The Doctor walked round the TARDIS, wondering where to go next. He was still thinking about that girl in Victorian London. A thought occurred to him. "I wonder if I should see Kafyip again!" he said. "Grukup. Now old girl, get me here the right time!"
The TARDIS landed again and the Doctor stepped out. "Not again!" he said as he saw a smoking town. He strolled towards the town cautiously. At the edge was a crowd, mostly consisting of Swukains, though there were several other species, including Crop colonists. "Hello there! I'm looking for Kafyip" he said. "Kafyip? Which Kafyip do you mean?" asked a tall Swukain. "Married to Tulbek?" said the Doctor. "No. Don't know of those" said the Swukain. "They helped defeat the High Minds!" said the Doctor. "You must remember them!"
"That was more then a hundred years ago!" laughed the Swukain. "Just a moment. Kafyip, Tulbek?" said a young Swukain. "They were my great-great grandparents!" "Your great... Who are you?" asked the Doctor. "Fimzol" she replied. "Are... they no longer around?" asked the Doctor, a sombre note entering his voice. "Died before my mother was born" replied Fimzol.
The Doctor looked down sadly. "I'm... sorry to hear that." "It's fine" said Fimzol. "Your race must be long-lived if you knew them though."
"Well, I have lived for hundreds..." began the Doctor but another Swukain cut in. His leg was bandaged and he had a crutch. "We don't have time to talk to another outer being! Considering outer beings are attacking us now!"
"What are they like this time?" sighed the Doctor.
"They are one-eyed creatures of metal but inside such evil can be sensed" said the wounded Swukain. "They attacked without warning, descending from great ships. The invaders fired rays of death, killing many innocents."
The Doctor had a suspicion of what this race was. "Did they call themselves Daleks?" he asked grimly.
"Yes" said an old Swukain. "Just like the creatures from the Chronicles of Kafyip." "Chronicles? What are those? Can I have a copy?" asked the Doctor, sounding excited. "They were stories told by Kafyip the Storyteller of his adventures" said Fimzol. "They are one of the most popular books on Grukup and are even read on other worlds. Not everybody believes them. But it seems that the Daleks are real."
"To think, after all the trouble I went through to erase... Well this is still long before the Mainframe is established!" said the Doctor. He tried to sound happy but the reality was there. But that reminded him of something else. "This is long before the Daleks should be active. Why are they here?"
"What do you mean?" asked Fimzol.
"I'll explain later" replied the Doctor.
A Crop Colonist with the left side of his face burnt so badly his eye was gone pushed through the crowd. "I'm Ziril Mathow of the Crop Defence Force. Are you part of a relief force? I sent a message..."
"No, I came here for pleasure!" said the Doctor.
"How did you manage? All the colonist ships that tried to leave were shot down" said Ziril.
"Well, the TARDIS just appeared here" said the Doctor. "She has a habit of going where I'm needed."
Ziril looked dejected. "No relief force?"
A short Swukain with his right hand missing laughed miserably. "Nobody's going to help us. If they come back I won't fight." He glanced down at his hand. "They're too powerful."
"Holdem, please..." began the old Swukain but the Doctor interrupted. "You'd rather be enslaved? The Daleks work their slaves to death!"
"If that's true I'll just die when they come" said Holdem.
"This is just like a century ago, when I helped you defeat the High Minds!" said the Doctor. "It looked bad but I and the Swukains beat them then."
"Were they as bad as the Daleks?" asked the Crop colonist.
"The Daleks are worse" said the Doctor.
"Then why should we fight them?" asked Ziril.
"That is more reason to fight. They will treat you as the lowest creatures. They hate all other life. Once the Daleks have no use for someone, no matter how loyal they were to the Daleks, that someone gets exterminated! We need to find out what the Daleks are planning!"
There were murmurs among the Swukains. Many people imitated the Doctor's appearance from the Chronicle and they had thought this was another alien who was doing so. But many were wondering if this really was the Doctor.
"Are you... Are you the Doctor?" asked Fimzol.
"Yes. I am the Doctor and I will beat the Daleks!"
The Swukains best at telepathy sensed from the outer being's thoughts that he believed himself to be the Doctor. Either he was the Doctor or he was mad. The thoughts were chaotic and felt mad but they had heard that the Doctor's thoughts were such. Had the Doctor returned? Would he again save them?