Chapter Eight
Mike comes around the corner in the School corridor with his men behind him and meets Rachel, Allison and Gilmore, who are working at a desk.
"I've checked the whole building, sir. There's no sign of Ace or Nita or the Doctor."
"Right, deploy lookouts, take a squad and sweep the area. I want the Doctor found and brought back here."
"Yes, sir." Mike turns to the men standing behind him. "Okay, men, follow me."
Gilmore turns to Rachel and Allison "You two, follow me."
Rachel and Allison snap to attention and obey.
At Ratcliffe's yard, the Doctor, Nita and Ace sneak around the back of the green lorry and he checks the fallen men.
"Daleks."
The casket mutters on its pallet. He goes to soothe it. "Be quiet."
"Is that it?" asks Nita.
"The Hand of Omega's inside this box. The most powerful and sophisticated remote stellar control manipulator device ever constructed."
"Are you sure you want the Daleks to have it?" Ace asks.
"Absolutely." He walks around the casket. "You know what you've got to do, don't you?"
The Hand chirps its reply.
"Yes, of course you do."
"Is it alive?" asks Nita.
"In a manner of speaking, yes." He pats the casket, smiling.
He steps away and Nita puts her ear to the casket and hears it chirping.
They creep into Ratcliffe's office. The Dalek chair is unoccupied.
Ace runs over to it. "What is it?"
"Some kind of biomechanoid control system, for a small human. Of course, it's a battle computer!"
"But why would a human need to sit in it?" asks Nita.
Ace sits in the seat and the Doctor pulls her out. He leans on her shoulder.
"The Dalek's major drawback is their dependency on rationality and logic. The solution? Get a human, preferably young, imaginative, plug the child into the system, and their ingenuity and creativity are slaved to the battle computer."
"That's well boggling," says Ace.
"It's obscene." He removes his hands and glances at the machine. He turns his head and notices the glowing energy ball, pointing to it. "Ah, now for the time controller." Ace and Nita look to where he is pointing.
"Hey, is this it?" Ace asks, running over to the electrostatic globe, and being her impulsive self, lays her hands on it. The Doctor slaps her hands off it with his hat.
"What is it?" asks Nita.
The Doctor crouches and places his hands upon it. "It's a device the renegade Daleks use to travel through time. They've come a long way." He presses on it and the globe switches off.
"Have you busted it?" Ace asks.
"No, no, no, I don't want to lumber Earth with a load of desperate Daleks." He stands. "I've merely put it out of phase. They'll be able to fix it, but it'll slow them down."
The Doctor stretches out his arm and magically produces a calling card, which he puts onto the time controller. He blows it a kiss. They hear voices outside.
"What are you going to do to me?" asks Ratcliffe, sounding terrified.
"Remain silent!" commanded the Black Dalek.
The Doctor grabs his umbrella off the table and they run out of the office and hide behind a rack in the store room. The girl leads Ratcliffe with his hands raised and the Black Dalek into the office.
The girls walks over to the time controller. "The time controller has been disabled!" she cries, rubbing her hands over it.
"Instruct all Daleks to seek and destroy the intruder!" Black commands.
The girl holds up the Doctor's calling card - Gallifreyan characters, a black seal and a gold question mark.
"Exterminate the Doctor! Crush all resistance!" Black screams.
"I obey," says the girl, throwing the card down on the desk.
She goes to the battle computer, sits in the seat and pulls the helmet down over her head.
The Doctor, Nita and Ace make their escape from the yard and run round the corner. The Doctor pulls the girls to hide behind a workman's hut as a grey Dalek trundles past. After it passes the Doctor creeps around it and pokes his head around the corner. Nita pulls him back protectively.
"Why didn't you just run off with the Hand of Omega and give it to the other Daleks?" asks Nita.
"With a bit of luck, the Imperial Daleks will wipe out the renegade faction. Besides, I can't just roll up and give it to them. They'd get suspicious."
"Suspicious of what?" Ace asks. "You still haven't told me w…"
The Doctor sees the Dalek returning. He places his hand over Aces mouth. "Shush!"
The Dalek returns so the Doctor pulls the girls inside the canvas hut. He has his arms around the girls' shoulders. The Doctor stifles a sneeze as it circles, then he pokes his head out and sees that the Dalek has gone. He grabs Nita's hand and they all run off in the direction of the Kings Arms.
Mike and his men come out the Coal Hill School gate.
"All right, follow me and keep your eyes peeled for Ace and the Doctor. Move." They run off.
The Doctor, Nita and Ace come running down the street, passing the TARDIS. Ace stops in front of it. "Hey, Doctor!"
"Yes?" He runs back with Nita.
"Couldn't we just get in?"
"No, no, no, we've got work to do. Anyway, here come the military." He walks up to Mike and his men.
"Where've you been?" asks Mike.
"Dalek hunting," replies the Doctor. "Now it's the other way around. Is Gilmore back at the school?"
"Yes."
"Good. We'll go back and smooth his troubled brow." He heads toward the school with Nita.
Mike stops Ace from following them. "Ace, when we're finished with this lot, do you fancy going to the pictures?"
"You're confident," Ace remarks. "Why, what's on?"
"I don't know."
"Doesn't matter. I've probably seen it on television anyway."
"Huh?" Mike sees movement over her shoulder. "Daleks! Move it!" They run off towards the school.
The daleks are trundling past the TARDIS. The soldiers, Mike and Ace make it back into the school yard just before the grey Dalek opens fire.
Inside, Gilmore is walking down the stairs as the Doctor and Nita stagger in, breathless. Gilmore receives a report from a solier. "Well, Doctor, I trust your little jaunt was successful."
"Moderately so." Ace comes running through the door. "I'm afraid we've brought back some Daleks with us."
Mike runs in, followed by his soldiers. "I don't get it. They've got the Hand of Omega. Why don't they just leave?"
The Doctor and the girls turn to look at him. "How did you know that, Sergeant?" asks the Doctor.
Mike pauses, looking worried. "Ace told me."
"You toe rag," Ace says angrily, slowly walking towards him. "You lying dirty scumbag."
She looks like she's about to punch him so the Doctor grabs her arms from behind. "It can wait."
Ace continues. "You're finished," The Doctor starts pulling her away towards the staircase. "He's a grass, a dirty stinking grass! He's selling us out to the Daleks!"
The Doctor drags Ace up the stairs and Nita follows after giving Mike a filthy look.
Gilmore walks over to Mike. "What's going on, Sergeant? What are they talking about?"
"I didn't know it was the Daleks, sir."
Mike is escorted away.
Outside, the machine gun nest is under attack. It doesn't last long.
In Ratcliffe's office, the little girl is still plugged into the battle computer. She sees movement on the screen. "Imperial Dalek shuttlecraft entering atmosphere."
"We must defend the Hand of Omega. Withdraw all units," Black commands. "Return to base immediately."
"I obey."
Ratcliffe is still standing with his hands raised.
In the school yard, the grey daleks hear their commands. "Battle computer to all units. Withdraw immediately."
"Return to base," one grey dalek orders the others. They turn around and head back towards their base.
In the School science lab, Ace and Nita are watching from the lab window.
"They're retreating, all of them," Nita says. "Wimps!" she yells at them.
Rachel enters with a piece of paper in her hand and walks over to the Doctor.
"Doctor, we've had a report of a radar contact."
"On a re-entry curve from low orbit?"
"Yes."
"That'll be the Imperial Dalek shuttlecraft." The Doctor nods.
"What? They're not landing a spaceship here," Gilmore says.
"Here? No. We're much too far from the main action."
There is the sound of landing jets outside. Rachel and Allison look up at the sky. Gilmore and the Doctor look towards the window.
"You're sure?"
"Cor!" Ace exclaims, looking out the window. She sees a shuttle craft coming down to land.
"Girls! Get away from the window!" cries the Doctor.
They turn and jump over the desks to the Doctor. Everything starts to shake as the shuttle craft lands.
"Down!" shouts the Doctor and everyone ducks down. As the shuttlecraft descends onto the schoolyard, the windows shatter. The Doctor looks up at Nita. "I think I might have miscalculated."