A/N: This is a detailed side story for my Doctor Who AU 'Verse. It's 'All About' Jamie and the Doctor. How they met, what adventures they had, and finally why they were parted. It's a prequel to Doctor Who and the Great Eclipse even though I'm writing it now, and mean it to be read in conjunction with Doctor Who and the Tangled Web. This is meant for those folks with no exposure to the second Doctor. This chapter covers the serial "Evil of the Daleks". Scenes that don't have either the Doctor or Jamie directly involved will not be included. Transcripts of the episodes are used as reference for dialogue, along with photonovels where the BBC has lost / destroyed them. Inspiration and Titles come from the T.a.t.u song "All About Us" that was used for the video featuring this ship. See TARDIS Parking for the links to both Transcripts and video.
Laura Harkness, my single reviewer for the last chapter… I'm very glad you liked it. Here's the answer.
Part Six
We'll run away if we must, 'Cause ya know, It's all about love
The odd little man in his slightly over sized rumpled frock coat and sky blue wing collar shirt reached out and took the hand of a slightly taller lad in a red tartan kilt. It was as natural as breathing, this casual contact between them. Most folks might assume that the pair were father and son for how normal they made it look. But James Robert McCrimmon and the other man known only as the Doctor were far more familiar with one another than their panicked touch would lead an observer to believe. Behind those clasped hands flowed a psychic connection that made it possible for the alien Doctor to function without his time ship – which was currently missing. It was more than being emotionally settled. The Doctor was bonded to his living craft no matter how he tried to deny it and now he couldn't sense her.
The strange pair came around the corner of the hanger where the Doctor's TARDIS should have been stored only to spot a lorry driving away from it on the far side, the blue police box secured to the back. For the briefest of moments the Time Lord feels his ship give him a panicked cry that seems to be strangled off. Something is blocking their connection. In alarm, he jerks away from the Scotsman who is at the same moment recoiling like he's been slapped. "Jamie!" The dark haired man, fully flustered now, indicates the vehicle, knowing there's no way for them to stop it.
"The TARDIS!" exclaimed the Scotsman. Aghast, the two men watch the vehicle depart, a feeling of despair creeping into the Time Lord's hearts. It's Jamie that saves them from sinking into full out depression. He spots something else that might yield some clues, "Doctor!" He caught the older man by the coat and indicated the open door to the hanger where he can see that there's another fellow in coveralls who looks like an airport worker. What Jamie fails to note is that the coveralls don't fit very well; the Doctor more than makes up for this flaw in his younger companion's observation skills, however. This man is listening to a radio, which is rather loud, while he sits and fiddles with some mechanical contraption or another.
Since they were unable to catch the lorry the next step, logically, is to find out where the vehicle was going. One way or another they will do just that. The Doctor figures that there must be records that they can use to find that out. He draws Jamie inside the hanger and approaches the man in oddly fitted coveralls, "Excuse me!" He finds that he must shout over the radio, "I wonder if you could help us?"
The badge on the front of the coverall's says 'Hall' but the Doctor does not assume that is who he's speaking to. 'Hall' looks up after the Doctor taps his arm, "Eh? My mate likes the wireless turned on at full blast," He gestured to the battered radio on the bench. "I have to keep this turned down," He shows the Doctor his hearing aid.
"Oh, I see," the dark haired man nodded.
With that Hall moves toward the radio to turn it down. Jamie leans over to the Doctor, "Who's taken the TARDIS?"
Quickly covering what Jamie has said, the little man says to Hall, "He means the police telephone box."
For his trouble he gets an odd look and Hall replying, "He said 'TARDIS' or something."
"Yes. Well, TARDIS... That's, uh... That's another name for it," the Doctor said.
"Oh, foreign is he?"
At this Jamie prickles, "Me, foreign? You're the one that's foreign! I'm Scottish!"
"Uh, that's right. TARDIS is a... is a Gaelic word," the dark haired fellow is slightly flustered, and he turns to the piper and whispers, "Jamie, hush!"
To this he gets back a whispered, "It's getting further away all the time!"
Patting Jamie on the arm he says, "Yes, I know." Then he turns back to Hall and continues, "Well anyway, it's... it's our property and we've come to collect it."
"Oh, you mean the... uh, the police box?"
"Yes!" The Doctor says to the man who he is thinking is rather dim at the moment.
The fellow's next words don't change his assessment, either, "Yeah. Well, uh... Well, that's gone."
Jamie butts in, "Oh, we know it's gone. That's the whole point. It's ours and somebody's stolen it!"
"Ah, well, I don't know about that. I got a note here somewhere," Hall says as he turns to a huge amount of paperwork that is scattered about a buried desk before he finds a clipboard that is filled to overflowing with yellowed pages and a single new clean sheet of blue paper. "Yeah, here we are. There," he reads from the blue note, "'Police Tel. Box. Collection: 3 o'clock'."
The Doctor takes the note, "Let me see this please."
"Been signed for." Hall says.
"Oh, yes. So I see. Er... 'J Smith'. Doesn't really help us, does it?" The little dark haired man frowns.
"Yeah. Well, I just do what I'm told. Better see the airport commandant or someone."
At this suggestion the Doctor has to fight cringing, "Oh, no. I... I don't think we'd better do that. Um, Jamie, I think we'd better talk to the police."
Getting the police involved is clearly not what Hall wants, "Of course I, um... I do know the name of the firm what picked it up." Even as Jamie is speaking he says, "Yeah, firm name of, uh... Leatherman."
"Thank you very much. You'll be hearing from us," the Doctor says as he drags Jamie away.
The Scottish piper allows the tugging to almost pull him outside while he ponders the name, "Leatherman. Now that's a clue. Just a minute. Now, what street do they...? Doctor, wait!" But the Doctor doesn't listen, preferring to get them both outside. Jamie looks at him; "We should have followed that clue he gave us."
"Perhaps. I think we'd better keep an eye on him."
Jamie notices that the Doctor is quite intent on his observation of the hanger, "Why?"
"Well, didn't you notice his overalls? They were much too small for him, and the top sheet of his clipboard was different to all the others, and when we mentioned the police, he became friendly!"
"Aye. Hey, may..." Jamie finds himself interrupted by the Doctor pulling them both out of sight of 'Hall' who has just emerged wearing a rather spiffy outfit. He peeks around the machinery and then shoots the dark haired man a questioning look. The Doctor nods and they set off to follow 'Hall'. The trail takes them to the airport car park where they observe the man getting into a car and driving off.
"That's him. There he goes." The Doctor flags down a taxi as Jamie makes a sound of dismay, "For hire!" The Time Lord ushers Jamie into the vehicle and orders the driver, "Follow that car!" This leads into a merry chase, but the cab driver is good as his job. They end up outside a warehouse just past Kings Cross Station next to 'Hall's' car. The Doctor pays the fare and looks at Jamie; "This is his car. He must be around here somewhere."
They scout about the warehouse, not seeing anyone. Jamie finally discovers a door, "Doctor?"
After a moment the Time Lord joins his companion and asks, "Well, have you tried the door?" Jamie shakes his head then takes the following silence as permission to check it. The handle turns and they enter the warehouse. It doesn't take them long to locate 'Hall' who looks to have been knocked out. The man is sprawled on the floor. The Doctor checks him over, "Man in the overalls! It's all right. He's alive." Both he and Jamie try to rouse the man.
"Oh, dear..." he moans and tries to sit up, "Where's Ken..."
"Ken? Ken who?" The Doctor asks.
"Make him tell us where the TARDIS is!" Jamie insists. He dislikes being away from the time ship and stuck here in the 1960's.
Hall however lapses back into unconsciousness before the Doctor can do so. "No good, he's out cold. See if we can find some water somewhere." The Doctor gets to his feet and begins to search, "Hello, this is something. This really is something." He's found a makeshift table covered with money. "But, why pay him to help steal the TARDIS and then knock him on the head?"
"Well, why steal the TARDIS anyway?" Asks Jamie who is half-heartedly searching the place, not sure what he should be looking for in the first place, as everything here is strange to him.
The Time Lord makes a face, "That's what's been bothering me, Jamie, too."
The Scotsman returns to the Doctor's side, "There's no water here. Hey, that looks a lot of money, Doctor."
Without counting the Time Lord figures out loud, "It's between two and three hundred pounds. Yes, it is a lot, at least for what he had to do - put on a pair of overalls and just hang around. Come to think of it, why hang around? He was obviously planted. Why not just go off in the lorry?" Then he spots what could be some other clues – a pack of cigarettes and a matchbook on the windowsill contrasted with the half-smoked hand-rolled variety carelessly tossed to the floor near Hall.
Jamie notices the look on the Doctor's face, "You found something else?"
"I don't know." But – maybe. He searches Hall's pockets and comes up with a bundle of rolling papers, a matchbook, and a tin of tobacco. "Yes, this man rolled his own cigarettes, so these must belong to somebody else. That's a fair assumption."
Suddenly a loud whistle and the grinding of wheels disrupt the silence. This rattles Jamie, who is never heard anything like it before, "What's that?"
The Doctor places a hand on the lad to settle him, "It's all right. It's only a train."
Seeing that the little man is focused on his companion, and that the Scotsman is distracted, Hall silently gets to his feet and sneaks his way to the door. Jamie says, "A what?"
"Well, it's a train. There are carriages and they go on wheels, on rails, and they're drawn by a stea..." the Doctor glances over at Hall – or where Hall had been and notices that he's gone. Jamie spots the man just as he reaches the door. The Doctor shouts, "Hey, come back!"
Both men rush to catch the fellow but he gets out the door and bars it closed. Jamie reaches it first and can't budge it, "Well, give us a hand!" The Doctor pitches in to assist and they get the door open, but by then there's no sign of Hall at all, "Aw, not a sign of him. The only chance we had."
"There is this..." The Doctor holds up the matchbook for Jamie to see. It's the one that came from Hall's pocket. Then he reads the outside of it, "'The Tricolour'. It's a coffee bar apparently. And that's not all."
"Well, what else?" Jamie inquires.
Opening the matchbook the little dark haired man says, "Well, normally people pull out their matches from right to left. These have been torn out from left to right. We've got to find a coffee bar called 'The Tricolour' and look for a man called Ken or Kenneth - someone who's left-handed."
Bolstered by that, Jamie contends; "Now we've got something to go on!"
The Time Lord is not so sure. He knows something is up. Something is wrong. But he can't put a finger on it. There's a trap being sprung and he's pretty sure that the only way to get his TARDIS back is going to be to walk right into it. "But it's so little, Jamie. It's too little. He might only have been there once. There's no guarantee he'll ever go there again."
But Jamie isn't about to let him give up, not now that they have a lead. They end up doing some searching and find the coffee bar without too much trouble. The place is busy, noisy, and crowded. The waitresses are dressed as if they are selling a bit more than the menu, but since most of the patrons are young men, that really isn't too strange. The Doctor looks rather glum, but Jamie is taking everything in with interest. "Don't look so depressed, Doctor."
They are both on their umpteenth cup of coffee, thanks to 'Hall' who left all his money behind. "If only we knew what he looked like, Jamie."
The piper shrugs, "We'll ask one of the lasses in a moment, when things get quieter."
"We've got to untangle this, you know." Jamie nods in agreement with this before saying that he thinks it was just a common thief. But the Doctor is not so sure, "No, no, there's more to it than that. Why leave that man in the hangar to give us a clue? And furthermore, why give us a clue that is fake. There is no delivery firm with the name 'Leatherman'. Not in the London area, anyway. I checked in the phone book."
"But surely there's more places than London," Jamie says. The Time Lord concedes that it might be the case but there's something in his eyes and tone of voice that makes Jamie alert to other possibilities, "Do you think this is sort of a trap, Doctor?"
"Yes, but if only we knew who our enemies are..."
"Not the Chameleons again!"
The Doctor shakes his head, "No, something else. I can feel them, closing in all around us."
Once things do quiet down the Doctor urges Jamie over to speak with one of the waitresses. The blonde he ends up speaking with rather seems to want to get inside his kilt with him and since the only one he wants there is the Doctor the entire thing ruffles up his feathers a bit. As soon as he's gotten an answer from her he begs off her advances and returns to his Time Lord. Sliding back into his seat he says, "Oh, if only the laird could see that! Why do I get all the difficult tasks, Doctor?"
Taking pity on the lad the Doctor tells him, "Because you're so much better at them than I am, Jamie. What did you find out?"
Jamie blushes slightly at the underhanded compliment then reveals the information; "None of the lasses here could remember anybody called Ken or Kenneth." The Doctor's dismay makes him rush to add, "But, they do have a different lot on duty in the evening. Now, maybe they'll know."
It's at this point that the Doctor notices that someone is giving him a very intense look over. Quite bothered by this he says, "Jamie, I'm being stared at. Is there something wrong with me?"
The piper points to his own head and teases, "You mean up here Doctor?"
"Is my hair in disarray?"
Sensing that perhaps his friend is serious, Jamie blinks and says, "Well, no more than usual."
"Do I look strange or bizarre?"
Jamie smirks, "Aye. Well, maybe I'm just used to you."
Jamie, the Doctor scolds him.
I'm just teasing, Thete.
"That's some comfort. Look out, he's coming over."
The young man walks up to the table that had been staring at them, "I beg your pardon. It is Dr. Galloway, isn't it? ...and Mr. McCrimmon."
Jamie ponders the name 'Dr Galloway' but confirms, "Aye, I'm Jamie McCrimmon."
The Doctor has remained silent. The young man says, "My card."
This he offers to the Doctor, who takes it with, "Yes, uh... Mr. Perry?"
"Mr. Waterfield's frightfully sorry, but he can't meet you as arranged."
Although he's totally confounded for once Jamie stays quiet while his Doctor plays along with the fellow as if he knows what is going on, "Oh. Oh, dear. What a pity."
Mr. Perry continues, "But, he says if you'd care to come to the shop at about, uh... ten tonight, he'll see to you personally."
"At about 10. Oh, yes, uh... We'll be there." This pleases the young man and he leaves. The Doctor waits until he's gone and then looks at the man's card, "'Edward Waterfield: Genuine Victoriana'."
"Can't be a mistake. Even though he got your name wrong, he knew mine."
Fiddling with the card the Doctor ponders, "I wonder if Mr. Kenneth has found us." Jamie leans closer with a question on his lips and the dark haired man reads off the rest of the information, " 'K. Perry Esquire'. Yes, I think we'll go and see Mr. Edward Waterfield."
They have a number of hours before the meeting, and really it would be bad to spend that time sitting in the coffee bar. The Doctor takes Jamie to a hotel for the duration, one that is rather nice. He doesn't know if they are stuck here or not but the amount of pounds taken from the warehouse leaves him feeling like he's got the cash to spare. Feeling jittery and nervous, the dark haired man ushers Jamie into the room and closes the door. Jamie looks around in delight at the room. The Time Lord paces. He must admit that if he'd bonded tighter to his ship as she wanted he'd be in much worse shape right now. As it is it's impossible for him to be still. He starts to pace.
Jamie quickly catches on to how upset this has made his Thete. He catches the man as he paces past, "You do a good job hiding how much this bothers you. Maybe too much so. It's gonna be fine. We'll get her back." Come on Thete, let me in. Let me help.
I just need to be grounded, is all.
Um… Jamie turns the older man around and works his fingers into his shirt. Think I can manage that. He gets the layers of clothing off and puts his lips to work on the sensitive spot over the Doctor's clavicle.
Stars explode. Oh – Jamie!
Let me in, Stubborn fool.
At this the mental shields fall away and both of them find it impossible to separate one from the other. It's perfectly all right with them to be this way. Only slowly do they slide back into two individual beings once they have given and taken and the Doctor is grounded and can function again. The effort exhausts the Scottish piper and the Time Lord finds himself watching over the younger man's sleeping form. After about four hours he rouses the lad and they straighten up.
Then the unlikely pair set off to locate the store run by Edward Waterfield. It's set up in the front part of the man's house. When they arrive the front door is open, in spite the late hour. And although they are early the Doctor wants to get a good look around. He's tried to make Jamie understand without scaring the lad and has been less than successful, as Jamie is talking even as he quiets the bell so that their entrance is unannounced, "I don't know what you're being so cautious abo--"
"Shhh!"
This works to get the piper to lower his voice, "They left the door open for us, didn't they? Hey, it's half past the nine o'clock."
"Yes, I know."
Jamie frowns, "But they made the appointment for ten. Why have we come early?"
"The early bird catches the worm, Jamie. Now, do be quiet, there's a good chap. And for heaven's sake, don't knock into anything." Of course it would be the Doctor doing the knocking over. Jamie quickly catches the statue before it falls and gets hushed again for his efforts.
Something is not right about this place. He's got a funny feeling around the stuff here for sale, in fact. "Any good, this?" He asks as he holds up a Victorian item that looks brand new.
"It's interesting. In fact, Jamie, it's quite remarkable."
"Hey Doctor, you know you told me outside it said "Genuine Victorian Antiques"? Well, all the stuff in here's brand new." To this the Doctor nods. "I say this Waterfield's a rogue."
"Yes, so it seems. Except..." the Time Lord trails off a moment then finishes the thought, "Except that all these things are not reproductions. They're all genuine."
"Now, that's ridiculous!" Jamie looks around then frowns; "I've got an idea." The Doctor encourages him to share. "All the stuff in here is genuine... but brand new. But that is impossible unless Waterfield could've invented a time machine like the TARDIS, Doctor, and he's bringing all this stuff back from Victorian times."
The Time Lord beams at him, "Well done, but it's not very likely, is it? The only way to find out is to ask Waterfield." They move toward a nearby door only to hear a shout from further in the house. The pair rush that direction and find that the door is locked, "I'm sure I heard somebody shouting. Jamie, we've got to get in there."
Jamie finds a bit of wire, "What about the wire?"
"No, it's too pliable." Then his ears catch another noise and he hushes Jamie again. After a moment the young man from the Coffee Bar tries to sneak in. The Doctor pops out at him, "Boo!"
This makes the newcomer nearly jump through the roof, "Oh! What are you doing here?"
The Doctor fixes the man with a raised eyebrow, "You made the appointment."
"For ten o'clock," the man retorts.
"Yes, well, we thought we'd be early. What are you doing here?" the dark haired Tine Lord shoots back at him.
He becomes defensive, "I work here."
Jamie has been observing but now speaks up, "Then what are you creeping about for?" This flusters the man and he casts about for a reason but can't come up with one. To his non-committal noise the Scotsman gives a knowing, "Aye..."
"Yes, I think you've got some explaining to do, Mr. Kenneth Perry!" the Doctor proclaims.
But Mr. Perry effectively takes the wind out of his sails with, "My name isn't Kenneth, it's Keith. Now look - I... I don't understand."
The Doctor takes the changed information in stride, pondering out loud, "So, it's Keith. Hmm. Do you know a man called Hall?" To this Perry informs him that Hall is a man under Waterfield's employ. He's still confused however. "Well, he keeps some very rough company, including a man called Ken," the little stranger tells him.
"Ken? Kennedy?" Perry questions.
"What? What do you know about Kennedy?" It is a redirection attempt, but Perry does not fall for it.
"Oh, wait a minute. This is all too quick for me. Look, I'll answer your questions, if you'll answer mine." So the scream is forgotten for the moment as the Doctor and Jamie exchange information with Perry. They discover that the TARDIS is there when the fellow says, "This old police box was for a collector of curios."
"But it belongs to me!" the Doctor tells the man, "It's vital I get it back because of what's inside it and because it happens to be my property!"
Perry doesn't seem to understand that this is a theft and is still struggling with the whys of the situation. Jamie steps in and demands, "Look, where is it?"
"At the back."
Determined now the Doctor demands, "Well, is there another way through? This door is locked." They are told that they might be able to get to it by going over the yard gates because the door they are trying has an electronic lock on it. Nearly frantic the Time Lord takes Perry by the arm and steers him toward the front of the store; "You're going to show me where this yard of yours is."
"I say, if it's a police box, shouldn't we get the police?"
Then Jamie spots an open door and points it out, "Doctor..." And even though he's frantic to get his TARDIS back he can't resist a mystery. They move through the open door into what looks to be a study. Inside is a body.
"That's Kennedy!" Perry tells them.
Quickly the Doctor moves over and checks the man for signs of life. If he didn't know better he'd swear that the man was struck with an – energy weapon from a distance of fifteen paces. "He's dead!" Dread fills his chest like a icy molten weight.
Behind him Perry runs for the phone. Jamie catches his arm, "What are you doing?"
"Getting the police," the man tells him, picking up the phone and frantically dialing the emergency number. The line does not connect, "What...?" He tries a second time before putting the phone down, "I don't think we ought to touch anything. I'll be as quick as I can." He exits the house in a run.
"Should we have let him go?" Jamie asks his Thete as the other man regains his feet.
"He's doing the right thing."
The Scottish piper catches the Doctor's arm, "But the TARDIS...?"
Patting the lad's hand the Time Lord nods, "Yes, we'll have to find it before he comes back. Now, I wonder what this telephone interference is."
"Looks like Waterfield's cleared out. Aw, come on Doctor, let's find the TARDIS and go!"
"Yes, yes, the TARDIS. Now, how did he die? His limbs are stiff; his hands clenched. Look, he died in horrible agony. Look at his face. Hello...?" He pries a picture of himself out of the man's clenched hand.
"What? It's your picture!" Jamie steps back to his side and begin paying more attention to the surroundings, getting caught up in the mystery here.
"Yes. Now, he fell like that with his arm stretched out. Jamie, go out into the hall and measure the length of it up to the door here." At this the lad sets to pacing, announcing fifteen as he reaches the hallway. The ever astute Time Lord says, "Well, it's only five from the door to the wall. There must be another room behind here."
This spurs them both into searching the bookshelf. For Jamie it's eerily like the last time they found a hidden room. Only this time there's books to move. He finally locates something, "Hey Doctor, there's a keyhole!"
"Yes, you're right. Now, Waterfield would have the key. We've got to find something to prise it open with." But before they can the door clicks open on it's own. This should make them suspicious. But the Doctor spots something that draws him in and Jamie is unwilling to let him go on his own. "Well, look at this. That's where your telephone interference is coming from. Oh, yes, this is interesting." It's a transmat machine. And the Doctor is pretty sure it is Skaro based technology.
Jamie spots something else and moves toward it, "Hey, the other half of your picture." The photo is stuck half in a box and the piper is already reaching for it.
Too late the Doctor responds, "Yes. Don't open that!" Because if it is Skaro-derived technology he's seeing here then whatever is in that box will knock him out – providing it's the trap he thinks it is. Jamie however has his hand already on the slip of photo paper and the lid of the box is already lifting – and the gas is escaping. The Scotsman falls first, being closer. He has time to think; Yes that's certainly a familiar odor… before he blacks out. The next thing he knows is he's in pain. "Oh, oh'ff, ohh, ohh, mmm..." There's a knock, like on a wooden door. Part of his brain informs him that his time ship is nowhere near. He's in too much pain to panic at the moment, however. Another part persistently pings that the time has changed, and his nose informs him that they must be in a sitting room at some point during the height of the Victorian era. If so they've been dragged a hundred years into the past.
There's the bustle of long skirts and the creak of a door punctuated by a pleasant female voice, "Hello sir. Are you feeling better? Oh, you did have a party last night, didn't you sir?" He forces open an eye to look at the young woman who giggles at the face he's making. "The master sent this in for you."
"The master? Mr. Waterfield?"
The rather pretty servant shakes her head, "Oh, no sir, Mr. Maxtible. Mr. Waterfield came back from abroad last night, sir, with you and the young gentleman. Don't you remember?"
"Not very well, no." He takes the drink he's being offered and realizes it's an antidote of some kind, tailored to the poison he and Jamie were hit with. It's effective from the first sip, "Oh!" The relief from the lack of pain is the most pleasurable thing he's felt aside from when he's with Jamie. His mind clears right up, showing him a tapestry of events and choices spread out in front of him from this point. It's curious that he's never paid attention to this before.
"I'd best not wake him," the young woman says as she looks over at the Scotsman.
The Doctor glances at Jamie too, spying choices and events that surround the young man like a shroud. The fate of much relies on what Jamie will choose to do in the next few days. So very much. More than should ever be settled on one man's shoulders. The Doctor does not want to know… he doesn't want to see this. There's so much darkness and pain possible in the future… it could go very, very badly if he's not very, very careful. He turns his eyes off his young companion and toward the maid, "What's your name?"
If his question surprises her it doesn't show much, "Mollie Dawson, sir."
The Doctor indicates the substance in the glass and says, "This, uh... works remarkably quickly, doesn't it?"
"Am I to pour some more?"
To this he shakes his head, "No. No thank you Mollie. But you... you can tell me what the date is."
She gives him a strange look, "The date?"
He can guess that they are in the 1860's by the decorations in the room, providing they are 'modern' to the times. He spots nothing that would indicate anything past 1870 or so, however that means little. "Yes, I... I... I'm feeling very much better, but I don't seem to be able to remember, ah... the date and where I am."
Before the young woman can answer another voice says, "Mollie -- that will do. The answers you require, sir, might come better from me. My name is Theodore Maxtible and I am the owner of this house." The Doctor attempts to gain his feet. Maxtible responds to this with, "Pray, don't get up. I have the greatest sympathy for your condition, since I was the cause of it."
The Doctor turns his attention from the wild haired and bearded man to the rather clean-cut one next to him, "And this is Mr. Edward Waterfield, I presume. You don't keep your appointments, do you?"
"There were circumstances..."
The Doctor cuts him off, "Yes, indeed there were!"
"Please, please Doctor. First things first. You asked what date it was and where you were." Maxtible steps in and tries to calm the fellow. He's been warned that an angered Doctor is a dangerous Doctor. He's got every reason to believe what he's been told. The rather comical looking fellow indicates for him to continue, focusing on him with an alien intensity that would be rather unsettling if not for who he is already dealing with, "You are in my house, some miles from Canterbury. The date is June the 2nd, eighteen hundred and sixty-six."
Not only are he and Jamie back in time by a hundred years, but they are back by a hundred years and six weeks or so. This translates out to a standard time unit for Skaro, the Doctor knows. He contains his anger, but just barely. "And just what do you think you're up to? You steal my property, you spirit Jamie and me a hundred years back in time and you murder a man along the way!"
"We had nothing to do with the death of that man. We are, all of us, the victims of a higher power. A power more evil and more terrible than the human brain can imagine." Maxtible tells him.
This he can believe, but he wants the foolish humans to tell him what is going on from their perspective, "Power? Victims? What do you mean?"
Waterfield says, "They've taken my daughter Victoria."
"Who are 'they'?" The Time Lord can feel who the enemy is, but playing stupid is the best way to outsmart them. He must do this very carefully. The path he needs to take is very narrow and fraught with danger for not only he and Jamie but the entire history of humanity as well.
"You will not be kept in suspense very much longer, Doctor. Pray, come with us and we will show you how it all began," the wild haired owner of the house says.
Waterfield begs, "Doctor, do whatever it is they ask, I beg of you. My daughter's life is in your hands."
He's moved by the plea, "I will listen. I... I... I promise." Damn. That rearranges everything. It puts Jamie in the direct line of fire. It makes the future much more narrow… No, he doesn't want to see this. The Doctor turns his eyes to the room and they settle on a painting, "Is, uh... is that your daughter?" Whoever the young woman is, there's no denying that she's beautiful.
"No sir. That is a painting of my wife as a young girl. She is dead now, rest her soul. But Victoria is the image of her," Waterfield tells him.
Damn… Damn, damn, damn…
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The lab he's practically dragged into is rather a run-of-the-mill typical lab for the 1860's. It's well stocked but nothing to slather over. Maxtible seems proud of it though, "Here we are Doctor; this is hallowed ground. Here we shall not be disturbed by the servants."
He dislikes being away from Jamie. One of the side effects of the drug he's taken to clear off the poison is the lessening of his bond with the boy and it worries him that Jamie will think it's on purpose. He spares a quick glance around the room and notices the Skaro-based additions. He files this away, "Oh yes, yes, very impressive. And now, perhaps you'll explain what all this is about?"
The owner of the house clicks his tongue, "Your patience, my dear sir, a little longer."
But the Doctor really has reached the end of his rope, "Patience? You don't seem to understand what's happened - a man has been murdered! You behave as though we're going on Sunday-school outing!"
"Neither Waterfield nor I were responsible for his death. Here, cigar?"
This offer is ignored, "Why have you brought us here? Who are these enemies of yours - these ones you say control you?"
"Brilliant minds, Doctor," Maxtible says.
But Waterfield has another view; "They are monsters. Inhuman monsters! Creations of the devil!"
"Inhuman?" So he is dealing with the mutants, not the humanoids that were much less violent.
Maxtible tries to calm Waterfield, "Oh, I admit, Waterfield, they have behaved callously." The Doctor glares at him. "Let me explain. I have always been fascinated by the concept of travelling through time. Waterfield here is an expert in certain technical matters and I have the money to indulge my whims. Everything you see about you here was constructed by us two." This the Doctor knows is not a total truth.
"To try to find a way of exploring time?"
"Yes, now this is my theory: a mirror reflects an image, does it not?" At this the Time Lord nods, his face tight and his eyes dark. Maxtible does not notice. "So, you may be standing there, yet appear to be standing fifty feet away. Well, following the new investigations twelve years ago by J. Clark Maxwell into electromagnetism and the experiments by Faraday into static electricity..."
"Static?" That sinking feeling of lead in his gut is building again.
"Correct! Waterfield and I first attempted to refine the image in the mirror, and then to project it. In here, Doctor, are one hundred and forty-four separate mirrors," at this he steps over and opens the device of the primitive time travel device. Somehow they have stumbled upon the Dalek nexus of the time web and unlocked it. The Doctor sucks in a breath at the sensation of time flowing from the device.
Waterfield is rather proud of his accomplishment, in spite the nightmare that has resulted from it, "And each is of polished metal. Each is subjected to electric charges - all positive."
"Like repels like in electricity, Doctor, and so next, Waterfield and I attempted to repel the image in the mirror, wherever we directed."
"You mentioned static electricity?"
"Uh... that was our last experiment. Negative and positive electricity had failed, so we tried static. If only we could have known the powers we were going to unleash," Waterfield says. At the Doctor's prompt he continues, "In the middle of our final test with static, creatures burst out of the cabinet, invaded the house, took away my daughter. We had opened the way for them with our experiments. They forced me into the horror of time travel, Doctor. They ordered me to steal a box belonging to you and thus lure you into a trap and transport you here, together with your colleague Mr. McCrimmon."
"Oh, my dear fellow. My dear, dear fellow. But we shall win through, now that the Doctor is here," Maxtible places a hand on the other man's shoulder.
"These creatures...?" the Doctor starts, "They knew about me, these creatures?"
"They gave us likenesses," Maxtible confirms.
Waterfield looks apologetic, "What could I do? They said my daughter would die."
The Doctor grabs Waterfield and shakes him, "What are they called, these creatures?" It might be a bit of overkill, but he does it all the same.
But before the man can answer the doors on the primitive time transport open and a Dalek glides out. It fixes the Time Lord with its eyestalk. "Doctor, now do you understand?" the creature's mechanical voice grates at him.
He releases Waterfield and fixes Maxtible with a glare, "Oh, yes. Perfectly." The cards in his future, the options he has, rearrange themselves into an order that gives him just one path. He's unhappy about it. One wrong move and the entire universe goes to pot.
"Move back. Our plan has worked. We shall triumph! You will obey! You will obey!" the Dalek gloats.
"Obey? Obey? What do you want?"
The creature tells him, "We have your time ship. We will destroy it unless you help us with an experiment. You will help the Daleks test another human being."
"What experiment?" the Doctor demands. "What sort of test?"
"Do not question!"
"I will not be your slave!"
Waterfield steps in, "Doctor, I beg you..."
"No harm will come to you if you agree. Where is your companion?"
"He is in the house. I have done everything you asked me to." Waterfield tells the metal clad mutant
"Jamie?" the Doctor turns from one to the other, "Why do you ask about Jamie?"
"He is the human being who is to be tested."
"What do you mean? Tested how?" the worry is evident on the Time Lord's face. Waterfield sees it even if the Dalek and Maxtible do not.
"Silence! You will reveal nothing to your companion. Obey the Daleks! You are in our power!" the Dalek orders before exiting back into the transport.
The small dark haired Time Lord in the scruffy oversized clothes is fighting his urge to strangle these two stupid, petty, childish apes! He turns on them, "What have you done with your infernal meddling?" He studies the contraption they have made closer as he batters them with questions, "What is this test? Do either of you know?"
While Waterfield states he does not have any idea Maxtible reveals that he's talked with the Daleks more and might just know what they are after, "I believe I do. They... I mean the Daleks, tell me they have always been defeated by human beings. Possibly because of some factor, possessed by human beings...that is absent in Daleks. Perhaps they want to find out what it is and transplant it into their race."
The Doctor says nothing, other than encouraging the man to spill what he knows. This conjecture alarms Waterfield, "But if they do, do that, allied with their own alien intelligence, they'll be invincible! Maxtible, you should've..."
His worries are brushed aside, "Oh, my dear fellow. I am merely surmising. I know nothing definite. But, besides, what could we have done? Even if I had known for certain, the fact was, nay is, they hold your daughter Victoria."
After a moment the Doctor closes his eyes, his anger all but spent, "And now they've got Jamie."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Jamie knows, even before he opens his eyes that something is not right. There's a weight over him, a light one, but it faintly smells of tobacco and lavender. It's being straightened, and he can smell a woman doing the fussing. The scent of honey and musk, the one thing that anchors him, is very distant. Even the buzz of his Thete's mind against his is dimmed and dulled. The woman says, "Oh, I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean to wake you. There." Her words break off into a pleasant laugh as he struggles against the weight of his own limbs and the quilt besides. His head spins in a most unwelcome manner.
"Oh, it's not funny. Ohh, ohh," he groans out.
A glass is pressed into his hand; "The master left this for you to drink, sir. This'll clear away the cobwebs. Here you are, sir." He does not question, taking the offered substance at face value. He feels better once the draught is consumed, but notes that the mental link he has with the Doctor seems even thinner than before.
"Where's the Doctor? Oh."
"He's with the master and Mr. Waterfield, sir," the servant tells him.
Jamie feels far less in pain but he's still very fuzzy. His further questions are overlooked when another woman comes into the room and orders the maid out. He blinks at the new arrival as she says, "Please, Mr. McCrimmon."
"You know my name?"
"My father told me that you and your friend arrived last night with Mr. Waterfield."
Jamie shakes his head, "Waterfield? Your father? I'm sorry but I seem to be having great difficulty in remembering anything."
She settles down on the chair near where he's sitting, "He owns this house. I'm his daughter, Ruth Maxtible."
"How do you do? Have you seen the Doctor this morning?"
"He's talking with my father. He'll be along presently. Do you have everything you need?" Jamie nods to this and Ruth continues, "Mollie shall bring you some tea in a minute."
"I'm obliged to you. Uh... Miss Maxtible? Could you tell me who that is in the portrait?" Jamie indicates the same painting the Doctor had asked about before.
Ruth looks that direction, "That's a portrait of Mr. Waterfield's late wife. His daughter looks just like her. You're quite comfortable?"
"She was very lovely. His daughter must be too. Thank you." With that Ruth stands back up and exits the room. Jamie stands up and does a quick search of the room until he locates a letter with the date on it, "Eighteen sixty-six! So that's what Waterfield's done." But he has little time to ponder this before he feels a sharp pain against the back of his skull and his knees give way as blackness takes him again.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The Doctor is set to head back to Jamie at this point. He needs the lad. He needs to touch him. The dulling of their link from the boy's side of it is enough to make him feel very depressed. Waterfield catches him before he can exit the room, "Doctor, I do ask you to consider."
"I have made up my mind."
Maxtible cuts in, "I've repeatedly warned you not to tell Jamie McCrimmon anything."
This makes the rage flare again; "Do you think I'm going to allow Jamie to run into danger without telling him anything? No, I will not."
"But suppose he refuses to do what they want?" the owner of the house asks.
Suppressing a glare the Doctor says, "We shall see." By this time they are nearing the room where Jamie should be. The Doctor has a feeling though that the piper is not there. He feels more distant than he should even with the link between them dulled by drugs. Maxtible heads another direction and Waterfield enters the room with him. The Time Lord see the covered legs under the quilt and thinks perhaps he's wrong about the link at first, "He's still asleep. The gas in that box of yours was pretty potent."
The other man says, "It was Maxtible's invention." No, the Doctor thinks, it was not.
They walk around to find that the figure is not Jamie. "Jamie!" The Doctor begins scanning the room for clues right away, spotting the open window and noting the dirt on the floor under it.
"Mollie!" They spend a few moments trying to rouse the maid to no avail. Finally Waterfield says, "But your... your friend is vital to the plan of these Daleks. Absolutely essential!"
"So it seems. So, who can have kidnapped him?"
The Doctor's seemingly flippant manner panics Waterfield like nothing else can, "Oh, why won't you understand? The threats they make are not idle ones. Kennedy was murdered. Without your friend, our only hope is gone. Unless... unless, you know something. You seem to be well acquainted with the creatures."
He's pissed off with the man, angered to no end, but – he still feels the need to reassure him, "Everything you say, Waterfield, is true. If we cannot find Jamie, the Daleks will take pleasure in killing everyone in sight, and their greatest pleasure will be in killing me."
At this the Victorian gentleman returns to his attempts at waking the maid. She finally rouses at bit, "Mollie, Mollie. Mr. McCrimmon has been kidnapped! It means the end of us unless we can find him quickly." She is still too out of it to respond in any helpful way however. Waterfield glances about for the Doctor and spots him over by the open window looking at some soil in the carpet.
"Straw."
"I beg your pardon?" Waterfield inquires.
"A piece of straw," the Doctor repeats. Suddenly, he knows where to find Jamie.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
There's a dull thudding ache on the back of his head. This is the first thing he notices when he comes to, again. The second is that he's in a stable. It certainly smells like a stable anyhow. He's a mite woozy still as he opens his eyes and tugs mentally on his weakened bond with his Thete. There's another man in the stall with him, unkempt and thuggish looking. It's pretty clear who walloped him over the head and dragged him out here. And while Jamie's been tossed into the hay on the floor the other man sits on an overturned bucket. "Had a cosy little sleep, young swell?" He proceeds to poke the kilt-sporting lad with the stick he'd clobbered him with rather hard enough to leave a bruise. Jamie makes a swing at him, missing by several feet. The attempt gets him laughed at, "Lively, is it? Maybe you'd like to sleep again? I've got Mr. Nod here." He brandishes the cudgel at the kid; "He'll have you snorin' as good as ever."
Jamie can feel that the Doctor is aware of him and coming closer, "What do you want?"
The cutthroat says, "I'm to be well paid. Have no fear of that."
"Oh, and for what? I don't know you."
At that the top half of the stable door opens and another man appears there. The thug seems to be expecting him, "This your man, sir?"
The horror on the gentleman's face is enough to make Jamie wonder what the hell is going on here. "Toby! What in Hades have you done?" the fellow exclaims.
Toby blinks, "Why, I, uh... brought 'im from the house, like you said." Jamie can tell that Toby, for whatever else he is, is not a liar. This other man did offer to pay for Jamie to be brought here – or someone who looked like him did…
Meanwhile the other gent is protesting, "I said nothing of the kind."
"Well ya did, sir! Honest ya did. A guinea ya promised me. I... I done what ya said. You don't get outta payin'."
The other man seems to transform as he opens the other half of the door. He strides in, grabs the thug by his scruffy shirt and shoves him toward the exit, "Be careful how you speak to me, Toby!" He then pulls out a gold coin and tosses it into the mud just outside the door, "There's your money. Get out!" No sooner than he's let go of Toby and the man scrambled for the coin before fleeing does the gent slump against the wall in a seeming faint. Before Jamie can gain his feet and come over to the man he's upright again, "Where's Toby?"
"You just sent him about his business. Look, what's the matter? Are you all right?" the Scotsman asks.
The gent ignores him, "Where's Victoria Waterfield?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do. You're in the house, a friend of Maxtible's. You must know!"
Jamie shakes his head, "I tell you, I don't even know her!"
The man once more seems to faint and recover, "Ha, I must apologize for that villain Toby. He was telling lies, of course. I shall escort you to the house."
Jamie is really rather rattled now, "Uh, You... you... you just asked me about Victoria Waterfield."
"Now, she's in Paris. I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself - Arthur Terrall."
Jamie can feel the Doctor is getting closer by the minute and has no desire to go anyplace with this fellow no matter who he is, "Well, never mind about that. Did you or did you not ask that man to knock me on the head and bring me in here?"
Terrall blinks, "I, oh... ...certainly not!"
Speechless, all Jamie can manage is "Oh."
Thankfully the Doctor appears at the door. Terrall spots him, "Doctor, oh." He breaks into a laugh and says to Jamie, "I see you're in good hands now. I won't detain you any further. Good day, Doctor."
The Doctor, having never even seen this man before gives him a look that could take paint off the wall. He frostily replies, "Oh, good day to you."
Terrall exits and if not for other estate workers just behind the Time Lord, Jamie would hug the bloke for dear life and not let go. Instead he settles for saying, "He's mad. Stark, staring mad!"
"Yes, I know. I was listening. Let's have a look at that head of yours. Come along."
The Scotsman finds himself settled outside the stable on a bench as his Thete fusses over him, "Look, it's all right, Doctor. One minute he says this, the next minute he says that. Can you make it out, Doctor? I'm knocked on the head and I'm brought in here. Then that man Terrall enters and denies having ordered the other man to do it. Well, then he changes, and starts asking about Victoria Waterfield and in the next breath, he tells me she's in Paris!"
Under his breath, because the link won't allow communication in this state he says, "I know what's happened to Victoria."
Jamie makes a face as he tries the link too and discovers that even with the Doctor's hand resting on his temple he can't force words through it. He narrows his eyes and looks into the eyes of the man he's devoted himself too, wondering if this is the Doctor's way of pushing him away. He sees pain there, and knows that this is not the Time Lord's doing. At least he hopes it's not. "What has?" he whispers back, catching the other hand that is resting on his knee.
The gray brown timeless orbs close slowly before the Doctor answers, "She's a prisoner of the Daleks." And somehow Jamie knows it's not just Victoria Waterfield that been caught here. He squeezes those cool fingers with his own warmer ones. The Daleks, whatever they are, cannot know what they have together if they haven't already found out. He's heard about the creatures from Ben and Polly and knows that they could kill the Doctor if they caught him with one of their weapons. Not to mention that they are cold, heartless, egotistical geniuses in their own right. He watches the Doctor stand up and head back to the house. After a moment he gets to his feet and follows him.
He reaches the open sitting room window just in time to hear the other man say, "You've warned him - told him about the Daleks?"
His Thete answers, "Yes, of course I did!"
Jamie closes his eyes as he listens, "But you were expressly told..."
"Oh, fiddlesticks!" The Doctor says to the other man, "Bosh! Jamie will cooperate. You may be certain of that."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, perfectly sure. Jamie will do everything he is asked to do. Now come along, we must go and find Maxtible." Jamie slips back in the same window he was abducted through as the Time Lord leaves the room with the other man who must have been Waterfield. Now, Thete, what is it you want me to do? His eyes catch the painting again. There's something about this, something that flows like an undercurrent, that makes the entire thing not nearly as cut and dry as it appears. It's more than just Victoria… But what?
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The first thing that the Doctor notes when he re-enters the lab is the Dalek waiting for him, "We do not trust you."
He tosses that right back in the mutant's eyestalk, "Then we're quits, aren't we?"
"But we have your time machine."
This is true, and the Doctor knows it, "Yes."
"So, you will obey us."
The Time Lord turns to Waterfield, "They want the 'Human Factor', is that right?"
"Yes, that is what they want."
"Very complex. And you want to introduce this 'human factor' into the race of Daleks?" The Time Lord questions.
"Yes, the conquest of humanity has eluded us. The Daleks must know why."
"But, why choose Jamie for this test?"
The Dalek answers, "His traveling with you makes him unique."
"But why him? Why not me?"
"Request denied," the metal encased creature tells him.
"Why?"
"You have traveled too much through time. You are more than human."
Well wasn't that just the kicker? He wondered when the little green blooded monsters would realize that he's not human at all. Behind him the cabinet opens again and he finds himself nudged inside. There are three cases, small, and it doesn't take much for him to realize that these are Skaro-mutants, waiting for their casing to become full-fledged Dalek warriors. He fights back the feeling of repulsion at the sight and looks back at the Dalek, "What is this?"
Before it can answer Maxtible breezes into the lab and says, "They have been brought from the Dalek planet.
This much he knows already, "Skaro!"
"Yes, their life force is dormant. Before it is activated, we want..." the Dalek starts.
But the Doctor finishes, "You want the 'human factor' introduced. I see." And he does see. He just doesn't like it. He hates it, in fact. He must find some way to thwart this. Perhaps the fact that his bond with Jamie is dulled from the drugs in their systems will prove to be a good thing. He wants to avoid implanting the mutants with anything that might actually improve them.
While the creature might not feel emotions as such, it does understand how to detect them, and currently it can detect that the Doctor is plotting and resisting. "You will obey us!"
"I will make up my own mind!" the stubborn Time Lord retorts back.
Waterfield steps in, "Do not antagonize them, Doctor. They will destroy your time machine!"
And yet… some things are worth that risk, are they not? Could he survive here, with Jamie, if his TARDIS is destroyed? Would his mind recover from the shock? Would his death stop the Daleks? So many questions and he knows the path through this is a very narrow one, "And if I agree, it means the creation of a race of super-Daleks!" Ah but would those Daleks be loyal to their own kind or to their creator, being as he would be behind their existence? "My TARDIS... I have no choice, do I? Very well. I agree." The threads of a plan begin to weave their way through the choices, shifting things onto the path he wants to follow. People will die here, he can only hope to Time herself that one of them will not be Jamie.
"The human being with you must not be aware of the trial," the Dalek threatens.
He nods, "I quite understand."
"Make him begin the test!" He is ordered.
The Doctor sighs, "What must Jamie do?"
Maxtible says smugly, "Attempt to rescue Waterfield's daughter."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Jamie, meanwhile, is standing and staring at that portrait. He's not seeing it; rather he's focused on the faint sense of worry coming down the link and the Doctor's overheard words and the sense that he's being manipulated. He's seen the Doctor do this to others but in the years they've been together the little man has never turned this trait onto him. Why is he doing it now? The Scotsman can't shake the feeling that Thete is hiding something from him. He's not sure if he should be worried or angry. Or panicked. Or scared. He hears Mollie as she leads someone else into the room, "There we are, sir."
It's Ruth Maxtible. He knows from her voice before he even turns around, "Thank you, Mollie." The maid settles down a tea tray and leaves. "Arthur, I'd like you to meet Mr. McCrimmon." Jamie forces the flinch back as he turns to look at Arthur Terrall.
The other man does not hide his distaste; "May I ask what you are doing in this house?"
Jamie takes his reaction as go-ahead to voice his own, "I was just about to ask you the same thing."
Ruth is surprised, "Oh, you gentlemen have been introduced?"
"Aye, we've met," Jamie says.
Terrall turns his attention off the piper and decides ignoring him might make him go away, "It seems, Ruth, your father has the oddest collection of house guests these days."
Puzzled, Ruth scolds, "Now Arthur, please!" She then turns to Jamie, "You must forgive him, Mr. McCrimmon."
Jamie manages to not roll his eyes at her, "Ah, it's becoming a habit."
"I don't care for insolence," Terrall says to him.
"Well, I'm not keen on arrogance myself!" Jamie retorts. He really doesn't need this. He's got way more on his mind right now than he wants. And the Doctor's behavior is tops to that.
Blinking, Ruth observes, "Why, you bite at each other as if you were old enemies!"
The Scottish piper deflates, "I'm sorry if I seem rude."
She smiles at him then turns to Arthur, "Come, I want you to be friends. Won't you be so, to please me?" at this Terrall moans and staggers. Alarmed Ruth steps up to him, "Arthur... Arthur, what is it?" Jamie is torn between helping and pulling away. He takes half a step that direction and she looks up at him, "Excuse me." Then she turns her attention back to the other man, "Arthur! What's the matter?" He pushes away from her and exits the room. She dashes off to follow, "Arthur!"
Mollie just manages to step out of the way, "Sir?"
"Yes?! Oh, I wish you'd call me Jamie."
She manages to fight off a blush, "Oh, I couldn't do that sir. What would the master say?"
He smiles at her, "Oh, who cares! Ah, What can I do for you?"
"If you'd tell me where your bags are, sir - yours and the Doctor's - I'll have them taken up to your room."
"Aye. well, Mollie..."
She cuts him off and looks away, relaxed and at ease with him, "Listen to me, 'have them taken.' I dare say I'll be doin' it meself!"
It at least gives him time to come up with a reason for he and the Doctor to not have bags, "You see, we didn't have time to pick up the luggage. It'll be following. Why do you say that you'll be doing it yourself?"
"Well, they do say, sir, that the house is haunted. Mr. Kitson, the butler, left, and cook and the two footmen are complainin' again."
"Haunted?"
"Mmm." She nods at him, "But, I've never heard anything sir. I sleep like a log and always have."
"Aye. well, I'm glad you've got over the fright you had," here is one person he'd like to get out of harm's way. And for some reason he does believe that there's danger here.
"Oh, yes, that horrible man. Miss Ruth said it was all a game, but I dunno sir. I've never fainted before, sir. Truly I haven't."
"Not 'sir', 'Jamie'!" the piper scolds. It makes Mollie giggle. He smiles again, "Tell me about Arthur Terrall."
"Miss Ruth's fiancé, sir?" At this Jamie gives up the attempt at changing her form of address and nods. "Oh, oh, he's a kind man, sir. Usually. Well, when he's a bit odd or his temper's up, as it has been lately, I says to meself 'Inkerman' and then it's all right."
"'Inkerman'?"
"Yes sir. 'e was out in the Crimea, 'e was. They do say Mr. Terrall was wounded out there. Do you know, my uncle was killed at Inkerman, sir. So, you see, I do know what it's like with soldiers." She picks up the non-used tea tray and nearly runs over the Doctor on her way out, "Oh... oh, I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean to... Well cook said to me that if I did some dusting it would be all right. Oh, you won't tell the master, will you? That I... Ah, ah... Thank you. Sorry sir."
The Time Lord talks right over the top of her, trying unsuccessfully to reassure her, "Sorry Mollie." He then laughs, "Never mind, Mollie. That will do. Yes, Mollie, thank you very much. It's all right, Mollie. I wouldn't dream of telling him. Thank you very much, Bye-bye." He laughs again to show he's not at all upset with her and she manages to make it past him. He looks over at Jamie who is still confused, "Hmm, you'll have to brush up on your history. I can't be around to cover up for you all the time." He clears his throat and begins to fill Jamie in on the recent war, "Now then, in the Crimean War, the English, the French and the Turks fought the Russians..."
But Jamie is in no mood for it, noticing that the link seems even more blocked off than before. He's feeling irritated and angered at the moment. "Oh, forget about all that!"
The Doctor blinks at him, "Oh, I thought you'd be interested. I watched the Charge of the Light Brigade. Magnificent folly..."
"Look, where've you been?"
"Oh, just looking around," the smaller fellow's mobile face has fallen into a frown that is almost a pout.
Jamie vents his anger at that, "Aye. What for? The TARDIS?!" He wants to push the man against the mantle and – he's not sure what he'd do.
With genuine surprise the Doctor says lightly, "Jamie, you're in a temper!"
The Scot clears the distance and gets into the dark haired man's face, "Oh, am I? Is that bad then? Does that mean I won't be co-operative - I won't do everything I'm told?"
Shaken, the Doctor says, "What was that?"
Jamie nearly snarls at him, "I overheard you and Waterfield!"
"You were eavesdropping!"
"Well, whatever it is, I don't like what you're doing." Jamie backs away before the temptation for violence mixes with the need to become one with this infuriating man. For once he's truly scared that he's going to hurt the Doctor. And he's not sure where the impulse is coming from.
"Now you listen to me...!"
Jamie shakes his head and cuts Thete off, "No, Doctor, you're forgetting the TARDIS was stolen and a man was murdered! Now, how am I supposed to tell when I see you as friendly as you like with the murderer!"
"Waterfield did not murder that man!"
This is true, likely. OK he'll concede that point. "All right then, but he stole the TARDIS and that still makes him a thief!"
"The Daleks forced him to!"
"The Daleks! You keep telling me about the Daleks, and I haven't even seen one! You're always on about them, but where are they?!"
Again the Doctor says, "Now you listen to me...!"
This time Jamie lays hands on the man and drives him up against the wall, "No, you'll not get round me this time, Doctor. You're up to something with Waterfield and Maxtible. Now what is it? Some scientific invention?! Or have you gotten tired of traveling with a stupid backward piper?" The surge of energy between them reminds the Scot of how closed off the Doctor's mind is at this moment. What is he hiding? He clenches up his hands in the Doctor's coat, aware that he's standing very, very close. He's seconds away from doing more than pinning the Time Lord to the wall when Waterfield comes into the room. Jamie backs up, managing to not look guilty, "Oh, here's your friend."
Suddenly the Doctor realizes that perhaps Jamie's temper comes from jealousy as much as anything else. "Just a little argument," he says to Waterfield's confused look.
"I heard voices raised."
Jamie glowers, "That's not all you'll hear!"
"Jamie seems to think that I'm lying to him."
"Well, aren't you?!" Jamie misses the flinch from his shouting.
"He doesn't believe the Daleks are here."
"It's the truth," Waterfield says.
Jamie lashes out at him now, "Aye, the truth you told Arthur Terrall, maybe - that your daughter was in Paris!"
At the fury he's seeing, the mild mannered Waterfield backs up a step. He's thinking that perhaps interrupting whatever was going on here was a bad idea. " -- I had to tell him that."
"So, you've got another story to tell me?"
Swallowing, the fellow restates, "I tell you that the Daleks are holding my daughter prisoner in the south wing of this house, Mr. McCrimmon."
Jamie nearly growls, "Then why don't you try and get her back, eh?!" He makes an angered motion and then turns on the Doctor again, "And you? What are you doing?!"
Deflating, the Time Lord gives Jamie a pathetic expression, "Well, what can I do? Now, be... be fair Jamie. Waterfield's tied hand and foot because of his daughter and we're tied hand and foot because of the TARDIS!"
"Aye, and that's all you can think about, isn't it? The TARDIS. Well, you can all stand around doing nothing. I'm sick to death of it!" He storms across the room, heading out.
"Now just where are you going?"
"To be by myself for a bit. Do you mind?"
The dark haired man shakes his head, "No, not a bit. But, one word of warning. Don't you try to be a one-man army. You leave well alone. I won't have you ruining everything trying to rescue Victoria Waterfield. Now, you understand?!" If anything this pisses Jamie off even more. He glares at the man and clenches his fists. Then, deciding that he can't do what he wants to do in front of Waterfield, the Scotsman spins on his heel and marches away. After the lad is well out of hearing the Doctor chuckles.
"Well, are you sure you didn't go a little too far, Doctor?"
"Adding a little fuel to the fire," He laughs at the man's expression. "Tell Maxtible that I'll be along to his laboratory shortly."
"Oh, very well, Doctor. If you're sure."
Smiling he says, "Oh yes, quite sure. Once our young friend has cooled his heels a bit, he'll launch off on his own. And you dropped the hint about the south wing beautifully." It's only after Waterfield has left him alone that the Doctor raises a shaking hand up to the bruise on his arm that Jamie's grip has left behind. Only then that the little man stops to wonder how much damage he's done to their relationship.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Jamie waits until later that night, although he's managed to convince Mollie to help him. She's asked him to come back to the sitting room after the others are sleeping. The Scot knows that Thete rarely sleeps and is likely wide awake someplace. But he's not going to let that stop him. The sitting room is dimly lit where the maid waits for him. She jumps when he opens the door; "It's only me, Mollie!"
She giggles and then says, "It's over here, sir. I took it from the master's study."
What 'it' is, is the floor plan of the house. Jamie looks the paper over; "It's marvelous. Thank you!" He quickly memorizes it.
" 'ere, is this what you wanted?" she confirms.
"Perfect, yes. Let's see, umm... this is the south wing here?" He points to the area.
Mollie nods, "Yes sir, but it's been closed off."
"Completely?"
"Oh, no sir. Only 'cause of some repairs about a twelve-month back. But the door may be locked."
He really needs to do this. After a moment of thought he looks at her, "Can you show me?"
"All right. What're you gonna do, sir?"
He smiles at her, "Off to hunt a few wee ghosties, Mollie."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The lab has been transformed from the 1860's to space age Skaro in a matter of hours. The volume of alien technology in the room would give the Doctor's people a tizzy fit. In fact the Doctor is not sure why his people haven't shown up yet. Surely they can sense the fluctuations in time that these machines are causing? Not to mention the fact that he's been forced to make the stuff run on the energy here, adjusting it to make it use human currency. His time signature should be all over the place by now. His stomach is a mass of nerves. The only thing he can hope for is that Jamie loves him enough to imprint that with the rest of his reactions. It's his wild card, that. "Every single one of Jamie's reactions will be recorded on these Dalek machines?"
He's being watched by Maxtible and two Daleks. The mutants don't believe that Maxtible knows enough about the delicate machinery to wire it, which is why the Doctor is down doing it with what amounts to a pair of guns on his back. The owner of the house is oblivious to the danger, "And then transformed into thought patterns on silver wire. A wonderful creation!"
The Doctor doesn't really think so.
"It is for you, Doctor, to select the major feelings to make up this 'human factor'." The Dalek in charge tells him. "We shall watch your every move."
He gets to his feet, "Oh, yes. I quite understand. And every step of Jamie's progress will be covered?"
The other Dalek says, "Yes. The young human being is on his way."
Maxtible nods, "Full cooperation. The recording machines can be set in action."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Jamie and Mollie reach the location indicated on the house plans. "Here!"
It's dimly lit by the candle Mollie holds. She nods, "Yes, sir. I once remember the master stepping away from here. When he saw me, he was very cross and told me to keep away." Jamie nods. The air is rent by the sounds of a nearly inhuman scream. "What was that? What was that?!"
Jamie catches her by the hand, "That was no ghost, Mollie, that's for sure. That was a human voice!" His words calm her somewhat but she's still upset. "Look Mollie, take the candle and go back to your room. Will you do that?" She nods. "Now, do you want me to see you safely there?"
"Oh, sir! No, no. I'll be all right." With that she heads off back to the main part of the house leaving Jamie alone in the dark hall. He steadies himself and then turns and investigates the wood panel. The oily fingerprints pretty much tell him exactly where to push to get the hidden door open. What saves him from the trap at that spot is a small bird that somehow got caught inside the wing. It flies through the opening and makes him step back. His slight retreat takes him out of range of the spikes that shoot out and embed themselves into the lower wood trim. Jamie pauses a moment more and then ducks around them into the hall beyond. It's a bare space but for a couch. The moonlight casts enough illumination for him to make out that there's another individual already there, waiting for him. When the much larger man moves into an offensive position to block his path Jamie realizes that this must be what the Doctor actually wanted him to do. Why, Thete? What couldn't you tell me?
The other man is a giant in comparison to Jamie. Not that the piper is a slouch or anything, but he's an average sized fellow, trained to fight well enough, but a piper by trade. He's going to have to use his mind to get past this because there's no way he can beat this huge man by brawn alone. He tries communication first, much as he's seen the Doctor do, "Hello? Who are you?" He gets no answer. Perhaps he can rush past him? He lunges forward and finds that the fellow is fast for his size. No dodging him then. He's going to have to use the fellow's size against him.
Jamie rushes him again, intent on grappling with the man just long enough to get past him. He finds that his left hand is caught in a vice like grip. He pulls back but is unable to break free. Caught, Jamie goes for another tactic: lunging even closer to put the larger man off balance. He lands his shoulder just under the giant's diaphragm making the man off balance and fighting for his breath. The man falls back loosening his grip on Jamie's left hand as he goes.
With his opponent down, Jamie steps back and considers the situation. He must get past this. Circling, the Scot tries to slip past with the man down only to end up exchanging blows, feints, blocks and tumbles as the other fellow tries to stop his passage. Jamie's anger gives him a bit of an edge, a willingness to inflict damage that he might otherwise suppress. He kicks his way free and gets to his feet again. He ends up with his back to the window.
The other man gains his feet too and Jamie can see that the fight is taking as much out of him as his opponent is dishing. They are both sweating and breathing hard. Jamie doesn't want to actually hurt anyone if he can help it. The other man suddenly dives at him and Jamie moves out of his path. There's a crash and the tinker of broken glass as the man goes through the window. Shocked and worried, Jamie rushes to see if the man has fallen to his death and is relieved to find that he's managed to hang on to a drainpipe and is still alive. It only takes him a moment to make up his mind. He reaches out and offers his help to his opponent, saving him from an almost certain doom should he fall.
The other man is surprised, but accepts the help and is grateful for it. Jamie hauls him back inside. They fall to the floor once it's clear that neither is going to die here. The large man silently expresses his thanks. After a moment Jamie nods to show he understands and then gets to his feet. Concerned, the other man follows. It doesn't take long for the two of them to locate where Victoria must have been held. The barred window, single bed, table and chair pretty much give it away. The other man tries to dissuade Jamie from exploring more, but the Scot finds a monogrammed woman's handkerchief just inside the door. He intends to retrieve it.
Jamie reaches for the bit of cloth and the larger man pulls him back. He's got a grip on it already, so it comes with him. For a moment the piper thinks the man intends to fight him again but the swish of the heavy guillotine pulls him up short. Tit for tat. One life for another. Jamie looks at the embedded blade and then glances back at the other man. After a breath or two he offers the fellow his hand. With a grin the man shakes it, understanding that he's crossed from foe to friend. After a quick search to ensure there are no more clues the pair continue on their way, unaware that a Dalek from has observed them across the hall.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Having watched the first fight and the outcome the Doctor is relieved by Jamie's progress. "It took courage to fight Maxtible's Turkish wrestler," the Time Lord states.
The red Dalek next to him brags, "The Daleks are afraid of nothing and no one."
"But Jamie saved the Turk's life."
This is dismissed with, "Human weakness."
The Time Lord shakes his head, "If he hadn't, he would have died in that room of yours. If you want the Human Factor, a part of it must include mercy." And mercy, he knows, is something Daleks don't have.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
They've reached an area that seems fairly secure, and Jamie says, "That's better, thank you. Aye, you're an odd one. I'll say that. Aye, well, I... I suppose we're both a -- a bit touched, eh? Knocking each other about the place and saving one another's lives." The other man shakes his head slowly but with little emotion. "You don't say much, do you?" He gets a gesture of a finger across lips with another slow head shake. The Scot is gathering that the fellow, though intelligent, can't talk, "Oh, I see. You can't talk? Aye. Well, you're a sight better than a number of people I know who can. I wonder what your name is?"
At this the fellow walks over to a dusty window and carefully writes out: K E M E L. Jamie smiles. "Kemel? Well, I'm Jamie." He again offers his hand and Kemel refuses it, bowing his head subserviently. "He... hey, what is that?! Now come on now. None of that. We're to be friends. Do you hear? Friends." This confuses Kemel but then he notices the handkerchief with the initials of V. W. on it. He points. "Aye." Kemel indicates that he knows her. Jamie nods, " 'V.W.' I know, Victoria Waterfield." Kemel pulls out a pressed flower he's been given. "Oh, Miss Waterfield gave you the flower? You like her?"
Kemel nods. "Of course. Then what are we fighting for?" Jamie asks him. Kemel cocks his head to the side. "Do you not know what I'm doing here, Kemel? Victoria Waterfield is being held a prisoner here somewhere." The larger man points and himself and then Jamie, links two fingers together, and then points down the hall. "Together? Aye, we'll go together. There's no one I'd rather have with me."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
This is observed by the Doctor and the red Dalek. And on top of that the Doctor is observed even closer. He can't afford to show any sort of approval or compassion himself. Not while he's being drawn into the experiment as well.
They watch the progress, every step of the way, both Jamie's thoughts and actions and the Doctor's reactions to them.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The Scot and the Turk are paused in the shadows, watching the patrols. Another pair glides past. Kemel wants to take them out, Jamie can tell by his tense posture. But he's learned from the Doctor to pick his battles. And this is one they can avoid, if they are careful, "Wait. Never mind about those, Kemel, unless they catch sight of us. We seem to be going in the right direction."
They edge down the passage, keeping to the shadows. Jamie sets off yet another trap. "Down!" he warns as he hears the buzzing noise that gives away the activation. Kemel and Jamie both drop to the floor lightening fast as the pendulum swings down towards their heads. Once the weapon is past them and retracted both men sigh with relief before carefully gaining their feet and moving to the end of the hall.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The red Dalek intones, "We do not trust you. What thoughts are you using now?"
The Doctor glances at it, "Human beings have five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. But there is instinct too. And Jamie used instinct to avoid your trap."
The Dalek notes the slight indication of pride that the Doctor cannot completely suppress over his human's progress.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Having just witnessed Victoria being dragged out into the landing above and force to shout her name Jamie tells Kemel, "She's very beautiful, Kemel." The Turk picks up a stick and looks ready. Jamie puts a hand on his arm, "What are you going to do with that?" Kemel mimes knocking one of the opponents off with it. Jamie knows better. "You'll attack the Daleks - draw them off down the corridor, while I go up there and rescue her somehow? It's too dangerous, Kemel. Besides, needs two of us up there. But how?"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The Dalek notes the change in the thought wave, "What is the significance of this thought pattern?"
"Suicidal attacks to gain an objective." He frowns, "Postulate." Then he says to the Dalek, "Self-preservation is a strong human factor. Jamie and his new friend are determined to succeed. But finding the girl is only part. Getting her away is another."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Jamie and Kemel watch as they hide just off the gallery as Victoria is once again ordered about by a Dalek, "Name?"
"Victoria."
Her captor orders, "Louder!"
"Victoria Waterfield!" she nearly screams it this time. "Victoria Waterfield!"
The Dalek, satisfied that she's been overheard informs her, "Inspection is over. Return to your room."
Puzzled by the odd behavior, Victoria does return to the new room she's been assigned. As the upper Dalek turns away Jamie and Kemel move out of their cover and quickly rope and sling the guarding lower one into a blazing fireplace. While the smoke and flames won't kill it, it is quite effectively trapped there. "Well, that's fixed that one." Jamie tells Kemel. The Dalek makes some noise that give the impression that it is quite uncomfortable with the heat, in any case. The two would be rescuers rush to the end of the gallery and use the rope to scale up to the second floor. Jamie reaches the tops and makes sure Kemel does too, "Look out, the rail's going to break!" Just as he speaks most of it does in fact break away and fall to the floor below. Kemel indicates that he's OK and Jamie turns to the door. He knocks four times and calls, "Miss Waterfield? Can you open the door? We've come to get you."
Before she does open the door there's a noise from below. A quick glance reveals a Dalek coming to investigate the crash. Then another door opens to show that they are cornered. The one on the balcony with them levels its weapon at them.
Working together and in concert Kemel and Jamie snag the rope and toss it over the approaching monster. They are able to shove it off the balcony through what it left of the rail. The landing causes it to explode and the warning tone begins to call for assistance. Shoving Kemel into the room, Jamie says, "Quick, before we see any more of those mechanical beasties."
Victoria sounds quite happy to see them, "Kemel, my dear friend!"
"Aye, he's a good friend, right enough, Miss Waterfield," Jamie tells her.
"And you?"
"Er... Introductions in a moment, if you please. First, I'd like to make us a little bit more secure. Kemel, if we lash this bedstead across the door, it might just hold." They begin piling the furniture against the door while Victoria watches in wonder. "Rope! That's it. We could do with a chest against it, I'm thinking. Another one on top, eh? Well now, they can't get in and we can't get out. So, where does that put us? Oh. Jamie McCrimmon. I, uh... I came to give you this." With that he hands her the handkerchief. Victoria takes it with delight and smiles softly at him. Jamie knows that if his heart weren't already taken he'd fall for the lass, hands down. He just hopes that the one his heart belongs to still needs him.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Now that Jamie has reached Victoria the Doctor convinced the Daleks that he needed a break. After all, most of the other humans were sleeping. He's moved into the trophy room and is sipping a glass of wine. It's not something he does often but he suspects that the atypical behavior confuses his captors. Which is, in part, his goal. Terrall wanders into the room. Now there's a mystery… "Are you sure you won't join me?"
"No, I won't. I very rarely touch it."
"Oh, dear. W...Well, something else, perhaps? I know - let me ring for some food. Now, do join me?"
"No! You seem determined to involve me."
With a coy smile the Doctor admits, "Yes. I do, don't I?"
"This is a large house. I prefer my own company."
"Oh, how very unsociable."
Terrall concurs, "Yes, possibly. No doubt you will enjoy your libation in one of the other rooms."
Ah there's a reason he's here, all the more reason to stay… "Liba...? Ah, Oh, no. Thank you. I'm... I'm perfectly happy here. Thank you. I'm perfectly happy." He watches Terrall exit the room then casually follows him, "What an extraordinary collection, isn't it? Hmm ? Oh, I... I... I... I... I'm so sorry. I, uh... you... you didn't... You weren't in the mood for talking, were you?"
Anger tinges the fellow's words, "Shouldn't you be helping Waterfield and Maxtible with their experiment?"
Playing the bumbling fool the Doctor responds, "He... he... yes, uh... But I thought I'd have a little rest. Uh... I wanted to talk to you."
"About what, pray?"
"About you, Mr. Terrall. You interest me. Uh... Do you know something? Ever since I came to this house, I..." He becomes distracted, "This is Circassian, surely..."
Terrall snaps, "Do I know what?"
The Doctor mumbles a bit more before turning to the man, "Ever since I came to this house, I have never seen you eat or drink anything. Now, that's curious, isn't it, hmm?"
"I dine alone."
"Yes, I'd thought of that, but, uh... Waterfield has never seen you eat or drink either."
Terrall removes a scimitar from the wall and swishes it through the air. It's easy enough to see that he's trained with a blade and rather well. Laughing he says, "You, uh... seem to be a devotee of Edgar Allen Poe."
"Oh, do I?"
"However it..." he makes a fast whipping motion with the blade, one that most folks would duck from. The Doctor knows it would come very close to his face and does not move, even when it misses his nose by scant inches. Impressed, Terrall changes his train of thought, "Ah, isn't wise to make assumptions, nor to meddle in affairs, which are none of your business."
At this the Doctor laughs, "Touché." But the Time Lord is not finished. As the man grounds himself by touching the sideboard the Doctor picks up a fencing trophy and places it near the end of the scimitar on a table. The blade's point rises as if to complete a circuit. "Oh, look. A perfectly ordinary sword, and yet it appears to be magnetic. And see?" Having this drawn to attention Terrall releases the handle of the weapon. It falls to the table, perfectly normally. "Directly you let go, it loses its magnetism. Now, if uh... if I didn't know better, Mr. Terrall, I'd say that you were full of some sort of electricity."
Maxtible walks into the room, interrupting the proceedings, "Doctor? Uh... excuse me. You're wanted."
"Oh, hmm. Thank you. Excuse me," he starts to take his leave.
Terrall calls back to him, "Doctor! No doubt you are a keen student of human nature, but some things are better left alone."
"No, Mr. Terrall. I am not a student of human nature. I am a professor of a far wider academy, of which human nature is merely a part. All forms of life interest me."
Maxtible urges again, "I'm sorry to interrupt you Doctor, but it's something rather urgent." At this the Doctor and house owner exit, leaving Terrall to himself.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Jamie is just finishing up relating the tale of how he and the Doctor arrived here, "...and so the Doctor and I were brought to the house." He leaves off the fighting that's been going on since.
"Why did you risk your life to try and rescue me?" she asks.
The Scot doesn't want to answer that. It's too close to the argument he's had with Thete. "Would you like some more water?"
But Victoria is sharp. She can see that he's sidetracking her, "You are too modest. It was a silly question."
He shakes his head finding her question as not silly as a question can be. Not that he wants to answer it, still. "Then tell me, how did they come to capture you in the first place? Uh... you were drugged, maybe?"
The dark haired lass settles down on her narrow cot, "I don't remember. And yet, I seem to remember in the back of my mind, somebody - oh, I can't recall who it was - telling me to walk. And I obeyed, blindly and without interest." She looks up at Jamie and can see that he's interested still and seems to be making something out of her story, but what she has no idea. "I simply don't know. The only thing I remember is waking up in a bare room with one of those terrible, terrible things."
"Aye," the piper understands how that might rattle someone. "Well, what do you remember before that, apart from this hazy recollection?"
"I was reading in the sitting room, but I couldn't concentrate, because I was so worried about Papa. I think I fell asleep over my book."
Jamie reaches a conclusion that he dislikes reaching, one that might explain his Thete's behavior, "You see, how you came under the power of the Daleks is very important. They can't have done as much as they have without some help."
The lass' mouth works a moment in surprise. The Scot is suggesting that someone she trusted has betrayed both her and her father, "Help? From somebody in the house?"
Making a face Jamie nods, "Yes, from someone who wants their plans to succeed - someone who drugged you or... or found a way of putting you under the power of the Daleks." There's only one person he can think of – and the Doctor's been with him the entire time.
"But how? How could it be done without my knowing?"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The Doctor has been summoned back to the lab to perform the delicate work of inserting the positronic devices into the waiting mutants. The Daleks themselves lack the motor skills to do the work and they don't trust the skills of the humans with the biology of their kin either. Only the Doctor has the skill necessary to complete the work in this way. They've allowed him an assistant, however; Waterfield is with him. The man is not overly sure he wants to be there, "Is it finished?"
"Very nearly. Jamie was magnificent. But then, I knew he would be. He produced a whole battery of emotions; each one of which is imprinted in here. See?"
"The 'Human Factor'?" Waterfield asks, dread coloring his voice.
The Doctor shrugs, "Well, a part of it at least. The... the better part - courage, pity, chivalry, friendship, even compassion. Some of the virtues. This is a positronic brain. We're going to implant one of these into each of these three Daleks here. The dormant ones."
"So the end is in sight?"
To this he can only answer, "Perhaps."
"What happens when the capsule comes into contact with the brain of the Dalek and starts to influence it?"
"Perhaps it will drive them insane," the Time Lord can only hope that it doesn't. But introducing so many opposite factors to normal Dalek behavior is bound to be quirky.
"Or turn them into super-beings?"
"Hmm. Well, that is their purpose. At least, I imagine it is. I can't help feeling that there's more in this than meets the eye."
At this a full fledged Dalek emerges from the cabinet, "You have completed the experiment?" To this the Doctor says yes. He's ordered, "Stand in front of the cabinet and speak when you have finished. And, Doctor, be careful." The implied threat is still there. They don't trust him.
"Yes, yes. I understand," he says. The Dalek leaves the way it came.
"Doctor? You can't... you mustn't do it. You must stop the experiment." Waterfield pleads.
"Oh, you should have thought of that some time ago. It's no use having a conscience now."
"But... before it's too late... Yes, but what are we doing? What are we really doing? Turning these creatures into super-beings."
The Time Lord rolls his eyes at the man, "It was too late when they took away your daughter. It was too late when you stole my TARDIS and lured me to this house and this century." He turns away and mumbles, "Almost superior, anyway."
Waterfield steps around so he can see the smaller man's face again, "Adding what is best and finest in human nature to all that is brilliant and superior in them. They'll be unbeatable."
"That is their purpose."
"But you're making over the whole world to them. Don't you realise that? Our world, our future. They will enslave us for all time."
"That, Mr. Waterfield, remains to be seen." The human steps back in desperation and picks up a twisted metal bar that's been discarded on the worktable behind where the Doctor is laboring. He tests the weight of it and eyes the back of the Doctor's head. Without even looking the little man says, "Attacking me will do no good. Now, listen. You've done all of this because of your daughter. Jamie is with her now and they're both still in the power of the Daleks. They must be set free!"
"And sacrifice a whole world - a history - past, present and future? Destroy an entire race?"
Sadly the Doctor replies, "Yes. I... I don't think you quite realize what you're saying. But yes, it may come to that. It may very well come to that." Because he can see this going one of two ways and both of them may well be the end of a civilization.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Even though he'd sworn to not go into the fight with the Daleks for fear that he'd scare Victoria she's gotten him to talk about it anyhow. That Kemel was willing to nearly act it out without him to share the tale was enough assurance that she'd be able to handle it. "So, with the Dalek's eye stick pointing forward, Kemel and I were able to tiptoe up behind him, throw the rope over his head and throw him into the fire." He's interrupted by banging on the door. The Daleks seem to be trying to get in, but have not just forced their way, which is odd from what he's been told.
"What are they doing?" The lass asks.
"They must be trying to get through. You'd better stand back, Miss Waterfield."
She looks puzzled, having been around the creatures she knows that the blockade is a mere annoyance, "Why not break the door down? They're strong enough."
This is a fair bit of worry for Jamie as well, "I don't know. Maybe they want us alive. I... I just don't know." He reaches forward and places a hand on the stacked furniture, "Is it hot? Aye, well, there's no smoke. Could be one of their newfangled inventions trying to melt their way through. Look, you'd better stand right back. Why didn't they try before this, is what I don't understand. Anyway, we'll make it as hard for them as we possibly can. Come on, Kemel. Excuse me. Take this. That's it. That one too. What's puzzling me is: there were two on the way up here, and there was a Dalek up here, and you were up..." Kemel moves in to assist him but while both are occupied it becomes clear why Victoria was in this room. There's a secret passage. When it opens and Victoria is grabbed from behind she makes enough sound that both Jamie and Kemel begin to ignore the banging, "Hey, Miss Waterfield!"
The panel is not that thick, and Victoria hears Jamie call for her. She can't see who has grabbed her but struggles anyway, "Mmph!" She then bites hard, "Jamie!" It doesn't take the hand that ends up over her mouth long to choke off her cry, "Mmph!"
It's enough though, "Hey, did you hear it? Of course! Why didn't I use my head? There's another way in and out of here. Come on!" he quickly finds the passage entrance. He and Kemel pass into it and the panel closes just as the Daleks crash into the room behind them. Following the passage the two men reach a point where it forks. "Oh, no. Two ways to go. Uh... Kemel, you go that way. If it's a dead end, follow me." Kemel nods and sets off. Jamie heads the way he's chosen and ends up catching Terrall in the trophy room. The other man grabs a sword prompting Jamie to pick up a pair himself. It's Terrall that makes the first strike. Jamie goes defensive, striking back only to gain some breathing room. The battle rages for a while until Jamie gains the upper hand and knocks the Victorian gentleman to the floor. He's been trained for battle, and the other man, although a fighter too is not up to prime condition, "Right." He covers the distance and Terrall leaps to his feet, attacking without warning. Jamie blocks the blows, "Where's Victoria Waterfield?!"
There's dark laugher in the response, "You'll never find her."
"Tell me!" Jamie presses, striking hard enough to rattle the other man's bones. This forces Terrall back into the hallway where Ruth and Mollie spot the fight.
"Mollie, go and fetch the Doctor, quick!" Ruth sends the maid off and then turns her attention to her lover, "Hurry! Arthur, stop it. I implore you! Stop it!"
"Leave me!" he snaps at her.
"Please, I implore you. Stop it!"
It's like magic. Suddenly Terrall drops the sword and falls to the floor. Jamie backs away, breathing hard. The Doctor comes into view behind Mollie and manages to pass her, "Jamie, what have you done?"
The piper shakes his head, "But, I can't understand it. He just... just collapsed." The Doctor looks from Jamie to the man on the floor and believes the Scot.
"Arthur, are you all right? What's happened to him?" Ruth begs.
He's got no time to explain, "Do you want to save a man's life?"
"What do you...?"
"Do you?"
Ruth looks him in the eye, "Yes!"
"Then take him away from here, as far away as possible. Go and get the carriage round to the stables. You go too Mollie. We'll bring him after you. Now do go along." After the women have left the Doctor removes something from the back of Terrall's neck, "Yes, I thought he was under some sort of control. Come along."
Terrall fights back to awareness, "The creatures! There's danger, I tell you. Some kind of danger. The house... the creatures abroad."
To this the Doctor nods, "Yes, don't worry about them. Yes, I know there's danger. You must leave here immediately. Now you leave them to us. Take Ruth Maxtible with you. She's waiting for you at the stables."
Somehow this gets through to the man, "Yes, very well."
Jamie thinks he might understand what is going on, "Can you manage?"
Terrall looks up at the lad's worried blue-green eyes, "Yes, I think so. Wait. There's something in the back of my mind. Victoria Waterfield - I feel I've harmed her in some way."
The Doctor says calmly, "Victoria is safe and well. We'll take care of her. You must leave immediately."
"Yes, if that's what you want. I'll find Ruth by the stables?" After the Doctor has confirmed this Terrall leaves the house.
Jamie waits until he can no longer hear the footsteps and narrows his eyes, "Well, that's fine for Ruth Maxtible, but you lied about Victoria."
Swallowing, the Time Lord looks up at his young companion, "Yes Jamie, and we must turn that lie into a truth." He leads Jamie back to the lab. He can feel the lad stewing. All he wants is to put this behind them. "Well Jamie, the experiment's nearly over. I've had no sleep. I've been up all night, but it's been worth it." He goes to put a hand on Jamie's arm, having figured out how to remove the chemical block on their bond.
"Ah, don't touch me!"
Jerking back he blinks at the Scot, "Now what's the matter?"
"Anyone would think this was a little game."
The Doctor becomes very still, "No. It is not a game." He's going to break if he can't get to his TARDIS soon unless Jamie lets him touch…
"Of course it isn't, Doctor. People have died. The Daleks are all over the place, fit to murder the lot of us, and all you can say is you've had a good night's work."
"Jamie," he warns. He can't reveal how much pain he's in, how much this hurts. Not while the Daleks are watching his every move.
"No, Doctor. Look, I'm telling you this: you and me - we're finished. You're just too callous for me. Anything goes by the board - anything at all." It hurts like daggers through the heart to say it, but he's got to. This – this inhumanity he seen is not what he thought he was getting on for.
Bewildered and hurt, the Doctor blinks rapidly for a moment before catching the piper by the arm even though the lad insisted he didn't want to be touched. "That's just not true, Jamie. I've never held that the end justifies the means." He hits a wall of static. Jamie's figured out how to close himself off!
"Ach, words. What do I care about words? You don't give that much for a living soul except yourself."
"I care about life. I care about human beings. I care about you. Do you think I let you go through that Dalek test lightly?" He's revealing too much, here. Way, way too much.
Jamie shrugs his arm out of the Doctor's grip, "I don't know. Did you? Look, Doctor, just whose side are you on?"
They stand there staring at each other. Let me in, Jamie, Please.
Tell me the honest truth, Thete. What do I mean to you?
You are my Universe, Jamie. I'd give up everything for you. Past, Future, Travel… Time herself. All you have to do is ask.
I don't wan' you to do tha'. Just – Do you love me, Thete?
"Does it need to be said, Jamie McCrimmon? Do you need me to say it?"
"Just a yes or no will do."
"Yes." It's but a whisper. The hardest thing he's ever said. And he can't meet the lad's eyes when he does. But Jamie takes his hand, clearly knowing how much the admission has cost him. Events rearrange themselves again, showing him the narrow path has twisted and morphed. There's darkness ahead, terrible darkness. And he can live forever with Jamie inside it or he find a way though it and face it some later time. He squeezes the piper's hand as the crates on the far side of the room slowly open and two of the Daleks inside them emerge. Jamie tenses up, "It's all right, Jamie. Uh... They're friends."
"Friends?" The lad lets the Time Lord half block him from the approaching monsters.
"Now don't get the wrong idea. They are the experiment."
The final Dalek emerges as Maxtible dashes into the room, "Every feeling, every thought impulse you had during your attempt to rescue Victoria Waterfield was recorded and made into a small positronic brain and added to these Daleks. The 'Human Factor' to add to their own powers - to triumph over human beings."
Jamie narrows his eyes at the man. He's the one that placed Victoria in danger. "Well, how do you know they haven't succeeded?"
At this the Doctor smiles, "Because human beings, Jamie, no matter how brilliant they may be, are always within reach of other human beings. Now then, it's all right, Jamie. Don't worry."
"H... How do you know you can trust them, Doctor?"
The trio converges on the Doctor, eager to play. "What is it? What do you want? Hmm? What are you up to? Ah! What are you doing?" This is a very human trait. One of them lifts the Doctor up and carries him around the room. "Where are you taking me? Jamie! They're taking me for a ride! Jamie, they're playing a game. It's a game! They're taking me for a ride!" This makes the Time Lord laugh.
Jamie watches closely. Nearby Maxtible says, "A rather amusing little game, don't you think Jamie?" The piper frowns at the man's words.
From the other side of the room the Doctor says, "We've done it! Maxtible, they've got the 'Human Factor'. We've done it! What are they doing now? Look, they're all joining in. They're playing train!" The three Daleks eagerly begin to follow one another through the lab as the Doctor pulls his recorder and makes tooting sounds on it.
The Dalek carrying him mimics the noise of the recorder and chants, "Train, train, train, train." The other two begin to copy it. The next thing the Doctor knows, he's being passed from one to the other as they take turns spinning.
"Oh... oh, now what is it? Oh, we're on the roundabout. They're playing roundabout. Oh, I'm getting dizzy. Oh dear. Oh, oh, ho, ho, oh. I'm dizzy! Oh, ho, ho. I'm dizzy."
"Diz-yy, diz-yy, dizzy Doctor." The three 'human' Daleks chant.
Delighted the Time Lord says, "Maxtible, do you hear that? They've got a sense of humour!"
"I'm glad you are so easily amused," the other man says dryly. The Doctor laughs at this, because he knows this came from Jamie. Jamie's humour, Jamie's playfulness, all the good things about the lad that he loves so much… "Well, I congratulate you, Doctor. They are almost human. And I will now leave you to your little game."
As he exits the Daleks put the Doctor down and amuse themselves with something else, "Oh, thank you."
Jamie takes in the glow about his Thete. Suddenly he realizes this - these creatures are what he and the Doctor have made together. The Doctor's skill and his humanity. These three Daleks are their children. Now that shifts everything. He can't believe he was cross about this. What the blazes is wrong with him? "Well, how old are they now, Doctor - mentally?"
The Time Lord looks over at the Scot and notices a change in the look in his eye. "Oh, they're just young children, but they'll grow up very fast - within a matter of hours." Jamie?
We made them? Together?
Yes. Together. I would have told you…
Na, you wouldn't. It's OK.
He turns his attention to the trio of Daleks and calls them over, "Now, uh... come here all of you. Come along, gather round. Come here. Now then, come along, come along."
"Who is this?" Asks one Dalek.
"Oh, this is Jamie. He's a friend."
The Dalek closest to him says, "Friend. Hello, friend."
The Doctor pokes the lad, "Well, say hello Jamie."
Somehow this make him feel shy, "Hello."
"You know what a friend is, don't you? It's somebody who... who likes you - who wants to help you and share with you." The three Daleks don't show much reaction to that, seeming thoughtful. The Doctor picks up a marker and adorns each of the three with a Greek letter, Alpha, Beta, and Omega. He smiles at them, "There we are."
Curious the third Dalek asks, "What have you done?"
"I have given you all names. Alpha, Beta and Omega." He indicates each one as he says their names.
The Daleks decide they like this, "Alpha, Beta, Omega. Alpha, Beta, Omega. Alpha, Beta, Omega."
"Yes, yes, yes. now... now, this is Jamie and I am Doctor. We are friends."
The three chant, "Friends, friends, Jamie, Doctor, friends, friends. We must go now. We are called."
No- not just yet. No – "Go? Go where? What do you mean, 'go'?"
"All Daleks are ordered to return to Skaro."
The Doctor frowns, "Return to Skaro? But, that's the Dalek planet."
"Friend." Beta says as it brushes past.
Jamie make a face, "But if the Daleks are returning to Skaro, where's Victoria?"
"Victoria! We left her in the secret passage. Come on - follow me!" They find that the passages are empty, with no sign of either Kemel or Victoria. It's most strange. And it makes the Doctor believe that he's going to have to go far from Earth to save her. The Darkness looms large in front of him, obscuring the possible future with its menace. He grips his hair in frustration and spins a bit. Jamie catches him and strokes his cheek with a hand. "The lab – we must get back to the lab."
"Let's go then," Jamie drags him back through the house. They reenter the lab to find Waterfield on the floor and he's muttering.
"Doc... Dalek... Doctor."
The time cabinet clicks and he looks at it for a dreaded second. Then he turns his attention to the man on the floor, "Waterfield, what's happened to you?"
"Doc... Doctor, Daleks are going to destroy... house. Can't turn it off." He gestures to what must be a bomb.
The Doctor looks at it, "But, this is a time switch."
"Well, if you can't turn it off, surely..." Jamie starts.
He cuts the lad off and concentrates on the count which is off by just enough to indicate Dalek timing, "No, wait a second. Eighty-nine, eighty-eight, eighty-seven. Just about a minute, that's all we've got."
"Well, toss it out the window then."
The Doctor shakes his head, "This isn't a firework. We'd have to toss this half a mile. We'll have to follow the Daleks to Skaro. Jamie, open the doors. Come along." He gets Waterfield to his feet.
Jamie jumps to the Doctor's orders and tries the doors of the time cabinet, "Doctor, they're locked. They won't budge!"
"Cupboard in the alcove. The time machine," Waterfield says, still sounding dizzy.
"Time machine! Jamie, give me a hand. Come on. Quickly. Quickly. Here, now... Here, take this." The Doctor rushes to set up the machinery so that it will take them to Skaro. "Now the other one. Steady."
"Right. Now, where's Victoria?"
"Quick Jamie, the time switch!"
Jamie stands back up from where he was kneeling with a pressed flower in his hand, "Twenty-eight, Doctor. Hey, Doctor, Kemel must have dropped this."
Exasperated the Time Lord hollers, "Jamie!"
"We'll find Victoria and Kemel too," the piper says as he moves back to the trasmat machine. The Doctor grabs him and pulls him into the field of the device just as the bomb goes off. They appear along with some of the blast on a hillside. It's someplace the Doctor never wanted to come back to. Jamie sets off to look for water.
Waterfield recovers quickly, "And that is the Dalek city?" his expression is one of amazement.
The Doctor's face is grim, "Yes, it is." He can feel his TARDIS is here and has been for quite a while. They are not out of danger yet.
"I've scouted around, but I can't see any water," Jamie announces as he returns.
"Oh, please don't bother. I feel much better."
"Come along then. We must get along," The Doctor begins ushering them down.
"You mean just walk into the city?" Jamie asks.
"Oh, no Jamie. The city is all around us. At least, um, it's beneath us. Come along." He quickly uncovers a way in, "Not a sound. I think the Daleks are in for a little surprise." Jamie gives him a curious look and shakes his head. The access port leads to a tunnel that opens up to a ledge that runs along an underground chasm. He's never gone this way before, as Barbara and Ian took this route. But he can almost feel the passage of his older companions along the ledge. He lets this guide him. As they make their way they hear a scream.
"That was a human voice, I tell you," Jamie says.
The Doctor nods, "Perhaps it was, Jamie."
Waterfield urges, "We must go more quickly."
Now a female scream echoes through the passage, "Victoria. That was Victoria's voice."
They speed up, as best they can, "You can't. Where are you running to? Well, you mustn't. You'll go over the edge!" Waterfield babbles from the rear.
As they hurry a Dalek glides out into their path, "Doctor, I am your friend."
Jamie relaxes, "One of your experiments, Doctor. For a moment I thought we were done for!"
The Doctor is not so sure. The mark on the fellow looks off- unless this is Beta. "What is your name?"
"Omega."
Disappointed, he says, "Oh, I see."
"I have come to lead you."
"Thank you." The Doctor moves toward the imposter, nearly heading over the edge of the cliff.
Jamie catches him. Not Omega. "Oh, careful."
"Oh, ah... I'm all right. Oh, thank you. Ah, lead on."
The Dalek says, "Follow me."
"What was that screaming?"
"A prisoner," The creature tells them.
"Where?"
Their guide says, "Follow me. I will show you."
He gives no warning, using all his strength to push the imposter over the edge and into the canyon below. Waterfield tries to stop him but Jamie catches the other man. The Doctor frowns, "Think I don't know my own mark? That wasn't the real Omega at all."
"Up to all sorts of tricks, aren't they?" Jamie snorts.
"Oh, please. We must reach my daughter."
They make good time into the city past that, but even as the Doctor nears his TARDIS he can feel the trap closing in on him. "No, no. I don't like the look of this. Back the way we came."
The large dark space even makes Jamie nervous. But as they turn to retreat they are cut off by a black cased Dalek, "Follow me." The lights slowly lift in the darkened room. The Doctor realizes with horror that they have stumbled into the central control room, and that the TARDIS must be right here. They are led up to a ten-foot tall immobile version of a Dalek, fully wired into the city itself. It's eye stock moves to keep him in focus.
"Doctor!" The Emperor Dalek intones.
Jamie is impressed, at least, "Look at the size of that thing."
"So, you are the Doctor?" it inquires.
Smugly the Doctor says, "We meet at last. I wondered if we ever would. I have implanted the 'Human Factor' in the three Daleks that you gave me..." He says softly but outloud so Waterfield can hear, "...When I say run, run! Promise me, Jamie."
The regal Dalek thunders, "Speak louder."
"I was merely telling my friend that the day of the Daleks is coming to an end. Somewhere in the Dalek race there are three Daleks with the 'Human Factor'. Gradually, they will come to question. They will persuade other Daleks to question. You will have a rebellion on your planet!"
"NO!" The Emperor Dalek says, "The 'Human Factor' showed us what the 'Dalek Factor' was. Without knowing, you have shown the Daleks what their own strength is. Your work is not over."
"I won't work for you!"
"You will obey!"
Jamie frowns, "What is the 'Dalek Factor'?"
The Time Lord glances at him, "You want me to guess? It means to obey, to fight, to destroy, to exterminate. I won't do it."
"Watch!" the Emperor Dalek commands. A light settles on the familiar shape of a British 1960's Police Telephone Box.
"The TARDIS, Doctor!" Jamie says.
"You will take the 'Dalek Factor.' You will spread it to the entire history of Earth!" the Emperor Dalek orders. The Doctor turns from his screaming time ship to the huge Dalek with a look of horror on his face.
"No. You can't make me do it! You can't!" The Doctor hollers back at his opponent in shock and defiance.
"You will obey!" the Emperor Dalek's voice booms.
Forgotten behind the three humans until it pokes them the black Dalek orders, "Move!"
Before the Doctor can leave the larger than life voice calls again, "Doctor." He turns to look at it; "You will obey!"
Shaken, he scarcely notices the passages as they are herded into the cell where Maxtible, Kemel, and Victoria are held. But he quickly finds the thread he needs to follow if he's to weasel his way out of this and he begins to play his recorder. Behind him Maxtible states what he thinks makes the entire risk to humanity worth it, "Transmutation of metal into gold."
Jamie sits next to his Thete and mumbles, "You mean to say, he's worked against us all, just for that?"
"People have done worse for less, Jamie."
The Scot says, "Look, it's daft though. Metal into gold is an old wives tale."
The Doctor smirks, "Oh I don't know. The alchemists of the middle ages made transmutation their main aim in life. Even in the twentieth century, it's still considered scientifically possible."
"Ah, they didn't succeed though," Jamie counters.
Maxtible snaps, "Of course it's possible."
Jamie says, "Oh, well, I don't care whether it's possible or not!"
"Whether it is or whether it isn't is beside the point. Why are the Daleks doing this?" The Doctor wonders.
"They promised me!" Maxtible shouts.
Rolling his eyes the Doctor counters, "Daleks don't keep their promises."
This makes Maxtible shake his finger at the little dark haired man who is sitting on the floor, "I see what you're trying to do Doctor. You're trying to shake my faith. But I will be given the secret."
At this Jamie cuts loose again, "Oh, well. It won't do you any good, because you won't be able to use your secret! I'll see to that."
"You'll do no such thing!"
But even as the Doctor tries to warn him away with, "Jamie!" the piper flings himself at Maxtible and gets his hands around the other man's throat. It's quite clear that he means to kill him.
It takes the guard Dalek entering the cell to get Jamie to release the choking man, "Move away! Move!"
Victoria's plea further cools his anger, "Please Jamie, do as it says." He throws the man away from himself and turns his back on him. Maxtible gasps for air.
The Dalek warns, "You will not harm this human being. Or you will be exterminated."
The Doctor indicates that they understand and Jamie adds, "Oh don't worry. The very thought of going near him repulses me." The Dalek exits the cell and Maxtible turns his attention to a notebook and calculations. It's clear that he's so set on his greed that even the fate of humanity won't deter him.
The Doctor goes back to his recorder and after a bit Victoria moves over to he and Jamie. "What are you thinking?"
He lowers the recorder and looks at her. She's very perceptive. After a moment he says, "I'm trying to puzzle out a problem, Victoria. The Daleks say I'm going to do something for them. Something I would rather die than do."
Over in his corner Maxtible continues to mumble his numbers. Victoria says, "Perhaps they think you're like him."
The Doctor shakes his head, "Oh, no. The Daleks know me well enough by this time."
"They intend to persuade you then."
He sighs and feels Jamie's hand against his leg, "Oh no. No it isn't that either. You see, there isn't a persuasion strong enough. Not even the offer of all the lives in this room. Five lives against a whole planet? Well, it's not a choice is it? Even if I could trust the Daleks - even if they set us free, we still couldn't go back to Earth. I suppose I might try to take you all to another universe. I might even try and take you to my own planet."
Victoria blinks at him, "Your own?"
"Yes. Oh, yes. I... I live a long, long way from Earth." Then he remembers something, "Oh, just a minute. Maxtible! Arthur Terrall! The Daleks put some kind of control device on him."
Maxtible shrugs this off, "What of it? It was erratic. I always warned the Daleks it would prove too unsatisfactory."
Jamie sneers, "Aye. Well, it's a good thing for you it did fail. They'd have tried it on you next."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
It's in the middle of the night and nearly everyone is too jittery to actually sleep. Jamie is next to the Doctor on the floor and they are discreetly leaning on each other. There's a buzzing sound and a black-cased Dalek appears at the door of the cell while a second machine in maneuvered into place. It says, "The secret of transmutation of metal."
This gets Maxtible quite excited, "Yes, yes! The secret you promised me." The older man is ordered to read the figures on the machine after being told that the metal above is liquid. He does so, rattling off, "Fifty-five point eight, four. -- Seven point eight, four."
The Doctor leans over to Jamie and whispers, "Atomic weight and gravity of iron."
The machine is then turned on and Maxtible is ordered to read the figures that appear below, "Nineteen point two. -- Sixty-nine point five. -- Gold! Iron into gold! I told you it was possible! They've kept their promise! It's true! It's true! They have!"
The Dalek says, "The machine is yours."
"Yes. Ha, ha. Yes, Yes!" All Maxtible can see it the greed in his soul.
Even the Doctor's warning fails to stop him, "Maxtible, if you value your life, don't go near that machine!"
The wild haired man wanders toward the promised device, heedless of the danger. His path takes him under a newly erected arch. The brilliant light that switches on as he passes into it paralyzes him. He groans.
Even Jamie is shocked, "Maxtible!"
Victoria, who had settled near Jamie exclaims, "What have they done to him!"
It's clear enough when he's ordered to turn and move to the control room and the reply comes out like it's been spoken by a Dalek, "I obey." The other Dalek exits the room with him, leaving the black Dalek there.
Jamie answers, "They've turned him into a Dalek."
"Yes. The Dalek factor." It almost seems to be gloating.
The Doctor says in dismay, "Is that what you want me to do to the people of Earth?"
"We know you will obey," it informs him.
As it leaves the Doctor stares after it, "Human beings into Daleks."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Given enough time folks do fall asleep. Jamie is scooted down so that he's using the Doctor's thigh as a pillow. The Doctor is curled on his side, secure in the knowledge that Jamie has forgiven him. Maxtible sneaks back into the room and stops by the Doctor, "Doctor. Open your eyes. You are asleep still, but you can hear my voice. I have come to help you. Look at the box." The Doctor recognizes a hypnosis attempt when he hears one and is quite prepared for it. He chooses to play along, looking in the box as instructed and seeing there's an image of the TARDIS there. "I have had your TARDIS placed outside the city. I will take you to it. Rise and follow me."
This will disturb Jamie. He gets up just like he's been caught under the thrall. Jamie tries to catch him but doesn't want to risk waking Victoria, "Hey, Doctor, what are you doing?" As he gets closer to the door the sound of Jamie's voice becomes more urgent, "Don't go near the door! Doctor!" He sets himself to ignore the lad and act the part even as the despair in Jamie's call breaks his heart, "Doctor!" He leaps up to try to drag his Thete back away from the trap. This wakes the others.
It's only after he's gotten a good dose of the Dalek Factor and convinced Maxtible that he's converted by saying, "Stay where you are! That is an order!" that Jamie backs down.
Maxtible seems to be fooled, "We will work together on the Dalek Factor. Follow me."
"I obey!" He intones. But as they leave and Jamie watches with a hopeless expression on his face he thrums the link and thinks, It's OK Jamie, I'm not converted.
He follows Maxtible into a laboratory. There's another machine waiting for them here. "Stop!" Maxtible orders. The Doctor plays 'good little follower' and stops. "This machine is for the mass-production of the Dalek Factor. Follow me." The Time Lord docilely trails the man to the next machine. A small capsule sits next to it. "Stop. This machine will transform the thought patterns in this capsule into a steam. The steam will be sprayed into the atmosphere of the Earth."
Oh, so that's what they plan to do? The Doctor's robotic intonation is still perfect, "I must examine the machine." He's betting that is how the arch works too. If that is the case then the original capsule from Jamie's recordings should fit into it.
"Do so." He's ordered before Maxtible leaves him alone. The Doctor makes like he's in deep study for a moment more and then looks around. He carefully establishes that he's alone and moves back to the cell. Once he reaches it he finds the control panel and switches the capsule inside for the one he saved from the house.
He then darts back so the others can see him, "Jamie. Jamie! Jamie!"
The Scot can feel that the Doctor is OK, but he's still not totally sure, "Yes?" He comes to the door anyhow, anxious to make certain of his feelings.
"Jamie, when I give you the word, bring everyone through this archway. Through the door. Trust me!"
"What?!"
Before he can explain further the black Dalek comes into the area, "What are you doing?"
The Doctor drops into his monotone voice, "Take me to your emperor."
"Wait," it orders. Then it critically eyes over the remaining prisoners. While it is doing so the Doctor thinks to Jamie, Please, trust me! It's safe. As soon as I'm gone bring them through the door. The Dalek detects nothing amiss and escorts the Doctor away. Jamie waits a quick count of thirty and then ushers the others through.
Amazingly enough, they believe in his impression that the Doctor has managed to gum up the works somehow. Once past the arch Victoria exclaims, "We walked through! All just as though he was..."
Her father cuts her off, "It must have affected him. We saw it happen."
Jamie shakes his head, "But you heard him speak normally just now. The Daleks could have pushed us in here any time they liked. But -- I, uh... I don't know. Well, I... I don't understand. I mean, how do we know we can trust him?"
Victoria can see what her father does not; this issue of trust cuts Jamie deep. He wants to think that the Doctor is someone he can place his faith in. "Surely, Jamie – this is something to hope for. He's not like Maxtible. He cares for you."
Jamie sure hopes she is right.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The Doctor is taken back to the Emperor. The huge Dalek focuses on him, "What do you want?"
"A Dalek questioned an order," the Time Lord says.
This does not gain the reaction that the Doctor expects, however. Instead the reply is, "Again?"
Maxtible says, "We have searched without success."
Oh but this is perfect… "All Daleks must pass through the archway door. The Dalek with the human factor will then become a Dalek again - will become as this human and I have become."
The Emperor Dalek orders, "Let it be done!"
His two human-Daleks reply, "I obey!" before marching away.
Jamie is amazed as he witnesses Daleks lining up to go through the arch. The Doctor shows up again, alone. "Go on quickly! Through the door! Follow them through the door! Oh, it's all right. I've changed over the Factors. I used one of the capsules from my test Dalek. I've given them all the human factor! Go on! Go on!"
Jamie catches his arm, "Well, aren't you coming?"
He looks at the lad, "I've got things to do. And I've been through already."
"Ah, well, why didn't it affect you then?"
This makes the Doctor pause. He wants so badly to kiss the lad, right now. "I don't come from Earth, Jamie. Now, down the corridor, turn to the left and find the tunnel. I'll join you there later."
After the Doctor has gone again the Scot steels himself and says, "Oh well, here goes." Nothing happens. Overjoyed he calls, "It's all right, nothing happened! Come on! Come on Kemel. Quick!" Kemel comes through.
But Waterfield shakes his head, "Victoria, I must help the Doctor! I must find Maxtible. He's to blame for all of this."
Jamie frowns, "Och, don't be a fool man!"
"Father! No!" Victoria cries.
But he's made up his mind, "Take care of her." He heads off to find the Doctor and Maxtible.
Jamie tries to reassure her, "Oh, he'll be all right. Come on!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The Doctor knows his task. He knows the horror he's about to unleash. But he also knows he must do it. The darkness demands it. Time demands it. If he's to have Jamie he must do this. He gathers up a group of humanized Daleks and leads them to the control room, "Quickly, this way! Follow me Daleks! This way! Come on!" They do follow because they identify him as 'Doctor – Friend' and are loyal to the ones that made them. This would be he and 'Jamie – Friend' if the piper were here. He must not think too much about how he's leading his children to battle. He must not…
The flock with him is met by a black Dalek, "Return to your work."
Beta asks, "Why?"
"Do not question."
At this the Doctor says, "Why not question? What work? Tell them?"
Confused the black Dalek orders, "Silence!"
Beta picks up the refrain, "Explain."
Omaga follows, "What work?"
Then one of the other humanized Daleks asks, "Why obey without question?"
Seeing the only path shimmering before him the Doctor suggests, "Ask the Emperor!"
Omega agrees, "The Emperor!"
Beta seconds, "Yes, ask the Emperor!"
The entire flock takes this as a concurrence and they move forward as a unit. The black Dalek is pushed back. "Keep back, you cannot enter!"
There's only a few more keys to unlock… "Why?" the Doctor prompts. The refrain is picked up by the group. The question echoes through the chamber.
Beta finally adds, "The Emperor must explain."
Out of a sense of desperation the black Dalek turns on his fellows, targeting a humanized Dalek and shooting it. This is the final beginning of the end. "Defend yourselves Daleks! The black Daleks are attacking you!" The flock fans out into a defensive line, ready to take out any non-humanized Dalek they encounter. He urges them forward into the Emperor's chamber, "Come on! This way! Come on!"
Beta agrees, "I will obey."
Omega adds, "But not without question."
The Doctor rewards this with, "That's right. Question!" Waterfield catches up with him and tries to make him break this off, but he can't go yet. "The Black Daleks are attacking every... The Emperor has commanded it."
"Doctor!" Waterfield says, "Hurry man!"
Beta and Omega ignore the human in their midst, "Why?" they press the Doctor.
"Because you question. Defend yourselves. Destroy the Emperor. Or be destroyed yourselves! Destroy the Emperor!"
"Hurry! We must go, Doctor."
"Yes, I know. I'm finished now." But as they turn to slip away a black Dalek gets them in line and fires. Waterfield jumps in front of the Doctor and takes the full blast. This sets the flock around the Doctor into battle frenzy, proving to them that his words were truth. In the middle of this the Doctor kneels by the dying man, "Now lie still. I'll try to get help to you."
"No time for help."
The Doctor sighs, "You saved my life, didn't you?"
Waterfield manages a smile, "Yes. Good life to save." Then the expression fades, "Please, you must... Victoria."
"Don't worry about Victoria. We'll look after her."
"No... time... for... me..." he manages before his life fades. The Doctor regains his feet with a grim expression.
He cries out, "The Emperor has commanded your destruction!" The storm inside begins to build, swirling about him like a tempest in time.
The Daleks around him echo, "Why? Why? Why?"
"Well, your friends are fighting for you!"
Beta pauses, "Friends?"
"Down there. Help them." He points out the rebels, the other humanized Daleks that are battling toward the Emperor and his black Dalek guards.
Omega states, "Friends."
With that the group around the Doctor heads toward the battle, doing the will of the Storm but leaving it behind.
The calls of, "Exterminate! Annihilate them!" chase him as he flees the scene.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Jamie, Victoria and Kemel have made it to the tunnels above the underground city. They can see the impact of the battle through the smoke and explosions that echo through the space around them. They are waiting for the Doctor to catch up. But the familiar voice they hear is Maxtible's not the Time Lord's, "Kemel! Come here!"
The Turk does the only sensible thing, leaving Victoria with Jamie and confronting the man that was once his master. Maxtible grips him and the larger man discovers that he is no match for the super-human strength that the Dalek factor grants. He finds that he's being pushed closer and closer to the chasm. He tries in vain to keep from being pushed over, but it's a battle he cannot win. He glances over and notices that Victoria is in good hands and gives Jamie a knowing nod. When he goes, he'll take Maxtible with him. One way or another.
As he gets closer and closer to his doom Kemel makes a decision. He stops fighting and allows Maxtible's own force to carry them both over the edge. The last and only sound he makes is a cry as he falls. It fades away instead of stopping.
Victoria rushes to the edge and looks over; Jamie grips her and makes sure she doesn't follow him over. "Poor Kemel!"
Jamie manages to get her away from the danger, "Aye. He was a good man, Kemel."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
They are outside the city and have located the TARDIS. Jamie finds that touching the side of the odd blue box settles his nerves and restores his shattered trust. Victoria is pacing as much as a Victorian lady is allowed to do. The Doctor finally comes up the hillside in a jog, making like he's being chased by the devil himself. Jamie sees his approach, "Doctor."
Breathlessly the Time Lord catches the Scot by the arm, "Jamie! Jamie!"
"A Dalek nearly caught us, but I... I tossed it over the edge. But... poor Kemel."
This makes the Doctor pause and look around, "Kemel?"
"Aye. You see, he was trying..."
But Victoria cuts Jamie off when she realizes that the Doctor is alone, "Where is my father?" Jamie watches the expression on the Doctor's face become even darker than before. No matter what they have gained here it's clear that his Thete has lost a great deal to get it. Victoria bites her lip for a moment and then presses, "Is... is he dead?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm afraid he is," the Doctor says to her with the greatest of care. "But, he didn't die in vain—" Victoria lets off a slight sob and turns away in her grief. Taking advantage of this the Doctor says to Jamie, "Jamie, we must move along to the TARDIS. It's over there."
The Scottish piper looks at Victoria; "We can't leave her alone, Doctor."
He's glad to see that the concept shocks the Doctor completely, "We're not going to leave her. She's coming with us!" Jamie gives him a smile and moves off to guide Victoria toward the strange blue box.
The Doctor knows that he is going to have to tell Jamie what happened to Alpha, Beta, and Omega… he's not looking forward to that little shouting match. The city below him is burning now and he has a very bad feeling that it is not as over as he would like it to be. But at least he's stopped this plot and he's pretty sure they won't try it again. With a sigh he forces himself away from the graves of his – and Jamie's – Skaro-based 'children'. There will be time to grieve later. Or he can just keep running from the death and pain of it all… He walks up the hill the rest of the way to where Jamie and Victoria are waiting. They've been here long enough. It's time to seek their destiny in the stars.
