Tulana looked massively relieved. ‘I think he –’ she jerked her head towards the Doctor – ‘used this.’ She held out the tool she’d snatched and the Dalek examined it.

  ‘Quantum stabiliser – very advanced,’ it said. The eye moved up from the tool to the Doctor’s face. ‘I seek confirmation. Are you a Time Lord?’ it asked pleasantly.

  Having just arrived in a TARDIS, there was little point in denying it. The Doctor straightened up and thrust out his chin defiantly. ‘Yes, I’m the Doctor.’

  ‘I am Pytha. Welcome to the Academy,’ said the Dalek.

  ‘All are welcome,’ chorused the others, apart from Tulana.

  The Dalek’s eye-stalk swivelled around and looked at the angry girl’s face. ‘Tulana?’ it said, mildly reproachful. ‘Where are your manners?’

  ‘Sorry, Pytha,’ she replied. ‘All are welcome.’ She still managed to give the Doctor another withering look, though.

  The Dalek looked back at the Doctor. ‘I apologise for my colleague Sokar,’ it said. ‘You must have been startled when he suddenly burst in uninvited. He is young and he can be very impetuous when he gets excited.’

  The Doctor was speechless. Daleks that were courteous? Daleks that apologised?

  ‘If you will excuse me,’ said Pytha. ‘I must ensure that Sokar re-initialises correctly.’

  The Daleks left, two of them pushing their stunned companion ahead of them, while the children followed close behind. The Dalek Pytha and Tulana were the last to leave. After a quiet word from Pytha at the door, Tulana turned back to the Doctor. ‘Pytha says that you are invited to tour the Academy later. He says I should come and get you at lunchtime, if that’s OK with you?’ Her tone was biting. Obviously still annoyed, she spun on her heel and marched out.

  ‘What was that all about?’ asked Ace.

  ‘Yes, quite!’ replied the Doctor.

  ‘Can we get out of here? Like now!’

  ‘First things first, Ace. I have to persuade the doors to close before we can go anywhere.’

  After some more adjustments, the Doctor finally managed to get the doors to respond, and Ace breathed a sigh of relief as they closed. Seconds passed as Ace waited for the Doctor to set course for some planet that had no Daleks on it. The Doctor leaned on the console, deep in thought.

  ‘Doctor, why are we still on this messed-up planet? Something is obviously very wrong here, so can we just leave?’

  ‘That was my first instinct too,’ the Doctor admitted. ‘But, as you said, something isn’t right here.’

  ‘All the more reason to be somewhere else then,’ argued Ace.

  The Doctor shook his head. ‘Ace, d’you know where we are? According to the navigational panel, this is Skaro. But we both know that Skaro no longer exists. And these Daleks are doubly unsettling.’

  ‘You think?’ demanded Ace. ‘We just got invited to lunch by one of them!’

  ‘Yes, I know,’ the Doctor replied. ‘You know where you are when they offer mindless violence. This politeness is terrifying!’

  ‘And what’s with the voice?’ Ace added. ‘Why isn’t it all loud and mechanical and menacing any more? These Daleks sound a bit like wind chimes. Too weird! So can we leave?’

  ‘Ace, right now, much as the other side of the universe appeals, we need answers.’ The Doctor strode out of the control room and headed off into the bowels of the TARDIS.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Ace asked, running to catch up with him before he could disappear.

  ‘I’m going to interface the TARDIS computers with external data networks. I need to find out what’s going on.’

  An hour later, the Doctor emerged with a thoughtful expression on his face.

  ‘Well?’ said Ace. ‘Who’s been feeding the Daleks happy pills?’

  The Doctor stood with his hands in his pockets, looking deeply puzzled. Not good.

  Ace tried again. ‘The last time I met the Daleks there were two groups fighting each other in a civil war. So is this a third group that’s decided not to do the whole death-and-destruction thing? Pacifist Daleks that just want to sit and chat?’

  The Doctor shook his head.

  ‘So are these Daleks from before the evil Daleks I met on Earth,’ said Ace, ‘or after them?’

  ‘As far as I can tell,’ replied the Doctor, ‘they are instead of them.’

  ‘Come again?’

  ‘There don’t seem to be any other Daleks, just these – apparently – civilised, philosophical, peace-loving ones.’

  ‘But –’

  ‘I’ve examined every archive I can – the Encyclopaedia Universalis, the Intergalactic OmniSource, the Citrinitas Net. As far as I can tell, all the archives are authentic and the TARDIS databank is the only data source anywhere that makes any mention of evil militaristic Daleks. There’s no record of them ever conquering anyone, anywhere, at any time. Skaro is now the universal centre of civilization, philosophy, democracy and art. It’s like Greece was on Earth from 550 bc, with everyone flocking here to learn.’

  ‘But how can that be?’ said Ace.

  ‘I don’t know. Something is wrong here. I can feel it. This must be some kind of Dalek plot – there’s no other explanation.’

  ‘That’s terrible,’ said Ace.

  ‘Oh no, Ace,’ the Doctor shook his head. ‘That would be excellent!’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘That would mean business as usual. Evil Daleks, galactic domination plans, same ole, same ole.’

  ‘And that would be good?’

  ‘Oh yes!’

  ‘So what would be bad?’

  ‘Bad would be if the recorded history was correct and the Daleks really are loved and respected and a great force for civilisation.’

  ‘Why would that be bad?’ asked Ace. ‘If the Daleks suddenly became good guys?’

  ‘That would be bad, my dear girl, because then something would have rebuilt our entire universe with an alternative timeline – but you and I are still able to remember the old one.’

  ‘How is that possible?’ asked Ace.

  ‘I have no idea, Ace, but I intend to find out.’

  3

  Perched on the edge of a desert, with sweeping views of the distant mountains, the Academy was beautiful. Daleks and assorted aliens moved along long, winding ribbons of gleaming blue metal that weaved between the buildings.

  Lunch was a buffet set up in a plaza quite close to where the TARDIS had landed. Ace didn’t recognise what any of the food was, so she tagged along with Tulana and tried whatever the other girl ate. The smooth blue stuff was a bit salty, and the purply green thing that looked a bit like grated carrot was disgusting, but the orangey brown chunky stuff on the little toast squares was brilliant. Ace had loads of that.

  Of course, the Daleks didn’t eat, but they circulated, checking everyone had enough food and making conversation. The Doctor wasn’t eating either. He was staring holes in the Daleks and being unusually quiet.

  Ace looked up at a huge elliptical building that towered above the multicoloured sand of the desert. It curved gently and sparkled in the evening sun, tapering to a point high above.

  ‘That’s the Medical School,’ said Tulana. ‘Students from all over the galaxy come to study surgery and genetics under Dalek teachers. The Daleks are the best surgeons anywhere. Their unique combination of biology and technology allows them a degree of micro-control that nobody else can match. They are also superb geneticists.’

  ‘Oh, I’ll just bet they are!’ the Doctor snorted.

  Tulana gave him a quizzical look. She’d picked up on his tone, but thankfully she let it slide.

  After lunch, Tulana took them on the promised tour of the Academy. They strolled between impressive buildings of glass and metal, and walked along avenues lined with abstract sculptures. Everywhere they went, groups of aliens some of whom seemed to be barely older than toddlers, or elders several centuries old, sat or strolled with one or more Daleks, learning and debating. There was an outdoor class in nearly every plaza under the guidance of a Dalek tutor – everything from the youngest children learning elementary maths that even Ace could do to adults attending seminars in subjects so advanced that she had no clue what they were talking about.

  Normally the Doctor would have been talking non-stop and making bad jokes, but he barely said a word and his silence was making Ace feel embarrassed. She tried to rope him into the conversation.

  ‘The Doctor was saying that all this is a bit like ancient Greece on Earth a long time ago,’ Ace said.

  Tulana looked puzzled, but a Dalek tutor broke off from teaching and turned to face the visitors. ‘Thank you,’ it said to the Doctor. ‘There are some parallels, but, unlike the ancient Greek humans, we don’t have slavery here on Skaro.’

  ‘Still, I see that you’re regaling the rest of the galaxy with the superiority of your Dalek ways.’ The Doctor’s tone was pure acid.

  Ace winced. She wondered if the Dalek understood the Doctor’s sarcasm.

  ‘We feel that we should share our knowledge, yes. Some advanced races have been a little too aloof and have missed a chance to share their wisdom with others,’ replied the Dalek. ‘The Time Lords, for instance.’

  Ouch! Being scolded by a Dalek for not looking after other races was too much for the Doctor. His expression thunderous, he strode off – but not far. Tulana stared after him. The Dalek might not have understood sarcasm, but Tulana certainly did.

  ‘Why is your friend being so unpleasant when you are both being treated as honoured guests?’ she whispered to Ace when they had nearly reached the Doctor at the edge of the plaza.

  ‘Well, if I’m such an honoured guest, why have they fobbed us off with you as our tour guide?’ said the Doctor, overhearing. ‘Why are we not being shown around by a Dalek?’

  ‘Perhaps because they don’t want to be disabled by a photon beam,’ Tulana bristled. ‘Or maybe because they can sense your hostility. Plus they thought you’d be more comfortable with a humanoid guide.’

  There was an uncomfortable silence.

  ‘I’m sorry, Tulana,’ said the Doctor at last. ‘I’m just not used to Daleks being friendly. This is just … weird.’

  ‘You’ve met Daleks before?’

  ‘Yes, many times,’ the Doctor nodded. ‘And every time, it was unpleasant. In my experience, the Daleks have always been a ruthless bunch of xenophobic, militaristic bullies – even before a self-inflicted overdose of radiation turned them into the mutants that live inside those armoured shells.’

  ‘That just isn’t true,’ said Tulana, outraged. ‘After the accidental Neutron War caused them to mutate, the Daleks became peace-loving academics.’

  ‘That may be what you have been taught, but my view of history is very different. Their mutation took them to a whole new psychopathic level. They became paranoid megalomaniacs, waging war on everyone in sight, laying waste to whole solar systems using every conceivable weapon.’

  Tulana looked at the Doctor like he was demented. She’d been angry before, but the look she now gave him was almost one of pity. She looked at Ace, appealing for support against the lunatic.

  ‘It’s true,’ Ace nodded. ‘The last time I met them, they tried to kill me – big time!’

  The expression on Tulana’s face spoke volumes, even if she was too polite to say outright that the Doctor and Ace were lying, or mad. She found a diplomatic compromise.

  ‘Well, maybe you met a few bad Daleks? Maybe some renegade criminal Daleks?’ she ventured. ‘Or maybe you met some impersonators who were pretending to be Daleks? That would explain everything.’

  Ace’s mouth fell open. She glanced at the Doctor. His incredulous expression was a mirror image of her own. Tulana smiled and nodded, happy that she had solved the puzzle to her satisfaction and led the way to the Academy Art School.

  By the time they got back to the TARDIS, they’d seen hundreds of Daleks, not one of whom was equipped with a weapon, or had barked an order, or done anything that either the Doctor or Ace would characterise as typical Dalek behaviour. It was downright disturbing.

  ‘It’s a shame I can’t show you more of Skaro,’ said Tulana. ‘It’s really beautiful. There’s an acid river and a swamp where geysers shoot fountains of mercury into the air. But it would take far too long to arrange transport and to travel there.’

  The Doctor’s eyes narrowed shrewdly. ‘Oh, I don’t know about that, Tulana’ he said. ‘Time and speed aren’t really a problem when you have a TARDIS.’

  Despite herself, Tulana’s eyes widened. The Doctor wasn’t exactly her favourite person, but the chance of a trip in a time machine was mouth-watering.

  The TARDIS behaved impeccably and they spent the next hour zipping about all over the Daleks’ home planet. Nominally, Tulana was the guide, but from the way she drank in the sights, it was obvious she was seeing a lot of it for the first time too.

  ‘Why are you doing this, Doctor?’ whispered Ace as the TARDIS hovered over a large lake and Tulana tried to spot the mutated wind-walker creatures that lived there.

  ‘I want to see what she knows, and what she doesn’t,’ he whispered back. ‘I’m interested in where the Daleks let her go, and where they try to prevent her from going.’

  As they flew low over a forest, the Doctor spotted something on the instruments.

  ‘Aha!’ he exclaimed. ‘A space station in high synchronous orbit. How interesting! Let’s take a quick look.’ He looked to Tulana for a reaction. ‘Surely the Daleks won’t mind a quick visit, since they’re so open, friendly and democratic?’

  It took less than five seconds for the TARDIS to arrive right next to the space station in the middle of a cluster of ten sleek spaceships.

  ‘Well, well,’ the Doctor said, his eyes narrowing. ‘Dalek galactic cruisers! I wonder what they could be for?’

  ‘Wow!’ said Tulana as she gaped at the huge ships.

  As they watched, a group of Daleks left the station and jetted across to one of the cruisers.

  ‘Look,’ said Ace. ‘Those ones have weapons. They have ray guns built into them like Daleks normally do.’

  ‘Aha!’ said the Doctor again, looking very satisfied with himself. ‘It seems that their mask of pacifist friendliness has slipped. Now you can see their true colours, Tulana. Weaponised Daleks in deep-space battle cruisers. Attack! Enslave! Exterminate! These are the true Daleks I know and loathe.’

  ‘Oh really!’ said Tulana.

  ‘You don’t think that they really need a long-range strike force to do research into surgery and genetics, do you?’ said the Doctor.

  It was as if a light bulb went on in Tulana’s head.

  ‘So that’s what this sight-seeing trip was about,’ she said. ‘I get it now. You think I didn’t know about these ships. You think you’ve discovered a horrible Dalek secret.’

  ‘These are the real Daleks,’ replied the Doctor. ‘I haven’t figured out the purpose of that charade down on the planet yet, but I will.’

  Tulana shook her head, her expression somewhere between contempt and pity. ‘The Daleks aren’t hostile, but of course they have guns and ships. They’d be idiots not to. Can you think of any race on any planet that doesn’t have some form of army to protect themselves? The universe is full of species that would wipe out the Daleks if they got the chance – and kill all the humans and the Time Lords too, and anyone else who was different for that matter. If the Daleks just stayed here undefended and did research, how long do you think the Sontarans or the Cybermen or all the rest would leave them alone?’

  Ace thought that was a good point. The Doctor harrumphed, but he didn’t seem so sure of himself now.

  ‘The Daleks protect themselves and others, like the people of my planet who don’t have the technology to defeat races like the Cybermen. Are you saying that’s wrong?’ Tulana’s expression positively dared the Doctor to argue.

  The only answer she got was him returning them to the Academy in silence and opening the TARDIS doors to let her out.

  4

  For the next few hours, the Doctor grumped about the TARDIS looking alternately puzzled and worried or irate. Occasionally he’d get a wild gleam in his eyes like he’d just thought of a brilliant plan and he’d rush off to check something on one of the TARDIS computers. A little later he’d stalk back, grumpier than ever.

  ‘No joy?’ asked Ace.

  ‘No,’ the Doctor sulked.

  ‘What are you trying to do, exactly?’ she asked.

  The Doctor sighed. ‘I’m trying to find out what the Daleks are up to and how they’ve managed to fool so many people into believing that they’re benign.’

  ‘So what’ve you found out so far?’

  ‘Nothing. I’ve checked histories, galactic archives, ancient transmissions that are still spreading out into space. All the data seems to indicate that what Tulana says about the Daleks is true.’

  ‘So they really are good guys now?’ Ace grinned. ‘Wow! That’s brilliant.’

  The Doctor gave Ace a look that could have curdled milk. Ace wiped the smile off her face.

  ‘Is there anything you didn’t check?’ she asked.

  The Doctor grimaced. Whatever it was, he obviously found the idea of trying it deeply distasteful.

  ‘Well, Professor?’ Ace prodded.

  ‘The only way to be really sure …’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Would be to go to Gallifrey and talk with the Time Lords.’

  ‘And they’d know the truth?’

  The Doctor nodded. ‘The Time Lords have unique ways of monitoring the significant events in space and time.’

  ‘So let’s do that then,’ said Ace breezily. ‘A quick trip back to your old home planet, a cup of tea and a chat and you’ll know exactly what’s what – yeah?’

  From the look on his face, Ace reckoned that a visit to the Time Lords was something similar to her having to visit the dentist back on Earth.

 

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