwine her fingers with his. He simply looked down at her gesture, looking between their clasped hands and then back up towards her. He squeezed it out of comfort and gave her a small smile before he slowly released his hand from hers. He pulled away from her far too quickly in her opinion.
Nevertheless, Martha had no time to dwell on her emotions for as soon as the pair of them moved into the clearing they were bought from their thoughts when the tussling and shouting of two young men pulled them to attention.
"You thieving lowlife!" One of them shouted before throwing a punch at the second man. The Doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise as he observed the interaction between the two men. He watched as other inhabitants of Hooverville rushed over to try and break up the fight but to no avail, each of them were so angry, so frustrated that they weren't going to back down. "All morning I wait in the bread line for a single loaf!" he shouted, shrugging off the guy that was trying to hold him back. When his opponent was back on his feet he grabbed hold of his jacket, keeping him in place before placing several hard hits to his stomach, causing the guy to stumble back to the floor.
"I didn't touch it!" He screamed, struggling to get away. His attacker moved to hit him again, but an older black man wearing an old military coat intervened.
"Cut that out!" He shouted as he placed a gentleman's hat to his head, coming between the pair of them, each of them trying to throw a punch around the older fella who barreled straight in between them and did not back down until they stopped fighting. "Cut it out, right now." He shouted, placing his hands, cladded in finger-less gloves to the two blokes chests.
"He stole my bread!" The attacker yelled, shoving his finger to the victims shoulder.
"That's enough!" he shouted. "Did you take it?" He demanded, as he looked towards the victim, his lips cracked and bleeding.
"I don't know what happened, he just went crazy!" He shouted, preparing himself for another attack when the other guy launched at him again. The man however was well prepared and forced the pair away from the other.
"That's enough!" He screamed, catching his breath as he moved his attention to the first guy once again. "Now think real careful before you lie to me."
"I'm starving, Solomon." Solomon just looked at him, taking a step backwards as he held out his hand. The man just looked towards the ground before reaching into the lapel of his jacket and pulled out the loaf of bread. Solomon took it from him, ignoring the grumblings of the people around him before tearing the loaf in half.
"We all starving. We all got family somewhere." He voiced as he handed a half to each party. "No stealing and no fighting. You know the rules. Thirteen years ago, I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the only reason we got through because we all stuck together. No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got." He voiced, his eyes moving between the begrudged pair who looked at each other before going their separate ways. Solomon just watched them go.
"Come on." The Doctor voiced, his pitch high as he nudged his shoulder with Martha who was looking up at him confused, following behind as the Doctor moved over towards Solomon whose apparel, Martha noted, was very similar to the Doctor's albeit a little more worn and dirty.
"I suppose that makes you the boss around here." The Doctor expressed, his hands still in his pockets as Solomon looked him over.
"And who might you be?" The man replied suspiciously, his eyes moving between the pair of them as he looped his fingers through the belt loops of his trousers.
"He's the Doctor, I'm Martha." The young woman expressed, cocking her head at the mention of her companion before resting her hand to her chest as she introduced herself.
"A Doctor?" Solomon exclaimed in surprise, again fidgeting on his spot as he spoke with them, relaxing when he saw the friendly smile on the Doctor's lips. "Huh? Well we got stockbrokers, we've got a lawyer…." He voiced as he pointed out each individual before turning his attention back to the pair of them "But you're the first Doctor. The neighborhood gets classier by the day." He grumbled as he pulled his coat together and tried to warm himself on the boiling water that was bubbling in the cauldron in front of them.
"How many people live here?" Martha asked
"At any one time, hundreds. No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville, we a truly equal society. Black, white, all the same, all starving. So you're welcome, both of you." He stated trying to get the Doctor's attention once again considering the Time Lord was looking around his environment and around at the people pottering around in the mud. "But Doctor, you're a man of learning right?" He asked as he motioned with his hand for the Doctor to come stand with him. The Doctor just watched where he was putting his feet as to not disrupt the fire at his feet as he moved to Solomon's side. "Explain this to me." He continued as he motioned towards the tall building rising high over the trees. "That there's going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, and we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan.?" The Doctor had no answer for him, he just watched as Solomon begrudgingly moved away from the pair of them and left them looking at the building, Martha unaware of the throbbing of the Doctor's head as he looked at the building. Yeah, something was definitely going on around here.
The Doctor just gave Martha a nudge as he turned away, reaching into his coat pocket as he headed back to Solomon who was emptying the last dregs out of his teapot. Solomon turned to face them once again and as his eyes fluttered over the newspaper his heart dropped.
"So, men going missing, is this true?" He asked, his eyebrows drawn together while his lips were in a hard line as Solomon reached to take the paper from him.
"It's true alright." He stated before turning and vanishing into his tent.
"But what does missing mean?" The Doctor asked, not allowing the man to get away from him as he stood by the lapels of the tent, Martha standing incredibly close as she tried to get a better look at what was happening inside. "I mean, people must come and go here all the time. It's not like anyone's keeping a register."
"Come on in." Solomon said, waving the pair of them in as he removed his hat from his head and sat on one of his makeshift chairs. The Doctor looked over his shoulder towards Martha as the pair of them moved inside and taking a seat in front of the man. "This is different." He stated as he frowned down at the newspaper, his eyes moving between the Doctor who was sitting next to him with his chin resting on his hand while Martha sat opposite trying to warm her frozen feet.
"In what way?" She asked as she clasped her hands together.
"Someone takes them… at night." He uttered, watching as the Doctor narrowed his eyes at his words. "We hear something, someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone. Like they vanished into thin air."
"And you're sure someone's taking them?" The Doctor voiced, his brown eyes staring intently to the man in front of him. Solomon just smiled at him.
"Doctor, when you've got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got. Knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, a fire still burning."
"Have you been to the police?" Martha said as she nodded her head in understanding. Solomon just looked at her as if she were a little stupid.
"Yeah, we tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal."
"So the question is, whose taking them and what for?" The Doctor voiced, his eyes off staring as his mind worked in overdrive and his fingers absentmindedly scratched at his earlobe.
"Solomon!" A voice shouted, pulling them from their conversation when a young boy propelled himself through the tent flaps, readjusting his cap that had fallen into his eyes due to his sandy blonde hair. "Mr Diagoras is here." He stated. The Doctor just looked between Solomon and the young chap, a frown on his features as he struggled to understand the sudden change in demeanor on the older mans features. Solomon grabbed his hat and headed out of his tent, intent on finding out what was going on in his camp. The Doctor looked over at Martha and pulled his lips downwards before following after Solomon.
His eyes took in the upper class, well-clothed men standing on boxes at the boarders of Hooverville. The young man was standing just to the back of the large crowd that had gathered in front of Mr Diagoras, each of them shuffling with nervousness as if they were unsure as to what they were about to be asked.
"I need men, volunteers. I've got a little work for you. And you sure look like you could use the money."
"Yeah, what is the money?" The young man spoke again, coming to stand towards the side while Solomon, the Doctor and Martha forced themselves towards the middle.
"A dollar a day." He finished, just for the crowd to start laughing and slowly start moving away to get on with better things.
"What's the work?" Solomon inputted.
"A little trip down the sewers. Got a tunnel collapsed, needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?" He asked, the Doctor frowning as he took in the large crowd grumbling around him.
"A dollar a day is a slave wage." Solomon voiced as he moved his eyes away from Diagoras. "And men don't always come back up, do they?"
"Accidents happen."
"What do you mean, what sort of accidents?" The Doctor asked as he moved his head around the guy in front of him to ask the businessman his question.
"You don't need the work, that's fine." He stated before looking around the crowd once more. "Anybody else?" Diagoras asked. The Doctor just raised his right hand while the other stayed in his pockets. "Enough with the questions!"
"Oh, n-n-n-n-, I'm volunteering. I'll go" The Doctor voiced, unaware of Martha looking up at him with death shining in her eyes. The young man also looked down towards the ground and then towards him as he spoke with Diagoras.
"I'll kill you for this." Martha said between her teeth as she too raised her hand. The Doctor couldn't help but beam down at her as Solomon and the young man raised their hands to join them.
0-0-0
The young man, who had been introduced as Frank, was the last of them to transcend the ladder and into the sewers. The Doctor had been holding onto his shovel as he made his way down and as soon as the younger fellow was safely inside the tunnel, he sorted out his jacket before holding out his hand for the Doctor to pass over his equipment. The Time Lord just smiled at him before he moved his eyes back towards Martha who was once again hugging herself to try and retain her heat at the same time as shining her torch down the damp tunnels.
"Turn left, go about half a mile, follow tunnel 273, the fall's right ahead of you. You can't miss it." He enthused, using his hands to show directions. Martha and the others simply shone their torches down the tunnel, the medical student hearing the squealing of rats as they bolted away from the beams of light shining from their torches. Yeah, she was going to kill the Doctor once this was all over.
"And when do we get our dollar?" Frank asked as he turned away from the sewer to face the man on his left.
"When you come back up." Was all he said, looking towards Frank who was adjusting the hold he had on the thick rope slung over his shoulder.
"And if we don't come back up?" The Doctor interjected, his eyebrows raised knowingly. He had lived for such a long time he knew when something just didn't sit right, and right now something smelled a little fishey…. And it wasn't the sewers.
"Then I got no one to pay."
"Don't worry, we'll be back." Solomon voiced as he shone his torch onto the face of Diagoras.
"Lets hope so." Martha muttered as she followed after Solomon, looking over at her shoulder to see Frank was coming into step next to her. The Doctor just stood there, staring at Diagoras a little longer, never blinking, not even moving as he tried to get a read on the bloke. When he got nothing he just turned and walked after the others. This could get interesting.
"We gotta stick together. It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren." Frank expressed as he walked next to Martha. The Doctor just lifted his torch and turned on the switch as he followed suit. However the pressure in his head barreled into his skull once again and his vision blurred. His head was screaming and he collapsed to the dripping walls, ignoring the water rolling over his trench coat as he squeezed his eyes shut to try and combat the throbbing of his head.
What the hell was going on?
The Doctor slowed, lowering the shields of his mind to see if he could identify any intruder forcing its way through his defenses and what he found made his heart swell with trepidation and confusion. Gold was overwhelming him.
"Doctor?" Martha voiced, forcing the Doctor away from his mind and bringing him back into reality. "Are you okay?" She asked again, a frown of concern washing to her features as the Doctor gave her a smile.
"Of course I am, I'm always alright." He said, "Now, lets go find out where this blockage is." He finished before running to catch up with Frank and Solomon.
"So what about you Frank, you're not from around these parts." Martha said as she continued down the tunnel, the Doctor having taken the lead with Solomon on his left, each of them trudging through the corridors carefully as they searched.
"Ha! You can talk." Frank said with a smile. "No, I'm Tennessee, born and bred."
"So how come you're here?"
"Uh, my daddy died. Mama could afford to feed us all. So I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself, so put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There are a whole lot of runaways in camp younger than me. From all over; Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas. Solomon keeps a look out for us." Frank voiced, the last part of his conversation attracting the older man's attention causing him to look over his shoulder while the Doctor kept looking forwards. "So what about you? You're a long way from home." He voiced, ducking his head away from a low hanging pipe while Martha looked towards her feet with a smile on her expression.
"Yeah, I'm a hitcher too." Martha enthused, an edge of sadness in her voice as she looked towards the Doctor's back. When the Doctor was involved her mind was fogged with various thoughts and sensations. She knew she had fallen for the Time Lord; it wasn't because of his lankey frame, his eyes, his skin and his immaculate brown hair. Sure those things helped and it wasn't even his annoying ability to use words so animatedly, no deep down The Doctor was just one of the most lovely people she had come to know, and it was just a shame that the Doctor was so wrapped up in his past that he couldn't see that, or anyone else for that matter.
But how could she know if the Doctor was uncomfortable with an affiliation that may see them into something more than just friends; she couldn't help but think that the Doctor was hiding something when it came to the affairs of his hearts. She couldn't stop her mind from thinking back to their travels. She remembered the small touches so vividly, the gentleness of his voice and the sheer wanting to impress her. Hell, the night spent sharing the same bed back with Shakespeare was forever ingrained to her mind, causing her heart the thunder in her chest just by thinking about it. Blimey, she had really fallen for him.
"You stick with me, you'll be alright." Frank voiced, snapping Martha from her dreaming of the Doctor as they continued further into the sewers.
"So this Diagoras bloke, who is he then?" The Doctor asked as he looked towards Solomon who was surprised by his question.
"Couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now, seems like he's running most of Manhattan."
"How did he manage that then?" He asked as he shone his torch around the corner.
"These are strange time. A man can come from being King of the hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way around." The Doctor was listening to what Solomon had to say, was very interest in fact, but as they rounded a corner he was momentarily distracted.
An eerie green glow seemed to overshadow the sewer chamber and as he looked down towards the ground he understood why. A weird looking, green fleshy creature was lying on the ground, a mucus membrane cushioning it as if it had been thrown away. The Doctor couldn't stop the frown from taking over his features as he pointed his lamp light directly towards it.
"Whoa!" He cried, pulling the attention of his companions in the process. Martha pushed herself between her elders, a disgusted look on her face as she shone her torch directly onto it, one of her hands still clinging onto the lapels of her jacket.
"Is it radioactive, or something?" She asked, the Doctor just lowered his torch and sat on his knees, reaching into his pocket and pulled out his glasses. Martha moved around him while Frank and Solomon kept looking down the tunnels and towards the Doctor and the creature. "It's gone off, whatever it is." Martha said between a gag as the overwhelming stench got the better of her. The Doctor slowly placed his glasses to his nose before reaching for the object. The slime rubbed between his fingers as the tentacles flopped to the skin of his hand and wrist as he tried to get a better look, trying his best to ignore Martha as he tried to get a better identification. "And you've got to pick it up." She said again before grimacing when the Doctor gave it a sniff.
"Shine your torch though it." He asked gently and focused his eyes once again when Martha's torchlight gave him a better view of the creature. "Composite organic matter. Martha, medical opinion?"
"It's not human, I know that." She stated as she leaned closer.
"No, its not." He muttered "And I tell you something else." He said as he got to his feet, the organism still in his hand as he frowned over towards Solomon and Frank who were shooting him a confused expression. It seemed they were struggling to process the idea of a non-alien life form. "We must be at least half a mile in and I don't see any sign of collapse do you? So why did Mr Diagoras send us down here?"
"So where are now?" Martha asked as she shone her torch onto the ceiling and avoiding the dripping water.
"Well," The Doctor breathed as he took in a huge lungful of air from between his teeth, hanging his mouth open as he looked at his environment with wonder and confusion as he tried to figure out what was going on here. "We're right underneath Manhattan."
