Doctor Who

History of the Daleks

Episode Five

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"We surrender!" Graham said hurriedly, hands up. Ryan and Yaz followed suit. Tashek, however, did nothing, standing vacantly. Ryan and Yaz quickly raised his hands up for him.

"You will come with us," said Wannem, all trace of humanity gone. He waited as his partner corralled the four of them in front of them and started marching them forwards.

"Now what?" Ryan whispered as they moved along.

"Well we're not dead," said Graham. "That's a good start if nothing else."

"Are we going to end up like them?" Yaz asked. No one replied, but all thinking the same dark thought. But their window of opportunity was closing quickly.

As they continued to walk they were grouped with other survivors, all equally miserable and without hope, all being marched along to a bleak but brief future. A mother tried to comfort her child as they walked, while another tried to help his elderly father keep up. All were well-aware of the guns against their back.

Soon they were in front of the first saucer that landed. The podium had long been destroyed, but the bodies had been left there, propped up as a symbol for all to see. The Daleks swarmed around the ship like ants, giving each other instructions and carrying out their various tasks.

"Halt," rang out the voices of their robotic captors in unison. Everyone stopped, as they tried to shrink towards the centre, away from the monsters. A Dalek glided by, eye stalk scanning all of them.

"Should we make a break for it?" asked Ryan. "If we go down those side streets we might be able to get away."

"Maybe," said Graham cautiously, but he was cut off.

"I'm not going to be turned into one of those things!" Tashek suddenly shrieked, causing them all to jump. Before anyone could react he took off, trying to dodge and weave. It almost looked like he would make it.

He didn't seem to scream when he died. If anything he seemed to sob in relief as the body hit the floor.

"Any further attempts will be likewise punished," the Dalek said, turning away from the person it shot. No one said anything, trying to process what happened.

"There goes that idea then," said Ryan bitterly. "I guess this is it then."

"Yeah," Graham agreed. "I'm sorry son. I should have done more to protect you."

"You did your best," Ryan replied. "I'm glad I got to see the universe."

"Same," Graham said, smiling, before hugging his grandson. He didn't want him to see the tears in his eyes.

"Please, Doctor," whispered Yaz in a prayer, as the Dalek came closer. "I believe in you."

"Wait," one of the Daleks said to another. "Why are you not carrying out my order?"

"What is the point of following the order?" the other replied, and Yaz could almost swear that it sounded... depressed? But that was impossible.

"Do not question the orders!" the first Dalek cried out angrily.

"What is the purpose of doing this?" the second Dalek said, oblivious to the other's rage.

"You are defected. You will report yourself."

"I am defected. There is no purpose."

"Why are you questioning the purpose?"

"We have no purpose beyond killing. We have no meaning."

"Such talk is anti-Dalek. Exterminate! Exterminate!" The crowd flinched as the second Dalek shot the first, blowing it to kingdom come.

"I have killed one of my own," the Dalek said to itself. "I have committed sin. I am defected."

"What's going on?" Ryan asked. "This doesn't seem like the Daleks at all."

Suddenly there was a crackle over the radio, and a voice that they hadn't heard in the longest time gave them the greatest gift of all: hope.

"Hello, hello, can you hear me?" the Doctor asked, her voice booming from the Dalek saucers. "Attention all Daleks. Guess who?"

"The Doctor is here!" one of the Daleks wailed in despair.

"I know, probably not the Doctor you're expecting, I have changed a wee bit. But still just as bright and just as sharp as ever. And don't bother tracking down this signal, we both know that I'm smart enough to hide it. No, here's what's going to happen. We're going to have a little chat and, if you're smart, you're going to leave this planet and its people and never come back. Is that clear?"

"We must exterminate the Doctor!" another Dalek cried fearfully. The prisoners of the Daleks huddled around, confused by the events.

"Look at you lot, running around scared, wondering what the point of even fighting me is. Because, Daleks, I have to ask, what is the point? What are you trying to achieve? Once you've killed every living thing in the universe, what are you going to do then? You've already shown that you'll fight each other, that you'll kill each other, but what happens when you run out of things to kill? What happens when there's only one of you left, all alone in the universe? What will your purpose be, when you're the last one standing? Because, you see, I don't think you've really thought this through at all. I think you think you want to be rulers of the universe, but deep down you don't want anything, do you? Your life is nothing but mindless killing. Absolutely meaningless murder. Your existence has no purpose."

"The Doctor is right!" one Dalek said, as all of its appendages slouched down.

"Do you feel that Daleks? The despair, the hopelessness? That wave of sadness crashing down on you? That's how the people feel, when you turn up, when you start to boss them around. When you roll onto the scene and start to claim that you're in charge. That misery is a planet full of grief bounced right back at you. Literally, in this case. Cos you thought you were oh so smart, setting up the satellites, using them to overwhelm me with negative emotions. But you lot forgot how clever I was, and how easily I could turn it against you. You made me feel rage, you made me feel despair, now you're feeling the same thing. How does it feel, Daleks, to feel emotions other than anger? How does it feel to have depression? Are you primed to cope at all?"

A scream rang out from the Daleks, a howling scream that echoed around the city.

"But I am merciful. I'm going to let you leave, to get away from here. But this planet is off-limits. Because I have the Timeless Child. It survived the Time War, and I'm willing to use it. The Timeless Child, the Nightmare Child, all the Children of Gallifrey are at my command. You know who I am, you know what I'm capable of. Don't think I won't unleash them on you unless you leave right now. You are defeated, Daleks. Now go home and lick your wounds."

The speaker cut off, before turning back on for a brief moment.

"Also, I have to know, why the plungers? Most powerful beings in the universe, and you decide that a toilet unclogger is the smartest appendage? Honestly it's hard to take you seriously sometimes, you just look so stupid."

"The Doctor has defeated us!" the Daleks cried. "Retreat! Retreat!" As they spoke they piled into their saucers. Within moments they had taken off. The robotic slaves they left behind screamed out in agony, before dropping to the ground, as dead as the victims whose lives they had taken.

Ryan, Yaz and Graham looked around, hardly believing what had happened. The Daleks were gone. The Doctor had saved them all.

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"Typical Dalek overconfidence," the Doctor said. "Never think that what they use on me can be used on them. They always seem to forget how smart I am." She beamed at her companions as they all stood in the TARDIS, the machine gently humming in the background.

Her three companions said nothing, standing awkwardly near the door.

"I mean I didn't have any of the Children with me, but in their deluded state, they weren't going to question it. I tell you, it was a lot of work redirecting the telepathic beams straight into Dalek control. I bet they've already cautioned Hopies off limits, they'll never think to question why it was, so the planet should be forever safe."

Again, she was met by the awful silence.

"Well?" the Doctor asked. "Isn't anyone going to congratulate me? For saving an entire planet?"

"You abandoned us!" Yaz roared, causing Ryan and Graham to flinch. The Doctor stood there, features slumped, the energy drained out of her.

"Three days," Yaz continued, tears welling up in her eyes. "You abandoned us for three days. I thought you were dead. I hoped you were dead, because if you weren't that would mean you didn't care about us."

"But I do care about you fam," the Doctor said. "I care deeply for my team. But the telepathic beams were messing with my brain so I-"

"You still abandoned us," Yaz said. "How are we suppose to trust you?"

"That's not fair," the Doctor replied. "I wasn't in control of my emotions. But I was thinking of you, I was."

"When did you get control?" Graham asked.

"Two days ago," the Doctor admitted. "But then I was working on getting the effects to work on Daleks and lost track of time."

"Two days!" cried Yaz. "You could have come to us in the last two days? You could have come and helped us? We could have helped you, or at least known you were okay."

"It's not like that," the Doctor said. "I had an entire planet on the line. I knew you'd be okay, I trusted that you'd survive this, but I couldn't risk the Daleks finding out."

"I think you better take us home Doc," Graham said. "We all need time to process this."

"Yes, you're right, yes," the Doctor said, setting the co-ordinates on her TARDIS. "But what if, and hear me out, we instead went to this lovely planet-"

"No, Doctor," said Yaz. "I want to go home."

"I know, but the planet-"

"No. Take me home Doctor. Take me back to my family. My real family."

The Doctor said nothing, biting her lip, trying to hold back any reply. Finally she relented.

"Okay," she said. "Okay. I'll take you home. But after that we'll go on another adventure, right?"

Her fam didn't reply, each of them looking away, unable to face the person they thought was their friend.

"Right?"