There was a terrible stillness in the dark of the main laboratory.

Security Liaison's voice spoke out of the darkness, trying to be flat and unemotional and failing. "Sliced the power main."

There was an overhead flickering, then dim blue emergency lighting came on. It made the scientists look like they were already dead. It did not flatter Davros' appearance either.

The Red Hexagon woman turned to the video screen, which was blank. She thumbed a control, with no response. Then she raised her head to listen. There was the sounds of many swift footsteps in the corridor outside. A sudden banging on the laboratory door was followed by a woman's shout, "Security Liaison?"

"Present, all safe here," coughed Security Liaison. "Fatalities?"

"Not yet tallied," was the reply.

Security Liaison made a soft, pained sound. "I meant, how many did I kill."

"Eight Kaleds, one Red Hexagon. Power to the main laboratory to be restored in forty minutes-"

"You will have power restored within twenty minutes or suffer the consequences!" said Davros, rolling to Security Liaison's side.

"Within twenty minutes, sir." More footsteps outside. "You have not been patterned in the use of the matter disintegrator, Security Liaison."

"Needs must," was her only reply. "Davros ordered that I protect him." Her voice sounded strangely thick.

Security Liaison moved to the door and cranked the manual override. Slowly the door inched open. There was brighter light flooding in from the corridor, silhouetting a group of women looking in at the Elite. Some of them were wearing gas masks. The one at the front reached out to Security Liaison, who dropped the matter disintegrator with a clatter and took hold of those hands. Then she screamed.

Head back, silhouetted against the light, she screamed, "Eight Kaleds. Eight! How could I lose eight!" And she wailed like a beaten child, or a lost soul, as the other women closed around her in a mass embrace. She clung to them, sobbing aloud.

From the darkness, the scientists looked on with confused and frightened faces. Davros watched, his thoughts hidden behind the wall of his face.

# # #

Nyder disgustedly shoved the woman's corpse off of him, and rose to his feet. The rest of the squad was getting up too, getting back into position, uncertain in the uneven lighting. But the attackers had stopped firing. There was a scuffling noise from around the corner, but no tromp of boots, no bullets.

Nyder waited, then quickly gestured one of his men. The soldier drew a pocket mirror from his uniform and angled it, using it to peer down the corridor without being seen. Nyder was looking over his shoulder when his gaze was caught by a thin line of light.

It ran straight along the wall, at upper chest height. He touched it with one gloved finger, and felt a tiny depression. It was as though an incredibly fine slice had been taken through the wall, and the light was shining through it.

"It's clear, sir," said the peering man. Then he gagged.

"What?" said Nyder, then looked in the mirror. Then he took a machine gun from one of his men and looked around the corner, cautiously.

There was a huddle of people, no they were women, in the corridor, bent over some task. Protruding between their legs were - arms and legs and fallen weapons. The limbs lay at odd random angles, as though they were not attached to any bodies. One of the women turned; she was wearing heavy protective gear, including leaded face mask and goggles. She said, "Commander, this corridor is hot! City-Buster, keep your men back!" The voice was Red Hexagon, but there were at least twelve or fifteen of them in the corridor.

The Security men promptly withdrew back around the corner of the corridor. Nyder took the mirror and used it to observe what they were doing, and said in a loud tone, "That can't be a City-Buster, they were manufactured at the beginning of the war! The radioactive materials would have decayed by now!"

"We think that Councilman Mogran had it in a stasis field, sir," said a Red Hexagon woman from behind Nyder. He whirled, and she walked quickly past, towing a strangely silent powered dolly behind her. She moved around the corner, and Nyder watched in the mirror again as the women got the bomb attached to the dolly somehow, and pulled it away. It was strange, but it almost looked like they had stuck the dolly to the side of the bomb, not under it.

"Mogran?" Nyder asked of no one in particular. Events (and people) were coming past him too fast, he wanted to make them slow down, damn it all!

"Commander," and one of his men pointed to the radiation meter in the wall behind them. The needle was sinking down through the yellow and into the white, as the radiation source moved away - the bomb. Nyder handed back the mirror, and looked around the corner again. All that was left was a single Red Hexagon member, wringing a mop out with heavily gloved hands into a lead bucket. "Excuse me," she said, and scooted off with bucket and mop.

The corridor was empty. No bomb, no bodies. No blood. Only a wet mark on the floor to show where they had been.

"Fall in, we have to get to the main laboratory!" snapped Nyder. "But - keep as low as you can. Check every corner."

Crouching, they moved out. Behind them, unnoticed, the dead body of the Red Hexagon woman was swiftly pulled out of sight.

# # #

In Sub-Laboratory Twelve, Gharman was pulling himself to his feet - but then he froze. "Is it safe?" he asked.

The Doctor was lying flat on the floor still, with one arm over Sarah Jane's chest. "I believe so, Gharman. That sounded like a matter disintegrator on minimum aperture. If it isn't safe, lying down on the floor won't stop it."

The Kaled scientist got up, cautiously, and saw that part of the laboratory's glassware array had fallen over, split across a straight line. Like some incredibly thin knife had sliced through them at shoulder height. He reached out and touched one of the glass cylinders that seemed undamaged - and it split right along the same line as the other damaged equipment. The upper half fell and shattered on the table.

"Incredible," he murmured.

# # #

Elsewhere in the darkened Bunker complex, there was frantic work going on. Hands were stripping filing cabinets bare, and refilling them with different files that had been prepared in advance. In the absence of power, computer terminals were having their memory racks removed wholesale and replaced with new memory.

"There will be mistakes," said a voice in the gloom, and was answered by five identical voices speaking in eerie unison.

"They will be corrected. This event is too conveniently timed, we must take advantage of it."

The shadowy labour continued.

# # #

The video system in the main laboratory was now receiving power. Its screen glowed, illuminating the scientists gathered around it. Tear tracks shone wet on Security Liaison's face; she impatiently wiped them off on her arm.

"Gentlemen, you will find this of consuming interest," said Security Liaison. "We have a large and dangerous quantity of radioactive material to dispose of, and we are going to dispose of it now."

"We who?" asked Ronson.

"I want that bomb out of here!" snapped Davros.

Security Liaison tapped a control and the screen showed a room in the Bunker. A group of people in heavy protective gear was leaving it, and behind them in the middle of the room sat the ominous shape of the City-Buster superbomb.

"Watch the radiation meter in the wall," said Security Liaison; on the screen, they could all see the needle practically locked against its highest setting. "And now…"

A lone figure came into the room, rolling a tall metal-and-glass contraption in front of him - or her, probably. The machinery was put beside the bomb, and immediately the glass tube that formed the core of it came alight with flickering, dancing patterns. The figure returned and put a second and third device in place. Now all three of them were flashing.

"The power to disintegrate matter is very impressive, but the power to re-integrate it has a more striking application in context. These are particle fountains. They-"

Ronson interrupted her. "The meter! Look at it!" They all looked on as the radiation meter shown by the camera sank lower and lower, as though the radiation was being sucked out of the room.

Security Liaison went on. "The particle fountain is a device that forces atomic material into a lower energy level. It also can directly absorb background radiation energy and convert it into power to maintain its functions." She paused for a moment, as the overhead lights in the main laboratory came on, then continued. "It is strong enough to turn that bomb into a block of lead, and sophisticated enough to return irradiated tissue to its normal state." They could all see that the meter was registering hardly any radiation now. The person in protective gear returned, strolling up to the bomb - and then with a slashing gesture, smashed a fist down directly onto the trigger!

They all jumped; Kavell shrieked. He was clutching his chest like a man shocked half to death - which he probably was. Security Liaison scowled, touched her microphone, and said, "That was uncalled for."

The figure on the screen dragged off its protective hood. A familiar face, a Red Hexagon woman, looked directly at the camera and positively smirked, "But very dramatic, you must admit."

"Spectacular, in fact," said the Doctor, who had come in unnoticed and was looking over Ronson's shoulder. "And you say it's actually safe to use it on living tissue?"

"Yes it is, Doctor. I'm pleased to see that you survived," said Security Liaison.

"Thanks to your warning. But this is extraordinary!" The Doctor beamed at her. "Do you have any idea of how many worlds are hopelessly irradiated and unfit for life? This device could change the universe!"

"Thank you. We are planning on calling it the Kaled particle fountain, but of course we may also name it the Davros particle fountain."

"What?" said Davros.

Security Liaison turned to the Kaled scientist, and blinked innocently. "But of course, it is based on your research. It should be named for you. It is yours."

# # #

"Incredible," whispered one of the Kaled Councilmen, and there were murmurs of agreement from the mostly-empty table. "A destroyer of radiation - if we could smuggle one of these close to the Thal dome, we could drain their power system, render their atomics useless!"

One of the Daughters standing around the room coughed, and turned off the monitor they had been watching. "And if we plant a series of these through the Wastelands, we can render them non-radioactive as well. And cleanse the flesh of the Kaled soldiers who have been exposed to radiation."

She came close to the table, and laid both hands on it, and looked at them. Five Councilmen remained, those who had been brought back to consciousness and had convinced the Daughters of their absolute opposition to Mogran's schemes. Most surprisingly, Councilman Mah, who had been presumed dead for the last few months, had been spirited out of nowhere, and now sat with the other Councilmen.

A series of red folders were being collated in the corner, and were now placed in front of each of the Councilmen. "Gentlemen, we have even more urgent business to attend to. This is critical information that has not been made available to you, and I strongly suggest you start reading. You have a decision to make, the most important one of your lives. A decision that will change the destiny of yourselves and your planet, forever."

With several querulous back-and-forth looks between them, the Councilmen opened the folders and started to read. As they did, the Daughter looked on, and at the first gasp of horror, she smiled. Subtly.

# # #

Security Liaison burst into a blazing smile at the sight of Commander Nyder, whole and unharmed, entering the main laboratory with his men. Commander Nyder didn't even notice, and the smile vanished in an instant. Only Sarah saw the brief change in the Kaled woman's expression, and what she felt was pity. Whatever warmth Security Liaison felt for the Commander, she was certain the feeling was not reciprocated.

"Davros, you-"

"Nyder!" Davros' shout was raw and hoarse, and he swivelled his chair with a jerk to face the Commander. "I have been attacked, my work has been attacked, here in the Bunker, here where you are in charge of Security. I could have been killed! All our work, the sole chance for our species' survival, could have been wiped out in an instant! The Daleks could have been destroyed. Destroyed! What do you have to say for your failure?"

"I," and Nyder choked. He had seen Davros lash out in the past, but not at him, not like this. The Security men behind him subtly backed away, as though distancing themselves from the Commander. Nyder desperately went on, "I did-"

"There has been no time for a threat analysis, Davros," said Security Liaison, moving a little closer to Nyder's side. "Commander-"

"Commander Nyder is going to report to my office, at once, where his dereliction will be reviewed and punished. Now!" and Davros spun and wheeled away.

The Doctor had never seen a man so clearly torn between his duties; if Nyder had been a fissionable being, he would definitely have gone in two directions at once. He had to obey Davros' order, but the Bunker had been attacked, his men wounded, everything in disarray. He looked around himself for a moment, as though lost.

Security Liaison leaned her head to Nyder's and said in a tight voice, "Review the security breach; determine the status of personnel with main priority to Captain Tane; report back to you at once. Sir?"

"Go!" he ordered, and they both left the laboratory in opposite directions. With a sharp gesture, Security Liaison ordered the Security men to follow her; they did.

# # #

The main entrance to the Bunker wasn't an entrance anymore; it was a room-shaped hole loosely packed with broken concrete slabs and smashed equipment. And smashed men too. Red Hexagon women and Bunker medical personnel were extracting the survivors and hauling them away. At this point, everyone was too busy to observe that there suddenly more than five Red Hexagon at work.

Security Liaison swiftly picked her way through the wreckage, moving in quick starts, checking every step. The Security men with her fanned out and started helping the wounded. When she managed to get to the far side of the entry, she found Captain Tane who was, miraculously enough, alive.

Somehow the blast had flipped Tane's desk backwards, and left him pinned under it. He had been shielded from the shrapnel and luckily nothing heavy had fallen on him besides the desk, but from the position of his body, both of his legs must be broken. High up, compound fractures.

A Red Hexagon woman, wearing a surgical mask to keep out the dust, was working beside Tane, giving him anti-shock and painkiller treatment. He was still conscious, face white with concrete dust and eyes wide and wet with pain. He should have been screaming, but instead he breathed in sharp little gasps between his clenched teeth.

Tane's eyes were blurring, but he could see the black-gloved hands of the person who crouched in the tiny space beside him. It was Nyder, but the face was wrong, too round. Through the thudding pain in his head, he heard a voice ask him, "Tane? Tane, the Bunker has been attacked. Davros is safe, the attack has been repelled. What happened, Tane? Davros needs to know, now." The voice was wrong, this must be Security Liaison, not Nyder.

Tane sneezed abruptly; the Red Hexagon women mopped at his nose. He tossed his head, and rasped, "There was nothing, no warning. Nothing on the cameras, the motion sensors, it was all clear and then it all fell in on me. On us. My men…?"

"They're getting the best treatment we can give them. Tane, you're certain there was no activity in the entry tunnel?"

"Nothing," he spasmed and actually felt something part in his right leg at the movement, "nothing to see. They must have blown out the wall, I don't know how."

The gloved hand touched his cheek, which was probably the only part of him not throbbing with pain. "Thank you, Tane. Firla, get him to the Medical Wing. I'll be in Records and then in Davros' office." The two Red Hexagon women leaned together a moment, their heads touching.

"Good luck," said Firla as Security Liaison slipped away.

# # #

As she went to Davros' office, Security Liaison was struck by an image of some mad game being played out. People dashing around under a thunderstorm waving lightning rods, trying to confuse the lightning into not striking. Davros was the lightning; his mind was that fast, that sharp, that lethally precise. And they were running out of distractions to throw in his way.

Not long now, though.

Davros had locked the door to his office. Of course. Security Liaison pulled a button-sized device out of her pocket, and waved her hand in front of the lock. The door opened and she slipped inside, and looked with dismay at what she saw. Nyder was standing before Davros, in shock, looking like a tree about to topple. Rootless - or blasted by lightning. Davros was quivering with rage.

"My resignation will be on your desk in the morning, sir," said Nyder, in a voice completely dead.

"It will not, because I am going to have you shot tonight!" seethed Davros. "How could you let this happen! How could you endanger me and my work with your incompetence!"

"Commander Nyder is not incompetent and he is not going to resign," said Security Liaison in a clear, cold voice, moving further into the room. Her clothes were still covered with the dust of the main entrance's remains. "And you are not going to shoot him."

"You dare to-" began Davros.

Her voice snapped out like a whip. "Be silent and learn, Davros!"

Both men froze, and her voice went on, "We are all betrayed, Davros. Betrayal planned decades ago, by the original creation of this Bunker. Men long dead. Here is the proof." She unrolled the blueprints she was carrying and gave a corner of them to Nyder to hold; numbly he did so. She pointed at one section of them.

"Here. The Bunker entry tunnel has several bends in it, to prevent a siege engine from coming down it. But this bend here serves a second purpose. There was a concealed tunnel from this side to the wall abutting the Bunker entrance, and shaped charges built into the wall - here. No way to detect them from the Bunker, no way to find them at all - unless you knew how to detonate them. And somebody did."

"I have been betrayed by my own people, then. Who?" shouted Davros. "What Kaled has dared betray me?"

"It was Councilmen Mogran. He shot Councilman Verro, and was ready to execute the rest of the Council as well. It was Mogran who betrayed the Bunker, and all the Kaled people with it. He discovered a City-Buster atomic weapon still preserved in its stasis field. Kept it hidden."

Security Liaison made the sound of spitting, her teeth bared. "How many Kaled women have been irradiated, have had their children born dead just so that political fumbler could keep his nasty little war toy? And Mogran had the plans to breach the Bunker hidden in his files, plus the electronic cut-outs to override the security cameras. The Red Hexagon staff in the Dome are reviewing his other files, our results will be ready for you within the hour."

"My projections for progressive radiation contamination of the Dome were always unable to account for actual results. This is why," snarled Davros. "There was an interior source of radiation! How can I be expected to complete my work when I am not given correct information!" He swerved his chair to face Security Liaison square on. "And you, hiding information from me as well! Every day, every hour, you spring your surprises, your traps on me! Why are you doing this to me? Why!"

Security Liaison's face - sagged, as though suddenly full of grief. Before she could answer, Davros spoke again.

"I am not safe," Davros grated, returning to the thing that had wounded him the most. "Not safe even here!"

That concern she could answer. "You are safe, Davros. Mogran has lost all power, and is a fugitive, as are his accomplices. The Council is in disarray, but your supporters are in charge now. Davros, you are safe, but you can be safer." Security Liaison leaned forward, projecting encouragement with her face and voice. "Security has been decimated by this attack on the Bunker. Activate the Daleks, now, in force. There are enough casings ready, have the creatures installed and you can protect yourself and the Bunker from any threat."

Nyder's eyes moved to Security Liaison. What was she up to? She did not notice his look and waited, breathless, as Davros considered her suggestion. Then the scientist responded.

"Commander Nyder. Your resignation is refused. You will have twenty of the mutants placed in their casings by the Elite. They are to begin integration into the defences of the Bunker at once. The Elite are to begin analysis of the matter disintegrator and particle fountain. Proceed with my orders."

Nyder clicked his heels in salute, and left with Security Liaison trailing behind him. Once the door to Davros' office closed behind them, he rounded on her and snapped, "Report!"

"The main entrance has been practically obliterated, it will take heavy equipment to make it usable. Tane is badly injured and will not be able to return to duty for some time. Eleven other guards are dead; an additional five are too injured to stand shift. There are not enough Security personnel available to adequately protect the Bunker. Dome Security is in chaos, they can't supply men until Mogran's fellow conspirators are found and neutralised. The Daleks are necessary if we are not to be overrun by Thals. Or deserters. Or Mutos armed with sharp sticks." Security Liaison's posture was rigid, but inside she was sighing with relief. She had gotten Nyder out of the room with Davros. For the moment, they were both safe.

Commander Nyder tried to think of how there could be a trick in integrating more Daleks. Then he stopped thinking of it, because if there was any such trick, Davros would have seen and countered it. So he moved on to his next issue.

"How did you open that door?" asked Nyder, pointing behind them at the door to Davros' office.

"Give me your hand," was her reply.

Nyder frowned, and made no move to comply. Security Liaison looked up at him. "I promise to give it back when I'm done," she said mildly.

He held out one hand, tense and ready to pull it back. Security Liaison turned his hand palm-up, and fastened a tiny red snap to the bottom edge of his glove, under his wrist. "This is an electronic master passkey. It will open every door in the Bunker at a touch, and the Dome besides."

"How did you come to acquire this device?" he asked.

"I needed it, so I made it." Security Liaison withdrew her hands from around Nyder's, and he looked at the passkey - hexagonal of course. He returned his hand to clasp the other behind his back. He had a thousand questions that he was going to get answered, preferably under proper interrogation. But he found himself fulfilling his own personal curiosity first. "What does that mean - 'Be silent and learn'?"

"It was something that one of Davros' teachers used to shout at him. I thought it would freeze him for long enough, and it did." She stepped back.

"I have more questions for you, Security Liaison."

"Surely carrying out Davros' orders is more important at this time. For later, sir, if you were to look for me, you absolutely should not look in the room behind the Red Hexagon quarters." She looked at Nyder and almost winked, but not quite.

Commander Nyder did nothing to acknowledge her answer. But his eyes followed Security Liaison as she trotted down the corridor on her own mysterious business.

# # #

Nyder found Gharman in the main laboratory; the other scientists were in a flurry of activity, comparing computer printouts, while Gharman sat and stared mutely at one particular page in front of him. Inappropriate as it was to keep the laboratory active with minimal Security personnel to monitor the scientists, Davros would surely be furious if anyone suggested that they suspend work until more guards could be transferred from the Dome. As the Commander came to his desk, the scientist looked up and said, "Yes?" a bit distractedly.

"Have you performed any analysis of the matter disintegrator?"

"Analysis? I don't need any analysis." Gharman ran his fingers through his hair, and showed Nyder an expression of pure exasperation. "When the computer came back online, we searched for Davros' initial research results. They were there, Nyder, and so was every step that the Elite took to build, test and perfect the matter disintegrator."

Nyder frowned. "The Elite?"

Gharman interrupted him. "But we didn't! We never worked on such a device, all these records are false! Unless," and Gharman leaned back in his chair, staring suddenly at some terrible internal vision, "unless our memories have been tampered with somehow." His frightened eyes met Nyder's cold gaze.

"And the particle fountain?" the Commander asked, unmoved.

Gharman nodded. "The same; all the records are in the computer, and in the paper files. Everything tested, cross-referenced, initialised and dated. And all fake. But the results are real - I think. Nyder, do you realise that we could stop the progress of radiation into the Kaled dome with these? Decontaminate the areas that are unusable now? We could reclaim the Wastelands, given time. When the war is over."

"Interesting," allowed Nyder. Then he went back to business. "I will have to review the computer access logs, and discover when they were changed. Now, Davros orders that twenty of the creatures be installed in the Dalek casings, to supplement Bunker security."

Gharman swallowed, and said carefully, "I don't think that is wise, Nyder."

"Why not?" he snapped.

"Last night one of the creatures died. It was one of the most recent - generation, with all of Davros' most recent genetic modifications. The dissection revealed that it was murdered."

"Murdered? What do you mean?"

"By the other creatures. There were marks on it. Tooth marks, claw marks." Gharman's intensity went up a notch. "The creatures are killing each other, Nyder. We cannot predict what will happen if we arm them and turn them loose in the Bunker as Daleks!"

"Has Davros been appraised of this?" asked Nyder flatly.

"Yes, it was in this morning's report. But-"

"Then he will have taken it into account. His predictions will be accurate. Now carry out his orders." Nyder strode out, past Ronson at his desk. After the door had closed behind the Commander, the Doctor and Sarah Jane slipped out from behind one of pillars and sat back down. Since there were no Security guards to spare for prisoner escort, Ronson had suggested the Doctor be interrogated about the matter disintegrator in the main laboratory. Or to put it in more non-Security terms, that the Doctor was too valuable an information resource to spend all his time in a cell.

The Doctor promptly scooped up one of the matter disintegrator parts and examined it. "Beautifully engineered casing," he commented. "Shame about the circuits allshrivelling away to nothing when it was exposed to air."

Ronson flinched at the Doctor's words, as though at some memory. "This weapon is totally unlike any Kaled technology in existence. I can dimly see how the basic principles could have been derived from Davros' research, but!" The Kaled scientist shook his head, then looked around the laboratory. Boldly, he gestured Gharman to join them. After a cautious look at the lone Security guard remaining, Gharman did so.

The Doctor leaned over as though showing Gharman the disintegrator part, and said, "What did Nyder want?"

"Davros orders that twenty of the mutants be installed in their casings," said Gharman, and swallowed. "I suppose I will have to start the automated production line."

Sarah Jane gasped, and the Doctor's large eyes grew even larger. "Gharman, if you do that, it means the end of everything. Once the Daleks are in control…"

"I don't know that, and neither do you. If I don't follow Davros' orders, he will order what is left of Security to arrest me. There are always Kaled military scientists manoeuvring to be transferred to the Bunker."

"But you are the best, aren't you? The Elite. You can't be easily replaced." The Doctor leaned forward, intense. "Gharman, you cannot do this! The Scientific Elite must outnumber Security right now. Once the Daleks are in a position of power, they will act to keep that power indefinitely. Delay the activations, say you need more time to prepare the casings, to transfer the creatures, anything!" The Doctor's appeal was almost frenzied.

"But the Elite cannot defend the Bunker. We don't have the training for it, or the manpower. The Thals are making desperate strikes now, they've penetrated the outer defences of the Bunker twice in the last year. Without the Daleks, we'll be overrun and killed. If we rebel against Davros, we will only die ourselves." Gharman rose, and looked down at the aliens. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I have to think of all of us. We, and the Daleks, are our races' last chance of survival."

Grimly, aware of the scientists' eyes on him, Gharman went to one of the instrument panels and keyed a series of switches. A light began to blink on the panel, steadily. The Dalek production line had started.