—Chapter Thirty-nine | The Pandorica Opens
—IT WAS DARK. Eve was quite happy that River had a torch. The Doctor used his sonic to light a torch before grabbing it. River handed Eve the other one which she lit with the Flame of the one the Doctor had.
The Doctor removed the wooden plank keeping the door closed making it fall to the ground with a loud bang. They pushed the doors open to reveal a large box sitting in the middle.
"It's a Pandorica." The Doctor muttered.
"More than just a fairy tale." River smiled. The Doctor walked forwards before accidentally kicking something. A metal arm. They walked closer to the Pandorica.
"There was a goblin. Or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies." The Doctor said as he walked beside the Pandorica. "The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."
"How did it end up in there?" Amy asked.
"You know fairy tales. A good wizard tricked it." The Doctor began to walk around the place.
"I hate good wizards in fairytales." River took the torch off Eve and handed it to Amy. "They always turn out to be him."
"So it's kind of like Pandora's box, then?" Amy asked. "Almost the same name."
"Sorry, what?" The Doctor questioned as he put the Torch in a hole in the wall.
"The story. Pandora's Box, with all the worst things in the world in it. That was my favorite book when I was a child." Amy explained causing the Doctor to stop scanning the Pandorica. "What's wrong?"
"Your favorite school topic, your favorite story. Never ignore a coincidence, unless you're busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence."
"So can you open it?" Eve asked.
"Easily. Anyone can break into a prison. But I'd rather know what I'm going to find first." The Doctor told her while Eve walked up to the Pandorica too.
"You won't have long to wait," River informed them as she looked at the device in her hand. "It's already opening. There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled, one by one. Like it's being unlocked from the inside."
"How long do we have?" The Doctor asked.
"Hours at the most."
"What kind of security?" He asked.
"Everything. Deadlocks, time-stops, matter-lines."
"What could need all that?"
"What could get past all that?"
"Think of the fear that went into making this box." Eve and Amy turned around suddenly when a noise was heard. "What could inspire that level of fear? Hello, you. Have we met?
"So why would it start to open now?" River questioned.
"No idea."
"How could Vincent know about it?" Eve questioned.
"Yeah, he won't be born for centuries." Amy agreed.
"The stones! These stones are great bit transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone. The Pandorica is opening!"
"Doctor - everyone, everywhere?" River questioned.
"Even poor Vincent heard it in his dreams. What's in there, what could justify all this?" The Doctor asked as he walked back toward the Pandorica.
"Doctor, everyone?" River asked again.
"Anything that powerful, I'd know about it. Why don't I know?"
"Doctor, you said everyone could hear it. So who else is coming?"
The Doctor turned around finally hearing River's question. "Oh."
"Oh? Oh, what?" Eve asked.
"Okay, if it is basically a transmitter, we should be able to fold back the signal."
"Doing it!" The Doctor shouted as he ran around doing stuff. Amy and Eve were confused.
"Doing what?" They both asked.
"Stonehenge is transmitting, it's been transmitting for a while... so who heard?" River informed the two as the Doctor scanned around the room with his sonic.
"Okay, should be feeding back to you now. River, what's out there?"
"Give me a moment."
"River, quickly, anything?" Eve looked at River who had a shocked look on her face.
"River?" Eve questioned as she stepped closer to her.
"Around this planet, there are at least 10,000 starships." She told her.
"At least?!"
"10,000, 100,000, 1 million, I don't know. There's too many readings."
"What kind of starships?" The Doctor asked.
The echoing voices of familiar beings spoke. Eve had met these creatures on her first trip with the Doctor, not like she had any choice. "Daleks. They are Daleks." Eve muttered.
"Daleks, Doctor." River sighed.
"Yes, okay, okay, okay, okay. Dalek fleet. Minimum, 12,000 battleships, armed to the teeth. But we've got a surprise on our side!" The Doctor started pacing. "They'll never expect four people to attack 12,000 Dalek battleships. Cause we'd be killed instantly. So it would be a fairly short surprise. Forget surprise."
"Doctor, Cyber-ships." River told him.
"No, Dalek ships, listen to them, those are Dalek ships."
"Yes. Dalek ships and cyber-ships." River said.
"Well, we need to start a fight, turn them on each other." The Doctor said. "I mean, that's easy, it's the Daleks - they're so cross..."
"Sontaran. Four battle fleets."
"Sontarans! Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags!"
"Terieptil. Slitheen. Chelonian." River began to list on and on. "Nestene. Drahvin. Sycorax. Haemo-goth. Zygon. Atraxi. Draconian. They're all here. For the Pandorica."
The Doctor turned to face the Pandorica. "What are you? What could you possibly be?"
The Doctor placed his hand on the Pandorica before the four all ran outside. Above were many starships. I mean a lot. Eve looked around in shock. "Doctor, what do we do?"
"Doctor, listen to me! Everything that ever hated you is coming here tonight. You can't win this. You can't even fight it."
"How many fucking things hate you?!" Eve shouted with disbelief.
"Doctor, this once, just this one time, please, you have to run."
"Run where?" The Doctor questioned.
"Fight how?"
The Doctor took out his mini binoculars, looking out to the distance. "The greatest military machine in the history of the universe."
"What is? The Daleks?" Amy asked.
"No, no, no." He removed the binoculars and turned to the other three. "The Romans!"
River had gone off to collect the Roman army while The Doctor, Eve, and Amy had gone back down to the Pandorica. Amy was lighting torches while Eve sat on a rock. "So what's this got to do with the Tardis?" Amy asked.
"Nothing, as far as I know."
"But Vincent's painting - the Tardis was exploding, is that going to happen?"
"One problem at a time." The Doctor stood. "There's forcefield technology inside this box. If I can enhance the signal, I could extend it all over Stonehenge. Could buy us half an hour."
"What good is half an hour?" Eve asked.
"There are fruit flies that live on Hoppledom 6 that live for 20 minutes and they don't even mate for life. There was going to be a point to that. I'll get back to you."
Eve stood with a stretch before walking around the room, silently listening to the conversation The Doctor and Amy were having.
"So... are you proposing to Eve?" Amy asked causing Eve to stop walking.
"I'm sorry?" The Doctor looked up, shocked and confused at the extremely sudden question.
"I found this in your pocket." Amy held up the ring that Rory had proposed to her with.
"No. No, no, that's, uh... a memory. A friend of mine, someone I lost." He went to grab the ring but Amy pulled it away. "Do you mind?"
"It's weird, I feel... I don't know. Something."
"People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces. Little things we can't quite account for. Faces in photographs, luggage, half-eaten meals... rings... nothing is ever forgotten, not completely."
"And if something can be remembered, it can come back."
Amy sighed before handing back the ring. "So, was she nice, your friend?" The Doctor didn't respond. "But you do like Eve, no?"
There was a silence and Eve stood waiting. He changed the subject. "Remember that night you flew away with me?"
"Of course I do. Why are you changing the subject?"
"And you asked me why I was taking you and I told you there wasn't a reason. I was lying."
"What, so you did have a reason?"
"Your house."
Amys sighed. "My house."
"It was too big, too many empty rooms. Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?"
Eve shouted as a laser came firing toward her. She quickly ran behind the Pandorica followed by Amy and the Doctor. "What was that?"
"Need a proper look." The Doctor told them. "Got to draw its fire, give it a target."
"How?" Amy asked.
"Doctor, I swear-" Eve started.
"You know how sometimes I have brilliant ideas?"
"Doctor-"
"Sorry!" He jumped out with his arms open. "Look at me, I'm a target!" He yelled causing him to get fired at.
"What is that?" Amy asked.
"Arm of a Cyberman." The Doctor told them.
"And what's a cyberman?"
"I'm guessing it's part robot, part man." Eve muttered.
"Yes, Evie, it is. The organic part must have died off years ago, now the robot part is looking for fresh meat."
"What, us?" Amy asked.
"It's just like being an organ donor, except you're alive and sort of screaming. I need to get round behind it, could you draw its fire?" The Doctor asked.
"Like you did?"
"You'll be fine if you're quick, it's only got one arm." Eve showed him a thumbs-up while Amy was screaming as they ran.
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