Thanks for all the reviews! I'd like to thank Accio Doctor for your constructive crit, it really helped me! Also to notwritten, who has reviewed every chapter! Thanks everyone, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! (sorry for any mistakes/typos, I'm still looking for a beta reader).
Amy wasn't listening to the TV in front of her. She was thinking. How she'd had to wait 14 years of her life for the Doctor. She loved him so much, but was he worth the wait? She'd proven that she loved him only a few hours ago, and he'd proven that he still loved her. That he really was sorry for leaving her. It was a mistake. But Amy kept thinking, had she been too quick to forgive him?
Her pattern of thought was disrupted by a knock on the door. Amy didn't know why he was knocking, this was the living room after all, not her bedroom. She supposed that he didn't want to bound in on her.
"Come in!" she called, and she heard hurried footsteps rush towards her as the door was almost thrown open.
A familiar face peered around the edge of the sofa. "Amy! Come look at this!"
Sighing, Amy threw her legs off the sofa and got to her feet. Why did he have to make her stand up when she was so comfortable... forgetting all of that, Amy grinned and followed the Doctor through the maze of corridors in the TARDIS as he dragged her by her hand.
When they reached the control room, Amy noticed that the doors of the time machine were slightly ajar. Had they landed somewhere?
Amy squealed with delight. "What is it, Theta?"
"You'll have to find out!"
Rolling her eyes she raced down the stairs and opened the door fully. Her eyes widened as she took in the beautiful sight; she was in space. Space. She'd seen it on TV and in movies before but had never imagined seeing it with her own eyes. Clamping a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with awe, she grinned widely.
"Theta, this is beautiful! Thank you!"
The Doctor walked over to her and stood by her side. "It is, isn't it? But not quite as beautiful as you."
Amy's lips curled into a smirk as she turned to face him. "Or you."
"But look down," the Doctor walked over to the edge and got down on his hands and knees, looking underneath the floating TARDIS. "Ha ha! You see, look at that!"
Using the edges of the box as a grip, Amy leaned outside and stared with amazement down at the sight that greeted her. A massive spaceship was beneath then, great big towers on the surface. It was breathtaking.
"This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland - all of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal," the Doctor exclaimed, a childish glint of excitement in his eyes.
"It's a spaceship!" Amy beamed. "Hang on, how are we breathing?"
"I've extended the air shell, we're fine," the Doctor reassured her, leaping to his feet. "Now, Amy, I need to show you something."
Amy whipped around to face him and smiled. "What is it, Theta?"
"This!"
He shoved her outside the doors and she shrieked with surprise, before he gripped her leg as she floated freely in space.
"Oh my goodness! Theta, I'm floating!" grinned Amy, as she admired the way her hair floated out around her like she was in a swimming pool.
Suddenly she was horribly self-conscious that she was wearing a short skirt and that the Doctor was looking up at her, holding her leg... so she quickly squeezed her legs together in embarrassment and heard a chuckle from the Doctor.
"Pond, who do you think I am? I wasn't looking, promise."
But when she glanced back and noticed the sly smirk on his lips she immediately knew he was.
Shaking her head and giggling to herself, she looked down to see the spaceship. Starship UK, the Doctor had said.
"Theta!" she giggled as he pulled her back inside. Regaining her breath, she managed to speak. "So, you said Britain, right? Has the sun expanded then?"
The Doctor shook his head. "29th Century. Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations..."
He began walking up towards the console, not hearing Amy's voice.
"Theta?"
"..migrating to the stars," the Doctor continued, fiddling with the controls.
"Theta?"
"Isn't that amazing?" he turned around, noticing that Amy wasn't there.
"Theta!"
Worried that she might've been sucked out into space somehow (was that possible?), he rushed to the doors and chuckled when he noticed her clinging to the roof of the TARDIS, an exhilarated grin on her face. Her hair cascaded out behind her, and he thought she looked breathtaking. In embarrassment he shook himself out of his trance.
"Well, come on. I've found us a spaceship."
Once again he was rushing towards the console, Amy close behind. On the circular screen on the wall of the TARDIS it showed a projection of the spaceship, a UK flag etched onto the side.
"That's not just a ship - that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and...shopping," the Doctor added, and Amy chuckled in response. "Searching the stars for a new home."
"Can we go out and see?" Amy asked gleefully, leaning against the console in anticipation.
"Course we can but first, there's a thing," the Doctor said, picking up a magnifying glass from seemingly nowhere.
"A thing?" Amy repeated, slightly amused.
"An important thing. In fact, thing one –" he looked through the magnifying glass, "we are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets. Ooh! That's interesting."
He turned to the TARDIS scanner, which now showed a little girl crying.
"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Cos if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it - they've got to keep filming and let it die," she glanced over his shoulder and furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed the little girl. "That's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard - being all, like, detached and cold?"
Her eyebrows shot up into the air when she noticed the Doctor on the screen next to the little girl. "Theta?"
She saw the Doctor wave at her through the camera, and with a grin, she bounded out of the TARDIS, eyes widening when she looked around her. There was a huge domed roof above her, panels of glass allowing a view of the twinkling stars. There were even people on bikes – bikes on a spaceship?
"Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored," the tannoy announced.
"I'm in the future. Like hundreds...of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries," Amy pointed out, cringing at the thought. The Doctor took her arm and looped his through it, his touch sending electricity through her body. She thought back to just a few hours earlier when...
"Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one," the Doctor interrupted her thoughts, and leaned closer to her as they started walking. "Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?"
"What's wrong?"
"Use your eyes, notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?"
"Is it...the bicycles?" Amy pointed to a passing rickshaw. "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."
"Now, come on, look around you. Actually look," the Doctor said, but Amy didn't see anything wrong.
"London Market is a crime-free zone."
"Life on a giant starship, back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me," the Doctor ran over to a table, grabbed a glass of water from the people sitting there, and placed it gently on the floor. He stared intently at it, then after a few seconds he set it back on the table.
"Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish," explained the Doctor, ignoring the look of bewilderment on the peoples' faces and rejoining Amy. "Where was I?"
"Why did you just do that with the water?" questioned Amy.
"Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state - do you see it yet?"
"Where?"
"There," the Doctor pointed to the girl, who was sitting on a bench, sobbing. People walked past her, ignored her. Both the Doctor and Amy headed towards her, not noticing a man in a hood and amulet watching.
They took a seat on a bench, facing the girl. Amy rested her hand on his thigh, and he placed his on top, entwining their fingers.
"One little girl crying. So?" Amy inquired, resting her head on his shoulder. He rested his head against hers in return.
"Crying silently. I mean, children cry cos they want attention, cos they're hurt or afraid. When they cry silently, it's cos they just can't stop. Any parent knows that," the Doctor responded.
Amy shot him a thunderous glare that could melt a steel bar. "Are you a parent?"
In awkwardness the Doctor bit his lip, shocked by her question but choosing to ignore it. "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 girl stood up as the lift bell rang, and the figure in the booth nearby turned to watch her.
"Where'd she go?" Amy asked, pecking the Doctor's shoulder. He smiled.
"Deck 207, Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Oh," he reached into his pocket, "this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her," he handed her the ID wallet, "Took me four goes. Ask her about those things - the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere."
"But they're just things," mumbled Amy.
"They're clean. Everything else here is battered and filthy - look at this place. But no-one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Ask Mandy, "Why are people scared of the things in the booths?""
"But Theta, I'm on a spaceship! What do I do? I don't know where to go! Why can't I stay with you?" she nuzzled his neck.
"Oh, Amy..." he sighed, his eyes closing briefly at her touch. "It's not that bad. I'll meet you soon, OK? You'll be fine, trust me."
"The last time I trusted you, you left me," Amy pointed out, a flicker of emotion crossing her face.
"Amy Pond, I will never leave you again, you're too precious to me," the Doctor smiled, kissing her forehead then shooting to his feet. "So, meet me back here in half an hour."
"What are you going to do?" Amy asked, standing up and walking round the bench until she stood beside him.
"What I always do. Stay out of trouble," the Doctor answered, then added, "Badly."
"So is this how it works, Theta? You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?"
"Yes," the Doctor nodded, and with a quick grin, he was off.
/\\\
A few minutes and a lot of walking later, the Doctor found himself in the engine room. After climbing down a ladder, he placed his hands on the wall and listened.
"Can't be," he muttered to himself.
Whipping out the sonic screwdriver, he scanned around him, then checked the readings. Then he noticed a glass of water on the floor, and lay down, staring at it. The water didn't move, it stayed perfectly still.
"The impossible truth in a glass of water," he heard a voice whisper, and looked up to a woman in a long red robe, wearing a white mask. "Not many people see it," the Doctor stood up, looking at the woman, a look of confusion crossing his expression. "But you do, don't you, Doctor?"
"You know me?" the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow. He was sure he'd never met this woman, but after over 900 years, he'd met a lot of people and couldn't remember them all.
"Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass," the woman whispered.
"Who says I see anything?" retorted the Doctor.
"Don't waste time. 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. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So...I thought I'd take a look," he opened the power box on the wall, and his brow creased when he noticed that the cables weren't connected. "It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look - they're dummies, see?" he crossed the hall and tapped 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," concluded the woman.
"But it's working. This ship is travelling though space. I saw it."
"The impossible truth, Doctor. We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."
"How?"
"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe," she handed him a small computer-like device. "This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!"
As she began to walk away, the Doctor asked, "Who are you? How do I find you again?"
"I am Liz 10. And I will find you," she turned to face him, her voice a whisper.
There was a crashing sound, and the Doctor looked around. When he turned back, Liz 10 was gone.
/\\\
"This isn't a trick. 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. Just please, please get the Doctor off this ship!"
The door to the room opened, and Amy saw Mandy waiting for her. As the message on the TV screen replayed, the Doctor hopped into the doorway.
"Amy?" the Doctor asked, concerned for her. "What have you done?"
The Doctor sat on the chair and began using the sonic screwdriver.
"Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about 20 minutes," he jumped to the floor.
"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy wondered.
"Cos everyone does. Everyone chooses the "forget" button," Mandy explained.
"Did you?" the Doctor asked her.
"I'm not eligible to vote yet. 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. Democracy in action," the Doctor headed back to the monitors.
"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?" Mandy questioned.
"Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish. I can't even see the movie. Won't play for me," the Doctor smiled.
"It played for me," Amy said. She knew he was an alien, but he looked human...
"The difference being the computer doesn't accept me as human," explained the Doctor.
"Why not? You look human," the Doctor shot her a look.
"No, you look Time Lord. We came first," he remarked.
"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?" As Amy asked this, the look on the Doctor's face changed to one of sadness.
"No. There were, but there aren't... Just me now. 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. Hold tight. We're bringing down the government," with his fist he pounded the 'Protest' button, causing the door to slam shut and leave Mandy outside. The Smiler in the booth turned to show its very angry face. The Doctor pulled Amy into the corner of the room as the floor slid open.
"Say, "Wheee!"" the Doctor shrilled.
"Aaargh!" Amy screamed as both fell down the chute.
/\\\
The lit sign outside changed from 'Occupied' to 'Empty'. A figure came up behind Mandy, startling her.
She chuckled, "It's all right, love," then removed her mask. It was Liz 10. "It's only me."
/\\\
The Doctor and Amy fell out of the chute with a scream. The Doctor stood, and used the sonic screwdriver.
"High-speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel," he remarked.
"Where are we?" Amy asked, disgusted by the sight around her.
"600 feet down, 20 miles laterally - puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say... Lancashire. What's this, then - a cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave," the Doctor said.
Amy stood up. "It's a rubbish dump, and it's minging!" She threw away a piece of rubbish in disgust. This was going to ruin her nice clean clothes.
"Yes, but only food refuse," the Doctor said, sniffing the air. "Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship."
Amy got down on her hands and knees. "The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed," she pointed out.
"But feeding what, though?" wondered the Doctor.
"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy," Amy said.
The Doctor heard a distant moaning and stood up. Then the realisation hit him. This wasn't a refuse, this was...
"Er... It's not a floor, it's a..." the Doctor began, putting his screwdriver away. "So..."
Amy got to her feet. "It's a what?"
"The next word is kind of the scary word. Take a moment. Get yourself in a calm place," he took her hands in his own. "Go "omm"."
"Omm," Amy repeated, stifling a giggle.
"It's a tongue," the Doctor told her.
"A tongue?" Amy said, stunned.
"A tongue. A great big tongue," the Doctor exclaimed.
Amy opened her mouth, eyes wide with shock. "This is a mouth? This whole place is a mouth? We're in a mouth?!"
"Yes, yes, yes, but on the plus side, roomy."
"How do we get out?" Amy wondered, eyeing the giant teeth at the front. They could rip her apart in a second. No, Amy. Think positive. The Doctor will get me out of here, she thought.
Withdrawing his screwdriver, the Doctor said, "How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous! Blimey! if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach," Something in the distance growled, as if replying to him. "Though not right now."
"Theta, how do we get out?"Amy asked, the prospect of being eaten by this creature not at all appealing.
"OK, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is..." the Doctor looked at the giant teeth of the mouth, which were firmly together, "closed for business."
Amy began to head forward. "We can try, though."
"No! Stop, don't move!" the Doctor said as the mouth heaved in agitation. "Too late. It's started."
"What has?" asked Amy.
"Swallow reflex," the Doctor replied, and Amy gulped with fear.
They slipped and fell back into the refuse. The Doctor used the screwdriver on the mouth walls.
"What are you doing?" Amy inquired.
"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors," the Doctor explained.
"Chemo-what?"
"The eject button."
"How does a mouth have an eject button?"
"Think about it!"
The creature growled. Both turning round, they saw a wave of bile heading towards them.
"Right, then," the Doctor straightened his bowtie. "This isn't going to be big on dignity. Geronimo!"
Amy screamed with fear as the creature grunted, then a loud splash.
Review for fish fingers and custard! Constructive crit welcome, no flames please. Next chapter should be coming soon, depends how busy I am and how many reviews I get.