"Daleks?"
Sitting beside Jasmine on the floor, the Doctor drew his feet up and clasped his hands around his knees.
"That's right."
They were on the upper storey of the power plant building, a circular glazed viewing platform overlooking the entire settlement. Strole, Kerrigan and fully a dozen armed guards stood clustered around the man and the girl who sat propped against the wall.
"The Daleks were destroyed," said Strole.
"Huh." The Doctor gave a bitter little laugh and a shrug of his shoulders. "If you say so."
Kerrigan and Strole exchanged glances.
"Weren't they?" asked Kerrigan. The Doctor looked up.
"The taskforce that invaded Earth in the twenty-second century was destroyed. But that's the thing about Daleks, they're like cockroaches. You can kill as many as you like but there are always more popping up from somewhere."
"I don't understand," Jasmine spoke up. "Even if the creatures in the cave are these Dalek things, there were only about thirty of them. What harm could they do? There are a thousand people here."
"But only about two hundred soldiers," the Doctor replied. As if retrieving a toy from a child he reached out and plucked the weapon from the hands of the nearest guard. Casually flipped it over to take a closer look. "And these popguns? Against Daleks?" He held it out dismissively. "Might as well use waterpistols."
The guard snatched the gun back and aimed it at the Doctor determinedly, glancing furtively around as if hoping no one would have noticed.
"Oh, this is absurd," Strole burst out. "Your story doesn't make sense, Doctor. Daleks are supposed to be lethal killing machines. Why would they have just sat there and let us treat them the way we did?"
The Doctor looked up at him with such derision that it was almost pity.
"Still don't see it, do you? It's a trap, Mr Strole. They tricked you. Daleks are good at killing people, yes, but they're quite limited physically, so they use a lot of slave labour. Skilled, intelligent slave labour if they can get it. And what have you done? You've transported nearly a thousand scientists and expert technicians to this forgotten mudball of a planet and offered them up to the Daleks on a plate. You know, a lot of men before you have been undone by their own arrogance and greed. Most don't get to take a thousand innocent people with them!" His voice had been gathering speed and volume as he spoke, and he stopped, gathered himself, and shook his head darkly. "Daleks are killers all right. It's easy to forget sometimes how crafty they can be."
Strole was simmering with suppressed anger as he listened, but as the Doctor's diatribe continued something else was creeping in: just a trace of worry.
"Why didn't you tell me? If this is true, why would you keep it a secret?"
"You'd have evacuated the entire colony on my say so, would you?" The Doctor took Strole's pause as an answer. "No, even if you did believe me all you'd have done would have been to send troops into the cave. The Daleks would have killed them and I'd have achieved nothing except to bring forward their attack." He looked out of the window at the vapour trail marking where the cargo carrier had taken off, taking with it the entire population of the base, minus the military and a handful of scientific specialists. "The only way I was going to make you do the right thing was to give you no choice."
"But at least after you sabotaged the power plant you could have told me why!"
"No. I knew you'd want to keep some scientists back to try and undo the damage, but I thought you'd let the soldiers go if you didn't think you were facing any kind of military threat. My mistake. I underestimated your paranoia."
The Doctor looked around the room.
"Any other questions?"
The silence was tangible. Strole was staring into nothing, lips moving soundlessly. The soldiers fidgeted, looking anxiously at one another for reassurance. Jasmine sat awkwardly, the only person in the room who had never heard the word "Dalek" but shyly afraid to ask just what was so terrible about them.
Kerrigan spoke up.
"If this is true, Doctor, then I have work to do. I'll organise the men to defend the perimeter."
The Doctor looked profoundly disinterested.
"Yes," he said. "If you like. Who knows, perhaps you'll slow them down a little. Take long enough dying to give someone else a chance to get to the shuttle." He looked over at Strole. "Unless of course you're ready to give the evacuation order."
Strole seemed to snap out of a trance, and lifted his head with a sneer.
"Abandon my colony on your say so, Doctor? As you so rightly guessed, I think not. I don't know what you're up to yet, but it'll take more than stories about extinct monsters to scare me off." He turned, and jabbed his finger into the face of one of the soldiers. "You. Stay here. Don't let these people leave. The rest of you, follow me."
He marched out and the troopers filed after him. All except Kerrigan who paused, looking anxiously after them, then down at the Doctor.
"Strole's wrong, isn't he?"
"Yes," said the Doctor simply. "But he's been wrong all along. You knew that."
Kerrigan nodded, withdrawing for a second into his own thoughts, then seemed unconsciously to take a step to follow the soldiers, as if attached to them by a length of elastic. He halted again.
"Jasmine. I hope we get a chance to talk."
"Yes," was all she could say.
He left.
The Doctor stood, ignoring the immediate levelling of their nervous guard's handgun, and leaned his palm against the window pane, gazing out, his face shadowed and set.
"Surely," Jasmine ventured tentatively, "It'll still be all right, won't it? I mean they'll have to evacuate soon anyway before the reactor explodes, and if the Daleks have waited all this time there's no reason to think they'll attack before then."
She thought at first he wasn't going to reply, but at last he murmured a response:
"Daleks don't feel pain. Not in the way we understand it, anyway. They'd have taken any amount of torture and not altered their plans. But the Dalek commander won't wait around now that Strole's started killing his crew. Their eyestalks give them far better night vision than humans. I imagine they're just waiting till sunset."
Jasmine stood up next to him, and together they watched the blaze of orange light against the clouds as the topmost rim of the sun slipped out of view behind the ridge.
Sitting beside Jasmine on the floor, the Doctor drew his feet up and clasped his hands around his knees.
"That's right."
They were on the upper storey of the power plant building, a circular glazed viewing platform overlooking the entire settlement. Strole, Kerrigan and fully a dozen armed guards stood clustered around the man and the girl who sat propped against the wall.
"The Daleks were destroyed," said Strole.
"Huh." The Doctor gave a bitter little laugh and a shrug of his shoulders. "If you say so."
Kerrigan and Strole exchanged glances.
"Weren't they?" asked Kerrigan. The Doctor looked up.
"The taskforce that invaded Earth in the twenty-second century was destroyed. But that's the thing about Daleks, they're like cockroaches. You can kill as many as you like but there are always more popping up from somewhere."
"I don't understand," Jasmine spoke up. "Even if the creatures in the cave are these Dalek things, there were only about thirty of them. What harm could they do? There are a thousand people here."
"But only about two hundred soldiers," the Doctor replied. As if retrieving a toy from a child he reached out and plucked the weapon from the hands of the nearest guard. Casually flipped it over to take a closer look. "And these popguns? Against Daleks?" He held it out dismissively. "Might as well use waterpistols."
The guard snatched the gun back and aimed it at the Doctor determinedly, glancing furtively around as if hoping no one would have noticed.
"Oh, this is absurd," Strole burst out. "Your story doesn't make sense, Doctor. Daleks are supposed to be lethal killing machines. Why would they have just sat there and let us treat them the way we did?"
The Doctor looked up at him with such derision that it was almost pity.
"Still don't see it, do you? It's a trap, Mr Strole. They tricked you. Daleks are good at killing people, yes, but they're quite limited physically, so they use a lot of slave labour. Skilled, intelligent slave labour if they can get it. And what have you done? You've transported nearly a thousand scientists and expert technicians to this forgotten mudball of a planet and offered them up to the Daleks on a plate. You know, a lot of men before you have been undone by their own arrogance and greed. Most don't get to take a thousand innocent people with them!" His voice had been gathering speed and volume as he spoke, and he stopped, gathered himself, and shook his head darkly. "Daleks are killers all right. It's easy to forget sometimes how crafty they can be."
Strole was simmering with suppressed anger as he listened, but as the Doctor's diatribe continued something else was creeping in: just a trace of worry.
"Why didn't you tell me? If this is true, why would you keep it a secret?"
"You'd have evacuated the entire colony on my say so, would you?" The Doctor took Strole's pause as an answer. "No, even if you did believe me all you'd have done would have been to send troops into the cave. The Daleks would have killed them and I'd have achieved nothing except to bring forward their attack." He looked out of the window at the vapour trail marking where the cargo carrier had taken off, taking with it the entire population of the base, minus the military and a handful of scientific specialists. "The only way I was going to make you do the right thing was to give you no choice."
"But at least after you sabotaged the power plant you could have told me why!"
"No. I knew you'd want to keep some scientists back to try and undo the damage, but I thought you'd let the soldiers go if you didn't think you were facing any kind of military threat. My mistake. I underestimated your paranoia."
The Doctor looked around the room.
"Any other questions?"
The silence was tangible. Strole was staring into nothing, lips moving soundlessly. The soldiers fidgeted, looking anxiously at one another for reassurance. Jasmine sat awkwardly, the only person in the room who had never heard the word "Dalek" but shyly afraid to ask just what was so terrible about them.
Kerrigan spoke up.
"If this is true, Doctor, then I have work to do. I'll organise the men to defend the perimeter."
The Doctor looked profoundly disinterested.
"Yes," he said. "If you like. Who knows, perhaps you'll slow them down a little. Take long enough dying to give someone else a chance to get to the shuttle." He looked over at Strole. "Unless of course you're ready to give the evacuation order."
Strole seemed to snap out of a trance, and lifted his head with a sneer.
"Abandon my colony on your say so, Doctor? As you so rightly guessed, I think not. I don't know what you're up to yet, but it'll take more than stories about extinct monsters to scare me off." He turned, and jabbed his finger into the face of one of the soldiers. "You. Stay here. Don't let these people leave. The rest of you, follow me."
He marched out and the troopers filed after him. All except Kerrigan who paused, looking anxiously after them, then down at the Doctor.
"Strole's wrong, isn't he?"
"Yes," said the Doctor simply. "But he's been wrong all along. You knew that."
Kerrigan nodded, withdrawing for a second into his own thoughts, then seemed unconsciously to take a step to follow the soldiers, as if attached to them by a length of elastic. He halted again.
"Jasmine. I hope we get a chance to talk."
"Yes," was all she could say.
He left.
The Doctor stood, ignoring the immediate levelling of their nervous guard's handgun, and leaned his palm against the window pane, gazing out, his face shadowed and set.
"Surely," Jasmine ventured tentatively, "It'll still be all right, won't it? I mean they'll have to evacuate soon anyway before the reactor explodes, and if the Daleks have waited all this time there's no reason to think they'll attack before then."
She thought at first he wasn't going to reply, but at last he murmured a response:
"Daleks don't feel pain. Not in the way we understand it, anyway. They'd have taken any amount of torture and not altered their plans. But the Dalek commander won't wait around now that Strole's started killing his crew. Their eyestalks give them far better night vision than humans. I imagine they're just waiting till sunset."
Jasmine stood up next to him, and together they watched the blaze of orange light against the clouds as the topmost rim of the sun slipped out of view behind the ridge.