"How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?" Tony asked as they lugged the equipment down the road.

"You saw the readings", the Doctor said.

"Who are you, anyway? How can you know all this?" Nasreen asked.

Red lightning appeared in the sky.

"Whoa, did you see that?" she asked.

"No, no, no", the Doctor said, pulling out a slingshot. He picked up a stone and fired it into the air. It hit a barrier and disappeared. The Doctor soniced the barrier, making it more pronounced. "Energy signal originating from under the Earth. We're trapped".

Rory ran up to them. "Doctor, something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people".

"Not now, Rory. Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in".

"What? Okay, what about the TARIDS?"

"The what?" Nasreen asked.

"Er, no. Those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes", the Doctor said.

"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Rory asked.

"We're trapped, and something's burrowing towards the surface", Nasreen told him.

Rory noticed that a certain red-haired woman was missing. "Where's Amy?"

"Get everyone inside the church".

Everyone hurried towards the church as the Doctor looked at Rory. "Rory, I'll get her back".

"What do you mean, get her back? Where's she gone?"

"She was taken. Into the Earth".

"How? Why didn't you stop it?"

"I tried. I promise, I tried".

"Well, you should've tried harder!"

"I'll find Amy. I'll keep you all safe, I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me". The Doctor walked off and grabbed the equipment.

Elise walked up to Rory and took his hand in hers and they made their way to the church.

They entered the church and stood off to the side as Tony, Nasreen, and the Doctor set up the equipment.

"So we can't get out, we can't contact anyone, and something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth", Ambrose, Tony's daughter, said.

"Yes. If we move quickly enough, we can be ready", the Doctor told her.

"No, stop. This has gone far enough. What is this?"

"He's telling the truth, love", Tony said, trying to calm his daughter.

"Come on. It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish".

"Look, Ambrose. We saw the Doctor's friend get taken, okay? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only person who's made any sense of it for me, is the Doctor", Nasreen said.

"Him?"

The Doctor popped up. "Me!"

"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot, Ambrose's son, asked.

"Yes. But I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say from this second onwards, because we're running out of time".

"So tell us what to do", Ambrose said.

"Thank you". The Doctor checked his watch. "We have eight minutes to set up a line of defense. Bring me every phone, every camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find".

As the adults went to work, Elliot walked over to Elise. "Hi. I'm Elliot", he said.

Elise just smiled and waved. She pointed to her neck and shook her head.

"That's okay", he told her.

The adults entered the church again and the Doctor checked the screens. "Right, guys, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up. I need a map of the village marking where the cameras are going", the Doctor told Elliot.

"I can't do the words. I'm dyslexic".

"Oh, that's all right, I can't make a decent meringue. Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot".

Elliot smiled and ran to go get started on his map.

"Elise, why don't you go with him?" the Doctor suggested.

She looked up at him apprehensively before he nodded and nudged her. She hardly ever got to interact with children while on adventures and this could be good for her. She walked outside and found Elliot.

"Oh hey. Did you want to draw too?" he asked her. He gave her a piece of paper and a couple of crayons.

Elise didn't know what to draw so she settled for the Doctor. She grabbed a brown crayon and started drawing.

When Elliot finished his map they went inside. Elliot handed the map to the Doctor.

"Look at that. Perfect. Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci or Einstein. It's not stopping you", the Doctor told him.

"I don't understand what you're going to do".

"Two phase plan. First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives. Second, if something does arrive, I use this..." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "...to send a sonic pulse through that network of devices. A pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe".

"Knock 'em out. Cool".

"Lovely place to grow up round here".

"Suppose. I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off".

"I was the same where I grew up".

"Did you get away?"

"Yeah".

"Do you ever miss it?"

The Doctor looked at Elise with her big blue eyes and said, "So much".

"Is it monsters coming? Have you met monsters before?"

"Yeah".

"You scared of them?"

"No, they're scared of me".

"Will you really get my dad back?"

"No question".

"I left my headphones at home".

The Doctor waved his hand as Elliot left them. "Now, what did you draw Elise?" he asked.

She showed him the picture and he frowned.

"Who is that supposed to be?"

She pointed at him and he smiled. She'd drawn his previous regeneration with his brown pinstripe suit. It was a child's drawing, but it was very advanced for her age. It was better than most 5 year olds could draw. He kissed her head and said, "It's beautiful. I'll put it up in the TARDIS when we get back, okay?" The Doctor left Elise in the church to go check on Rory.

The ground started shaking and Elise fought the urge to cry.

Finally the church door opened and the Doctor, Rory, and Ambrose came running in.

"See if we can get a fix", the Doctor said running over to the equipment.

The lights all exploded and Elise screamed.

Rory picked her up and tried to calm her. "

No power", Tony said, flipping the light switch.

"It's deliberate", the Doctor told them.

"What do we do now?" Rory asked.

"Nothing. We've got nothing. They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems".

"Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?"

"I'm fine", Nasreen said.

"Me too", Ambrose told him.

The ground vibrated again.

"Doctor, what was that?" Rory asked.

"It's like the holes at the drill station", Tony said.

"Is this how they happened?" Nasreen asked.

The Doctor pressed his ear to the ground. "It's coming through the final layer of Earth".

"What is?"

Suddenly, all they could hear was silence.

"The banging's stopped", Tony said.

Ambrose looked around the room. "Where's Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?"

"I did", the Doctor said. He'd made a mistake in taking his eyes off the boy. As a parent, he knew the kind of panic she was feeling. It was why he always kept Elise by his side if he could.

"Where is he?"

"He said he was going to get headphones".

"And you let him go? He was out there on his own!"

"Mum! Grandpa Tony! Let me in!" Elliot yelled from outside.

"Elliot!" Ambrose yelled, running to the door.

"Let me in!"

"He's out there. Help me!"

Nasreen and Tony tried pulling on the door handle.

"Open the door. Mum! There's something out here".

"Push, Elliot. Push, Elliot. Give it a shove".

"Mum. Hurry up. Mum".

The door finally opened and Ambrose rushed out. "Elliot! Where is he? He was here. He was here. Elliot!" Ambrose went running into the graveyard.

"Ambrose, don't go running off!" the Doctor told her.

Her father ran after her. "Ambrose!"

They heard Ambrose scream and the Doctor ran towards them.

"What happened?" he asked.

"My dad's hurt", Ambrose said.

"Get him into the church now".

"Elliot's gone. They've killed him, haven't they?"

"I don't think so. They've taken three people when they could've just killed them up here. There's still hope, Ambrose. There is always hope".

"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..."