The Littlest Timelord: Cracks in Time

Chapter 23

"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".

"Come on, Dad".

"Elise, go with them and wait for us".

Elise nodded and followed Ambrose and her father to the church.

"You're going to what?" Rory asked.

"I'm going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe, to talk to them", the Doctor said.

"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?" Ambrose asked.

"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's my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Amy, 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".

"And what if they come back? Shouldn't we be examining this creature? Dissecting it, finding its weak points?" Tony asked.

"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?"

Nasreen applauded which made Elise smile. The Doctor and Elise made their way to the TARDIS and Nasreen followed.

"No, sorry, no. What are you doing?" the Doctor asked her.

"Coming with you, of course. What is it, some kind of transport pod?"

"Sort of, but you're not coming with us".

Tony walked up to them. "He's right. You're not".

"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 said.

Elise liked her.

The Doctor checked his watch. "I don't have time to argue".

"I thought we were in a rush".

"It'll be dangerous".

"Eh, so's crossing the road".

"Oh, for goodness sake. All right, then. Come on".

The Doctor and Elise entered the TARDIS, Nasreen following.

"Welcome aboard the TARDIS. Now, don't touch anything. Very precious", the Doctor told her.

"No way. But...but that's...this is fantastic! What does it do?"

"Everything. I'm hoping, if we're going down, that barricade won't interfere".

The TARDIS started to shake.

"Did you touch something?" the Doctor asked.

"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".

The Doctor grabbed onto the monitor, while Elise held onto his legs.

"They're pulling the TARDIS down into the Earth".

The TARDIS came to a stop and all three of them collapsed to the glass floor.

"Where are we?" Nasreen asked.

They left 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 said.

"How far down are we?" Nasreen asked.

"Oh, a lot more than twenty one kilometers".

"So why aren't we burning alive?"

"Don't know. Interesting, isn't it?"

"It's like this is every day to you".

"Not every day. Every other day". The Doctor ran down a tunnel, Elise and Nasreen following. "We're looking for a small tribal settlement probably housing around a dozen Homo Reptilia? Maybe less", the Doctor told them.

Nasreen found a side passage. "One small tribe?" she asked.

"Yeah", the Doctor said.

"Maybe a dozen?"

The Doctor and Elise followed her and looked down into a huge chamber. "Ah. Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilization living beneath the Earth..."