Thanks to all of those who have reviewed so far, it's nice to know that you're enjoying the story. Hopefully, you'll like this chaper :)
Please read and review xoxox
Daleks in Manhattan
"Where are we?" Martha asked as they three of them walked out of the TARDIS.
"Ah, smell that Atlantic breeze. Nice and cold. Lovely. Martha, Freya, have you met my friend?" the doctor said, looking up. Martha and Freya looked up too to see the statue of liberty.
Freya smiled widely. "I always wanted to go to New York! The proper New York, not new new new..."
"Oh my God! That's the Statue of Liberty!" Martha exclaimed happily.
"Gateway to the New World. 'Give me you tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to break free…'"
"That's so brilliant!" Martha sighed as they walked to the edge of the island.
"Well, there's the genuine article. So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. Now wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam." The doctor babbled.
"I wonder what year it is 'cause look, the Empire State Building's not even finished yet." Freya pointed out.
The doctor nodded. "Work in progress. Still got a couple floors to go, and if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around - "
"November 1st, 1930." Martha finished for him.
"You're getting good at this." He said, his eyes widened in surprise untill he saw the newspaper in her hands.
"Eighty years." Freya whispered as the doctor took a closer look at the paper. "So, where do we go first?"
"Think our detour just got longer." The doctor said, showing the girls the headline.
"Hooverville Mystery Deepens." Martha read. "What's Hooverville?"
"Come on." The doctor said. "I'll explain on the way."
...
"Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the USA, came to power a year ago." The doctor explained as they walked. "Up till then New York was a boom town, the Roaring Twenties, and then - "
"The Wall Street Crash, yeah? When was that, 1929?" Martha guessed and the doctor nodded.
"Yeah. Whole economy wiped out overnight. Thousands of people unemployed. Suddenly the huddled masses doubled in number with nowhere to go. So they ended up here in Central Park."
"They live in a park?" Freya asked concerned. "They must be freezing to death."
"Ordinary people. Lost their jobs. Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything." The doctor sighed as they arrived at 'Hoovervile'. "There are places like this all over America. You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go."
"You thievin' lowlife!" One man yelled, punching another.
"I didn't touch it!" He protested angrily as the three travellers watched causiously.
"Cut it out!" A third, more older, man ordered but he was ignored. The pair kept fighting. "Cut that out! Right now!" He pushed them apart and they continued to glare darkly at each other.
"He stole my bread!" The first one yelled.
The older man gave him a sharp look. "That's enough!" He turned to the second. "Did you take it?"
"I don't know what happened. He just went crazy." He insisted and the other man lunged at him but was held back.
"That's enough!" The older man yelled again, staring at the second man who shifted slightly. "Now think real careful before you lie to me."
The second man was silent for a second before sighing in defeat. "I'm starvin', Solomon."
Solomon simply held out his hand and the second man reluctantly handed over the bread.
"We're all starvin'. We all got families somewhere." Solomon said, breaking the bread in half and handing each man a part. "No stealin' and no fightin'. You know the rules. Thirteen years ago I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the only reason we got through was because we stuck together! No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got."
"Come on." The doctor whispered as the two men disappeared and they walked over to talk to Solomon. "I suppose that makes you the boss around here."
Solomon looked surprised to see them. "And...uh...who might you be?"
"I'm Freya, this is my friend Martha and that's the doctor." Freya said and Solomon scoffed.
"A doctor... Well, we got, uh, stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighbourhood gets classier by the day." He said bitterly, warming his hands by the fire.
"How many people live here?" Martha asked, looking around.
"At any one time, hundreds. No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville. We are a truly equal society, black, white, all the same. All starving. So you're welcome. All of you. But tell me, Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me." Solomon said, pointing to the empire state building. "That there's going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, and we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"
"So…men are going missing. Is this true?" the doctor asked a little while later, holding up the newspaper.
Solomon took the paper with a grim expression. "It's true alright." He said before going into a tent. The doctor, Freya and Martha stood by the opening.
The doctor was frowning. "But what does missing mean? Men must come and go here all the time. It's not like anyone's keeping a register."
"C'mon in." Solomon said and they did, sitting down opposite him. "This is different."
"In what way?" Freya asked.
"Someone takes them. At night. We hear something. Someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone. Like they vanish into thin air."
"And you're sure someone's taking them?" the doctor asked and Solomon stared at him.
"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got. Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning."
"Have you been to the police?" Martha asked.
"Yeah, we tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal." Solomon shrugged but his eyes were blazing.
"So, the question is, who's taking them and what for?" the doctor said outloud when a young boy peered into the tent.
"Solomon, Mr. Diagoras is here." He said and they walked out to see a rather cocky man in a suit.
"I need men. Volunteers. I got a little work for you and you sure look like you can use the money." He said to a group.
"Yeah. What is the money?" the young boy asked.
"A dollar a day." The group started grumbling.
"What's the work?" Solomon asked while the travellers watched carefully.
"A little trip down the sewers. Got a tunnel that collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?"
Solomon rolled his eyes. "A dollar a day? That's slave wage. Men don't always come back up, do they?" The doctor froze at the mention of this and a thoughtfull look appeared on his face.
"Accidents happen." Diagoras sneered.
"What do you mean? What sort of accidents?" the doctor asked.
"You don't need the work? That's fine. Anybody else?" The doctor raised his hand. "Enough with the questions!" Diagoras snapped.
The doctor frowned before shaking his head. "Oh, n-n-no. I'm volunteering."
Martha and Freya shared a look before reluctantly raising their hands. "I'll kill you for this." Martha said as Solomon and the young boy raised their hands aswell.
...
"Turn left. Go about half a mile. Follow Tunnel 273. Fall's right ahead of you. You can't miss it." Diagoras said once they were down in the sewers.
"And when do we get our dollar?" the young boy, Frank, asked and Diagoras rolled his eyes.
"When you come back up."
"And if we don't come back up?" Freya asked.
"Then I got no one to pay." He said coldly and the doctor clenched his fists.
"We'll be back." Solomon promised.
"Let's hope so." Martha said, trying to keep the fear out of her voice as they started to walk down the tunnel. The doctor stayed before for a while, staring at Diagoras, before catching up.
"We just gotta stick together. It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here." Franks said calmly as they walked further and further away from the exit.
"So what about you, Frank? You're not from around these parts, are you?" Martha asked.
Franks eyed hers and Freya's clothes before rolling his eyes. "Oh, you could talk. No, no, I'm from Tennessee, born and bred."
"How come you're here?" Freya asked.
Frank's smile faltered slightly. "Uh...my daddy died. Mama couldn't afford to feed us all. So, I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself, so put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in camp younger than me. From all over; Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas… Solomon keeps a lookout for us. So, what about you two? You're a long way from home."
"Yeah, we're just hitchers too." Martha said and Frank's smile came back.
"You stick with me, you'll be all right." He said and Freya was strongly reminded of her brother when he was younger.
"So this Diagoras bloke, who is he then?" the doctor asked, oblivious to the other conversation.
"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now it seems like he's running most of Manhattan." Solomon scowled, it was obvious that he didn't like the man very much.
"How did he manage that, then?" the doctor asked suspiciously but Solomon just shrugged.
"These are strange times. A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way 'round."
"Doctor!" Freya exclaimed and the doctor looked around startled. Freya was staring at something on the floor so he looked down to see a blob, giving off a sick green light.
"Is it radioactive or something?" Martha asked as the doctor knelt down next to it. Martha pulled a face as they got closer. "It's gone off, whatever it is." The doctor slid on his glasses and carefully picked up the slimy blob.
"And you've got to pick it up." Freya grumbled.
"Shine your torch through it." The doctor said quietly and Freya did so. "Composite organic matter. Martha? Freya? Medical opinion?"
"Well, it's not human." Freya sighed as Frank and Solomon looked on puzzled.
"No, it's not. And I'll tell you something else. We must be at least half a mile in and I don't see any sign of a collapse, do you? So why did Mr Diagoras send up down here?" the doctor asked and they looked around.
"So where are we now? What's above us?" Martha asked.
"Well…we're right underneath Manhattan."
"We're way beyond half a mile. There's no collapse, nothing." Solomon frowned.
"That Diagoras bloke, was he lying?" Martha asked.
"Looks that way." Freya said grimly, this wasn't going to be good.
Frank looked nervous. "So why did he want people to come down here?"
"Solomon, I think it's time you took these two back. I'll be much quicker on my own." The doctor said just before squealing echoed in the tunnel.
"What the hell was that?" Solomon asked.
"Hello?" Frank called. Freya hit his shoulder as Martha shushed him.
"Frank." Solomon hissed.
"What if it's one of the folk gone missing? You'd be scared, half-mad down here on your own." Frank said in his defense.
"Do you think they're still alive?" the doctor asked, looking like he doubted it.
"Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost." There was more squealing.
"I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that." Solomon muttered.
The doctor walked ahead a little.
"Sounds like there's more than one of 'em." Frank said quietly.
"This way." The doctor said, nodding towards one tunnel while Solomon shone his torch down another tunnel.
"No, that way." Solomon said as the light caught a huddled figure on the floor. "Who are you?"
"Are you lost? Can you understand me? I've been thinkin' about folk lost..." Frank trailed off, walking closer to the figure only to be stopped by the doctor.
"It's all right, Frank. Just stay back. Let me have a look. He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own." The doctor said in a kind voice as he walked closer, his answer was squeals. "We know the way out. Daylight. If you want to come with us." Once he was right next to it. He squatted down and moved the torch so he could see the figures face...but it was a pigs face. "Oh, but what are you?"
"Is...uh...that some kind of carnival mask?" Solomon asked.
"Don't be rude." Freya scolded half-heartedly.
"No, it's real." The doctor told Solomon before turning to the pig man. "I'm sorry. Now listen to me. I promise I can help. Now, who did this to you?"
"Doctor, I think you better get back here." Martha said nervously and the doctor looked up to see more pig men coming up one of the tunnels.
"Actually…good point." The doctor said, backing towards the others.
"They're following you." Freya pointed out.
"Yeah, I noticed that, thanks. Well then, Freya, Martha, Frank, Solomon..." the doctor trailed off and they waited impatiently for him to tell them what to do.
"What?" Martha asked.
"Um, basically…run!" He yelled and they were racing down the tunnel, only stopping when they got to a cross section.
"Where are we going?" Freya yelled as the doctor suddenly grabbed her hand.
"This way!" The doctor said, leading them down the right tunnel to a ladder. The doctor let go of the time lady's hand, climbed the ladder and used the sonic screwdriver on the lid. Martha and Freya followed him up while Solomon hesitated when he saw Frank pick up a metal rod to try and hold them off.
"Frank!" He yelled, climbing the ladder.
Seeing that the others were safe, Frank ran for the ladder and started climbing. The Doctor and Solomon reached down their hands for him to take.
"C'mon, Frank! C'mon!" Solomon said frantically.
The doctor was just as frantic. "I've got ya. C'mon!"
Just as they grabbed hold of Frank, the pig men pulled him out of their grasp and back into the sewers.
"Frank!" Solomon yelled.
"No!" The doctor yelled when Solomon suddenly shoved him aside and closed the lid before one of the pig men could go up.
"We can't go after him." He said simply.
The doctor glared at him. "We gotta go back down!"
"We can't just leave him!" Freya snapped.
"No, I'm not losing anybody else! Those creatures were from Hell! From Hell itself!" Solomon argued. "If we go after them, they'll take us all! There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry."
"All right then. Put 'em up." The group turned to see a blonde, pointing a gun straight at them. Martha's and Freya's hands shot up. "Hands in the air and no funny business." She said firmly. The doctor and Solomon slowly raised their hands aswell. "Now tell me, you schmucks, what've you done with Lazlo?"
The group stared at her. "Who the heck is Lazlo?" Freya asked confused.
...
"Lazlo's my boyfriend, or was my boyfriend until two weeks ago. No letter, no good-bye, no nothin'. And I'm not stupid." The women said as she sat at her desk, waving the gun around absentmindedly. "I know some guys are just pigs but not my Lazlo. I mean, what kinda guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"
"It might, might just help if you put that down." The doctor said calmly and she looked confused.
"Huh?" she looked down, as if just realising she had a gun in her hand. "Oh sure." She threw it onto a chair and the group were stunned. She looked at their expressions and laughed. "Oh, c'mon. It's not real. It's just a prop. It was either that or a spear."
"What do you think happened to him?" Freya asked and the women sighed.
"I wish I knew. One minute he's there, the next, zip...vanished."
The doctor walked further into the room. "Listen, ah - what's your name?"
"Tallulah."
"Tallulah." The doctor repeated and Tallulah nodded.
"Three L's and an H."
"Right. Um...we can try to find Lazlo, but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night."
"And there are creatures. Such creatures." Solomon shivered.
Tallulah raised an eyebrow. "Whaddaya mean 'creatures'?"
"Look. Listen, just trust me. Everyone is in danger. I need to find out exactly what this is because then I'll know exactly what we're fighting." The doctor pulled the blob out of his pocket and Tallulah pulled a face, leaning back.
"Yech!"
...
The doctor disappeared somewhere to examin the blob while Tallulah got dressed in her costume. She started putting on make-up and perfume while Freya and Martha watched.
"Lazlo…He's wait for me after the show, walk me home like I was a lady. He'd leave a flower for me on my dressing table. Every day, just a single rose." Tallulah smiled at the memory.
"Have you reported him missing?" Freya asked.
Tallulah sighed. "Sure. He's just a stagehand. Who cares? The management certainly don't."
"Can't you kick up a fuss or something?" Martha suggested.
"Okay, so then they fire me."
"But they'd listen to you. You're one of the stars."
Tallulah scoffed. "Oh, honey, I got one stone in a back street revue and that's only because Heidi Chicane broke her ankle—which had nothin' to do with me whatever anybody says. I can't afford to make a fuss. If I don't make this month's rent, then before you know it, I'm in Hooverville."
"Okay." Martha bit her lip as Tallulah stood up straighter.
"It's the Depression, sweetie. Your heart might break, but the show goes on and if it stops, you starve. Every night I have to go out there, sign, dance, keep goin'. Hoping he's gonna come back." She broke down in tears.
"I'm sorry." Martha said as she pulled her into a hug, choking at the strong smell of her perfume, while Freya watched sadly.
Tallulah pulled out of the hug quickly and wiped away her tears, making sure she doesn't smudge her make-up. "Atleast you've got the doctor guy." She said to Freya who blushed while Martha pursed her lips. They hadn't had an argument about the doctor since their last adventure and Freya hoped this didn't start another.
"No, we're not like that." She insisted.
"I've seen the way 'e looks at ya." Tallulah said with a smirk and Freya felt like begging her to stop when Martha scowled.
She sighed. "Honest, I don't feel that way about him."
Tallulah studied her for a second before shrugging. "Ya gotta live in hope. It's the only thing that's kept me going 'cause..." she trailed off, picking up a while rose from her dressing table, "look. On my dressing table every day still."
"You think it's Lazlo?" Freya asked.
"I don't know. If he's still around, why's he bein' all secret like he doesn't want me to see him?" Tallulah asked before her eyes lit up suddenly. Freya was getting confused with how quickly her moods changed. "Have you ever been on stage?"
"A bit. Y'know, Shakespear." Martha said and the two girls shared a smile which Tallulah didn't notice.
"How dull is that! C'mon, I'll show ya a real show." She said, pulling them out of the dressing room.
...
The curtains opened and the crowd cheered. Freya and Martha watched with smiles as Tallulah danced around the stage dressed as an angel, surrounded by other women dressed as devils.
Half way through the song, Martha suddenly gripped onto Freya's arm.
"What?" Freya asked, pulling her arm back. Martha was staring, wide eyed, at the other side of the stage. Freya followed her gaze and saw why her friend was so shocked. There was a pig man stood watching Tallulah...but he wasn't like the others. He seemed more human.
Martha took Freya's hand and lead the younger girl onto the stage, hiding behind one of the devils. Freya blushed and kept her eyes on the floor, the last time she had been on stage she had threw up. Martha and Freya made their way across the stage while trying to hide behind the devils, obviously they weren't doing a very good job.
"What are you doing?" One of the devils hissed, Martha moved to another girl, accidently standing on her tail causing the girl to fall over and everyone watching laughed.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tallulah asked when she saw them.
The girl who had fallen over tried to get up. "You're on my tail! Get off my tail!" Martha moved quickly and Freya's stomache did back flips when she finally took in how many people were watching this show. She clenched her teeth together tightly.
"Get off the stage! You're spoilin' it!" Tallulah snapped as Martha and Freya stood up.
"Look!" Martha said, pointing over to the pig man and Tallulah screamed. The pig man ran off and the girls followed. "Hey!" Freya yelled as they chased him, feeling much better now she was off the stage and away from all of those eyes.
"Wait! But you're different than the others! Just wait!" Martha yelled as they entered the props room but he was gone.
"Where do you think he went?" Freya asked but before Martha could answer they were grabbed from behind and they screamed in shock.
...
They were lead by the pig men, none of them the one they saw from before, back down into the sewers.
"Let us go!" Martha yelled and they were pushed into the wall as more pig men came with more humans.
Freya let out a sigh of relief when she saw a familiar face. "Frank!"
"You're alive!" Martha said as they pulled him into a hug.
He tried to smile but couldn't quite manage it. "Hey." He said.
"I thought we'd lost you." Martha said before they were pushed forwards by the pigs. "All right, we're moving!"
"Where are they taking us?" Frank asked.
"I thought you'd know, you've been a prisoner longer." Freya pointed out.
He shrugged. "We've just been walking around a lot."
"Atleast we can find out what's going on down here." Martha said.
They were lead down more and more tunnels before the pig men suddenly stopped and they were being kept in one section.
"What are they keeping us here for?" Frank asked nervously.
Martha bit her lip. "I don't know. I've just got a nasty feeling that we're being kept in the larder." The prisoners jumped when the pig men started squealing nervously.
"What're they doing? What's wrong? What's wrong?" Frank said hysterically and Freya took his hand as comfort. He squeezed it in thanks.
"Silence! Silence!" A strange kind of voice said as a pepper pot shaped creature glided towards them.
"What the hell is that?" Freya muttered as they all stared at it.
"You will form a line! Move!" The creature ordered. The pig men started pushing them towards the wall while the prisoners struggled.
"Just do what it says, everyone, okay? Just obey." Martha said quickly.
"The female is wise. Obey!" The creature snapped as a second one appeared.
"Report." It said to the creature.
"These are strong specimens. They will help the Dalek cause." Freya and Martha froze, both feeling slightly sick.
"Dalek?" Freya whispered.
"What is the status of the Final Experiment?" the first dalek asked, not hearing Freya.
"The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete."
"Then I will extract prisoners for selection." The first creature said as an older man was pulled forwards by a pig man and the dalek held a sucker in front of his face. "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Reading brain waves. Low intelligence."
The man looked offended. "Are you calling me stupid?"
"This one will become a pig slave." Was all the dalek said and the man was pulled away. The dalek moved down the line, eventually coming upto Frank who tried not to see how scared he actually was.
"Superior intelligence." The dalek said before turning to Freya. It was silent for a while and Freya stared at it, waiting for it to speak. "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Superior intelligence. This one will become part of the Final Experiment." It came up with the same answer with Martha.
"You can't just experiment on people! It's insane! It's inhuman!" Martha yelled, before being pulled back by Freya.
The dalek glanced at her. "We are not human. Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory." It said before leaving, the prisoners with high intelligence and a few pig men followed.
"Just keep walking." Martha, Frank and Freya looked around quickly, all of them happy to see the doctor walking behind them.
"I don't think I've ever been so glad to see you." Freya whispered.
"Yeah, well, you can kiss me later. You too, Frank, if you want." The doctor said casually and Freya smiled fondly.
They kept walking before the finally arrived at a lab where two other dalek's were. "Report." The first dalek said as they came to a stop.
"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution." One of the other daleks said while the black one seemed to be smoking.
"Scan him. Prepare for birth." The first dalek said.
"Evolution?" the doctor whispered with a frown.
"What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?" Martha asked, nodding over to the black dalek.
The doctor shrugged. "Ask them."
"What me? Don't be daft."
"I don't exactly want to get noticed and they'll probably figure out Freya isn't human, it's a surprise they haven't already. Ask them what's going on."
Martha took a deep breath before stepping forward. "Daleks, I demand to be told. What is this Final Experiment? Report!" She ordered and Freya held her breath, hoping she'd be okay.
The first dalek turned to look at her. "You will bear witness."
"To what?"
"This is the dawn of a new age."
Martha frowned in confusion. "What does that mean?"
"We are the only four Daleks so the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The Children of Skaro must walk again." It said as 'dalek Sec's' shell opened to reveal a squid like creature, Freya noticed with a start that the clothing is that of Diagoras and the hands are almost claw-like.
"What is it?" Martha gasped out.
"I am a human dalek." The thing said once it stood in front of them. "I am you future."
R&R