The Doctor had spoken of the Daleks, though he had never went into any great detail. The little he did speak of them was with a barely disguised hate & fear that Nyssa had never seen from the Doctor before, but he seemed reluctant to talk specifically about them, events concerning them, but not the beings themselves. By comparison, he was a veritable fountain of information on the Master. How they had attended the Grand Trinity Academy of Timelord's together, how their paths diverged. But in those times that Nyssa had quizzed him on the murderer of her father, he had talked of the Master with indifference, perhaps a slight hint of sadness, but mostly disappointment & disdain for the man he once called a friend.

But the Daleks? She recalled that Adric had once described the Master as the Doctor's greatest enemy &, with a wistful smile, she pondered on whether the young Alzarian had been wrong. These Daleks mattered to the Doctor, or at least affected him more than the Master ever had.

The Dalek glided soundlessly behind her, occasionally barking out directions in it's croaky staccato voice. Nyssa soon found herself in a darkly lit, largely sterile white laboratory, the two smaller robots inside busying themselves with various tasks. Stopping by what appeared to be a legless table, extending out from the wall, Nyssa turned & regarded the Dalek. The silver being stopped near her & spoke.

"This is where you will work." it said. "The Slave Units will bring specimens for you to examine & you will be allowed to take notes. When you have finished, you will tell me your conclusions. You will have one hour."

"All right." Nyssa nodded, trying her best to be brave but internally, she paled at the meagre time limit. "Is there a chair or stool I can sit on?"

"Your time begins now." it said, ignoring her question. The two robots flitted over to a large refrigerator, opened the door & pulled out two large tanks. The contents sloshed as they were brought over &, as said contents became clear, Nyssa felt her stomach turn.

What appeared to be a large spider floated in one, whilst a long, pale serpent seemed to inhabit the other. As the first was placed in front of Nyssa, the spider suddenly jerked at the glass revealing the entirety of it's underside. What appeared to be a fleshy proboscis pressed & searched at the glass as the many fingers scrabbled & tapped.

"You may not open the contents of that." stated the Dalek. "The creature, even in the paralytic fluid, detects a suitable...prey & is highly dangerous."

Noting the Dalek's pause, Nyssa looked closer at the second tank.

"Is this one alive?" she asked

"No." said the Dalek. "You may remove it for examination. Order one of the Slave Units, the fluid will penetrate all layers of your skin."

"Can I have a pen & paper?" she asked.

The Dalek turned & glided over to a machine in the far corner of the room. Shaped like a large U, what appeared to be many lights lined the interior. On the outside, the Dalek placed it's feeler over a half-globe attached to the front & the machine whirred into life. A small platform slid out & the lights brightened, shooting many rays which traced a shape out on the platform. A pen & paper soon formed out of the light.

"A matter fabricator?" Nyssa exclaimed. "I never thought I'd see such a thing."

The Dalek indicated for Nyssa to take the implements. As she did, it spoke, quietly but enough to give her a start.

"Dalek technology is far in advance of many species."

Remembering her time limit, Nyssa returned to the makeshift table & began her examination.

Starting with the spider first, she examined it's movements. Much the same as she had seen when it was brought out, she noted the long, whip-like tail which was continually brought forward as the spider attempted to lunge at the glass.

"Do you have anything that I scan it with?" she asked

"You will make visual observations only." it said. "You may dissect the other specimen, through the Slave Unit, but no scans are to be made."

Suppressing the urge to sigh, she turned her attentions to the serpent. Asking the Slave Unit to remove the creature, she watched as it diligently & carefully carried out the task. As the robot unfurled the creature to it's full length on the table, Nyssa began to scribble notes furiously on her pad of paper.

It was as the half hour mark passed that the Dalek spoke.

"You are from the Traken Union." it stated.

"Yes." replied Nyssa. "Not a place you or your people ever visited, I'm fairly certain." she answered warily, tilting her head in it's direction.

The Dalek swivelled it's dome to face her, the white iris piercing through her.

"The Traken Union was categorised as non-essential. An Invasion would have been committed to at a later date."

Nyssa gave careful thought to her reply.

"You might have found it difficult-"

"We knew of your Keeper." it answered, disdainfully. "And the protection offered. Our strategist's had advised waiting until the incumbent Keeper's death, or near to it, If & only if that protection had an effect."

"Why didn't you?" asked Nyssa.

"Because Traken no longer exists. It has not existed since the galactic date 384778329 or the Earth year 1981. Wiped out by a wave of entropy. By this time-zone it has not existed for over 4300 years."

Nyssa froze. She had never found it easy talking about Traken & it's destruction, but to hear it from the Dalek so bluntly hurt. It was made worse by the fact that it was clearly probing the Doctor's woolly story.

"Dalek surveys are thorough. For example, we know that Trakenites live for, at minimum, 500 years." it said, the white iris now contracted. "You are well preserved."

Nyssa's mind whirled. What was it getting at, that she was a time traveller? Did this Dalek suspect the Doctor for who he was? She had to think of something, quickly.

"Well, you see...the Keeper, well you should know yourself." she said carefully. "The Keeper was omniscient, or at least as close to it as was possible. He warned us of the entropy wave & our scientists tried to find a way to escape it. We had no starships advanced enough to escape Metulla Orionsis. Steps were taken to make smaller, swifter craft, but time was running out. The scientists created Stasis Pods that could be launched at high speeds out of the system. Very few got away."

The Dalek remained silent, it's contracted iris still upon Nyssa. She returned to her examination, making an effort not to look out the corner of her eye. All of what she had said was, more or less, total lies. The Keeper was not omniscient, nor had he been capable of detecting a catastrophe such as the entropy wave, though as time had passed, she often wondered if he had in some way presaged the end of Traken when he sought the Doctor for help.

"Smith found your...stasis pod?" The Dalek questioned, breaking her reverie.

"Yes." she said simply. "I've been working with him ever since."

"Strange." pondered the Dalek. "The average intelligence of Trakenite's ranged far higher than the best Earth human. Strange, that you should be in the subservient role of assistant ."

"Neither of us said as such. We're partners, equal level. Now if you don't mind, I-I'd like to make the most of my time limit."

The Dalek's eye-stalk did not move, continuing to stare at her for near a minute before it finally relented & the Dalek slid backwards & left her to her observations.

Inside the machine, the mutant observed Nyssa. It kept a close eye on the Trakenite's progress but as it did, it pondered on it's attempted questioning. The man, Smith, had raised it's suspicions. From his eccentric dress to his knowledge of the Daleks, which the Dalek knew he had attempted to cover, there was a very real possibility that the man in it's midst was the Doctor. True, his face did not correspond to the known faces of the Doctor, but this meant nothing. Not only was the Dalek displaced in time, the Doctor was a time traveller, this young man could easily be a future incarnation.

The woman had proven abler at answering it's questions, she had kept her cool & as such, the various vision modes it had were unable to detect if she had been lying. There was little way in being able to prove that she was indeed a Trakenite other than a full scan, but the Dalek was inclined to believe that the woman was what she said she was. Her physiognomy matched it's archived records on the species &, if she satisfactorily passed the test, how well she did would be further indication.

It would be easier to simply kill both of them & be done with, but the Dalek had become certain that it had been abandoned by the Supreme Council. A working Temporal Shift device would secure it's route home & a, more or less, complete knowledge of the creatures it had discovered would satisfy it's own curiosity.

"If this man, Smith, is indeed the Doctor, he or his companion will reveal him, sooner or later." it thought. "Until then, they can be of use."

Whilst the desire to be the one to have ended the Doctor was overpowering, it needed to be sure. Occasions before had persons suspected of being the Doctor been exterminated & It discovered that it couldn't possibly be him. The punishment for failed identification was dire & the Dalek had no wish to fall afoul. No, it would make certain & use the Doctor, if indeed the man was he, for it's own ends.

Indeed, the Dalek felt a perverse sense of satisfaction in knowing that the Doctor could be integral to the Dalek's forays into time...


It had been over six hours since they had fled the temple and Professor Brett was absorbed in his examination of Visek. 5 & half hours previously, the spider had dropped off the patients face & flopped to the ground, lifeless. Visek, now awake & sitting up, looked pale. Behind him, Kawasumi was examining the creature, poking & prodding various parts of it with a scalpel. An X-ray had been ordered, but it was to no avail, the creature inside was already growing.

In the engineering sector, Telly was preparing the various systems & Colony power generator for the input of the miracle material, watched over at all times by Astor & Colony Security. By her reckoning, it would take another 10 hours to integrate it into the systems & by then, the effects would be apparent.

Casting a scornful glance at the Colony Administrator, Telly's thoughts turned to the Doctor & Nyssa. Were they still alive? What even was that silver thing? A quick glance at the security men's automatic weapons returned her to her own predicament & as she began an optimisation cycle, she wondered.

"At least it can't get any worse."


"Your hour is over." croaked the Dalek. "What are your observations & conclusions."

Nyssa stopped scribbling notes & took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"The spider I believe to be a macro-parasite." she began. "It's ceaseless attempts to break free of the tank, it's obvious interest in me & the fleshy tube on the underside suggests the desire & capability to implant something, potentially an embryo. There also appears to be air sacs on the underside. I have two theories. As the creature clearly doesn't need to breathe, being submerged in fluid, those sacs are either to provide air to a victim or they contain a chemical which, when exhaled onto a partially subdued victim, paralyses them or sends them into an artificially induced coma. Both it's tail & the digit-like legs aid in movement, providing the necessary agility & leaping skills it would need to stay attached to the victim."

Nyssa moved over to the serpent.

"This, I assumed to be connected in some way to the spider parasite, perhaps the product of it's embryo implantation into a suitable host. They share certain similar traits, colouration, lengthy tail, but without further, invasive tests on the spider I shan't know more. The serpent, though technically it isn't given the vestigial hands & legs, has a unique type of blood. It appears to be some kind of derivative of Hydrofluoric acid. Extremely dangerous, what's more, the internal makeup suggests, when alive, that the blood would be highly pressurised, spurting out at a wide range if wounded."

Stepping back from the table, Nyssa tapped the end of her pencil against her lips, her brow crossed quizzically.

"I can't be sure, but there's something about these creatures...I can't attest to any solid fact, without further analysis, but I'd say that they were made, not the products of evolution."

"Enough." interrupted the Dalek. "Your skills are satisfactory. You may rest & converse with your associate until I have prepared the next observation."

Nyssa found the idea of the Dalek allowing her a rest break odd & was immediately wary, but would not say no to leaving it's presence. In the hour she had spent in the room with it, she found it terribly unnerving.

"Another test?" she asked.

"No, we will examine the creatures internal make-up & then observe the specimens in the cells. You are free to leave."

As it finished talking, the door to the lab opened. Nyssa cautiously made her way over, a Slave Unit hovered behind & above her as she did. Once she made her way out into the corridor, the robot pushed ahead & led her back to the Doctor.

Inside the lab, the Dalek stood motionless beside the two creatures. The theory about the air sacs was acceptable &, if only admitting to itself, the Dalek was willing to concede that the thought had not crossed it's mind. The Trakenite's observation's lined up with it's own, an impressive feat given the short time span & limited forms of study she had been allowed. This woman would prove useful in studying the creatures. More so had been the Trakenite's postulation that these creatures were not naturally occurring. This was what it had desired to discover. For now, it was time to tap into the visual & audio circuits of the Slave Unit ordered to watch Smith...

Nyssa entered the Doctor's room & found him pretending to examine a piece of tech. Turning, he smiled as he spoke.

"Ah, Nyssa, glad to see you're alright. Hope our host wasn't too loud."

Taking a seat beside him, Nyssa wore a thoughtful expression.

"Quite the opposite, very quiet & unnerving. It asked a few questions."

Oh really?" the Doctor said nonchalantly. "Irritating things these Slave Units, this one's been blooping & beeping for the past hour."

Indicating the robot perched on the desk, it swivelled it's head & "bleeped" derogatorily. The Doctor's brow creased as he continued.

"Still, complex automatons, by the look of them. I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to them than meets the eye. Secret weaponry, greater lifting & carrying capacity than is immediately apparent...two way circuits so that they can be controlled at any time by the user..."

Nyssa caught the Doctor's eye & made a show of examining a piece of machinery on the table. The Doctor was as good as saying "Watch what you say."

"Yes, I expect it is." she said idlily. She explained the Daleks questioning & her responses.

Though the Doctor's general expression seemed normal, she caught a momentary wince when she revealed how the Dalek had picked up on her Trakenite heritage. Perhaps he was mentally kicking himself for revealing that fact.

"You're quite right to be unnerved, from what I...I've read In the history books, you don't want to rile them. What's it got you doing?

"Examining the creatures, it seems to want to understand them." she answered

"Hmm, for what purpose?" he said, gazing off into the distance. "Scientific curiosity or as tools of war..."

"The creatures are...repugnant." said Nyssa thoughtfully. "There's something I can't put my finger on about the way they move & the aura they give off."

"Yes, there's something about them that feels, despite how alive they seem, artificial."

"I meant the spiders, but the mature creatures have a similar feeling too."

At the Doctor's quizzical raising of an eyebrow, Nyssa explained the exact nature of her "test".

"So you think this parasite injects something into the host which triggers the next stage in the life-cycle? There are a lot of aspects to these things that seem like...a hotch-potch of all sorts of life."

"A what?" quizzed Nyssa

"A hotch-potch, a confused mixture. The extending jaw is reminiscent of moray eels, the parasitic nature of the life-cycle like certain earth wasps & alien life like the Wyrrn…..."

Nyssa allowed the Doctor to trail off, she had many questions but none of them could be asked with the possibility of the Dalek listening in on them. Resigning herself to silence, she wordlessly joined the Doctor in tinkering meaninglessly with the various pieces of technology on the table. It was a mere 15 minutes later when the Dalek entered.

"You." it said, it's eye stalk trained on Nyssa. "Will follow the Slave Unit."

Rising, Nyssa followed the little robot & exited the room. The Doctor, pretending to be absorbed by his tinkering, ignored the Dalek now staring at him. Just as he became aware of it moving to his side, it spoke.

"I do not trust you." it said disdainfully.

"Well the feelings mutual, old chap." said the Doctor, turning to face the Dalek. "Anyway, what's trust got to do with it, we're your prisoners, not your partners."

The Dalek glided forward slightly, but it was enough for it to loom over the seated Doctor. It's white iris contracted as it spoke.

"You claim to be human, but my instruments & those of the Slave Units have registered your heartbeats at 180bpm."

"I never said I was human." answered the Doctor calmly. "As a matter of fact I'm from Dulkis, we have-"

"A binary vascular system, but the people of Dulkis have no knowledge of time-travel." interrupted the Dalek.

"I haven't lived there in a long time & my studies have taken me far & wide."

Inside the machine the Dalek's cyclopean eye creased suspiciously, it would have to be subtler if it wanted to catch this man out as the Doctor. That said, the cut-&-thrust of discussion & the clashing of minds were a fine change from it's decades long isolation. The Daleks mind was working again, flung from the sluggish, mental enfeeblement of repetitious tasks, stalled research & silent vigils, it could think again.

Backing up, the Dalek turned & glided toward the door , though it's gaze did not leave the Doctor's for some time. The Doctor was beginning to get worried when it disappeared into the murk of the corridor without a second glance. The Doctor let out a sigh of relief. For a few moments he stared at his task before him despondently before a boyish smile spread across his lips.

"I've just had a clever idea, if I do say so myself."

Beside him, the Slave Unit blooped lazily.


"How are you getting on, Catfish?" asked Astor as she reclined in a chair near the entrance to the generator room.

Telly felt a strong urge to give her a one fingered salute, but thought better of it. The woman had gone too far this time, but there was little she could do. Taking a last glance, she observed the piece of Infinitium she had installed into the system, various wires & tubes plugged into the oddly soft material. 10 hours of working non-stop & it was done.

"We're ready." she said, grumpily.

"Well? Get on with it then." replied the Administrator

With a withering glance at the woman, Telly clambered up to the operating panel & spent some time cleaning her hands. Raising up the cleaned appendage, she held it to a the scanner on the side of the generator.

"Here goes nothing."

Outside of the quarantine room, Brett was finishing up his observation & pouring over the X-rays. Despite a clear sign of something implanted In his chest, Visek showed all signs of being normal. The medical members of the science group were prepping for surgery as Brett watched Visek. Suddenly, the lights brightened, so much so that several bulbs exploded elsewhere in the laboratory. Turning around, Brett saw some of the science group brushing glass from their hair, others were looking befuddled at their computer screens. Craning his head, Brett could see that most of the screens were now just lines 1's & 0's, some had simply switched off.

"Who are you?"

The voice brought Brett back to his task & he turned. He was given a shock when he saw that Visek was now standing at the two way glass, his hands pressed tightly to it, his eyes searching as if he could see the room.

"But why? They're going to help me."

"It's like he's having a conversation." muttered Brett. "You alright, m'lad?"

"No, they can't...I won't let them!" screamed Visek.

As he spoke, Visek began to pound on the glass. Each strike was followed by a primal grunt of rage. Brett signalled for the Orderlies to suit up in their hazmats & enter. As they opened the door, Brett fell to the floor as the world began to shake.


Nyssa & the Dalek re-entered the tech lab followed by two Slave Units. The Doctor, turning his head, noticed how weary Nyssa looked. Taking a seat beside him, the two watched as the Dalek entered another room, the walls made of glass so that it, & they, could be seen at all times. Placing it's sucker stick over a half-globe, the Dalek seemed to settle into some task.

"So, how did you get on?" asked the Doctor

"Very well, but do those Daleks ever stop?" she replied, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm afraid time & tide wait for no Dalek in their minds. Waste no time & you shall not be disappointed, or in their case, you shall have an edge over your opponents."

"I can well believe it." yawned Nyssa. "Dissection for 4 hours & behavioural study for the rest, both now & historical. That Dalek has been here for decades, even before Crow's Dell was set up."

The Doctor's gaze became uneasy as he listened, but Nyssa carried on.

"The dog-like creature, the Dalek calls it a "Runner" is purely bestial. The largest one, the "Warrior", is instinctual & highly aggressive, but the other one, the "Drone"..."Nyssa trailed off, an unsettled look on her face. "I don't like it at all. It's watching & waiting for something & though I don't have any proof, because the creature defies intelligence tests, I know it's smarter than the other two. Possible human level intelligence. I don't like to think what it would do if it got out."

"I don't like to think what any of them would do if they got out." replied the Doctor. "But I understand what you mean. I only saw it for a few minutes & I can't help but wonder."

"I get the feeling that the Dalek admires it in some way." said Nyssa idly

"What?" replied the Doctor, incredulously

"Perhaps admires is the wrong word, but it certainly pays keen attention to the Drone in particular."

The Doctor turned back & watched the Dalek. It was staring at them through the glass of the room it was in, the white iris glowing ominously.

"And another thing." said Nyssa. "It gave them a name, Xenomorph specimens 42679."

"Xenomorph just means ""Alien form"", so more of a designation & an indicator that it has no imagination for names. Odd that it would use Greek words to name it though, unless the Tardis translation circuits are on the blink again."

"What's it doing in there?" asked Nyssa, tilting her head in the Daleks direction.

"Probably collating all the data you've acquired, th-"

As the Doctor spoke, the three Slave Units, hovering about at various points in the room, began to emit high pitched alarms. The Dalek surged out of the glass room & screeched out a few words:

"Seismic activity detec-"

Before it was cut-off by the alarms, this time from the base itself, & the room beginning to shake & tumult. The Doctor, grabbing Nyssa, dragged her under the table they were seated at & both covered their heads. Peeking out, the Doctor could just make out the Dalek sliding backwards & forwards, as bits of tech, tools & other scientific instruments hit the floor. After a few minutes, the shaking ceased.

Clambering out from underneath the table, the Doctor swivelled his head to & fro to check his surroundings. Annoyingly, the doors remained stubbornly shut & the Dalek had recovered far quicker than he expected it to.

"Sensors indicate seismic activity covered the entire planet, we wi-ALERT, ALERT, XENOMORPH CONTAINMENT CELLS BREACHED, ALERT ALERT!"