It was dizzying at first and I tried to maintain my balance the best way that I could, "Where's Jo", the Doctor asked, and I wondered that myself, after taking a good look around.
"There was a bit of a delay, before you exited the time vortex…she's already gone", Anat told us.
"Where", I asked worried, "We don't know…", Boaz told us and then looked away.
"I know this may come a shock to you, but you've traveled two hundred years through time", Anat told us calmly.
"Thank you, but we're probably more familiar with the concept of time travel then you are", the Doctor told her.
"What about that "Dalek"", I asked, "Yes...before our transference, we saw a Dalek", the Doctor told them.
"You know of the Daleks", Boaz asked, "Indeed I do, I know of them only too well; they've been my bitterest enemy for many years", the Doctor told them.
"What's a Dalek", I asked, "A Dalek is an ancient race incapable of feeling any remorse, guilt, happiness, sadness, or love; they have no sense of morals and will kill anything without mercy if they are not a Dalek", the Doctor told me.
"They sound horrible", I said quietly as my head ached at the mention of the name…they were familiar somehow and I had no idea what they were.
"They are", the Doctor told me after he gave me a confused glance.
"Look, we need to find Miss Grant", the Doctor told him.
"She's probably dead", Anat told us, "There's a possibility that she isn't", I said angrily.
"As long as there is a chance- ", "Come on Anat", Boaz said as he began to walk away before the Doctor stopped him.
"Wait a minute, what's our best way of finding her", the Doctor asked, but the man had no desire to help, "That's your problem", he told us.
I got mad and said, "My friend is alive and maybe even scared, it will be your fault if she turns up dead, because you couldn't look past your suspicions and pride to help us", I told Boaz angrily. He looked surprised for a moment before walking away.
I watched as Boaz walked away disheartened, the Doctor then placed a hand on my shoulder, "It's alright, he's afraid", he told me, and I sighed...perhaps I was too quick to judge.
Then we all heard a noise and Anat told us to run, we ran away, and she ended up running the opposite direction of us. We ran down the hall and went around a corner to hide as a man ran past; once he was gone, we looked up to a ladder from where we stood, which was conveniently where we were hiding. After going up the ladder, we opened a hatch that went to the outside that was above us; well this is odd, I thought as the Doctor and I stared down an overgrown grassy field.
The Doctor closed the hatch, we went looking for what sounded like rocking chains and marching; once we had found the source of the sound, we hid behind a ruined wall. When we looked around the corner we saw people, men, women, and children being transported by a Dalek and my eyes went wide at the sight. The Doctor grabbed my hand, and we proceeded to enter to city that held three white buildings. We were quick to enter one of them, then walked down the hall and rounded the corner; what we saw before us disturbed me.
People…men, women, and the children…all carried some sort of silver trashcan that was filled with…something to transport and then dump. They were dirty, wore rags, and looked starved…this was slave labor; I clenched my hands in anger as I wanted…no…we needed to stop this.
"Come on, we need to go", the Doctor told me, "Isn't there a way to stop this", I asked him, "Yes, we can get rid of the leaders of this place", the Doctor told me, before we turned around.
However, there was a man directly behind us and once we had turned around he had knocked us out both unconscious.
When we awoke, we found ourselves in separate cells surrounded by men in uniform, until they dragged the Doctor out and shove him into a chair, "Tell us who you are", one of them men demanded, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you", the Doctor told them.
"And what of your lady friend", the man asked as he turned his head to look at me, "She's just a girl", the Doctor told them, trying to get their attention away from me, as the man came closer to my jail cell to take a better look.
"She looks like a woman to me", he said quietly and gave me a look that made me very uncomfortable, so I scooted as far back to the back wall as possible.
"Do not harm her", the Doctor warned, and the man sighed, "Who exactly would we be spying for", the Doctor asked.
"I'm asking the questions, now…are you spies", the man asked the Doctor again, moving away from my jail cell and began circling the Doctor.
"Maybe if you stopped provoking me, I could give you a straight answer", the Doctor told him upset.
"Careful, our friends here don't get that much fun", the man told the Doctor, "Poor fellas, I'm sorry I can't oblige, but I'm in no mood for games", the Doctor told them sarcastically. I would've smiled at the Doctor being sarcastic, if we weren't currently surrounded by a whole bunch of men who were looking for "fun."
"All right…then maybe we should start with your companion, grab her", the man said and then another came in to grab me before I tried kicking him away.
The he grabbed my foot and dragged me off the bed, before finally yanking me up by the arm, "No, no", I yelled as I tried pulling away, until he twisted both of my arms behind my back and pushed me out of my cell.
Tears streamed down my face as the Doctor yelled, "Stop this! Stop this at once", the Doctor yelled angrily, the man told him to stop and the other who had my arms twisted behind my back dropped me on to the floor.
I grabbed both of my arms and began to shake in fear, "Now, what are you doing here", the man demanded after the Doctor asked me if I was alright; I nodded before he answered, "I've already told you! We're here to look for a girl called Jo Grant", the Doctor told him.
"Who's she? Another spy", the man demanded, "Don't be stupid man", the Doctor told the man, before the door we entered before suddenly opened to reveal a man standing there in a suit.
"Well", the man in the suit said, "They're not being very cooperative", the other man told him, "Aren't they? That's very foolish of them, have you told them what will happen if they don't cooperate", said the man in the suit.
"I can give them a free sample if you like", the other man suggested, "That won't be necessary, leave them to me…I know how to deal with this sort", the man said and as I watched their exchange from the floor.
I glared up at the man as the men in uniform left the room, the man shut the door behind him before walking up to us, "Which group are you from", the man asked the Doctor and I, I looked up at him confused.
"Look, we don't have much time…who sent you two", the man asked us urgently, "Look, nobody sent us, we're not spies or guerrillas, we haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about", the Doctor told him.
"I'm trying to help", the man tried telling until another man came in; the man from before quickly stood, "Admit it, you're both spies", he ordered.
I looked up at him confused as the another man asked, "Is this them", "Yes controller", said the other man, "Then why are they being treated in this fashion? My dear Doctor and Acacia, I cannot apologize enough; I am the controller of this region and you are very elusive you know? I've had quite the trouble tracking the two of you down", the Controller told us.
Both the Doctor and I stood up to stand side by side facing the controller who was in front of us, "Then I'm glad you succeeded", the Doctor told him, "I've been looking forward in meeting the both of you. You and your friend here are honored guests of the government", the Controller told us.
The Doctor looked down at me and then rubbed my back comfortingly, "You surprise us", the Doctor told him, "Is she alright", the Controller asked the Doctor.
"One of your guards assaulted her", the Doctor told him, "Oh? I'll make sure I have it squared away and have that guard fired. I'm sorry if they were a little uncivilized, it was a misunderstanding and I do assure you this whole thing will be sorted out about your capture", the man told us.
Then the Controller turned around to face the young man that stood in the door way, "Now, make sure the Doctor and Acacia are taken immediately to the guest room in the control center", the Controller told the other man.
"Frankly, I don't know whether I can stand much more of your hospitality", the Doctor told him, "Neither can I", I added.
"A very good friend is waiting for you there", Controller told us and I looked at him in surprise.
"Miss Grant", the Doctor asked, "Yes", replied the Controller, "Is she safe", "Is she alright", the Doctor and I asked at the same time.
The Controller seemed pleased with our responses and nodded, "Of course and looking forward to seeing the two of you; I shall follow later…in the meantime the guards will take good care of you. Please", he told us and then gestured "politely" for us to leave.
When we arrived, in the guest waited Jo who was very happy and ran up to hug each of us, then she gestured for us to sit with her on the floor. We sat on pillows which surrounded a plate full of food; the Controller came in to sit next to us as we ate and talked.
I decided to not drink the wine as the Controller offered it, "No thanks", I replied, "No thank you, though I must admit it's an excellent vintage…well, since we had dinner at old Style's house. Do you both remember Jo and Acacia", the Doctor asked us and we both nodded.
"Seems like a long time ago", Jo said reminiscing, "Technically it was", I told her, "Yes, two hundred years ago to be precise and quite frankly I wish we were back there now", the Doctor said.
"Naturally you prefer the twentieth century, Doctor, after all it is your own time", the Controller told him, "Oh, I've known many times and some of them were more pleasant than others…and I always had someone to share it with", the Doctor said, saying the last part more to myself. I found myself looking away as I turned a tinge pink as I grabbed another grape.
"Well, I quite like it here I must say. Everyone's been so kind", Jo said and the blush I had was soon washed away.
"Well, we met some people today who were far from kind", the Doctor told her and when I glanced up at her she gave us a confused expression.
"That was a simple mistake, Doctor, I assure you. You must not jump to conclusions", the Controller said, and I glared at him.
"Well, better than jumping from a crack of a whip from a security guard or having my friend be assaulted and acting like animals. Do you run all your factories like that, Controller", the Doctor asked him.
That was not a factory, Doctor", the Controller told him, "Oh? Then what was it", the Doctor asked, "A rehabilitation center for hardened criminals and I told you that guard will be dealt with", the Controller told him.
I looked at the man angrily because I knew that wasn't the case, "Right? Does that include old men, woman, and even children", the Doctor asked the man.
"There will always be people who need discipline, Doctor, like that man who harmed your friend", the Controller told him.
I clenched my fists, it was clear that this man was trying to manipulate the situation…those poor people, "That's an old-fashioned point of view", the Doctor told the man.
"I can assure you that this planet has never been more efficiently and more economically run. People have never been happier…or more prosperous", the Controller told him.
"Those people downstairs don't look happy to me", I said angrily, "Why do you need so many people to keep under your control? Don't they like being happy and prosperous", the Doctor countered the Controller.
"You're both being unreasonable", Jo told us, "And you're being a bit too agreeable", I told her, "Look the controller just wants to help", Jo told us.
"Does he? I wonder why" the Doctor asked skeptically, "You're not on the side of criminals, surely? They wanted to kill you", Jo exclaimed.
"We didn't see any killers", I told Jo angrily, "And when I meet a regime that needs to import savage alien life-forms as security guards, I begin to wonder who the real criminals are", the Doctor added.
"Those creatures aren't really savage", Jo told us; so she's met them, I thought.
"They are simply...guard dogs, they just do what I tell them", the Controller told us, "So there aren't enough humans around that will follow your orders so blindly", the Doctor told him.
"I don't make them do every bidding", the Controller told the Doctor, "Then what your saying is that the entire human population of this planet, apart from a few…remarkable exceptions like yourself, are fit to live a life in happiness and prosperity", the Doctor told him.
"You have no right to say that", the Controller exclaimed, "Haven't I? Who rules this planet of yours", the Doctor demanded, and the controller glanced between the three of us, just as Jo looked at him questioningly before excusing himself.
"You shouldn't have spoken to him like that, you don't know the whole picture", Jo told us, "Neither do you, Jo"", the Doctor countered, and she sighed before looking down.
"What is he to them", I asked, "That man is no more than a superior slave himself, humans no longer rule this planet", the Doctor told us. "Then who does", Jo asked, "The most evil and ruthless life form in the cosmos…the Daleks", the Doctor told her.
The Doctor gave us a plan for our escape and we soon carried out, Jo called out for help as the Doctor and I got into place for the trap. Once he was through the door, I managed to trip the guard and after he had fallen onto the floor the Doctor then knocked him out. The three of ran out of the building undetected, we then got on a motorcycle with a rolling seat attached. Jo ended up sitting in the seat as I sat behind the Doctor. However, since there was guards chasing after us, it was not long when they suddenly surrounded and took us back to the facility.
Jo and I were shoved into separate cells as the Doctor was taken away; I paced back and forth because I knew something bad was going to happened. Jo tried telling me everything was going to be alright until I felt a jolt of pain inside of my head and I screamed out.
"Acacia", she asked concerned as I half gazed at her, grabbing my head, and feeling something wet drip from my nose. Upon touching it and examining my fingers, I was hit by sudden dread as I saw that they were red, "Not again...no, no, no please", I said quietly.