Chapter Six - The Dalek Wars
Chapter Six - The Dalek Wars
Out in the corridors Louise Ruth realised that they must be in the lower levels of the compound because the air was hard to breath. Leading her rag-tag troop of invisible Spiridons she headed off in the direction of the cool breeze that caressed her face. Omega came to a sudden stop which almost lost Louise Ruth her footing. Moving backward his dome rotated until the eye socket faced her.
‘The… corridor… beyond… is… guarded… by… a… number… of… Daleks. Their… weapons… are… not… powerful… enough… to… penetrate… my… reinforced… Dalekanium… casing. Wait… here… friend!’ Louise Ruth climbed down from the Dalek she knew as Omega and watched as it slid across the floor and round the corner. That was the second time Omega had saved her life. It seemed that all Daleks weren’t evil just like all people weren’t evil, she thought. The sound of Omega’s primary weapon firing jolted her out of her reverie. Moving towards the corner she felt a hand on her shoulder.
‘Leave the Dalek to die. All Daleks are evil. I wouldn’t have trusted it this far.’ The thin voice of a male Spiridon whispered to her. Shrugging off the hand she looked round to where she thought the Spiridon was standing.
‘Everyone has the right to live and the choice to choose life, whatever the race.’ Moving round the bend in the corridor she saw with a smile Omega sliding across the floor towards her. His casing was charred slightly on one side but otherwise he was in good condition. Not like the three other Daleks that stood against one wall smoke belching from their domes. Running as best as she could towards Omega she wrapped her arms around his outer casing. ‘You are a very good friend omega… you kick arse.’ Jumping on the Daleks back she continued to lead the Spiridons to safety.
‘Omega… has… no… legs… and… therefore… can… not… kick… arse… Louise… Ruth… what… did… you… mean?’
‘Kick arse and take names… lay into them and defeat them… stop them from hurting Spiridons.’
‘Yes… Omega… will… kick… arse… and… take… names.’ The Dalek increased speed as it slid effortlessly down the corridor towards the lifts. An explosion to their right sent Omega slamming into the corridor wall. Louise Ruth lost her grip and fell to the floor as her friend Dalek moved passed her, its primary weapon blasting.
‘You… are… a… traitor… you… must… be… exterminated.’ Looking up Louise Ruth could see the black and gold Dalek as it discharged its weapon towards Omega. The friendly Dalek just managed to move to one side as the blast blew a hole in the wall it had been standing next to. Turning the Supreme Dalek saw Louise Ruth lying on the floor and aimed its weapon in her direction. She saw the steam explode from the end of the gun and knew it wasn’t primed to stun. Closing her eyes she waited for the pain that she knew would come. After a few agonising seconds she opened them and saw Omega in front of her, smoke bellowing from his casing. The Dalek had put himself between her and the supreme Dalek saving her life yet again.
‘I… have… let… you… down.’ Omega’s strained voice came from inside his damaged casing. Louise Ruth watched as the supreme Dalek came in for the kill. Without any weapons she knew she didn’t stand a chance.
***
Jack examined the concrete beams that had fallen to block the corridor then turned back towards Johnson and Barrett. ‘What do you think… will the M203 Grenade Launcher be able to shift this?’
Barrett shook his head. ‘Too risky… a single rocket could bring this whole area down on our heads.’
Jack closed his eyes and turning wondered if there was anything they could lever the beams up with. Alonso nodded towards the two Spiridons who were milling about round the fallen pillars. He looked on aghast as the fur clad figures placed, what appeared to be plants either side of the beams then moved back as if the plants were about to explode. Because of their invisibility he’d forgotten all about them.
As they looked on Ianto gave an audible gasp as the plants cast out tendrils that seemed to burrow their way through solid concrete. Both pillars were nothing more than dust in minutes as the plants attacked the stone work breaking it down into small rocks and powder. It wasn’t long before there was a gap large enough for them to walk through stooped over.
Jack looked at his team then back at the hole. ‘What are we waiting for…? Allons-y.’
Ianto looked at Midshipman Frame and added, ‘Alonso.’
As quickly as they passed through they ducked for cover in case any of the newly reanimated Daleks spotted them. Johnson lead the two UNIT soldiers into covering positions, weapons held out in front of them covering all arcs of fire as they advanced, one corridor at a time.
Jack noticed that the area had been used regularly by Daleks as the floor was clean and shining in the overhead florescent lighting that now lit their way. Leap frog-ing their way forward from one point of concealment to another the UNIT soldiers cleared the way for Jack, Ianto and Alonso to follow. The five Spiridons had dropped their fur cloaks and moved off as stealthily and quietly as the soldiers. In the event of a contact he hoped that the Spiridons didn’t wander into the UNIT soldier’s arc of fire by mistake. They were so few in numbers the last thing they needed right now was a blue on blue.
***
The supreme Dalek was almost on top of them and there was no sign of the Spiridons that were following behind. She almost grinned when she realised what she’d just thought. Of course there was no sign of them, they were invisible. ‘This was it,’ she thought bracing herself. ‘It’s now or never.’
‘Omega… friend… does your primary weapon still work?’ she whispered as the gold and black Dalek advanced on them.
‘Yes… friend… but… I… can… not… move.’ Seeing the supreme Dalek almost on top of them Louise Ruth hid behind Omega until it stopped and prepared to fire. Standing, she grabbed hold of Omega’s casing and spun him round to face the Dalek that intended to kill her. Immediately Omega fired, blasting the supreme Dalek’s casing into shreds. Green ooze bubbled from its shattered dome. Smoke and fire erupted from inside the casing as the Dalek screamed in a high pitched voice.
‘Brilliant… you got the bastard,’ Louise Ruth said, hugging the damaged Dalek’s casing. She felt Omega’s dome swivel to the right and watched as his lights began to flash.
‘There… are… two… more… Daleks… coming… up… the… corridor… behind… you. They… are… preparing… to… fire.’ Turning as quickly as she could to meet the new threat, she looked on in wonderment as the two advancing Daleks began to disassemble before her eyes. The primary weapons were the first to go as the Daleks shouted in metallic unison.
‘We… are… under… attack. Help… help.’ Their eye storks were ripped from their sockets and their extendable arms with what looked like black rubber plungers were removed and thrown away. Once disarmed their casings were opened and the Dalek inside was silenced. How this occurred she couldn’t see but from the way the Dalek’s voice was cut short during a new, high pitched scream, it couldn’t have been pleasant.
‘You’d disarmed them… did you have to kill them as well,’ Louise Ruth said then wished she hadn’t when she remembered the electric shocks she’d undergone.
‘This is war. If you think killing is bad so do we, but… war makes monsters of us all.’ The Spiridon’s disembodied voice echoed down the corridor sending a shiver down her spine. She came to the conclusion that he was right and wrong all in the same sentence. Nodding she pointed at the door the Daleks had emerged from.
‘Get that door open and hide them in there. We don’t want any more of them running around and shooting at us.’ Without a word of acknowledgement the door slid to one side and the casings were manoeuvred inside. As the supreme Dalek, which was still smoking, was also removed Louise Ruth examined Omega’s casing. ‘The blast has damaged the left hand side of your casing and you’re flat on the ground. If you had hover capabilities you don’t now.’
‘The… internal… systems… are… designed… to… self… repair. If… the… casing… is… too… badly… damaged… I… can… be… transferred… to… another… unit.’
Louise Ruth smiled despite herself. ‘You sly thing… that’s how you survived the civil war on Skaro… isn’t it?’
Omega’s dome lights began to flash in unison with his voice. ‘When… I… saw… the… Emperor’s… Daleks… winning, I… changed… casings. The… Doctor… taught… me… how… to… survive.’ She was just about to say something regarding the Doctor when she felt, not saw, a hand on her shoulder.
‘I think you should come and see this.’ Leaving Omega to make internal repairs she headed off through the door the Daleks had been dragged. ‘You were wondering why we hate the Daleks… why we think they are so evil?’
It took her a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkened room but when she did she gasped in horror at what she saw. A number of dead Spiridons lay dead in one corner, covered in what looked like blue paint to make them visible. The bodies, she noticed weren’t whole. Most had limbs missing or huge chunks of flesh removed from various parts of their bodies. Even through the blue paint she could see the pain and agony showing on their faces. Whatever happened to them happened when they were awake and aware, she realised.
‘But… why… I mean… oh… shit.’ Invisible hands lifted one of the bodies clear of the pile and placed in on a bench. In the silence of the room she heard the Spiridon cry for his butchered mate.
‘She was sixteen summers old. They were to be joined the day she was taken.’ She’d heard a human cry on a number of occasions, her sister when she had hurt herself or was upset and her father when his wife, her mother had left, but never had she heard a cry that bit so deep into her heart as the lament of the Spiridon standing before her. As she turned away she noticed two more benches in the far corner. A figure more visible than the blue painted Spiridons struggled and writhed against its bonds.
‘We’ve got a live one,’ she said as she hurried towards it. Again a restraining hand wrapped around her shoulder forcing her to stop.
‘Your definition of live and ours may differ but… what is on the bench does not meet either of our standards.’ The Spiridons voice chilled her to the bone.
Tears ran freely down her face as she approached the table, with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. To her horror she recognised both men that were strapped to the tables, but only from the clothing that lay piled in a heap next to them. They had once been the proud Thals, Codal and Latep.
Long slashes ran the length of their legs opening the skin up to the bone. The man on her right had the bones in his arms removed as well. The skin flopped and wobbled as his body jerked and bucked against the straps. Both men’s eyes had been removed and lay on a white ceramic table next to them. Other body parts had also been removed and placed next to the eyes. Whatever operation they had been undergoing had been halted before it had finished she thought as the abdominal cavity was splayed open and a number of internal organs were missing, the liver, kidneys and most of the stomach. She turned and gasped for air that never seemed to come.
‘What… sick… fuck…’ The energy bar she’d previously eaten hit her throat as her stomach tightened. Bending forward she dry heaved a second time sending pain rippling through her body. Hands supported her as she was lead outside. Tears and vomit hit the corridor floor as she continued to dry heave. Reaching out she managed to grab hold of the Spiridon’s arm.
‘Why… I mean… why?’
‘For a long time the Daleks have craved the power of invisibility. After many Spiridon lives were lost they achieved full invisability but only for two work cycles. They are trying to find a way of extending that time.’ Louise Ruth’s mind was working overtime, spinning with thoughts she never wanted and confusions that threatened to destroy the very thing that made her human, her compassion.
‘But… two of those were… weren’t Spiridons… why them.’
‘When true evil is let lose nothing can stop it… they do because they can.’ Louise Ruth turned away and dry heaved again. This time nothing came out just a feeling of acidic bile the back of her throat that robbed her of her voice.
***
As they walked hugging the walls as they went they scanned the area for any Dalek movement that would threaten their progress. Moving into an adjacent corridor Jack noticed that the walls fell away revealing a staging area below. Using her invisibility to their advantage he sent Webber to look over the wall. After only a few agonising moments she returned almost out of breath.
‘Daleks… thousands of them… on some kind of moving platform. They are removing them from the frozen water and bringing them back to life.’
‘Shit! It’s just what we feared. They’re reanimating an army in preparation for an attack.’
Alonso knelt next to Jack, a worried look on his face. ‘How are we going to blow up ten thousand Daleks with a shot gun and two plants? Don’t get me wrong the plants are impressive. I couldn’t do what they did… nor, come to think of it, would I want to… but… you see what I mean?’
Jack nodded, ‘there must be a way we can destroy them. We can’t let them out of here. They’ll cause havoc, not just on this planet but the entire universe. I’ve seen it happen… no plan of terror or conquest is too big.’
‘Emergency… there… are… Thals… in… the… main… corridor… in… section… eight. Halt… or… you… will… be… exterminated.’ The Dalek’s voice thundered down the corridor as Barrett fired the M203 Grenade Launcher which barrelled through the first line of Daleks scattering Dalekanium casing in all directions. A single Dalek burst out of a room on Jack’s left and he was stunned to see it being dismantled before his eyes. More Daleks fired in their direction and Jack was hit by the falling body of an invisible Spiridon who became visible in death. More shots rang out behind him as Evans and Johnson kept a rapid rate of fire aimed in the general direction of the Dalek army.
‘If you’re going to do something Jack do it now. We can’t hold them off for much longer,’ Ianto said returning fire with Johnson’s SIG SAUER.
More bursts of gun fire broke out as Dalek after Dalek entered the killing ground. To Jack’s right he saw a Dalek gun roll towards him then was snatched away before it could fire. The gun was turned on its owner as the Dalek burst into flame. Jack was about to redirect the Spiridon’s fire when a burst from another silver grey Dalek sent it spinning across the floor, followed by the temporary owner Jack thought.
Some of the destroyed Daleks were blocking the corridor which helped Jack and his team fire round them. The wall above his head was almost completely destroyed from the constant blasts it was taking from the advancing horde. Firing his Webley Jack changed positions taking a partial blast from an on-coming Dalek in his left side, which threw him against the wall opposite. Staggering to his feet he fired at its eye stork then dove around the corner as a blast took out most of the concrete wall.
Looking down at himself he realised that the searing heat of the Dalek ray had taken and cauterised a chunk of flesh from his right hip. The pain would hit him soon but he hoped he could stay conscious long enough to cause them more damage. Firing the Webley again he noticed, with a sense of satisfaction, a second Dalek eye stork erupt in a showed of metal.
Moving forward he crouched and took aim as another Dalek pushed the first out of the way. He took careful aim and fired. To his horror he saw the force field activate as the rounds slammed into it, falling harmlessly to the floor. These were the Daleks he’d known from before. The war Daleks that had been in hibernation were awake and spoiling for a fight, it seemed. Reds, golds and blacks, they forced their inferior comrades out of the way and advanced on Jack’s troop. Nothing could stop them and nothing would stand in their way.
‘Get back… get back.’ Jack shouted as a blast from an energy weapon caught him square in the chest throwing him to the floor, dead.
***
Louise Ruth headed off down the corridor with one thing on her mind, destroy the Daleks. Omega had managed to heal some of his circuits and limped along behind them. A noise up ahead warned her that this area was occupied by Daleks and lots of them.
‘Where are we Omega?’ The injured Dalek replied as his lights flashed in unison with his words.
‘We… are… in… the… regeneration… area. The… newly… animated… Daleks… are… programmed… here… to… respond… to… commands… from… the… supreme… leader.’ She felt a Spiridon hand on her shoulder and a voice whispering in her ear.
‘We need to get out of here. There are a number of Daleks up ahead. If we cut to the right we can enter the old part of the compound and work our way up and out.’
Louise Ruth thought for a moment then smiled. ‘We could… or we could fight.’
‘Fight… with what? We are but a few… we have no weapons.’
Louise Ruth smiled. ‘We’ll just have to get more soldiers… help me with Omega. We need to get him into the regeneration room.’
Four silver-grey Daleks slid smoothly down the corridor as Louise Ruth and the Spiridon helped Omega into the regeneration room. A single Dalek stood at the control board and turned as they entered. Louise Ruth hid behind Omega, wishing she had the Spiridon’s ability of stealth.
‘Remember… we need to take this Dalek alive,’ Louise Ruth whispered as they entered.
‘I… have… been… sent… by… the… Supreme… Dalek. The… regeneration… process… is… not… progressing… fast… enough.’ Omega said, using all the authority he could muster in his voice. Gun shots could be heard from outside and Louise Ruth guessed that Jack, Johnson and their team of UNIT soldiers had put together an escape attempt. ‘We… are… under… attack… and… the… Supreme… Dalek… needs… reinforcements.’ The silver and grey Dalek approached Omega, its eye stork moving up and down as if checking his story by observation.
‘Tell… the… Supreme… Dalek… that… the… process… is… going… as… quickly… as… it… can.’
Omega’s dome lights began to flash. ‘You… can… inform… the… Supreme… Lord… he… does…not… take… bad… news… well.’
The maintenance Dalek seemed to think about this for a moment then turned back to the control board. ‘I… will… increase… the output… of… Daleks.’
Louise Ruth smiled to herself. ‘Worried that he might shoot the messenger,’ she said whispering to Omega. As the Dalek turned its back on Omega the gunfire from outside stopped and a noise filled the room that made Louise Ruth cringe with embarrassment. Change my pitch up… Smack my bitch up! It was her mobile phone and it vibrated wildly in her pocket.
Slowly the silver grey Dalek’s dome swiveled in their direction and its eye stork sought out Louise Ruth. Without further preamble Omega fired sending the maintenance Dalek slamming into the opposite wall in a burst of smoke and flame. Omega turned his dome towards Louise Ruth who shrugged.
Fishing inside her shoulder bag she removed a small mobile phone, pressed the answer button and placed it to her ear.
‘Hi Laura… what’s up?’ There was along pause where Louise Ruth tried to get a word in but couldn’t. ‘I’m sure the cat’s fine… they all do that. I’m fairly sure he doesn’t want to kill it… it probably made a good photo sitting in the washing machine.’
More gunshots opened up from outside and one energy weapon slammed into the outside wall sending debris falling from the ceiling above. Omega rounded on Louise Ruth trying to emphasis the situation they were in.
‘Look Laura I have an ICT test coming up and I need your help.’ Another long pause then Louise Ruth cut in. ‘Just wear the red one… you look good in that… I know… you look good in all of them…’ Another blast slammed into the door they’d entered by, buckling it slightly. ‘Just tell him you want petrol money and leave it at that… look I need to know how to pass data from one computer to another.’ There was a longer pause this time as Omega’s eye stork looked at the control panel then back at Louise Ruth. Nodding she motioned for Omega to move closer to the panel. ‘Hold on a second I’ll just ask. Omega… can you access the panel wirelessly?’
Again Omega looked at the panel then back at Louise Ruth. ‘I… am… connected… to… the… panel.’ Listening to her phone Louise Ruth nodded then looked back at Omega.
‘How big is the file you have that the Doctor called the Human Factor?’
Omega’s light flashed without him talking. Finally his voice came through his casing. ‘The… Human… Factor… files… are… three… terabytes… in … size.’
‘That’s three terabytes.’ There was a long pause as Omega observed her eyes opened wider than he had ever seen them. ‘All right… I understand… a terabyte is 1,024 gigabytes…. Now we need to transfer that data from one Da… err…computer to another. How do we do that?’ There was another long pause as Omega again looked at the control panel and using his claw had flicked a series of switches. A voice from behind Louise Ruth startled her for a second, having forgotten about the Spiridon.
‘You are going to change the Daleks into him… give them a virus known as the Human Factor?’ Louise Ruth nodded and smiled.
‘Then all we have to do is stand back and watch.’ She held the phone closer to here ear then looked back at Omega. ‘Omega… can you access the remote desktop application so you can share resources between yourself and the panel?’
‘We… have… a… different… system… but… if… you… tell… me… what… to… do… I… can… translate… it… into… Dalek… technology.’ Louise Ruth nodded understanding what Omega was getting at.
‘Right… you’re the host and I want you to connect to the Client computer… the panel.’
‘We… are… connected.’
‘Right… now check that you’re both connected to the internet.’
‘We… have… a… different… system… but… I… understand.’
‘Now…erm... if I said “sign in as the administrator and go to Performance and Maintenance then click the Remote tab and go to System and ok that...” would you have a clue what I was talking about?’
‘I… understand… I… am… being… prevented.’
‘He’s… the computer’s being prevented.’ Louise Ruth asked as Omega’s lights began flashing without him speaking. ‘Right… Omega… you’ll need to breach the firewall of the Client computer.’ Omega’s lights flashed.
‘I… have… breached… the… firewall.’
‘Now verify the remote desk top and ok that.’
‘This… has… been… carried… out. I… can… remotely… operate… the… panel.’
‘Now…go back to Performance Maintenance and Systems and select the Client computer name and ok that.’
‘The… panel… name… is-’
Louise Ruth cut him off. ‘That’s ok… we just need you to remember it. Right look at accessories and select Remote Connection. Put in the computer name then connect… According to my sister it should be that simple.’ Louise Ruth held her breath as Omega’s dome light began to flash.
‘I… am… now… transferring… the… data. All… newly… resurrected… Daleks… will… contain… the… human… factor.’ As gun shots and explosions continued outside Louise Ruth thought she heard Jack’s voice and the distinctive report of his World War One Webley.
‘I know Laura… I’ll be there. I’ll give him something nice…’ A slight pause then she continued as the gunfire died down and the explosions outside ceased. ‘No don’t buy a dog… you’ve already got a cat… I don’t care how cure it looks, Dad won’t let you bring another dog home while the dog’s still alive. No I won’t kill him… I don’t care how old he is he’s Dad’s dog. I’ll have to go now… something important’s cropped up…. Thursday… I’ll be there Thursday… Love you bye… I won’t forget to bring a present… now bye.’ Louise just managed to disconnect the call as Laura’s voice faded into the background.
All was quiet outside as Louise Ruth opened the door a crack and gazed out. Moving forward as quietly as she could the Spiridon and Omega followed. The first thing Louise Ruth noticed was Jack lying against one wall, an energy weapon burn on the right hand side of his jacket. There wasn’t a mark on his face and body as he sat forward gasping for a lung full of oxygen.
‘Nice to see you fly boy. What kept you?’ Smiling Jack pulled himself up and dusting off his jacket turned to look at Louise Ruth. Stepping forward he wrapped his arms around her and gave her the longest hug he’d ever given her. With a start Jack pulled back and searching the floor picked up his Webley. Not sure what was happening Louise Ruth took a step towards Jack, incomprehension showing in her eyes.
‘Get out of the way. There’s one of those bastards behind you.’ Turning Louise searched for the enemy behind her but could see anything until Jack fired. The bullet slammed into Omega’s dome, shattering the eye stork and sending him spinning into the wall.
‘I… have… been… damaged… Louise… Ruth… I… can… not… see.’
Jack tried to get a second shot off but Louise Ruth stood in his way. ‘What the hell are you doing? He’s with us.’
‘It’s a Dalek… it’s evil. Whatever it said to you is a lie. I’ve seen this before. Now get out of the way and I’ll kill it.’ She shook her head and holding her arms up blocked Jack’s shot. Taking careful aim he sighted on the grill below the dome and squeezed the trigger.
Chapter Seven - Inside out
Out in the corridors Louise Ruth realised that they must be in the lower levels of the compound because the air was hard to breath. Leading her rag-tag troop of invisible Spiridons she headed off in the direction of the cool breeze that caressed her face. Omega came to a sudden stop which almost lost Louise Ruth her footing. Moving backward his dome rotated until the eye socket faced her.
‘The… corridor… beyond… is… guarded… by… a… number… of… Daleks. Their… weapons… are… not… powerful… enough… to… penetrate… my… reinforced… Dalekanium… casing. Wait… here… friend!’ Louise Ruth climbed down from the Dalek she knew as Omega and watched as it slid across the floor and round the corner. That was the second time Omega had saved her life. It seemed that all Daleks weren’t evil just like all people weren’t evil, she thought. The sound of Omega’s primary weapon firing jolted her out of her reverie. Moving towards the corner she felt a hand on her shoulder.
‘Leave the Dalek to die. All Daleks are evil. I wouldn’t have trusted it this far.’ The thin voice of a male Spiridon whispered to her. Shrugging off the hand she looked round to where she thought the Spiridon was standing.
‘Everyone has the right to live and the choice to choose life, whatever the race.’ Moving round the bend in the corridor she saw with a smile Omega sliding across the floor towards her. His casing was charred slightly on one side but otherwise he was in good condition. Not like the three other Daleks that stood against one wall smoke belching from their domes. Running as best as she could towards Omega she wrapped her arms around his outer casing. ‘You are a very good friend omega… you kick arse.’ Jumping on the Daleks back she continued to lead the Spiridons to safety.
‘Omega… has… no… legs… and… therefore… can… not… kick… arse… Louise… Ruth… what… did… you… mean?’
‘Kick arse and take names… lay into them and defeat them… stop them from hurting Spiridons.’
‘Yes… Omega… will… kick… arse… and… take… names.’ The Dalek increased speed as it slid effortlessly down the corridor towards the lifts. An explosion to their right sent Omega slamming into the corridor wall. Louise Ruth lost her grip and fell to the floor as her friend Dalek moved passed her, its primary weapon blasting.
‘You… are… a… traitor… you… must… be… exterminated.’ Looking up Louise Ruth could see the black and gold Dalek as it discharged its weapon towards Omega. The friendly Dalek just managed to move to one side as the blast blew a hole in the wall it had been standing next to. Turning the Supreme Dalek saw Louise Ruth lying on the floor and aimed its weapon in her direction. She saw the steam explode from the end of the gun and knew it wasn’t primed to stun. Closing her eyes she waited for the pain that she knew would come. After a few agonising seconds she opened them and saw Omega in front of her, smoke bellowing from his casing. The Dalek had put himself between her and the supreme Dalek saving her life yet again.
‘I… have… let… you… down.’ Omega’s strained voice came from inside his damaged casing. Louise Ruth watched as the supreme Dalek came in for the kill. Without any weapons she knew she didn’t stand a chance.
***
Jack examined the concrete beams that had fallen to block the corridor then turned back towards Johnson and Barrett. ‘What do you think… will the M203 Grenade Launcher be able to shift this?’
Barrett shook his head. ‘Too risky… a single rocket could bring this whole area down on our heads.’
Jack closed his eyes and turning wondered if there was anything they could lever the beams up with. Alonso nodded towards the two Spiridons who were milling about round the fallen pillars. He looked on aghast as the fur clad figures placed, what appeared to be plants either side of the beams then moved back as if the plants were about to explode. Because of their invisibility he’d forgotten all about them.
As they looked on Ianto gave an audible gasp as the plants cast out tendrils that seemed to burrow their way through solid concrete. Both pillars were nothing more than dust in minutes as the plants attacked the stone work breaking it down into small rocks and powder. It wasn’t long before there was a gap large enough for them to walk through stooped over.
Jack looked at his team then back at the hole. ‘What are we waiting for…? Allons-y.’
Ianto looked at Midshipman Frame and added, ‘Alonso.’
As quickly as they passed through they ducked for cover in case any of the newly reanimated Daleks spotted them. Johnson lead the two UNIT soldiers into covering positions, weapons held out in front of them covering all arcs of fire as they advanced, one corridor at a time.
Jack noticed that the area had been used regularly by Daleks as the floor was clean and shining in the overhead florescent lighting that now lit their way. Leap frog-ing their way forward from one point of concealment to another the UNIT soldiers cleared the way for Jack, Ianto and Alonso to follow. The five Spiridons had dropped their fur cloaks and moved off as stealthily and quietly as the soldiers. In the event of a contact he hoped that the Spiridons didn’t wander into the UNIT soldier’s arc of fire by mistake. They were so few in numbers the last thing they needed right now was a blue on blue.
***
The supreme Dalek was almost on top of them and there was no sign of the Spiridons that were following behind. She almost grinned when she realised what she’d just thought. Of course there was no sign of them, they were invisible. ‘This was it,’ she thought bracing herself. ‘It’s now or never.’
‘Omega… friend… does your primary weapon still work?’ she whispered as the gold and black Dalek advanced on them.
‘Yes… friend… but… I… can… not… move.’ Seeing the supreme Dalek almost on top of them Louise Ruth hid behind Omega until it stopped and prepared to fire. Standing, she grabbed hold of Omega’s casing and spun him round to face the Dalek that intended to kill her. Immediately Omega fired, blasting the supreme Dalek’s casing into shreds. Green ooze bubbled from its shattered dome. Smoke and fire erupted from inside the casing as the Dalek screamed in a high pitched voice.
‘Brilliant… you got the bastard,’ Louise Ruth said, hugging the damaged Dalek’s casing. She felt Omega’s dome swivel to the right and watched as his lights began to flash.
‘There… are… two… more… Daleks… coming… up… the… corridor… behind… you. They… are… preparing… to… fire.’ Turning as quickly as she could to meet the new threat, she looked on in wonderment as the two advancing Daleks began to disassemble before her eyes. The primary weapons were the first to go as the Daleks shouted in metallic unison.
‘We… are… under… attack. Help… help.’ Their eye storks were ripped from their sockets and their extendable arms with what looked like black rubber plungers were removed and thrown away. Once disarmed their casings were opened and the Dalek inside was silenced. How this occurred she couldn’t see but from the way the Dalek’s voice was cut short during a new, high pitched scream, it couldn’t have been pleasant.
‘You’d disarmed them… did you have to kill them as well,’ Louise Ruth said then wished she hadn’t when she remembered the electric shocks she’d undergone.
‘This is war. If you think killing is bad so do we, but… war makes monsters of us all.’ The Spiridon’s disembodied voice echoed down the corridor sending a shiver down her spine. She came to the conclusion that he was right and wrong all in the same sentence. Nodding she pointed at the door the Daleks had emerged from.
‘Get that door open and hide them in there. We don’t want any more of them running around and shooting at us.’ Without a word of acknowledgement the door slid to one side and the casings were manoeuvred inside. As the supreme Dalek, which was still smoking, was also removed Louise Ruth examined Omega’s casing. ‘The blast has damaged the left hand side of your casing and you’re flat on the ground. If you had hover capabilities you don’t now.’
‘The… internal… systems… are… designed… to… self… repair. If… the… casing… is… too… badly… damaged… I… can… be… transferred… to… another… unit.’
Louise Ruth smiled despite herself. ‘You sly thing… that’s how you survived the civil war on Skaro… isn’t it?’
Omega’s dome lights began to flash in unison with his voice. ‘When… I… saw… the… Emperor’s… Daleks… winning, I… changed… casings. The… Doctor… taught… me… how… to… survive.’ She was just about to say something regarding the Doctor when she felt, not saw, a hand on her shoulder.
‘I think you should come and see this.’ Leaving Omega to make internal repairs she headed off through the door the Daleks had been dragged. ‘You were wondering why we hate the Daleks… why we think they are so evil?’
It took her a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkened room but when she did she gasped in horror at what she saw. A number of dead Spiridons lay dead in one corner, covered in what looked like blue paint to make them visible. The bodies, she noticed weren’t whole. Most had limbs missing or huge chunks of flesh removed from various parts of their bodies. Even through the blue paint she could see the pain and agony showing on their faces. Whatever happened to them happened when they were awake and aware, she realised.
‘But… why… I mean… oh… shit.’ Invisible hands lifted one of the bodies clear of the pile and placed in on a bench. In the silence of the room she heard the Spiridon cry for his butchered mate.
‘She was sixteen summers old. They were to be joined the day she was taken.’ She’d heard a human cry on a number of occasions, her sister when she had hurt herself or was upset and her father when his wife, her mother had left, but never had she heard a cry that bit so deep into her heart as the lament of the Spiridon standing before her. As she turned away she noticed two more benches in the far corner. A figure more visible than the blue painted Spiridons struggled and writhed against its bonds.
‘We’ve got a live one,’ she said as she hurried towards it. Again a restraining hand wrapped around her shoulder forcing her to stop.
‘Your definition of live and ours may differ but… what is on the bench does not meet either of our standards.’ The Spiridons voice chilled her to the bone.
Tears ran freely down her face as she approached the table, with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. To her horror she recognised both men that were strapped to the tables, but only from the clothing that lay piled in a heap next to them. They had once been the proud Thals, Codal and Latep.
Long slashes ran the length of their legs opening the skin up to the bone. The man on her right had the bones in his arms removed as well. The skin flopped and wobbled as his body jerked and bucked against the straps. Both men’s eyes had been removed and lay on a white ceramic table next to them. Other body parts had also been removed and placed next to the eyes. Whatever operation they had been undergoing had been halted before it had finished she thought as the abdominal cavity was splayed open and a number of internal organs were missing, the liver, kidneys and most of the stomach. She turned and gasped for air that never seemed to come.
‘What… sick… fuck…’ The energy bar she’d previously eaten hit her throat as her stomach tightened. Bending forward she dry heaved a second time sending pain rippling through her body. Hands supported her as she was lead outside. Tears and vomit hit the corridor floor as she continued to dry heave. Reaching out she managed to grab hold of the Spiridon’s arm.
‘Why… I mean… why?’
‘For a long time the Daleks have craved the power of invisibility. After many Spiridon lives were lost they achieved full invisability but only for two work cycles. They are trying to find a way of extending that time.’ Louise Ruth’s mind was working overtime, spinning with thoughts she never wanted and confusions that threatened to destroy the very thing that made her human, her compassion.
‘But… two of those were… weren’t Spiridons… why them.’
‘When true evil is let lose nothing can stop it… they do because they can.’ Louise Ruth turned away and dry heaved again. This time nothing came out just a feeling of acidic bile the back of her throat that robbed her of her voice.
***
As they walked hugging the walls as they went they scanned the area for any Dalek movement that would threaten their progress. Moving into an adjacent corridor Jack noticed that the walls fell away revealing a staging area below. Using her invisibility to their advantage he sent Webber to look over the wall. After only a few agonising moments she returned almost out of breath.
‘Daleks… thousands of them… on some kind of moving platform. They are removing them from the frozen water and bringing them back to life.’
‘Shit! It’s just what we feared. They’re reanimating an army in preparation for an attack.’
Alonso knelt next to Jack, a worried look on his face. ‘How are we going to blow up ten thousand Daleks with a shot gun and two plants? Don’t get me wrong the plants are impressive. I couldn’t do what they did… nor, come to think of it, would I want to… but… you see what I mean?’
Jack nodded, ‘there must be a way we can destroy them. We can’t let them out of here. They’ll cause havoc, not just on this planet but the entire universe. I’ve seen it happen… no plan of terror or conquest is too big.’
‘Emergency… there… are… Thals… in… the… main… corridor… in… section… eight. Halt… or… you… will… be… exterminated.’ The Dalek’s voice thundered down the corridor as Barrett fired the M203 Grenade Launcher which barrelled through the first line of Daleks scattering Dalekanium casing in all directions. A single Dalek burst out of a room on Jack’s left and he was stunned to see it being dismantled before his eyes. More Daleks fired in their direction and Jack was hit by the falling body of an invisible Spiridon who became visible in death. More shots rang out behind him as Evans and Johnson kept a rapid rate of fire aimed in the general direction of the Dalek army.
‘If you’re going to do something Jack do it now. We can’t hold them off for much longer,’ Ianto said returning fire with Johnson’s SIG SAUER.
More bursts of gun fire broke out as Dalek after Dalek entered the killing ground. To Jack’s right he saw a Dalek gun roll towards him then was snatched away before it could fire. The gun was turned on its owner as the Dalek burst into flame. Jack was about to redirect the Spiridon’s fire when a burst from another silver grey Dalek sent it spinning across the floor, followed by the temporary owner Jack thought.
Some of the destroyed Daleks were blocking the corridor which helped Jack and his team fire round them. The wall above his head was almost completely destroyed from the constant blasts it was taking from the advancing horde. Firing his Webley Jack changed positions taking a partial blast from an on-coming Dalek in his left side, which threw him against the wall opposite. Staggering to his feet he fired at its eye stork then dove around the corner as a blast took out most of the concrete wall.
Looking down at himself he realised that the searing heat of the Dalek ray had taken and cauterised a chunk of flesh from his right hip. The pain would hit him soon but he hoped he could stay conscious long enough to cause them more damage. Firing the Webley again he noticed, with a sense of satisfaction, a second Dalek eye stork erupt in a showed of metal.
Moving forward he crouched and took aim as another Dalek pushed the first out of the way. He took careful aim and fired. To his horror he saw the force field activate as the rounds slammed into it, falling harmlessly to the floor. These were the Daleks he’d known from before. The war Daleks that had been in hibernation were awake and spoiling for a fight, it seemed. Reds, golds and blacks, they forced their inferior comrades out of the way and advanced on Jack’s troop. Nothing could stop them and nothing would stand in their way.
‘Get back… get back.’ Jack shouted as a blast from an energy weapon caught him square in the chest throwing him to the floor, dead.
***
Louise Ruth headed off down the corridor with one thing on her mind, destroy the Daleks. Omega had managed to heal some of his circuits and limped along behind them. A noise up ahead warned her that this area was occupied by Daleks and lots of them.
‘Where are we Omega?’ The injured Dalek replied as his lights flashed in unison with his words.
‘We… are… in… the… regeneration… area. The… newly… animated… Daleks… are… programmed… here… to… respond… to… commands… from… the… supreme… leader.’ She felt a Spiridon hand on her shoulder and a voice whispering in her ear.
‘We need to get out of here. There are a number of Daleks up ahead. If we cut to the right we can enter the old part of the compound and work our way up and out.’
Louise Ruth thought for a moment then smiled. ‘We could… or we could fight.’
‘Fight… with what? We are but a few… we have no weapons.’
Louise Ruth smiled. ‘We’ll just have to get more soldiers… help me with Omega. We need to get him into the regeneration room.’
Four silver-grey Daleks slid smoothly down the corridor as Louise Ruth and the Spiridon helped Omega into the regeneration room. A single Dalek stood at the control board and turned as they entered. Louise Ruth hid behind Omega, wishing she had the Spiridon’s ability of stealth.
‘Remember… we need to take this Dalek alive,’ Louise Ruth whispered as they entered.
‘I… have… been… sent… by… the… Supreme… Dalek. The… regeneration… process… is… not… progressing… fast… enough.’ Omega said, using all the authority he could muster in his voice. Gun shots could be heard from outside and Louise Ruth guessed that Jack, Johnson and their team of UNIT soldiers had put together an escape attempt. ‘We… are… under… attack… and… the… Supreme… Dalek… needs… reinforcements.’ The silver and grey Dalek approached Omega, its eye stork moving up and down as if checking his story by observation.
‘Tell… the… Supreme… Dalek… that… the… process… is… going… as… quickly… as… it… can.’
Omega’s dome lights began to flash. ‘You… can… inform… the… Supreme… Lord… he… does…not… take… bad… news… well.’
The maintenance Dalek seemed to think about this for a moment then turned back to the control board. ‘I… will… increase… the output… of… Daleks.’
Louise Ruth smiled to herself. ‘Worried that he might shoot the messenger,’ she said whispering to Omega. As the Dalek turned its back on Omega the gunfire from outside stopped and a noise filled the room that made Louise Ruth cringe with embarrassment. Change my pitch up… Smack my bitch up! It was her mobile phone and it vibrated wildly in her pocket.
Slowly the silver grey Dalek’s dome swiveled in their direction and its eye stork sought out Louise Ruth. Without further preamble Omega fired sending the maintenance Dalek slamming into the opposite wall in a burst of smoke and flame. Omega turned his dome towards Louise Ruth who shrugged.
Fishing inside her shoulder bag she removed a small mobile phone, pressed the answer button and placed it to her ear.
‘Hi Laura… what’s up?’ There was along pause where Louise Ruth tried to get a word in but couldn’t. ‘I’m sure the cat’s fine… they all do that. I’m fairly sure he doesn’t want to kill it… it probably made a good photo sitting in the washing machine.’
More gunshots opened up from outside and one energy weapon slammed into the outside wall sending debris falling from the ceiling above. Omega rounded on Louise Ruth trying to emphasis the situation they were in.
‘Look Laura I have an ICT test coming up and I need your help.’ Another long pause then Louise Ruth cut in. ‘Just wear the red one… you look good in that… I know… you look good in all of them…’ Another blast slammed into the door they’d entered by, buckling it slightly. ‘Just tell him you want petrol money and leave it at that… look I need to know how to pass data from one computer to another.’ There was a longer pause this time as Omega’s eye stork looked at the control panel then back at Louise Ruth. Nodding she motioned for Omega to move closer to the panel. ‘Hold on a second I’ll just ask. Omega… can you access the panel wirelessly?’
Again Omega looked at the panel then back at Louise Ruth. ‘I… am… connected… to… the… panel.’ Listening to her phone Louise Ruth nodded then looked back at Omega.
‘How big is the file you have that the Doctor called the Human Factor?’
Omega’s light flashed without him talking. Finally his voice came through his casing. ‘The… Human… Factor… files… are… three… terabytes… in … size.’
‘That’s three terabytes.’ There was a long pause as Omega observed her eyes opened wider than he had ever seen them. ‘All right… I understand… a terabyte is 1,024 gigabytes…. Now we need to transfer that data from one Da… err…computer to another. How do we do that?’ There was another long pause as Omega again looked at the control panel and using his claw had flicked a series of switches. A voice from behind Louise Ruth startled her for a second, having forgotten about the Spiridon.
‘You are going to change the Daleks into him… give them a virus known as the Human Factor?’ Louise Ruth nodded and smiled.
‘Then all we have to do is stand back and watch.’ She held the phone closer to here ear then looked back at Omega. ‘Omega… can you access the remote desktop application so you can share resources between yourself and the panel?’
‘We… have… a… different… system… but… if… you… tell… me… what… to… do… I… can… translate… it… into… Dalek… technology.’ Louise Ruth nodded understanding what Omega was getting at.
‘Right… you’re the host and I want you to connect to the Client computer… the panel.’
‘We… are… connected.’
‘Right… now check that you’re both connected to the internet.’
‘We… have… a… different… system… but… I… understand.’
‘Now…erm... if I said “sign in as the administrator and go to Performance and Maintenance then click the Remote tab and go to System and ok that...” would you have a clue what I was talking about?’
‘I… understand… I… am… being… prevented.’
‘He’s… the computer’s being prevented.’ Louise Ruth asked as Omega’s lights began flashing without him speaking. ‘Right… Omega… you’ll need to breach the firewall of the Client computer.’ Omega’s lights flashed.
‘I… have… breached… the… firewall.’
‘Now verify the remote desk top and ok that.’
‘This… has… been… carried… out. I… can… remotely… operate… the… panel.’
‘Now…go back to Performance Maintenance and Systems and select the Client computer name and ok that.’
‘The… panel… name… is-’
Louise Ruth cut him off. ‘That’s ok… we just need you to remember it. Right look at accessories and select Remote Connection. Put in the computer name then connect… According to my sister it should be that simple.’ Louise Ruth held her breath as Omega’s dome light began to flash.
‘I… am… now… transferring… the… data. All… newly… resurrected… Daleks… will… contain… the… human… factor.’ As gun shots and explosions continued outside Louise Ruth thought she heard Jack’s voice and the distinctive report of his World War One Webley.
‘I know Laura… I’ll be there. I’ll give him something nice…’ A slight pause then she continued as the gunfire died down and the explosions outside ceased. ‘No don’t buy a dog… you’ve already got a cat… I don’t care how cure it looks, Dad won’t let you bring another dog home while the dog’s still alive. No I won’t kill him… I don’t care how old he is he’s Dad’s dog. I’ll have to go now… something important’s cropped up…. Thursday… I’ll be there Thursday… Love you bye… I won’t forget to bring a present… now bye.’ Louise just managed to disconnect the call as Laura’s voice faded into the background.
All was quiet outside as Louise Ruth opened the door a crack and gazed out. Moving forward as quietly as she could the Spiridon and Omega followed. The first thing Louise Ruth noticed was Jack lying against one wall, an energy weapon burn on the right hand side of his jacket. There wasn’t a mark on his face and body as he sat forward gasping for a lung full of oxygen.
‘Nice to see you fly boy. What kept you?’ Smiling Jack pulled himself up and dusting off his jacket turned to look at Louise Ruth. Stepping forward he wrapped his arms around her and gave her the longest hug he’d ever given her. With a start Jack pulled back and searching the floor picked up his Webley. Not sure what was happening Louise Ruth took a step towards Jack, incomprehension showing in her eyes.
‘Get out of the way. There’s one of those bastards behind you.’ Turning Louise searched for the enemy behind her but could see anything until Jack fired. The bullet slammed into Omega’s dome, shattering the eye stork and sending him spinning into the wall.
‘I… have… been… damaged… Louise… Ruth… I… can… not… see.’
Jack tried to get a second shot off but Louise Ruth stood in his way. ‘What the hell are you doing? He’s with us.’
‘It’s a Dalek… it’s evil. Whatever it said to you is a lie. I’ve seen this before. Now get out of the way and I’ll kill it.’ She shook her head and holding her arms up blocked Jack’s shot. Taking careful aim he sighted on the grill below the dome and squeezed the trigger.
Chapter Seven - Inside out