Even with the darkness around her Chris was still able to see. There were flashes of light and sound that had her spinning in circles. It was like her body was there but her mind was almost outside of it. It was disorienting.
"Welcome to my world," a voice sounded around Chris. She spun searching for the source, "relax, it's just me."
"Rain?" Chris asked
"The one and only," Rain assured, "right now we're in the void, you've been here before, this is just the first time you've really been aware of it. I'm not sure why that's changed but I think it might have something to do with our next location ?"
"And what might that be?" Chris asked.
"I don't know."
Helpful, Chris thought as the world shifted around her and she found herself in a bustling crowd somewhere she couldn't quite recognize yet. The place looked like some kind of central courtyard on a spaceship with metal walls, metal floors, and a metal ceiling as well.
She didn't notice it then but against the walls were these machines that looked similar to psychic vending machines. Humanoid robots with creepy smiling faces were watching the crowded room.
What she noticed right away was the young girl crying on a bench. Everyone was simply walking past her which she knew meant that either everyone there was an assholes or they knew why she was crying and were too scared to help.
The next thing she noticed was The Doctor running out of the Tardis to talk to the girl. Less than a minute later Amy Pond ran out of the Tardis in her nightie. Chris looked down at her own pajamas and chuckled.
"I'm in the future," Chris heard Amy say as she crept forward, "Like hundreds...of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries."
"Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one," The Doctor said before looping his arm into Amy's, "never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Amy wondered
"Use your eyes, notice everything," The Doctor said, "What's wrong with this picture?
"Is it...the bicycles?" Amy asked, gesturing to the people riding bikes, "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."
"Says the girl in the nightie," The Doctor pointed out hotly.
"Oh, my God! I'm in my nightie," Amy yelled, freaking out even though no one really cared what she was wearing.
"Seems to be the fashionable thing to wear these days," Chris said, making herself known to The Doctor and his newest companion.
"Chris!" The Doctor shouted excitedly, much like a young child in a candy store being told they could spend five dollars. He ran up to the young woman and gave her a giant hug.
"Alright bucko, you're gonna have to let me go here," Chris said, trying to quell the unfortunate panic that she was feeling, "Still not good with this whole hugging thing."
"Sorry," The Doctor apologized, letting Chris down, "It's just been a while since I've seen you."
"What do you mean?" Amy asked, "she was just with-"
Chris tilted her head as The Doctor slapped his hand over Amy's mouth and pulled the young red head aside, whispered something to her, and then led her back. She decided not to question it at the almost panicked look in The Doctor's eyes.
"Okay, so, what's the sitch, Doc?" Chris asked, pointedly moving the conversation along.
"Life on a giant starship, back to basics," The Doctor said, wanting to impress the two women, "Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows. Lives led in fear. A society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me."
The Doctor went over to a table, grabbed a glass, and put it on the floor. Chris followed him over, already knowing what he was looking forward. The two exchanged a look as Chris picked up the glass and put it back with an apology.
"Sorry, we're looking for an escaped fish," Chris said before grabbing The Doctor's hand and leading him back to Amy.
"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked the two, crossing her arms.
"Escaped fish," Chris said with mock seriousness, "do you not listen?"
"Rude, Chris," The Doctor murmured as he grabbed a hand each and pulled the girls along. "Now, police state - do you see it yet?"
"Where?" Amy asks looking around the large area in confusion.
"There," The Doctor says, using the hand that was holding Chris' to point at Mandy, who was still sitting on a bench crying to herself. The Doctor lead Chris and Amy to a bench opposite the girl so they could both observe her and talk.
"One little girl crying, so?" Amy asked, slightly perplexed and somewhat bored.
"Crying silently. I mean, children cry cause they want attention, cause they're hurt or afraid," The Doctor explained, gabbing Chris' hand. She didn't pull away despite her initial want to.
"When they cry silently, it's cos they just can't stop," Chris finished with a sad smile, "Any parent knows that."
"Are you a parent?" Any asked, glancing between Chris and The Doctor with a surprised and somewhat jealous look.
"Hundreds of parents walking past this spot and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means...they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows - whatever they're afraid of - it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state." The Doctor completely ignored Amy's question, giving her an almost sad look before turning back to watch Mandy. Chris squeezed his hand, offering him what comfort she could.
A woman walked by the trio blocking their view of Mandy and in the time it took for her to pass Mandy had disappeared.
"Where did she go?" Amy asked, looking at the pair beside her. She saw the way The Doctor was clutching at the other woman's hand and couldn't help the stab of jealousy she felt. She wanted what those two seemed to have.
"Deck 207, Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner." He started a little when Chris elbowed him in the side, "Oh, this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her. Took me four goes. Ask her about those things - the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere."
"But they're just things," Amy told him
"But they're clean things," Chris said, gently sliding her hand out of The Doctor's and standing up, "if you look around everything is battered and dirty, but not the smilers. There are two feet of clean space around those clown things and it is actually creepy as h-"
Chris started at the hand that was suddenly cupping her face and her body reacted faster than her brain, grabbing the wrist of the hand and tearing it from her face. She instantly let go and backed away from The Doctor who was looking at her apologetically with wet eyes. His hands were raised as though he were trying to prevent a dog from pouncing on him.
She watched his eyes shift around and felt the shame rise in her face. She refused to look at both him and Amy, instead just grabbing the wallet and Amy's hand, dragging the young Scottish woman with her, despite the growing protests.
"What the hell was that?" Amy whisper yelled, pulling her arm out of Chris' grip, "You nearly break The Doctor's wrist and then you run off, what kind of girl friend are you?"
"I'm not," Chris said quietly, not looking at Amy at all as she navigated their way through the streets of the ship
"What? But with all the hand holding and hugging I thought-" Amy started,
"I've known the man for all of one month." Chris said after sighing, "and I have baggage that I haven't even talked to him about so I sure as hell ain't talking to someone who doesn't even want to like me about it."
With that Chris picked up the pace, making sure to stay in front of Amy and prevent any further conversation.
Amy kept her eyes peeled on the ground, almost nervous to talk to Chris. She had seen how upset the other woman had been getting with both her and The Doctor and she was actually sorry about some of the things she had said. She didn't know the two of them well enough to be commenting on their relationship. She could also see that Chris was distressed about something, even though she had no idea what is was.
"What's up with you and The Doctor anyways? Last time I saw you the two of you were all over each other and-" Chris suddenly had a hand over Amy's mouth and was looking at her with wide eyes.
"Amy, you can't tell me about my future, alright?" Chris said, "I'll explain but you have to promise not to ever, ever, ever, tell me about my future."
Chris removed her hand and Amy took a deep breath, "So other people can't touch you but you can touch other people?"
Chris shook her head at the woman and walked off with a sigh, not in the mood to explain why she had her rules. If Amy wanted to find out she was going to have to be a lot nicer to Chris. After a moment Chris heard Amy follow her.
Amy watched as Chris stopped and spun in a circle, trying to figure out which way to go. She stopped again only seconds later and was talking to someone that Amy couldn't see.
"You're following me. Saw you watching me at the marketplace." A young girl's voice said. Amy walked around the corner to see Chris looking at Mandy with a small smile.
"My friend took this from you and I wanted to give it back," Chris said, handing the wallet back to Mandy before pointing at a road block up the way a bit, "What's that?"
Why do you ask what things are if you already know? Rain asked nearly startling Chris who had just let the other woman's radio silence go.
Because if I act like I know everything no one is going to trust me, Chris explained silently as she listened to Mandy's response.
"There's a hole. We have to go back," Mandy said, turning away from the barrier but keeping Chris in sight.
"A what?" Amy asked from behind the duo, startling Mandy
"A hole," Chris told the Scott as she crept closer to the curtains blocking the hole from view.
"Are you crazy?" Mandy called to Chris, not wanting to get any closer
"Yeah, are you sure this is a good idea, Chris?" Amy asked, not seeming too put off by the idea of a little danger.
"Oh, you know you want to check it out, Amel- sorry- Amy," Chris said with a grin to the woman, "and I know you're curious too, Mandy, no need to hide it from us, we're professional rule breakers."
"Professional rule breakers?" Amy hissed in Chris' ear
"I mean, it's pretty much true," Chris shrugged before smiling at Mandy from where the two stood in front of the curtain. She sat down on the ground, pulling her bag around and digging through its contents before pulling out her screwdriver and sonicing the lock open, muttering to herself, "I really need to keep this thing handy."
Amy rolled her eyes before turning to Mandy who was shaking her head at the two. "Oh, don't mind us. Never could resist a "keep out" sign. What's through there? What's so scary about a hole? Something under the road?"
"Nobody knows. We're not supposed to talk about it," Mandy says, glancing at the booth with the smiler in trepidation.
"Talk about what?" Amy asked as she gave Mandy her full attention, letting Chris work the chains off the curtain.
"Below," Mandy said at the same time as Chris, not that the other two heard her.
"And because you're not supposed to, you don't?" Amy challenged.
"You sound Scottish," Mandy said, wanting to change the subject.
"I am Scottish. What's wrong with that?" Amy said with a smile, "Scotland's got to be here somewhere."
"No," Mandy and Chris said at the same time again before Mandy continued, "They wanted their own ship."
"Hmm. Good for them. Nothing changes." Amy said, pleased with her country.
"What about America? Do we get our own ship?" Chris wondered, hoping that Mandy would have the answer.
"Yeah, but why do you care about America?" Mandy wondered, eyeing the girl curiously.
"I'm American?" Chris answered.
"You sound British though," Mandy pointed out and Amy nodded.
"Oh, do I?" Chris asked before suddenly turning back to the roadblock.
Rain, why do I sound British to them? Chris asked as she moved down the road, making sure Amy and Mandy were following her.
The TARDIS. Was the woman's reply.
She can translate accents? Chris asked with a smile I love her more and more every day.
"So...how did you get here?" Mandy asked
"Oh just passing through, with a…" Amy glanced at Chris who was not paying attention to them, instead, she was walking ahead silently, "friend."
"Your boyfriend?" Mandy asked before pointing to Chris, "Oh hers?"
"Oh," Amy said, realizing something, and neglecting to answer the question.
"What?" Mandy asked, hoping that the redhead had decided to go back.
"Nothing. It's just...I'm getting married. Funny how things slip your mind." Amy said she glanced at Mandy with a small smile, missing Chris shake her head at the companion.
"Oh, what a beauty," Chris murmured having finally found the reason for the tent that was the roadblock to be put up. The walk had taken longer than she had expected, but then she had to remind herself that this was her reality now, not a TV show.
"Married?" Mandy asked from somewhere behind Chris, who was now petting the creature, knowing that it wouldn't hurt her.
"Yeah, shut up, married. Really, actually married. Almost definitely." Amy said, her eyes going wide.
"When?" Mandy wondered
"Well, it's kind of weird. A long time ago, tomorrow morning," Amy told the young girl, "I wonder what I did?"
Amy turned surprised to hear a thump come from ahead of them. She broke into a sprint and ran around the corner to find Chris passed out on the ground surrounded by men in robes. She didn't get a chance to react before she too was lying next to Mandy and Chris, unconscious on the floor.
Dejectedly, The Doctor made his own way through the streets of Starship UK in search of the engines. He'd made a mistake with Chris, thinking she was older just because she was willing to hold his hand. He knew that young Chris had bad reactions when she had unwanted- or unexpected- physical contact. This was actually a mild reaction compared to some of the ones she had gotten when he was in his ninth incarnation.
He spent ten minutes looking for the elevator and another five sonicing the controls so that he could get to the engineering deck. He knew that an older Chris would have been able to do both of those in a quarter of the time, but The Doctor had severely upset the younger Chris and wouldn't even be able to make it up to her until after they figured out what was going on on the ship.
The Doctor was surprised to see the walkway in engineering was full of glasses but instead he focused on the panels in the engine room. The sooner he figured out what was making the ship fly the sooner he could satisfy his curiosity and the niggling doubt that something was wrong.
"The impossible truth in a glass of water," A voice sounded behind him and The Doctor spun to see a woman in a mask watching him, "Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?"
"You know me?" The Doctor asked, trying to figure out if he had met the woman before. He wouldn't be surprised if he had and then forgot her, he tended to be good at doing that.
"Keep your voice down," The woman whispered harshly, "They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass."
"Who says I see anything?" The Doctor challenged, not liking that this woman had been watching him. He turned back to the engine panel, sonicing it some more.
"Don't waste time," She admonished, "At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?"
"No engine vibration on deck," The Doctor conceded, "Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So I thought I'd take a look," The Doctor opened a panel, pulling out some wires.
"It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look." the doctor showed the wires to the woman, "Look - they're dummies, see?" He knocked on the wall, "And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was No engine at all. But it's working. This ship is traveling through space. I saw it."
"The impossible truth, Doctor," the masked woman said, "We're traveling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."
"How?" The Doctor wondered, getting further and further drawn in by the mystery.
"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. You're our only hope." She handed a device to The Doctor which he grabbed and examined curiously, "Your friends are safe. This will take you to them.
Now go, quickly!"
"Who are you?" The Doctor wondered, wanting to see if Chris could tell him more about the woman later, "how do I find you again?"
"I am Liz 10," the woman introduced, "and I will find you."
The Doctor blinked only to find that the woman was gone. With a frown he looked at the device and started to follow the blinking dot, hoping to find Chris and Amy soon.
Chris woke up as she fell to the floor. While she was unconscious she had moved to a room with a screen and placed haphazardly into a chair. With a groan, she sat up and rubbed at her shoulder before crawling into the chair.
"Welcome to voting cubicle 335A, recognizes," The man on the screen said suddenly, startling Chris into almost falling again, "Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Chris grumbled as she glared a the screen, "worse than jump scares, you lot."
"The UK recognizes the right to know of all its citizens," The man continued, not being able to hear Chris, "A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll."
Chris watched in awe as her information appeared in green block letters on the screen.
"Name: Christi-Anna Marie Wesley
Age: ?
Marital Status: undetermined"
"Well that must've been helpful," Chris muttered as she looked at the information curiously. She figured that her age would be unknown since she jumped around a lot, but she was confused about her marital status. Why wouldn't it say single? Chris was too busy to even eat most of the time, let alone date and get married.
"You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know," The man continued, making Chris snort.
"Entitled my ass," Chris grinned, "you just want me here because I'm a threat and you want me to forget,"
"When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice," the man continued as though Chris hadn't spoken, "You may either protest or forget. If you choose to protest, understand this. If just 1% of the population of this ship do likewise, the programme will be discontinued, with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation - 'and we hope that you will - 'then press the "forget" button."
"I don't need to sit through this BS," Chris grumbled before slamming her fist down on the 'protest' button with a grin, knowing exactly where she was going to end up. She wasn't disgusted by this knowledge at all.
Chris raised her arms above her head and screamed in joy on her way down the tube. She was an adrenalin junkie and it had only gotten worse since she had met The Doctor.
With a squish Chris landed in the sludge and sat up, shaking her head to get as much of the goop off her face as she could. With careful movements Chris stood and moved away from the tubes, knowing she was going to be getting two guests soon.
Chris grinned as she looked around the cavernous mouth. She pulled out her sonic and pointed it at the teeth, wanting to know if they were made of ivory like earth whales. She was just about to read her findings when there were two splashes a few feet from her.
"This isn't a trick," The Amy on the screen told her "You've got to find the Doctor and get him back to the TARDIS. Don't let him investigate. Stop him. Do whatever you have to. Find Chris. Just please, please get the Doctor off this ship!"
"Amy?" The Doctor asked as he entered the room, the device still in his hands. He watched the Amy on the screen before turning to the real Amy who was crying, "What have you done?"
Amy stared at him blankly before shrugging. The Doctor pocketed his device and pulled out his sonic before pointing it at his new companion.
"Yeah, your basic memory wipe job," The Doctor informed "Must have erased about 20 minutes."
"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy asked watching The Doctor with wide eyes.
"Cos everyone does," Mandy said from the other side of the door that The Doctor had left open, "Everyone chooses the "forget" button."
"Did you?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm not eligible to vote yet," Mandy informed the strange man, "I'm 12. Any time after you're 16, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then, once every five years."
"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned," The Doctor muttered as he scanned the screen, "Democracy in action."
"How do you not know about this?" Mandy asked The Doctor, "are you Scottish too?"
"Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish," The Doctor told the little girl, "I can't even see the movie. Won't play for me."
"It played for me," Amy pointed out.
"The difference being the computer doesn't accept me as human," The Doctor told her, flashing the sonic at Amy before turning it back on the screen.
"Why not?" Amy asked, "You look human."
"No, you look Time Lord," The Doctor argued, "We came first."
"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?" Amy asked
"No," The Doctor said, glancing at Amy, "There were, but now there aren't."
"Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened, and you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Cos this is what I do - every time, every day, every second. This." The Doctor slammed his hand on the "protest" button, "Hold tight. We're bringing down the government. Say, "Wheee!""
Chris watched in silence as Amy and The Doctor struggled to get up out of the sludge. She was pleased to find that they both struggled more than she had. She was now leaning against the teeth of the beast, not wanting to risk slipping and falling down into the stomach. There was only one end she was willing to exit from.
"High-speed air cannon," The Doctor said quickly as he helped Amy up off the ground, "Lousy way to travel."
"Where are we?" Amy asked looking around the place, not noticing Chris.
"600 feet down, puts us at the heart of the ship." The Doctor mused, "I'd say Lancashire."
"What's this, then - a cave?" Amy asked
"Can't be a cave," The Doctor began to argue with himself, "Looks like a cave. It's a rubbish dump, and it's minging! Yes, but only food refuse. Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship. The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed."
"But feeding what, though?" Amy asked
"It's sort of rubbery, feel it," The Doctor said with a grin, "Wet and slimy. Oh, Chris would love this."
Chris considered letting them know of her presence at the mention of her name but she decided against it. She wanted to see how long it would take for them to ask where she was or notice she was there with them.
"Er It's not a floor, it's a-" The Doctor cut himself off, not wanting Amy to panic
"So It's a what?" Amy asked, already starting to panic.
"The next word is kind of the scary word. Take a moment," The Doctor ordered, "Get yourself in a calm place. Go "omm"."
"Omm," Amy hummed, copying The Doctor and closing her eyes.
"It's a tongue," The Doctor said when he thought Amy was calm enough
"A tongue?" Amy asked, the word not quite processing
"A tongue," The Doctor said, getting excited now, "A great big tongue."
"This is a mouth?" Amy asked, really panicking now "This whole place is a mouth? We're in a mouth?!"
"Yes, yes, yes," The Doctor agreed before adding: "but on the plus side, roomy."
"How do we get out?" Amy demanded
"How big is this beastie?" The Doctor asked, spinning around on the tongue, "It's gorgeous! Blimey! if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach."
There was a grumbling noise and Chris couldn't help but roll her eyes. Of course The Doctor would manage to jinx them.
"Though not right now," The Doctor added.
"Doctor, how do we get out?" Amy questioned as she too spun to look at the mouth of the beast
"OK, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is," the Doctor looked towards the teeth, still not seeing Chris sitting against them, "closed for business."
"We can try, though," Amy said, moving towards the teeth.
"No! Stop, don't move!" The Doctor yelled, groaning as the tongue started to rumble, "Too late. It's started."
"What has?" Amy questioned
"Swallow reflex," The Doctor pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the dangly thing in the back of the beast's throat. Neither of them heard the second sonic joining in on the fun.
"What are you doing?" Amy yelled at the Time Lord while she tried not to fall on the tongue.
"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors," The Doctor yelled, catching himself before he got another bath in the sludge.
"Chemo-what?" Amy yelled
"The eject button," The Doctor said, simplifying it for the human.
"How does a mouth have an eject button?" Amy called over
"Think about it!" The Doctor yelled back
"Right, then," The Doctor adjusted his tie as the creature growled. "This isn't going to be big on dignity."
"Allons-y!" The Doctor looked in front of him in surprise at the yell to see Chris standing proud on the tip of the tongue, looking ready to take the dive.
"Geronimo," He called back as the three of them were forced from the mouth of the beast.