'YOU DO NOT BEG FOR MERCY LIKE THE OTHERS.'
'What others?'
'THE FUGITIVES OF AUROS.'
A chill ran through the Doctor. 'Was that you?'
'I GAVE THE ORDER FOR THE REFUGEES TO BE EXTERMINATED,' Dalek X confirmed. 'THE PEOPLE OF AUROS HAD FLED AND LEFT THEIR PLANET IN RUINS. THEY COULD HAVE BEEN SLAVES. INSTEAD THEY CHOSE DEATH.'
'No they didn't. They had no choice at all. You murdered them all in cold blood. An entire colony.'
'DALEKS SHOW NO MERCY.'
'Or common sense, for that matter. Don't you realise that when news of that attack gets back to Earth they will launch a counter-offensive?' The Doctor suddenly stopped speaking and marshalled his thoughts. 'Ah. Now I see. That was the whole point, wasn't it?'
'EARTH COMMAND WILL RESPOND AS YOU HAVE PREDICTED. THE DALEKS WILL BE PREPARED. THE HUMANS WILL BE CRUSHED.'
'It's a bit desperate, though. Or is that the real reason? Are you losing the war with Earth? Is this one last shake of the dice?'
The response was unequivocal: a savage twist of the probe control and a series of wracking, nerve-shredding waves of pain. His brain felt like it was about to burst, but when the torment ended the Doctor was laughing.
'That's it, isn't it?' he panted, his breath ragged and thin. 'You're losing! This whole plan – the slaughter of the Auros fugitives, the attempt to break through the Arkheon Threshold... it's a last-ditch attempt to worm your way out of defeat. Well it won't work!'
He lifted his head and yelled the last four words.
'YOU UNDERESTIMATE OUR POWER,' grated Dalek X. 'YOU DO NOT REALISE WHAT THE ARKHEON THRESHOLD MEANS TO US – AND TO THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE.'
'Well I'm a bit of an expert on time travel and that sort of thing, and I can tell you it won't work. I was there, on Skaro, right at the very beginning when you lot were first slugging it out with the Thals and losing. And I'll be there right at the end, too – and guess what? You lose. Again.'
'IN THIS UNIVERSE,' conceded the Dalek. 'BUT NOT IN THE NEXT.'
Another chill of fear passed through the Doctor. His mind was racing. 'If you think you can use the Arkheon Threshold to change the entire universe, you're mistaken.'
'WE WILL CHANGE HISTORY.'
'But you'd need a massive power source to break down the Threshold. It's a minor fissure in space-time. A dead end. Blink and you'd miss it. What makes you think you've got what it takes?'
Dalek X approached the wall, his eyestalk boring into the Doctor. 'I WILL SHOW YOU.'
The Doctor was released from the mind probe. He sagged for a second as the bonds slid away, but then stood up stiffly, rubbing his wrists. He felt unsteady on his feet but tried not to show it, ruffling his hair back into its usual spiky fringe and clearing his throat. 'Find anything?' he asked, giving the probe a tap with his knuckle.
'THE MIND PROBE CONFIRMS THAT YOU ARE THE TIME LORD KNOWN AS THE DOC–TOR. BUT YOU DO NOT MATCH ANY OF THE PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS WE CURRENTLY HOLD IN OUR DATABASE.'
'Oh, shame. Maybe your records aren't as up to date as you think.'
Dalek X swivelled round to glare at him. 'THE MOST LIKELY CONCLUSION IS THAT YOU ARE FROM THE FUTURE.'
'What?' The Doctor looked horrified. 'Don't be ridiculous! As if!'
'IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.'
The Doctor pursed his lips. 'Ah, well, yes, now you mention it... but never mind. I hate all that continuity stuff. Tell me all about your plans for the Arkheon Threshold instead. That's much more interesting.'
Dalek X led the Doctor out of the mind-probe chamber into a long, low room with a wide viewing window stretched across the far wall. The room was in darkness, but there was a flickering orange glow coming through the window, as if it overlooked a furnace. The Doctor strolled across to the window and found himself looking out across a vast, subterranean vault. Dark crags were separated by winding, straggling rivers of molten rock. Daleks hovered amid clouds of sulphurous smoke, overlooking a hundred or more human slaves as they toiled in the searing conditions.
'Your own private view of Hades?' asked the Doctor as Dalek X joined him.
'WE ARE CLOSE TO THE MAGNETIC CORE OF ARKHEON,' Dalek X replied. Lit from below by the bubbling red light, his black and gold casing appeared to run with blood.
'Getting humans to do your dirty work again, eh? It's always the same with you lot. Of course, I blame the suckers.'
'EXPLAIN.'
'I mean,' the Doctor said, 'does stealing planetary cores really compensate for having no hands?'
'IF THE DALEKS ARE TO ACHIEVE TOTAL UNIVERSAL DOMINATION AND TAKE OUR RIGHTFUL PLACE AS THE SUPREME BEINGS THEN WE MUST MASTER TIME TRAVEL,' said Dalek X. 'THAT THE TIME LORDS HAVE FAILED TO ACHIEVE THE SAME GOAL IS A SIGN OF THEIR WEAKNESS AND INFERIORITY.'
'Or perhaps a sign that they don't want to rule the universe.'
'THEN THEY WILL CAPITULATE TO THE POWER OF THE DALEKS.'
'Forget it. If future Daleks gained mastery of time travel then you'd already know about it. They'd be here right this minute. In fact we'd all be trundling around in the old Mark Three Travel Machine chanting "exterminate" by now.'
'INCORRECT. DALEK TIME-TRAVEL THEORY STATES THIS IS AN ERRONEOUS VIEWPOINT. MASTERY OF TIME WILL BEGIN WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TIME LORDS AND CONTROL OF THE TIME VORTEX. AND IT WILL END IN THE COMPLETE SUBJUGATION OF THE HUMAN RACE!' For the first time, Dalek X's voice increased in pitch as he grew more excited. 'WITH THE ARKHEON THRESHOLD WE WILL FIND A WAY INTO THE VORTEX!'
Bowman was pushed into a brightly lit laboratory bustling with Daleks. He turned angrily on the Dalek behind him. 'Keep your filthy sucker off me!'
The Dalek threw Bowman backwards. He landed on his back, winded.
'OBEY THE DALEKS!' shouted the metallic shape as it loomed over him.
'Never.'
'STAND!'
'Or what?' asked Bowman from his position on the floor. 'You ain't gonna exterminate me, remember. Not until you've picked this to bits.' He tapped his head.
The Dalek regarded him sourly for a moment but said nothing.
With a humourless smile, Bowman got slowly to his feet. 'I'll stand, but not because you tell me to. I'll stand because this way I'm taller.' He squared his shoulders and stared down the Dalek's eyestalk. 'Just remember that. Cos every human being you ever meet will look down at you.'
The Dalek glided forward. 'PAY ATTENTION TO THIS SCANNER SCREEN.'
Bowman looked at the bank of instruments to which it pointed. There was a circular monitor showing what looked like the surface of Arkheon – frozen, elegant ruins. The image zoomed in to one particular spot: a heavy, rough-looking spaceship that Bowman recognised only too easily.
'The Wayfarer,' he said aloud, momentarily stunned. It made his heart heave when he saw the old ship, left exactly where it had touched down only hours before. Almost as if it was waiting for him. Silent and patient.
'WE HAVE LOCATED YOUR SPACECRAFT,' the Dalek stated.
Bowman blinked. Was the Dalek expecting him to say thanks? And then a shadow passed over the Wayfarer, and a Dalek saucer came into view on the screen, hovering above the old ship. Bowman automatically identified the saucer: an assault craft, Aggressor-class, small, highly manoeuvrable and heavily armed. As he watched, missiles streaked from the underside of the saucer and struck the Wayfarer amidships. It exploded into a giant, silent fireball and the debris scarred the snow around it for hundreds of metres.
'TARGET DESTROYED,' stated the Dalek.
It felt like a punch to the solar plexus. Bowman had to fight the urge to physically wilt. He took a deep, shuddering breath and stood up straighter, stronger. He looked at the Dalek.
'Think I've never seen a ship blown up before?' he snarled. 'I'm Space Major Jon Bowman. I've been blowing up spaceships and Daleks all my life. When are you going to get it? I'm not scared of you.'
'MOVE!' ordered the Dalek. It was joined by two others, and together they herded Bowman across the laboratory.
The
re were several benches arranged with clinical precision around the room. They were metal and looked like mortuary slabs. On each of them was a human being, lying face up, head shaved and exposed to the Daleks surrounding them. Some of the Daleks had surgical implements attached to their arms rather than suction cups or claws. Bowman felt physically sick.
'LIE DOWN.'
'This where you cut my head open?'
'LIE DOWN! OBEY!' The Dalek used its sucker arm to force Bowman back against the mortuary slab, so that he was bent awkwardly over it. Suddenly he twisted, lashing out with his foot, but the Dalek barely moved. Two more Daleks joined the first and together they manipulated him, kicking and fighting, onto the bench. Metal straps secured his wrists, ankles and throat.
He struggled, but uselessly. A sudden, wild fear swept through him, the kind of panic he had never experienced in his life before. His chest heaved and sweat broke from every pore. The bench felt hard and unyielding beneath him.
'NOW YOU FEAR THE DALEKS!' observed one of his captors triumphantly.
'PREPARE FOR FULL BRAIN EXCORIATION,' said another.
A surgical Dalek glided over, a small metal saw whirring into life on the end of its arm.
'Go on, then!' roared Bowman. 'Do it! You might as well get your kicks, cos I did the same thing to one of you not so long ago.'
The Daleks ignored him, going about their business with meticulous care.
'I had to scrape him out of his shell like a snail!' Bowman screamed. 'And you know what? He didn't make a damn sound. And neither will I!'
Cuttin' Edge winced, straightened up, took a deep breath. He caught Koral's eyes, and she nodded at the woman and the girl. They were clearly exhausted, perhaps only minutes from collapse.
'Don't give in now,' Koral whispered.
Jenifa looked up wearily through bloodshot eyes. 'There's nothing more we can do,' she croaked.
Kuli wept. 'I don't want to die, Mummy! I don't want to die.'
'Hush,' said Koral. 'You will attract attention.'
Jenifa scowled. 'We can't go on much longer. None of us can. They're going to kill us sooner or later and that will be it.' She put her arm around her daughter. 'I'm sorry, Kuli. I love you. I will always love you.'
Kuli squeezed her mother tight, and Jenifa looked back at Cuttin' Edge and Koral with a sad smile. 'Thank you for helping us,' she said.
Cuttin' Edge gritted his teeth. 'No, you helped me. I could hardly stand and you kept me goin'. All of you.'
'It's not over yet,' Koral said.
'It is now,' said Cuttin' Edge. He was looking past them, to where a cloud of sulphur had dispersed to reveal two Daleks.
'WORK UNIT DELTA!' grated the first. The hard, metallic words were full of cold menace. 'STEP FORWARD!'
TWENTY-ONE
'So this is the guided tour, is it?' asked the Doctor airily. Dalek X had taken him down into the granite bowels of Arkheon. Two of the Inquisitor General's black-domed guard Daleks had joined them. They hung back slightly, gun-sticks trained on the Doctor at all times.
Dalek X glided along a metal walkway installed the length of the cavern. Clouds of evil-smelling steam drifted by. The Doctor strolled along, hands in pockets, gazing all around him like a tourist on a holiday excursion. 'It's a bit stuffy down here,' he said. 'You need to get the heating fixed.'
Despite his casual demeanour, the Doctor was very worried. For a Dalek, the Inquisitor General was one cool customer. He was impossible to taunt. And he seemed to be two steps ahead all the time, out-guessing the Doctor at every turn. The Doctor was waiting for the chance to somehow turn the tables, but it was never coming – or showing any sign of coming.
'I suppose we're pretty close to the core here,' said the Doctor chattily. He tried a few light bounces, his trainers squeaking loudly on the metal walkway. 'I can feel the fluctuations in the magnetic field. Must be playing hell with you.'
'I AM IMMUNE TO THE EFFECTS,' Dalek X replied.
'Well,' said the Doctor. 'Good for you.'
They came to another part of the cavern and turned a corner. The Doctor stopped in his tracks. After a moment he let out a low, appreciative whistle. In front of them was an enormous machine, five storeys high and just as wide, filling the length of a massive tunnel. It curved away into the distance on either side.
'It's a particle accelerator,' said the Doctor, gazing at the towering apparatus. Dalek scientists hovered around the machinery, adjusting and monitoring the complex systems. 'A very big one.'
'THIS IS THE LARGE CHRONON COLLIDER,' explained Dalek X. 'WE WILL BOMBARD DISCRETE PARTICLES OF TIME AGAINST EACH OTHER AT SUPRALIGHT SPEEDS. THE RESULTING HUON SHOWER WILL BE USED TO TRACE THE TEMPORAL PROFILE OF THE ARKHEON THRESHOLD. WE WILL THEN BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND BREAK THROUGH TO THE TIME VORTEX.'
'Oh, that was good,' nodded the Doctor. 'You've been taking gobbledegook lessons. I like it.'
'IT WILL WORK.'
'Ah, well, yes – it might.' The Doctor craned his neck, looking up at the highest parts with a critical eye. 'It's possible, I'll give you that. But it is also insanely dangerous.'
'NOTHING IMPORTANT CAN BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT RISK.'
The Doctor frowned.
'Was that a bit of Dalek philosophy I just heard? You're going soft.'
'YOU CONCEDE THAT OUR PLAN IS VIABLE.'
The Doctor couldn't tell if this was a statement or a query. But it was true, nonetheless. He nodded thoughtfully, suddenly serious. 'Yes. It will work. But – and it's a big but – you'll need some sort of control element to stabilise it. Then it will work properly.'
'A CONTROL ELEMENT?'
'Yeah.' The Doctor sniffed, scratched his ear, looked away.
'SUCH AS A TARDIS.'
There it was again. Statement or question? The Doctor wasn't sure. He pulled a face, weighed up the factors involved, shrugged. 'Well, yeah. That'd do it. I suppose.'
'SUCH AS YOUR TARDIS?'
A grim look stole across the Doctor's face and his eyes became deep, dark pools. 'No,' he said bluntly. 'Absolutely no.'
'YOU ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO REFUSE THE DALEKS.'
That was definitely a statement. And it was also a fact. But the Doctor shook his head nevertheless. 'No. Sorry. No. N-O spells no. It's not even negotiable.'
'YOU WILL PROVIDE YOUR TARDIS, DOC–TOR!'
'Never.'
'THE DALEKS WILL USE ITS CONTROL SYSTEMS TO ACCESS THE TIME VORTEX!'
'I said never.'
Dalek X moved closer. His voice continued to grate out calm, unhurried statements as if they were facts. 'YOU REQUIRE PERSUASION.'
'I do not.'
'COERCION.'
'Not possible.'
'LET US INVESTIGATE.' Dalek X turned to one of the other Daleks as it glided by. The Dalek almost seem to cringe as the black and gold machine addressed it peremptorily: 'ALERT THE COMMAND DALEK!'
The Doctor was taken back to the detention levels and then into the high-speed lift to the prison control room. He walked out into the busy chamber with Dalek X in tow, as if they were old buddies. The feeling made the Doctor's skin crawl.
The Command Dalek swivelled hurriedly to face the Inquisitor General. 'YOUR ORDERS HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT!'
The Doctor had an uneasy feeling. Dalek X glided silently forward and then turned. 'SUMMON THE PRISONERS.'
A door opened and four people shuffled into the control room.
'Koral! Cuttin' Edge!' the Doctor exclaimed in delight. His face fell. They looked awful. 'Are you all right?'
Cuttin' Edge was limping badly, and he seemed smaller than before, his shoulders hunched and his face haggard. Koral also seemed bowed, and her red eyes looked cloudy. Behind them, in chains, were a woman and a girl the Doctor had never seen before. They looked equally weak, and the girl was crying.
'Hi there,' said Cuttin' Edge. His smile looked fake, although the Doctor sensed he was genuinely pleased to see him. At least at first. When he looked around the brightly lit control roo
m, saw the Doctor standing with the Daleks, his expression turned sour. 'What's goin' on? You colludin' with this scum now?'
'No,' said the Doctor. Then he cleared his throat and said, more firmly, 'No, I'm not.'
'THE DOC–TOR IS REFUSING TO COOPERATE WITH THE DALEKS,' stated Dalek X. 'THAT POSITION IS ABOUT TO BE REVERSED.'
'No,' said the Doctor again. 'You can't do this...'
'INCORRECT!'
The Command Dalek said, 'BRING FORWARD THE PRISONERS WHO CAME TO ARKHEON WITH THE DOC–TOR.'
Two guards unfastened the chains that connected Cuttin' Edge and Koral to Jenifa and Kuli. They were marched forward into the centre of the room. Koral looked uncertainly at the Doctor, as if wondering whether to attack him or the Daleks.
Dalek X moved forward, fixing the Doctor with his steady glare. 'IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY WITH DALEK INSTRUCTIONS THEN INNOCENT LIVES WILL BE LOST. IT IS YOUR DECISION.'
'I won't be bullied into helping you,' replied the Doctor. His voice was steely. 'There's too much at stake!'
Dalek X looked at Cuttin' Edge and Koral for a long moment and then said, 'THESE TWO PRISONERS ARE COMBATANTS. THEY EXPECT TO DIE IN THE LINE OF DUTY. THEREFORE THERE IS NO VALUE IN THEIR EXTERMINATION.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' Cuttin' Edge demanded.
Dalek X turned away, addressing the Doctor only. 'THESE PRISONERS WILL NOT BE KILLED.' There was a longer, colder pause. 'BRING FORWARD THE HUMAN MOTHER AND HER OFFSPRING.'
'No!' said the Doctor.
'No!' Cuttin' Edge shouted. 'Kill us instead!'
Jenifa and Kuli were herded forward, looking panicky and frightened. Jenifa had her arms around her daughter, her fingers were rigid and white on her shoulders.
'FORMATION THREE!' ordered the Command Dalek.
A trio of Dalek guards lined up in front of the woman and her daughter. There was no doubt that it was an execution squad. They turned their faces away from the Daleks, hugging each other tightly. No one drew so much as a breath and the only sound that could be heard was Kuli's muffled sobs.
'EX—' began the Command Dalek.
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