Doctor Who_ War Of The Daleks Part 9

'Then you're a fool, Doctor,' Delani decided.

'No,' the Doctor disagreed. 'An idealist, perhaps. But not a fool. I'll leave that job to you. Is there nothing you wouldn't do to gain your victory?'

'Nothing,' Delani agreed with complete conviction.

'Then you've surrendered the moral high ground, and I have nothing more to say to you.'

Delani had heard such talk before, from Thal civilians, and he had nothing but contempt for it. He sneered. 'Doctor, in war, there is no moral high ground. There is only survival or death. Either the Daleks perish, or the Thals do. And I intend to make certain it's the Daleks.' He tried once more to reason with the saviour of his people. 'You know the Daleks, Doctor, perhaps better than anyone outside the Thal race. You know they cannot be reasoned with, or intimidated, or bribed. The only way to stop them is to annihilate them utterly.'

'Perhaps,' the Doctor conceded. 'But I was wrong. You aren't turning into a Dalek you've already become one.'

Delani was stung, and almost furious enough to backhand the Doctor. It took all of his self-control to restrain his fist from striking. 'I am sorry you feel that way, Doctor,' he grated. 'But you are wrong. We can do what we plan. Davros will work for us. The Daleks will be defeated. As soon as he is able to be transferred to my craft, I am taking Davros and returning home.'

The Doctor shook his head once. 'I cannot allow that.'

Delani stared at him in anger. 'You cannot allow it? You have no say in the matter! And if you try to interfere in any way '

'What?' the Doctor demanded. 'You'll have me killed? And the rest of the crew? And anyone who stands in your way? Delani, tell me what are you fighting for?'

The question caught him off guard. 'To destroy the Daleks, of course,' he replied honestly.

'That's what I suspected.' The Doctor gazed thoughtfully at Ayaka. 'She, at least, is fighting to save the Thals.'

'It's exactly the same thing,' Delani snapped, irritated again.

'No. No, it isn't. She's fighting for a positive goal; you for a negative one.' He smiled sadly. 'I know you can't see the difference, but it's real.'

Delani was confused and angry. He had been expecting the Doctor to back him up, and encourage him. Instead, he was ranting on with nonsensical pacifist muck and threatening him. 'It's time we returned to the others,' he decided coldly. 'I'm sorry, Doctor, but you leave me no choice.'

'And you leave me none, either.' The Doctor's eyes were sad. 'And you have no idea how much that pains me.'

Ignoring him, Delani marched the Doctor back to his companions and Ayaka. She came crisply to attention. She was a good soldier, and loyal to the core. 'Ayaka,' he barked. 'The Doctor and his companions are to be locked somewhere secure until we return to our ship. Stay with them, and guard them.'

Ayaka looked puzzled. 'I... don't understand,' she confessed. 'Is the Doctor not on our side?'

'No,' the Doctor replied, saving Delani the trouble. 'The Doctor most a.s.suredly is not. You'd better do as he says.'

Delani smiled in satisfaction. 'Do it,' he ordered. Ayaka nodded her understanding. With her rifle, she gestured for the Doctor, Sam, and Chayn to precede her. Wordlessly, they did. Delani ignored them now. The Doctor had been neutralised, at least. He turned his mind to more important matters, addressing Cathbad. 'How is Davros doing?'

'His systems are up to forty per cent power,' Cathbad reported. 'It will be only a short while before he is able to be transferred.'

'Excellent.' Delani studied Davros's impa.s.sive face. 'Attach the collar now.' Cathbad pulled the device from a pouch in his suit, and clicked it into place about Davros's throat.

Davros came to life again. 'An explosive device to secure my cooperation?'

'Precisely.'

'A wise precaution,' Davros approved. 'You have clearly thought this through.'

'Thank you,' Delani said, pleased with himself. The Doctor was worrying unnecessarily. Davros was impotent, and could do nothing. All of the cards were in Delani's hand, and the game was now his. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

'I'll kill them all,' Loran muttered to himself. 'I'll kill them all.' It was an incantation he needed to focus his mind. Part of him wanted to grieve the death of his father, but there was no time for that now. These Thals had invaded his ship, killed his father, and were holding his crew hostage. They had to be stopped. They thought they had the upper hand because they possessed the only weapons aboard, but they were wrong.

In storage bay twelve was another weapon, and Loran had made his way there to secure it. He wasn't an engineer, and could have done with Chayn's help in this, but dismantling the wrecked Dalek wasn't too difficult a task. The blaster was a single unit, and could be removed for replacement or recharging quite simply. It didn't take long for him to free it from the casing, and he checked its charge. There was still power in it, perhaps not very much. But certainly sufficient for the time being. He hefted the gun, a long, balanced barrel on a universal mount, attached to the power pack and trigger a small b.u.t.ton to depress. He checked that it would work, and energy lanced from it, exploding a small section of one of the wrecked bulkheads.

Now he was armed, and he could begin taking back his ship.

He hurried to the exit, forced to climb the ladder one-handed while carrying the gun, and then into the corridor beyond. The Thals were bound to be searching for him, he realised, but they were convinced he was helpless. They'd soon discover the truth.

He heard the sound of footsteps ahead, and knew it must be his foes. Grinning, he paused, the Dalek gun at the ready. Two Thals came around the corridor junction, their weapons held casually until they saw him. Both men then looked shocked, and started to raise their rifles.

Loran depressed the firing trigger, and exterminated them both. The Thals danced in electronic flame, and then collapsed to the deck. He almost giggled at the macabre sight, and found himself wiping tears from his eyes. Hurrying to their steaming corpses, Loran stripped them of their rifles. Both had pouches attached to their armour containing small percussion grenades, which he also took.

Now he was better armed, his next task was to try to free some of the crew. The more of them there were to continue the fight, the better. These Thals were about to learn that they had taken on the wrong foe this time. They would pay for what they had done, all of them. 'Rest in peace, father,' he muttered. 'Soon you'll have plenty of company.'

CHAPTER 5.

COUNTERSTRIKE.

'He's quite insane, you know,' the Doctor said brightly.

Sam gave him a sour glance. 'Davros?'

'Delani. He thinks that he can compel Davros to build him a better Thal.' The Doctor turned and looked at Ayaka. 'How would you like to end up looking like Davros? Or a Dalek?'

'I do what I have to do,' Ayaka said simply. 'I do not make the policy; I only obey orders.'

'Then you're a fool, Ayaka,' the Doctor said without rancour. 'Obeying evil orders is wrong. And avoiding thinking about the moral implications of what you're doing is worse. And following the orders of a madman makes you no better than a hired killer.'

'That is not true!' she snapped.

'Which bit of it?' the Doctor asked her with a smile.

'All of it,' Ayaka insisted. But even Sam could see that the woman was worried.

'Delani wants to turn her into a Dalek?' Sam asked. 'Talk about a waste. I'd kill to look like that. Why does he want to do it?'

'He's convinced that the Thals as they are can't defeat the Daleks,' the Doctor explained. 'So he intends to force Davros into modifying their biology to make them better killers.'

'Is he right, Doctor?' Chayn asked.

'That the Thals can't defeat the Daleks as they are?' He shrugged. 'Possibly. That he can force Davros to do what he wants? Absolutely not. He doesn't know Davros like I do. He always sc.r.a.pes through, and he always leaves the corpses of others in his wake. Delani will discover his mistake eventually, but I can't allow him to make it. Davros has caused enough deaths. We've got got to stop him. His insanity to stop him. His insanity cannot cannot be allowed to spread.' He turned to Ayaka, giving her his best smile. 'Be sensible, Ayaka. Please. Help us.' be allowed to spread.' He turned to Ayaka, giving her his best smile. 'Be sensible, Ayaka. Please. Help us.'

Ayaka gestured with her rifle. 'That door ahead,' she said to Chayn, ignoring the Doctor. 'What's behind it?'

'It's one of the crew's quarters,' Chayn replied. 'Faylen's, I think.'

'That will do. Open it.'

Chayn did so, and Ayaka gestured again with her weapon. 'Inside, all of you.' As they obeyed, she said to the Doctor, 'I cannot do as you ask. I am a solider, and must obey orders.'

'No,' he replied gently. 'Think.'

She closed the door in his face.

'Pity,' the Doctor said. 'Just as I thought I was getting through to her, too.'

'She's a soldier first and foremost,' Chayn commented. 'You'll never turn her against Delani.'

'Perhaps not.' He surveyed their surroundings. 'Let's look for another way out of here, shall we? It's vital I stop them from removing Davros.'

Sam had a quick look around, but there wasn't much to see. An unmade bed in the corner, a small table with a couple of chairs, and an entertainment unit of some kind. A small computer was built into one wall. 'Not exactly the Ritz, is it?' she asked. There were two doors, which she opened. One was a tiny wardrobe, the other led to the bathroom. It held a toilet and a shower.

Chayn shrugged. 'The Quetzel Quetzel never made much money,' she confessed. 'We don't have access to much. It's a life. Not much of one, but a life.' never made much money,' she confessed. 'We don't have access to much. It's a life. Not much of one, but a life.'

'You must get bored out of your skull here,' Sam said sympathetically.

'A lot of the time,' Chayn admitted ruefully.

'Excuse me,' said the Doctor politely interrupting them. 'But we really do have to escape.' He looked up at the ceiling, which was metal, like the rest of the room. 'Are there conduits up there? Access tunnels? Another room above? Anything we could break into?'

'Outer hull,' Chayn informed him. Then she grinned and pointed to the floor. 'Down here's another matter, though.' She pulled out her palm comp and accessed the ship's layouts. 'There's an access shaft for the power couplings right below us.'

'Sounds perfect,' the Doctor said. 'Now, let's see about getting into it, shall we?' He smiled, and fished something out of his pocket. 'At least Ayaka didn't think to search us. I suspect she's too bothered by her conscience. Swiss Army knife!'

Chayn matched his grin, extracting a tool from her own pocket. 'And what engineer would be without a screwdriver?' She indicated a section of the floor. 'This one.'

The two of them set to work removing the screws holding the six-by-six section of metal in place. Sam felt a stab of jealousy, seeing how well the Doctor and Chayn were getting along. The Doctor admired Chayn's skills, she could tell, and it was beginning to make her feel inadequate. Chayn looked similar in age to the Doctor's physical appearance, and she seemed to know exactly what she was doing. To distract herself, Sam asked the Doctor, 'What was all that you were saying about Davros not wanting to be rescued by the Daleks? If he created them, that doesn't make much sense.'

The Doctor pursed his lips. 'I'd better fill you in on the basics of Dalek history,' he decided. 'As I mentioned, Davros created the Daleks in his own image. He used his genetic techniques to make them without mercy or consciences, and to believe that all other forms of life were inferior and fit only for enslavement or extermination. He forgot that, to the Daleks, he's an inferior form of life. They tried to kill him, not realizing that he'd built a backup life-support system in his mobile unit. That put him into stasis for quite a while.

'The Daleks managed to embroil themselves in a war with a robotic race known as the Movellans, and reached an impa.s.se. To break it, the Daleks realised that they needed Davros's mind. They rescued him from the ruins of Skaro, and aimed to use him to defeat the Movellans. But I managed to engineer his capture, and he was taken to Earth for trial and imprisonment.

'But he was rescued again. I met him again in a holding house for the recently deceased and terminally ill stored cryogenically until they could be cured by any advances in medical sciences. Davros was converting the stored bodies into Daleks, this time absolutely loyal to him. He intended to use them to regain the Dalek empire. The Imperial Daleks those not loyal to him captured him, but he somehow escaped and finished the creation of his army on Skaro.'

The Doctor glanced up at his rapt audience. 'That's when I laid a trap for him. I had left on Earth a Time Lord device called the Hand of Omega. Very powerful. It's used for customising suns. Through information I let slip, Davros believed he could use it to turn Skaro's sun into a source of power that would enable him to take on even the Time Lords in a spree of destruction. In fact, I had already programmed the Hand to destroy Skaro's sun if it was deployed. Davros, secure in his arrogance, used the Hand. It wiped out Skaro's solar system and shattered his army totally.'

'That was a pretty sneaky thing to do, wasn't it, Doctor?' said Sam.

'But necessary, Sam. So you see,' he summed up, 'the Daleks that are left alive are the Imperial Daleks, the faction that hates Davros. There can't be many of them left. And if they ever discover him alive...'

Sam grimaced. 'I can see why you don't want him in the hands of the Thals,' she said. 'He isn't going to do what they want, is he?'

'Not Davros,' the Doctor agreed. 'He'll find a way to try to seize power once again. He's done this once to the Daleks, and I'm not going to allow him to do it again to the Thals. They happen to be friends of mine.'

'With friends like those,' Sam observed, 'you don't need enemies.'

'Think of it, Sam,' the Doctor insisted, a little harshly. 'This war of theirs with the Daleks has dragged on for centuries, maybe even millennia. Imagine the lives they've led. Ah, there we are.'

Sam dropped her head and looked at the floor, a little embarra.s.sed. She saw that the floor panel had finally come free, and the Doctor and Chayn swung it up. Below, as Chayn had said, there was an access tunnel, large enough for them to move about in if they walked at a half-crouch. They all slipped down, and then the Doctor lowered the floor section back into place.

'Where to?' asked Chayn, studying the layout on her comp.

'Storage bay eight,' the Doctor said. 'I've got to get to Davros before the Thals can move him.'

'This way, then.' Chayn set off in the lead. She called back. 'There's just one thing I don't understand, Doctor. You say that Davros's Daleks are all wiped out, and that the Imperial Daleks are a shadow of their old selves. So why haven't the Thals been able to simply eradicate them?'

'That's a very good question,' the Doctor answered. 'And here's another how do these remnant Daleks possess so many ships? You've got parts from at least four different killcruisers in your holds. One of them is Davros's own that the Hand destroyed. Three more, in such a small section of s.p.a.ce, is a trifle odd.'

Sam sighed. 'There's obviously something going on that you don't know about,' she concluded.

'Precisely,' agreed the Doctor. 'And if there's something the Daleks are up to that I don't know about, it worries me.'

That didn't exactly rea.s.sure Sam.

Davros waited until Cathbad was occupied with his equipment before sending out a simple pulse to the collar he wore. Delani was a fool, just like all the Thals. Imagine thinking a simple device like this could hold Davros ransom! He used the circuits in his chair to a.n.a.lyse the collar, and almost laughed. It was pathetically simple to defuse, and would take only minutes. His support systems were up to only sixty per cent strength, but that was quite enough to generate controlled electric charges that he could use to reprogram the collar. Once that was done, he would deal with his Thal guard. Then he would take over the ship.

All of this was ludicrously simple for him. The only real problem here was the Doctor. Always in the past the Doctor had managed to interfere with Davros's plans. He'd even managed to dupe Davros into destroying Skaro and his Dalek army. That was a setback, true, but nothing more. Once he was free, he would create a new army.

But first, he would deal with the Doctor...

Barydon was worried. The patrol hunting for the last crewman had been gone too long. Rounding up a single unarmed man should have been very simple work. Irritated, he checked their signals, and discovered that they had stopped in a corridor. He attempted to contact them, but there was no reply.

Now worried, he went to investigate cautiously. He found their dead and stiffening forms where they had fallen, and growled in annoyance as he realised what had happened. He called Delani immediately. 'The crewman killed two men,' he reported. 'Unless we have Daleks on board, he must have salvaged a Dalek blaster. With their helmets off, they didn't stand a chance.'

'Begin a new sweep,' Delani ordered. 'Full armour, helmets closed. Take four men, and find him. Then take him to where the crew is being held and execute him so that they get the message.'