Chapter LIII
Mira's POV
Mira watched Romana and Tyssan leave.
"Maybe one of us should go with them?" she asked, but the younger Doctor only shook his head.
"They'll be fine!" he said, suddenly appearing next to her and peering out the same whole in the wall as she did.
Then he went back to Davros. She watched him - both of them actually, her Doctor was standing next to his younger self – and thought about their short telepathic conversation. She hadn't realised how much she had missed it. Even though the short, casual chats with her old friend Gucky and the other telepaths in her universe had become a habit, she would have never thought that she would actually miss it one day. There had been a time when she had rejected the thought that telepathic communication was actually better then mere words; a time when she had tried to be 'normal'. It had taken a while until she finally had been able to accept that she wasn't and would never be normal. Not normal like all the other humans. There was no need in pretending. It was just the way her brain was working. She was able of communicating in ways other humans couldn't, and yes, God dammit, it was so much better than all this talking, guessing and interpreting they had to rely on. Finally, she had been able to embrace it instead of fighting it. It certainly had its downsides, even more so that she basically was an empath and got permanently influenced by other people's emotions, and 'not listening' for her was much harder than it was for a pure telepath, but she wouldn't trade it for anything.
But now was neither the place nor the time to think about it. And most of all, she probably shouldn't ask the Doctor if they could repeat that any time soon. No need to get even closer with him.
"Well, now we've a little time for ourselves, I'll fill you in on some of the events that have taken place during the centuries you've been dozing," the younger Doctor said to Davros.
"Well?" Davros invited him to continue.
She watched Davros and wondered once more what had happened to him. Had he always been like that? He was a bitter, sadistic and ruthless. And yes, the Doctor was right, megalomanic as well. But there was something else, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She wasn't even sure if she wanted. It took all her self-control to not get overwhelmed by the hatred and madness she felt emanating from him. She had to constantly remind her that it was him and not her, and as for that not her own feelings.
"Arcturus won the Galactic Olympic Games, Betelgeuse came a close second," the younger Doctor explained, whilst he nestled with something in his hands. "The economy of Algo is in a terrible state due to irreversible inflation..."
"Doctor?" Davros interrupted him.
"What? Yes?"
"Do you believe your puny efforts can change the course of destiny?"
"Well," the younger Doctor said, turned Davros' chair around and whispered in his ear, "Let's just say I might tamper with it."
"Destiny, Doctor," Davros said unimpressed.
"What?"
"Invincible necessity."
"Oh, that, that, yes," the younger Doctor replied and continued with whatever he was doing.
"Power. My Power. My invincibility. My supreme plan to control," Davros continued, and then finished the sentence together with the younger Doctor, "The universe."
"Yes, yes. I've heard all that before. Now, do be a good chap, eh? Stay quiet," the younger Doctor said and pulled something out of his pocket that looked suspiciously like an explosive. "I've got to concentrate."
"Errors of the past will be rectified. I will add new design elements to the Daleks' circuitry. They will be armed with new weaponry. Weaponry so devastating, that all matter will succumb to its power. I will equip them with all the knowledge of the universe."
"Yes, yes, yes, we've heard all that. The Daleks can do all that for themselves."
"The Daleks need me."
"What?" Suddenly the younger Doctor jumped up so sudden that he startled her, got behind Davros and spoke in his ear again. "The Daleks left you for dead centuries ago. You've given them all you got. What do they want you for now, eh? What's so special about the Movellans that they need your help again, eh?"
With that said, he sat down again and continued with his work.
Movellans. The weird people dressed in white from that spaceship. Something was odd about them, but what?
Doctor's POV
He had watched the conversation between his former self and Davros. He still knew word for word what had happened back then. At least everything went now as it was supposed to, more or less.
He looked at Mira who was sitting on a large piece of scrap metal and watching Davros. He hoped she would stick to her promise, even though she had given it reluctantly. But as far as he knew her by know, she would. She would never promise something she wouldn't or couldn't keep, would she? Most of all, she must be able to understand the implications of changing the past.
His glance fell on Mira and he had to think about the telepathic contact with her. It had been a long, a very long time since he last had heard another voice like that in his mind. Of course he was feeling the presence of the TARDIS there, always, but that was different. Mira had completely taken him by surprise. He would have never expected that she would actually be the one taking the initiative. Well, he knew that it had merely been out of the situation, not for the telepathic contact itself.
"So, that's your plan then?" she suddenly broke the silence, addressing Davros. "Arming the Daleks, even though I wonder how you will acquire all the knowledge of the universe, enslave every living being, destroy the rest and then what?"
Not good. He had no idea what she was doing that for, but judging from the look on her face it would potentially become dangerous. Not so much to him or the timelines, but to herself. Davros could be a powerful enemy.
"What would you understand of my plans?" Davros said snottily. "You are nothing more than a slave to me."
"Oh I think I understand enough of them. Enough to know that you'll never achieve them."
"And why is that so?" Davros replied with hardly concealed contempt in his voice.
"Why? Because once you've achieved them, you're as good as dead. I think the journey is the only thing that keeps you alive, not reaching the goal."
"I do not have to listen to this!"
"Oh, angry now, are we? Hit a nerve? So, answer my question then. What will be once you've achieved your plans?"
"I will not explain myself to you," Davros said, his voice filled with scorn.
That was enough. He slightly shook his head, certain that Mira had to see it out of the corner of her eye. And indeed, she did, but she didn't react as he had hoped she would. She just looked at him for a moment with an expression of such authority on her face that he refrained from any further attempts to stop her.
"Oh, I don't think you have to," she said to Davros. "I already know. Do you want to hear it?"
He caught a surprised glance from his former self. Oh well, he could very well imagine what he was thinking right now.
As Davros remained silent, she continued, "You're afraid."
"I am Davros! I am not afraid!"
"Oh yes. Yes you are. Deep down inside, and you know it. What will be left once your Dalek army rules the universe? What will you do then? There is nothing left to hide behind then, nothing left to distract you from what you really are. Nothing that'll keep you alive. Nothing worth living for. That is your biggest fear."
"I will kill you!" Davros shouted in a sudden outburst of rage.
"How so? Run me over with your wheelchair?"
"I have my Daleks exterminate you!"
"That won't change a thing, Davros. And if you kill every last one in the universe, you can't escape yourself. Well, there would be one way of doing so, but-" She remained silent for a moment and looked into space, seemingly absent. "That's it," she continued. "Oh Davros, you're more broken than I'd expected. You're alone. Alone except for the Daleks. Your creation. But who would want company like that? Not even you." She looked him up and down for a moment before she continued, "How did this happen? You weren't always like this, hm?"
Davros chose to remain silent, and Mira just observed him. Suddenly the Doctor knew what she was doing. Davros didn't need to answer her, she could just read is emotions. There must be some reaction to her words, even if he wasn't showing it.
"Mira, that's enough!" he tried to intervene, but she still ignored him.
"I'm right, aren't I?" she said, stood up and took a few steps towards Davros. "After everything what destiny's done to you, you still believe in it? You hate life so much that you want to enslave and kill every living being, and yet you yourself are clinging to it with every fibre of your miserable existence?"
"What do you know of destiny? You are nothing! You-"
"Oh, a lot, trust me," she said quietly and took another step.
To his surprise, Davros seemed as if he wanted to withdraw. There wasn't much space for him in his wheelchair, and he was almost immobile, but he could swear that he was leaning back, if only a few millimetres.
"You know what? Actually, we – you and me – aren't that different," she said, her voice almost dangerously calm. "We're just at the opposite end of the same spectrum for a lot of our traits. Empathy for example. You should really try it, just for once."
"There, that should do it. Very good," his former self took the chance to end this dispute before it could escalate. Or, better said, escalate any further, if that was possible at all. "Well, aren't you going to ask me what it is? Hmm?" he asked Davros and chuckled. "All right, I'll tell you anyway. Life insurance. " He walked through the room and then turned to Davros once more. "What were we talking about?"
"Your inevitable destruction," Davros announced.
Maybe he was imagining it, but Davros seemed to be relieved that the conversation with Mira was over. She was sitting again on the piece of scrap metal and observed Davros. He walked over to her and sat next to her.
"Was that really necessary?" he asked quietly.
"Most likely not," she replied without looking at him. "Maybe I'm just fed up with all these rule-the-universe plans. Not that I hear that for the first time."
"I'm just afraid you made yourself an enemy. You shouldn't have provoked him like that."
"I didn't provoke him. I merely held up the mirror. You are provoking him," she said and nodded to his former self.
"No, no, no. We had that conversation last time we met. I'm more interested in your survival. I saw you destroyed. The Daleks blasted you at point-blank range," he just said to Davros.
Davros scoffed, "There was damage to my primary life-support system. The secondary and backup circuits switch in immediately. Synthetic tissue regeneration took place whilst bodily organs were held in long-term suspension."
"Blimey," his former self said and leaned down to Davros. "Wasn't that outstaying your welcome in rather a big way?"
"Until the Daleks' universal supremacy is accomplished, I cannot allow myself the luxury of death."
"Oh, poor Davros," his former self said in false pity.
"However, it is a luxury I shall delight in bestowing upon you."
"You're very generous," his former self chuckled.
He had really been mocking Davros quite a lot. But provoking? No. Not really. A bit maybe. But that wasn't really important right now. He found way more disturbing what Mira had said to Davros than his past attempts to mock or provoke him. She and Davros weren't that different? Did she have any idea what Davros had done and what he was about to do? And, most of all, was she really hating life that much? What a question. He had already heard it once, even though the Beast – through Toby – had said she dreaded life as much she dreaded death. Not hate. But was the difference in that case really that big?
I have to talk to her as soon as we're back in the TARDIS, he thought, suddenly filled with growing sorrow. Not that he hadn't been worried before, but her dangerous and almost careless confrontation with Davros had showed him in what bad shape she really was. Well, maybe that's just how she was, but he doubted it. And this time she wouldn't get away with telling him that everything was all right.
"Since my entombment, I have no knowledge of the advancement of my Daleks. Of course they have achieved great things," Davros announced with his unpleasant voice and let his attention back to the conversation between him and his former self.
"Oh, yes. Oh, yes. They've wreaked havoc and destruction, destroyed countless innocent lives...," his former self said and sat down in front of Davros, holding the now finished explosive device.
"Only the beginning!" Davros shouted. "Now I have returned, the campaign will begin in earnest. I have slept but now I have awakened, and the universe will be sorry."
Great, that was the part where Davros misquoted Napoleon. And after that...
"Davros... You...," his former self said and then stopped, lost in thoughts, "'I have slept but now I have awakened, and the universe will be...' You're misquoting Napoleon! One day I'll tell you what happened to him, too."
"Armed with new technology, I will..." Davros started.
He couldn't finish his sentence because right at this moment the door they had so carefully blocked earlier on broken down with an explosion, followed by energy rays of the Dalek weapons.
4th Doctor's POV
He immediately jumped up, went to what was left of the door frame and peered round it.
"You will move into the open," he could hear one of the Daleks say. "If you fail to obey in five seconds, you will be exterminated. One, two, three..."
He had seen enough. He went back to Davros and hurried behind him, hearing the Dalek count.
"Four..."
"Hold it! Hold it," he said, showing the Daleks that had entered the room by now the explosive. "Now, tell them what I've got here," he said to Davros.
"He's holding a primed explosive device."
"And one false move and it goes right down inside his chair. I'll turn Davros and his life-support system into scrap metal. Now back off!"
"We obey only Davros!" the leading Dalek said.
Stupid, stupid robots.
"He's simply buying time. Do as he says," Davros intervened. Obviously he was really clinging onto life.
"Do as he says," he repeated Davro's words.
"We obey," the Dalek said after a second or two that seemed a bit like eternity, and started to retreat.
"I believe this is what's called a Mexican standoff," he murmured.
"How long do you think you can sustain your advantage?" Davros spit. "Alone and against such odds? Supported only by your little friends? Since when do you need so many companions?"
"Wouldn't you like to know, eh?" he laughed and jumped through the room to take a look outside once more. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he said, and then, more thoughtfully and to himself, "Wouldn't you like to know."
He really hoped that Romana and Tyssan would soon be back with reinforcements.
"So, Earth then?" he turned around and addressed Mira.
He was really curious where he would find her, and why they would be travelling together. There was something odd about her, something that didn't quite match up. It had not only been the way she spoke to Davros, there was something else. Something in her eyes he had never seen in any human's eyes before.
"Hm?" She glanced at him out of huge, grey eyes.
"You're from Earth, aren't you?"
She looked tired, he noticed. Tired, worn out, and sad. Most of all sad. It didn't really show in her face, but he could read it in her eyes. If she really was that homesick, why didn't he bring her home?
"Yeah, Earth," she said, obviously not willing to go further into it.
Well, whatever was going on with her, he would find out in time, and he was looking forward to meeting her. Even more so since he had seen his future self and her standing in the corridor, holding hands. He didn't understand what they had been talking about, but he knew they were talking. She was psychic, he could feel that, but why would he talk like that to a human? Just so he couldn't hear them?
Suddenly, the Daleks reappeared, bringing with them a bunch of people, looking as ragged as Tyssan. One after the other of them walked into the chamber where the Daleks had been a few moments ago, a silent procession leaving him rather dumbfounded. What were they plotting now?
"Attention. Attention," one of the Daleks yelled, "The action we are about to take is your responsibility. It will cease only when you agree to total surrender."
"No what?" he replied, seeing one of the humans stepping forward..
Then, before he realised what was going on, they exterminated him on the spot. He collapsed on the floor, and the Daleks had the next person stepping forward.
"Exterminate Exterminate!"
"Stop!" he yelled, before they could kill the second person. From the corner of his eye he saw that his future self had grabbed Mira hat her arm and was holding her back.
"You surrender?" the Dalek asked.
"All right, all right. You can have Davros but only on my conditions."
"State them."
"All slave workers to be release immediately and allowed to leave the city."
"Continue."
"Nothing to come in here until I'm out and in the clear."
"Conditions unacceptable," the Dalek announced without hesitation. "Exterminations will continue."
"Stop! One more Killing and I detonate the device. I'll destroy Davros."
"Logic unacceptable. Detonation would also destroy you."
"Yes," he chuckled, "You hadn't foreseen that one, had you?"
"Self-sacrifice illogical, therefore impossible. Extermination will continue!"
Well, he was playing high, but he wouldn't had anyone else – aside from him – dead. Not because of him. He moved towards Davros, clearly showing the explosive device he was still holding.
"Agree! Agree to his terms. He will do what he says. His logic is impaired by irrational sentiment. Agree. I, Davros, command it," Davros said.
"We obey," the Daleks screamed.
He watched as the slave workers picked up the dead body and then slowly left the chamber.
"The workers have been released," the Dalek announced.
Well, then it was on him now to keep his part of the deal.
"Good, good. Now, I'll need one minute to get clear," he said, but the Daleks stayed in place. "Get back!" he shouted at them.
Finally, they started to retread.
"I told you this was life insurance," he said to Davros. "I've adapted the device to explode by remote control," he continued and attached the explosive on Davros' chair. "All I have to do is squeeze my sonic screwdriver and boom, boom, Davros."
"You need not elaborate, Doctor," Davros replied.
"Just so long as you've got it clear," he said with a grin and then left, making sure that his future self and Mira were following him.
"We'll meet again, Doctor. Never doubt it. We'll meet again," he heard Davros yelling from behind.
"Don't you be so sure."
…
Once outside, they were running over a field of stones and through rocks. He knew they had to be careful, the Daleks would certainly look for them. And indeed, he almost ran into them. They were up on a small hill, and they ducked deeply under a ledge.
"Seek and locate," one of them ordered.
"We obey," the other Daleks replied.
As the Daleks were gone and he pushed himself away from the rock, he grabbed something slimy. He took it and had a closer look at it. It was flexible, about as long as his arm, and suddenly he knew.
"A Kaled mutant, of course. The Daleks were originally organic life forms. I think you've just told me what the Daleks want with Davros, eh? Haven't you?" he said, smiled at the thing and then forcefully threw it away.
"They're looking for Kaled mutants? Why?" Mira wanted to know.
"All in due time," he said and went on.
Not much later he finally spotted Tyssan. But where was Romana? And why was Tyssan out here and not in the Morvellan spaceship?
"Doctor, Doctor," Tyssan yelled and ran over to him.
"Tyssan."
"I've been looking for you. It's hard to move around, though. The Dalek patrols are everywhere," Tyssan said, being out of breath.
"Yes, I've seen," he replied.
"I've found the other prisoners," Tyssan continued and sat down on a rock. "They've told me what you'd done to free them. They're very grateful."
Grateful? It was his fault that they were about to being exterminated in the first place. Well, for one of them it actually had been too late.
"Oh, it was nothing, nothing," he said, quickly repressing these thoughts and sat down next to Tyssan. His future self and Mira were standing opposite of them. "Where are they now?"
"Hiding. If we can lay our hands on some weapon, I'm hoping to turn them into some sort of fighting force."
"That could be very useful, Tyssan," he said and for a moment he saw the look in the eyes of his future self. He didn't seem to approve with Tyssan's plans, but he had no idea, why. Was it sadness he could see in his eyes? Regret? But why? What would happen to him in the future?
Suddenly he heard the metallic voice of a Dalek, "Remain where you are. You will turn and walk ahead of me. If you make any attempt to escape, you will be..."
He didn't manage to say any more, because he was destroyed in a huge explosion. The Doctor thought he could hear a last 'exterminated', the end of the sentence, over the explosion, but he wasn't too sure. A moment later he saw who was responsible for the destruction of the Dalek. A member of the Movellan crew came down a hill, still holding the weapon that just had destroyed the Dalek.
"Awfully decent of you. Very grateful," he said to the woman.
"You will accompany me back to our spacecraft," she replied, pointing the weapon at them now.
"All in good time. There are a few things I want to do first," he said. This wasn't really a surprise, at least for him and Tyssan. And his future self Mira on the other hand looked quite surprised.
"That is not a request. It is an order. Move!" the woman said.
"I do seem to be in demand today. Come on, Tyssan, Doctor, Mira," he said and started to walk. Then he turned around quickly and wound the weapon out of the woman's hand. He threw it over to Tyssan who threw it at his future self. He obviously knew what was going on and threw it to Mira, who looked even more surprised for a moment, but then threw it back to him, over the head of the woman. They repeated that game for three more times, then the woman suddenly sank to the ground, her eyes wide open, staring at the sky.
"Why did she turn against you?" Tyssan asked.
"Not sure she was ever for me," he said, knelt beside her and opened her uniform over her stomach. "What are you doing?" Mira asked.
"Just as I thought. Just another race of robots, no better than the Daleks," he said, as he saw some cables and electrical circuits behind a transparent coverage.
"Robots!?" Mira said, stood up, took a step backwards and looked at him, now utterly stunned.
"Yeah, robots. Why?"
"But..." she started, looked at the robot and then back at him. "I... Dammit!"
"You're swearing a lot, you know that?" he said.
"Yeah, because I should have noticed that. Why didn't I? I mean, they were lacking emotions, but still..."
"They have organic mass integrated in their circuits," his future self said as if that would explain everything.
"Yeah. Still. They may not be as dead as robots are supposed to be, but I should be able to tell them apart from actual living beings."
"Maybe you're just too tired? You need rest. You didn't sleep much lately," his future self said. "Neither did you eat much."
"What?!"
"You really look a bit worn out," he confirmed, siding up with his future self. "And a bit skinny."
"Really? Both of you now?" she said and looked back and forth between him and his future self. "And, by the way, you're in no position to call me or anyone else skinny. Taken a look at yourself lately? Well, at least that goes for the later version of you. You know what, I don't have to listen-"
Suddenly she was interrupted by a bleeping sound. He stretched his neck to see where the sound was coming from, and then he finally saw it in some distance.
Romana.
She was stuffed into a huge, transparent cylinder, obviously unconscious. Well, not really stuffed, she was sitting on the ground and someone had put the cylinder over her. But it looked stuffed and particularly uncomfortable. Attached to the cylinder was some sort of device which was the source of the bleeping.
10th Squad 3rd Seat, Ronin Kenshin, bored411: Thanks for leaving a review :-)
