Humming loudly, Star skipped down the stairs into the console room. Rose looked up, saw what she was wearing and burst out laughing. Star pouted. "Why are you wearing that?" Rose giggled.
Star looked down at her pink rara skirt, blue t-shirt, green leg warmers and sparkly gold converse, then shrugged. "Felt like it." She skipped over to the doors.
Star stepped out of the TARDIS into what seemed to be a museum. Rose followed behind, the Protector with her.
"So, what is it? What's wrong?" Rose asked as Star looked round.
"Don't know, some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course..." the Protector trailed off.
They looked about themselves. "Where are we?"
"Earth," Star called over, her eyes closed and focusing. "Utah...North America. About um half a mile underground."
The Protector grinned and ruffled Star's hair. "You've been working on that," she smiled. "Well done." Rose tilted her head in confusion. "Young Time Lords have the ability to figure out where they are. Some are able keep the ability as they get older, but in others it fades. All Time Lords have the ability to figure out the time and when they are."
"So... when are we?"
"2012," the Protector smiled.
"God, that's so close," Rose breathed. "So I should be... 26." The Protector flicked a switch as she spoke and lights flooded the museum. "Blimey! It's a great big museum!"
"An alien museum," the Protector added, pulling Star closer to her. "Someone's got a hobby."
"They must've spent a fortune on this," Star gasped, moving away and walking round the exhibit, the Protector and Rose close behind her. "Chunks of meteorite, moon dust... that's the milometer from the Roswell Spaceship!" She passed the exhibits as she named them, skipping slightly. They noticed a familiar arm in one case.
"That's a bit of Slitheen!" Rose pointed out. "That's a Slitheen's arm, it's been stuffed."
The Protector noticed something else. "Ah! Look at you!" Inside the glass case she was approaching, was the head of a Cyberman. The Protector stared through the glass at it as Star squeaked and hid her face in Rose's side.
Rose lifted her up and stood behind the Protector. "What is it?" She asked quietly.
"An old friend of mine... well, enemy," the Protector shrugged. "The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old." She sighed.
"Is that where the signal's coming from?"
"Nah, it's stone dead," the Protector shook her head. "The signal's alive. Something's reaching out." She stared intently through the glass. "Calling for help." She placed the tip of his finger gently on the glass. Immediately, an alarm went off and they were promptly surrounded by soldiers all pointing their guns at them, Star letting out a scream and hiding her face in Rose's shoulder.
"If someone's collecting aliens," Rose said quietly in the Protector's ear, so Star couldn't hear her, "that makes you Exhibit A."
The Protector flashed the soldiers a dark grin.
~8~
Van Statten was sitting at a table while Adam showed him the artefacts. "And this is the last... paid $800,000 for it," he was saying as the Protector, Rose, Star and Goddard entered.
"What does it do?" Van Statten asked, taking it from Adam.
"Well you see, the tubes on the side must be to channel something, I think maybe fuel..."
"I really wouldn't hold it like that," the Protector suddenly called.
"Shut it," Goddard ordered.
"Really, though, that's wrong," she pressed.
"Is it dangerous?" Adam asked nervously.
"No," Star shook her head with a giggle, all if them looking at her. "Just looks silly." She held her hand out for the artefact. "Can I?" Van Statten handed the object to her after a moment. "You just need to be..." she ran her fingers gently over the artefact and it played a note, rather like a harmonica, grinning as Rose and the Protector watched her proudly. "... delicate."
Everyone looked suitably impressed. Star giggled and beamed around at them all whilst playing it. "It's a musical instrument," Van Statten realised.
The Protector nodded. "And it's a long way from home."
Van Statten stood and moved across to them. "Here, let me." He snatched it off Star, who flinched away, Rose wrapping an arm around her as she and the Protector glared at Van Statten.
"She did say "delicate"," the Protector ground out. "Reacts to the smallest fingerprint." Van Statten couldn't make it play and it made a series of bleeping noises. "It needs precision," the Protector continued. Van Statten touched it more gently and it played a few notes. The Protector and Star smiled slightly.
"Very good," Star complemented. "Quite the expert."
"As are you." He tossed the instrument aside, where it landed somewhere on the floor. The Protector's and Adam's eyes followed it, slightly alarmed as Star flinched. "Who exactly are you?"
The Protector looked back at Van Statten with a new, slightly disdainful look in her eye. "I'm the Protector. And who are you?"
"Like you don't know," Van Statten scoffed. "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world and you just stumbled in by mistake."
"Pretty much sums me up, yeah."
"The question is, how did you get in? 53 floors down. With your little cat burglar accomplices." He looked at Rose. "Quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty."
"She's gonna smack you if you keep calling her "she"," Rose spoke up, glaring at him.
"She's English too!" Van Statten laughed. Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy, got you a girlfriend"
"This is Mr Henry Van Statten," Adam said, stepping forwards. Star frowned slightly. Something about him didn't feel right.
"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose raised an eyebrow.
"Mr Van Statten owns the Internet," Adam explained.
"Don't be stupid," Rose rolled her eyes. "No one owns the Internet."
"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" Van Statten winked.
Star shuddered and edged behind Rose's legs, fisting a hold on her white vest top. The blonde glared at Van Statten and moved further in front of Star.
"So you're an expert on just about everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up." The Protector explained stiffly, a dark look in her eyes.
"And you claim greater knowledge?"
"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am," the Protector scoffed.
"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?" Van Statten asked, eyeing both Rose and the Protector, he couldn't even see Star properly.
"You tell me," the Protector arched her eyebrows.
"The cage contains my one living specimen."
"And what's that?"
"Like you don't know."
"Show me."
"You wanna see it?"
"Tori," Rose cut in sternly, giving her a Look she could only have inherited from her mother.
"Goddard, inform the Cage. We're heading down." Goddard nodded. "You, English. Look after the girl. Canoodle or spoon, or whatever it is you British do. Look after the kid as well. And you, Protector with no name..." he stood by the lift. "Come and see my pet."
The Protector nodded to Rose silently who gave a slight inclination of her head to show she understood the message. 'Star stays with you, look after her.'
The brunette woman moved passed Adam, pausing to grip his shoulder tightly. "You," she narrowed her eyes at him, "look after them. Both of them. And no canoodling or spooning. They remain unhurt. Understand?"
Adam nodded weakly, staring after her as she walked out. He jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder and spun round to see Rose, now carrying Star on her hip. "You heard the woman," she grinned.
~8~
Van Statten lead the Protector to the cage, talking as he did, "We've tried everything. The creatures has..." he paused, searching for the right word, "shielded itself but there's definite signs of life inside." He entered a code to enter the Cage. The door to the Cage opened behind him.
"Inside?" The Protector narrowed her eyes. "Inside what?"
"Welcome back, sir," Simmons greeted Van Statten. "I've had to take the power down, the Metaltron is resting."
"Metaltron?" The Protector cocked an eyebrow.
"Thought of it myself," Van Statten boasted. "Good, isn't it? Although I'd much to prefer to find out its real name."
"Here, you'd better put these on," Simmons offered the Protector a pair of gloves. "The last guy that touched it... burst into flames."
"I won't touch it then," the Protector snarked. Goddard smirked.
"Go ahead, Protector. Impress me." Goddard looked at the Protector. With a placid expression on her face, she stepped into the Cage. Van Statten stepped away. "Don't open that door until we get a result." He and Goddard bent down to look at the monitor showing surveillance footage from the Cage. It was pitch dark inside - they watched the Protector enter.
~8~
The door shut behind the Protector. She looked at some of the instruments Simmons was using to torture the alien. Through the darkness, the Protector saw a blue light giving away the alien's location in the Cage.
"Look, I'm sorry about this," she said walking forwards, something not right about it. "Mr Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help. I'm the Protector."
There was a moment of silence, before a voice spoke that the Protector knew all to well but wished she didn't.
"Pro-tec-tor."
She blanched, stumbling back slightly. "Impossible."
"THE Protector?" The Protector watched, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open. Lights suddenly came on, illuminating the Dalek. "Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"
The Protector spun round and banged on the door of the cage, rattling it. "Let me out!"
"Exterminate! You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!" It waved its gun around helplessly.
The Protector paused when she noticed it and stepped closer to it slightly. A grin broke out on her face "It's not working!" The Dalek's eyepiece looked down at its gun. She laughed manically. "Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The Great Space Dustbin. How does it feel?" She lunged at the Dalek.
The Dalek strained against its chains. "Keep back!"
The Protector was inches from the Dalek, looking straight into its eyepiece. "What for? What're you going to do to me?" She received no answer. "If you can't kill... then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you?" She circled the Dalek. The Dalek followed her progress with its eyepiece. "You're nothing. What the hell are you here for?"
After a moment the Dalek replied. "I am waiting for orders."
"What does that mean?" The Protector blinked.
"I am a soldier," the Dalek explained. "I was bred to receive orders."
"Well you're never gonna get any," the Protector said, her vouce cold and hard as she stared at it evenly. "Not ever."
"I demand orders!"
"They're never gonna come!" The Protector's voice rose, raw pain evident in her tone. "Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire, the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second."
"You lie!" The Dalek didn't sound very sure
"I watched it happen," the Protector snarled. "I MADE it happen!"
"You destroyed us?" The Dalek asked, it's grating voice a lot quieter.
The Protector's face fell. She walked away, her back turned on the Dalek. "I had no choice," she mumbled.
"And what of the Time Lords?"
The Protector paused. "Dead," she finally answered. "They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost."
"And the coward survived."
The Protector closed her eyes. "Oh, and I caught your little signal," she said mockingly. "... help me... poor little thing," she shook her head, resuming normal tone. "But there's no one else coming 'cos there's no one else left."
"I am alone in the Universe," the Dalek realised.
The Protector smiled. "Yep."
"So are you."
She smiled wider and shook her head. "No," she said almost apologetically. "I thought I was, but I'm not. I have people who love me, I'm not alone."
"We are the same," the Dalek responded, almost pleading.
The Protector spun around to face the Dalek not angry, just a little upset. "We're not the same," she said with a sad smile. "I have Star."
"Staretalicia?"
Her eyes narrowed. "How the hell do you know that?"
"Daughter of the Doctor?"
The Protector blanched in horror, losing all colour in her face. "Oh my God," she breathed. "You're the Dalek that killed my husband."
"Correct."
"And you tried to kill my daughter," she added, her voice strained and holding back her anger.
"Correct."
"Maybe we are the same," she conceded. "You're right, yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cos I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve." She raised her eyebrows. "Exterminate." She pulled a lever on the control panel and the Dalek was immediately engulfed by electricity. It started screaming again.
"Have pity!"
"Why should I?" She yelled, tears on her eyes. "You never did." She turned up the voltage.
"Help me!"
Security burst in and grabbed the Protector before she could lunge for the control panel again. Van Statten addressed the Dalek. "I saved your life, now talk to me! Goddamn it, talk to me!"
"You've got to destroy it!" The Protector yelled as she was dragged away.
"The last in the Universe. And now I know your name. Dalek. Speak to me, Dalek." Silence. "I am Henry van Statten, now recognise me!" It still refused to answer. He turned to Simmons. "Make it talk again, Simmons." Simmons approached the Dalek with a greedy look in his eye. "Whatever it takes."
~8~
Star looked around Adam's workshop with interest, going through some things. "Sorry about the mess," Adam said. "Mr Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing. So long as I deliver the goods..." Rose prodded a few things on the surfaces. "What do you think that is?" He handed Rose an object.
"Er... a lump of metal?"
"Yeah. Yeah, but I think... well, I'm almost certain, it's from the hull of a spacecraft."
Star looked at it. "Oh," she gasped. "That's part of the hull of the Roswell Spaceship! Mummy blew it up," she giggled.
Rose finished examining the lump of metal and placed it down carefully. "Why am I not surprised?" She teased.
"The thing is," Adam continued, "it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet, spacecrafts, aliens, visitors to Earth, they really exist."
"That's amazing," Rose winked at Star who giggled.
"I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe that the whole universe is teeming with life," Adam said passionately.
Rose smiled slightly, moving to stand behind Star. "I'm gob-smacked, yeah," she agreed, running her hands through the little girl's hair.
"And you do what?" Star asked, looking up at him. "Sit here and catalogue it?"
Adam grinned, "Best job in the world."
Star leant against the counter, closing her eyes with a serene smile. "Imagine if you could get out there," she said dreamily. "Travel amongst the stars and see it for real."
"Yeah... I'd give anything," Adam nodded. "But I don't think it's ever gonna happen, not in our lifetimes." He shrugged.
"Oh, you never know..." Rose smiled. "What about all those people who say they've been inside spaceships and things and talked to aliens?"
"I think they're nutters," Adam said bluntly.
"I don't think so," Star disagreed, opening her eyes. "There are more things in this universe than the human race can ever explore or understand. The universe is a big place and we certainly haven't seen it all." She fixed him with a hard stare. "Who's to say they weren't telling the truth?"
Adam stared at her, not quite sure what he could say in answer to that.
"So, how'd you end up here?" Rose broke the tense silence.
"...Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit," Adam answered after a moment.
"Ah, right, you're a genius," Rose rolled her eyes.
"Sorry, but yeah... can't help it, I was born clever." Rose smiled tightly at his boasting, noticing Star tensing. "When I was eight, I logged onto the US Defence System, nearly caused World War Three."
"What, and that's funny is it?" Star snapped, not yelling, but angry. "People die in war, if you had caused World War Three, all those deaths would've been on your hands! That's awful!"
She pulled away from Rose sharply and stormed out of the room, only pausing to tell Rose to not go after her and that she would be fine. "I'm just going back to the TARDIS," she said and left.
"Well you should've been there," Adam muttered. "Just to see them running about. Fantastic."
"She's right though," Rose said, giving him a Look. "The Protector would hate to hear you say that. Even if you do sound like her."
"So, you and them...?" Adam trailed off.
"Tori's my...sister, Star's my niece," Rose said hesitating slightly. She glanced at the door. "So... wouldn't you rather be downstairs?" She changed the subject. "I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mr Van Statten's got a living creature down there."
"Yeah... yeah well I did ask but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it does take long to patch in on the comms system." He grinned smugly.
Rose rolled her eyes as she laughed. "Let's have a look then."
Adam turned to the computer and tapped some keys and Rose observed over his shoulder. "It doesn't do much, the alien," Adam informed her apologetically. "It's weird, it's kind of... useless, it's just like this... great big pepper pot."
They access the screen that surveyed the Cage. They watched Simmons approach the Dalek and begin to torture it with one of the devices. The Dalek screamed again. "It's being tortured!" Rose exclaimed in alarm. "Where's Tori?"
"I don't know."
"Take me down there. Now," she ordered and strode from the room.
~8~
Star skipped along the corridor, pausing every so often to look at a different alien artefact in a case. She stopped just before reaching the TARDIS, the bond to her mother closing off. Though she could still feel her, she turned and ran back the way she came, heading downstairs, not that she knew where she was going.
~8~
The Protector, Van Statten, Goddard and the security guards stepped into the lift, the Protector still pale. "The metal's just battle armour," she explained. "The real Dalek creature's inside."
"What does it look like?" Van Statten asked curiously.
"A nightmare," the Protector answered darkly, scowling. "It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered, every single emotion was removed except hate."
"Genetically engineered... by whom?" Van Statten sounded impressed, making her scowl more.
"By a genius, Van Statten," the Protector told him, her voice full of hate. "By a man who was king of his own little world, you'd like him."
"It's been on Earth for over fifty years," Goddard said dissmisively. "Sold at a private auction moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?"
"Because I'm here. Because Star's here." Her face darkened. "How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?"
"Records say it came from the sky like a meteorite," Goddard told her. "It fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands, burnt in its crater for nearly three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must've gone insane," she realised, slightly upset.
"Must've fallen through time," the Protector mused. "The only survivor."
"You talked about a war?"
"The Time War," the Protector sighed. "The final battle between my people and the Dalek race."
"But you survived too," there was a hidden glee in Van Statten's words.
"Not by choice." A lie. She survived for Star.
"This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth, Protector, there's you. You and your daughter. The only ones of your kind in existence."
The Protector lunged forwards so quickly and pinned Van Statten to the wall by the neck, that none of them could stop it. "Touch my little girl and I will end you," she snarled in his face. "If my girl gets hurt because of you I will end you ever having children with a blunt pair of scissors, coated in lemon juice."
She smirked when she heard a whimper as she was dragged away.
~8~
Lights flashed on, illuminating the Protector. They had chained her up against a rack and striped her torso, even her bra, which ended in a few burns for the offenders. Van Statten stood behind an instrument pointing at the Protector. "Now, smile!"
She glared at him, only the threat of them hurting Star stopping her from blasting her way out.
The instrument ran some sort of scan over the Protector's torso. She moaned slightly in pain, grimacing. The scan image showed the Protector's ribcage with two hearts beating within it.
"Two hearts!" Van Statten exclaimed with a laugh. "Binary vascular system! Oh, I am so going to patent this."
The Protector raised her head to glare at him, thankful that she had closed the bond to Star. "So that's your secret," she gasped out. "You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it."
"This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries," Van Statten said walking towards her. "All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk, you have no idea, Protector. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian Crater, and do you know what they found?" The Protector looked at him angrily but questioningly. "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 smiled smugly.
"Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten?" The Protector arched her eyebrows. "A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species, that creature in your dungeon is better than you."
"In that case, I will be true to myself and continue." He walked back to the scanner.
"Listen to me, that thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us!" The Protector yelled frantically.
"Nothing can escape the Cage," Van Statten dissmissed. He ran the scan again.
The Protector writhed with pain. "But it's woken up!" She yelled out. "It knows I'm here! It knows Star is here! It's gonna get out! Van Statten, I swear no one on this base is safe! No one on this planet!"
The scan was run again. The Protector groaned in pain and threw her head back.
~8~
Running down some stairs, Star looked around, trying to figure out where she was. "I'm lost," she whispered horrified. "Oh Rassilon...Mummy's going to kill me!"
~8~
Adam entered the lobby outside the Cage, followed by Rose. "Hold it right there!"
Adam flashed his ID in avery harriet Jones manner. "Level three access. Special clearance from Mr Van Statten." They passed Simons and entered the Cage.
Rose stared at the Dalek. "Don't get too close..." Adam warned.
She walked slowly up to the Dalek and peered into its eyepiece. It watched her. "Hello?" The Dalek simply continued to watch her. Rose was innocently concerned. "Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler. I've got a friend, she can help. She's called the Protector. What's your name?"
"Yes," the Dalek replied, it's voice weak.
"What?" The blonde blinked. An alien called Yes?
The Dalek raised its eyepiece to look into her face. "I am in pain," it said slowly and wearily. "They tortured me. But still they fear me. Do you fear me?"
"No."
The Dalek lowered its eyepiece. "I am dying."
"No, we can help!" Rose shook her head.
"I welcome death. But I am glad... that before I die... I met a human who was not afraid."
Rose looked overwhelmed with sadness and pity. "Isn't there anything I can do?"
"My race is dead. I shall die alone." Rose had tears in her eyes. She placed a hand gently on the Dalek.
"Rose, no!" Adam yelled, but it was too little, too late. The place where Rose had put her hand suddenly burnt bright orange and she snatched her hand away from the heat. The Dalek's tone changed.
"Genetic material extrapolated, initiate cellular reconstruction!" It burst out of its chains with a new lease of life. Sparks flew from it.
Simmons entered the room yelling, "What the hell have you done?" He approached the Dalek. It pointed a sucker at him. "Whatcha gonna do?" He mocked. "Sucker me to death?" The Dalek proceeded to do just that. It placed the sucker over Simmons face and they heard his skull cracking as it sucked inwards. Rose and Adam rushed outside.
"It's killing him! Do something!" Rose panicked.
~8~
"Condition red!" Bywater announced over intercom. "Repeat, condition red! This is not a drill!"
Van Statten, still with the Protector looked up, as did the Protector, who was sweating with the pain. "Release me if you want to live," she said wearily.
~8~
In an empty corridor, Star looked up at the sound of Bywater. She began chewing her thumbnail and walked down the corridor, searching for someone or a way out.
~8~
The Protector, Van Statten, Goddard and Van Statten's security guards exited the lift and entered Van Statten's office. The Protector addressed a monitor where there was a communication link to the lobby.
"You've got to keep it in that cell," she said over the comms.
"Tori, it's all my fault," Rose said immediately, sounding upset.
"I've sealed the compartment," Bywater told them. "It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations."
"The Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat."
~8~
Rose and Adam stood before the door with security, who were pointing their guns at the door. In no time at all, the door opened. "Open fire!" They shot at the Dalek.
~8~
"Don't shoot it, I want it unharmed!" Van Statten yelled. The Protector gave him a filthy look.
"Rose, get out of there! Where's Star?!"
"She went back to the TARDIS," Rose told her, her tone angry.
"Why?" There was something very wrong with Star choosing to go back to the TARDIS, she loved adventures. Also there was a very heavy feeling settling in her stomach.
"Doesn't matter," Van Satten cut in.
~8~
The Dalek advanced upon them, the bullets having no affect at all. Bywater turned to the female guard. "De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive," he ordered. "That is your job, got that?"
De Maggio turned to Rose and Adam. "You, with me."
They followed her, running down a corridor. The Dalek approached the screen displaying the Protector, Van Statten and Goddard and smashed right through it. Then electricity started to course through it. It wailed as the peeling metal bent back into shape, the rust fading away until it looked perfect again.
"Abandoning the cage, sir," Bywater said into his mouthpiece.
~8~
Goddard was tapping into a computer as Van Statten and the Protector looked over her shoulder. "We're losing power. It's draining the base. Oh, my God. It's raiding entire power supplies for the whole of Utah."
"It's downloading."
"Downloading what?" Van Statten questioned.
"Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down," Goddard reported.
"It's not just energy," the Protector sighed. "That Dalek just absorbed the entire Internet. It knows everything."
"Sir, the cameras in the vault have gone down," Goddard sounded worried.
"We've only got emergency power, it's eaten everything else, you've got to kill it now!"
~8~
"All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately."
In another corridor Rose and Adam ran past another bunch of security guards, led by De Maggio. "Civilians! Let them through!" Rose and Adam ran out of sight.
~8~
"Tell them to stop shooting at it!" Van Statten shouted furiously.
"It's killing them!" Goddard exclaimed.
"They're dispensable, that Dalek is unique." He reeled as the Protector slapped him round the face.
The sound of the gunshots faded into silence as he stood back up.
Goddard showed the Protector a map of the base on the computer screen. "That's us right below the surface. That's the cage, and that's the Dalek." She indicated a blue light moving along a corridor.
"This museum of yours, have you got any alien weapons?" The Protector asked.
"Lots of them, but the trouble is the Dalek's between us and them."
"We've got to keep that thing alive." Van Statten clearly hadn't learnt his lesson. "We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there."
"Leaving everyone trapped with it? Rose and my daughter are down there." She closed her eyes briefly, hoping Star was really in the TARDIS. "I won't let that happen. Have you got that?"
Van Statten stood up. The Protector turned back to the computer screen and Goddard. "It's got to go through this area. What's that?"
"Weapons testing."
"Give guns to the lawyers, technicians, anyone," the Protector decided. "Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it." Goddard nodded and got up. The Protector took her place in front of the computer.
~8~
Rose, still running, found herself at the foot of a flight of stairs. "Stairs!" She grinned. "That's more like it!" Adam ran up behind her. "It hasn't got legs, it's stuck!"
De Maggio joined them. "It's coming! Get up!"
They ran up the stairs and lookednover the banisters to watch the Dalek. It stopped at the foot of the stairs. Adam breathed a small sigh of relief. It ran its eyepiece over the stairs. "Great big alien death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs." Adam said mockingly.
The Dalek's eyepiece rested on them. De Maggio still had her gun pointing at it. "Now, listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate, then I guarantee that Mr Van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong. But people have died, and that stops. Right now. The killing stops, have you got that?" The Dalek merely watched her, saying nothing. "I demand that you surrender, is that clear?"
There was a short pause. "El-ev-ate." The Dalek levitated in the air and floated up the first few steps of the stairs.
"Oh my God," Rose breathed.
The Dalek proceeded up the stairs. Adam looked gob smacked. "Adam, get her out of here."
"Come with us," Rose said urgently. "You can't stop it!"
"Someone's got to try. Now get out!" She pushed them away. "Don't look back, just run!"
Adam and Rose went up the rest of the stairs. The Dalek advanced. De Maggio shot at it without avail.
Moments later, Rose and Adam heard the sound of the exterminator beam and De Maggio's scream. They ran down the corridor terrified.
~8~
"I thought you were the great expert, Protector," Van Statten said scornfully. The Protector, still staring at the monitor, did not answer. "If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate, there must be something it needs, everything needs something."
"What's the nearest town?" She asked.
Van Statten hesitated, startled by the sudden change in subject. "Saltlake City."
"Population?"
"One million."
"All dead." She stood straight and looked at Van Statten. "If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature, that's all it needs."
"But why would it do that?!"
"Because it honestly believes they should die," the Protector ran a hand through her hair. "Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!"
~8~
Near tears, Star ran down yet another corridor, still unable to find anyone. She'd heard screaming, she wasn't stupid. Something was very wrong. 'Mummy!' She called out, but the bond was still closed.
~8~
The soldiers positioned themselves as the Protector spoke through intercom. "The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home but it's not indestructible. If you concentrate your fire, you might get through." The soldiers waited apprehensively. "Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. That's the weak spot."
"Thank you, Protector, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot," the commander snarked. "Positions!" They readied their guns and waited. After a few moments, Rose and Adam ran into view, right in the middle of the open area. "Hold your fire!" Rose and Adam stopped. "You two, get the hell out of there!"
Rose and Adam made it outside the door the moment the Dalek slowly came into view. They stopped for a moment to watch it. The Dalek also stopped, and it focused on them. It then zoomed right in on Rose's face and turned in their direction. Adam grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her away, but she stopped again.
"It was looking at me," the blonde muttered.
"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us!"
Rose pulled her hand away. "I know! But it was looking right at me."
"So?" Adam asked impatiently. "It's just a sort of metal eye thing, it's looking all around!"
Rose shook her head. "I don't know... it's like there's something inside looking at me, like... like it knows me."
~8~
The Dalek made its way towards the door. "On my mark..." The Dalek looked up at them. "Open fire!" They all started shooting at the Dalek. Like before, the bullets had no effect.
"We've got vision," Goddard announced.
The Protector stood up and looked at the monitor, showing the weapons testing area. "It wants us to see."
~8~
The Dalek was looking straight at the camera, completely unperturbed by the volley of gunshots. It slowly levitated into the air until it was hovering near the ceiling. It fired it's exterminator beam at the fire alarm, causing the fire sprinkles to rain water from the ceiling. The bullets kept coming, but the Dalek payed no heed. It aimed at a man who had his feet firmly rooted to the wet ground and fired its exterminator beam at him. The rest of the team fell like flies except from the Commander and one of his men who were sheltered from the sprinklers.
"Fall back! Fall back!"
The Dalek exterminated both of them and then observed the tens of lifeless forms lying on the wet ground with their useless bullets scattered on the floor.
~8~
There was a silence in Van Statten's office. The Protector looked down, breathing heavily in shock. "Perhaps it's time for a new strategy, maybe we should consider abandoning this place," Van Statten said, stunned.
"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir," Goddar said, quietly furious. "We can't get out."
"You said you could seal the vault," the Protector remembered.
Van Statten went to the computer. "It was designed to be a bunker. In the event of nuclear war, steel bulkheads..."
"There's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive," Goddard said to the Protector.
"We've got emergency power, we can re-route that to the bulkhead doors."
"We'd have to bypass the security codes, that would take a computer genius!"
"Good thing you've got me, then," Van Statten stated.
"You want to help?" The Protector asked in surprise.
"I don't want to die, Protector, simple as that. Nobody knows this software better than me."
The screen showing the footage of the basement suddenly flashed back into life. The Dalek was still standing in the middle of the open area. At first, only Goddard noticed. "Sir..."
The Protector and Van Statten also looked round at the screen.
"I shall speak only to the Protector."
The Protector slowly straightened up, not taking her eyes off the Dalek. "You're gonna get rusty."
"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me."
"What's your next trick?" The Protector scoffed.
"I have been searching for the Daleks."
"Yeah, I saw. Downloading the Internet." She walked around the table to be nearer the screen. "What did you find?"
"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes."
The Dalek seemed to be procrastinating. Huh. That was kind of...amusing. She almost wanted to laugh. "And?" The Protector pressed.
"Nothing." It's voice rose, fearful. "Where shall I get my orders now?"
"You're just a soldier without commands."
"Then I shall follow the primary order, the Dalek instinct to destroy! To conquer!"
"What for? What's the point?" The Protector asked, exasperated. There was silence from the Dalek. "Don't you see? It's all gone. Everything you were, everything you stood for."
"Then what should I do?"
"All right then. If you want orders..." the Protector paused, "follow this one: kill yourself."
"The Daleks must survive!"
"The Daleks have failed!" The Protector retorted. "Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct? Rid the Universe of your filth, why don't you just die?" She shouted this last word in passionate hatred
The Dalek was silent for a few seconds, then... "You would make a good Dalek."
The screen went blank as the Protector blanched. "Seal the vaults."
~8~
Star was curled up against a wall, her hands over her ears. She'd heard the screams, the lazer firing. She recognised that sound. Sobbing desperately, Star pulled her knees up to her chest and embraced them.
~8~
Van Statten and the Protector were busy tapping into the computer. "I can leech power off the ground defences, feed it to the bulkheads. It's been years since I had to work this fast."
"Are you enjoying this?" The Protector demanded angrily.
"Protector, she's still down there."
~8~
Adam was running up a flight of stairs in a stairwell, followed by Rose who was on her mobile to the Protector. "This isn't the best time."
"Where are you?"
"Level 49."
~8~
The Protector typed quickly on the computer. "You've got to keep moving, the vault's being sealed off, bulkhead level 46."
"Can't you stop them closing?" Rose demanded.
"I'm the one who's closing them," the Protector deadpanned. "I can't wait and I can't help you. Now for God's sake, run."
~8~
Rose and Adam ran up the stairs, the Dalek in pursuit.
~8~
"Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads."
"The Dalek's right behind them," Goddard said, worry clear in her voice.
~8~
Star heard the sound of yelling from where she was and stood up, following the distant voices and going up the stairs.
~8~
Rose and Adam rounded a corner on floor 46. "We're nearly there, give us two seconds," Rose panted.
~8~
"Protector, I can't sustain the power," Van Statten declared. "The whole system is failing." The Protector looked at him. "Protector, you've got to close the bulkheads."
She paused for a few moments, trying to summon the courage, observed by Van Statten and Goddard. "I'm sorry." She hit the enter key.
~8~
Star ran up the stairs, her brown hair flying out behind her as she raced up, two at a time as the voices got further away.
~8~
The bulkhead began to lower, Adam and Rose were nearly there. "Come on!"
A sudden scream caught their attention and the attetnion of the others from over the phone. Rose twisted round upon hearing the scream, tripping and falling.
The bulkhead was only about a foot away from the ground when Adam managed to roll underneath it, grabbing Rose as she fell and taking her with him, the phone falling to the floor on the other side.
~8~
Star rounded a corner and let out a terrified scream as she came face to face with the creature of her nightmares. A Dalek. She heard a slam further down and ran past it, knowing she wouldn't outrun it, but hoping. She made it to a closed bulkhead door and picked up a phone she recognised as Rose's from off the floor, just in time to hear her mother saying, "-where are you? Rose, did you make it?"
"Mummy," Star whispered. The Dalek was moving slowly as if it knew she was trapped and letting her have her final moments. "Mummy, Rose made it. I left the TARDIS to find you, and I was running but I didn't make it. I'm sorry."
~8~
Horrible shock spreaded across the Protector's face.
~8~
Star glanced behind her to see the Dalek round the corner and let out a heartbreaking sob. She turned away. "I love you Mummy."
~8~
The Protector was silent, just staring, horrified.
~8~
"It wasn't your fault Mummy. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault and it wasn't anyone else's, I should've gone to the TARDIS like I said. And do you know what?" She swallowed, wiping away her tears as she sniffed. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Tell Auntie Rose I love her. I love you."
Star turned slowly around to face the Dalek as it approached her, closing off the bond from her side too.
"Exterminate!"
~8~
The Protector heard the sound of the death ray and she tore the earpiece off with a scream. There was a stunned silence in Van Statten's office as the Protector just swayed on the spot, her face deathly pale.
"I'm sorry," Van Statten mumbled.
The Protector turned to him, grief stricken anger on her face. "I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of me, and you're sorry? I could've killed that Dalek in its cell. I told you it knew she was here! I warned you Van Statten! You heard me say it tried to kill her before! I could've killed it but you stopped me."
"It was the prize of my collection!" Van Statten stuttered.
An even harder slap than before sent him reeling as the Protector screamed at him. "Your collection?! Was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth my daughter?!" He stared at her fearfully. "Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore. To be part of something greater."
"Exactly!" Van Statten yelled, standing up. "I wanted to touch the stars!"
"You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground underneath tons of sand and dirt. And label them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get." The Protector's face, contorted with fury suddenly softened into a sad, grief-stricken expression. "And you took her down with you. She was seven years old." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I said," she murmured quietly. "I said to you, if she gets hurt because of you that I would end you. I said it to you!" She round on him, her eyes flashing in anger. "I said I would. And I could." She raised her hand and Van Statten rose into the air, all oxygen being cut off from his lungs, his face turning purple. "I could," she repeated. "But she wouldn't want me to." She dropped her hand and Van Statten fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Turning away, the Protector stifled her sobs.
~8~
Her eyes were still closed, ready for the Dalek to kill her.
It approached but did nothing. It just stared at her as Star opened her eyes cautiously and looked round. "Go on then," she said softly. "Kill me." She swallowed nervously. "Why are you doing this? It's not like a Dalek to not kill immediately." She tilted her head to the side.
"I am armed," the Dalek said. "I will kill. It is my purpose."
"They're all dead because of you," Star said softly, still tense.
"They are dead because of Rose Tyler and I."
Star shook her head. "She didn't know," she told it softly. "You took advantage. And now what? What're you waiting for?" She stepped forwards slightly, hiding her sheer terror as best she could. "I recognise you," she murmured. "I shouldn't but I do. I have nightmares about you. You killed my Daddy." She closed her eyes, holding back tears.
"I'm...sorry."
Star's eyes snapped open as she stared at the Dalek in shock. "What?"
"It was...wrong."
"What?" She repeated again.
"I feel your fear."
"What?!" She uttered a final time.
"Daleks do not fear. Must not fear." It shot its death ray wildly at the wall either side of Star, making the girl flinch back in terror. "Rose Tyler gave me life," it said, almost hysterical. "What else has she given me? I am contaminated!"
~8~
Rose stepped out of the lift, raced across the room and flung her arms around the Protector. "I'm...so...sorry," she sobbed, hugging her 'sister' tight. "I tried to stay but he pulled me."
"I know sweetie," the Protector whispered, hugging her close. "I know."
The screen sprung into life, catching their attention. It showed Star standing by the Dalek's side, pale and completely terrified.
"Open the bulkhead or Staretalicia dies," the Dalek commanded.
The Protector took a few steps towards the screen, an expression of joy and relief breaking out onto her face. "You're alive!" Star nodded weakly, shifting away from the Dalek. "I thought you were dead."
"Open the bulkhead!"
"Don't do it," Star's voice was surprisingly strong.
"What use are emotions if you will not save the daughter you love?" The Dalek demanded.
She turned to Van Statten, who was looking at him, shocked. "I killed her once," she said quietly as she went to the computer. "I can't do it again." She hit the return key.
The bulkhead opened and the Dalek and Star slowly went through it, the little girl trembling in fear.
"What do we do now?" Van Statten cried. "You bleeding heart, what the hell do we do?"
The Protector stared at him wordlessly, Rose reaching out and grabbing her hand.
"Kill it when it gets here!" Adam suggested.
"All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault," Goddard rejected.
"Only the catalogued ones," Adam said sheepishly.
Van Statten turned to him, eyebrows raised. Adam looked back at him apologetically.
~8~
The Protector was in Adam's workshop, going through a basket of Adam's un-catalogued weapons. She took one out. "Broken." She chucked it aside and took another. "Broken." She repeated her previosu action. "Hairdryer."
"Mr Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff," Adam began speaking, explainig why he had them. "And when he does he wipes their memory. I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day."
"What, you in a fight?" The Protector scoffed. "I'd like to see that."
"I could do," Adam pouted, mildly offended.
"What're you gonna do, throw your A-Levels at 'em?" She found a suitable weapon. "Oh, yes. Lock and load."
~8~
Star and the Dalek were in the lift going up to Van Statten's office. The atmosphere was very tense, Star watching the Dalek's exterminator arm twitch slightly. "I'm begging you," she whispered. "Don't kill them, you didn't kill me."
The Dalek spun its eyepiece around to look at Star so fast she had to duck out of the way to avoid having her eye poked out. "But why not? Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?"
The door opened to reveal Van Statten standing there, waiting.
"Don't move!" Star called out in warning. "Don't do anything, it's beginning to question itself."
The Dalek advanced on Van Statten. "Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?"
Van Statten backed away, clearly terrified. "I wanted to help you, I just... I don't know, I, I was just trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you... I wanted you better, I'm sorry." The Dalek still advanced, backing him against the wall. "I'm so sorry!" His voice rose shrilly. "I swear! I just wanted you to talk!"
"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate!" Van Statten winced. "Exterminate!"
Star rushed forwards. "Don't do it! Don't kill him!" The Dalek spun to face her and she looked right into its eyepiece. "You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else. Not just killing... what else is there? What d'you want?"
The Dalek turned back to Van Statten and then back to Star. "I want freedom."
~8~
The Protector ran up the stairs, holding the alien weapon, followed by Rose. She needed to make it to her daughter in time.
~8~
Star walked down the corridor of floor 01 with the Dalek, stopping in the middle. The Dalek fired its death ray at the ceiling, making a hole through which the sunlight flooded, shining on the Dalek.
"You're out," Star smiled. "You made it. The sun is shining."
"How... does... it... feel?"
Before an astonished Star, the Dalek opened up its casing to reveal the mutated creature inside. It stretched its feelers out to the sunlight, it's tentacles slimy and an odd greenish colour. She gazed at it until a voice behind her made her jump.
"Get out of the way."
She turned to see the Protector holding a large gun, Rose standing beside her. The gun was pointed at the Dalek. Star stared at her for a moment, unmoving. "Lissi, get out of the way, now!"
"No," she said calmly, shaking her head. "Mummy something's happening to it. It's changing Mummy. Look at it." She stood aside and gestured to the Dalek who feeling the sunlight.
"What's it doing?" Rose asked, speaking for the first time.
"It's the sunlight," Star replied. "That's all it wants."
"But it can't..."
"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me, it's changing. It said it was sorry Mummy. It said the death was wrong. It's changing."
The Protector finally lowered the gun, a clatter sounding as it fell to the ground. She looked completely lost. "I...that Dalek..."
"Killed Daddy," Star finished. "I know. And it said it was sorry, that his death was wrong. Mummy, it needs another chance. Everyone deserves another chance."
"Even a Dalek?" Rose asked, compeltely confused.
"There's always hope Auntie Rose. Hope, belief, innocence..."
"Children..." the Dalek rasped, Star turning to it as it closed it's casing back up. "Children are so..." she frowned, stepping back. "Gullible!"
A scream rang out as the Dalek fired once, hitting Star directly in the chest. A second later, the Dalek was nothing more than pieces of casing and shrapnel in various places in the corridor.
The Protector ran to her daughter, falling to her knees beside her. "Mummy," Star whimpered. "Hurts..."
"I know," the Protector nodded. "You can do it."
"I can't," Star shook her head as the Protector helped her stand. "I can't do it."
Rose was watching on compeltely befuddled, though she let out a yell as Star screamed, doubling over.
"You can," the Protector said forcefully. "You can and you will."
"I-" she let out a scream, doubling over again. The Protector backed away, tears in her eyes as she held Rose back, her eyes fixed on her daughter. "I love you," Star gasped, before throwing her head and arms back, golden light streaming from her wrists and neck.
Rose flinched, hiding her face away from the bright light, the Protector just watching carefully.
It ended as suddenly as it started but Star was no longer there. Rose gaped as a short blonde girl blinked at them. "Mummy?" She tilted her head to the side, her voice different, lighter with a slight accent. "Mummy!"
The Protector engulfed her in a large hug, swinging her round.
"What's going on?" Rose finally asked. "What the hell is going on?"
"Let's get back to the TARDIS," the Protector suggested, holding the little girl's hand. "We'll talk there."
"But what just happened?"
"Regeneration Auntie Rose," the girl answered, her voice calm and though her smile was different, Rose knew it was Staretalicia.
~8~
Rose and the Protector stood by the TARDIS, Star already inside. The Protector had her hand on it, looking up at it pensively. "Another little piece of home," the Protector smiled sadly.
"Is that the end of it?" Rose asked. "The Time War?"
"Lissi and I are the only ones left. We win. How about that."
"The Dalek survived..." the Protector growled at her words, "maybe some of your people did too."
"I'd know. In here." She gestured to her head. "Can only feel Star."
"Well then, good thing I'm not going anywhere." Rose smiled. "Though I do want that explanation."
"Yeah," the Protector nodded.
Adam jogged up to them. "We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared... they're closing down the base." The Protector faced him with her arms folded. "Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement! Like it never existed!"
"About time," Rose nodded.
"I'll have to go back home."
"Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 1500 hours."
Star stepped out of the TARDIS and joined them, Adam frowning in confusion. "Adam was saying that all his life he's wanted to see the stars..." she said to them.
"He can go and stand outside, then," the Protector sniffed.
"Munmy, Auntie Rose, Adam's been through a traumatic experience. One trip?" Star looked up at them with perfect puppy dog eyes. "Please?"
The Protector sighed, unable to say no to those. "Fine."
"What're you doing? Who are you?" Adam asked. "She said 'cement'. She wasn't joking, we're going to get sealed in."
Both the Protector and Rose disappeared into the TARDIS, followed by Star, leaving Adam standing outside, still wondering who the blonde little girl was and where the brunette girl was.
"Protector?" Adam called, sounding genuinely concerned for their sanity. "What're you doing standing inside a box?" He paused. "Rose?" He peered through the doors and stepped inside. The engines started up and the TARDIS dematerialised.
A.N: Well... that happened. I'm not even really sure where all that came from, it kind of just...happened. So we have a new Star, more reveal of the Protector's abilities and Van Statten has a brush with death.
All rights for that threat go to my twin.
Rose doesn't freak out, wonder why?
That's all folks!