"What the Hell are those things?" demanded Jo as The Doctor reached the bottom of the stairs.
"No time to explain, Detective, we need to evacuate."
"Evacuate what?" asked Hanson. "The place is abandoned."
"Not the factory," said The Doctor, "the city."
Hanson choked in disbelief. "Wait, what? You can't be serious. We can't just evacuate New York City! It's New York City!"
"Look," said The Doctor, agitated, "there are at least three Daleks in there, maybe more and as long as that's the case then every single man, woman and child in this city is at risk."
"Doctor, I understand what you're saying," said Jo with more understanding than Hansen, "but it is literally impossible to pull off an evacuation of that size, not in any immediate timeframe, anyway. Now, maybe we could evacuate a few blocks, but we're going to need answers. What exactly are we dealing with?"
"You wouldn't believe me," said The Doctor.
"Try us," responded Jo.
The Doctor looked at Lucie, who shrugged and said, "They need to know. Besides, what've we got to lose?"
The Doctor thought for a moment and then nodded.
"Alright, those creatures up there?" he said, pointing up at the factory. "Those are Daleks – genetically mutated alien beings designed for one purpose: to hate and destroy everything that isn't a Dalek."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," interrupted Hansen, "back the truck up. You said alien?"
"Quick on the uptake, ain't ya Columbo?" quipped Lucie.
"OK," said Jo, shaking her head, "let's just put a pin in the alien thing for now. How do we beat them? What kind of firepower are we dealing with?"
"The Dalek gunstick fires a concentrated beam of energy which can exhibit a number of different properties depending on the setting, but the upshot is that the target is completely scrambled. When fighting organic lifeforms, they tend to aim for the internal organs rather than the outer body."
"Our murder vic," said Jo.
The Doctor nodded.
"But what about..." the words caught in Jo's throat, "what about Henry? He completely vanished."
Hanson looked at Jo in disbelief. "Wait, what?"
"It's true," said Jo, her throat tight, "he vanished right before my eyes."
"Yes, well, that was a new one on me," said The Doctor, "and I promise you that I'll look into it, but for now, we need to prepare an offensive."
"We got S.W.A.T coming in," said Hanson, "they'll have enough firepower to take out dozens of those things."
Jo shook her head. "You didn't see it, Mike, it was like nothing I've ever seen. It seemed like my bullets were melting – I mean, literally melting – before they even hit home."
"Keen eye, Detective," said The Doctor, "not only are the Daleks' casings extremely durable, but they have a low-level force-field that protects them from small projectiles. Though, given the condition of that lot, they'll be struggling to keep the lights on, as it were."
Lucie's head shot up. "Wait a sec, that's the solution, isn't it? These Daleks are low on power, so can't we just wait for 'em to run flat, then run in and smash 'em to bits?"
The Doctor cocked his head a little and exhaled. "Well, it's a sound theory, but we've no way of knowing how many Daleks we're dealing with, nor their condition. We need to perform some reconnaissance. After all, by knowing ourselves and our enemy, we needn't fear a hundred battles."
Jo cocked her head. "The Art of War?"
"Oh, so Sun Tzu did use that line," beamed The Doctor. "That cheeky devil, he didn't even pay me any royalties."
Without any further discussion, The Doctor started walking back towards the car, with Lucy following suit.
Hanson made to follow him, but Jo stopped him.
"Mike, I need you to wait for S.W.A.T and keep an eye on things here. See what you can do about organising an evacuation. I'll let you know as soon as I know where we're going."
"You sure?" asked Hanson, casting his eyes towards The Doctor.
"I hope so," she replied.
After a silent moment, Hanson nodded. "Alright, but watch your back out there."
"You too," she said before running off to catch up with The Doctor.
"Where are we going?" asked Jo.
"I need my TARDIS – that blue box that your people confiscated," said The Doctor. "It's the biggest tactical advantage we have."
"Yeah," said Lucy, "but won't the Daleks notice if we show up in the TARDIS, huffin' and wheezin' away. I mean, she's pretty flippin' awesome and all, but she's not exactly stealthy, is she?"
"True," conceded The Doctor, "but she can give as a detailed scan of the factory – show us what exactly we're dealing with."
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver as they approached the car and pointed it in its general direction, causing the vehicle to unlock with a brief beep-beep and a flash of lights.
"Hey!" said Jo.
"Forgive me, Detective, I thought it would be quicker."
Jo gave The Doctor an unsure look as they all slipped into their respective doors – Jo and The Doctor up front and Lucie in the back.
"Just don't go taking liberties," said Jo as she cranked the ignition, "technically, you're still our prisoner. More or less."
The Doctor smiled softly as he clicked his seat-belt into place. "Whatever you say, Detective."
Abe's car pulled up to the curb just outside of the alleyway. Technically they were double-parked, but these were desperate times.
Henry jumped out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop and ran up the alleyway, his scarf trailing behind him, since he'd been in too much of a rush to bother tying or wrapping it in any meaningful way.
He scrambled to a stop as the uniformed officer at the scene held up a hand.
"Sorry Sir, this is an active crime-scene. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"I know it's a crime-scene," groaned Henry, "I'm the medical examiner working on the case – I was here this morning!"
"Can I see some identification?" asked the officer.
Henry frowned in frustration as he reached into his trouser pockets, looking for his wallet. Failing to find it, he reached into his jacket pockets, followed by his waistcoat. Nothing.
"Stupid!" he said, realising that, of course he'd lost it. The only thing that ever seemed to be left behind when he died was his pocket-watch – presumably because it had been with him when he died originally. As such, he never carried much cash on him and he was treated with great disdain by the administration clerk who had to keep reissuing him with new credentials.
"Excuse me?" asked the officer, clearly not amused by Henry's outburst.
"No, not you officer, it's just that I just realised that I left my wallet and my identification at home. But I assure you that it is of the utmost importance that I speak to Detective Martinez."
"Detective Martinez isn't here," said the officer, still very much in doubt of Henry's story.
It was only now that Henry realised that Jo's car was no longer there – how had he failed to notice that?
He let out a sigh of relief, his body relaxing a little.
"Well, might you be able to tell me where she went?"
"Sir, I think it'd be best if you just moved along." The officer was still eyeballing him – sizing him up.
"Henry!"
Henry looked past the officer and saw Detective Hanson running towards him.
"Henry, holy crap!" he beamed. "Jo said that you were-"
"It's a long story," he interjected, hoping that he would be able to avoid awkward questions, at least for the time being. "But Jo-"
Now it was Hanson's turn to interject. "She's fine, everyone's fine. She's headed to the impound lot on 38th & 12th with that Doctor and the pretty blonde. Something about his blue box, I don't know."
"The Police Box?" asked Henry, cocking his head. "Anyway, thank-you Detective." With that, he ran back towards Abe's illegally parked car.
"Don't mention it," muttered Hanson. "I miss the days when he was the weirdest part of my day."
The tyres crunched on gravel as Jo pulled into the impound lot's car park. She flashed her badge at the guard and after a minute that felt like an eternity to the Doctor, they were allowed through.
"Lot 681B," said Jo as she led the way, following the directions the guard had given her. "It only got here about an hour ago."
"Yeah, well, you'd better hope the TARDIS is OK," said Lucie, "or we'll sue."
"Don't worry Lucie," said the Doctor, "the old girl might have a few miles on the clock, but she's durable. She's stood the test of time – literally."
"Yeah well, all I know is that me Auntie Pat had her Impala impounded once and when she got it back, they'd knocked a wing mirror clean off! Greasy twats didn't give 'er compensation or nothin'."
Jo had no idea what they were talking about and it was only partly due to the accents. She just kept herself focused on finding the appropriate lot.
"678, 679, aha," she said as she saw the big, blue box up ahead. It stood out like a sore thumb among all of the cars, boats and trailers.
Suddenly, the Doctor whizzed past her, his coat tails nearly whipping her in the face. His face was positively beaming – giddy with joy.
"There you are old girl," he said, excitedly. "I hope they treated you well."
Lucie came up beside Jo and gave an exasperated sigh. "Boys and their toys," she said before approaching the box and giving it her own appreciative pat. "Good to see ya again. I was worried for a sec'."
The Doctor fished out a key that was attached to the other end of his watch chain. He unlocked the door and then stepped in – no, he bounded in. Jo half expected to hear a thud as he collided with the back wall.
Jo gave Lucie a confused look, but she just smiled and shrugged before following the Doctor in.
Unsure as to what was going on, Jo took a few more cautious steps towards the box.
"OK Doctor, so what is the plan exactly? Do I need to organise a tow?"
The Doctor's voice responded, but it was distant and reverberated strangely – like he was calling out from inside a cave. "Never mind about that Detective, just come on in."
Jo cocked her head – there was no way all three of them could fit in there comfortably and she didn't think she wanted to try.
"I think I'll pass," she called back.
A minute later Lucie poked her head out and said, "Oi, get ya boots in here pronto – you're letting the heat out." Then she was gone again.
Jo sighed and then walked up to the open doors and stepped inside.
"OK, Doctor, now what…oh…what?"
She just stood there, dumbfounded as she stared into the cavernous expanse before her. It was like some sort of grand European library or cathedral or something – lots of Gothic architecture and high arches. But…that didn't make sense!"
"It's…" she started.
In the middle of the room, there was a dais or console of some sort. The Doctor was skimming around it, fiddling with buttons and levers. Lucie was standing back, helping him occasionally when he couldn't quite reach a button.
"It's bigger…"
"Do you think she'll say it?" asked Lucie nonchalantly.
"Could do," said the Doctor.
"It's bigger…" repeated Jo,
"I don't think she will," said Lucie. "She's too tough and cynical to be really surprised."
The Doctor looked up and smiled. "A Wager?"
"Five quid," said Lucie.
The Doctor reached an arm across the console. "A gentleman's agreement?"
Lucie grasped his hand and shook. "You're on buddy-boy!"
"It's bigger than I expected," Jo finally blurted out.
"Yes!" said Lucie, making a power pose and poking her tongue out at the Doctor.
"Well," he mumbled, "close enough."
