We jumped. "Up. Look up." I said. "Are you okay?" River asked Amy. "What happened?" Amy questioned. "We jumped." River replied. "Jumped where?" Amy asked. "Up. Up. Look up." the Doctor ordered. "Where are we?" Amy didn't understand. "Exactly where we were." River replied. "No we're not." Amy said. "Move your feet." the Doctor said, sonicing a circular hatch in the floor. "Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain." Amy quizzed. "Oh, come on, Amy, think. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?"
"The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are." I looked down at the statues. "Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now." Octavian pointed out. "They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army." The hatch finally opened. A light went out. "They're taking out the lights. Look at them. Look at the Angels." I demanded. "Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you." the Doctor said. "How?" Amy asked. The Doctor dropped through the open hatch. "Doctor!" Amy yelled. "It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move."
"Okay, men. Go, go, go!" Octavian ordered. I jumped down. The Doctor was working on a control panel. "The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?" Octavian asked. The hatch closed. "They're here, now. In the dark, we're finished." A bulkhead further along the corridor started to close. "Run!" I yelled. "This whole place is a death trap." Octavian said. The door closed. "No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic." He looked around at us, "Oh, just me then. What's through here?" he asked River. "Secondary flight deck." she replied. "Okay. so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?" Amy asked. "I've thought about that." the Doctor responded. "And?"
"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See? I've thought about it. The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them. It's impossible." he said, River was working on a control panel. "How impossible?" she asked. "Two minutes." the Doctor said. The outer hatch was open. "The hull is breached and the power's failing." The light went out. "Sir, incoming." a cleric warned. "Doctor? Lights." Amy said.
"Clerics, keep watching them." Octavian ordered. "And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes." the Doctor added, he turned to Octavian, I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now." he said. "Good work, Doctor." Octavian said. "Yes. Good, good, good. Good in many ways. Good, you like it so far." he asked Amy. "So far?" Amy questioned. "Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control." the Doctor explained. "Good. Fine. Do it." Octavian nodded. "Including the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights." the Doctor added. "How long for?"
"Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer." the Doctor said. "Maybe?" Octavian quizzed. "I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this." the Doctor shrugged. "Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness." Amy informed. "No other way. Bishop."
"Doctor Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?" Octavian asked River. "I absolutely trust him." River replied. "He's not some kind of madman, then?" Octavian questioned. "I absolutely trust him." River smiled. "Excuse me." he moved passed River. "I'm taking your word, because you're the only one who can manage this guy. But that only works so long as he doesn't know who you are. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell him. Understood?" Octavian said. River nodded, "Understood."
"Okay, Doctor. We've got your back." Octavian looked back at his clerics. "Bless you. Bishop." the Doctor smiled. "Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol. We don't have bullets to waste." Octavian ordered. "Juno, Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns."
"Ten." I said.
"No, four. Four turns." the Doctor corrected. "Yeah, four. I heard you." I nodded. "Ready!" he shouted, plunging his sonic screwdriver into a control unit. "On my count, then. God be with us all. Three, two, one, fire!" The lights went out, the Clerics started to shoot. "Turn!" the Doctor ordered. "Doctor, it's opening. It's working." Amy said as we turned the wheel. We got the bulkhead open just enough to squeeze through. "Fall back!" the Doctor pushed us through. After the Doctor ran through, it clung shut again. We ran along a short corridor and into a secondary flight deck.
"Doctor, quickly." River said. "Doctor!" Amy called. He dodged inside at the last second running to the controls as the door shut. The Angels thump on the door as the wheel starts to turn. "Doctor!" she turned to Octavian. "What are you doing?" Amy asked. Octavian had placed a device on the door. The wheel stopped turning."Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now." he smiled proudly. "Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow. The wheel started to turn slowly.
"Dear God!" Octavian exclaimed. "Ah, now you're getting it. You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time." the Doctor turned. "Doctor." The wheel on a second door to the right of the main one started to turn. "Seal that door. Seal it now." Octavian ordered. "We're surrounded." River said. Another wheel began to turn. "Seal it. Seal that door. Doctor, how long have we got?" Octavian asked the Doctor. "Five minutes, max." he replied.
"Nine." I said.
"Five." the Doctor turned. "Five. Right. Yeah." I nodded. "Why'd you say nine?" he asked me. "I didn't?" I said.
We need another way out of here." River said. "There isn't one." Octavian looked around. "Yeah, there is. Course there is. This is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?" the Doctor grinned. "Of course." me and River said. "Of course what? What do they need?" Amy asked. "Can we get in there?" Octavian questioned. "Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up." he looked to the sides of the wall, "There's clamps. Release the clamps." he pointed. "What's through there? What do they need?"
"They need to breathe."
The rear wall of the flight deck slid up to reveal a forest, "But that's. That's a." Amy was flabbergasted. "It's an oxygen factory." River said. "It's a forest." Amy's eyes widened. "Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory." I smiled. "And if we're lucky, an escape route."
"Eight." I said. "What did you say?" River turned to me. "Nothing." I replied.
"Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there." Octavian turned, "On it. Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels." Amy tapped my shoulder, "But trees, on a space ship?" she asked me. "Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees." The Doctor walked to one of the trees, ripping the bark away revealing wires. "Treeborgs. Trees plus technology. Branches become cables become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle on a space ship in a maze. Have we impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"
"Seven." I said. "Seven?" the Doctor questioned. "Sorry, what?" I asked. "You said seven." the Doctor walked up to me. "No. I didn't." I shook my head. "Yes. you did." River said.
"Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck" Octavian interrupted. "Oh, good. That's where we need to go." the Doctor's attention was on Octavian. "Plotting a safe path now."
"Quick as you like." The walkie-talkie spoke, "Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir." Angel Bob said. "Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject." the Doctor squinted. "The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve."
"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"
"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world. and all the stars and worlds beyond."
"Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?"
"We have no need of comfy chairs."
"I made him say comfy chairs." the Doctor grinned.
"Six." I said.
"Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Juno?" the Doctor looked at me. "There is something in her eye." Angel Bob replied. "What's in her eye?" the Doctor asked. "We are."
"What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five. I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine." I struggled. "You're counting." River walked up to me. "What?" I questioned. "You're counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes." the Doctor walked up to me as well. "Why?" I asked. "I don't know." he grabbed my hands. "Well, counting down to what?" I questioned. "I don't know."
"We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space." Angel Bob said. "Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much." the Doctor responded. "With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand." There was a screeching sound. "What's that? Dear God, what is it?" River asked. "They're back." Octavian warned. "It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing." Angel Bob explained. "Laughing?" I questioned. "Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the Tardis hasn't noticed." Angel Bob teased. "Doctor."
"No. Wait. There's something I've missed." he turned to a steaming W crack in the bulkhead above the entrance, it was widening. "That's, that's, that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl." Amy pointed to it. "Yes. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched." the Doctor nodded, moving towards the crack. "Okay, enough. We're moving out." Octavian began to walk off. "Agreed. Doctor?" River turned to him. "Yeah, fine." he mumbled. "What are you doing?" River asked as he took out his sonic. "Right with you." he scanned the crack. "We're not leaving without you." River frowned. "Oh yes, you are. Bishop?"
"Miss Pond, Miss Juno, Doctor Song, now!" Octavian ordered. "Doctor?" I called. "Come on!" River yelled. The Doctor crouched. "So, what are you? Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good." he turned around, surrounded by angels. He muttered something to himself before he was grabbed by the back of his jacket collar by one of the angels. "Argh!"