"No traces can be found."

        The Doctor, slowly regaining consciousness, listened to the conversation taking place near him. The effects of the drugs were wearing off but the Doctor could not yet clearly decipher all of the words he was hearing.

        "Recall search...I want...found...," a second voice reported.

        "I doubt th...any survivors," the first voice spoke again.

        "That ship...enough fuel for three...fighters. Without it we have two options...go without them."

        The effects of the drug finally cleared completely and the Doctor, without giving the slightest sign, paid close attention.

        "We will ration the fuel. We need the entire fleet in the first attack," the original voice said.

        "I agree," the second voice said. It was a voice with a high, metallic, pitch. A Dalek. "We must make our fleet appear as powerful as is possible. The galaxy must see it as indestructible."

        The first voice, which the Doctor recognized as the Cyberleader's, said, "Exactly. They will never know that in our first attack our ships were not completely fueled. We will refuel them there."

        "What are you doing with the canister the Earthmen found?" the Dalek asked.

        "As soon as they are able we will have them dismantle the device."

        "Affirmative," the Dalek said.

        The Doctor could hear the sound of the Dalek passing nearby. He opened his eyes just a fraction and was impressed to see the golden casing of the Dalek Supreme exit the room. After a moment he let out a loud grunt and opened his eyes. He sat up rubbing his forehead and straightening his clothes. He noticed the Cyberleader looking at him.

        "It seems that your band of criminals increased by two, at first."

        Unsure of what the Cyberleader meant, the Doctor looked around him. They were in the same room that he and David had been taken to after they were captured on the Cybertank. On tables around them Ruth and David lay unconscious but Tom was no where to be seen.

        "What have you done with him," the Doctor asked dryly.

        "The other human was captured like you. He died."

        "He would have surrendered sooner or later," the Doctor growled at him. "He'd been down in those tunnels for a week with little to eat. He was barely able to stand anymore." The Doctor looked away. After a moment he asked, "What did your pepper-pot-brained friend want?"

        "It does not matter. The Daleks are a worthless race and will be dealt with soon enough."

        The Doctor smiled quickly. He flung his legs off the table and landed on the floor. He wrapped his scarf as he walked around and bent over Ruth. He checked her pulse and felt the temperature of the skin on her forehead. "By the way, how are the invasion plans going?" he asked as if it were really unimportant.

        "According to schedule."

        "Oh, really?" the Doctor smiled. "That's good." He walked over to examine David knowing that the Cyberleader was lying.

        Across the meadows, plains, and forests of Botan the fog slowly returned. Silently it fell over the disguised base, the outposts, and the meadow where the TARDIS and the "Capricorn" were. Only the square area where K9, the creature, and the four monoliths waited was clear.

        The lights of K9's eyes flashed on. He approached the southern most monolith, ignored the stirring creature, and waited silently. There was a light sound from inside the monolith as a command was burst out.

        "Very good, master," K9 said, then turned and moved away towards the city.

        David and Ruth were slowly rising from their tables to stand.

        "Tom's dead," the Doctor said solemnly.

        Ruth gasped and sat back. David showed no reaction at first but slowly closed his eyes and bowed his head.

        "The Cybermats?"

        "Yes."

        David stood and put a hand on Ruth's shoulder. Then he noticed the Cyberleader standing across the room. "What does he want?"

        "It wants us to do a favor for him...it...him?" the Doctor said.

        "You will open the capsule from your ship," the Cyberleader commanded.

        David could not remember exactly what the Cyberleader meant for a moment, then it flooded back to him. He had forgotten all about the capsule and the creature inside it.

        "We'd be happy too," the Doctor said, cutting off the protest David was about to give. "Shall we go to it right now?"

        David stood silent. Ruth, unsure of what was happening, caught a glimpse from the Doctor and waited quietly.

        "Not yet, Doctor," the Cyberleader said and exited the room.

        "There's something in that capsule that even the Cybermen are worried about. I wonder what it is," the Doctor said.

        "They can't be having problems with it. We got it open without all the mechanical resources they have," David debated.

        "Perhaps we were just lucky on that account. Perhaps it was only meant to be opened once and then sealed automatically for all of eternity. And there are some materials the Cybermen lasers won't cut through."

        "There's no doubt about that," Ruth said then smiled to them. "Could someone tell me what you're talking about?"

        As David told her what had happened after waking up in the TARDIS the Doctor tapped one of the computer consoles lightly. The console had been completely shut off this time and the Doctor frowned as he leaned against the wall.

        The Dalek Supreme entered it's office. Another Dalek entered after a moment.

        "Report," the Dalek Supreme said.

        "The ships are equipped and ready to fly."

        "What of our mind control equipment?"

        "We need the humans for the final test."

        "Affirmative," the Dalek Supreme said.

        "While we are trying to dismantle that thing you stay here and keep an eye on the computers. If they put them back on line do what you can," the Doctor told Ruth. "Now, if for some reason we are not back here in several hours you get yourself moving."

        David gave her the route that he and the Doctor had taken to the arsenal and then to the tunnels.

        The door opened and the Cyberleader entered, flanked by two guards. "It is time."

        The Doctor jumped to his feet. "Good. I love a brisk morning walk before tea. It is morning isn't it? It's so hard to tell without windows."

        The Cyberleader left and the guards motioned for them to follow.

        "She can't go, you know?" the Doctor said, pointing to Ruth.. "The effects of the Cybermats haven't cleared from her system completely, yet." The Doctor said goodbye to Ruth and then marched out whistling.

        David waved at her, they wished each other luck, and ran to join the Doctor.

        They were taken down the elevator and into a richly furnished machine shop. In the center of the work area sat the cylinder with several monitors and scanners around it. The Doctor turned off the stasis field and began examining it.

        "Must you stare?" he suddenly barked at the Cyberleader. "I hate it when somebody's looking over my shoulder".

        David turned to the Cyberleader, "He really doesn't like that, you know?"

        The Cyberleader left but the guards remained.

        The Doctor closely looked at the canister. "No marks or registration. No scratches, no scorch marks, no welts, perfectly smooth metal. Two of these things sitting around here are lasers," the Doctor said pointing to the machines. "After the burn of entering the atmosphere and the power of the lasers there's not one hint of damage. Well, don't just stand there, David, we've got work to do."

        David and the Doctor were preparing to try and open the canister the way they did before, when the door opened and K9 entered.

        Shocked, the Doctor looked at the Cybermen who stood still. He walked to them and waved his scarf in front of their faces but they did not move. The Doctor smiled proudly.

        "Good job, K9, you've managed to close them down and come to rescue us."

        "Negative, Doctor," K9 said.

        The Doctor stopped, suspicious, the lights of K9's eyes had changed colors. "K9, where have you been?"

        "Negative, Doctor."

        "That does not answer my question. Why won't you answer my question?"

        "Negative, Doctor."

        David quietly stepped to one side and away from K9.

        "You have new orders?"

        "Affirmative, Doctor."

        "I order you to disobey your new orders," the Doctor said sternly.

        "Negative, Doctor."

        David stepped again and was behind K9.

        "What are your new orders, K9?"

        K9 sat silently for a moment. He wanted to obey the Doctor but his new orders and programming would not allow him to. Reluctantly, K9 fired at the Doctor, rendering him unconscious. David jumped at him from behind but K9 sped out of reach and David hit the floor. K9 swung round and fired again and David did not rise.

        An hour had gone by and Ruth was nervously pacing the room. She wanted to run into the hall and search for David and the Doctor. She had her orders, she thought, but something had gone wrong and she knew it.

        She came to a decision. She kicked at the door like David and the Doctor had told her and it opened. She stood just outside for a moment trying to decide which way to go. She decided not, for the moment, to follow the directions to the arsenal and to search for her two friends instead.

        She started walking quickly but carefully down the corridor in one direction and came to a dead end. She retraced her steps and went into another corridor. There, she listened to each door for any sign of activity but found none.

        She finally came to the elevator and, on instinct, went up to the next floor. Hearing footsteps approach she flattened herself against a wall as two Cybermen, following a small mobile computer shaped like a dog, passed her. She breathed a sigh of relief and astonishment. There was no way they could have missed her. Thanking whoever was responsible for her not being caught she darted off down the corridor.

        After several minutes she came to a half-open door and looked in to see David and the Doctor lying on the floor, slowly trying to move. She entered quickly and patted David's cheeks to wake him up.

        After they were both able to talk David looked at the Doctor. "Man's best friend?" he said sarcastically.

        The Doctor ignored the remark and stood slowly. "What did he want here?" he said, looking around the shop and noticing that the Cybermen were gone. Then his eyes fell on the canister. The lid was now open and it was empty.

        "What do you think was inside?" David asked the Doctor.

        The Doctor looked inside the container for a clue and found it. There was a strange coating on the interior and the Doctor recognized the sickly smell.

        "Of course," the Doctor said. "That smell is Tiflorium and that means this has to be a Maturix container," the Doctor said. "That's the only thing Tiflorium is used for."

        "Maturiz?" David asked.

        "Maturix," the Doctor corrected him. "I have never seen one before but I read about them at the Academy. They are the hybrid creatures of two races. Every five decades they send two creatures, one from each side, to mate on a deserted planet."

        "Not in captivity?"

        "No, it's a tradition, a symbol of peace from these planets. When the Maturix is born the second time as a single being it is big, gigantic, in fact. It's behavior pattern is very wild, very erratic, for a period attacking everything in sight until it gains control.

        "I suppose we are safer inside the city then. Their defenses could hold back something like that," Ruth said.

        "No in fact, this would be the most dangerous place to be. Like any other creature one of it's first instincts is survival and to survive it must feed. It could feed on warm blooded parasite creatures." David and Ruth gasped as they caught the Doctor's thoughts. The Doctor continued, "Like the Daleks."