The Doctor jumped down from the ladder, landing in a hallway deep within the starship. Electrical boxes lined the wall behind him, and steam pipes hissed faintly further down the corridor.
The Doctor bit the inside of his cheek as he felt the wall, pressing an ear to it.
The Time Lord's eyes widened. "Can't be…" He muttered, pushing off the wall, scanning it with the sonic screwdriver.
He flicked the device open, claws at the top flaring out, and looked into the core at the readouts.
He frowned, getting down on his chest, staring at a perfectly still glass of water.
Footsteps gently clicked against the floor, as somebody approached.
"The impossible truth, hidden inside a glass of water." The Doctor's head shot up, to a woman. "Not many people see it.
'Human, female, thirty or forty years of age, predominantly African in descent… Nice mask, though.' The Doctor noted to himself, shooting to his feet.
"But you do, don't you… Doctor." The woman sneered at him behind the unmoving porcelain mask, the Doctor looking her up and down.
"You know me?" The Doctor asked, eyes narrowing as he walked around her.
"Keep your voice down." The woman hissed. "They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass."
"Who says I see anything?" The Doctor defensively asked in response.
"Don't waste time." The woman shot back. "In the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came here to the engine room. Why?"
The Doctor chuckled inaudibly. This woman was perceptive. "No engine vibration on deck." He decided to answer. "Ship this size, engine this big, there'd ought to be something. The water would move. So, I thought I'd take a look." The Doctor turned away, walking over to one of the junction boxes. "It doesn't make sense!" He stated, pulling one of the boxes open. "These power couplings," He pulled the tubes out for the woman to see them, free of any wires or circuitry, "They're not connected to anything! Not a single one. They're dummies." He ran over to the other wall, knocking on it. "And behind this wall; nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there's no engine at all."
"No engine at all." The woman said precisely in sync with the Time Lord.
The Doctor's eyebrows knit together, eyes narrowing as he walked back over to the woman. "But this ship is traveling through space, I saw it."
"The impossible truth, Doctor." The woman whispered conspiratorially. "We're traveling among the stars in a spaceship that shouldn't be able to fly."
"How?" The Doctor demanded.
"I don't know." The woman admitted. "There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor." She begged. "You're our only hope… Your child is safe."
The Doctor's head tilted, eyebrows knitting together once more, as the woman held out something for him to take.
"This device will lead you to her." The woman explained, shoving it into the Doctor's hand. "Now go, quickly!" She ordered, disappearing into an access tunnel.
The Doctor stood there, confused for a moment, before his eyes widened.
"El!" He breathed, running as he followed the locator's directions.
El groaned, gasping as she blinked grogginess out of her eyes. One of the smiling statues was set into the wall, and El herself had been put into a chair. The room was small, but not so small as to be claustrophobic, but still, El was uncomfortable being inside on her own.
"Welcome to voting cubicle 330C." A male voice announced, startling El. "Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it." It instructed, as El shot to her feet, looking around.
Four monitors, like the TARDIS scanner, were bolted onto the wall, under them, three buttons labeled protest, record, and forget were also underneath the screens.
"The United Kingdom reserves the right to recognize all its citizens." The voice continued. "A presentation concerning the history of the Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being confirmed via our electoral roll." It explained, as the monitors turned on to show a series of numbers running across the screens.
El frowned, sitting back down in the seat, watching as the screens changed.
"Name:" The voice began, "Jane Elanor Smith. Age: 1,324."
El blinked. That was a big number. And her name… Did it accidentally get the wrong person?
A little jingle began, and a video started to play, showing a man standing in front of a backdrop of the starship's logo.
"You are here," The man began, "Because you want to know the truth of this starship… And I am talking to you because you are entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will be given a choice." He explained. "To protest, or to forget."
El leaned forward curiously.
"If you choose to protest, understand this." The man inhaled. "If just one percent of the population of this ship chooses likewise, the program will be discontinued… with consequences for you all." The man let that simmer for a moment. "If you choose to accept the situation, and we hope that you will, then press the 'forget' button."
El's eyes flickered down to the glowing button.
"All the information I am about to give you will be erased from your memory." He explained. "You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened of the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here, then, is the truth, about the Starship UK, and the price which has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls…"
El gasped, looking around fearfully, as she felt her face sticky with tears. She looked down, shaking, as her hand was pressed hard against the forget button.
A little jingle played, and the screen flashed, a message waiting. A moment later, the screen changed, showing El herself, face red and puffy with uncontrollable tears.
"Listen! Run!" The recording of El begged. "Find Doctor! Get out! Run! Don't look, run! Please, please… go!"
The message stopped, and El jumped as the door on the side of the room swung open, Mandy sitting on the bench at the other side.
The Doctor came running in, breathing heavily. "El?" He looked on, worried, as El hit the button to prevent the recording from playing again. "What have you done?"
El stared at him, unsure of the answer herself.
The sonic screwdriver buzzed as the Doctor stood on the seat in the center of the room, scanning the light fixture.
"Yeah, your basic memory-wipe job." The Time Lord explained, jumping down after checking the results. "Erased about… twenty-minutes, I would say?"
"But…" El stood with her arms crossed uncertainly. "Why did I press it?"
"'Cause everybody does." Mandy spoke up, standing just outside, like entering the room was going to burn her. Both heads whipped over to her. "Everyone chooses the forget button."
The Doctor walked over, leaning down to her level. "Did you?"
"I'm not eligible to vote yet." Mandy awkwardly explained. "I'm twelve."
The Doctor frowned. "Then how come El got to?"
"Said I was… 1,324." El recalled.
The Doctor glanced back. "Ah, basic DNA scan, but not intuitive enough to tell a child apart from an adult on a physical level."
"Any time after you're 16 you're allowed to see the film, and then you get to choose." Mandy explained. "And once every five years."
"And once every five years everybody chooses the forget button." The Doctor stated. He laughed to himself. "Democracy in action."
"How do you not know about this?" Mandy asked. "Are you American too?"
"Oh, I'm way worse than American." The Doctor retorted, going over to the buttons. "I can't even see the movie, won't play for me." He pointed to the screens.
"Played for me." El stated.
"Well, the difference is, it doesn't recognize me as human." The Doctor explained.
Mandy looked the Doctor up and down. "You look human."
"No, you look Time Lord." He retorted. "My people came first."
"Your people." El tilted her head, walking to the Doctor's side. "There are more?"
The Doctor leaned back from the screens, going deathly still, as he glanced at El. "…no. There were, but there aren't… Just me now." He sighed. "Long story, there was a bad day. Terrible stuff, and you know what? I would love to forget every last bit of it, but I don't." He pointed. "Not ever. 'Cause this is what I do, every day, every second." He stepped back from the console slightly, rubbing his hands together with a sudden, excited grin. "This. Hold tight." He advised. "We're bringing down the government."
The Doctor slammed his fist down on the protest button, which began to glow red. The door out into the hallway slammed shut by itself, trapping the Doctor and El inside.
The smiling marionette's head began to rotate around slowly, looking upon the two with a snarling frown and beady red eyes.
The floor began to split open, and the Doctor pulled El into the corner with him, as they looked down into the red shaft extending down into the distance below.
"Say 'whee!'" The Doctor looked at her, laughing.
"Ahh!" El screamed, as they fell into the pit.
"Whoa!" The Doctor came sliding out of the tube, landing in ankle-high water. At least, he hoped it was water. He got to his feet, slipping and sliding, as El came screaming out of the same tube as well.
El coughed, throwing away a bit of the food rubbish she'd landed in to the side.
"High speed air cannon." The Doctor explained, scanning the area with the sonic screwdriver. "Lousy way to travel."
El looked around. "Where…?"
"600 feet down, 20 miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say…" The Doctor sniffed. "Lancashire. So what's this then? A cave?" He asked, as El got to her feet, trying not to grimace at all the discarded half-eaten meals and the ankle-high soup the traveling duo had found themselves in. "Can't be a cave," The Doctor continued. "Looks like a cave."
El grimaced. "Stinky."
"Yes." The Doctor agreed. "But, only food refuse." The Doctor noted, examining a bit. "Organic, coming in through feeder tubes threaded throughout the ship."
El frowned, poking the floor with her hand. "Squishy." She noted.
"Feeding what, though?" The Doctor wondered.
Something groaned, and the Doctor instantly shot to his feet.
The Doctor looked to El, a look of terror plastered on his face. "Uh…" He stuttered, sonic screwdriver still buzzing. "It's not a floor, it's a…" He stuttered, shoving the screwdriver in his pocket.
"What?" El asked, as the Doctor helped her up.
"The next word is kind of a word, take deep, calming breaths," He instructed, taking El's hands, "Go 'ommm.'"
"'Ommm…'" El mimicked, looking confused.
"It's a… tongue." The Doctor finally answered.
El blinked. "…A tongue?"
"A tongue!" The Doctor excitedly nodded. "A great big tongue!"
"This is…" El looked around fearfully. "A mouth… mouth!?"
"Yes," The Doctor confirmed, "But, on the plus side, roomy."
El stuttered. "How?"
"How big is this beastie?" The Doctor excitedly asked, scanning around. "Blimey! If this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach!" The mouth's owner groaned, and the Doctor froze. "But not right now." The Time Lord quickly amended.
"...way out?" El asked.
"Okay, it's being fed through surgically-implanted feeder-tubes, so, the normal entrance is…" The Doctor looked, to a massive set of teeth held shut. "Closed for business."
El tilted her head. Some of those gaps looked big enough to fit through. She began walking.
"No!" The Doctor shouted, as the 'floor' beneath them began to quake. "Stop! Don't move! Too late, it's started!"
"What?" El asked, falling into the Doctor, trying to hold herself up.
"Swallow reflex!" The Doctor answered, slipping and taking El down with him with a scream. "I'm going to stimulate the chemo receptors!" He explained, trying to push himself back up, as the sonic screwdriver's buzzing changed slightly.
"The what!?"
"The eject button!" The Doctor explained.
"Button?" El repeated.
"Think about it!" The Doctor retorted, finally getting to his feet.
El stood up as well, and gasped, as a massive wave began to approach from the enormous beast's esophagus.
"Right then!" The Doctor shouted, straightening his bow tie. "This isn't going to be big on dignity!" He held out a hand for El to take and grasped the girl's hand tightly. "GERONIMO!" He shouted, as El screamed.
And the wave hit them.
El spluttered, coughing as… water, let's call it water, dripped from the ceiling.
"There's no sign of concussion, nothing broken," The Doctor outlined, working a door with the sonic, and he turned to El, "and yes, you are covered in sick."
El groaned. "Where?"
"Overspill pipe, at a guess." The Doctor answered, as El got to her feet.
"Stinky." El commented, walking over to the Doctor.
"Oh!" The Doctor turned to her, "That's not the pipe."
"Oh." El blinked, going to sniff one of her sleeves, before recoiling in disgust, gagging.
"Yeah, I'll show you how to work the TARDIS's shower when we get back."
"Way out?" El inquired.
"One door, one button, one condition." The Doctor turned to her. "We forget everything we ever saw." He explained, as a duplicate of the forget button from the voting room lit up by the door. "Look familiar?" He asked of El. "That's the carrot-" The lights turned on, and the Doctor turned to look at the smiler booth illuminated by the light. "And there's the stick!" He began walking over to the two booths. "There's a creature living in the heart of this ship, what's it doing there?" He demanded, El following.
The heads began turning around, showing the statues frowning.
"No, that's not going to work on me." The Doctor growled. "Come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its gullet. Is that how it works?"
The heads spun around faster, showing the same snarling frown from the voting room.
"Stop it!" The Doctor groaned. "I'm not leaving, and I'm not forgetting! And what are you fellas going to do about it?"
The booths swung open, the statues standing up, and walking out.
"Doctor?" El clung to him, as the Smilers approached the two threatening.
A sudden third party brushed past them, firing a futuristic revolver into the Smilers, taking the two robots down. She twirled the pistol, and slid it straight into her holster, turning to the Doctor.
Oh, it was the woman from the engine room. Free of her mask, it seemed.
"Look who it is." The Doctor sighed in relief. "You look a lot better without the mask." He remarked.
The woman walked over, smiling, as her eyes locked on the child. "You must be El. I'm Liz. Liz 10."
"…hi?" El replied unsurely at the stranger who seemed to recognize her.
"Nice to meet you, same about the sick." Liz proceeded back over to the door, fiddling with the controls. "You know Mandy?" She asked, ushering the other little girl in. "She's very brave."
"How did you find us?" The Doctor asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Stuck my gizmo on you." The woman answered, throwing one of the same gadgets she'd given the Doctor to find El over to him. "Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So," She looked questioningly to the Doctor, "What's the big fella doin' down here?"
"You're over 16, you've voted." The Doctor retorted, shoving the locator into his pocket. "Whatever the reason, you've chosen to forget."
"No." Liz sardonically replied. "Never voted, never forgot. Not technically a British subject."
"Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?" The Doctor demanded.
Liz smiled. "You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, MO consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot…" The Doctor defensively rubbed his slick head. "I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."
"Your family?" The Doctor repeated.
The Smilers on the ground began to spasm.
"They're repairing!" Liz recognized. "Doesn't take 'em long. Let's move." Liz exited the pipeline first, followed by Mandy, and the Doctor made sure to usher El through next, and slammed the door behind them as they proceeded through the ship.
"The Doctor, the old drinking buddy of Henry XII." Liz regaled them as they spedwalked. "Tea and scones with Li II. Vicky was a bit on the fence with you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen!" She laughed. "You bad, bad boy!"
The Doctor suddenly breathed in realization. "Liz 10?"
"Elizabeth X." The woman replied with her full name. "And down!" She ordered, suddenly drawing her gun, and turning around.
The Doctor ducked, pulling El and Mandy down with him, as a blast to the chest knocked down another Smiler that had been following them.
"I'm the bloody queen mate." Liz blew the barrel of the gun. "Basically; I rule."