The Beast Below (Part 2)
Suddenly the door opened behind them and the woman in the red cloak stepped in, this time without her mask, shooting the robots. She twirled her pistols before sticking them back in her holsters.
"Look who it is," the Doctor grinned.
"Nice to see you without the mask," Evy remarked.
"You must be Amy," the woman turned back to them, seeing Amy, "Liz. Liz 10."
"Hi," Amy shook her hand.
"Ergh!" Liz wiped her hand on her cloak, "Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick," she headed for the door where Mandy was standing, "You know Mandy, yeah?" she put her arm around the girl, "She's very brave."
"How'd you know where we were?" Evy asked.
"Stuck my gizmo on you," Liz nodded at the Doctor, throwing him her own tracking device, "Been listening in," she nodded at Evy, "Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"
"You're over 16, you've voted," the Doctor told her, "Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."
"No. Never forgot, never voted. Not technically a British subject."
"Then who and what are you, and how do you know us?" he asked, his eyes narrowing at her as he stepped in front of Evy.
"Don't need to get all protective 'cos of me," Liz laughed as she eyed him, "You're a bit hard to miss. Mysterious strangers, MOs consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot..." the Doctor pointed like he was about to argue but then ran his hand through his soaked hair instead, "And the beautiful woman who travels with him," she smiled at Evy, "You're a bit harder to pin down," she laughed, excited, "I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."
"Your family?" Evy asked, slowly piecing it together.
"They're repairing," Liz said, serious now as a robot began to move, "Doesn't take them long. Let's move," she rushed out of the room, the others following her into the lower corridors of the ship, "The Doctor and his lovely Link Evy. Old drinking buddy of Henry XII, poker buddy of Henry VIII. Tea and scones with Liz II, nemesis of Liz IV. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you though Doctor, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day," she laughed, "And so much for the Virgin Queen after Evy got you to introduce the famous Captain Jack to her court!"
"Liz 10?" the Doctor asked.
"Liz 10!" Evy realized.
"Liz 10, yeah, Elizabeth X," she said, spinning suddenly, "And down!" they ducked down quickly as she fired both her pistols at the smiling robots that had followed them, "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule," she slipped her pistols into her holsters and grinned at Evy, "Like the outfit?" Evy nodded, "Fashioned after your style."
Evy laughed and shook her head as the Doctor helped her back up. Amy frowned, looking at Liz in her sleeveless black dress, leggings, and boots, to Evy's dark blue jeans tucked in brown boots, red shirt, and brown jacket.
"That's not your look," Amy frowned.
"My previous look," Evy told her, "Previous incarnation."
"Incarnation?" Amy shook her head, confused.
"It's a Time Lord thing," Liz explained, "When they get injured or come close to dying they heal by changing, basically into different people."
"You didn't always look like this?" Amy's eyes widened in shock.
"Tall, slim, brown hair, brown eyes, brown pinstripe suit, long brown coat," Evy nodded at the Doctor, "White trainers. Bit older."
"Taller, bit paler, black hair, blue eyes, sleeveless dress, leggings, motor boots, maroon velvet frock coat," the Doctor listed, his arm around Evy, smiling softly down at her, "Just as beautiful."
Evy blushed. This one was most certainly more affectionate.
Amy just looked stunned as Liz continued to lead them along to another corridor towards a lift, "There's a high-speed vator through there…" the Doctor and Evy stopped suddenly, looking over at a caged area where there were two sort of tentacle things sticking up the shaft, "Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?"
Evy stepped over to the shaft, just staring up at the tentacles. She glanced at the Doctor to see him looking pained before looking over at Amy and Liz who just stood there. God couldn't they hear it?
'Above the frequency of human hearing,' the Doctor mumbled to her.
'It's horrible,' she could feel tears in her eyes.
"I saw one of these up top," Amy commented, "There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root."
"Exactly like a root," the Doctor nodded.
Evy swallowed hard, "It's the creature we were inside, reaching out…" she reached out and placed her hand against the bars.
"It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."
"What?" Liz asked, "Like an infestation?"
"Someone's helping it. Feeding it."
"Feeding my subjects to it," she ground out, "Come on. We've got to keep moving," she stormed off, Mandy following after.
"Doctor?" Amy asked, watching them, concerned, "Evy?"
"Oh, Amy," the Doctor breathed as he took Evy's hand that fell away from the bars as the creature started banging against it, "We should never have come here," he pulled Evy to him, putting his arm around her in comfort as they walked off after Liz.
~8~
The Doctor walked carefully through a maze of water glasses on Liz's bedroom floor while Evy stood to the side of them and looked down.
"Why glasses of water?" Evy looked over at Liz.
"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what," Liz replied, lying on her bed.
The Doctor walked over, picking up the white mask Liz had been wearing, "A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?"
"Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this, my entire reign, and you've achieved more in one afternoon."
Evy frowned, watching as the Doctor began to pace, still looking at the mask, "You were how old when you took the throne?" Evy asked.
"40. Why?"
"What, you're 50 now?" Amy asked, putting her now clean hair up and going to sit near Mandy on a chest at the foot of the bed, "No way!"
"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps."
"And you always wear this in public?" the Doctor asked, sitting on the side of the bed, holding the mask up.
"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting…"
Evy came over to stand next to the bed as the Doctor handed her the mask which she flashed with her sonic, "It's made of air-balanced porcelain…" she commented, turning it around in her hand.
"Stays on by itself, 'cos it's perfectly sculpted to your face," the Doctor said to Liz. He looked up as Evy stopped flashing it and just looked at it, realizing and confirming what he'd thought.
"Yeah," Liz shook her head, confused, "So what?"
"So everything," Evy breathed.
Suddenly the door to the room opened and four hooded men entered.
"What are you doing?" Liz demanded, outraged, "How dare you come in here?"
"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK," one of the hooded men said, "You will come with us now."
"Why would I do that?" she eyed him. His head spun to reveal an angry smiler face, "How can they be Smilers?"
"Genetic experimentation," Evy commented, "Half Smiler, half human."
"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"
"The highest authority, Ma'am," it replied.
"I AM the highest authority."
"Yes, ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am."
"Where?"
"The Tower, Ma'am."
~8~
The Tower was a medieval style room, layered with technology. There were machines everywhere, grating on the floor through which could be seen more tentacles.
"Doctor, where are we?" Amy asked, looking around.
"The lowest point of Starship UK," he replied, spinning with his arms out, "The dungeon."
"Ma'am," a man with gray hair and glasses bowed to Liz.
"Hawthorne!" she exclaimed, "So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do."
"Why are there children in the dungeon?" Evy turned to him, not at all pleased.
"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast," Hawthorne replied, "For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."
"Yeah, look at us," the Doctor said, not at all happy, as he and Evy walked around, looking around, "Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it? Well, except it is. Except it isn't, depends on your angle."
Evy stood up from examining a control panel and walked around it to the Doctor's side.
"What's that?" Liz asked. They walked over to an open well in the middle of the floor with a railing around it, a pink lump moving inside it.
"Depending on the angle," Evy began, "It's the exposed pain center of the creature's brain, continuously being tortured..."
"Or?" Liz swallowed.
"Or it's the accelerator for the Starship UK," Evy glared at her.
"I don't understand," she shook her head, confused.
"Don't you?" the Doctor asked her, stepping towards her, "Try, go on. The spaceship that could never fly, no vibration on deck. This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading…it's what you have instead of an engine."
Evy looked around, eyeing a device set up above the creature's brain, "And this is where you people, your government, tortures it to keep it moving."
They watched as an intermittent electrical beam shot down from the devic, right into the creature's exposed brain.
"Tell you what," the Doctor strode over to another well and shifted the grating, "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing…" one of the tentacles broke free, "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear!" he held up the sonic, allowing everyone else in the room to hear the horrible screams of the creature that they had been hearing since they first stepped out of the TARDIS. Only now they all knew what it was.
"Stop it," Liz called, turning to Hawthorne as the Doctor shut off his sonic, "Who did this?"
"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne replied.
"I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now!" no one moved, "Is anyone listening to me?"
Evy and the Doctor exchanged a glance, he nodded and Evy stepped forward, still holding Liz's mask, "Liz…this mask of yours..."
"What about my mask?"
"Take a look," she handed it to her, "It's at least 200 years old."
"Yeah, it's an antique, so?" she shook her head, not following.
"An antique made by craftsmen over 200 years ago and yet it's somehow perfectly sculpted to your face?" Evy shook her head, "They did slow your body clock, but more than you know. You're not 50, you're nearer 300."
"It's been a long old reign," the Doctor commented.
"Nah, it's ten years," Liz insisted, "I've been on this throne ten years."
"Ten years. And the same ten years over and over again," he reached out and led her away, "Always leading you..." he pulled her to a voting area, "Here."
'Forget' or 'Abdicate.'
Liz turned to Hawthorne, horrified, "What have you done?"
"Only what you have ordered," he insisted, "We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us," he sighed and turned on a screen, playing a recording of Liz.
"If you are watching this..." the recording began, "If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower of London," Liz sat down to watch, "The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart."
Evy took the Doctor's hand, squeezing it tightly as they all watched in silence.
"The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us, and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the 'forget' button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."
The recording ended.
"I voted for this?" Amy breathed in disbelief, she looked over at Evy and the Doctor, "Why would I do that?"
"Because you knew if we stayed here, Evy and I would be faced with an impossible choice," the Doctor swallowed, "Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save us from that. And that was wrong.," he turned to look at her, his face hard, "You don't ever decide what we need to know."
"I don't even remember doing it!"
"You did it. That's what counts."
"I'm...I'm sorry…"
"Oh, I don't care," he cut off, nearly sneering, "When we're done here, you're going home," he turned and walked off, Evy going with him but not without a concerned look back at Amy.
"Why?" Amy called after them, "Because I made a mistake? One mistake? I don't even remember doing it," she strode over to the Doctor, who was now examining the instrument panels by the control board Evy had seen before, "Doctor!"
"Yeah," he didn't look up at her, "I know. You're only human."
"What are you doing?" Liz asked quietly, watching the Doctor work while Evy looked over at Mandy who was sitting against a wall in the back.
"The worst thing I'll ever do," he said. Evy snapped out of her thoughts and took his hand, he took a breath, "I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."
"That'll be like killing it," Amy gasped.
"Look, three options," he looked up at Amy and Liz, "One: I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years…and I can't do that," he looked over at Evy, kissing the back of her hand, "I've seen pain like that, I've seen what it's like, and no one deserves that for even a second," she smiled softly at him, tears in her eyes, knowing he was thinking back to when Donna had created the alternate reality and he'd been killed, leaving her to suffer with a severed Link. He took a breath, going on, "Two: I kill everyone on this ship. Three: I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, 'cos I won't be the Doctor anymore."
"There must be something we can do, some other way," Liz began.
"Nobody talk to me," he threatened before shouting at them, "Nobody human has anything to say to me today!"
Evy reached out and pulled him back, "Hey, hey, hey…" she soothed, turning him to face her, she took his hands in her own as Liz walked away, utterly devastated at what was happening, while Amy looked close to tears as she went to sit against the wall where Mandy was, "It'll be alright," she told him as other children started to enter the room.
Mandy must have seen someone as she jumped to her feet and ran over to them.
"How?" he asked her, sounding almost broken, "How can it be ok? It's…God, I don't want to do it."
"Then we won't. We'll find another way. There's always another way," she could see it, the fourth option…
"Is there?" he looked down.
"You're rubbish at lists, you know that, there must be something we've missed," Evy glanced over his shoulder at Mandy and her friend, standing by the tentacles, petting it as it petted them in return. She looked over at Amy, her eyes on the girl as she spoke, "We'll find another way, because you're too kind to do this to a creature like you. You couldn't stand to see anyone in pain, or crying…you're just too kind…"
Amy frowned as Evy spoke before looking over at the children, seeing them playing with the Star Whale, before her gaze turned to the monitor where the recording had frozen, and then over at the children again, and finally from the Doctor to the whale…her eye widened in realization and she jumped to her feet, Evy smiling.
"Doctor, stop!" Amy shouted, running over to them, "Whatever you're gonna do, don't do it!" she ran over to Liz, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the voting booth, "Sorry, Your Majesty, going to need a hand."
"Amy, no!" the Doctor rushed over, "No!"
But Amy slammed Liz's hand down on the 'abdicate' button. The whale bellowed and the whole ship shook.
"Amy, what have you done?" the Doctor asked.
And then it calmed.
"Nothing at all," Amy smiled, "Am I right?"
"We've INCREASED speed!" Hawthorne gaped in shock.
"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Gotta help."
"It's still here?" Liz frowned, "I don't understand."
The Doctor looked stunned as Evy came over to his side and took his hand in her own.
"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago," Amy told Liz, "It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it, that was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead, no future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind..." she looked over at the Doctor, standing beside Evy who was smiling at her with pride, "You couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."
~8~
The Doctor was standing alone on the observation deck of the ship when Amy walked over to him, "From Her Majesty," she held out the mask, "She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK."
"Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship," he told her seriously.
"You could have killed a Star Whale."
"And you saved it," he smiled, facing her, "I know, I know."
"Amazing, though, don't you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery...and loneliness…" she looked sideways at him, "And it just made it kind."
"But you couldn't have known how it would react."
"YOU couldn't. But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?" she gave him a hug, "Hey."
"What?" he asked, pulling away.
"Gotcha," she smiled.
"Ha!" he nodded, "Gotcha," he looked up and saw something over Amy's shoulder, making his face light up, "Hey."
Amy turned to see Evy walking over to them, "Hey," she greeted as the Doctor slipped an arm around her waist.
"And where have you been?" he asked her.
"Communing with the Star Whale."
"Communing?" Amy asked, "What like talking?"
"More like projecting," Evy explained, "Our minds are very advanced, we can sort of pick up on telepathic brainwaves and such, and, with a lot of practice and focus, we can project out thoughts to others, sometimes even read them."
"And that's what you did with the whale?"
Evy nodded.
"And what did you tell him?" the Doctor asked.
"That I don't believe he's alone," she replied, looking up at the Doctor, "That he can't be the last," she looked straight into his eyes, "No one is meant to be the last of their kind. There is ALWAYS another out there or the race is completely gone period. No survivors," she smiled, "I told him that, one day, I think he'll find a very nice girl Star Whale."
He just shook his head and laughed, "Then I'd have to agree."
He turned to leave, heading back to the TARDIS with Evy, but Amy reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back a bit to walk with her behind the Doctor. When she was sure the Doctor was far enough ahead not to hear she looked at the Time Lady, "You knew didn't you?" she asked, "That the Star Whale volunteered."
"Yes," Evy answered.
"But you didn't say anything."
"No."
"Why?"
"You felt like you failed the Doctor, like you needed to redeem yourself in his eyes," she shrugged, "I gave you the opportunity so you could."
Amy looked at her, eyes wide in thankfulness.
"Oi!" the Doctor called, motioning for them to hurry up, "Are you lot coming or not?"
Evy grinned, winking at Amy before jogging over to the Doctor who immediately wrapped an arm around her waist and kept walking.
Amy stood there a moment longer before smiling softly to herself and running after them into the market, "Shouldn't we say goodbye? Won't they wonder where we went?"
"For the rest of their lives," the Doctor said, "Oh, the songs they'll write! Never mind them. Big day tomorrow."
"Sorry, what?" Amy froze.
"Tomorrow's always a big day with the Doctor around," Evy replied, "Especially when you let him pilot the time machine," she reached out and opened the door to the TARDIS, leading them back in.
"You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning..." Amy began as they walked up to the console, "Have either of you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just...just because you could?"
"Once..." the Doctor agreed, "A long time ago," he looked over at Evy, "Worst mistake I ever made."
"Oh you never know," Evy replied lightly, "If you'd stayed, things could have turned out differently than now…and not always in a good way."
"What happened?" Amy frowned, feeling like she was missing something but she just shook her head, seeing she was getting distracted from what she wanted to tell them, "Right. Doctor, Evy, there's something I haven't told you. No. Hang on, is that a phone ringing?"
And indeed there was.
"People phone you?" Amy looked at them in shock.
"Well, it is a phone box," Evy smiled as she went to put in some commands.
"Would you mind?" the Doctor nodded at the phone as he went to help Evy get the TARDIS ready to take off.
"Hello?" Amy answered the phone, "Sorry, who? No, seriously. Who?" she put the phone against her shoulder, "Says he's Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?"
"Which Prime Minister?" Evy asked, pulling a lever.
"Er, which Prime Minister?" she asked, "The British one."
"Which British one?" the Doctor continued.
"Which British one?" she asked. Her eyes widened as she passed the phone to the Doctor, stunned, "Winston Churchill for you."
"Oh!" he grabbed the phone and held it up, "Hello, dear. What's up?"
"Tricky situation, Doctor," Winston replied, "Potentially very dangerous. I think I'm going to need you."
"Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister," he replied, glancing at Evy as she put in some new coordinates, "We're on our way."
And they were off.
A/N: Ergh...idk about you guys but school starts this week for me. Granted, I'm now officially a part-time Grad student, so I've only got two classes to attend a week, but still...when it's a degree you can't stand...sucks the life out of you doesn't it? Never ever let your parents bully you into a degree you don't want. Trust me. It'll be even worse once I get a full-time job...in the same field, then it'll be like five straight days of soul-sucking misery (only made slightly bearable by a paycheck) leaving only 2 days of writing and watching DW (and Merlin, and Sherlock, and Once Upon a Time, and whatever else eventually comes out with new episodes), not a fair balance at all. BUT! At least I've got Evy (and the Professor) to make the days I still have so far bearable. I hope the stories and chapters help to brighten your days as well :)
Just a quick note on a review. I'm not entirely sure what I've 'missed two days' in. If you mean updating the Academic Series now that Series 7 has started, I'm actually not going to be posting that series till 2013, I'm going to wait till Series 7 is over completely so I don't contradict things in later episodes or mess up the storyline too much. I will say this though, when the first half of Series 7 is over, I'll put a few small hints/thoughts at the end of whatever chapter is posted around that day so you'll know if my beginning ideas for the Academic Series will work out.
And...I know, another pretty short chapter, just slightly longer than Part 1. This episode and Victory of the Daleks were the shortest ones in Series 5, so we only have 2 more days of short-ish chapters which means we get the River chapters (full episode chapters) this weekend :)
Lol, I didn't even realize I had 'popping up' working with the toaster reference, that's a happy accident! Thanks for pointing it out, I definitely started laughing when I saw that.
Next chapter...how will Evy react to Daleks? We all know Winston didn't listen to the Doctor, will he listen to Evy?