 he Doctor knelt and examined the ground. There was nothing here, something which he almost recognised, but it didn't seem right somehow. Putting it out of his mind, he stood and looked around. Out here, it was even clearer that people had left in a hurry. The odd half finished meal, the discarded personal items that a more organised and slower evacuation would have taken with it, all served to indicate that something had worried them greatly.
'Something is not right here,' said Leela suddenly from behind him. The Doctor didn't answer straight away, flipping his scarf back over his shoulder and looking around.
'I know. But what?' The Doctor reached into his pocket, and pulled out a crumpled brown paper bag. He looked at it for a second, frowned then shoved it back into his pocket. 'Licorice Allsorts.' He explained before pulling an identical bag from his other pocket. 'Jelly baby?' He then asked, shoving the bag under Leela's nose. Politely Leela took one of the sweets.
'You know, I'm convinced that I've seen somethng similar to this before.' He purposefully striding off in a seemingly random direction.
'Where are we going?' Te Doctor stopped, and pointed at a large building in the distance.
'Town Hall.'
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 ncomming communication, sir.'said the Communications Officer suddenly, 'It's from the Solar Glacier.'
'The Solar Glacier? That's an Ice Warrior warship,' he paused, wondering whether or not he should take the transmission. Finally, he decided, at this stage he couldn't afford to worry about this particular rivalry. 'On screen.'
'Sir,' came the reply. The picture on the screen changed. The starscape vanished to be replaced by a dimly lit starship bridge. Even with the bad signal and the dim light it was obvious that this wasn't a human vessel. The bridge was very alien in design and construction, the product of a different mind and culture. His comparisons between the two ships and cultures abruptly trailed off as an Ice Lord came into view, the difference in demeanour marking him out just as much as the different design of the armour.
'Captain Gardener? I am Larn, commander of this ship. We wish to offer our assistance.' said the Ice Lord. The hissing that Gardener associated with the Ice Warriors wasn't present, something that took hin a few seconds to get used to.
'Thank you. Any help is appreciated. Do you know anything about what they could want?'
'No Captain. That is what we wish to find out. Possible Dalek incursion into this sector is of grave importance to the Ice Warriors. Perhaps even more so than to humans.'
'Perhaps. Very well. Your offer is gratefully accepted.'
'Thank you Commander. We shall see you at Delta Omicron.' With that, the transmission ceased.
'Well,' he said, more to reassure himself than anything else. 'At least that means we've got a bit more firepower.'
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
he building was a mess. Sand, having drifted in through the partially demolished wall, was everywhere. Bits of computer equipment, paper, odds and ends were scattered everywhere. The Doctor looked at shattered remains of a desk and then, very slowly, he picked something up from the floor.
'What is it?' asked Leela, hovering by his shoulder.
'For a second I thought...' He looked carefully at the object, studying it from a number of angels. Examining it carefully. Then he shrugged. 'No. It's just a paperweight.' The Doctor put the object back on the desk. As he did so, the desk gave an ominous creek and collapsed into a cloud of splinters.
'What is a paperweight?'
'Something that weighs down paper.' said the Doctor. 'Ah, this could be interesting.' he then said, picking up a piece of paper. Quickly he readit, devouring the information.
'What is it?' asked Leela, perched on the Doctor's shoulder once again.
'A mineral survey.'
'Is it interesting?'
'No, not really.' said the Doctor, screwing the paper up into a ball and throwing it away.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 pace warped. A hole in reality appeared. For a second the raging maelstrom that was hyperspace was visible. Ships appeared. For a second they just hung there, doing nothing, almost as if they were getting bearings. Then, as one, they turned, and headed towards Delta Omicron.
'Progress report.'
'We shall penetrate the inner sanctum within the hour.'
'Excellent.'
'Alert! Alert! Alert! Intruders have been detected. There are humans on the planet! There are humans on the planet!' screamed the metallic voices of his creations suddenly. The voices, if such a thing were possible, sounded panicked.
'What? That's impossible. The human ships have not yet made it to this system. How could there be humans on the planet?'
'Unknown.'
'Where are these humans?'
'Sector four.' A hand reached out and touched a series of controls. The Doctor and Leela appeared on the screen.
'Deal with them. At once.' For a second there was silence. Then, the voice started babbling again.
'Human ships have entered the system! Human ships have entered the system!'
'Deploy the becon.'
'Becon deployed.'
'Speed up the process. I want to be off this planet as soon as possible.'
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 ardener sat down in his seat, and called up a tactical display. Nothing. Nothing at all. If the Daleks had a ship here there was no sign of it. Slowly, he checked the equipment, then satisfied that the readings were real, he stood again.
'Get me the other ships.' The Communications Officer's fingers sped across the board, and the tiny figures of the other Captains appeared on the screen.
'Our sensors don't show anything. Can anyone else see anything out there?' There were several negative responses. 'If they are here, where are they?'
'Captain?'
'Yes?'
'We're receiving a transmission.'
'On screen.' The picture on the screen changed. A collective shudder went through the bridge crew. There, large as life on the screen, was one of humanities deadliest enemines:
A Dalek.
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