"Up. Look up." Is the first thing I hear from beside me as I wake up. I look down to see that I'm lying on top of something metal and the look to the Doctor as he gets up from beside me. I hear someone come over to me and I look to see River gripping onto my arm as she helps me to my feet.
"Are you ok?" She asks and nod my head even though it ached a little.
"What happened?" Amy asks from my other side getting up too.
"We jumped." River tells her.
"Jumped where?" I question as the Doctor walks around scanning things.
"Up. Up. Look up." The Doctor repeats himself and I look up to see the Angels dangling from the ceiling.
"Oh my God." I murmur to myself.
"Where are we?" Amy asks looking up.
"Exactly where we were." The Doctor tells her and River comes up to me.
"We're on the ceiling." I whisper to her, in disbelief.
"Yes, yes we are, sweetie." She tells me laughing at my awe.
"No weren't not." Amy argues stubbornly.
"Move your feet." The Doctor says as Amy moves to reveal she was standing on a circular hatch. The Doctor sonics the hatch.
"Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain." Amy tells him. I look to my sister and walk over to them looking up again as the Doctor says to her:
"Oh, come on, Amy, think. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?"
"The artificial gravity." I say to her and partly the Doctor too, answering his question.
"Yes, the artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are." The Doctor explains to Amy.
"Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now." Octavian comments as we look up to the hanging Angels. The Doctor crouches back down and begins to sonic the hatch again. I sit down cross legged on the floor opposite him, trying to take it all in.
"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." He tells Octavian. "You ok, Mackenzie?" He asks as he looks over to me and I nod.
"This is just so, cool!" I say loudly sitting up straight looking back up to the ground. I'm looking up to the ground! The clerics and Amy look at me like I'm crazy but River and the Doctor simply smile. "We have to look up to see the ground. We are hanging from the ceiling!" I laugh completely taken by the situation and forgetting the fact we're still in danger. The Doctor goes back to sonicing the hatch after watching me for a minute. As he does the hatch opens and we both lean over to look inside, but I flinch away from the hatch as one of the lights behind me go out with a loud bang.
"They're taking out the lights. Look at them. Look at the Angels." And everyone but me and the Doctor do so as I watch him lean in and then flip his legs around has he dangles them over the edge. "Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you." He says ad grabs my hand as he goes in pulling me after. I laugh as I land sideways. I start laughing as Amy peers over the side yelling:
"Doctor! Kenzie!"
"Seriously Amy, it's just a corridor." I tease my sister as she sees us standing on - what looks like to her - the wall.
"The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move." The Doctor explains,
"Wicked." I giggle leaning against a wall as the Doctor messes around with something. He looks to me, an amused look on his face.
"You're never going to get bored of this are you?" He asks.
"Never." I assure him. Physics and gravity were so boring in school but now here I am defying the laws of gravity. I was hanging upside down and now I'm hanging sideways, it's awesome!
Everyone climbs in and drops to the floor as the Doctor and I stand by the little console thing he was messing around with on the wall. As the last of the clerics enter the Bishop asks: "The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?" I look to the Doctor, forgetting about the Angel factor of the situation until now. I really wanted him to say they can't, but I have a sneaky suspicion that they can. Suddenly the hatch we all climbed through closes as he says:
"They're here, now. In the dark, we're finished." And as he says this the door behind us that leads to the rest of the ship starts closing. "Run!" He yells as he runs towards it, me right behind him, but we don't get there in time and we look back to see the hatch leading outside is open again.
"This whole place is a death trap." Octavian says and I lean my head against the closed door annoyed that it had closed and we were now trapped.
"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. Oh, just me then. What's through here?" He asks pointing towards the closed door.
"Secondary flight deck." River says as we all face the hatch.
"Okay. so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?" Amy asks, and my happy excited thoughts about the artificial gravity suddenly get ruined by Amy's question and I can't help but glare at her.
"I've thought about that." The Doctor states.
"And?" Amy asks.
"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." The Doctor says and looks to River as she works on a different console opposite the one the Doctor had been working on.
"How impossible?" She questions and we all wait for the Doctor's answer.
"Two minutes." His reply causes me to bite my lip nervously as the lights dim and go out.
"The hull is breached and the power's failing." Octavian states the obvious and I almost want to say 'well, duh' but now isn't the right time for snarky comments, no matter how scared I am. As they flicker back on a hand can be seen over the edge of the crack but only momentarily as the lights fade again, the Doctor turns to the dim light from the console and sonics it.
"Doctor? Lights." My voice sounds gravelly as I look to the hatch worriedly seeing the face of an Angel peeking through as the lights come back on again. Once again they go out and we all stare at the hatch as the light dims and then comes back again, each time more and more Angels appearing, getting closer and closer.
"Clerics, keep watching them." Octavian orders calmly.
"And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes." I glance to the Doctor gulping as he says that. "I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now." He says to River quietly before turning to the closed door and then going to a sealed box and pulling off the seal revealing a load of wires. "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 tells us and I walk over to the box looking as he looks at the different wires. He walks away almost angrily as the Bishop then says.
"Good. Fine. Do it." He approves.
"including the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights." I turn to him some reason not being able to take in what he says.
"How long for?" I ask him.
"Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer." He says walking closer to the Angels before rushing back to the control box.
"Maybe?" Octavian asks, frustrated.
"I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this." The Doctor defends himself.
"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness." Amy complains and I grab her hand sending her a small encouraging smile feeling all the fear that I can see plain in her face.
"No other way. Bishop." The Doctor tells Octavian and we stand in silence as the Bishop finally turns to River.
"Doctor Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?"
"I absolutely trust him." River tells him her back against the wall.
"He's not some kind of madman, then?" River hesitates and I smile a little, knowing that her reply isn't going to be along the lines of 'no, her isn't a madman' because that would be lying.
"I absolutely trust him." She repeats herself and he gets closer to her so he can whisper something as the Doctor turns away and walks back over to Amy and I.
"So you're sure this is going to work?" I ask him, and he gives me his famous smile, my favourite one, the one that says I-know-I-shouldn't-be-loving-this-but-I-do and also at the same times says I've-got-a-crazy-plan-that-probably-won't-work-but-oh-well. I smile back and he knows he doesn't have to reply, because I already know that he has no idea.
"Okay, Doctor. We've got your back." Octavian says finally after he talks with River.
"Bless you. Bishop." The Doctor replies as Amy passes him something.
"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 tells his clerics and I watch as they all stand together at the same time.
"Alright, Amy, Mackenzie, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns." He tells us as he walks away and we nod.
"Ten." Both the Doctor and Amy look at me confused, and I look right back at them with the same look.
"No, Mackenzie, four. Four turns." The Doctor says turning back.
"Yeah, four. I heard you." I say my eyebrows furrowed as I wonder why he repeated himself to me specifically.
"Ready!" The Doctor says and he sonics the little box.
"On my count, then. God be with us all. Three, two, one, fire!" Octavian says and as he shouts fire, the lights go out and Amy and I turn the bulkhead four times as gunfire goes off behind us.
"Doctor, it's opening. It's working." I call to him as the door opens. Amy and I slip through when the crack is wide enough.
"Fall back!" The Doctor yells. The clerics and River come through next followed by Octavian and finally the Doctor as it shuts again.
As we reach the control room the door seals and the Doctor rushes over to the control panel, I follow behind him and watch silently as he types and pulls levers and presses buttons, just like he does on the Tardis. I look up at the sound of the wheel on the door turning.
"What are you doing?" I ask Octavian and I watch as he places a device on the door which stops the wheel spinning. He stands up and looks to me.
"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now." He says.
"Yeah?" The Doctor says, the same look on his face as before and as he says this the wheels starts spinning again, bit by bit.
"Dear God." Octavian mutters as he points his gun to the door.
"Ah, now you're getting it. You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time." As he reaches behind me picking something up Amy watches silently from the side of the console and the Doctor stares at whatever it is.
"Doctor." She finally speaks pointing to the door to the right which was spinning too.
"Seal that door. Seal it now." Octavian orders one of the clerics. The clerics does so and stands pointing his gun to the door, as the other one begins opening and the other cleric copies the other.
"We're surrounded." River says.
"Doctor, how long have we got?" Octavian asks still stood by the centre door.
"Five minutes, max." He says.
"Nine."
"Five." The Doctor says to me using a tone that sounds like he's started arguing with me, and I look at him strangely.
"Five. Right. Yeah." I dismiss the subject and turn away but he grabs my arms and spins me round, getting very close to my face.
"Why'd you say nine?"
"I didn't." I say, giving him a concerned look.
"We need another way out of here." River says to us.
"There isn't one." Octavian replies simply from the doorway. I look watch them as they talk, Octavian was starting to sound very frustrated.
"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 asks rhetorically interrupting River and Octavian's conversation.
"Of course." River says figuring something out and the Doctor turns and points at her, knowing she understands.
"What?" I ask from beside her.
"What do they need?" Amy asks too.
"Can we get in there?" Octavian asks referring to the door behind the Doctor. The Doctor turns to the door behind us.
"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up. There's clamps. Release the clamps." He says walking right up to it and moves the boxes in the way of two clamps, he starts to sonic both of them. I walk up to River confused as to what was going on.
"What's through there? What do they need?" I ask her Amy watching the Doctor but listening.
"They need to breathe." She says turning from her work to look at me and answer. The Doctor steps back as the door begins to slide up to reveal a forest... A forest in a spaceship. I never thought I'd think those words, ever.
"But that... That's a-" Amy gets cut off by River as she now stands to face the forest.
"It's an oxygen factory." Not seeming that surprised by it.
"It's a forest." I state laughing a little at the obscenity of it.
"Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory." River says from beside me, the Doctor speaks without turning as he stares into the forest a look of joy in his eyes, the weirdo.
"And if we're lucky, an escape route." I let out another short laughing leaning against the side console.
"Eight." People turn to look at me for a moment and I wonder why as River then asks:
"What did you say?" I look to her, eyebrows furrows as I feel confusion set in once again.
"Nothing?" I say making it sound more as a question, why do people keep hearing me say stuff, today?
"Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there." The Doctor asks aloud, seeming to ignore what happened. Octavian moves forward towards the forest.
"On it. Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels." Octavian orders.
"But trees, on a space ship?" I ask the Doctor and the Doctor turns to grin at both me and Amy as he heads out just a little further than Octavian, going right up to a tree.
"Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees. You're going to love this. 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 I impressed you yet, Mackenzie Pond?" He asks and I giggle.
"Seven." I say nodding a little. He walks up to me suddenly.
"Seven?"
"Sorry, what?" I ask.
"You said seven." Amy says from beside me as the Doctor stands right in front of me looking closely at my face, I feel my heartbeat pick up a little from his closeness.
"No, I didn't." I tell her, not looking away from the Doctor as he grabs my wrists by my side as he leans in closer narrowing his eyes, I don't move I just stand there, completely bewildered.
"Yes, you did." River says to me and I break eye contact with the Doctor as I look to see River perching on the console watching me closely.
"Doctor there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck." Octavian calls from the forest causing the Doctor to look away for a moment.
"Oh, good. That's where we need to go." The Doctor says before looking back to me, just as close as he was the first time. I don't know where else to look so I keep my eyes trained on his looking into his deep hazel eyes.
"Plotting a safe path now." Octavian says, but I don't listen pay attention, not being able to look away from his eyes, he doesn't even look away this time.
"Quick as you like." He replies.
"Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir." The voice of Angel Bob over the radio calls to the Doctor's attention, though, as he looks away taking the talkie out of his jacket and walks over to the pilot's chair.
"Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject." I chuckle a bit as I walk after him slowly, letting what just happened go, deciding not to dwell on it. Amy catches my wrist and I roll my eyes turning to her too. She looks over me.
"Are you ok?" She asks quietly as the Doctor talks to Angel Bob.
"Amy I'm fine, I don't even know what you guys are going on about." I tell her, walking up behind the Doctor in his chair and leaning against the back of it starting to listen to their conversation.
"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 Doctor says as I come into the conversation, I snicker slightly as he attempts to make the Angels jealous.
"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." Angel Bob says and the Doctor remains silent for a moment longer.
"Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?" I smile a little at his response.
"We have no need of comfy chairs." Hearing Angel Bob say that made me smile again, it was weird to think a stone statue was saying that to us.
"I made him say comfy chairs." The Doctor says look up smiling to see me and I laugh as he looks back to the radio.
"Six."
"Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Mackenzie?" The Doctor says abruptly as I see Amy and River watching me worriedly as I look to the Doctor.
"There is something in her eye." Angel Bob replies. I feel chills go up my spine as I remember thinking that sand had come out of my eye earlier when I was rubbing it.
"What's in her eye?" The Doctor asks. As Angel Bob says his answer, I go rigid terrified by what it means
"We are." The Doctor comes over to me quickly as I start to walk towards him.
"What's he talking about?" I ask, feeling panic set in a little as I back up against the console as the Doctor stands in front of me again staring straight into my eyes this time, I start to feel tingly as I can't look away. "Doctor I'm five." I say to him, not realising my mistake and the Doctor looks a little more concerned and I look over to River and Amy as I see that whatever I've been saying happened again. "I mean five." Hearing it this time I feel more scared as I finally correct myself looking up to the Doctor feeling completely cold, even though he was practically pressed up against me as he continues to look into my eyes. "Fine! I'm fine."
"You're counting." Amy tells me from beside me.
"Counting?" I ask not even looking at her.
"You're counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes." The Doctor tells and I feel like I really need a hug at the moment as I begin to realise that I have been counting down, I couldn't remember it, but now I do.
"Why?" I ask.
"I don't know." He replies quickly.
"Well, counting down to what?" I ask differently.
"I don't know." He replies slower.
"We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space." Angel Bob says over the radio, butting into our conversation and the Doctor backs away over to his chair, and I suddenly feel very alone as I lose his presence, I look over to Amy and I feel myself shudder a little as I start to get a headache. I stand next to her and she pulls me into a side hug, wrapping her arms around me, I just remain motionless.
"Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much." The Doctor teases Angel Bob, obviously a little riled up by what's going on but I don't seem to have the energy to laugh anymore as I lean against Amy, starting to feel tired.
"With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand." Angel Bob says and suddenly a screeching noise fills the room and I clamp my hands over my ears as the noise seems to be amplified by my ear-splitting headache.
"What's that? Dear God, what is it?" River shouts over the dreadful sound.
"They're back." Octavian comments but I stay with my hands over my ears, only just being able to hear the voices. I see Amy watching me worriedly, noticing that I'm finding it a lot louder than them. The noises stop as Angel Bob speaks and I take my hands away.
"It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing."
"Laughing?" The Doctor asks.
"Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the Tardis hasn't noticed." Angel Bob tells us. As he does I look around and look up to see it, the crack, the same crack from mine and Amy's bedroom wall. I stand there silent too freaked out by the appearance of the crack.
"Doctor." Octavian starts but the Doctor stops him.
"No. Wait. There's something I've missed." I feel the Doctor's eyes go to me as I look at the crack and he looks up.
"That's, that's, that's like the crack from our bedroom wall from when we were little girls." Amy says as she looks at it too.
"Yes." He says as the ground starts to shake, I grip onto the console, losing my balance.
"Okay, enough. We're moving out." Octavian states, finally having enough of the weirdness. I stumble over to River and Amy who were watching the Doctor.
"Agreed. Doctor?" River asks.
"Yeah, fine." He replies, obviously not paying much attention.
"What are you doing?" I ask him as I grip onto River's arm, balancing myself.
"Right with you." He replies simply as he sonics the crack.
"We're not leaving without you." I tell him.
"Oh yes, you are. Bishop?" The Doctor asks Octavian for help.
"Miss Ponds, Doctor Song, now!" Octavian shouts at us from inside the forest.
"Doctor?" Amy asks as I walk over to the clerics and Octavian, stumbling a little; one of the clerics catching me.
"You alright love?" He asks as he steadies me.
"Headache." I mutter quietly as Amy and River come up behind me. We move into the woods and Amy begins to notice that I'm not doing great with walking and she loops her arm around my waist, supporting me.
"Kenz?" River asks looking back at Amy and I as I start to slow down, even with the help of Amy, as the tiredness begins to overwhelm me. "Kenzie, what's wrong?" I don't reply as I stand there.
"Kenzie, what's wrong?" Amy asks beside me.
"Four." I hear myself say as I slip out of Amy's grip and sink to the floor sitting on a log and then lying down as it becomes too much and I pull my knees up to my chest. Amy sits next to me lifting my head up and placing it on my lap, stroking my hair softly, not talking as River asks for a med scanner. I block everything out as my head thumps and I start to shiver, feeling extremely cold. I feel someone putting something on my arm as my heads clouds up, not being able to think. I feel a hand, one that I know is Amy's, stroking my head softly. I open my eyes as I hear someone land in front of me and I look to see the Doctor crouching in front of me.
"How did you get past them?" River asks.
"I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe." The Doctor says, I strain my eyes to look up to his face.
"What was it?" I croak out.
"The end of the universe. Let's have a look, then." River hands him something and I hear beeping.
"So what's wrong with her?" Amy asks quietly, I can hear the worry in her voice.
"Nothing, she's fine. You're fine." I hear River say as she leans over me stroking my back lightly and comfortingly. I can tell she's lying though as the beeping speeds up.
"Everything. You're dying." The Doctor says bluntly.
"Doctor!" River scolds him but I don't really care that he was being blunt, I preferred it when people told me the truth in serious matters, it's just deceiving and becomes confusing if people sugar the problems they face.
"Yes, you're right. If we lie to her, she'll get all better. Right. Kenzie. Kenzie. Kenzie. What's the matter with Mackenzie? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?" He says standing up and I start to feel the fear set in as I shiver and begin to feel overly tired, the pain of the headache the only thing keeping me awake.
"Doctor." I whisper.
"Busy." He says turning away and pacing.
"I'm scared." I mumble.
"Course you're scared. You're dying. Shut up."
"Okay, let him think." River says soothingly, Amy was staying very quiet and I squeeze lay staring at the Doctor pace too scared to even close my eyes.
"What happened? She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long."
I hear Octavian and the clerics talking but I don't listen as the Doctor continues.
"Come on, come on, come on. Wakey, wakey. She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and, and-" I begins to get frustrated with himself.
"The image of an Angel is an Angel." I mutter quietly, feeling faint and dizzy on top of the headache and racing heartbeat.
"A living mental image in a living human mind. But we stare at them to stop them getting closer. We don't even blink, and that is exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind." He said sounding excited by figuring it out but as he now kneels in front of me he claps his hands to is mouth, his sign for saying that this is very, very bad.
"Three." I hear myself say and I hear a small sobbing sound from Amy. "Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die." I whimper.
"Please just shut up. I'm thinking. Now, counting. What's that about? Bob, why are they making her count?" He sounds sad as he says this and he stands up taking out the talkie.
"To make her afraid sir." Angel Bob replies.
"Okay, but why? What for?"
"For fun, sir." I cringe at the memory of the angels laughing, this seems to really upset him as he chucks the radio to the ground letting out a very frustrated grunt.
"Doctor, what's happening to her? What's happening to my sister?" Amy asks sounding as if she's about to cry.
"Inside your head, in the vision centres of your brain, there's an Angel. It's like there's a screen, a virtual screen inside your mind and the Angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut you off." He replies Amy's question but addressing me as he kneels down again in front of me.
"Then what do I do?" I ask looking into his eyes.
"If it was a real screen, what would we do? We'd pull the plug. We'd kill the power. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would just take over." He starts to pace again.
"Then what? Quickly." River asks him.
"We've got to shut down the vision centres of her brain. We've got to pull the plug. Starve the Angel."
"Doctor, she's got seconds." River whispers and I feel Amy lean over me and hug me to her as I hear another sob from her; a tear slipping out of my eye as she does and I start to find it difficult to breathe.
"How would you starve your lungs?" The Doctor asks, deciding to ignore the comment from River.
"I'd stop breathing." River says as the beeping speeds up even more.
"Mackenzie, close you eyes." He tells me crouching in front of me placing his hand softly on my head.
"No. No, I don't want to." I say quietly as I openly cry, not wanting to die.
"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you. It's afraid. Do it. Close your eyes." He tells me his eyes pleading with me and I hesitate another moment as the monitor starts to make a beeping noise I'd assume is critical before I squeeze my eyes shut. The beeping slows down and I hear a sigh of relief from Amy as she continues to hug me tightly.
"She's normalising. Oh, you did it. You did it." River says as I relax in Amy's lap still feeling tired, but the headache has gone, and I smile a little. I hear Amy sniff.
"You're an idiot, you know that right?" She whispers into my ear. I laugh a little, feeling the relief flood in.
"Yeah, but you're the one crying over this idiot." I tell her, I hear the Doctor chuckle still beside as I remain on the log letting myself get over the shock of nearly dying.