City of the Daleks.
Chapter Three

Authors note:-
Sorry for the time it's taken to get this one out. I had to rewrite it several times, mostly because instead of the second Doctor I was writing the ninth... Talk about wires crossed! "U-boat captain" opposed to "space hobo"!

Anyway; yes, this is set in season three. I've only recently been able to see the end of that year (DVDs take far too long to come out in my opinion) so Carson and Elisabeth are both still alive and Carter is still with SG-1. I really must read more spoilers!

Chapter Three

Their guest looked at them expectantly. Elisabeth was a little more worried about the scream. 'Rodney?' she barely heard her own voice but the room was dead and still after the Doctor's question.

'Those idiots! I told them not to do anything!' Rodney suddenly shouted. 'This is what happens when I can't finish my work. I end up having to fix the mess everyone else makes.'

'I know exactly how you feel my boy. But I don't think now it the time.' the Doctor said hurriedly. 'Quickly now we need to get to your control room. It is always best not to lose ones head in a crisis.' He reached out, grabbed Elisabeth's hand and pushed though her best officers.

Being dragged along by one hand Elisabeth noticed the Doctor seemed to be picking passageways and corridors at random. This was taking him the wrong way. Eventually he stopped; ' Oh dear... Er, you don't the the way from here do you?'

'Yes...' Elisabeth ventured.

'Oh good. You couldn't lead the way could you? I think I'm a bit lost.'

She spared a moment to look at him. 'This way.' Prising his hand off her arm she was able to reach her headset. 'This is Weir. What's happening?'

Chuck answered as she ran for the nearest transporter. 'We don't know Dr Weir. The radio was cut off during the attack.' With a glance she saw that all those in the infirmary were now following close behind.

'Chuck, have that entire sector locked up and sealed then cut power. Whatever they are I don't want them getting any further.' Stepping into the transporter with the Doctor she punched the gate room button. Stepping out of the chamber she virtually marched up the stairs and into the control room. 'Well?' she asked the Major.

He was already busy with the controls, Zelenka and Rodney were hot on her heels and quickly finished the orders. 'I mean how big an idiot do you have to be? Don't know what it is, lets just reactivate it and find out. Could have been anything.' Rodney grouched. 'I guess someone decided to put the idiots in charge today.'

'You'll find one persons ignorance is another's foolishness.' the Doctor said rather too flippantly. 'This is a good example. While shutting everything off might be a good idea it won't exactly get us very far. A Dalek gun is more than powerful enough to destroy the doors as easily as it does people.'

'So what do you suggest? Talk to them sternly?' John asked.

'Perhaps they will listen to reason.' Tayla supplied.

'That, lass, would be a very bad idea.' the Scotsman, Jamie, answered. 'Even if you do get close enough the only thing talking would do is tell them you're there.'

'Great. Sounds just like my mother. You can talk to her but she never listens.' Carson agreed. It was getting worrying how well those two got along.

'Just what we needed another enemy we can barely defeat.' John flung his arms in the air. 'What next, The Borg? The Skree empire?

That last one earned a look from their guest. 'How would a race of sentient shades of the colour purple have an empire? They can't touch anything for a start...'

'Right, if we've all finished.' Rodney had stood up and was by a screen showing a map of the city. 'The lab we had them in was here. Near that section's transporter. We've got the power shut down but they can't use it anyway, the platform's too small.'

The Doctor looked at the map for a moment 'How did you get them there?'

'We used a puddle-jumper. Got them through the gate and then down. There's a door over that section of the city. It's why we use that area of the city to house that sort of stuff.'

'Hum. I see... I see. Well perhaps it was a good idea to seal the city. But cutting the power. That's still a very big mistake.'

'Why?' Rodney asked.

'It means the locks aren't double locked! The Daleks just have to get power to them and then they will open. Oh dear, they're probably doing it right now! This place has internal scanners. Life sign detectors, visual relays and sound loops but without power none of them work. We can't see what they are doing, the Daleks could be anywhere!' He was panicking now, wringing his hands together in despair.

'We've been able to get the Life signs detector working. Same for the internal comms but other than that nothing.'

'Maybe you just haven't found the program yet.' the Doctor suddenly smiled and began exploring the pockets of his lose fitting pants. 'Now let me see...' he muttered before pulling up all sorts of things. Including a catapult and a knot of fishing wire. Then he produced a brown bag 'Oh! I wondered where these got to! Jelly baby.' He offered the bag to Rodney who looked at it like a dead fish. Elisabeth had to agree, this Doctor was changing gears on them faster than a race car.

Absently the Doctor gave the bag to Carson (who took one) and kept searching. 'Doctor, what are you looking for.' Elisabeth asked as he pulled out a thick, dog-eared, note book with some relief.

'Aye Doctor. I know Daleks and all that but these people did shoot us and bring this on themselves. Shouldn't we get going?' Jamie asked.

'Oh yes! Please Doctor I don't think I could stand to even see another Dalek. After what they did to Father...' the dark haired woman clung to the Doctor's side.

He patted her arm and smiled reassuringly. Yet another side of him, Elisabeth was having trouble keeping up. 'Yes I know Victoria, it's quite alright to be afraid but the Daleks have to be stopped. These people didn't know the danger. Neither did your father. As much as I would like to hold it against them these people are only human and can make mistakes. They have no concept of just how evil the Daleks are.'

The Doctor gently lifted the girl off his arm and onto Jamie's. Then he began flipping through the book as he continued; 'If those demented little pepper pots get control of this city they could use it. Escape from Skaro and become a mobile menace, roaming space virtually impregnable and impossible to predict.' After a moment he flicked the book sideways and then upside down. 'Ah ha. Power please.'

Rodney, who had set up next to one of the consoles typed at his laptop. 'I've got the power back but here isn't exactly a button here marked "camera".'

The Doctor got to the same console. 'Of course not. You walk into the city of Atlantis one day and expect to be given the keys? You people haven't even scratched the surface of what this place can do.' Then reading the book in one hand he started punching in commands. His hand was moving faster than humanly possible. When he stopped the main screen changed.

Instead of just life-sign detector the screen was split three ways from the centre. The bottom part showed the life signs detector, three angry looking triangles pulsed in the city, right where the lab should be. To the right Ancient script spooled off but she didn't have time to translate and on the left section it showed a picture. It was like a high angled, closed circuit, camera. In the last section the three things John had brought back were in the middle of the lab. Two of them facing each other with what she guessed were single eyes on the top of both.

'WE... ARE... ACTIVE!' The odd one out screeched. It had it's back to the others, plunger attached to a Naquada reactor. It's voice harsh, grating and shouting. Two lights on the top flashed in time with the words.

'LO-CATION; UN-KNOWN! TIME E-LAPSED; UN-KNOWN! MISSION; RE-QUIRED!'

'SEN-SORS INDICATE VAST A-LIEN LIFE-SIGNS!' The white ones screeched to each other. Then, together, the top dome spun to face their leader.

As one they demanded; 'OR-DERS?'

There was a long moment as the leader came around. Like a car it pulled of a perfect three point turn until it stopped. Elisabeth couldn't help but shudder as its turret panned across the room. Slowly it finished turning to its fellow Daleks. 'SEEEEK. LO-CAAAATE. EX-TERMI-NATEEEEE THEM ALLLL.' She could see it wobbling from side to side with each word, almost franticly.

'WARNING! WARNING!' the white one who had reported on sensors began moving backwards and forwards, its turret jerking wildly 'SEN-SORS IN-DI-CATE PRES-ENCE OF TIME LORD.

'IT IS THE DOK-TOR. THE EN-EMY OF THE DAAA-LEKS!' Their leader's eye whipped back and forth between the two others. 'PRI-MARY TAR-GET! PRIMARY TARGET! EXTERMINATE ALL! ALLLLLLLL!' It's voice was faster nearer the end of its rant. It wasn't frantic, it was a fanatic. In the most total and absolute sense of the word. Elisabeth felt her back go cold and her stomach tie itself in knots. The Wraith fed on humans because it was in their nature. The only malice came from a scant handful. They still had to be defeated but it wasn't like these Daleks.

Their evil was a purer breed. A fanatical need to kill. They were monsters and had to be stopped.

Ronon watched as Dr Weir's expression slid from horror to blank fear and then all the way into something hard. He'd seen the same thing in the mirror the day the Wraith destroyed his home.

He couldn't understand it. These stupid things were nothing like the Wraith. Three of them couldn't be a match for the soldiers of Earth, he could probably take them all on. Something held him back from saying that. The Wraith cruiser, the one they'd found the Daleks on. The three of them had totally destroyed it from the inside.

So Wraith stunners might not work on them, that's all the Wraith had after all. All it would take is a few proper ranged weapons to finish the job. 'John, Ronon. See what you can do.' She must have come to the same conclusion.

'I will go with you' Tayla volunteered.

'No Tayla I might need you here.' John suggested. 'Keep an eye on the life-signs detector and keep us up to date. If something bad happens lead another team to cut them off.'

'Alright John.'

'Now see here that's a very bad idea...' The Doctor started.

Ronon spun his gun out of its holster, catching the selector switch setting it to kill. 'Don't worry there's only three of them. We'll be done before lunch.'

'Oh dear, oh dear no. You don't understand.' the small man shook his hands. 'The Daleks are too powerful. They fought a war for thousands of years and are extraordinary good at it.' he began biting his finger knuckle. 'Oh no! You can't see it can you! The material their shells are made out of is all but impenetrable! Your guns won't be any use against them. You'll be killing yourselves!'

'You haven't seen what a P-90 can do at close range.' John assured him.

'You haven't seen what a Dalek can do! Please you have to listen to me!'

Dr Weir put a hand on his shoulder, 'Doctor, it will be okay. I want a full team of marines John. Don't take any chances.'

'I wasn't going to.' John reached for his radio. 'Major Lorne get your best men. We need you outside the main lab now.'

'It's not enough!'

'I'll go with them Doctor.' the boy volunteered

'I don't need a boy in a skirt to help.' Ronon turned, what use could he be?

'No you need someone that knows what they're doing. And stop calling my tartan a skirt, ya big daft flag pole.'

'Jamie! It's not a good idea. Stay here where its safe, for the moment at least.'

'I'll stay out of trouble Doctor, don't you worry. You know me.'

'That's what I'm afraid of.'

Ronon, John and the skirt boy ran for the nearest transporter. It was just down the main steps and across the hall so it gave them a moment. 'You, stay out of the way boy.'

'You're the idiots rushing to fight a Dalek, not me. I'm going with you to save you lot.'

Transporting across the city Ronon shook his shoulders, he never liked those things. They were too much like the thing on Wraith Darts. Lorne and about a dozen men were already there, loading their guns.

Lorne handed John a weapons vest and P90. 'What's the situation Colonel'

'We've got three hostile aliens. Each in some sort of armoured suit.' John briefed them. 'We don't know how much firepower it's going to take to shatter one but bet on a lot. I want concentrated fire power, the corridor isn't wide enough at this point for more than one at a time. So we set up the ambush here.'

'Who's the Scotsman?' one of them asked.

'I'm one of the few people that have met these things and lived to talk about it.'

'He's the expert.' Ronon shrugged. 'He's here to tell us we're all going to die.'

'Aye, that we are.' He agreed. The Satedan ignored the boy, he had no clue what they could do. Everyone took position either side of the main door, weapons ready.

'Tayla, where are they?' John asked into his headset.

'You have been detected. A single Dalek has been sent to intercept you.' her voice answered.

Ronon smirked.' Shouldn't take long. Sit back and watch skirt boy.'

'Oh aye. I know a stonecutter, he's very good at headstones. I'll have that carved for you lot.'

'John. It is just turning the corner now. The Doctor is quite insistent that you should retreat.'

'Here it comes!' Lorne shouted

Ronon looked around. The thing was just as stupid looking as Ronon remembered it only this time there wasn't anything silly about it. It almost dripped malice and evil. The same way you could look at a Wraith and know that it was a threat you could tell this Dalek was dangerous.

As one the group stepped out, took positions and opened fire.

They hit it with everything, whole clips of ammo, half a charge from his own pistol and even John's sidearm. It just stood there and took it. The bullets just bouncing off like rain. Energy pulses vaporising with no effect, other than scoring the paint. The armour of this thing was almost impossible.

Then it responded. 'EX-TERMINATE!' It's little stick to the right jerked and spat a blueish white charge. The marine it hit suddenly screamed and flashed. The light was so bright Ronon could see the man's skeleton glowing. The scream ended in a gargle and the kneeling soldier fell face first.

Then another shot, another flash and scream.

Another.

Another.

Another, they were so quick the shouts almost merged into one painful death.

John shouted and the survivors pealed back. More blue shots lanced out from the doorway, exploding against the far wall.

'What's its weakness? What the hell is its god damn weakness! Lorne shouted at the boy.

'It doesn't have one!' he shouted back. 'It just kills. Kills and keeps on killing until its the only thing left!'

John looked at Ronon. His eyes were asking "when did we lose control?" but instead of saying it John grabbed a C-4 charge, broke it in half and threw it at the Dalek. Ronon leaned out for a fraction of a second and fired.

The charge went up. The Dalek fired back.

Ronon had moved just fast enough. The Dalek missed by half an inch. 'That should slow it down.' John gasped. One of the marines poked his head around the corner.

Another death scream and blinding flash. 'Forget this! Get out of here!' John shouted. He slapped the back of a marine and they ran.

One marine, whose foot was just the wrong side of the corner, was also hit. The result was exactly the same as the head shot. Ronon realised it didn't matter where you were hit the Dalek gun killed you. Painfully.

The problem was he, Jamie and two others were trapped. The corridor entrance was between them and the transporter. John looked up as he realised. They didn't need to say anything. Someone was going to die before anyone got across.

Elisabeth was watching the disaster on the screen. Seven men dead in less than a minute. Four trapped and another five still in danger. How did this happen?

She half expected the Doctor to say "I told you so" instead he just took her hand and said softly; 'I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do from here. We have to trust them'

She agreed but her mind filled with images of the expedition members. Her friends and all those she was responsible for. They were all screaming that terrible scream and she let the tears fall down her face.

Ronon shared a look with the rest of his little group. 'I underestimated them...' he started.

'We'll make it.' one of the marines nodded. It might have sounded hollow but there wasn't much else to say.

'John, get out of the way.' Ronon growled and his friend simply nodded and jogged to the transporter

they made a dash for it.

The optimist didn't make it, catching the second shot after the first went wide. Ronon felt something hit him and for a moment he thought that was it. Another shot just missed and the three of them rolled under it.

It had been Jamie with an expert tackle, taking them down and out of shot. 'Thanks.' the marine nodded and scrambled for the transporter but ronon was more interested in something else.

As the other two ran he held back. Jaime must have noticed 'What do you think you're doing, you silly excuse for a claymore?' he shouted skidding to a stop

'I'm getting my gun.' Ronon growled. It sat there in the middle of the corridor, dropped when the idiot crashed into his back.

'Oh that's good. What happened to get out of here?'

'I'm not going anywhere without it.' Ronon turned on him, thing was there wasn't a chance in Hades of both getting it and surviving.

'Aye, Now I know how the Doctor feels when I want my knife back.' Jamie jumped around the corner and rolled just in time. A blue energy blast flew over his head and another just where he'd be going. Both missed as he landed flat, hand wrapped around Ronon's gun. Firing wildly Jamie rolled back, not wasting time trying to get up.

Ronon grabbed his foot when it was close enough and in a smooth move he spun, Throwing Jamie, skirt and all, down the corridor and to the transporter.

Something had happened to the Dalek. The large form dominating the corridor began firing at the celling; 'VISION IM-PAIRED! VISION IM-PAIRED! I CAN-NOT SEE! WARNING, I CAN NOT SEE!' it screeched.

Jamie handed him his gun back Ronon glanced out and around the corner. Bringing his pistol up he fired again, same effect as before. Nothing, but something had happened.

Still the small tanks gun stick waved back and forth, firing madly. The Dalek itself rocking from side to side, jerking backwards and forwards and screaming madly. It took only a glance to see what was different. Jamie had blown off the eye stalk.

They had to report this. It could be the brake they were looking for. 'Lets get out of here.' Ronon grabbed Jamie by the collar and half dragged him to the transporter. Where John was waiting.

'What the hell kept you? And what the hell was that Superman routine all about?'

'He wanted his gun back.' The boy answered. Ronon just shrugged an agreement.

'Your gun back? Okay, I can understand that.' He punched the button and they got out at Stargate operations. 'Don't do it again.'

'John are you alright?' Elisabeth ran down the main stairs to them.

The dark haired girl was just a few steps ahead of the older woman; 'Don't scare me like that Jamie McCrimmon!' she shouted and hit her friend's arm.

Ronon shared a glance with Lorne and the other surviving marines.'It's no good.' John sighed. 'Best we can do is blind them and that was with a lucky shot. They're bullet proof, stunner proof and I'm willing to bet just-about-anything-we-can-fire-at-them proof too.'

'Isn't there anything you can do? I'm pretty much certain that's got to be one of the most horrible ways to die.'

'Rodney, It's like throwing rocks at the Death Star!' John shouted. 'Little bitty rocks. Best you can do is hope they miss.' Ronon missed the reference and added it to the list of ones he would check up on. After seeing that "Jaws" film last week it should be good.

'That's going to be a lot more likely now that we can blind them.' Jamie supplied.

'I wouldn't be so sure of that Jamie. Not so sure at all. I think you'd all better get up here and see this.' The Doctor said in a nervous voice. They half ran back up to the control room and saw what he was on about.

One of the Daleks was in front of it's damaged comrade. The Doctor hit a few buttons and the angle changed. They watched their slim hope fade. As the damaged eye stalk fell out the other one dropped its plunger on one of it's companions globes.

'What's it doing?' Ronon asked but no one had to answer. As the plunger retracted it pulled out a new eye stalk. A moment later it was in place and there was a flash. The plunge withdrew and the damage was fixed.

'It looks like they developed a way around that weakness.' The Doctor said with grim humour. 'Next plan anyone?'

End Chapter Three