Last time on The Doctor's Girl:
"The fourth great and bountiful human empire. Every single fact in the empire beams out of this place. Now, that's what I call power."
"600 channels all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere."
"This technology's wrong." The Doctor told us and I immediately looked at him and smiled. Cathica clicked her fingers and a door on her forehead opened, revealing her brain.
"Trouble?" I asked him.
"Oh yeah." he told me smiling at me and my smile grew.
"This is NOT the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. It's a place where humans are allowed to live by kind permission of my client." He snapped his fingers and pointed upwards and we followed with our eys to see a creature on the ceiling. It was a huge, slobbering lump of an alien with a mouth full of sharp, snapping teeth. "The mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe."
"You mean, that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?" The Doctor asked the man in front of us.
"Once you go to Floor 500 you never come back." Cathica told us. All the screens suddenly exploded with sparks and the Drones fell lifeless to the floor. Satellite Five shuddered and all the alarms went off. My manacles suddenly came undone and I went to the Doctor and Rose. We ran for it.
"You'll have to stay and explain it - no-one's gonna believe me." Cathica told us.
"Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now. The Human Race should accelerate. All back to normal." The Doctor told her smiling.
I woke up and looked around a darkened room, a light on me.
"What happened?" I heard a man ask me. I looked up at him and blinked due to the light. "It's all right... it's the transmat. Does your head in." He helped me up and I looked around at my surroundings, blinking. "Get a bit of amnesia. What's your name?" he asked me.
"Ashlee. But... where's the Doctor?" I asked looking around.
"Just remember - do what the Android says. Don't provoke it. The Android's word is law." he told me.
"What d'you mean, android? Like... a robot?" I told him looking around as I started to hear more voices.
"Positions, everyone! Thank you!"
"Come on. Hurry up!" he told me as we started moving forward. "Steady, steady..."
"I was travelling. With the Doctor and a man called Captain Jack...? The Doctor wouldn't just leave me..." I said getting a better look now.
"That's enough chat! Positions! Final call!" a woman said. "Good luck!" I looked at the man I was with to see him smiling in anticipation.
"But I'm not supposed to be here." I said.
"Well, it says Ashlee on the podium..." he said and I looked where he mentioned and sure enough my name lite up on one of the podiums and I couldn't help but stare at it. "Come on!" he told me releasing me. He dashed off and climbed to stand behind his podium and I followed slowly. I was confused but this looked extremely familiar to me. I took my place and looked around.
"Hold on... I must be going mad." I said remembering where I'd seen this before. "It can't be. This looks like the-"
"Android activated!" the woman said and the android sprang to life, raising its face.
"Oh, my God. The Android. The Anne... Droid." I said looking at it.
"Welcome, to 'The Weakest Link'!" it said as the theme music played.
"17... 16... 15... thank you people, transmitting in 12... 11... 10..." I turned to the man next to me and leaned closer to him.
"But I need to find the Doc-" I started saying but he pushed me back
"Just- shut up and play the game!" he told me.
"All right then. What the hell? I'm gonna play to win!" I said smiling.
"3, and cue!" the floor manager said and the music started.
"Let's play 'The Weakest Link'! Start the clock." the Anne Droid said. "Agorax - the name of which basic food stuff is an anagram of the word 'beard'?" it asked.
"Bread." he said.
"Correct. Fitch - in the Pan Traffic Calendar, which month comes after Hoob?"
"Is it... Clavadoe?" Fitch asked.
"No, Pandoff. Ashlee, in maths, what is 258 minus 158?" it asked me.
"One hundred!" I said pleased with myself.
"Correct. Rodrick -"
"Bank." he said.
"Which letter of the alphabet appears in the word 'dangle' but not in the word 'gland'?" it asked.
"E." he said after a second thought.
"Correct! Colleen - in social security, what D is the name of the payment given to Martian Drones?" it asked.
"Default." Colleen said.
"Correct. Broff - the Great Cobalt Pyramid is built on the remains of which famous Old Earth Institute?" it asked him.
"T- Touchdown." he guessed.
"No - Torchwood." it corrected and I laughed. "Agorax - in language, allfive examples of which type of letter appear in the word 'facetious'?"
"Vowels." he said.
"Correct. Fitch - in biology, which blood cells contain iron - red or white?" it asked the woman next to me.
"Um... white." she said and I gigled at the answer.
"No, red. Ashlee- in the holovid series 'Jupiter Rising', the Grexnik is married to whom?" it asked me.
"How should I know?" I asked it laughing.
"No, the correct answer is Lord Drayvole." it said turning to Rodrick.
"Rodrick - in maths, what is nine squared?" it asked.
"So, Ashlee. What do you actually do?" the Anne Droid asked me at the end of the round and we'd all voted.
"I just travel about a bit. Bit of a... tourist, I suppose." I told it.
"Another way of saying 'unemployed'." it said,
"I guess." I said looking at it weird.
"Have you got a job?" it asked me.
"Well... not really, no, but-" I tried saying but it interrupted me.
"Then you ARE unemployed! And yet, you've STILL got enough money to buy nice clothing. Why Fitch?" it asked me as I gave it a weird look.
"Uh... I think she got a few of the questions wrong." I said looking at the woman I voted for. Fitch was staring at the ground, tears running down her cheeks. "... that's all."
"Oh, you'd know all about that." the Anne Droid said.
"Well yeah, but I can't vote for myself, so it had to be Fitch..." I said. Fitch sobbed silently and I was extremely confused. "I'm sorry... that's the game. That's how it works... I had to vote for someone." Fitch ignored me and looked to the Anne Droid, terrified.
"Let me try again, it was the lights and everything - I couldn't think." Fitch told it.
"In fact, with three answers wrong, Broff was the weakest link in that round, but - it's votes that count." the Anne Droid said.
"I'm sorry. Oh, please... oh God, help me!" Fitch begged looking at us. I looked at her confused before looking back to the Anne Droid.
"Fitch - you are the weakest link. Goodbye!" it said. The Anne Droid's mouth opened, and a gun protruded from it. Without a moments hesitation, it fired, a thick and fast bolt of yellow/gold light it hit Fitch - and she was gone. The gun retreated back into the Anne Droid's mouth and I looked from the Anne Droid to where Fitch had been, smoke billowing where Fitch once stood.
"And we've gone to the adverts. Back in three minutes..." the woman said and I turned to Rodrick, gesturing to the smoke.
"Wassat? What's just happened?" I asked him.
"She was the weakest link - she gets disintegrated." I made a small noise at the back of my throat and looked from Rodrick back to the dust. "Blasted into atoms."
"But I voted for her. Oh, my God. This is sick." I said looking at everyone. "All of ya, you're just sick! I'm not playing this-"
"I'm not playing!" Broff said as I said my last sentence. "I... I can't do it." The Anne Droid turned to him slowly and Broff lept off his podium and ran for it. "I'm not- please, somebody let me-"
"You are the weakest link." it said firing and Broff disappeared in mid-run. "Goodbye." the gun retreared back into its mouth. I was staring, mouth open and shocked by everyone here.
"Don't try to escape. It's play... or die." Rodrick told me.
"You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" The Anne Droid shot Colleen and the round was over.
"Going to the break! Two minutes on the clock." the woman said walking around the small area. "Just a reminder - we've got solar flare activity coming up in ten." I turned to Rodrick when she was gone.
"Colleen was clever, she banked all our money. Why'd you vote for her?" I asked him.
"'Cos I want to keep you in! You're stupid! You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname. When it comes to the final, I want to be up against you. So that you get disintegrated, and I get a stack-load of credits. Courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation..." he said looking around.
"What d'you mean? Who's Bad Wolf?" I asked him remembering those words. Rodrick turned to her and gave me a look.
"They're in charge. They run the Game Station." he told me.
"Why are they called Bad Wolf?" I asked him.
"I dunno, it's just a name. It's like an Old Earth... nursery rhyme sort of thing- what does it matter?" he asked me.
"I keep hearing those words everywhere we go. Bad Wolf."
Flashback.
"... this is the Bad Wolf scenario..."
"The things you've seen... the darkness... the big bad wolf-"
It was a picture someone took of the TARDIS with BAD WOLF written in block paint on it.
"... And on the Bad Wolf channel..."
"Blaidd Drwg..." The Doctor said looking at me.
"What's it mean?" I asked him.
"Bad Wolf."
End flashback
"Different times... different places like it's written all over the universe..." I said thinking about all the times I'd heard it.
"What're you going on about?" Rodrick asked me.
"If the Bad Wolf is in charge of this quiz, then... maybe I'm not here by mistake. Someone's been planning this..." I said.
Agorax screamed as the disintegrator beam shot him until there's nothing left but dust. The gun retreated back into the Anne Droid's mouth and the light behind Agorax's name on his podium goes out.
"That leaves Ashlee and Rodrick - you're going head-to-head... let's play 'The Weakest Link'." The Anne Droid said.
"Right, that's the end of tactical voting... you're on your own now." He said and I took a deep breath, praying the Doctor would find me. After the adverts had gone by the Anne Droid asked Rodrick his question which he answered correctly before it turned to me.
"Ashlee, in geography, the Grand Central Ravine is named after which Ancient Britain City?" it asked.
"Is it York?" I asked going over the cities in my time.
"No, the correct answer is Sheffield." it said. "Rodrick, in literature, the author of 'Lucky' was Jackie who?"
"Stewart." he said.
"No, the correct answer is Collins. Ashlee, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?" it asked.
"Boe! The Face of Boe!" I said knowing I'd gotten it right. A few seconds of silence in which the Anne Droid and Rodrick both stared at me.
"That is the correct answer." I sighed in relief. "Rodrick, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?"
"Hoshbin Frane." he answered.
"That is the correct answer. Ashlee, in food, the dish Gaffabeque originated on which planet?" the Anne Droid said and I froze.
"Um... is it... Mars?" I asked.
"Nope, the correct answer is Lucifer. Rodrick, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?" the Anne Droid asked.
"Would that be a goffle?" he asked her.
"No. The correct answer is a paab. Ashlee, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?" it asked.
"Shoes." I said firmly.
"No. The correct answer is hats. Rodrick, in physics, who discovered the Fifteen-Dash-Ten Barric Fields?" It asked.
"San... Hazeldine." he guessed.
"No... the correct answer is San Chen. Ashlee, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?" There was a tense silence after it asked the question as I went through the cities I knew.
"Reykjavik...?" I asked.
"No, the correct answer is Pola Ventura." I breath a sigh before looking down. I was going to die. I was never going to see Mum or Rose again. I was never going to see the Doctor...
"Oh, my God! I've done it! You've lost!" Rodrick said and that snapped me out of whatever trance I'd been in.
"But I'm not meant to be here. I need to find the Doctor, he's got to be here somewhere- he's always here! He wouldn't just leave me!" I said, terrified.
"Rodrick, you are the strongest link, you will be transported home with one thousand six hundred credits." the Anne Droid said, speaking over me.
"Oh, thank you, thank you so much." Rodrick said smiling.
"This game is illegal! I'm telling you to stop!" I yelled. I heard a noise and turned towards where I'd woken before the game started. I saw the Doctor, Jack and a girl barged through the door and I smiled.
"Ashlee!" The Doctor said.
"Ashlee, you leave this life with nothing-" the Anne Droid started saying.
"Stop this game!" Jack ordered.
"I order you to stop this game!" The Doctor said.
"We're live on air!" the woman who'd been managing the studio said. The Doctor started to run across the floor and I pushed my way between the podiums to get to him.
"You are the weakest link." the Anne Droid said.
"Look out for the Anne Droid, it's armed!" I told them running. I felt something hit my back and screamed as my world went dark. The last thing I saw was the Doctor, my Doctor's face full of sorrow and rage.
When I woke up I surprised to be waking up. I looked around to see I was inside a spaceship that was humming. I sat up and saw something out of the corner of my eye and my eyes widened.
"It can't be..." I said as it glided towards me. I scrambled to my feet and stumbled back, gasping. "But you're dead... I saw you die!" The alien backed me against a wall. I tried to edge sideways but was stopped by a plunger shooting out. I sat down as the Dalek's moved around me.
"Alert! Alert! We are detected!" One of them said.
"It is the Doctor! He has located us!" another told them. "Open communications channel!" the first one who spoke to me swiveled to face me.
"Te female will stand. Stand!" I stood and looked up with the Daleks and an image materialized in mid-air - the Doctor, Jack, two girls and a guy all staring at us. The Doctor was grim, looking at the three Daleks flanking me with distaste.
"I will talk to the Doctor." the first one said.
"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" he said waving mockingly, a fake grin fading rapidly.
"The Dalek Stratagem nears completion. The Fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene." The first one said to him.
"Oh, really? Why's that then?" he asked them
"We have your associate. You will obey or she will be exterminated." the Dalek said looking at me.
"No." he said and I stared at him, mouth slightly open.
"Explain yourself." The Dalek said.
"I said 'no'." The Doctor told them.
"What is the meaning of this negative?" The Dalek said.
"It means 'no'." he told them.
"But she will be destroyed." the Dalek said.
"No!" he said standing. "'Cos this is what I'm gonna do - I'm gonna rescue her." he told me and I smiled lightly. "I'm gonna save Ashlee Tyler from the middle of the Dalek Fleet, and then I'm gonna save the Earth, and then just to finish off, I'm gonna wipe every last STINKING Dalek outta the sky!"
"But you have no weapons! No defences! No plan!" The Dalek said.
"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death?" He said grinning. "Ashlee?"
"Yes, Doctor?" I asked eagerly.
"I'm coming to get you." he told me.
"I'll be waiting." I said as he clicked a device and the communication line closed.
"The Doctor is initiating hostile action!" the first Dalek said.
"The Stratagem must advance. Begin the invasion of Earth!" another Dalek told him. They spun around wildly. I gasped but they took no notice of me as I stepped out of their way.
"The Doctor will be exterminated!" a third Dalek said.
"Exterminate!" The Daleks kept repeating that over and over again. I moved so I could look around the ship some more and what I saw scared me. The entire ship was filled with thousands of Daleks.
Next Time on the Doctor's Girl:
"Launch missiles! Exterminate!" the first one said.
"I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape." he told me. "How did you survive the Time War?"
"They survived through me." We heard someone say. The Doctor turned startled and took a few steps toward the voice with Jack and I following him.
"Two hundred thousand years in the future, he's dying, and there's NOTHING I can do." I said my voice trembling. "I'm coming for you Doctor."