The Time of Angels - Part Three
While caves weren't exactly my favorite place to be, I have to admit that the structures formed by them were breathtaking. In fact, I had stopped a few feet between the Doctor and Amy to gaze up into a small sort of window, providing an incredible view of the Mortarium.
"This beats some of the caverns on Earth by a landslide," I said, taking my iPod out of my jean pocket and raising it to take a picture. Just before I could do so; however, the Doctor snatched the iPod from my hand.
"Hey, give it back!" I said, trying to reclaim it from his flailing arms.
"Have you got any good music on here?" he asked, completely off topic. I nodded and continued in my struggle. He rendered this futile by raising his hand high above his head, laughing a bit. I wouldn't be giving up that easily, though. I jumped with all my might, probably looking like a kid who was being taunted by a bully. The Doctor must've taken pity on me because he gave my iPod back after about ten hops.
"Seriously though, these caves are nothing compared to the ones on Arcadia. We'll have to go there sometime," he said, fishing something out of his jacket pocket with one hand and taking my arm with the other, "Now, try to hold still." I nodded, but ended up flinching a bit when he injected me with a viro-stabilizer. I shot him a short glare before he began looking at a device similar to River's. After taking a picture of the caverns as I originally planned to, I joined the Doctor by a statue.
"So, how big of a fan were you, anyways?" he asked out of the blue. I laughed a bit.
"I was a bigger on the inside fan. I'd only just started watching the show at the beginning of the year, and caught myself up by June. I even wrote stories about adventures that could have happened," I said, "And now it's actually happening right before my eyes, and... I don't know. It's just so surreal actually living out what I've seen on TV."
He took a moment to let what I said sink in, then finally responded, "I hope it's as much fun to be a part of as it is to watch it happen."
"Trust me, it is so much better," I said jumping up and down a bit which put a smile on his face.
"Yes we are," River interrupted.
"Sorry, what?" he asked.
"Talking about you," she replied.
"I wasn't listening. I was talking to Ginny." He went back to messing with the gadget.
"Ah. The other way up," she said.
The Doctor pondered this for a moment before turning it right side up, "Yeah."
Suddenly there was a sound of gunfire echoing throughout the caverns. We all looked at each other in a burst of panic and ran towards the sound. When we arrived, a statue had been fired at several times by a young cleric.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
"Y-yes ma'am. I thought. I thought it looked at me," he said, a bit shaken up by the event.
"We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?" Octavian asked the cleric.
"No sir," he said.
"No sir, it is not," Octavian scolded, "According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil, so it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."
"What's your name?" the Doctor asked the cleric.
"Bob, sir," he replied.
"Ah, that's a great name. I love Bob." The Doctor walked over to Octavian and Bob.
"It's a sacred name. We all have sacred names. They're given to us in the service of the church," Octavian said.
"So, your name isn't really Octavian?" I asked, to which he nodded, "It's too bad. Octavian's a pretty cool name. And so is Bob."
"Sacred Bob," the Doctor corrected, "More like Scared Bob now, eh?"
"Yes, sir," Bob said.
"Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron," the Doctor and Octavian shared an awkward glance, "Carry on."
"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes," Octavian announced to everyone, then told Bob to guard the exit with Christian and Angelo.
This was probably going to be my one chance to save a character. I had always wanted Bob to stay alive in these episodes, but I just didn't know how to convince him not to go. I guess I'd have to wing it, then.
Just before Bob could leave the part of the cave we were standing in, I stopped him.
"How old are you?" I asked.
"Twenty, ma'am," he said.
"And you're already in the army?"
"My parents died when I was very young. I was raised in the church and it was customary for young men to enlist when they came of age. So here I am."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"Listen, I shouldn't tell you this, but if you go down to Christian and Angelo, you're going to die. You have to trust me when I say that. If you want to stay alive, come with me." The words just sort of poured from my mouth like a waterfall; rapid and kind of hard to understand.
"What?"
"Please, just come with us. I'm trying to save your life." I looked up with the best pair of puppy-dog eyes I could muster, and he gave in just like that.
Everyone had been climbing through the maze while I was persuading, so it took us awhile to catch up to the rest of the group. Eventually though, we did. When we got there, River was reading from the book about the Weeping Angels.
"What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us. When these things occur and are held to be true the time will be upon us. The time of angels," she said.
We continued to walk from there once we regrouped. Of course there was an argument between Octavian and the Doctor on whether or not Bob should stay. Needless to say the Doctor won.
"Are we there yet? It's a hell of a climb," Amy asked.
"The maze is on six levels, representing the ascent of the soul. Only two levels to go," River said.
"Lovely species, the Aplans. We should visit them sometime," the Doctor said.
"I thought they were all dead?" Amy said.
"We have a time machine, remember?" I said.
"Very relaxed, sort of cheerful," the Doctor rambled about the Aplans, "Well, that's having two heads of course. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."
It was about this time that we entered the section of the cave with a considerable number of statues.
"Doctor, there's something. I don't know what it is," River started.
"Yeah, there's something wrong. Don't know what it is yet, either. Working on it," the Doctor said, then went back to the Aplans, "Of course then they started having laws against self-marrying. I mean, what was that about? But that's the church for you," he then awkwardly looked from Octavian to Bob, "Er, no offense."
"Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor," Octavian grumbled and walked to the front of the group to lead us, "Lowest point in the wreckage is about fifty feet up from here. That way." He pointed his flashlight to the right.
"The Church had a point, if you think about it. The divorces must have been messy," Amy said.
"You've got no idea," Bob said, "I studied self-marriage a few years ago. The divorces were gruesome."
"Please don't say things like that. I might get cave sick," I said. Bob then apologized and our group slowly began to halt when the penny was thrown into the air.
"Oh," the Doctor breathed, looking right at a statue.
"What's wrong?" Amy asked.
And then the penny dropped for River, "Oh."
"Exactly," the Doctor said.
"How could we not notice that?"
"Low level perception filter or maybe we're thick."
"What's wrong, sir?" Octavian asked.
"Nobody move. Nobody move. Everyone stay exactly where they are," there was a moment of silence before the Doctor spoke again, "Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we're all in terrible danger."
"What danger?" the Bishop asked.
"If the Aplans have two heads, then why don't the statues?" I said, and a look of realization crossed everyone's face.
The Doctor then shined the flashlight over to us, "Everyone over there. Just move. Don't ask questions. Don't speak," we moved quickly and quietly until we were all huddled together, "Okay, I want you all to switch off your torches."
"Sir?" Bob objected.
"Just do it," the Doctor said, and we did; one by one our flashlights switched off, "Okay. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."
"Are you sure about this?" River asked.
The Doctor thought for a moment before giving a short, "No," and switching his torch off for less than a second. But that was just enough time for all of the statues to drop the act and face us dead on. The moment this happened, my hand instinctively shot right into Bob's, hanging onto it for dear life.
"Oh, my God. They've moved," Amy said. The Doctor ran back down the corridor, River and Amy following, but I was too frightened to go look with them. They soon came back, surprisingly not looking at all shellshocked.
"But there was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear," River said.
"Could they have been here already?" Amy asked.
"The Aplans. What happened? How did they die out?" the Doctor also asked.
"Nobody knows," River said.
"Nobody except us," I said.
"They don't look like Angels," Octavian noticed.
"And they're not fast," Amy shined her flashlight at the Doctor, "You said they were fast. They should've had us by now."
The Doctor knelt next to an Angel to get a closer look, "Look at them. They're dying, losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving."
"Losing their image?" Amy suggested.
"And their image is their power," the Doctor said, then something clicked in his head, "Power. Power!"
"What's up, Doc?" I asked, desperately trying to keep a bit lighthearted.
"Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out of the drive burn. The crash of the Byzantium wasn't an accident, it was a rescue mission for the angels. We're in the middle of an army! And it's waking up," the Doctor explained.
"We need to get out of here fast," River said.
Octavian spoke frantically into his communicator, "Angelo, Christian, come in, please. Either of you, come in."
"It's Angelo, sir. Sorry, sir," a gruff voice answered suddenly.
"Angelo, is Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active."
"I know, sir. Christian is dead, sir. The Angel killed him, sir." Okay, the constant sir ending each sentence was kinda starting to set my teeth on edge. The Doctor then snatched the communicator out of Octavian's grip.
"Angelo, Sacred Angelo, it's the Doctor," he said as Octavian tried to get another word in, "Where are you now?"
"I'm talking to my-" Octavian started.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up," the Doctor told him.
"I'm on my way up to you, sir. I'm homing in on your signal," Angelo said.
"Ah, well done, Angelo. Scared keeps you fast. I told Bob that. Your friend, Angelo, what did the Angel do to him?"
"Snapped his neck, sir."
The Doctor let this information sink in for a moment, "That's odd. That's not how the Angels kill you. They displace you in time. Unless they needed the bodies for something."
Octavian took the communicator back, "Angelo, did you check his data pack for vital signs? We may be able to initiate a rescue plan."
"Oh, don't be an idiot. The Angels don't leave you alive," the Doctor said, taking the communicator back, "Angelo, keep running. But tell me, how did you escape?"
"I didn't escape, sir. The Angel killed me too," "Angelo" said.
"What do you mean, the Angel killed you?"
"Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected, but it was pretty quick, so that was something."
"If you're dead, how can I be talking to you?"
"You're not talking to me, sir. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion."
"So when you say you're on your way up to us..."
"It's the Angel that's coming, sir, yes."
It was at this precise moment that I shot down a cave corridor and right to the wreckage. I would've gone all the way into the alcove had it not been for a hand grabbing my arm. I screamed from instinct, but was glad to find it wasn't an Angel but Bob.
"Don't do that again!" I shrieked.
"You were right about not going down there," he said, "Thank you for keeping me alive."
"You're welcome."
Around that time, the rest of the clerics came pouring through the corridor, so I had to keep running until we made it to the actual alcove. When we heard metal creak above us, we all looked up to find the front of a ship right above our heads.
"Well. There it is, the Byzantium," Octavian said.
"It's got to be thirty feet. How do we get up there?" River asked. Octavian looked around and noticed other corridors.
"Check all the exits. I want them all secure," he said, "Miss Parks, a word, please."
I slowly approached the Bishop, kind of worried what he might tell me; mainly worried he'd scold me for not saving Christian and Angelo. Instead I was told something I was never expecting.
"I owe you an apology for going against Bob coming with us. If you hadn't convinced him to stay with us, he'd be dead," he said.
"Apology accepted, sir, and one more thing," I said, "Don't be so hard on the Doctor. He's probably under quite a lot of stress down here."
"I'll try my best," he said. A cleric came running in with a flickering flashlight attached to the top of his gun.
"The statues are advancing on all corridors. And, sir, my torch keeps flickering," he said.
"They all do," Octavian said.
"So does the gravity globe," River added. I looked up again and sure enough, the globe looked more like a twinkling star.
"Clerics, we're down to five men. Expect incoming," Octavian warned.
"Yeah, it's the Angels. They're coming," the Doctor said coming in with Amy behind him, "And they're draining all the power for themselves."
"Which means we won't be able to see them."
"Which means we can't stay here."
"Two more incoming," Bob reported.
River confronted the Doctor, "Any suggestions?"
"The statues are advancing on all sides. We don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium," Octavian said.
"There's no way up, no way back, no way out," River added, "No pressure, but this is usually when you have a really good idea."
"Guys we need to stay positive. If we think about the bad outcomes, the good ones will never occur," I said, "There's always a way out."
The lights flickered off then back on to reveal Angels blocking all the exits.
"There's always a way out," the Doctor repeated as he began looking around the alcove.
"Doctor? Can I speak to the Doctor, please?" Angel Angelo asked. The Doctor took out the communicator.
"Hello, Angels. What's your problem?"
"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end."
"Which is?"
"I left my family behind." There was a brief moment of silence.
"I'm sorry?" the Doctor asked.
"I have a wife and two beautiful daughters waiting for me to come home. And now they're never going to see me again. I died here alone and knowing that I'd never hear my girls laugh again, never kiss my wife again, and never see the light of day again. I trusted you, and you let me down."
"What are they doing?" Amy asked.
"They're trying to make him angry," River said.
"He's not the only one they ticked off," I grumbled.
"I'm sorry, sir. The Angels were very keen for you to know that," Angel Angelo said.
"Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not gonna let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead, Angelo, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier," the Doctor said in a low, menacing tone.
"But you're trapped, sir, and about to die."
"Yeah, I'm trapped. And you know what? Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it. A great big, whopping mistake."
"What mistake, sir?"
The Doctor turned his attention away from the Angels and towards us.
"Trust me," he told Amy.
"Yeah, she said.
"Trust me?" he asked River.
"Always," she replied.
"Ginny, trust me?" he asked me.
"Oh yes!" I said, sounding like his last incarnation.
"You lot, trust me?" he asked the Clerics and Octavian.
"Sir, two more incoming," a cleric informed.
"We have faith, sir," Octavian said.
The Doctor snapped his fingers, "Then give me your gun," Octavian handed him a handgun, which he inspected a bit, "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do," he leapt into the air, "jump!"
"Jump where?" Octavian asked.
"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal."
"What signal?"
"You won't miss it." The Doctor cocked the gun and pointed it into the air.
"Sorry, can I ask again? You mentioned a mistake we made," Angel Angelo said.
"Oh, big mistake. Huge. Didn't anyone tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap. If you're smart, if you valued your continual existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there's one thing you never, ever put in a trap," the Doctor said.
"And what would that be, sir?" There was a dramatic pause.
"Me," the Doctor said, then shot the gravity globe, signaling all of us to jump up and out.