Skye is the Limit/Contingency Plan

The Daleks have a plan, but not a very noble one. As war spreads to an interstellar refugee camp, the Doctor must face shadows from his past or risk the lives of those he loves. This episode is part of Skye is the Limit.

Story
All races have plans for the future. Every race, at some point in its history, begins to contemplate its surroundings. A short examination will reveal to any intelligent race that the world is not perfect. People and planets die, and pain is a constant that can not be avoided.

But then the new species will realize that it can fix things, and re-make the world in its own image. A plan will be devised, sometimes consciously, sometimes accidentally. In many ways, the essence of sapience can be defined as the ability and desire to change the world.

Some races have quite noble plans. The Gallifreyans planned to bring peace to time and space, keeping creation safe from all harm. The Humans looked across the savannahs and the jungles and unconsciously planned for the day in which they would explore every nook and cranney of the universe. The Peilis dreamed of charting the mysteries of interdimensional travel, thereby bringing harmony to all the dimensions of space. These and many other races planned to create a universe that would benefit everyone. They dreamed of perfecting the universe.

The Daleks had a plan, but it wasn't very noble. They were a single-minded race, driven by a single desire--conquest. While there were periods in history in which the Daleks would lie dormant on Skaro, seemingly at peace with the universe, there would always come a day in which the Dalek Emperor would turn its single eye to the heavens and wage war and bloodshed upon an unsuspecting species.

In one distant century, the free peoples that made up the Shadow Proclamation were overwhelmed by a massive Dalek offensive. Like most Dalek enterprises, the offensive was as ruthless as it was efficient--planets were catalogued, surveyed, evaluated, and their populations were exterminated. Survivors were used as slave labor for the Dalek mines. But no matter how many planets were captured, no matter how many resource deposits were unearthed, the Daleks would never be satisfied. They would always continue onwards to the next world, bringing death with them. The plan of the Daleks did not allow for them to stop.

Thus this plan brought them to Lucretia V, a technologically sophisticated world at the edge of Mutter's Spiral. The Daleks came, shut down the planetary defenses, and began exterminating all living beings on the surface of the world.

And so it came to pass that Lys, shipwrecked pilot from the Kalossian Relief Corps came to crouch in a trench on the war-torn plains of Lucretia. The skies were red and filled with Dalek saucers, and the air was clogged with smoke from exploding war machines. The only sounds to be heard were screams from panicking Lucretians and the cold shouts of Daleks.

Lys scurried through the trenches, tracing a sound. It was a faint sound, barely distinguishable from the cacophony of the war. But it was a very important sound.

Lys turned a corner and lifted up a blanket. A quartet of Lucretian larvae were squirming, crying for breath underneath it. Lys, unsure of herself, switched from Battle Mind to Nurture Mind. She took a deep breath, and allowed herself to filter the aggression from her mind, instead feeling a heartbroken sense of caring for these poor creatures. Likely they had hatched from eggs laid before the invasion. The retreating Lucretian forces were probably in too much of a hurry to collect eggs from the nurseries.

Lys began to gather the larvae into a bundled sack, intending to bring them to safety somewhere else. But just as she put her paws underneath the squirming creatures and started to lift, a sound she'd come to know all too well echoed from outside of the trench.

"KALOSSIAN DETECTED," the voice declared. "THE KALOSSIAN WILL IDENTIFY ITSELF OR BE EXTERMINATED."

Lys flinched, considering a switch back to Battle Mind. The heightened reflexes that went along with Battle Mind could be a valuable asset, but would it be worth the heightened aggression?

"THE KALOSSIAN WILL IDENTIFY."

It probably doesn't actually know where I am, she thought to herself. It's just trying to make me come out into the open.

"YOU HAVE BEEN LOCATED! IDENTIFY OR BE EX-TERMINATED!"

Or, perhaps I really am about to die,, she thought grimly. Just as she began to put the blanket back over the crying larvae, she heard a strange sound.

''Vworp. Vworp. Vworp.''

Puzzled, she almost stuck her head out of the trench to see what the sound was. Was it her imagination?

Apparently not, as the Dalek above seemed to be quite alarmed. "ALERT!", it boomed. "THE DOCTOR'S TARDIS IS DETECTED! ALL LOCAL DALEK UNITS CONVERGE UPON SECTOR THETA-SIGMA! OBEY! OB-EY!"

Lys risked a glance at the plains above the trench. Ten... no thirty... possibly fifty Daleks were converging upon the location. The location of a... blue box?

The Daleks were all centered around a tall blue box, emblazoned with the words "Police Public Call Box" if Lys' translator was working right. Before she could stop and consider the absurdity of the situation, the doors of the box swung open and a young, human-in-appearance man stepped out.

"Oh, hello there Daleks," the man said with a grin, waving at the gathered war machines. "Just crossing through, don't mind me."

"EXTERMINATE!" boomed nearly a hundred voices. The man held up a finger.

"Nuh uh," he rebuked. "No need to be rude. Really Daleks, no 'good day, Doctor' or 'Happy to see you, Doctor'?"

"THE DOC-TOR WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

"Apparently not then," the Doctor said, frowning. "One of these days I'm going to have a good long chat with you about etiquette. But now, I just need to know one thing: what in the name of sanity do you think you're doing here?"

A black Dalek, probably the local Supreme, glided forward above the rough ground. "THE DOCTOR WILL BE ESCORTED TO DALEK CUSTODY."

The man snorted. "The Doctor will not. Now if you'll excuse me, I asked a question. Why are you invading this lovely planet? All of Lucretia, bombarded from above and her inhabitants slaughtered. The proud Lucretian race, reduced to a handful of refugees scattered across the cosmos. Why?"

"THE LUCRETIANS ARE INFERIOR BEINGS," replied the Supreme Dalek.

"INFERIOR LIFE FORMS WILL BE EXTERMINATED," a chorus of Daleks responded.

"See, that's the point we keep disagreeing on," said the Doctor, frowning still more. "Genocide's always your first solution to everything. You just can't seem to see the beauty of the people you steamroll over."

The Doctor clapped his hands together, causing a number of Daleks to instinctively recoil. "Well, no sense trying to argue philosophy with you lot," he declared. "Best stick to stopping you. Fortunately, I don't have to do much there. My associate's doing all the heavy lifting today."

"THE DOCTOR'S HUMAN COMPANIONS ARE IRRELEVANT," boomed the Supreme.

"See another point of disagreement between us," the Doctor said, wagging a finger at the black Dalek in front of him. "Although, in this case, your pre-supposition isn't entirely correct. My current travelling companion isn't human."

"ALL SPECIES ARE INFERIOR. DALEKS ARE SUPREME."

"Now you're just quoting from your rulebook. Daleks have a rulebook, right? Anyway, my current companion isn't human, just for your information. She's a Time Lord."

If Daleks had jaws, they'd be dropping.

Meanwhile, on another part of the planet, Skye Davis ran down the corridors of a dimly lit building that probably wasn't designed with humans in mind. She kept coming to bizarre drops and walls, apparently made for beings to fly over. Skye could climb fairly well, but it was hard to get a grip on the walls one-handed. She didn't have a convenient place to hold her Dalek eyestalk until she needed it.

After what seemed like ages of awkward running, jumping, climbing, and dodging patrolling Daleks, she came to a wide room with a giant, probably hazardous glowing sphere in the center. Skye found an interface panel like the Doctor had taught her, and began to access it.

Defensive Plasma Array has been disabled, the interface told her. To reactivate, speak the necessary code.

"511 JB-B ateht amgis," Skye said, checking the room entrance for Daleks before continuing.

Code accepted, the interface continued in its cheery program. No intrusive elements discovered on Lucretia.

"I need to categorize a new element as intrusive," Skye said impatiently. She wasn't sure what the Doctor was doing at the moment. Possibly taunting the Daleks, probably being shot at.

Please enter a sample of the element you wish to classify as intrusive, continued the interface.

Skye dropped the Dalek eyestalk into a slot on the machine.

''Analysis: substance is Dalekanium. Substance being categorized as intrusive. Categorizing... categorizing..."''

"...and that's how we got away from Mudd," the Doctor went on to a not-particularly-interested audience. "I'm not quite sure where he got Mantlecrabs, but he sure did have them. And Keasts. The big bitey kind, not the bed-lurky kind."

"DETAILS OF YOUR HISTORY ARE IRRELEVANT," the Daleks declared. "YOU WILL SPECIFY THE DETAILS OF YOUR TIME LORD COMPANION."

Lys sat in quiet bewilderment as she watched this man. He was clearly not afraid of the Daleks, but they were very afraid of him. And he was casually referring to having a Time Lord companion. Could it possibly be...

"Fine, if your so insistent on it," the Doctor said grumpily. "Though frankly I've had a lot of exciting adventures and you're missing out by not listening to them. Her name's Skye Davis, and she is a Time Lord."

"HOW DID SHE SURVIVE THE TIME WAR?"

"Haven't the foggiest. Apparently just turned up on a doorstep on Earth a few hundred years ago."

"YOU LIE! YOU SEEK TO CONCEAL INFORMATION FROM US!" The Daleks were beginning to seem quite frustrated.

"Well... that's probably true," admitted the Doctor. "I am trying to conceal info from you. You got me. But you're wrong about what information I'm concealing. I don't know how she survived the Time War, but I do know how you're not going to survive this one. Make sense?"

"THE DOCTOR THREATENS THE DALEKS!"

"Well, yes, obviously," replied the Doctor. "But more specifically, I know how you're about to die. You see, the other day I was going through a box of old things, like people always do, and I found this old Dalek eyestalk. I hadn't used it in ages, but I was suddenly like 'Hey, Doctor, I know exactly where to put this!' So I handed it to Skye, and basically I've just been chatting with you until the computer was finished loading."

"COMPUTER? THE DOCTOR WILL EXPLAI--"

Suddenly, a defense system on the other side of the planet finished loading. A little piece of Dalek was analyzed and identified as Dalekanium, and the defense system categorized it as intrusive. The defense system then began to seek out every piece of Dalekanium on the planet and destroy it.

A wall of glowing plasma spread out over the planet, spreading over ruined cities and burning forests. It spread across the whole world, and every Dalek it touched burst into flame and disintegrated.

Lys watched in awe as over a hundred Daleks began to panick, firing beams at the Doctor as they watched an inescapable line of death quickly overcame them. The Doctor easily dodged their blasts and gave a final goodbye wave to them as the plasma field washed over them and they disappeared in a hiss of smoke.

The devastation was in fact so sudden, so absolute, that Lys wondered for a moment if what she'd seen was real. She'd heard that Lucretia's defense systems had been deactivated when the Daleks first landed. Did he--did the Doctor--did he just stop an entire Dalek invasion?

"You there," called out the Doctor, gesturing to the trench. "Come on out! Daleks are gone! I'm going to get you somewhere safe!"

Lys, although somewhat frightened of the man, decided to do what he said. She quickly bundled up the larvae and hopped out of the trench.

The Doctor smiled at her. She was a Kalossian--a thin, otter-like creature with soft purple fur across her body. She stood upon her hind legs, holding the blanket filled with squealing maggots close to her breast.

"Look at you," said the Doctor cheerfully. "A Kalossian this far out in space. And look at you!" He squatted down and began to make kissy sounds towards the Lucretian larvae.

"These are probably the last Lucretians on this continent," he said, tickling one of them underneath an antenna.

"I found them a few minutes ago," Lys said awkwardly. "Before... you know... before you blew up the Daleks."

"That wasn't me," the Doctor said off-handedly. "That was Skye. I just gave her an eyestalk and a bit of advice. Speaking of Skye, I'm about to go pick her up. Care to come with me? I can drop you and these little guys off at Saint Station real quick."

Lys just nodded her head.

The Doctor grinned. "Fantastic," he said. "Let's get going then."

Skye held on tightly to a low bar on the TARDIS interior, her face turning slightly green with the wild swirling motions the room seemed to be taking.

The purple otter thing the Doctor had invited on board didn't seem so upset about the motion, seeming quite content to sit in a corner with its bag of grubs.

"I thought you could fly this thing," shouted Skye as a particularly alarming flash of sparks erupted from an important-looking panel.

"I never said that, I said I could take you places!" responded the Doctor, plugging a bizarre glowing cord to a lightbulb shaped thing above the console.

"You usually keep it from lurching about, at least," Skye chided, feeling a little nauseous.

The Doctor popped underneath the console and started configuring things. "Lurching is good!" he exclaimed. "Larval Lucretians love lurching. Reminds them of their mothers. Adult female Lucretians are big vibrating things, isn't that right Lys?"

The purple otter nodded solemnly.

"You're making the rest of us sick," groaned Skye.

"Lys doesn't mind," the Doctor retorted from underneath the console unit. "Kalossians are aquatic predators. They're meant to swirl and tumble about in three dimensions."

"That is true," said the purple otter. "This is actually quite pleasant to me."

"Than I'll simplify my statement," Skye said grumpily. "I'm feeling a bit sickly and am probably about to make a mess in here. I don't think anyone wants that."

The Doctor slid out from underneath the console and began fiddling with a number of knobs. "Don't worry, Skye. We're almost at Saint Station."

"What is Saint Station?"

Although Skye had directed the question at the Doctor, it was surprisingly the purple otter who replied. "Saint Station is this galaxy's largest refugee camp. A lifeless planet was hollowed out and fitted with advanced ventilation and life support systems. The Shadow Proclamation established it during one of the Daleks' first invasion sprees back when they first left Skaro."

"Absolutely correct," said the Doctor delightedly. "Hundreds of species that are forced from their homes for whatever reason are gathered at Saint Station until the war dies down or a replacement homeworld can be established. It's one of the better uses of galactic resources I've seen."

Skye nodded as the TARDIS slowed to a still. "Are we there yet?"

The Doctor grinned and gestured outwards. Skye slowly stepped towards the door and swung it open gently.

Around her looked like the biggest hospital waiting room she'd ever seen--it seemed as if there were miles and miles of furniture and bookstands, with an impossible array of species gathered about. Some she recognized, most she didn't. Beings she could only assume were inhuman humanitarian workers ran back and forth through intersecting halls, talking on hand, claw, or tentacule-held communication devices.

Lys the Kalossian bounded through the TARDIS doors with the bag of larvae strapped to her back. "I've been here before, though never as a refugee," she said, rising to her hindlegs as she examined the place. "Thankfully Kalossia has never been majorly affected by wars. I wonder where the Lucretian survivors are kept--these little ones will need a proper caretaker. Preferably one which can tell their ends apart, as I can not."

The Doctor chuckled. "Skye, why don't you and Lys go find a place for the kids. I need to find the guy in charge here and have a chat."

Skye looked about nervously. "I'd rather stay with you."

"You'll do fine, you're a big girl. Go have an adventure!" With that, he turned towards a corridor labeled 'Executive Offices' and went on his way.

"The Doctor is in the house!" he yelled out.

Shaking her head, Skye turned towards Lys. "He says 'don't wander off' than he does something like this."

"I completely understand," the Kalossian replied. "My mate is equally as irritating as yours."

Skye raised an eyebrow. "Um, the Doctor isn't my 'mate', depending on what you mean by that."

"Oh?" asked Lys, seeming surprised. "I thought that was a reasonable assumption to make. The last two Time Lords, in a male and a female regeneration. Is it not understood that procreation would be your first priority, in order to re-propagate the species?"

"Um... let's just find the Lucretian ward."

Saint Station is a vast place, covering millions of miles worth of twisting corridors and crowded chambers. Across the world from Skye, Lys and the Doctor, there was a particularly quirky camp reserved for some of the most difficult to account for organisms. This was the "Subatomic Lifeforms" area of the station, and over several hundred years since its establishment, it had only ever been occupied by a single species. This was a species that no longer had a home or a plan. Both had been robbed from them in a single day, a single act of judgement directed towards one of their most heinous cults.

For quite some time, the Peilis had been brooding, their population of thirty billion homeless and trapped without the energy requirements to manifest a pebble. A glorious society had been brought to its knees, metaphorically speaking. Some of them believed the end had occured because God had judged them wicked and worthy to suffer for their actions. This was true, in a sense--the educated among them, those who had access to the histories, had a more precise account of the matter. Ages ago, back when the Peilis were in the midst of their interdimensional travel, a criminal cult had been established, centered around worshipping a computer of unknown origin. The "Cult of Jezgro" used interdimensional travel as a tool for mass fear and devastation, murdering many. Before the Peilis authorities could track them down, however, another man had taken it upon himself to enact bitter justice upon the Cult.

The Apocalypse had a name and a face ever since... that name had become feared and loathed, hated for his decision to end an empire based on the actions of a few. The Apocalypse's name was "Doctor".

Eventually, after many years of confusing theological discussion about who or what "the Doctor" was, a rumor spread across Saint Station that some kind of specialist had come to the station. A specialist with the power to defend the station from anything that came. This specialist was called "the Doctor".

Of course the wise men amongst the Peilis made a connection right away, and chief among them was a politician nicknamed "Mayfly" by the Saint Station staff. Mayfly called together a council and determined that the Doctors of Saint Station and the ancient myths were one and the same. The Doctor would undoubtedly bring doom upon the Peilis once again if he was allowed, and so the council put together a plan they'd been stewing over for quite some time. It was only a contingency plan, and it was quite risky.

"But," argued Mayfly, "Not nearly as risky as doing nothing as the Devil haunts Saint Station."

And so the plan to kill the Apocalypse was born.

The black Supreme Dalek glided across the floor and into the throne room.

"I OBEY," it croaked.

The center of the room was dominated by what would seem to a human observer to be a giant jar--a transparent box of fluid that contained a squamous, squid-like abombination. The Emperor of the Daleks didn't care for the typical travel machines, and much preferred a direct view of his surroundings.

"OUR FORCES ON LUCRETIA HAVE BEEN EXTERMINATED," the Emperor bellowed. "THE DOCTOR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED WITH A TIME LORD ASSOCIATE."

The Supreme Dalek visibly recoiled. "TWO TIME LORDS?"

"THAT IS CORRECT." The Emperor's eye was fixed upon a display screen showing a planet covered in buildings.

"THE DOCTOR HAS BEEN DETECTED AT SAINT STATION," continued the Emperor.

"SAINT STATION HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AS A TARGET FOR FUTURE DALEK INVASION," observed the Supreme.

"OUR FUTURE PLANS MUST NOW BE SOLIDIFIED," roared the squid in the jar. "THE DOCTOR AND HIS COMPANION MUST DIE AT SAINT STATION, OR WE RISK THE TIME WAR ANEW. EXTERMINATE THEM AND FIND FAVOR IN MY SIGHT."

"I OBEY," replied the Supreme meekly, or at least as meekly as a Dalek could muster. "SOLDIERS WILL BE REQUIRED FOR AN ASSAULT ON SAINT STATION."

"WHY?" demanded the Emperor. "THE SHADOW PROCLAMATION IS POWERLESS TO RESIST US. A SINGLE DALEK UNIT WOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO EXTERMINATE THE DEFENDERS OF SAINT STATION."

The Supreme was still doubtful, if a Dalek could be said to be doubtful. "THE TIME LORDS ARE HAZARDOUS," it ventured.

"THAT IS CORRECT," roard the Emperor. "YOU WILL BE SUPPLIED WITH SOLDIERS. YOUR SOLDIERS WILL PROVIDE SUPPORT DURING THE BATTLE. I ENTRUST YOU WITH THE TASK OF EXTERMINATING THE TIME LORDS."

"I OBEY," said the Supreme. "THE TIME LORDS WILL DIE AT SAINT STATION."

Lys handed over the bag of larvae, allowing the female Lucretian to take it with her hooked graspers. "Gratitude is expressed," the hovering, lurching Lucretian buzzed. "I and my mate have no offspring of our own. While our genetic line may be terminated, these offspring will be treasured."

Lys nodded, giving a final sad look to the larvae. Skye smiled at the Lucretian.

"Glad you're happy," she said, "thank you for taking these little... guys in. There will be a lot of rebuilding to do for the Lucretians."

"Indeed," replied the Lucretian. "I am departing at this moment. Immense gratitude is expressed."

With that, the insectoid being buzzed off down the halls with her new children. Lys looked after them with a rather pitiful expression.

"What's wrong?" asked Skye, concerned. "Are you worried about them?"

"No," replied the Kalossian, scratching behind her ears with one of her feet. "They will grow to be happy adult Lucretians in a few weeks. They will be fine."

Lys sighed. "I'm still in Nurture Mind. I must have gotten too attatched to them."

"What is Nurture Mind?" asked a puzzled Skye.

"As a Time Lord, I would have expected you to know about this," Lys said pointedly. "The Time Lords are well known for their knowledge of other races."

"Well, being a Time Lord is a bit of a recent development," admitted Skye. "I was apparently put in a Chameleon Arch as an infant. I was raised with a human education."

"In that case, I will do my best to explain," sad Lys kindly. "I will first enter Think Mind, as I don't know if I can explain properly while in Nurture Mind."

Lys' eyes closed for a moment, and the fur across her body seemed to ripple. "I am finished," she said, the tone of her voice slightly off somehow. "Having entered Think Mind, I am more capable of providing you with basic information relating to Kalossian psychology."

"Um... what?" Skye was a bit alarmed at the sudden shift in mannerisms from the otter--she no longer moved with gentle, flowing motions like before, and instead moved quickly and jerkily as she monitored the surrounding station.

"Humans, Time Lords, and most other species of this galaxy possess a very primitive type of brain," explained Lys.

"Hey."

"Do not be offended. This information is objectively considered and catalogued. By any basic galactic definition, your brains are less evolved than ours."

"A bit uppity for a purple otter," grumbled Skye.

Lys ignored her. "When you are engaged in conversation, you quickly go back and forth between emotions and frames of mind. You have switchd rapidly from a calm and satisfied demeanor, to a puzzled demeanor, to now an offended demeanor in a very short amount of time. In contrast, my people have a more organized way of doing things."

The two of them started walking down the corridors, Skye walking upright and Lys bounding forward on all fours. Skye grabbed a pamphlet that included a poster-sized map of Saint Station.

"Kalossians are capable of quickly and efficiently changing from one frame of mind to another," Lys said in a sophisticated tone, making Skye think of a fuzzy professor. "When I am in need of aggression and strength, I switch to Battle Mind, which eliminates most of the psychological blocks that would normally cause me to hesitate before killing another sapient being. When I need to care for and protect someone, I am able to switch into Nurture Mind, which activates my maternal instincts."

"So you basically have different settings, like a computer," Skye said slowly. "You can adjust the settings, so to speak, in order to perform different tasks."

"That is correct."

"What do you do if you don't actually have anything to do? If you just want to have fun or relax?"

"Well, that would be Child Mind," explained Lys. "Child Mind reduces us to a semi-infantile state. It is highly enjoyable to be in, as inhibitions are slightly lowered and it's easier to 'let one's hair down', as you might say. This comes at the price of lowering our awareness and our reflexes. I haven't entered Child Mind since I joined the Relief Corps. Most of my time is split between Battle Mind and Think Mind."

"That's a little confusing," Skye admitted.

"It will be easy enough to understand once you have been accustomed to it," said Lys. "It took me years before I was able to interact suitably with non-Kalossians. Have you known any extraterrestrial entities before, Skye?"

"I had a friend from Ibigi," replied Skye softly. "She was a Tree."

"The Trees of Cheem are descended from a Terran heritage, but they are indeed outside the realm of a typical human's experience," said Lys. "I apologize for the loss implied by your use of past tense when referring to your friend."

"She lived a good life," said Skye. "She would have been here, I think, if she hadn't died. She liked to help people."

"Helping others is a common motivation amongst the races of the galaxy," said Lys. "Most species are capable of feeling compassion for their alien bretheren."

Suddenly, an immense shockwave spread out across the planet, shaking the walls and knocking Skye off her feet. Sirens began erupting at every corner, and within moments the volunteers and refugees of Saint Station had picked up their pace, hurrying for safety.

Active holo-screens across the planet began displaying a warning: ''Dalek vessels detected in orbit. Dalek vessels are attempting to land."''

Lys helped Skye back to her feet. "I said most species, did I not?"

"As I was saying, Daleks," continued the Doctor, apparently ignoring the explosions across Saint Station.

The Albino groaned and reached for a bottle of pills. "I am well aware of the Daleks, Doctor. I've been anticipating an attack by them for quite some time."

"You'd be correct in doing so. The timing's a bit suspicious though. What are the hot spots of their assault?"

The Albino flipped a switch, bringing up a holographic map of Saint Station. Two sections of the map were shown with a harsh bronze color. "There you go," he said. "A number of their units are coming this way, which is to be expected, as this is the Executive Office. Quite a few of them are centered around the Lucretian camps, however, which I frankly do not understand..."

"I do," interupted the Doctor. "As usual, it's all about me. I'm traveling with a surviving Time Lord right now--"

"A surviving Time Lord?"

"That's what I said. She went off with a Kalossian to see the Lucretian camps. They'll be trying to exterminate her. How many men can you spare?"

"None," said the Albino bitterly. "Saint Station is not a military zone. Most of our staff are doctors, not soldiers. The few guards we have are getting slaughtered."

"Then I'm on my own," the Doctor said, standing up and beginning to leave the room. "Anything else I should know?"

The Albino glanced at the mirror in his office. The Doctor's reflection was acting oddly--it didn't move, and the eyes seemed too wide.

"Not really," he replied finally, assuming his anti-stress medication was taking a toll on him. "There was a breach in our Subatomic Quarters, but I doubt that's important. The Peilis have always been a bit screwy, they'll turn up eventually."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "Thanks," he said uncertainly, and left the room.

"SAINT STATION WILL FALL," the Daleks droned, gliding past a battalion of dead Judoon.

The Supreme glided to the front. "SAINT STATION HAS ALREADY FALLEN. LOCATE THE FEMALE TIME LORD. I WILL EXTERMINATE THE DOC-TOR."

"WE OBEY."

Saint Station's surface had been heavily bombarded, killing most of the fresh arrivals and relocation projects. The planet was deep, however, with chambers and wards all the way to the core. Millions of refugees who had somehow slipped away from the Daleks lived here. Today was the day the Daleks finally caught up with them.

The corridors that led to and from the Lucretian camps under the surface had been sealed off. The female Time Lord would not be allowed to escape. As for the Doctor... the Supreme, like most Daleks, did not engage in an active fantasy life. But there was one fantasy every Dalek would allow itself to slip into.

The thought of finally being the one lucky Dalek that exterminated the Oncoming Storm.

"They've sealed us off," whispered Skye, staring down the dim and battered corridor before hiding behind a turned-over table. She'd counted at least a dozen Daleks in a line at the exit. Not moving. Just waiting.

Lys had a brief look as well. She'd had a pistol strapped to her belly, which she was now holding. "My analysis indicates there to be too many," she whispered in reply. "Even in Battle Mind, I'd quickly be overwhelmed. Once they start coming down the halls looking for us..."

"It won't come to that point," said Skye firmly. "We'll get out and regroup with the Doctor."

Lys grunted. "One Time Lord versus hundreds of Daleks. If those were reassuring odds, the Time War would have been a border skirmish."

"Well those were different circumstances," said the Doctor, crouching behind them both. "I was in a sort of Battle Mind myself for most of the war. Crash-landed on Karn, long story."

The Doctor pressed a finger to his lips, silencing the exclamations of shock both Skye and Lys almost gave out. "How'd you get behind us?" hissed Skye. "The Daleks have these corridors sealed off."

"I had a hunch," the Doctor replied silently. "I managed to get control over them long enough to pop through a reflection."

Now that Skye had recovered her shock upon seeing him, she noticed that he didn't look so good. He was pale and exhausted-looking, and his eyes seemed wider than usual. "Doctor, are you OK? And what do you mean by 'them'?"

The Doctor hesitated. "Remember the Peilis?"

Skye nodded in alarm.

"They're here. All the rest of them. They're here, and they're sapping my energy."

"Just what we needed," said Skye bitterly. "I thought we destroyed their home! They shouldn't have enough energy to make a pebble, much less do this to you."

"They've been under care here at Saint Station," the Doctor explained quietly. "They've recovered a lot of strength."

"Why would the Shadow Proclamation help them? The Cult of Jezgro was a galactic menace."

"They didn't admit the Cult of Jezgro," the Doctor replied, his face grim. "This is a refugee camp, remember. They helped the innocents."

"Innocents...?"

"We can go into my mistakes later," the Doctor said, looking a strange combination between anger and sadness. "I just now figured it out. But for now, we need to stop the Daleks."

As if on cue, more rumbling sounds erupted around them. The Daleks did not seem to be finding any trouble at all in bringing Saint Station to its knees.

"I think I have an idea to fix all of this," said the Doctor, looking a bit hopeful through his sickly-looking face. "We need to get to the Subatomic Quarters. The Peilis powers will be amplified there."

"Why do we want their powers amplified if they're trying to kill you?"

Lys interupted. "We're cut off from the rest of the station. But..." The Kalossian hesitated, her ears drooping a bit. "Doctor, if I enter Battle Mind, I could distract the Daleks long enough for you to get by."

"No," said Skye immediately. "No more deaths today."

"Skye, can you direct us to the Subatomic Quarters quickly?" The Doctor asked suddenly.

Confused, she handed him the map pamphlet she had grabbed earlier. The Doctor glanced over it, then turned to Lys. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," he said sadly.

"Of course I do," retorted Lys. "If I do not, Saint Station will be destroyed and the population of the galaxy will likely die. I joined the Relief Corps so I could combat the Daleks' plans, not bolster them by failure to act."

"Thank you," said the Doctor earnestly. "You won't be forgotten."

"I request only that you take a brief detour to Kalossia when you've finished rescuing Saint Station," continued Lys. "My mate there is named Nym. He is the Presidential Grief Counselor, so he should not be very difficult to find."

"We'll find him and tell him what you did for us," the Doctor said kindly.

"No," repeated Skye, annoyed that neither of them seemed to be listening to her. "I won't let you do this."

Lys' eyes closed, and another ripple spread across her fur. When her eyes opened, they seemed somehow fiercer, more spiteful. "It's not a matter of what you let me do," she said harshly. "I am an adult. I will make my own decisions."

"Thank you," the Doctor repeated. Before Skye could object again, the Doctor grabbed her by the hand and started running towards the Daleks. The Daleks swiveled towards them, eyes flashing with the words "EXTERMINATE" echoing down the halls.

Lys kicked the capsized table upright, hopping on top of it and screaming words Skye could only assume were Kalossian battle cries. The sound of blasters were briefly heard as the Kalossian and the Daleks fired at one another. They heard a dying scream just as they passed the Daleks and came out of firing distance.

Skye had tears on her face as she and the Doctor entered the Subatomic Quarters. It was a strange chamber--there were a great many microscopes and other bits of equipment scattered about. Each of the walls was highly reflective, and the Doctor could be seen in every one of them. Cold, motionless, and wide-eyed in every reflection.

"This probably won't work," the Doctor said. "But I have to try." He raised his voice to a shout. "This is the Doctor! The Doctor, judge of the Cult of Jezgro and enemy of the Peilis. I come here seeking forgiveness and help."

One of his reflections began speaking out of the wall. "I am called Mayfly," it said. "Wise man of the Peilis. I am speaking with the help and approval of my bretheren. We wish to know, Doctor, why you feel yourself entitled to our help?"

"I'm not entitled to anything," said the Doctor. "I just want to help."

"Your help has been nothing short of disastrous to us," retorted Mayfly. "Your way of dealing with the Cult of Jezgro all those years ago almost destroyed us. We've been forced to depend on the charity of others ever since."

"I made a mistake," admitted the Doctor. "I make a lot of those. I need your help rectifying this one. The Daleks, as you know, are destroying this world. They are slaughtering tens of thousands of people up there."

"All monsters are alike to us," spat Mayfly from its reflection. "You destroy our world, yet to claim moral supremacy over the Daleks? You are sickening. Your power can not be debated, however, so we have taken it upon ourselves to save this universe."

"You can't," insisted the Doctor. "Listen to me. I have a plan, if you just listen to me we can stop the Daleks and restore the Peilis to their former glory."

"We expect naught but lies from the Man Who Lies," the reflection said. "We cannot trust you, so we are forced to take matters into our own collective hands. Long ago a contingency plan was dreamed up. We never thought we'd see it used... but this is a dire day which calls for dire actions. On behalf of the Peilis, Doctor, we sincerely hope that the afterlife of whatever religion you follow treats you kindly."

"Would you just listen to him?" said Skye angrily. "He's trying to help--"

There was a blinding flash of light, evoking a scream from Skye. She covered her eyes instinctively, and after a moment uncovered them to see what had happened.

The Doctor was laying still on the ground, with the Mayfly-Doctor out of its reflection standing above him.

"No!" screamed Skye, rushing to his side. She pressed her ear against his chest--no heartbeats. The Doctor was dead.

"Do not dispair, companion of the Doctor," said Mayfly. "Most of the Doctor's memories have been salvaged. We will combine his mental power with the raw power of the Peilis. We will take his TARDIS and put an end to the Dalek threat."

"You can't just replace the Doctor!" Skye shouted. "You can't just kill him and swagger off in his TARDIS! You're insane for even thinking so!"

"Contingency plans always sound insane," replied Mayfly. "to those who do not understand the context of the decision. This plan has been reviewed by the entire Peilis race. Our entire species has collectively decided to take the Doctor's place in the universe. We are sacrificing our future for that of the universe."

Skye grabbed the sonic screwdriver out of the Doctor's dead hands, pointing it at the Mayfly-Doctor. She turned it on, facing the buzzing end towards them in a hope of breaking their molecular bonds.

"Why are you sending a command to break glass?" asked Mayfly. "Is that the only sonic function you know?"

Only one I've ever used, thought Skye.

A door swung open, and Skye was stunned to see Lys stumbling into the chamber. Shocked, Skye glanced back to Mayfly--he was gone. He had probably disappeared through one of the reflective walls.

Quickly, she rushed to Lys' side. "Are you hurt? What happened? How are you still alive?"

"Not quite sure," said Lys slowly. "I think... I think they wanted me since I knew where you were going... I was in Battle Mind when I died, but I'm not sure what I'm in now."

Skye scarcely paid attention. "Lys, listen. The Doctor is dead. The Peilis are trying to replace him in order to stop the Daleks. We need to do something, anything..." Skye stopped, and turned towards Lys curiously. "What do you mean 'when you died'?"

Lys was staring at Skye emotionlessly, with a bright blue eyestalk protruding from her forehead.

Skye's last piece of hope evaporated. "Lys... please," she started to say.

Lys raised a paw revealing a Dalek gunstick. "The Time Lord will be exterminated."

A bright glowing beam flew into Skye, knocking her into a wall and filling her with pain. Tears streaming down her face, she glanced downwards at her hands. They were glowing with a bright golden energy. Am I about to regenerate? she thought in a daze.

Lys fired again, cutting off the process. Skye sld to the floor, dead.

After standing there for a minute, Lys examined her surroundings and made a report directly to the Emperor. "The female Time Lord has been exterminated. Puppet body is a known associate of the Doctor with unconvential psychological structure. Body to be exterminated."

The eyestalk short-circuited Lys' brain, causing her to slump to the ground, also dead.

Mayfly had mixed feelings about the contingency plan. Although it allowed the Peilis to finally take their destiny back into their own hands, there was a certain element of brutality that he had never stopped to consider before. The Doctor had genuinely seemed repentant, and wanted to help apparently. Could it be that they were in the wrong for killing him? Certainly the personification of evil couldn't genuinely have been trying to help them.

The particle cloud in the shape of the Doctor stopped at a junction between corridors. The TARDIS, the Peilis knew, was landed somewhere between the Executive Offices and the Lucretian camps. It was difficult to make out, but definite. The last 24 hours of the Doctor's memory was a bit blurry. It was a shame they couldn't make out what "plan" he was trying to tell them before he died.

The Peilis Controllers--those who made the decision where the immense particle cloud would go--alerted him that they had sensed a new entity. A black Dalek, apparently a Supreme.

"YOU ARE THE DOCTOR," said the Supreme Dalek.

"That is correct," Mayfly ordered the Controllers to say. "The Daleks will surrender and leave this station or they will be destroyed."

"DALEKS DO NOT SURRENDER," the Supreme croaked in its mechanical voice. "THE DOCTOR WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

"Defense stations, hurry!" Before the Peilis could adequately Control the particle cloud, the Dalek Supreme fired a plasma beam straight into them. The sheer amount of raw energy sudden interjected into the cloud overloaded them, breaking their bonds. Individual Peilis were annhilated instantly as the Mayfly-Doctor exploded in a flash of light.

"THE DOCTOR HAS BEEN EX-TERM-IN-AT-ED!" the Supreme cried triumphantly. "THE EXTINCTION OF THE TIME LORDS HAS BEEN REALIZED. DALEKS ARE SUPREME!"

The black Dalek joyously turned away from the Subatomic Quarters and teleported back to the Emperor's flagship.

"ALL DALEK UNITS RETURN TO THE MOTHERSHIPS," it ordered, transmitting to the surface. "SAINT STATION WILL BE DESTROYED FROM ORBIT."

"WE OBEY," a thousand million Daleks transmitted in reply.

Mayfly was somewhat shaken by the realization that he was the last of the Peilis. He floated in an infinite void, surrounded by the near-infinite energy that had once made up the rest of the Peilis race.

How, he thought in frustration. ''The Doctor has faced millions of Daleks so many times. Why could we not face a single unit within ten minutes of our taking his form and memories?''

This thought forced Mayfly to come to a realization about himself. He was not a hero. He had never been a hero--just a clever politician who had probably just murdered the universe's last hope of defending itself against an unstoppable menace.

How ironic that after all of his years of power-mongering, he'd find himself floating alone in a field of pure, raw power. Enough energy to destroy this world if it were controlled properly.

He floated by one of the subatomic tools the Controllers used to direct the particle field.

A mad, mad idea came to Mayfly. At first he was hesitant... but then he realized it was probably madness that gave this Doctor an edge over him. Madness was power.

"Wake up, Doctor."

The Doctor woke up with a gasp, jumping to his feet. A mysterious glowing sphere of energy was floating above his head.

"Who are you," he started to say. He dropped that sentence and rushed across the chamber. "No!"

Skye was dead, with Lys beside her. A Dalek eyestalk protruded from the Kalossian's skull. "No, no, no."

"I am Mayfly," said the glowing energy sphere weakly.

"Oh yeah?" roared the Doctor, turning swiftly on the Peilis. "You don't look so good! What, did you find it harder to fill my shoes than you thought?"

"That is correct," whispered the sphere. "Doctor, there is not much time for me. I am using the remains of my people as energy. I used their energy to resurrect you. Tell me what to do with the rest before this energy burns me out."

The Doctor glared at Mayfly for a moment before softening. "All right," he said. "How much energy do you have there?"

"Enough to destroy a Dalek warship," Mayfly replied. "Shall I throw this power at them?"

"No," said the Doctor quickly. "I have a better idea. A better plan. It can still work. But first, I need you to heal my companions."

"Why?" begged the sphere. "Their loss is regretted, but surely there is a more strategic use of this limited energy..."

"There's nothing more strategic than taking every life into consideration," said the Doctor. "I've made a lot of mistakes in the past from not realizing that. Please... heal them."

The sphere glowed for a moment, sending energy into Skye. The woman jerked upright, gasping and coughing.

"Welcome back," the Doctor said distractedly. He took his sonic screwdriver from her quickly. "Sorry, I'll be needing that back."

He strode across the room and waved the screwdriver over Lys' head. The eyestalk came off and rolled across the floor. He grabbed it and tossed it to the sphere.

"Take it," said the Doctor, beginning to look excited again. "Mayfly, I want you to analyze that metal."

"Dalekanium," replied Mayfly slowly.

"Find all sources of intrusive Dalekanium in the Kalossian's body and eradicate them."

"I can do that." More of the energy swirled into Lys, causing her to spasm and twitch before hopping upright, gasping for breath.

"Where am I?" she asked, looking about in confusion and turning her head sideways.

The Doctor laughed and hugged the Kalossian close. "Saint Station!" he said. "You're in Child Mind right now, it's the default. Just wait here, we can fix this. Nobody else has to die!"

The Time Lord turned to face the glowing sphere. Mayfly wasn't glowing quite so much anymore, having expended a huge amount of energy.

"Mayfly... you can use that energy to assimilate matter into more Peilis."

"I am aware," groaned Mayfly. "I fail to see the point though. The Daleks are about to destroy this world. They've got dozens of ships in orbit."

"You still have that eyestalk analyzed?"

"Yes."

"Can you get to the Dalek ships quickly?"

"Yes, but there's nothing I could possibly do to them."

"That's where you're wrong," grinned the Doctor. "Take it from me... Daleks are very shiny."

Mayfly hung there for a moment, and then, glimmering as if in understanding, he rocketed upwards through the walls and into the sky.

The Daleks were delighted, or at least as delighted as the Daleks ever were. The Emperor's chamber was as close to a celebration as a Dalek ship had ever been, with the halls packed with Dalek units.

The Supreme was in the center of the not-quite-a-celebration, in the process of being upgraded to the red armor of a Paradigm Supreme. It was a promotion any Dalek would exterminate for.

"WE STAND MOMENTS AWAY FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF SAINT STATION," the Emperor of the Daleks boomed. "WE SHALL DEAL A CRIPPLING BLOW TO THE SHADOW PROCLAMATION.THE DOCTOR AND THE LAST FEMALE TIME LORD HAVE BEEN EX-TERM-IN-ATED. NO FORCE CURRENTLY IN THE UNIVERSE CAN STAND NOW AGAINST THE DALEKS."

"DALEKS ARE SUPREME!" shouted a chorus of drones.

The Supreme Dalek, its travel machine opened up for its armor transfer, eyed the proceedings with immense satisfaction. The Emperor's chamber was more reflective than he was aware--he couldn't really tell through his machine's sensors, but staring directly at the room with his real eye, it was really quite obvious.

The Supreme was a bit puzzled, though, about the reflections--while its knowledge of physics told it that reflections ought to move in conjunction with the forms creating them, the Dalek reflections held perfectly still, larger than they should be with very large, insane-looking eyes at the end of their stalks.

"Alert," the Supreme croaked, "subatomic connection located. An unknown entity has forged a quantum link between our sources of Dalekanium and itself."

"IMPOSSIBLE," declared the Emperor.

The Supreme Dalek exploded in a flash of bright, freshly made Peilis.

"ALERT! SUBATOMIC LIFEFORMS HAVE INVADED THE FLAGSHIP!"

From the surface of the plane below, those who survived the Battle of Saint Station were treated to a light show. The Dalek saucers plainly visible were suddenly annihilated, disappearing in the midst of an immense constellation of new Peilis. The Daleks were no longer a threat, and their remains were being used as the foundation of a new Peilis race.

On the surface of Kalossia, just outside one of the larger Continent-Swamps, a blue box of dubious spacefaring capacity landed in a clump of Nostalgia trees.

The doors swung open, and three individuals strode out--the Doctor, Skye Davis, and Lys.

Lys bounded out the doors quickly, breathing in the good Kalossian air. "What fun," she declared. "I haven't been home in a while."

"Least we could do," said the Doctor kindly. "You were fantastic up there."

"Thank you," replied the purple otter modestly. She stood up on her hind legs, examining her homeworld through the thick trees. "I see the Presidential Pulp Palace. That's where my mate lives. I'll be glad to tell him all about how I helped exterminate the Daleks."

"They're not quite exterminated," said the Doctor, looking up at the sky. "There are probably a few more scattered about. Enough to clone a new Emperor and start this cycle over again. But their conquest plans have been set back a long time, and the Peilis have been given a fresh chance as a species."

Lys nodded, and then bounced over to Skye. "Goodbye, Skye Davis," she said. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too," Skye smiled. "You know, this doesn't have to be goodbye. You could come with us."

"Tempting," admitted Lys, "but I'm happy here for right now. I've had an adventure, now it's time to make all the other Kalossians jealous of me."

The Doctor and Skye laughed. Lys waved one last time and ran into the swamp.

"What about you?" asked the Doctor, turning to Skye and surprising her. "You still want me to take you places? I hear the first death can put some people off of travelling."

"Not me," laughed Skye. "I'm not finished with you just yet."

Grinning, the Doctor and Skye ran back into the TARDIS, not a care or a plan in the world.