Space (Doctor Who)

Space is the eighth episode of the first series of Doctor Who produced by The 56Studios. It features the first full appearance of the Daleks.

Story
Orange emergency lights flashed in the semi-light of the base. They glinted off the silver metal floors. A rhythmic siren echoed down the corridors. Scraps of bronze metal littered the ground in some areas of the base.

Things continued like this for a time, the noise repeating over and over again. Slowly, however, a new sound filled the air, echoing through the miles of corridors. It was a wheezing noise, becoming louder and louder.

In the doorway of a near-empty room, the TARDIS materialized into existence, its light piercing and illuminating the darkness around it.

After a few moments, the door opened, and two figures emerged from the glare.

“What is this place?” Clara asked, stepping onto the metal floor and crossing her arms. “It’s cold.”

The Doctor ran his hand across the metal door frame. “I don’t know. This construction is very peculiar.”

“Did the TARDIS give any indication of where we landed?” she asked, looking into the room.

“No. Something’s interfering with the readings.”

Clara looked at him before stepping into the room. She was inspecting a strange scrap of melt on the floor when something caught her eye. Looking up, she gasped, her heart skipping a beat.

“Doctor!” she yelled, pointing ahead of her.

Looking at her, the Doctor followed her gaze and saw it. His eyes widened. A Dalek was sitting in the corner of the room, looking off to the side. It wasn’t moving.

He watched it for a moment before his eyes narrowed. Slowly, he approached it.

Clara watched him, standing against the wall. “Doctor-?”

Ignoring her and continuing his approach, the Doctor reached out his hand towards the inanimate Dalek. Grabbing the eyestalk, he shoved it, where it spun dully to the other side, tapping the wall as it did. It stayed still.

“It’s dead,” he stood up.

Clara breathed a sigh of relief before joining the Doctor, although staying back a few feet, apparently afraid that it would suddenly come to life. But the Doctor clearly wasn’t worried, instead stepping away from her and walking to the other side of the room. The woman, watching the casing for a moment, followed.

“How did it die?” she asked as he picked up a scrap of metal.

Dropping the metal, he looked at her before crossing the room back to the Dalek. Grabbing it with both hands, he turned it to reveal a large black hole in the side of its shell. There were charred, gooey remains inside. Producing the Sonic Screwdriver, he scanned the insides of it. He held up the device to see the readings.

“What happened?” Clara tried to glimpse the results.

“Blaster,” he replied, pocketing the screwdriver again. “Killed it instantly.”

“I thought that was impossible?” she said, taking a step closer. “Shouldn’t it?”

“Obviously it’s possible,” he replied. “But it shouldn’t be.”

“What’s a Dalek doing here?” the woman asked.

“You mean ‘what are several Daleks doing here,’” he bent down and picked up what appeared to be a Dalek eyestalk. “We are not the first foreigners in this base.”

Clara crossed her arms. “What’s special about this place? Why are there dead Daleks everywhere?”

The Doctor looked at her for a moment before dropping the eyestalk. Placing his hands behind his back, he strode across the room to one of the walls. He ran his hand across it again. He inspected several metal pipes that covered it.

“The construction here seems almost… human. Twentieth Century, probably. Highly archaic,” he pronounced.

“Were there Daleks on Earth in the Twentieth Century?”

“Oh yes. Many times,” he answered, which caused her to jump. “But nothing like this. Of course, we may not even be on Earth.”

Clara watched him before a lever on the far wall caught her eye. It was next to a large rectangular indent. Crossing to it, she rested her hand upon it and pulled down. There was clunking of gears before, with a loud grinding noise, the indented metal ascended upwards, revealing a window. The woman stepped in front of it, joined by the Doctor.

“Interesting,” the Doctor said, stroking his chin.

“Amazing,” Clara smiled.

An infinite expanse of blue was before them, a sandy floor below them. They were in submarine base, hundreds of feet under the surface of the water. Rays of light shone in from above, glistening through the ocean.

“This is incredible!” she said exuberantly.

“An underwater base with the remnants of Daleks destroyed by entities unknown?” the Doctor walked up to the glass and placed his hand on it. “This is certainly better than most of our adventures.”

“Are we on Earth?” Clara asked. “The water looks strange.”

“No,” he replied. “Unless we’re at the end of the world.”

Turning, he strode away from the glass and across the room. Clara followed. They came to a door, and pulling a lever, forced it open. It ground its way upwards and out of sight, revealing a long hallway illuminated only by the yellow flashing lights. It was eerie and caused hesitation. The Doctor walked forward, and after a second, Clara did the same.

Their footsteps echoed as they walked, distorted by the continuing blaring of the alarm.

“Can’t we stop that?” she asked.

He stopped and looked at her before retrieving the Sonic Screwdriver. He held it towards the ceiling and activated it. There was a soft hum from it before the lights suddenly cut out and the wailing went silent. They stood in darkness for a moment; their only light the device. A second later, strip LED lights flared into life, casting them in white. The metal gleamed brightly.

“That’s not right,” the Doctor said, looking up.

“They look modern,” she replied. “Actually, a little futuristic.”

“The lights are sophisticated,” the Doctor scanned a line of them. “But the rest of the construction is archaic.”

“What does that mean?” Clara crossed her arms as she got a shiver.

He pocketed the Screwdriver again. “It means that this base was built a long time ago, and has since been restored for another purpose.”

“And what would that be?”

“That’s what we have to find out.”

He turned on his heel and continued walking forward, accompanied by his companion. They traveled down the corridor for a while, before they reached an intersection. They decided to turn to the right.

“How big is this place?” Clara asked. “It’s like a maze.”

The Doctor held the screwdriver in front of him and activated it. After a few seconds he retracted it. “Impossible to tell. There’s some kind of interference.”

“Could it be these thick metal walls?” she ran her hand across the rough surface.

“It shouldn’t be,” he said. “But it is possible.”

They walked for some time before turning a corner. They rounded it before coming to an abrupt halt. Standing completely still, they breathed very shallowly. The bronze casing of the Dalek gleamed in the light. It was facing down the corridor before turning around. Its blue eye fell on them. The iris closed as it watched them.

“HUMANOIDS DETECTED!” it said, the bulbs on top of its dome flashing. “HUMANS WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

The Dalek began rolling towards them. Its gun moved to train on them.

The Doctor saw it. “Run!”

Grabbing Clara hand, he turned and ran down the corridor back the way they came, dragging her with him. Behind them, the Dalek continuing rolling forward.

“EXTERMINATE!”

A beam of blue energy shot from its gun. The Doctor and Clara ducked as it flew over their heads, hitting the wall. Firing again, the blast nearly hit the woman, causing her to stumble to the side. Yet, they kept running, and the Dalek continued pursuing. It fired again, hitting the ceiling this time, causing a light to blow out.

“EXTERMINATE!” it screamed again.

Another bolt of the deadly weapon flew past them, and another, and another. They wove between the beams of light as they became more and more accurate. Sparks rained down upon them as the Dalek’s blasts hit the walls and ceiling. One beam came so close to Clara that she felt the heat radiating from it.

The Doctor grabbed Clara’s hand again as they reached an intersection, dragging her to the right. The Dalek followed. It continued firing, yelling after them.

“HALT! YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

Never stopping, they ran faster, desperately trying to outpace their attacker. It didn’t appear to work, however, as the Dalek sped up to continue its pursuit.

“EXTERMINATE!”

Turning another corner, the Doctor and Clara ran forward before skidding to a halt. A large circular door stood before them. It was newer than the rest of structure, but had a very analog locking mechanism, which was several dials like that of a safe. Quickly, the Doctor rushed over to it and tried to guess the combination.

The Dalek was still coming. “Hurry!” Clara urged, standing as close to the Doctor as she could.

“I’m aware!” he replied, furiously trying different sequences. “It’s rusted out!”

“INTRUDERS WILL BE EXTERMINATED!” the Dalek cried as it rolled down the corridor. “EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”

The Dalek turned the corner and stopped. They turned and watched it as it scanned them.

“HALT. YOU ARE NOT A HUMAN,” it rolled closer to the Doctor and extended its plunger arm towards him. “YOU ARE NOT HUMAN. IDENTIFY YOURSELF.”

He looked at it for a moment before answering.

“I’m the Doctor.”

The Dalek rolled back a few paces.

“THE DOCTOR? THE ENEMY OF THE DALEKS?” it seemed to gasp. “THE ENEMY OF THE DALEKS WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

“Hang on!” the Doctor held out his hand. “Don’t go exterminating me just yet. I have something to tell you.”

It stopped. “EXPLAIN.”

“Don’t you want to know what happened to the Emperor?” he bluffed.

The drone watched him before responding. “THE EMPEROR IS DEAD. THERE IS ONLY THE SUPREME DALEK.”

The Doctor was taken aback by this. “Yes, but do you want to know what happened?”

“THIS IS IRRELEVANT,” the Dalek replied. “YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

Raising its gunstick, it aimed it at him. He and Clara took a step back.

“EXTERMINATE-!”

There was a clang as a metal cylinder attached itself to the side of its casing. It turned and tried to get a look at the device.

“WHAT IS THI-?”

The canister suddenly exploded in a flash of light. Arches of energy shot from it and wrapped themselves around the Dalek. It screamed as it body began to break apart, turning to dust which in turn flew towards where the cylinder had been.

Shielding Clara, the Doctor watched as the light acted as a gravity well, pulling the Dalek apart and sucking the pieces in a ball of light.

In another blast of the light, the Dalek was gone, replaced by a crumpled ball of metal lying on the ground. Letting the woman go, the two of them slowly approached the ball when three figures appeared from around the corner. They were all wearing combat armor, which seemed to be very worn and damaged. They also all carried some kind of high-tech assault weapons.

They aimed them at the two.

“Who the hell are you?” the lead one, a man, asked.

“I could ask you the same,” the Doctor said as Clara raised her hands.

“This is our base,” another, a woman, said. “You’ll answer first.”

The Doctor glared at her. “You first.”

“What kind of game are you playing at?” the last one, another man, raised an eyebrow. “Answer the damn question!”

Clara stepped forward. “I’m Clara Oswald and he’s the Doctor. We’re just passing through.”

The Doctor looked at her before sighed. “Yes,” he nodded. “Just passing through.”

The three exchanged glances.

“How did you get in here?” the lead one inquired.

The Doctor chuckled, putting his hands behind his back. “That is not any of your business. Plus, I doubt you could even begin to comprehend it.”

“Insulting their intelligence is not going to help, Doctor,” Clara said.

“She’s right,” the woman replied.

“Do I look like I care about your feelings?” the Doctor asked. “Because I don’t.”

“Evidently,” the other man adjusted his weapon.

The lead one shook his head. “He’s stalling,” he trained his gun at the Doctor’s chest. “Answer the question: how did you get here?”

Glaring at them, the Doctor didn’t respond. Watching him, Clara did.

“We have a ship.”

They narrowed their eyes. “What kind of ship?” the woman asked.

“It’s a very complex ship,” he replied. “Unlike you’ve ever seen in your life-.”

“Is it a big blue box?” the third one cut across him.

The two of them looked with wide eyes at him. The three of them exchanged glances again.

“It’s him,” the lead one said. “It’s the Forsaker and the TARDIS. He’s returned.”

“…You know us?” Clara managed to say, still surprised.

“You don’t remember?” the woman said. “You left us to die when the Daleks invaded.”

“Whatever you think we did,” the Doctor stepped forth. “We didn’t.”

The lead one thought for a moment. “You’re going to come with us.”

“We are not,” the Doctor replied.

“That wasn’t rhetorical,” he trained his weapon again. “That was an order. Move. Now.”

The two men stared off before Clara grabbed the Doctor’s arm.

“Don’t do this,” she said softly. “Don’t.”

He broke his gaze with the man and turned to her. She stared at him with her large brown eyes. He looked at her for a moment before nodded.

“Fine.”

The woman smirked. “Come along, Doc.”

The three soldiers led them through the maze of corridors. Once or twice, the Doctor considered making a run for it, but they were watching them closely, like they knew what they were capable of. They knew them, for sure, but he had no idea how. He was sure that he never met any of them in his life.

Eventually, they arrived on another large circular door, but this one was in better shape than the other, and the dials of the locking mechanism seemed to actually function.

They stopped at it, and the woman walked up to the dials and began turning them in a specific combination. After she finished, there was a loud clunking noise as unseen gears in the wall turned. The door rolled away into the wall to reveal three more soldiers with their guns ready. When they saw their comrades, they lowered them weapons.

One, a young man, stepped forward towards the lead man, his eyes darting between him and the Doctor and Clara.

“Who’re they, Darren?” he asked.

“We need to bring them to the Captain,” Darren replied.

“You know I can’t allow anything through the port with an explanation,” the man stood firm.

Darren sighed and leaned forward, his voice a whisper. “He’s the Forsaker,” he indicated the gray-haired man.

The young man’s eyes widened as he realized that his colleague was right. Stepping aside, he allowed them through. Darren nodded, and led the other four of his party through the circular door. After they entered, the young man pressed a button on the wall, and the barrier rolled back into position, a loud noise signifying that it was locked again.

They walked through another long corridor before coming to another door. This one merely had a button next to it. The woman stepped forward again and pressed it. It rolled away, and the Doctor and Clara were blinded by a suddenly burst of light. They couldn’t adjust to it, however, as they were forced forward towards the opening a moment later.

Once across the threshold, their eyes became acclimated to the light, and they saw that they were in a massive room. In the room were hundreds of army cots, creating long aisles. There were also several tables with what appeared to be supplies lining the walls.

Among these things were hundreds of men, women, and children. Their clothes were also worn and dirty, like they had been used down for many years.

Upon their entry, all eyes turned on the two of them.

“What is this?” Clara asked, watching their faces. They looked… hopeless.

“The fruit of your labor,” the third man said cryptically.

The Doctor turned on him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just what he said,” a man’s voice echoed through the room.

Turning, they saw an older man, wearing a long gray coat, approaching them. His clothes seemed slightly less worn, signifying a position of authority. The Doctor eyed him as he came to a stop in front of them. He placed his hands on his hips and came face-to-face with the Time Lord.

“Hello, Forsaker,” he said, no emotion on his face. “Good to see you finally came back.”

“I have completely no clue what you people are on about.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Have you really forgotten that quickly?”

“I’m sorry,” Clara interjected. “What do you mean ‘Forsaker’?”

“Exactly what I said,” he replied. “He’s the Forsaker.”

“Who are you, exactly?” the Doctor said with his brow furrowed.

The man chuckled. “You’ve even forgotten me. Incredible.”

His rage was burning in his eyes. “You do not want to toy with me.”

He watched him for a moment before responding. “I’m the Captain. I’m in charge here.”

“Do you have a first name? Or a real name?” the Doctor said.

“I do, but I’m not going to tell you, Doctor.”

The group around them broke out in laughter. He scowled.

“I really don’t have time for this,” he growled. “I should be moving on.”

The Captain stopped laughing and his expression became serious again. “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen, Forsaker. You’re not leaving here for a very, very, long time.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” the Doctor asked. “Who have I forsaken?”

“All of us,” the Captain gestured to the massive crowd of people. “You forsook all of us. When the Daleks invaded twenty years ago, you were there. You helped fend off the Daleks for a short time and shepherd us into this forsaken place to die. That’s why we call you the Forsaker.”

The Doctor stood speechless for a moment.

“Why?” he finally said. “Why did I leave?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” the Captain replied.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor shook his head.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” the Captain spat. “You’re the one who did it. You have to remember.”

“I don’t!” the Time Lord exploded, stepping forward, forcing the man to step back. The soldiers tensed.

“Don’t you see? I obviously don’t know what is going on! Just because you have seen me before does not mean that I have seen you before!”

“That makes no sense-.”

The Doctor viciously cut across him. “I am a time traveler! Maybe your finite mind can’t understand that but it is the truth!”

Silence fell after he finished talking. Everyone watched him closely. Clara stood still, her eyes wide.

“Put them in the holding cell,” the Captain said after a few minutes.

The three who had brought them in stayed still. The Captain looked at them, his expression becoming more animated.

“Darren. Alina. Haru,” he barked. “Bring them to the holding cell. Now.”

Coming alive, the three of them ushered the Doctor and Clara away from the large room towards a door in the wall. As they marched, the Doctor watched the Captain. The man glared at him before walking away.

The two of them had been brought into the cramped cell. Clara sat on the singular cot while the Doctor paced the room with his hands under his chin.

“Couldn’t we use the Sonic Screwdriver to get out of here?” the woman inquired.

“I could, but I don’t want them to take it. I could use it later.”

“We need it now,” she argued.

He shook his head. “I’m not giving it up.”

“How could we have been here before?” Clara asked.

“I said,” he leaned against the wall. “Isn’t it obvious? A future version of us traveled here in the past and got involved in events.”

“If that’s true,” she said. “Then why didn’t we stop the Daleks when they first arrived? Wouldn’t we have done that?”

“Have you learned nothing from our travels?” he turned to her, “Have you learned nothing about the timeline?”

She stared blankly at him. He groaned before turning and standing before her.

“In the past, our future selves arrived, most likely realizing where they were. They already knew what happened because of events that transpire now. They already knew that they had to leave the people here behind, because in the future I’m called the Forsaker, because he left them behind. They knew they had to leave, because of what we’re seeing now.”

“That makes no sense.”

“We had leave because we had already saved them in the future,” he summarized.

“So we’re left to pick up the pieces that our future selves left behind?”

“It seems so.”

She crossed her arms. “If I ever meet her, I’m going to have words.”

“Meeting yourself in such a way will destroy the time continuum.”

“I was being facetious,” she scowled.

He shrugged. “How was I supposed to know?”

Shaking her head, she continued. “What do we do now?”

“Considering what we do here determines what we do in the future, and whatever we find out, we have to be careful,” he said. “We have to tread lightly, but we also have to destroy the Daleks.”

“So what?”

“I don’t know.”

There was movement outside the cell. Looking, they saw one of the guards step into the light. He looked confused.

“Is what you said true?” he asked. “Are you really time travelers?”

“Yes,” the Doctor said, stepping forward. “It is very true.”

“How?”

“I’m a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey. I’m over two-thousand years old, and I’m the only one who will destroy the Daleks and save you and your people.”

The Doctor looked through the bars, only inches away from the guard’s face. His pale blue eyes shone like fire.

“Now. I want to see the Captain.”

“Forsaker,” the Captain approached the cell. “What do you want?”

“I want the story. I want to know what happened when I was first here. I don’t want all the major details, but I do want to know what I’m up against here if we have any hope of winning.”

The man watched him for a moment before laughing loudly. The Doctor scowled at him, his eyes blazing.

“This is not a joke!” the Doctor growled. “I want to help. I can’t speak for the sins of the past – or future – but I can speak for the now, and now I want to help you. I want to help defeat the Daleks.”

“After what I’ve seen,” the Captain said. “I should have you two shot.”

“That won’t solve anything,” he replied. “That would only add to the bloodshed. I want to help. You just have to trust me.”

He looked at him, eye to eye.

“Please.”

The Captain stared at him. They stared at each other for a long time, neither moving. Around them, Clara and the other soldiers watched in suspense.

Finally, the Captain took a deep breath.

“Fine.”

The Doctor, not expecting this answer, did react for a moment. But, as it set in, he smiled broadly.

“This is the planet Epser. The year is 4783. Twenty years ago,” the Captain said as they sat on the creates in a circle. “You arrived inexplicably. You, her, and another girl. Shortly thereafter, the Daleks attacked. They filled the skies, raining fire down upon us. Thousands died. You tried to save as many of us as you could, evacuating us to this underwater base.

“You tried to stave off the Daleks for some time, but then, you left, abandoning us here. You forsook us, leaving us to die.”

“What did I do to stave off the Daleks?”

“You nearly killed the Supreme Dalek as it ordered an attack on us. It gave us enough time to escape underground. But, after that, you were gone.”

The Doctor stroked his chin.

“So that’s where my involvement has to end,” he said. “Good to know.”

“What’s so special about this place?” Clara asked.

“The Daleks can’t scan in here. They also can’t send or receive transmissions in here. It’s the ideal place,” the Captain explained. “Daleks do come down here, as you’ve seen, but we make sure to destroy them before they can get back to the surface.”

“How did you destroy that one, by the way?” he inquired.

“Gravity Grenade,” he smiled. “Our people developed it three years ago. Creates what is essentially a black hole. Works great when it comes to Daleks.”

“Clever,” the Doctor said.

“Yes, but it’s not a permanent defense. Our resources will run out eventually, and the Daleks will inevitably exterminate us.”

Sitting there, the Doctor looked at his hands before standing up. Everyone else did the same. He turned and exited the circle. He began walking towards the door, his strides long.

“Doctor?” Clara asked. “What are you doing?”

“Going to confront the Daleks. I thought that was obvious?” the Doctor reached the corridor, his following growing by the second.

“What?” most of them gasped.

“Are you serious?” Darren said.

“That’s basically suicide!” Alina exclaimed.

“It can’t be suicide if I’m able to be here in the future. I literally cannot die if our current circumstance is a consequence of it.”

“Time can be rewritten,” Clara said. “You could die here and everything will be erased.”

“That’s a risk I’ll have to take,” he replied.

He reached the door. The Doctor moved to press the button when Clara stopped him. He looked up at him with her piercing brown eyes.

“Doctor, please,” she said. “You can’t do this. You have no idea what you’re walking into.”

“I’ve been inside Dalek installations before. This would not be the first time,” the Doctor smiled. “This won’t be my last.”

She stared at him for a moment. “Let me come with you, then.”

“No,” he said.

“Doctor, please,” Clara begged, stepping closer. “Please.”

“No,” he repeated, firmly.

“I can help-.”

“You’re always telling me that I have to be the Doctor, and now that I’m trying to be the Doctor, you’re arguing,” the Doctor said, his face becoming angry. “If you want to travel with me, you will do as you are told!”

The two stared at each other. The woman shook slightly as tear glistened in her eyes. After a moment, he pressed the button. Clanking, the door rolled away behind him, and he was gone.

Clara watched the door close, tears streaking down her face.

The surface was desolate. The sky was dark. Bombed-out shells of buildings stood as a reminder of the costs of war. Skeletons of the fallen littered the ground alongside the remnants of the civilization.

Rubble crunched underneath his feet as he walked over it. Pulling out the Sonic Screwdriver, he scanned the area. The casings of Daleks stood dead in the streets.

Clara needed to decide what she wanted from him. Ever since he had regenerated, she had been hounding him to ‘be the Doctor’. Yet, now that he was doing exactly what he knew the Doctor would do, she was objecting. She needed to let him be the Doctor if she that’s what she wanted.

On the other hand, he knew that Clara was just trying to help. She always did. But, he knew that he couldn’t bring her with her to the Dalek base. He couldn’t. He couldn’t risk her safety like that.

Climbing over a large block of stone that had fallen from a nearby building, he stood and looked over the desolation. The city was completely destroyed, any sign of civilization charred and forgotten. He looked down and sighed. It wasn’t the first time he had seen a city left like this by the Daleks.

Hopping down from the block, he landed with a thud and continued walking. He stepped over broken glass, the remnants of the windows of buildings. In the street, he saw the burnt husk of what appeared to be a child’s doll. He stopped and watched as a breeze rolled it further down the road.

The Doctor continued walking when something moved behind him.

“HALT!”

Turning around, he saw a squadron of three Daleks rolling up to him. They stopped a few feet from him.

“IDENTIFY YOURSELF,” the lead one said.

“Ah. Just who I was looking for,” he put his hands behind his back.

“IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” the Dalek repeated.

A half-smile appeared on his face. “I’m the Doctor.”

As one, the Daleks recoiled. They raised their gunsticks and extender arms.

“THE DOCTOR? YOU ARE THE DOCTOR?” they all exclaied nearly in unison. “YOU ARE THE DOCTOR! YOU WILL EXTERMINATED!”

Quickly, the Doctor raised his hands and stepped back.

“Hang on! Hang on! Hang on!” he said. “You don’t want to do that!”

“THE DOCTOR IS THE ENEMY OF THE DALEKS!” the lead one rolled forward. “THE DOCTOR MUST BE EXTERMINATED!”

“I don’t believe the Supreme Dalek would much appreciate that.”

The Daleks stopped.

“EXPLAIN.”

“I’m the Doctor. I was here twenty years ago. I’m sure he would like to see me again,” he said. “Maybe kill me himself?”

The Daleks exchanged glances. Turning away from the Doctor, they congregated in a triangle.

“IT IS LOGICAL THAT THE SUPREME DALEK WILL WANT TO SEE THE DOCTOR,” one argued.

“WE MUST EXTERMINATE HIM. HE IS NOT BE TRUSTED,” another replied.

“THE SUPREME DALEK WILL WANT TO EXTERMINATE HIM HIMSELF,” the leader said. “WE WILL BRING THE DOCTOR TO THE SUPREME DALEK.”

The other two looked at each other.

“WE OBEY,” they exclaimed together.

The Daleks turned back to the Doctor.

“YOU WILL COME WITH US!” the lead one rolled towards him.

The Doctor smiled. “Excellent.”

Clara was sitting alone against the far wall of the hall. Around her, the refugees were seemingly preparing for dinner. She supposed that it was probably that late now, but she wasn’t hungry. There was a void in her stomach, and it made her sick.

She understood that the Doctor wanted to keep her safe, but she needed to be there for him. Ever since his regeneration, he had been acting irrational, and seems to really not know what he’s supposed to do. He has moments where he does, but they are far apart.

The sound of footsteps approaching made her look up. Alina was standing before her. She was carrying two cups with steam trailing from them.

“Thought you might like some tea,” she extended one of them towards her. Clara took it gratefully.

“I didn’t think you’d have tea here,” she chuckled, taking a sip.

“Of all the things the Daleks destroyed,” the woman sat down next to her. “They seemed to overlook the tea.”

They sat sipping for a moment.

“Are you okay?” Alina asked after a while.

Clara tried her best to smile. “Sure.”

She frowned. “No you’re not.”

Looking down, Clara smiled weakly. “How’d you know?” she asked, looking up at her again.

“I’ve always been able to read people,” Alina said. “Right now, you’re pretty easy to read.”

“Emotions are a funny thing, aren’t they?” she took another sip of her tea.

She laughed. “They are,” she looked at the refugees as they began eating.

“You could eat, if you wanted to, you know.”

“I don’t think I could stomach it right now, thanks,” Clara said.

There was a pause.

“The Captain mentioned another girl that came with us,” she began. “Who was she?”

Alina shook her head. “I don’t know, but I’ve heard that she was very smart and very brave,” she looked at her. “Just like you.”

Clara smiled. “So I guess it won’t just be me and the Doctor anymore.”

“She was sweet. You guys got along great.”

The woman met her gaze again when the large door to the hall rolled open and three men came running in. Everyone turned to look at them. They were scared. The Captain came out from a side room to meet them. Clara and Alina stood up and began walking over as the lead man began to speak.

“What is it? What’s going on?” the Captain asked.

“Sir… the Daleks. They’re coming.”

There was an audible gasp from everyone in the room.

“What?” the Captain gaped.

“Daleks. Dozens of them,” the man panted. “They’re coming. They’re coming for us!”

The large circular room was shrouded in darkness. The only illumination came from the orange light came from the hexagonal-covered pillars. Protruding from the floor, they reached all the way to the domed ceiling. As the door opened, the Doctor looked into the darkness before the Dalek behind him prompted him to enter.

“MOVE!” it yelled, the light from its bulbs casting light across the floor.

Stepping forward, the Doctor entered the room. His footsteps echoed as he walked further into darkness. Behind him, the light from the Dalek’s singular blue eye shone on his jacket.

After stepping further into the room, the Dalek cried out.

“HALT!”

Obediently, the Doctor came to a stop. Squinting through the shadows, he saw that he was a few feet away from a small circular structure, which stood alone in the center of the room. He remained silent for a moment, before growing impatient. He moved to turn around to speak to his Dalek escort when there was a loud clunk and a beam of light exploded in life above him. The bright beam hit the structure and flooded around the room. He saw that there were six other Daleks in the room.

There was another noise of gears, followed by the surface of the circular structure splitting into thirds and retracting, revealing darkness. The Doctor moved to get a closer look when something shot up from it.

Retreating a few feet, he looked up to see the red and gold form of the Supreme Dalek towering before him. The Dalek looked down at him with his singular blue eye.

“DOCTOR,” he said, his voice deep. “YOU HAVE RETURNED.”

He placed his hands behind his back again. “I haven’t, actually.”

“HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YOUR TREACHERY AGAINST THE DALEKS?” the three indicator lights on the dome of its head flashed brightly. “DO YOU NOT REMEMBER ATTEMPTING DESTROY THE DALEKS?”

“In a sense, I probably have,” the Doctor admitted. “In the sense that I haven’t lived it yet.”

“EXPLAIN.”

The Doctor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.”

Stepping away, the Doctor began to circle the Supreme Dalek. He turned to follow the Doctor. The eyes of the Daleks around the room did the same.

“Twenty years ago, you met a time traveler who had traveled to that time already having experienced this meeting. He most likely alluded to this prior meeting. He then heroically fought you off before being forced to flee, because he already had knowledge of these events and knew the extent of his involvement.”

He stopped when he had completed his circle around the Supreme Dalek. All eyes were on him. Looking at them, he smiled faintly.

“EXPLAIN,” was the reply from the Supreme Dalek.

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor groaned.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Blank stares were the reply.

“I’m a time traveler,” he said finally.

“SO,” the Supreme Dalek began. “YOU HAVE NOT YET EXPERIENCED THE OCCUPATION?”

“That’s what I said, yes.”

“THEN,” a tone of excitement seemed to leak into his voice. “IF YOU HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED THE OCCUPATION, THEN YOU CAN BE EXTERMINATED NOW, AND YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO INTERFERE IN THE FUTURE!”

The Daleks around the room rolled forward. They all aimed their gunsticks at him. Quickly, the Doctor held up his hands toward them.

“Hang on!” he said. “If you kill me now, that will prevent me from ever confronting you in the past, giving you no reason to kill me now. And if you have no reason to kill me now, then you’ll never have killed me at all, and I would’ve been able to confront you, giving you a reason to kill me.”

The Doctor stepped forward. “The cycle will go on like that. It will be an endless paradox that will have no choice but to engulf the universe. You, and everything around you, will die, and become nothing at all.”

The Supreme Dalek stared at him. “YOU ARE LYING.”

“No! I’m not!” the Doctor growled. “If you kill me, then everything will die.”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU HERE, IF NOT TO DIE?”

“I’m here to finish what I started twenty years ago,” he replied. “I’m here to end your reign of terror.”

The blue light became small. “YOU WILL NOT!”

“I will,” the Doctor said defiantly. “I’m the Predator of the Daleks. I’m the Oncoming Storm. You can’t defeat me. You know you can’t. I’m the Doctor, and I will always stop you.”

“YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

“No, I won’t,” the Doctor said. “Not while the last remnants of humanity on this planet are still breathing.”

“THEN THEY WILL BREATHE NO MORE.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I HAVE FOUND THE LAST OF HUMANITY,” the Supreme Dalek seemed to say with pride. “THEY WILL BE EXTERMINATED! HUMANITY ON THIS PLANET WILL CEASE!”

His eyes widened. “NO! You will not kill them!”

The Supreme Daleks indicators flashed again. “I WILL. I AM THE OVERLORD OF THIS RETCHED WORLD. I HAVE THE ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO EXTERMINATE THEM. THEY ARE ABOMINATIONS. THEY MUST BE DESTROYED!”

There was a loud bang as the soldiers in the camp readied their weapons. Clara watched as the refugees were evacuated into another area of the base, as far away from the Daleks as they could. Around her, barriers were being set up for the inevitable firefight that was about to break out.

Clara came up to Alina, who was strapping Implosion Grenades to a bandolier.

“I want a gun.”

“What?” Alina said, half-looking away from her task.

“I want a gun. I want to help fight the Daleks.”

“No,” Alina replied, stopping. “You should go with the others. You need to be safe.”

Clara shook her head. “I’m not going to cower away while everyone else is out here giving their lives. I’m as much a part of this as you.”

See looked the woman square in the eyes. “I need to fight.”

Alina watched her for a moment before sighing. Looking down, she grabbed a pistol out of the bin, loaded it, and handed it to Clara. She looked it over before the woman started speaking again.

“Have you ever used one of these before?”

“Yeah,” Clara nodded. “My grandad taught me. My mum was not pleased.”

“Well,” Alina said. “This is life and death. Aim for the eyestalks of the Daleks. That’s their weak point. It’ll incapacitate them long enough for us to kill them.”

There was another loud bang as the Daleks continued to fire at the door. The Captain rushed over to them.

“Alina. Come on. Take your position,” he said.

The woman nodded. “Yes sir.”

She ran off to join Darren and Haru. The Captain turned to Clara.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m fighting,” she said.

He stared at her. “Are you sure, Clara? Wouldn’t it be safer-?”

“Yes. I’m sure,” she said affirmatively.

The two stared at each other for a moment before there was an even louder bang. Glancing at the door, he turned to her again.

“Okay,” the Captain said. “Come on.”

“Please,” the Doctor pleaded. “Don’t do this. Take me. Don’t kill humanity!”

“HUMANITY IS A BLOT ON THE FACE OF THE UNIVERSE,” the Supreme Dalek said. “HUMANITY MUST BE EXTINGUISHED.”

“You can’t do this!” the Doctor barred his teeth. “If you do, I will reign fire on you like I have never before!”

“YOUR THREATS ARE MEANINGLESS. YOU WILL NOT ACT ON THEM,” he replied, almost gloatingly. “HUMANITY WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

The Doctor met the Dalek’s gaze. Then, in the blink of eye, he produced the Sonic Screwdriver and, before any of the Daleks could react, he aimed it at a nearby console and activated it. There was a blat of sparks before the Daleks in the room stopped in their tracks, the light in the eyes going out.

Quickly, the Doctor rushed over to the console and began working at the controls. His hands were nearly a blur.

“I only did this once before,” he said, moving to another part of the module. “And I didn’t much like it at the time, but I’m a different man now, and this is the only way to save humanity on this world.”

He hit another series of buttons and green light appeared on the console.

“You’ve given me no choice,” he looked up at the Supreme Dalek, who was beginning to stir. “I tried to reason with you, but you didn’t listen.”

His hand hovered above a dial.

“This is your own doing.”

Placing his hand on the dial, he turned it. Around the room, the Daleks shuddered before exploding. The Doctor ducked as flaming pieces of them flew over his head, scattering themselves across the room. A second later the room shook, and he heard the distant screams of Daleks followed by devastating explosions.

Standing up, he went to move before a beam of blue energy flew past him and struck a nearby console. Looking, he saw the Supreme Dalek, shuddering slightly, sliding towards him.

“YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!” the Dalek roared. “YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”

Dodging another beam of light, he swung around to the other side of the console and turned the dial as far as it could go. The Supreme Dalek stopped, shuddered for a moment, and with a roar of rage, exploded into a million pieces.

As the dust settled, the Doctor watched where it had before producing the Sonic Screwdriver again. Turning it around, he locked the end into an input slot in the console. It stayed there for a moment before beeping. Pulling it out, he looked at it, before smiling.

Placing it in his pocket, he ran towards the door as the base around him broke apart.

Sweat formed on Clara’s brow as she watched the large metal door become more and more dented. Blue light flashed through the cracks, showing that the door was becoming thinner by the second.

“Hold steady!” the Captain said. “They’re nearly through!”

Around her, everyone was as tense as she was. Alina and Darren were shaking slightly, and sweat was pouring down Haru’s face.

Another blast and a portion of the door broke away. And then another, before, in a flash of light, the door exploded entirely, blinding them. When her vision restored itself, Clara gasped when she saw over a dozen bronze Daleks making their way through the circular doorway.

“EXTERMINATE!” the lead one yelled, before a beam of blue light shot from its gunstick.

They all ducked as the Daleks opened fire, beam after beam firing overhead. One man tried to get off a shot, but was hit by a blast. His skeleton was illuminated as he screamed in pain. A moment later, the light faded, and he fell to the ground, dead.

“There’s no opening!” Clara heard Alina yell.

Clara herself tried to get a glimpse, but was forced back down when a beam of blue light came within inches of her.

“THE HUMAN POPULATION MUST BE EXTERMINATED!” the Daleks yelled. “THE HUMAN POPULATION WILL BE NO MORE.”

The Daleks continued to roll forward, their assault never ceasing. A few more soldiers tried to attack their adversaries, but they were quickly dealt with.

“EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE-!” they chanted before there was a loud explosion that echoed through the room, followed by another, and another, and another.

They held their heads as flaming debris suddenly came raining down on them, hitting the floor hard. Thick smoke filled the air, making it difficult to breath. Debris continued to rain as the explosions continued before stopping.

Slowly, after several minutes, they pushed themselves off the ground and looked to see what had happened. Every single Dalek was gone, seemingly reduced to ashes. Scorch marks accompanied the wreckage that surrounded them. Clara saw the dome of a Dalek lying a few feet from her.

“What happened?” Alina asked.

“Clara?” a voice came through the smoke.

“Doctor?” she replied.

She then saw the man running through the smoke towards her. She ran to meet him and quickly grabbed him, hugging him tight.

“You’ve got to stop doing this,” he said, pushing her away.

“Sorry,” she apologized, brushing her hair. “What happened?”

“I killed them,” the Doctor replied. “I killed them all.”

The Captain was awestruck. “How?”

“They took me to their base,” he explained. “I used their own software against them. Caused their armor to overload. Killed every last one of them. Well, except the ones down here.”

“What do you mean?” Darren asked.

“The Daleks can’t receive signals down here. That’s why this is the perfect base. So they were inoculated against my attack. However,” he produced the Sonic Screwdriver. “I loaded the program onto here and was able to transmit it. It looks like I got here just in time.”

“I thought were were done for,” the Captain said. “You saved us, Forsaker.”

The Doctor chuckled. “Call me Doctor.”

The Captain smiled, before offering his hand to him. “Okay. Just this once, Doctor.”

Looking at it for a second, the Doctor took it.

“Thank you, Doctor,” the Captain nodded.

“What will they do now?” Clara asked as they stepped into the TARDIS, which glowed warmly around them.

“Rebuild. Recolonize. Repopulate,” he answered, entering coordinates into the console. “Like humans always do.”

Clara watched him for a moment before coming over.

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Would it make a difference if I said no?” the Doctor continued fiddling with the controls.

She shrugged. “Probably not.”

“Then what is it?”

“Why did you leave me behind?” she asked. “I know you wanted to protect me, but I could help. I don’t like being separated like that.”

He didn’t look at her for a moment. Eventually, resting his hand on a lever, he turned to her.

“It is just that, Clara,” the Doctor said. “So many people who have traveled with me have been daring, and I indulged them, and they ended up either stranded, broken, or dead. What we do has a heavy price attached to it, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Yeah, but that can’t really be avoided, can it?”

“Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean that I want to risk you. You’re my responsibility,” he replied, pulling on the lever. The lights above began to spin.

“I owe you, after all.”

Characters

 * Twelfth Doctor
 * Clara Oswald
 * The Captain
 * Alina
 * The Supreme Dalek
 * Darren
 * Haru
 * The Daleks
 * Refugees

Trivia

 * The title is a reference to a story concept that will be expanded on in the future.
 * This story was originally titled Half-Life, obviously named after the video game series.
 * The Supreme Dalek is the same model as the one who appeared in The Stolen Earth and Journey's End.