A little bit later in the graveyard...

Lexi and Rory were sitting back to back on a toppled grave marker as The Doctor came around from the front of the church.

"I've met these creatures before, different branch of the species, but all the same..." The Doctor entered the basement door as Rory helped Lexi stand up so they could follow him. "Let's see if our friend's thawed out!"

Church basement...

"Are you sure? By yourself?" Lexi asked concerned.

The creature was sitting on the floor in the shadows.

"Very sure."

"But the sting..." Rory tried to say.

"Venom gland takes at least 24 hours to recharge." The Doctor turned to the creature. "Am I right?" He turned back to Rory and Lexi. "I know what I'm doing."

Rory and Lexi walked back up the basement stairs and left. The Doctor walked down the remaining steps to the floor. The creature was definitely reptilian with large dark eyes. It was wearing some sort of chainmail. With bound hands, it moved forward along the floor towards The Doctor.

The Doctor held up his hands. "I'm The Doctor. I've come to talk. I'm going to remove your mask." The Doctor squatted down and gently removed the creature's mask, revealing a humanoid face. "You are beautiful. Remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel! Geothermal currents, projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous! Mind if I sit?" The Doctor stood up. "Now." He placed a folding chair in front of the creature and sat. "Your people have a friend of mine. I want her back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want? Oh, I do hate a monologue. Give us a bit back. How many are you?"

"I'm the last of my species."

"Really? No. 'Last of the species', the Klempari Defense. As an interrogation defense, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid."

"I'm the last of my species."

"No. You're really not. Because I'm the last of my species and I know how it sits in s heart, so don't insult me. Let's start again. Tell me your name."

"Alaya."

"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya? It's not difficult to work out. You're 300 million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"

"We were attacked."

"The drill."

"Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault. We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet,"

"Do you have to say vermin? They're really very nice."

"Primitive apes."

"Extraordinary species. You attack them, they'll fight back. But, there's a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that."

"This land is ours. We lived here long before the apes."

"Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid. Humans won't give up the planet."

"So we destroy them."

"You underestimate them."

"You underestimate us."

"One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans, you've got your work cut out."

Alaya stood up. "We did not initiate combat. But we can still win."

"Tell me where my friend is. Give us back the people who were taken."

"No."

The Doctor sighed and stood up. "I'm not going to let you provoke a war, Alaya." He folded up the chair and put it away. "There'll be no battle here today." He started to head for the door.

"The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due."

He stopped. "Not while I'm here."

"I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?"

Without one word, The Doctor turned and left.

Inside the church...

The Doctor, Lexi, Rory and Tony were sitting down and Nasreen and Ambrose were standing.

"You're gonna what?!" Lexi and Rory asked in surprise.

"I'm gonna go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe. To talk to them."

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

"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." The Doctor stood up. "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 five people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity."

"What if they come back? Shouldn't we be examining this creature, dissecting it, finding its weak points?"

"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?"

Everyone nodded quietly. Nasreen applauded but stopped nervously when no one else joined in.

The Doctor then exited the church and Nasreen hurried after him, with Tony going after her. It was just Rory, Lexi and Ambrose left inside.

Lexi turned to Rory. "I'm going too." She stated.

"What?! No! You can't!" Rory protested.

"Rory, I need to go down there. I know Amy's your fiancé, but she's my sister. And besides, you need to stay up here and try to keep the peace as best you can." Lexi embraced Rory and then ran out the door.

Graveyard...

The Doctor headed for the TARDIS and Nasreen ran up behind him.

"No, sorry no, what're you doing?"

"Coming with you, of course! What is it, some kind of transport pod?" Nasreen asked running a hand against the TARDIS.

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

Tony ran up and joined 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!"

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

"I thought we were in a rush."

"It'll be dangerous."

"Oh, so's crossing the road."

"Oh, for goodness' sake, alright, then! Come on!" The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS and went inside.

Tony stopped Nasreen. "Come back safe."

"Of course." Nasreen gave Tony a quick kiss before entering the TARDIS. Lexi was running up to the TARDIS at that moment. She had a sneaky suspicion that they liked each other. It was rather very sweet. She ran up to the door. Tony have her look of surprise. Lexi just shrugged and walked inside.

Inside the TARDIS...

Lexi shut the doors. And turned to walked up the stairs to the console where The Doctor was fiddling with some controls while Nasreen was looking around at the vast expanse of the room.

"Oi! Don't think you're going without me!"

The Doctor glanced up from the console, but just looked back down to what he was doing.

"How come you don't say anything to her when she comes along, but when I do you try and stop me?" Nasreen asked curiously.

"Because I knew she would follow me anyway." The Doctor said not glancing up. Lexi just grinned and went around the console to where The Doctor and Nasreen were.

The TARDIS started to dematerialize, but then pitched drastically. Everyone clung to the console.

"Did you touch something?!" The Doctor asked Nasreen.

"No! Isn't this what it does?!"

The Doctor looked over at Lexi clinging to the console.

"I'm not doing anything!" Lexi defended.

"Ok, we've been highjacked! I can't stop it! They must've sensed the electro-magnetic field!" The Doctor looked at the monitor screen. "They're pulling the TARDIS down into the Earth!"

Everyone held onto the console and yelled. The TARDIS landed and the three fell to the floor, with Nasreen and Lexi on either side of The Doctor. Nasreen snapped The Doctor's braces.

"Oi."

"Where are we?"

The Doctor got up and ran for the door, Lexi and Nasreen following.

Cave system...

The Doctor held a hand outside the door before stepping out. There were roots and fungus covering the walls. Lexi stepped out followed by Nasreen. Water dripped on her. The Doctor whistled in amazement as he looked up the way they fell.

"Looks like we fell through the bottom of their tunnel system. Don't suppose it was designed for handling something like this."

"How far down are we?" Lexi asked looking all around as she walked over to The Doctor.

"A lot more than 21km."

"So why aren't we burning alive?" Nasreen asked curiously.

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

"It's like this is everyday for you two!"

"Not everyday." The started.

"Every other day." Lexi finished.

The Doctor walked ahead and headed down one of the tunnels, and, after a slight delay, Lexi and Nasreen followed.

A couple minutes later in a tunnel...

The Doctor walked past an opening, but Nasreen and Lexi stopped to look as he continued talking.

"We're looking for a small tribal settlement. Probably housing around a dozen homo reptilia. Maybe less."

Nasreen and Lexi look out at something bathed in a golden light.

"One small tribe." Nasreen stated slowly.

The Doctor made his way back. "Yeah,"

"Maybe a dozen?" Lexi asked slowly.

The Doctor went and joined, standing between the two woman, finally seeing the same thing. "Ah."

Below them, there was a large community, verging on a city with buildings and monuments. "Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilization living beneath the Earth."

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: I hope you liked it! Next chapter episode will be Cold Blood. :)