Part 3
It's not often that you get the opportunity to see a spacecraft. I've seen a couple of lights in the night sky that I identified as UFOs more for the fun of it than any actual belief in their other worldly origin. So, when we found out that the Kilaak were coming for a visit and they were planning to land in our general vicinity, well, we had to go.
The Kilaak first visited Earth in the year 1999 and caused a bunch of trouble as they have the technology to control Kaiju. They took control of all the Kaiju on Monster Island at the time, which was most of the Kaiju known to be alive at the time. Having taken control of the Kaiju, they directed them to destroying the major cities of the Earth as part of the Kilaak's plan to take over the Earth. Needless to say, they failed. They came back a couple years ago to try again. Unfortunately for them, Godzilla shook off their control and managed to free the rest of the Kaiju from Kilaak control before destroying the Kilaak version of Mecha-Godzilla and badly damaging their spacecraft. With this history in mind, we felt we knew what to expect from the day.
All things considered, the Kilaak weren't personally dangerous. They weren't likely to exit their spacecraft with guns a-blazin' due to the fact that they were keen to enslave us and random shooting was likely to waste potential slave labour. Oddly enough, they never seemed concerned about the potential loss of human life due to Kaiju rampage. I suppose it was sort of a 'out of sight, out of mind' sort of thing. Rodan accidentally stepping on someone in France was no big deal. I mean, it's not like they'd shot them directly. Then they might be guilty. Well, that's my theory anyway. It helped us justify going to see the spacecraft and the speech the Kilaak would no doubt give without feeling we were endangering ourselves.
We were mostly heading west to get to the expected landing site. We rode a bus for about twenty minutes and then hopped on a train for another thirty minute ride. We followed the crowd that was forming in a local park. The Kilaak were expected to land on the baseball diamond. This didn't seem fair to any teams that might have scheduled to use the diamond later today but I don't think the Kilaak cared. It was a simple act of defiance to start their stay. I mean baseball is as Japanese as sushi! How dare they!
The crowd was rather peaceful for a group that was expecting to see a bunch of aliens land and announce their plans for attack. Japanese crowds are pretty peaceful to begin with but I think the capper was that the Kilaak hadn't succeeded before and no one expected them to succeed this time.
The Kilaak ship passed over the field twice before finally settling down to land. The media recorded everything. The crowd calmly watched all this and applauded when the mighty craft landed without incident. A few minutes passed before the door to the craft opened and a ramp lowered to the ground. Three Kilaak, wearing their silver hooded space suits, stepped down the ramp to a platform with a podium and microphones stood. The media didn't want to miss anything and had eagerly prepared things for the Kilaak.
A female Kilaak, presumably the leader of this mission, stepped forward to the podium. The Kilaak look human, Asian even. It is assumed that this is a disguise to prevent us from panicking. I dunno why they would be against us panicking as I would think our panic would prevent us from a well considered counter attack but I'm not an alien either.
"People of Earth. Your freedom is at an end. The Kilaak are your masters. This fact will be made abundantly clear over the upcoming days if you do not surrender now. Destruction and pain will become your meals if you do not surrender to us. The human governments have three hours to surrender before our rampage begins. That is all." With that, she walked back up the ramp, followed by the other Kilaak.
"That was a bit disappointing," I noted. "I expected some ranting and raving. Where was my ranting and raving?"
"They were a bit drier than normal," Eric agreed.
"She was very stiff," Katy added. "Too measured in her voice."
"A bit robotic."
"Yes!" Katy enthused. "Robotic, that's what I was looking for."
"Well, now that we've decided that, how about lunch?" Eric rubbed his hands together enthusiastically. "Curry anyone?"
"Maybe." I was noncommittal. I like curry, I just wasn't sure I was in the mood for it.
"Let's see what's open and decide then," Katy pointed out rather logically. We nodded to each other and removed ourselves from the crowd.
We exited the park and wandered down a rather deserted side street towards what we thought might be a commercial district. "I wonder why they landed here?" Eric mused. "Especially since they want the governments of Earth to surrender to them, why here? Why not the United Nations building in New York? It would be easier to get an answer there I would think."
"True."
"For that matter, why three hours?" Katy asked. "Is that a significant amount of time?"
I semi turned to look at them. Yes, despite not having a clue where I was going, I was leading the way. "Well, I seem to remember reading..." I turned the corner...
..and the next thing I knew, I had returned to the other side of the corner, my back up against the building. My heart was racing. My breath was rapid. It couldn't be, I had to have been seeing things!
My reaction generated concern in my friends. "Steve, what's wrong? What happened?"
I licked my lips nervously. Quietly I spoke. "Eric, poke your head around the corner and tell me what you see." He poked his head around the corner. While he did so, I continually fought the urge to pull him back. After what felt like an eternity, he pulled himself back. "Well?"
"I saw a smaller craft in the street, some Kilaak and a number of shortish... tank like things."
"Did they look like a bumpy salt shaker with sticks projecting from it?" I gestured a stalk from my forehead and two at about waist level.
Eric smiled. "Yeah, that's a pretty good description."
I pointed back the way we came. "Then we're going this way." I wasted no time in starting to walk that way.
"Steve, what's going on? What are these things you recognized that I didn't get to see?"
"Walk faster and I'll tell you."
"Are they that bad?" Katy questioned.
"They're the most xenophobic creatures known in the universe. Great blobs of hate in mobile armour. They're ruthless and deadly, which is my main reason for putting distance between ourselves and them."
"How do you know them?"
I ducked into an alley. Katy and Eric followed. I think I was hyperventilating at this point. "They're known as the Daleks. What I don't understand is what they're doing here."
"Working with the Kilaak?" Eric questioned
"At all." I swallowed. "They're fictional characters from the Doctor Who show I'm fond of. They shouldn't exist. If they do exist..." I couldn't wrap my mind around the possibilities. Were they from another universe where they were real? That meant that my belief in alternate realities was well founded and that's a bit of a mind blower. If they were from our universe, did that mean the show had been based on fact? What did that mean about life in general? What was real and what was fiction then? Eitherway, what could I do to protect us from Daleks?
I heard a noise. A noise that relaxed me and yet terrified me. A noise that trumpeted salvation to me. Everything would be okay.
? ? ?
Katy looked at Eric. Eric looked at Katy. Then they both looked at Steve. There were two rather odd things occurring at once and it seemed entirely possible that they were related in some way.
Steve had not been quite right after seeing those creatures he'd identified as Daleks. Considering the fact that Steve was often what people would consider as 'not right', this was impressive indeed. He did not seem himself. He was twitching. He had giggled, nervously, for a moment and then stopped. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was rocking gently, presumably in a comforting sort of way. Steve's gaze was directed further down the alley.
This was odd thing number two. A loud wheezing and groaning noise was emanating from further down the alley, apparently coming from nowhere. As they watched, a shape began to form, the shape of a tall blue box. As the shape grew more distinct, a sign near the top of the box became easier to read. It said: Police - Public Call - Box. A bright yellow light flashed atop the box. With a loud thud, the box became solid within reality.
Katy frowned slightly, working to process what she was seeing. "It's not often you see a box appear from nowhere."
Eric nodded. "Especially a Police Box."
Steve, for his part, giggled again.
After a moment, the door to the box opened and a face popped out of it. The face was smiling brightly. The smile was so large and enthusiastic that it overwhelmed the face in question. Atop the head that the face was a part of was a mighty face of brown curls. The face's teeth and curls were the dominating characteristics of this face. "Hallo." The deep voice boomed from between all those teeth.
"Hello," said Katy.
"Hi," Eric replied politely.
Steve sighed in a relaxed sort of way. "Hallo Doctor."
The impact of this greeting upon the face was impressive. The friendly twinkle in the face's brown eyes disappeared as they grew wide and surprised. The smile also disappeared momentarily as his mouth reduced to an 'O' of surprise. The body attached to the barreled from the box. "'Hallo Doctor'?" he repeated curiously. The smile returned. "Have we met?"
"I don't think so. I really think I would have remembered something like that."
A pretty slim blond lady now stepped from the box. She looked very proper but not in a haughty sort of way. Steve smiled at her. "And Romana as well! Hallo Romana."
She looked confused. Romana glanced at the Doctor. When she saw he was as lost as she was she responded politely. "Hallo. Have we met?"
"Not as far as I know."
A small metal robot vaguely in the shape of a dog now motored from the box. "And K-9! Hallo K-9," Steve enthused.
"Greetings," replied K-9. If K-9 was confused as well, he didn't let on. His flat robotic voice didn't lend itself to much inflection anyway.
Katy leaned over towards the still grinning Steve. "So, how do you know them?"
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, how do you know us?"
There was a simple answer to this question. The simple answer was that these people before him looked like the people he'd watched on television for years. He could explain the situation in that manner and see what questions that would raise. However, after seeing Daleks and now the Doctor, Romana and K-9, his brain had glitched somewhat. Simple answers to questions no longer seemed so simple. He answered in the manner which his altered brain offered. He turned to Katy with a 'how do I explain all this?' look on his face. "Well, I don't so much recognize him as I recognize me."
The Doctor looked at him puzzledly for a moment. Then he leaned back towards Romana, speaking to her in a loud stage whisper that all could hear. "Romana?"
"Yes?" she 'whispered' back.
"Does he strike you as one of me?"
"He doesn't even strike me as one of us."
"That's what I thought."
"On the other hand, his jacket does read 'Doc'."
The Doctor dropped his 'whisper' so that he could rant a bit. "Well that proves it, doesn't it? I've never been fond of the 'Doc' diminutive." He grew thoughtful. "Oh the other hand, I can't recall the last time someone called me that. Perhaps I don't mind it now. Try me."
"Ready?" Romana checked.
The Doctor rolled his shoulders in order to loosen up. "Yes."
"Hallo Doc."
The Doctor frowned. "No, still don't care for it." He snapped his fingers. "Of course. It was so obvious the solution eluded me." He dove down to K-9's level, a foot or so from the ground. "K-9?"
"Master?"
"Would you do us a favour and scan our young looking friend here?"
A small probe extended from the red visor that was K-9's 'eyes' and was pointed in Steve's direction. K-9's antenna then rotated briefly. The antennas were located on the sides of his head rather like ears. The probe retracted. "The individual in question is a homo sapien. He is not a Time Lord or another version of the Master, Master."
"Thank you K-9." The Doctor bounded to his feet. "You're not me. That seems to bring us back to square one: How do you know who we are?"
Steve shook his head slightly, trying to focus on something that he knew was more important at the moment. "Nevermind that now. We've got to get moving. The Daleks are here."
The Doctor's face grew very serious indeed. "Daleks?!? Here?" He returned to the smile. "I'm sorry, but where is here?"
"Shiroishi, " Katy answered.
"Japan," Eric added.
"2004," Steve tacked on.
"Thank you." His expression returned to serious. "Daleks?!? Here? In Shiroishi Japan in the year 2004? That doesn't seem right at all. We shall have to have a look at this." He spun towards the street, his coat fluttering behind him. He stomped away a few steps and then paused to look behind him. "Well, come along everyone." They followed him.
? ? ?
"Re-port!"
"The ro-bo-tized Kil-aak are ex-pir-en-cing prob-lems lo-ca-ting suit-a-ble hu-man sub-jects. Too many hu-mans are still at the lan-ding site."
"Con-tin-ue to search. Time is lim-i-ted."
"I obey!"
? ? ?
"Explain to me again why we spilt up."
The Doctor sighed at Eric's question. He half turned towards him as he answered, unable to fully turn around as he was unwilling to stop walking. "In order to fully assess the situation. If, as your friend suggested, there are Daleks here, we must locate them as quickly as possible."
"But we knew where they were, they were just around the corner and down the street a bit."
"We must be sure that was their only outpost. We also must determine how their arrival is connected to the arrival of these... Kilaaks?"
"Kilaaks."
"Yes." The Doctor dragged the word out, making it sound rather a dire sound that a pleasant one. "They're up to something. The Daleks are always up to something."
For his part, Steve giggled nervously. Again.
? ? ?
"And you do this sort of thing all the time?"
Romana raised her eyebrows slightly. "Do what all the time? Have conflicts with the Daleks?"
Katy found it difficult to define exactly what she had meant. "That sort of thing, yes."
"More often than not. I rather enjoy the adventuring now."
"I'm not sure that I ever could."
"I don't believe we're in any danger at the moment. You are your friends are just lending us a hand in acclimating to the area. We won't put you in any danger. Besides, we have K-9 to protect us, don't we K-9?"
"Affirmative, Mistress."
"There, see?"
Katy wanted to answer but was unable to do so. A hand was over her mouth and an arm across her throat. She did her best to yell anyway. Romana heard. "K-9!"
"Affirmative." A small tube emerged from K-9's nose. A red beam of light emitted from the tube and impacted with the Kilaak attacking Katy. The Kilaak released his hold on her and collapsed to the ground. Katy cleared her throat. "Thank you."
"Gratitude unnecessary but appreciated." Despite this claim, K-9 wagged his tail, making him look rather happy.
Three more silver clad Kilaak poured from the shadows of the nearby alleyway, pouncing on the group before they could react.
? ? ?
There was a noise.
Very few noises ever concerned him. This sound actively annoyed him. It had to be stopped. Considering he was tired and wanted to relax and feed, being annoyed in this manner only served to irritate him further.
He crashed his head above the water and started stomping in the direction from where the noise seemed to originate.
Godzilla was perfectly prepared to give someone a piece of his mind.
? ? ?
"They're late. With Daleks about that can't be a good thing."
They continued up the street that the ladies and K-9 had taken. The Doctor looked concerned. Eric looked slightly worried. Steve looked rather oblivious. "I'm sure they're fine but I wouldn't mind knowing that. I know Katy's perfectly capable of taking care of herself but..." His thought trailed off as they turned the corner and took in the vision of K-9 on his side and a stunned Kilaak lying on the ground. "K-9!" the Doctor yelped, sounding worried.
"Assistance required, Master," the little robot noted, sounding no less chipper for his experience.
The Doctor and Eric carefully returned him to his proper footing while Steve was distracted by the stunned Kilaak. "What happened K-9?"
"The first attacker was successfully stunned. The following three attackers managed to spilt up. I was tipped on my side before I could stun my attacker. The Mistresses were then outnumbered and defeated. I failed in my mission." K-9 drooped his head, disappointed in his inability to defend Romana and Katy.
"Nevermind old boy. I'm sure you did your best." The Doctor tried to sound cheerful but it was tricky under the circumstances.
"Why would the Kilaak kidnap them?" Eric pondered.
"An excellent question. One I'm afraid I don't quite have an answer for at the moment."
Steve looked up at them. "Because of this maybe?" He pointed to a black collar underneath the Kilaak's silver protective suit. The collar appeared to be surgically attached to the Kilaak's neck.
The Doctor's face dropped. He scampered to the side of the Kilaak and examined the collar more closely. "Oh, this isn't good."
"What is it?" Eric questioned.
"It looks similar to the Robomen helmets, like a version of them using updated technology." He looked up, into the distance, his brain clicking over quickly. "Then that would mean that the Kilaak have been enslaved by the Daleks. But then, why would they kidnap Romana and Katy?"
"The Kilaak need great heat to survive," Steve muttered. "This silver suit keeps them warm like a baked potato."
"So they might be looking for more operatives? Individuals not requiring unearthly levels of heat?" The Doctor didn't like this line of thinking either. He looked at Eric. "It appears I shall require your assistance further. The Daleks have my friend and your wife and it appears that they are to be Robotized!"
