There he is - look! Scampering with his friends in the dead forest outside the city. You can get a shot at him through the gap in the trees - quickly, quickly! Chance missed. Well, there will be another.

Where is he going now? Ah, the city ... too much of a temptation for one so young. Oh, he's been warned. They've all been warned. Stay away. Forbidden. It has been for decades. Only the chosen few were allowed to venture into it, but they'd long stripped it of anything useful and discarded all that was dangerous - or so they thought. But you know kids. Forbidden is more attractive. "Go on, I dare you ..." they'll say. Were you like that? I suppose you must have been.

There they go - through the streets, eyes full of fear & wonder. He's in among the crowd now. One blast on wide beam would take the lot, no problem. But you're after that one. The others might play their part in the future as well - for better or for worse. Can't take the risk ... can you?

Into the city now, crawling through a gap in the doors. There's always one in every haunted house, isn't there? A gap, a hole, a broken window ... a temptation to explore. It's a narrow gap too ... you should cut down on your synthetic protein, mate, get some exercise in. You're through, but don't make so much noise. All that puffing and blowing in this cavernous, empty place will rouse the dead ... ha ha, now there's a thought.

No, the kids are too busy laughing and joking to notice you wheezing away like a Grampus. CRASH! What the hell was that? Louder laughter to mark the desecration. You follow the echoes down the darkened corridors. Your boots crunch on something shattered beyond repair. The object of their earlier destructive energies, no doubt. Come on, come on ... they're getting further ahead.

Deeper and deeper into the city. Maybe they will stop before they reach the control room. Maybe his superiors have made a mistake, maybe they have got the Time wrong ... no, they wouldn't, would they.

The voices have hushed now. They've found it. The Control Room. You can hear them moving around. Picking things up, touching things. You sneak carefully into the room and into a shadowed corner. The gun in your hand is slick with your sweat. Is that doubt in your mind? Why? Think of what you're doing, what you were told, the consequences!

There he is now! The one who causes it all to begin again. Standing apart from his friends, fascinated by the big control panel. Aren't the dials and switches pretty, the luminous paint glowing softly in the gloom - all the colours of the rainbow! Especially that big emerald button ... isn't it grand? Oh yes ... you can see from here that his expression says it is. He's oblivious to his friends and the rest of his surroundings. Could something ... could he be aware of his destiny, right now at this exact moment? Does he have an inkling of what will happen as a result of his next action? Perhaps he does ... yes, that makes it easier! Tell yourself that! Beneath those innocent blonde features lurks an evil monster, determined to set in motion his dark & demonic destiny!

He reaches for the button.

You raise your weapon and point it at him, but you can't keep your arm still for the trembling, or put enough pressure into your finger to pull the trigger. You grit your teeth and try to concentrate but it doesn't help... come one, come on, COME ON! You've killed before, for reasons a lot less important than this. Squeeze the trigger, end his life, save millions of others...

But you can't, can you? He's six years old. Look at him. He's no monster. He has no idea what will follow because he presses that button. No idea that his family, his entire race, the entire UNIVERSE will become victims for an eternal lust for power, dominance and destruction. You can't blame childish curiosity for the future. Oh, his superiors do, but it's very easy for them. They're not looking down the barrel. You want to blame someone? Blame them. They have the power to stop this easier than having him murder a child.

You lower your weapon. Let someone else do it. You won't. You can't.

The button is pressed. Your hearts flicker. It's too late now. The moment has passed. Your hearts beat again. Relief washes over you. But I've failed, a small voice says. But the emotion washes it over and now all you want to do is leave this accursed place and allow fate to take its course.

You can feel the thrum of long-dormant engines firing into the life beneath your feet. Now lights are beginning to flicker. The children are suddenly afraid. What have we done, they're asking themselves. It's no longer a game. This is BAD.

And it's going to get a lot worse.

They run away. You follow, training still taking care that you are not be seen. You get a last glimpse of the target before he disappears back into the forest to his family. He is crying, distraught and frightened. Scared stiff is scant punishment for reviving one of the most destructive forces in the Universe ... but perhaps a worse punishment awaits him and his friends and their families.

This world is about to become a very unhealthy place to live on once again.

You took a last look around you, and shiver. Fear of what will happen to you? No, they'll be displeased, but they always have alternatives. Even if they don't, they can make them. You'll never get another mission like this ... for which, you will be eternally grateful.

But will the rest of the Universe be grateful for your actions? Would it understand? You pray it never gets the chance to judge you. Fading into the vortex, your last view is of that once long-dead city, now dead no longer, slowly coming to life to unleash its evil upon an unsuspecting universe....

"God save them, for I cannot," you murmur ...

The Thals had done a thorough job shifting the carcasses from the city and throwing them all into one of the deeper acid lakes for nature to wreak its final vengeance. But things are always missed, and deep down in an untouched store-room the creature in the centre of the room began to twitch as power returned to the city. Its eye-stalk rose slowly and turned to scan the room, then it rolled back & forwards experimentally.

"Power restored," it grated. "All systems functioning normally." New data began to flood into the creatures' mind. Orders were received. "New objective - restore the city to Dalek control. Exterminate all resistance. Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!"

The door slid open and it glided from the room towards the automatic incubation area. There was much to be done.