Ayaka gave him a puzzled look, one that was on everyone's face. 'Why not? Whatever is the matter, Doctor?'

'Trouble,' he replied, striding up and down a short section of the deck feverishly. 'Wouldn't you say that we've got off very lightly?'

'Lightly?' Ayaka scowled. 'Doctor, almost two-thirds of my force died in this escape attempt. That's hardly what I'd call light casualties.'

'An escape attempt from the Dalek home world, where their greatest power is concentrated?' the Doctor countered. 'We should never have been able to escape.'

'What are you talking about?' asked Chayn. 'We outsmarted the Daleks, that's all.'

'Did we?' he asked. 'Did we?' He pointed to the communications panel. 'On the way to Skaro, they allowed us to monitor the approach. Luckily, they didn't realise we could detect their signals and record them for our own use. Then they kept everyone alive and put you all in a cell close to the ship, and your weapons in a room conveniently close to you. Then they didn't manage to kill us all as we fled. Now they believed my claim that we're too damaged to show them a picture of our bridge. A trifle coincidental, wouldn't you say?'

'What are you getting at, Doctor?' Ayaka demanded, turning her seat to face him.

'Sam, I've been an absolute idiot,' he said, ignoring Ayaka for the moment. 'I take great pride in being the Daleks' greatest enemy, but I sometimes forget that I'm not their only one, and that not every plan they come up with revolves around me.'

Sam shrugged. 'I'm sure we'll let you off this time,' she a.s.sured him. 'But I've got no idea what you're talking about.'

'Think, Sam, think!' he urged her. 'Why did the Dalek Prime let you and me go?'

'Because he wants you to destroy Davros if Davros wins the civil war,' Sam answered.

'Exactly,' the Doctor agreed with satisfaction. 'That's his plan. But ' He threw out his hands dramatically. 'How did he know I was on the Thal ship? My wanderings are terribly unpredictable, even by myself. There's no way that the Dalek Prime could have expected to see us on the Thal ship, Sam. His forces would have noticed the TARDIS after they boarded the ship, and then known I was aboard. But not before.'

'So?' Sam still couldn't see what he was driving at. 'They took advantage of you, obviously.'

'Obviously,' agreed the Doctor. 'That's the point. They took advantage of me. The Dalek Prime admitted that he hadn't known I was even involved with the Hand of Omega, let alone being on the Quetzel Quetzel. But they already had a plan in operation before I arrived. Davros's survival pod had a homing beacon on it that was triggered once the pod was opened. Davros clearly wouldn't have set that up. If he'd wanted rescuing, the beacon would have been activated while he was floating in s.p.a.ce. And he certainly didn't expect his own Daleks to rescue him. They were all dead and gone. So it had to have been the Dalek Prime's Daleks who placed the homing beacon. Which means that they had already found Davros before the Quetzel Quetzel did.' did.'

Chayn scowled. 'And threw him back? If they wanted to put him on trial, then why not do it there and then?'

'Exactly,' the Doctor said. 'If they had already found Davros, they could have taken him back to Skaro then. Why didn't they? Why did they wait until someone else found him?'

Sam was starting to catch on. 'Bait,' she said. 'They used him as bait to draw someone in. But how did they know the Thals would fall for it?'

'I don't think they did,' the Doctor answered. 'If they'd been looking for a Thal ship specifically, they could have tried to capture one anywhere along the battle front. On the contrary, they seem to have been angling for a ship like the Quetzel Quetzel a lone ship, often on its own, off the beaten path. It was sheer luck that Delani was after Davros at the same time. The Daleks took whatever they had, carefully keeping the crew alive, back to their planet. And then allowed us all to escape.' a lone ship, often on its own, off the beaten path. It was sheer luck that Delani was after Davros at the same time. The Daleks took whatever they had, carefully keeping the crew alive, back to their planet. And then allowed us all to escape.'

Ayaka nodded slowly. 'You're starting to make an awful lot of sense, Doctor,' she agreed. 'It would explain a great deal that has been puzzling me. The obvious question is, why did they let us escape?'

'Hang on,' Sam said. 'They must have planted something aboard the ship, just like in Davros's pod!'

'I agree,' said the Doctor. 'The Daleks have planted something aboard this ship that they want you to take with you.'

'But my forces have searched the ship and found nothing,' Ayaka objected.

'On the contrary, they found Daleks. They killed them, but they were here.' The Doctor frowned. 'What were they up to?'

'Guarding the ship,' Cathbad suggested. 'Obviously.'

'Then they didn't do a very good job of it,' the Doctor objected. 'No, they were here for some other purpose. Cathbad, can you scan the inside of the ship for any kind of anomalies?'

'It would help if I knew that I was looking for,' he answered.

'If we knew, then you wouldn't need to look.' The Doctor patted his shoulder. 'Look for anything that doesn't match the readouts from earlier. I've no idea what could be significant at this stage.'

Sam moved closer to the Doctor. 'Then we're not out of the woods yet?' she asked.

'Not by a long shot,' he replied. 'On the contrary, I suspect we're deeper in them than ever.'

'Terrific.' Feeling utterly dejected, Sam slumped to the floor, waiting for tears that refused to come.

The fighting in the s.p.a.ceport was starting to die down. With the departure of the Thal vessel, the port's strategic importance was reduced. Only in one small section did Davros's troops keep attacking. They were working their way onto a docked killcruiser which was being defended by a small loyalist force.

The Black Dalek urged its warriors on. Davros had demanded the capture of this particular ship, and the Black Dalek grasped its significance. The fighting intensified, as Daleks on both sides were hit and exploded. Shattered Dalek sh.e.l.ls littered the area as the attack was pressed home.

The final move was accomplished when a Strider moved into the fray. Normally it would have been far too large to enter the city, but the docking bays were deliberately huge, and it had managed to stalk through the gap in the wall that had been blown out earlier. Its belly guns fired down at the defenders, annihilating them in short order.

'Seize the ship,' the Black Dalek ordered. 'Ensure that no enemy forces are left aboard.' It moved to the command deck, and began activating the onboard weaponry.

From the foredeck, it had a clear view of the city, including the tower that housed the main control room. In a few moments, it would be able to target the tower and take out the heart of the enemy resistance.

Success was within their grasp!

Inside the control room, the Dalek Prime was still scanning the reports of the fighting. Davros had lost the second a.s.sault on the control room, but he was unlikely to give up. Without this area, he could hardly take the city, and without the city, he could never hold the Dalek empire. He was bound to try again; the question was where he would strike?

'Power-generation station is under attack,' the Gold Dalek reported. 'Heavy fighting is under way.'

There. If the power to the control room was cut off, then the Dalek Prime's hold on it would be useless. The internal generators would hold up several hours, but they weren't meant to last for longer. Still, given the importance of the power station, the Dalek Prime already had large forces a.s.signed there. This was a significant, but hardly unexpected, battle.

Davros was planning other attacks, of that the Dalek Prime was certain. How would he strike next? He scanned the information from the city's internal sensors, and could see that some of Davros's forces were moving back towards the broken lift shafts. Was it possible that he intended to have Spiders attempt to climb the shafts? But there was no sign of Spiders in the team. What, then? If the shafts weren't to be climbed, why target them?

And then he realised. The shafts were located from the top to the bottom of the building. If an explosive device was placed in each one, then detonated, it might well undermine the stability of the structure. As far as Davros was concerned, taking out the control centre was an acceptable alternative to capturing it.

'Bring forces to defend the lift shafts,' the Dalek Prime ordered. 'Davros is attempting to mine them. This must be stopped.'

The Gold Dalek moved. 'I obey,' it acknowledged.

The Dalek Prime continued to monitor events. His own counterstrike was moving into place to take on Davros's core of defenders. If they could be taken out and Davros recaptured, then the fighting would soon begin to wind down. Davros had been a great help, without intending it. He must have insisted his forces all send a low-frequency signal to identify themselves. Now they had discovered this signal, the Dalek Prime's warriors could identify them too. Each supporter of Davros had been branded, and they could all be hunted down and exterminated. The Dalek race would be cleansed of its imperfections.

Provided Davros's plans didn't take effect before the Dalek Prime's did. But, even if Davros should win this battle and take the planet, the war would not be over. The Dalek Prime examined the track of the departing Thal vessel. Two further plans were even now under way, and there was no way for Davros to affect them. The Doctor was free, and alerted to Davros's survival. The Dalek Prime knew that the Doctor understood the menace that Davros represented, and knew that he would do his utmost to destroy Davros.

And, of course, in case the Doctor failed, there was still the original plan to fall back on...

Cathbad rubbed his neck, scowling as he bent over his instruments. Sam smiled as Chayn went over to him and began to ma.s.sage his shoulders gently. It was good to see that she was continuing to transfer her attentions away from the Doctor. Cathbad seemed to appreciate the shift, too.

'It's no good, Doctor,' he finally announced.

'Oh, I don't know,' the Doctor replied, his eyes twinkling. 'It looks rather nice to me.'

Cathbad reluctantly asked Chayn to stop. 'I don't mean that,' he replied. 'I mean my search. I really can't find anything.'

'There's nothing different about the ship at all?' the Doctor asked, bouncing over to his station and gently easing Chayn aside. 'There has to be something.'

'Honestly, Doctor,' Cathbad informed him, 'the only thing I've noticed is that the ship's a bit sluggish at the helm.'

'What?' The Doctor stared at the controls. 'What do you mean?'

Cathbad shrugged. 'It's just that we're not manuvring as well as we normally do. It's probably due to the damage caused by the Spider Daleks. We seemed to be about five per cent underpowered.'

The Doctor bent over the console, and his fingers started to ripple across the panels. 'That's odd. I wonder why that should be.' He tapped in more commands and then gave a tentative smile. 'Somebody must be very out of shape. Even though two-thirds of the crew is missing, the ship seems to have gained an extra five per cent in ma.s.s.'

'What?' Ayaka moved to join them at the station. 'How can that be?'

'I'm not absolutely sure yet,' the Doctor admitted. 'But I think we've discovered what the Daleks have been up to. While you were in their cell, they added a little something extra to your ship.'

'A bomb,' Cathbad suggested. 'A planet-wrecker, perhaps, aimed at detonating on our home world and annihilating us.'

'I'd believe that if the Daleks could have known you were coming.' The Doctor shook his head. 'Remember, they were expecting a tramp steamer like the Quetzel Quetzel, which wouldn't be heading home for months or years. It's something else.'

'Doctor,' Ayaka said, 'I do not understand. How could the Daleks increase our ma.s.s by five per cent without altering the ship in some fashion? Yet the internal scanners show nothing amiss.'

Chayn laughed. 'The Daleks would have to be really stupid if they didn't fix your scanner readings,' she pointed out. 'I'd be willing to bet that your sensors don't have a hope of finding what the Daleks have done. We'd have to do a walk-through of the entire ship.'

'Given the forces I have left,' Ayaka answered, 'that could take quite some time.' She glanced at the Doctor. 'Do you believe that there is a time limit?'

'I don't know,' he admitted. 'But I'd be very reluctant to go to light speed if I were you. The Daleks could very well have tied their whatever-it-is into the drive unit. Let's just chug along for a while until we can find it, shall we?'

'Very well,' agreed Ayaka. 'But it would be nice if we had a faster way to scan my ship.'

'We do,' he a.s.sured her. 'Sam, Chayn, you'd better come with me.' He gave Chayn a wide grin. 'You're going to love this next bit. Trust me!'

Davros's Daleks continued to move their bombs into position by the lift shafts. They had forced open one set of doors. The shattered wreckage of the lift and the Special Weapons Dalek were mostly small pieces speckled with gunk. The first device was placed in position, and the lift shaft sealed. Attention moved on to the second.

Electronic fire broke out as loyalist Daleks broke through a wall they had been undermining. Several of Davros's Daleks exploded. The others whirled about to fight back. The Blue Dalek in command of the detail ignored the fighting and primed the first bomb. Two more Daleks exploded beside it, as the loyalists started to close in.

Making a hasty decision, the Blue Dalek aborted the countdown and detonated all of the bombs immediately.

The building shook, and alarms sounded throughout the control room. The Dalek Prime's eye stalk whirled to survey the readouts. The floor continued to shake as the information flooded in. 'Explosive devices have been detonated,' the Dalek Prime stated. 'One shaft had collapsed, weakening the building. Part of the ground floor has been atomised. The structure has been compromised.'

'We still stand,' the Gold Dalek pointed out.

'Yes,' agreed the Dalek Prime. 'But the building is weakened. It is important that we consolidate power. Order the forces in the generator station to attack Davros's forces directly. They must be annihilated immediately. The power to this room must not be severed.' The Gold Dalek whirled about to carry out its orders. The floor trembled as it moved.

'Prepare to evacuate the control room,' the Dalek Prime ordered. 'Hoverbouts must be brought to this level to offload all workers. Any further damage here will bring the building crashing down. It is vital that this be prevented until power can be re-routed to one of the secondary control centres.'

In the killcruiser, the Red Dalek had the power systems up and working. It was realigning all of the weaponry to concentrate on the command building. A few moments earlier, it had witnessed an explosion that had torn out part of the lower floor and sent a gout of fire into the air. Bombs had clearly been triggered there, damaging the integrity of the structure. A few well-placed shots could bring the tower crashing down in ruins.

In moments, it would be in a position to do precisely that.

A Black Dalek moved cautiously across the control room to the Dalek Prime. 'One of Davros's units have taken command of killcruiser 809,' it reported. 'The weapons are all being targeted on this building.'

'It was only to be expected,' the Dalek Prime replied. 'A logical move.' His eye stalk swivelled to one of the controllers. 'Detonate 809,' it ordered.

'I obey.' The Dalek interfaced with the computer and sent its signal.

The Red Dalek started the command sequence to fire all of the killcruiser's weaponry when a light flashed on the main panel. It stared at it for a second, and then realised what it was. It attempted to fire a barrage in the next second, as

The docking bay was rocked by the explosion that tore the killcruiser apart, scattering blazing wreckage about the port. A ball of fire climbed to the sky, falling back and consuming spent fuel and any Daleks left undestroyed in the explosion.

Davros felt the building rock from this blast. 'What was that?' he demanded.