run\'
Amy couldn't tear her eyes from the Vykoid troops.
Everything they did was so regimented and neat. She thought that this might just be the best-organised army she'd ever seen.
General Erik was shouting commands and waving his hands around, and the front ranks appeared to be preparing to attack something.
With a sudden feeling of dread, Amy realised who they were getting ready to attack. 'Running... yeah... I'm definitely with you on that.'
But before they could move, the air around them glowed green, just as it had when the circular wave had exploded. Amy could feel every cell in her body vibrate, like she was undergoing her own mini-earthquake. After it had passed through her,
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she could see the effects travelling over the whole Zoo - the rhinos and elephants shuddering as they shook.
'What was that?' she asked.
The Doctor patted himself up and down. 'I feel... the same as before... but... Oh, Amy, look at that.'
In the few seconds they had looked away, the Vykoid Army had equipped themselves with hundreds of tiny combat vehicles, rather like toy jeeps, and were preparing to move out.
The Doctor stepped closer. 'I thought I told you lotto...'
Something extraordinary was happening. The Vykoids were now moving with impossible speed, like Keystone Cops on fast forward. In the time it took the Doctor to make one step, they had unloaded mini combat helicopters, tanks and troop transporters. There was even a mobile kitchen set up, serving out soup to the troops.
'How did they do that?' Amy asked.
By the time she'd finished the question, the Vykoid army had put wheels on the base of the air deck in the mammoth's belly and had loaded it up to depart.
Amy moved quickly, and flung herself at the army, determined to stop them throwing themselves at New York. As much for their sake as hers. She didn't want a new species to be slaughtered, just by misjudging their sense of scale.
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But as she lunged, Amy felt hundreds of pinpricks on her ankles. The Vykoid troops were scampering up her legs, so quickly she could barely make them out. These were specialist climbing Vykoids, equipped with ropes, carabiners and the like. She may have imagined it, but Amy was sure they stopped for a tea break on her kneecap, before continuing their climb.
Within seconds, Amy had been pulled to the ground, every bit of her tied and secured. General Erik marched onto her face and peered into her large eyes. To him, she must have seemed like some wondrous deep-sea creature, all plate-sized eyes, enormous limbs and improbable physics.
This close to him, Amy could see the Vykoid's features properly for the first time. His skin was tough, like leather left out too long in the elements, and his eyes were mean and dark. The spirit of conquest was strong in him, and Amy felt rebellion rise in her heart - she would not be bested by him.
General Erik didn't talk, he boomed. 'Do you accept our victory?'
'No!' Amy bellowed back. Her breath was so strong General Erik was almost rocked off his feet.
'Analyse her!' he snapped, and in a flash he was replaced with dozens of white-coated Vykoids. Scientist Vykoids, Amy thought, trying to clear her head of the notion that she could feed the Vykoid army for a millennium, should they decide to eat
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her. Or, even worse, they could make their next vehicle inside her... Where was the Doctor when she needed him?
She tried to turn her head but was rewarded with a sharp jab in her ear, and an outraged squeaking from below.
'Sorry!' she called out. 'I can't see you back there, don't have eyes in the back of my head.'
As one, the Vykoid scientists started lifting her hair and examining her scalp for hidden eyes.
Then, as rapidly as they'd arrived, the Vykoids had gone.
Not a squeak to be heard. And it had got dark. Amy realised she had been unconscious - she must have been out for hours.
She lifted her hand and found it was no longer