VS3:12 -- "Point of Impact", Part Two
Point of Impact -- Part Two
Wales: 51° 28' N., 3° 11' W., Friday
"What if there are multiple survivors?" Ianto asked quietly, handing over a paper-wrapped sandwich and grimacing when Jack held up a dull yellow pill between finger and thumb.
Jack just shrugged, waving the pill as if he were performing a magic trick with it. "I'm not the one with stress-induced anaemia," Jack said.
Ianto snatched the vitamin pill from him and swallowed it with ill grace. He gagged and took a quick drink, struggling to get the pill down before it dissolved and tasted worse. "I'm guessing this one doesn't make fairy cakes." Ianto ignored the commentary on his health. Compared to his first few months in Torchwood Three, he was in the pink.
Jack shook his head with a snort, then shoved half his sandwich into his mouth. Gwen drifted over, leaving the UNIT transmission to chatter in the background and peeling back the paper on the remaining sandwiches until she found the roast beef with extra horseradish. Ianto winced just watching her eat. Food cravings. Jack was still occasionally demanding egg salad.
One sandwich remained untouched, along with some juice and a packet of shrimp flavoured crisps: Dr. Muli's order. Ianto would probably have to fridge it for her. They could all hear her working stubbornly away; the clatter of her surgical tools and muttering in three different languages echoed out of the med bay. Stubborn seemed to be their new doctor's defining characteristic. Owen had never seemed to care, not about aliens nor much about anything else, and it was a strange thing to miss. Ianto eyed his own sandwich - extra vegetables per Megan's instructions - and sighed.
"That Nwaxan-chu can't pass as human," Ianto went on. "No matter what we do. We can't let them go."
"Guess you'll have plenty of help sweeping up the Hub, then." Jack didn't look pleased with the thought.
"What about Flat Holm?" Gwen asked. "No one would see them out there and it'd be better than being stuck down here all the time. They'd get outside a bit and all."
Jack looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. "The sight of aliens would probably terrify most of the residents there, considering what some of them have been through."
"Will someone come for them?" Ianto wondered. "That beacon is still going; you said yourself it's universally recognised."
"I hope not," Jack said promptly. "Sorta defeats the purpose of the Earth being a Class Five planet. We're supposed to be hands-off."
"Because that's been working so well," Ianto muttered and took another bite. Ugh, vegetables.
Jack sighed. "Yeah, restricted access means we only get the stupid, the desperate and the criminals. In theory, even a distress signal isn't enough of an excuse, but if these Nwaxan-chu have powerful friends..."
Gwen's monitor whined suddenly, even as Jack's phone went off, and Ianto's as well. Up in Jack's office, the desk phone rang loudly, once, then cut off. Gwen bolted for her station as Ianto and Jack pulled out their mobiles. Static warbled in Ianto's ear as the signal strength on their military-grade, top-secret mobile phones wavered like cereal box toys.
"My connection's been cut off!" Gwen said, already bent over, hand supporting her belly, as she wiggled the leads under her station in the hope it was something simple. Ianto swung a glance to the other systems; they were fine, and that suggested it wasn't a problem at their end. "I can't reach Lt. Mallory... or anyone at the site."
Jack took over Ianto's station, slapping a hand against the desk in frustration when all he could pull up were 'no signal' messages. "I can't get hold of their comms officer."
"Let me see." Ianto nudged Jack aside with a hip and toggled the alarm notifications running along the bottom of the screen. "Someone's trying to get permission to hook up-"
"Pity it's not the fun kind of hook-up," Jack said with a nod. Ianto gave the mainframe permission to accept the satellite signal.
"Torchwood, can you hear me? Come in!" It was Erin, her voice flattened by the bad satellite connection, and Ianto busied himself trying to strengthen it while Jack leaned over his shoulder. Bursts of background noise drowned out her voice in staticky patterns Ianto recognised, even through the distortions of the satellite transmission. Automatic weapons fire.
"We're here," Jack said, and Ianto wondered if the assurance in his voice was making it down the line to Erin. He hoped so. It was a good thing she couldn't see the restless flexing of Jack's fingers. "What's going on?"
"We need-"
"We're going to lose them in about seven seconds," Ianto said quietly. A background screen tracked the path of the communication satellite Hopps's troops had somehow patched into.
"-back-up! We need support," Erin rushed on, clearly aware of how precarious a thread their link was. "This site-"
The signal died.
"Ianto-"
"Working on it, sir." Ianto plugged Tosh's favourite hack into the comsat network and began to search frantically for a satellite, among the hundreds in the sky, anything currently covering the Michaelstone area. "There's an OSCAR in range, but I'm not getting anything," he said.
"That's three seconds early," Gwen said anxiously, craning her head to peer over Jack's shoulder. "What happened?"
"I guess we're going to find out," Jack said, already turning away to grab his coat and Webley. Ianto watched Jack glance between them, facing head-on the consequences of his unwillingness to find more back-up. "Gwen, with me!"
"Jack!" Megan called from the med bay.
"No time, Doc," Jack yelled back, without pause. "Get things working, Ianto. I don't care how."
"I'll get a signal through," Ianto promised grimly. He was already calling up the ARES network; there had to be somebody they could reach in the area. He'd send a bloody sheep with an antenna on its back if he had to. Warnings and updates scrolled by and he pulled up the most promising ones. He needed more hands and, unexpectedly, he missed Vy's even-tempered support. Anybody's support, actually.
"And get hold of St. Athan and have their reserves mobilise!" Jack yelled over the entry alarm as he barrelled out of the Hub, Gwen at his heels.
Ianto had St. Athan in one ear, Jack's parting words in the other, and a tangle of phone masts, satellite fly-by schedules and messages to the amateur radio club at his fingertips. The Torchwood mainframe could automate many things, but it couldn't make choices (not for him, anyway, it had always liked Tosh best) and Ianto couldn't make them fast enough.
"Captain!" Megan yelled again, rattling instruments amid a screech of metal wheels on concrete. "A little help would be useful!"
"...our ETA is approximately one-hour fifteen minutes," UNIT's base officer at St. Athan sounded breathless, and Ianto guessed he was on the move with the rest of the reinforcement platoon. "We've had no communications since our last check-in, twenty minutes ago."
"He's gone!" Ianto shouted back, struggling to clear an incoming message that was probably just another 'no signal found' from the mainframe. It popped up again, persistent, and Ianto frowned even as he apologised for shouting in the UNIT officer's ear. "No, sorry, lieutenant... multi-tasking."
"I know that feeling," the lieutenant said. "We'll be bringing-"
A crash from behind him, along with the most god-awful sound, drowned out everything else the lieutenant had to say, and Ianto pelted for the med bay in a rush of adrenaline, palm sweating on the grip of his back-up pistol, the sound of UNIT in his comm forgotten. He didn't want to see any blood. Not again. He didn't-
A shrill, warbling howl echoed in the Hub; Myfanwy was screeching, and Megan was alive. So was their alien patient. Alive and conscious and half off the table, long arms wind-milling as ze screamed and screamed.
"Don't shoot!" Megan was yelling, even before Ianto had a good bead on hir.
"Why not?"
"Ze's not hurting me." She managed to twist around to glare briefly at Ianto on the stairs. "Get down here and help me!"
The alien wailed again, clutching hirself where Megan's hard work was coming undone; hir eyes were black and gold, and Ianto refused to imagine ze - it - looked terrified. He couldn't afford to care.
Wales: 51° 33' 16" N. 3° 06' 37" W., Friday
The wheels of the SUV squealed as Jack took another corner, the light of its headlamps flashing off the trees and sweeping through the dark. Gwen braced herself, noting that it was hardly necessary anymore. Ever since Jack had found out she was pregnant, he'd been driving more carefully, even at top speed. The occasional wild corner was always followed by a slight decrease in speed and a much more careful turn at the following corner. Of course, this being Jack, his speed would gradually increase again until he squealed the tires and then the whole sequence started over.
On the one hand, Gwen did feel more comfortable with Jack's driving now; on the other hand, she was also extremely irritated that he was once again giving her special treatment. She could still do the damned job! The kid was a real trouper. Gwen smiled and allowed one of her hands to stray over and cup the slight swell of her belly. The tiny movements she could feel under her palm were for her alone.
"You all right?" Jack asked.
"Hmm? Oh. Fine," Gwen said, vaguely distracted. She sighed. Torchwood needed to find someone to fill in for her soon.
"You've got that look again," Jack said, smiling as he glanced at her.
"Watch the road," Gwen instructed firmly.
"Yes, ma'am!" Jack said, smartly. He powered the SUV smoothly through another turn. "Gwen."
"Jack."
A startled snort of laughter from Jack made her smile. "Ianto teach you that?" he asked.
"If you two are going to carry out your comedy routines in the middle of the Hub, don't expect the rest of us to cover our ears and go 'la, la, la.'"
"Point."
Gwen waited for him to continue. And waited. And wished she had more patience. "What did you want?"
Jack grinned and snatched a glance at his watch. Had he been timing her? Bastard.
"You're right," he said. "We do need to hire somebody. After this, we'll get together and look at some serious options. Maybe take UNIT up on a secondment."
Gwen stared, mouth open slightly. Jack kept staring out the windscreen. "What changed your mind?" she asked.
"You. This." Gwen started to protest, but Jack shook his head and held up a hand to stop her. "No. You shouldn't be here. The situation is unknown, and you and I both know how dangerous that can be. But I need you. And I trust you." Jack eased off the accelerator slightly and caught her gaze. "Look at you, Gwen. You can't exactly 'stuff the baby in a Kevlar sack and go into the field.'"
It was Gwen's turn to laugh. "Maybe we can get some Kevlar fabric and have it made into a proper baby carrier with the Welsh dragon emblazoned on it."
"Branding! We'll put the Torchwood symbol on it."
"Oh no you won't!" Gwen argued playfully; the brief amusement at the thought of a Torchwood Baby Shower with Kevlar baby bags and time-stop bottles died out as they came to the area of the crash. Gwen grunted as the SUV bounced over the ground, glad that Jack had finally agreed to taking the first step to hiring someone.
Jack pulled the SUV as close to what had been the centre of the UNIT encampment as possible. Wrecked tents and torn-up earth, the place looked like what it was - a battleground. The thrum of heavy generators filled the air. Octopus-like cables stretched from a lorry on one side to a couple of tents still in use, to the ring of halogen lamps shedding their glare. Gwen exited the SUV carefully, bracing herself for what they might find.
"Gwen. Turn on the external sensors and the video cameras. Record as much as you can," Jack ordered.
"Right." She picked her way carefully around the SUV to set up the equipment, while Jack kept watch. "Ah, hold on." She pulled herself into the SUV, heaving a sigh as she realized that it wasn't as easy as it had been even a month ago.
"Gwen?"
"Almost... got it. I've just got to make sure there's nothing in the way." Gwen checked the video feeds. "Jack, move two feet to your left. Thanks. Done." She slid out of the seat, thankful that it was easier getting out than getting in.
"About time, Wonder Woman," a familiar voice said.
"Erin!" Gwen locked up the SUV. "You all right?"
Lt. Erin Mallory nodded, a tight smile crossing her lips. She looked a bit roughed-up: she had some scratches and a bruise or two, and her uniform was a mess, but she had no gaping wounds. "Not too bad. Glad you lot are here. I've been worried. Ever since the comms cleared up, I've been trying to reach the Torchwood Hub, but no answer."
"What?" Jack stepped forward quickly. "What did you say?"
"Can't get through to the Hub. Thought you might be having some trouble," Erin repeated. She pulled a mobile phone out of her pocket. "Satellite. If you're here, I assume it must have got through even with the interference. But no one's picking up at the Hub now, and the comms have been clear ever since the aliens managed to break out and escape."
"What was causing the interference?" Gwen asked. "Could it be some sort of... field the aliens emit?"
"Oh, we're pretty sure it was them, all right," Erin said. "It stopped as soon as all the buggers were dead or had run off. We sent the data back to UNIT and the boffins think the pattern might indicate some kind of language. Just our luck, their speech naturally interferes with all of our communications equipment."
Jack gave a low whistle. "You're saying they communicate by emitting terahertz radiation? That'll give them a huge advantage."
"No confirmation yet. It's just a theory," Erin cautioned.
"Okay. But that might be what's going on at the Hub." Jack scanned the area again looking worried. "Or not. Gwen, use the equipment in the SUV to try and reach Ianto or Megan. If you can't, then..."
Gwen opened the door, hefting herself back into the seat. A few flicks and a twist put her straight through to the Hub... where there was still no answer.
"Jack..." Gwen said, worried.
"Keep at it," he urged. "Lt. Mallory, how long have you been trying to get through?"
"During the battle, of course, whenever I wasn't busy fighting. Since then..." She glanced at her watch and looked around the field speculatively. "We thought we had them contained, but they broke out, taking our communications van with them. That was about half an hour ago. The comms cleared as soon as they were out of range, but with the van gone, our equipment just doesn't have enough signal boost. We're having to relay to London through the Cardiff office, and you know how small that is!"
"Two people in a coat closet," Jack quipped.
Erin nodded. "That's what the major calls it: 'The Closet.'"
There was a crackle from the radio attached to her Kevlar vest. "Lieutenant, if you're finished catching up, bring Torchwood in. I want them to get a look at the bodies of the aliens and see if we can put Harkness's vast knowledge to use for a change." Slightly distorted through the small speaker, the voice was still recognisable as that of Major Everett Hobbs. He'd been assigned to overseeing the new UNIT office in Cardiff not long after the incident with Scooter, and Gwen had spoken to him on the phone several times since.
"Speak of the devil," Erin muttered before responding to the order. "Yes, sir! We'll be there right away. Torchwood is just securing their equipment."
"Very good, Lieutenant. Out."
"Jack. I'm still not getting an answer from Ianto and Megan," Gwen said. "I left a message." Jack turned, squinting into the shadows across the field, away from the islands of light surrounding the UNIT equipment. She followed his gaze, peering into the dark, wondering if they were being watched, worried about what would happen to Ianto and Megan if they didn't go back, worried about what would happen here if they did.
"I may have left one or two messages after our comms cleared up. Could your phones be down?" Erin asked. "I mean, there could be a simple explanation. Maybe they're just really busy?"
Jack grimaced. "Maybe. But we took an injured alien back with us. Ze was getting better."
"Shit," Erin said. "Don't know how you could stand to be near one. They give me the creeps."
That surprised Gwen. Erin hadn't shown any xenophobic tendencies before. Jack pivoted to face Erin.
"Not going to get far in the universe with that attitude, Lieutenant," Jack scolded. "If you can't stand people who look different, then why are you working for UNIT?"
Erin shrugged. "This way." Motioning towards one of the big tents, she set off with Jack and Gwen beside her. "It's not the differences that bother me. It's the similarities. Took a vacation to Florida once and a three-inch long bastard that looked just like them landed on my head. I think I screamed for a week. Lois loved that. Bugs don't bother her a bit."
"Bugs?" Jack and Gwen chorused, glancing at each other confused. For a brief instant, Gwen wondered if the creature they'd left behind had metamorphosed into a giant insect and attacked Ianto and Megan.
"Come on!" Jack said. With a flick of his coat, he ran for the tent. Gwen rolled her eyes. She and Erin followed more slowly.
"Thinks he's a bit flash with that coat of his, doesn't he?" Erin asked, grinning at Gwen.
"You don't know the half of it. I could tell you some stories," Gwen said.
"Pictures or it didn't happen!"
"I couldn't possibly do that... I'm saving them for blackmail!" Gwen reached out to pull aside the tent flap, but Erin put a hand on her arm holding her back.
"Gwen. You might want to take a deep breath first. Just to prepare yourself." And with that, she lifted the flap and ducked inside, holding it open.
The interior was bright, stark light pouring from a single bulb. Gwen saw immediately what had worried Erin. Several large bodies were lined up on one side, but they didn't look anything like the alien that Megan was caring for. The light glinted off shiny shells and thin legs, throwing monstrous shadows on the tent walls - shadows that seemed to move as the light flickered in the ebb and flow of power. Gwen jumped as one of the bodies twitched, muscles contracting after death, wings rustling against canvas. A low moan spiraled into a scream, and she grabbed her gun before realizing it was coming from outside, probably from one of the injured soldiers.
The brief breeze that had stirred through the tent was gone and a strange foul stench filled the air. Woody and dark, damp, dank like rotten timber with something else she couldn't define that was acrid and not at all nice. She covered her nose with a hand, squinting at the bodies. Beetles the size of hounds and cockroaches as big as settees. Bugs. Giant insects.
There were two or three different types in varying sizes, though all of them were larger than the native Earth species they mimicked. There were two large bodies that were long and flat, about the size of a sofa. They were reddish-brown with long antennae, and oddly spiky-looking legs with strange dangling appendages that reminded Gwen of limp spaghetti. There were a couple of smaller bodies that looked like some kind of stick insect, and one even smaller that looked like a round beetle of some kind. They were eerily reminiscent of the things Gwen squashed underfoot or flushed down the toilet. Their smell also reminded her of other things she flushed.
Despite her comment earlier, Erin watched calmly as Jack examined the bodies, lifting legs and feelers, running his hands over exoskeletons. She pointed at the largest ones. "The things in Florida looked a lot like that. Smaller, of course. These seem to have extra bits, too. Obviously not native, unless we go with the genetic mutation theory," Erin said.
"Let's hold off on the alternate theories for now, Lieutenant." Major Hopps entered the tent behind them. "Agent Cooper, good to see you again. If you'll pardon me?" Hopps stepped past them to join Jack, who had lifted one of the heads and was carefully examining a large set of mandibles that looked very, very sharp.
"Harkness," the major said. "Any idea what these things are or where they came from?"
Jack set the head down, releasing the jaw so the mandibles shifted back into the mouth. "Not sure. I've never seen exactly this species before, but there are a number of planets where life developed along the lines of exoskeletons and carapaces rather then spinal columns and skin."
"Any idea why the information your medic sent along had nothing in common with these things?"
"Ah, Doctor Muli was treating a different species altogether. There must have been two races on board the crashed ship. And before you ask, no, that's not common. At least, not here on Earth. Not yet." Jack stood, brushing his hands on his coat. "Where did they come from?"
Hopps waved an arm out toward the field. "They used that damned white stuff like some kind of organic life pods. When my people got too close, they burst out all over the place. I thought we had them contained at one point, but now I think they were just holding back until they could secure the communications van."
"Which means, they either wanted transportation or they need the equipment for something."
Major Hopps shook his head. "They bypassed more readily available vehicles to pick that one. I'm not sure who they're planning on communicating with, but I think they took the vehicle they wanted."
"That can't be good," Jack mused, kneeling down again to look at one of the smaller bodies. He ran his fingers over the head, pressing the jaws to extrude a set of mandibles just like on the other bug. Gwen could see the serrated edges on this set, like curved bread knives. "They seem to have at least one thing in common."
"Nasty work." The major stepped closer to Jack, pointing at the mandibles. "Saws right through bone." He grabbed the sides of the mandibles, away from the sharp edge. "They're fast. A quick snap with these things, then they jitter them back and forth."
"Hands? Arms?" Jack asked. Gwen winced at the implication.
"Both. And they took one of my men's legs off just below the knee. We should have some helicopters arriving shortly to evacuate the amputees."
There was a noise at the tent flap and a young soldier entered. He looked pale and shaken, but he managed a salute to Major Hopps, swallowing convulsively before speaking. "Sir! They've found the communications team. They-" The private stopped, once again swallowing. Gwen looked closer and noticed he seemed a bit green.
"Report, Private," the major ordered firmly. "Continue."
"Yes, sir! The van's still missing, but they've recovered all of the bodies of the crew down the road a bit. They've been- they've had the tops of their heads taken off and the brains... The brains are-" The young man took several heavy breaths and swallowed thickly before finally turning and fleeing the tent with a strangled, "Sir!"
"Private!" Major Hopps bellowed. "Get back in here and-" He was interrupted by the sound of retching outside. The major sighed.
"New?" Jack asked.
"Green as they come. He'll learn." The major grabbed his radio. "Sergeant. Report please on the communications van. What was unusual about the corpses found?"
The major's radio crackled to life. "Sir! We've identified all of the bodies and the team is fully accounted for, except their brains are missing."
"Shit!" Erin swore quietly beside Gwen. Even the major looked disturbed by the news and Gwen, who'd seen that and worse working for Torchwood, still felt a shiver of atavistic fear crawl up her spine. It was Jack's reaction, however, that drew her attention. He'd been crouching by one of the bugs, examining the corpse. Now, he was staring at it in horror, slowly pushing himself to his feet and away from the dead alien, shaking his head back and forth in silent denial.
"Jack," Gwen said taking a step towards him. He turned to her, face pale and eyes haunted.
"Not again," Jack said, but Gwen had to strain to catch the words. She could hear Major Hopps getting the location over the radio as Jack stepped over to him. "I need to see bodies of your men," Jack said. He straightened his coat, taking a deep breath.
The major nodded. "Come on then. Lieutenant? Get us a vehicle," he ordered.
"Yes, sir!' She left the tent with a nod to Gwen.
"We'll follow you," Jack said, gathering up Gwen with a glance and leaving.
"Jack!" Gwen trotted to keep up with him, his long strides over the choppy ground forcing the pace. "What is it? What's going on? Jack!" She ran forward, stumbling, but grabbed his arm and hauled him around with little difficulty. The look on his face had her reaching up to grasp his coat with her other hand. "Tell me!" Something had scared Jack, badly, and she needed to know what it was. Not knowing had been too costly in the past.
"I think I know what these things are. I'm not... I'm not sure. I need to see the bodies. If they are... then we're in trouble. Big trouble." He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her.
Gwen wasn't sure if he was comforting her or himself. She wrapped her own arms around him and squeezed. "So? What else is new? Just another day at Torchwood, yeah?"
"Gwen-" His voice was thick with anguish.
"No!" she said firmly, placing her hands on his chest and pushing away from him. "Whatever it is, however bad this is going to be, we fight it! You, me, Ianto, Megan, UNIT - whatever it takes. I'm going to have this baby and a family and we're going to win. Do you hear me, Jack Harkness? We don't give up. You don't give up. Do you hear me?" Just to emphasise her point, she gripped his coat again and gave him a shake.
Jack wrapped his hands over hers on the coat, holding them as he stared down at her, a faint smile starting to form on his lips. "You're cute when you're angry," he said.
Gwen groaned, letting her head drop against his chest. "And you're a walking cliché. Did you have to say that?"
"Yeah," Jack said softly. "I did." She felt the brush of a kiss against her hair. "Come on then, Agent Cooper. Before UNIT leaves us behind." He grabbed one of her hands, offering both comfort and support back to the SUV. She could feel the tense line of his shoulders as she braced herself on them, once again heaving herself into her seat, but as he swung around the front and hopped in on the driver's side, he gave her a determined smile. As he bounced their vehicle across the field, following UNIT, he said, "Try and reach the Hub again. We need to find out what's going on back there."
She kept trying, but there was still no answer by the time Jack pulled the SUV off the road to park near a cordon of UNIT vehicles and personnel. Jack looked grim as he turned off the engine. "We'll check this out and then find out why they're not picking up at the Hub," he told Gwen. "Stay back if you don't think you can stomach it."
"I'm coming," Gwen said. Truthfully, the thought of more corpses did make her a bit queasy, but she hadn't felt truly ill in a couple of weeks and didn't intend to miss anything. She tended to have a different focus than Jack, and that had saved them on more than one occasion.
Four bodies were scattered in a ditch by the road, as if the van had pulled up and they'd just been heaved out the door. The tops of their skulls were a little farther along the road. Gwen grimaced and decided she would stand next to Erin, letting Jack perform the close-up examination.
He knelt beside one of the bodies, a young woman with blonde hair, whose empty eyes stared upwards. Her face ended in a splintered ridge of bone, pulped flesh sticking to the edge, and blood settled around her cooling corpse. Running a finger along the ridge, he tilted her head forward to look into the empty skull.
"There goes another one," Erin said as one of the UNIT soldiers turned away holding his mouth. "Some of our troops haven't been with UNIT very long."
Gwen nodded, watching Jack carefully checking one of the other bodies. "I remember my first week or two with Torchwood. I never thought anything would be worse than being a copper."
Jack stood suddenly, brushing his hands together and staring blankly into the dark. Gwen frowned, wondering if she was actually going to have to figure out how to boot him in the arse, when he took a deep breath and walked over.
"Major! I've seen this before. I need to-" Jack stopped as his mobile started to play Glenn Miller's 'In the Mood'. Jack jerked the phone out of his pocket, giving the number a quick glance before answering. "Ianto! Are you two all right?" Jack listened, a frown slowly forming. "What the hell have you been doing that you couldn't answer the phone?"
Point of Impact: Part Three