A/N - First chapter of "Flesh and Stone". I love writing mummy River.

"Up. Look up", the Doctor told them.

Elise pulled her head from River's neck and looked up. Her mouth dropped open as everyone stumbled to their feet.

"Are you okay?" River asked Amy.

"What happened?" "We jumped".

"Jumped where?"

"Up. Up. Look up", the Doctor repeated.

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

"Exactly where we were", River told her.

"No we're not".

"Move your feet", the Doctor told her.

Amy moved and he knelt down to sonic a circular hatch. "Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain".

"Oh, come on, Amy, think. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on? The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are".

"Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now", Octavian told him.

"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army".

The hatch opened as one of the lights surrounding the hatch exploded.

"They're taking out the lights. Look at them. Look at the Angels. Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you", the Doctor ordered.

"How?" Amy asked.

The Doctor jumped through the hatch into the ship.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor appeared to be standing in a vertical corridor. "It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move. River! Pass Elise through first".

River lowered the small Timelord into her father's hands.

"Hello there", he said, kissing her cheek. He lowered her into the harness again as the group dropped down into the corridor. The Doctor rushed over to a control panel and pulled out his sonic screwdriver to start working on it.

"The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?" Octavian asked.

The hatch closed.

"They're here, now", the Doctor told him, "In the dark, we're finished".

A door on the other side of them started to close.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled.

"This whole place is a death trap", Octavian said as the door closed.

"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic. Oh, just me then. What's through here?"

"Secondary flight deck", River told him.

"Okay. So we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?" Amy asked.

"I've thought about that", the Doctor said.

"And?"

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See? I've thought about it. The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them. It's impossible".

River was working on a control panel. "How impossible?" she asked.

"Two minutes".

The hatch they came in through opened.

"The hull is breached and the power's failing", Octavian said.

River groaned. She really wished Elise was older so she could help out. The lights went out for a second and the angels started crawling into the corridor.

The Doctor read River's mind and started helping her with the control panel.

"Sir, incoming", a cleric said.

"Doctor? Lights", Amy told him.

As the lights continued to flicker, the angels got closer to them.

"Clerics, keep watching them", Octavian ordered.

"And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes", the Doctor added, "I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now".

"Good work, Doctor".

"Yes. Good, good, good. Good in many ways. Good you like it so far".

"So far?" Amy asked.

The Doctor opened up the control panel. "Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control".

"Good. Fine. Do it", Octavian told him.

"Including the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights".

"How long for?"

"Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer".

"Maybe?"

"I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn't a manual for this!"

"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness", Amy mentioned.

"No other way", he told her, "Bishop".

Father Octavian turned to River. "Doctor Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?"

River nodded. "I absolutely trust him".

"He's not some kind of madman, then?"

"I absolutely trust him".

The Doctor patted River's shoulder in thanks. "Excuse me".

Elise watched as Father Octavian had a quiet conversation with River before he said, "Okay, Doctor. We've got your back".

"Bless you. Bishop".

"Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol. We don't have bullets to waste".

"Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns".

Amy nodded and said, "Ten".

"No, four. Four turns", the Doctor corrected her.

"Yeah, four. I heard you".

The Doctor walked over to the control panel. "Ready!" He stuck his sonic screwdriver into it and pressed the button. "Elise, the lights are going to go out and they're going to shoot the angels. Okay?" He felt Elise nod against his back as her small arms wrapped around his neck.

"On my count, then", Father Octavian ordered, "God be with us all. Three, two, one, fire!"

The lights went out and the clerics opened fire on the approaching statues.

"Turn!" the Doctor yelled to Amy.

"Doctor, it's opening. It's working".

The door opened just far enough for Amy and River to squeeze through.

"Fall back!" the Doctor yelled at the clerics.

One by one they ran through the door.

The Doctor and Elise were the last ones through before it closed again. The Doctor ran to a control panel and opened another door that led to the secondary flight deck.

"Doctor, quickly", River told him.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled.

The Doctor squeezed through, barely able to make it with Elise on his back.

The Angels started banging on the door as the wheel slowly started turning.

"Doctor!" Amy said as he ran to the controls.

Father Octavian placed a device on the door and pressed a button. T

he wheel stopped turning.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked him.

"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now".

"Yeah?" the Doctor challenged.

The wheel slowly started turning again.

"Dear God!" Octavian gasped.

"Ah, now you're getting it. You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time", the Doctor told him.

"Doctor", Amy said, pointing to another door where the wheel was turning.

"Seal that door. Seal it now", Octavian ordered.

A cleric ran over and did the same as Father Octavian.

"We're surrounded", River said as another wheel started to turn. "

Seal it. Seal that door. Doctor, how long have we got?" Octavian asked.

"Five minutes, max".

"Nine", Amy said.

"Five", the Doctor corrected her again.

"Five. Right. Yeah".

"Why'd you say nine?"

"I didn't".

"We need another way out of here", River said.

"There isn't one", Octavian told her.

"Yeah, there is. Course there is. This is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?" the Doctor asked.

Even Elise knew the answer to that question.

"Of course", River said.

"Of course what? What do they need?" Amy asked, not understanding.

"Can we get in there?" Octavian asked him.

"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up. There's clamps. Release the clamps", the Doctor said. He knelt down and soniced them.

"What's through there? What do they need?" Amy asked.

"They need to breathe", River told her.

Elise's mouth dropped open as the wall slide up to reveal a vast forest.

"But that's...That's a..." Amy stuttered.

"It's an oxygen factory", River said.

"It's a forest".

"Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory".

"And if we're lucky, an escape route", the Doctor told them.

Amy laughed. "Eight".

"What did you say?" River asked her.

"Nothing".

At this point, the Doctor, Elise, and River realized that something was very wrong with Amy.

"Is there another exit?" the Doctor asked, "Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there".

Octavian ran into the forest. "On it. Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels".

"But trees, on a space ship?" Amy asked.

The Doctor entered the forest. "Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees. You're going to love this. Treeborgs. Trees plus technology". He pulled on a section of bark, exposing wires and fiber optics. "Branches become cables become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle on a spaceship in a maze. Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"

Amy giggled before saying, "Seven".

"Seven?" the Doctor asked her. He came closer to her to look in her eyes, trying to pinpoint what was wrong with her.

"Sorry, what?"

"You said seven".

"No. I didn't."

"Yes. You did", River told her.

"Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck", Octavian said.

"Oh, good. That's where we need to go".

"Plotting a safe path now".

"Quick as you like".

The communicator the Doctor was carrying came to life again.

"Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir".

The Doctor pulled it out and went to sit in the chair after pulling Elise out of the harness and setting her on the ground. "Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject".

"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve".

"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"

"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world. And all the stars and worlds beyond".

"Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?"

"We have no need of comfy chairs".

"I made him say comfy chairs".

Amy giggled. "Six".

The Doctor stood up. "Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?"

"There is something in her eye".

"What's in her eye?"

"We are".

The Doctor looked into Amy's eyes again.

"What's he talking about? Doctor, I'm five", she told him, "I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine".

"You're counting", River said.

"Counting?"

"You're counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes", the Doctor informed her.

"Why?"

"I don't know".

"Well, counting down to what?"

"I don't know".

Angel Bob came back over the communicator. "We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space".

The Doctor sat down in the chair again. "Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much".

"With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand".

There was a loud screeching sound.

Elise ran to River and wrapped her arms around the woman's legs. River picked her up and held Elise to her chest as she asked, "What's that? Dear God, what is it?"

"They're back", Octavian said.

"It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing", Angel Bob told them.

"Laughing?" the Doctor asked.

"Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the TARDIS hasn't noticed".

The way Angel Bob was taunting him reminded Elise of Prisoner Zero in the hospital. She turned her head and her eyes went wide as she stared at the crack in the wall.

"Doctor..." Octavian said.

"No. Wait. There's something I've missed", the Doctor told him. He turned around and saw the crack.

Oh this was very not good.