In the control centre, the Black Dalek considered further. The human sabotage had led to the destruction of the embryos, and still power levels were dropping. ‘Close down all side tunnels,’ it ordered. ‘All mobile units to return to the main area. All other sections are to be shut down to conserve power.’ Then came the message from the repair crew of further sabotage at the furnace. Whoever had done this was clearly more intelligent than most humans. Power levels were falling drastically.

‘Estimate time to completion of communications,’ it demanded.

‘Two time units,’ the technician answered.

That was unacceptable. The power loss would be terminal before then. There had to be another solution to the problem. But one was not obvious. It was not possible that the Daleks had failed again.

It could not be.

Donna jumped to her feet, following the Doctor as he started to move from the head of the shaft. There were about ten Daleks working on their new equipment, close to the still burning wreckage of the destroyed transmitter. Six Robomen were staring outward, probably guarding against another attack from Barlow. The Doctor was trying to get to cover behind the wrecked unit when one of the Dalek technicians spotted them moving.

It whirled around. ‘Intruders!’ it intoned. ‘Exterminate!’ Its gun fired as Donna forced herself to move faster. The bolt singed her hair, and felt like an electrified hand slamming into her back. She was thrown off balance, into the mud.

The Doctor saw her fall, and felt a cold fury seize his battered body. Daleks. Somehow it always came down to this. Good… well, him, against evil. Cold, pitiless evil. How many lives had the Daleks taken? How many worlds lay in ruins in their wake, throughout time and space?

And he knew with a terrible certainty that whatever he did to try to stop them would never, ever be enough.

For a second he wished he could see the bigger picture again, the grand design, as he dreamed he once could. But there was only darkness and pain crowding his head, now.

And fear.

‘Return to work!’ another Dalek ordered the first. ‘Communications is a priority. Robomen will eliminate all intruders.’

Donna stared up from the ground. The Dalek turned back to its equipment, but all six Robomen turned their blank faces towards her and the Doctor. She saw the Doctor’s bloody figure start staggering towards the helmeted figures.

‘Daleks!’ roared the Doctor, ignoring the Robomen as they raised their guns, looking for all the world as if he was going to try and push his way past them to get to the Daleks himself.

Donna staggered to her feet. ‘Doctor! No!’ she screamed, running towards him. She’d be damned if she’d die grovelling in the mud.

Gunshots hammered all around, and she involuntarily closed her eyes. But none of the bullets hit her, and as she looked again, she saw that it was the Robomen who were being cut apart by small‐arms fire.

The Doctor stopped his advance, staring round bewilderedly as if waking from a trance, and slumped to his knees in the squelching mud.

The Daleks at the device all spun around, bringing up their guns. ‘Exterminate all humans!’ She couldn’t tell which had spoken, but it wasn’t necessary to know: each of them had simply that one thought in mind.

Then Donna saw him – Barlow! He was hunched over a rock past the entrance, leading some twenty troopers who were firing at the dying Robomen. A grim smile forced itself on her lips. Maybe they would survive this, after all. Barlow fired first, taking out one of the Daleks. Then the Daleks opened fire. They had targeted the soldiers first, since they were the most dangerous. Four of five were caught in the ravaging fire, and screamed as they died. Others fired futilely at the Daleks. Bullets simply bounced off their armoured casings. Then Barlow fired two more grenades. The man was a wicked shot, striking home with both. Then he flung his weapon away in disgust, clearly out of ammunition.

Donna felt sick. The grenade launcher had been the only weapon effective against the Daleks so far, and the Daleks knew it. They moved forward, firing continually. Donna managed to dash over to the Doctor, still on his knees in the mud. He looked horribly pale. She glanced at the field dressing and winced. It was soaked in blood. The strain was dearly killing him.

‘You can’t keep this up,’ she said, shocked.

‘And I won’t just die,’ he retorted weakly. ‘We have to try to get out of here. Barlow, too. He doesn’t stand a chance.’

Donna glanced at the attacking soldiers. The Doctor was right: two more were dying, screaming in agony. Not many were left.

And then came another Dalek ray blast – but from the human side. The shot caught the foremost Dalek in motion, exploding its dome. Donna couldn’t understand it until she saw there were fresh human troops carrying what had to be Dalek guns. The cavalry had arrived with fresh supplies – weapons that were as effective against Daleks as they were against humans.

The remaining Daleks clustered to fire at the fresh troops. One of the soldiers armed with a Dalek gun was caught and died shaking in agony. The others scattered, firing at will.

And then the ground shook. Donna barely kept her footing, and the Doctor slid to the mud. The earth quaked, as if raging against all of the violence. Donna glanced back and understood immediately what had happened. The Doctor’s sabotage had paid off.

The Black Dalek studied the readouts available to it. The complex was in serious danger of being destroyed. The power levels were dropping, and the damage to the crèche and foundry were escalating.

The unthinkable was happening: the Daleks were being defeated.

The Black Dalek spun about and moved from the control room. The transmuter was not responding to commands, malfunctioning, but it might still be possible to activate it manually. All the codes needed to destroy the surrounding area were inside its own inboard computer. The Black Dalek could plug its circuits directly into the transmuter and utilize it to destroy the enemy target. At least the failure then would not be so total and ignominious.

The door to the laboratory refused to open. The Black Dalek fired at it until the lock was reduced to slag, and then pushed the door aside. It took a single glance to show that the transmuter had somehow been torn from its position.

The humans…

The Black Dalek stared in outrage at the final evidence of the Dalek defeat.

Huge flames licked from the pit of DA‐17, rising twenty feet or more into the air. The ground beyond was ruptured, crashing apart. Flames and molten rocks oozed from the devastated ground. Fire was everywhere. It was as if the gates of Hell had been opened, and the internal fires loosed.

The Daleks that were left all seemed to go into slow motion as their power source was destroyed. Their guns died, their limbs faltered, and finally they stopped moving. The ground cracked and seethed about them, swallowing them up, returning them to the ground from which they had been forged.

A blast of heat washed over Donna, and she gasped from the pain. ‘Come on, Doctor,’ she grumbled. ‘We’ve got to move.’ There was no response, and she saw that he was now completely unconscious. ‘Oh, Christ,’ she muttered. Grabbing his good arm, she managed to lever him up, and started to drag him away from the increasing zone of destruction. Trees and shrubs close by had caught fire and were burning like huge torches. The grass was spreading the flames, and Donna had serious doubts about being able to make it out.

Then Barlow was with her, and he lifted the Doctor’s feet without comment. Together, sweating and aching, they carried their insensate burden beyond the immediate danger zone. When she was sure they were far enough away, Donna called for a halt. Her fingers were almost nerveless when she allowed the Doctor to flop gently to the ground.