The Mind of The Daleks

Chapter 11: Journey

The Doctor waved his boxy device triumphantly. "I've got the longitude and latitude coordinates of the Dalek base! Can you translate them for me while I drive?"

"Hardly!" Isabel snickered. "And, anyway, how would I know which streets to go down to get there? But if this car has a GPS system, it might work."

"Excellent idea!" The Doctor surveyed the high-tech apparatus that was the complement of the car. "It just might work... Ah, here we are!"

At that moment, the sound of a siren came faintly to their ears.

"Oh, dear! I shouldn't like to be here when the police arrive; in my experience, they tend to complicate things. If you would be so kind, could you attach this to the GPS as I drive?"

"You'll have to tell me how."

"Certainly." The Doctor turned the key in the ignition and managed a vague indication of an area of the equipment at the same time. "Just connect the green wires to that."

Isabel gave him one incredulous look and bent to figure out how to do as the Doctor had asked.

The engine roared to life and the GPS unit blinked and remarked cheerily: "Good evening, Mr. Wolff. Please insert your destination and wait while I determine the best route."

It was a pleasant female voice and, given her present state of tattered nerves, nearly scared Isabel out of her skin.

"Well," remarked the Doctor, startled and just a little disgusted, "that's one thing we'll have to take care of – but later, when we don't need it."

"Please, insert your destination," the computer voice insisted gently, in the infuriating manner of all the best first-grade teachers.

"Have you almost got it, Isabel?" asked the Doctor.

"Yeah, just a minute," she said in a forced voice; she had almost had to invert her head to see a place where she could try to connect the two miniscule green wires. "There!"

"Please," the computer repeated in the same tone, eerily reminiscent of the Daleks, "insert your des- des- des- Oh! Bldlp..." There was a pause; deathlike, surprised, and even – conceivably – offended. "Thank you." Another pause, but shorter. "Please turn right at the next intersection!"

Isabel looked with satisfaction at the sleek black box. "It worked!" Its colorful screen had blinked out for a second but now shone again at full brilliance. "I wasn't sure that I could get it for a minute. I'm pretty good with mechanical stuff, but not that good."

All that the Doctor said to this was, "Hmmm."

"Okay," Isabel said as they passed through the intersection, "I think I know where we are now. It's hard to tell just looking at the GPS."

"That's always the problem with taking directions from a computer." The Doctor snorted derisively. "They're programmed to think that they can do better than a living brain in any given situation. And they will never do anything besides exactly what they were created to do. This thing was designed to send and receive satellite signals, and so it will no matter how much one fiddles with it. If Mr. Wolff decides that he shouldn't let me have his car, it'll be easy enough to trace us. The Daleks will be able to locate it, too. Unfortunately, though, that's just something that we'll just have to risk until we reach to Dalek headquarters."

"Turn left at the next intersection and proceed two miles," the voice instructed him.

"Look," said Isabel, "before we walk right into the lion's mouth, can we stop off somewhere and get something to eat? I don't think I could face the Daleks again with my stomach growling. This place up here would be fine."