Fic: What Will Be.
Title: What Will Be.
Author: zorell
Chapter: 44/?
Rating: PG
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Tosh, Owen, Martha, Gwen, the Doctor, Donna.
Pairings: Jack/Ianto.
Summary: Jack, Tosh, Martha and the Doctor discover what came through the rift.
Disclaimer: Torchwood belongs to BBC and RTD.
A/N: No your eyes are not deceiving you this really is a new chapter ! I really don’t know what to say. Sorry seems extremely inadequate for not posting in such an incredibly long, long time, but it is all I have, so sorry. I hope this makes some sort of sense, sorry if it doesn’t and as usual apologise for mistakes, bad grammar, dodgy plot etc.
previous chapter: https://zorell.livejournal.com/20624.html
Chapter 44.
“ A bit bigger than a foot square.” Martha commented, giving the Doctor a sideways glance.
The Time Lord had used some sonic shenanigans to disrupt and then disable the shielding around the rift debris, and their group was now looking at a spaceship obviously larger than the Doctors original assessment.
“Not automated, and also not a Sl’akhark’t ship.” Jack added looking over the now visible ‘debris’.
“ I didn’t think you knew of the Sl’akhark’t,” remarked the Doctor as he continued to fiddle with the sonic screwdriver.
“ I don’t,” confirmed the immortal, “ but I do know a Rmeslan personal cruiser when I see one, even with modifications.” The Captain caught Toshiko’s questioning glance at his mention of modifications. “ The hyper wing and stabilisers are of Iilva origin and some fifty earth years later than when the ship itself is from. The front area has also been changed, I’m guessing that has something to do with the Sl’akhark’t shielding as I don’t recognise it.” Jack elaborated in explanation for Tosh.
“ Personal cruiser, so one ? two occupants ?” Martha queried.
“ Designed for one, but could accommodate two Rmeslans at a push. The race is large so for humans the ship would comfortably take two possibly three depending on its internal layout, which was often customised.” Jack informed the medic, before turning his attention to Tosh.
“ Anything ?”
“ Whatever the Doctor did has cleared the readings for the area. The ship has a lot of residual ‘noise’. Most is recognisable from the rift, but there is still some that isn’t. I’m assuming it’s safe considering The Doctor allowing Martha to be so close to the ship with him.”
Jack looked up to where the other two current members of his team were now only a few feet away from the ship. The Time Lord still checking readings on the sonic screwdriver while seemingly discussing something with Martha.
“ I’ve got a discrepancy to the North.” Tosh continued, drawing the Captains’ attention back to her.
“ Fixed ?”
“ Yes.” The tech genius confirmed.
“ Life signs ?” Jack asked.
“ None registering.”
“ Probably a contingency ‘safe haven’ in case the ship is compromised”, the Immortal determined.
It made sense when arriving on a planet, or in a different time, or both, to shield your ship, and have a ‘set up’ away from it giving yourself a chance if your transport was discovered. If it was such a fall back area it raised more concerns and only added to the thoughts that their ‘rift debris’ was less ‘debris’ and more a planned arrival by a visitor with an agenda.
“ So we’ve definitely got a ‘visitor’ somewhere.” Tosh stated, making some adjustments to her PDA.
“Yes. Even if the ship had been on autopilot, or just miraculously came through the rift and happened to land smoothly, ‘someone’ had to have set up that area.” The Captain replied, “ Continue to scan please Tosh and let me know if you pick up anything.”
“ Of course.”
“ Doctor…” Jack began to address his temporary team member as he turned his focus back to where the Time Lord and Martha had been moments ago, only to view a now visible vertical ladder on the side of the ship and no sign of either the Gallifreyan or medic. “ Damn…” the Immortal muttered “…so much for a bit more caution.”
----------------------------------------“ Mmm Interesting.”
“ What’s interesting ?” Martha asked as she approached what appeared to be the Rmeslan equivalent of a flight deck, where the Doctor was busy scanning and reading the results.
“ Huh, oh, the log for the ship shows it’s been around a bit, well a lot actually.” The Doctor replied as he aimed the sonic screwdriver at what Martha assumed was a control ‘desk’.
“ Any particular reason or just wanderlust ?” the former companion questioned.
“Oh a definite reason.”
There was a pause as they waited for the Time Lord to elaborate. When nothing else was forthcoming Martha prompted “ Which is ?”
“ He’s a Xa’lk.”
There was a muttered curse over the coms from Jack.
“ Which is ?” Martha repeated not recognising the name and concerned by the Captains reaction.
“ A Bounty Hunter,” The Doctor stated matter-of-factly.
“ Kind of .”Jack added.
“ What do you mean kind of ?” The Time Lords former companion queried.
“ I mean that the Xa’lk don’t just round up criminals, fugitives or bail jumpers as the term Bounty Hunter brings to mind. The Xa’lk will go after anyone or anything that has a ‘price on its head’ or reward attached to it.” The Immortal explained.
“ So they could just as easily be looking for a lost dog as a wanted felon.” Martha remarked clarifying what the Captain had said.
“ Yes.” Jack replied to Martha before asking “ Is it solo or accompanied ?” The Immortal wanted a clearer idea of what they were dealing with. As a former Time Agent he knew more than most of the Xa’lk but even that was limited. Most operated on their own but there were some that worked in pairs, which obviously made dealing with them more difficult.
“ I’d say solo.” Martha was the one to reply. “ From the look of what appears to be the living space in here anyway.”
“ Yes it’s an individual,” the Doctor confirmed as he intently went through readouts he had now brought up on the on board systems. “ A very persistent one at that.”
“ All Xa’lk are persistent Doctor. It’s their nature. It’s one of the reasons why they are so good at what they do.” Jack stated.
“ I am aware of that,” The Gallifreyan pointed out, “ but this one has been solely focused on one mission for the equivalent of nearly forty Earth years.”
“ That sounds more like an obsession.” Martha remarked.
“ Obsession or not, what is it so focused on ?” Jack asked as he glanced at Tosh, who was still keeping check on the area north of them while listening intently to the conversation going on over the coms.
“ It appears to be searching for the ‘missing’ member of the C’tylni Royal family,” answered the Doctor, who continued quite bluntly, “ Though of course that is a rather pointless task as they were all killed.”
“ Missing member and all killed ?” questioned Martha at the same time as Tosh glanced at Jack and said “ C’tylni ? The same race as the Morgans ?”
“ Yes,” was said in unison by the male members of the retrieval team as The Doctor replied to Martha and Jack answered Tosh.
“ Think revolutionary Russia, the Romanovs and the Anastasia ‘mystery’,” continued the Gallifreyan by way of a quick explanation, adding “ Except it was outside invaders rather than internal revolution.”
“ I don’t remember anything about the C’tylni being invaded let alone the Royal family being wiped out.” Jack said frowning. The Captains knowledge of the C’tylni, although far from complete, was quite extensive and held nothing of an invasion, the Royal family’s demise, nor of a supposed missing member. The race was peaceful, loyal, friendly, and considerate and had the respect of other races throughout the galaxies. Their whole society had always been incredibly stable, both socially and economically, with the Royal family the focal point for both.
“It happened in the distant future, mid-69th Century if I recall correctly.” The Time Lord stated. “ From what I remember the immediate Royal family were killed within the 24 hours of the invasion, then it took another day or so for the few remaining lesser Royals, who had been further afield, to be rounded up and slaughtered. With it taking a few days to wipe out the whole family, and adding to that the confusion of the invasion itself, it allowed for rumours and stories to emerge that someone had escaped. A story was all it was but it was enough to cause the invaders issues, particularly as at least one of the stories was more than plausible and had some of the invaders themselves half believing it. They put out ‘reward’ calls for information and/or capture which stayed in place for a few decades and were then rescinded.”
Martha lent back against the ship’s hull taking in the information the Doctor had just imparted.
“ Mid-69th Century, so long after the Morgan’s time.” Tosh said wanting clarification as her thoughts went to the rift refugees and by extension their current visitors, Ianto and Donna.
“ Oh yes, long, long after, although the Xa’lk seems to be under the impression that one of the Morgan’s could be who it is looking for.” The Doctor was studying more of the information held in the ships log.
“ Why would he think that ? The Morgan’s were picked up by the rift numerous Centuries before you say the invasion happened.” Tosh said remembering the information she had seen on their journey to the site.
“ According to the logs the Xa’lk has been searching a very long time in a ship that hasn’t always had the best, if any, shielding. It’s gone through areas of space that are far from hospitable, and been exposed to numerous compounds, gases and radiation. It would be amazing if the Xa’lk hadn’t been affected in some way, and from what I can gather it seems to have affected its rational thought. It’s gone from chasing plausible leads to following any random trace however minute and from whatever time frame.” The Gallifreyan explained.
“ So this Xa’lk has, for want of a better phrase, basically ‘lost it’ and is chasing any C’tylni it comes across in the belief they could be the mythical missing Royal,” simplified Martha.
“ That’s about it.” The Doctor agreed, turning to face his former companion having returned everything back to its original state on the flight deck. “ Though it’s a fruitless task, as I said the Royals were all killed.”
“ So why is it still looking ?” questioned the medic.
“ I’d say that in its current mind set the Xa’lk either doesn’t remember or doesn’t accept that the bounty has been rescinded and that there isn’t a ‘mission’ any more, it still believes there is someone to find.”
“ And right know he thinks that someone is one of the Morgan’s.” Jack said his voice tight with concern.
Chapter 45: https://zorell.livejournal.com/21927.html
Author: zorell
Chapter: 44/?
Rating: PG
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Tosh, Owen, Martha, Gwen, the Doctor, Donna.
Pairings: Jack/Ianto.
Summary: Jack, Tosh, Martha and the Doctor discover what came through the rift.
Disclaimer: Torchwood belongs to BBC and RTD.
A/N: No your eyes are not deceiving you this really is a new chapter ! I really don’t know what to say. Sorry seems extremely inadequate for not posting in such an incredibly long, long time, but it is all I have, so sorry. I hope this makes some sort of sense, sorry if it doesn’t and as usual apologise for mistakes, bad grammar, dodgy plot etc.
previous chapter: https://zorell.livejournal.com/20624.html
Chapter 44.
“ A bit bigger than a foot square.” Martha commented, giving the Doctor a sideways glance.
The Time Lord had used some sonic shenanigans to disrupt and then disable the shielding around the rift debris, and their group was now looking at a spaceship obviously larger than the Doctors original assessment.
“Not automated, and also not a Sl’akhark’t ship.” Jack added looking over the now visible ‘debris’.
“ I didn’t think you knew of the Sl’akhark’t,” remarked the Doctor as he continued to fiddle with the sonic screwdriver.
“ I don’t,” confirmed the immortal, “ but I do know a Rmeslan personal cruiser when I see one, even with modifications.” The Captain caught Toshiko’s questioning glance at his mention of modifications. “ The hyper wing and stabilisers are of Iilva origin and some fifty earth years later than when the ship itself is from. The front area has also been changed, I’m guessing that has something to do with the Sl’akhark’t shielding as I don’t recognise it.” Jack elaborated in explanation for Tosh.
“ Personal cruiser, so one ? two occupants ?” Martha queried.
“ Designed for one, but could accommodate two Rmeslans at a push. The race is large so for humans the ship would comfortably take two possibly three depending on its internal layout, which was often customised.” Jack informed the medic, before turning his attention to Tosh.
“ Anything ?”
“ Whatever the Doctor did has cleared the readings for the area. The ship has a lot of residual ‘noise’. Most is recognisable from the rift, but there is still some that isn’t. I’m assuming it’s safe considering The Doctor allowing Martha to be so close to the ship with him.”
Jack looked up to where the other two current members of his team were now only a few feet away from the ship. The Time Lord still checking readings on the sonic screwdriver while seemingly discussing something with Martha.
“ I’ve got a discrepancy to the North.” Tosh continued, drawing the Captains’ attention back to her.
“ Fixed ?”
“ Yes.” The tech genius confirmed.
“ Life signs ?” Jack asked.
“ None registering.”
“ Probably a contingency ‘safe haven’ in case the ship is compromised”, the Immortal determined.
It made sense when arriving on a planet, or in a different time, or both, to shield your ship, and have a ‘set up’ away from it giving yourself a chance if your transport was discovered. If it was such a fall back area it raised more concerns and only added to the thoughts that their ‘rift debris’ was less ‘debris’ and more a planned arrival by a visitor with an agenda.
“ So we’ve definitely got a ‘visitor’ somewhere.” Tosh stated, making some adjustments to her PDA.
“Yes. Even if the ship had been on autopilot, or just miraculously came through the rift and happened to land smoothly, ‘someone’ had to have set up that area.” The Captain replied, “ Continue to scan please Tosh and let me know if you pick up anything.”
“ Of course.”
“ Doctor…” Jack began to address his temporary team member as he turned his focus back to where the Time Lord and Martha had been moments ago, only to view a now visible vertical ladder on the side of the ship and no sign of either the Gallifreyan or medic. “ Damn…” the Immortal muttered “…so much for a bit more caution.”
----------------------------------------“ Mmm Interesting.”
“ What’s interesting ?” Martha asked as she approached what appeared to be the Rmeslan equivalent of a flight deck, where the Doctor was busy scanning and reading the results.
“ Huh, oh, the log for the ship shows it’s been around a bit, well a lot actually.” The Doctor replied as he aimed the sonic screwdriver at what Martha assumed was a control ‘desk’.
“ Any particular reason or just wanderlust ?” the former companion questioned.
“Oh a definite reason.”
There was a pause as they waited for the Time Lord to elaborate. When nothing else was forthcoming Martha prompted “ Which is ?”
“ He’s a Xa’lk.”
There was a muttered curse over the coms from Jack.
“ Which is ?” Martha repeated not recognising the name and concerned by the Captains reaction.
“ A Bounty Hunter,” The Doctor stated matter-of-factly.
“ Kind of .”Jack added.
“ What do you mean kind of ?” The Time Lords former companion queried.
“ I mean that the Xa’lk don’t just round up criminals, fugitives or bail jumpers as the term Bounty Hunter brings to mind. The Xa’lk will go after anyone or anything that has a ‘price on its head’ or reward attached to it.” The Immortal explained.
“ So they could just as easily be looking for a lost dog as a wanted felon.” Martha remarked clarifying what the Captain had said.
“ Yes.” Jack replied to Martha before asking “ Is it solo or accompanied ?” The Immortal wanted a clearer idea of what they were dealing with. As a former Time Agent he knew more than most of the Xa’lk but even that was limited. Most operated on their own but there were some that worked in pairs, which obviously made dealing with them more difficult.
“ I’d say solo.” Martha was the one to reply. “ From the look of what appears to be the living space in here anyway.”
“ Yes it’s an individual,” the Doctor confirmed as he intently went through readouts he had now brought up on the on board systems. “ A very persistent one at that.”
“ All Xa’lk are persistent Doctor. It’s their nature. It’s one of the reasons why they are so good at what they do.” Jack stated.
“ I am aware of that,” The Gallifreyan pointed out, “ but this one has been solely focused on one mission for the equivalent of nearly forty Earth years.”
“ That sounds more like an obsession.” Martha remarked.
“ Obsession or not, what is it so focused on ?” Jack asked as he glanced at Tosh, who was still keeping check on the area north of them while listening intently to the conversation going on over the coms.
“ It appears to be searching for the ‘missing’ member of the C’tylni Royal family,” answered the Doctor, who continued quite bluntly, “ Though of course that is a rather pointless task as they were all killed.”
“ Missing member and all killed ?” questioned Martha at the same time as Tosh glanced at Jack and said “ C’tylni ? The same race as the Morgans ?”
“ Yes,” was said in unison by the male members of the retrieval team as The Doctor replied to Martha and Jack answered Tosh.
“ Think revolutionary Russia, the Romanovs and the Anastasia ‘mystery’,” continued the Gallifreyan by way of a quick explanation, adding “ Except it was outside invaders rather than internal revolution.”
“ I don’t remember anything about the C’tylni being invaded let alone the Royal family being wiped out.” Jack said frowning. The Captains knowledge of the C’tylni, although far from complete, was quite extensive and held nothing of an invasion, the Royal family’s demise, nor of a supposed missing member. The race was peaceful, loyal, friendly, and considerate and had the respect of other races throughout the galaxies. Their whole society had always been incredibly stable, both socially and economically, with the Royal family the focal point for both.
“It happened in the distant future, mid-69th Century if I recall correctly.” The Time Lord stated. “ From what I remember the immediate Royal family were killed within the 24 hours of the invasion, then it took another day or so for the few remaining lesser Royals, who had been further afield, to be rounded up and slaughtered. With it taking a few days to wipe out the whole family, and adding to that the confusion of the invasion itself, it allowed for rumours and stories to emerge that someone had escaped. A story was all it was but it was enough to cause the invaders issues, particularly as at least one of the stories was more than plausible and had some of the invaders themselves half believing it. They put out ‘reward’ calls for information and/or capture which stayed in place for a few decades and were then rescinded.”
Martha lent back against the ship’s hull taking in the information the Doctor had just imparted.
“ Mid-69th Century, so long after the Morgan’s time.” Tosh said wanting clarification as her thoughts went to the rift refugees and by extension their current visitors, Ianto and Donna.
“ Oh yes, long, long after, although the Xa’lk seems to be under the impression that one of the Morgan’s could be who it is looking for.” The Doctor was studying more of the information held in the ships log.
“ Why would he think that ? The Morgan’s were picked up by the rift numerous Centuries before you say the invasion happened.” Tosh said remembering the information she had seen on their journey to the site.
“ According to the logs the Xa’lk has been searching a very long time in a ship that hasn’t always had the best, if any, shielding. It’s gone through areas of space that are far from hospitable, and been exposed to numerous compounds, gases and radiation. It would be amazing if the Xa’lk hadn’t been affected in some way, and from what I can gather it seems to have affected its rational thought. It’s gone from chasing plausible leads to following any random trace however minute and from whatever time frame.” The Gallifreyan explained.
“ So this Xa’lk has, for want of a better phrase, basically ‘lost it’ and is chasing any C’tylni it comes across in the belief they could be the mythical missing Royal,” simplified Martha.
“ That’s about it.” The Doctor agreed, turning to face his former companion having returned everything back to its original state on the flight deck. “ Though it’s a fruitless task, as I said the Royals were all killed.”
“ So why is it still looking ?” questioned the medic.
“ I’d say that in its current mind set the Xa’lk either doesn’t remember or doesn’t accept that the bounty has been rescinded and that there isn’t a ‘mission’ any more, it still believes there is someone to find.”
“ And right know he thinks that someone is one of the Morgan’s.” Jack said his voice tight with concern.
Chapter 45: https://zorell.livejournal.com/21927.html