As quick as he could, Bret Vyon explained the situation. He and his colleague, Kert Gantry, had been sent to Kembel to find out what happened to another Space Security agent, Marc Cory, and his crew; they shipwrecked on the planet and were never heard of. Bret and Gantry went on to explore but had been discovered by the Daleks before they could understand what they were up to.

"We ran through the jungle as soon as they spotted us, but they had found our spaceship and were expecting us. Kert… Officer Gantry was wounded in the attack and died soon after. I thought of radioing Earth for aid, but my transmitter is broken. I was going back to the city to see whether I could steal one of their ships, but then I heard your vehicle landing and…"

"And you thought you could take advantage of our coming" the Doctor concluded for him.

"Once again, I apologize for the way I approached you, but I was not sure whether you were allies or enemies."

"Totally understandable, don't blame yourself. I probably would not have behaved differently."

"So, what now?" asked Steven, speaking for the first time in what seemed ages. Bret's pills had done wonders, and the pilot was now in shape again, feeling only a little stiff on the right side, where the wound had been.

"Now, my boy, we have two courses of action before us," said the Doctor. "One: we barricade inside the TARDIS, repair Officer Vyon's radio and contact Earth."

"Why can't we just leave?" asked Bret.

"Because we don't know where we'll land" Vicki interjected.

"What?" asked Bret amazed. "You can't control your own ship?"

"Of course, I can!" the Doctor replied. "But I cannot guarantee we land in the proper time and place. The TARDIS is totally unreliable."

"But we can't stay here!" insisted Bret. "Especially now, that the Daleks…"

"Oh, they won't get in" the Doctor dismissed him. "The defence systems of the ship are far beyond their technological skills; it would take them centuries just to figure out how to scratch the walls. No, this why I don't like our first choice."

"Then what is it?" asked Vicki.

"Officer Vyon," said the Doctor, turning to Bret, "let us assume I repair your radio and you communicate with Earth. What will you tell them?"

"That Marc Cory, as well as my partner, has been killed by the Daleks, which are programming some sort of war plan."

"Will they believe you?"

"Why shouldn't they? Doctor, we know about the Daleks! We have all studied the three Dalek wars…"

"Which happened two thousand years ago. Tell me, are the Daleks still thought as real in this time?"

Bret opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped, seeing what the Doctor meant. Humans had not met the Daleks since the days of the Third Dalek War, in the distant 24th century. Since then, they had been just something they all read in history books, but as for their existence, they were thought to be extinct. Chances were that, if he told Earth the Daleks were behind all this, they would dismiss it as a delusion or an absurdity. Even he would not have believed it, had not seen them with his own eyes.

"Just as I thought," the Doctor said.

"We could still just say nothing about the Daleks" suggested Vicki. "The Officer may just say there is a danger and…"

"They will ask details" Bret replied. "And even then, I am not sure whether they would understand how dangerous the situation is. My superior officers can be a real pain in the neck when they want to."

"And what about the tape you found? The one where your partner recorded what he saw?"

"Vicki is right, we could have them listen to the message," Steven said. "After all, he is the word of one of their agents, being killed. Should it not be proof enough that we are telling the truth?"

"Well, I… suppose it could work," said Bret. "Doctor, what do you think?"

"I think that we need to know more" the Doctor insisted. "You are right, the tape should be proof enough that the Daleks are real, but what good would it do? Maybe they'll just send another exploration squad, which may not be enough for dealing with them. And let us not forget they found us: they can't enter here, but they can prevent us from going out, and may well set thicker defences around the planet. Then what, eh? What?"

"Alright, Doctor, what do you suggest?" asked Steven.

"We go down to the Dalek city and try to gather evidence, anything that could be useful. Then, we either go back to the TARDIS or, if we can't do that, we stick to Officer Vyon's original plan and steal one of their ships. With my knowledge of Dalek technology and Steven's piloting skills, we should be able to get it to Earth; in the meantime, we repair Officer Vyon's transmitter and warn them of the danger."

"It sounds very risky" Steven objected.

"Risky? It's madness!" Bret snapped. "Going down there, amongst the Daleks? We would enter into the lion's den!"

"And they don't expect us to do it" the Doctor insisted. "Therefore, it would be easier to go around."

"Still, it would be dangerous, and you are not properly equipped. I mean, Doctor, I respect your knowledge of the Daleks, but from what I can see from here, you don't have any weapons. What are we going to do if we are captured?"

"Oh, my dear Officer, I can assure you we are not in our first round with this sort of things. We'll just have to use some precaution, and we'll be just fine."

"At least let the girls stay here!" Bret insisted. "We three are more than enough for this sort of thing."

"I actually agree with him on this one, Doctor," said Steven. "Especially for Kat…"

"NO!" screamed Katarina, lurching forward to grab the Doctor's wrist. "Please, mighty Zeus, don't leave me here! Don't leave me alone with those… those… demons!"

"I am not going to, my child" the Doctor smiled reassuringly. "I am not leaving you alone. Vicki," the Doctor then said, turning to the other girl, "you heard Steven and Officer Vyon. Personally, I would agree with them, but I know you well enough, and in normal circumstances, I have no doubt you'd choose to come no matter what. However, given our current situation…"

"Stop right there, Doctor" Vicki interrupted him. "I know what you're going to say, and I don't care. If you go to the city, there's no guarantee you will be able to come back to the TARDIS, whether they find you or not. In that case…" here Vicki stopped, trying to keep her voice firm and stop the tears welling in her eyes, "…in that case I and Katarina would remain here, stranded on this planet, surrounded by the Daleks, with no chance to get out and with a strong possibility not to see you or Steven again. And if you know me well enough as you said, Doctor, then you should know how this would be a much worse fate for me."

The Doctor didn't reply. It was useless. The look on her face was the same one she had when he, Ian and Barbara had found her on Dido: a lost child far away from home, deprived of everything she loved, and desperate for a chance to belong again somewhere. Nothing of what he could say would change her mind. With a sigh, the Doctor nodded.

"I have a very bad feeling about this" Bret muttered behind him.

The five of them crept carefully outside of the TARDIS and, after the Doctor had locked the door, made their way across the jungle. Bret went forward, his gun pointed, ready to fire at the first sign of danger, Vicki at his heels; the Doctor followed, an arm across Katarina's shoulder; Steven closed the line. Luckily for them, the Daleks were nowhere to be found, and they soon arrived at the edge of the jungle. From their position, they could see a large square in the centre of the city, shining in the darkness of the planet.

"There don't seem to be any guards," Vicki whispered. "The Daleks must feel pretty sure of themselves."

"Or maybe they are too busy looking for us in the jungle," the Doctor said.

"Look at the ships" Steven exhaled, pointing at the great shapes of the space vehicles, they could see in the distance. "Those are not Daleks vessels, at least not all of them."

"You're right, my boy," the Doctor said. "The Daleks must not be alone on this…"

"The one in the middle!" Bret suddenly gasped, incredulous. "It is… but no, that's not possible!"

"What? What is it?"

"It's from Earth… it's Mavic Chen's ship!"

"Who?"

"The Guardian of the Solar System! He is the greatest authority of our Confederacy! What is he doing here?"

"Never mind that," said the Doctor, dismissively. "Do you know that ship? Could you pilot it?"

"I guess so," said Bret, after a moment of reflection. "Yeah, I think I could."

"Then, we have found our way out of this place. Now all we have to do…"

"Someone's coming!" said Katarina, attracting their attention. They watched intently and saw a hooded figure, of the same size as the Doctor, a few feet away from them. No face could be seen under the hood, but from the sleeves of his robe two greenish, vegetable-like extremities hung out, as a sort of hands.

"It's Representative Zephon of the Fifth Galaxy," Bret recognized him. "Mavic Chen was supposed to meet him on a diplomatic mission."

"Oh, was he?" asked the Doctor, with a wicked grin, before turning to face Steven. The Time Lord and the pilot understood each another with a glance, and Steven went on, gesturing to the girls to stand back. Bret seemed to understand too since he disposed at the left side of the Doctor. The three waited for Zephon to surpass them, then jumped him and quickly knocked him unconscious.

"Take him out of the way, quick!" the Doctor said, while he, Bret and Steven dragged Zephon into a corner. "Good, now listen. You get on Chen's ship and prepare it for departure. I will pose as Zephon and go and try to find out what the Daleks are up to. If I am not back for the time you are ready, you leave. Do not wait for me, is that clear?"

"He told us to leave!" Bret screamed, trying to overcome the increasing noise of the ship's engine turning on and the alarm signal ringing outside. Steven had his hand on the control panel and was desperately trying to stop him from getting the ship going.

"Give him some more time!" he shouted. "We can't go without him!"

"Come on, Doctor, come on!" muttered Vicki under his breath, trying and failing to remain calm.

"There he is!" Katarina shouted, pointing out of one of the windows. Vicki looked in that direction, and with relief saw the old familiar figure, still dressed in Zephon's robe, running out of the great building across the square towards them. Some Daleks were in pursuit, but they were still too distant to reach him in time.

"Leave now!" said Vicki, after the Doctor managed to get on board. Bret heard her, and with a thrust, he had the ship sailing towards the sky. In a few moments, they were in space, on a course for Earth. By that time, the Doctor had reached them in the control room and sat on a chair, breathing heavily. He had a small cylinder in his hand, of a greyish colour.

"What is it?" asked Vicki.

"The secret of the Daleks" explained the Doctor, still catching his break, "and the reason for Mavic Chen's presence on Kembel. I am sorry, Officer Vyon, but it appears that your Guardian has betrayed you. He is an ally of the Daleks."

The Doctor told them of the meeting he assisted to, where various representatives of different galaxies had come together to help the Daleks conquering the universe and being nominated, in return, absolute lords of their respective areas. The Daleks had created a Time Destructor, a weapon capable to accelerate the course of time on every living being to the point of making them age and decay really quickly, and Mavic Chen provided them the core of Taranium (an extremely rare mineral) which would allow it to work. That was the cylinder he had with him: he managed to steal it when the alarm rang off, before fleeing to meet them.

"We did well not to contact Earth!" Bret exclaimed. "Chen could have stopped the message or distorted his meaning, so it had no effect. He is very popular these days, and many of my colleagues just worship every word coming out of his mouth."

"Yes, that was fortunate" the Doctor admitted. "But this also means that, when we arrive on Earth, it would not be easy to convince your superiors and colleagues. You better start thinking of some people you absolutely trust, Officer."

"And what if we don't arrive on Earth?" Vicki asked, gloomily. "What if the Daleks find a way to stop us before we do?"

"Oh, let us not wrap our head before breaking it. For the moment, we keep our course on Earth and prepare to find a way to warn them. Then, we'll see."