Chapter 18 -- A Plan

When he finally made it back to the Tardis -- he could have sworn he knew New York better than that -- Kyra was restlessly pacing the floor.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" she demanded, punching him in the arm. He winced as he noticed she didn't really bother to pull the punch. "I've been worried sick!" Antoher punch. "Bleedin' Daleks all over the place, God only knows what else, and you choose then to take your sweet bloody time gettin' back!" Another punch.

"Chchch! Stop! How am I supposed to answer you if you keep asking questions! And punching me!"

She planted her hands on her hips and glared.

"I -- well -- I got lost. Well, first I had to stall the Dalek, so you could get away, then I had to figure out an escape of my own."

"And then you got lost."

"Yeah."

She took a deep breath. "All right then." She turned and walked over to the controls.

"Aren't you at least going to say you're sorry?"

She blinked. "For what?"

"Punching me!"

"Big baby," she replied ruthlessly.

"It hurt!"

"Wimp."

"A Time Lord who can lift three times his own weight is not a wimp," he said. "And it also doesn't mean I like pain. In fact, I generally try to avoid it."

"Three times your own weight? So what? You're scrawny!"

"Do you even know how much I weigh?"

"Bet I could pick you up!" she shot back.

"All right, try it!"

"I'd rather not," she said. "Used up all my energy hittin' you. Anyway. What's the plan?"

"I don't have one."

"Right. Wingin' it. Just like always. Got it."

"Well, I had one. Until...the Dalek. I didn't think of formulating a Plan B."

"You know, if you did, we'd probably have a lot fewer issues."

"Usually Plan A works!"

"That is true," she admitted. "Did you find anything out from the Dalek?"

"Well, more than one of them survived. Or he built more. And I found the real Ringo!"

"Cool. So...let's start formulatin'. What's the first step?"

"Well...one of them, the Beatles, said he had seen a Dalek before, in Liverpool. The one we ran over."

"John Lennon. What the hell do the Daleks want with the Beatles, for God's sake?"

"Well, you did say they shaped the world."

"I didn't think they'd shaped the world quite that much!"

"Oh, come on, for their music to survive more than three hundred years...that's not shaping the world?"

She frowned. "All right, that's true. Right now -- and in the near future -- they are more or less the biggest thing in the world. What better way to get at and control people than through one of the best forms of entertainment. And it's live."

"Wait a second..." He snapped his fingers. "That's it. Think about it! How many people -- daily, monthly, yearly go see their concerts?"

"Bet it's a scary number," Kyra said. "Millions."

"Exactly. They could snatch -- anyone! Hundreds! Thousands! And not many people would notice!"

"People disappear all the time," Kyra said. "People would think it was husbands, wives, lovers, whatever. An angry roommate, the waiter you stiffed on his tip. Thousands of people disappear every year."

"That doesn't explain why they have one of them hooked up as a remote, though," he said.

"Doesn't it?" Kyra countered. "They can't go out to the concerts themselves -- people would notice, no matter how oblivious most are. What a better way to watch and observe than if you have somebody wired in? Somebody you can control?"

He stopped and stared at her. "How would these people be captured?"

"Goin' to the restroom, goin' backstage, there are dozens of ways around a theater or a concert hall. They could have the Ringo bot nab a bunch backstage or at the afterparties. Even could grab the ones goin' to the bathrooms or checkin' sound or whatever themselves."

He muttered and started to pace. "I wonder if it's soundwaves."

Kyra just propped her head up on her hand and waited for the Doctor's brain to wander back to the rest of him.

"He was putting out a very large amount of energy," he said. "You saw it, right? I mean, it was huge!"

"Bigger'n what was comin' from the soundsystem and the lights," Kyra agreed. "Combined with all the energy the crowd was puttin' off."

"But -- but that's what doesn't make sense! The Daleks have never been interested in mind manipulation before! I mena, they've tried it with DNA manipulation before, but...I don't understand it!"

"Maybe there aren't enough of 'em to take the world by force," Kyra offered. "Maybe this is their way of recruitin' an army."

"Well, makes sense," he admitted. "Explains...Hmm. Explains Ringo...the vast amount of power his replacement was putting out, the amount of power they were sucking in. Did you see those cables?"

"Yeah. Looked a little space-agey for the sixties."

"They did have cables like that in this time, but it was usually reserved for power plants. Very, very large ampitheaters. Nothing this size."

"Didn't you say Lennon had seen one of 'em before?"

"Yes, yes?"

"We could probably get in to talk to him, find out how long they've been seein' the Dalek. That might give us some clues. Also, he might be able to get us close to the Ringo-bot, which would also be a big help."

He tucked his hands in his pockets. One great thing about travelling with Kyra -- it was great to see how her mind worked. "How so?"

"We could probably figure out how to free the real Ringo, which is a step in the right direction," she said dryly. "We can't have a robot drummer in the Beatles, now can we?"

He nodded slowly. "That is an excellent point." Then he moved towards the door. "Well, come on. What are we waiting for?"

TBC...