‘You’re neutralising their alarm,’ David pointed out. ‘Why would they be checking?’
‘They had better be,’ Barlow answered gruffly. ‘My men aren’t trained to rely entirely on electronics. There should be foot patrols as well. The Doctor’s right, we should have heard or seen one by now.’
‘Maybe they’ve been taken out,’ Donna suggested, wishing she didn’t have to be the one to voice what they all clearly felt.
‘We’ll soon find out,’ the Doctor announced. ‘Everybody down.’ They all crawled to finish the journey to the edge of the cutting, and they cautiously looked out at DA‐17.
Donna shuddered as the Doctor uttered the name they had lived in fear of all their lives: ‘Daleks’.
There were a dozen Daleks moving slowly around the opening to the pit. With them were armed men, all wearing bulky helmets of a style she didn’t recognise.
‘What’s going on here?’ Barlow demanded softly. ‘Those men with the Daleks are ours.’
‘Not any longer,’ the Doctor replied grimly. ‘They’ve undergone robotisation. The Daleks have drained their will and personality and replaced them with mental implants that have turned them into robotic slaves. They’re not your men or anyone’s any longer. They’re no longer human, They’re just machines that walk around and do exactly what the Daleks order, without hesitation or question.’
Donna shuddered at the thought. It was too much like the tales of zombies she’d heard as a teenager, and the idea of being an animated corpse with no knowledge of self, or of needs, scared her. It would be a mercy to kill them.
‘What are the Daleks doing, Doctor?’ David asked, trying to make sense of what they were all seeing.
‘Expanding their perimeter,’ the Doctor explained. ‘See those devices on their backs? These Daleks can’t get too far from a source of broadcast power or they die. We’re lucky that this means the vicinity of the Artefact. But they’ve seized Haldoran’s communications equipment, and they’re converting it to their own use. If they can get that to mesh with their own equipment, they’ll be able to travel as far as the horizon – and, if there are any working satellites still left in orbit, probably further. We’ve got to stop them now, before they get that operational. If they’re stuck down a hole, we might be able to contain them, but if they’re on the loose, it could be impossible.’
Barlow nodded his understanding. ‘Then our immediate target is that transmitter,’ he decided. ‘We have to take it out. My job, I think.’
‘Good man,’ the Doctor said approvingly, his grim expression softening a little. ‘But let’s get a little more planning done before you do that.’ He studied the Daleks below, his face tense. ‘It’s obvious that this super‐weapon of theirs was a trap to lure the Master into providing them with the power they needed to restore their systems. There’s obviously some sort of Dalek hatchery in there producing nasty little embryos. And there must be some sort of assembly line producing the casings and computers. Now the organic part is easy enough to obtain, but it’s got to be a lot harder for them to build their shells. Where would they be getting the metal from?’
‘Stockpiled, maybe?’ David suggested. ‘DA‐17 was one of their early constructions when they came to Earth, so they could have built up quite a reserve down there.’
‘I’m not so sure of that,’ the Doctor answered. ‘They really didn’t have the time or the resources during the invasion to mine and stock enough metals.’
Barlow had been examining his map, and he grunted, and pointed to the drawing. ‘The pit was built close to an abandoned mine, Doctor,’ he said. ‘It was shut down because raw ore wasn’t yielding much metal – using human technology.’
The Doctor grinned. ‘But Dalek technology is much more sophisticated and efficient. That could be it exactly.’ He studied the map, and gestured to a spot close to where they were. ‘Is this old entrance still accessible, do you think?’
Barlow shrugged. ‘I couldn’t say. But it might be a back door to that installation.’
‘Which is precisely what we need right now,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘We’ll have to work on the assumption that it is, and check it out. If we can get behind the Daleks, I’m sure there’s something I’ll be able to do to mess up their plans.’
‘All right, Doctor,’ Barlow agreed. ‘I presume you’d like us to wait before we strike the Daleks here.’
‘I’d appreciate that,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘The ones below in the complex are bound to try to strike back when you attack. It might give us the chance we need.’
Barlow nodded, but gestured at the work in progress. ’Very well, Doctor. But we can’t wait too long. If the Daleks get that power broadcaster up and running, they’ll be free, and I can’t chance that.’
‘Understood.’ The Doctor favoured him with a smile. ‘Good luck, Barlow.’ He looked at David and Donna. ‘I can’t ask either of you to accompany me.’
‘My wife’s down there,’ David said simply. ‘I’m not deserting her.’
‘And I was planning on taking a stroll that way anyway,’ Donna answered. Then she held her hand out to Barlow.
He glanced at it, and then at her. ‘Am I supposed to kiss it, or what?’
‘There’s another portion of my anatomy you can kiss,’ she snapped. ‘You promised me weapons if there turned out to be Daleks. And there are.’
Barlow grinned. ‘I’d gladly give you a gun, but, as the Doctor pointed out, they’re not much use against Daleks.’
‘That grenade launcher would be.’
He looked surprised. ‘Sorry, but I need it here.’ Then his face softened. He unfastened a thin belt he wore, which had a pouch attached to it. ‘The best I can do,’ he told her. ‘Hand grenades. Only three, but…’ He shrugged.
Donna nodded, and took the pouch. ‘Better than none,’ she agreed. ‘Thanks, Barlow. If we survive this, I owe you one.’
He smiled again. ‘If we don’t, you’ll still owe me one. Only it’ll be a bit harder to collect. Get out of here before I have to attack those Daleks.’
Donna fell in behind the Doctor and David as they moved back down the hill. They’d have to skirt around to find the entrance to the old mine. After that, who could guess how long it would take to find their way through the workings to where the Daleks had their shaft. If the Doctor’s guess was correct. For all they knew, the Daleks might be doing something entirely different.
‘Is this a hopeless quest?’ she demanded.
‘There’s always hope,’ the Doctor assured her. ‘After all, haven’t you just found another man who kept his promise to you?’
Donna glanced down at the pouch she wore. ‘Yes, I suppose I did.’ For some reason, that made her feel better. ‘Wow. The two men in the universe who keep their promises, and I’ve met both of them. Lucky me.’
‘Three,’ the Doctor said, indicating David. ‘He promised to stick with my granddaughter for better or worse, and he’s doing it.’ David looked slightly uncomfortable at this, but said nothing.
‘Three,’ Donna said. ‘My cup runneth over. Where were any of you when I had to get married?’
‘Oh, I was out saving the universe,’ the Doctor answered with a grin. ‘Probably.’
David just smiled faintly.
‘The last time I saw Susan,’ he began, ‘she suggested getting a divorce to resolve our age problem, and I got angry with her. What if I never get the chance to say I’m over it, that I’m not mad any more?’
The Doctor laid a hand on his arm. ‘I’m sure she knows that.’
‘Probably,’ David answered. ‘But I’d like her to hear it from me anyway.’
Smiling, the Doctor nodded his understanding, and continued to lead the way through the trees. His sonic screwdriver kept up a tinny hum, in case the Daleks were using the perimeter alarms.
What are our chances? Donna wondered. Then she decided she really didn’t want to know. The odds had to be in favour of their all dying in this insane attempt. But what else could they do? The Daleks couldn’t be allowed to live. This was their only chance of stopping them. The Doctor was right – compared with this menace, the feuding between the Domains was pointless and petty. Right now, they were all humans – and two aliens – against the Daleks.