"Where is he?" River worried, slapping her palm against the TARDIS console.
"What's up?" Sasha asked, leading Shannon into the TARDIS.
"The Doctor's gone," River replied.
"What?" Shannon cried. "How can he have gone?"
"He can't have. I have the TARDIS and the vortex manipulator. Somehow, the Doctor's managed to disappear from the 24th century building without any transport."
"So he's been taken – like Alec?" Sasha asked.
"But that means he could be anywhere in time and space!" Shannon realised.
"I recon they'll be in the same place, though," Sasha added.
"I agree," River nodded.
"Your device!" Sasha cried, jumping with excitement. "The Doctor's got your device; you can track it through the TARDIS."
Sasha jumped happily. "We can trace the Doctor and find Alec too!"
"Ha!" River giggled. "Who ever said girl power died? The Doctor's girls united against his enemies. Whoever's messing with us doesn't stand a chance!"
"That's us – unbeatable!" Shannon cheered high-fiving River and Sasha.
River's face dropped, her expression distorted to a mix or fear and panic. "Oh no . . . No! It can't be . . ."
"What's wrong?" Sasha asked, stepping closer to the monitor.
"Daleks . . ." River gasped.
"Daleks? What are Daleks?" Shannon inquired.
"Imagine a creature – strip it of every emotion, fill it with hate and make it the perfect killing machine – that's a Dalek. They're smart, powerful and merciless. They're the Doctor's worst nightmare, so now they're yours too," River replied, her face frozen into complete series.
"Compared to the Weeping Angels?" Sasha was wondering.
"Worse," River answered immediately.
"So . . . Worse than already terrible," Sasha muttered.
"But we're going anyway," Shannon insisted. "I don't care how deadly they are; I'm desperate to get them back."
"Exactly. Where's the girl power in running at the first hurdle?" Sasha grinned.
"This isn't a hurdle; this is a concrete barrier," corrected River. "We barely made it away from the Angels alive. We don't stand a chance against the Daleks."
"How many?" Sasha asked.
River pressed several buttons at the TARDIS console. "The Doctor is being held at the middle of a Dalek fleet of one hundred ships, each with approximately one thousand Daleks on board."
Sasha's jaw sunk a little. "Quite a lot then."
"As the figures would explain."
"So what are we waiting for?" Shannon interrupted, unfazed by the statistics. "Let's head straight in."
"It's not quite that simple," River informed them. "The Daleks are shielded. I told you they were smart. Even the Doctor couldn't land on one of their ships."
"Which is why you can?" Sasha guessed.
"Exactly!" River smiled. "You're learning fast. I should print a certificate."
The Doctor's vision was blurred. His entire body tingled; almost static. The cold surface of the metal floor sent shudders up his face, so he rolled up onto he knees, fighting the aching tension in his joints. Slowly, he became aware of a chanting – not of human voices, but the electronic wails of his enemy. His vision cleared, filling his head with Daleks.
The Doctor was encompassed, trapped at all sides by Daleks – those heartless blue eyes staring, and their lights flashing to their undying chants: "Contain the Predator!" He was suspended on a platform, held like a caged pet amongst a pantheon of the metal killers.
Suddenly, a voice bellowed. "Allow my passage into the Predator's pit!" Instantly, the Daleks were silenced by the voice. Intrigued, the Doctor watched as the Daleks parted, creating an aisle between them, through which the Dalek Emperor emerged. The creature was vile – a smiley, octopus-like creature, with one eye, sprawled out in a cylinder of blue liquid, suspended between two halves of a giant Dalek. "Look upon me, Predator!"
"Dalek Emperor," the Doctor announced, "allow me to say how much of a disappointment it is to see you."
"Welcome, Doctor, to our trap!" the Dalek Emperor bellowed, flapping about inside its jar.
"Ah, yes, the trap. To be honest, I don't quite understand what the purpose of all of this is. You could easily have killed me without this elaborate façade. May I be as blunt as to ask why?" the Doctor inquired.
"The trap was not designed with you as the chief target," the Dalek Emperor began to explain. "The Daleks need both you and your companions to be futile against our plans. The Daleks wish to convert the population of Earth to our kind; ridding the Universe of the putrid filth of humanity. We used your Earth children for experiments – perfecting the art so that we could successfully produce new Dalek beings, massing an army to eventually engulf the Universe with Dalek ideals."
The Doctor sunk his head. "So, that's what's at stake – the whole of humanity, pulverized and trapped in a metal case. And let me guess, you plan to start this new dawn of Dalek control with the public execution of the Predator. Here I am! Get it over with, why don't you!" The Doctor stretched out his neck. "I wouldn't want to ruin your festivities. Off you go then! I won't bother with last words; I'll just bugger it up no matter what I say."
"The Daleks do not wish to kill you so early in our plans. We will contain you in the crypt, allowing you to watch the massacre of the species to which you are so attached. Only then shall you be executed."
"Great," the Doctor sulked. "Could I spend that time with a friend, perhaps? Alec - where is he?"
"Why don't you take a look," the Emperor announced.
The platform that the Doctor knelt on shuddered. Slowly, the white circle descended, lowering further into the Dalek ship, leaving the pantheon far above him. Eventually, the platform shuddered to a halt, merging into the floor of a white walled prison with golden spheres on the walls. In the corner of the room, Alec Parker cowered in a ball, his ankle chained to the wall. Two Daleks stood either side of him. Slowly, Alec raised his head.
"Where the bloody hell have you been?" Alec laughed, jumping into the Doctor's arms.
"Coming to get you of course," the Doctor smiled, hugging Alec back.
"How's Sasha? Is she ok?" Alec asked.
"Fine. She's in a bit of a state, but she's getting over it. She and River have gone to tell Shannon."
A spark lit in Alec's eyes. "Shannon? Why Shannon?"
"They wanted to see whether she might know something about what's going on."
"Alright. Ok. Doctor, these robots – they call themselves Daleks."
"I know. River and I have dealt with them many times before. Trust me, do what they say or they'll shoot without reason."
"And how do you fight a Dalek?"
"With your head. Physically, it's nearly impossible to beat a Dalek, so beat them at their game. Find a fault in their plan, an unseen weakness; anything!"
"You could . . . I don't know. You could use the sonic!"
"The Daleks took the sonic and River's device. I know it doesn't fill you with hope, but it's up to the girls to get us out of this one."
"Yeah," Alec shrugged, "if there's something to raise my hopes, it's that my sister's in control of our lives."
"HOLD ON!" River screamed, grasping the TARDIS railings as the ship spun and shuddered, flinging the three girls around like rags. Sparks flew from the console, smoke wheezing from the floor and the monitor cracking. Ungracefully, the TARDIS landed. The console room was filled with smoke; its green lights flickered, along with the continuing sparks that briefly lit the room with white light.
"Ok. We've landed close enough. I've set the TARDIS to surveillance mode, so it should take longer for the Daleks to realise that we're here."
"That was rough!" Shannon coughed.
"Ah! My neck!" Sasha groaned. "I should get compensation for this."
"Be careful," River warned. "Don't draw attention to yourself. Be alert. And if a Dalek sees you, run. Listen to every command I give and follow it as exact as you can. I'm not joking." Sasha and Shannon nodded in agreement. "Good. Follow me, silently."
River stepped out of the TARDIS. They had landed in what seemed to be a corridor; it was dark, occasionally flashing with a bronze light. The TARDIS was invisible, so River, Sasha and Shannon felt extremely exposed. Quickly, River pulled the others to the side of the corridor, hiding in the dark.
"What is it?" Sasha asked.
"Security camera at the end of the corridor," River whispered, as Sasha and Shannon looked out at the camera.
"There were cameras like that in the cells," Shannon remembered, looking at the eyestalk camera.
"Come on, stay in the dark," River said, leading the others down the corridor. The door rolled upwards at the end, opening out into a new room, a similar size to the previous corridor but illuminated with a ghostly blue light.
The girls stepped into the room as the door rolled shut behind them. Lining the room were large tanks, filled with a blue liquid. In each tank was a Dalek mutant – an octopus-like being with a large, sleeping eye in the middle of its body.
"Urgh," Shannon gasped. "What are these?"
"What's on the inside of a Dalek," River replied.
"So this is what's inside that metal case," Shannon realised. "It's . . . disgusting."
"You don't say," Sasha agreed.
The next room they entered seemed empty – yet it was so dark they could barely see anything. It was cold. Frosted, fearful breaths were illuminated, a little bronze, as they lingered in the air.
"What's . . ."
"Shush!" River whispered, interrupting Shannon. "There could be Daleks in this room."
Slowly, Sasha flicked on her torch, cushioning the light against her stomach so the light wasn't too intense. Then, cautiously, Sasha pointed the light into the room. At the centre of the room was a large blue Dalek – one of the paradigm Daleks. It had been dismantled, held apart into separate pieces; wires and cables were plumbed up into its head piece. Its eyestalk was dead.
"What's happened to this one?" Sasha asked, daring to step closer.
"What are these wires for?" Shannon added, following the wires, which led throughout the room.
"This is one of the Paradigm Daleks. This one's blue, meaning that it's a strategist," River explained, watching the Dalek with curiosity. "It seems to have been wired in to the ship itself. Like it controls the ship."
"It's dead," Shannon said, shining the light into its eye.
"I don't think so," River disagreed. "The casing seems dead, but I'm not so sure about the creature inside."
"This Dalek is controlling the ship?" Sasha repeated. "You would think it would be defended."
A light flickered in the corner of the room. Sasha pointed her light towards it. Three Daleks sat in the corner, their eyes slowly waking into life as they raised their heads.
"We need to leave . . ." River stuttered.
"Ex . . ." a Dalek stuttered, raising its gun. "Ex . . . ter . . ."
"GO!" River cried, grabbing Shannon by the arm.
"Exter . . . Extermin!" the Daleks chanted, their eyes fully illuminated, their guns twitching and jerking as they aimed at Sasha, River and Shannon.
"COME ON!" River cried, dragging the two others out of the room.
"EXTERMINATE!" a Dalek chanted. Its gun fired – a bolt of light sparked against the wall, narrowly missing River's head as she ducked.
"Close the doors!" another Dalek chanted, firing again at the girls, and once again missing.
"Quickly! GET THROUGH!" River screamed.
Slowly, the door descended, lowering into the floor. The three girls ran, dodging the laser shots as they stumbled over the cables and wires. Shannon slid cross the floor; the first to skid under the door and into the next room. Sasha followed, sliding under the door. Finally, River, making it through to the other side just as the door rolled shut behind her.
"Keep going!" River cried, pulling Sasha off the floor before she relaxed too much.
The eyestalk camera in the corridor fired into the life, adjusting itself to stare directly at the girls as they ran down the corridor, away from the Daleks that approached. A siren wailed, ringing in their ears. As the girls entered the room at the other end of the corridor, the Daleks rolled into the corridor. One of them shot, hitting the wall.
"River, they're getting closer!" Shannon panicked.
"I know. Give me a moment!" River found a button at the side of the side. As she pressed it, the door rolled down and clicked.
"What did you do?" Sasha asked, pacing the dark, seemingly empty room.
"Locked the doors," River explained. "The Daleks will get through it within a minute, but it'll give us some time. Come on, let's keep moving."
"Bad news; we can't," Shannon groaned, biting her lip. "No more doors. We're trapped."
"What?" River gasped.
"Really? Not one?" Sasha worried, checking herself.
"There's only the door we came through," Shannon confirmed.
"You will surrender yourselves to the Daleks!" a voice chanted behind the door.
"Surely there's an exit!" Sasha panicked.
"Find one quickly; we've got seconds!" River answered.
Shannon looked up. On the roof of the room was a wire mesh. An exit perhaps? "Ok, I've found a way out!" Shannon announced.
"Thank God!" River gasped.
"Sasha, give me a leg up," Shannon instructed. Sasha hurried to Shannon, grabbed her foot, and pushed her up. Shannon, now high enough, punched the mesh out of its place, moving it aside. "One more push!" Shannon was thrust upwards, enabling her to climb up into the ventilation shaft. "I'm in!" she cried. "Give me your hand; I'll pull you up!"
"I'll help," River offered, pulling Sasha's legs up, making it easier for Shannon to pull her into the shaft too.
Sasha and Shannon collapsed into the shaft. It continued far in front of and behind them – dimly lit, with wisps of smoke that made the two of them cough.
"Give me a moment. I want to find the route back to the TARDIS," Sasha insisted, crawling down the shaft.
"But I need to help River up!" Shannon complained.
"One moment!" Sasha panicked, crawling down the shaft.
Shannon grabbed River's hand and tried to pull. River managed to get her hand into the shaft to pull herself up, by it slipped and she fell back down into the room. In the panic, Shannon lost her grin, also sliding down, managing to keep half in the shaft as she struggled. "SASHA!" Shannon screamed.
Immediately, Sasha crawled back down the shaft, racing towards Shannon, who struggled to keep inside. Sasha grabbed Shannon's hand and pulled, wincing in pain as her muscles strained.
"Try pulling yourself up!" Sasha instructed, gritting her teeth.
"I can't reach!" Shannon cried.
"Surrender to the Daleks!" a voice chanted.
"River, help!" Shannon pleaded.
It was of no use. Sasha's hands, saturated with panicked sweat, slipped from Shannon's. The girl screamed, terrified as she dropped down into the room, her beautiful brown hair sprawled out as she hit the floor. All to be done was watch, teary eyed, as River grasped Shannon in her quaking arms and pulled her to the corner of the room, away from the Daleks as they entered. River screamed, and the word "RUN!" was echoed throughout Sasha's head as her vision was blocked by the bronze Daleks beneath her.
Everything became a blur. All that existed was sweat and heat and tears as Sasha crawled through the shafts, aching as she scrambled through the claustrophobia, escaping the Dalek chants that rattled through her cowering skull. Darkness filled her eyes, and the bronze glows from beneath her dazzled her vision, spinning her deeper into the kaleidoscope of her mind, leading her out of control.
Sasha dropped through a wire mesh, landing badly on her feet before falling onto her back, her head slapping against the hard metal floor. In the distance, Daleks voices grew nearer. She staggered to her feet and raced down the corridor, where Daleks were now approaching from both angles, trapping Sasha.
To her luck, there was a side door, which Sasha disappeared through. The door led to another corridor. She ran – the drumming beat of her blood forcing through her head as though they were due to burst. Her legs trembled, barely keeping her body on a straight course as she found herself, scraping the sides of the walls.
"Surrender! Surrender!"
Sasha turned around, facing three Daleks that gradually moved towards her. Raising her arms, ready to give up, Sasha staggered back.
Something knocked the back of her heels and she fell to the ground. She was no longer in the ship – there were bright green lights in her eyes, and the air was filled with a mechanic hum. She was in the TARDIS. A smile ripped across her face as she leapt to her feet, cheering.
"YES!" she laughed. "Come on, TARDIS – take me to the Doctor!" The machine did nothing. "Come on, let's go! I want the Doctor and Alec back, so you'd better help. And tell me where River and Shannon are; I didn't hear a shot so I'm guessing their alive."
Suddenly, the Doctor appeared in the ship. When Sasha got a closer look, she realised that it was just a hologram, but was happy to see him nevertheless.
"The TARDIS is currently in a location deemed lethally dangerous, and as a recognised companion is on board, emergency protocols shall begin."
Sasha grasped a railing as the machine shuddered, moving into flight. "What's happening?"
"Protocol dictates that this machine be landed at the residents of the companion in question to avoid fatal incidents."
"What does that mean? Where are we going?" Sasha worried.
"I hope the flight is comfortable, and I ask that you co-operate in this dangerous situation. Once we have departed, please leave this vehicle in an organised and sensible manner."
"Why? What are you doing? Take me back to the ship; I need to save them! Aren't you listening? TAKE ME BACK!" Sasha screamed.
The TARDIS landed. "I hope you enjoyed the flight. If this is Sasha listening, I have a message for you."
Sasha raised her head. "Yes?"
"Don't come back for me," the Doctor said, turning to face Sasha. "If this emergency protocol is in place, do no attempt to help as I am in a situation too dire that even I may not have a way out."
"That's because you can't get out without my help. TAKE ME BACK!"
"I have taken too much from you already, so do yourself a favour and move on. Please, leave these doors and don't attempt to reach me. The TARDIS will leave once you have departed, just so I can trust you. Enjoy your life, Sasha. I doubt I will be seeing you again, so, for me, have a good life. Do everything you've ever dreamed, and never miss an opportunity. Let me become a fairytale that you tell your grandchildren years from now. And, if this is my last chance to say it: thank you."
The Doctor disappeared and the TARDIS doors opened, revealing a bright light on the other side. Reluctantly, Sasha stepped out into the life. The TARDIS had landed on a street – a grey day – outside Sasha's flat.
"No . . ." Sasha stuttered, a tear rolling from her cheek. "Please, don't . . ." she whispered, her voice disappearing into the wheezing and groans of the TARDIS as is vanished, leaving Sasha alone and cold on her doorstep.