(Skipping episode 7 Amy's choice)
Graveyard
The Tardis has landed. "Behold, Rio" The Doctor exclaims as they walk out of the Tardis.
"Nah" Andy shakes his head.
"Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe" Rory comments.
"No? Ooo, feel that, though. What's that?" the Doctor jumps up and down, "Ground feels strange. Just me. Wait. That's weird"
"What's weird?" Rory asks her.
"Doctor, stop trying to distract us. We're in the wrong place. Doctor, it's freezing, and I've dressed for Rio. We are not stopping here. Doctor, you listening to me? It's a graveyard. You promised me a beach" Andy complains.
"Blue grass. Patches of it all around the graveyard. So, earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit, but it's not a massive overshoot" the Doctor tells them.
"Why are those people waving at us?" Andy asks, pointing to two figures on the other side of the valley.
"Can't be" the Doctor muses.
Rory waves back, "Don't" Andy stops her.
The Doctor uses a pair of binoculars, "It is. It's you two"
"No, we're here. How can we be up there?" Rory asks.
"Ten years in your future. Come to relive past glories, I'd imagine. Humans, you're so nostalgic" the Doctor explains.
"We're still together in ten years?" Andy asks surprised.
"No need to sound so surprised" Rory tells him.
"Hey, let's go and talk to them. We can say hi to future us. How cool is that?" Andy suggests.
"Er, no, best not. Really best not. These things get complicated very quickly, and oh look. Big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio. Rio doesn't have a big mining thing" the Doctor rambles.
"We're not going to have a look, are we?" Andy asks.
"Let's go and have a look. Come on, you two, let's see what they're doing" The Doctor says as she starts to walk away.
"If she can't get us to Rio, how's she ever going to get us back home?" Rory asks.
"Did you not see over there? It all works out fine" Andy assures her.
"After everything we've seen, we just drop back into our old lives? The nurse and the kissogram?"
"I guess. She's getting away" Andy is about to walk after the Doctor but Rory stops him.
"Go on. I'll catch you both up" Rory tells him, showing him the engagement ring she's gonna put back. Andy nods and Rory runs back to the Tardis.
"Doctor!" Andy shouts after the Doctor as he runs after her.
**********
Mine Gates
"Restricted access. No unauthorized personnel. Hmm" The Doctor reads the warning as she sonics the lock.
"That is breaking and entering" Andy tells her.
"What did I break? Sonicking and entering. Totally different"
"Come on, then"
"You're sure Rory'll catch us up?" the Doctor asks him.
**********
Tunnel
"What about now? Can you feel it now?" the Doctor asks Andy.
"Honestly, I've got no idea what you're on about" Andy tells her.
"The ground doesn't feel like it should" the Doctor explains.
"It's ten years in the future. Maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels" Andy suggests.
"Good thought, but no, it doesn't. Hear that, drill in start-up mode. After waves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass" The Doctor has a few leaves and she tries eating one.
"Oh, please. Have you always been this disgusting?" Andy scrunches up his nose in disgust.
"No, that's recent. What's in here? Hello" the Doctor says walking into a store room.
"Who are you? What're you doing here? And what're you wearing?" Nasreen asks them.
"I dressed for Rio" Andy shrugs.
"Ministry of Drills, earth and science. New ministry, quite big, just merged. It's lot of responsibility on our shoulders. Don't like to talk about it. what are you doing?" the Doctor asks her.
"None of your business"
"Where are you getting these readings from?" the Doctor asks, looking at the screen.
"Under the soil"
"The drill's up and running again. What's going on? Who are these people?" Mack asks entering the room.
"Andy, the Doctor. We're not staying, are we, Doctor?" Andy introduces them.
"Why's there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?" the Doctor asks, ignoring Andy.
"We don't know. It just appeared overnight" Nasreen tells her.
"Good. Right. You all need to get out of here very fast" the Doctor tells them.
"Why?" Nasreen questions.
"What's your name?" the Doctor asks her.
"Nasreen Chaudhry"
"Look at the screens, Nasreen. Look at your readings. It's moving" the Doctor explains, showing the screens.
"Hey, that's specialized equipment. Get away from it" Mack tells her.
Andy squats down by the hole.
"What is?" Nasreen asks the Doctor.
"Doctor, this steam, is that a good thing?" Andy asks her.
"Shouldn't think so. It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting"
"What shouldn't?" Nasreen asks just as the ground rumbles.
"The ground, the soil, the earth, moving. But how? Why?" the Doctor muses.
"Earthquake?" Andy suggests.
"What's going on?" Mack asks.
"Doubt it, because it's only happening under this room" The Doctor answers Andy, ignoring Mack. Two more holes appear in the floor, then three more, "It knows we're here. It's attacking. The ground's attacking us"
"No, no that's not possible" Nasreen denies.
"Under the circumstances, I'd suggest, run!" The doctor shouts and they run. More holes appear and Mack's foot goes down one of them.
"Tony!" Nasreen shouts.
"Stay back, Andy. Stay away from the earth" the Doctor tells Andy.
Andy jumps over a hole to help Mack, "It's okay" a hole opens under Andy's feet, "It's pulling me down"
"Andy!" the Doctor shouts.
"Doctor, help me. Something's got me" Andy tells her.
"I've got you"
"Okay" Andy says. Nasreen pulls Mack free. "Don't let go" Andy tells her.
"Never" the Doctor promises.
"Doctor, what is it, and why is it doing this?" Andy asks her.
"Stay calm. Keep hold of my hand. Don't let go. Your drill, shut it down. Go. Now!" the Doctor shouts at Nasreen and Mack, and they run out.
"Can you get me out?" Andy asks her, scared.
"Andy, try and stay calm. If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Keep hold of my hand" the Doctor tells him, "I'm not going to let you go" their grip fails.
"Doctor, it's pulling me down. Something's pulling me" Andy tells her.
"Stay calm. Now, hold on till they can just shut down the drill"
"I can't hold on!" Andy panics, "What's pulling me? What is under the earth? I don't want to suffocate under there"
"Andy, concentrate. Don't you give up"
"Tell Rory"
"No. Andy! Andy, no!" Andy disappears below the soil, "No! No! No! No. no. no. no. no." she repeats as the sonic screwdriver cannot help either.
Nasreen and Mack run in, "Where is he?"
"He's gone. The ground took him"
**********
"Is that what happened to Mo? Are they dead?" Mack questions her.
"It's not quicksand. He didn't just sink. Something pulled him in. It wanted him" the Doctor thinks.
"The ground wanted him?" Nasreen repeats what she said.
"You said the ground was dormant. Just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning. And the drill had been stopped"
"That's right" Mack nods.
"But when you re-started the drill, the ground fought back" the Doctor explains.
"So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling? Doctor, that is ridiculous" Nasreen denies.
"I'm not saying that, and it's not ridiculous, I just don't think it's right. Oh, of course. It's bio-programming" The Doctor suddenly realizes.
"What?" Nasreen asks.
"Bio-programming. Oh, it's clever. You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects. It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in the future and not here. What's it doing here?" the Doctor muses.
"Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?" Nasreen asks.
"You're not making any sense, man" Mack tells her.
"Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up. The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack" the Doctor explains.
"Yeah, even if that were possible, which, by the way, it's not, why?" Nasreen asks.
"Stop you drilling. Okay, so we find whatever's doing the bio-programming, we can find Andy. We can get him back. Shush, shush, shush. Have I gone mad? I've gone mad" the Doctor rants.
"Doctor"
"Shush, shush, silence. Absolute silence. You've stopped the drill, right?" she asks Nasreen.
"Yes"
"And you've only got the one drill?"
"Yes"
"You're sure about that?"
"Yes"
"So, if you shut the drill down, why can I still hear drilling? It's under the ground" the Doctor reveals.
"That's not possible" Mack denies.
The Doctor sonics the computers nearby. "Oh no, what, what are you doing?" Nasreen asks her.
"Hacking into your records. Probe reports, samples, sensors. Good. Just unite the data, make it all one big conversation. Let's have a look. So, we are here, and this is your drill hole. twenty-one point zero zero nine kilometers. Well done" the Doctor tells them.
"Thank you. It's taken us a long time" Nasreen thanks her.
"Why here, though? Why'd you drill on this site?" she asks her.
"We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for twenty million years" Nasreen explains.
"The blue grass? Oh, Nasreen. Those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying dig here. They were a warning. Stay away. Because while you've been drilling down, somebody else has been drilling up" the deep sensor readings resolve themselves on the screen, "Oh, beautiful. Network of tunnels all the way down" the Doctor tells her.
"No, no, we've surveyed that area" Mack tells her.
"You only saw what you went looking for" she tells him.
"What are they?" Nasreen asks her.
"Heat signals. Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't make sense. And now they're moving. Fast. How many people live nearby?" the Doctor asks them.
"Just my daughter and her family. The rest of the staff travel in" Mack tells her.
"Grab this equipment and follow me" the Doctor orders.
"Why? What're we doing?" Nasreen asks her.
"That noise isn't a drill, it's a transport. Three of them, thirty kilometers down. Rate of speed looks about a hundred and fifty kilometers an hour. Should be here in oh, quite soon. Twelve minutes. Whatever bio-programmed the earth is on its way up, now"
**********
Outside
"How can something be coming up when there's only the earth's crust down there?" Mack asks.
"You saw the readings" the Doctor tells him.
"Who are you, anyway? How can you know all this?" Nasreen asks the Doctor but she gets distracted by a slow red lightning in the sky, "Whoa, did you see that?"
"No, no, no" The Doctor uses her catapult to fire a stone into the air. It hits an energy shield and vaporizes. "Energy signal originated from under the earth. We're trapped"
"Doctor, something weirds going on here, the graves are eating people" Rory tells her, coming up to them.
"Not now, Rory. Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in"
"What? Okay, what about the Tardis?" Rory suggests.
"The what?" Nasreen asks.
"Er, no. Those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes" The Doctor says.
"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Rory asks.
"We're trapped, and something's burrowing towards the surface" Nasreen explains.
"Where's Andy?" Rory asks, looking around for him.
"Get everyone inside the church. Rory, I'll get him back" The Doctor tells her without explaining what has happened.
"What do you mean, get him back? Where's he gone?" Rory asks, scared for Andy.
"He was taken. Into the earth"
"How? Why didn't you stop it?" Rory asks her.
"I tried. I promise, I tried" the Doctor tells her.
"Well, you should've tried harder!" Rory shouts.
"I'll find Andy. I'll keep you all safe, I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me" The Doctor promises her.
**********
Church
A nice stained-glass window behind the altar, but the small building is just used for storage now. "So we can't get out, we can't contact anyone, and something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the earth" Ambrose lists up.
"Yes. If we move quickly enough, we can be ready" the Doctor tells her.
"No, stop. This has gone far enough. What is this?" Ambrose snaps.
"She's telling the truth, love" Mack tells his daughter.
"Come on. It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish"
"Look, Ambrose. We saw the Doctor's friend get taken, okay? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only person who's made any sense of it for me, is the Doctor" Nasreen tells her.
"Her?" Ambrose points at the Doctor.
"Me" the Doctor confirms.
"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot asks her.
"Yes. But I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say form this second onwards, because we're running out of time" the Doctor tells him.
"So tell us what to do" Ambrose tells her.
"Thank you. We have eight minutes to set up a line of defense. Bring me every phone, every camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find" The Doctor orders.
**********
Graveyard
"Every burglar alarm, every movement sensor, every security light. I want the whole area covered with sensors"
**********
Church
The equipment is set up. The dots are still heading up towards the surface on the computer screen. "Right, guys, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up. I need a map of the village marking where the cameras are going" the Doctor tells them.
"I can't do the words. I'm dyslexic" Elliot tells her.
"Oh, that's all right, I can't make a decent meringue. Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot" she tells him.
"Six minutes forty" Mack calls out. Five minutes to go. The new CCTV array is ready. "Works in quadrants. Every movement sensor and trip light we've got. If anything moves, we'll know"
"Good lad"
**********
Less than three and a half minutes. Elliot runs in with his map. "Look at that. Perfect. Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci or Einstein. It's not stopping you" The Doctor compliments him.
"I don't understand what you're going to do" Elliot tells her.
"Two phase plan. First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives. Second, if something does arrive, I use this to send a sonic pulse through that network of devices. A pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe" the Doctor explains for him.
"Knock 'em out. Cool"
"Lovely place to grow up round here" she tells him.
"Suppose. I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off" Elliot tells her.
"I was the same where I grew up" she tells him.
"Did you get away?"
"Yeah"
"Do you ever miss it?"
"So much"
"Is it monsters coming? Have you met monsters before?" Elliot asks her.
"Yeah"
"You scared of them?"
"No, they're scared of me" She tells him.
"Will you really get my dad back?"
"No question" she promises him.
"I left my headphones at home" Elliot tells her, walking away. One minute left.
**********
Graveyard
"How're you doing?" the Doctor asks Rory.
Rory is completing the sensor array, "It's getting darker. How can it be getting dark so quickly?"
"Shutting out light from within the barricade. Trying to isolate us in the dark. Which means..." there's a rumble, "It's here"
**********
Church Porch
"I can't open it. It keeps sticking. The wood's warped" Ambrose tells them, trying to open the door.
"Any time you want to help" the Doctor tells Rory.
"Can't you sonic it?" Rory asks her.
"It doesn't do wood"
"That is rubbish" Rory scoffs.
"Oi, don't diss the sonic" the three shoulders force the door open.
**********
Church
The ground starts shaking. Stacked objects begin to tumble. "See if we can get a fix" The Doctor says as the lights explode.
"No power" Mack tells her.
"It's deliberate"
"What do we do now?" Rory asks.
"Nothing. We've got nothing. They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems" the Doctor tells them.
"Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?" Rory asks everyone.
"I'm fine" Nasreen says.
"Me too" Ambrose nods.
There is a big rumble again. "Doctor, what was that?" Rory asks her.
"It's like the holes at the drill station" Mack says.
"Is this how they happened?" Nasreen asks.
"It's coming through the final layer of earth" the Doctor says.
"What is?" Nasreen asks, but she is met with silence.
"The banging's stopped" Mack notices.
"Where's Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?" Ambrose panics, just now noticing her son is not there.
"I did" the Doctor realizes.
"Where is he?"
"He said he was going to get headphones"
"And you let him go? He was out there on his own?" Ambrose yells at the Doctor.
**********
"Elliot!" Ambrose shouts as Elliot is outside the church doors.
"Let me in" he yells.
"He's out there. Help me!" Ambrose shouts at them.
"Open the door. Mum! There's something out here" Elliot yells.
"Push, Elliot. Give it a shove" Ambrose tries to encourage her son.
"Mum, hurry up" Elliot shouts, but the door is stuck. "Mum"
"Come on" Mack says. Giving it a final shove and the door finally opens, but Elliot is gone.
"Elliot! Where is he? He was here. He was here. Elliot!" Ambrose shouts.
"Ambrose, don't go running off!" The Doctor warns her.
"Ambrose!" Mack shouts after his daughter as she runs off.
"Elliot, it's mum" She finds his headphones on the ground, "No!" something knocks her over. "Get off me!"
Mack grabs it from behind. It wriggles free. He shines his torch on a human sized reptilian biped. It flicks its extensible tongue and hurts his neck, then gets away. "Dad!"
"What happened?" the Doctor asks as she gets to them.
"My dad's hurt" Ambrose tells her.
"Get him into the church now"
"Elliot's gone. They've killed him, haven't they?" Ambrose asks her.
"I don't think so. They've taken three people when they could've just killed them up here. There's still hope, Ambrose. There is always hope" the Doctor tells her.
"Then why have they taken him?"
"I don't know. I'll find Elliot, I promise. But first I've got to stop this attack. Please, get inside the church" she tells her.
"Come on, dad" Ambrose helps her dad to the church.
"So what now?" Rory asks the Doctor.
**********
The Doctor dons a pair of infra red sunglasses. She spots a dark shape moving through the bushes. "Cold blood. I know who they are" she goes to the van and gets the CO2 fire extinguisher. Something hisses nearby and she lets it off. It screams. Rory bursts out of the back of the van, and she and the Doctor bundle it inside.
"We got it" Rory mutters surprised.
"Defending the planet with meals on wheels" their high five is interrupted by another rumble.
"What was that?" Rory asks.
"Sounds like they're leaving"
"Without this one?" the energy dome becomes transparent, letting the sunshine in, "Looks like we scared them off" Rory says.
"I don't think so. Now both sides have hostages"
**********
Graveyard
"So, I think I've met these creatures before. Different branch of the species, mind, but all the same. Let's see if our friend's thawed out" the Doctor says.
"Are you sure? By yourself?" Rory asks her.
"Very sure"
"But the sting?"
"Venom gland takes at least twenty four hours to recharge. Am I right? I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine" the Doctor assures Rory and she leaves. Their prisoner moves out of the shadows, her chains rattling. "I'm the Doctor. I've come to talk. I'm going to remove your mask"
The mask looks like a reptilian face, with very big black eyes. She removes it gently. "You are beautiful. Remnant of a bygone age on planet earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel. Geothermal currents projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous. Mind if I sit? Now. Your people have a friend of mine. I want him back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want? Oh, I do hate a monologue. Give us a bit back. How many are you?"
"I'm the last of my species" the reptilian tells her.
"Really. No. last of the species. The Klempari Defense. As an interrogation defense, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid"
"I'm the last of my species" she repeats.
"No. you're really not. Because I'm the last of my species and I know how it sits in a heart. So don't insult me. Let's start again. Tell me your name" the Doctor asks her.
"Alaya"
"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the earth, Alaya? It's not difficult to work out. You're three hundred million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"
"We were attacked" Alaya tells her.
"The drill" the Doctor realizes.
"Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault. We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet"
"Do we have to say vermin? They're really very nice"
"Primitive apes" Alaya insults the human race.
"Extraordinary species. You attack them, they'll fight back. But, there's a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that"
"This land is ours. We lived here long before the apes" Alaya tells her.
"Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid. Humans won't give up the planet" the Doctor tells her.
"So we destroy them"
"You underestimate them"
"You underestimate us"
"One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans? You've got your work cut out" the Doctor comments.
"We did not initiate combat, but we can still win"
"Tell me where my friend is. Give us back the people who were taken"
"No"
"I'm not going to let you provoke a war, Alaya. There'll be no battle here today" the Doctor tells her.
"The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due"
"Not while I'm here" the Doctor shakes her head.
"I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?" Alaya asks her.
**********
Church
"You're going to what?" Rory asks the Doctor.
"I'm going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe, to talk to them" the Doctor repeats to Rory.
"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?" Ambrose asks her.
"They're not aliens. They're earth-liens. Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo Reptilia. Not monsters, not evil. Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all. Look, from their point of view, you're the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name's Alaya. She's one of their warriors, and she my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Andy, because I will find them. While I'm gone, you four people, in this church, in this corner of planet earth, you have to be the best of humanity" The Doctor explains.
"And what if they come back? Shouldn't we be examining this creature? Dissecting it, finding its weak points?" Mack asks.
"No dissecting, no examining. We return their hostage, they return ours, nobody gets harmed. We can land this together, if you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?" The Doctor asks and Nasreen applauds the speech.
**********
Graveyard
Nasreen follows the Doctor to the Tardis. "No, sorry, no. What are you doing?" the Doctor asks her.
"Coming with you, of course. What is it, some kind of transport pod?" Nasreen asks, looking at the Tardis.
"Sort of, but you're not coming with me"
"She's right. You're not" Mack agrees with the Doctor.
"I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet, and now you want me to stand back while you head down into it? I don't think so" Nasreen tells them.
"I don't have time to argue" the Doctor says.
"I thought we were in a rush" Nasreen tells her.
"It'll be dangerous"
"Oh, so's crossing the road" Nasreen shrugs.
"Oh, for goodness sake. All right, then. Come on" the Doctor gives in.
"Hey. Come back safe" Mack tells her.
"Of course"
**********
Tardis
"Welcome aboard the Tardis. Now, don't touch anything. Very precious" The Doctor tells her.
"No way. But, but that's, this is fantastic. What does it do?" Nasreen is stunned by the Tardis.
"Everything. I'm hoping, if we're going down, that barricade won't interfere" they get knocked off their feet, "Did you touch something?" She asks Nasreen.
"No. Isn't this what it does?"
"I'm not doing anything. We've been hijacked. I can't stop it. They must've sensed the electro-magnetic field. They're pulling the Tardis down into the earth"
The Tardis comes to a sudden stop, throwing the Doctor and Nasreen to the floor, "Where are we?" Nasreen asks.
Loose soil is raining down, gently, from the hole above the Tardis. "Looks like we fell through the bottom of their tunnel system. Don't suppose it was designed for handling something like this" the Doctor says.
"How far down are we?"
"Oh, lot more than twenty-one kilometers"
"So why aren't we burning alive?" Nasreen asks.
"Don't know. Interesting, isn't it?"
"It's like this is every day to you" Nasreen points out.
"Not every day. Every other day" the Doctor shrugs.
**********
Tunnel
"We're looking for a small tribal settlement probably housing around a dozen Homo Reptilia? Maybe less" the Doctor says.
Nasreen goes down a side passage and stops, "One small tribe"
"Yeah"
"Maybe a dozen?" Nasreen comments as the Doctor comes up to her side.
"Ah" they look down on a vast chamber, "Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilization living beneath the earth"