Chapter 44 - Victory of the Daleks, Part 2

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Lyssa and Amy hastened after the Doctor as he stalked into Bracewell's lab, shoulders tense and face determined. The scientist glanced up as they came, a file in hand, and nodded a polite greeting. The other technicians in the room didn't so much as shift, thoroughly focused on their work. 

"All right, Prof!" the Doctor announced in an overly bright tone, flipping through a stack of files with a casual air. "The PM's been filling me in. Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them."

"Just doing my bit," Bracewell said modestly, shifting a few of his papers around and adding a new one to the stack.

Amy picked up a wrench from a nearby table and examined it, turning it back and forth in her hands. "Not bad for a Paisley boy," she said, sounding impressed. 

"Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear," Bracewell smiled at her before turning to Lyssa. "Although yours may yet be the rarer. Not many Americans visit in such turbulent times, particularly given that your government has professed neutrality thus far, although we have many volunteers among our forces." 

"Give it time," Lyssa said soberly, images of the remnants of Pearl Harbor flashing through her mind, just a few months away in Bracewell's time. "And just know that we do, by and large, support you in this fight, even if our government hasn't openly joined it yet." 

"It is always good to hear we are not alone," the professor gave her a small smile. "Never underestimate the power a helping hand can give, no matter how small." 

She tilted her head to the side. "That sounds like something the Doctor would say," she remarked curiously, watching said Time Lord flip through a file marked Top Secret that he almost certainly was not supposed to be reading, friend of Churchill or not.  

"I suppose you would know better than I," the professor said, carefully setting a small stack of papers into the top file. "If you do mind my curiosity, how did the two of you meet? The Prime Minister seems rather fond of you both whenever the subject comes up."

She paused. "That... is a good question. One that I do not know the answer to," she smiled sheepishly. "Time travel, it's complicated. Today was the first time I ever met the Prime Minister, for example." 

"How did you do it," the Doctor cut in, staring hard at Bracewell. "How did you come up with the idea?" 

"How does the muse of invention come to anyone?" the inventor deflected poetically. 

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, tossing the file carelessly onto the desk behind him. "But you get a lot of these clever notions, do you?"

Bracewell shrugged. "Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head! Wonderful things! Like... let me show you." He got up and pulled a handful of files from a nearby stack, spreading them out to reveal a variety of designs. "Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight. Gravity bubbles that could sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere! Came to me in the bath," he chuckled. 

The Doctor frowned, carefully going through the stack, although Amy appeared much less suspicious. "And are these your ideas, or theirs?"

The professor shook his head vehemently. "No, no, no, no. These robots are entirely under my control, Doctor. They are..." He broke off as a Dalek brought him tea on a tray, a disconcerting sight. "Thank you," he glanced back up as it rolled away. "They are the perfect servant, and the perfect warrior."

"I don't know what you're up to, Professor, but whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them! Call them what you like, the Daleks are death!" the Doctor swore.  

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