The Master’s earlier words sank in. ‘A matter transmuter… of course,’ breathed Susan.
‘Alter molecular structure on a very basic level,’ agreed the Master. ‘With such a device, they could simply continue to mine worlds that they owned and transmute whatever they had into whatever they needed.’
‘And that’s the device?’
‘It is.’ The Master chuckled to himself. ‘Couple their device with the power of a TARDIS and the navigational control systems I possess…’ He shrugged. ‘Then… whatever I wish will be mine.’
‘Or?’ Susan braced herself.
‘Well… I could change all of the hydrogen in a star’s core to iron, for example. If that happened, the star would go nova, taking with it any planets in its system.’
‘And you’ve unleashed the Daleks on Earth again just for that?’
‘Just for that, my dear?’ laughed the Master, heartily ‘Come now. What is the Earth to me? As far as I’m concerned the Daleks are welcome to it.’
Susan glared at him. She managed to stagger back to her feet, despite the pain. ‘Earth is my home,’ she said coldly. ‘The people the Daleks will kill are my friends.’
He shook his head slightly. ‘Then if I were you, I’d cultivate some new acquaintances elsewhere.’ Something clearly occurred to him. ‘But in the meantime, I think you’d better come along with me,’ the Master decided. ‘A hostage might well turn out to be helpful, especially if the Doctor manages to poke his nose in, as usual.’
‘The Doctor?’ Susan was stunned. ‘He’s here? On Earth?’
‘You know him?’ The Master’s eyes narrowed.
He didn’t suspect how much, then. Good. ‘I was with him in the TARDIS for a while,’ she said. ‘He always promised to come back and see me one day. I was starting to think he wouldn’t keep his word.’
The Master snorted. ‘He always keeps his promises, my dear. It’s one of his least likable traits.’
Susan grimaced. ‘And you, I take it, don’t?’
‘No.’ He gestured with the hand that held the gun. ‘So I won’t bother telling you that the only way for you to stay alive is to precede me. I wouldn’t want to give you false hope.’
The burning in her hand was starting to die down now. Susan realised she’d been very lucky. The bullet had only grazed her, and the wound was thickened with hardening blood. She concentrated on ignoring the pain and walked stiffly ahead of her captor. The Master slipped the gun into one of his pockets and took out a small rod instead.
‘That’s better,’ he said. ‘Now that we’re a little closer, I prefer to use this. It’s a Tissue Compression Eliminator.’
Susan glared into his face, and there was no fear in her eyes now. ‘The Doctor will get you,’ she promised.
‘He’ll try to, certainly,’ the Master agreed cheerfully. ‘And, you know, I’m rather counting on it. It will make taking the transmuter a lot more satisfying if he knows I’ve got it – and you.’ He gestured down the empty corridor. ‘Now, let’s go back to my TARDIS, shall we? Then we can go for a little journey…’
The Black Dalek glided about the control room, watching the displays and the technicians at work. ‘Report,’ he ordered the duty officer.
‘Transmuter countdown is at point four units,’ it reported. ‘Targeting is complete. Work on the human communications device is proceeding well, and should be completed in less than one time unit.’
‘Acceptable,’ the Black Dalek decided. ’As soon as the work is finished, send more Daleks to the surface. More humans must be located and robotised to aid us in our work.’
‘The power flow from the humans has been cut,’ the Dalek reported. ‘We are now relying on stored power.’
‘It is of no importance,’ the Black Dalek stated. ‘We have sufficient for our current needs. Shortly, we shall re‐establish the link.’ It moved on to one of the technicians. ‘Prepare to send a signal to Skaro,’ it ordered. ‘Inform them that we have been activated and are moving to reactivate further sites. Once this is done, Skaro is to send reinforcements, so that Earth can be retaken. Send the signal as soon as the communications array is converted.’
‘I obey.’
The Black Dalek moved on to study a map of the surrounding area. The humans had begun to regain their world, but this would not last. There were other hidden Dalek factories scattered about the globe. As soon as the human communications array was working, a signal could be transmitted to each factory, preparing them for reawakening. All they would need would be power input, and that could be transferred using the broadcast power from this site.
If the device worked within parameters, then every human on Earth would be eradicated. The centres of habitation were already targeted. All carbon atoms within the target area would be transmuted into uranium. All life within human habitations would be exterminated. The units that resisted transmutation would be killed by the radioactivity. Only the Daleks would survive.
The final end of human rule over Earth would soon be brought about.
‘This must be it,’ the Doctor said, examining the tunnel into the small hillside. ‘Deep and dark. A wonderful combination.’
David took a small but powerful torch from his pocket. ‘I was a boy scout once,’ he said with a grin. ‘This should help.’
Donna looked from one to the other. They were both acting as though this was a jaunt in the park, and not potentially the end of the human race. Still, it was one way of coping with the stress. The thought that if they failed they might be dooming humanity to extinction did nothing to steady her own nerves. She could only pray that the Doctor’s hunch was correct.
The mine was still in surprisingly good shape, considering. It had been abandoned at the turn of the century. There was a door across the entrance that was locked. Barlow had given David a gun, and he simply shot the lock clean off. Inside, Donna could see that the tunnel was still passable. Most of the equipment had been pulled out when the place had been abandoned, but there was still some debris littering the place. Light fixtures hung at regular intervals down the walls, but there was nothing to power them with.
The entrance shaft led to two descending shafts, both of which had been boarded over. The tunnel then split into two a short distance further on. Donna stood at the top of the shafts and sighed. ‘Four possible ways,’ she said. ’And there are no lifts left installed. We’d never get down there, Doctor.’
‘Don’t be such a defeatist,’ he cautioned. ‘Where there’s a will, and all that.’ He cupped a hand to one ear. ‘In any case, there’s no need for us to go down.’ He gestured at the tunnel leading left. ‘That’s our way.’
‘How can you be so sure?’ asked David.
The Doctor smiled, and whispered, ‘I have extremely acute hearing. There’s machinery being operated down that way, and since there are no humans here, that leaves only Daleks as the possible culprits, wouldn’t you say?’
‘I don’t hear a thing,’ Donna protested.
‘You won’t for a few minutes,’ the Doctor informed her. ‘But it’s there, take my word for it. Come on.’ He led the way.
This was not Donna’s idea of fun. The tunnels were dank and claustrophobic, and, despite David’s torch, pretty dark. She was also starting to worry about tunnel collapse, and realised she’d be more than glad to get out of this place – even if it was into a Dalek Artefact.
As the Doctor had promised, she began to hear the faint sound of machinery ahead of them. It was pounding and pulsing, some kind of excavator, no doubt. Once again, the Doctor had been proven correct in his guesses. He was either the luckiest person she’d ever met or else the smartest. Most likely, she decided, a combination of the two.
The Doctor gestured for silence, even though none of them had been talking for a while. No doubt the importance of their mission was occupying their minds, too. They moved on more cautiously, finally coming to a new tunnel. That this had to be a Dalek one was obvious – it was rounded, with a flattened path along the floor, and it cut through the human‐made tunnel at an angle. The Doctor turned and entered the Dalek tunnel without hesitation.