Morrison stopped in the corridor outside and clutched his chest in agony.
“Move!” barked his Dalek escort.
“Ah! I can’t move you damn machine!” he grimaced leaning back against a circular view port. Outside it was nighttime in the Dalek City and in the distance he caught a glimpse of something glinting like a gold minaret. He felt a burning coming from his chest and his breathing was laboured. What had he done?
“You will move or I will exterminate you!” threatened the Dalek.
“Predictable as always,” grunted Morrison. He turned to the Dalek escorting him, one of the numerous grey models that formed the bulk of the city’s inhabitants. Just a tiny worm in an iron coffin. “You can’t threaten me! Your orders were to accompany me back to the laboratory, not to kill me!”
“You will obey orders!” grated the Dalek.
“What is going on here?” Invidious had appeared behind the escort.
“Oh the usual threats and intimidation,” sighed Morrison.
Invidious glared at the Dalek. “You will not harm this man, or I’ll have you dismantled and melted down into scrap iron!”
The Dalek flared angrily: “This slave is refusing to obey orders!”
Invidious roared: “This slave is part of a very important line of research authorised by the Dalek High Command. If you wish to quibble with the Emperor then I would be very happy to let you try. Otherwise you are to stay out of our way, is that understood!”
The grey Dalek backed away and glared at Invidious through its single eye. “That is…understood!” it grated reluctantly.
“Good,” said Invidious, he turned to Morrison who was looking very pale. “Now, what is this about disobeying orders.”
“It’s alright,” said Morrison, straightening himself up. “A great pain just tore through me, like something was being ripped from my heart!”
Invidious nodded: “Yes, well you’ve been through a lot,” he said. “But this isn’t the time to test the Daleks’ patience. I’ve pulled rank on this one, but they don’t take orders from inferior life-forms gladly.”
“I know,” grimaced Morrison. He focussed on the cityscape outside; suddenly he caught sight of a familiar figure. “Oh look it’s our friend the Section Leader,” he said, pointing to a red Dalek going past on a hoverbout. “He’s off somewhere I see, just clearing that minaret over there.”
“Minaret?” asked Invidious.
“You know-that golden tower thing over there, hang on that looks a bit like a …”
“Dalek?” suggested Invidious. “Yes, well that is a long story.”
Their escort pushed its way into their conversation: “Stop wasting time talking to this human being,” it snapped at Invidious. “You must move, now!”
“Alright! Alright!” Invidious exclaimed. “Come on now Morrison, it is time we were gone from here.”
But Morrison was busy following the Red Dalek’s course across the night sky: “I wonder where he is off to in such a hurry?”
New Skaro Central spread out beneath the hoverbout like an iron tumour of roads and walkways. Although the Daleks did not really like open spaces they preserved an area in the centre of this infection for a statue of the Golden Emperor. Towering over the central plaza, its yellow dome glinting in the light of a powerful searchlight trained on its outer shell. This monstrous edifice represented Dalek Power, a symbol of a long lost world. The Section Leader had never liked this statue and considered it frivolous and illogical. Why waste time and resources on fairy tales for the masses?
Soon the hoverbout was engulfed in a dense orange haze as the Red Dalek entered the industrial zone. Then he came to an area where two vast crystalline tubes pierced the haze before terminating in a special collecting station. This was the transit system used to bring the dark matter up from the processing plant. At regular intervals a banshee shriek followed by a popping sound signalled the arrival of another capsule on the platform. Humanoid slaves in facemasks rushed forward to haul the capsules onto waiting electric trucks that were adequately shielded from the deleterious effects of this dangerous substance.
The Red Dalek was aware of a presence nearby; without turning to look it addressed the mystery figure. “The sight of human slaves serving the Daleks is most gratifying.”
The Black Dalek got straight to business: “This area is secure, we should focus on our objective.  The Emperor has become a monomaniac, a threat to us all!”
“The Dalek Supreme has usurped the Dalek Law and created an abomination.”
“Then you agree we must stop the Emperor?”
“It is imperative that we do,” said the Red Dalek. “There have been two previous Dalek Emperors and both of their reigns ended in civil war.”
“We must stop the abomination!”
“Agreed, but if we act against the Emperor now we will be destroyed instantly. The technicians are behind the abomination as are the masses.”
“They follow orders, that is all they can do!” said the Black Dalek.
“Then we must create a diversion,” suggested the Red Dalek. “Something to keep the Emperor and the Abomination busy whilst we prepare to strike.”
The Black Dalek ran this through its strategy computer. “We could spark an insurrection amongst the human slaves,” it said. “Manipulate them to revolt against the Daleks.”
“Then we must find a human trouble-maker and act through him or her,” droned the Red Dalek.
“I will look for one amongst the slave population.”
“Then we are decided?”
The Daleks joined sucker arms to symbolise their alliance.
“Yes, death to the Emperor!”
“Death to the Emperor!”