Chapter 8 – Planning
"Err, did you say demons, Doctor?" asked Rory, slightly put off.
"Yes, I did, Rory," the Doctor replied as he dashed out of the swimming pool. "Get changed and we'll explain the rest."
Rory turned to his wife, confused. "'We'll'? Who else has he managed to coerce into helping him?"
"Hmm, guess we'll find out later," said Amy. "Come on; let's get out of these wet things."
Ten minutes later, the Amy and Rory entered the console room to find the Doctor, Artemis, Foaly, Holly, Butler and No1 debating the next course of action.
"I say we just get in there, get the demons, and get out," said Holly, opting for the quick and easy option, but No1 shook his head.
"It won't be that simple," he replied. "Like I said earlier, some demons won't want to leave, especially Abbott?"
"Who's Abbott?" asked Amy, as she and Rory attempted to enter the conversation.
"Ah, good, Amy and Rory!" exclaimed the Doctor happily. "Everyone, this is Amy and Rory, my two friends. Amy, Rory, this is Artemis, Butler, an elf called Holly, a centaur called Foaly, and a demon called No1,"
"OK, said Amy slowly. "I thought elves and centaurs were all, you know, mythological and stuff."
"Not to mention demons," added Rory.
Artemis stepped forward. "I believe it may be prudent to explain that humans aren't the only intelligent species on Earth," he explained. "You see, elves, dwarves, centaurs, pixies, trolls, goblins and the like have been secretly living underground -"
"Yeah, we know," interrupted Rory. "They've been in hibernation underground since the dawn of time. Believe me, we're well versed in this sort of stuff."
Foaly whinnied. "Hibernation? We haven't even invented hibernation; it's only a concept that we enjoy watching in your sci-fi films!"
"Where'd you get the idea of hibernation from?" Holly asked curiously.
Amy looked at them, confused. "So you're not related to Homo reptilia, then, are you?"
"Homo reptilia? What on earth are they?" asked Foaly.
"Long story, don't have time for it," interjected the Doctor quickly. "Now, we were deciding what our plan was going to be."
"We could always scout the area, get a good position, wait for a demon to come by, then use a tranquiliser dart to knock him out, then bring him back here," suggested Butler hopefully.
Everyone shook their heads.
"It'd take too long," explained No1. "Not that I know the exact number of demons on the island, but I'd say there'd be close to a thousand."
"Come on, Doctor, you must have a plan," said Rory, turning to the Time Lord.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking, oh yes!" the Doctor said, eyes gleaming in excitement.
"What is it?" asked Foaly eagerly.
"What if we're going about this the wrong way? We're trying to get the demons off the island, so instead, why don't we try and get the island out of the Vortex? If I could somehow link the TARDIS to the island, I could, in theory, guide the island through the Time Vortex – and space, if necessary – once the Vortex has completely destroyed the warlocks' spell. That way, Hybras wouldn't appear in the universe at random."
Artemis frowned. "That's a good beginning, Doctor, but you're forgetting one thing. Hybras won't just disappear out of the Stream, err, Vortex, it'll break up and get disintegrated. And even if it didn't, the demons would still disappear off the island due to their lunar attraction."
"Looks like the Doctor's got some competition in the brain department here," Amy whispered to Rory, who chuckled.
"Hmm, yes, you're right," admitted the Doctor. "I need some way to extend the TARDIS force field around the island; that would stop the molecular disintegration of the island, and would also prevent the demons from disappearing off the island."
"Your force field can protect one from the energies of the Time Stream?" said Foaly. "What else can this fascinating box do?" he asked, eyes gleaming.
The Doctor grinned. "Quite a lot of things actually; unfortunately, since this is an extremely old model of TARDIS -"
"OLD!" breathed Foaly. "You say this thing is old!"
"- most of its functions aren't working, the chameleon circuit, for example..."
Butler coughed, and Holly rolled her eyes. The Doctor looked embarrassed.
"Err, yes, anyway, I need some way to extend the TARDIS force field."
Silence, then:
"Foaly, would it be possible to set up arrays to project the force field, sort of what you do with a time stop?" asked Artemis.
Foaly mulled it over. "Hmm, yes, I think I could do that. We'd need to get my equipment from the LEP storerooms; I didn't take any to Section 8. And providing that my equipment and the force field are compatible...yep, I think it could be done!"
Everyone turned to the Doctor, who grinned.
"That sounds like a plan to me," he said excitedly. "And it won't matter if your equipment isn't compatible, Foaly," he said, taking out his sonic screwdriver. "A quick sonic will fix that."
Foaly fainted.
"Whoops," said the Doctor, guiltily.
Holly smiled. "Don't worry," she said, looking down at Foaly's prone figure. "All this advanced tech that you've got made him a bit too excited."
"Ah," frowned the Doctor, before moving around the console, throwing levers and flicking switches. "The LEP storerooms – no, wait, what's the LEP?"
"Lower Elements Police," answered Holly. "Here, I'll help you with the co-ordinates.
"You have a police force?" asked Amy in surprise.
"Police? What's a police? Po-leece," added No1.
"What's with him?" said Rory, looking at No1, who was off on one of his sound-testing experiments.
"It's a side-effect of a materialisation," explained Artemis.
"Materialisation?"
Butler put a hand on Rory's shoulder. "Don't ask. Seriously. Unless you want an endless explanation about things no one understands."
"Actually, we get that a lot," Rory said apologetically, glancing at the Doctor.
"Hmm," said Artemis, pursing his lips. "I'll have to have a big talk with your friend one day." He glanced down. "Is there anywhere we can put Foaly?"
"Here, come with me," said Amy. "Rory, you and uh?" She paused, realising she'd forgotten Butler's name.
"Butler," offered Butler.
"You and Butler lift him. We'll take him to the Stable."
"Stable? I've got to see this," said Artemis, and he followed Amy, Rory, Butler and Foaly's unconscious body into the depths of the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor, Holly and No1 in the console room, working out the co-ordinates of their next destination.
