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.The Doctor, clutching the seat ofhis strange conveyance, laughed giddily. They re playingtrains. Trains, said the first Dalek.Even to Jamie s ears, it wasclear that there was something unusual about the sound.Itwas still mechanically produced, but the flat, emotionlesscontent had vanished.Instead, there seemed to be almost ahuman sound to it.The voice sounded pleased andsurprised. Trains, repeated the second, with identical humanquality. Trains! finished the third, happily. Trains, trains, trains! they chorused.Then they splitup to encircle the chair.Extending their arms, they startedto spin the chair and its occupant around on one spot. Now what is it? the Doctor cried. Ah! They re playingroundabouts. Round-a-bouts? said the first Dalek. Round-a-bouts! the second replied. Round-a-bouts! agreed the third. Wait a minute, wait a minute! the Doctor called. I mgetting dizzy.Oh dear. He almost fell off the chair as theDaleks stopped pushing it. Dizzy. Dizzy, repeated the first Dalek. Dizzy! exclaimed the second. Dizzy Doctor! the third contributed. Did you hear that? The Doctor staggered over toJamie, resting his hand on his young companion s shoulderwhile he regained his balance. They ve even got a sense ofhumour.Maxtible chewed on the end of his cigar, lookingvaguely irritated. I m glad you re so easily amused, he saiddrily. Well, Doctor, I congratulate you.They re almosthuman. What? The Doctor slapped the side of his head severaltimes, then smiled. You re right, they are. He looked verysmug. But now I must leave you to your games, Maxtiblefinished. Good day. With a last look at the Daleks, stillcircling the empty chair, he marched out of the room.Jamie was glad to see the back of him.He glanceduncertainly at the Daleks. How old are they now,mentally? he asked. Now? The Doctor gave an impish grin. Youngchildren.And, like human children, they re learning socialskills by playing games and co-operating.But they llmature very quickly; in a matter of hours.As their mindsdevelop, they ll draw on the computer data they havestored inside them.They ll learn what it means to be aDalek. He stepped forward and clapped his hands loudly,like a teacher calling a class. Now, come here, all of you.Come along, gather round. The Daleks obediently glidedacross to the Doctor. That s it, he said approvingly. Excellent.Now. He searched around in his pocketsuntil he found what he wanted, an old nail file.Using this,he carefully scratched on the dome of the first one asomewhat shaky.On the second Dalek, he cut a figure.On the final Dalek, he scratched &!.While he was doingthis, the Daleks were all staring at Jamie.The young Scot was rather unnerved by the way thatthey all seemed to act in unison, without exchanging aword.They had to have some non-vocal method ofcommunication, he realized, unless they were all simplymaturing at the exact same pace. Who is this? asked the first Dalek.The Doctor looked up from his scratchings. Oh, that sJamie.A friend. Friend, repeated the Dalek, clearly liking the sound ofthe word. Hello, friend. Say hello, Jamie, the Doctor prompted.Still eyeing the Dalek warily, Jamie muttered,  Hullo.The Doctor moved to address the three Daleks in hisbest kindergarten teacher manner. Now, you know what afriend is, don t you? That s someone who is well disposedtowards you.Someone who will help you.Share with you.The Daleks did not respond immediately to this.Instead, they looked at each others domes, where theDoctor s marks were carved. What have you done to us? the first Dalek queried. I ve given each of you a name, the Doctor told him. That is something unique to you, so that your friends canspeak to you.You are Alpha. Then he pointed to thesecond Dalek. And you are Beta. To the third Dalek hesaid. And you are Omega. Alpha! said Alpha. Yes, agreed the Doctor, grinning. Beta! called out Beta. Yes! the Doctor said, clapping his hands with pleasure. Omega, finished Omega. That s right. The Doctor could barely contain hisexcitement as the three Daleks started to chorus theirnames.These were the first Daleks with a true sense ofself-identity, and they appeared to be revelling in it. Now,he called, and the Daleks stopped their refrain and lookedat him.He grabbed the reluctant Scot and dragged himcloser. This is Jamie, and I m the Doctor.We all have ourown names, and we are all friends. Friends, agreed Alpha. Jamie, Doctor, friends. Friends, the others added, and the three began tochorus on this word.Abruptly, they cut off in mid-word.Alpha looked at the Doctor. We must go now, it said.Was the Doctor imagining it, or was there a shade of regretin its voice? We are called, explained Beta.Together, the threeDaleks moved towards the Trophy Room door. Go? asked the Doctor, alarmed. Called? What do youmean? Where are you going?Omega paused in the doorway and looked back at theDoctor. All Daleks are ordered to return to Skaro, itexplained.It swivelled his dome to look at Jamie. Goodbye, friend. Then it followed its two companionsdown the corridor towards the laboratory.Jamie glared at the Doctor, who was chuckling away. Doctor, don t you understand? If all the Daleks are goingback to Skaro, then what about Victoria?The Doctor looked aghast.In the excitement of theexperiment, he had completely forgotten about the younggirl. She must still be in the secret passageway, he said. That s right, Jamie agreed. It branched off a way backup there.Kemel took the other route, and he s notreturned. We d better go along and investigate, the Doctor said. If he s been gone this long, then I m afraid that it can onlymean he s run into trouble.Impatiently, Jamie rushed towards the panel [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]