Free Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks by Trevor Baxendale

not like you. But he does know a lot about the Daleks.'
     
'How can you tell?'
     
'Because of the fear in his eyes.'
     
'Huh.' Bowman reached for the plastic cup and the bottle again.
     
Koral put a hand on his arm, stopping him from pouring another drink. 'The more you know about the Daleks,' she said, 'the more you learn to fear them.'
     
Very carefully, the Doctor lifted the Dalek gun-stick out of its housing. The big black sphere at its base, which provided the weapon with an incredible field of fire, was attached to the interior of the rotating shoulder platform by a number of wires and flexible tubes.
     
'Hold that steady,' he told Scrum. Scrum took the gun-stick in his hands and watched the Doctor peer inside the open socket.
     
'You have to cut the right connections in the right order,' said the Doctor, aiming his sonic screwdriver inside and making a number of careful incisions. His voice was barely a whisper. 'It's a bit like defusing a bomb.'
     
'You've defused bombs before, then, have you?' asked Cuttin' Edge, looking over his shoulder.
     
'Yeah, loads.' The Doctor concentrated on the task at hand for a few more seconds and then said, 'Here we go! Molto bene ! Out we come!'
     
He pulled the last wires out and the gun came free. Scrum carried it over to a workbench – it was heavier than it looked – and set it down carefully.
     
'You're right to be cautious,' the Doctor told him, wandering over. He was wiping his hands on a rag. 'There's a compressed power reservoir in the ball joint. There's still plenty of shooting to be done with that thing.' He pointed the sonic screwdriver at the base of the gun-stick and a shrill whine filled the air. Smoke started to drift out of the gun.
     
'There.' The Doctor flicked off the screwdriver. 'I've fused the control linkages. No more killing.'
     
'It was that easy?' queried Cuttin' Edge, looking from the gun-stick to the sonic screwdriver. 'An' that thing looks so dinky .'
     
'It's not dinky,' retorted the Doctor sharply. He held the screwdriver up, examining it. 'It's not at all dinky!'
     
'Whatever, it still made short work of that Dalek gun.'
     
The Doctor's face hardened and he took off his glasses. 'Only because it's disconnected from the Dalek itself. A sonic screwdriver wouldn't touch it otherwise.'
     
At that moment, Bowman strode in with Koral in tow. He took one look at the upside-down Dalek, and then glanced at the Doctor. 'What's he doing here?'
     
'He's been helping us,' said Scrum.
     
Bowman looked sceptical and the Doctor quickly shook his head. 'Oh no. No, not really. Not helping as such...'
     
'Yes, he has,' insisted Scrum, nodding at the gun-stick lying on the workbench. 'Couldn't have done that without him.'
     
'I'm not helping,' said the Doctor firmly. 'I just don't want any of you hurt.' He glanced at Bowman. 'Well, most of you.'
     
Bowman and Koral exchanged a look but said nothing. Eventually Bowman turned his back on the Doctor and addressed Scrum. 'Where are we up to?'
     
'We're ready. The casing is secured and disarmed. We can transmit a jamming field to interfere with any attempt by the creature inside to activate a self-destruct mechanism.'
     
'All we gotta do now is open the damn thing up,' said Cuttin' Edge.
     
Bowman walked slowly around the Dalek. It was completely inert. No movement from the single remaining appendage, no glimmer of light in the luminosity dischargers on its head. 'You're sure it's still alive in there?'
     
'Only one way to find out,' said Scrum.
     
'OK,' nodded Bowman. 'Let's get on with it. I've got a few questions I'd like answers to.'
     
'It won't work,' said the Doctor. He was leaning against the doorway, arms folded. 'Interrogating a Dalek is pointless. It won't give you any information. There's nothing you can do to it that will make it tell you anything.'
     
Bowman looked at him, raising an eyebrow. 'You ever tried?'
     
A pause. 'No.'
     
Bowman turned back to Scrum. 'Open it