The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Resurgence of the Daleks Part 2

It was an ordinary day. Deborah Armstrong didn’t get any of those anymore.

Deborah was having a picnic alongside her family. It was a luscious day. The wind swayed the surrounding trees from side to side, making a howling noise which proved surprisingly peaceful. Children could be heard running and screaming and having fun-Their innocent joy being caught by the air. The grass below them was wet and soggy but that did not matter. The sun above them glistened, projecting itself towards them and making the whole mood of the area feel much more delightful.

Her troublesome younger brother, Anthony, about six years younger than her, sprawled his body out across the blanket they were sitting on so Deborah could not place herself down. Their parents, Ellie and Boris Armstrong, sat beside them, with a jovial expression filling their face. All of them were smiling. The day was just delightful. But this would not be the case for much longer. Things were about to take a turn for the worse.

Suddenly, the bright, vivacious weather transformed itself into endless murkiness. The silky clouds morphed into rain drops, surrounded by dark, moody dust. Ellie and Boris rapidly wrapped up the blanket, leading their two children towards a nearby tree, hunkering down there in order to seek refuge. They stayed there for a while. The sudden shift in weather pattern was peculiar, and unlike any other they had been aware of. Rain drops intensified. Clouds shifted their way through the atmosphere. Wind thrust itself towards the family.

Something appeared from a distance. An unfamiliar shape shrouded in the fog that had surfaced. There was one thing that was for sure: It was not human. Deborah and her family watched on as the being descended towards them. It made a loud whirring noise. Everybody else who was in the park previously vanished. The being continued to shift towards the Armstrong family, causing the Armstrongs to slowly back away.

“Exterminate!” The creature screamed, blasting out a ray of energy, causing Boris Armstrong to transform into a visible skeleton, before dropping to the floor dead. Deborah, Anthony and Ellie screamed as they realised that Boris was dead. But the creature did not stop. It was relentless. Ellie’s tears were stopped by another scream of “Exterminate” and another blast, causing her to suffer the same fate as her husband. Anthony turned towards the creature, and started to run, before being instantly vaporized by the being. Deborah was the only one left standing. The creature did not kill her. It just remained there. Deborah did not run. She was too stricken with fear and grief to do so.

“You killed them! My whole family!” Deborah shouted, tears trickling down her face rapidly. Her words were distorted. She was too shocked to fully speak. “Why did you-?”

“There is no need for them. You shall come with us. You are the Chosen One.”

“I don’t understand! What are you? How could you do that? How could you?”

“There is no need for them. You shall come with us. You are the Chosen One.”

“I don’t understand what you mean! I am not the chosen one of anything. You just killed my family. I need answers. I need answers now.”

A shot blasted towards the Dalek, causing it to instantly disintegrate. Deborah turned around and saw a man in the distance, dressed in a long, edwardian coat and armed with a large silver weapon. The man dropped the weapon to the floor.

“I must correct you.” The man replied. “The only thing you need is a Doctor.”

Resurgence of the DaleksPart 2

“We’ve got 30 seconds to get out of here alive!” Zara screamed, surrounded by thousands of Ogrons in a Dalek Prison. Her and her two allies, Keaton and Patrick, were cornered. In half a minute's time, a bomb was about to detonate itself which would implode the prison with everyone and everything inside of it. The rebels knew that action needed to be taken to escape from the prison alive. 

Zara shot her weapon into the air, causing a part of the ceiling to collapse. Zara, Patrick and Keaton rushed away to avoid a collision with this collapse. The ceiling fell down suddenly, killing around a dozen Ogrons in the process. This gave the rebels a chance to run. Raced down the prison corridor by Ogrons, the three of them eventually reached the TARDIS. Patrick swiftly darted inside, and Zara followed. Keaton remained behind, shooting at the Ogrons, attempting to kill everyone.

But it was no use. Gunfire collided with Keaton’s body. Keaton screamed, falling to the floor. His eyes shut. He was dead. Tears collapsed down Zara’s face, but Patrick pulled her into the TARDIS. They had to get out with their own lives. Patrick slammed the door of the ship closed. Only a mere few seconds later, an explosion could be heard.

“You just left him out there!” Zara protested. “Keaton’s dead!”

“I didn’t see you telling him to get back inside.” Patrick responded. He turned around, and spotted the Doctor’s dead body lying on the floor. “It looks like Keaton is the only casualty. It looks like it’s just the two of us left now.”

“We don’t know how to fly this thing. The only use that strange man had was to pilot this ship and now he’s dead. We’re going to have to work it out ourselves.”

Patrick glared at the controls. “Well, at least we destroyed the prison. We must have eradicated a whole host of Daleks and those ape things.”

Zara groaned. “But we did not achieve anything. We killed all of the prisoners that were held there. We did not find out how the Daleks invaded history. We did not find out how we are going to change things back to the way they used to be. On top of this, Keaton and the Doctor are dead, and the Daleks are aware of the location of the safehouse. I don’t think we’ve achieved anything here today. I think we’ve only made matters worse.”

“You always tend to look on the downside of things. KELM have lost so many. We are the last two standing now, Zara. We may be the ones destined to stop this.”

“The Daleks have won, Patrick. They won a long, long time ago.”

“When did you give up hope? I always thought you were the most promising one here.”

“I thought you said I was pessimistic?” Zara neared the controls, flicking a series of buttons. “We’re going to be trapped inside of this thing, aren’t we?”

“At least we’re not out there. We’ll work out how to pilot this thing. Eventually.”

Suddenly, a Dalek materialised from the corner of the room. Patrick grabbed his weapon and began to shoot at it but the bullets reflected off the edge of the creature. The Dalek exterminated Patrick, causing him to drop to the floor, dead, alongside the body of the Doctor. Zara angrily shot at the Dalek but it was no use. She was soon shot dead too. 

And then they woke up.

Patrick and Zara’s eyes opened simultaneously as they saw the unfamiliar area that surrounded them. They were no longer in the prison facility. Was it a dream? Was any of that real? So many questions floating through their heads. To the side of them, both Keaton and the Doctor-Who were now alive and fully well-plugged into peculiar apparatus attached to the walls. Zara and Patrick were also attached to this same apparatus. 

A Dalek elevated itself into the room. Zara tried to scream, or at least let out a sound, but she could not. It was as if she was unable to communicate. It was like the machine she had been attached to was controlling her. The Dalek continued to shift towards the four of them. They could not move. They could not speak. They could not shout. All they could do was remain there. The Dalek continued to move towards them, raising its weapon.

There were a few moments of unease that followed. The inevitable anxiety of potential extermination encroached the room. The terror of their near death predicament dawned on them all. The many questions and lack of answers that flooded through their heads. It was all too much. The Dalek continued to creep its way towards them, slowly, carefully. The Doctor and the rebels, still plugged into the machines, unable to do anything. All they could do was remain there, helpless. The seconds passed by.

Suddenly, the Dalek shot towards the apparatus that the Doctor was plugged into. A large fuse flooded the equipment. The Doctor leaped out of the machinery. He was able to move now. It seemed he had escaped his temporary paralysis.

“I have a lot of questions.” The Doctor announced. “And I don’t expect you’re going to give me any answers.” He began to stroll around the room, with the Dalek just glaring at him. The rebels, still caught in their machines, were still not helped to escape. “I guess it’s best that I release my friends from those paralysis machines, if that’s okay with you.”

The Doctor raced over to the machines, releasing Patrick, Keaton and Zara, one after the other. He then turned around again to face the Dalek. 

“How come you aren’t exterminating us then? How come you’re just standing there.”

The Dalek did not respond. The Doctor chuckled away to himself for a moment. The others were left in bewilderment; their jaws left hanging open following everything that they had been through. Keaton had died, as had the Doctor seemingly, but they were here. Alive and well. With the Daleks. In an unfamiliar environment.

“What is going on here, Doctor?” Zara asked. “You died. Keaton died.”

“I know we did, Zara, I know. I’ve got a little more on my mind. Many questions floating through my head-You’re not the only ones! Why is the Dalek just standing there? And why were we placed in some massive simulation?”

“I beg your pardon!” Patrick exclaimed loudly. “Did you say a simulation?”

“Of course I said a simulation! Did I stutter? I believe the Daleks placed us in a simulation. They are not in control of the planet Earth, but they programmed our minds to believe that they were. Not sure why yet, and it seems like I’m not going to get an answer anytime soon, but they did. And we were the targets of it all for some reason.”

Keaton was baffled. “I know that I died. I felt it. I know that the Daleks were there! That they invaded history. We at KELM had been fighting them for years. Has my whole life been a lie? Am I really an agent for KELM? How much of our lives are true, Doctor?”

“I’m not sure. There’s no way to tell. Nor is there a way to tell how long we’ve been stuck in there, or why they selected us as their subjects.” The Doctor moved towards the Dalek, and pushed it towards the wall. It went flying. The Dalek screamed as it imploded into flames. “Sorry, I had to do that. It was annoying me how it just stood there. I’m guessing it didn’t kill us on sight because it still needs us for something.”

“I don’t believe this. I don’t believe any of this.”

Zara groaned. “How are we meant to tell what’s fact or fiction? For all we know, that could have been reality and we could be in a simulation now.” Patrick began to chuckle away to himself. “What? What is it? What’s so funny?”

“It’s just all so ridiculous! I must be dreaming. Neither of these worlds are reality because I’m dreaming them. That’s the rational explanation! I’m probably some temp, or some fancy business executive somewhere. There’s probably no such thing as a Dalek.”

“Oh I wish I could say there wasn’t.” The Doctor responded. “I also wish I could tell you that we were dreaming but we’re not. The Daleks want us for something. They chose us for some reason. I’ve got a lot of things to find out. Firstly, I need to know whether you really are intergalactic alien busters like you think you are. Secondly, if you’re not, I need to find out why they chose you as all people. I know why they chose me, I’m sure, because I’ve met them before on countless occasions.”

“That’s what you think!” Patrick remarked.

“Oh, don’t get all cocky on me! I hate cocky! Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, thirdly! Thirdly, I need to find out what the Daleks are up to. They want the four of us for some reason. I need to find out what they want from us.”

“We might not be the only four subjects.” Keaten suggested.

“Oh!” The Doctor exclaimed, realising something. “Oh no.”

“What?” Zara responded. “What are you saying oh no about? Please, I’m not usually the one who asks the questions, as far as I’ve been told, so please don’t make me ask any more.”

“They got her.”

Keaton sighed. “Are we meant to know more than we do? Who do they have?”

“Deborah. Deborah Armstrong.”

“Are we meant to know who that is? Please, just make your sentences longer. We don’t really have much time. We need to get going. We need to solve this.”

“But maybe I have solved it. I always do eventually. There was this woman, her name was Deborah Armstrong. Her family were attacked and killed by Daleks in Hyde Park in 1986. She managed to survive, because I managed to destroy the Dalek before it destroyed her. Except, it didn’t want her destroyed. It wanted her as its prisoner. I don’t know why they wanted her of all people, but they did. Maybe it was because she was strong, and fiesty, and brave, and healthy. Maybe it was because they just chose whoever they felt like.”

“Okay.” Zara briefly remarked. “I’ve never met, or heard of, this Deborah Armstrong person before. From the sounds of it, neither have Patrick or Keaton. How do we connect?”

“I don’t know. I’m guessing, and this is purely an educated guess rather than a definitive answer, that we are the greatest enemies of the Daleks. I’m putting out a guess that we are the greatest threats to their regime, and we are all who we think we are. We were placed in the simulation so the Daleks could figure out how they could remove their opposition-The people with the greatest chance of stopping them.” The Doctor paused for a moment. “They are planning on erasing history, just like they did in the simulation. But next time, they know how they are going to prevent anybody from stopping them.”

Patrick groaned. “So basically, when this happens for real, we’re all screwed.”

“Basically, yeah.”

“Wait a minute!” Zara expressed. “We don’t know who you are. I don’t even know if I can trust you. All of this probably isn’t the truth.”

“Oh, it probably is. Whatever I say will happen usually happens. You’ll see if you decide to stay with me. If we all survive today, do you want to come with me? Travel across the cosmos in my little blue box? Not quite sure where I parked it as I don’t have much recent memory, but it’ll pop up somewhere eventually.”

Keaton tutted. “I don’t think we’ll be wanting to do that. If we are who we think we are after all, we have a vortex manipulator. We can travel anywhere or anywhen we want.”

“At least if you travelled with me, it wouldn’t be cheap and nasty time travel.”

Zara chuckled. “It sounds like you’re a lonely man who is desperate to have friends.”

“Everybody wants friends. But if you’re going to take up that tone with me, then you can do this alone. I’m sure you’re capable enough to survive this, but if you come with me, and help me, then I can guarantee you will. Are you coming with me then?”

Patrick nodded. “It doesn’t seem like we have much choice. I am assuming we’re going to find that Deborah Armstrong person and stop the Daleks.”

“Yes! Deborah Armstrong. The problem is, where would she be?”

“You’re meant to be the one with the answers, Doctor, or so you keep saying, so you should know. I think for starters we should find that ship of yours. It may be a piece of old junk, if it's anything like what it was in the simulation, but it may give us a better chance.”

The Doctor, Patrick, Zara and Keaton rushed through the halls that stood in front of them. There were no doors, or windows, or anything. It was just an endless, blank corridor. After a little while they finally reached a door. The Doctor swung it open. They were now outside. The building itself just appeared aesthetically like any other. There was nothing peculiar or extraordinary about the structure's exterior; only what lay within it. The doors of the building swung open once again. Hoards of Daleks flooded out of the gates. The Doctor signalled his friends to run. The Time Lord and the rebels raced across the bank, as the Daleks approached them from behind. No other people were in sight, just land. Blasts of energy shot towards their way but they managed to avoid the threat of extermination. Patrick alerted them towards a wall, which they all ducked behind. 

“These Daleks are all a bit rubbish.” The Doctor remarked. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed.”

“I still don’t get why they’re not shooting at us.” Zara replied. “I wish I had my weapons so I could exterminate those things. They all deserve to rot in hell.”

“I wish I had my screwdriver. Then, I actually look like I stand a chance of saving the day. I do rely on it too much. I need to find a new way of defeating Daleks. I suggest we face them. Maybe these ones will give us answers. They aren’t going to kill us.”

The Doctor, Patrick, Zara and Keaton ascended from deep below the bank, approaching the mass of Daleks that were ahead of them. 

“You won’t kill us, will you?” The Doctor asked. “Why is that?”

“You are useful.” The Dalek responded. “You will be required for the next stage.”

“I’m assuming that’s the Dalek Invasion of Time. I would have thought our jobs would have been done. Unless of course you’re attempting to test whether we really would be defeated in the climate you produced during the simulation. I am right about all this, aren’t I? We are your greatest threats, and you’re working out how to kill us.”

“KELM have eradicated armies of other alien species, such as Cybermen and Sontarans and Slitheen and Bane. We are the ultimate species however Daleks have still fallen at their hands. We shall destroy the three remaining agents of KELM.”

The Doctor turned towards Patrick. “What does KELM stand for, exactly?”

Patrick shrugged. “I don’t know. Nobody ever knew. It was the name that the founders of the operation gave it. It must have some sort of meaning. It must be an acronym of some kind. Nobody knows what. I think we have a few more pressing mysteries to solve right now.”

“Yes! Sorry, got off track there!” The Doctor said, before addressing the Daleks once again. “You won’t kill us because you want us for stage 2. I’m sorry to break it to you: You are not going to have us for stage 2. Nor are you going to invade history. You are not rewriting history, not one line. Not if I have anything to do with it. Come along, all.”

“We will not hesitate to exterminate you all.” The lead dalek screamed.

“Go ahead then, kill us, because I don’t think you will.”

For a few seconds, there was just silence. Neither of the two sides did anything. There was just silence. Emptiness hallowed through the wind. This standoff continued for a while. It did not show any sign of halting anytime soon. The Doctor stared at the Dalek, deeply, thoroughly. Nothing happened for a while. Just nothing. The rebels stood there in nervous anticipation for what was going to happen next. No shots were fired. No lives were claimed. They all breathed a deep sigh of relief as the Daleks refused to fire.

But this may not have been for too long. From behind them, hordes and hoards of Ogron soldiers approached them, departing from a warehouse on the other side of the bank. They were cornered. The Ogrons were all heavily armoured and geared up with large masses of weaponry. The ape-like beings marched towards the allies.

“Ogrons!” The Doctor remarked. “I haven’t seen the Daleks hire them for a long time.”

“They were in the prison. They were the things that killed me when we were inside of the simulation. I didn’t realise they’d be here too.” Responded Keaton.

“They were probably placed in the simulation, and were awoken when we were. Obviously, our deaths in the simulation caused us to wake up in the real world, as it would have done for the Ogrons. They must have died somehow.”

“Oh yes, the bomb wiped them out.” Zara remarked. “Either way though, we’re screwed.”

The Doctor raised his hands. “We surrender. There’s no need to shoot. We give in. Do what you want with us, but do not kill us. Not now. Please.”

“Wait wait wait, we don’t give in! I know I don’t give in. Kill me. Go on, do it. I know that if you keep me alive, I’ll be used to help you and I don’t want to be the one responsible for the Daleks reigning victorious. Kill me now.”

“It’s best to give in. We can work out a way to get out of this later.”

Patrick sighed. “Is that how it always works? We can’t just wait until later to get out of this. We’ve got to end this right now.” Patrick throttled one of the Ogron soldiers. The other Ogrons did not lift a single finger. The Ogron fell to the ground, as Patrick collected the creature's weapon, swaying it about from side to side as a warning. “If anybody dares move any step closer, I will shoot. You’re going to let us go.”

The Dalek hovered forward. “If you come with us, you can survive. You will be able to prosper. You will be able to continue on. If you rebel, you will be destroyed. We can operate this with or without you. We will not hesitate to crush all forms of resistance.”

“Prove it. Go on, kill me. Go on, prove it. Do i-”

And with that, the Dalek blasted at him mid sentence. Patrick collapsed to the floor. Tears flooded down Zara and Keaton’s faces. There was nothing they could have done about it. There was nothing they could do to rebel. If they ran, they would be handing over their lives. If they did not, they would be forced to aid the Daleks. Patrick had a few ounces of breath left. He tried to speak. Zara and Keaton kneeled down to speak to him. The Doctor, meanwhile, raised his hands in an act of surrender. The Ogrons grabbed him, and then grabbed the two rebels, before they had a chance to say goodbye to the dying Patrick.

“I did good…Didn’t I?” Patrick asked, as the others were dragged away forcefully by the Ogrons. “Make sure you win against them. Win against them in my memory.”

Zara and Keaton both nodded their heads at the same time as they were carried away by the ruthless creatures. The Doctor led the charge. The Daleks were lurking in the distance. They did not follow, for the time being. These Daleks just remained statutory. 

Eventually the three of them, still held tightly by their captors, reached a facility at the other end of the bank. The Ogrons dropped them each on to an empty floor. Zara and Keaton looked at the Doctor, surprised and devastated for the loss of their friend. For them, it appeared they had been defeated. For the Doctor, it appeared they were victorious.

“We leave now.” One of the Ogrons declared. “Dalek masters return for you shortly.”

The doors of the warehouse-like structure opened, and then slammed closed when the Ogrons departed through. All of the Ogrons went together as if they were inseparable. This left the Doctor, Zara and Keaton alone in the room.

“I’m so sorry about Patrick but there was nothing I could do.” The Doctor said, not showing any attempt at trying to escape or find a way out. “His death will not be in vain, I promise you that. We will make sure his death was for a noble cause.”

Zara groaned angrily. “We’ve lost countless fellow agents over the years. His death isn’t the problem here. Now, our survival is the problem. And thanks to you we’re being held in a Dalek prison facility, forced to aid them in their conquest of history. Thanks to you, we will probably all fall under their influence. You got us in this mess, so you will get us out.”

“Alright! Alright! I’ll find a way out, I just haven’t figured out what it is yet, that’s all. We’ve got a lot of problems on our hands. You may be wondering why I surrendered ourselves to the Daleks. You may have thought that was a bit stupid.”

“Just a bit.” Keaton muttered sarcastically.

“The reason is that Deborah must be held in this facility somewhere. If we find Deborah, who the Daleks used to run this simulation, then we can find a way to destroy all their chances of conquering existence. And I think I’ve figured out how we’re going to find her.”

The Doctor leaped off from the floor he had previously been pushed onto, strolled over to the wall and placed his hand through it. This wall was not solid. His hand went right through it. He placed his feet into the wall, and then the rest of his body, causing him to materialise in another room. When he did, he noticed something familiar, or more like someone familiar. It was Deborah. Deborah Armstrong. The person he had been trying to find since he realised she was a key part of the Daleks operation. The Doctor signalled Zara and Keaton to step through the walls too, which of course they did.

“This is Deborah, I assume?” Keaton questioned.

“Yes, this is Deborah!” The Doctor responded. “She may be the key to all of this.”

“So we have to kill her?” Zara assumed. “That’s how we’re going to end this?”

The Doctor turned towards Zara, donning on a sinister, frustrated expression. “No, of course we aren’t going to do that. That’s never the solution. I’m sure that somehow we can manage to wake up, just like we managed to wake ourselves up.”

“We only woke ourselves up by dying inside of the simulation, so I’m assuming we’ll have to wait until she dies in the simulation. If she realises what has been done to her, I’m sure that she will find a way to kill herself.”

The Doctor nodded. “You can’t tell her what happened. You can’t tell her I was looking for her. Darker things happened. Dark things that I haven’t told you. Dark secrets I am hiding.”

“Tell us, Doctor.” Keaton demanded. “Please, you owe us the truth at least.”

“We can’t just wait around until she dies in the simulation. We’ve got to find another way.”

With that, Deborah woke with a fright. She found herself in shock. Her arms were flailing about, despite the fact they were contained, her mind clearly in distress. The Doctor grabbed her by the arm to comfort her. He then pressed a series of buttons which caused her to be released from her bonds. He looked at Zara and Keaton, and smiled.

“I just died.” Deborah declared. “Is this heaven? Or hell? For what I did, I deserve to go to hell. I deserved to die. I needed to die. I needed to escape that place.”

“My name’s the Doctor. These are my friends, Zara and Keaton. What’s your name?”

“I thought you knew each other anyway.” Keaton said, interrupting. The Doctor signalled him to be quiet. Keaton looked confused about the whole matter, but remained quiet anyway. 

“I’m Deborah. Deborah Armstrong. Am I dreaming? Did I really just die?”

The Doctor shook his head. “Oh no, you’re here. This is reality. What you thought was your reality-your life-was only a simulation. You were placed under the effect of a simulation. This is your real life, Deborah. Welcome to the real world.”

“I know my life. I know that I am an agent for the Daleks, and I killed many people.”

“You could say that.” Responded Zara, cheekily, while looking out for any guards.“You were taken by the Daleks and used to run a simulation. If it’s any consolation, me, Zara and Keaton were all caught inside it too.” The Doctor replied. “I don’t know why they chose you. Me and my friends are all enemies of the Daleks. We all know why they want us dead. But you just seem to be an ordinary person.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” Deborah said, lifting herself out of the chair she had been forced to. “I don’t believe a word you're saying. You, a random stranger who calls himself the Doctor tells me my whole life is a lie.”

“We’ve been placed in the same position, if it helps.” Zara replied, comforting Deborah. “We believed that the Daleks had conquered history. The Daleks have been using all of us. We can take them down together. We can destroy all the Daleks on the planet.”

“If none of what I thought was my life was real, how long have I been force fed lies? How long have I been attached to this machinery for?”

“None of us know.” Keaton explained. “We’re guessing it was for quite a while.”

The Doctor moved closer towards Deborah. “I know all this is difficult to take, Deborah. You have entered the world of the extraordinary. You have entered my world against your own will. Don’t worry, that’s not the first time that has happened to somebody.”

“The Daleks, are they real?” Deborah asked.

“Sadly, they are. More real than anything else. You are the key to them conquering this world. They have probably used you as a stratagem to realise their plans in full detail; to try and process all resources they could acquire to make their plot a reality. We need to find out what they’ve done with the data they created during the simulation. And quickly.”

“That information is not something you shall acquire.” A familiar voice echoed. “All Daleks have vanished off the face of the planet. We shall return one day, Doctor, and the plot for the end of existence and the victory of the Daleks will come to pass.”

“I know that voice.” Announced the Doctor. “That’s Davros, the leader of the Daleks.”

“Yes it is, Doctor. You have found a new face. How convenient that I can now recognise it. We shall meet again, Doctor, and then you will have no chance of stopping me.” Following this, the voice cut short. There were no following sounds. The Doctor hurried out of the two rooms ahead of him, out of the door, back onto the bank. There was no sign of the Daleks. They had all vanished. The Doctor sighed in defeat. Zara, Keaton and Deborah all followed.

“Where have all the Daleks gone?” Asked Zara in surprise.

The Doctor suspired. “I don’t know. According to Davros, off the face of the planet. We’ve lost. The Daleks have all they need to conquer history.”“You have your machine.” Keaton remarked. “We can go and hunt them down.”“Do you have any idea how big the universe is? They could be anywhere? Across time, across space, across dimensions. Anywhere! No. We’ll face them again one day. We can be sure of it. There will never be a day when the universe is rid of all Daleks.”

“Could somebody explain to me what is actually going on because I’m lost?” Deborah replied. “I don’t even know where I live. I don’t even know who my family is. I don’t even remember my own past. I think I need to jog my memory somehow.”

The Doctor looked at her in a suspicious manner. “Why don’t you come along with me? I’ve got a machine that can travel across space and time. We could go anywhere or anywhen. I’m sure that’ll be great for that personal journey of recollection that you need to go on.”

Deborah chuckled. “Now I know I must be dreaming. You just speak nonsense.”

The Doctor turned back towards Zara and Keaton. “Well, it seems that’ll be us. No idea where my ship is, but it’ll turn up. Thankyou for your help. Both of you.”

“You’re not really thinking of leaving, are you, Doctor?” Zara asked. “If the Daleks come back here, then we could really do it with your help.”

“If the Daleks come back, then I will come back, I can promise you that. This isn’t the last time we’ll see each other. You’re too interesting for me to let that happen. Make sure you don’t put too much attention on the Daleks though. Make sure you put your minds onto other things. What are you planning on doing next?”

Keaton grinned. “There’s an endless array of opportunities out there for us to explore. I think we’ll be heading off on a journey across the galaxy ourselves in a little while. Our first stop shall be to the Lost Sun.”

“The lost sun? There’s a lot of lost suns out there. Which one are you headed to.”

“It’s quite a remarkable one, Doctor, from what the legends tell. I recommend that you pay it a visit one day. We shall carry on KELM. For Patrick!”

“For Patrick!” Zara repeated, saluting towards the air, which made the Doctor squirm. Zara and Keaton vanished into the distance, leaving the Doctor and Deborah alone on the bank. 

“You can’t be serious about this?” Deborah asked. “You actually have a time machine?”

“It’s more than just a time machine, Mrs Armstrong! It’s a gateway to all the greatest parts of existence. If you come with me, you are going to experience some extraordinary things. You are going to experience death, and love, and life, and tragedy. You are going to feel fear, and joy, and sadness, and anger. You are going to face aliens, and meet people from both the past and the future who are regarded as the greatest minds the universe has ever produced. You are going to be travelling in the TARDIS.”And with that, the TARDIS materialised in front of the Doctor. The familiar little blue box found its way onto the bank, appearing as if from nowhere. Deborah screamed in delight and shock as it appeared in front of her. As the ship stabilised, her jaw was wide open. She was unable to comprehend what she had just seen. The Doctor grinned excitedly.

“Shut up.” Deborah said. “This has got to be one of those optical illusion things.”

“If you think that’s extraordinary, wait till you see what’s going on inside.”

The Doctor clicked his fingers, causing the doors of the TARDIS to swing open. Deborah entered, her jaw still dropped to the ground. The sheer capacity of everything around her. The Edwardian style which contrasted with the futuristic nature of the machine was too much to take. Everything was too much to take. It was all so much to comprehend. The sheer insaness about what she was seeing before she flashed through her eyes. There was no reaction in terms of words. All she did was laugh hysterically.

“What’s so funny? This is my machine. It’s a work of art, you know.”

Deborah grinned at him. “It’s just too much to take. You have to prove to me that this is really a time machine because at the moment I’m not sure if I believe you.”

“Well, you’re going to take that back in a minute.” The Doctor said, flinging down one of the levers on the vast and varied console of the TARDIS. “It’s nice to meet you, Deborah.”

Except he was lying. And he would continue to lie.

The Doctor had met Deborah before. He had seen her family be assassinated by the Daleks. He had saved her from them. For some reason, he was intent on keeping this secret. She did not remember meeting him, and he was intent on keeping it that way.

The Doctor was not a good man anymore…