Chapter 52

"I'M NOT A DALEK. I'M NATE."

The voice was still dalek, but it sounded different somehow, like when Ed had used the dalek case.

"It is Nate," Lilly confirmed. "I met him remember?"

"You met a dalek?"

"I don't know what a dalek is," Lilly said, frustration starting to well up in her voice.

"STILL NOT A DALEK."

"Prove it," the Doctor said.

"Doctor!" Lilly gasped.

"It's easy enough to open a dalek case from the inside. If he's Nate, he can open up and show us," the Doctor explained.

"NO ACTUALLY, I REALLY CAN'T." Nate paused, and actually rolled a little further away. "DID SHE CALL YOU THE DOCTOR?"

"Yes. Ring any bells?"

"UNFORTUNATLY. IF I KNEW WE'D BROUGHT THE DOCTOR HERE, I WOULD'VE MADE SURE YOU STAYED WITH LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE." He paused for a moment. Pride wasn't sure if that made the room more or less tense, but when Nate spoke again he seemed less agitated. "IT'S LIKE THIS. I'M NOT A DALEK BUT MY PLANET WAS INVADED BY THEM. THEY KILLED MOST OF US. THEY CONVERTED THE FEW PEOPLE WHO CAUGHT THEIR ATTENTION. I WAS . . . THE ONLY ONE WHO KEPT MY PERSONALITY IN TACT."

Conversion? So he really was a squid in there.

"You resisted the dalek conversion?" the Doctor asked, still not relaxed. "That's a rare trick."

"AND YET, HERE WE ARE."

"You know, some people take longer to be fully converted than others."

"IT'S BEEN SEVERAL YEARS, IF IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IT'S SURE TAKING ITS TIME."

They stared at each other in silence for a few moments longer. It was tense enough Pride was starting to wish he was somewhere else.

Lilly broke the silence, clearing her throat. She seemed a little wary of speaking with the Doctor staring Nate down like she was. "Um, thank you for saving these two Nate. Are you in charge then?"

"OH NO. I'M SECOND IN COMMAND, AND DO A LOT OF THE WORK, BUT NORA RULES THE PLANET."

"I'd like to speak with her," the Doctor said, leaving no room for argument.

Nate made a sort of grinding noise. "SURE. RIGHT THIS WAY. IF I'M ALLOWED TO MOVE NOW."

The Doctor fell back, letting Nate and Lilly take the lead, though she was clearly still eyeing Nate. As soon as those two were out of the room she leaned towards Pride.

"I'm going to find out what's going on here. I want you to keep an eye on Nate for me."

"You're not going to ask Lilly?" She certainly seemed to trust Lilly more.

"Lilly trusts everyone already. You're naturally skeptical. Plus, you're the one who's met a dalek."

"Fair."

And with that, they left the room. Lilly and Nate were at the end of the hall.

"WHEN YOU'RE READY," Nate said, in what was probably supposed to be a sing song voice.

Yeah, he probably knew they'd been discussing something. Well, knowing didn't matter.

Nate opened the door. They stepped into what was clearly a bedroom. There was a smaller part up a few stairs, certainly not half a floor above, that was a work area. It had a huge computer taking up the back wall, files, and a chair. The chair was clearly meant to be ordinary, but sort of resembled a throne based on location.

There was an older woman in that section. She looked human. Light skin, dark eyes, gray hair. She was using a stick to walk with, but it looked more like a staff than a cane. Her gaze softened as it fell on Nate. An odd reaction, even given the circumstances. She moved toward the chair.

"Ah, Nate, I can see why you brought them to me."

"You and I need to have a talk," the Doctor agreed. "But there's no reason to involve these three." She jerked her head back towards the others.

Nora eyed them all. "Indeed. Nate, why don't you take care of the others?"

"RIGHT. COME ON GUYS." He rolled back to the door, then spun his eyestalk back around, his tone abruptly going bitter. "ASSUMING THE DOCTOR DARES LET ME, OF COURSE."

Nora sat in her chair. It was quiet in here, now that the others had left.

"So Doctor, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

"I think you know."

"Yes, you're concerned about Nate."

"Yes. Well, not just that, but one subject at a time I suppose. Concerned is an understatement. You put a dalek as second in command to your recue planet." She tried not to put air quotes on that. She wasn't convinced this planet was what everyone claimed. "And no offense, but he won't be second for much longer, unless you have some trick I don't know about."

Nora caught her implication. "No. I'll have to retire soon. Or die. But Nate isn't a dalek. I trust him completely to take over. Nor will he have to be alone. I wasn't."

"Do you really think he can fight the dalek programming indefinitely?"

"If losing his planet and form didn't convert him, I doubt anything will. And I think I know him better than you. I won't let you stay around Nate if you keep talking like that."

"Fine with me," the Doctor said. Part of her wanted to believe Nora, and Nate. Really, she did. It would be wonderful if it was true. But another part of her was so tired of trying to believe that kind of thing. All that ever led to was being let down. And being around the person who looked and sounded like a dalek was not a comfortable experience. "Leave him aside for the moment. Do you honestly expect me to believe this is the mythical recuse planet? Even if its invisible, anyone who's been here should be able to find it again. Whatever this planet is, there's a catch."

Nora took a deep breath. "Yes, we have a trick for that," she said with an annoying level of patience. "How about I show you?"