Ash was blinded by the brightness of the room and he shielded his eyes. It took a few minutes for them to adjust...then he saw the Doctor.
He seemed to be floating in mid-air and coloured lights played across him.
He went to touch but a voice said.
"You must not touch."
It was the Doctor...no, the TARDIS.
"Not listening to you," he said and moved and reached out a hand.
He felt pressure against it; some kind of barrier. He looked at the image of the Doctor.
"Did you do that?"
"If you touch, it will change what happens in his mind. His choice will not be his."
The image faded and Ash was left alone with the Doctor.
He tried once more, but there was still resistance. He sighed; he would have to wait.
The Doctor was dragged from his cell and into what he guessed by the sound was the command centre. His eyes were starting to recover; although everything was still just flashes of colour.
"Doctor," the voice of the same Dalek said that had addressed him back on Salis. "Soon we will arrive on Skaro and you will become a servant of the Emperor."
He was taken aback by that; they didn't want him dead; he wasn't sure it was a good thing.
"Your eyesight, it is recovered?"
He was sure on what he was meant to say...so he would be honest; they always knew when he was lying.
"Soon, but why the concern? The Emperor going soft?"
"The new Emperor recognises your value. A live asset is better than a dead one."
."I won't be his slave," he said.
"You will be conditioned."
"I doubt it."
"There is no choice, you will comply."
He felt the change in power beneath his bare feet; they were changing course; heading towards Skaro. The memories of his last time here were never far from his mind, and he doubted things were any different in whatever time this was; except of course the fact that he hadn't been exterminated.
He felt a frisson of fear creep into his hearts. He'd long since given up believing this was just an illusion. Being killed by the Daleks, he could cope with...but being turned into a slave was something else, and that scared him.
"Take the Doctor to the laboratory. His eyesight must be restored before we reach Skaro."
"We obey," his Dalek guards said in unison and once again he was dragged away.
He then endured hours of excruciating pain; his Dalek captors didn't care for pain relief.
He sat in the dim light of his cell, his eyes burning from the attentions of the Dalek science team.
The only good thing, he supposed, was the return of his eyesight...but it just meant he could see the four walls of his metal cell. It didn't change the fact that despite his willingly going with the Daleks, Salis had still been destroyed.
That had been enough of a punishment but to add to the agony Ash had been killed. He didn't think he could feel anything for a human...not since...best not to dwell on that, and he doubted he ever would again.
His hearts ached as he knew he would never see his children again, would never Jakaar and James grow up; never see Seska become the fine Time Lord he would no doubt become.
But he was also terrified; terrified that he wouldn't be able to resist the Dalek conditioning he would become the instrument for their destruction.
He sat in his cell, listening and feeling the power of the Command Ship as it made its way towards his meeting with the Emperor. He knew that this time there would be no escape, but he wasn't going to let them turn him into a servant of the Daleks.
That meant only one course of action.
He knew they were under orders not to exterminate him...fine, there were other ways.
But it would have to wait until they made planet fall and he knew exactly where and when to do it.
Ash yawned and stretched; he was tired and the Doctor showed no sign of waking and the door to the room had opened and there were inviting smell coming from what he guessed was the kitchen.
He didn't want to move but his stomach growled at him and it did smell delicious; the smell of fresh bread and bacon.
Why not, he thought; if the TARDIS wanted him to stay she would have kept the door shut. He left the room and the door still remained open and he followed his nose to the kitchen.
On the table there was a plate of freshly made bacon sandwiches and a pot of steaming coffee. He let out a hungry sigh and sat and soon he felt full and much more relaxed.
It was as he was drinking his last cup that he heard the cry and dropped his mug. He shot up and went for the door but found it wasn't there.
He let out a snarl...it had been a trap and he'd fallen for the lure.
Seska stirred as the dream he was having turned from pleasant to disturbing. His mother had been taken by the ancient enemy, the Daleks. He hadn't been taken by force; he'd gone willingly but was now paying the price.
He saw the view of the Dalek home world through his mother's eyes, saw him walk with head held high down a ramp and into a building. He saw nothing after that until his mother stood on what looked like a parapet and now he wasn't looking through his eyes but was watching it like some bizarre movie.
It suddenly turned into a nightmare when his mother moved to the edge and looked back once and then to his horror stepped off...
"No!" he cried and shot up and fell off the bed, but was on his feet in seconds and trying the door.
It was locked and he let out a cry of frustration when he heard what he knew where the distressed cries of his mother.
"Let me out!" he screamed at the TARDIS, but he was ignored.
Something awful was happening to his mother and he couldn't help him.
The Doctor followed the Imperial Dalek down the ramp. He refused to look beaten and held his head high.
They walked into what was no doubt the Emperor's palace and he was taken straight into what was the Dalek version of a throne room.
The Emperor of the Dalek looked exactly as the Doctor expected, glistening gold and that air of superiority.
The Emperor glided forward and said. "Walk with me."
He knew it wasn't an invite, but an order and he complied; they would go in the direction he wanted.
They stopped on a large balcony that looked out over the Dalek capital; all steel and rivers of molten metal.
"Behold our achievement Doctor."
The Doctor wasn't impressed, but the Emperor didn't seem to notice.
"You will help us expand and build. Your knowledge will enhance and advance the Dalek cause."
"Not likely," he replied.
"You wish time to consider what options you do not have?"
There it was, the opportunity he wanted.
"Fine."
"You have ten of your minutes," the Emperor said and glided away, followed by his ever present guard.
He walked over to the edge and looked over the parapet...it was a long way down and the glow of the molten river was an orange hellish view.
He let out a breath and stepped onto the ledge and looked back, then stepped off.
Time seemed to stretch as he fell and the river below came close.
He could feel the heat and he knew what was coming next.
He hit the molten metal and the pain was beyond what he'd ever endured and he screamed...
He unexpectedly found himself in a bright room and he let out a cry...where was he...no...who was he?