CHAPTER 8
The Doctor saw the flash of blue Dalek fire in the corner of his eye but before he could react Jake stepped in front of him. The Dalek laser hit Jake in the chest and he collapsed to the floor. Acting on reflex Kate grabbed her gun and fired striking the Dalek's eye stalk. Retreating, the Dalek then disappeared behind a door and was gone.
As the Dalek disappeared Martha ran to Jake but he was dead.
Kate made to run after the Dalek but the Doctor stopped her.
"What are you doing, it's going to get away," Kate demanded.
"You can't go after it?" the Doctor told her.
"What?"
"There is only one way to handle this," he said. Turning to Martha the Doctor said, "You have to all leave, can you take them to the Tardis."
"What about you?" Martha asked.
"Just get them there safely," the Doctor said.
Martha could tell what he was thinking, the Doctor was blaming himself. He always blamed himself. Even though he was the smartest and bravest man she had ever met, he could not do it all. But the Doctor still expected it of himself – to save everyone.
"This isn't your fault Doctor. There is nothing any of us could have done," Martha said.
The Doctor reached into his left breast pocket and removed his screwdriver. He held it out to Martha and said, "Take this, you might need it. If you find any locked doors use setting 85."
Martha stared at the Doctor's outstretched hand and said, "I can't leave you alone, I'm staying behind. They can go on ahead."
"He won't be alone, I'm staying as well," Kate said.
"Kate I can't let you stay, you have to go too," the Doctor said turning back to her.
"I'm not asking," Kate stated stubbornly.
Knowing he did not have time to convince them both, the Doctor said, "Martha I need you to go. They can't get into the Tardis without you."
"Won't you be needing that?" Martha said pointing at the sonic.
"You know me, I've always got a plan," the Doctor replied.
"Doctor?" Martha questioned.
"Martha please don't argue with me, I need you to do as I ask. Can I trust you to do that?"
Martha glanced at Emilja and Gandrake before turning back to the Doctor and saying, "Yes."
Martha took the sonic from the Doctor reluctantly and said, "Be safe Doctor."
Martha, Gandrake and Emilja headed out doors leaving the Doctor and Kate alone.
As the doors closed Kate said in a low voice, "I should have never brought it on board. It was just a hulk of rusted metal, i thought it was harmless."
"You couldn't have known," the Doctor answered.
"That's little comfort when you're forced to watch your friends die," Kate said. "You know what I have to do."
"You don't have to do this, you can still leave with them," the Doctor offered.
"I can't have that thing taking my ship, I can't let it hurt anyone else. You have to understand that," Kate said.
The Doctor tried to convince her to follow the others but Kate cut him off saying,
"Sometimes we don't have a choice." Continuing Kate added, "This might sound odd, but I'm glad you landed on my ship Doctor."
Without waiting for a reply Kate turned and headed back the way they came previously. The Doctor stared after her wishing he could stop her.
He was now alone, but it was better this way he thought. The Doctor walked to the center of the room and called out,
"Here I am Dalek. Are you going to hide in the shadows or come out and face me?" After a moment of silence the Doctor taunted, "or maybe you're afraid?"
"I do not fear you Time Lord," a voice said.
"Only a madman talks to thin air, and you do not want me mad," the Doctor said.
A door opened on the other side of the room and the Dalek rolled in.
When the Dalek did not immediately fire the Doctor said in surprise, "You would have killed me by now if you wanted, but you can't, can you."
"I will exterminate you," it said in a metallic voice but didn't act.
"The shot Kate fired, it damaged your firing mechanism. But that isn't all that's damaged," the Doctor said.
The Doctor approached the Dalek and began circling it whilst its eye stalk followed him. Seeing the extent of the damage to its armour the Doctor could see why Martha initially believed it was dead. "How did this happen?"
"At your hands," Dalek Taro said.
"You have to be more specific," the Doctor said still circling it.
"At the Medusa Cascade,"
This made the Doctor stop.
"You all died," the Doctor said, "I watched it happen."
"I survived your destruction," Dalek Taro said.
"But that's not possible. How could you survive?" The Doctor asked.
"A variance in my makeup,"
"What's different about you?" the Doctor asked intrigued. "What could make you so different from all other Daleks. A physical mutation? Creative thought? Emotion? "
When the Doctor said 'emotion' he saw Dalek Taro's eye stalk twitch.
"You can feel emotion?" the Doctor asked astonished. "Compassion, pity, remorse, love; a Dalek who can feel everything!"
"It is a weakness," Dalek Taro stated.
.
Medusa Cascade
Dalek Taro was created with emotion during Davros' madness and haste to create a strong Dalek fleet that would destroy every living thing, leaving only the Dalek empire. When the Daleks were ready they brought the 27 planets to the Medusa Cascade and sent Daleks to each planet.
On Earth Dalek Taro collected human test subjects for the reality bomb. But as he flew across one window he small a girl hidden in the attic. Little Adelaide Brooke approached the window without fear, only with wonder and curiosity did she look up at him. As they gazed at each other, both so different. Dalek Taro felt something, compassion, empathy or pity, he wasn't sure. But it drove him to turn away from the window and Adelaide, and save her from dying in the reality bomb experiment.
But soon after chaos erupted. One by one the 27 planets disappeared as Daleks around him malfunctioned. Then he watched all his kind explode and die, and though he survived the explosive fire consumed him throwing him through space. He landed on an abandoned planet damaged and alone, where he sat for decades, even centuries, unable to repair or fully heal. But he waited, sending a message for help throughout the stars. But no one came so soon his thoughts turned to revenge instead until a ship arrived on that desolate planet and took him abroad. But it wasn't advanced enough; it lacked the technology he needed for repairs, so he stayed silent and planned to take it over it.
When he was ready and started his plan, the Doctor came.
.
In amazement at having found a Dalek with emotions, the Doctor said, "Emotions are not a weakness but a strength. There is so much potential with emotions. Look at everything humans have achieved with all their emotions. They continue to spread throughout the universe. Learning and achieving. They have accomplished more than any Dalek ever could, and they continue to push forward."
"Humans are an inferior species, only fit for extermination," Dalek Taro said.
"You have so many possibility. You are unique, the last of your kind. You could have changed," the Doctor said frustrated. "You can still change, it's not too late."
"There is nothing to change except making the Daleks the rightful rulers of the universe,"
"Daleks, you never learn, all your failures and you still you go back to hate and domination," the Doctor said.
An enormous explosion rocked the ship causing the light to power down into a hazy flashing red and the ship to tilt.
"What did you do Doctor? Explain. Explain," Dalek Taro accused.