We come across the ranch in under an hour.
It consists of little more than a long fence, a pair of careworn silos, and a shabby low slung building painted hooker's green that sprawls between the two. The establishment sits in the shadow of a boulder studded hillock, and looks very much like a building pretending not to exist.
Brandy (this is the name I've given to the chestnut horse) snorts thirstily as the Doctor dismounts, landing carefully on both feet.
"Are you sure this is the spot."
I look down at the device that I cradle by the reigns. It admits a low, steady hum; an almost nervous sound, and a red light blares brightly. My palms are sweaty from holding it, yet the backs of my hands are dry and sore from the cold. I should have picked up some gloves.
"I think so. Unless I missed how this thing works."
"Mmmm; you haven't. Not bad." The Doctor looks at our surroundings, hawk-like. "Then we'd better proceed with caution."
I dismount ungracefully from Snowflake (my dapple grey stallion). Anticipation, mingled with dread, rises in my throat. I've noticed a major disadvantage.
"So, I'm guessing we're using the Power of Love to defeat this thing."
The Doctor looks at me, appalled.
"Don't be disgusting!" He chides.
"Ah! So then I guess we'll be using a large boulder! Or a lasso; or simply charging. Doc, we don't have any weapons."
"You're so unimaginative Dalek Girl. Who even uses weapons? Horrible things."
"Well, this is America." I reason. The Doctor chews his lip.
"Even so, we're going to observe it, hopefully see its weakness, and ideally not be killed. How does that grab you?"
I consider.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" I conclude.
"Well," The Doctor is tying up the horses. From his bag (and I'm suddenly reminded of Mary Poppins), he struggles to pull something large than the rim, and then hauls out a pair of buckets, and a plastic office water jug. I watch, impressed, as he fills the buckets in turn, his birdlike figure struggling a little with the wait. "It's how I've done it so far, and I'm doing pretty well in terms of long levity."
I can't argue with that.
We leave the horses drinking, and make our way down the slope towards the ranch. I haven't been able to get a signal on my phone. Haven't called Lewis. Feel both appalled and very accepting of myself, which is a mixed-up way to feel. But mostly, I'm afraid. This lasts until we are within a hundred yards of the farm house.
"It'll have crawled inside. No marks. Maybe we'll have to smoke it out."
"How come the inhabitants haven't noticed."
The Doctor looks at me as if I'm simple.
"They haven't. This place is abandoned."
"Okay. Then what about him?"
A man sits under the veranda, on a stool, leaned with appalling posture over his phone. The earthy, fox-like smell of his joint drifts over to us. He looks up. The Doctor raises his eyebrows, as if almost offended at the figure's apparent alive-ness.
I decide to handle this one.
"Good morning!" I call cheerily. "Sorry to bother you, but me and my friend were wondering if you've been eaten by any grimy extra-terrestrials lately."
The man continues to stare, his mouth hanging open. Never mind aliens; he looks as if he's seen a ghost.
"I suppose it's a bit of an odd question." I continue. "But my..." I look at the scowling Doctor "adoptive grandfather here was wondering if it was the case."
"MA!" The man shouts, and I leap, heart going wild, as he lifts a quaking shotgun from his feet. "MA! There's a pair of goddamn spooks out here of the ghostly kind!"
"That dress." The Doctor mutters. "Told you it would get us killed."
"Being black is more likely to get me killed." I say, in a very high voice.
There's a crashing of footsteps, and three more young men, unshaven, well built, burst out of the screen door and stare at the man, and then us. I can tell that they're all related.
"That ain't no ghost Juniour; they're from the carnival!" The blond-haired, heaviest figure remarks scathingly.
"Still; they're on our property!" The shouting brother's joint has dropped to the floor.
The screen flies open again, and this time, both I and the Doctor jolt.
A large steel figure with empty round eyes lumbers out, clicking and hissing.
It's been years since I've last seen a Cyberman, and a flood of unpleasant, panicked memories fill my mind.
I don't, however, remember any of them wearing pink floral aprons.
It looks at us with unblinking eyes.
"PUT THE GUN DOWN JUNIOUR." It commands. "AND WHO THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE. TRAVELING CIRCUS?"
I sigh internally as the brother, unconvinced, lowers the weapon. The Doctor glances at me, mouths if I'm alright. I feel a stab of gratefulness.
"...May I ask you the same question?" He fires back. "What is a Cyberman doing out here?"
"You don't call our mother that!" The second tallest brother shouts. His apparent twin watches us somberly.
"Mother?" I squeak. The Doctor continues to look surprised, then shrugs in acceptance.
"I'm very sorry sir. Madam. It must be very hard and you're coping very well. Now; have you seen any actual aliens?"
The Cyber...woman (I suppose), shifts her stance.
"AND WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? YOU FROM THE GOVERNMENT? SHERIFF SEND YOU?"
"No; I sent myself."
One of the brothers sniggers. The Cyberwoman is silent for a moment, and is then apparently satisfied.
"WELL. WORD GETS AROUND. AS A MATTER OF FACT SIR, WE DID."
"Oh?"
I clear my throat, having fought a potential panic attack.
"We were tracking it, and our ticker led us here. Is it...here now?" I ask, as steadily as I can.
The Cyberwoman turns her head in a quick, smooth motion.
"SAUL? YOU GET OUT HERE. WE HAVE VISITORS."
There is silence. And then, from the back of the building a fifth young man appears. He is pale, clean shaven, but healthy-looking. He squints at us, smiles, and then doubles over, heaving. His brothers recoil, and the Doctor and I exchange glances.
A thick black sludge cascades from the man's mouth, splattering onto the old boards of the veranda.
"What the hell? Is he okay?" I ask.
The Doctor pulls a face of pure joy. He leaves my side and rushes towards the man, like a dog after a dropped tit-bit.
"MY SON SAUL HERE WAS SWALLOWED BY THAT THING." The Cyberwoman explains, watching the Doctor as he inspects the sludge, and then takes a big sniff. "LOOKED LIKE A RIVER OF TAR. YOUR GRANDPA OKAY THERE?"
"Um..." I watch the Doctor, stomach turning, as he grabs the alarmed Saul by the jaw, inspects his teeth, peers into his eyes. His brothers glance at each other, some smirking, others looking as confused as I feel. "Don't mind him; he's senile but he means well."
"Naw, the creature was attacking the town." One of the twins calls over. His eyes look me up and down, and then focus on my own. I shudder, and thinking of Lewis, wonder if they'll let me use the phone.
"Yeah, but we took it down." Says Juniour proudly.
"You did?" The Doctor looks up, looks back at me. "So you killed it."
"Naw, the Dalek...oh hey Walter, tell them about the Dalek!"
The Doctor freezes.
And so do I.
"There's this crazy old Dalek on the edge of town. He hasn't killed no-one like them others. Don't stay in his shell, ugly as sin. We got him to help us take it down."
"He did save me though." Saul says numbly.
"A sissy Dalek."
"WHO SAVED THE TOWN."
No. It can't be. How in the world...
But how else?
"Sec?" I ask.
All eyes are on me now. The boys look approving. The Doctor electrified.
"You know him?"
"A supreme one? Black casing?"
"WHY SURE. HE TOOK THE CREATURE WITH HIM EVEN. YOU SHOULD ASK HIM."
My heart races.
"Wait; where is he?"
The Doctor leaps from the veranda in a single bound. The tallest brother points.
"Follow the main road, head east. You turn off at the dirt track after old man Darcey's place."
"But be careful; he's a crazy bastard."
"I know!" The Doctor and I say in unison.
"WELL, GOOD LUCK. IT'S A REAL MAZE."
"And drop by again sometime!" The twin with the wandering eyes shouts.
I nod back, thanking them, and then lift my skirts as I sprint back up the hill, the Doctor floundering behind me.
I untie Snowflake, begin to mount.
Sec. So he's been here, all along. An exile in the desert, the defective Dalek.
My friend.
"Eliza!" The Doctor shouts, and I look down. He's out of breath, concerned.
"Why the rush? Look, I know you and him were acquainted and all, but it'll be stupid just to jump in."
"Shut up." I snap. "He's got the alien. He's been here all along and killed two birds with one stone."
"He's still a Dalek Eliza!" The Doctor roars. An animal rage enters his voice.
I stop. Sit still in my saddle. The Doctor draws in a long breath. I notice that he looks grave, ashen. Afraid.
"You know what he did, Eliza." He says, in a tone that he can barely keep level.
A lump rises in my throat. I remember the wizened face. The blue eye, like the machine eye, wide, pleading.
"Yes. I do." I say. "He killed thousands of humans and other life forms. And he experimented on more."
"He tortured them."
The old man's grey eyes empty. And suddenly, suddenly I see that they are not human eyes after all. They are older. They show ages, so many live and die. But most of all, they show fear of it happening again.
In an effort to brush him off, to keep my dignity, I never saw him.
But he hasn't seen everything.
"Yes." I agree. "He did."
"So how can you just leap on your horse and go to that Dalek like he's family? Like he's the one thing he'll never deserve to be?"
I bite my lip. I feel my old anger rising as I saw the Black Dalek, the hybrid last.
Go. Get out of here. Oh, they won't catch you, but I never want to see you again! You hear?
Did I mean it?
He's right. We are stepping towards danger.
"I don't know Doctor..." I say at last, "and I don't know if anyone ever will. But if someone has truly, literally changed, can they be forgiven?"
The Doctor swallows. Looks down.
"I'm going." I tell him. "Even if you don't. Even if you're right and he does shoot me on sight. But we need to find out what this thing is. You said it yourself; we need Sec."
The Doctor closes his eyes, as if in pain. Then, moment over, he strides over to Brandy and mounts in a swift (but wobbily) lift.
"Yes. You're right. That's what I said. That's what I meant. But then I'm taking you home."
I nod.
"I'm sorry. You fought the Daleks."
"Don't be." The Doctor flicks his reigns. "I've heard it all before."