43. The Daleks' Triumph.

1. Dragged Off Course.

The Doctor receives a Request For Help. This is a frequent occurrence for him, and he acknowledges it as he usually does and the familiar grinding noise is heard to take them to their destination.

Suddenly a strong pushing force is felt, sending everyone in the Control room crashing to the floor.
The grinding noise stops.

"Where are we?" Alyssa asks. She staggers to the Console first and looks at the monitor screen. It's black for now.

Alyssa has joined her sister, Chloe, in the Tardis and hasn't been travelling with the Doctor for long. Their father, Devyon, also swelled the numbers of their family travelling as their home had mysteriously been demolished while they were all out. Chloe's boyfriend, Simeon, is travelling with them for the experience. Alyssa and Chloe's Uncle Meran happened to be with them at the time and hasn't had time to decide to go home yet! .

The Doctor presses buttons and the screen eventually shows "Outside the Universe".
"Where's that when it's at home?" Alyssa asks, hoping for a more intelligible answer.

"That would be Outside the Universe," Meran says, purely repeating. .

"I want to know who brought us here," the Doctor says indignantly.

A Dalek image appears and stabilises on the screen.
"You will all disembark! Obey! We are controlling your Tardis!"

"What? Impossible! It seems we have no choice," the Doctor says. He resents the intrusion into his already difficult path, particularly a Dalek intrusion.

"We must all go out – they may be able to tell, somehow, if even one of us hides."
"How can they do this?" Chloe asks. "Surely they have no knowledge of the Time Vortex?"
"I'd guess the Master is providing something for them. This may be his trap for both us and the Daleks."

They all leave the Tardis, the Doctor and all of his chosen family.


"Now, it seems, you have us here," the Doctor says. "What do you want? Or are you just attention seeking?" he taunts.
"I am Dalek Tan," Dalek Tan says, rolling towards them fearlessly, ignoring the Doctor's insults. "You will observe."
"I don't have any choice," the Doctor says.
"You chose to retain a Dalek suction probe! You chose then!"

The Doctor doesn't want to drop anyone else in it as he hadn't been the one to sever the sucker and retain it (ref. 41). He'd only been the person to arrange for its disposal. But the Daleks like to blame the Doctor, he's already a key enemy of the Daleks. Why drag anyone else to the sharp end?

"You would have dragged me here anyway, whether I'd kept a sucker or not. You don't have to drag my friends and family here, too!"
"They also will observe!" It seems the Daleks are unlikely to let the Doctor's friends off the hook. They see everyone as requiring extermination. .


Dalek Tan addresses them. "We have been developing a Temporal Time Frame short-circuit to hold you and your whole Universe to ransom. Our Time short-circuit will deliver a continuous stream of particles of all types to go back to all moments in the history of the Universe. These will mainly be repellents and will cause acceleration in the expansion of the Universe." Dalek Tan becomes gradually more excited as he proceeds. "After we activate the equipment, there will soon be nowhere in the Universe able to see anywhere else in the Universe. Truly the stars will all go out!

"You will give yourself up to us, Doctor, or we will destroy the Universe! We give you the choice! What is your choice?"

The Doctor knows it isn't a choice, the Daleks won't develop all this kit and not use it.
"Neither! I will stop you!"
"Our experiment will complete before your eyes!" It appears the Daleks have been preparing for this moment and are waiting to watch the Doctor squirm. "Hyperspace and Tardis travel will fail."
"That's us doomed," Devyon says despondently."

"Yes, your friends have begun to give up hope for the future of the Universe. You also will give up hope, Doctor! You are already powerless! We will then build a new Universe with only Daleks! A perfect Universe."
"Perfectly awful!" the Doctor says. .


Small lights have been illuminating the Daleks, the Tardis, the Doctor and his friends.
"What are these little lights?" Alyssa asks.
"They're Focal Lights," the Doctor says quietly. "They'll illuminate a person more if they have more perceived power in a situation."

The lights appear to be illuminating Dalek Tan much more than the Doctor.
"It appears as if the Daleks have us in their power," the Doctor says. "But I have a plan forming. We'll see if that changes things."
"What is your plan?" Dalek Tan advances on the Doctor. "You cannot succeed!"

The light changes slightly to illuminate the Doctor a little bit more than before, but the Dalek remains much brighter.
Alyssa's hopes fall. Surely this is a hopeless place. She feels the lack of having somewhere to run to. She longs to be away from the Daleks, as far as possible!

Chloe sidles up to the Doctor quietly. "I'll fix this," she says quietly.
"No, I will!" the Doctor asserts quietly.

Dalek Tan notices the family looking at the luminance. "Ha, Ha! We are more powerful than you!"

"No, you're not!" Chloe steps forwards into the light and starts to receive gradually more and more light. She smiles as she drinks it in. It starts to look as if Chloe is the most powerful being in the Universe... or outside of it! .
Alyssa looks on. She's totally in the darkness. She wonders why Chloe's illuminated so brightly. What has Chloe become? she wonders, Will she still love me?


What do the Focal Lights know of Chloe's plan?


Chloe mustn't hang around. She knows it won't be long until the Daleks challenge her. She darts into the Doctor's Tardis and requests it builds a Time Distortion Nullifying machine in double quick time. She's seen it build one before (ref. 38), so she knows exactly what to ask for.

It seems the Tardis has anticipated her request as it appears in the Tardis Console room in only a few seconds and floats along beside her as she walks out of the Tardis.

Dalek Tan is furious. "Why are you illuminated more than I am? I can destroy the Universe!"

Without replying, mostly to avoid triggering the Daleks to end the Universe immediately, Chloe climbs into the machine.

"No!" the Doctor shouts. "It's suicide! You mustn't do it! I won't let you! They won't do it! I have another plan. Oh, alright, but I'll fly it!" His concern for Chloe's safety is apparent as he chases after the small craft as far as he can, but it leaves the gravity platform they are on and gathers speed; Chloe directs it towards the Daleks' kit.


They all watch helplessly as Chloe approaches the kit. There's a bright flash and the Nullifying machine disappears along with the Daleks' kit.

Dalek Tan is furious. He hadn't bargained on any of the Doctor's friends paying the ultimate sacrifice immediately and without any verification that the action would suffice.
The Doctor walks back towards his chosen family and talks candidly with them. "Not only is the Dalek experiment destroyed, the local area of space will also self-destroy very shortly! This experiment is a few steps more advanced than their previous experiments. I'm sorry, this is the end for all of us. We'll all soon be meeting with the Supreme Creator Deity, our creator."
"So, it really is the end?" Devyon asks despondently. .

The Focal Lights now illuminate the Doctor... or do they? They certainly stop illuminating Dalek Tan.

The Doctor turns to face Dalek Tan. "No kit, no end of Universe!" the Doctor states forcefully.
"The space around here will terminate in Sixty seconds," Dalek Tan states. "I have still succeeded! You are still Doomed!"
"So are you!" the Doctor shouts in reply.
He directs everyone else to go into the Tardis. "We might gain only a few seconds more for ourselves using Internal Tardis Time!"

"Even your Tardis can't save you! It can't operate! You will all die! You will die with me, Doctor!" Dalek Tan shouts passionately.

The Doctor takes a last stand at the Tardis door, but Simeon takes the Doctor by the hand and almost drags him in and closes the door, believing that Internal Tardis Time requires the door to be shut.

They all approach the Tardis Console, as if it will magically spring to life.
It all seems hopeless and black.


Chloe appears behind them silently and calmly walks towards a Tardis pillar and hugs it...

She knows this is their only possibility of surviving the situation – it's an idea a friend had had in a similar situation before. She had rescued everyone then (ref. 38).

Briefly, she worries if the Daleks have known about their escape method and taken steps to prevent their escape now. But how could the Daleks have known about it? All the Daleks present then had perished and had been unable to send any transmission anywhere.

She sees the Tardis Consciousness approaching her dressed in a white dress, hoping to attract some light from the Focal Lights, but she is almost in darkness compared to Chloe's brightness.

"Do you think your escape method will work this time?" the Tardis Consciousness asks desperately, looking into Chloe's eyes as they approach each other.
"Let's hope so!" Chloe says as she hugs the Tardis Consciousness, thinks of home and activates her wristwatch transport (ref. 29).


Today, so much is at stake. The Universe has been saved, but locally there will be severe temporal disruption and Chloe's whole family are here, all desperate to be saved.

Nothing seems to have changed. Chloe steps back from the Tardis Consciousness.
"Did it work?"

As she steps back she finds herself in the Tardis Console room. It's so brightly illuminated that there must be something wrong. Has the disaster outside the Tardis started to destroy it?

Chloe looks at the Console monitor. It's black. What does that mean?


Maybe it's just too bright in here. .


Suddenly the focal lights extinguish and lighting returns to normal.

The Console screen shows an undecorated room, just plastered. Where is this?

All of Chloe's family are clustered around the Console, looking at the screen, along with the Doctor.
"I wonder where this is?" Meran asks, voicing their thoughts.
"Is it the unfinished start of the next Universe?" Devyon asks, "before it's all been painted?" .

"But, but, why are we here," the Doctor asks.

A laughing voice from behind the family causes them all to turn to see Chloe.
"I think it's our new house, just newly built and plastered but not painted yet."

"Of course it is, it must be!" Devyon says. "It must be!" He hasn't accepted that Chloe took a risk earlier.


That was a quick change of tune!
Or is he just clutching at straws?


Then the Doctor sees Chloe, still near to a Tardis pillar. The penny drops for the Doctor well before the others recognise what's happened (ref. 38).

"You saved us," he says, smiling, looking at Chloe. "That old trick!"
"It isn't very old," Chloe says, smiling.
"What just happened?" Alyssa asks.
Chloe really doesn't want to take the limelight, especially when her sister might be so jealous of her.
"We moved into our new house," she says simply. "It's ready to view. Let's go and have a look around!" She feels that distraction therapy might be the best course of action! .
She opens the Tardis door and they all troupe out.

Devyon's ecstatic. "That's great. Just what the plan says!"
"Dad, there's no furniture!" Alyssa scolds him. "We can't even sit down!"

Simeon's looking at Chloe incredulously. She just keeps on amazing him.
"How did you survive the end of that Nullifying capsule?" As he breathes in his next breath he takes a larger breath as he gradually understands what Chloe just did. She survived!
He laughs. "That's just incredible!"

"I asked the Doctor's Tardis for an additional time delay after I activated the Time Distortion Nullifying thingy. I gave myself a second to activate my wristwatch transport while thinking of being in the Tardis a few seconds later! No-one realised!" she giggles.


Ah, that's what she was doing!


"And how did you get us all away from that terrible place?"
"Simple. I hugged the Tardis Consciousness, thought of home and activated my wristwatch transport. That brought the Tardis and everyone in it here!"
"How does that work when the Tardis couldn't?"
"It works differently. My wristwatch transport doesn't use the Time Vortex to travel, and it appears to be unaffected by the Daleks' kit, or whatever they've done. I've done that rescue before."


It might not be long before the Daleks begin to recognise a new form of transportation!
Then they'll stop at nothing to defeat Chloe!