The Beast Below - Part Three

By the time we had gotten to Liz's chambers, we were dry for the most part. My hair was a bit damp so I decided to pull it into a pony tail, but Amy insisted on braiding it. The Doctor was taking cautious steps through the different glasses of water on the floor.

"Why all the glasses?" he asked.

"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what," Liz replied.

The Doctor held the mask up to get a better look at it, "A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?"

"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," she said.

"Liz, how old were you when you came to the throne?" I asked, leaning against the doorway.

"Forty. Why?" she asked. Amy turned away from a mirror and continued to put her hair in a bun.

"What, you're fifty now? No way," Amy said, obviously surprised.

"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps," Liz replied.

"And you always wear this in public?" the Doctor asked, still looking at the mask.

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting," Liz informed.

"I can imagine," I added.

"Air-balanced porcelain. Stays on by itself because it's perfectly sculpted to your face," he mused, holding the mask up to Liz's face.

"Yeah? So what?" she asked.

"Oh, Liz. So everything," he replied.

Suddenly, a couple of Winders came through the doorway, causing me to move out and over to the rest of the group. The Doctor stood from his spot on the bed and walked next to where I was standing.

"What are you doing here? How dare you come in here?" Liz demanded.

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK," the lead Winder said, "You'll come with us now."

"Why would I do that?" Liz asked. In response, the Winders head turned to reveal a Scowler's face.

"Good reason," I said.

"How can they be Smilers?" Amy asked.

"Half Smiler, half human," the Doctor answered.

Liz stared directly at the lead Winder/Smiler, "Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"

"The highest authority, Ma'am," the Winder said.

"I am the highest authority!" Liz repeated.

"Yes Ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am," the Winder ordered.

"Where?" Liz asked.

"The Tower, Ma'am," the Winder responded.

With that, we were escorted out of Liz's chambers and down into the depths of Starship UK. The Winders led the way down several staircases and eventually through a doorway into the lowest point of the ship. The first thing that caught my eye was the menacing looking device sending jolts of electricity into the Star Whale's brain. So, while everyone was crowded around the grating where tentacles were trying to break free, I ran to the brain.

"You poor thing. I'm so sorry," I accidentally said aloud, but luckily no one heard me.

"Doctor, where are we?" Amy asked.

"The lowest point of Starship UK," he spun around, "The dungeon."

"Ma'am," a new voice made itself known as an older man dressed as a Winder.

"Hawthorne. So this is where you hid yourself away," Liz said, "I think you've got some explaining to do."

A line of children carrying bits of metal came through and started to go out the doorway.

"There's children down here. What's all that about?" the Doctor asked.

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won't eat the children," Hawthorne explained, "You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."

"Oh yeah, really lucky. We were upchucked by a beast first, and now we're in the Torture Chamber of the Tower of London. Really lucky indeed!" I sarcastically remarked.

"Except it isn't a torture chamber, Ginny, is it? Well, except it is. Except it isn't. Depends on your angle," the Doctor rambled, walking over to join me near the brain.

"What's that?" Liz asked, also looking at the brain.

"Well, like I say, it depends on your angle. It's either the exposed pain center of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly," the Doctor began.

"Or?" Liz asked.

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator. Starship UK's go faster button," he finished.

"I don't understand," Liz said.

"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," he ranted, obviously angry, "Tell you what. Normally it's above the range of human hearing," he moved over to the grating, removed it, letting a tentacle pop up, and held up his sonic screwdriver, "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear."

As he soniced the tentacle, a blood-curdling scream resounded throughout the room. It was the scream of a creature that was scared, in torment, and just wondering what it had ever done to deserve this, and it was almost unbearable to listen to.

"Doctor, you can stop now," I pleaded, looking right at him. He stopped sonicing the tentacle and looked back to me.

"Who did this?" Liz asked.

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne replied.

"I am the highest authority!" Liz nearly yelled, "The creature will be released, now," no one did anything, "I said now!"

"Liz. Your mask," the Doctor said, holding the mask up.

"What about my mask?" she asked.

"Look at it," he tossed it to her, "It's old. At least two hundred years old, I'd say."

"Yeah? It's an antique. So?" she asked.

"So, if it was an antique, then how come it perfectly fits your face?" I said, "They certainly did slow your body clock, but you aren't fifty. You're actually three hundred years old."

She looked at me in disbelief, "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," the Doctor took Liz's hand and brought her to a screen with a Forget and Abdicate button, "here." After glancing over the buttons, Liz looked to Hawthorne.

"What have you done?" she asked him.

"Only what you have ordered," he answered, "We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us." He then turned the screen on to reveal Liz's face.

"If you are watching this. If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower of London," the image changed to a diagram of a Star Whale, "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've 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 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 video ended, leaving us in a sad sort of shocked silence for a minute.

"I voted for this. Why would I do that?" Amy asked.

"Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong," the Doctor said, then turned to face me with a look of disappointment mixed with anger in his eyes, "And you knew what would happen from the moment we landed here. You didn't even bother to tell me. If you call yourself a fan of me, then why didn't you prevent us coming here?"

I was stunned silent for the longest time, and the fact that the Doctor kept staring at me didn't help. Eventually, I managed to find the right words.

"One of the things I learned from watching you was that foreknowledge is a very dangerous thing. I didn't say anything to you because these things must happen to keep the future right. I didn't want to cause a paradox or something worse," I said meekly, like a student who had been called out by the teacher for something they did.

"You didn't say anything. That's what counts," he said, "You don't ever decide what I need to know, Virginia Parks."

"I can't tell you about your future. That would break the laws of time," I argued.

"Oh, I don't care," he said.

"You should care! You're not the Time Lord Victorious any more. You're the Doctor!" I was yelling at him now, "You're never cruel or cowardly. You never give up and you never give in. Doesn't that promise mean anything to you any more?"

I hadn't realized how far I had gone until after I said it, and I regretted it immediately. The Doctor looked positively outraged from my remarks; not as angry as the Oncoming Storm, but still pretty close. He glared at me as I slowly walked backwards away from him, and he also kept walking towards me until I was up against a wall. At that point I was crouched down, trembling slightly on the ground, looking up to see that he was still glowering at me.

"You're a hypocrite, Virginia Parks. You have the nerve to call yourself a fan of mine, but when given the opportunity to change the way things are, you don't take it. I should've never invited you to stay," he said, obviously trying to keep his anger bottled up, "You embarrass and repel me. When we're done here, you're going back to Earth. And don't tell me that you don't have a family because I don't care. Now get out of my sight."

I think I actually heard my heart break in that instance. To hear those things come from the Doctor's mouth and said towards me left me devastated. Not being able to react at all, I found myself just staring at him, tears forming in my eyes and starting to run down my cheeks. I slowly rose to my feet, walked away from the Doctor without making eye contact, and continued to walk silently until I was out the doorway. From there I ran as fast as my legs could take me up into London Market and right to the TARDIS. It was locked, so I sat down behind it, buried my face in my hands and just cried silently.

The people who said that you should never meet your heroes were right. The Doctor was nothing like the man I saw on television. That man was kinder, more lighthearted, and would probably never say those things to an admirer. Then again, I can't be sure about that.

After the longest time, I heard the sound of the Star Whale roaring, followed by a series of violent tremors. The people in the market panicked as merchandise on vendors fell and lights flickered. Then, after perhaps a minute, it all stopped. The Star Whale was free, and everything remained functioning on Starship UK.

"Amelia Pond, you are magnificent," I cheered, getting up and walking away from the TARDIS and towards a gigantic window looking out at the rest of the Starship and all the stars outside of it.

I sat on a bench alone, gazing out at the deep space in front of me, when the tears began to fall again. Does the Doctor still mean what he said to me? I really don't want to be stranded on a parallel world all alone with no one I know to talk to. I'd be terrified on my own. These thoughts were put on hold for a minute when the voice I was longing and dreading to hear made itself known.

"Ginny!" the Doctor called, followed by a series of hurried footsteps. When he reached the bench I was sitting at, I suppose I let my emotions get the better of me. I stood straight up, raised my hand and actually slapped him across the face.

"Do you have any idea what it was like for me to hear those things coming from you?" I asked while he rubbed his already red cheek, "Well, do you?!"

"No, but I know I did deserve that slap," he said, "And I also know that I don't deserve to be forgiven for the things I said, but I want you to know that I am deeply sorry about it and I really do regret ever saying it," he took my hand in his, "You see, the truth is, Ginny Parks, you're an incredible human being. You have the guts to stand up for what you believe in when most people will just go with the flow. You're not a hypocrite, and I most certainly am not going to make you leave the TARDIS. Understand?"

I didn't say a word in response. I simply threw my arms around him in a hug which he returned to my pleasant surprise.

"I take it I'm forgiven?" he asked.

"Of course you're forgiven, you bow tie wearing buffoon," I said, laughing a bit. We stayed like that for a few minutes until Amy entered with Liz's mask in her hand. She stopped a couple of feet away.

"You two made up, then?" she asked, causing us to break apart. I laughed again and pointed to Amy.

"You are absolutely magnificent. You know that?" I said.

"I think so," she replied, laughing a bit.

"Good. Because it's the truth," I said, "Shall we return to the TARDIS?"

"We shall," the Doctor said, and together we walked back into London Market.

"Shouldn't we say goodbye? Won't they wonder where we went?" Amy asked.

"The rest of their lives. Oh, the songs they'll write. Never mind them. Big day tomorrow," the Doctor said, taking out the TARDIS key.

"Sorry what?" Amy asked.

"It's always a big day tomorrow. He skips the little ones," I clarified, "Doctor, I am positively exhausted from the day's events. Would you mind if I went in early?"

"Not at all, Parks," he said, opening the door for me, "I haven't had the time to make your bedrooms, so will you be okay with spending the night in a spare room?"

"It'll be fine," I said, then closed the door behind me. In truth, I was surprised I had managed to stay awake for this long. When I arrived, the trip sort of sapped me of some of my energy, and now with going on my first adventure out of the way, I was more than ready for a good rest.

The spare room the TARDIS led me to was very simple. The walls were a sort of pastel green, the floor was carpeted, and the queen sized bed had white sheets and a green duvet. There was a spaghetti strapped, knee-length, TARDIS blue cotton nightgown on the bed, which I changed into. Pulling the covers over my body, I thought of one more thing before turning in for the night.

This marks the beginning of a wonderfully mad journey.