Youth is Wasted on the Young p.21
"Janet?" Dutch asked, surprised. "Why do you need her?"
"Because I like to save being electrocuted for those special occasions," the Doctor said. "Fortunately, this time, I have a local expert on tap who owes me a favor. Handy, eh?"
"Wait a minute, Doctor," Rory said from farther down the table. "You said the forcefield projectors have to be inside the shield?"
"Yep."
"Doesn't that mean they have to be inside the hive?" Rory continued.
"Yes."
"Why is that a requirement?" Major Jensen asked. "Couldn't we simply project the field from a safe distance?"
"'Fraid not," the Doctor said more seriously. "It's a matter of compression. The field has to be drawn inward to stabilize, rather like using ropes to pull a dome down tight from the inside. Also, we don't know how large the hive really is. We're going to need to map it to ensure the field encompasses the whole hive. The best way to do that is to incorporate mapping sensors directly into the projectors."
"That still doesn't explain how you intend to get the projectors into the hive. I'm not sending my soldiers on a suicide mission," Tildaith said. "Even if we could fight our way in to set up the projectors the Wirrn would simply destroy them."
"Ah," the Doctor said. "That's where it gets dangerous,"
"How, dangerous?" Amy asked.
The Doctor looked at her. "We're going to get the projectors into the hive by dropping them down those suntubes you climbed out of."
"And someone is just going to mosey up to the hive and drop them in?" Rory asked sarcastically.
"No," the Doctor said, "We..."
"We won't be able to fire them in with that kind of precision, Doctor," Tildaith said. "Not with the stealth shields on. Even dropping them by parachute wouldn't work because of the backwash from the blades."
"That's why we're going in on hoverbikes," the Doctor said loudly, over them.
"Oh, no," Amy said with absolute conviction. She glared at the Doctor. "You are not going near that hive on a hoverbike. You'd fall off and they'd snatch you and then where would we be?"
"I would not fall off!" the Doctor said indignantly.
"You are not going," Amy said right back.
"I'll go," Rory said.
"And me," Jeff said from across the table.
"And me," the Doctor said defiantly, glaring at Amy. She glared right back, although he noted she also had a tight grip on Rory's arm.
"No, Doctor," Tildaith said. "Amy is right. It's not going to be as simple as just chucking these things down a hole, is it?"
The Doctor grumbled under his breath, glaring around the room, before finally admitting. "No."
"For example," Tildaith said. "How do you intend to keep the Wirrn from finding the projectors and destroying them? If we just chuck them down those holes, they'll presumably fall out somewhere."
"We'll fit the field projectors with grappler balloons. Once they get halfway down... 'Sproing!'" The Doctor snapped his hands wide. "They'll wedge between the walls. The light will even refract around them. The Wirrn will never know they're there."
"But if they are emitting electromagnetic radiation won't the Wirrn be able to sense it?" the tech asked.
"No. The projectors will be shielded and the projection field works off the ambient natural background level of power in the air."
"So they won't be able to detect the projectors or the force field?" Tildaith asked.
"Oh yes," the Doctor said, "they'll sense the field. Kind of hard not to sense something when you fly headfirst into it."
"I thought the whole point was they wouldn't be able to detect it so they will fly through it," Tildaith said.
"They'll be able to detect it from the inside," the Doctor said. "Do keep up."
"So why do we need Janet?" Rory asked.
"Because if we want to contain them we have to a have enough force to contain them. It will take more power than portable generators can provide. We're going to have to tap into the city grid."
The Doctor sighed and ran both hands through his hair. "Once the projectors are deployed they'll map the hive and immediately set up the force field. Our incursion is very likely to stir up the hive. We need to have a power line already in place and a substation set up to handle the load.
"The riders will need to get in, place the projectors and get out before the the field activates. If the Wirrn get out and see what we're doing they could attack the substation, the riders, or even the power line we're going to have to lay around the hive to fuel the shield. It has to be a quick hit and run operation."
"Which you are not leading," Amy said again, adamantly.
"Yes, fine. Once we've got the field in place it will cut off communications from the Wirrn inside. The power line can be hidden in the grass, and with luck, the returning Wirrn won't realize anything's wrong until they're already trapped inside the field."
"And that's why you need Janet, to tap into the city grid for you," Dutch said.
"Yes."
"One problem, Doctor," Rory said."Your local expert happens to have a broken leg."
"Oh, no worries. She won't have to do any heavy lifting, and she'll have all these nice healthy soldiers to order around, she'll like that."
"Since you're talking about my daughter, yes she will." Dutch said.
-----
"Then that shouldn't be a problem," Tildaith said from the head of the table. "We're more a militia than a standing army, but we can get you the supplies you need. And our mandate allows us to recruit civilian specialists at need."
"Good!" The Doctor clapped and jumped up from his chair. "Let's get started."
-----
They all filed out of the conference room heading to their various tasks.
"I'll see about getting those supplies for you, Doctor," Tildaith said as he filed past. He consulted briefly with his seconds. Major Jensen and Captain Morris left to take care of the business of the taskforce, while the rest of them focused on the hive.
"Good, thank you," the Doctor said as he stopped to think.
"Sheriff Anderson," Tildaith called. "If you would like to come with me, it may go smoother to recruit your daughter with you there."
Dutch grinned, "Yes, it might at that."
"Dutch," the Doctor called. The sheriff turned. "Pardon me, Captain," the Doctor said, gently picking up the purplish pale Tripod who'd been plodding along beside him. "Sheriff, if you could give Schwillic a ride back to his ship at the spaceport I'd appreciate it. We don't have the supplies to care for him properly here. He needs rest and food."
The sheriff looked contrite not to have noticed. "Of course, Doctor. I apologize Captain. It never occurred to me..."
"It's all right, Sheriff. I was pleased to be of assistance," the weary Tripod said from the cradle of the Doctor's arm. "I'm just sorry we were unable to save the Kitterangs. But I would be relieved to be returned to my ship now."
"Of course." The sheriff held up his burly young arms to take the Tripod but Amy beat him to it.
She took the squashy little alien from the Doctor's arms and hugged him tightly. He squeaked, but he wrapped all three tendrils around her as far as they'd go. "I'm going to miss you, Schwillic," she said, tears standing in her eyes.
The alien turned faintly yellow with embarrassment, but he hugged her back weakly.
"So will I," Stanley said, appearing at her side. He took one of the leg ends and shook it awkwardly in a handshake. "It was an honor to know you."
"And you," the tripod said. He pulled back his tendril and tapped Amy on the chest. "You'll keep this one out of trouble, won't you?" he asked Stanley with a trace of humor.
Stanley laughed, a little tearily. "I'll try."
Amy snorted, then gently handed the weary alien to the Sheriff. Dutch nodded, bowed, and turned to follow the Colonel.
"Right then!" Amy said, taking a big breath and bracing herself. She turned to Rory. "I want a word with you," she said determinedly and dragged him off to the side of the entrance hall.
The Doctor watched them go, but didn't follow. He turned back to the skinny, red-haired boy. "So, Amy says you're good with electronics."
"Of course I am," Stanley said with casual teenage arrogance, surreptitiously wiping his nose on his sleeve. The Doctor grinned.
"I could use your help programming the sensors for the force projectors," the Doctor said. "That is, unless you'd prefer to go home?"
"What?" the boy looked up at him in outrage. "After all those things have done?" He waved his bandaged arm at the deserted mansion. "Hell no. Lead on."
"Hah! Good man," the Doctor clapped him on the shoulder and led him outside. "Although I should probably warn you. I rewired your tracker board."
They walked out into the sunlight. Leaving Amy and Rory arguing alone in the hall.
-----
Twenty minutes later the Doctor and Stanley were busy stripping down the sensor equipment at the edge of the airfield. They were sitting on a canvas on the tarmac, an army field tent stretched over them to keep out the sun, components strewn all around them.
Jeff walked up with a tall, lanky blond Marine beside him. "Doctor, this is Corporal Peterson, he's volunteered to ride the other hoverbike."
The Doctor looked up at this pronouncement, he studied the corporal for a moment, then looked quickly around. Sure enough there were still reporter cameras whizzing around them.
"Does he understand what the duty entails?" he asked, deliberately vague.
"Yes, I explained. He has experience on hoverbikes."
"And you, Jeff?" the Doctor said, looking up at the brown-haired boy from under his lashes.
Jeff stiffened and stood up straight. "I've placed in the Land County Hoverbike Racing Championships three years in a row, Doctor. You're not likely to find anyone better qualified," he said with fierce dignity.
The Doctor grinned at the deputy's outraged pride. "Can the sheriff spare you?" he asked, brushing components off his lap and getting to his feet. He had to duck under the Feyanoran-height tent.
Jeff relaxed. "Major Jensen has pretty much taken over here at the farm. It'll be a relief to know there's some way I can contribute."
"It won't be safe," the Doctor pointed out.
"When is life ever?" Jeff replied.
The Doctor grinned, one of those completely open boyish grins that made him look far younger than his years.
"Well I'm glad somebody's happy," Rory said, walking up to join them.
The Doctor looked past him. "Where's Amy?"
Rory jerked a thumb back over his shoulder. "She said she was going to try to find a shower big enough to accommodate her. One of the female Marines said she could clean her clothes for her."
The Doctor nodded, then looked sternly down at Rory.
Rory glared right back. "I'm going, Doctor," he said implacably.
"You don't even know how to ride a hoverbike," the Doctor pointed out.
"I'll learn."
"You'll be in danger."
"And Amy wasn't? They took her, tortured her, and forced her to run for her life," he said, his jaw tight. "I need to do this."
The Doctor studied him for a long moment, working his jaw. He nodded and clapped the younger man on the shoulder. Rory sagged with relief.
"Jeff, Corporal, take him," he shoved Rory toward them companionably. "See how much you can teach him about riding hoverbikes. Although," he held up a finger, and grinned. "I prefer it not be a crash course."
Rory groaned and rolled his eyes. He followed the two boys.
-----
Tildaith was as good as his word, and less than an hour later the Doctor, Stanley, and all their equipment found themselves bundled up by a troop of efficient, short Marines and ensconced in the conference room with all the equipment they could want.
The two techs, including the one from the chopper, had been assigned to assist them, and within a couple of hours, (the Doctor feeling the press of Time against the back of his neck every second) they had managed to cobble together three force field projectors, each one looking like a giant, ten inch, horse-pill, wrapped in an overlapping cocoon of heavy wire mesh.
Captain Morris, Colonel Tildaith, Janet, Rory, and the other two hoverbike riders stood around the table and studied them. Dutch was off in the communication's room, fielding reports from the sheriff's offices on the edges of his jurisdiction, trying to piece together a list of how many Wirrn were outside the hive.
"That's a forcefield projector?" Janet asked. She was standing on a blue flexcast that supported her lower leg with a compression brace top and bottom, wearing her lineman coveralls, her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"Yep," the Doctor said. "All we have to do is drop three of these down the hive solar shafts, and..." He buzzed one of the pills with his sonic screwdriver and the mesh exploded outward with a deafening pop. Everyone jumped.
The steel mesh had expanded to form a spherical cage all around the projector. The mesh edges overlapped like the petals of a flower, the projector pill suspended in its center by spring steel stems. The cage was about four feet in diameter, larger than the diameter of the hole they'd pulled Amy out of.
The Doctor leaned over the table and compressed the cage back downward with a grunt. The mesh leaves folded inward around themselves like a child's expandable toy, until they once again lay in a multilayered cocoon around the pill at its heart.
The Doctor wiped the sweat off his forehead and pocketed his sonic screwdriver.
"So what do want me for?" Janet asked. "It won't do any good to run a power line to those things, if they're going to be in the hive the Wirrn will just cut them."
"No, these will draw their power from an induction loop around the hive," the Doctor said. "What I need from you, is this," He pulled out a large-scale photo flimsy and laid it out on the table. He pointed. "There's a high tension power line that runs right past the hive, only four miles away. I noticed it when we were on the hive rescuing Amy. I suspect the Wirrn have tapped it for their own power needs, for that factory of theirs. It may be why they chose to build the hive here. I need you to find that tap and see if we can use it for our own purposes, and if not, tap the line yourself and set up a control station to run a high power line to the hive."
Janet pulled the flimsy around to herself. It was a color transparent overlay showing a view of the hive, with the towers of the high power line in the distance.
"That's the main rural line from Landing to Jacobs City," she mused to herself, nibbling on her lower lip. She looked up. "There was some mention of Marines I could order around?" she asked.
The Doctor grinned, and spread his arms wide, indicating the army around them.
Colonel Tildaith chuckled. "All the Marines you want, Ma'am."
Janet rolled up the flimsy. "Then let's get started."
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