Hiya! Hope you all had a nice holiday this week! And I've got a two parter here for you!
As for part two, I'll be aiming to get it up by New Year's Day, or the day after. So Wednesday or Thursday is my target.
Chapter Sixteen: The Hungry Earth
Ember's next destination was what looked like a graveyard, next to a church. No one seemed to be around, but that wasn't a surprise: who'd want to hang around in a graveyard, and one that was cold?
No, wait... something was wrong. She couldn't quite tell what, but something felt... off. It was cold, but not just because of the weather...
She was trying to figure out what it was when she heard a sound that made her smile: the wheezing that always announced the arrival of the Tardis. She turned to see the blue box fade into existence a few feet away, and then the door opened.
"Behold, Rio!" The Eleventh Doctor said loudly before he spotted the brunette. "Ember! Hello!"
"Hi, guys." Ember replied, seeing Rory and Amy in front of the Doctor. "Yeah, it's not Rio, by the way."
Amy looked around. "Nah."
"Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe." Rory added as he and Amy moved away from the door to let the Time Lord out.
"No? Ooo, feel that, though. What's that?" The Doctor moved a few steps forward to reach Ember's side before he began to jump up and down on the spot. "Ground feels strange..."
Ember blinked, looking down before she knelt and put her hand on the concrete under her feet. She closed her eyes, using the meditation technique to focus and reach out. Like before when she'd done this the first time, she could feel the very earth moving, but there was something else as well. Something that was... affecting it? Manipulating it? Whatever it was, it wasn't completely natural.
The Doctor bent his knees and squat beside her. "What can you feel?"
"There's been a change," Ember said after a moment. "It wasn't natural, but it's triggered a reaction that feels natural, I think."
"Hmm," The Doctor nodded, though she didn't see it since her eyes were closed, but then his own eye caught something. "Wait. That's weird."
"What's weird?" Rory asked, looking around. He wore dark pants, a checkered shirt and a brown body warmer.
Amy rolled her eyes as they followed the Doctor around the Tardis and around the front of the church. "Doctor, stop trying to distract us! We're in the wrong place. Doctor, it's freezing and I've dressed for Rio." She was wearing black shorts, a red vest and a brown leather jacket. "We are not stopping here. Doctor. You listening to me? It's a graveyard. You promised me a beach."
The Doctor either hadn't heard or was ignoring her, now knelt in front of a patch of grass that should have been green, but was in fact a torquise colour. He plucked a few strands as Ember reached his side. "Blue grass." He glanced around to see more patches scattered randomly around the headstones. "Patches of it all around the graveyard. So, Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit, but it's not a massive overshoot."
"Why are those people waving at us?" AMy suddenly said. She'd spotted two people standing on the other side of the valley, just within view to see them each waving an arm.
"Can't be..." the Doctor murmured, standing up. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of binoculars, which he looked through. "It is. It's you two!"
Ember took the binoculars to look for herself as Rory spoke. "No, we're here. How can we be up there?"
"Ten years in your future. Come to relive past glories, I'd imagine. Humans, you're so nostalgic!"
Amy tilted her head in thought. "We're still together in ten years?"
"No need to sound so surprised." Rory said with a laugh, though it was slightly tense.
"Hey, let's go and talk to them. We can say hi to future us. How cool is that?"
That made Ember shiver, and the Doctor was close enough to feel it. "Er, no, best not. Really best not."
The brunette couldn't help but agree. She didn't want to have another encounter with the Reapers.
"These things get complicated very quickly, and oh look!" The Doctor looked out at the valley, spotting a mining rig within running distance. "Big mining thing! Oh, I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio. Rio doesn't have a big mining thing."
"We're not going to have a look, are we?" AMy asked, but the Doctor was already running toward the rig, grabbing Ember's hand and pulling her with him.
"Let's go and have a look! Come on, you two, let's see what they're doing!"
Ember laughed as he pulled her along. "You know that curiosity killed the cat, you know."
The Doctor turned to wink at her as he ran. "But satisfaction brought it back, didn't it?"
"Not always."
They were already at the gates when Amy caught up to them, without Rory. When the Doctor asked her where the soon to be groom was, she'd only said that he was coming. Ember nodded, though she knew he wouldn't catch up to them until later.
The Doctor didn't feel the need to press, instead turning his attention to the bolt lock on the gate. "Restricted access. No unauthorised personnel. Hmm..."
With a flick of his Sonic, he opened the lock.
"That is breaking and entering." Amy pointed out.
"What did I break?" The Doctor countered. "Sonicking and entering. Totally different."
Amy smiled and shook her head. "Come on, then."
The Doctor looked at Ember as the redhead pushed past them. "You're sure Rory'll catch us up?"
"He'll be doing some investigating of his own first, but yes."
The Doctor nodded, taking her hand again and catching up to Amy in a corridor. "What about now? Can you feel it now?"
"Honestly, I've got no idea what you're on about." Amy replied.
"The ground doesn't feel like it should."
"It's ten years in the future. Maybe now this ground feels is how it always feels."
The Doctor felt Ember squeeze his hand twice as they heard a beeping sound. "Good thought, but no, it doesn't. Hear that? A drill in start-up mode. Afterwaves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass."
Ember saw him hold up a small handful of the blue grass he'd plucked. "No, you don't need to-"
She was too late: the Doctor put the grass in his mouth, only to spit it back out and pull a face.
"Oh, please!" Amy said, pulling a face herself despite a laugh coming out. "Have you always been this disgusting?"
"No, that's recent." The Doctor wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
"Liar," Ember retorted, pulling out her little bag of sweets and opening it, offering it to him. "These are blue, but at least they taste good."
The Doctor smiled as he took a sweet from the bag before he took the lead, going to a door and opening it. "What's in here? Hello!"
The ladies followed him into what looked like a large storeroom with lots of equipment, including a forklift truck and scanning equipment, and an Indian woman who looked surprised to see them.
"Who are you? What're you doing here?" She demanded, and then she saw Amy's attire. "And what're you wearing?"
Amy rolled her eyes. "I dressed for Rio."
The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper. "Ministry of Drills, Earth and Science. New Ministry, quite big, just merged. It's lot of responsibility on our shoulders. Don't like to talk about it. What are you doing?"
"None of your business!" The woman said.
"Where are you getting these readings from?" He asked as he took a quick look at the readings from a scanner that was placed in a large hole in the concrete.
The woman, seeing that she wasn't going to be rid of them anytime soon, answered as she moved to pull the scanner out. "Under the soil."
"The drill's up and running again." A male voice said as an older man in a red coat walked in, pausing when he saw the new arrivals. "What's going on? Who are these people?"
"Amy, the Doctor, Ember." Amy said, pointing to each person as she said the names. "We're not staying, are we, Doctor?"
"Why's there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?" The Doctor asked, pointing at the patch in question: it looked like someone had broken through the concrete and left a hole in the dirt below. Though he didn't seem to acknowledge Amy's question, she knew what the answer was now.
The woman looked at him. "We don't know. It just appeared overnight."
Ember shook her head, moving to kneel on the ground and placing her hands on the concrete next to the exposed soil. She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to ignore the vibrations from the drill, only to pause when she sensed vibrations from somewhere else. Somewhere below, something that was churning the earth like it could be commanded, which didn't really sit well in her mind.
No one should have such command over nature like... what? Like her?
The Doctor was watching Ember's face carefully, noticing the way her brows twitched just slightly. He knew from experience that it wasn't a good sign, so he moved to the scanner screen again. "Good. Right. You all need to get out of here very fast."
"Why?" The woman asked, making him turn to look at her.
"What's your name?"
"Nasreen Chaudhry. And that's Tony Mack."
"Look at the screens, Nasreen." He gestured. "Look at your readings. It's moving."
Tony frowned as the Doctor moved to examine the equipment. "Hey, that's specialised equipment! Get away from it!"
Amy crouched beside Ember, noticing her frowning. "Ember, what's wrong?"
"They shouldn't mess around with it..." the brunette murmured, though it wasn't clear if she was talking to Amy or herself. Her eyes remained closed.
"Mess around with what? Who shouldn't?"
"It'll get angry..."
"What will get angry? Doctor..." the redhead was about to tell him about Ember's behaviour when she noticed something else: smoke rising from the exposed soil like low fog. "...this steam, is that a good thing?"
The Doctor looked back at them, seeing the same thing. "Shouldn't think so. It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting."
"What shouldn't?" Nasreen asked, not getting it.
There was a low rumble, and Ember flinched, though no one noticed because of the ground shaking.
"The ground, the soil, the earth, moving." The Doctor replied. "But how? Why?"
"Earthquake?" Amy suggested.
Tony shook his head. "What's going on?"
"Doubt it, because it's only happening under this room." The Doctor ignored the man.
Two more holes suddenly appeared on the floor, one next to the Doctor and the other next to Amy. Ember didn't acknowledge them, still kneeling with her eyes closed, even as three more holes appeared.
The Doctor pulled her up, breaking her concentration. "It knows we're here. It's attacking. The ground's attacking us."
Nasreen shook her head. "No, no that's not possible."
"Under the circumstances, I'd suggest... run!" The Doctor moved, pulling Ember with him as the others followed. More holes appeared, as though to give chase, and one of them right under Tony's foot, pulling him down.
"Tony!" Nasreen cried.
"Stay back, Amy!" The Doctor called as Amy moved to help the man. "Stay away from the earth!"
"It's okay!" The redhead didn't listen, jumping over one hole to help Tony. Ember felt the shift just before another hole opened under Amy's feet, pulling her in. "It's pulling me down!"
"Amy!"
"Doctor, help me! Something's got me!" The soil reached her knees in moments.
Ember moved to help, but the Doctor pulled her back. "Stay away from it!"
"Doctor, the ground's got my legs!" Amy cried as she was pulled down, the soil up to her hips now.
"I've got you!" The Doctor ran over and grabbed her arms.
"Okay, don't let go!"
"Never!"
"Doctor, what is it, and why is it doing this?"
Ember held out her hand and concentrated, trying to stop the earth from swallowing their friend, but it was too soon. She could only sense the earth churning; she couldn't get enough control to stop it.
"Stay calm. Keep hold of my hand! Don't let go!" The Doctor looked over at Nasreen and Tony, the latter having been freed from the soil by the former. "Your drill, shut it down. Go, now!"
"Can you get me out?" Amy asked, the soil up to her chest now as the other two humans ran from the room.
The Doctor didn't answer that right away, too busy trying to pull her out. "Amy, try and stay calm. If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Keep hold of my hand!"
Ember tried harder, mentally telling the earth to stop pulling, to let go of the human. She felt the strength behind the pull lessen just slightly, but not enough to free Amy.
The Doctor saw cracks appear in the concrete ground, but he couldn't turn to look at Ember without losing his grip on Amy. "I'm not going to let you go."
The ground suddenly shook, making them lose their grip.
"Doctor, it's pulling me down!" Amy cried, trying to grab something to stop her from sinking further. She was in the ground up to her chest now. "Something's pulling me!"
"Stay calm!" The Doctor moved back to holding her hands, trying to keep her from going any further down. "Now, hold on till they can just shut down the drill!"
"I can't hold on!"
Ember felt pain go through her head, forcing her to her knees, but she didn't give up. The drilling had stopped at last: She had to keep trying!
"Ember!" Amy's call made her open her eyes to look at the redhead. "What's pulling me? What is under the earth? I don't want to suffocate under there!"
"You won't!" Ember said. "There's air down there!"
"Amy, concentrate!" The Doctor tried to keep her fighting. "Don't you give up!"
"Tell Rory..." however that request was going to end was left unknown, as the soil reached her chin. They all knew it; she wasn't getting out.
"No. Amy! Amy, no!" The Doctor refused to accept it, even as the redhead finally disappeared under the soil. He still tried to dig at the ground in a vain attempt to save her, even resorting to using his Sonic, but to no avail. "No! No! No! No! No!"
Ember took a breath, putting her hand on the ground and concentrating. She could just about feel the earth beneath moving in an unnatural way, pulling its 'prey' down. "She's fine, Doctor. No point in a dead hostage."
That made the Doctor turn to look at her, moving to kneel in front of her. "Any hints?"
"It's not malicious intent. Their reasons are warranted, but they're angry and scared."
Nodding, the Doctor pulled her into a hug, gently rubbing her back. He used the physical contact to gently soothe the pain in her head, though he needn't have bothered; she was already recovering. He looked at the new cracks in the concrete that had appeared after the drilling had stopped, knowing that it was the brunette in his arms that caused them.
Nasreen and Tony returned, having been able to stop the drill. "Where is she?"
"She's gone. The ground took her." The Doctor said, standing up and pacing around the holes once he was sure that Ember was alright.
"Is that happened to Mo?" Tony asked. "Are they dead?"
"No." Ember didn't open her eyes, though she could no longer feel the earth beneath them being manipulated. That meant that Amy had probably reached the undercity by now. "They're not dead."
The Doctor nodded in agreement. "It's not quicksand. She didn't just sink. Something pulled her in. It wanted her."
"The ground wanted her?" Nasreen repeated, puzzled.
"You said the ground was dormant. Just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning. And the drill had been stopped."
Tony nodded. "That's right."
"But when you re-started the drill, the ground fought back."
"So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling?" Nasreen looked exasperated as the Doctor moved to scan the exposed soil with the Sonic again. "Doctor, that is ridiculous."
"I'm not saying that, and it's not ridiculous, I just don't think it's right."
Ember finally stood up, looking at them. "It wouldn't do that on its own. Someone manipulated it."
"Oh, of course!" The Doctor said. "It's bio-programming!"
Now Nasreen looked part confused, part curious. "What?"
"Bio-programming. Oh, it's clever. You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects. It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in the future and not here. What's it doing here?"
"Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?"
Tony shook his head. "You're not making any sense, man!"
That made the Doctor look at him incredulously. "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense! You're just not keeping up. The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack."
"Yeah, even if that were possible, which, by the way, it's not," Nasreen added, "why?"
"It attacked when you had the drill going." Ember said. "And when did it stop?"
The Doctor caught on instantly. "When you stopped drilling. Okay, so we find whatever's doing the bio-programming, we can find Amy. We can get her back." He suddenly paused. "Shush, shush, shush. Have I gone mad? I've gone mad."
Nasreen sighed. "Doctor..."
"Shush, shush! Silence. Absolute silence." The Doctor listened for a moment. "You've stopped the drill, right?"
"Yes."
"And you've only got the one drill?"
"Yes."
"You're sure about that?"
"Yes!" Tony said.
The Doctor moved to the side of the hole that had taken Amy and got down to put his ear against the floor, shifting slightly to give Ember room to kneel beside him, though she put her hand on the ground instead of her ear. "So, if you shut the drill down... why can I still hear drilling?"
"They only have one drill," Ember said as Nasreen and Tony leaned over to listen as well. "But it's not the only thing that's going."
"It's under the ground."
Tony shook his head again. "That's not possible."
The Doctor ignored him, jumping to his feet and running over to the computers, using his Sonic on them.
"Oh no, what, what are you doing?" Nasreen asked, obviously not happy with some stranger messing with her equipment.
"Hacking into your records. Probe reports, samples, sensors. Good. Just unite the data, make it all one big conversation." The Doctor replied quickly as he did just as he said. The humans watched in amazement as the readings on the screen changed to show multiple results, including the depth of the drill. "Let's have a look. So, we are here and this is your drill hole. Twenty one point zero zero nine kilometres. Well done."
"...Thank you. It's taken us a long time."
"Why here, though? Why'd you drill on this site?"
"We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for twenty million years."
Ember turned to look at them once she stood up. "They didn't see the warning for what it was."
"The blue grass?" The Doctor glanced at her for confirmation before he looked at Nasreen again. "Oh, Nasreen. Those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying 'dig here'. They were a warning. 'Stay away'. Because while you've been drilling down, somebody else has been drilling up."
There was a beep from the computer, drawing them in to look at the screen as it displayed the results of the sensors. Ember moved to peek between the shoulders of Nasreen and the Doctor, feeling the latter take her hand.
"Oh, beautiful." The Doctor said, seeing a new thing appear in the screen; it looked like cracks or lines, but he knew better. "Network of tunnels all the way down."
"No, no, we've surveyed that area." Tony argued, looking at it himself.
"You wanted to see dirt; you saw dirt." Ember said.
The Doctor nodded in agreement. "You only saw what you went looking for."
"What are they?" Nasreen asked, eyeing the screen where three dots were moving up one of the lines.
"Heat signals. Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't make sense. And now they're moving. Fast. How many people live nearby?"
Tony answered him. "Just my daughter and her family. The rest of the staff travel in."
"Grab this equipment and follow me."
Nasreen turned as the Doctor made his way to the door. "Why? What're we doing?"
"That noise isn't a drill: it's transport. Three of them, thirty kilometres down. Rate of speed looks about a hundred and fifty kilometres an hour. Should be here in ooo, quite soon. Twelve minutes. Whatever bio-programmed the Earth is on its way up, now." The Doctor moved back to the scanners and picked one of them up, pulling Ember with him as he went to the door. He waited until they were already halfway back to the top of the hill before he addressed her. "How bad will this get?"
"Very." Ember replied. "There's going to be a test of humanity, and everyone is going to lose something by the end of it."
The Doctor didn't like the sound of that, but he was unable to really think on it as Tony caught up to them, him and Nasreen carrying the remaining scanning equipment as they quickly made their way back to the church.
"How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?" He asked.
"You saw the readings."
Nasreen was close behind. "Who are you, anyway? How can you know all this?" There was no answer, as they were suddenly interrupted by what looked like red lightning in the sky. It vanished a moment later. "Whoa, did you see that?"
"No, no, no." The Doctor muttered, recognising the light. He left the equipment he was carrying to run up the last bit of the hill that turned into a quiet street, where he pulled a small slingshot from his jacket just as Ember handed him a small rock. Using the slingshot, he fired the stone into the sky, only for it to hit a wall that briefly flashed red before seemingly vanishing again. He then took out his Sonic to make the red energy appear again, revealing it to be a dome covering the area. "Energy signal originating from under the Earth. We're trapped."
"Doctor!" Everyone but the Doctor turned at the shout to see Rory running up to them with a short woman and a young boy. "Something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people."
"Not now, Rory. Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in."
"What? Okay, what about the Tardis?"
Nasreen blinked. "The what?"
The Doctor ignored her. "Er, no. Those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes."
"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Rory asked, having no knowledge of the earlier discussion, as the Doctor allowed the forcefield to disappear again.
Nasreen was quick to explain, though it seemed like it was more to the woman and boy than anyone else. "We're trapped, and something's burrowing towards the surface."
Rory looked around, realising someone was missing. "Where's Amy?"
"Get everyone inside the church." The Doctor said as he turned to grab the equipment. "Rory, I'll get her back."
"What do you mean, get her back? Where's she gone?"
"She was taken. Into the Earth."
"How? Why didn't you stop it?"
"I tried. I promise, I tried."
"Well, you should've tried harder!"
Ember moved to stand between the two men, facing Rory with narrowed eyes. "He did! I tried too, but I've only just started being able to control earth. If you want to blame someone, blame me."
Rory looked at her, obviously torn between anger and understanding. After a moment, he took a breath and nodded. "Alright. Sorry."
"I'll find Amy." The Doctor said, gently pulling Ember aside. "I'll keep you all safe, I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me."
"She's safe for now, Rory," Ember added. "That's my promise."
After another moment, Rory nodded again, letting the Time Lords lead on.
The Doctor led them to the most fortifiable building in the area; the church, while the woman and boy were introduced as Ambrose and Elliot.
"Where's Mo?" Ambrose asked as Tony moved to door. "Is he with you?"
"This flaming door." The man muttered as the door got wedged. "Always sticking. I thought you were having it fixed."
"Dad!"
"Something's happened to him, hasn't it?" Elliot asked.
Ember turned to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "He's fine for now. We're here to help."
The door to the church was finally opened, and they piled in. Inside, it looked like the building was used for storage more than anything else, though there was still a stained glass window on the wall behind the altar. The Doctor got to work immediately, putting the equipment together.
"So we can't get out." Ambrose said, making sure she had it right. "We can't contact anyone, and something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth."
"Yes." The Doctor replied. "If we move quickly enough, we can be ready."
"No, stop. This has gone far enough. What is this?"
Tony put his hand on her shoulder. "He's telling the truth, love."
"Come on! It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish."
Nasreen turned to the woman next. "Look, Ambrose. We saw the Doctor's friend get taken, okay? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only person who's made any sense of it for me, is the Doctor."
"Him?"
"Me." The Doctor said, shooting them a quick grin.
Elliot walked up to him. "Can you get my dad back?"
The Doctor glanced at Ember, who nodded, and then he looked at the boy again. He didn't need to look to know that almost everyone was looking at him. "Yes. But I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say from this second onwards, because we're running out of time."
"So tell us what to do." Ambrose said after a moment.
"Thank you. We have eight minutes to set up a line of defence. Bring me every phone, every camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find. Every burglar alarm, every movement sensor, every security light. I want the whole area covered with sensors."
Ember decided to sit on the ground, one hand in her lap while the other was pressed against the floor, and closed her eyes.
Nearly three minutes later, the equipment was set up. Every screen was showing readings of anywhere above the ground, and any movement was going to be seen.
Ember probably would have been impressed with the speed, but she was too busy trying to get a better feel of the vibrations under the earth. She could feel that something was moving through the soil, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly where they'd pop up.
She'd been so focused that she jumped when someone's hand landed on her shoulder. It turned out to be the Doctor, who looked slightly sheepish.
"Sorry," he murmured. "Anything new?"
Ember sighed. "I can feel them, but I can't tell where they're going to break the surface. Like I said earlier, this is still new."
"How new?"
"This is the second time. I use it the first time in your future. Made rocks appear from the ground like teeth. The next jump landed me in space, so I couldn't try then. Then I met the Carrionites. Haven't had a chance to really try manipulating earth until now."
Nodding, the Doctor took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Maybe you should take a break? You've been trying since we got here, and I could use the company while I get some more stuff from the van I saw outside."
"Alright," Ember caved. She didn't want to admit it, but the harder she'd tried to focus, the more her head hurt. At her guess, it was because she was trying too hard.
The Doctor led her out of the church and to a small van that was marked 'Pen-Y-Fan', and he immediately dove into it to see what he could scavenge. Ember moved to lean against the front hood, and it wasn't long before Ambrose joined them, her arms full with something that made Ember bristle: several rifles, a cricket bat and a taser for good measure.
"Oi! What're you doing?" The woman called as she reached them.
"Resources!" The Doctor replied as he looked at the interior of the van before moving away. "Every little helps. Meals on wheels. What've you got here, then. Warmer in the front, refrigerated in the back."
Ambrose put her armful of weapons on the seat next to Ember, who frowned at them as she moved away. "Bit chilly for a hideout, mind."
"What are those?" The Doctor asked, having taken Ember's hand to gently pull her away from the weapons.
"Like you say, every little helps."
"No, no weapons. It's not the way we do things."
"You said we're supposed to be defending ourselves."
The Doctor looked at her. "Oh, Ambrose, you're better than this. I'm asking nicely. Put them away."
"Besides," Ember added, "what if you start shooting them and they decide that the ones they've captured aren't worth keeping?"
The woman looked at her for a moment. "What if they've already killed them?"
Ember met her gaze evenly. "I promise you they are alive. And even if they weren't, you shouldn't willingly stoop to their level. Killing is never a good thing to do, even it ends up being something you have to do."
The Doctor pulled the brunette to follow him as he walked away, feeling a pang in his hearts at her words. He knew exactly what she was talking about.
The two of them went back into the church, just in time for Elliot to run up to them with a hand drawn map of the area.
"Look at that!" The Doctor cheered, taking the paper. "Perfect. Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci or Einstein. It's not stopping you."
"I don't understand what you're going to do." Elliot admitted.
"Two phase plan. First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives. Second, if something does arrive, I use this-" he pulled out the Sonic "-to send a sonic pulse through that network of devices. A pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe."
"Knock 'em out. Cool."
The Doctor smiled as he moved to the other side of the equipment to make sure they were working. "Lovely place to grow up, round here."
Elliot shrugged. "Suppose. I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off."
"I was the same where I grew up."
"Did you get away?"
"Yeah."
"Do you ever miss it?"
That made the Doctor pause, a hint of sadness in his eyes as he recalled his home. "So much."
Ember had that temptation again; to tell him that he hadn't destroyed his home planet. But she couldn't. It was too soon.
Elliot seemed to be smart enough to sense that it was tender subject, so he let it drop. "Is it monsters coming? Have you met monsters before?"
The Doctor, thankful for the change, moved back round to stand in front of the boy. "Yeah."
"You scared of them?"
"No, they're scared of me. Well, most of them are. Any of them that aren't scared of me are scared of her." The Doctor gestured to Ember, who shrugged.
"Will you really get my dad back?" Elliot asked.
"No question."
Nodding, Elliot stepped back. "I left my headphones at home."
Ember deliberated her next move for a moment before she turned to follow. "I'll go with you. Safer in numbers."
The Doctor completely missed the sign, too focused on the equipment.
Ember let Elliot lead the way to his home, only to pause as they noticed something.
"It's darker," Elliot said, looking up as it seemed to turn to night far too quickly to be natural. "But it's too early..."
Ember shook her head. "No, they're making it dark. Humans are scared in the dark. They're trying to get an advantage."
They ran the rest of the way to the home, which turned out to be a small bungalow, and then she waited outside while he went inside for his headphones.
It was then that she felt it. A low rumble beneath her feet, just prodding at the edge of her senses. She crouched low and put her hand on the ground, reaching out to try to sense if anything was near, but the vibrations were throwing her off.
The sound of the door closing made her stand up and greet Elliot, who'd returned with his headphones. "We need to move. They're almost here."
"Are they the monsters that are scared of you?" The boy asked, taking her hand to help keep them together as they walked.
Ember shook her head. "If you woke up one day and found strangers in your home, you'd assume they'd broken in, right? Well, what if it's not that simple: what if you've been sleeping for so long that no one knew you were there, and those strangers simply moved in to what they thought was a vacant home?"
Elliot looked at her. "So they were here first?"
"Yes. They're just scared, like you would be. Time moved on, and they've woken up to find that their world has changed. And they're afraid that humans won't let them stay here."
"... that's not fair. It's not their fault that they've been sleeping."
"No, it isn't." Ember paused when she felt another rumbling beneath them. It was so strong that even Elliot felt it, though it faded a few seconds later. "I don't think we're alone out here. Let's go."
They ran the rest of the way to the church, but when they got to the door, it wouldn't open. Ember cursed under her breath at forgetting that the door stuck.
Elliot was looking around when he caught a flash of movement in the dark. He didn't see any detail, but he knew that it wasn't good. He thumped his hand on the door. "Mum! Grandpa Tony! Let us in!"
"Elliot!" Ambrose cried from the other side of the door.
"Let us in!"
"He's out there. Help me!"
"Doctor!" Ember yelled at the door. "We're not alone out here!"
The Doctor's voice came a moment later. "Push, Ember! Push the door!"
Ember and Elliot pushed against the door, but it barely even budged. Something sped past again, and this time Ember was the one who saw it. She turned to face it head on, trying to find it in the shadows, when something rammed into her from the side, knocking the wind out of her as she hit the ground.
The thing that had tackled her barely let her take a breath before it grabbed her and hauled her up, dragging her away from the church despite her struggles.
"Mum! Hurry up!" Elliot screamed. "It's attacking her!"
Ember tried to fight it off, but a pair of lean arms pinned her own to her torso as she was dragged further away. "You really don't want to this! Let go!"
Something hissed at her ear, but she thankfully didn't feel a sting.
"Mum!" Suddenly Elliot went silent. Too silent. A quick reach out with her senses told her what she already knew: they'd taken him.
"Oi, Leave him alone!" Ember snapped, kicking out in vain. "He's just a kid! You've got me, let him go!"
Finally, she decided she had to do it. She concentrated and made flames erupt on the fabric covering the arms that pinned her. The thing didn't cry out, but it was quick to let go, though the brunette had made it so that it only burnt the fabric and not skin. By the time she turned around, it was gone.
"Mother of Elements..."
The words were hissed out, and Ember paused, looking around to try to find the speaker in the shadows. "So you know who I am..."
"Elliot!" Ambrose's voice was louder now, signalling that they'd finally gotten the door open, and then footsteps could be heard approaching in a run. "Elliot, it's Mum!"
Ember saw a flash of movement and realised that her would-be captor was going to make a dash for the distraught mother. "Look out!"
But Ambrose was caught off guard, the thing tackling her. She struggled madly. "Get off me!"
Ember pulled herself to her feet, somehow snagging the headphones that Elliot had dropped, and looked up in time for Tony to rush in, pulling the attacker off of Ambrose. Unfortunately, whatever stopped it from using its tongue on Ember didn't stop it from using it against the man, catching him on the neck before it ran away. Throughout the whole struggle, they were only able to get a glimpse of it: a reptilian biped with long limbs and large eyes.
"Dad!" Ambrose cried, running to her father.
The Doctor appeared in a moment, followed by Rory. "What happened?"
"My dad's hurt."
"Get him into the church now."
"Elliot's gone. They've killed him, haven't they?"
Ember stood up, walking to the woman and handing her the headphones. "No. They won't hurt him. He's a kid."
"They've taken three people when they could've just killed them up here." The Doctor added. "There's still hope, Ambrose. There is always hope."
"Then why have they taken him?"
"I don't know. We'll find Elliot, I promise. But first we've got to stop this attack. Please, get inside the church."
Ambrose looked like she wanted to argue, but thought twice. "Come on, Dad."
The Doctor turned to Ember as the father and daughter walked back to the church. Rory stayed with them. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." The brunette replied. "She didn't sting me. I burnt her sleeves."
"Why didn't it take you as well?" Rory asked, puzzled, and then another thought struck him. "Wait, did you say she?"
Ember shrugged. "Yep, it's a she. And I dunno why they didn't take me the same way. But from what I gathered, she either didn't want to hurt me, or she was ordered not to." She turned to face the other Time Lord. "Doctor, she called me Mother of Elements."
"That means they know who you are..."
"So what now?" Rory asked.
"They have one of us. We need to even the playing field."
In no time, the Doctor was looking around the graveyard with what looked like normal sunglasses but were in fact infra red, trying to find any sign of the attackers. Ember was by his side, while Rory was hiding in the van.
"Cold blood." The Doctor murmured, spotting a dark shake moving through the bushes. "I know who they are."
Taking Ember's hand, he led them to the side of the van, knocking on the side to signal Rory before descreetly grabbing the small fire extinguisher from the side of the seat. He waited, watching the reflection of the van's window until he saw a reptilian shape running at him before he whirled round and set off the extinguisher, spraying the attacker. The creature screamed in pain, and they took advantage of the chaos as Rory jumped out of the back of the van, helping the Time Lords bundle it into the back of the van and slam the doors shut.
"We got it!" Rory said, thankful and surprised that their plan had worked.
"Defending the planet with meals on wheels!" The Doctor cheered, raising his hand for a high five. Before he received one, however, there was another rumbling.
Rory looked around as Ember crouched and put her hand on the ground. "What was that?"
"Sounds like they're leaving." The Doctor said, watching Ember.
"Without this one?"
"They don't want to risk losing more of their own." Ember said, reaching out and feeling the ground being manipulated as the attackers made their escape. Above them, the invisible energy dome allowed the sunlight to come in.
"Looks like we scared them off." Rory said.
"I don't think so." The Doctor said. "Now both sides have hostages."
Ember stood up. "Even playing field. A stalemate. The question is; what do we do in a stalemate? Know your enemy."
It wasn't long until they were able to get their chilled captive into the crypt under the church. After some deliberation over what to do, the Doctor seemed to have won out.
"So, I think I've met these creatures before." He said as he and Ember approached the door to the crypt, where Rory was standing guard. "Different branch of the species, mind, but all the same. Let's see if our friend's thawed out."
"Are you sure?" Rory asked as they opened the door. "By yourself?"
"Very sure."
Ember knelt at the top of the steps so she could see into the crypt. It wasn't very big, about the size of an average basement, and any coffins that had been in it had been taken out long ago to make room for storage. It really did look like more of a basement than a crypt at this point. She could just make out a huddled form in the far corner.
"But the sting?" Rory said.
"Venom gland takes at least twenty four hours to recharge. Am I right?" The Doctor called the last bit out, knowing that he could be heard. All they got was a hiss. "I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine."
Rory reluctantly left, allowing Ember to stay at the top of the steps while the Doctor walked down them to face their captive, who was slowly crawling out of the corner. There were chains on her wrists connected to a sturdy bolt in the floor, preventing her escape. Ember was quick to notice an important detail; her sleeves were undamaged, meaning that it wasn't her that had grabbed the brunette earlier.
The Doctor slowly moved closer, crouching in front of her. "I'm the Doctor. I've come to talk. I'm going to remove your mask." He moved with precise, clear movements so that he didn't startle the creature. He carefully removed the front faceplate, revealing a humanoid face with reptilian scales. Dark eyes watched him warily. "You are beautiful. Remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel. Geothermal currents projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous. Mind if I sit?"
He stood and moved to grab a folded chair from the wall, setting it up where he'd been crouching and seating himself. "Now. Your people have a friend of mine. I want her back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want?" There was no response. "Oh, I do hate a monologue. Give us a bit back. How many are you?"
"... I will not speak with you."
Ember paused. That wasn't was she was supposed to say.
The Doctor tilted his head. "Is there someone you'd prefer to talk to? Within reason, of course."
The reptilian woman eyed him before she spoke again. "I will not speak with you. I will speak only to the Mother."
Now Ember was more surprised than confused. The Doctor was seemingly just as surprised for a moment before he turned in his seat to look at the brunette, gesturing her to come closer.
Ember did so, moving to his side. "I assume you mean me? Mother of Elements?"
"Yes." The reptilian woman said, the 's' dragging out in a hiss. "Legends spoke of you. I had not expected to meet you, Mother."
"Please don't call me that. Makes me sound like a mom. You can call me Ember." Ember tilted her head. "And I believe my friend here asked you a question. How many are there of you?"
"I'm the last of my species."
The Doctor smirked. "Really? No. Last of the species. The Klempari Defence. As an interrogation defence, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid."
"I'm the last of my species." She hissed again.
"No. You're really not. Because once upon a time I was the last of my species and I know how it sits in a heart. So don't insult me."
Ember put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "And not to mention, your sleeves aren't burnt. I set the sleeves on fire when one of the others tried to drag me off, so we know you weren't alone. Let's take this one step at a time. We've given you our names. May we have yours?"
"...Alaya." Was the reply.
"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya?" The Doctor asked, smirking again when Alaya looked at him in surprise. "It's not difficult to work out. You're three hundred million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"
Alaya didn't answer.
Ember sighed. "They thought they were being attacked. By the drill."
This time Alaya did speak. "Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault. We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet!"
"Do we have to say vermin?" The Doctor said, pulling a face. "They're really very nice."
"Primitive apes."
"Extraordinary species. You attack them, they'll fight back. But, there's a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that."
"This land is ours! We lived here long before the apes!"
"Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid." The Doctor said. "Humans won't give up the planet."
"So we destroy them."
"You underestimate them."
"You underestimate us."
"One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans? You've got your work cut out."
Alaya bristled, standing up. "We did not initiate combat, but we can still win."
"Tell us where our friend is. Give us back the people who were taken."
"No."
The Doctor sighed, standing and folding the chair before putting it aside. "I'm not going to let you provoke a war, Alaya. There'll be no battle here today."
"The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due."
"Not while I'm here."
"I'll gladly die for my cause." Alaya said. "What will you sacrifice for yours?"
The Doctor hesitated, but in the end didn't answer, turning to the stairs.
"I think we should talk a little bit more," Ember said. The Doctor paused and offered the chair, but the brunette shook her head, instead moving to sit cross legged on the floor. "Let's try to find an even ground between us."
Both the Doctor and Alaya looked at her, and then to the former's surprise the latter moved to sit in front of Ember, crossing her legs to sit in the same position.
"I'll be fine, Doctor." Ember smiled up at him. "I'll be up in a minute."
After another moment's hesitation, the Doctor nodded, moving to the stairs and leaving.
"Why do you side with the apes, Mother?" Alaya asked.
"Ember, please," The brunette said. "And if you want to be specific, I'm not siding with anyone. You live on this planet. So do the humans. You both have a right to claim this planet as your home, the only difference is time."
Alaya shook her head. "We were here while they were still swinging from trees with their tails!"
Ember tilted her head. "Lizards have tails too, you know. Look, there's been a misunderstanding. The drill, the thing you thought was attacking, you've got it wrong. They didn't know you were there. This doesn't have to end in war."
"But it will."
"And who trained you to think that way? Did they do the same to your sister?"
That made Alaya blink in surprise. "What?"
Ember nodded. "I know about your sister. Restac. I know that you've got much more than a tribe down there, and most of them are sleeping. You were trained as a warrior, but would the rest want to wake up to a war, or a massacre? Were you trained to protect your world or destroy someone else's? I want everyone to get home safely to their families, and that includes you."
Alaya didn't answer; looking away in thought.
"Ember!" The Doctor's voice called from the stairs. "Come on!"
The brunette slowly stood, waiting until the reptilian woman looked up at her before she spoke. "You know the one thing that fear and anger have in common? They are the shortest distance to a mistake. Don't let the mistake happen. Please."
With that, she turned and left, going up the stairs to find the Doctor just as he reached the top. With a grin, he took her hand and pulled her with him back to the church, where everyone else was waiting.
"You're going to what?" Rory asked.
Everyone had gathered in the church, where the Doctor and Ember has explained what had happened to cause the attacks, and that was when the Doctor revealed his plan.
"We're going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe, to talk to them." The Doctor said like it was that simple.
Ambrose looked annoyed by this. "You're going to negotiate with these aliens?"
"They're not aliens. They're Earth...liens." The Doctor fumbled slightly as he stood. "Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo Reptilia. Not monsters, not evil. Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all. Look, from their point of view, you're the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name's Alaya. She's one of their warriors, and she's my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Amy, because I will find them. While I'm gone, you four people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity."
"And what if they come back?" Tony pointed out. "Shouldn't we be examining this creature? Dissecting it, finding its weak points?"
Ember met his gaze. "So you're going to explain to them why you cut open one of their people? Would you accept it if they did it to one of yours?"
Tony hesitated, then shook his head.
"Didn't think so. Look, no one has died. Let's not be the ones to start the killing, alright?"
Ambrose looked at the brunette. "How do you know they haven't killed my husband and son? Or your friend?"
Ember didn't flinch back, which made the mother falter slightly as she saw those silver eyes flash dangerously. "Let's say I have experience. But you shouldn't stoop to that level. The moment you do that, you set the standard. Do you want them to start killing just because you did it first?"
The Doctor nodded in agreement. "We return their hostage, they return ours, nobody gets harmed. We can land this together, if you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?"
There was a long pause, and then Nasreen began to applaud, though she did stop shortly after.
Ember gave her a smile just before the Doctor pulled her with him as he left the room. "Um, Doctor, maybe I should stay here?"
"It's better if you come along," the Doctor replied. "If Alaya knew you, chances are the rest of her tribe will too. If they won't listen to me, they should listen to you."
Finding herself unable to argue that logic, Ember nodded, though she did turn to Rory and lowered her voice so only he could hear her. "Watch everyone carefully. Fear can lead to anger, which will lead to a mistake. Protect Alaya."
Rory nodded, patting her shoulder as she passed. She caught up to the Doctor as he and Nasreen reached the Tardis, which was when the Doctor noticed the extra person.
"No, sorry, no." He said to Nasreen. "What are you doing?"
"Coming with you, of course." Nasreen looked at the Tardis. "What is it, some kind of transport pod?"
"Sort of, but you're not coming with us."
"He's right." Tony said, having followed Ember. "You're not."
Nasreen turned to him. "I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet, and now you want me to stand back while you head down into it? I don't think so."
"I don't have time to argue." The Doctor said.
"I thought we were in a rush."
"It'll be dangerous."
"Oh, so's crossing the road." Nasreen pointed out.
"Oh, for goodness sake." The Doctor looked at Ember for help, only for her to shrug. "All right, then. Come on!"
He opened the door to the Tardis and allowed Ember inside before himself. A few moments later, Nasreen followed, though she stopped when she realised how big it was.
"Welcome aboard the Tardis." The Doctor said, flicking switches. "Now, don't touch anything. Very precious."
"No way..." Nasreen breathed, walking up to the console. "But, but that's... this is... fantastic! What does it do?"
The Doctor grinned. "Everything. I'm hoping, if we're going down, that barricade won't interfere." He'd barely finished that sentence before they were nearly knocked off their feet by a sudden jolt, though Ember was quick to grab the seat to steady herself. "Did you touch something?!"
"No! Isn't this what it does?"
"I'm not doing anything! We've been hijacked! I can't stop it!" The Doctor clambered his way around to the monitor. "They must've sensed the electro-magnetic field. They're pulling the Tardis down into the Earth."
Ember looked at the large screen at the far wall, seeing dirt rushing upwards. "Brace for impact!"
Her warning didn't quite help, as the other two were thrown to the floor with the final thud. Nasreen, who was next to the Doctor, reached out and pulled one of his braces to flick against his chest, making him flinch. "Where are we?"
The Doctor shot to his feet and ran to the doors, followed by Nasreen and Ember. They stepped out of the Tardis to find themselves in some what looked like an underground cavern, loose soil trickling down from above. He whistled, the sound echoing around them, and looked up at the hole above the Tardis. "Looks like we fell through the bottom of their tunnel system. Don't suppose it was designed for handling something like this."
"How far down are we?" Nasreen asked, shaking dirt out of her hair.
"Oh, a lot more than twenty one kilometres."
"So why aren't we burning alive?"
That made the Doctor look at her. "Don't know. Interesting, isn't it?"
"We're not quite at the core." Ember's voice made them turn to look at her, to find that she was crouched down with her hands on the floor and her eyes closed. "I think I can feel the molten lava below."
The Doctor grinned, moving to crouch in front of her and kissing her forehead, making her look up at him and blush at the affectionate look he was giving her. "The Great Fire."
Nasreen watched them with curiousity. "It's like this is everyday to you."
"Not every day." The Doctor said before he shrugged. "Every other day."
Ember stood up, brushing the loose dirt from her hand as she moved to follow the Doctor and Basreen through the tunnel.
"We're looking for a small tribal settlement," the Doctor explained, "probably housing around a dozen Homo Reptilia? Maybe less."
Nasreen caught sight of something to the side and paused, walking to what looked like a ledge with a railing. Ember followed. "One small tribe?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe a dozen?"
By now the Doctor has noticed that the ladies weren't following, walking back to them to see what they were looking at: a vast chamber with what looked like a subterranean city. "Ah.Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilisation living beneath the Earth."
Ember took a breath. "And our little problem just got bigger. Much bigger."
And there we have it! Part one done!
Next Time: Ember has to pick her battles as she and the Doctor broker for peace. Has her words changed the way things go? Will they need more than words? Stay tuned!