Daleks in Manhattan
The Doctor and I agreed that we need to make up for what happened on New Earth. Martha and Mom were stuck in a car and almost eaten by giant crabs. Then, once they got free we got back into the TARDIS and took off. If we were going to take Martha someplace before we took her home it had to be special.
Once we landed, Mom and Martha were the first ones out the door.
"Where are we?" asked Martha.
"Ah, smell that Atlantic breeze," said my uncle, " Nice and cold. Lovely. Martha, Amy, have you met my friend?"
We looked up and saw we where standing at the base of The Statue of Liberty.
"Is that-? Oh my God! That's the Statue of Liberty!" exclaimed Martha.
"Gateway to the New World," I said, "'Give me you tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free…'"
"This is great! I've always wanted to go to New York," said Mom, "I mean the real New York, not the new, new, new, new, new…"
We turned around and saw the iconic Manhattan Skyline. "Well, there's the genuine article," said The Doctor, " So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. No wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam."
"I wonder what year it is 'cause look, the Empire State Building's not even finished yet," said Martha.
"It's a work in progress," I said, "Still got a couple floors to go, and if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around—"
"November 1, 1930," said Mom
"You're getting good at this," said The Doctor.
We turned and saw my mom was looking at a newspaper. I laughed a little as he took the paper and I caught a glance at the headline, "Hooverville Mystery Deepens"
"Eighty years ago," said Martha, "It's funny 'cause you see all those old newsreels in black and white like it's so far away, but here we are. It's real. It's now." Then she laughed a little.
"So, where do we go first?" asked Mom.
"I think our detour just got longer." said the Doctor. He showed the paper to Martha and Mom
Martha read the headline out loud, "'Hooverville Mystery Deepens'". What's Hooverville?"
After taking the ferry from Liberty Island, we headed to Central Park. As we walked, The Doctor started to explain, "Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the USA, came to power a year ago. Up till then New York was a boom town, the Roaring Twenties, and then…"
"The Wall Street Crash," said Mom, "When was that, 1929?"
"Yeah. Whole economy wiped out overnight. Thousands of people unemployed. Suddenly the huddled masses doubled in number with nowhere to go. So they ended up here in Central Park."
"What? They actually live in the park? In the middle of the city?" asked Martha.
We arrived at Hooverville. It was nothing more than just a bunch of quickly built shacks and tents with random fire barrels.
"Just ordinary people who lost their jobs," I said as we walked, "They couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything. There are places like this all over America. You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go."
Just then we hear shouting from another part of Hooverville as we got closer we saw two men fighting. "You thievin' lowlife!" said one man as he punched the other. A couple of other men tried to break up the fight with no success, "You stole my loaf!"
"I didn't touch it!" said the second man.
An older black man stepped out of his tent and walked over to the fight, "Cut that out!" The two men ignored him and kept fighting, "Cut that out! Right now!" He pushed the two men apart.
"He stole my bread!"
"That's enough!" said the black man, then he looked at the second man, "Did you take it?"
"I don't know what happened. He just went crazy," said the second man.
The first man lunged at him but was held back, "That's enough!" said the black man, turned back to the second man, "Now think real careful before you lie to me."
"I'm starvin', Solomon."
Solomon held out his hand and the second man reached under his coat and pulled out the bread and handed it over. "We're all starvin'." said Solomon, as he broke the bread in half, "We all got families somewhere." Then he handed each man half, "No stealin' and no fightin'. You know the rules. Thirteen years ago I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the only reason we got through was because we stuck together! No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got."
The men walked away and my uncle said, "Come on." We walked up to Solomon and The Doctor said, "I suppose that makes you the boss around here."
"And, uh, who might you be?" asked Solomon.
"He's the Doctor. I'm Martha. This is Teddy and her mom, Amy."
"A doctor." scoffed Solomon, "Well, we got, uh, stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighborhood gets classier by the day." He walked over to a fire and warm his hands.
"How many people live here?" asked Mom.
"At any one time, hundreds. No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville. We are a truly equal society, black, white, all the same. All starving." he laughed, "So you're welcome. All of you. But tell me, Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me." He pointed up to The Empire State Building. "That there's going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, and we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"
We didn't have an answer for him, so we deiced to look around Hooverville and see what we could find out. After coming up empty handed we went back to Solomon. We found him throwing some coffee dreg onto the fire. "So…men are going missing. Is this true?" asked The Doctor as he showed him the newspaper.
Solomon took the paper, "It's true all right." Then he went in his tent.
We stood at the opening of the tent, and I asked, "But what does missing mean? People must come and go here all the time. It's not like anyone's keeping a record."
Solomon sat down, "C'mon in." he said. We all walked in and found a seat, "This is different."
"In what way?" asked Mom.
"Someone takes them. At night. We hear something. Someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone. Like they vanish into thin air."
"And you're sure someone's taking them?" asked my uncle.
"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got. Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning."
"Have you been to the police?" asked Martha.
"Yeah, we tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal."
"So, the question is, who's taking them and what for?" asked my uncle.
Then a young man stuck his head in the tent, "Solomon, Mr. Diagoras is here."
We walked outside and saw a man in a very nice suit. It was a stark difference to the dirty clothes that the people of Hooverville were wearing. "I need men," said Mr. Diagoras, "Volunteers. I got a little work for you and you sure look like you can use the money."
"Yeah. What is the money?" asked the young man who came and got Solomon.
"A dollar a day."
The men in the group grumbled, "What's the work?" asked Solomon.
"A little trip down the sewers. Got a tunnel that collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?"
"A dollar a day? That's slave wage. Men don't always come back up, do they?"
"Accidents happen."
"What do you mean?" asked The Doctor, "What sort of accidents?"
"You don't need the work? That's fine," said Mr. Diagoras, "Anybody else?" My uncle raised his hand, "Enough with the questions."
"Oh, n-n-no. I'm volunteering."
"Me too…" I said as I raised my hand.
"Me too…" said Mom. Then she looked at me, "I'm not missing the adventure this time."
Then the three of us looked at Martha. She rolled her eyes and raised her hand "I'll kill you lot for this…"
Solomon and the young man raised their hands as well.
Mr. Diagoras took us down into the sewers, gave us all flashlights and then gave us our instructions, "Turn left. Go about half a mile. Follow Tunnel 273. Fall's right ahead of you. You can't miss it."
"And when do we get our dollar?" asked the young man, who told us his name was Frank on the way over.
"When you come back up."
"And if we don't come back up?" asked The Doctor.
"Then I got no one to pay."
"We'll be back," said Solomon.
"Let's hope so," said Martha.
The others started down the tunnel. The Doctor and I just stared at Mr. Diagoras for a few moments. There was something about him that I didn't like. He was hiding something. I knew my uncle was thinking the same thing. Then, we turned around and followed the others down the tunnel.
"We just gotta stick together," said Frank, "It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here."
"So what about you, Frank? You're not from around these parts, are you?" asked Frank.
"Oh, you could talk," said Frank, " No, no, I'm from Tennessee, born and bred."
"So how come you're here?" asked Mom.
"Uh, my daddy died. Mama…couldn't afford to feed us all. So, I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself, so put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in camp younger than me. From all over; Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas… Solomon keeps a lookout for us," he looked over at Martha, "So, what about you? You're a long way from home."
"Yeah, I'm just a hitcher too." she said.
"You stick with me, you'll be all right." he said.
"So who is this Diagoras guy?" I asked Solomon.
"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now it seems like he's running most of Manhattan." he replied.
"How did he manage that?"
"These are strange times. A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way 'round."
"Whoa!" said my uncle as he spotted a purple blob on the ground giving off a green light.
"Is it radioactive or something?" asked Martha as she got closer. The Doctor put his flashlight down and crouched down beside it, "It's gone off, whatever it is."
He slipped his glasses on and carefully picked it up, "And you've got to pick it up," said Mom.
He sniffed and said, "Shine your torch through it," Martha does, "Composite organic matter. Martha? Amy? Medical opinions?"
"It's not human. I know that." said Martha.
"I would have to agree with my colege," said Mom, "What ever it is, it's not human."
"No, it's not," said The Doctor. "And I'll tell you something else. We must be at least half a mile in and I don't see any sign of a collapse, do you? So why did Mr. Diagoras send us down here?"
"So where are we now? What's above us?" asked Mom.
"Well…we're right underneath Manhattan," said the Doctor.
"We're way beyond half a mile." I said, "There's no collapse, nothing."
"That Diagoras bloke, was he lying?" asked Martha.
"Looks like it." said the Doctor.
"So why did he want people to come down here?" asked Frank.
"Solomon, I think it's time you took these three back." he said as he pointed to Amy, Martha, and Frank, "Teddy and I'll be much quicker on our own."
Just then we heard squealing, "What the hell was that?" asked Solomon.
"Hello?!" called Mom.
"Shh." said Martha.
"Amy…" warned Solomon.
"What if it's one of the people who went missing?" she said, "You'd be scared, half-crazy down here on your own."
"Do you think they're still alive?" asked the Doctor.
"Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost," said Frank.
Then there was more squealing, "I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that." said Solomon.
"Sounds like there's more than one of 'em." said Frank.
The Doctor walked ahead, "This way."
Solomon shined his light down another tunnel, "No, that way." We looked down the tunnel and saw a huddled figure sitting on the ground.
"Doctor…" called Martha.
My uncle rejoined us and Solomon asked the figure, "Who are you?"
"Are you lost? Can you understand me? I've been thinkin' about folk lost…" asked Frank, as he started to walk forward. But, The Doctor stopped him.
"It's all right, Frank," He said, :Just stay back. Let me have a look." He walked toward the figure, "He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own. " The creature squealed, "We know the way out. Daylight. If you want to come with us." he squatted and shined his light on the figure's face to reveal it had the face of a pig, "Oh, but what are you?"
"Is, uh, that some kind of mask?" asked Mom.
"No, it's real," Said my uncle then he looked at the pig man, "I'm sorry. Now listen to me. I promise I can help." I looked at saw shadows on the wall "Now, who did this to you?"
"Doctor, I think you'd better get back here." I said. We saw more pig men at the other end of the tunnel.
"Doctor!" called Martha.
My uncle stood up, "Actually…good point."
He started backing up toward us and Mom said, "They're following you."
"Yeah, I noticed that, thanks," said my uncle, once he reached us he said, "Well then, Teddy, Amy, Martha, Frank, Solomon…
"What?" asked Martha
"Um, basically…run!"
We started running down the tunnel as fast as we could from the pigmen. When we got to a cross-section Martha stopped and looked back and forth, "Where are we going?!"
"This way!" said my uncle as he ran pas the rest of us to take the lead. He turned to the right and we followed. We ran past a joining tunnel then my uncle quickly doubled back, "There's a ladder!" He climbed up the ladder and used his sonic to open it. Once it was open Martha headed up the ladder with Mom and I right behind her. I heard Solomon call out Frank's name. Then he climbed the ladder.
The Doctor and Solomon reached down to help pull Frank up, "C'mon, Frank! C'mon!" said Solomon.
"I've got ya. C'mon!" said The Doctor.
But it was no use. There were out numbered and the pigmen pulled Frank out of their grasp and down into the sewer.
"Frank!" called Solomon
"No!" called the Doctor.
Solomon pushed my uncle out of the way and closed the lid before one of the pigmen could climb out. "We can't go after him." said Solomon.
"We gotta go back down!" I said, "We can't just leave him!"
"No, I'm not losing anybody else! Those creatures were from Hell! From Hell itself! If we go after them, they'll take us all! There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry."
Just then a blond woman stepped out from behind a shelf and pointed a gun at us, "All right then. Put 'em up." Then she cocked the gun, "Hands in the air and no funny business." We did as we were told, "Now tell me, you schmucks, what've you done with Lazlo?"
"Uh, who's Lazlo?" asked Mom.
It turned out that we were backstage of a theater on Broadway. The blond took us took us to her dressing room before she told us who Lazlo was, "Lazlo's my boyfriend, or was my boyfriend until two weeks ago. No letter, no good-bye, no nothin'. And I'm not stupid." she said as she waved the gun, "I know some guys are just pigs but not my Lazlo. I mean, what kinda guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"
"It might, might just help if you put that down.," said my uncle. He hated guns and to tell the truth I wasn't too fond of them either.
"Hunh?" then she looked in her hand at the gun, "Oh, sure." She tossed the gun on a chair, "Oh, c'mon. It's not real. It's just a prop. It was either that or a spear."
"What do you think happened to Lazlo?" asked Mom.
"I wish I knew. One minute he's there, the next, zip—vanished."
"Listen, ah—what's your name?" I asked.
"Tallulah." said the blond.
"Tallulah.
"3 Ls and an H."
"Okay… Um, we can try to find Lazlo, but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night."
"And there are creatures. Such creatures," said Solomon.
"Whaddaya mean 'creatures'?" asked Tallulah.
"Look. Listen, just trust me. Everyone is in danger," said my uncle, "I need to find out exactly what this is" He took out the blob we found in the sewer from his pocket, "because then I'll know exactly what we're fighting."
"Yech!"
Mom and Martha stayed with Tallulah while The Doctor and I went into the prop room with Solomon to find what we needed to make a DNA scanner. We could have gone back to the TARDIS and scanned it, but it was too far away and we need answers now. Solomon brought us a radio, "How about this? I found it backstage."
My uncle took it, "Perfect. It's the capacitors I need. I'm just rigging up a crude little DNA scan for this beastie."
"If we can get a chromosomal reading, We can find out where it's from," I said.
The Doctor used his sonic on the radio's insides to remove the capacitors and Solomon asked, "How about you, Doctor? Where are you and your niece from? I've been all over. I've never heard anybody talk like you two. Just exactly who are you?"
My uncle took a piece out of the radio and blew on it, "Oh, we're just sort of passing by."
"I'm not a fool, Doctor."
"No. Sorry."
Solomon walked over to the sewer lid and looked down at it, "I was so scared, Doctor. I let them take Frank 'cause I was just too scared. I gotta get back to Hooverville. With these creatures on the loose, we gotta protect ourselves. Ain't no one else gonna help us."
"Good luck." I said.
"I hope you find what you're looking for. For all our sakes." Then he left.
We took the scanner up to the balcony and used one of the stage lights to heat it up. "That's it. Let's warm you up." he said before he joined me at the scanner and started to examine it."
I looked at him, "Doctor, This is artificial…"
"Genetically engineered. Whoever this is, oh, you're clever." He put his stethoscope up to the blob, "Fundamental DNA type 467-989."
My eyes went wide, "989. Wait a minute, that means planet of origin is…" he looked up at me and together we said, "Skaro." We rushed downstairs to find Mom and Martha.
When we got backstage we found it in chaos. The showgirls were running around in a panic talking about the strange creature they saw on the side of the stage. We saw Tallulah and we walked up to her, "Where are they?" asked The Doctor, "Where's Martha and Amy?
"I don't know," she said, "They ran off the stage." Just then we heard a couple of familiar screams. Then we ran to the prop room. "Martha!" screamed The Doctor.
"Mom!" I called out . When we got there we didn't see anyone but the manhole cover was half off. The Doctor grabbed his coat and put it on, while I started down into the sewer.
"Oh, where are you goin'?" asked Tallulah.
"They've taken them." said The Doctor as he started his way down.
"Who's taken her?" My uncle ignored her and continued down, "What're y' doin'? I said, what the hell are ya doin'? Crazy guy…"
We started to go down the tunnel but then we heard someone coming down the ladder. We turned around and saw Tallulah coming down. We went over to her and The Doctor said, "No, no, no, no, no way. You're not coming."
"Tell me what's going on." she said.
"There's nothing you can do. Go back." I said.
"Look, whoever's taken Martha and Amy, they could've taken Lazlo, couldn't they?"
"Tallulah, you're not safe down here."
"Then that's my problem. Come on. Which way?" she said as she walked down a tunnel.
The Doctor sighed, "This way." He led us down the tunnel in front of us.
We walked for a little while, when Talluah asked, "When you say 'They've taken them;, who's they exactly? And who are you anyway? I never asked."
"Shh." said The Doctor.
"Okay. Okay."
"Shh, shh, shh.' he whispered again.
Then we saw the shadow of a shape that I hoped I would never see again in my life. It was the shape of a Dalek and it was heading our way, "I mean you're handsome and all—" The Doctor put his hand over her mouth and pulled her back down the tunnel into a recess. We stood there in science as we watched the Dalek pass by us.
Once it was a safe distance away. We walked out of the recess, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." said The Doctor, "They survived."
"They always survive while we lose everything." I said
"That metal thing? What was it?" asked Tallulah.
"It's called a Dalek. And it's not just metal, it's alive." said The Doctor.
Tallulah laughed, "You're kidding me."
"Does it look like I'm kidding?" he turned to look at her and her smile goes away.
"Inside that shell is a creature born to hate," I said, "Whose only thought is to destroy everything and everyone that isn't a Dalek too. It won't stop until it's killed every human being alive."
"But if it's not a human being, that kinda implies it's from outer space," said Tallulah. We just looked at her, "Yet again, that's a "no" with the kidding. Boy… Well, what's it doin' here, in New York?"
We started to take Tallulah back to the ladder that lead to the theater, "Every second you're down here, you're in danger. I'm taking you back right now."
We turned a corner and saw a pig man, this one seamed more human than the others. Tallulah screamed and the Pigman cowered, trying to hide. "Where's Martha and Amy?" asked The Doctor as him and I moved closer. Tallulah stayed back "What have you done with her? What have you done with Martha?"
"I didn't take her," said the Pigman.
"Can you remember your name?" I asked, surprised.
"Don't look at me."
Tallulah walked forward and asked, "Do you know where they are?"
"Stay back! Don't look at me!"
"What happened to you?" asked my uncle.
"They made me a monster."
"Who did?"
"The masters."
"The Daleks," I said, "Why?"
"They needed slaves. They needed slaves to steal more people so they created us. Part animal, part human. I escaped before they got my mind, but it was still too late."
"Do you know what happened to Martha and my Mom?"
"They took them. It's my fault. They were following me."
"Were you in the theatre?" asked Tallulah.
"Yes." said the Pigman.
"Why? Why were you there?"
"I never wanted you to see me like this."
"Why me? What do I gotta do with this? Were you following me? Is that why you were there?"
The pigman turned to face her, "Yes."
"Who are you?"
"I was lonely.
"Who are you?"
"I needed to see you."
"Who are you?"
"I'm sorry," he turned away.
"No, wait," Tallulah as she grabbed his arm. "Let me look at you." She moved him into the light, "Lazlo?" he nodded, "My Lazlo?" she asked with her voice breaking, "Oh, what have they done to you?"
"I'm sorry. So sorry," said Lazlo.
"Lazlo, can you show us where they are?" asked The Doctor.
"They'll kill you."
"If we don't stop them, they'll kill everyone," I said.
He looked us then, then Tallulah, then back at us, "Then follow me."
Lazlo took us through the tunnels, to a corner that connected to where the prisoners were being kept. We saw Martha, Mom, and Frank. Then, the pig men guarding the prisoners start squealing nervously.
"What're they doing? What's wrong? What's wrong?" said Frank
Then a Dalek slid into the tunnel, "Silence. Silence." said the Dalek.
"What the hell is that?" said Martha.
"You will form a line. Move." said the Dalek.
The pigmen pushed everyone into a line, "Just do what it says, everyone, okay?" said Mom, "Just obey."
"The female is wise. Obey!"
Then a second Dalek arrived, "Report."
"These are strong specimens. They will help the Dalek cause. What is the status of the Final Experiment?"
"The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete."
"Then I will extract prisoners for selection." A pig man brought an older black man forward. The Dalek extended its sucker forward toward the man's face, "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Reading brain waves. Low intelligence."
"You calling me stupid?" said the man.
"This one will become a pig slave."
Two pig men pulled him away, "No, let go of me! I'm not becoming one of them!"
The Dalekt moved to the next person in line, "Intelligence scan. Initiate."
"They're divided into two groups: high intelligence and low intelligence," Lalzo told us, "The low intelligence are taken to become pig slaves like me."
"Well, that's not fair," said Tallulah.
"Shh," said The Doctor and I.
"You're the smartest guy I ever dated," whispered Tallulah.
"And the others?" I asked.
"They're taken to the laboratory," said Lazlo.
"But why? What for?" asked my uncle.
"I don't know. The masters only call it the Final…Experiment."
The Dalek scanned Frank, "Superior intelligence." Then, it moved to Mom. "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Superior intelligence." Martha was next, "Intelligence scan. Initiate. Superior intelligence. This one will become part of the Final Experiment."
"You can't just experiment on people!" screamed Martha, "It's insane! It's inhuman!"
"We are not human," said the Dalek, "Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory."
The Daleks started moving toward us "Look out, they're moving!" said the Doctor as he and I flattened ourselves against the wall. Lazlo took Tallulah and started to head down the tunnel.
"Doctor! Teddy! Quickly!"
"We're not going. I've got an idea. You go," said my uncle.
"Lazlo, c'mon!" said Tallulah.
"Can you remember the way?" asked Lazlo.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Then go. Please."
"But Lazlo, you gotta come with me."
"Where would I go? Tallulah, I'm beggin you, save yourself. Just run. Just go. Go."
Tallulah left and Lazlo rejoined The Doctor and I. After the Daleks passed by us, we fell in line between Amy and Martha while Lazlo acted like one of the guards. "Just keep walking," I said.
"I'm so glad to see you two," said Mom.
"Yeah, well, you can kiss me later," said The Doctor, "You too, Martha. Even you, Frank, if you want."
We were taken into the large Dalek laboratory. There were two other Daleks in the room. The two that brought us in the room went up to the other two. One of them was a Black Dalek better know as Dalek Sec was shaking back and forth. "Report," said the first Dalek.
"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution," said the third Dalek.
"Scan him. Prepare for birth."
"Evolution?" whispered my uncle.
"What's wrong with the black one over there?" asked Mom.
"Ask them." I said.
"What me? Don't be crazy."
"We don't exactly want to get noticed," said The Doctor, "Ask them what's going on."
Mom took a deep breath, "Daleks, I demand to be told. What is this Final Experiment? Report!"
The first Dalek turned and looked at her, "You will bear witness."
"To what?"
"This is the dawn of a new age."
"What does that mean?"
"We are the only four Daleks, so the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The Children of Skaro must walk again."
Just then Dalek Sec's shell powered down and opened up. But instead of a normal Dalek inside was a large human sized creature. I was surprised to see it was wearing the exact same clothing as Mr. Diagoras. It's head was similar to a Dalek body with mouth, one eye, and tentacles. It's hands were almost claw-like
"What is it?" asked Martha.
"I am a human Dalek," said Dalek Sec, "I am your future."
To Be Continued…
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I'm glad that you like this story.