"So," Rory clapped his hands together with a bracing smile. "What's the plan then?"
"Plan?" James spoke the word like it was poison. "You're planning things now? Am I really that old?"
"No, no. Still very much a 'seat of one's pants' type of planning. You're only as old as you feel." The Doctor reassured him with a grin.
"What?" Rory looked at them both, his confidence in the men failing rapidly. "You just said we've got to destroy the planet, avoid that Rassilon man, and do it in the next ten minutes, or we're all dead. You're telling me you don't have a plan for that?"
"Of course we have a plan Rory! You've just said it!" His toothy grin faltered slightly as Rory, instead of sharing his enthusiasm, stood looking horrified with his mouth hanging open. "Don't be such a worry wart; the details of the plan are coming along as we speak. And if you don't shut your mouth, you'll catch flies." He poked his head through a crack in the door.
"You've got a bug problem?" James asked, stroking the side of the TARDIS sympathetically.
"Course not; it's just a thing people say." The Doctor poked his finger out the door and tasted it thoughtfully. "Earth people." He muttered mutinously.
"Standing right here." Rory waved irritably.
"Don't worry." John tried to reassure Rory with a pat on the back. "There's always a plan, it just doesn't always get sorted out until…later."
"Thank you." Rory said in a tone that suggested John had done very little to help.
"Alright boys, coast is clear. Geronimo!" The Doctor said excitedly, rolling up his sleeves.
"No Allons-y?" James asked, concern marring his features.
"Afraid not, bit of an acquired taste, I found." James still seemed to disapprove. "I'm sorry chap, you think maybe we could discuss it after…you know, the destruction business?"
"Alright, but we will discuss it." James gave a curt nod.
"Onward then." The Doctor renewed his gusto and they clambered out of the TARDIS together. Rory found that it was another hall, similar to the one they had followed before, the same stone halls they had come through before.
"Well, do we know what we're looking for?" Rory tried to ask helpfully, "Is there a big 'self-destruct' button somewhere for the planet." His sarcasm was lost on all of them.
"Yes, there is." The Doctor said grimly. "They call it the Hand of Omega."
"Oh," Said a startled Rory. "Sounds ominous."
"Alright, that should do it. I've parked her." River reassured everyone. They had deactivated the video on the scanner, but just to be safe they had also pointed it up toward the ceiling to avoid the creeping fear that someone was watching.
"The last time they just took the whole TARDIS on board," Rose chewed her lip. "What's to stop them from doing that?"
"Me of course." River beamed at her. "Actually knowing how to park it." Rose had to admit, she certainly looked like she knew what she was doing when she had been rushing around the ship.
"Sooo, what's going to happen in ten minutes when we unpark it?" Amy asked. She had pulled the curtain back and watched the other ship from afar. It wasn't terribly close, looming out there in the space, but it was huge, and it was close enough to be intimidating.
"I should be able to get us moving before they realize." River said briskly, her false bravado only cracking slightly. But enough for an edgy Amy to have her doubts.
"Should we warn them?" Rose thought of her husband, and the Doctor's down on the planet below.
"No," Donna said with a firm shake of her head. "They're going to use the slingshot velocity to yank them through time and space, once to get off the planet, and again to get us all out of the time lock. As soon as they take off, they'll cease to exist, technically."
"Well, I hope the clock runs out before the Dalek's show up." Rose sighed and looked out over Amy's shoulder at the daunting ship.
"Aren't we safe here? They can't pull us in, River said-" Amy's eyes flashed with concern now and Donna cut her off.
"They can't pull us in, River's right." She shrugged. "But there's nothing to stop them from coming to us."
"Well," Amy crossed her arms across her chest and resumed her watch, now with real purpose. "That's a cheery thought."