Somewhere else on the ship...

The Doctor and Amy were in a maintenance corridor. They were climbing down a ladder. When they were on the ground, The Doctor placed his hands on the wall leaning into it to listen to something.

"Can't be." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver to get a reading. He then noticed a glass of water on the floor and lied down to stare at it. Amy looked at him trying to figure out what could possibly be running through his head.

"The impossible truth in a glass of water." A whispering voice piped in out of nowhere. A woman appeared in front of The Doctor and Amy. They could tell she wore a mask even though she was turned away from them. "Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?" The Doctor then stood up.

"You know me?"

"Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass." The voice said continuing to whisper.

"Who says he sees anything?" Amy chimed in.

"Don't waste time. At the marketplace Doctor, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then you both came straight here to the engine room. Why?"

"No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So... I thought we'd take a look." The Doctor then opened a power box on the wall. "It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look, look. They're dummies. See?" He then crossed over to the other side of the hall and tapped a wall. "And this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better. I'd say there was..."

"No engines at all." Amy whispered in realization.

"Quite right Amy, but it's working. This ship is traveling through space. We saw it."

"The impossible truth, Doctor. We're traveling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."

"But how?" Amy asked confused.

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. All of you help us. You're our only hope. You're friend is safe. I'm guessing this is her twin sister since she looks just like her."

"Yeah, where is my sister?" Amy asked a bit worriedly. The woman handed The Doctor a device.

"This will take you to her. Now both of you, go! Quickly!" The woman began to walk away.

"Who are you? How do we find you again?" The woman turned around to face them.

"I am Liz 10. And I will find you." There was a crashing noise and The Doctor and Amy looked around, but when they turned back, Liz 10 was gone.

In a voting cubicle...

Lexi woke up in a chair and the first thing she saw was The Smiler in the booth. There were four monitors in front of her in the style of retro televisions. A computerized voice started to speak.

"Welcome to voting cubicle 330C. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it." Lexi stood up to have a look around while the voice continued to speak. "The United Kingdom recognizes the right to know all of its citizens." Lexi turned back to look at the screens. There were 3 large buttons in front of her: 'Protest', 'Record' and 'Forget'. "A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll." Lexi sat back down in the chair. "Name - Alexis Giselle Pond. Age - 1,306."

Lexi gasped. "Shut up!" She let a small giggle.

"Marital status... Single." Lexi frowned at that comment.

Lexi flipped back into the chair. On the four screens, a video started to play, showing an older man as a presenter.

"You are here because you want to know the truth about the starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may protest... or forget. If you choose to protest, understand this. If just 1% of the population of this ship do likewise, the programme will be discontinued, with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation - and we hope that you will, then press the 'forget' button. All the information I am about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here, then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls."

Images started to flash across the screens. They reflected in Lexi's eyes. She reacted and quickly pressed the forget button. She wiped the tears from her eyes. A video message from herself started to play on the screen.

"This isn't a trick. You've got to find The Doctor and get him back to the TARDIS. Don't let him investigate. Stop him. Do whatever you have to. Just please, please get The Doctor off this ship!"

The door to the room opened and she saw Mandy and Amy waiting for her. As the message continued to replay, The Doctor hopped into the doorway.

"Lexi?" Lexi turned the message off. "What have you done?" A moment later, The Doctor was on the chair using the sonic screwdriver on the lamp above. "Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about 20 minutes." The Doctor jumped to the floor.

"But why would I choose to forget?" Lexi asked as Amy came up and stood beside her.

"Cos everyone does. Everyone chooses the 'forget' button." Mandy said standing in the doorway.

"Did you?"The Doctor asked turning around to look at Mandy.

"I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm 12. Any time after you're 16, you're allowed to see the film and make your choice. And then, once every five years..."

"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action." The Doctor turned back to the monitors.

"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?" Mandy asked tilting her head.

"Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish. I can't even see the movie. Won't play for me."

"It played for me."

"The difference being the computer doesn't accept me as human."

"Why not?" Amy asked. The Doctor turned to look at her. "I mean, you look human." The twins walked over to join him at the monitors.

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first."

"So there are other Time Lords. Yeah?" Lexi asked turning her head to look at The Doctor.

"No. There were, but there aren't... Just me now. Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened, and you know what? I'd loved to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Cos this is what I do. Every time. Every day. Every second. This. Hold tight Ponds. We're bringing down the government." The Doctor pounded the 'Protest' button. The door slammed shut, leaving Mandy outside. The Smiler in the booth turned to show its very angry face. The Doctror pulled Lexi and Amy into the corner of the room as the floor slid open. "Say, 'Wheee'!"

"Ahhhh!" Amy and Lexi screened together. The trio fell down the shoot.

Hallway outside voting cubicle...

The lit sign switched from 'Occupied' to 'Empty'. A figure came up behind Mandy, startling her.

"It's alright, love." The figure removed its mask to reveal it was Liz 10. "It's only me."

Refuse pile...

The Doctor, Lexi and Amy fell out of the chute with a scream. The Doctor then stood up and used his sonic screwdriver. "High-speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel."

"Where are we?" Lexi asked trying to stand up. The Doctor went over and helped her steady herself.

"600 feet down. 20 miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say... Lancashire. What's this then? A cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave." The Doctor said letting go of Lexi seeing that she had regained her balance. Amy seemed to stand up without a problem.

"It's a rubbish dump, and it's minging!" Amy said throwing a piece of rubbish.

"Yes, but only food refuse." The Doctor sniffed the air. "Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship." Amy then got down on her hands and knees.

"The floor is all squidgy, like a water bed."

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy."

Then a distant moaning could be heard. The Doctor's eyes grow wide as he realized where they were. Amy stood up from her position on the floor.

"Er... It's not a floor, it's a... So..." The Doctor put his sonic back in his inside jacket pocket.

"It's a what?" Lexi asked looking around.

"The next word is kind of the scary word. Take a moment. Get yourself in a calm place." The Doctor grabbed Amy and Lexi's hands. "Go 'omm'." The twins complied.

"Omm."

"It's a tongue."

"A tongue?" The twins asked turning their heads towards each other

"A tongue. A great big tongue!" The Doctor said excitedly.

"This is a mouth? This whole place is a mouth? We're in a mouth?!" Amy said with wide eyes.

"Yes, yes, but on the plus side, roomy." The Doctor said spreading his arms wide.

"How do we get out?" Lexi asked a bit confused. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver.

"How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous! Blimey! If this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach." He hears grunting. "Though not right now."

"Doctor, how do we get out?" Amy asked more intently.

"Okay, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is..." The Doctor looked over to see the sharp teeth of a closed mouth. "closed for business."

"We can try, though." The twins said in unison as they started to head forward.

"No! Stop, don't move!" The mouth started to heave in agitation. "Too late, it's started."

"What has?" Amy asked in a worried tone.

"Swallow reflex." The trio slipped and fell back into the refuse. The Doctor pointed the screwdriver to use on the mouth walls.

"What are you doing?" Lexi asked confused.

"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors."

"Chemo-what?" Amy and Lexi asked together.

"The eject button."

"How does a mouth have an eject button?" Amy asked wondering what The Doctor could possibly be thinking.

"Think about it." The creature growled. They then saw a wave of bile coming towards them. "Right then." The Doctor said straightening his bow tie. "This isn't going to be big on dignity Ponds. GERONIMO!" They all yelled out and found themselves out of the mouth and back in the ship. The Doctor got up and started examining a door. Amy and Lexi helped each other up. "There's nothing broken. There's no sign of concussion and yes, you both are covered in sick."

"Where we?" Amy asked picking something out of Lexi's hair.

"Overspill pipe, at a guess."

"Oh, God. It stinks." Amy said with a scrunched up nose.

"Um, I don't think that's the pipe Amy." Lexi said picking something out of Amy's hair.

"Oh." Amy sniffs herself. "Whoo! Can we get out?"

The Doctor didn't even turn away from the door as he continued to speak. "One door, one door switch, one condition." The Doctor moved to the side a bit to show the twins the button on the door. "We forget everything we saw. Look familiar? That's the carrot." The lights came on to reveal two Smilers. "Ooh, here's the stick. There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing there?" The faces spun around to show that they were mad. "No, that's not going to work on me, so come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That's how it works?" The faces spun around again to show they were angry. "Oh, stop it. I'm not leaving and I'm not forgetting and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues?" The booths opened and the two Smilers stood and walked towards The Doctor, Lexi and Amy.

"Doctor?!" Amy and Lexi yelled together. All of a sudden, Liz 10 appeared behind them and then shot the Smilers. She twirled her pistol before putting it back in its holster.

"Look who it is. You look a lot better without your mask."

"You must be Lexi. Liz. Liz 10."

"Hi." Lexi said shaking Liz's hand.

"Eurgh!" Liz said wiping her and on her cloak. "Lovely hair, Lexi. Shame about the sick." Lexi could hear Amy let out a quick giggle. She turned to look at Amy and Amy quickly shut up. Liz 10 then started for the door. "You know Mandy, yeah?" Liz asked putting an arm around Mandy's shoulder. "She's very brave."

"How'd you find us?" The Soctor asked stepping forward.

"Stuck my gizmo on you." Liz through a device at The Doctor. "Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"

"You're over 16, you've voted. Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."

"No. Never forgot, never voted. Not technically a British subject."

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?"

"You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair like an idiot..." The Doctor pointed like he was about to argue, then ran his hand through his soaked hair instead. "I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."

"Your family?" Amy asked chiming in. Then one of the Smiler began to move.

"They're repairing. Doesn't take them long. Let's move." They all left the overspill.

Lower corridors...

"The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry XII. Tea and scone with Liz II. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, wasn't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy!" Lexi's face looked shocked at that last part.

"Liz 10?" The Doctor asked as two Smilers rose from booths in the corridor.

"Liz 10, yeah. Elizabeth X. And down!" Liz shot both Smilers with her pistols. "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule." Liz then took them to another corridor. It was the base of a vator shaft. "There's a high-speed Vator through there." The Doctor, Lexi and Amy looked into a caged area where there were two of the things Lexi saw earlier. "Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?"

"Doctor, I saw one of these up top. There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root."

"Exactly like a root. It's all one creature - the same one we were inside - reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."

"What? Like an infestation?" Amy asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Something's helping it. Feeding it."

"Feeding my subjects to it. Come on. We've got to keep moving." Liz 10 said storming off with Mandy following her.

"Doctor?" The twins asks together.

"Oh, Ponds..." The Doctor said while looking at creatures sympathetically as they banged against the bars. "We should never have come here." Lexi remembered her video message.