Doctor Who: Engines of War by George Mann Page A

base lit up the sky above Andor.
    They didn’t stop until they reached the TARDIS. Exhausted, out of breath, they stumbled to the lip of the crater caused by the Doctor’s earlier unorthodox landing. The remains of the dead Daleks still lay in the road, cold and unmoving.
    The TARDIS was perhaps the most welcome sight Cinder could have imagined, this funny blue box, lying on its side in the mud. To her, it represented safety, a chance to get away, to leave the War behind. But now it also represented something else – liberation. The day the Doctor fell out of the sky and made her look differently at the world, at what was possible. And now, although she knew it was only a mote in the eye of the War, the tiniest of victories, she’d helped to liberate some of her people.
    Gratefully, Cinder hopped inside of the TARDIS, this time preparing herself for the odd shift in alignment between the outer and inner dimensions. Nevertheless, disorientated, she still staggered to one side like a drunk, forced to catch hold of the metal rail to steady herself.
    The Doctor closed the door behind them, and she sank to her knees, flinging her gun on the floor and wrapping her arms around herself. She felt tears welling up, tears of relief, but she fought them down, sniffing and wiping her eyes.
    She noticed the Doctor still had the Dalek cannon in his hands. ‘Why did you bring that?’ she said. ‘You know it won’t work against the Daleks.’
    The Doctor glanced down at the gun, and then tossed it on the floor, where it clattered loudly before coming to rest. ‘I need to take it to Gallifrey,’ he said. ‘I need to show the Time Lords what we’re up against.
    Cinder gaped at him. ‘But we had a deal,’ she said. ‘I thought you were going to take me away from all this, from the War?’
    The Doctor nodded. ‘I will. I promise. I’ll take you somewhere safe. But first I have to visit Gallifrey. What the Daleks are doing here – it could mean the end of the War. Worse, the end of the universe. If they’re able to deploy that weapon there won’t be anywhere safe, in any corner of reality.’
    ‘Then I’m coming with you,’ said Cinder defiantly. ‘You’re not leaving me here.’
    The Doctor shook his head. ‘I travel alone. I haven’t got time for waifs and strays. You’ll only get in the way.’ He started to turn away, but Cinder got to her feet, catching him by the arm. There was more to it than that. She could see it in his eyes. He was afraid of her in a way he hadn’t been afraid of even the Daleks.
    ‘Oh no,’ she said. ‘You don’t get off the hook that easily. I said I was in, and that means you don’t get to leave me behind.’
    Their eyes met. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, neither of them willing to give ground.
    Finally, the Doctor relented. ‘All right,’ he said, throwing his hands up in a gesture of resignation. ‘All right. You can come. But this is a temporary arrangement. I haven’t got time to be worrying about anyone else.’
    Cinder grinned. ‘I think more to the point, Doctor, is whether I’ve got any time to worry about you.’
    ‘I’ve told you – I don’t go by that name any more,’ he said, with a frown.
    ‘Oh, I think you’ve earned it today,’ said Cinder. She ambled over to stand beside him at the console, examining the odd assortment of levers, dials and flashing buttons. ‘Right then,’ she said. ‘Are you going to show me how this thing works?’
    ‘Don’t push your luck,’ said the Doctor, as he hit the dematerialisation switch.

Chapter Eight
    ‘Report!’
    The Dalek slid effortlessly into the hexagonal chamber of the Eternity Circle, its head rotating as its eyestalk peered at each of its five masters in turn. ‘Dalek operations on Moldox have been compromised,’ it said. ‘The temporary base in the city of Andor has been destroyed.’
    ‘Explain,’ barked the blue and silver Dalek on the central plinth.
    ‘A human rebellion,’