‘Stockpiled, maybe?’ David suggested. ‘DA‐17 was one of their early constructions when they came to Earth, so they could have built up quite a reserve down there.’

‘I’m not so sure of that,’ the Doctor answered. ‘They really didn’t have the time or the resources during the invasion to mine and stock enough metals.’

Barlow had been examining his map, and he grunted, and pointed to the drawing. ‘The pit was built close to an abandoned mine, Doctor,’ he said. ‘It was shut down because raw ore wasn’t yielding much metal – using human technology.’

The Doctor grinned. ‘But Dalek technology is much more sophisticated and efficient. That could be it exactly.’ He studied the map, and gestured to a spot close to where they were. ‘Is this old entrance still accessible, do you think?’

Barlow shrugged. ‘I couldn’t say. But it might be a back door to that installation.’

‘Which is precisely what we need right now,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘We’ll have to work on the assumption that it is, and check it out. If we can get behind the Daleks, I’m sure there’s something I’ll be able to do to mess up their plans.’

‘All right, Doctor,’ Barlow agreed. ‘I presume you’d like us to wait before we strike the Daleks here.’

‘I’d appreciate that,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘The ones below in the complex are bound to try to strike back when you attack. It might give us the chance we need.’

Barlow nodded, but gestured at the work in progress. ’Very well, Doctor. But we can’t wait too long. If the Daleks get that power broadcaster up and running, they’ll be free, and I can’t chance that.’

‘Understood.’ The Doctor favoured him with a smile. ‘Good luck, Barlow.’ He looked at David and Donna. ‘I can’t ask either of you to accompany me.’

‘My wife’s down there,’ David said simply. ‘I’m not deserting her.’

‘And I was planning on taking a stroll that way anyway,’ Donna answered. Then she held her hand out to Barlow.

He glanced at it, and then at her. ‘Am I supposed to kiss it, or what?’

‘There’s another portion of my anatomy you can kiss,’ she snapped. ‘You promised me weapons if there turned out to be Daleks. And there are.’

Barlow grinned. ‘I’d gladly give you a gun, but, as the Doctor pointed out, they’re not much use against Daleks.’

‘That grenade launcher would be.’

He looked surprised. ‘Sorry, but I need it here.’ Then his face softened. He unfastened a thin belt he wore, which had a pouch attached to it. ‘The best I can do,’ he told her. ‘Hand grenades. Only three, but…’ He shrugged.

Donna nodded, and took the pouch. ‘Better than none,’ she agreed. ‘Thanks, Barlow. If we survive this, I owe you one.’

He smiled again. ‘If we don’t, you’ll still owe me one. Only it’ll be a bit harder to collect. Get out of here before I have to attack those Daleks.’

Donna fell in behind the Doctor and David as they moved back down the hill. They’d have to skirt around to find the entrance to the old mine. After that, who could guess how long it would take to find their way through the workings to where the Daleks had their shaft. If the Doctor’s guess was correct. For all they knew, the Daleks might be doing something entirely different.

‘Is this a hopeless quest?’ she demanded.

‘There’s always hope,’ the Doctor assured her. ‘After all, haven’t you just found another man who kept his promise to you?’

Donna glanced down at the pouch she wore. ‘Yes, I suppose I did.’ For some reason, that made her feel better. ‘Wow. The two men in the universe who keep their promises, and I’ve met both of them. Lucky me.’

‘Three,’ the Doctor said, indicating David. ‘He promised to stick with my granddaughter for better or worse, and he’s doing it.’ David looked slightly uncomfortable at this, but said nothing.

‘Three,’ Donna said. ‘My cup runneth over. Where were any of you when I had to get married?’

‘Oh, I was out saving the universe,’ the Doctor answered with a grin. ‘Probably.’

David just smiled faintly.

‘The last time I saw Susan,’ he began, ‘she suggested getting a divorce to resolve our age problem, and I got angry with her. What if I never get the chance to say I’m over it, that I’m not mad any more?’

The Doctor laid a hand on his arm. ‘I’m sure she knows that.’

‘Probably,’ David answered. ‘But I’d like her to hear it from me anyway.’

Smiling, the Doctor nodded his understanding, and continued to lead the way through the trees. His sonic screwdriver kept up a tinny hum, in case the Daleks were using the perimeter alarms.

What are our chances? Donna wondered. Then she decided she really didn’t want to know. The odds had to be in favour of their all dying in this insane attempt. But what else could they do? The Daleks couldn’t be allowed to live. This was their only chance of stopping them. The Doctor was right – compared with this menace, the feuding between the Domains was pointless and petty. Right now, they were all humans – and two aliens – against the Daleks.

They could only pray it would be enough.

It had taken her longer than she’d hoped, but Susan finally reached the corridor where the Daleks’ weapon was stored. She’d managed to duck and hide from every passing Dalek or Roboman, though she’d had a couple of narrow escapes. And, as far as she could tell, the Daleks weren’t yet aware that she’d escaped from her makeshift cell.

The question was – now what? There was bound to be at least one Dalek, and most likely more, with the weapon – to operate it, if not to guard it – and all she was armed with was a machine gun and her wits. Would that be sufficient to stop them?

She reached the lock outside the laboratory and checked its readout carefully. Thank goodness computers were all basically binary! She couldn’t read the Dalek language as such, but she could decipher that there were two Daleks inside the room. And that was a definite problem. Maybe she could defeat one Dalek, but she didn’t have a chance of finishing off two before one of them managed to kill her What she needed was a better weapon.

Or a distraction…

She moved to the next door in the corridor. This led simply to a storage area of some kind, and there were no Daleks inside it now. Opening the door, she checked out the room. It was filled with electronic and chemical supplies. If only she had the time, she could try to build a bomb or something. But the Daleks had claimed the weapon would be operational in five units of time. She wasn’t sure how long that would be, which meant that she couldn’t take the time for anything elaborate. Opposite this room was a second storage area. She keyed that door open and left it while she went back to the first storage room. Instead of anything complicated, she simply mixed up a flammable bunch of chemicals, spread them about the room and then fired a single shot into them.

Flames whooshed about the room so fast she was almost caught in the blast. She dived backward, dosing the door to contain the fire. Alarms started whooping as she dived through the door opposite that she had left open. Then she waited.

The door to the laboratory opened, and one of the Daleks within emerged. It glided around to survey the problem in the storage room, hesitating in the doorway. Susan rushed forward, and slammed as hard as she could into the unsuspecting Dalek. Unable to stop itself, it shot forward, into the blaze. Susan hit the control to close the door before it could turn around, and then shattered the lock with her rifle butt.

She had no idea whether or not that would finish the Dalek, but that wasn’t what was important right now. She dived through the doorway of the laboratory, her weapon ready. ‘Dalek!’ she yelled.

The remaining Dalek spun around, its eyestalk fractionally faster than the rest of its body. Susan fired a short burst, and shattered the lens of its eye. She dived to one side as the Dalek opened fire.