They stepped out of the TARDIS on to what appeared to be a ship.
"Doctor, are you sure we're in the right place?" Rory asked.
"This is where the distress signal lead."
They found a hatch and the Doctor knocked. He pushed it open and a group of pirates stood there. "Yo ho ho!" he said, excitedly, "Or does nobody actually say that?"
The Captain and a couple of his crew members took them to the Captain's quarters and the Doctor explained why they were there.
"We made no signal," the Captain said.
"Our sensors picked you up. Ship in distress."
"Sensors?"
"Yes. Okay, problem word. Seventeenth century. My ship automatically, er, noticed-ish that your ship was having some bother."
"That big blue crate?"
Elise glared at the Captain. The TARDIS was not a crate.
Rory hit her on the shoulder and she stopped.
"That is more magic, Captain Avery. They're spirits. How else would they have found their way below decks?" his first mate asked.
"Well, er, I want to say multidimensional engineering, but since you had a problem with sensors, I won't go there. Look, I'm the Doctor. This is Amy, Rory, and Elise. We're sailors, same as you." He stepped forward and punched Avery's shoulder. "Ooo arrr." When he turned around, Avery was pointing a gun at him. "Except for the gun thing. And the beardiness."
"You're stowaways! Only explanation. Eight days, we've been stranded here, becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed," Avery said.
"Now what do we do with 'em?" the first mate asked.
"Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality."
They took them all up on deck.
The Doctor was standing on the plank as the pirates laughed.
Elise was struggling against the pirate that held her.
"I suppose that laughing like that is in the job description. Can you do the laugh? Check. Grab yourself a parrot. Welcome aboard," the Doctor ranted.
"Stocks are low. Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need three more empty bellies to fill. Take the doxies below to the galley. Set them to work. They won't need much feeding," Avery ordered.
"Rory? A little help?" Amy asked as she and Elise backed away from the pirate in front of them. Elise wished River had given her a blaster or something.
"Yeah. Hey, listen, right? She's not a doxy and neither is Elise," Rory asked.
"I didn't mean just tell him off. Thanks anyway."
The pirate shoved Elise and Amy below deck.
"Now what?" Elise whispered.
Amy looked around and found a crate full of swords. She grabbed one and handed a smaller one to Elise.
It was more of a dagger than sword.
Next, Amy grabbed a coat and a hat and they made their way back up on deck.
"I suppose the rest of them are hiding some place, and they're going to jump out and shout boo," the Doctor said.
"Boo!" Amy yelled.
The pirates spun around.
"Throw the gun down," she said.
Avery did and she kicked it away from him.
"The rest of you, on your knees," she ordered. "
Amy, what are you doing?" the Doctor asked. The Doctor noticed Elise was holding a small dagger as well.
"Saving your life. Okay with that, are you?" Amy asked.
"Put down the sword. A sword could kill us all, girl," Avery said.
"Yeah, thanks. That is actually why I'm pointing it at you."
The pirates rushed forward, trying to knock the sword from Amy's hands. Any time she got close to them with the sword, they backed away from her.
Amy ran up some steps and swung across on a rope. She slashed at the pirate who was holding Rory earlier.
"You have killed me," he said.
"No way. It's just a cut. What kind of rubbish pirates are you?" Amy asked.
"One drop, that's all it takes. One drop of blood and she'll rise out of the ocean," Avery explained.
"Come on, I barely even scratched him. What are you all in such a huff about?"
A pirate came towards Amy and she tried to swing past him, but he grabbed her. She dropped the sword.
Rory tried to grab it, but cut his hand in the process. "Ow!" A black spot appeared on his hand. "Er, Doctor, what's happening to me?" he asked.
"She can smell the blood on your skin. She's marked you for death," Avery said.
"She?"
"A demon, out there in the ocean."
"Okay. Groovy. So not just pirates today. We've managed to bagsy a ship where there's a demon popping in," the Doctor said. He looked at Rory's hand. "Very efficient. I mean, if something's going to kill you, it's nice that it drops you a note to remind you."
Suddenly, there was singing.
"Quickly now, block out the sound," the first mate said.
"What?" Rory asked.
"The creature. She charms all her victims with that song," Avery explained.
"Oh, great. So put my fingers in my ears, that's your plan? Doctor, come on. Let's go. Let's get back to the...back to the..." Rory and the other pirate started giggling.
"The music. It's working on him. Look," the first mate said.
Rory turned to Amy, swaying a bit. "You are so beautiful."
"What?" Amy asked him.
"I love your get up. That's great. You should dress as a pirate more often. Hey, hey, cuddle me, shipmate."
"Rory, stop."
"Everything is totally brilliant, isn't it? Look at these brilliant pirates. Look at their brilliant beards. I'd like a beard. I'm going to grow a beard."
"You're not."
"The music turns them into fools," Avery said.
Amy froze. "Oh, my God."
They all turned to see a bright light rising up out of the water.
A woman flew out of the sea and landed on deck.
The pirate walked towards her while Amy tried to hold Rory back. When the pirate touched her, he exploded.
Elise gasped.
"I have to touch her. Let me touch her," Rory begged.
"Sorry, but he is spoken for," Amy told her.
The woman turned red and blasted Amy back.
Elise and the Doctor ran to her.
"Amy! Everybody into the hold. Rory! Come on!"
The Doctor grabbed Rory and pulled him down below deck.
"Hey! Wait! Get off!" Rory yelled.
They now stood in ankle deep water. Of course it was higher on Elise.
The Doctor grabbed the dagger out of Elise's hand. "Give me that." He chucked in across the room.
"What is that thing?" Amy asked, wrapping her arms around Rory.
"The legend. The siren. Many a merchant ship laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed, picking off the injured," Avery explained.
"Like a shark. A shark can smell blood," the first mate said.
"Okay. Just like a shark, in a dress. And singing. And green? A green singing shark in an evening gown," the Doctor ranted.
"The ship is cursed!" Avery insisted.
"Yeah, right. Cursed is big with humans. It means bad things are happening but you can't be bothered to find an explanation."
"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Rory said.
The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder a few times.
"Actually, I think you'll find she isn't," Amy told him.
"She is."
"We have to leave right now."
"That thing of yours really is a ship?" Avery asked.
"Well, it's not propelled by the wind," the Doctor said.
Avery pulled out his gun and pointed it at the Doctor. "Show me. Weigh anchor. Make it sail."
"And the gun's back. You're big on the gun thing, aren't you? Freud would say you're compensating. Ever met Freud? No? Comfy sofa."
Elise patted his hand. She could go for a comfy sofa right now too.
"Leave the cursed one, Captain. The creature can have him," one of the pirates said.
"Yes, please," Rory agreed.
"We don't want the siren coming after us," Avery told him.
One of the pirates started screaming and he pulled his leg out of the water.
"It's a leech!" Amy exclaimed.
"Everyone out of the water!" the Doctor yelled.
The Doctor picked Elise up and set her on top of a crate.
"It's bitten me. I'm bleeding," the pirate said.
"She wants blood. Why does she want blood?" the Doctor asked.
"What were you saying about leaving the cursed ones behind?" Amy quipped.
"It's okay, we're safe down here. No curse is getting through three solid inches of timber."
The Siren appeared behind the Doctor.
"Oh! Ah. Hello again," he said.
The pirate started to go towards her, despite everyone yelling at him not to. He touched her and exploded, leaving only his hat behind.
The Doctor grabbed the hat and ushered everyone into the bunk room.
"Safe?" Amy asked.
"I have my good days and my bad days," he told her.
"How did she get in?" Avery asked.
The Doctor soniced the pirate's hat. "Bilge water. She's using water like a portal, a door. She can materialize through a single drop. We need to go somewhere with no water."
"Well, thank God we're not in the middle of the ocean," Amy snapped.
"Did you see her eyes?" Rory asked, "Like crystal pools."
"You are in enough trouble."
"The magazine," Avery said.
"What?" Amy asked.
"He means the armory where the powder's stored," the Doctor explained.
"It's dry as a bone," Avery said.
"Good. Let's go there."
Avery aimed his gun at the Doctor again. "I give the orders."
"Ah. Worried because I'm wearing a hat now? Nobody touch anything sharp!"
Everyone followed the Doctor and Avery.
The first mate was looking through his keys.
"Quickly, man," Avery told him.
"I can't find the key. Tis gone, Captain."
"How can it have gone?"
The Doctor pushed open the door. "Someone else had the same idea."
They went inside.
"Barricade the door. Careful of that lantern. Every barrel is full of powder," Avery said.
"Who's been sleeping in my gun room?" the Doctor asked.
There was a coughing noise coming from a barrel.
Avery opened it and pulled out a young boy around Elise's age. "You fool!" Avery yelled, "You fool, boy. What are you doing here?"
"Who is he?" the first mate asked.
"What, he's not one of the crew?" the Doctor asked.
"No. He's my son." Avery put him down. "What in God's name possessed you, boy? Your mother will be searching for you."
The boy looked away.
"When?" Avery asked.
"Last winter. Fever. She told me all about you. How you were a Captain in the Navy. An honorable man, she said. How I'd be proud to know you." He coughed. "I've come to join your crew."
"I don't want you here," Avery told him.
Elise glared at Avery. How could he not want his own son with him? The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder, making circles with his thumb to calm her.
"You can't send me back. It's too late. We're a hundred miles from home," Avery's son said.
"It's dangerous here. There is a monster aboard. She leaves a mark on men's skin."
"The black spot?" He showed them the palm of his hand and then coughed.
The Doctor nudged Elise. She knew what that meant. Elise walked over to him nervously playing the braids in her hair.
The adults had stepped away to talk.
"Hello," she said.
"Hello."
"What's your name?"
"Toby." He coughed again.
"I'm Elise."
"It's nice to meet you." Toby coughed and started wheezing.
"Sounds like you need a drink of water," Elise said. She pulled out her sonic screwdriver, searching for a barrel with fresh water.
They found one and Toby pulled the top off.
Elise screamed as the Siren's hand shot out.
The Doctor grabbed the lid and forced it back down.
"The water's dangerous. That's how she gets through. One touch of her hand and you're a dead man," Avery said.
"We're all cursed if we stay aboard," the first mate told them.
"It's not a curse. Curse means game over. Curse means we're helpless. We are not helpless. Captain, what's our next move?" the Doctor asked.
Avery looked at the Doctor and then at his son. He pulled out a medallion attached to a string and put it around Toby's neck. "Wait with the boy."
"Captain, we're all in danger here," the first mate said.
"I said wait. And barricade the door after we've gone."
"Sure you want to go?" Amy asked the Doctor.
"We have to get Rory and Toby away. She's out there now, licking her lips, boiling a saucepan, grating cheese."
Food sounded really good right about now.
"Okay... Well, remember, if you get an itch, don't scratch too hard."
"We've all got to go some time. There are worse ways than having your face snogged off by a dodgy mermaid."
The Doctor looked down at Elise. He petted her hair before leaning down to kiss her head.
Amy put a hand on her shoulder as the Doctor and Avery left.