Chapter 8: The Hungry Earth

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

"Behold..." The TARDIS door opened and the Doctor stepped out. "Rio!"

The sight that greeted them was a cemetery. The Vixen, Amy and Rory stepped out. Amy looked around. "Nuh-uh."

Rory said, "Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe."

The Vixen walked forward, one hand on her sword. "No. Oh, feel that, though, what's that?" She and the Doctor bounced in place.

The Doctor muttered, "Ground feels strange..." Amy and Rory gave them a look. "Just us. Wait... That's weird."

Rory asked, "What's weird?"

Amy groaned, "Doctor, stop trying to distract us. We're in the wrong place." The Doctor ran around to the other side of the church with the Vixen as Amy kept talking. "Vixen, it's freezing and I've dressed for Rio. We are not stopping here." The Vixen plucked some grass and showed it to the Doctor. "Vixen! Doctor! You listening to me? It's a graveyard! You promised me a beach."

The Vixen said, "Blue grass. Patches of it all round the graveyard." Amy and Rory joined them. "So, Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, but it's not a massive overshoot."

Amy noticed two people on the other side of the valley waving at them. "Why are those people waving at us?"

The Doctor murmured, "Can't be."

Rory started to wave back but Amy stopped him. The Doctor took out a pair of binoculars and looked through them. He handed them to the Vixen who grinned, "It is! It's you two."

Rory replied, "No, we're here. How can we be up there?!"

The Doctor explained, "Ten years in your future. Come to relive past glories, I'd imagine. Humans, you're so nostalgic."

Amy asked, "We're still together in ten years?"

Rory said, offended, "No need to sound so surprised!"

Amy squealed, "Hey, let's go and talk to them! We can say hi to Future Us! How cool is that?" She took Rory by the arm and started to head off.

The Vixen pulled her back. "No, no, no, no. No, best not, really best not. These things get complicated very quickly, and..."

The Doctor interrupted her, "Oh, look! Big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio! Rio doesn't have a big mining thing."

Amy asked, "We're not going to have a look, are we?"

The Vixen grinned, "Let's go and have a look!" She pulled the Doctor down into the valley playfully. "Come on, let's see what they're doing."

Rory sighed, "If they can't get us to Rio, how're they ever going to get us back home?"

Amy asked, "Did you not see, over there? It all works out fine."

Rory said, "After everything we've seen, we just drop back into our old lives, the nurse and the kissogram?"

"I guess. They're getting away." She took Rory by the arm and started to follow the hyper Time Lord duo.

Rory pointed at her ring finger. "Hang on. What are you doing with that?"

Amy replied, "Engagement ring! I thought you liked me wearing it."

Rory scolded, "Amy! You could lose it! Cost...a lot of money, that!"

Amy took off the ring and gave it to him with a huff. "Spoilsport."

Rory smiled, "Go on. I'll catch you three up."

As he headed back to the TARDIS Amy ran to catch up to the Vixen and the Doctor. "Vixen! Doctor!"

The Vixen, the Doctor and Amy arrived at the drill site and the locked gate. The Doctor said, "Restricted access. No unauthorised personnel. Mm. How to enter? We could climb over the top."

The Vixen used her sonic screwdriver on the lock and it opened. She teased, "Or we could just do this."

The Doctor huffed and Amy said, "That is breaking and entering."

The Vixen grinned, "What did I break?! Sonicing and entering, totally different." She opened the gate.

Amy went through, followed by the Vixen. "Come on, then."

The Doctor looked back the way they came, "You're sure Rory'll catch us up?"

The Doctor, the Vixen and Amy walked through the halls. The Vixen asked, "What about now, can you feel it now?"

Amy replied, "Honestly, I've got no idea what you're on about."

The Vixen said, "The ground doesn't feel like it should."

"It's ten years in the future, maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels."

The Doctor remarked, "Good thought! But no. It doesn't." A whirring sound was heard. "Hear that, drill in start-up mode. Afterwaves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass." He put the blue grass in his mouth and made a face as he pulled it from his tongue.

Amy asked, "Oh, please! Have you always been this disgusting?"

The Doctor replied, "No, that's recent."

The Vixen scoffed, "Doctor, you've been doing that for years."

The Doctor ignored her. "What's in..." He entered a room where a woman stood. "Here? Hello!"

The woman asked, "Who are you? What're you doing here? And what're you wearing?"

Amy replied, "I dressed for Rio!"

The woman asked, "Why do you have a sword?"

The Vixen took out her psychic paper. "Ministry of Drills, Earth and Science! Need a sword, this branch. New Ministry, quite big, just merged, lot of responsibility on our shoulders, don't like to talk about it. What're you doing?"

The woman snapped, "None of your business."

The Doctor walked to the monitors and asked, "Where are you getting these readings from?"

The woman removed equipment from a hole. "Under the soil."

A man entered the room and reported, "The drill's up and running again." He saw the others. "What's going on? Who are these people?"

The Vixen and the Doctor knelt by the hole, testing the soil. The Doctor let it fall from his fingers to the ground. Amy introduced herself and the other two. "Amy, the Vixen and the Doctor. We're not staying, are we, Doctor?!"

The Doctor asked, "Why's there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?"

The woman replied, "We don't know, it just appeared overnight."

Amy walked closer to the hole and peered at it. The Vixen stood up quickly. "Good, right, you all need to get out of here very fast." She pulled the Doctor up and over to the monitor.

The woman asked in confusion, "Why?"

The Doctor asked, "What's your name?"

The woman replied, "Nasreen Chaudhry."

The Vixen said, "Look at the screens, Nasreen, your readings. It's moving."

Amy knelt down by the hole as the man walked to the trio by the monitor. He said, "Hey, that's specialised equipment! Get away from it."

Nasreen asked, "What is?"

There was steam rising from the dirt in the hole. Amy jumped back and asked, "Vixen, Doctor, this steam, is that a good thing?"

The Vixen looked over her shoulder. "Shouldn't think so." She walked over. "It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting."

Nasreen asked, "What shouldn't?"

The ground began to shake. The Doctor said, "The ground, the soil, the earth, moving, but how? Why?"

Amy asked, "Earthquake?"

The man asked, "What's going on?"

The Vixen answered Amy's question, "Doubt it. Cos it's only happening under this room."

More holes formed as the ground subsided underneath. The Doctor said, "It knows we're here. The ground's attacking us."

Nasreen breathed, "No, that's not possible!"

The Doctor said, "Under the circumstances, I suggest... RUN!" He took Nasreen by the hand and they ran for the door, the Vixen not far behind. The man followed but got trapped. Amy paused.

Nasreen shrieked, "Tony!"

The Vixen said, "Stay back, Amy! Stay away from the earth!"

Amy leapt over to help Tony. "It's OK." The ground underneath Amy opened and she was trapped by both feet. Amy screamed, "It's pulling me down!"

The Vixen ran to her while the Doctor kept Nasreen out of harm's way. "Amy!"

Amy pleaded, "Vixen, help me, something's got me!" The Vixen stretched out on her stomach and reached for her. "Vixen, the ground's got my legs." Amy sank down to her waist.

The Vixen gripped both of Amy's hands tightly and said, "I've got you."

Amy nodded anxiously, "OK." The Doctor told Nasreen to stay to the side and helped Tony out of the hole he was in. Amy whimpered, "Don't let go."

The Vixen nodded, "Never."

Amy asked, "Vixen, what is it, why is it doing this?"

"Stay calm, keep hold of my hand, don't let go. Doctor, the drill, shut it down! Go! Now!"

The Doctor, Nasreen and Tony ran to the control room. Amy asked, "Can you get me out?"

The Vixen instructed, "Amy, try and stay calm. If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Keep hold of my hand. I'm not going to let you go."

Amy's arm slipped from the Vixen's grip and she sank lower. Amy whimpered, "Vixen, it's pulling me down, something's pulling me!"

The Vixen gripped her wrist with both hands. "Stay calm. Hold on, if they can just shut down the drill..."

"I can't hold on!"

All that was showing of Amy were her head and arms. The Vixen strained to hold onto her. Amy asked, "What's pulling me? What is under the earth? I don't want to suffocate under there."

The Vixen said, "Amy, concentrate. Don't you give up!"

Amy started, "Tell Rory..."

The Vixen shouted, "No. Amy!" Amy sank lower. "Amy, no!" Amy was swallowed by the earth. The Vixen dug through the dirt. "No! No! No! No! No! No. No! No. No." Tearful, she pounded the ground and stood up. "No. No!" She wiped her tears, leaving dirt smears on her cheeks, and used her sonic screwdriver on the ground.

The Doctor, Nasreen and Tony rush back in. The Doctor rushed to the Vixen and asked, "Where is she?"

The Vixen said gravely, "She's gone. The ground took her."

Tony asked, "Is that what happened to Mo? Are they dead?"

The Vixen said, pacing, "It's not quicksand. She didn't just sink – something pulled her in, it wanted her."

Nasreen asked, "The ground wanted her?"

The Doctor said, "You said the ground was dormant, just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning. And the drill had been stopped."

Tony replied, "That's right."

"But when you re-started the drill, the ground fought back."

Nasreen asked, "So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling?! Doctor, that is ridiculous."

The Vixen used her sonic screwdriver on the hole through which Amy was taken. The ground began to vibrate. She said, "We're not saying that, and it's not ridiculous, I just don't think it's right. Oh! Of course. It's bio-programming."

Nasreen asked, "What?!"

The Doctor said gleefully, "Bio-programming! Oh, clever."

The Vixen explained, "You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects! It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in the future, and not here. What's it doing here?"

Nasreen asked, "Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?"

Tony said, "You're not making any sense, woman!"

The Vixen snarled, eyes glowing and causing Tony to flinch, "'Scuse me, I'm making perfect sense, you're just not keeping up. The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack."

Nasreen said, "Yeah, even if that were possible, which, by the way, it's not, why?"

The Doctor replied, "Stop you drilling! We find what's doing the bio-programming, find Amy, get her back."

The Vixen shushed him, "Ssh ssh ssh! I must've gone mad!"

Nasreen started, "Vixen, Doctor."

The Vixen hissed, "Ssh ssh! Silence! Absolute silence! You stopped the drill, right?"

Nasreen replied, "Yes!"

The Vixen asked, "And you've only got the one drill?"

"Yes!"

The Doctor cocked his head to listen to whatever the Vixen could hear. She asked, "You're sure about that?"

Tony replied, "Yes!"

The Vixen lay down on her stomach next to the hole, listening, as she heard whirring sound. She whispered, "So, if you shut the drill down... why can I still hear drilling? It's under the ground."

Tony shook his head, "That's not possible."

The Doctor rushed over to the machinery, using his sonic screwdriver on them. Nasreen asked, "Oh, no, what, what are you doing?"

The Doctor replied, "Hacking into your records. Reports, samples, sensors, good, just unite the data, make it all one big conversation, let's have a look. So, we are here and this is your drill hole. 21.009 kilometres. Well done!"

"Thank you. It's taken us a long time."

The Vixen stood up and asked, "Why here, though? Why drill on this site?"

Nasreen replied, "We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for 20 million years."

The Vixen laughed emptily, "The blue grass? Oh, Nasreen, those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying dig here. They were a warning. Stay away. Cos while you've been drilling down... somebody else has been drilling up."

The Doctor pulled up a screen on one of the monitors showing a vertical network of tunnels. "Oh, beautiful. Network of tunnels all the way down."

Tony said, "No, no, we've surveyed that area."

The Vixen went over and said, "You only saw what you went looking for."

Nasreen pointed to the bottom of the screen where something was registering. "What are they?"

The Doctor replied, "Heat signals. Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't make sense. And now they're moving. Fast. How many people live nearby?"

Tony said, "Just my daughter and her family. The rest of the staff travel in."

"Grab this equipment and follow me." The Doctor headed for the door, the Vixen behind him.

Nasreen asked, "Why? What're we doing?!"

The Doctor stopped and turned around. "That noise isn't a drill. It's transport. Three of them, 30km down, rate of speed looks about 150km an hour. Should be here in... ooh, quite soon, 12 minutes." He picked up one of the computers. "Whatever bio-programmed the Earth is on its way up, now." He and the Vixen left as Nasreen and Tony packed up the other computer.

The Doctor and Tony carried the computers while Nasreen and the Vixen followed them, pushing wheelbarrows full of equipment. Tony asked, "How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?"

The Doctor replied, "You saw the readings!"

Nasreen asked, "Who are you two, anyway?! How can you know all this?" There was a whirring sound and red lights streaked across the sky. "Whoa, did you see that?"

The Vixen groaned, "No, no, no!" She took out a slingshot, picked up a rock and fired it at the sky. It hit a force field, red lights streaked out from the impact. She then took out her sonic screwdriver, and aimed it at the sky, revealing the field surrounding the village and the drill site.

The Doctor explained, "Energy signal originating from under the Earth. We're trapped."

Rory joined them, followed by Elliot and Ambrose. "Vixen! Doctor! Something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people."

The Vixen replied, "Not now, Rory! Energy barricade. Invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no-one from the outside world can get in."

Rory asked, "What?! OK, what about the TARDIS?"

Nasreen asked, "The what?!"

The Doctor replied to Rory, "No, those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes."

Rory asked, "Nine and a half minutes to what?"

Nasreen said, "We're trapped. And something's burrowing towards the surface."

Rory looked around and asked, "Where's Amy?"

The Vixen looked down guiltily and said, "Get everyone inside the church!" The Doctor picked up the computer and headed to the graveyard. The Vixen looked at Rory and said, "Rory, I'll get her back."

Rory asked, "What d'you mean, get her back? Where's she gone?"

"She was taken. Into the Earth."

Rory asked, "How?! Why didn't you stop it?!"

The Vixen said regretfully, "I tried. I swear, I tried."

Rory growled, "Well, you should've tried harder!"

"I'll find Amy. I'll keep you all safe. I promise. Come on, please. The Doctor and I need you alongside us." Rory nodded and they headed for the church.

The church was in a severe state of disrepair and disuse with boxes, crates and junk everywhere. The Vixen, the Doctor, Nasreen and Tony were setting up the equipment. Ambrose asked, "So we can't get out, we can't contact anyone. And something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth."

The Doctor replied, "Yes. If we move quickly enough, we can be ready."

Ambrose snapped, "No, stop. This has gone far enough. What is this?"

Tony said, "They're telling the truth, love."

"Come on! It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish."

Nasreen said, "Look, Ambrose, we saw the Vixen's friend get taken, OK? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only people who have made any sense of it, for me, is the Vixen and the Doctor."

Ambrose asked, "Them?!"

The Vixen and the Doctor said in unison, "Us."

Elliot asked, "Can you get my dad back?" Everyone looked at the Doctor and the Vixen.

The Vixen looked up and replied, "Yes." She walked to Ambrose while everyone stared at her. "But we need you to trust us and do exactly as we say from this second onwards because we're running out of time."

Ambrose hesitated then replied, "So tell us what to do."

The Vixen whispered, "Thank you." She turned to everyone in the room. "We have eight minutes to set up a line of defence. Bring me every phone, camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find. Every burglar alarm, every movement sensor, every security light. I want the whole area covered with sensors."

Rory went through all the small electronics he could collect. Ambrose and Rory hooked up cameras at idea positions. The Vixen and the Doctor went around using their sonics on them.

The monitor showed that whatever it was that was coming up was getting closer. The Doctor said, "Right, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up." He turned to Elliot. "I need a map of the village, marking where the cameras are going."

Elliot said regretfully, "I can't do the words. I'm dyslexic."

The Vixen came up behind him and patted his shoulders. She knelt down so his eyes would meet hers and grinned, "Oh, that's all right, I can't make a decent meringue. Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot." Elliot nodded and smiled before running off.

The Vixen stood back up and turned to the Doctor. "How long?"

The Doctor checked the time and replied grimly, "6 minutes 40."

Nasreen watched as the time counted down. Tony pulled up an overlay of the village and said, "Works in quadrants, every movement sensor and triplight we've got. If anything moves, we'll know."

The Doctor slapped Tony on the back. "Good lad!"

The Vixen and the Doctor were looking through Ambrose's van when she walked by with her arms full of gardening implements and anything else that could be used as a weapon. Ambrose asked, "Oi! What're you two doing?!"

The Doctor replied, "Resources! Every little helps! Meals on wheels. What've you got here then, warmer in the front, refrigerated in the back."

Ambrose replied, "Bit chilly for a hideout, mind." She set the items in the front of the van.

The Vixen asked, "What are those?"

Ambrose replied, "Like you say, every little helps."

The Doctor said, "No! No weapons. It's not the way we do things."

Ambrose said to the Vixen, "You've got a sword yourself."

The Vixen replied, eyes glowing, as she remembered something someone had said, "I know how to use it and when to use it. Most of the time I don't even have to."

Ambrose flinched but scoffed, "You said we're supposed to defend ourselves."

The Doctor sighed, "Oh, Ambrose, you're better than this. I'm asking nicely. Put them away." He walked away and the Vixen followed after a glare at Ambrose, who flinched and gave a last look into the cab of the vehicle.

The countdown showed 3:23 when Elliot ran in with his map and gave it to the Vixen, who in turn handed it to the Doctor and grinned. She said, "Look at that! Perfect! Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci or Einstein, it's not stopping you."

Elliot said, "I don't understand what you're going to do."

The Doctor explained, "Two phase plan. First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives."

The Vixen finished, "Second, if something does arrive, I use this…" She held up her sonic and showed her Vortex Manipulator. "-to send a magnified sonic pulse through that network of devices, a pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe."

Elliot nodded, "Knock 'em out. Cool."

The Doctor remarked, "Lovely place to grow up, round here.

Elliot just shrugged, "Suppose. I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off."

The Vixen grinned, "The Doctor and I were the same, where we grew up."

Elliot asked, "Did you get away?"

The Doctor replied, "Yeah."

"Do you ever miss it?"

The Doctor and the Vixen looked at each other before turning back to Elliot and saying in unison, "So much."

Elliot asked, "Is it monsters coming? Have you met monsters before?"

The Doctor replied, "Yeah."

"You scared of them?"

The Vixen grinned, "No. They're scared of us."

Elliot asked, "Will you really get my dad back?"

"No question." He and the Vixen got back to work on the computer, on which the countdown showed just over a minute.

Elliot said, "I left my headphones at home."

Rory was setting up a camera on one of the gravestones. The Vixen came out and asked, "How're you doing?"

Rory said, "It's getting darker." He looked up at the sky to see the light being blocked. "How can it be getting dark so quickly?"

The Vixen replied, "Shutting out light from within the barricade. Trying to isolate us in the dark. Which means..."

They heard a rumbling and the Doctor came out and nodded, "It's here."

They headed back into the church where Ambrose was having trouble with the door. "I can't open it! It keeps sticking! The wood's warped."

The Doctor and the Vixen tried to open the door. The Vixen said to Rory, "Any time you want to help!"

Rory asked, "Can't one of you sonic it?"

The Doctor replied, "They don't do wood!"

"That is rubbish!"

The Vixen snapped, "Oi! Don't diss the sonics!"

Rory joined them, mostly because the Vixen snapped at him, and the four opened the door.

The Vixen, the Doctor, Rory and Ambrose joined Tony and Nasreen as the church door slammed shut behind them. The ground was shaking due to the imminent arrival. The Doctor muttered, "See if we can get a fix." He ran to the computer as items began falling off shelves.

The Doctor narrowed down the area with the program Tony set up. The computers sparked as the power goes out. Tony said, turning on a bright torch, "No power."

The Vixen unsheathed her sword and said, "It's deliberate."

Rory asked, "What do we do now?"

The Doctor growled, "Nothing. We've got nothing! They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems."

Rory asked, "Is everyone OK? Is anyone hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"I'm good."

"Me too."

There was a loud rumbling and Rory asked, "Vixen, Doctor, what was that?"

Tony said, "It's like the holes at the drill station."

Nasreen asked, "Is this how they happened?"

The Doctor knelt then bent over to listen to the ground. "It's coming through the final layer of Earth."

Nasreen asked, "What is?!"

The Doctor stood quickly. There was silence. Tony noted, "The banging's stopped."

Ambrose looked around the room and asked, "Where's Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?"

The Vixen and the Doctor said in unison, "We did."

Ambrose asked, "Where is he?"

The Vixen replied slowly, "He said he was going to get headphones."

Ambrose asked, "And you let him go? He was out there on his own?" Tony put a hand on her shoulder.

There was a pounding on the church door. Elliot shouted, "Mum! Grandpa Tony! Let me in!"

Ambrose heard her son's cries and rushed to the door. "Elliot!"

Elliot called, "Let me in."

Ambrose said, "He's out there! Help me."

Elliot pounded on the church door. "Open the door! Mum! There's something out here!"

Everyone started working on opening the door. Ambrose said, "Push, Elliot, push, Elliot!"

"Mum!"

Ambrose snapped, "Hurry up!"

Elliot stopped pounding and whimpered, "Mummy."

Tony grunted, "Come on!" They got the door open.

Ambrose called, "Elliot!" They rushed outside but Elliot was gone. "Where is he?" She ran out to the graveyard. "He was here. He was here! Elliot."

The Doctor warned, "Ambrose, don't go running off."

Tony called, running after her, "Ambrose!"

Ambrose shouted, "Elliot! It's Mum!" She saw Elliot's headphones on the ground. "No-o-o-o-o-o!" A reptilian creature knocked her down on the ground. "Get off me!"

Tony rushed to them and knocked the thing away from his daughter. It lashed out with its tongue, getting Tony in the neck before running away. Ambrose cried out, "Dad!"

The Vixen, the Doctor and Rory came running up. The Vixen asked, "What happened?"

Ambrose said, "My dad's hurt."

The Doctor ordered, "Get him into the church now!"

Ambrose cried, "Elliot's gone. They've killed him, haven't they?"

The Vixen replied, "I don't think so. They've taken three people, when they could've just killed them up here. There's still hope, Ambrose. There is always hope."

Ambrose sobbed, "Then why've they taken him?"

"I don't know. We'll find Elliot, I promise. But first we've gotta stop this attack. Please, get inside the church."

Ambrose helped Tony up and headed back to the church. "Come on, Dad."

Rory asked, "So, what now?"

The Doctor walked down the street wearing sunglasses that could pick up heat signatures. He stared at his hand and grinned when something moving in the bushes caught his eye. Something that didn't give off any heat. The Doctor said in a sing-song voice, "Cold blood. I know who they are." He stood by the meals on wheels van, whistling. He took the fire extinguisher from the front seat and shut the door. In the window, he saw the reflection of the creature approaching and spun out of the way as it attacked and used the fire extinguisher.

The creature screamed and the Vixen and Rory jumped out of the back. They pushed the creature in the refrigerated back and locked the door. Rory said, "We got it!"

The Vixen grinned, "Defending the planet with meals on wheels!" They raised their hands to high five but were distracted by a rumbling.

Rory gulped, "What was that?"

The Doctor replied, "Sounds like they're leaving."

Rory asked, "Without this one?" The darkness went away as the sun was allowed to shine through again. "Looks like we scared them off!"

The Vixen muttered, "I don't think so. Now both sides have hostages."

Rory sat on a toppled grave marker as the Doctor and the Vixen came around from the front of the church. The Doctor said, "We've met these creatures before, different branch of the species, but all the same…"

The Vixen opened the basement door and entered. "Let's see if our friend's thawed out!"

Rory asked, "Are you sure? By yourself?"

The creature sat on the floor in the shadows The Vixen replied, "Very sure."

Rory started, "But the sting..."

The Vixen said, "Venom gland takes at least 24 hours to recharge." She turned to the creature. "Am I right?"

The Doctor said to Rory, "She knows what she's doing. More than I usually do. She'll be fine, come on." Rory nodded and they left as the Vixen walked down the remaining steps to the floor.

The creature was definitely reptilian with large dark eyes. It was wearing some sort of chainmail. With bound hands, it moved forward along the floor towards the Vixen. The Vixen put her hands up. "I'm the Vixen. I've come to talk. I'm going to remove your mask." She started to squat down but the creature hissed.

The Vixen stood back up and unsheathed her sword, putting it in the far corner of the room. She crouched down again and gently removed the creature's mask, revealing a humanoid face.

The Vixen grinned admiringly, "You are gorgeous. Remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth. And by the way, amazing mode of travel! Geothermal currents, projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous! Mind if I sit?" She stood up. "Now." She placed a folding chair in front of the creature and sat. "Your people have a friend of mine. I want her back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want?" The creature said nothing. "Oh, I do hate a monologue. Give us a bit back. How many are you?"

"I'm the last of my species."

The Vixen asked, "Really? No. 'Last of the species', the Klempari Defence. As an interrogation defence, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid."

The creature said again, "I'm the last of my species."

The Vixen sighed, "No. You're really not. Because I'm the last of my species, beside the Doctor, and I know how it sits in a heart. So don't insult me. Let's start again. Tell me your name."

"Alaya."

The Vixen asked, "How long has your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya? It's not difficult to work out. You're 300 million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"

Alaya hissed, "We were attacked."

"The drill."

Alaya said, "Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault. We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet."

The Vixen asked, "Do we have to say vermin? They're really very nice."

Alaya snapped, "Primitive apes."

The Vixen snarled, eyes glowing, "Extraordinary species. You attack them, they'll fight back." Alaya flinched. "But, there's a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that."

Alaya said, trying not to look at the Vixen's glowing eyes, "This land is ours. We lived here long before the apes."

"Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid. Humans won't give up the planet."

Alaya growled, "So we destroy them."

The Vixen corrected, "You underestimate them."

Alaya said, "You underestimate us."

The Vixen grinned and scoffed, "One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans, you've got your work cut out."

Alaya stood up. "We did not initiate combat. But we can still win."

The Vixen growled, "Tell me where my friend is. Give us back the people who were taken."

"No."

The Vixen sighed and stood up. "I'm not going let you provoke a war, Alaya." She folded up chair and put it away. "There'll be no battle here today." She picked up her sword, sheathed it and headed for the door.

Alaya called after her, "The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due."

The Vixen stopped. "Not while I'm here."

Alaya said proudly, "I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?" Without a word, the Vixen turned and left.

The Vixen, the Doctor, Rory and Tony were sitting in the church. Ambrose and Nasreen were leaning or standing. Rory and the Doctor asked in unison, "You're going to what?!"

The Vixen replied, "Doctor, you and I are going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe. To talk to them."

Ambrose asked, "You're going to negotiate with these aliens?"

The Vixen snapped, "They're not aliens! They're Earth...liens! Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo reptilia. Not monsters, not evil." She stood up and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all. Look, from their point of view, you're the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name's Alaya. She's one of their warriors and she's my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Amy. Because we will find them. While the Doctor and I are gone, you four people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity."

Tony asked, "What if they come back? Shouldn't we be examining this creature, dissecting it, finding its weak points?"

The Doctor stood up and snarled, "No dissecting! No examining! We return their hostage, they return ours. Nobody gets harmed. We can land this, together. If you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?"

Everyone nodded quietly. Nasreen applauded but stopped nervously when no one else joined in.

The Vixen and the Doctor headed for the TARDIS and Nasreen ran up behind him. The Doctor asked, "No, sorry, no, what're you doing?"

Nasreen replied, "Coming with you, of course! What is it, some kind of transport pod?"

The Vixen sighed, "Sort of, but you're not...coming with us!"

Tony joined them. "She's right, you're not."

Nasreen said, "I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet. And now you want me to stand back while you head down into it? I don't think so!"

The Doctor checked his watch. "I don't have time to argue!"

"I thought we were in a rush."

The Vixen said, "It'll be dangerous."

Nasreen waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, so's crossing the road."

The Doctor groaned, "Oh, for goodness' sake, all right, then! Come on!" He unlocked the TARDIS and went in with the Vixen.

Tony stopped Nasreen. "Come back safe."

Nasreen nodded, before entering the TARDIS, "Of course."

Nasreen did a double take upon entering the TARDIS. The Doctor and the Vixen were at the console. The Doctor said, "Welcome aboard the TARDIS. Now don't touch anything! Very precious."

Nasreen walked over from doorway. "No way! But that's... this is..." She slapped him on the arm. "…fantastic! What does it do?"

The Vixen replied, "Everything! I'm hoping, if we're going down, that barricade won't interfere."

The TARDIS suddenly inclined drastically. The three clung to the console. The Doctor asked, "Did you touch something?!"

Nasreen replied, "No! Isn't this what it does?!"

The Vixen groaned, "We're not doing anything! We've been hijacked! I can't stop it! They must've sensed the electro-magnetic field!" She looked at the monitor. "They're pulling the TARDIS down into the Earth!"

They held onto the console and yelled. The TARDIS landed and the three fell to the floor. Nasreen asked, "Where are we?"

The Doctor got up and ran for the door. Nasreen and the Vixen followed.

The Doctor held a hand outside the door before stepping out. There were roots and fungus covering the walls. Nasreen stepped out and water dripped on her. The Vixen whistled in amazement as she looked up the way they fell. The Vixen said, "Looks like we fell through the bottom of their tunnel system. Don't suppose it was designed for handling something like this."

Nasreen asked, "How far down are we?"

The Doctor replied, "A lot more than 21km."

Nasreen asked, "So why aren't we burning alive?"

The Doctor shrugged, "Don't know. Interesting, isn't it?"

"It's like this is everyday to you!"

The Vixen grinned, "Not every day. Every other day." She and the Doctor headed down one of the tunnels, and, after a slight delay, Nasreen followed.

The Doctor walked past an opening but the Vixen and Nasreen stopped to look as he talked. "We're looking for a small tribal settlement. Probably housing around a dozen homo reptilia. Maybe less."

The Vixen looked out at something bathed in a golden light and said slowly, "One small tribe."

The Doctor made his way back and replied, "Yeah."

Nasreen asked, "Maybe a dozen?"

The Doctor joined the girls and saw the same thing. "Ah." Below them was a large community, verging on a city with buildings and monuments.

The Vixen said, "Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilization living beneath the Earth."

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