Purple Vortex [II]

Daleks in Manhattan Pt1:

The Tardis materialised in one of the corners of an eleven pointed Army base exterior wall and the Doctor, Galaxy, Astro and Martha walked out.

"Where are we?" Martha asked as she looked around. "Ah, smell that Atlantic breeze." The Doctor inhaled deeply, "Nice and cold. Lovely. Martha, have you out friend?" He asked, turning the woman around to face the Statue of Liberty. "Is that...Oh my God! That's the Statue of Liberty."

"Gateway to the New World." Galaxy said, smiling at her enthusiasm. "'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to break free.'" The Doctor quoted. "'The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.'" Galaxy finished, carrying on the quote and he smiled at her.

"That's so brilliant. I've always wanted to go to New York. I mean the real New York, not the new, new, new, new, new one." Martha gushed. "Well, there's the genuine article. So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. No wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam."

"I wonder what year it is 'cos look, the Empire state Building's not even finished yet!" Martha exclaimed, pointing to where the skyscraper was. "Work in progress. Still got a couple of floors to go by the look of it that'd make the date somewhere around..."

"November 1st, 1930." Martha said, reading it off a newspaper. "You're getting good at this." The Doctor said and Galaxy chuckled as Martha held up the newspaper for him to take. "Eighty years ago. It's funny 'cos you see all those old newsreels in black and white like it's so far away, but here we are. It's real. It's now. Come you two, where do we go first?"

"I think our detour just got longer." The Doctor said and showed the three the headline on the paper. "Hooverville Mystery Deepens' Where's Hooverville?"

-9-

"Herbet Hoover, 31st President of the USA, came into power a year ago until New York became a boomtown. The Roaring 20s and then..." Galaxy said as they were walking through Central Park. "The Wall Street Crash, yeah?" Martha asked her and she nodded, "When was that, 1929?"

"The whole economy wiped out overnight. Thousands of people unemployed. Then all of a sudden, the huddled masses doubled in number with nowhere to go. They ended up here in Central Park." Galaxy explained. "What, they actually lived in the park? In the middle of the city?"

"Ordinary people lost their jobs. Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything. There are places like this all over America. No one's helping them. You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go."

The four walked through Hooverville, a barely standing camp that had small shacks and tents. Suddenly they heard shouting and looked to see two men fighting over something.

"You thievin' lowlife!" A man shouted as he punched the other and two others quickly ran over to break them up, "All morning I wait in the bread line for a single loaf!" He shouted. "I didn't touch it!" The second man shouted as he glared.

An older black man walked toward the crowd then and went right to where the men were fighting.

"Cut that out!" He shouted but they ignored him, "Cut that out! Right now!" He shouted as he moved between them and shoved them apart. "He stole my bread!" The first man shouted as he pointed to the second man. "That's enough!" The older man yelled and looked at the second man, "Did you take it?"

"I don't know what happened. He just went crazy." The second man defended and the first man lunged at him but was held back. "That's enough! Now, think real careful before you lie to me." The older man. "I'm starvin', Solomon..." The second man said.