Malohkeh walked through the tunnels, into the storage room. "That's not right…" He frowned, looking at the empty stasis chamber. He finally turned to the rest of the wing, frowning, as he saw Restac awaking the rest of her warriors. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

"Protecting our race against the apes." Restac hissed.

"You can't do this!"

"You're a good scientist, Malohkeh…" Restac raised her weapon. "But this is war."

Malohkeh quickly began stepping back, before Restac pulled the trigger, a red beam of energy shooting out, blasting the Silurian man square in the heart.

The scientist shuddered in pain, and fell to the ground, dead.


The Doctor stood, watching the door expectantly. He smiled, upon seeing Sarah Jane turn the corner. "Here they are."

Ambrose followed Sarah Jane, and her eyes locked on Elliot.

"Mum!" The boy shouted happily, running into his mother's arms.

"Aunt Sarah." El greeted.

Despite the calmness of things before, the moment Tony entered, the Doctor went cold.

"Dad," El looked to the Doctor, "What's that?"

The Time Lord stared at Tony, as he walked forward ahead of the others, and gently laid the body down. "No…" The Doctor breathed. "Tell me you didn't do this…" His eyes locked on Ambrose. He had the woman made the second she walked through the door. "Tell me you didn't do this!" He bellowed.

The Doctor crouched by the body and looked up at Ambrose. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"It was me." Ambrose admitted, not answering the Doctor's question. "I did it."

Elliot looked to his mother in horror. "Mum?"

"I just wanted you back…" She told the boy, as he broke free of her grip.

"You realize what you've done…" The Doctor began. The Time Lord hurriedly turned to Eldane. "They're better than this, you have to believe me."

The Silurian looked away.

"This is our planet!" Ambrose shouted.

"No!" The Doctor whipped back around. "You had a chance to prove that you could be the best of humanity, and you blew it! And now, other people are going to pay the price for your mistake!"

Ambrose glowered at the Doctor, the sound of marching rising in the distance.

The Doctor looked away from the woman, to the door, as the squad of warriors, outfitted with weapons again, came marching in.

"My sister." Restac demanded, as the warriors spread out to fill the room. Her eyes locked on the body on the floor, and she walked over slowly, gently lifting the cover on her sister's face.

Upon seeing Alaya's face, locked forever in a pained grimace, Restac let out an anguished cry.

Before that cry morphed to fury.

"And you want us to trust these apes, Doctor?" Restac demanded.

The Time Lord held up a finger. "One woman. She was scared for her family, she's not typical."

Restac shot to her feet, pivoting around to glare at Ambrose. "I think she is."

"One person let us down!" The Doctor continued trying. "But there is an entire species of beautiful, peaceful human beings up there! The majority of them are not like her! They don't wish for conflict!" The Doctor let out a furious groan. "Come on, you were building something great here! There's still a chance!"

"…No there's not, Doctor." Ambrose shakily spoke up.

The Time Lord furiously whipped around to her. "…What?"

"Our drill." Ambrose gulped. "It's set to start burrowing again in…" She checked her watch. "Fifteen minutes."

Nasreen's eyes widened. "What?"

"What choice did I have?" Tony spoke up. "They had Elliot."

The Doctor looked between the humans, horrified, disappointed, and furious. "You've started a war… All because you couldn't handle not being in control for one second you… stupid apes!"

Restac's breaths grew deep. "EXECUTE HER!" She bellowed, the warriors raising their weapons.

"No!" The Doctor dived, pulling Ambrose out of the way. "Everybody back to the lab, run!" He ordered, raising his sonic screwdriver.

"Execute all the apes!" Restac ordered.

The Doctor pressed the button on his screwdriver, the guns in the warriors' hands sparking. "This is a deadly weapon!" He bluffed, following the others. The Doctor narrowly dodged a strike from one of the warriors venomous tongues, as the group of humans, plus Eldane, ran into the tunnels. "Get everyone to the lab!" He ordered, stopping and turning around. "I'll cover you!"

"Dad-"

"Go, El!" The Doctor ordered, raising the screwdriver again. The girl swallowed what she was going to say, and followed the others, as the Doctor stood in the corridor.

The team of warriors came marching in, ready to fire, and the Doctor zapped the guns out of their hands. "Ah! Not another step, or I'll use my very deadly weapon on you again!" He looked to the warriors. "Now, one warning, that's all you get. If there can be no deal, you all go back into hibernation, now. This ends here."

"No!" Restac spat. "It only ends in our victory!"

The Doctor sighed. "Like I said… one warning." He pressed the button, and the guns sparked, falling out of the warriors' hands. Taking the opportunity afforded by the confusion, the Doctor sprinted away to join the others.

He ran into the lab, sonicing the door shut on his way in. "Elliot!" He pointed to the boy. "You and your dad keep your eye on that screen! Let me know if we've got company. El!" He tossed his watch over to her. "Keep your eye on that, let me know how much time I haven't got."

"Okay, umm…" The girl looked at the watch, the TARDIS translation kicking in a moment later. All this time, and the Doctor still hadn't taught her how to read time on her own. "12:30 and going down."

"Alright." The Doctor turned to Tony. "Tony Mack, sweaty forehead, dilated pupils, what are you hiding?"

The man groaned, opening his shirt to show the green veins spreading across his chest like an infection.

"Tony…" Nasreen breathed. "What happened?"

"Alaya's sting." Tony coughed. "She said there was no cure."

"No cure right now." The Doctor replied. "That decontamination protocol should be enough." He turned to Eldane. "Can you run the decontamination program on him?"

Eldane nodded. "Certainly." He guided Tony over to the medical harness.

"Doctor!" Mo shouted. "Shedload of those creatures comin' our way!" He looked up from the screen. "We're surrounded in here."

"So," The Doctor clapped his hands. "How do we stop the drill given we don't have enough time? Also, how do we get out of here if we're surrounded? Nasreen," He looked to her, "How do you feel about a big energy pulse sent up through the tunnels to the base of the drill?" He proposed.

Nasreen looked demandingly at the Doctor. "To blow up my life's work?"

"Well, it's either that, or suffocate in a cave-in."

"…Alright, yes, but you'd have to do it before the drill hits the city." Nasreen replied.

"Don't worry," The Doctor walked over to the lab terminal. "I work better under pressure."

"But, we would have to get out before that happens." Sarah Jane spoke up. "Or we'd suffocate in another cave-in anyway, and Restac's troops are still blocking the way."

"I believe I can help with that." Eldane stepped forward. "Toxic fumigation. Failsafe protocol meant to protect our species from infection. A warning to occupy stasis pods, and then, the city is fumigated with toxic gas. Then, the city shuts down."

The Doctor slowly nodded and began the search for the protocol.

"But… you could kill your own people." El stated.

Eldane turned to the girl. "Only those foolish enough to follow Restac's will."

"Eldane," The Doctor turned to the elder Silurian, "Are you sure about this?"

"My duty is the survival of the species." Eldane stated. "Your world is not ready for us… But, perhaps it will be, one day."

"One day." The Doctor echoed. "Right, everybody, listen up. Eldane, you get the protocol ready. I'll amend the system so it'll wake you lot up on a time interval of… let's say a thousand years." He turned to the humans in the room. "A thousand years to get the planet sorted out, pass it on. A legend, or prophecy, or religion, but somehow, make it known."

"…Yes." Elliot spoke up. "I understand."

The Doctor snapped his fingers, moving around back to the control terminal.

"Nine minutes." El relayed.

"Oh, fluid control, I love fluids!" The Doctor rambled, tapping the controls. "Energy pulse timed, primed, and set. Before we go, energy barricade, need to cancel it out." He soniced the panel, deactivating the barricade on the surface.

"Fumigation pre-launching." Eldane reported.

"Is there going to be enough time for us to get back to the TARDIS?" Sarah Jane inquired.

"Of course!"

"Oh, so we're going to be cutting it that close then." Sarah Jane rolled her eyes.

"Doctor, the decontamination protocol on your friend hasn't started yet." Eldane informed.

The Time Lord glanced over to the Welshman in the harness.

"Well, go!" Tony ordered. "All of you! Go!"

"No, we're not leaving you here!" Ambrose insisted.

"Granddad!" Elliot ran over into the man's arms.

"Eight minutes." El read.

"Now, you look after your mum." Tony instructed Elliot. "Don't blame her. She was only trying to rescue you."

"…I would've done the same." The Doctor admitted, looking to them.

Elliot swallowed. "I'm not going to see you again, am I?"

"I'll be here." Tony replied, poking the boy in the chest. "Always… I love you, boy." He turned to Ambrose. "You be sure he gets home."

"This is my fault…" Ambrose cried.

"No," Tony replied, "I can't go back up there, I'd be a freakshow. The technology down here is my only hope."

Ambrose teared up and wrapped her arms around Tony. "I love you, dad."

Tony swallowed, and pulled back. "Go. Go!"

"Come on." Mo gently pulled Ambrose to his side, as Tony went back to the harness.

The lights suddenly went dark, green emergency lights flashing, as a klaxon sounded. "Toxic fumigation initiated. Return to stasis chambers immediately."

"They're going!" El reported, looking at the screen.

"All right, everyone, follow Nasreen, look for the blue box marked Police!" He outlined, moving to the door. "Get ready to run!" He soniced the door open, El leading the way for the group as they ran.

For a moment, however, the Doctor hung back, looking to Eldane. "I'm sorry."

"I thought, for a moment, our race and humanity could co-exist in harmony." Eldane stated.

"Yeah… So did I." The Doctor responded.

"Dad!" El shouted from down the tunnel. "Come on!"

"I'm coming!" The Doctor replied. He shook Eldane's hand one last time, before looking to Nasreen. "Let's go."

The woman thinned her lips and shook her head. "Yeah, I'm not coming."

The Doctor, who had been moving to exit, abruptly stopped, pivoting on his heel. "What?"

"We're going to hibernate with them." Nasreen elaborated, moving to Tony's side. "Me and Tony."

"Doctor, you must go!" Eldane hurried.

"I can be decontaminated when we've woken…" Tony rasped, looking at Nasreen. "All the time in the world."

"But-" The Doctor took a step. "Nasreen, you-?"

"No, this is perfect." She replied. "I don't want to go. I've got what I was digging for. I can't leave when I've just found it."

Little shoes pounded the ground as El ran back into the room. "Dad, come on!"

"Thank you, Doctor." Nasreen offered.

The Doctor smiled. "The pleasure was all mine." He looked down at his watch, and checked it, eyes bugging out. He grabbed El's hand, pulled her up onto his back without warning, and began to run.

"Come and look for us!" Nasreen called, as the lab sealed shut.


El laughed, despite the situation, as the Doctor ran back through the Silurian gardens towards the TARDIS.

Piggyback rides were fun.

"Run, run, run!" The Doctor shouted to the other four as they ran across the bridge extending over the lava.

Finally, they rounded the bend into the little chamber with the TARDIS, and the Doctor reached into his pocket, searching for the key, as he let El down.

"No questions, just get in!" He ordered the others, as he unlocked the doors, pushing them open. "Yes, I know, it's big! Ambrose, sickbay! Up the stairs, then left, then left again!"

The woman nodded in confusion, as she was pushed in first, Mo and Elliot following her.

"Come on, we've only got five-" The Doctor turned around, freezing at the enormous glowing crack in the cave wall. "No… not here. Not now. It's getting wider."

"Doctor…" Sarah Jane's eyebrows knit in confusion. "What is that?"

"Something exploded." The Doctor explained, as he went over to examine the fissure. "Something so powerful, something so monumentally important to the universe… its destruction cracked everything. Now, these are like… black holes. Only they feed on time."

The watch in El's hands beeped. "Dad, we have to go!"

"The Weeping Angels knew, why did they know…" The Doctor frowned. "But, where there's an explosion!" He suddenly got an idea, reaching into his jacket, pulling out a handkerchief. "There's shrapnel!"

"Doctor, don't put your hand in there!" Sarah Jane ordered, as the Time Lord walked over to do exactly that.

The Doctor, ignoring the woman, plunged his hand into the fissure, the light that was spilling out intensifying upon contact. His face twisted, and he began screaming in pain, stamping one of his legs repeatedly. "I've got something!" He gasped.

"What?" El asked.

The Doctor yanked his hand out, falling to the ground, holding the smoking handkerchief. "I don't know." He would've taken a moment to look, but he'd need it to cool off first.

Sarah Jane heard something, turning to the tunnel. "Doctor!"

El and the Doctor's heads looked over, seeing Restac pulling herself along the floor, a weapon in her other hand. The Silurian tried to take aim-

And her neck snapped, as she fell to the ground, dead.

"El!" The Doctor shouted, mortified.

"I wasn't going to let her kill you!" El shot back.

"You didn't have to kill her!" The Doctor replied.

"She was dying anyway!" El replied. "Were you just going to let her suffer!?"

Oh. Well, she had a point there. Telekinetic neck-snapping was a quick way to go at least.

The ground began to tremble, as the fissure in the wall widened, tendrils of light beginning to reach out.

"What is that!?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Into the TARDIS, now!" The Doctor ordered, pushing them through the doors. He looked back watching, as the light came into contact with Restac's body, her form from the bottom up beginning to dissolve into light as well, before becoming nothing.

The Doctor slammed the TARDIS doors shut, before running up to the console, putting the ship into motion. God only knows what would happen if the time fissure tried to consume the TARDIS as well. Before long, the ship settled again, going calm.

"I have seen some things today," Mo began, Elliot and Ambrose following, the three of them looking as amazed as can be. "But this is mad!"

"Dad," El looked to the watch, "Five seconds."

The Doctor shot to his feet and ran to the doors.

There was no way he was going to miss this firework show. Sprinting out of the TARDIS first, the Doctor braced himself for the coming explosion.

The enormous yellow upper support structure of the drill suddenly went up in a blaze of orange, the six standing at the top of the hill watching enraptured, as the surrounding grounds were showered in burning metal, the rest of them more than a safe distance away.

The day was saved again… but it shouldn't have needed saving to begin with.


"All Nasreen's work… just erased." Sarah Jane remarked, shaking her head as they walked through the graveyard.

"Good thing she's not here to see it." Mo stated. "She's going to give Tony hell when they wake up." They walked past the church, past the two standing across from each other in the doorway.

"You could've let those things shoot me." Ambrose said to the Doctor after a moment.

"I could've." The Doctor agreed. "But I wasn't going to. I know what it's like… When they took El, I was ready to rip the planet apart to get her back." He glanced back at her. "I don't blame you for wanting to save Elliot."

Ambrose huffed. "But you do blame me for royally cocking everything up."

The Doctor said nothing for a moment. "Now, you show your son how wrong you were. How there's always another way. You make him the best of humanity… That's our job as parents anyway." He offered her a smile, before stepping out, back to the TARDIS.


"Right then," The Doctor drew a breath as the three of them walked back to the blue box. "Shall we try for Rio again?"

"Hm..." Sarah Jane replied. "We've been to Lithone, which was all tropical, and then we went to Space Florida. How about… a city?"

"City, I can do city." The Doctor smiled in response.

"Oh, look!" El spoke up pointing at the other hill. "There we are again! Hello!" The group of people waved back, and she tilted her head. "Hm…"

"What is it?" The Doctor asked.

"My hair." El replied. "It's long."

Sarah Jane raised an eyebrow. "Yes? Why?"

"…I want long hair." El suddenly decided. "Long-er hair." She corrected.

"We can get some growth treatments done in the TARDIS." The Doctor replied, opening the door. "Go on. I'll just be a second."

The two nodded, even though Sarah Jane looked slightly suspicious, and stepped back into the TARDIS.

The Doctor reached into his pocket, grabbing the bit of shrapnel from the time fissure.

The Time Lord unwrapped it from the handkerchief and froze in shock and horror. It was a little fragment, singed and warped, but intact enough for the Doctor to recognize it had once been a sign.

'POLICE TE-'

'FR-'

The Doctor held up a fragment to the sign on the telephone door of the TARDIS.

'POLICE TELEPHONE

FREE FOR USE OF PUBLIC

ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE OBTAINABLE IMMEDIATELY (that was the Doctor's favorite part of the sign, incidentally)

OFFICERS AND CARS RESPOND TO ALL CALLS

PULL TO OPEN'

The text on the fragment lined up with the text on the TARDIS perfectly.

Either the TARDIS had been caught in the explosion, or a more likely, and much more terrifying thought…

The TARDIS had caused the explosion.