the hourglass (doctor who fan fiction)

The Beast Below

The Doctor held me and Amy's ankles as we floated in space. "Come on you two." He pulled us back inside the tardis. "Now do you believe me?" he grinned at Amy. "Okay, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space! What are we breathing?" she asked. "I've extended the air shell. We're fine." We looked down below the tardis to see a city-like spaceship. "Now that's interesting. Twenty ninth century. Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations."

   The Doctor and Amy ran to the console and left me at the doors. I began to drift off and quickly grabbed ahold of the door. "Doctor?" I called. "Migrating to the stars." the Doctor smiled at Amy. "Doctor?" Amy looked at me. "Isn't that amazing?" he asked. "Doctor!" I yelled. He quickly ran over and pulled me inside. "Well, come on." he held my waists to steady me. "I've found us a spaceship. This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home." he said letting go of me and walking back to the console. "Can we go out and see?" Amy asked.

"Well, of course we can. But first, there's a thing the Doctor sticks by." I said. "A thing?" she asked me. "An important thing. In fact, Thing One. We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets." the Doctor said. He turned to the monitor which showed an image of a little girl waiting by a lift. "Ooo, that's interesting." me and the Doctor said. We walked to the door to go see the girl. I was quick to comfort the girl, kneeling down to her level and smiling, "You alright love?" I asked moving her hair from her face. The Doctor gestured Amy to join us.

"Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored." a voice announced. "I'm in the future. Like hundreds of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries." Amy said flabbergasted. "Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one. Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?" he turned to me. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Come on, use your eyes Juno. Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?" he asked me.

I looked around to see someone on a bike ride past us. "Is it the bicycles? Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles." Amy said. "Says the girl in the nightie." the Doctor whispered. "Oh my God, I'm in my nightie." Amy gasped. "Now, come on, look around you two. Actually look." he said to us. "London Market is a crime-free zone." a voice said. "Life on a giant starship. Back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse." the Doctor walked up to a table with a glass of water on it.

"A police state. Excuse me." he grabbed the glass of water from a table nearby. "What are you doing?" the man asked. The Doctor put the glass on the floor. He looked at it for a moment before returning it to the table. "Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish. Where was I?" he turned around to us. "Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked him. "Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state. Do you see it yet?" he quizzed. "Where?" she asked. "There."

He pointed to the weeping girl on a bench alone. The Doctor went to comfort her.

"One little girl crying. So?" Amy said. "She's crying silently. I mean, most children cry because they want attention, because they're hurt or afraid. When they cry silently however, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that." I explained. "You aren't a parent, are you?" Amy turned to me. I scoffed, "Hah. Not at this age."

The Doctor walked back up to us, "Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state."

"Where'd she go?" Amy turned to look at the girl, but she was gone. "Deck two oh seven. Apple Sesame block, dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Oh, er, this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her." he took out a colorful wallet. "Took me four goes. Ask her about those things. The smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere." The Doctor gave Amy the wallet. "But they're just things." Amy said. "They're clean. Everything else here is all battered and filthy. Look at this place. But no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Look. Ask Mandy, 'Why are people scared of the things in the booths?'"

"No, hang on. What do I do? I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed." she looked down at herself. "It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose?" he paused dramatically before giving a big grin. "Ha ha, gotcha. Meet me back here in half an hour. Juno, with me." he ordered. "What are you going to do?" she asked. "What I always do. Stay out of trouble." I scoffed. "Badly." I added. "So is this how it works? You two never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?" Amy questioned. "Yes." we said.

Me and the Doctor walked away from Amy. "You think she'll be alright?" I asked him. "She'll be fine." he said. "How come I'm coming with you then?" I questioned. "Because I need you with me." he said continuing to walk. "For what?" I questioned. He stopped walking and turned to me. "Reasons." he furrowed his eyebrows before turning back around and continuing to walk.

The Doctor and me climbed down a ladder. Once we got down, the Doctor began to feel the walls. "Can't be." he mumbled. He scanned it with his screwdriver. I walked over to a glass of water on the floor. "What does the glass of water mean Doctor?" I asked him. Before he could answer, a woman wearing a white porcelain mask comes out of the shadows. "The impossible truth in a glass of water. Not many people see it. But you do, don't you Doctor?" she said. "You know him?" I asked. "Keep your voice down, Juno. They're everywhere." she walked closer to us. My eyes widened at the mention of my name. "Tell me what you see in the glass." she motioned towards the glass of water.

"Who says I see anything?" he said. "Don't waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?" she interrogated. "No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So, I thought I'd take a look. It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected." he went over to an electric panel, "Look. Look, they're dummies, see? And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was-" the two both said, "No engine at all." I tilted my head. "But it's working. This ship is travelling though space. I saw it." I said. "The impossible truth, Juno. We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."

"How?" the Doctor asked. "I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe. This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!" She hands over a device and turns to leave. "Who are you? How do I find you again?" the Doctor asked. "I am Liz Ten, and I will find you." she said before running off.