Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I get paid for it.
A/N Thanks for the lovely response on the last chapter. This one contains MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR SERIES 4 OF THE EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES and there are MENTIONS OF MAJOR CHARACTER DEATHS. I am not sure there really is a way of avoiding them. Sorry!
Happy Reading!
Chapter Six
Previously
"Rani," said the Doctor in a low, dangerous voice. "Who?"
"The Monk," she said. "The Monk is now a part of this war."
The Doctor's jaw clenched tightly. "Rose, we are leaving," he said through gritted teeth, keeping his glare fixed on the Rani.
"Doctor…" began the Rani.
"No," he said, in a low, cold voice. "Just don't."
The Rani sighed. "Fine," she said and then activated the Time Ring, taking Morbius with her as she disappeared.
Rose glanced away from the empty spot back to the Doctor, who was still looking furious. "Who's the Monk?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"We're leaving," snapped the Doctor as he turned away abruptly and started walking out of the basement.
Rose felt her own temper simmer as she caught up to him. "Don't snap at me," she said, equally annoyed. "It isn't going to help much if you are keeping secrets."
"Oh, and you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" he sniped.
Rose glared angrily at him. "I wasn't the one who scanned someone behind their back now, was I?" she demanded.
The Doctor seemed to deflate a little at that jab. "Yes, I realise," he said. "I am sorry. I should have just asked you."
Rose stopped glaring at him and nodded. "Look, we are stuck together, for better or worse, and times aren't exactly good for being secretive. So," she took a deep breath and met his gaze firmly. "Who is the Monk?"
The Doctor met her gaze with a steely one of his own. "He is a renegade Time Lord who left Gallifrey not fifty years after I did. The last time we met, well, he was working for the Daleks," he said, sounding more and more reluctant to go on.
"And you think he'll still be working for them?" asked Rose, trying to coax him to reveal what he knew.
"Not if he knows what's good for him," said the Doctor grimly. "His interference last time cost, well it cost a lot. To me, and to the universe."
Rose looked concerned. "Did you lose someone?" she asked quietly.
The Doctor fiddled with the buttons on his waistcoat and nodded slowly. "Two of my companions, Tamsin Drew an-and L-Lucie Miller," he said. "Not just them, but my great-grandson, Alex Campbell, as well."
Rose gasped. "Oh god, Doctor, I am so sorry," she said, touching his arm gently.
He sniffed and abruptly straightened up. "Anyway, gone now. But the Monk is bad news," his voice was harder now. "Especially since there are rumours of the Dalek Time Controller resurfacing again. The last time, he helped repair it."
Rose realised that he clearly did not wish to talk about it and steered the conversation towards their next step. "So, what do we do now?" asked Rose as she saw the TARDIS in the distance. "Check where they have moved the Viridian outpost?"
"Not exactly urgent now," said the Doctor as he increased his pace. "The Rani gave us something far more important to go on. I must see what the Dalek Time Controller is up to."
Rose raised an eyebrow at his words but said nothing as the two of them entered the TARDIS again. The Doctor went to the console at once and started typing furiously, no doubt hoping to unearth whatever intel the Time Lords had on the Dalek Time Controller. Rose watched his frantic pace briefly, before going further into the TARDIS, hoping she would lead her to the library.
Fortunately, she came across the familiar double doors after only one hallway, and she immediately found her way to one of the terminals connected to the TARDIS databanks. The Doctor had shown her how to use one a few months after she had started travelling with him, though he had warned her not to look up future events.
A quick search for the Dalek Time Controller yielded an entire folder full of documents. Knowing that the Doctor would acquaint himself with the fresh intel, Rose settled in to read the catalogued history of the Dalek Time Controller.
Vermillion had once been a thriving planet just on the outer reaches of Kasterborous, and was said to be rivaled only by Gallifrey in its beauty. Unlike the advanced civilisation of Gallifrey however, the Vermillions led a very simple life. Theirs was an agrarian planet and although their techniques were quite developed, it was still a very unremarkable planet as far as technology went.
It was one of the reasons why it made for such a good planet for the Daleks to conquer. With a population of just over five billion people and no moons, it made for an ideal slave planet. Theirs was a tried and tested strategy. A deadly plague would be released onto the planet and the weaker inhabitants would perish. The survivors were then either put to work or converted to Robomen to use as cattle during the skirmishes that were taking place all over the universe.
Vermillion had been no different. When the plague had been released a year ago, most of the population had perished, with the survivors now being in the five million benchmark. The survivors were well aware that the Dalek ships would soon descend from the skies and take what was left of them and destroy all of that too.
Unlike other planets that had fallen before them, the Vermillions had decided to organise their remaining numbers into a resistance force. They'd had help from an unexpected ally. She had shown up one day out of the blue in the midst of the plague, claiming to be immune to it and having experience with Daleks before.
The middle-aged woman with her dark hair and tired eyes was the hope that the Vermillions had needed. She had helped form resistance groups, built various contraptions for helping them communicate with survivors in different areas of the planet and seen about getting them arms and equipment to fight the Daleks. The Vermillions had been heartened and they thought that they would be ready when the Daleks came. How wrong they were…
It started at one of the biggest survivor colonies in the southern continents. One of their sentries fell ill, not with the usual symptoms of the plague, but with curious radiation burns all over his body. Usual treatment proved futile and two days after he first fell ill, the other survivors across the planet lost all contact with the colony in the South. Then, rumours began to surface of other colonies in the South getting the radiation burns before they would simply stop contact with the others.
The remaining survivor colonies started to become hyper-vigilant, making sure that none of their people showed any signs of this new plague as they called it. Reconnaissance parties were sent to the south but none of them ever returned. The people in the North were getting worried, since the loss of colonies also meant that their supplies were running out.
It was in the midst of bitter winter, that their mysterious saviour decided that something had to be done.
"Mrs. Campbell! Mrs. Campbell, are you here?"
The woman looked up from where she was packing up her rucksack. "Oh, Meria, what is it?" she asked.
The young woman, Meria, bent over to catch her breath. "Papa said you were heading to the South," she said.
"Yes, I am," she answered. "We are running low on supplies, and we cannot do without the South's help. I must see what has happened down there."
"What if they are all dead?" asked Meria curiously.
"Then we can set up a new colony," she said firmly.
Meria observed her tense posture. "You don't think they are dead, do you?" she asked.
She turned around and resumed her packing. "It doesn't fit the pattern," she muttered, partly to herself. "This hasn't happened before. Whatever those radiation burns are, they are new."
"Can you take me with you?" asked Meria, her eyes lighting up.
She looked up in alarm. "Meria! What on Earth are you on about, child?" she demanded.
"What's Earth?" asked Meria curiously.
"Never you mind," she said. "The battlefield is no place for you. Our children are here to carry on the future, not perish in this war."
"But I want to help!" protested Meria.
"And you will," she said, calmly. "Once all of this is over, you shall have a lot to do."
"But I want to help now!" insisted Meria.
She sighed and shook her head. "Sometimes you remind me far too much of my son," she said tiredly.
"Your son?" asked Meria, her eyes lighting up with curiosity. "Where is he now?"
Susan looked at her sharply. "Dead," she answered. "He was killed by the Daleks."
Meria's eyes widened before she looked down hastily. "I am sorry," she said.
Susan's eyes softened a little. "He was very stubborn too," she said. "He wanted to stay and fight like his father did." She shook her head. "You will not come with me, Meria. You shall stay here and be prepared to rebuild once this threat blows over. Survive, child, that is what you were meant to do."
Without looking to see if her point had been driven home, Susan Campbell picked up her rucksack and left her scant living quarters to make her way to the south.
Vermillion only had two continents, the North and South, with a massive ocean in the middle. The Cinnabar Island was famously considered to be the halfway point between the North and the South due to its location in the middle of the Vermillion Ocean. The Cinnabar Island colony had met the same fate as the poor survivors in the South and it was there that the Dalek Time Controller's ship arrived.
"REPORT, DALEK SUPREME!"
"THE EXPERIMENT HAS NOT YIELDED SUCCESS, DALEK TIME CONTROLLER!" reported Dalek Supreme. "THE THAL GENETIC MATTER IS NOT PURE ENOUGH!"
"WHERE IS THE MONK?" demanded the Dalek Time Controller.
"I am right here," came the Monk's tired voice as he walked up to the Dalek Time Controller.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS FAILURE, MONK?" demanded the Dalek Time Controller.
The Monk sighed. "I warned you that this might happen. Thals have evolved far too differently after your first war, just as the Daleks did from the Kaleds. There isn't enough similarity in their genetic structure to mimic the Dalek gene, despite the common Skarosian origin," he explained.
"YOU HAVE FAILED, MONK!" declared the Dalek Time Controller. "YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"
"No, no, no, wait," said the Monk hastily. "There is something else we can do."
"EX-PLAIN!"
The Monk took a deep breath. "We have been using Vermillion and Thal subjects for the experiment with the Skarosian radiations. But if we were to acquire a subject with similar physiology but with temporal radiation in the mix, I believe that the experiment might have success," he said.
"YOU REQUIRE A TIME LORD?" inquired the Dalek Supreme.
"No, not a Time Lord, the physiognomy is too different," said the Monk hastily. "We need a human being or close to it anyway, who has travelled through time."
It took five whole days for Susan to make her way from her semi-permanent base down to Cinnabar Island. She only had a handful experienced combatants with her, and they set up a camp in the woods just off the beach.
The Cinnabar Island was quiet and it didn't appear as if any survivors were about. They would travel further through the Island in the morning, before moving on to the southern coast in the next two days, provided everything went as per their schedule. The survivors were assured of their success, but Susan wished she could be that optimistic. She had been keeping a keen eye for signs of Dalek arrivals but so far their intel had turned up nothing. If Daleks had come to Vermillion, they had stayed well below radar which meant that they had found some new, destructive strategy to use. It set Susan's teeth on edge.
"Are you coming for supper, Mrs. Campbell?" asked Ciaran, the youngest one of their party, a hearty lad of a mere twenty years.
Susan smiled at him and shook her head. "I am alright, thanks, Ciaran," she said. "Be careful when you light your fires. We don't want to alert anyone that we are here."
Ciaran smiled a little. "You really think that the Daleks are here, don't you Mrs. C?" he asked.
Susan's smile slipped. "I have learned not to let myself get complacent, Ciaran," she said, looking towards the ocean.
Ciaran opened his mouth, presumably to tell her that they would all be dead by now if Daleks were indeed here, when they heard a splash in the water. The two of them jumped to their feet, and Ciaran raised his weapon, ready to attack whatever was coming their way.
"Don't shoot," said the figure as they emerged from behind the rocks lining the coast, with their hands raised.
"Meria! What are you doing here?" demanded Susan, looking astonished at the appearance of the girl.
"Have you been following us the whole time?" asked Ciaran angrily.
"I'm sorry, I wanted to help," said Meria beseechingly.
Susan sighed. "Lower your gun, Ciaran, and tell the others," she said and then turned to Meria. "It was very irresponsible of you, child, but go on and eat some supper. Tomorrow morning, Ciaran will take you back home." Both of them protested at that but Susan shot them a steely look. "Now!" she ordered and the two of them went towards the camp, sniping at each other irritably.
There was another splash in the water, and Susan whirled around, ready to yell at whoever Meria had brought with her when she saw the familiar eye stalk rise from the water.
"DALEK!" she shouted in warning and ran into the woods. By the time she reached the camp, the others had picked up their weapons and were getting ready to fight.
"There's a whole bunch of them coming from the beach," reported Neil, the unofficial leader of their party. "We can't hold them all back!"
"Run! Come on, run!" said Susan as they all fled deeper into the woods with Daleks in pursuit after them.
"And this Vermillion? What's so special about it?" asked Rose as they walked out of the TARDIS.
"It's where the Dalek Time Controller's ship was last seen by the Time Lords, over a week ago, relative time," said the Doctor as they looked around the hold that they had landed in.
"Must be an advanced planet to have ships like this," commented Rose as she tapped her knuckles against the wall.
The Doctor frowned as he used his sonic screwdriver to open the only door that led out of the hold. "Far from it really," he said as the doors opened. "It's…" he stopped mid-explanation and glanced around the control room of a very familiar ship.
It only took Rose a fraction of a second more to realise that it was a Dalek ship. "Come on," said the Doctor urgently. "Back…" he was cut off when he saw a Dalek enter the empty control room.
"DO NOT MOVE!" said the Dalek, moving towards them. "YOU ARE THE DOCTOR! YOU ARE AN ENEMY…"
"Enemy of the Daleks and let me guess, you want to exterminate me," said the Doctor with an eye-roll.
Rose knew she still had the compact laser deluxe with her, and while it might not be enough to shoot their way out, it was still enough to take out that one Dalek and make a dash for the TARDIS. She adjusted her stance slightly, making sure that her hand was right over her gun.
"Wait!" came the voice that most definitely did not belong to the Daleks, and the Doctor and Rose looked over as a man dressed in a monk's black robes rushed into the control room.
"YOU!" shouted the Doctor furiously when he saw the Monk.
"Don't kill them," said the Monk to the Dalek, ignoring the Doctor. "They might prove useful."
The Doctor gritted his teeth in anger. "Oh, you never learn do you, Monk?" he asked. "Working for the Daleks again? Have you forgotten what happened the last time? Does the name Tamsin Drew still mean anything to you?"
The Monk flinched at the name, and for a moment it looked like the Doctor's words had got to him. However, he straightened up and addressed the Dalek. "I need those two for the experiments. You cannot kill them," he said. When the Dalek still refused to budge, the Monk glared at it. "May I remind you that I have the Dalek Time Controller's express permission when it comes to the experiments?"
The Dalek's eyestalk turned towards the Monk. "I OBEY," it said reluctantly before turning back to the Doctor and Rose. "YOU WILL COME WITH ME!"
"Not a chance, tinpot! Run, Doctor!" shouted Rose as she shot the Dalek in front of them and pushed the Doctor to run. He obeyed on instinct and Rose ran after him to get back to the hold where the TARDIS was parked.
They were nearly at the door leading to the hold when a bolt of Dalek ray was fired at Rose's legs. She lost her footing and fell to the floor.
"ROSE!" shouted the Doctor, realising that the Monk had called for reinforcements and that there was a group of Daleks in the control room.
Rose looked up at him. "RUN! GO!" she shouted, knowing that her legs had been paralysed.
"Don't kill her! We need her!" shouted the Monk.
"GO DOCTOR!" shouted Rose as a Dalek ray nearly hit him.
The Doctor shot her a look of despair but at her furious cries to leave, he slammed the hold door shut and ran to the TARDIS.
Rose heard the TARDIS leave and slumped to the floor as the Daleks converged on her. "THE FEMALE WILL BE TAKEN TO THE EXPERIMENTAL CHAMBER!"
"Oh, will I?" said Rose, acutely aware that she was at their mercy, though unwilling to give them the upper hand just yet.
"DO NOT STRUGGLE!" said the Dalek and fired a bolt right at her head.
"We can't outrun them!" shouted Neil as they ran.
Susan knew he was right, but then the key around her neck started getting warmer. "Impossible," she muttered and couldn't believe her eyes when the TARDIS started materialising a few yards away. "Over there!" she shouted. "Run over there!"
The doors sprang open as they reached them and Susan ushered everyone inside and slammed the doors shut behind her. She glanced around eagerly. "Grandfather! Oh, Grandfather! I knew you would come!" she said in relief.
Her relief slipped away when she saw the furious look on the Doctor's face. "They have her. The Daleks have Rose."
A/N End of the chapter. What did you think?
The next chapter will probably earn a rating for violence. It will be up soon. See you then!