Romana felt her top being lifted above her head and she was stood in only her black sports bra and khaki pants which she was thankful that Van Statten let her keep on before she was thrusted into cold metal chains and they pulled at her arms, lifting her up of the ground and she felt exposed before they did the same with her ankles. She snapped her teeth at him angrily.
Van Statten eyed her hungrily, his eyes running up and down her bare chest. "Now smile!" He grinned before a painful laser ran down her body and she clenched in agony. "Oh! Two hearts! Just like the other creature and a binary vascular system! Except different reproductive systems of course but oh this is perfect for an experiment!"
Romana snarled. "So you kept another one of my people hidden and tortured them just like the Dalek?" She spat at the ground, disgusted. "So this is your secret. You don't just collect objects, you scavenge it."
Van Statten walked next to his laser machine. "This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries. All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh the advances I've made from the alien junk. You have no idea Romana. Broadband? Roswell? Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater and do you know what we found? The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course. No need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?" He looked gleeful.
Romana looked sickened. "Do you know what a Dalek is Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. The Dalek and the other Time-Lord in the cages are better than you. Anything is better than you."
He merely shrugged. 'In that case, I will be true to myself and continue." He pressed another button and the laser went down on her and she gritted her teeth in agony, sweat running down her forehead.
Romana tried to lean forwards and tried to break free of the chains but the chains on her wrists and ankles held her back. "Listen to me! I was President of my planet and I know what I am doing. That Dalek down there is going to kill every last one of us!"
"Nothing can escape the cage."
"But it's woken up because it knows that I am here along with another one of my people! It knows I am dangerous and it's going to get out. The Dalek race is clever Van Statten, more clever than you will ever be! I swear no one on this base is safe. No one on this planet even!" Romana shouted, sweat coming down from her face but Van Statten ignored her and ran the laser scanner again, causing Romana to scream in agony.
Suddenly as Van Statten was about to do another lase scan, a guard talked through the radio. "Condition Red! Condition Red! I repeat, this is not a drill!" Van Statten looked at Romana.
Roman panted heavily and looked darkly at Van Statten. "Release me and the other Time-Lord if you want to live."
Van Statten held the radio. "Release the creature inside Cage Two and bring it up to me immediately."
"Yes sir." The radio was switched of and Romana was released from the cage and was given back her tank top and coat before heading into a room where there was a large t.v on the wall.
"Whatever you do, you have got to keep it within that cage." Rose appeared on the television screen.
"Romana, it's all my fault." Rose looked scared but Romana ignored her as a guard appeared next to her friend.
"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations."
Romana snorted, these humans were so dim. "A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat. Trust me, I've seen it happen." Just then, the door of the room opened and another presence in her mind came and Romana turned around sharply to find a guard holding a male Time-Lord, his shirt ripped and bloody along with his proud uniform. He was tall, about six foot with slight floppy black hair and hazel eyes. He had regenerated since she had list seen him but he was still the same as ever but the last she had seen him was just after his collection and Pandora incident.
Romana gaped. "Irving Braxiatel?" She gasped, her eyes wide and Braxiatel looked up, his eyes widening. "Impossible!"
"My lady." Braxiatel bowed, despite the pain and Romana helped him sit down. "I see you got my signal?"
"Only just, I tried to reply but the signal was too weak." Romana admitted. Braxiatel sighed and rubbed his sore wrists, glad to be out of the chains.
"The Dalek must have blocked it. Damn the bloody Daleks."
Van Statten looked between them before turning his attention to his blue-tooth ear piece. "Don't shoot the Dalek! I want it unharmed."
Romana snarled. "Get Rose out of there!"
Goddard sat in front of what appeared to be a hologram of a computer. "We're losing power. It's draining the base. Oh my god," Her eyes widened. "It's draining entire power supplies for the whole of Utah."
"It's downloading." Braxiatel replied simply, his voice hoarse. Statten looked up.
"Downloading what?"
"Sir, the entire west coast has gone down." Goddard spoke.
"It's not just energy the Dalek needs. That Dalek just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything. Its looking for answers." Romana replied.
"Now the cameras in the vault have gone down." Braxiatel commented, looking at the screen, still weak and Romana handed him a cup of water which he took gratefully.
"We've only got emergency power. It's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it now!" Romana slammed her fists down onto the table.
Goddard flinched before speaking into her blue-tooth. "All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage immediately."
They heard bullets shoot at the Daleks.
"Tell them to stop shooting at it." Van Statten demanded and Goddard looked at him as though he was mad.
"But it's killing them!"
"They're dispensable. That Dalek is unique and I don't want a scratch on it's bodywork. Do you here me?"
The gunfire stops as the Dalek exterminates them. Goddard calls up a schematic of the base, Braxiatel stood up and swayed slightly but with the help of Romana, he manage to stand up and lean against the table to study it along with Romana.
"That's us right below the surface. I take it that's the cage and that's the Dalek." Braxiatel commented, his voice still sounding hoarse.
Romana looked up at Van Statten. "This museum of yours, Have you got any alien weapons? Guns are useless against Daleks."
Goddard nodded. "Lots of them but the trouble is, the Dalek's between us and them."
Van Statten folded his arms. "We've got to keep that thing alive. We could just seal the entire vault and trap it down there."
Romana snarled. "Leaving everyone trapped with it. My companion Rose is down there and I won't let that happen. Have you got that? It's got to go through this area." She pointed something at the screen. "What's that?"
"Weapon testing." Goddard replied.
"Even though guns are useless, give them to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone and everyone. The only way we get a chance of killing it." Braxiatel croaked. "However, we need to aim for the eye stalk to truly weaken it."
Van Statten looked between them. "I thought you two were the greatest experts. If you're so impressive Romana, why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something."
Romana closed her eyes briefly. "What's the nearest town?"
"Salt lake City."
"Population?"
"One million."
"All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs, it's what it did to our people." She indicated to herself and Braxiatel who nodded in agreement.
Van Statten looked shocked. "But why would it do that?"
"Because it believes that anything not Dalek should die. Human beings are different and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you Van Statten, you've let it lose!" Romana shouted before speaking into a blue-tooth. "Now listen to me all of you. I fought the Daleks plenty of times and know their weaknesses so if you want to live, listen. The Dalek is surrounded by a force field. The bullets will melt before they even hit the shell but it is not indestructible. Concentrate your fire and perhaps you might get through. Aim for the dome, head and the eyepiece. They are the main weaknesses."
"Thank you Romana." A commander spoke to her. "Positions!" They watched on the screen as his men took cover behind various corners anything that can hide behind. Rose and Adam ran into view. "Hold your fire! You two, get the hell out of here!" Rose and Adam ran past a guard at the entrance and stopped for breath and the Dalek entered and turns, zooming in on Rose before Rose and Adam hid from view.
"Why does it want us to watch?" Goddard asked.
"It wants us to see." Romana replied stiffly as everyone hailed bullets and like Romana said, the bullets had no effect. The Dalek then suddenly rose straight up into the air and zaps the fire alarm and the sprinklers are set off. Once the concrete floor was covered with a layer of water, it fires downwards and electrocutes every wet person on the ground.
The commander that spoke to Romana shouted to the remaining troops. "Fall back! Fall back!"
The Dalek exterminates him and the rest of his men with another strategic shot, then it continues to hang there for a few seconds, water pouring down it shell.
Van Statten gulped. "Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place."
Goddard glared at him. "Except there's no power to the helipad sir. We can't get out."
Romana turned to him. "You said we could seal the vault."
"But then wouldn't you lock your companion inside?" Braxiatel said to her telepathically. Oh it felt good to communicate with another time-lord like this! Her mind had been empty for so long she was about to go insane.
"If she ran fast enough, she won't."
Van Statten nodded. "It was designed to be a bunker in the event of a nuclear war. Steel bulkheads."
"But there's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive." Goddard stressed.
"We've got enough emergency power. Myself and Braxiatel can re-route that to the bulkheads." She turned to her fellow time-lord. "Are you up to it?"
"Of course Romana."
"We'd have to bypass the security codes. That would take a computer genius." Goddard shook her head.
Van Statten smirked. "Good thing you got me then." Romana raised her eyebrow at him.
"You want to help?"
Braxiatel scoffed. "Only because he doesn't want to die and he thinks that nobody knows this software better than him." Van Statten was about to retort when the television screen turned itself back on and the Dalek was on the ground.
"I shall speak only to Romana." The Dalek commanded. Romana looked up.
"You're going to get rusty."
"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me."
Romana gritted her teeth. "What's your next trick then?" Why couldn't the Daleks just die?
"I have been searching for the Daleks."
"Yeah, I saw that. What did you find?" She shared a quick glance at Braxiatel and she wondered if he knew what happened to Gallifrey.
"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes."
"And?"
"Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?"
Braxiatel barked out a harsh laugh, making Van Statten look at him with surprise. "A soldier without commands. Ha!"
"Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer."
Romana walked closer to the screen. "What for? What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for."
"Then what shall I do?" The Dalek asked.
Romana smirked. "All right then if you want orders. As ex-president of Gallifrey, I command you to kill yourself."
The Dalek moved back a bit, outraged. "The Daleks must survive!"
"The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct? Rid the universe of your filth! To end the misery! Why don't you just die?!" She spat at the screen in anger.
There was a pregnant pause. "You would make a good Dalek." It commented before it turned the screen off.
Romana stood back, horrified and bumped into the table before gripping it and turned to look at Braxiatel with wide eyes. "Am I really that much of a monster?"
"Never a monster Romana. You could never be one." Braxiatel told her sternly. Romana bit her lip before turning to Van Statten.
"Seal the vault." Her and Van Statten began to work at the computers, Braxiatel at her side.
"I can leech power of the ground defences, feed it to the bulkheads. God, it's been years since I had to work this fast." He flexed his fingers and began to type hurriedly.
"Are you enjoying this?" Romana sneered.
"Romana, your friend is still down there." Goddard reminded her. At least there was one decent human being in this room, Romana thought dryly.
Romana rang Rose on her mobile and she heard Rose panting as she ran. "This isn't the best time."
"Where are you?"
"Level forty nine."
Romana nodded. "You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty six. I'll try hold it but I can't hold it long."
"Can't you stop them closing?"
"I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. Now for Rassilon's sake, run." She left the blue-tooth.
Braxiatel raised an eyebrow. "Still saying Rassilon?"
Romana sighed. "Old habits die hard Braxiatel. Even if he was corrupted." She typed away.
"Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads." Van Statten stated.
"The Dalek is right behind your friend." Braxiatel commented.
"We're nearly there. Give us two seconds." Rose panted.
Van Statten shook his head. "Romana, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing. You've got to close the bulkheads."
She remembered when she lost Adric, the Doctor's companion when he defeated the Cybermen. It was painful to lose him and Romana couldn't even begin to imagine how many other companions the Doctor has lost before and after she travelled with him but Rose was only young and her first companion and it was all her fault if Rose didn't make it to the exit. Jackie would never forgive her and she would never forgive herself for this. "I'm sorry." She whispered, more to Rose than to herself and she hit the enter key.
"The vault is sealed." Van Statten stated, Romana turned to her blue-tooth.
"Rose, where are you? Did you make it?" Romana asked, hoping she did.
"Sorry, I was a bit slow. See you then, Romanavoratrelundar. It wasn't your fault. Remember that okay? It wasn't your fault." She could hear Rose's voice breaking. "And do you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Romana's voice got caught back in her throat. It was Adric all over again. "Exterminate!" They heard the Dalek cry before they heard it's laser being fired and Romana took of her ear-piece and threw it to the ground before she went to Braxiatel who wrapped her in his arms.
"I killed her." She whispered. "My first companion and I killed her."
"I'm sorry." Van Statten replied, not sounding sorry at all. Romana whipped around to face him, fury in her eyes and Van Statten even looked slightly terrified and Braxiatel smirked.
"I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of me and you're sorry? You tortured one of my own people and you're sorry? I could've killed that Dalek in it's cell but you stopped me." She walked over to him and Van Statten leaned back in his chair, terrified of her.
"Both of them were the prize of my collection!" Van Statten protested and Braxiatel looked sickened.
"Your collection? Was it worth it? All those men deaths? Worth Romana's companion's death? Worth my pain? Let me tell you something Van Statten, mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater." Braxiatel sneered in disgust.
"Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!"
"No, you just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt and label them like you did with me. You're about as far from the stars you can get and you took Romana's companion down with you!" Braxiatel turned to Romana, eyes softening for her. "How old was she?"
"Only nineteen years old and she's dead because of me." Romana replied and at that moment, Adam enters, rubbing his wrist. "You were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind."
Adam looked up, startled. "I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" He cried and at that moment, the television screen turns itself on to show Rose and the Dalek outside the bulk.
"You're alive!" Romana cried with happiness and Rose smiled weakly.
"Can't get rid of me."
"I thought you were dead."
"Open the bulkhead!" The Dalek shouted at Romana.
"Don't do it!" Rose warned.
"What use are emotions if you will not save your first human companion?" The room was filled with tension and Romana looked at Braxiatel and Goddard.
"I killed her once. I can't do it again." She pressed a key and the bulkhead opens.
Van Statten gulped. "What do we do now you bleeding heart, What the hell do we do?"
Adam shrugged. "Kill it when it gets here."
Goddard shook her head. "All guns are useless and the alien weapons are in the vault."
"Only the catalogued ones." Adam told her.
"Show me." Romana demanded and her and Braxiatel left the room with Adam and made their way to Adam's workshop, both rummaging through the alien technology.
"Broken. Broken. Hairdryer." Romana commented as she threw the equipment behind her, hearing them clash to the floor. Adam wincing slightly at the sound of the clatter.
"Mister Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff and when he does, he wipes their memory. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day." Adam spoke, leaning against the boxes.
Braxiatel looked amused. "What, you in a fight? What you going to do, punch your A-Levels at them?"
At that moment, Romana found a massive black gun and she grinned in satisfactory as she turned it on and fixed a little bit with her sonic. "Oh yes! Lock and load!" She cried.
Her and Braxiatel ran up to Level 1, where Rose and the Dalek were. They just arrived when the Dalek opens its middle and dome section to reveal the creature inside it.
"Rose! Get out of the way now!" Romana shouted at her friend. Rose turned to look at her and frowned when she noticed Braxiatel in bloody time-lord robes.
Rose shook her head. "No I won't let you do this."
Romana held her gun. "That thing killed hundreds of people today."
"It's not the one pointing the gun at me." Rose looked at her in disbelief. Couldn't Rose see that the Dalek was a monster?
"I've got to do this. It is my job as ex-president of my home planet! I am responsible for this. The Daleks destroyed our home, our people. We've got nothing left." She indicated towards her and Braxiatel.
"Look at it!" Rose shouted, not backing down as she pointed at the Dalek and she moved out of the way to show Romana and Braxiatel as the Dalek bathed in the sunlight. "It's the sunlight. That's all it wants."
Romana sneered at it.
"Why do we survive?" The Dalek asked.
"I don't know." Of course she knew but she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.
"I am the last of the Daleks."
"You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating." She put her gun down and handed it to Braxiatel, Rose sighed with relief but stopped when she realized what Romana was doing. "Do it. You deserve it."
Braxiatel loaded the gun and before Rose could stand in front of it, he fired at the Dalek and the Dalek blasted into millions of pieces, Rose looking at the remains of the Dalek, horrified.
"The final acts of the time war." Braxiatel commented stiffly as he threw the gun at the floor. "The Time War has finally finished." Braxiatel gave Romana a long warm embrace.
They walked back to the TARDIS and Braxiatel stroked it. "This was my brother's TARDIS. How on Gallifrey did you manage to get this?"
Romana sighed. "He gave it to me to escape so he could sacrifice himself. I'll tell you the whole story inside." Braxiatel nodded and stepped him.
Rose looked gloomily at her.
"The TARDIS and Braxiatel. Little pieces of home." Romana told her. "You understood why Braxiatel killed the Dalek don't you Rose?"
"To end the Time War." Rose replied stiffly.
Romana nodded. "Now Braxiatel and I are the only ones left. How about that?"
"But it was still no way to kill it. Couldn't you have let it die in the sunlight?"
Romana shook her head. "No. Not after what the Dalek race has done to my people and amongst billions of other planets. No Dalek deserve pity. The Dalek race enslaved me for twenty years on their home planet Rose. I was a slave for them for twenty years, I can't forgive them for that."
Rose nodded understandingly. "The Dalek survived. Apart from you and your new boyfriend, maybe some more of your people did too."
Romana gave a slight smile before rolling her eyes. "He's not my boyfriend. We'd know. In here." She tapped her forehead. "At the moment there's only Braxiatel in there. My head used to be full of my people back home. Now there's only one."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere."
"Yeah."
At that moment, Adam came up to them. "We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement like it never existed."
Rose smiled. "About time."
"I'll have to get home."
Romana looked at her watch. "Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at fifteen hundred hours."
Rose looked pointedly at Romana and gave her the puppy eyes. "Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars."
"Tell him to go and stand outside then."
"He's all on his own Romana and he did help. Besides, you have your gentleman friend now."
Romana shrugged. "He left you down there."
"So did you."
Adam looked confused. "What're you talking about? We've got to leave."
Romana eyed him. "He's a bit too much of a poster boy isn't he?"
Rose grinned. "I hadn't noticed."
"On your head be it. Though your the one that's explaining the rules and regulations." Romana warned as she went inside the TARDIS, Rose following her.
"What're you doing? She said cement. She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in." Adam shouted, peering in. "Romana? Braxiatel? Rose? What are you all doing in there?" Adam creeps into the TARDIS and it dematerialsed