Braxiatel and Romana led River and Father Octavian out of the transport. Romana had told Thyra and Amy to stay in the transport where it was safer. "The hyperdrive would have split on impact." Romana began to explain. "The whole ship will be flooding with radiation and gravoty storms which is deadly to almost any living being."
Octavian looked thoughtful at this, trying to find any way they could to defeat the Weeping Angel. He knew that this was a dangerous mission and he was willing to do anything he could to stop the Angels at all cost and protect the human race. "Deadly to an Angel?"
Braxiatel grimaced. Truth be told, he knew little of Weeping Angels and only remembered what information they held on them from their last encounter with Sally Sparrow. Even then, that wasn't much on how to defeat a lone Angel. At least last time they had managed to trap the Angels for good. This time it was a little bit more difficult. "Unfortunately, it does the opposite to the Angel. The Angel feeds on it so the longer we leave it, the stronger it gets. Might I enquire who built the temple itself?"
River read the readings from the handheld device. She wanted to help in anyway she could. Anything to try and avoid her from going back to prison, she would do. "The Aplans. The indigenous life-forms. They died out 400 years ago."
Octavian nodded to confirm this. "200 years later, the planet was terraformed. Currently there are six billion human colonist."
Romana raised an arch eyebrow at him. Humans were everywhere. They were mammals! It shouldn't surprise her really but it hurt her. They looked so much like her species and to see them everywhere, to see them living their lives hurt her whilst her species was buried in dust and stones. Forgotten amongst the living. "I swear you humans breed like rabbits. Time and time again we keep on saving you lot." She shook her head. She was turning into the Doctor all right and Romana wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Ma'am, if there is a clear and present danger to the local population..." Octavian warned, looking concerned at the fact a Weeping Angel may be a threat to the surrounding population.
"This is dangerous, Bishop." Romana told him in agreement. Weeping Angels were always dangerous. She remembered Rassilon mentioning them in some of his notes centuries ago but she knew that from her own experience from the last time with Martha. "It's time you got yourselves locked and loaded."
Octavian turned to the radio to talk to his soldiers. "Verger, how we doing with those explosives?" There was a muffled reply but Octavian seemed fine with the answer before he indicated towards River. "Dr Song, with me."
"Two minutes." River called, needing to speak to the adult Time-Lord's, mostly alone. "Mr and Mrs Heartshaven, I need you both." She called for them, moving to the side.
Romana looked amused at Braxiatel. "Well, at least she knows of our Gallifreyan marriage traditions." She took his hand and went over to her. She will have to give credit to River that as she respected her people's rituals.
Amy and Thyra stood in the transport entrance. "Anybody need us? Nobody?" Amy called, crossing her arms. Honestly, she did feel sort of useless by just sort of useless by just standing here and doing nothing whilst all the Time-Lord's did all the work. She hoped she wasn't going to be doing this for all of their adventures. She wanted to actually be useful and be a part of something.
Thyra went back into the transport ship, entranced by the Angel on the screen. Since the last time they looked it has now moved it's hand away from it's face and Thyra eyes widened slightly, hoping she what she was thinking was wrong as Amy walked back inside.
River began to show Romana and Braxiatel an old book that had old hand writing written inside. "I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman, it's barley readable but I've marked a few passages."
"I like you. Highlighting the important points." Romana praised her and she flipped through the book before snapping it shut. That was what Romana used to do when she was always making notes. She always used to highlight the important points and ignore the less important ones. If River really was their daughter, she certainly did share some of her traits already. "I must say, it's a bit tedious in the middle."
Amy popped her head out of the transport, glancing around for them. "Dr. Song? Are you sure you didn't have more than one clip of the Angel?"
River shook her head. "No, just the four seconds."
Braxiatel snatched the book of Romana, flipping through the pages back and forth, his eye brows furrowed. "Why aren't there any pictures?" He usually wasn't bothered about books having pictures but something about this book having no pictures of the weeping Angels bothered him. If you were up against a stone predator, wouldn't it help to have a drawing to see what you were fighting up against?
Puzzled, Amy went back inside the transport ship. If River only had that clip, then how could the Angel move? "River said that was the only one she had." She commented to Thyra only to find her staring at the television, as though daring herself not to blink. "Thyra?"
"Amy, whatever you do. Don't. Blink." She warned in a deadly tone and Amy glanced at the video again to find the Angel was facing forward, hands down at it's side. "Get out whilst you can. Get mum and dad and tell them that the Angel in the video is alive." She hissed, not taking her eyes away from the Angel. How the Angel was alive, she did not know but it was and Thyra was doing her best on trying not to blink.
"But how?" Amy frowned, not understanding how a video recording could be alive. She glanced at the time code to see it on loop from 11:24 to 11:28.
"Get. Out. Now." Thyra snapped and Amy backed away slightly, not liking her tone when the door closed and locked behind them. "Amy!"
River observed Romana and Braxiatel as they kept searching the book, her journal in her hands. She sent them a smile. "Oh, it's so strange to see Thyra all baby-face. This is must be extremely early for you if Thyra hasn't regenerated yet!" It was strange. She hasn't seen this incarnation of Thyra before. At least, she hasn't think she hasn't.
Romana snapped her head towards River, alarmed by this piece of information. "What? My daughter regenerates early?" She sighed. It certainly did run in the family. She remembered the first time she regenerated young when she was with the Doctor. It wasn't the Doctor's fault, it was her body was unable to cope any longer. "Then again, I regenerated when I was only in my 100's. It must run in the family."
River smirked at her. "So you three have know idea who I am yet?" One part of her loved this because she could play with along with them and do what she liked but another part of this hurt her more than anything. It shouldn't hurt her for them to not know who she was but it did. To have the people she loved dearest not know who she was...it broke her heart.
"How do you know who we are?" Braxiatel enquired. He was curious to know. The past River knew who they were straight away as she did here but then this time they had their TARDIS so it was quite obvious to tell who they were. "We regenerate. We change our appearance. How can you keep track of all of us all?"
River looked smug, still looking through her diary. "I've got pictures of all your faces-including your daughter's. None of you ever show up in the right order though, Thyra does very nearly but I need the spotter's guide."
"Again, like Braxiatel said. Why aren't there any pictures in this book?" Romana asked, looking thoughtful.
"Amy, keep staring at the Angel, don't even blink. I'm going to try get us out of here." Thyra ordered, moving away from the television and she got out her sonic screwdriver and turned it onto some settings. She really hoped they could get out of here. She really didn't feel like getting stuck in the past right now.
"But it's just a recording! It can't move!" Amy protested, but did as Thyra asked, trying very hard not to blink. She felt her eyes watering and she couldn't do open her eyes any longer and she blinked and opened her eyes quickly to see the Angel with it's mouth open in full predatory mode. "Thyra!"
"I told you, keep staring at it!" Thyra shouted back, the sonic screwdriver not working on the door. "Damn it! Sonic screwdriver not working." She hissed and she put it away. Honestly, as much as she loved her sonic screwdriver, it could be incredibly useless at times. "All right, time to use some telekinesis."
"Hurry up!" Amy protested, still staring at the Angel. "I'm trying hard not to blink!"
"All right, all right, hold on a nanosecond." Thyra retorted and she stepped back slightly before she raised both of her arms. "Here goes nothing."
"This whole book...It's a warning." Romana explained, handing the book to Braxiatel. "It's a warning about the Weeping Angels. If it's a warning, then why no pictures? Why not show us what to look out for?"
River peered over Braxiatel's shoulder, remembering what she had read of the book earlier. "There was a bit about images."
Braxiatel flipped to the page quickly, scanning until he had found the most important bit. "That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel." He read off the page, his eyes widening when suddenly, the door to the transport ship blew open and they all snapped their heads towards the sound, the door landing just at their feet and they looked up to see Thyra standing there, her arms held out. "Thyra, what on-"
"The Angel!" She warned them. "The Angel is alive!" She went back inside and they all shared a look with each other before Braxiatel snapped the book shut once more and dashed inside after them, seeing Amy and Thyra not taking their eyes of the Angel.
"Don't. Blink." Romana warned everyone, all staring at the Angel which still had it's mouth open in a predatory position. Oh great. Now the Weeping Angels had control of projecting them through televisions? Just what she needed.
"That's what I already told Amy." Thyra countered, winking with one eye before slowly winking on the other, careful not to blink.
"Have you tried switching it off?" Braxiatel enquired.
Amy nodded, not blinking. "I tried but nothing happened. It just kept turning itself back on again." She fumbled with the remote without taking her eyes off the Angel, showing Braxiatel as it turned itself back on.
"That's the Angel doing it." He commented grimly."Look at anywhere but the eyes."
"Why?" Amy frowned, looking into it's eyes, entranced.
"Amy, look at it anywhere but the eyes, it's important. 'The eyes are not the windows of the soul, they are the doors. Beware what may enter there." Braxiatel quoted, remembering the quote from the book as he stared at the Angel-avoiding it's eyes.
River looked towards Romana, remembering something from the book. "What did you say about images?"
"Whatever holds the image of an Angel, is an angel." Romana told her before looking at Amy. "That's it!"
Amy beamed. "Ok..hold this." She held out the remote. "One, two, three, four..." She hits the pause button whilst there was static, freezing the Angel before turning off. Amy and Thyra sighed with relieve as Braxiatel went to unplug the screen. "I froze it! I froze it on the blip. It wasn't the image of an angel any more." She beamed between the Time family and River, feeling proud of herself. "That was good, yeah? It was, wasn't it? That was pretty good." She said that as though in reassurance to herself and for the fact she craved praise from the Time family, wanting to prove herself to them that she could be as good as them.
"That was amazing!" River praised her, seeing that the Time family were far too busy messing about with the television. She knew Amy well, especially in the future. But here, she was so young then she was almost childlike.
"River, can you hug Amy?" Thyra asked her, looking at the remains of the doorway, feeling pretty pleased with herself that her telekinesis managed to blow open a deadlocked seal door that the Angel had put there. Oh, her telekinesis powers were certainly improving all right. She couldn't wait to test her true powers back in the TARDIS and she wondered what else she could do with them.
River arched an eyebrow at her, not understanding why she had to hug Amy. Not that she was complaining. River was always up for a hug. "Why?"
"Because I'm too busy admiring my craftsmanship and my parents hate hugging humans anyway." Thyra replied, not taking her eyes away from the door.
Romana glanced over her shoulder as she worked on the television screen with Braxiatel. "She's right." She smirked, turning back to the screen.
River rolled her eyes, shaking her head fondly as she hugged Amy. "You're brilliant." She praised Amy once more, rubbing her arm comfortingly.
Amy sighed gratefully. At least River Song was showed some emotion towards her. "Thanks. I kind of creamed it, didn't I?"
"So it was here? That was the Angel?" River asked, glancing towards the adult Time-Lord's.
"It was more of a projection of the Angel." Braxiatel began, finishing examining the screen as had Romana and they turned around to face them. "It was reaching out and was trying to study us. Unluckily for us, it's now no longer dormant." He pulled a face at this as they exited the transport ship, having heard the soldiers set off a loud explosion.
"Wicked!" Thyra cheered, watching them excitedly and she carefully went to look at all the equipment that the soldiers used, unable to hide her excitement.
"Thyra, be careful!" Romana warned, looking concerned. She really didn't like it when her daughter was around weapons but it was too late for that now for she knew Thyra could take care of herself but she still couldn't help but look concerned at him.
"It's all right mum." Thyra waved her off before looking towards Father Octavian. "Father Octavian, it's gone positive! We can go through! Yes!"
Romana rolled her eyes, looking at Braxiatel, Amy and River. "Here we go. Come on." She grabbed Braxiatel's hand, following Thyra and Father Octavian.
Amy was about to follow them but stopped, feeling something in her left eye and she began to rub. River glanced at her. "Coming?"
"Yeah, coming. There's just...something in my eye." She murmured, rubbing it before quickly following River, pushing aside her itchy eye.
A little while later, all of them were all inside the maze of the dead chamber, Romana climbing down a rope ladder and joined Braxiatel and Octavian at the bottom. She then helped her daughter down and they all turned on their torches to look around the dark, damp chamber as Amy and River joined them with the other soldiers.
Braxiatel glanced at Octavian. It was lucky that he was used to the cold. He wasn't nicknamed the Icicle for nothing. The cold never bothered him and his icy hearts. "Do we have a gravity globe? We could use a bit more light." Even with their Time-Lord senses, it was still hard to see in the cave.
Octavian nodded and turned to his soldiers. As much as a dangerous mission this was, he wanted to help the Time family as much as possible. "Grav globe." One of the soldiers took out a sphere from his pack and hands it to Octavian.
"Where are we? What is this?" Amy asked, glancing around as she stuck close to Thyra. She felt glad at the fact she was wearing a jumper for it was rather chilly down here.
"It's the Aplan mortarium. Sometimes called maze of the dead." River explained, gazing around the chamber.
"And what's that?"
"Does what it says on the tin." Thyra replied cheerily, finding all of this terribly exciting. "If you happen to be a creature that is made of pure living stone-" She took the gravity globe from Octavian and kicked the gravity sphere like a football, causing the shake of the head from her father as it raised into the air and it stopped before It lit up and the cave showed a large number of stone statues. "This would be the perfect hiding place."
Octavian grimaced, seeing all the stone statues in place. All these statues were just here to make it even more harder to find the Weeping Angel. This was going to take up a lot of time. "I guess this makes it a bit trickier."
"Just a bit?" Romana asked dryly, arching an eyebrow. She rather liked the idea of this challenge of trying to find a Weeping Angel though truth be told, Romana had no idea what she was going to do when she actually found it. "I would say more than a bit. A stone angel on the loose amongst all these old stone statues."
River walked over to her, pointing her torch towards the statues. "A needle in a haystack." She mused, trying to find the Weeping Angel though she knew she wasn't going to find it straight away.
Thyra beamed. "It's like a needle that looks like hay! A hay-like needle." She giggled slightly to herself, causing River and Amy to look amused. Thyra stopped giggling before cocking her head to the side, looking thoughtful. "Actually, let's just stick it to finding a Weeping Angels amongst Stone Statues."
"You're getting ahead of yourself dear." Romana commented off handedly, putting an arm around her daughter, smiling.
Octavian shook his head, a faint smile on his face before he began to give orders to his men. In a way, it was nice to have a young one with them for their was still innocence then surrounding her. But Octavian knew who Thyra was and knew who she was going to turn out to be in the future. "Right. Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection." He turned to look at Braxiatel. "One question-how do we fight it?"
"Ask me again later and I may just come up with an answer for that." Braxiatel told him, really having no clue how to fight off a lone Angel. If they had a group of Weeping Angels, they would have been able to trick them like they did last time but this was a lone Weeping Angel and really, he had no idea and that was a first. He held Romana's hand, walking off and Thyra and Amy followed them, staying close.
River made to follow the Time family and Amy but Octavian grabbed her arm. He looked at her warningly, telling her that she was still under his watch. "They don't know who you are yet, do they? Who and what you are."
River swallowed, glancing longingly at the Time family before looking at Octavian, her eyes watering slightly. It pained her to even think about those memories. Memories that the Time Family haven't yet lived. "It's too early in their time stream. In her Time-Stream."
Octavian cast a glance at the Time family before looking back at River. "Well, make sure they don't work it out, or they're not gonna help us. Lord have mercy, we'll have the Icicle on our backs and that's not something I don't want to be dealing with."
"I won't let you down!" River hissed. "Believe me, I have no intention of going back to prison."
"Sir? Side chamber. One visible exit." A soldier called, pointing his torch towards the lone side chamber.
"Check it out. Angelo, go with him." Octavian instructed, still giving River a warning gaze just as the two soldiers went into go and check out the chamber.
The Time family were shining their torches in every direction, Romana whispering to Thyra in Gallifreyan, educating her as she went. Even though this wasn't her lessons, Romana always tried to manage and squeeze in some form of education for Thyra whilst on their adventures.
Amy made her way to follow, smiling at them before she stopped and looked at the many levels above them and saw all the statues lining the way. She rubbed the corner of her eye with one finger and found a little grit. She then used her full hand and saw sand and grit come through her fingers. She stopped, looking at the sand with horror and feeling frightened, she looked at her hand to see nothing, her heart beats quickening.
River comes up behind her, seeing her stop. "You all right?" She asked, concerned.
Amy gave a shaky nod. "Yeah, I'm fine." She hugged herself, trying not to be scared in front of the soldiers and she glanced at River. She didn't want to come across as a coward, even if the sand in her eye did bother her and Amy hoped for her sake it was just her imagination. "So, what's a maze of the dead?"
River gave her a smile, fidgeting with some of the equipment in her hands. "Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls." She commented almost cheerily and Amy gave her a look of horror. River looked sheepish. "Ok, that was fairly bad. Right, give me your arm." She grabbed Amy's arm and showed her a syringe. "This won't hurt a bit." She gave Amy a shot.
Amy winced, feeling mild pain but it still hurt her. "Ow!" She scowled. She lied to her! It hurt a lot.
River smirked. "There, you see. I lied. It's a viro-stabiliser. Stabilises your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything You're going to need it when we get up to that ship." River explained, putting the Viro-stabiliser away. She always hated those things as well but they were necessary in order to survive.
Amy glanced at the Time family before looking at River, still confused as to who River may just be in their personal future. "So, what are they like? In the future, I mean. Cos you know them in the future, don't you?" She was curious, she'll admit that.
"The Time family? Well, they're just the Time family." River shrugged, not giving anything away. "Same old really."
Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, well that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?" She asked sarcastically as Thyra came over to them, River's device in her hand but was holding it the wrong way up. Romana and Braxiatel hadn't corrected her for they were far too busy talking to each other and looking at the statues.
"What are you two talking about?" Thyra asked them, taking readings with River's device.
River smirked fondly at her. "Talking about you."
"Ooh! All the good points I hope." Thyra replied, smiling broadly.
"Ah, the other way up dear." River chuckled.
Thyra stopped, her eyes wide and she turned the device the other way round and look over at River who merely raised her eyebrow. "I knew what I was doing." Thyra protested, blushing furiously.
"Yeah right." River scoffed, but in a teasing manner.
Amy laughed, just seeing the relationship between River and Thyra develop over the last few hours, it almost certainly was like a sibling relationship. She wondered if River even knew of Jenny yet. "You're so her sister."
River smiled up at her, shining her torch amongst the statues. "Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy! This is Thyra we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"
"Yup." Amy grinned, just knowing that somehow she was right. She could see it easily between her and Thyra for the relationship was almost like the one she had with Mels back home.
River beamed. "You're good. I'm not saying you're right...but you are very good."
Angelo and the other Cleric were searching through the dark chamber. The Cleric scoffed. "Can you believe this? We're hunting statues." It sounded silly and he still couldn't understand how a stone statue could be so deadly that they were hunting for it anyway.
"Better than chasing lava snakes." Angelo pointed out for he hated snakes.
"Actually, lava snakes weren't that bad." The Cleric replied and he moved ahead through the cave out of Angelo's sight. He moved ahead slowly, keeping watch before his torch began to flicker. He sighed, just knowing this was typical for his torch to go out on him know before he heard the sound of stone against stone nearby. He frowned, pointing his gun and torch up towards the noise. "Who's there? Is someone there? Angelo?" He turned his head, trying to see his friend. "Angelo!" He hissed, feeling slightly scared and he turned to look back only to be confronted by an angel, snapping his neck.
Angelo was further back in the chamber before he heard some movement further on ahead. He spoke into his radio. "Christian, is that you?" He asked.
"Angelo, come and see this." Christian replied, sounding urgent.
"What is it?"
"Just come and see it!"
Angelo frowned, sensing something terribly wrong about this whole thing. "It's not a school trip. Just tell me." He demanded, not wanting to go and risking his neck in these caves.
"No, really, come and see!" The urgency in his voice finally persuaded Angelo and he went to follow where Christian was moments before, when he too was killed by an Angel.
The Time family and River were examining the statutes when they heard gunfire from nearby. Romana put a defensive hand on Thyra's shoulder, her mother instincts rushing through her before they all ran back down to the main chamber to find a young cleric had fired his weapon at one of the statues. Braxiatel stopped to look at it.
The young cleric trembled in fear, looking frightened and ashamed. "Sorry. Sorry, I thought...I thought it looked at me." He told them fearfully. He thought he saw it move out of the corner of his eyes and he knew it was just the dark playing tricks on him. But he couldn't help it. He was just feeling so scared.
Octavian narrowed his eyes at him. "We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?"
"No, sir."
"No, sir, it is not! According to the Time family, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil. So it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of décor." He snapped even if he was slightly fearful but he would not show it in front of his men.
Romana looked at the young cleric. "What's your name soldier?"
"Bob, ma'am." Bob swallowed, unable to meet her eyes.
Thyra beamed, turning away from the statue to look at him. "That's a cool name! I love Bob." Braxiatel rolled his eyes at his daughter's behaviour.
"It's a Sacred Name. We all have Sacred Names, they're given to us in the service of the Church." Octavian explained.
"It's all right to be scared, Bob." Romana began softly, giving him an encouraging smile. "We're all scared in this room. Anyone who isn't scared in this room is a fool." She saw Braxiatel at the corner mocking her. "Including you, Braxiatel." He scowled.
"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes." He turned to Bob. "You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach." He told him and Bob nodded as they made their way upwards through a passage.
"Isn't there a chance this lot's just gonna collapse? There's a whole ship up there." Amy pointed out, feeling nervous of the ground collapsing on top of her. She did not want to die today, especially the night before her wedding.
"They're incredible builders, the Aplans." River told her reassuringly, standing next to her.
"We had dinner with their Chief Architect." Thyra piped up, remembering the dinner. It had been very amusing to talk to both heads of the Chief Architect. "Well, you know what they say. Two heads are better than one."
"You helped him?" Amy asked incredulously.
"No, what she means is that he actually had two heads." Braxiatel told her before turning to River, holding out his hand. "There's something right in front of me but I can't see it. River, at the very end of that book, what does it say?"
River shrugged off her backpack and rummaged through it, getting the book. "Hang on."
"Read it to us." Romana commented, looking at the statues, suddenly feeling as though they have walked right into a trap.
"What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels." River read out loud, not sure the point Braxiatel was making.
"Hey, Angelo. Christian? Where are you?" Bob asked into the radio, heading down the side chamber where Angelo and Christian were moments before. He glanced around before his eyes widened as he saw the bodies of his friends near by, his breath hitched with fear and he turned sharply to see the shadow of an Angel. He frowned, walking through the archway before he was attacked by the Angel and he was Bob no more.
"Are we there yet?" Amy groaned, fed up of climbing through the maze of the dead. "It's a hell of a climb."
"Nearly there." Thyra grunted, climbing. Romana offered her a hand and Thyra eagerly took it, struggling slightly. "We only have two levels to go." She glanced at her mother. "After this, can we visit the Aplans?" She asked hopefully.
"I thought they were all dead." Amy asked, bemused.
"So is Virginia Woolf. Thyra's on her bowling team." Braxiatel commented, making Amy chuckle. "There's something obvious. Something staring right at us in the face." His moustache twitched in annoyance. "Oh, I do hate it when that happens."
"Braxiatel, there's something. I don't know what it is..." River trailed off, realizing the same thing.
"Urgh, tell me about it." Romana grimaced, gripping her daughter's hand tightly. "We'll figure it out. Something terribly wrong. As though we had walked straight into a trap..." She stopped and looked clearly at a statue. "Oh dear."
"What's wrong?" Father Octavian looked at her, seeing her look.
"Mum..." Thyra clutched at her hand and Romana pulled her in, hugging her and Braxiatel stood next to them protectively.
"Oh." River's eyes widened in realization, looking at the statues before staring at the Time family. "How could we not notice that?!"
"Two guesses. One-they have a low level perception filter." Braxiatel explained, not taking his eyes of the statues. How could have they been so foolish to not have notice? "Or two, we weren't paying attention to detail."
"What's wrong, sir?" Octavian asked, wondering what the Time Family were getting worked up on.
Romana glanced around, her eyes wide. "Nobody move. I want every single human to stay exactly where you are." She turned to face Octavian. "As I said before, Bishop. This is a trap and I'm terribly sorry but we are all in danger with my daughter in the middle of it."
Octavian frowned, tensing slightly. Danger. There was always danger with each mission Octavian and his men went on. "What danger?"
"The Aplans." Thyra swallowed, feeling frightened at the idea they were surrounded by viscous predators.
"The Aplans?" Octavian asked, not understanding what the Aplans had to do with what was going on and he glanced at the statues.
"They've got two heads." River told him pointedly.
"Yes. I get that, so?"
"Oh, do pay attention Bishop!" Romana scolded, wanting the man to figure it out for himself. "All right, everyone, move over here. That's an order!" Romana ordered, her tone turning serious and all the soldiers and Amy moved to the spot they were in that had no statues. "I want everyone to switch off your torches."
Thyra looked alarmed. "Mum? Are you mad?!"
"She's always mad my dear." Braxiatel smirked, making Romana gently nudge him in the ribs. "But yes. Everyone, do as my wife says. Turn off your torches." One by one, they all began to turn off their torches until it was just his left on. "I'm going to turn my torch off too, just for a nanosecond."
River looked between Romana and Braxiatel. "Are you two sure about this?"
"We're always sure." Romana told her, though for once she really hoped she was wrong. "Turn off your torch, Brax." Braxiatel obeyed and he turned off his torch for a split second before turning his torch back on quickly to find the statues in front of them were now facing them. Romana tugged at Thyra's hand and they ran on ahead to get away from the statues.
"Oh, my god! They've moved!" Amy gasped, her heart beating wildly. They were surrounded by Weeping Angels and they were right in the middle of their trap!
"Oh, you humans. Always stating the obvious." Braxiatel retorted sarcastically before they quickly followed after Romana and Thyra, seeing all the statues lining their way to the ship. "Every single one of them are Angels."
"But they can't be!" River protested, not understanding how the Aplans can be Angels.
"Soldiers, keep watching!" Romana ordered, her mood turned sour. "Don't even blink because if you blink, it will cost you your life." She backtracked with Braxiatel and saw the Angels have moved forward. "Every statue in this maze, every single one is a Weeping Angel." She pulled a face. "I don't like this. Not at all." They ran back towards the others.
"There was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear." River told them fearfully, thinking that they were thinking her as a liar. Romana put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, telling her she believed her and River relaxed underneath her touch, finding comfort.
"Could they have been here already?" Amy wondered, not taking her eyes off the statues.
"How did the Aplans die out?" Thyra asked curiously.
"Nobody knows." River replied for even she did not know herself.
"Well, now we know."
"They don't look like Angels." Octavian pointed out, not taking his eyes away from the Angels. It was just impossible! They looked nothing like Weeping Angels.
"And they're not fast." Amy told them, trying to remain calm. "You said they were fast. They should have had us by now."
"Indeed. They're dying which means they are slowly losing their forms, losing their image." Romana looked thoughtful for a moment. "Which means...their image is power. Power!"
Amy blinked. "Romana?"
Thyra grinned at her. "Mummy's got a plan."
"I always have a plan." Romana told her daughter with a smile before turning serious. "Don't you humans see? All this radiation from the ship spilling out, all that drive burn. The crash wasn't an accident, it was a rescue mission for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up."
"Then we need to get out of here and fast." River told them, her eyes wide.
Braxiatel glanced at her. "I like your thinking."
"Oh, I bet you do." River smirked.
Octavian spoke into the radio to warn the others. "Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in please. Any of you, come in!" He said urgently as there was a pause.
"It's Bob, sir. Sorry sir." Bob called over the radio.
"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active!" Octavian warned, wanting to keep his men safe.
"I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir." Bob replied and Thyra's eyes widened as listened, sticking close to River. "The statues killed them, sir."
Romana took the radio of Octavian, her hearts sinking as she heard Bob's report. "Sacred Bob, this is Lady Romana speaking. Where are you now?"
"I'm talking to my-" Octavian began, glaring at her.
Romana glared back. "Be quiet!" She hissed. "Where are you Bob?" Romana asked again.
"I'm on my way up to you, ma'am. I'm homing on your signal."
"Very good. Might I ask, what did the Angel do to your friends?" She went straight to the point, hoping the Angel just sent his friends back in time.
"Snapped their necks, ma'am."
Romana and Braxiatel shared a baffled look with each other. "That's not how the Angels kill you." Braxiatel frowned. "They should displace you in time. Unless...unless they need the bodies for something."
Octavian took the radio from Romana's hands, not pleased at the fact she was taking charge. "Bob, did you check their data pack? We may be able to initiate a rescue plan."
Romana took the radio roughly off Octavian once more, glancing at him. "I AM TALKING!" She snapped angrily and Octavian looked at her, seeing her anger through her eyes as she shouted and he swallowed slightly. She spoke into the radio once more, exhaling as she tried to steady herself. "Bob, how did you escape? The Angels never leave anyone alive. No one."
"I didn't escape, ma'am. The Angel killed me too." Bob replied and they all looked at each other, wondering what Bob meant and Thyra swallowed fearfully.
"How did the Angels kill you, Bob?" Romana asked softly, realizing that this may not be the actual Bob they were speaking to but the Angel itself. The Angels were vicious all right, playing with their victims as though they were nothing but toys.
"Snapped my neck, ma'am. Wasn't as painless as I expected but it was pretty quick, so that was something."
"Tell us, Bob. Who are we actually talking to right now? The Angel or you?"
"You're not talking to Bob, ma'am. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion." Bob replied and Thyra stared, horrified by how cold the Angel was. She had rather liked Bob.
"So I take it the Angel that's on it's way up and not you...?" Romana asked, fearing the worst. Just what they needed. This whole situation was getting worse by the nanosecond.
"Yes ma'am. It's the Angel. Sorry for the confusion."
Braxiatel looked at the others. "We need to make our way through the wreckage. Thyra, lead the way from them. Go!" He ordered, wanting his daughter to be far out of danger as possible even if everywhere they went, they were in danger right now.
Thyra nodded, doing as she was told, leading the way ahead. "Everyone, follow me! Go, go, go!" She ordered and the soldiers followed after her.
Amy began to ran after Thyra, but paused and glanced at Romana and Braxiatel worryingly. "Romana? Braxiatel?"
"Amy, do as I say! Go, now!" Romana snapped, and Amy blinked at her harshness and she and River left.
Only Romana, Braxiatel and Octavian remained. "Octavian, I thought I told you to go?" Romana snapped. "I'm sorry, but your men are dead. You need to focus on the ones that are still alive right now; they need you."
Octavian nodded in agreement, knowing she was right even if had a cold attitude about it. "I know that, ma'am. And when you and your family have flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to their families." He regarded her coldly before walking off.
Braxiatel glanced at Romana. "He's only doing his duty." He reminded her, remembering his days in the Time War where they had to report to the fallen soldier's family members.
Romana sighed. "I know." She spoke into the radio once more. "Angel Bob, which Angel are we talking to? The one from the ship?"
"Yes, ma'am. The other Angels are still restoring."
"Well, at least we now know that the Angel is not in the wreckage." Braxiatel shrugged before he grabbed Romana's hand once more and they ran along the passage and saw Amy waiting for them. "Amy, I thought we told you to run!"
"I can't!" Amy told them fearfully, causing the two Time-Lord's to come back and help her. Amy's eyes watered, feeling terrified as she eyed her hand. "No, really, I can't."
"Of course you can!" Romana told her scoldingly, seeing nothing wrong with Amy.
"Look at it. Look at my hand. It's stone!" Amy stressed, glancing at her hand that gripped the rail to see it made out of stone.
Further along the passage, Thyra, River, Octavian and the rest of the clerics arrive at an open chamber and could see the ship above them. Octavian gazed up at it. "Well, there it is. The Byzantium."
River gazed at it before looking at Thyra. "Well, it's got to be 30 feet. How do we get up there?"
Thyra looked thoughtful. "I could use my telekinesis to get us all up there. But it will take a while." She began to test her telekinesis strength, warming up and River nodded, watching her with interest as Thyra closed her eyes, concentrating.
Octavian turned to his men. "Check all these exits. I want them secure." He ordered.
Braxiatel was examining Amy, flashing a torch in her eyes. "You looked into the eyes of an Angel didn't you?" He tsked.
"I couldn't stop myself. I tried!" Amy protested.
"Oh you humans. You never listen!" Romana snapped angrily at her. "Your hand is not made of stone, amy. It's in your mind. Your hand is not made of stone. I promise you."
"But it is!" Amy protested, confused despite the fact she knew Romana would never lie to her.
"Oh, I don't have time to argue with you all day!" Romana snapped as Braxiatel's torch light began to flicker on and off and Braxiatel stared at the Angels, keeping his attention on them. "Sorry, not sorry." With slight impatience, she bit into Amy's hand and Amy screamed, moving it. "Told you. Now run! You too, Brax."
Amy winced, cradling her hand. Romana did have such sharp teeth and she wondered if they were proper alien teeth. "You bit me!"
"Again, always stating the obvious!" Romana retorted, running towards the others as she pulled Amy behind her.
"I've got a mark! Look at my hand!" She showed them her hand furiously, not happy at being bitten by an alien. "You've got proper alien teeth!"
"You humans are never happy. You're alive, think on that." Braxiatel rolled her eyes as the three of them began to run.
One of the clerics sent to check the passages returns, Thyra still warming up her telekinesis powers. He glanced at her and she had her eyes closed, a slight storm surrounding her despite the fact there was no wind. "The statues are advancing along all corridors. And sir, my torch keeps flickering."
"They all do." Octavian glanced at his own torch.
River looked up at the gravity globe that was giving them light only to see that too was flickering. "So does the gravity globe." She pointed out, just as Romana, Braxiatel and Amy came back in.
"Clerics, we're down to four men. Expect incoming." Octavian warned.
"It's the Angels." Romana warned them. "They're draining the power for themselves." She went over to her daughter, seeing her focusing. "Thyra, what are you doing?"
"She's going to try and use her telekinesis powers to lift us all up to the ship." River explained.
"There are more incoming!" Octavian warned. "The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach Byzantium."
River looked at the Time-Lord's desperately. "Thyra's got a plan for a way out. Unless you have any of other ideas, this would be a really good time to share them. No pressure."
"There's always a way out." Romana told her, her voice echoing and the lights began to flicker off again before coming back on, the Angels coming closer and were blocking the passage way. Thyra's telekinesis powers grew stronger and stronger, creating a slight gust of wind around them.
"Romana? Can I speak to Lady Romana, please?" Angel Bob asked through the radio.
"Well, at least you have manners." Romana began to speak into the radio. "What is it you want?"
"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, ma'am."
"Yes, I've figured all that out for myself. Why tell me?"
"There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end." Bob spoke.
Romana rolled her eyes at Braxiatel. "Which is?"
"I died in fear."
Romana froze. "What did you say?"
"You told me that if I wasn't afraid, that I would be considered a fool. But I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you and when it mattered, you let me down." Angel Bob spoke and Romana stiffened.
Amy whispered to River, edging closer to Thyra. "What are they doing?"
"They're trying to make her angry." River whispered back, seeing Romana have fury in her eyes.
"You're not the real Bob." Romana spoke coldly into the radio. "You are the Angel I am speaking to and you, Angels, have made a very, very foolish mistake because I will not, let that slide!" She turned to the others, lowering the radio. "Everyone, form a circle around Thyra. Now!" They all did as she was told, making a small circle around her as Thyra's telekinesis powers got stronger and stronger.
"But you're trapped, ma'am and about to die."
"Has anybody ever told you how much I hate the word trapped?" Romana scoffed, getting into the circle, standing facing her daughter and next to her husband. "There's no such thing as being trapped; not when I'm around."
"But you can't escape, ma'am. You're surrounded." Angel Bob told her, not understanding.
Romana glanced at her husband. "You trust me?"
He squeezed her hand. "I always trust you."
She beamed before looking to Amy and River. "Trust me?"
Amy nodded and River let out a smile. "Always."
Romana looked towards Octavian. "You lot, trust me?"
Octavian nodded, not taking his eyes of the statues as they stood in the circle. "We have faith, ma'am."
"Everyone, hold hands." Romana ordered and everyone obeyed, Thyra's eyes opening and her eyes contained the vortex swirling inside them. "Stick together as tightly as you can." They felt the ground rumble slightly, Thyra lifting her arms to the side as they huddled together.
"Sorry, can I ask again? How are you not trapped, ma'am?" Angel Bob asked, sounding confused.
"If you know anything about me, then you should know not to put me or my family in a trap. Unfortunately, you're not smart and that has costed you your life." Romana smirked, feeling all of them hover slightly.
"What do you mean, ma'am?"
Braxiatel looked around smugly, feeling his daughter's telekinesis powers getting stronger and stronger, her eyes glowing. "If you have any plans on living your life, Angel Bob then there is one thing you never put in a trap."
"And what would that be, sir?"
Romana and Braxiatel glanced at each other almost lovingly. "Us!" With that, Thyra lifted them all off the ground, smashing the gravity globe with her telekinesis powers in the process as she did so and it exploded.