The Beast Below - Part Two
When I had finally managed to come around, I was in a voting cubicle. Blinking some focus into my eyes gave way to a Smiler on the left wall, and Amy was nowhere to be seen. I straightened up in the chair someone had placed me in and looked at the four screens in front of me.
"Welcome to voting cubicle three thirty A. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it," the computer said, "The United Kingdom recognizes the right to know of all its citizens. A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll."
Oh great. The presentation about the Star Whale and choosing to protest or forget. Okay. No matter what I see, I've got to choose protest. To ensure this, I stand right in front of the protest button and give no piece of mind to the other two buttons.
"Name, Virginia Clarissa Parks. Age, thirteen hundred. Marital Status, unmarried," the computer reported, accurate as ever.
"Gotta love that 29th century technology," I deadpanned, "I've always wondered what Ginny was short for." A man with white hair appeared on the screen.
"You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may either protest, or forget," the man explained.
"If you choose to Protest, understand this. If just one percent of the population of this ship do likewise, the program will be discontinued with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation, and we hope that you will, then press the Forget button. All the information I'm about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls."
Suddenly, a bunch of images began to flash in my head. Children screaming, the earth in burning ruins, the Star Whale coming down to help, the Tower of Starship UK, and that awful device torturing the Star Whale were all there. The presentation finished and left one thought in my mind. No one should live in that kind of agony. My hand slammed down on the Protest button with all my strength.
The Smiler on the wall changed to a Scowler and the floor opened up beneath me. Instinctively, I ran to the corner of the room. Soon, the floor disappeared from underneath my feet and sent me screaming into the Star Whale's mouth.
This was one time when I wish it was just a television show. I slid through a pipe and into a bunch of really gross half eaten food, landing on my back. I couldn't bring myself to stand simply because I was too shocked by the odor of the mouth. When I finally did move, it was in order to not be squished by the Doctor when he came through. I scrambled to my feet and backed up a bit as he arrived.
"Hello again," I greeted, helping him up, "How did bringing down the government go for you?"
"So far it's gone according to plan," he said, "And I'm guessing you chose to protest, judging by the way you're here first." I nodded.
A scream coming from above and a sudden splash signaled that Amy had arrived.
"High speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel," the Doctor said.
"Where are we?" she asked, still in a bit if shock.
"Six hundred feet down, twenty miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say," he inhaled through his nose, "Lancashire. What's this then, a cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave."
"I'll go ahead and confirm that it's not a cave," I said.
"It's a rubbish dump," Amy said, tossing a bit of waste aside, "And it's minging!" The pair of them got down on their knees and searched through the garbage.
"Yes, but only food refuse. Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship," the Doctor added. I didn't dare go sifting through the stuff; I was too disgusted to even move.
"The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed," Amy announced.
"But feeding what, though?" the Doctor asked no one in particular.
"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy," Amy said, still transfixed by the Star Whale's tongue. A far off sound caught our attention, especially the Doctor's.
"Er, it's not a floor, it's a. So," he trailed off.
"It's a what?" Amy asked, getting to her feet. He was silent for a moment before gesturing to me to come over to where they were standing, which I did.
"The next word is kind of a scary word. You probably want to take a moment, get yourself in a calm place. Go omm," he instructed.
"Omm," we hummed, a bit confusingly.
"It's a tongue," he said gently. Amy was too shocked to register emotion.
"A tongue?" she repeated.
"A tongue. A great big tongue!" he beamed.
"And you're happy about being in a creature's mouth?" I asked.
"This is a mouth. This whole place is a mouth?" Amy asked, then shouted, "We're in a mouth?!"
"Yes, yes, yes. But on the plus side, roomy," the Doctor said, trying to make it sound better than it was.
"Oh, that's really good to know! At least I'll know that I was eaten by something with a really roomy mouth!" I said, sarcasm heavy in my voice.
"How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous!" the Doctor exclaimed, waving his sonic screwdriver around, "Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach," there was a moan, "Though not right now."
"Doctor, how do we get out?" Amy asked, somewhat panicky.
"Okay, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is," he held the screwdriver up to illuminate a wall of long, sharp teeth, "closed for business."
"My, what big teeth you have," I remarked.
"We could try, though," Amy suggested, but the mouth began to vibrate violently, sending me crashing back into the filth.
"I think you'll find that we can't," I said, "It's started."
"What has?" she asked.
"Swallow reflex!" the Doctor shouted, trying to maintain his footing while sonicing the mouth.
"What are you doing?" Amy asked him.
"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors!" he yelled back.
"Chemo-what?" she asked, falling into the food.
"The eject button!" he clarified.
"How does a mouth have an eject button?" she asked.
"Think about it!" he shouted. I got to my feet and stood next to him. Suddenly, a tidal wave of vomit came rushing toward the three of us.
"This is really is one of the times I wish it was just a TV show," I deadpanned, steeling myself.
"Right, then. This isn't going to be big on dignity," the Doctor said, taking our hands, "GERONIMO!" Amy screamed, and I kept my mouth shut on fear of getting anything unwanted in my mouth as the wave of sick crashed into us.
I woke up in an overspill pipe with the stench of Star Whale vomit overpowering my senses.
"Did everyone see that? Because I will not be doing it again, and you can't pay me enough money to do it voluntarily," I grumbled, getting to my feet.
"I can assure you that you won't have to do that again, Ginny," the Doctor said from the door, "Are you all right?"
"I'm gonna need about five showers when I get back to the TARDIS, but other than that, peachy keen!" I sarcastically remarked, "You?"
"Considering the scenario, I'd say I'm pretty good," he replied. A stifled cough came from below me; Amy had woken up.
"There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion and yes, you are covered in sick," the Doctor answered all the questions she was probably going to ask, except for one or two.
"By the way, we're probably in an overspill pipe, and that odor certainly is not said pipe," I added. She was at a loss for words as I helped her up, but eventually she gave herself a sniff and winced.
"Phew. Can we get out?" she asked.
"One door, one switch, one condition. we forget everything we saw," he said, the Forget button lighting up, "Look familiar? That's the carrot," two Smiler booths lit up a couple feet in front of us, "Ooo, here's the stick. There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing there?" the Smilers turned to Frowners, "No, that's not going to work on me, so come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?" the Frowners switched to Scowlers, "Oh, stop it. I'm not leaving, and I'm not forgetting, and what are you fellas gonna do about it? Stick out your tongues?"
In response, the Scowlers' booths opened up, and they started to walk toward us.
"You just had to egg them on like that, didn't you?" I asked, backing away. Luckily, Liz 10 came from behind and shot the Scowlers to the ground. After holstering her gun, she turned to face the three of us.
"Look who it is. You look a lot better without your mask," the Doctor said. Liz smiled and came forward.
"You must be Amy and Ginny. Liz. Liz Ten," she introduced, holding out a hand to shake.
"Hi," the two of us said, only Amy shook her hand, though. Liz pulled it back on account of the vomit.
"Lovely hair, you two. Shame about the sick," she brought Mandy out from behind her, "You know Mandy, yeah? She's very brave."
"How did you find us?" the Doctor asked Liz. She tossed him a scanner of sorts.
"Stuck my gizmo on you. Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape," she said, "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," the Doctor deduced.
"No. Never forgot, never voted, not technically a British subject," Liz replied.
"Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?" he asked.
"You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, M O consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot," Liz said, the Doctor taking offense to the last bit and running a hand through his so called idiotic hair.
"His Tenth self had great hair, if that makes up for anything," I threw in.
"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"I know. I was brought up on stories. My whole family was," Liz said fondly.
"I was brought up on stories too, but not in the same way," I said, giving a very subtle curtsey that only Liz could see. She smiled and nodded.
"Your family?" he asked. Liz was about to reply when the Scowlers started to twitch.
"They're repairing. Doesn't take them that long. Let's move," Liz said, leading us out of the pipe.
We had gotten out of the pipe and into a more open area of Starship UK when the talking finally started up again.
"The Doctor. 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 on the same day," Liz recalled, "And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy!" I snickered a bit, recalling the 50th Special with Elizabeth the First.
"Liz Ten!" the Doctor exclaimed, finally bringing everything together.
"Liz Ten, yeah. Elizabeth the Tenth. And down!" she yelled the last bit. We all ducked as she shot a Scowler behind us, "I'm the bloody queen, mate. Basically, I rule."
We entered a corridor with one solid wall and a barred wall with Star Whale tentacles trying to reach out.
"There's a high-speed Vator through here," Liz said, then looked to the tentacles, "Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?"
"Doctor, I saw one of these up top. There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root," Amy said. The Doctor soniced the tentacle.
"Exactly like a root. It's all one creature, the same one we were inside, reaching out," he explained.
"What, like an infestation?" Liz asked.
"Not exactly. It's more like it wants to be noticed. It wants to be recognized," I replied.
"Someone's helping it. Feeding it. Feeding my subjects to it! Come on. Got to keep moving," Liz said, walking briskly away with Mandy.
"Doctor?" Amy called.
"Oh Amy," the Doctor said, still looking at the tentacles, "We should never have come here." The two of them left, leaving me alone with the Star Whale.
I was probably out of my mind, but for some reason I reached out to the Star Whale tentacle.
"Okay, I'm gonna need you to calm down. I'm on your side. I want to help you," I soothed, eventually managing to get the Star Whale to trust me enough to where it would let me pet it, "I'm sorry about what they're doing to you. Don't worry, though. It'll be over soon. Just hold on." I stayed there for a minute, petting the Star Whale when the Doctor called for me.
"Parks, are you still down there?" he shouted.
"Yeah. I'm coming!" I called back, taking my hand away from the Star Whale, "Everything is going to be okay."