Holiday on Skaro Part 6
We have all taken turns at telling about our interesting little adventure on Skaro. It's Rassilon's turn, but he flat out refused. I couldn't even talk him out of his special little home in my jacket pocket, so that we could discuss terms. Of course, the only thing that we had to offer him in the way of a bribe was Dalek rations. He quite bluntly and none too kindly (with a vocabulary that astounded me) refused, saying (and I might well add, rightly so) that the Dalek rations were not food. Blagh! I can't say that I blame him. It's a squishy colorless pile of goop, that has no taste and does nothing for the growling stomach! For all its flaws, it did make good Play Dough stuff. My companions didn't want their rations either. They ignored me as I built my spiffy Dalek Rations Castle. I was quite proud of my grand achievement, until the towers flopped over, and the structure dissolved into a squishy pool of gunk on the floor.
Anyway, back tot he point. Since we could not intrigue Rassilon's interest in this story telling, I feel it is my duty as the leader of this group to tell this last part myself. Of course, a few threats from the company I was keeping, didn't hurt this decision any. Well, I guess since these are my adventures anyway, I should feel it was my duty. So, where were we . . .
The Empirical Daleks and Mikey had us imprisoned, although Talar and Davett had installed the program into the main computer system. Davett and his fellow rebel daleks had went in pretense to seek out the plotting humanoids in league with the Doctor. Of course, given the combined intellect of that dalek party, they may have gone in earnest, although it had been explained that there was no plotting group led by the Doctor on Skaro at this time. Mikey stood guard at our cell.
Being held captive did not fare well on any of us, and none of them showed any kind of enthusiasm towards my Daleks Rations Castle! Alandis sat with Miriel. He tried to cheer her up by telling her of his adventures before joining our party. I think she just enjoyed his attention. Garkoe sat in a corner and just looked rather dejected. He had other things on his mind other than me, and she wasn't my type. Blonde, yes; a certain Time Lord, no way! So, what was the point of it all. Talar worked on beautifying herself. None of us could figure this out, because none of us could care a pile of Dalek Rations what she looked like, and the Empirical Dalek could care less. So, no one really cared when I whipped out the All Purpose All Lock Lock Picker and did some serious work on the lock. They didn't even notice when I got the electric shock that sent me across the room. They didn't even notice when I did manage to get the door opened, and Mikey shot me.
Now, since I am telling this part of the story, he obviously didn't kill me. Of course, then again, stranger things have happened. However, while I was unconscious, Mikey did take my special toy from me. Garkoe informed me of this after I spent a better part of an hour looking for it. So, to my next ploy. I took Miriel's high heeled shoes on her protests. She was a typical female companion. She had to wear high heeled shoes for this adventure over rough terrain! She didn't think it proper to wear casual shoes with shorts. Anyway, I convinced her that her shoes had a greater and higher purpose in the scheme of things.
The heels of her shoes were fine enough to work the electronic circuits to my liking. Of course, it did cause a small fire, that destroyed her shoe and brought Mikey to put out the fire and to blast me again. My companions were a lot of help. They just sat and watched.
I got even with them when I woke up again. I decided to empty my pockets onto the floor. With several pieces of quite rank half eaten foods, that I was certain that Rassilon was happy to have out of his home, but my companions were none too pleased to have out in the open, I went about working out the chemical compound that would explode the door open. Talar was most kind and added a wretch to my collection.
I scribbled the formula of my plan on the back wall with a packet of mustard and a packet of horseradish. Alandis sighed and left his position next to Miriel. He picked up a packet of ketchup and corrected my formula. I smirked at him and corrected his work with my mustard. he shook his head and corrected in ketchup. So, I had to splatter him with pickle relish. He frowned, took careful aim at a particularly with his foot. The sandwich went flying through the air at me, and I sidestepped it. It splattered into the chemical formula on the wall with a sickening squishy sound, then it slid down the wall as it turned into a disgusting ooze on the floor. The middle of my work was totally obliterated.
Well, I couldn't take this sitting down (or just standing there as the case may be). So, I picked up a biscuit (or it could have once been a White Castle hamburger that melted into one piece after living in my pocket for so long) from my pile, and I flung it at him. It missed him, bounced off the wall and hit Garkoe. Well, Garkoe, as otherwise occupied as he may have been, was not going to take this sitting down. So, he picked up what appeared to be a pile of french fries, that had melded together into one piece and turned a blackish brown furry color. He threw this piece of once potato shavings at me and missed. It hit the wall and put a sizeable dent there. Even worse, it stayed there impaled on the wall by the spikes of fries. The two girls only cringed together in a corner.
The door slid open as Garkoe slung a lethal piece of old pizza at me, but it squished down the front of the entering dalek. Garkoe looked distressed. Alandis and I looked at each other and smiled. We bombarded the daleks with an onslaught of decayed food. The three of us got stunned. Well, two out of three of us were lousy shots.
We were the kind of stunned, where you're just conscious enough of what's going on, but you're helpless to do anything about it. Alandis only feigned stunness. Nothing the daleks had done to him so far had any real effect on him, so a little stun gun certainly wasn't going to do anything.
"YOU WILL GIVE BLOOD FOR OUR EXPERIMENT BEFORE YOU ARE QUESTIONED. IF YOU RESIST, YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED," announced the dalek with all the goop on him.
Two daleks entered the cell from behind this dalek. One of the daleks had a syringe in place of the plunger, and his gun was trained on his first victim, who was Talar. The thal did the appropriate ear-piercing scream and cringing. The slopped dalek trained his gun on her. She backed up to the wall. The dalek with the syringe moved in on her and shot her in the arm with the needle. A wire made the link between the dalek and the syringe. A metal claw appeared from the same area. The claw held the needle steady as the wire reeled it in and withdrew the blood. The second dalek approached them, and when the stringe was full, this dalek took it and replaced it with a new empty one. the second dalek left with the specimen and returned with a third empty syringe. The first dalek repeated this process with Garkoe. Miriel submitted quietly when it was her turn. Alandis was not so cooperative.
Alandis, as before mentioned, was none too keen on sharing his blood. The pretense of being indisposed was completely over. The dalek shot the syringe at him, and he promptly got out of the way, So, the other two daleks shot him. Miriel gave a good shriek and ran to his smoldering body.
I was the last in line, and I took it laying still. Of course, seeing the shedding of my own blood did do something for me. I ended up fully unconscious for the third time in this story.
When i awoke, the paralysis was gone. Alandis' body laid in Miriel's arms. I got up groggily. Miriel shot me a vicious look. Tears welled in her eyes. "This is all your fault! If you didn't have to help that dalek in the first place, this would never have happened to Alandis!" she cried as she held him closer.
I grimaced and crossed my arms. I kicked Alandis' legs. "Enough playing around, boy!" I exclaimed. Miriel never quite grasped the concept of the undead situation of Alandis. Thus, she didn't get that he was a tad bit hard to kill. "Get up and make Miriel quit crying already!"
"How dare you treat him like this!" challenged Miriel, "How can you be so callus?"
I stood in front of her unmoved. This could turn into a good fight, but Alandis spoke without moving or opening his eyes. "Let it drop, Miriel," he said.
"You're alive! But how?" she exclaimed quite happily as she hugged him closer. He responded by her reaction by stiffly hugging her. I wanted to respond, too, but I thought better of it. I wanted to keep my last meal right where it was for the time being.
"Nifty!" exclaimed Garkoe, "I'm going to enjoy doing your blood work, when I get out of this mess . . . if we get out of this mess."
"We'll get out of this," Alandis answered indifferently.
"I still don't understand how this is possible," Talar commented, "Daleks don't take lightly to those that they threaten to kill."
"Don't ask. My body systems function differently than any of you"
"That's why he dines alone," I remarked.
"Don't start it," he returned.
"Who? Me?" I asked with a squeak.
Miriel got up and let Alandis' head and body hit the floor with a chunk. "And I wept for your dying!"
"Hey!" he complained, as he sat up rubbing the back of his head, "You act disappointed that I am not dead."
I gave him a big grin with a remark on the end of my tongue. "Shut up, Rodent!" he ordered before I could explicate.
"How long were you going to let me cry?" she demanded without turning to him.
He bowed his head and gave a faint smile. His face turned a pale pink. "I'm not so far dead that I do not enjoy a pretty girl holding me when I am hurt," he answered. I felt my lunch make another statement.
Suddenly, something strange hit my senses. The cell was clean. "Where's my mess?"
"I had to clean it up," Miriel complained, "You don't live here."
"The man you love is laying in a smoldering heap on the floor, and you have to clean up my mess, because it is not proper to leave a mess in a dalek cell, where we are being held against our will under the threat of painful death," I said slowly.
"Well, . . . yes. Alandis wasn't going anywhere, and Mikey even brought me a bucket," she defended.
I shook my head. Alandis only smiled and shrugged. Garkoe hooked his thumb to the bucket in the corner. "It's over there seething," he remarked.
I went over to the bucket. A black and purple sickly green smoke rolled up from it. I went ot pull the bucket it up by the handle, but it made unsteady vibrations and ominous noises. Alandis got up and helped me move it to the door. A trail of bubbling goop followed the bucket from the corroded hole that it ate through the bottom. Alandis and I carefully placed it by the door. It made more unsteady movements and nasty noises on its own. Alandis and I scattered to the back of the cell. It quieted down. Now, all we needed was something to set it off from a distance.
"Garkoe, give me your shoes," I ordered.
"No! Use your own!" he complained.
Miriel cringed at his suggestion. "You know not what you suggest, Garkoe!" she exclaimed, "Her shoes are lethal weapons when removed! Never suggest such a horrible thing again! "
I gave her a bright grin. Seeing the complete terror in her eyes, he grumbled and gave up his shoes. My first shot completely missed. His second shoe flopped into the bucket of slop. The bucket made queer noises. We cringed ready for the coming explosion, then the door slid open. The dalek, that stood there, looked down at the volatile substance for a moment, then a multi-colored straw with many twists and curves came out of its gun into the bucket. Loud disgusting slurping sounds were heard. The volatile substance, that we worked so hard to create, disappeared up the twists and swirls of the loops. A mild explosion occurred in the dalek casing, then a loud belch followed.
"THAT WAS BETTER THAN LVEKAR'S SPECIAL HOME RECIPE!" the dalek exclaimed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BUBU?" we heard Prannalager call.
"JUST A SNACK," he replied.
"GET THE HUMANOIDS, AND LET'S BLOW THIS POPSTAND!" Davett called.
"OH! THIS WAY, BUDS!"
The five of us looked at each other puzzled and did as we were told. Garkoe paused and retrieved his one surviving shoe. The other one was dissolved and consumed in the long gone goop. Mikey rolled up to us when we left our cell. He had five gas masks hanging from his plunger arm. "TRUST ME. YOU WILL NEED THESE," he said. His eyestalk turned to Alandis, "EVEN YOU WILL NEED ONE. DO NOT ARGUE."
More puzzlement, but we obeyed and put them on. Mikey led us down a corridor, We were joined by the others of Davett's band. We filed obediently into the middle of the group. Mikey led us down another corridor, and we ran into a group of Empirical daleks.
"WHY HAVE YOU TAKEN THE PRISONERS FROM THEIR HOLDING CELL?"
"I AM TAKING THEM TO INTERROGATION," Mikey answered.
"WHY DO THE PRISONERS HAVE AIR PURIFYING APPARATI?" the dalek demanded.
"BECAUSE OF THIS," Davett replied. A grenade shot out from each of his fellow band member's guns. It rolled out to the group of Empirical daleks. A bright red and blue smoke rolled up from each of the grenades as each of the Empirical daleks looked on. Finally, they backed off with a "PEE-YU!!" While they were occupied with the stench, we raced down the corridor.
We were stopped several times, Davett and his Gaseous Emissions got us out of it. One of the times, we were stopped by a Black Dalek. We ran into a laboratory, where the daleks worked busily at different experiments. A doorway of light emitted near the Black Dalek. This light came from a machine where several daleks were hard at work. Mikey rolled forward to the Superior Dalek.
"I HAVE BROUGHT THE HUMANOIDS FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE EXPERIMENT. TO SHOW THEM THE COMBINATION OF THE HUMAN FACTOR INTO OUR SYSTEM SHOULD TERRIFY THEM INTO TELLING US ALL WE WANT TO KNOW."
"YOU ARE A FLAWED DALEK. THE SCIENTIST HERE HAVE FOUND THAT ONE OF THE BLOOD SAMPLES OF THE PRISONERS IS THAT OF A TIME LORD. YOUR VIDEO PROOF OF THE DOCTOR'S EXTERMINATION IS FALSE. ONE OF YOUR PRISONERS IS THE DOCTOR!"
"I am not the Doctor!" I objected vehemently, "I just want the Doctor! Don't you know the difference between Time Lords and Time Ladies! Geez! And you call yourselves the superior race!"
We all scattered as he shot at me. A smoldering hole appeared in the floor where I once stood. "THANKS TO YOU, DOCTOR, WE HAVE CREATED THIS PARTICULAR BEAM THAT WILL EVOLVE US ABOVE AND BEYOND OUR PRESENT SUPERIORITY. WE WILL THEN GO AND CONQUER YOUR PETTY RACE."
Davett and Company shot grenades at him. The Black Dalek reacted by backing out of the stench. He went through the beam of light that illuminated an archway. He came out the other side. He looked around and gave out a cry of "Whoa!" We ran for it.
We were only stopped a couple of times. Most of these daleks acted peculiar and were not interested in us. So, we escaped the Empirical City and ran back to where we camped outside the rebel city a couple nights ago.
"But won't the Empirical daleks be able to figure out how to get to the rebel city by following our tracks?" Miriel asked.
"NAH," Glimmer Glot answered, "THEY WILL HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE WITH DAVETT'S SPECIAL STINK BOMBS TO KEEP THEM OCCUPIED FOR QUITE SOME TIME. THE ONE WE LEFT IN THE VENTILATION DUCTS WILL GIVE ALL THE EMPIRICAL DALEKS MOST GRACIOUS HALLUCINATIONS TO GO ALONG WITH THE STENCH."
"BUT THEY DIDN'T *BURP* GET ANY OF THE RODENT'S SPECIAL SOUP!" Bubu commented.
"I DON'T THINK ANY OF THEM WANTED IT," Frizbote answered, "I DON'T EVEN THINK GRISMAR WOULD HAVE WANTED IT!"
"YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T GET ANY OF IT!" returned Bubu. He belched and fire flew out of his lid. He sighed in ecstasy.
"But the program didn't take effect like we expected," Talar complained, "They were awfully eager to kill us and imprison us."
"I think she means that the other way around," Garkoe commented.
"THE PROGRAM IS WORKING AS PLANNED," Mikey answered, "IT TAKES TIME TO RUN. WE HAD TO HAVE YOU IMPRISONED, BECAUSE THE PROGRAM REQUIRED THAT WE NEED TO ISOLATE THE HUMANOID FACTOR IN YOUR BLOOD. SINCE WE ACQUIRED THE BLOOD FROM THREE DIFFERENT SPECIES, THE RESULTS SHOULD TURN OUT BETTER THAN BEFORE. YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS, TALAR. AFTER ALL, YOU HELPED ME EDIT THE PROGRAM."
"Oh yeah, I did, didn't I!" she answered.
"What intelligent folks I have met in your company, Rodent!" Alandis smarted.
"Only the best!" I answered.
"THE RESULTS OF THIS PROGRAM SHOULD SPREAD BETTER THAN BEFORE," Mikey stated, "WE HAVE ALREADY CONVERTED THE Black Dalek. THE BLACK DALEK'S COMMAND IS UNDISPUTED AUTHORITY OVER ALL THE EMPIRICAL DALEKS. THE ONLY DALEK THAT CAN OVERRIDE THE COMMAND OF THE Black Dalek IS THE EMPEROR, AND HE IS AWAY FOR THE TIME BEING. NO NORMAL EMPIRICAL DALEK CAN QUESTION THE BLACK DALEK'S COMMAND NO MATTER HOW WEIRD IT MAY BE."
The implications were most frightening! But that was the flaw of computers. What the main central brain said went. I fear that the empirical daleks will all join the ranks of the hippie daleks! Davros will not be a happy camper when he gets back home.
"Why didn't the gases of the stink bombs bother, you?" Garkoe asked our dalek companions.
"SOME OF US CAN BY-PASS THE OLFACTORY CIRCUITS," Mikey answered.
"BUT I ENJOY DAVETT'S STINK BOMBS!" Bubu complained.
"You would!" Miriel complained.
The dalek gave another flaming belch in her direction. She ignored him. We spent about another week on Skaro. Alandis was able to destroy all the records of his blood research, that Garkoe had done. Garkoe, for his part, conveniently forgot what he had learned about Alandis. Mikey spent his time moving out of the TARDIS. He was moving into Grismar's place, and I think he took Grismar's place in the band. Mikey had no musical talent, but, then again, neither did Davett and His Gaseous Emissions. For a superior uncaring cyborg, he had a lot of junk, and not all of it his . . . i.e. a case of WD-40, K-9, and the Nintendo. Of course, when one looks down the barrel of a dalek gun, one tends to see things the dalek's way. Talar fixed the motor scooter. I needed gas. Oh well, so much for the cute blonde thal fellow coming to the rescue.
Finally, we stood at the edge of the woodlands. We, Alandis, Miriel, and I, prepared to leave and say our goodbyes to K-9 and Mikey. Garkoe and Talar came to see us off.
Mikey looked Alandis over. "FOR AN INFERIOR HUMANOID, I FIND YOUR STRENGTH AND INTELLIGENCE RESPECTABLE."
"You're so bad for a dalek either. I will miss you," Alandis replied.
"MIRIEL," Mikey said, "STOP BY SKARO AGAIN. BUBU AND THE OTHERS NEED TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE GOOD FOOD."
"It will be my pleasure to cook a feast for you some time," she replied.
"RODENT, IT HAS BEEN MOST INTERESTING, AND I DO MEAN IT!" he said.
I threw my arms around him in a hug. "Send us a tape of the band."
Mikey turned to Garkoe and Talar. "FOR THALS, YOU ARE TOLERABLE."
"Thank you . . . I think," answered Garkoe.
I gave Mikey K-9's leash. Miriel and I said our goodbyes to K-9 by petting him on the head. He wagged his tail. Alandis looked skyward and shook his head. He refused to say goodbye to a mechanical dog. Mikey had also enrolled K-9 in Davett's band. I knew he had to be useful at something. We bade farewell to Garkoe and Talar, and we went off in our three separate ways. I motor scootered across the wastelands with my two companions. Actually, it took longer than we expected to find the TARDIS. It wasn't like George was disguised as a sand dune or anything logical like that. Last seen, he was a large dirty refrigerator. I just forgot where we parked. At sundown, Alandis replaced me in driving, and we got there in 45 minutes. Oh well, what are companions for anyway!
Now, some time later, I had heard some distressing news that the Doctor had tricked Davros and his daleks into blowing up Skaro's sun. Well, I couldn't exactly let my green blob of a friend become fried green dalek. So, with George's cooperation, I got a message off to Mikey. George did like Mikey in his own way. Anyway, the rebel daleks and thals were able to devise a relay system that reflected the deadly beam elsewhere. I'm not sure where it hit, but I've heard that the cybermen are a bit teed off of late.
We have all taken turns at telling about our interesting little adventure on Skaro. It's Rassilon's turn, but he flat out refused. I couldn't even talk him out of his special little home in my jacket pocket, so that we could discuss terms. Of course, the only thing that we had to offer him in the way of a bribe was Dalek rations. He quite bluntly and none too kindly (with a vocabulary that astounded me) refused, saying (and I might well add, rightly so) that the Dalek rations were not food. Blagh! I can't say that I blame him. It's a squishy colorless pile of goop, that has no taste and does nothing for the growling stomach! For all its flaws, it did make good Play Dough stuff. My companions didn't want their rations either. They ignored me as I built my spiffy Dalek Rations Castle. I was quite proud of my grand achievement, until the towers flopped over, and the structure dissolved into a squishy pool of gunk on the floor.
Anyway, back tot he point. Since we could not intrigue Rassilon's interest in this story telling, I feel it is my duty as the leader of this group to tell this last part myself. Of course, a few threats from the company I was keeping, didn't hurt this decision any. Well, I guess since these are my adventures anyway, I should feel it was my duty. So, where were we . . .
The Empirical Daleks and Mikey had us imprisoned, although Talar and Davett had installed the program into the main computer system. Davett and his fellow rebel daleks had went in pretense to seek out the plotting humanoids in league with the Doctor. Of course, given the combined intellect of that dalek party, they may have gone in earnest, although it had been explained that there was no plotting group led by the Doctor on Skaro at this time. Mikey stood guard at our cell.
Being held captive did not fare well on any of us, and none of them showed any kind of enthusiasm towards my Daleks Rations Castle! Alandis sat with Miriel. He tried to cheer her up by telling her of his adventures before joining our party. I think she just enjoyed his attention. Garkoe sat in a corner and just looked rather dejected. He had other things on his mind other than me, and she wasn't my type. Blonde, yes; a certain Time Lord, no way! So, what was the point of it all. Talar worked on beautifying herself. None of us could figure this out, because none of us could care a pile of Dalek Rations what she looked like, and the Empirical Dalek could care less. So, no one really cared when I whipped out the All Purpose All Lock Lock Picker and did some serious work on the lock. They didn't even notice when I got the electric shock that sent me across the room. They didn't even notice when I did manage to get the door opened, and Mikey shot me.
Now, since I am telling this part of the story, he obviously didn't kill me. Of course, then again, stranger things have happened. However, while I was unconscious, Mikey did take my special toy from me. Garkoe informed me of this after I spent a better part of an hour looking for it. So, to my next ploy. I took Miriel's high heeled shoes on her protests. She was a typical female companion. She had to wear high heeled shoes for this adventure over rough terrain! She didn't think it proper to wear casual shoes with shorts. Anyway, I convinced her that her shoes had a greater and higher purpose in the scheme of things.
The heels of her shoes were fine enough to work the electronic circuits to my liking. Of course, it did cause a small fire, that destroyed her shoe and brought Mikey to put out the fire and to blast me again. My companions were a lot of help. They just sat and watched.
I got even with them when I woke up again. I decided to empty my pockets onto the floor. With several pieces of quite rank half eaten foods, that I was certain that Rassilon was happy to have out of his home, but my companions were none too pleased to have out in the open, I went about working out the chemical compound that would explode the door open. Talar was most kind and added a wretch to my collection.
I scribbled the formula of my plan on the back wall with a packet of mustard and a packet of horseradish. Alandis sighed and left his position next to Miriel. He picked up a packet of ketchup and corrected my formula. I smirked at him and corrected his work with my mustard. he shook his head and corrected in ketchup. So, I had to splatter him with pickle relish. He frowned, took careful aim at a particularly with his foot. The sandwich went flying through the air at me, and I sidestepped it. It splattered into the chemical formula on the wall with a sickening squishy sound, then it slid down the wall as it turned into a disgusting ooze on the floor. The middle of my work was totally obliterated.
Well, I couldn't take this sitting down (or just standing there as the case may be). So, I picked up a biscuit (or it could have once been a White Castle hamburger that melted into one piece after living in my pocket for so long) from my pile, and I flung it at him. It missed him, bounced off the wall and hit Garkoe. Well, Garkoe, as otherwise occupied as he may have been, was not going to take this sitting down. So, he picked up what appeared to be a pile of french fries, that had melded together into one piece and turned a blackish brown furry color. He threw this piece of once potato shavings at me and missed. It hit the wall and put a sizeable dent there. Even worse, it stayed there impaled on the wall by the spikes of fries. The two girls only cringed together in a corner.
The door slid open as Garkoe slung a lethal piece of old pizza at me, but it squished down the front of the entering dalek. Garkoe looked distressed. Alandis and I looked at each other and smiled. We bombarded the daleks with an onslaught of decayed food. The three of us got stunned. Well, two out of three of us were lousy shots.
We were the kind of stunned, where you're just conscious enough of what's going on, but you're helpless to do anything about it. Alandis only feigned stunness. Nothing the daleks had done to him so far had any real effect on him, so a little stun gun certainly wasn't going to do anything.
"YOU WILL GIVE BLOOD FOR OUR EXPERIMENT BEFORE YOU ARE QUESTIONED. IF YOU RESIST, YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED," announced the dalek with all the goop on him.
Two daleks entered the cell from behind this dalek. One of the daleks had a syringe in place of the plunger, and his gun was trained on his first victim, who was Talar. The thal did the appropriate ear-piercing scream and cringing. The slopped dalek trained his gun on her. She backed up to the wall. The dalek with the syringe moved in on her and shot her in the arm with the needle. A wire made the link between the dalek and the syringe. A metal claw appeared from the same area. The claw held the needle steady as the wire reeled it in and withdrew the blood. The second dalek approached them, and when the stringe was full, this dalek took it and replaced it with a new empty one. the second dalek left with the specimen and returned with a third empty syringe. The first dalek repeated this process with Garkoe. Miriel submitted quietly when it was her turn. Alandis was not so cooperative.
Alandis, as before mentioned, was none too keen on sharing his blood. The pretense of being indisposed was completely over. The dalek shot the syringe at him, and he promptly got out of the way, So, the other two daleks shot him. Miriel gave a good shriek and ran to his smoldering body.
I was the last in line, and I took it laying still. Of course, seeing the shedding of my own blood did do something for me. I ended up fully unconscious for the third time in this story.
When i awoke, the paralysis was gone. Alandis' body laid in Miriel's arms. I got up groggily. Miriel shot me a vicious look. Tears welled in her eyes. "This is all your fault! If you didn't have to help that dalek in the first place, this would never have happened to Alandis!" she cried as she held him closer.
I grimaced and crossed my arms. I kicked Alandis' legs. "Enough playing around, boy!" I exclaimed. Miriel never quite grasped the concept of the undead situation of Alandis. Thus, she didn't get that he was a tad bit hard to kill. "Get up and make Miriel quit crying already!"
"How dare you treat him like this!" challenged Miriel, "How can you be so callus?"
I stood in front of her unmoved. This could turn into a good fight, but Alandis spoke without moving or opening his eyes. "Let it drop, Miriel," he said.
"You're alive! But how?" she exclaimed quite happily as she hugged him closer. He responded by her reaction by stiffly hugging her. I wanted to respond, too, but I thought better of it. I wanted to keep my last meal right where it was for the time being.
"Nifty!" exclaimed Garkoe, "I'm going to enjoy doing your blood work, when I get out of this mess . . . if we get out of this mess."
"We'll get out of this," Alandis answered indifferently.
"I still don't understand how this is possible," Talar commented, "Daleks don't take lightly to those that they threaten to kill."
"Don't ask. My body systems function differently than any of you"
"That's why he dines alone," I remarked.
"Don't start it," he returned.
"Who? Me?" I asked with a squeak.
Miriel got up and let Alandis' head and body hit the floor with a chunk. "And I wept for your dying!"
"Hey!" he complained, as he sat up rubbing the back of his head, "You act disappointed that I am not dead."
I gave him a big grin with a remark on the end of my tongue. "Shut up, Rodent!" he ordered before I could explicate.
"How long were you going to let me cry?" she demanded without turning to him.
He bowed his head and gave a faint smile. His face turned a pale pink. "I'm not so far dead that I do not enjoy a pretty girl holding me when I am hurt," he answered. I felt my lunch make another statement.
Suddenly, something strange hit my senses. The cell was clean. "Where's my mess?"
"I had to clean it up," Miriel complained, "You don't live here."
"The man you love is laying in a smoldering heap on the floor, and you have to clean up my mess, because it is not proper to leave a mess in a dalek cell, where we are being held against our will under the threat of painful death," I said slowly.
"Well, . . . yes. Alandis wasn't going anywhere, and Mikey even brought me a bucket," she defended.
I shook my head. Alandis only smiled and shrugged. Garkoe hooked his thumb to the bucket in the corner. "It's over there seething," he remarked.
I went over to the bucket. A black and purple sickly green smoke rolled up from it. I went ot pull the bucket it up by the handle, but it made unsteady vibrations and ominous noises. Alandis got up and helped me move it to the door. A trail of bubbling goop followed the bucket from the corroded hole that it ate through the bottom. Alandis and I carefully placed it by the door. It made more unsteady movements and nasty noises on its own. Alandis and I scattered to the back of the cell. It quieted down. Now, all we needed was something to set it off from a distance.
"Garkoe, give me your shoes," I ordered.
"No! Use your own!" he complained.
Miriel cringed at his suggestion. "You know not what you suggest, Garkoe!" she exclaimed, "Her shoes are lethal weapons when removed! Never suggest such a horrible thing again! "
I gave her a bright grin. Seeing the complete terror in her eyes, he grumbled and gave up his shoes. My first shot completely missed. His second shoe flopped into the bucket of slop. The bucket made queer noises. We cringed ready for the coming explosion, then the door slid open. The dalek, that stood there, looked down at the volatile substance for a moment, then a multi-colored straw with many twists and curves came out of its gun into the bucket. Loud disgusting slurping sounds were heard. The volatile substance, that we worked so hard to create, disappeared up the twists and swirls of the loops. A mild explosion occurred in the dalek casing, then a loud belch followed.
"THAT WAS BETTER THAN LVEKAR'S SPECIAL HOME RECIPE!" the dalek exclaimed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BUBU?" we heard Prannalager call.
"JUST A SNACK," he replied.
"GET THE HUMANOIDS, AND LET'S BLOW THIS POPSTAND!" Davett called.
"OH! THIS WAY, BUDS!"
The five of us looked at each other puzzled and did as we were told. Garkoe paused and retrieved his one surviving shoe. The other one was dissolved and consumed in the long gone goop. Mikey rolled up to us when we left our cell. He had five gas masks hanging from his plunger arm. "TRUST ME. YOU WILL NEED THESE," he said. His eyestalk turned to Alandis, "EVEN YOU WILL NEED ONE. DO NOT ARGUE."
More puzzlement, but we obeyed and put them on. Mikey led us down a corridor, We were joined by the others of Davett's band. We filed obediently into the middle of the group. Mikey led us down another corridor, and we ran into a group of Empirical daleks.
"WHY HAVE YOU TAKEN THE PRISONERS FROM THEIR HOLDING CELL?"
"I AM TAKING THEM TO INTERROGATION," Mikey answered.
"WHY DO THE PRISONERS HAVE AIR PURIFYING APPARATI?" the dalek demanded.
"BECAUSE OF THIS," Davett replied. A grenade shot out from each of his fellow band member's guns. It rolled out to the group of Empirical daleks. A bright red and blue smoke rolled up from each of the grenades as each of the Empirical daleks looked on. Finally, they backed off with a "PEE-YU!!" While they were occupied with the stench, we raced down the corridor.
We were stopped several times, Davett and his Gaseous Emissions got us out of it. One of the times, we were stopped by a Black Dalek. We ran into a laboratory, where the daleks worked busily at different experiments. A doorway of light emitted near the Black Dalek. This light came from a machine where several daleks were hard at work. Mikey rolled forward to the Superior Dalek.
"I HAVE BROUGHT THE HUMANOIDS FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE EXPERIMENT. TO SHOW THEM THE COMBINATION OF THE HUMAN FACTOR INTO OUR SYSTEM SHOULD TERRIFY THEM INTO TELLING US ALL WE WANT TO KNOW."
"YOU ARE A FLAWED DALEK. THE SCIENTIST HERE HAVE FOUND THAT ONE OF THE BLOOD SAMPLES OF THE PRISONERS IS THAT OF A TIME LORD. YOUR VIDEO PROOF OF THE DOCTOR'S EXTERMINATION IS FALSE. ONE OF YOUR PRISONERS IS THE DOCTOR!"
"I am not the Doctor!" I objected vehemently, "I just want the Doctor! Don't you know the difference between Time Lords and Time Ladies! Geez! And you call yourselves the superior race!"
We all scattered as he shot at me. A smoldering hole appeared in the floor where I once stood. "THANKS TO YOU, DOCTOR, WE HAVE CREATED THIS PARTICULAR BEAM THAT WILL EVOLVE US ABOVE AND BEYOND OUR PRESENT SUPERIORITY. WE WILL THEN GO AND CONQUER YOUR PETTY RACE."
Davett and Company shot grenades at him. The Black Dalek reacted by backing out of the stench. He went through the beam of light that illuminated an archway. He came out the other side. He looked around and gave out a cry of "Whoa!" We ran for it.
We were only stopped a couple of times. Most of these daleks acted peculiar and were not interested in us. So, we escaped the Empirical City and ran back to where we camped outside the rebel city a couple nights ago.
"But won't the Empirical daleks be able to figure out how to get to the rebel city by following our tracks?" Miriel asked.
"NAH," Glimmer Glot answered, "THEY WILL HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE WITH DAVETT'S SPECIAL STINK BOMBS TO KEEP THEM OCCUPIED FOR QUITE SOME TIME. THE ONE WE LEFT IN THE VENTILATION DUCTS WILL GIVE ALL THE EMPIRICAL DALEKS MOST GRACIOUS HALLUCINATIONS TO GO ALONG WITH THE STENCH."
"BUT THEY DIDN'T *BURP* GET ANY OF THE RODENT'S SPECIAL SOUP!" Bubu commented.
"I DON'T THINK ANY OF THEM WANTED IT," Frizbote answered, "I DON'T EVEN THINK GRISMAR WOULD HAVE WANTED IT!"
"YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T GET ANY OF IT!" returned Bubu. He belched and fire flew out of his lid. He sighed in ecstasy.
"But the program didn't take effect like we expected," Talar complained, "They were awfully eager to kill us and imprison us."
"I think she means that the other way around," Garkoe commented.
"THE PROGRAM IS WORKING AS PLANNED," Mikey answered, "IT TAKES TIME TO RUN. WE HAD TO HAVE YOU IMPRISONED, BECAUSE THE PROGRAM REQUIRED THAT WE NEED TO ISOLATE THE HUMANOID FACTOR IN YOUR BLOOD. SINCE WE ACQUIRED THE BLOOD FROM THREE DIFFERENT SPECIES, THE RESULTS SHOULD TURN OUT BETTER THAN BEFORE. YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS, TALAR. AFTER ALL, YOU HELPED ME EDIT THE PROGRAM."
"Oh yeah, I did, didn't I!" she answered.
"What intelligent folks I have met in your company, Rodent!" Alandis smarted.
"Only the best!" I answered.
"THE RESULTS OF THIS PROGRAM SHOULD SPREAD BETTER THAN BEFORE," Mikey stated, "WE HAVE ALREADY CONVERTED THE Black Dalek. THE BLACK DALEK'S COMMAND IS UNDISPUTED AUTHORITY OVER ALL THE EMPIRICAL DALEKS. THE ONLY DALEK THAT CAN OVERRIDE THE COMMAND OF THE Black Dalek IS THE EMPEROR, AND HE IS AWAY FOR THE TIME BEING. NO NORMAL EMPIRICAL DALEK CAN QUESTION THE BLACK DALEK'S COMMAND NO MATTER HOW WEIRD IT MAY BE."
The implications were most frightening! But that was the flaw of computers. What the main central brain said went. I fear that the empirical daleks will all join the ranks of the hippie daleks! Davros will not be a happy camper when he gets back home.
"Why didn't the gases of the stink bombs bother, you?" Garkoe asked our dalek companions.
"SOME OF US CAN BY-PASS THE OLFACTORY CIRCUITS," Mikey answered.
"BUT I ENJOY DAVETT'S STINK BOMBS!" Bubu complained.
"You would!" Miriel complained.
The dalek gave another flaming belch in her direction. She ignored him. We spent about another week on Skaro. Alandis was able to destroy all the records of his blood research, that Garkoe had done. Garkoe, for his part, conveniently forgot what he had learned about Alandis. Mikey spent his time moving out of the TARDIS. He was moving into Grismar's place, and I think he took Grismar's place in the band. Mikey had no musical talent, but, then again, neither did Davett and His Gaseous Emissions. For a superior uncaring cyborg, he had a lot of junk, and not all of it his . . . i.e. a case of WD-40, K-9, and the Nintendo. Of course, when one looks down the barrel of a dalek gun, one tends to see things the dalek's way. Talar fixed the motor scooter. I needed gas. Oh well, so much for the cute blonde thal fellow coming to the rescue.
Finally, we stood at the edge of the woodlands. We, Alandis, Miriel, and I, prepared to leave and say our goodbyes to K-9 and Mikey. Garkoe and Talar came to see us off.
Mikey looked Alandis over. "FOR AN INFERIOR HUMANOID, I FIND YOUR STRENGTH AND INTELLIGENCE RESPECTABLE."
"You're so bad for a dalek either. I will miss you," Alandis replied.
"MIRIEL," Mikey said, "STOP BY SKARO AGAIN. BUBU AND THE OTHERS NEED TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE GOOD FOOD."
"It will be my pleasure to cook a feast for you some time," she replied.
"RODENT, IT HAS BEEN MOST INTERESTING, AND I DO MEAN IT!" he said.
I threw my arms around him in a hug. "Send us a tape of the band."
Mikey turned to Garkoe and Talar. "FOR THALS, YOU ARE TOLERABLE."
"Thank you . . . I think," answered Garkoe.
I gave Mikey K-9's leash. Miriel and I said our goodbyes to K-9 by petting him on the head. He wagged his tail. Alandis looked skyward and shook his head. He refused to say goodbye to a mechanical dog. Mikey had also enrolled K-9 in Davett's band. I knew he had to be useful at something. We bade farewell to Garkoe and Talar, and we went off in our three separate ways. I motor scootered across the wastelands with my two companions. Actually, it took longer than we expected to find the TARDIS. It wasn't like George was disguised as a sand dune or anything logical like that. Last seen, he was a large dirty refrigerator. I just forgot where we parked. At sundown, Alandis replaced me in driving, and we got there in 45 minutes. Oh well, what are companions for anyway!
Now, some time later, I had heard some distressing news that the Doctor had tricked Davros and his daleks into blowing up Skaro's sun. Well, I couldn't exactly let my green blob of a friend become fried green dalek. So, with George's cooperation, I got a message off to Mikey. George did like Mikey in his own way. Anyway, the rebel daleks and thals were able to devise a relay system that reflected the deadly beam elsewhere. I'm not sure where it hit, but I've heard that the cybermen are a bit teed off of late.