Chapter 13
"You brought a Dalek back with you?!" Calavius snarled to Alydon. "Even after everything that they have done to our people?"
Alydon folded his arms over his chest as he glared at the older Thal. "It is not like I had a choice on the matter." he grumbled back. He looked away from Calavius to glare at the Doctor and Ian. Both of them had entered the Council Tent with him. Ian stood behind the Doctor in an attempt to hide from all the angry glares that he was getting from the Thals.
"And tell me again what happened to your father?" Calavius asked Alydon making the younger Thal look back to him. "Just so that the other members of the council can hear what had happened in Dalek City." he continued as he pointed to the other members of the Thal's Council.
Calavius had meet the group when they had returned from Dalek City. He had not been happy to see a Dalek with them instead of Damadus. That had laid way for Alydon to explain to him what happened in the City. From his father's death at the hand of the Dalek Supreme. To them finding Ian in the Control Room, and then the Dalek helping them escape from the City. He had told all of this with a dry eye. He had cried for the last time back in Dalek City.
Alydon looked past Calavius to look at the other members of the Thal's Elder Council. They were all looking between him and the Doctor. There was also stray glances at the Dalek behind the Doctor.
He looked back to Calavius. Calavius was no longer sitting on his stone. Instead he was now sitting on Damadus's stone. An arrogant smirk on his face as he looked at the still grieving Alydon who would not sit on the seat his father had sat on.
Alydon took a steadying breathe in as tears once again threatened to spill from his eyes. He was not going to cry. He was going to be strong. Crying was not going to bring his father back or defeat the Daleks.
Blinking away the tears he looked back to the other three members of the council. They were all looking at him with worry. He ignored their worry glances as he spoke, "The Dalek Supreme killed my father in cold blood. And all he had done was ask for peace between us and them."
Calavius slowly stood up from his stone. He took large strides to stand beside Alydon. The younger Thal took step to the side to give him more space beside him. Calavius glared at Alydon who was keeping his head bowed. He scoffed at Alydon who could not even look at the leaders of his community. He saw the silent tears streaming down his face.
Calavius snorted as he looked away from Alydon to the Council Members. They were all looking between him and Alydon. He ignored the concerned looks that they were given Alydon. The boy had not listened to reason and looked what had happened: Damadus was dead and there was a Dalek in their camp.
"I did warn you all that peace with the Daleks was never going to happen." Calavius sneered to Nyla and Johor. "Daleks only grave war and death. It does not matter to them that we had only wanted peace. The killing of one of our leaders should be a declaration of war!" he shouted to all the members of the council.
Calavius looked to Dyoni who shrank away at his gaze. "Only Dyoni here accepted that I was correct on not trusting the Daleks." he said to them all while he was still looking at her.
His attention moved away from Dyoni back to Alydon. "And even after what the Daleks had done to Damadus you have brought one of them back with you." he snarled at Alydon. He looked back to the Doctor and sneered at him, "Along with these outsiders that had caused this!"
"I believe, young man, that even without us being here the Daleks would have found you out here. You do share a planet and the Daleks have more advanced technology than you do." the Doctor said to Alydon.
Calavius hissed through clenched teeth as he stomped up to the Doctor. "I told you before," he sneered at the Doctor as he jabbed a clawed finger into the Doctor's chest, "outsider that you are not permitted to talk inside the council tent."
The Doctor chuckled unfazed at Calavius's anger towards him. "You did. But I am not listening to you."
"Enough Calavius!" Nyla shouted as she stood from the rock she was sitting on. Calavius looked to her with narrowed eyes. She ignored his anger as she continued, "We are all saddened by the death of Damadus. We truly are. But the Doctor and his friends had thought that they could help us achieve with peace with the Daleks."
"Damadus's death only happened because we listened these outsiders!" Calavius roared to Nyla as he pointed towards the Doctor. The Doctor's response was to stare back at Calavius. "They kept putting the idea of peace with the Daleks into our heads. And I did warn you that it was not going to work. The only thing that they and the Daleks have brought us is nothing but death."
Nyla sadly looked to Calavius. She sadly sighed to him. She remembered when she was a little girl her grandfather telling her stories about their war against the Daleks. His words had stuck with her and she wisely told Calavius, "Do not rush into revenge. Everything that has happened on Skaro has happened because of revenge."
Calavius snorted back to her. "Your words don't mean anything at all, Nyla. You are an old woman. Your words will not affect you for long, but the rest of us will feel their bite for many years to come." he sneered at her.
"He's right, Nyla. Revenge or not the Daleks will exterminate us." Alydon sadly said. He was still not looking right at her. He was looking at the fire in the middle of the tent. The orange glow of the flames caught the tears that were still streaming down his face. It was going to be a long time before he would recover from the death of his father.
Alydon finally tore his gaze away from the flames to look to the oldest member of the Thal Council. "The Daleks now know that we are alive. And they will search all over Skaro to exterminate us." he spoke to Nyla along with the rest of the Council.
Alydon spun around to the Doctor. He nervously looked to Ian behind the Doctor whose eye stock twitched. Quickly he looked back to the Doctor. "I trusted you! You said that you could bring peace to us and the Daleks." he snarled at the Doctor with a venomous tone in his voice. "But all you have brought us is death!"
Alydon looked away from the Doctor. With sadness he looked at the stone that his father had sat on. The stone where he had made every decision since he became the leader of the Thals. He sighed as once again tears were threatening to shed once again. Sniffing Alydon dried the tears off of his face.
He was no longer a boy. Men did not cry.
Determination powered through him as he stepped up to the stone that his father had sat on. It was daunting. It had only been last night that his father had sat on the stone that he was approaching.
Alydon swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. The stone at the heart of the council's tent seemed to loom over him. It should not be possible for him to be intimidated by a stone. A stone that was an important symbol to the Thals.
Standing in front of the stone, Alydon spun around. He looked to Calavius and the Doctor. The older Thal was glaring at him with annoyance. The Doctor was watching him with interest as he waited for him to say what he wanted to saw.
"From this moment on I am replacing my father as the head of the Thal's Elder Council." Alydon declared to all those present in the tent.
"You cannot do that!" Calavius roared at Alydon. "You have not been inducted into the role yet! This goes against all of our customs!"
Alydon ignored Calavius as he continued to speak, "And my first order is that we destroy the Daleks. We destroy them before they get the chance to destroy us."
Calavius scoffed as he threw his arms up into the air. "You do not have the power to call such an action, you little brat!" he shouted at Alydon. "None of the other tribes will listen to a leader who cries!"
"And how do you propose we do that, Alydon?" Johor asked him. He was still sitting on his stone as he looked at Alydon with a series look on his face. The series look he was given Alydon made him look much older than his actual age. "We are farmers. The ancient warrior ways of our ancestors have long since died out."
Alydon from his stone looked to the youngest member of the Council. "And our future relied on an alliance with the Daleks!" he snapped back to Johor. He ignored the young boy's small flinch at his tone. He could no longer be a gentle. He needed to be strong if he was to lead the Thals to a better life.
"We are never going to get peace with the Daleks! They are our enemies." he snapped back to Johor whose shoulders drooped at his tone.
Alydon ignored the distress Johor. He ignored Dyoni confronting the youngest member of the Council. "In order for us to survive we should forget ever achieving peace with the Daleks. And by destroying every Dalek from Skaro." he declared to the Council Members.
Johor looked right to Alydon. His young eyes hardened as he glared at Alydon. "You are going to lead us to our deaths, Alydon." he coldly said to Alydon.
Alydon slowly turned his head back to Johor. His reddened eyes glared at the youngest member of the Council who stared right back at him. "It will not be the Daleks that will kill us if we keep hiding. It will be ourselves that will kill us. We can no longer stay hidden. We need to make a move." he shouted.
Alydon's attention turned to Ian. His eyes narrowed as he watched Ian backing away. The Dalek did not get far when the two guards standing behind him pointed their spears to him. The sound of metal clinking against metal was heard all throughout the High Council tent. He watched Ian's eye stock swirling around to look at the two guards behind him.
"It is time that we take the fight back to the Daleks." Alydon continued to speak to the other Council members.
He looked away Ian to look to Johor. The youngest member of the Council was puffing out his checks, making him look even younger than he really was. "There is a chance we may die in fighting the Daleks. But it is better than dying out in this wasteland." he explained to him.
Alydon looked back to Ian. The Dalek had been pushed forward by the two guards behind him. He watched as one of the guard's spear tapped Ian's casing making him move forward again. Now the Dalek was slightly in front of the Doctor who was silently watching all of this.
"And now we have the perfect way to find out more about the Daleks." Alydon said making everyone look at him. He pointed a clawed finger at Ian. "We can find out what a Dalek can do and what can hurt a Dalek."
The Doctor's face twisted with both anger and worry. He looked away from Ian to look at Alydon. The young man, he could understand was hurting from the death of his father. He could see that Alydon was hungry for revenge.
"And what are you going to do?" the Doctor asked.
Alydon's gaze moved away from Ian and to the Doctor. "That's easy Doctor." he cold said to the Doctor. He looked away from the Doctor back to Ian.
Alydon stood up from the stone he was sitting. With large strides he stepped up to the Doctor and Ian. "We have a Dalek and we can do whatever we want. I can finally look into the eye of one of the monsters that killed my father." he said in a quite tone as he looked right at Ian.
"No!" Ian finally spoke as his casing jerked backwards. The guard behind him thrusted the butt of his spear into Ian's casing. He swirled his eye stock around to look at the guard. The guard bared his sharpened teeth as he snarled at the Dalek.
"Shut up!" Alydon shouted making Ian's eye stock swirl back around to him. "It is your fault that my father is dead!"
Alydon stood so close to Ian that he could feel the electric charge coming from Ian's shielding. His face was bathed in the blue glow from the Dalek's lens. He sneered directly into the lens knowing that Ian would see him.
"You could have saved my father before the Dalek Supreme killed him." Alydon snarled to Ian. Anger and sadness coiled around each other in his heart as he looked towards the silver and blue Dalek. There was a small voice in his head (that sounded very much like the Doctor) was reminding him that Ian had also suffered at the hands of the Daleks. "But you didn't!" he continued to snarl to Ian.
Alydon looked right into Ian's glowing blue lens. His vision blurred from his tears reflecting the blue glowing lens. Behind that emotionless blue lens he could feel an equally sad and hurt eye looking back at him. "Why? Why did you not destroy the Supreme Dalek before he killed me father?" he asked Ian as more tears streamed down his face.
"I didn't shoot the Supreme Dalek because if I did the other Daleks in the Control Room would have killed us all. I had to wait for the right moment before doing anything." Ian explained back to Alydon.
Alydon shock his head as frustrated tears streamed down his face. He ground his teeth together as he balled his fists. "You could have still done something!" he cried to Ian.
Ian's eye stock dropped downwards as he said, "I am sorry for your father, Alydon. I truly am."
"My dear boy," the Doctor suddenly spoke up making Alydon look to him, "Chatterton is correct. If he had taken a shot at any of the Daleks in the Control Room they would have killed us all."
"And yet a death had happened, Doctor! We could have fought our way out of Dalek City. We have a Dalek that could have destroyed the other Daleks." Alydon argued back to the Doctor.
The Doctor chuckled softly as he listened to Alydon. "My boy, you are grieving for your father's death. Which could not have been avoided. No matter what had happened in Dalek City."
Alydon scoffed as he looked away from the Doctor.
"But I think you should not rush into your decision in declaring war against the Daleks. I am sure that your father would not want his death to spark a war between you and the Daleks." the Doctor gently said to Alydon.
"But a war is what is going to happen, Doctor!" Alydon roared back to the Doctor. "The Daleks declared war when they murdered my father!"
The Doctor rubbed his chin with his fingers as he hummed in thought. "Not if we a clever about our next steps." he finally said.
"We should not be listening to these outsiders! Not when one of them is a Dalek!" Calavius shouted to everyone in the tent. He turned to Alydon, "And we should also not be listening to you. Not only have you not gone through the ceremony to replace your father. You are also not mentally sound to be leading us into war."
"No!" Dyoni shouted as she jumped up from her stone. "You are both egging us all into fighting the Daleks." she cried as she looked between the two men. Her entire body was trembling as she looked to Calavius, "You want us to got to war because you want to be proven right."
"May I remind you, Dyoni that you agreed with me that there can be no peace between us and the Daleks." Calavius stated coldly back to her.
Dyoni ignored him. She looked Alydon. He was standing so still as he stared at her. He looked so broken that she just wanted to hug him. "Alydon I don't know what happened in the Dalek City." she started as she took his hand in her own hand.
He looked down to her hand that held his hand. Slowly he looked up to her and she smiled warmly. "But what I do know is that we have to be careful with what is happening now. You are letting your grief and anger dictate your actions. And that is hurting you. It is also hurting us." she continued to calmly say to him.
"But the Daleks have declared war on us!" Alydon snapped back to her. He tugged his hands out of her hold and stepped away from her. He ground his teeth as he avoided looking at her.
"The Daleks have been at war with us since the start of time." Dyoni argued back with him. She reached out for his hands again. She clasped them gentle knowing he could step away from her, but he didn't. He just stood still. "But this time we have friends who can help us." she told him as she looked to the Doctor and Ian.
Dyoni asked the Doctor, "I know that this is not your war and that we have not really gone off on the right foot, but will you help us against the Daleks?"
"My dear, we will be happy to help you against the Daleks." the Doctor responded back with a smile. Dyoni returned his smile with her own.
"Thank you Doctor." Dyoni said to him. Her smile fell as she looked to the Dalek beside him. "Ian? I know that this has been difficult for you. But I am sure that if we work together we can defeat the Daleks." she gentle said to him. "Maybe when everything is finished you can stay with us?"
Ian did not respond. Instead his eye stock was dropped and the blue lens was dull as he looked at nothing in particular. He was so still like Alydon. Then again they had both suffered from the Daleks. She was hoping that their shared hatred from the Daleks would unite the two of them. Having a Dalek on their side would be a good moral boaster as far as she could see. She could also see the other tribes of Thals all throughout Skaro standing up knowing that a Dalek was on their side. She knew she was sounding naïve, but she was really hoping for a miracle for them all.
The Doctor was also looking to Ian. His smile had fallen as he looked to his companion. "Chatterton are you alright in there?" he asked him.
Ian's eye stock swirled to him. The blue glow from the lens of his eye stock brightened as Ian looked to the Doctor. "I am fine Doctor." came Ian's quick.
The Doctor watched Ian as he turned his eye stock away from him. Once again his companion was looking at nothing in particular in the tent. Humming to himself he knew that Ian was lying to him. He was not going to push the matter on the young man, not when it was clear that Ian would snap.
"Now my dear boy, I believe that we can now help the Thals. And I am sure that you yourself want revenge on the Daleks." he gently said to Ian.
Ian's eye stock slowly swirled back to face the Doctor. The blue glowing lens focused on his face and inside the casing Ian's mind was on what his new systems were showing him what was happening outside the casing. "I do. But the Daleks are too powerful to defeat." he responded back to the Doctor.
Ian's eye stock swirled to the Thals. "I will show you what the Daleks are inside their casings. Along with a way into the City. But after that I am not helping you any further. I am after all a Dalek now. And your enemy." he told them.
"That is acceptable." Calavius said back to Ian with a nod of his head. He looked past the Dalek to the two guards who stood to attention behind Ian. Their spears at hand waiting to impale the Dalek as soon as it made a move they did not like.
"Take it to an empty tent. Myself and the Doctor will come to see what we are dealing with. And then after that," he said as he looked at the Doctor, "I want all of you outsiders to leave our camp. You have caused enough damage to our people."
"Come on Dalek!" one of the guards grumbled to Ian. He tapped the head of his spear into Ian's casing making a clicking noise when metal meet metal. They were confident in their weapons doing damage to a Dalek.
Ian's domed head swirled around to face the guard before he moved from where he was beside the Doctor. Moving his casing around was getting easier. He and the machine were becoming more in synch which proved to him that he was no longer human. But he was not a Dalek either. He knew that. He knew that he could easily become a Dalek as well as becoming a human trapped inside a Dalek casing. He was neither race.
What was he? Was he human? Was he a Dalek? Was he a freak? He had heard the other Daleks calling him an Abomination. Was that what he was: an Abomination to both Daleks and humans?
"Come Doctor it is time that we saw what our enemy truly looks like." Calavius stated to the Doctor as the two men followed Ian and the two guards out of the tent.
"As long as you remember, young man. That neither me nor Ian are your enemy. And it would be unwise to make an enemy when you can have friends." the Doctor responded back to the Council member.
Calavius stared at the Doctor as he responded, "As long as you can control that Dalek of yours. Then we will get along with no problem."
"You have not listened to us have you, Calavius?" the Doctor asked as he walked beside the Thal. "Ian was once human. He is not your enemy." he stated sternly to Calavius before they walked quicker to catch up with Ian to an empty tent in the camp.