The Castaway (short story)
The Castaway was the first of three original stories in the 1978 Dalek Annual.
Summary
On the planet Knosson, ADF pilot Ral Shannon reflects on the three years he's been marooned. He remembers the Dalek attack that forced him to crash-land his ship into the uninhabited world and the struggles he's undergone to eke out an existence there.
In the midst of his reminiscence, he notices a Dalek ship land nearby. He counts his enemies and notes there are three of the metal monsters standing between him and freedom. If he can kill or incapacitate the Daleks, he'll be able to steal their ship and return to ADF space.
Using his intimate knowledge of the planet, he manages to separate the Daleks from each other and take them out, one-by-one.
As he stands on the threshold of the Dalek ship after his victory, he considers that he is about to become a hero back at headquarters. He imagines how his life is about to change. Then he finds some grenades, destroys the ship, and returns to his life as a castaway.
Characters
References
to be added
Notes
- The ADF is specifically mentioned in this story, though none of the ADF regulars appear. Shannon's status as an ADF pilot can be inferred from the fact that he believed an ADF search party would have looked for him for 6 months before he would have been declared "missing in action", and from the fact that he remembers a "training officer's voice drilling facts" into his head about the Daleks.
- This story claims that there is one tiny spot on a Dalek where a precise blow or projectile will render the creature incapacitated — rather like a Sontaran probic vent. This feature of Dalek anatomy certainly wasn't mentioned in any television story, and it isn't known to have recurred in stories in other media.
Continuity
to be added
Timeline
This story can't be dated except in the very broadest terms. We know that it takes place in the "ADF era" — whenever that might be. There are no references to any specific ADF agents, nor any known events.
