Read Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks for Free Online Page B

have.'
     
'I don't mean that. I can fix this thing in my sleep.' Cuttin' Edge heaved a sigh and sat back on his haunches, resting his muscular arms on his knees. 'I mean... Hell, I don't know what I mean.'
     
'We fight Daleks for a living,' said Scrum quietly. 'We could be killed any day, any one of us. You know that. We all know that – Stella did too.'
     
'That don't make it any easier. She never wanted to be part of this, not like us. Her dyin' like that – it just feels wrong, bro.'
     
'I know what you mean.' Scrum sat down on the deck opposite him and reached into a belt pouch. He produced a small metal flask, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip. 'Here.' He passed it to Cuttin' Edge.
     
'What is it?'
     
'It's an old Earth drink. Very old. It's expensive, because it's so rare.'
     
Cuttin' Edge raised the flask, swallowed, and almost choked. 'Hey – what the hell is that stuff? Damn' near killed me!'
     
'Consider it medicinal.'
     
Cuttin' Edge took another sip and then gagged and blinked. 'What's it called?'
     
'Ginger beer.'
     
'Sure has a kick.'
     
'I only use it for special occasions.' Scrum took the flask back and drank again. 'To Stella – one of the good guys.'
     
'Amen to that.'
     
They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, passing the flask back and forth. Eventually Scrum put the lid back on and stowed it away. 'What do you make of that Doctor?' he asked.
     
'Well, he sure ain't no pirate,' said Cuttin' Edge. 'But other than that – I don't know. I don't understand half of what he says. He's a bit like you, in that respect, only better lookin'.'
     
Scrum sniffed. 'He knows things.'
     
'Like what?'
     
'About the Daleks – stuff he isn't telling us.'
     
'Maybe. It don't really matter, though – either way, Bowman's gonna kick his bony butt off the ship as soon as, and a good thing too.'
     
'Why do you say that?'
     
Cuttin' Edge leant forward. 'Because whatever, or whoever, he is – he's brought us nothin' but bad luck.'
     
The Doctor had decided that there was no point in sitting in the galley doing nothing but look morose. He was stuck on the Wayfarer at least until it reached Auros, and so he might as well get his bearings. Besides, he couldn't resist having a little look around. Which, he reflected, is what had got him into this mess in the first place.
     
The first thing he decided to do was check out the engine room. It was a small ship, but powerful, and he wondered what kind of propulsion system it used. Not many spacecraft of this era relied on antiquated fuel systems like astronic recharge.
     
On the way to the engine room he passed by the hold, and the Doctor couldn't help but pause to look in through the plastic window in the door.
     
There was the Dalek, like some terrifying ice sculpture, glistening in the cargo bay lights. Where the eyestalk should have been attached to the dome, there was only the stub of the pivot nestling in its metal cowl. A couple of wires and fibre-optic filaments dangled from the hole.
     
Even robbed of its eye, the Dalek looked dangerous. The very shape of it chilled the Doctor to the bone. He had too many bad memories, too many nightmares, to feel anything but revulsion.
     
And fear.
     
He took a deep breath and the little window clouded over slightly, obscuring the frost-whitened demon within. It was only that which prevented the Doctor from spotting the single drop of water that fell from the rim of the Dalek's sucker arm.
     
The engine room was a little further on, to the rear, or aft, section of the vessel. The closer the Doctor got to the heavy astronic motors, the more he could feel the vibration through the soles of his trainers. The noise level increased too. He thought he could detect a slightly irregular beat coming from the coolant pumps, and felt a flicker of interest – it almost certainly meant a problem with the regulator valves, and perhaps he could fix them, or improve them, and thus gain some points with the rest