Chapter Six: Last of Its Kind
{Overflow Pipe}
Expecting to land on hard ground does nothing to dispel the actual shock of landing on hard ground. Emma put a hand to her head, trying to ignore the vomit that was dripping down her arm. The Doctor sat up beside her, then jumped to his feet. He scanned both his companions with his sonic before grinning.
"There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion, and yes, you are covered in sick." Amy stared up at him before looking around.
"Where are we?"
"Overspill pipe, at a guess," the Doctor answered.
"Oh, God, it stinks."
"Oh, that's the pipe," Emma said.
"Oh… can we get out?"
"One door, one door switch, one condition," said the Doctor. "We forget everything we saw. Look familiar?" He pointed to a large Forget button.
"That's the carrot. Ooooo, here's the stick."
Two booths lit up and Emma backed away from the creepy smiles of strange statues.
"There's a creature living in the heart of this ship," the Doctor said. "What's it doing here?" The smiles became frowns. "No, that's not going to work on me, so come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests get shoved down its throat. That how it works?" The frowns became scowls.
"Doctor," Emma said quietly. He ignored her, glaring at the booths.
"Oh, stop it. I'm not leaving and I'm not forgetting, and what are you fellows going to be about it? Stick out your tongues, huh?"
The booths opened and the creatures stepped out.
"Doctor?" Amy questioned. He stepped back as a laser shot out behind them, shooting the creatures. The Doctor spun around, grinning at the newcomer. It was a woman with curly black hair.
"Look who it is!" he exclaimed
"You look a lot better without your masks." The woman smiled before looking to Amy and Emma. "You must be Emma and Amy. Liz. Liz Ten." Amy gave her a small finger wave.
"Hi."
"Yuck," Liz said, seeing the vomit. "Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick."
Mandy stepped out from behind Liz and rushed to Emma. She threw her arms around the woman without a care about the sick that covered the woman. Emma hugged her back.
"You know Mandy, yeah?" Liz asked.
Emma nodded, "Yes. She is very brave."
"Yes, she is."
"How did you find us?" the Doctor asked.
"Stuck my gizmo on you. Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"
"You're over sixteen, you've voted. Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."
"No," Liz said, shaking her head. "Never forgot, never voted, not technically a British subject."
"Then who and what are you? And how do you know me?"
"You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, M.O. consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot. I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."
"Your family?"
The sound of creaking made Emma turned to see the creatures starting to rebuild themselves. She frowned at them as Liz sighed.
"They're repairing. Doesn't take them long. Let's move."
"What are those things?"
"We call them Smilers," Mandy said. "Cause they're always smiling unless you get them upset."
"Makes perfect sense," Emma shrugged. Mandy grinned, holding tight to Emma's hand.
{Corridor}
The group followed Liz through the winding corridors as she spun them a tale.
"The Doctor," she said. "Old drinking buddy of Henry Twelve. Tea and scones with Liz Two. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy."
"Excuse me?" Emma said, turning to look at the Doctor.
"It was a bad time for me, okay?" he tried to defend himself.
"Fine." She turned back to Liz. "So you're Liz Ten, which makes you…"
"Yeah, Elizabeth the Tenth. And down!"
Everyone ducked as the woman spun around, shooting at the repaired Smilers.
"I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule." They continued down the corridor and Liz pointed ahead of them. "There's a high-speed Vator through there." Tentacles shot up, beating at the grating in front of them. "Oh yeah, there's these things… Any ideas?"
"Doctor, I saw one of these too," Amy said. "There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through like a root."
"Exactly like a root," the Doctor said. "It's all one creature, the same one we were inside, reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanism of the entire ship."
"What? Like an infestation?" Liz questioned. "Someone's helping it. Feeding it. Feeding my subjects to it. Come on. Got to keep moving."
Amy and Mandy followed after Liz as the Doctor gently pulled Emma to a stop.
"What's wrong, Doctor?" Emma asked softly. She reached up, cupping his cheek.
"I have a terrible feeling," he replied.
"And what would that be?"
"That we should have never come here." He pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand before following after the others. Emma watched him go for a moment, then started after him. She had forgotten something important. Or rather, had her memories taken away. Whatever it was, she hoped she had made the right decision.
{State Apartments}
Entering Liz's private rooms, the Doctor raised an eyebrow at the amount of glasses that covered the floor.
"Why all the glasses?"
"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what."
"A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?" Emma questioned.
"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."
"How old were you when you came to the throne?" the Doctor asked.
"Forty. Why?"
"What, you're fifty now?" astonished Amy. "No way."
"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps."
The Doctor lifted a mask made of porcelain.
"And you always wear this in public?"
"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting."
"Air-balanced porcelain. Stays on by itself because it's perfectly sculpted to your face."
"Yeah? So what?
"Oh, Liz. So, everything."
A group of men walked into the room and Liz glared at them.
"What are you doing? How dare you come in here?"
"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Star-ship UK. You will come with us now."
"Why would I do that?" The man's head turned to become a Smiler with a scowling face.
"How can they be Smilers?" Amy asked.
"Easy," Emma shrugged. "Half-Smiler, half-human."
"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"
The man crossed his arms.
"The highest authority, Ma'am."
"I am the highest authority."
"Yes, Ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am."
"Where?" Liz questioned.
"The Tower, Ma'am."
{The Tower}
Amy looked through a grating where tentacles were flailing.
"Doctor where are we?" she asked.
"The lowest point of Star-ship UK. The dungeon." Liz approached a well-dressed man.
"Ma'am."
"Hawthorne, so, this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do."
"There's children down here," Emma said. "Why are they here?"
"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won't eat children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."
"Yeah, look at us," the Doctor said. "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."
Emma glanced as a giant zap went through the room, hitting the top of a pulsating brain.
"What's that?" Liz asked.
"Well, like I said, it depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain center of the big fella's brain being tortured relentlessly—"
"Or?"
"Or it's a gas pedal, the accelerator. Star ship UK's go faster button."
"I don't understand," Liz murmured.
"Don't you? Try to. 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. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving. Tell you what. Normally, it's above the range of human hearing. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear."
The Doctor soniced a tentacle and Emma covered her eyes as a screaming sound echoed through the room.
"Stop it!" Liz ordered her people."Who did this?"
"We act on instructions from the highest authority."
"I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now! Is anyone listening to me."
"Liz. Your mask," said the Doctor.
"What about my mask?"
"Look at it. It's old. At least two hundred years old, I'd say."
"Yeah? It's an antique. So?"
"Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over two hundred years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face. They slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not fifty. Nearer three-hundred. And it's been a long old reign." Liz shook her head.
"Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years."
"Ten years. And the same ten years, over and over again, always leading you here."
In front of a screen sat two buttons. Forget and Abdicate. Liz turned to Hawthorne.
"What have you done?"
"Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us." The screen started to play a message from Liz, and everyone turned to watch it.
If you are watching this, if I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower of London. 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.
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 and Emma lifted a hand to her face, feeling the tears once more.
"I voted for this," Amy said. "Why would I do that."
"Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong. You don't ever decide what I 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 hissed. "When I'm done here, you're going home."
"Why?" Amy questioned. "Because I made a mistake? One mistake? I don't even remember doing it."
"Yeah, I know. You're only human."
"What about Emma? She made the same choice!"
Emma bowed her head, blinking back more tears.
"Because, Amy," Emma whispered. "I know his choice and I can't stop it. But this way it gave him more time to thnk of another option." The Doctor sighed, running a hand over his face. He pulled out his sonic, pointing it at the brain.
"What are you doing?" Liz questioned.
"The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. It should knock out all its higher functions, leaving it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."
"That'll be like killing it!" Amy exclaimed.
"Look, three options. One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. 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, because I won't be the Doctor anymore."
"There must be something we can do! Some other way!" Liz cried. The Doctor glared at them all.
"Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to be today!"
Stepping off to the side as the Doctor adjusted the machinery, Emma watched as children filed into the room. Mandy's eyes went wide at the sight of a young boy.
"Timmy! You made it, you're okay! It's me, Mandy!" She hurried over to the boy as Emma watched. She observed as a tentacle rose, lightly touching Mandy's shoulder. The girl petted it gently.
The Doctor never interferes with other peoples or planets unless it's children crying.
Amy nudged her shoulder.
"The Star whale came for the children," Amy said. Emma's head shot-up in understanding. Much like the Doctor, it had been affected by the screams and cries of children.
"I'll stop the Doctor; you get Liz to press the button."
Rushing over to the Doctor, Emma grabbed his hand and he glowered at her.
"What do you want?" She shook her head at him.
"You can't do this."
"Why not?"
"What always affects you, Doctor? What makes you drop everything at once?" The Doctor's eyes narrowed.
"Emma…"
"Do you trust me?" She searched his eyes. She could see the internal turmoil before he nodded. "Good."
"Why… Amy! No!"
Emma turned to see Amy pressing Liz's hand onto the Abdicate button. The whale roared and Starship UK briefly shook before calming.
"What have you done?" the Doctor asked, horror lacing his voice.
"Nothing at all," Amy answered. "Am I right?"
Hawthorne nodded, "We've increased speed."
"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Got to help."
"It's still here," Liz said in awe. "I don't understand."
"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn't' stand to watch your children cry." Emma nodded in agreement to Amy's words and turned her head to study the Doctor.
"What if," she supposed, "you were really old, and really kind, and all 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, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."
{Observation Deck}
Amy held out the Queen's mask to the Doctor.
"From Her Majesty. She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK."
"Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship," the Doctor told her.
"You could have killed a Star Whale."
"And You saved it. I know, I know." They smiled at each other, and Amy strolled off as the Doctor wrapped his arms around Emma.
"Amazing, though, don't you think?" she mused.
"Hmmm?"
"All that pain and misery and loneliness, and it just made it kind."
"But you and Amy couldn't have known how it would react."
"Yes… but I've seen it before." She twisted in his arms to meet her eyes. "Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?" With a light smile, the Doctor's eyes darted to Emma's lips then back to her eyes. She matched his smile and his mouth lowered to hers.
"Oi!" Amy called, forcing them to break apart. "Are you coming?"
Grumbling, the Doctor pulled away from Emma. He took hold of her hand, raising it to his lips to kiss her fingers before leading Emma after Amy.
"Shouldn't we say goodbye?" Amy asked. "Won't they wonder where we went?"
"For the rest of their lives," the Doctor nodded. "Oh, the songs they'll write. Never mind htem. Big day tomorrow."
"Sorry, what?" Emma shrugged with a smile.
"Well, it's always a big day tomorrow."
"Exactly!" exclaimed the Doctor.
"We've got a time machine." He leaned in close to Amy. "I skip the little ones."
{The Tardis}
As the Doctor began messing with buttons and switches, Amy looked to Emma.
"You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning? Have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just, just because you could?"
"Once, a long time ago," Emma nodded.
"What happened?" Emma's gaze moved to the Doctor.
"A lot of things."
"Mmmm, there's something I haven't told you…"
The ringing on a phone caused Amy to pause.
"No, hang on. Is that a phone ringing?"
"Yep."
"People phone you?"
"Well, it's a phone box."
"Emma, do you mind?" the Doctor called.
"Not at all."
Grabbing the phone from the console, Emma put it to her ear.
"Hello? Oh! Hello Prime Minster!" Amy's eyes went wide.
"First the Queen, now the Prime Minster?" she asked. "Get about, don't you?"
"Which Prime Minister?" the Doctor asked. Emma lowered the receiver from her mouth.
"Winston Churchill." She put the receiver back to her mouth, listening intently.
"Tricky situation, Emma. Potentially very dangerous. I think I'm going to need the Doctor." The Doctor leaned over Emma, speaking to Churchill. "Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister. We're on our way!"
In bed above, we're deep asleep,
while greater love lies further deep.
This dream must end, this world must know,
we all depend on the beast below.
-Elizabeth the Tenth
All rights belong to BBC
Someone asked for Emma's face claim and I don't really have one. I just found a stock image of what i thought she would look like and used it for the cover. If you are using your phone, you can enable desktop mode to be able to see the cover.
-Amy Thorton
