Notes: Working on it! I promise... please review! It really motivates me!
Chapter Thirteen – Flesh and Stone: Part One
At the sound of the shot, everyone jumped and after a brief, stomach flipping feeling, found themselves landing on a metal floor rather than stone. The lights had gone momentarily, but there were lights shining up from the floor and everyone looked around confusedly as to what had happened.
"Up. Look up," the Doctor instructed while he sonicked a hatch on the floor.
"Are you alright, Amy?" Jamie asked, helping her back onto her good leg and supporting her as best he could.
"Yeah, what happened?" Amy replied.
"We jumped," River answered her question simply.
"Alright, everyone please look up and keep looking up while the Doctor explains, instead of all this wasting time asking questions instead of following life saving instructions," Rose interrupted.
"Thank you, dearest. So, everyone think about it for a moment, while you are looking up and I open this door. The ship crashed with the power still on. So, the artificial gravity is also still on. One good jump, and up we fell. I shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are," the Doctor explained.
"Dad, how are they moving as a group with the lights from the ship still shining and their faces restored now?" Jamie questioned while continuing to stare at the statues above them.
"Not completely sure. I suppose for one, they are looking up at us now and not toward each other. Also, they could probably play a bit of leap frog, the ones in the back moving up until they get to the peripheral of the ones in front. So long as they kept a bit of space between them and focused their eyes forward, they could move that way even with the lights on. Ah! Here we go," the Doctor added as he finally got the hatch open
One of the lights from the ship exploded then and startled everyone into motion towards the entrance to the Byzantium. "They're taking out the lights! Keep looking at the Angels and get into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you," the Doctor instructed as he ushered each of them into the door.
The first few were disoriented when the gravity suddenly shifted to the floor of the corridor which was perpendicular to where they had just been standing.
"It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now keep moving and keep looking at those Angels," the Doctor assured them and urged Jamie and River to get Amy through the doorway. He and Rose followed them and the remaining soldiers took up the rear, keeping their eyes and guns trained on the Angels as more of the exterior lights went out.
As soon as the Doctor was through the door, he rushed to where Jamie was already working on the control panel. They managed to shut the door they just came through in time to hear several loud impacts with the hull outside.
"The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?" Octavian asked, guessing at what the noises might have been.
"Oh, they're here, now," the Doctor replied and a bulkhead down the hall started to close. "Run!" he shouted, but it closed before anyone could get through.
"This whole place is a death trap," Octavian complained.
"No, it's a time bomb. Well... it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic. Oh, just me then. What's through here?" the Doctor rambled nervously.
"Secondary flight deck," River replied, being the only person who had been on the ship before.
Jamie and the Doctor ripped open a panel next to the bulkhead and began to work on the wiring inside while Rose looked around for another switch or panel to control it.
"Ok, so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?" Amy asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"I've thought about that," the Doctor told her.
"And?" Amy prompted.
"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See? I've thought about it," the Doctor admitted and went back to work on the wires in front of him.
"It's no good, dad. The security protocols are still online. There's no way to override them," Jamie said in frustration and sucked on his burnt finger when a circuit sparked at him.
"It's impossible!" the Doctor shouted.
"How impossible is it?" Rose questioned.
"Two minutes," the Doctor replied as the hatch to the outside of the ship opened and several Angels appeared in the hallway as the lights flickered. Everyone began to panic as they came closer with each drain on the power.
The Doctor and Jamie worked together seamlessly. Finally, the Doctor interrupted the frightened shouts with, "We've isolated the lighting grid, they can't drain the power now."
"Good work, Doctor," Octavian said while maintaining his vigil of staring at the oncoming Angels.
"Well, it's good in a lot of ways and not so good in others," Jamie admitted.
"Ok, I'll bite, what part is not so good?" Rose asked as she helped River support Amy while the boys were busy.
"Well, there's only one way to open this door. That is to route all the power in this section through the door control," the Doctor explained.
"And the part that's not good about that is?" River questioned.
"We have to include all the lights in that too. We'll need to turn out all of the lights in order to get through this door," Jamie told them.
"How long for?" Father Octavian asked him, already steeling himself for battle.
"Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer," the Doctor replied as he paced and fidgeted with his hands.
"Maybe?" the Bishop questioned, not looking impressed.
"I'm guessing! We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this," the Doctor argued. Rose took his hands in hers and met his eyes to help calm his racing hearts a bit. He took a few deep breaths with her.
"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness," Amy said.
"No other way. Bishop?" the Doctor prompted, he would need everyone backing him on this in order for it to work.
"Doctor Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust them?" Octavian asked River. He knew what she was capable of, but not the others.
"I trust all of them with my life," River stated sincerely.
Octavian moved to whisper so that only River could hear, "I'm taking your word, because you're the only one who really knows this family. But their trust in you only goes as long as they don't know who you are. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell them. Understood?"
"Understood," she answered.
"Ok, Doctor. We've got your back," Octavian told him reluctantly.
With Rose ready to turn the wheel of the bulkhead once it released and River and Jamie supporting the injured Amy between them, the soldiers prepared to fire continuously on the Angels. While the bullets wouldn't harm them, the sparks created from the ricochets would create minimal light to slow them slightly in the seconds they needed to escape.
The few precious seconds that they were in darkness were terrifying for everyone, but in the end, they were all safely on one side of the bulkhead, and the Angels were on the other. Rose and the Doctor were the last ones to come through the bulkhead before it shut behind them with a loud clang.
They ran down a short corridor and entered the secondary flight deck. The Doctor leapt over the console and immediately started searching through the computer for anything that might help them. Jamie moved to his side to search as well and Rose started searching the walls for other escape routes.
The Angels began to pound on the three main entrances to the room and the soldiers used magnetic seals on the doors that should have stopped them, but only seemed to slow them down.
"We need another way out of here," River complained.
"There isn't one," Octavian told her.
"Oh really? Look what I've found!" Rose sang happily as she moved a large crate to reveal clamps holding down a large door in the back wall.
"Oh! You beauty!" the Doctor cried and picked her up into a spinning hug, placing her back on her feet with a quick kiss.
"What is it?" Amy asked, not sure why they were so pleased with this.
"This is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?" the Doctor prompted.
"Of course," River said in sudden realization.
"Of course what? What do they need?" Amy questioned, still confused.
"They need to breathe, Amy," Jamie told her as he moved to work on the clamp opposite the one his mum and dad were opening.
The door lifted once the clamps were released and the Doctor put an arm over Rose's shoulders for a moment. "Always so observant, my love," he told her and planted another kiss on her cheek before grabbing her hand to pull her along behind him again.
"But that's... that's a..." Amy stuttered as she took in the huge space beyond the doorway. The room was filled with giant trees, grass and moss.
"It's an oxygen factory," River told her and began to urge Amy forward as she continued to support her.
"It's a forest," Amy said with an awe-filled sigh.
"Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory," River confirmed.
"And, if we're lucky, an escape route," the Doctor added as he and Rose moved to higher ground to try and see if there was a path through the artificial forest. "Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."
"On it. Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels," Octavian responded and began working on a similar handheld device to River's.
"But... trees... on a space ship?" Amy asked, still not comprehending what was in front of her.
"Oh, even better than trees, Amy!" Jamie called to her as he moved to the base of a nearby tree. "They've got technology running through each and every one of them. The cables become sensors on the hull. The whole forest sucks in starlight and releases oxygen. There's a whole mini-climate in here, it even rains!" he explained as he opened a panel on the tree to reveal a mass of glowing, blue cables inside.
"Ok, that is impressive, I've got to admit," Amy replied with a laugh.
"Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the primary flight deck," Octavian reported.
"Oh, good. That's where we need to go," the Doctor acknowledged.
"Plotting a safe path now," the Bishop told him.
"Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir," they were suddenly interrupted by a voice over the communicator that the Doctor had almost forgotten was in his pocket.
The Doctor strolled back into the secondary flight deck and flopped into a chair as he answered the call from the Angels, "Ah, there you are, Angel Bob. How's life? ... Sorry, bad subject."
"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve," Angel Bob replied.
"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?" the Doctor conversed casually as he took Rose's hand and played idly with her fingers.
"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond," Bob informed him.
"Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?" the Doctor countered. Rose smirked at him.
"We have no need of comfy chairs," Bob replied.
"I made him say comfy chairs," the Doctor said with a laugh and Rose couldn't help but laugh as well. That was what they always did, laugh as the universe fell apart around them.
"We shall have dominion over all of time and space," Angel Bob continued.
"Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much," the Doctor argued.
"With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand," Bob answered and suddenly there were loud screeching sounds coming from all around them.
"What's that noise? Dear god, what is it?" River asked as she held Amy closer.
"They're back," Octavian announced, though they had never really left.
"It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing," Bob explained.
"Laughing?" the Doctor asked quietly.
"Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the TARDIS hasn't noticed," Bob teased while maintaining his ominously unemotional tone.
"There's something I've missed," the Doctor said as he stood from the chair and looked around.
Rose looked up at the wall behind him and her mouth dropped open in shock.
"Umm, dad..." Jamie said as he pointed to the same place Rose was staring.
The Doctor turned around slowly and saw a large, glowing crack in the metal wall over the doorway where they had entered. The crack grew larger as they watched.
"That's... that's... that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl," Amy stuttered fearfully and Jamie again moved to her side to assist River in supporting her before she collapsed from fear as well as her injured leg.
"Ok, enough, we're moving out," Octavian announced.
"Agreed. Doctor?" River called to him as he moved closer to the crack and pushed a crate over beneath it.
"Yeah, fine," the Doctor told her distractedly.
"River, get Amy and Jamie out of here and through that forest. You won't be able to go fast with Amy, but we'll catch up. We're great runners, yeah?" Rose told them.
Reluctantly, Jamie and River pulled Amy into the forest as quickly as she could go.
"So, what are you?" the Doctor asked quietly when he climbed up on the crate to scan the crack with his sonic. "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good," he added when he looked at the scan results.
"I think it's time we got out of here, love," Rose said nervously when they were suddenly surrounded by Angels.
"Right you are. Keep looking at them, do not blink," he told her and pulled her with him over the console since the Angels were closing on both sides. They moved back to back as they watched the Angels around them and slid towards the forest door.
The Doctor took her hand and whispered into her mind, "When I squeeze your hand, run."
They were almost to the door when he finally squeezed her hand and as they both turned to run, they found that one of the Angels had grabbed the collars of both of their jackets.
They both stood there a moment in shock as they waited to die, then looked at each other. They turned slightly to look back at the Angels.
"Why are we not dead then?" the Doctor asked rhetorically.
They saw all of the Angels, other than the one holding them, reaching their arms up towards the crack as if worshipping it. The Angel with a hold on their jackets stared at them with a frightening scowl.
"Good, and not so good... Oh, this isn't even a little bit good. I mean, is that it? Is that the power that brought you here? That's pure Time Energy. You can't feed on that. That's not power, that's the fire at the end of the universe," he rambled at them as he urged Rose to pull her arms out of the sleeves of her jacket and did the same for himself.
"I'll tell you something else... Never let me talk!" the Doctor shouted over his shoulder as the two of them ran into the forest, leaving their jackets behind.