The Beast Below - Part One
I can't fully describe what it's like floating around in space, except for the fact that it's an experience I would never forget. My hair was flaring out in different places, my arms were spread out like wings on a bird, and I could not stop grinning. Neither could Amy, for that matter. And neither could the Doctor, who was holding onto us by our ankles, laughing away.
"Come on, you two!" he called, pulling us back into the TARDIS. He brought Amy down first, on account that I shook my head, meaning that I didn't want to come back in just yet.
"Ginny, you're coming in here whether you want to or not," he said, pulling me in.
"Killjoy," I muttered, getting to my feet, "Anyways, do you believe him now, Amy?" She nodded and turned to the Doctor.
"Okay, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space! Woo!" she took a deep breath, "What're we breathing?"
"I've extended the air shell. We're fine," the Doctor assured us, then looked down underneath the TARDIS, "Now that's interesting." He proceeded to shut the doors without checking to see if we were inside, which we weren't. Amy and I were hanging onto the sign for dear life.
"Ginny what do we do?" she asked me frantically.
"Just follow my lead," I said, then shouted, "Doctor, open the doors if you want someone to travel with!"
Together, we started yelling for the Doctor at the top of our lungs, and eventually he opened the doors.
"Well, come on. I've found us a spaceship!" he said, pulling us in.
"Took you long enough," I remarked, running up to the big monitor on the wall.
"Well it's not like I could concentrate with you yelling so loudly," he retorted, "Anyways, this is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky."
On the monitor was a ramshackle starship made of steel and different buildings. The buildings were labeled after different places in the UK. I knew what truly lied in the belly of the ship, but I had to hold my tongue in order to prevent a paradox.
"Starship UK," I mused, "Britain, but metal."
"That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and shopping," he smiled, "Searching the stars for a new home."
"Can we go out and see?" Amy asked.
"Course we can. But first, there's a thing," he ran to a cupboard under the console and looked for something.
"A thing?" she asked.
"Yes, a thing. Things are good. Better than plans, if you ask me," I said.
"And a very important thing at that. In fact, Thing One," he held a magnifying glass up to his eye, "We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets."
"Or you at least try," I added. He looked from me back to the scanner at the console.
"Ooo, that's interesting," he mused, looking at the crying girl on the scanner. She had lost her friend, but I couldn't remember her name. Suddenly, the Doctor ran out the doors, leaving us to look at the screen.
"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Because 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," Amy said, "It's got to be hard. Don't you find that hard, being all, like, detached and cold?"
No sooner than when the words left Amy's mouth, the Doctor appeared on the screen and tried to console the girl. She got up and ran off.
"Doctor?" Amy asked the screen in surprise. He waved for us to come outside, and we ran out the doors.
Needless to say that Starship UK looked exactly like it's set counterpart. There were vendor carts scattered through London Market, pedicabs made their way through the streets, and people were living their normal lives. Amy stood with her back to the TARDIS as I took a step forward and looked up to the window on the ceiling. Yep. They were real stars glistening in the black expanse of real space. I was speechless.
"I'm in the future. Like hundreds of years in the future," Amy said, a bit breathless, "I've been dead for centuries."
"Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one," the Doctor replied, then faced my starstruck (and I mean that literally) form, "Enjoying the view, Parks?"
I quickly looked away from the ceiling and back to him.
"A bit," I said, smiling sheepishly, "It's just so real and not CGI or TV set. It's a real starship flying through actual space!"
He smiled at me then whisked us through London Market.
"Never mind dead and real, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?" he asked, still grinning.
"What's wrong?" Amy asked.
"Come on, use your eyes. Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?" he said.
"Is it the bicycles?" Amy guessed, pointing to a passing pedicab, "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."
"Said the girl in her nightie," I said, paraphrasing the Doctor's line.
"Oh my God, I'm in my nightie!" Amy exclaimed.
"Now, come on, look around you, both of you. Actually look," the Doctor pleaded, then began to ramble as we walked along, "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."
He ceased his rambling in order to pick up a glass of water from a table and place it on the ground. The water stayed still.
"What are you doing?" the man he took the glass from asked.
"Sorry about him," I said, "His pet fish escaped, and he's checking all the water in this area for him." Of course, this caused the Doctor to look at me incredulously.
"How-" he started.
"This was an episode of the show, and that was one of my favorite lines," I explained. He nodded and placed the glass back on the table.
"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked.
"Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state. Do you see it yet?" he responded.
"Where?" she asked.
"There," he said, pointing to the girl from before who was still crying. He started to walk closer and we followed.
The three of us sat on an empty bench across from where the girl was sitting.
"One little girl crying. So?" Amy said.
"She's crying silently. When kids cry, it's because they're either hurt or want attention, but when they cry silently it's simply because they can't stop. I would know," I said, recalling the time my cat died and I couldn't stop sobbing, "Also, judging by the way no one is trying to comfort her, it's probably something that happens regularly and they don't talk about it."
"Well, it either happens regularly or 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 Doctor added onto my deduction. The girl got up from the bench and walked over to a lift.
"Where'd she go?" Amy asked.
"Deck two oh seven, Apple Sesame block, dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner," the Doctor told us, then handed Amy a colorful wallet, "This fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her."
"Which time?" I asked.
"The fourth," he said sheepishly, "Ask her about those things. The smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere."
"But they're just things," she said.
"They're clean," he replied, "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?"
"No, hang on. What do I do? I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed!" Amy argued.
"I'll go with you, Amy. I know what to do," I said.
"Excellent," the Doctor said, "Both of you meet me back here in half an hour."
"What are you gonna do?" Amy asked.
"What I always do. Stay out of trouble," he rose from his seat, "Badly." He leaped over the bench and started to walk away when Amy called him down.
"So is this how it works, Doctor? You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?" she said.
"Yes," he replied, and walked off.
The two of us had been in a rather awkward silence until we entered a lift.
"How do you know so much about the Doctor?" Amy asked me, "The way you talk to him; it's almost like you've seen him before." I sighed, knowing this was going to come up sooner rather than later.
"You know how the Doctor told you I fell through a crack in my TV?" I asked, she nodded, "Well, strange as it sounds, I come from a parallel universe where the life of the Doctor and his companions is a Science Fiction show called 'Doctor Who', and I happen to be a major fan of the show."
"So, to you, all of this is just a show on TV?" she asked, I nodded, "Weird, but kind of cool in a way. You must be living your dream right now."
"Yeah, I am," I said, grinning like a madwoman.
We got off the lift and started to make our way down Dean Street when Mandy stopped us from in front of a bin.
"You're following me," she said, "Saw you watching me at the market place." Amy held out the wallet.
"You dropped this," she said.
"Yeah, when your friend kept bumping into me," Mandy replied, taking the wallet back.
"Sorry about him, by the way. He's a bit unaware when it comes to personal space," I apologized.
We followed Mandy towards a striped workman's hut where she abruptly stopped.
"What's that?" Amy asked.
"There's a hole. We have to go back," Mandy replied, like it was an everyday occurrence.
"A what? A hole?" Amy asked.
"Are you stupid? There's a hole in the road. We can't go that way. There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps," Mandy explained, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, don't mind me. Never could resist a keep out sign," Amy replied, sitting down at the foot of the tent, "What's through there? What's so scary about a hole? Something under the road?"
"Nobody knows. We're not supposed to talk about it," Mandy said, catching Amy's attention.
"About what?" she asked.
"Below," Mandy answered, sounding a bit frightened.
"And because you're not supposed to, you don't? Watch and learn," Amy said, holding up a hairpin before starting to pick the lock.
"Be careful, Amy," I advised. She nodded and continued with her work.
"You sound American," Mandy told me.
"I am American. And if history repeated itself, I'd say America got their own ship. Am I right?" I asked, Mandy nodded, "I'm Ginny, by the way."
"Your friend sounds Scottish," she told me.
"I am Scottish. What's wrong with that?" Amy piped in, "Scotland's gotta be here somewhere."
"No. They wanted their own ship," Mandy said.
"Good for them. Nothing changes," Amy said.
"So, how did you two get here?" Mandy asked.
"We were just passing through with our friend," I said, "He's still in London Market."
"Your boyfriend?" she assumed.
"Heavens no!" I said.
"Oh," Amy muttered.
"What?" Mandy asked.
"Nothing. It's just, I'm getting married. Funny how things slip your mind," Amy said, laughing slightly.
"Married?" Mandy asked.
"Yeah, shut up, married. Really actually, married. Almost definitely," Amy replied, most likely thinking of Rory.
"When?" Amy asked.
"Well, it's kind of weird. A long time ago tomorrow morning. I wonder what I did," the lock clicked open, "Hey, hey. Result! Coming?"
"No!" Mandy exclaimed, which caused Amy to look at me expectantly.
"I'm sorry, Amy, but you're on your own for this one," I said.
"Suit yourself," she grumbled, and crawled under the tent.
"Stop! You mustn't do that!" Mandy pleaded, but it was too late.
Soon after Amy disappeared under the tent, a group of men in black hooded cloaks formed a semi circle around us. One of them approached me.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"Like I'd tell you," I retorted. Another one held some sort of scanner up.
"She's of age, sir," the other one reported. The first one nodded and held up a ring to my face, which sprayed out a gas. My thoughts grew foggy and my legs gave out from beneath me. One of the men managed to catch me before I fell to the ground, unconscious.