BOOK THREE: THE DALEK

Chapter One

"So what's wrong?" I asked as we walked out of the TARDIS doors. We were in a long corridor that seemed to go on forever. There were glass cases holding items everywhere. There was really bad lighting, but just enough to see a few things in the cases.

"I don't know. A signal was drawing the TARDIS off course."

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

"Earth. North America. Utah. About half a mile underground."

"When are we?" she asked.

"2012."

"That's so close," Rose smiled. "I should be twenty-six."

"The last two Harry Potter books are out!"

"That's what you're thinking about?" the Doctor asked.

"Duh," I grinned and stepped closer inspecting the cases. "We're in a museum," I detected.

"For what?" Rose asked.

The Doctor hit a switch and the whole place lit up. "Aliens," he replied. I simply nodded. "Someone's got a hobby."

"This must have cost a fortune!" I said walking around.

"That's a bit of Slitheen!" Rose said, looking at a case. I spun around to see a large green arm. "It's been stuffed!"

The Doctor grew quiet when he noticed a large metal head.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A friend of mine. Actually an enemy," he replied. "The stuff of nightmares getting stuck in an exhibit. I'm getting old."

"Is that the signal?" Rose asked.

"No. It's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out; calling me," he solemnly replied. Reaching forward, he pressed his fingers against the glass.

Alarms started ringing and soldiers started filing in. The formed a circle around us and pointed their guns.

"Someone's collecting aliens," Rose began. "That makes you Exhibit A."

The Doctor glanced at the soldiers and grinned.


We were lead to a large, private office where a young boy was standing behind the desk with an older man. The boy was holding a silver device in his hand explaining things about it.

"I wouldn't hold it that way," the Doctor said.

"Is it dangerous?" the man asked.

"No. It just looks foolish," he replied. Stepping forward, he leaned out to grab it but the soldiers held up their guns. The man held up a finger to stop them and handed the device to the Doctor. He tilted it on its side and rubbed his fingers on it. "You just need to be delicate," he said as a soft sound came from it. He repeated the motion.

"It's beautiful," I murmured.

"It's a musical instrument," the man said.

"And it's a long way from home," the Doctor replied.

"Let me," the man said snatching the instrument from him.

"Be delicate. It reacts to the smallest of fingerprints," the Doctor warned. The man gave a creepy smile and rubbed his fingers on the instrument. It let out the small noise again. I grinned a bit. "You're quite the expert."
"As are you," he replied before throwing it aside. I opened my mouth to yell but he sent me a look. "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

"Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable extra-terrestrial artifacts in the world and you just stumbled in by mistake?"

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah," the Doctor replied.

"How'd you get in?"

"In-tru-der window," I replied. He stared at me, eyebrows arched. "Sorry, sir. I thought it was funny."

"Fifty-three floors down with your little cat burglars. You're quite the collector yourself. She's pretty," he said pointing to Rose. "And she's funny and ginger," he continued, turning to me.

"She's gonna smack you if you keep calling her 'she'," Rose retorted.

"They're English!" he remarked.

"A real Sherlock here," I added.

"Hey Little Lord Fauntleroy," he said to the boy behind his desk. "I've got you a girlfriend or two."

"This is Mr. Henry Van Statten," the boy said. "Mr. Van Statten owns the Internet."

"No one owns the Internet," Rose replied.

"Let's keep everyone thing that way," Henry replied.

"That's why my Internet is so slow," I smirked. "It mimics your brain!"

A few soldiers held their guns up at me. Van Statten just glanced at them and they dropped their guns. "She's fine. A little sassy, but fine."

"So you're an expert on everything," the Doctor said before I could respond. "An expert on everything but what's in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up."

"And you claim you've got greater knowledge?"

"I don't need to make claims. I know how great I am."

"Yet I captured you! Right next to the cage. What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me."

"The cage holds my one living specimen."

"What's that?"

"Like you don't know."

"Show me."

"You wanna see?"

"No," I cut in. "He only asked to."

"Goddard, inform the cage. We're heading down," Henry announced. "English," he turned to the boy. "Take ginger and blondie here and look after them. Canoodle or spoon. Do whatever it is you Brits do."

"Does it hurt being that stupid?" I asked. "Come on! It has to!"

He ignored me and turned to the Doctor. "Come Doctor with no name. It's time to see my pet."

I bit my lip as the three walked into lift. I knew exactly what they were walking into. I almost wanted to shout with rage at them. Tell them to stop.

But I couldn't.
I opened my mouth but no noise came out.

It was set in stone; what would happen.

I felt helpless. Oh so helpless…


Adam led us to a small room full of junk. He explained that he mainly worked independently and tried to come up with things that would impress Van Statten.

"Does it hurt?" I asked, glancing at the shelves full of shards of metal.

"What?"

"The fact that you work for him?"

He chuckled. "What do you mean?"

"He's an idiot. I barely know him and I know that he is just getting himself into trouble. Do you even want to just slap him?"

He smiled more. "Sometimes."

"Good, good. One more question."

"What?"

"Do you have the last two Harry Potter books? Please say you do."

"Actually," he said, grabbing a bag from behind a table. "Here," he pulled out a large green book and a large orange.

"Oh my," I fangirled. "You're twenty times cooler and I don't hate you. Continue flirting and I'll be over here."

Adam chuckled and I just wandered to a corner and plopped down on the ground. I flipped through the pages and ignored the two and their flirtatious ways.

"Avalon?" Rose called. I looked up from the book. I had already read through half of it the first one. "Come on!"

"What's going on?" I asked.

"They're torturing the creature. We have to see what's going on."

I sighed a bit under my breath. Adam and Rose were already out the door. I shoved the books in my bag and rushed after them.

He led us to the almighty cage and flashed a card to the guards watching monitors. We carefully walked into the room with the creature in it and I squeezed my eyes shut. The metal creature was tied in chains just like it was in my dream.

"Be careful," I heard myself whisper. I opened my eyes and I saw Adam looking at me. He gave a friendly grin. I just shook my head a bit. "Not now," I murmured. He nodded in response.

Rose was carefully inching towards the creature. I bit my lip as she was just centimeters away from it.

"Are you in pain?" she asked it. "My name is Rose Tyler. I have a friend. He can help. His name is the Doctor."

"Yes," the monster moaned in an eerie robotic voice.

"What?"

"I am in pain. They torture me yet they still fear me. Do you fear me?"

"No," Rose whispered. Inside, I was yelling at her, telling her how wrong she was. Outside, I was still and silent.

"I am dying," the alien said.

"No!" Rose shouted. "We can help."

"I welcome death," it stuttered. "But I am glad I met a human who is not afraid."

"Isn't there anything I can do?" Rose asked.

You can run away from it, like a good person would.

"My whole race is dead. I shall die alone," it continued.

She carefully leaned forward and gingerly placed her hand on its 'head'.

"Rose!" Adam yelled.

"Get back!" I screamed.

She gasped back as in pain. I knew that the creature just shocked her. I ran up and grabbed her other hand and pulled her back.

"Genetic material extrapolated," the creature said, its voice rising. "Cellular reconstruction!" it screamed. The chains trying it down snapped in half.

A man in bright orange came walking in, holding a large gun. "What the hell have you done?" He sauntered up to the creature and smirked. The thing raised an arm with a suction cup at the end. "Whatcha gonna do?" he asked. "Sucker me to death?"

That's exactly what it did.

The suction cup latched onto the man's face and killed him.

The three of us ran out of the room. Rose began screaming things at the man behind a computer. A siren began screeching and I shut my eyes again for a minute, trying to think.

"You've got to keep it in there," the Northern accent of the Doctor said. I looked at the computer screen and I saw that he was on the webcam with us.

"It's all my fault, Doctor," Rose said.

"It can't get out of there," a guard said. "There are a billion possible combinations."

"The Dalek is a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat."

The guards all took a step back and made a line in front of Adam, Rose, and I. They crouched down, in ready position, holding out their guns.

"Shoot for the eye stalk; it's the weak point," I commanded.

"How'd you know that?" Henry Van Statten called from the computer.

"Because I'm actually smart. You're just an imbecile!" I screamed.

A millisecond later, the door creaked open and the Dalek slithered out.

"Open fire!"