the hourglass (doctor who fan fiction)

The Beast Below pt. 3

"Doctor, where are we?" Amy asked. "The lowest point of Starship UK. The dungeon." the Doctor said looking around. "Ma'am." a man said. "Hawthorne. So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do." I looked around to see children working. "There's children down here. What's that about?" I questioned. "Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky." Hawthorne walked passed me. "Yeah, look at us. Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it? Well, except it is. Except it isn't. Depends on your angle." We moved our attention to the top of a pulsating brain visible in the middle of the room. Giant electrodes pointed down at it.

"What's that?" Liz asked, pointing to the electrodes. "Well, like I say, it depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain centre of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly." the Doctor said. "Or?" Liz questioned. "Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator. Starship UK's go faster button." I walked over to the Doctor. "I don't understand." Liz muttered. "Don't you? Try to. Go on. The spaceship that could never fly. No vibration on deck. This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading, it's what you have instead of an engine. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving. Tell you what. Normally, it's above the range of human hearing. This is the sound none of you wanted to hear."

The Doctor sonic'd a tentacle making us hear a loud screaming sound. I held my ears shut until I heard Liz speak up, "Stop it. Who did this?" she asked Hawthorne. "We act on instructions from the highest authority." he responded. "I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now! Is anyone listening to me?" she demanded. I unplugged my ears, "Liz. Your mask." I spoke up. "What about my mask?" she questioned me. "Look at it. It's old. At least two hundred years old, I'd say." the Doctor walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Yeah? It's an antique. So?" she questioned. "Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over two hundred years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face. They slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not fifty. Nearer three hundred. And it's been a long old reign." the Doctor said.

"Nah, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years." Liz said, she couldn't believe it. "Ten years. And the same ten years, over and over again, always leading you here." I looked down at the two buttons - Forget and Abdicate. "What have you done?" she asked Hawthorne. "Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us." he replied. The screen turned on.

"If you are watching this. If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travellers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the Forget button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."

"I voted for this. Why would I do that?" Amy said, a bit farther back from us. "Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong. You don't ever decide what I need to know." he yelled. "Doctor, she doesn't even remember doing it-" he interrupted me, "She did it. That's what counts." he said. "I'm, I'm sorry." Amy said, tears beginning to form. I quickly rushed over to her. "Oh, I don't care. When I'm done here, you're going home." the Doctor turned. "Why? Because she made a mistake? One mistake? She doesn't even remember doing it. Doctor!" I protested. "Yeah, I know. She's only human."

He walked over to a panel, "What are you doing?" Liz questioned. "The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it." he explained. "That'll be like killing it." Amy said. "Look, three options." he turned to me and Amy. "One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, because I won't be the Doctor any more." he turned back around, ashamed on what he was about to do. "There must be something we can do, some other way." Liz said. "Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to me today!" he yelled. The room went silent.

Amy and Mandy sat and watched while the Doctor adjusted the machinery. Some children entered the room. "Timmy! You made it, you're okay. It's me, Mandy." Mandy ran over to a little boy. I watched a tentacle flail behind Mandy, then gently tap her on the shoulder. Me and Amy watched her stroke the tentacle. "Wait..." I muttered. I looked around. Amy looked up at me. "Doctor, stop. Whatever you're doing, stop it now!" Amy ran over to the Doctor. "Sorry, Your Majesty. Going to need a hand." I dragged Liz over to the voting buttons, "Juno, no! No!" I heard the Doctor yell as I pushed Liz's hand down on the Abdicate button. The Whale roared, the ship shook briefly. "What have you two done?" he questioned us. "Nothing at all. Are we right?" Amy asked. "We've increased speed." Hawthorne informed. "Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. That's got to help." I smiled.

"It's still here. I don't understand." Liz said. "The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry." Amy explained. "What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead. No future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry." I said before turning to the Doctor. A look of sadness washed over his face.

"From Her Majesty. She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK." Amy held out Liz's mask. "You two could have killed everyone on this ship." he said. "You could have killed a Star Whale." I crossed my arms. "And you saved it. I know, I know." he rolled his eyes. "Amazing though, don't you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery and loneliness, and it just made it kind." Amy said sitting down. "But you couldn't have known how it would react." he told me. "You couldn't. But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?" I questioned him. He pulled me in for a hug. "Oi, I get one too." Amy got up and joined the hug.

"Shouldn't we say goodbye? Won't they wonder where we went?" Amy asked. "For the rest of their lives. Oh, the songs they'll write. Never mind them. Big day tomorrow." the Doctor said. "Sorry, what?" Amy looked confused. "Well, it's always a big day tomorrow. We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones." he said with a smile. "You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning? Have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just, just because you could?" Amy questioned. "Once, a long time ago." the Doctor answered. We walked into the tardis. "What happened?" she asked. He turned around and waved. "Hello." he smiled. "Right. Doctor, there's something I haven't told you." we heard a phone ring. "No, hang on. Is that a phone ringing?" Amy asked.

"People phone you?" Me and Amy ran over to the console. "Well, it's a phone box. Would you mind?" he asked motioning towards the phone on the console. Amy answered the trim phone. "Hello? Sorry, who? No, seriously, who? Says he's the Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?" she held the phone away from her. "Which Prime Minister?" the Doctor looked up from the console. "Er, which Prime Minister?" she asked into the phone. "The British one." she told the Doctor. "Which British one?" the Doctor questioned walking over to us. "Which British one? Winston Churchill for you." she handed over the phone. "Oh! Hello, dear. What's up?"