Chapter 29 – The Daleks' Plan (Posted July 4th 2010)

"What. Is. That?" Jack said, looking down at the growling To'mfa.

"That's our dog, To'mfa." the Master said, picking him up and scratching behind his ears.

"You have a pet?" Jack was a little shocked.

"Yeah, we got him from the King and Queen of Diligo-Ortus." the Doctor interjected.

"But, that's not really a dog." Jack pointed out.

"No, but it's easier to call him that, plus he looks like one when we put a perception filter on his wings." the Master said, still trying to calm him. "I guess he doesn't like strangers."

"He's fine with them outside the TARDIS, but nobody has ever been in here besides us, so he's probably upset that there's an intruder in his home. Just pet him, Jack, he'll warm up to you. Every living creature does." the Doctor kept messing with the controls.

Jack laughed and patted To'mfa a few times. The animal eventually stopped growling. "Can I hold him?"

"Sure." the Master said, carefully placing him in Jack's arms.

"He's really cute." Jack said, smiling at the pup. "What did you say his name was?"

"To'mfa." the Master replied.

"What language is that?"

"Shouldn't it be translating it in your head?" the Master asked, glancing at the Doctor.

"No, it doesn't translate names, because people keep their name no matter what language is being spoken." the Doctor said, landing the TARDIS.

"Oh, ok, I really didn't know that. The TARDIS is a smart girl." the Master said. "Anyway, his name is Gallifreyan."

"What's it mean?"

The Master hesitated before answering. "It means... sixteen..."

"That's an odd name. Sixteen?" Jack set To'mfa back on the floor. "Does that have some special meaning to you?"

"Um..."

"You don't have to tell me, I was just curious." Jack said.

"No, it's fine, it just sounds weird telling it to someone else. It's a little embarrassing."

"Not it's not." the Doctor said. "It's sweet. I'm the tenth Doctor and he's the sixth Master, add them together and you get sixteen."

"That is sweet." Jack laughed loudly. "And which one of you came up with it?"

"I did." the Master said sheepishly.

"We're here." the Doctor said, rushing to the door. "Anyone care to come outside?"

"Count me in!" Jack said, following him out.

"Wait for me!" the Master yelled, closing the door behind him as he left the TARDIS.

It was dark and steamy in the factory. There were machines everywhere, and it smelled of rust.

"Do you think they're hiding in the open down here?" Jack whispered.

"No." the Doctor said softly. "I think most of them are hiding in dark corners, and one... will be the lookout for wherever the lot of them is."

"So, if we find one, we find them all?" the Master asked.

"Most likely." the Doctor confirmed.

"Then, I reckon they're over there." the Master whispered, barely even audible, as he pointed to a dark corner where something yellow was glimmering.

The Doctor and Jack both looked at the slightly sparkling object. It was completely dark, except for the minute strip of light shining on it from a hole in the ceiling, which was also probably the floor of the living quarters of the machinery operators. The object was hidden entirely by the shadows, anyone only giving a passing glance, even anyone taking a closer look for a few seconds, would never notice the Dalek that was keeping watch from that corner. But her could spot everything from that little corner.

"He can see us." Jack said. "He might not be looking, but if her looks, he'll see us. He may have already. So why isn't he moving?"

"Maybe he thinks we haven't seen him. We should keep looking, try to surprise him. At least until we find where the others are hiding." the Doctor whispered, looking around the machines.

"Doctor," the Master said, "I think there's a trapdoor underneath him."

The Doctor glanced to the floor the Dalek was sitting on, seeing the furnished wood which stood out from the rest of the stone floor, but only if you were trying to find it. "Oh, nice job, Master, you've found them!" the Doctor said excitedly. "We can't get down there, not right now, so I think we need to go up. We need to speak with the technicians, find out what's inside these machines. There're stairs over there, if we can make it up, have them come down to inspect it, we might make it out, trick the Daleks into thinking we know what they're up to, but that we haven't found them yet."

The Doctor lead them to the stairs, and they quietly walked up. They knocked on the door to the upper floor, and a heavy man opened it, asking who was there. Pulling out his handy-dandy psychic paper, the Doctor told him he and his two companions were a team of ManuPlan machine inspectors, there to interview all the operators and look inside all the machines.

The heavy man, who had a very long blue beard, grunted and let them in. They walked around carefully, looking to see if anyone looked suspicious.

"Who's that, Mortsie?" an extremely tall pink woman with black spots asked from a table. She was surrounded by four other people. To her right sat a male just like her. Next to him was a furry man who seemed to have multi-colored feathers instead of hair on his head. Then there was a green woman with a spikey head, the Doctor had seen some of her kind before. And the last one was a human girl, a teenager they suspected, with black hair and pimples.

"They're inspectors, Jundna. No doubt here to harass us for a while and then slink back into their cave back at headquarters." Mortsie answered, obviously not afraid of insulting the 'inspectors'.

"We're not going to cause you any trouble. We're just investigating reports of strange and/or foreign technology usage. Tell me," the Master started, "has there been any updates or repairs or anything made on any of the machines? Any installation of new parts or anything?"

"I'm sorry," Jundna asked, "but what did you say your names were?"

"John Smith." the Doctor said.

"Mark Druff." the Master said.

"Carl Hudson." Jack said.

"Now," the Doctor said, "are you going to answer our questions or not?"

"About three weeks ago, some people came in and updated the generator and two processing machines. Installed new cogs or something like that." Jundna said in a cocky voice.

"And has any... odd activity been going on?" Jack asked.

"We hear sounds," the furry man said in a scruffy voice, "downstairs. When we aren't down there, and the machines aren't running, it sounds as if someone is operating them, but it sounds different."

"And, what's your name?" the Doctor asked him.

"Rex, sir."

"Thanks, Rex." the Master said. "Anyone else notice anything suspicious?"

Those who hadn't spoken shook their heads.

"Good. Could one of you show us which machines were updated?" Jack asked.

"I'll take you." the pink male said. "My name is Jundno, I am Jundna's brother. I am in charge of the crew. Follow me." They went back down into the factory and Jundno lead them first to the biggest machine. "This is the generator. It provides electricity to the entire planet by dispersing in throughout general capacitors on different continents. It was the first to be updated. They added this metal plate," he pointed to a bright yellow block of metal, which was wired into the generator box, "claiming it generated more power using less fuel, but we have yet to see the effects."

"Did you watch them while they were installing it?" the Doctor said, prodding the thing with his fingers.

"Be careful, Doctor." the Master said, putting his hand lightly on the Doctor's shoulder.

The Doctor turned around and smiled at the Master. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Then he turned back around and traced some of the wires with his hands.

"Um, no, I wasn't there when they put it in. They wouldn't let us see, said it was some sort of security protocol." Jundno said to the Doctor.

"Is this the only additional part they added to the generator?" Jack asked.

"As far as we know, yes. I've inspected it myself, after they installed it, it's the only thing that was changed."

"What are the other two machines?" the Doctor asked.

"This way." Jundno walked over to two smaller machines that looked like the exposed underbelly of an automobile mixed with the jumbled insides of a television set. "These are the processors. They are the first step in the division of electricity on the planet. They go through a few machines before they come here to be processed and sent out to capacitors and power units above the surface."

"And what was done to them?" the Master asked.

"The same metal plate was installed on these machines. They said the same thing, that it would reduce the cost of producing the energy, but we still haven't seen any changes. If anything, the costs have risen slightly."

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the plate, kneeling to get closer. "Thank you, Jundno. Tell your colleagues we appreciate their cooperation."

Jundno nodded and left.

"This is definitely it." the Doctor said, standing. "Let's go outside."

They left quietly, keeping a close watch on the Dalek guard from the corners of their eyes. Once outside, they knew they were safe, so they huddled by the TARDIS and talked.

"So, what's with those plates? I've never seen anything like that. Is it Dalek technology?" Jack asked.

"Yes, it is Dalek, but I don't think it's accidental." the Doctor scratched his eyebrows. "I don't think the Daleks are here to collect their technology, I think they're here to... implement it."

"You mean... you think they're up to something more than retrieving these plates?" the Master asked.

"Yes. Which means that those people they've rounded up are in more danger than we initially believed." the Doctor answered.

"What are they doing then?" Jack asked.

"I don't know." the Doctor sighed.

"I might have an idea." the Master interrupted. After receiving nods of encouragement, he continued. "I think they've lost their own energy source. They've wired their own energy converters. They're redirecting the energy created here into these boxes so they can use it to recharge themselves."

"But why here?" Jack asked.

"They're stranded." the Master offered in explanation. "Or they have plans for something to happen in this system. They could be planning an invasion or a takeover, and just using this planet because it's convenient."

"Master, you're a genius!" the Doctor shouted. "Of course, they're planning an invasion. Do you know what other planet is in this system? There's this ManuPlan, Diliog-Ortus, and only one other."

"Linux?" the Master asked, realizing what the Doctor might be getting at.

"What, like the computer?" Jack asked.

"Exactly." the Doctor said. "It's a computer planet. Information, tons of it. Intelligence just waiting to be extracted. They could use it to do some serious damage everywhere they go. They could be practically unstoppable."

"Unless we stop them before they get that far." Jack said.

"Of course." the Doctor smiled, dazzlingly.

"So, how do we do that?" the Master asked.

"We have to temporarily corrupt the data stored on Linux, so that they think it's useless, then we restore it and make it look like nothing ever went wrong." the Doctor got an excited glimmer in his eyes. "But first... we need to cause a distraction."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Happy independence Day, fellow Americans!