Note: This image was based on the beautiful shot called “Spellbound_Light_Show” by SallyD. Her blog is http://sallyd.wordpress.com/ . The specific post is: http://sallyd.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/wormy-waitomo-north-island-new-zealand/
I looked for a way to contact Sally to ask for permission, because That is what I do if I use someone’s stuff just to polite, but I didn’t see a way to contact her. I claim no ownership of this work for any reason, not even the graphics.
Submersion
The new passage led them further down; crossing under the canyon by tens of meters at the least. The temperature seemed to level off into one of constant cool-but-not-chilly. All told it was cold enough that the Doctor blended in with the background temperature and for once did not appear so much cooler that he was showing up in Riddick’s vision as a wash of navy-blue with purple-pink edges. At least it was dry here. There was no sound of the clicking screeches from the native hammerheads either.
They walked and walked, still on high alert and as silently as possible, listening for any sound that would give away the location of their hunters. There were several twisting passages that led off into the darkness but because the visible floor was a jumble of rocks and rough surfaces they bypassed those in favor of the wide, nearly dry, somewhat smooth route they were already on. As they walked the floor went from dry to slightly damp, the natural drainage ruts giving way to a broad but very shallow stream. After some careful poking and some scanning they determined that it was safe enough to continue on this route because the rock underfoot was dampened by a slight sheet of water, barely a fraction of a centimeter thick, and still was rough enough for their shoes to grip.
The rocks glistened around them from the light, looking wet or studded with crystals. The colors of the stone was more pronounced, still shades of tan and yellow with a smattering of brown or grayed stone to break up the plain look of it. Their cool toned light washed out the scene making everything very surreal. It was a rather mixed bag. They’d decided to stick to dry areas but the caverns above them were more likely to be accessible to the predatory natives. So this wet area made them slow down a bit, testing each step and carefully walking in the path of those in front of them when possible.
The first sign of life here that was not trying to kill them took them all by surprise. The Doctor put his arm out to stop them, peering into the darkness ahead. He and Richard quietly and jointly decided to keep on this path, once it was clear that what they spotted was not moving. The rather bright green specks turned out to be some tiny cream colored fungus that looked very much like dainty mushrooms. Pale in their cool toned light, these small clusters took on a faint greenish tinge in the shadows, and once they realized what was going on their eyes could pick out the rather bright green specks in the darkness of several side passages. Carolyn nudged William, “Did you see? The plants here are glowing.”
Actually, he didn’t. “Um?” He was rather more focused on the shape of her hand as she pointed and had to force himself to not watch her fingers move.
“Look Johns.” She pointed again, “Look at the rocks.”
He shrugged, “Natural defense mechanism. The top predator can be killed by light so the creatures lower on the food chain produce it.”
This was their first hint that perhaps they might find safe areas to rest down here. Clearly the light would keep the natives away at least. Most of them put out their open flames, knowing that they should save their light for when they really needed it. Paris kept his burning, just as he’d kept his handlight on. Needless to say, most of the others found his paranoia annoying.
Then if the slowly increasing green glow wasn’t enough to make him feel secure then likely nothing would be. The fungus gradually increased in size and number as they went along, and soon the turned into a twisting passage that was once again dry, leaving behind the stream bed they had followed thus far. It was clear that moisture slowly made its way through the rock here, etching it into new surreal shapes. The existing fungus couldn’t be all that was here, however. There was something on the walls that produced a sheen of a glow, deeper bluish green tones. And as they got closer it was clear that the color came from something else growing on the moist walls.
Simon whispered, “A bacterium? Maybe? Could it be that there is an entire ecosystem down here?” He sounded quietly excited about the prospect of seeing something that had been overlooked in such a dramatic fashion. The sensation he got from the Doctor echoed his feelings.
The alien thought this was just as likely and thrilling as he did. “More than likely,” the pale man replied. “the larger creatures must have come from someplace, perhaps they exist lower down, or were protected by their own glow and were scavenged when they died in a cave in?”
“Wouldn’t that be – Fantastic?” Carolyn added.
Johns made a face, “No. Just alien. I didn’t realize you were prone to flights of fantasy, Fry.” She gave him a frown but did not retort. He added, “I don’t fancy running into a ship sized glowing slug, OK? Might not be quite a dangerous as the hammerheads, but still might try to eat us.”
The young Doc Tam said the the merc, “You’re a very up,person, aren’t you?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Oh, sure,” the redhead tossed back, “Blame me for being realistic. Fine. Just don’t expect me to haul your ass out of something’s giant maul when it tries to make lunch out of you.”
At this Simon gave William a grin, “I’ll watch my step.”
It was enough to make the marshal go silent from shock. The young doctor was joking with him and treating him like he was an OK bloke, which Johns wasn’t used to. The boys in the squad had been like that, but he was years past any sort of comradely anything. His oft adversarial relationship with Rich was as close to a friend as he had. Mercs just didn’t form attachments. The death count was too high and just because you liked and trusted someone didn’t mean they liked and trusted you back. No, it was far more likely that another merc would stab you for your profit than anything else. It was strange then, that he’d clung to Rich so tightly, and yet even so this young man, barely more than a kid, was reaching out to him. Simon was not a merc. He could be trusted. Johns snorted and then chuckled.
The entire group shifted into a narrow darkened passage which had a sudden sharp turn. They cleared the bend and stepped into a scene that was unreal. Not because it was fantastic in the sense that it couldn’t exist, but that even with the faint signs of it being possible none of them could have braced themselves for the sheer enormity of variety that suddenly confronted them.
It was like finding an unspoiled bit of jungle hidden away in a desert valley, this new cavern that dropped away below them in a profusion of fungus based forest, glowing with fluorescence and bioluminescence. They’d pretty much gotten used to the green and green-blue. But this was cyan and yellow and orange and red… and combinations thereof, in addition to the shades they had already seen. If it weren’t for the amount of light being released they might have mistaken the smooth forms for some strange type of mineral formation. But it was very clear that these large pillars were some form of life, if only by the unusual scaled and cupped shapes that some took near their tops. The largest of the stalks were easily eight meters tall, and nearly a meter around, towering right to within touching distance of the ceiling, although capless but for a few that seemed to be actively dropping spores which misted into the air in clouds of colored puffs.
The Doctor flushed cinnamon across his cheeks and put an arm out to make them stop. Not like they were going to go running straight in anyhow. Carolyn recalled the bones tinged with lichen, the only indication of life that might have been still alive at the time that she’d completely overlooked. Now looking at the scene in front of them she realizes that perhaps this isn’t so strange, the combination of glowing bacterium and fungus, or algae and fungus that had appeared on the walls previously giving way to larger forms of Lichen perhaps. The Time Lord was messing with the settings on his sonic thing-a-bob, “Let me scan…” he started with a command that seemed to fade into breathlessness. It was really no wonder that he seemed to feel awestruck.
Jack murmured, “Wow.”
Even Ogilvie was staring at the scene with his mouth open. Jack and Ali were both trying to look at everything at once, likely taking in more details than the stunned adults were. After a moment the pale man mumbled, “Very much like Prototaxites, if I’m readin’ this right. Very Delicate. Do not touch.” It was impossible to say if he was making the order to a single individual or to all of them.
“What’s a ‘Prototaxites’?” Suleiman asked.
River answered him, “Ancient giant form of life, believed to be a fungus or fungus/alga hybrid – a lichen. On Earth-that-Was they evolved and dominated the landscape in the Suli-Devonian period. The large towers seen here would be immature fruiting bodies, and our passage could destroy thousands of years of growth in minutes.”
“I’m not sure we have much choice,” Paris said. “Besides if it’s us or these – things…”
“Mr Ogilvie,” Imam cut in, “You are not helping.”
The Doctor fixed the art dealer with an expression that was about as dark as he’s fixed Johns with before, prompting the merc to tell the fellow, “If I were you, I’d shut up.”
“Simon, let me see your medical scanner a moment. I might be able to tweak it to detect exobiology. Since Fungi are more animal then plant it should detect on your scanner,” the Time Lord told the medical doctor. In short order the Tam scion had passed his scanner over to the Doctor who spent a few moments tinkering with it. While he’s focused on the work the others end up just gaping at the sight of all the different forms of glowing life that was becoming evident as they stood there.
Yes, there was life here; strange, glowing life with variety unlike anything they had imagined. Cream, golden, and orange mushrooms nestled into the nooks and crannies acting to recycle what the animal life here excreted, forming the lower levels of ‘plant’ life to the larger ‘trees’ above them. The air glowed from the winged insects that had retained the glowing properties, blinking on and off in the distance, alien forms of fireflies or glowbugs, that were rather shaped like ants with dragonfly wings, although with enough of an alien cast to remind everyone that this was not anywhere near terrestrial.
The Doctor finally finished his tinkering and made a scan with the device, focused on the ground, which formed a jumble of rocks that might function as a ramp down if they are lucky. He’s more concerned about the fungus underfoot, and the glowing slime on the near wall that formed streaks of green, blue, and red cut through with lines of grazing trails that ended up leading to bright green thin reed like worms, and thicker mottled cream and glowing yellow slugs, sectioned larvae with bright red and orange flickering patterns that seemed to be almost as bright as a neon sign might be. He was checking for poison, for how much damage their presence will make here, concerned for both their safety and that of the ecosystem before them. With a slightly surprised grunt he passed the scanner back to Simon, “Appears that these organisms are a mite tougher than the ones that evolved on Earth. I think if we are careful we can rest here, providing there’s a clear spot someplace.”
He then turned his attention to the rockfall, scanning it to check how stable it is. Fortunately the brightly glowing lichen poking from the cracks seem to be responsible for stabilizing it. In fact the entire floor of the cavern seems coated with the stuff, patches of color and different shapes indicating a healthy level of diversity, and there are fairly large spider-crab, millipede, and scorpion like creatures walking on it, grazing on it, even, indicating that it will recover quickly from any damage they might do. The hard shelled giant creatures are lined with bright glowing patterns that seem to function as both communication and camouflage.
Imam asked, “Those -” he swallowed, “Is it safe?”
“Yes.” The pale man gave the dark skinned one an expression that was, at least, sympathetic, “Unlike what might be more familiar to you, these are all grazers. They lack poison and predatory drive.” The Doctor and Richard started slowly down the incline, “I assume it’s because they have evolved under such pressure from the hammerheads that mutual cooperation is more beneficial.” The others carefully follow them, alternatively trying to keep track of where they are walking and look about at the alien sights around them. Slowly the group entered the speckled glowing cavern. They fit right in, with their fiber optic blue day-glow spider look.
In addition to the slick walls that stretched out of view, damp with trickling moisture, and coated with glowing slime-like life in glowing hues, there were brightly glowing larvae dotting various surfaces, in some cases so thickly as to form crusts that moved about, leaving swatches of bared rock in their wake. These immature creatures were soft bodied but existed in a profusion of shapes and sizes ranging from worms and grubs to miniature versions of the hard shelled adults that grazed without care on the lichen and fungus littering the floor of the cavern.
The careful progression halts again when they discovered the ‘jungle’ giving way to a huge clear, reflective, body of water that is lit from the bottom by glowing spotted bony fish, mats of algae, glowing seaweed like forms, blooming in spots across where part of a Prototaxites has landed in the water. There were glowing coral-like formations, shifting in shades of blue and yellow as day-glow crabs, shrimp, swimming insect larvae, and squid-like creatures darted about. Here then, looked to be some minor predation, or at least efficient scavenging going on. Their eyes are drawn up by the gossamer wings that flutter past them, drifting up until they make out against the velvet black of the ceiling over the glowing water what looks like stars, pale blue glistening sparkles. They realize, quickly, that the specks are moving, wiggling, glowing grub-like worms. The half ant/half dragonfly like insects flit about here, a profusion that led them to conclude that the blue larvae must be the immature forms of the flying creatures. Amazement flashed over Richard’s face, the entire cavern finally sinking into his mind. He turned his silver-eyed gaze on the man to his left. “Ever see anything like it before?”
When he stopped to think about all, the Doctor was just as awestruck as the others crowding around behind them. He said nothing but made a face that read, ‘how about that?’ before meeting Richard’s eyes with his own and shaking his head. The lake posed a problem. If they went this way how do they get across it? “Should we take a break here?” Imam asked. In spite his uncertainty about safety of the large hard-shelled creatures grazing behind them, the beach was mostly cleared stone.
They were in the middle of an alien ecosystem, the glowing life covering the rock here softened it enough to almost make them forget the danger they were in. They’d come a long way, however. The walk they’d made from the coring room had taken them out of their way by a long measure, putting them a day behind. But they needed to rest before they fell over. This was as safe as they were going to get. It had been hours since they stopped last. No one wanted to over tax him or herself. “Let’s, yes,” Paris piped up hopefully. “But we should be careful. The glowing things might bite.”
Carolyn gave the art dealer a disbelieving look, then said, “Suppose you can never be too cautious.” Casting around for a half dry and clear spot, they wander into the left side of the ‘beach’ area and find a location that was rock, nice and solid, with no glowing things on the ground. The low stalagmites glisten with little specks of light, tiny glow-worms apparently consuming the minerals from the rock. There are no spores falling here, either. It was as good a place as any.
Suleiman handed out food after they had all settled down. He’d been quiet since his younger brother died, but was bursting with questions about why Hassan had been so eager to die, so ready to brave the unknown. It didn’t seem proper to ask, and he doubted that anyone would understand. What purpose did God have for them if their fate was to die here? He didn’t notice really when River sat next to him until she said, “He was determined, your brother. Wanted to be like the men, to face danger and be brave. Only when he sought it, he realized that he’d made a mistake. Too late. I’m sorry.”
Meeting her brown eyes gave him totally different problems than he’d anticipated; leaving him tongue-tied and flustered. “Fault not yours,” Suleiman managed to get out.
The smile he got was sad but blinding all the same, “Nor yours. We all live or die here by our own discernment.” He wondered about that, really. But again it was not proper to ask such questions, Suleiman knew. Besides he liked this girl and – ‘Really, I shouldn’t be thinking such thing on Hajj’. “I still feel for your loss, Suleiman. If something happened to Simon — ”
“It won’t,” he interrupted putting his hand over hers. “Trust me, ‘Ver. I won’t let anything happen to your brother.”
The touch made her world explode in light and color; pinkish speckles and streamers seem to float before her eyes in a million different shades from near white to almost purplish. His heart laid in her hands, and she could crush it if she tried. It was a different caring than her brother’s protective worry-filled love or the Doctor’s guilt-ridden, duty bound compassion that might someday ignite into the same passion he felt for his Amadak. She had no idea. And she didn’t know how to react to it, this budding feeling he had that could be so very, very good if she were a whole, normal girl. But she’s not. Not even human anymore. There were things that were done to her that should have killed her but didn’t. And she knew that this normal boy could never ever totally accept what she’s becoming. She teared up and shook her head, “Don’t. Not for me.” River extracted her hand and moved away from the Arabic boy, not quite fleeing from what she’s seen, back to the Doctor’s side.
Suleiman was not sure why, but the rejection hurt all the same. He vowed, though, that he would do everything in his power to make sure River’s brother lived, even if he must die for it to be so.
The Time Lord was slightly apart, studying the glowing larvae on a nearby Prototaxites, quite careful to not touch the fascinating surface. Some of the grubs are fairly large ones at that, with spectacular patterns of slight variances in light output. They seem to be feeding on the lichen, or boring into it for shelter. River tucked herself into his side and buried her face. He does not look away from his study, automatically swinging his arm out for her to squeeze in closer and then resting the limb across her back. The small girl nearly climbed into his coat, all but disappearing against him.
Carolyn glanced over at Simon; “Doesn’t it bother you?” They were eating and drinking, careful to repack all the wrappers and containers when finished.
“Huh?” the Tam scion looked at the docking pilot then over at the scene, “No. River needs someone to help her heal from what she’s been through, captain. Her perceptions are no longer those of the rest of Humanity, because of the experiments performed on her. The Doctor isn’t human, but he does seem to sense the universe the way Mei-Mei does. He can explain things to her that I can’t even begin to imagine.”
Johns glanced between them, “What’d you mean, not human?”
Simon replied, “His vital signs do not fit into the normal variance for the human species, Mr. Johns. He’s not been shy about it. Although I still don’t know if his physical state, the lack of body hair and skin pigmentation, is normal or caused by some defect.”
“Haven’t you noticed how cool his hands are, Johns? Even when it was hot, his hands were always cool,” Fry added. “Not that it matters one wit to me. He could be naturally purple with green spots and I wouldn’t care.”
At that point Riddick settled down across from the merc. He’d been scouting and had come back to discover himself hovering near the alien fellow. Making the connection, he forced himself away from the man, “You all know he can hear every word, right?”
Carolyn raised an eyebrow. William got a look of guilty relief, glad he didn’t say worse. Simon nodded, “I don’t doubt it.”
“So how are we going to cross the lake? Or are we going to try to find another route?” Imam asked.
Riddick smirked at them; “There’s a thin ledge and a joining passage off to the right. I think it crosses under the boneyard. That’s the way we need to go. Only problem is that we’re going to have to go single file.” No one saw that as much of an issue. Rich hoped that none of them tripped over their own feet.
Because of the distance covered and the fact that they were all rather ‘trained’ by the Doctor’s actions over the course of their survival thus far, when he moved River back into the circle, settled down and closed his eyes, most of them felt immediately sleepy. Richard was slightly surprised that the Doctor squeezed in next to him, touching his side, not even attempting to disguise the need to be there from any ofthem. While none of them wanted to risk being caught, they needed to sleep a few hours. It was little more than a nap, however, lasting only a little while before they mutually decided to press on. They figured out an arrangement that left Jack in the middle. Fry, Paris, and William were again at the back, with the art dealer closer to the marshal than before. “Feel like I’m being written off…” the older man mumbled.
“So you noticed too?” the redhead whispered back to him.
The man glanced back as they shimmied their way along the narrow overhang that has quite a fall below it, as they can’t tell how deep the water was, “I was under the impression you wanted to be back here.”
“With my back exposed? Are you crazy?” Johns responded. “But there’s no way that I’m going to walk up front with Sir-Shiv-a-Lot, either.”
Paris felt his foot slip slightly, “Careful there’s a slick spot here. And I agree, but why can’t someone else wear the backpack? Why the kid?”
“It’s his pack,” Fry said. “That’s the only reason why.”
Finally the ledge widened out, as the wall gave way to a narrow crack-like opening. There’s enough space to walk two abreast, barely. Simon and Suleiman came to a halt ahead of the three in the back. “What is it?” the Arabic youth asked.
“See something I don’t like.”
“What, Mr. Riddick?” said the holy man.
“Um — Looks like a nursery, filled with egg mounds. No adults, but lots of mucus,” comes the con’s deep voice from ahead of them.
“Is it the predators?” Carolyn asked.
Seconds later both the Doctor and Simon finished consulting their respective scanners and answered, “Yes.”
Jack said, “I don’t want to come across as thoughtless, or mean, but can’t we just set the entire works on fire? You know, burn ‘em out. They must have other sites with eggs. Not to mention that they have lots of time to make more copies of themselves.”
“Jack!” Imam rebuked.
“Hey, it’s not likethey are trying to eat us or anything, right?”
Johns called, “I have to agree with the boy, if that counts. We’ve lost three of our own already. I didn’t see another passage back there.”
The Doctor saw both the holy man’s response to and the validity of Jack’s proposal. He sent a mental nudge to the TARDIS, ‘Did you know?’ The reply was both simple and complex, the external scans of the tunnel system appearing in his head with the chamber ahead of him outlined in signs that life was detected here alongside the mauve danger tones. He snorted. “The entire works are flammable. One good spark will set it off. Our light might set it off. And about twenty-seven point one percent of the hatchlings are ready to break free from their leathery shells.”
Behind them Paris pulled out the one non-used lamp. “Pass this up,” he said. The lamp found its way into River’s hands and she stopped to stare at it. ‘Is it evil to want to kill these things?’ She felt the bottle slide upward in her hand as Rich took it from her, bypassing Abu. She blinked at him.
“Should we vote, Carolyn?”
“Is it necessary? We don’t have another route, do we?”
The Doctor said, “Past this there are a number of interconnected passages, plenty of ways to avoid nearly any issue. But this is the route we have to take to get there.”
Iman sighed. “Don’t delay because I have objections to killing so many at once. This is survival. We must do as necessary to live.”
The deep gravely voice of the con advised, “Better to back up to the ledge and crouch, just in case.” They followed his words, and he lit the bottle from Abu’s half-empty one. Then he switched lamps with him and flung the more used one into the middle of the chamber. The flame ignited the air itself, like a fireball, and then set the other obstructions in the chamber alight. The smell was horrible. Everyone came out slightly toasted around the edges after the fumes finished burning off but none of them were seriously harmed. The blaze of light made the creatures in the tunnels ahead screech in agony.
Before the flames had died down, there’s an order, “Now, move. Come on. Keep Jack in the middle! Let’s go!” It’s the alien’s voice, but none of them think to contest the leadership. They scrambled into their formation and make a fast burst across the still burning chamber. There were several bursts of sound from the silver gadget that forced the ‘babysitting’ adults that had arrived to investigateinto a tunnel before the survivors swerve away into a side passage. The predators howl with anger now, tracking them even as Johns brought down the lead one with a shotgun blast.
“Fuckin’ christ! Keep moving! There’s a gang of them back here,” He called.
“Give me a pistol, Johns!” Fry said. He hands her one off his belt and she shot seconds later, taking one of the hammerheads off its course toward the center of the group. Paris let off a frightened squeak, spear and lamp both held to defend himself with. He felt Suleiman and Simon close ranks with him as the marshal and docking pilot usher them further down the wide tunnel. There was another burst of sound from above and behind them that caused their pursuers to freeze although they were clicking madly.
“Breathe, Mr. Ogilvie,” Dr. Tam hissed in his ear. “Come on, nice and deep,” Paris followed the instruction only because of the assurance in the younger man’s voice. “That’s right. In – Out.” At the moment the only thing that the art dealer wanted was more light, to hoard it, to never be in darkness again. The panic was nearly overwhelming but the gentle coaching to breathe gave him a rhythm and space to think clearly.
He looked at the medical doctor; “Can we switch places? Can I walk in your spot for a bit?”
“If you want to, but behind Suleiman and I and before Carolyn and William gives you more light.”
“Guns. I have a fear of guns,” he whispered.
“Here then, walk behind Jack, huh?” Simon offered, “Suleiman and I will flank you both.”
“Come on, Mr. Ogilvie. I don’t bite, much,” Jack teased to cover up his desire to flinch away from the fellow. He’d really rather have the man in front of him than behind anyhow. “You could walk in front of me, with Imam, if you want.”
Paris quickly moved up, River helping to guide his lead past the others so that it was not tangled. “Thank you,” the art dealer said.
“Are we settled then?” The Doctor asked. He got several nods. “Good, we’ll need to make the next left, because the natives should be bursting out from our right in about five seconds.”
While Johns wanted to challenge that, as it headed them away from the direction they want to go, he barely had time to respond to Fry’s tug to go left before a hammerhead lunged at him. His reaction was to blast it into blue sludge and to push the docking pilot further suggested direction, “Well, don’t just stand there, go left!”
She snickered, “And here I thought you’d argue.”
“Just shoot the damn things.”
They made a fairly speedy dash down the passage, which was wide and weaving, it ended up making a turn the direction the need to go before forking. The TARDIS key pulled the straight ahead, but Riddick said, “Go right!” He was spotting signs of life in the darkness ahead of them.
“What do you see Mr. Riddick?” Imam wanted to know.
Richard would rather not say, actually. The passage straight ahead held a drop off and a huge chamber. Filled with hammer-headed natives, all fighting for some top-notch prize. The right tunnel skirted this mess. Luckily the Doctor saved him from having to tell right away what the problem is, “How are they tracking us? The sonic pulses I’m putting out should be disrupting their echo-location.”
“Anyone cut?” Riddick tossed out. The entire mess of them scans over their exposed skin and all come up negative. “Might be me. Want to double-check my scratch, Simon?” Dr. Tam steps up and made sure the fine paper-thin cut on Rich’s shoulder was sealed under a coat of derma-heal. Another thought occurs to the man, wondering now if there might be another reason for there to be blood flowing. He looked at the women, “Either of you bleedin’ the other way?”
Carolyn met his gaze; “Company places all females on quarterly birth control. My menstrual cycle won’t start for another three weeks.”
Simon narrowed his eyes and scanned his sister; “She is not currently, no. Don’t look at her that way. Any of you.”
The Time Lord adjusted his pulse frequency, “Let’s move.”
“So what did we avoid back there?”
‘Damn.’ “Hard to tell, sometimes — even for me — but looked like a bunch of those big boys chewin’ each other’s gonads off. Thought the right passage would swing wide.” He looked at Paris who’d asked the second time, “Okay by you?”
The man gave him an owlish look then glanced back toward the darkness behind them. Clicking back that direction spurred the holy man to give the art dealer a nudge to move.
“Look, I don’t know how much ammo we’ve got here, so we need to keep ahead of these things,” Carolyn said as she backed toward the others, Johns at her side. “Get this train moving!”
The others responded by picking up the pace. At the next junction they got back to heading the direction they need to go to get to the TARDIS.
