The Time of Change

The Humans and the Silurians

Ambrose stands alone in the graveyard, holding her son's headphones as if they were his very body. Tears gleam on her cheeks, and she jumps slightly when she hears someone approaching from behind. Turning and wiping her eyes, she sees Hunter walking toward her with a concerned expression. "You lied to us," she spits at him, referring to the first time they met earlier. He had been strolling among these graves, wondering how his life could have become so strange so suddenly, when Ambrose had roped him into examining the resting place of one of their long-dead relatives. That was why he had known the ground was beginning to suck people down into the soil. She adds angrily, "You told us you were the police."

"I actually never said that," he replies defensively. "You assumed. It was a misunderstanding."

"Why'd you go along with it, then?"

"Well, for one thing, I really didn't feel like third-wheeling with two people who didn't want me around. For another, when you said that your relative in the grave had just up and disappeared—body and coffin and all with no sign of a grave robbery—I got interested... and freaked out. So I investigated, which is what you wanted the police for in the first place, isn't it?"

"Who are you?" Ambrose demands, disregarding this statement. "Who are you and the Doctor and this woman he so desperately wants to find? Why is this happening to us? What did we ever do?" Her voice rises to a level of hysteria, and Hunter takes a step forward, putting a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"The Doctor will get your son back," he tells her surely. "I promise. In the meantime, we take turns guarding the creature."

Ambrose laughs sadistically. "Oh, so that's it? We just sit and wait?"

"And then we exchange her for your family," he adds. "I promise you, Ambrose. Right now, I have no choice but to trust the Doctor with my life and the life of someone I love. We stick to his plan. We keep that creature safe."

The distraught mother nods, her eyes glassy.

Far below the graveyard in which the humans converse, a pair of Silurians run a scanner over the Doctor's body. One stands, a clipboard in its arms, while the other slowly move the object through the air. Its bluish light shines on every inch of him as it passes. Nasreen is fast asleep on the other examination table. The Doctor thrashes and twitches like he is experiencing immense pain. He lets out a loud groan that goes ignored by his observers.

"How can they have escaped?" asks one in disbelief. She has the inquisitive yet judgmental yellow eyes of a cat, similar to the creature above the surface, held captive by the humans. "This just proves that all prisoners should remain under military guard."

The other, Malohkeh, who had just minutes ago been examining the Doctor's wife, shakes his scaly head. His eyes are a dull, subdued crimson. "I'm sure you'd like to be in charge of everything and everyone, Restac, but we rank the same. Is there any word from Alaya?"

"No," Restac says at once, emotionless.

Malohkeh chuckles. "It's fine to show concern, you know," he tells her in an almost fatherly sort of way. "She's part of your gene-chain. I'm decontaminating now," he adds.

"Decontamination?" the Doctor moans. "No, no, no..." He yells in pain as the scanning device is waved over his body once again, and the creatures exchange a look. The Doctor writhes around in his restraints, feeling as if everything inside of him has been lit aflame with gasoline.

Tony limps down the stairs into the crypt and sees Alaya laying in the sun from the tiny window, warming her scaled skin. His shoes scuffle on the stone floor, and she looks at him scathingly. There is mild surprise in her yellow irises. "Why aren't you dead?" she inquires. "You're carrying my venom in your blood, but you should have died. Why aren't you dead? Wait... show me," she orders after a beat.

Tony obediently peels away the collar of his shirt, and vicious pride contorts Alaya's face.

"How does it feel, ape?" she growls.

"Like it's burning my blood," whimpers Tony. "Please, if you help me, I can help you. If you could cure me, I could help you escape."

A bark of callous laughter escapes Alaya's throat, a guttural and evil sound. "You see?" she sneers. "You beg and offer betrayal so easily. Why would I want to escape when I can watch you die?" She pauses, looking him over with nothing but hatred. "The first ape death of the coming war."

At the same time, the Doctor vainly continues shouting out in agony. "NO!"

Malohkeh jolts a bit at the sound and attempts to calm him. "It's alright. It won't harm you," he says. "I'm only neutralizing all your ape bacteria."

"I'm not an ape!" the Doctor gasps breathlessly. "Look at the scans! Two hearts! Totally different—totally not ape! You remove all the human germs, and you remove half the things keeping me alive!"

Malohkeh rolls his eyes and stares at the screen. To his surprise, on the X-ray of the Doctor's body there are the image of two separate hearts, beating with two separate systems. They have arteries and veins all their own. The lizard man quickly shuts off the neutralizer and takes a step back.

"No!" Restac commands. "Complete the process!"

"Oh, that's much better. Thank you," says the Doctor with a steadying breath. Now he peers around, curious. "Not got any celery, have you? No... no, not really the climate. Tomatoes though," he adds, "you'd do a roaring trade in those."

Both Silurians stare at him, baffled.

"I'm the Doctor," he introduces himself grinningly. There is stirring beside him, and he says, "And there's Nasreen. Good!"

The woman awakens, her eyelids drooping from the sleep, and she blinks several times. After a moment, her eyes focus, widening slightly in surprise. "Oh," she sighs. "A green man."

"Hello," the Doctor greets the Silurians. "Who are you?" This is pointedly said not to Malohkeh but the other, who straightens to attention. "Restac: military commander," she replies importantly.

"Oh, dear. Really?" The Doctor presses his lips together. "There's always a military, isn't there?"

"Your weapon," says Malohkeh, "was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city."

"Oxygen pockets, lovely. Ooh," adds the Doctor, dawning comprehension overtaking the confident indifference on his face, "but not so good with an impending drill. Now it makes sense."

"Where is the rest of your invasion force?" demands Restac harshly.

The Doctor chuckles. "Invasion force? Me and lovely Nasreen? Oh, no! We came for the humans you took and to offer the safe return of Alaya. Oh, wait." He pauses, peering at Restac with something along the lines of dim amusement. "You and she... What is it, same genetic source? Of course you're worried, but don't be. She's safe."

Restac tenses. "You claim to come in peace, yet you hold one of us hostage."

"Wait, wait. We all want the same thing here—"

"I don't negotiate with apes," the military commander snarls. "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface."

The Doctor raises his eyebrows. "What's that?"

"Your execution."

"Ah... Yes." Nasreen stares at the Doctor in horror as he nods understandingly.