5. Crash Of The Byzantium
The Doctor and Tory stride through, pointing at the displays and giving each other opinion with Amy follows.
"Wrong! Wrong! Bit right, mostly wrong," he mentioned.
"Thanks for getting us here," Tory smiles. "I love museums!"
"Yeah, great," Amy mumbled. "Can we go to a planet now? Big space ship, Churchill's bunker...? You two promised me a planet next."
"Amy, this isn't any old asteroid. That one's a fake. That one's too," the girl pointing at two new statues as she's explaining. "It's the Delerium Archive, final resting place of the headless monks and the biggest museum ever! Isn't that cool?"
"You've got a time machine, what do you need museums for?"
"Education, of course! And fun!"
"Wrong! Very wrong! Oooh, one of mine. Also one of mine," the Doctor gestures at some collection and then peers into display case.
"Oh, I see. It's how you keep score," Amy remarked.
Something in the next display case catches the Time Lords' eye. An old box with some writing that both know very well on the top of it.
"Oh great, an old box," the ginger muttered.
"It's from one of the old starliners. A Home Box," the Doctor addressed.
"What's a Home Box?"
"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home, with all the flight data."
"So?"
"The writing on top of the box. It's an Old High Gallifreyan," Tory specified. "The lost language of the Time Lords. There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple Gods."
"What does it say?"
The young girl smirks. "Hello, cupcake." And then smashes the glass with her bare hand with some of her power, causing some alarm ringing inside the museum. She takes the box and they all escape back to the TARDIS with two guards chasing them.
Inside, the Doctor hooks the home box up to the console. "You shouldn't do that," he protested at Tory.
"Oh, please. As if you won't do that," Tory commented.
"Why are we doing this?" Amy asked.
"Cos someone on a space ship 12,000 years ago is trying to attract our attention. Let's see if we can get the security playback working," the Doctor stated.
From the monitor, the screen shows in black and white footage. Then, a woman with dark gown and sunglasses come in, winking at the camera before moving away. Then, the screen switches to Rivee with her back to the camera, facing a door. Three man steps toward her. "The party's over, Doctor Song," the man in the middle declared. "Yet still you're on board."
River turns to face him. "Sorry, Alistair. I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination."
"Wait till she runs. Don't make it look like an execution," Alistar ordered.
River checks her watch. "Triple-seven, five slash, three, four, nine by ten. Zero, twelve, slash, acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor."
Tory begins to type on the keyboard.
"What was that, what did she say?" Amy asked.
"Coordinates!" The Doctor replied, helping Tory.
"Like I said on the dance floor, you might want to find something to hang on to!" River claimed.
After makes sure they're in the right coordinate, the Doctor lets out a 'whoop' before running to open the TARDIS doors. He reaches out and pulls River in and they both land on the floor.
"Doctor?" Amy crossed both hands.
"River?" The Doctor muttered.
They stand and watch the ship fly away.
"Follow that ship," River addressed.
"On it!" Tory complied. The Doctor and River, who removes her high heels, also helping, both working the controls while Amy stands back and watches
"They've gone into warp drive, we're losing them!" River reported. "Stay close!"
"I'm trying!" The Doctor told her.
"Use the stabilisers."
"There aren't any stabilisers!"
"The blue switches!"
"Really?" Tory wondered, then looking at the Doctor. "You said the blue ones don't do anything."
"Exactly! They're just... blue!" The Doctor insisted.
"Yes, they're blue. They're the blue stabilisers!" River presses the blue switch and the ship becomes quiet. "See?"
"Yeah, well, it's just boring now, isn't it? They're boring-ers. They're blue," the Doctor playing his the lever in annoyance, "boring-ers."
"Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked, because as much as she knows, only he and Tory knows to fly the TARDIS. Well, the expert is the Doctor, since Tory's still need some assistance to fly the blue box.
"You call that flying the TARDIS? Ha!" He remarked, sits on jump seat.
"Okay. I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right along side," River informed.
"Parked us? We haven't landed."
"Of course we've landed. I just landed her."
"But it didn't make the noise."
"What noise?"
Tory imitates the TARDIS wheezing sound. "That kind of sound."
River rolls her eyes. "It's not supposed to make that noise. You two leave the brakes on."
"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise. And frankly, I'm glad my sister leave the brakes on, otherwise it would be boring," he gestures to Amy. "Come along, Pond, let's have a look."
"No, wait! Environment checks."
"Oh, yes, sorry! Quite right. Environment checks," the Doctor sticks his head out the door. "Nice out."
"We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest..."
"Alfava Metraxis, the 7th planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11-hour day," Tory denoted.
"And," the Doctor puts his head out the door again, "chances of rain later."
"He thinks he's so hot when he does that," River muttered.
"Tell me about it," Tory replied, grimance as the Doctor joins them at the console. River giggles about the girl's face. She always hating anything involves flirting or romance stuff. It's just so 'ew' to her.
"How come you can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked River.
"Oh, I had lessons from the very best."
"Really?" Tory raises her eyebrown, curious.
"Yeah. It's a shame you were busy that day," River alluded to the Doctor and picks up her high heels. "Right then, why did they land here?"
"They didn't land," Tory informed as River heading for the door.
"Sorry?"
"You should've checked the Home Box. It crashed," the Doctor specified, follows her. But the moment River steps outside, he closes the door behind her before heading back to the console.
"Explain!" Amy insisted. "Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?"
"It's a long story and I don't know most of it," he stated, working on the console. "Off we go!"
"What are you doing?"
"Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go."
"Are you basically running away?"
"Yep."
"Why?"
"Because she's our future, Amy," Tory admitted. "Unlike me, the Doctor's very much wary with that. With someone knowing our future and barely speak about it, just giving hints here and there." She crosses both arms on her chest. "And he's basically rude."
"Am not!" He insisted.
"Hang on, is that a planet out there?" Amy asked.
"Yep."
"You two promised me a planet. 5 minutes?"
The Doctor wants to argue, but with Amy's pleading expression, he's gives up. "Okay, 5 minutes!"
"Yes!" Amy cheered and heads for the door.
"But that's all, cos I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!"
"Yeah, right," Tory muttered as they follow Amy to the door.
"Wow," was all Tory can say as she, the Doctor, Amy, and River stand on a beach, looking at the ship before that got crashed on top of a very large and very old stone structure. It's burning in areas and bits of debris have fallen to the ground around the TARDIS.
"What caused it to crash?" River wondered. "Not me."
"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it. According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase-shift. No survivors," the Doctor intoned.
"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage. I did warn them."
"About what?" Tory asked.
"Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries," River said, begins to key something into a handheld device on her hands.
The Time Lords walk back to Amy, who immediately asking, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Amy Pond, Professor River Song," the Doctor introduced.
River soon faces them. "Ah, I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I?" She wondered, excited, which makes the Doctor winces for spoiling River. "How exciting!" She chuckles. "Spoilers!" Then, she turns her attention back to what she was doing.
"Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that?" She whispered. "She just left you a note in a museum!"
The Doctor walks off as River's explaining. "Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum: The Home Box of category four starliner and, sooner or later, these two. It's how they keep score. Speaking of score," River looking at Tory, "how much you can tell the fake artifacts back at the museum?"
"40, at least," Tory guessed.
"Bet the Doctor doesn't know some of it."
"Oh. That would be marvelous."
Hearing their conversation, the Doctor comes up behind them with sarcastic laugh. "Haha. I'm nobody's taxi service! I'm not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship."
"And you are so wrong," River retorted. "There's one survivor. There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die." That got his attention. "Now he's listening!" She begins to moves few steps and communicate into her device. "You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal." Then holds up the device. "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."
The Doctor takes out the sonic screwdriver and uses it on River's communication device. She drops a small curtsey.
"Ooh, Doctor! You soniced her," Amy teased.
"We have a minute. Shall we?" River said and opens her diary from her purse. "Where were we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"
"Yeah, where you were stealing the Meadow's High Curtain and almost got us beheaded!" Tory playfully reminded her.
"What's the book?" Amy asked.
"Stay away from it," the Doctor warned.
"What is it though?"
"Our diary, share between us. Her past, our future. Our past, her future," Tory replied. "Time travel. Keep meeting in the wrong order."
Then, four columns of swirling air appear, before turn into four soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms. One of the soldiers approaches River. "You promised me an army, Doctor Song."
"No. I promised you the equivalent of an army," River corrected. "This is the Doctor and his sister, the Historian."
The Doctor gives lighthearted salute while Tory just waves her hand with a smile. The man shakes his hand and bowed his head at her. "Father Octavian, Sir, Miss. Bishop, second class. 20 clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?"
"Doctor, Tory, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"
The Time Lords looking at each other, tense.
Night had fallen and the rest of the troops have arrived with their supplies in a small drop ship, like a container unit. They have set up camp around it.
Octavian strides across the ground followed by the Time Lords and Amy. "The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralise it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this," he shows them handheld device, "behind the cliff face, there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."
"Wonderful," Tory chimed up, smiling.
"Wonderful?"
"I mean, if I recall, Alfava Metraxis had a catacomb called a maze of the dead, which is what we're going to, right? So I'm excited." She pumped a fist in the air. "This will be a fun adventure!"
"Yes," Octavian replied, looking at Tory nervously. Normal people, especially young girl like her, wouldn't we excited at all. She certainly not normal. In fact, he can be certain that this girl... is quite crazy.
"Father Octavian?" A soldier called.
"Excuse me," he excused himself and the Doctor waves off Octavian as he leaves. He then uses the screwdriver on some of the equipment set up on the table.
"You're letting people call you 'sir'. You never do that," Amt noted, sits on table. "So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?"
"Now that's interesting. You're still here. Which part of 'Wait in the TARDIS till I tell you it's safe' was so confusing?"
Tory jiggled her foot. "It's not like any of your companion ever listening to you advised," she told him. "Remember with Rose and Micky roaming inside Madam Pompadour's spaceship?"
"Are you all Mr. Grumpy Face today?" Amy mused.
"A Weeping Angel, Amy, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and one is trapped inside that wreckage and I'm supposed to climb in with a screwdriver and a torch, and assuming I survive the radiation, and the whole ship doesn't blow up in my face, do something clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's my day, that's what I'm up to. Any questions?"
"Is River Song your wife? Cos she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that. She's kinda like, you know, 'Heel, boy!' She's Mrs. Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she gonna be your wife one day?"
"Hopefully so," Tory admitted. She can picturing the Doctor marrying River.
"Doctor? Tory?" River called from the transport.
"Oops! Her indoors!" Amy teased.
"Father Octavian!"
The four of them walk to the transport. "Why do they call them Father?"
"He's their Bishop, they're his clerics," the Doctor answered Amy's question.
"It's the 51st Century, the Church has moved on," Tory added as they enter the transport. On a screen, the Time Lady sees a black and white footage of a Weeping Angel, its body at an angle to them, hands over its eyes.
Currently, River's controlling the video with a remote. "What do you think? It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's 4 seconds. I've put it on loop."
"Yeah, it's an Angel. Hands covering its face," the Doctor confirmed.
"You've encountered the Angels before?" Octavian asked.
"Once, on Earth," Tory recalled. "But those were scavengers, barely surviving."
"It's just a statue," Amy pointed out.
"It's a statue when you see it," River clarified.
"Where did it come from?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since, dormant all that time."
"There's a difference between dormant and patient."
"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy frowns.
"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen," Tory described. "They're quantum lock. In the sight of any living creature, the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone. The ultimate defence mechanism. The lone assassin, some says."
"What, being a stone?"
"Being a stone... until you turn your back," the Doctor finished, leads the others out of the transport. "The hyperdrive would've split on impact. The whole ship will be flooded with radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms, deadly to almost any living thing."
"Deadly to an Angel?" Octavian asked.
"Dinner to an Angel. The longer we leave it, the stronger it will grow. Who built that temple? Are they still around?"
"My guess would be the Aplans," Tory remarked, remembering some books mentioning the Aplans used to live in Alfava Metraxis.
River nods as she's reading the handheld. "The indigenous life-form. They died out 400 years ago."
"200 years later, the planet was terraformed. Currently there are 6 billion human colonists," Octavian added.
"You lot, you're everywhere! Like rabbits! I'll never get done saving you," the Doctor wondered.
"Sir, if there is a clear and present danger to the local population..."
"Oh, there is. Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!"
"Verger, how we doing with those explosives? Dr. Song, with me."
"Two minutes. Sweetie, cupcake, I need you."
"She means us," Tory whispered beside the Doctor and dragging him with her along to speak with her.
River shows them a book. "I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman, it's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages."
Tory takes it from River and checks the book carefully. "Something's wrong with this book."
"Let me," the Doctor insisted, taking the book and riffles through the pages of the book. "Not bad, bit slow in the middle, didn't you hate his girlfriend? No, hang on, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" He sniffs the book.
"Dr. Song? Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?" Amy asked.
"No, just the 4 seconds," River replied.
"Historian's right. This book is wrong! What's wrong with this book?" The Doctor pondered.
River observes the Doctor as he examines the book. "Oh, it's so strange when you go all baby-face. How early is this for you two?"
"Very early," Tory admitted. "We're only had three adventures so far with you. Picnic of the Asgard, Apocalypse Vault, and Bone Meadows. Which reminds me, how do you know which version we are? The Doctor doesn't always look the same. And for all I know, I'm probably doesn't look the same as well."
"I've got pictures of all your faces. You two never show up in the right order though. I need the spotter's guide."
"Pictures? Why aren't there pictures?" The Doctor pointed out. "This whole book, it's a warning, about the Weeping Angels. So why no pictures? Why not show us what to look out for?"
"There was a bit about images," River shared.
"Yes! Hang on," he flips through tge book. "'That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel.'"
"What an odd line," Tory addressed.
"What does that mean?" River wondered. "'An image of a Angel becomes itself an Angel'?"
"Doctor! It's in the room!" Amy shouted from the transporter.
"Amy!" The Doctor realized as he's heading into the transporter with Tory and River.
"Doctor! Tory!"
"Are you all right? What's happening?"
"Doctor? Tory? I's coming out of the television. The Angel is here."
The Doctor sonicks the keypad lock as Tory advising Amy. "Don't take your eyes off it, Amy! Keep looking! It can't move if you're looking!"
"What's wrong?" River asked the Doctor.
"Deadlocked."
"There is no deadlock."
"Don't blink, Amy. Don't even blink," the Doctor warned.
"Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink!" Tory recited, using the same warning the Doctor speaked to Sally and Larry.
"Not helping!" Amy grumbled.
"What are you doing?" River asked him.
"Cutting the power. It's using the screen, I'm turning the screen off," he said. "It's no good, it's deadlocked the whole system."
"There's no deadlock."
"There is now!"
"Help me!" Amy shouted.
"Amy! Can you turn it off?" He asked her.
"I tried."
"Try again. But don't take your eyes off the Angel."
"I'm not."
"Each time it moves, it'll move faster. Don't even blink," he advised as he, Tory, and Rived are still trying to override the controls. Well, it's more like the Doctor and River, really. Tory's sort of using her power to force the door open. Which failed each time.
"I'm not blinking. Have you ever tried not blinking?" Amy imparted. "It just keeps switching back on."
"Yeah, it's the Angel."
"But it's just a recording."
"'That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel,'" Tory remembered. That's why there's no picture! Because it would becomes an Angel as well. "Amy. What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to cut through. It's not even warm."
"There is no way in. It's not physically possible," the Doctor fretted.
"Doctor, what's it going to do to me?"
"Well, generally, it sends you back in time, trapping you there until you died, and then they're feed your energy of all the days you might have had. All your stolen moments that you should have in your timeline before they send you into the past and never return," Tory answered.
"Not really encouraging, sister dear," the Doctor lisped. "Just keep looking at it. Don't stop looking."
"Is that true? Tell me. Tell me!"
The Doctor runs for the book and brings it back to just outside the transport door where he sits.
"Amy, not the eyes," the Doctor told her. "Look at the Angel but don't look at the eyes."
"Why?"
"Just do it, okay!?" Tory growled.
"What is it?" River wondered.
"'The eyes are not the windows of the soul. They are the doors. Beware what may enter there,'" he read.
"Is it warning us not to look at the eye?" Tory wondered.
"Doctor, what did you say?"
"Don't look at the eyes!"
"No, about images. What did you say about images?"
"'Whatever holds the image of an Angel, is an Angel,'" River recited.
"Okay, hold this. One, two, three, four."
The Doctor finally able go open the door, they soon rushes inside, finding Amy's safe and sound while the monitor showing a frozen Weeping Angel, ready to attack Amy. Tory quickly unplugs the screen with waving her hand and uses her power.
"I froze it!" Amy marveled. "There was a sort of blip on the tape and I froze it on the blip. It wasn't the image of an angel any more. That was good, yeah? It was, wasn't it? That was pretty good."
"That was amazing!" River praised.
"Good one, Amy!" Tory raved.
"River, hug Amy," the Doctor suggested.
"Why?" River asked.
"Cos I'm busy."
"I'm fine," Amy assured.
"You're brilliant!" River beamed.
"Thanks. Yeah. I kind of creamed it, didn't I?"
"So it was here? That was the Angel?" Tory asked.
"That was a projection of the Angel," the Doctor remarked. "It's reaching out, getting a good look at us. It's no longer dormant."
Then, they heard an explosion outside, causing the Doctor and Tory to look up.
"It's gone positive!" A soldier announced.
"Doctor! We're through!" Octavian called.
"Wait, you're telling me you have an explosion? And didn't let me know?!" Tory protested as the Doctor come back inside the transporter.
"You didn't ask, Miss," Octavian replied.
"And frankly, I don't want you to have it," the Doctor denoted, looking at her seriously. "Last thing I need is you roaming around, carrying grenades and throw them around."
"No, I'm not!... okay, maybe I will, but it's still a possibility!"
The Doctor shook his head and River just laughs in amusement. This incarnation of her is trully the bizzare one.
Tory climbs down a rope ladder and joins Octavian at the bottom. Then, the Doctor climbs down as well. After he lands, both Time Lords turn on their flashlights and look around. Amy and Rivee join them, alongside other soldiers.
"Do we have a gravity globe?" The Doctor asked.
"Grav globe," Octavian ordered and one of the soldiers takes out a sphere from his pack and hands it to him.
"Where are we? What is this?" Amy asked.
"It's an Aplan mortarium. Sometimes called maze of the dead," Tory replied.
"And what's that?"
"Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone," the Doctor said, kicks the gravity sphere like a football and it rises into the air, stops and then lights up the cave showing a large number of stone statues, "the perfect hiding place."
"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," Octavian noted.
"A bit, yeah."
"A stone angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for."
"A needle in a haystack," River alluded.
"A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle. Of death. A hay-alike needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues," the Doctor blabbered. "No, yours was fine."
"Right. Check every single statue in this chamber," Octavian ordered. "You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection." He looks at the Doctor. "One question. How do we fight it?"
"We find it, and hope," he replied, goes off alongside Tory and Amy follows.
They look around with their shiny flashlight as River finally follows them, comes up beside Amy. "You all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. So, what's a maze of the dead?" Amy asked.
"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls," River repliee. "Okay. That was fairly bad. Right give me your arm," she picks up a syringe. "This won't hurt a bit."
She gives Amy a shot, causing the ginger to reacting with an "Ow!"
"There, you see. I lied. It's a viro-stabiliser. Stabilises your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship."
"So what are they like? In the future, I mean. Cos you know them in the future, don't you?"
"The Doctor? Well, the Doctor's the Doctor and Tory's just being Tory."
"You mean being a cheerful girl while also being mad? Yeah I can see that. That's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?"
"She's not completely insane, you know," River corrected. "And yes, we are."
"Sorry, what?" The Doctor asked, taking readings with her device.
"Talking about you two."
"I wasn't listening, I'm busy."
"Uh, brother dear, the other way up," Tory pointed out and the Doctor turns the device the other way round and looks over at Tory with pointing look.
They're examining the statues when they hear gunfire. They run back down to the main chamber, finding young cleric had fired his weapon at one of the statues.
"Okay?" Tory asked him, concern.
"Sorry. Sorry, I thought... I thought it looked at me," he reacted.
"We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?" Octavian asked.
"No, Sir."
"No, Sir, it is not! According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil. So it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."
"Hey!" Tory scolded. "Don't be a meanie to..."
"Bob, Miss," Bob added.
"To Bob. It's okay if he's being caution. Better than plunging into danger without consideration like... well, like me and my brother dear," she gestures to her and the Doctor. The man himself has no objection for that. "Also, interesting name. Bob. I presume it's a sacred name?"
Bob nods. "We all have Sacred Names, they're given to us in the service of the Church."
"Sacred Bob. More like Scared Bob now, eh?" The Doctor teased.
"Yes, Sir."
"Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron. Carry on."
"We'll be moving into the maze in 2 minutes," Octavian ordered and adding to Bob, "You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach."
"Isn't there a chance this lot's just gonna collapse?" Amy asked as they're in upward passage. "There's a whole ship up there."
"Incredible builders, the Aplans," River vouched.
"Had dinner with their chief architect once. Two heads are better than one," the Doctor recalled.
"It was fun," Tory admitted.
"You mean you two helped him?" Amy asked.
"He mean he had two heads. Literally."
"That book, the very end, what did it say?" The Doctor asked River.
"Hang on," she gets the book out of her pack.
"Read it to me."
"'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels.'"
"Oooh. Very mysterious. Love it," Tory cheered.
"Are we there yet? It's a hell of a climb," Amy protested.
"The maze is on six levels representing the ascent of the soul," Tory shared. "Only two levels to go."
"Lovely species, the Aplans. We should visit them some time," the Doctor suggested.
"I thought they were all dead?" Amy frowns.
"So's Virginia Woolf. I'm on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. That's having two heads. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."
"Doctor, Tory, there's something," River mentioned. "I don't know what it is..."
"Like's something wrong," Tory finished.
"Yeah. Don't know what it is yet either, working on it," the Doctor noted. "Then they started having laws against self-marrying and what was that about? But that's the church for you. Erm, no offence, Bishop."
"Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor," Octavian remarked as they're in a narrow passage lined with statues. "Lowest point in the wreckage is only about 50 feet up from here. That way."
"Church had a point, if you think about it," Amy admitted. "The divorces must have been messy."
"Oh my goodness, I am so stupid," Tory exclaimed, looking at the statues around with shock
The Doctor frowns at her, but then he stops and looks closely at a statue. "Oh!"
"What's wrong?" Amy asked.
"Oh," River responded, seems getting the Time Lords reaction and soon stares at them.
"Exactly," the Doctor agreed.
"How could we not notice that?"
"Low level perception filter, or maybe we're thick."
"I prefer the first one," Tory commented.
Octavian frowns. "What's wrong, sir?"
"Nobody move. Everyone stay exactly where they are," the Doctor warner. "Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we are all in danger."
"What danger?"
"The Aplans," River and Tory replied at the same time.
"The Aplans?"
"They've got two heads," River mentioned.
"Yes, I get that. So?"
"So why don't the statues?" Tory pondered.
"Everyone, over there. Just move, don't ask questions, don't speak," the Doctor commanded and everyone moves to a spot where there are no statues. "Okay. I want you all to switch off your torches."
"Sir?" Octavian responded, in case he's wrong with what he just heard.
"Just do it," the Time Lord inisted. They turn off their torches, except the Doctor. "Okay. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."
"Are you sure about this?" River asked.
"No." He switches off his torch for a split second and the statues in front of them are now facing them. The Doctor and Tory run ahead.
"Oh, my God!" Amy yelped. "They've moved."
The others follow after them as he looks at all the statues lining their way to the ship. "They're Angels. All of them!"
"But they can't be," River argued.
"Clerics, keep watching them," he ordered, backtracks and sees the Angels have moved forward. "Every statue in this maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."
"Can I ask for some bombs now?" Tory pleaded. "We can try to blast these statues now."
"No," all of them responded, knowing that they won't survive if they're use bombs to fight the Angels.
"There was only one Angel on the ship," River recalled. "Just the one, I swear."
"Could they have been here already?" Amy guessed.
"The Aplans, how did they die out?" The Doctor asked.
"Nobody knows," River answered.
"Welp, someone needs to change that," Tory asserted.
"They don't look like Angels," Octavian pointed out.
"And they're not fast," Amy added. "You said they were fast. They should have had us by now."
"They're dying. Losing their form," the Doctor specified. "They must have been down here for centuries, starving."
"Losing their image."
"And their image is their power," he realized. "Power. Power!"
"Doctor?"
"Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out, the drive burn. The crash wasn't an accident, it was a rescue mission, for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up."
"We need to get out of here fast," River suggested.
Octavian contacts the clerks using the radio. "Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please. Any of you, come in!"
"It's Bob, Sir. Sorry, Sir," Bob replied.
"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active!"
"I know, Sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, Sir. The statues killed them, Sir."
"Why's he keep saying 'sir'?" Tory pondered, remembering Son of Mine also said the same thing as well.
The Doctor takes the radio from Octavian. "Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor. Where are you now?"
"I'm talking to my..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up!"
"I'm on my way up to you, Sir, I'm homing on your signal."
"Well done, Bob. Scared keeps you fast, told you, didn't I? Your friends, Bob, what did the Angel do to them?"
"Snapped their necks, Sir."
"That's odd. That's not how the Angels kill you, they displace you in time. Unless they needed the bodies for something."
Octavian takes radio from him. "Bob, did you check their data packs for vital signs? We may be able to initiate a rescue plan."
Tory snatches the radio from Octavian. "Bob, tell me the truth, are you really Bob or just a fake one uses by the Angels? Because it's been bothering me how you keep saying 'sir' over and over. Real Bob we met doesn't say sir so much."
"You're very clever, Miss. As for your question, the Angel killed me."
Tory sighs. "Snapped your neck, I presume?"
"Yes, Miss. Wasn't as painless as I expected but it was pretty quick, so that was something."
"And how can you can talk to us?"
"You're not talking to me, Miss. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion."
The Doctor takes over the radio. "So when you say you're on your way up to us..."
"It's the Angel that's coming, Sir, yes."
"No way out."
"Then we get out through the wreckage," Octavian suggested. "Go!"
"Go, go, go. All of you run!" The Doctor agreed.
"Doctor?" Amy called.
"Yes, I'm coming, just go, go, go!"
Amy, Tory, and River leave with the clerics. Further along the passage, Tory River, the clerics, with Octaviwn arrive at an open chamber and can see the ship above them.
"Well. There it is, the Byzantium," Octavian mutterrd.
"Well, it's got to be 30 feet," River mumbled, lookinf at Tory. "Can you get up there?"
Tory shook her head. "I don't think I have much power to levitate."
"Check all these exits. I want them all secure," Octavian ordered.
"Wait, where's Amy?" Tory asked, realizing the woman's not here. Doctor! We can't find Amy!
Don't worry, I've found her, he assured her using telepathic. I'm trying to convince her to stop thinking about her hand turns into a stone. Just stay with others.
One of the clerics sent to check the passages returns. "The statues are advancing along all corridors. And, Sir, my torch keeps flickering."
"They all do," Octavian noted.
"So does the gravity globe," River added.
"Clerics, we're down to four men. Expect incoming."
"Yeah, it's the Angels. They're coming," the Doctor explained as he and Amy arrive. "And they're draining the power for themselves."
"Which means we won't be able to see them."
"Which means we can't stay here."
"There are more incoming!" Octavian reported.
"Any suggestions?" River.
"Well, first, we need an escape route," Tory suggested.
"The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium," Octavian argued.
"There's no way up, no way back, no way out," River mentioned. "No pressure, but this is usually when you two have a really good idea."
"There's always a way out," the Doctor assured as the lights flicker off again and when they come back on, the Angels are closer, basically blocking the passage. "There's always a way out."
"Doctor? Can I speak to the Doctor, please?" Bob, or rather, Angel Bob speaked.
"Hello, Angels. What's your problem?" The Doctor asked.
"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, Sir."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"There's something the Angels are very keen you and your sister should know before the end."
The Doctor frowns. Why would the Angels want to speak with Tory. "Which is?"
"I died in fear."
"I'm sorry?" Tory asked again, confused.
"You told me my fear would keep me alive but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down. The both of you. I'm sorry, Sir, Miss. The Angels were very keen for you to know that."
"Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because we're not going to let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."
"But you're trapped, Sir, and about to die."
"You think?" Tory retorted. "Let me give you some tips. Angel Bob. You and your stupid Weeping Angels makes two mistakes."
"What mistakes, Miss?"
The Doctor looks at Amy "Trust us?"
"Yeah," Amy replied.
"Trust me?" He asked River.
"Always."
The Doctor glances at Octavian. "You lot, trust me?"
"Sir, two more incoming!" A cleric informed.
"We have faith, Sir," Octavian responded.
"Then give me your gun," the Doctor imparted and Octavian does so. "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do," he jumps in place. "jump."
"Jump where?"
"Just jump, as high as you can," Tory beckoned. "Wait for the signal."
"What signal?"
"You won't miss it," the Doctor claimed, aims the gun at the roof.
"Sorry, can I ask again? You mentioned two mistakes?"
"Oh, big mistake. Huge. First, you make me and my sister angry. That's not a good thing to do. Especially Historian. You won't like to see our wrath. Second, there's one thing you never put in a trap, if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap."
"And what would that be, Sir?"
"Me!" He averred and fires at the gravity globe and it explodes.