The Beast Below

London Market…

"Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored." Someone on the speaker said.

"I'm in the future. Like hundreds of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries." Amy said.

"Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one. Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?" The Doctor asked.

"What's wrong?"

"Come on, use your eyes. Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?"

"Is it the bicycles? Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."

"Says the girl in her pajamas." Jared said, smirking.

"Oh my God, I'm in my nightie."

"Now, come on, look around you. Actually look." The Doctor said.

"London Market is a crime-free zone." Someone on the speaker said.

"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." The Doctor said.

He takes a pint glass of water from a table.

"Does something feel off to you?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah." Jaune said. "We've been on ships."

"Why does it feel like…" Ren said.

"Guys, spoilers." Jared said, happily. "You'll ruin the fun for the Doctor. I love how you three figured it out in a couple of seconds."

"What are you doing?" The man asked.

And puts it on the floor.

The Doctor looks at it for a moment then returns it to the table, "Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish. Where was I?"

"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?" The Doctor asked.

"Where?" Amy asked.

"Look over there." Ren said.

"It's a child." Nora said. "She might need help."

The weeping Mandy, all alone.

"Come on, team." Jared said, happily. "Let's make her feel better."

The Doctor, Jared, and Team RNJR go to her and a Winder watches them.

"So, what'll happen during this adventure?" Ruby asked.

Jared is eating some chocolate chip cookies, "Oh. A lot of things. If I remember correctly, someone will mess up. And there's some other details I'm missing."

"What details? Is it important?"

"Yes. Can't remember what. It's been a while I last watched this one."

"So, your foreknowledge won't help as much." Jaune said. "Great…"

"What do we do now?" Ren asked.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Nora said, looking at Jared. "You have been through a lot, Jared."

"Just take it easy. Everything will work out."

"Really?" Jared asked.

"One little girl crying. So?" Amy asked.

"Well, she's crying silently. Children cry because they want attention. Or they're hurt or afraid. I do it because I've been more in tune with my emotions. Since I grew up around female cousins." Jared said, smiling.

"Jared's right with all of that." The Doctor said. "But when they cry silently, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that."

"Are you a parent?" Amy asked.

"Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so 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 said.

A Smiler watches Mandy get into a lift.

"Where'd she go?" Amy asked.

"Deck two oh seven." The Doctor said. "Apple Sesame block, dwelling 54A."

"Well, you're looking for Mandy Tanner." Jared said, smiling. "Um, this fell out of her pocket. We were playing dodgeball. It took us a couple rounds for her to tire her out."

"Not the best idea to get information out of a girl." Ruby said, sadly.

"Yeah. You could have just asked." Nora said.

"Um, I could." Jared said, frowning.

"Well, why didn't you?" Jaune asked.

"Because dodgeball is more fun!" Jared said, holding the dodgeball. "That's why."

"That wasn't a safe option." Ren said. "You could have hurt her."

"Anyway, to move us away from dodgeball. Amy, you, Ren, and Nora, ask her about those things. The smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere." The Doctor said, giving Amy a colourful wallet.

"But they're just things." Amy said.

"They're clean. Everything else here is all 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. Look. Ask Mandy, why are people scared of the things in the booths?" The Doctor asked.

"No, hang on. What do we do? I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed." Amy said.

"Come on, it's this or Leadworth, Amy." Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "Whatcha think?"

"Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose? Will she follow Mandy with Ren and Nora? Or does she want to go home? Ha ha, gotcha. Meet me, Jared, Ruby, and Jaune back here in half an hour." The Doctor said.

"What are you lot going to do?" Amy asked.

"We're gonna do what we always do as heroes." Jared said, squeezing Ruby's hand.

"We're gonna stay out of trouble." Ruby said.

"Badly." Jaune said, frowning. "Since trouble is always around the corner."

"So is this how it works, Doctor, Jared? The two of you never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?" Amy asked.

"Yes." The Doctor said.

Deck 207…

Amy, Ren, and Nora leave footprints in the dirt of Dean Street.

"You three were following me. Saw you watching me at the marketplace." Mandy said.

"You dropped this." Ren said, taking out the wallet. "Is it yours?"

"Yeah, when your friends were playing dodgeball with me."

"Ooo, what's that?" Nora asked.

"There's a hole. We have to go back." Mandy said.

"A what? A hole?" Amy asked.

"Magpie Electricals." Ren said, looking at the sign. "Jared told me about that. The Wire."

"Wasn't that 1950s England?" Nora asked.

There's a striped workman's hut with yellow flashing lights and a keep out sign.

"Are you lot 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. What are you three doing?" Mandy asked.

"Oh, don't mind us." Nora said. "I love getting into trouble."

"She loves coffee and pancakes." Ren said. "And she can never resist a keep out sign. No girls can."

"Yup." Amy said. "Curiosity always gets us women. What's through there? What's so scary about a hole? Something under the road?"

The workman's hut is padlocked.

"Nobody knows. We're not supposed to talk about it." Mandy said.

"About what?" Amy asked.

"Below." Mandy said.

"And because you're not supposed to, you don't? Watch and learn." Amy said, picking the lock with a hairpin, watched by a Smiler.

"You sound Scottish." Mandy said.

"I am Scottish. What's wrong with that? Scotland's got to be here somewhere."

"No. They wanted their own ship."

"Hmm. Good for them. Nothing changes."

"And you sound American." Mandy said, looking at Nora.

"American?" Nora asked. "Oh, my accent."

"And you sound Japanese." Mandy said, looking at Ren.

"Japanese?" Ren asked.

"So, how did you three get here?"

The Smiler changes to a Frowner.

"Oh, just passing through, you know, with a guy and his friends." Amy said.

"Your boyfriend?" Mandy asked.

"Oh."

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just, I'm getting married. Funny how things slip your mind."

"Married?"

"Yeah, shut up, married. Really, actually married. Almost definitely."

"When?"

"Well, it's kind of weird. A long time ago tomorrow morning. I wonder what I did? Hey, hey. Result! Coming?" Amy asked.

"No!" Mandy said, angrily.

"Come on." Nora said. "It could be fun."

"Nora, it could be dangerous." Ren said. "Maybe we should…"

"When has that ever stopped us?"

The Frowner turns to a Scowler.

"Suit yourself. Come on, Flower Power." Amy said, looking at Ren and Nora.

"Stop! You mustn't do that!" Mandy said.

Amy, Ren, and Nora goes inside the workman's hut, which is pulsing with red light.

Amy finds a wind-up torch, "Oh, my God. That's weird. That's…"

"A space squid, thing!" Nora said.

A tentacle lashes at Amy and Nora. The three back out to find themselves surrounded by Winders. One points his ring at Amy, then Ren, and finally Nora. It emits a gas and they pass out.

Engine room…

The Doctor, Jared, Ruby, and Jaune climb down a ladder and start feeling the walls.

"Can't be." The Doctor said, scanning it with his screwdriver.

"But it is, Raggedy Man." Jared said, and there is a glass of water on the floor. "Sorry, you're still old and raggedy in my heart, Doctor. Since that face, the one you have now, was the first one I saw. Back home. In terms of Doctor Who."

The woman is wearing her mask now.

"The impossible truth in a glass of water. Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor, Jared, Ruby, and Jaune?" Liz asked.

"Wait, you know us?" Ruby asked.

"Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Doctor, tell me what you see in the glass." Liz said. "And Jared, tell me what you told Team RNJR."

"Who says we saw anything?" Jaune asked.

"Don't waste time. At the marketplace, Doctor, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?" Liz asked.

"No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So, I thought I'd take a look. It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look, they're dummies, see? And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was…" The Doctor said.

"No engine at all." The Doctor, Liz, Ruby, and Jaune said, at the same time.

"But how? This ship is traveling though space!" Ruby said.

"Yeah. How is that possible?" Jaune asked. "It defies the laws of physics. We saw it."

"The impossible truth, Ruby, Jaune. We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly." Liz said.

"How?" The Doctor asked.

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor, Jared, Ruby, and Jaune. You're our only hope. Your friends are safe. This will take you to them. Now go, quickly!" Liz said.

"Seriously, a Star Wars reference." Jared said, rolling his eyes. "Ugh. I forgot how much Star Wars is in this adventure."

"Yet you loved referencing Back to the Future while we were in the 1950s." Ruby said, as Liz hands over a tracking device and turns to leave.

"Who are you? How do we find you again?" The Doctor asked.

"I am Liz Ten, and I will find you." Liz said.

Voting cubicle...

Amy wakes up in a chair in front of four screens and two large buttons labelled Forget and Protest, watched a Smiler.

"Welcome to voting cubicle three thirty C. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it. The United Kingdom recognises 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. Name, Amelia Jessica Pond. Age, thirteen hundred and six." The computer said.

Pity the four screens all say 1308…

"Shut up." Amy said, laughing a little.

"Marital status, unknown." The computer said.

"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. If you choose to protest, understand this. If just one percent of the population of this ship do likewise, the programme 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." Morgan said, on screen.

The presentation is fast, and leaves Amy reeling. She presses Forget. The screen displays Message Waiting. Play.

"This isn't a trick. This is for real. You've got to find the Doctor, Jared, and Team RNJR and get them back to the Tardis. Don't let them investigate. Stop them. Do whatever you have to, just please, please get the Doctor, Jared, and Team RNJR off this ship!" Amy said, on screen.

The door opens. Mandy, Ren, and Nora are waiting outside, then the Doctor, Jared, Ruby, and Jaune bounces in.

"Listen to me. This isn't a trick. This is for real." Amy said, on screen.

"Amy?" The Doctor asked.

"You've got to find the Doctor, Jared, and Team RNJR." Amy said, on screen.

"Seriously, Amy…" Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "Why'd you do that?"

Amy turns off the message.

"What have you done?" The Doctor asked.

The Doctor scans a device in the ceiling, "Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about twenty minutes."

"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy asked.

"Because everyone does. Everyone chooses the Forget button." Mandy said.

"Did you?" The Doctor asked:

"I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm twelve. Any time after you're sixteen, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then once every five years." Mandy said.

"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action."

"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?"

"Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish. I can't even see the movie. Won't play for me."

"It played for me."

"The difference being the computer doesn't accept me as human."

"Why not? You look human."

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first."

"And it won't even play for me and Team RNJR." Jared said, smiling. "We're humans. But from different universes. We weren't born here. So it won't play for any of us."

"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?" Amy asked.

"No. There were, but there aren't. Just me now. Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened. And you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Because this is what I do, every time, every day, every second." The Doctor said. "This. Hold tight. We're bringing down the government."

The Doctor hits the Protest button.

"Um, I don't like this." Ruby said, sadly.

The door slams shut, trapping him, Amy, Jared, Ruby, and Jaune inside.

"Neither do I." Jaune said, frowning.

The Smiler becomes a Scowler and the floor opens up to reveal the long drop.

"But this is the best part!" Jared said, happily.

"Say wheee!" The Doctor said.

"Argh!" Amy said.

Outside, the cubicle sign changes from Occupied to Empty.

Outside Voting Cubicle 330C…

"What do we do?" Nora asked. "We can't just leave them!"

Mandy, Ren, and Nora turn to see the masked woman.

"We can't." Ren said. "But how do we reach them? They're literally going down a trash disposal."

"It's all right, love." Liz said, removing her mask. "It's only me. And Flower Power, I can get you to the rest of your friends."

(Jared's POV)

Waste disposal…

The Doctor and I drop down a chute into what appears to be organic waste.

"Seriously? Another Star Wars reference!" I said, annoyed. "Trash compactor! Ugh, out of all the things. But at least there isn't a monster in here."

Amy, Ruby, and Jaune follow a few moments later with a scream.

"Argh! High speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel." The Doctor said.

"It's a bit disgusting." Ruby said, sadly. "Where are we?"

"Six hundred feet down, twenty miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say Lancashire. What's this then, a cave? Can't be a cave." The Doctor said.

"It looks like a cave." Jaune said.

"It's a rubbish dump, and it's minging!" Amy said, angrily.

"Yes, but only food refuse. Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship." The Doctor said.

"The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed."

"What's it feeding?" Jaune asked. "Because it looks like food in here."

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy." Amy said.

"And that's not a good sound."

A distance animal noise.

"Wait, it's not a floor." Ruby said, jumping up and down to check. "What is it? It's a, um…"

"It's a what?" Amy asked, looking at Ruby.

"Oh, I know. Don't freak out, Amy. Go omm." I said, laughing a lot.

"Omm."

"I remember now. This is a tongue! That we're in."

I walked towards Ruby and Jaune.

"A tongue?" Jaune asked. "This is a tongue?"

"A tongue. A great big tongue." The Doctor said.

"This is a mouth. This whole place is a mouth? We're in a mouth?" Amy asked.

"Yes, yes, yes. But on the plus side, roomy." The Doctor said.

"How do we get out of here?" Jaune asked.

"How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous. Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach. Though not right now." The Doctor said.

"Doctor, Jared, how do we get out?" Amy asked.

"Okay, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is closed for business."

"Those are teeth." Ruby said, looking at a wall of lovely big teeth. "I don't think we can get out that way."

"We could try, though." Amy said.

"No, stop, don't move." The Doctor said, and the 'floor' vibrates. "Too late. It's started."

"What has?" Amy asked.

"Swallow reflex."

"What are you doing?" Ruby asked. "Is it a good thing? Or a bad one?"

"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors."

"Chemo-what?" Amy asked.

"The eject button." The Doctor said.

"How does a mouth have an eject button?" Jaune asked.

"Think about it! I don't like it at all." I said, trying not to vomit. "Why couldn't this be Vincent Van Gogh!"

A wave of vomit approaches.

"Right, then. This isn't going to be big on dignity. Geronimo!" The Doctor said.

Overflow pipe…

"There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion and yes, all of you are covered in sick." The Doctor said.

"Where are we?" Ruby asked.

"Overspill pipe, at a guess."

"Oh, God, it stinks." Amy said.

"Oh, that's not the pipe." The Doctor said.

"Oh. Phew. Can we get out?"

"One door, one door switch, one condition. We forget everything we saw. Look familiar?" The Doctor asked, looking at a Forget button. "That's the carrot. Ooo, here's the stick." Two Smiler booths light up. "There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing there?" The Smilers become 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?" Frowners become Scowlers. "Oh, stop it. I'm not leaving and I'm not forgetting, and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues, huh?"

"Um…" I said, when the booths open and the Smilers step out. "There's too much of them."

"Doctor?" Amy asked.

Liz steps up between the Doctor, Amy, Ruby, Jaune, and I and shoots the Smilers.

"Look who it is. You look a lot better without your mask." The Doctor said.

"You must be Amy. Liz. Liz Ten." Liz said.

"Hi." Amy said.

"Yuck. Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick. You know Mandy, yeah? She's very brave." Liz said. "And Ren and Nora, or as you would call them, Jaune and Jared, Flower Power, they kept Mandy occupied."

"Does everyone know my ship name for them?" Jaune asked, looking at me.

"Uh…" I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I missed you guys, okay?"

"So, um, how did you find us?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, she placed a tracking device on you!" Nora said, happily.

"In other words, we've been eavesdropping." Ren said.

"Dude!" I said, angrily. "Rude!"

"Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?" Liz asked.

"You're over sixteen, you've voted. Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it." The Doctor said.

"No. Never forgot, never voted, not technically a British subject."

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know us?"

"The two of you are a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious strangers, M O consistent with higher alien intelligence, one of you with hair of an idiot, the other with electronics of the future. I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was." Liz said.

"Wait, um, your family knows about me too?" I asked.

"They're repairing. Doesn't take them long. Let's move."

Sub basement 4…

"The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry Twelve." Liz said, recalling what happened. "Jared. Video games with Mary. A couple hundred years early. For play time sessions involving Animal Crossing, Smash, Splatoon, and Mario Kart. You lot having tea and scones with Liz Two. Vicky was a bit on the fence about the both of you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you two on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, Doctor, you bad, bad boy."

"Liz Ten." Ruby said, in awe.

"Liz Ten, yeah. Elizabeth the Tenth. And down!" Liz said, and she turns, they duck, and she shoots the repaired Smilers again. "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule."

Corridor…

"There's a high-speed Vator through there. Oh, yeah. There's these things." Liz said, while there are tentacles beating at the grating. "Any ideas?"

"Doctor, Ren, Nora, and I saw one of these up top. There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through like a root." Amy said.

"Exactly like a root. It's all one creature, the same one we were inside, reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship." The Doctor said.

"What, like an infestation? Someone's helping it. Feeding it. Feeding my subjects to it. Come on. Got to keep moving." Liz said.

Liz and Mandy leave.

"Doctor?" Amy asked.

"Oh, Amy, Jared, Team RNJR. We should never have come here." The Doctor said.

"I know. This is way, way too soon. After the Master, Doctor." I said, sadly. "I don't like this at all. I really don't. I barely remember what happened in this adventure."

(Open POV)

Security office…

"Winder division one. Ten has penetrated to the lower levels. Initiate the protocol. God save the Queen." Hawthorne said.

State apartments..

"What's with all the glasses?" Ren asked.

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

"There's one thing I don't get." Jaune said. "Why is a queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?"

"Yeah, why go stealth?" Ruby asked.

"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." Liz said.

"How old were you when you came to the throne?" The Doctor asked.

"Forty. Why?"

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

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

"So, you always wear that mask out in public." Nora said, looking at the mask.

"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." The Doctor said.

"Yeah? So what?"

"Oh, Liz. So everything."

"What's the plan?" Ruby asked.

A division of Winders enters.

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

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

"Why would I do that?"

Peter's head turns to become a Scowler.

"So, how can they be Smilers?" Ren asked.

"They're half Smiler, half human." Jared said, happily. "They're like a hybrid."

"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?" Liz asked.

"The highest authority, Ma'am." Peter said.

"I am the highest authority."

"Yes, ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am."

"Where?"

"The Tower, Ma'am."

Tower…

Amy looks through a grating, where tentacles are flailing, "Doctor, Jared, where are we?"

"Oh, we're in the dungeon. The lowest point of Starship UK." Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "Not what I would call fun. But there is multiple buttons and such inside."

"Ma'am." Hawthorne said.

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

"There's children down here." Jared said, squeezing Ruby's hand. "Why do it? And have them here."

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

"Yeah, look at us. 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." The Doctor said.

"Oh, my god." Ruby said, looking at the top of a pulsating brain is visible in the middle of the room, with giant electrodes pointing down at it. "That's awful!"

"What's that?" Liz asked.

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

"Or what?" Jaune asked. "What's the other option?"

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator. Starship UK's go faster button." The Doctor said.

"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. Tell you what. Normally, it's above the range of human hearing. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear." The Doctor said, and he sonics a tentacle.

They hear a screaming sound.

"Stop it. Who did this?" Nora asked. "That noise was incredibly loud."

"We act on instructions from the highest authority." Hawthorne said.

"I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now! Is anyone listening to me?" Liz asked.

"Liz. Your mask." Jared said.

"What about my mask?"

"Just look at it. It's really old, close to 200 years old. I think."

"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." The Doctor said.

"Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years." Liz said.

"Ten years. And the same ten years, over and over again, always leading you here."

Two buttons - Forget and Abdicate.

"What have you done?" Liz asked.

"Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us." Hawthorne said.

"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 travellers 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." Liz said, on screen.

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

"Because you knew if we stayed here, we'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. You don't ever decide what I need to know." The Doctor said.

"You really shouldn't have done that, Amy." Jared said, looking at Amy. "I trusted you. And you tried to do something on your own with instinct. You messed up hard."

"I don't even remember doing it." Amy said.

"You did it. That's what counts."

"I'm, I'm sorry. The both of you."

"Oh, I don't care. When I'm done here, you're going home." The Doctor said. "I trust Jared and Team RNJR more than you, right now."

"Why? Because I made a mistake? One mistake? I don't even remember doing it. Doctor! Jared!" Amy said, angrily.

"Yeah, I know. You're only human."

"What are you doing?" Ruby asked.

"The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it." The Doctor said.

"Why are you doing that? That'll be like killing it." Jaune said.

"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 any more."

"There must be something we can do, some other way." Liz said.

"Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to me today!"

Amy, Mandy, Jared, and Team RNJR sit and watch while the Doctor adjusts the machinery. Children enter.

"Timmy! You made it, you're okay. It's me, Mandy." Mandy said.

A tentacle flails behind Mandy, then gently taps her on the shoulder. Amy watches as she strokes it.

"So, what do we do?" Ruby asked. "The Star Whale is suffering."

"I don't know. I really don't." Jared said, smiling. "Maybe I can help."

"The Doctor doesn't want our help." Jaune said.

"Maybe we can help him." Nora said. "Ooo. Let's eat pancakes."

"Pancakes? Now." Jared said.

"We've got more desperate things to worry about than pancakes." Ren said. "The Star Whale."

"Maybe it's the Doctor." Ruby said. "It could be him, right?"

"He's old and kind."

"Yup. What now?"

"We let the penny drop for Amy!" Jared said, excitedly.

"We wait?" Nora asked. "But waiting is boring."

"It is." Ruby said. "Why do we have to?"

"Because Amy is figuring out what to do. She usually stops the Doctor here. I think." Jared said.

"So, it's not that bad then."

"Yup."

"Doctor, stop. Whatever you're doing, stop it now! Sorry, Your Majesty. Going to need a hand." Amy said, dragging Liz to the voting buttons.

"Amy, no! No!" The Doctor said, angrily.

And pushes Liz's hand down on the Abdicate button.

"You knew this would happen." Ruby said, as Jared squeezes her hand. "That's why you didn't want to interfere."

The Whale roars.

"Yeah. I may not like this adventure that much. But I do love the end result of it." Jared said, smiling.

Starship UK shakes briefly, causing panic.

"Amy, what have you done?" The Doctor asked.

"Nothing at all. Am I right?" Amy asked.

"We've increased speed." Hawthorne said.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Got to help."

"It's still here. I don't understand." Liz said.

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and 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." Amy said.

Observation deck…

"From Her Majesty. She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK." Amy said, holding out Liz's mask.

"Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship." The Doctor said.

"You could have killed a Star Whale." Amy said.

"And you saved it. I know, I know."

"Amazing though, don't you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery and loneliness, and it just made it kind."

"But you couldn't have known how it would react."

"You couldn't. But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?" Amy asked.

"It sounds like you, Spaceman." Jared said, laughing a lot. "You really are an idiot, sometimes, you know that?"

"I think he does." Ruby said.

"Yeah." Jaune said.

The Doctor and Amy hug. And Jared went into a group hug with Team RNJR.

"Hey." Amy said.

"What?" The Doctor asked.

"Gotcha."

"Huh. Gotcha."

London market…

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

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

"Sorry, what?"

"Well, it's always a big day tomorrow. We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones."

"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."

"What happened?" Amy asked.

"Hello." The Doctor said.

"Right. Doctor, Jared, there's something I haven't told you." Amy said.

"So, is she finally gonna spill?" Ruby asked.

"Yes." Jared said, happily. "She will."

"I hope so." Ren said.

"Maybe not." Jaune said.

"No, hang on. Is that a phone ringing?" Amy asked.

Tardis...

"People phone you?" Amy asked.

"Well, it's a phone box. Would you mind?" The Doctor asked.

"Can we go home?" Ruby asked, looking at Jared. "I want to sleep in my bed."

"Same." Jaune said. "After dealing with the Star Whale…"

"We could all use a nap." Ren said.

"Just be safe." Nora said.

"Okay." Jared said, leaning against the TARDIS console. "I know that today was a long day. Amy, answer the damn phone already."

Amy answers the trim phone on the console, "Hello? Sorry, who? No, seriously, who? Says he's the Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?"

"Which Prime Minister?" Jared asked.

"Er, which Prime Minister? The British one." Amy said.

"Which British one?" The Doctor asked.

"Which British one? Winston Churchill for you."

"Oh! Hello, dear. What's up?" The Doctor asked, grabbing the phone.

War rooms...

"Tricky situation, Doctor. Potentially very dangerous. I think I'm going to need you and Jared." Churchill said.

There is a shadow of a Dalek on the wall.

"Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister." The Doctor said, his voice over the phone.

Tardis…

"We're on our way." The Doctor said.

"Winston Churchill." Jared said, happily. "That's fun. And the London Blitz too. Haven't been to the Blitz in forever!"

The Tardis dematerialises.

"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." Liz said, her voice in Jared's head.

Starship UK travels on, with a w shaped crack in its side.