They entered the Tower and Elise immediately ran over to where the tentacles were flailing against metal bars. Tears filled her eyes again as she listened to the creature scream.

"Doctor, where are we?" Amy asked.

The Doctor leaned down and stroked Elise's hair. "The lowest point of Starship UK. The dungeon".

A man stepped forward and addressed Liz 10. "Ma'am".

"Hawthorne. So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do".

A couple of children were walking around the dungeons.

"There's children down here. What's all that about?" the Doctor asked.

"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 told him.

"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". The Doctor walked over to a device shocking the brain of the creature.

"What's that?" Liz 10 asked.

"Well, like I say, it depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain center of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly", the Doctor explained.

"Or?"

"Or it's the gas pedal, the accelerator. Starship UK's go faster button".

"I don't understand".

Elise felt her anger rising. Didn't they realize what they were doing to the creature?

"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".

Liz 10 just looked at him.

"Tell you what. Normally, it's above the range of human hearing". He ran over to where Elise sat with the tentacle and pulled the metal grating off, freeing it. "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear". The Doctor soniced the tentacle and everyone could hear the creature screaming.

Elise put her hands over her ears. She didn't want to hear it anymore.

"Stop it. Who did this?" Liz 10 asked.

"We act on instructions from the highest authority", Hawthorne told her.

"I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now! Is anyone listening to me?"

"Liz. Your mask", the Doctor told her, holding the mask in his hands.

"What about my mask?"

He tossed it to her. "Look at it. It's old. At least two hundred years old, I'd say".

"Yeah? It's an antique. So?"

"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".

"Nah, its ten years. I've been on this throne ten years".

"Ten years. And the same ten years, over and over again, always leading you here". The Doctor took her hand and led her over to a chair and TV.

On the table were two buttons, Forget and Abdicate.

"What have you done?" Liz asked Hawthorne.

"Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us".

A video switched on of Liz sitting and talking to the camera. "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 travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind".

The Doctor looked down at Elise and picked her up, holding her to his chest. She wrapped her tiny hand around his bowtie and listened to his beating hearts. He kissed her forehead as they took comfort in each other.

"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 asked.

"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".

"I don't even remember doing it!"

"You did it. That's what counts".

Elise could tell the Doctor was becoming increasingly angry as he set her on the floor.

"I'm, I'm sorry", Amy told him.

"Oh, I don't care. When I'm done here, you're going home". He walked over to some machines and pulled out his screwdriver.

"Why? Because I made a mistake? One mistake?" Amy asked, "I don't even remember doing it. Doctor!"

"Yeah, I know. You're only human".

"What are you doing?" Liz asked.

"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", the Doctor told her.

What? He couldn't do that! How could he even consider that? It was an innocent creature.

"That'll be like killing it", Amy said.

"Look, three options. 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".

"There must be something we can do, some other way", Liz said.

What happened next, shocked Elise.

The Doctor practically exploded. "Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to me today!"

Elise hit the ground with her hands over her head.

"Elise!" Amy tried to come near her, but Elise just screamed and tried to scoot away from her as tears fell from her eyes.

The Doctor ran over to her and picked her up. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I'm sorry".

Elise shook in his arms and the Doctor felt horrible for scaring her.

Amy walked over to them. "Hey. Ellie".

Elise raised her head.

"Why don't you come sit with me and Mandy?" she asked.

The Doctor handed her off to Amy and they sat down next to the tentacle.

Elise reached out and stroked it. She giggled as it ticked her neck.

The other children came over and started to pet it when it hit Amy. "Doctor, stop. Whatever you're doing, stop it now!" Amy told him, "Sorry, Your Majesty. Going to need a hand". She grabbed Liz's hand and dragged her over to buttons.

"Amy, no! No!" the Doctor yelled.

She slammed Liz's hand down on the Abdicate button.

The Star Whale let out a growl and the spaceship shook.

The Doctor grabbed Elise and she held onto his legs as everything settled. "Amy, what have you done?"

"Nothing at all. Am I right?"

"We've increased speed", Hawthorne said.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Gotta help", Amy told them.

"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. 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..." Amy turned around to face the Doctor and Elise. "...and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry".

The Doctor stood on the observation deck, looking out at the stars as Elise sat on the floor in front of him. Her face was practically pressed up against the glass as she looked at all the stars. The Doctor could tell her stories and adventures of each one, but the two were enjoying the quiet moment.

Amy came up to them, holding Liz's mask. "From Her Majesty. She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK".

"Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship".

"You could have killed a Star Whale".

"And you saved it. I know, I know".

"Amazing though, don't you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery and loneliness, and it just made it kind".

"But you couldn't have known how it would react".

"You couldn't. But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?"

The two of them hugged. Elise wrapped her arms around their legs and they laughed.

"Hey", Amy said.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"Gotcha".

The Doctor laughed. "Gotcha".

They made their way back to the TARDIS and Elise yawned.

"Oh, looks like it's this one's bedtime", Amy teased.

The Doctor picked Elise up and set her on his shoulders.

"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".

"Sorry, what?"

"Well, it's always a big day tomorrow. We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones".

"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?"

"Once, a long time ago".

"What happened?"

"Hello!"

"Right. Doctor, there's something I haven't told you. No, hang on. Is that a phone ringing?"

The phone connected to the TARDIS console was ringing. The three of them entered the TARDIS and the Doctor set Elise down on the jump seat.

She curled up and closed her eyes.

"People phone you?" Amy asked.

"Well, it's a phone box. Would you mind?" the Doctor asked her.

"Hello? Sorry, who? No, seriously, who? Says he's the Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?"

"Which Prime Minister?"

"Er, which Prime Minister? The British one".

"Which British one?"

"Which British one? Winston Churchill for you".

Amy handed the phone over to him.

"Oh! Hello, dear. What's up? Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister. We're on our way". The Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS took off.