Sorry. I sort of gave up on writing this story. Then a couple days ago, I got a comment saying how much they liked it and wanted me to finish. I felt very guilty. So I stopped playing Skyrim, stopped doing my AP Chem homework, stopped doing watercolor and wrote Chapter 3. This is Chapter 4 a day later, because school is starting on Tuesday and I don't know if I can update this. Anyways, enjoy!
Like I said before, being a Dalek has advantages. My defenses kicked in automatically and the pulse that would have blown off my eyestalk deflected off the domed back of my head. Frantically wheeling backward, I turned to look at my attacker. The woman had crazy curly hair that framed an attractive face, though it was now contorted with hatred. She wore dark clothes tightly fitted with multiple holsters for her multiple guns.
"Wait!" I cried as I shot sideways to avoid another pulse.
"You have a strange voice for a Dalek," she purred, now with a blaster in each hand. The voice reverberated into my memory, and I felt images and sensations floating into my consciousness. This woman was almost more dangerous than the Doctor himself… No mercy, no empathy, no hope of getting out of this situation peacefully while she still believed I was a metal monstrosity.
"I'm not technically a Dalek," I shouted.
"No, you're just an especially coercive Dalek that doesn't know when to cut its losses and drop the disguise. I know that your race is unchangeably evil. I know the Doctor would love to believe in something like you."
This wasn't working, and I couldn't keep dodging… I could attack back, but what if the Dalek in me actually came out? I could kill her… There was another way, a way that probably wouldn't work. Was there any other solution that wouldn't make us both dead? I couldn't think of one, so I went ahead.
When the next pulse flew at me I held still and it crashed into my eyestalk, burning so intensely I screamed. It helped sell the act. As I reeled from the pain, blackness washed over me, then quickly I unbalanced and tipped my casing over. I shut off almost every unneeded system. I was alone in the shell with the life support.
River stopped firing. Warily, she walked over and kicked the Dalek with the tip of her boot. It made a dead, metallic thud. Reaching down, she pried the eyestalk back into a straight position, then stomped hard on the stick part. It snapped and liquid oozed out the break. Humming softly, the woman rolled the shell over and did the same to the gun and plunger arm. She stuck all three protuberances in her belt, then started pushing the dead creature back the way she'd came.
Back in the T.A.R.D.I.S. control room, the Doctor was standing facing the console, venting and berating the machine in his odd fashion.
"Reopen the passageway!" he yelled, face twisted in a mask of irritation. "There's still time to save Oswin." The ship was making a repetitive, calm humming noise and slowly dimming and brightening the lighting. Amy crouched on the floor next to Rory, holding a towel to the man's head. During his previous flight from the main platform, he had clipped his head on the railing. Suddenly, the passage reopened. The Doctor gaped at it for a second, then ran down the console stairs and through the doorway.
"I hope everything'll be all right," Amy said darkly, touching Rory's face.
The Doctor rushed through the passages, wringing his hand and muttering to himself. A dull metal thud echoed in the passage ahead, then another. Bursting around the corner, he saw River rolling a disfigured, dead looking Oswin up the passage.
"What have you done?" he said, horror in his voice evident. "What have you done?"
River seemed disconcerted for a moment at the depth of his distress. She pulled a straight face, then said calmly, "I killed a Dalek that was loose aboard your T.A.R.D.I.S."
"No," the Doctor said, trembling hands running over the motionless metal casing. "No, you killed a human girl. Do you realize what you've done?"
"It was trying to trick you," River said nonchalantly, really hoping she was right. "I know it may be hard to believe, it even had a human voice, but this is a Dalek! They cannot be trusted!"
Amy stepped into view and saw the Doctor on his knees, hands on Oswin's shell. "What happened?" she asked, fearing the answer.
"GET OFF MY SHIP," the Doctor screamed, glaring at River, hair askew and eyes wild. "Go back to wherever you came from."
River blinked, and took a step back. The Doctor had never yelled at her like that before. She turned, and walked briskly away, back towards the console. As soon as she was out of sight, a tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
"Help me get her back to the control room," the Doctor grunted, shoving at the Dalek.
"Ok," Amy said, then, "Do you think she could still be…?"
The Doctor didn't answer.
I wish I could cry. I was in so much pain, it felt like, well, it felt like someone had ripped off my eyestalk. And there was no way of hearing what was going on outside, nothing was active but the steady flow of clean air. How long could I wait to reactivate? Could a Dalek bleed out from an eyestalk?