Author: Mistofstars Category: Fantasy / Future civilization / Romance / Drama Rating: M to be save Pairing: Ianto / Jack obviously Author's note: You may have to be a little bit patient until Ianto and Jack finally reunite... just saying...^^" This is based upon an idea I received due to the kindness of .net/~elliotdean resp. .com
I hope I didn't disappoint you ^_^"
Of Gods and Slaves
A naked man lay unconsciously and motionlessly upon an operating table, small floating lights circled around him and lit the passages which were being worked on. A woman, who was wearing a protective mask and a white lab coat, bent over the cold body and looked down at him gloomily. Next to her an older doctor stood, with short grey hair, wearing the same clothes as her, preparing an injection. He observed the syringe intently, examined if the liquid contained any air bubbles.
"It's a shame", the young medic at his side sighed, as she stroked the forehead of the young man compassionately. The older frowned and eyed his colleague seriously.
"It's our duty. We need to ensure continuity. In addition to that we give him a second chance."
"... If he survives this procedure", the young woman muttered.
The elder tipped against the syringe and injected the medicine into the veins of the unconscious.
"We've increased the probability already from 20 to 40 percent during the last years. Now we know better what we have to do."
The woman nodded thoughtfully in silent agreement.
A few moments later, they shoved the rigid body into a bunker filled with cold chambers. Minus 196 degrees below zero and framing beds of zinc, what should prepare the bodies for eternity. Thousands upon thousands of such bunkers existed all over the world, with thousands of half-dead, preserved people who served as an assurance for the future supply of human civilization.
Most of the people, minutes away from their certain death, were brought here. If there wasn't a chance or a cure to keep them alive, they received an injection which reduced diseases and infections to a minimum. Then they received their dose in order to survive the freezing into the distant future until they finally came to the cold chambers. UNIT had received messaged from the future, already decades ago, that the human species was facing extinction. In order to guarantee its survival, it was necessary to take drastic measures, and an infinite number of people had already been frozen. In the future it would be easy to thaw them and re-integrate them into the new world and their second life.
This process was kept secret, and only a few people were involved in the events of the past few decades.
...
When Ianto awoke, he heard water dripping, and he felt a damp, muggy heat around him. Carefully, he blinked with his heavy eyelids. His body felt cold in spite of the surrounding heat, paralysed. When he finally discerned the world around him, he saw uncountable masses of men and women, and children of all age, lying on stretchers in an endless hall. None of them seemed awake – Ianto wasn't even sure whether they were dead or alive.
A light like a setting sun shone into the hall and Ianto saw a man standing at its end in an open door. The light circled his silhouette as he entered the room and walked towards Ianto. Only then the Welshman realized that he wore no clothes. Perplexed and full of surprise he looked into the face of the young man who leaned over him now and looked at him with a wry grin. Somewhere in Ianto's mind suddenly the thought of death appeared. A dull feeling spread through his stomach, his heart beat hard against his ribs. Wasn't he dead? Had he not died … in Jack's arms? What had happened? Had he dreamt all of that? Uncertainty was written all over his face, what the strange man immediately recognized.
"You have been frozen for a long time. Now you come with me. Welcome to the future!"
Ianto didn't know what was currently taking place, but he knew he didn't trust the stranger with the slanted smile as far as he could spit. The nameless wheeled Ianto out of the hall, passing all the unconscious men who had probably been frozen as well. Ianto tried to get up, run away, to free himself. But his limbs wouldn't obey his orders, felt cold and numb. An escape was impossible.
Frustrated Ianto accepted his fate and gave the stranger free rein. He thought of Jack. The tearful Jack who held him in his arms in despair, begging him to stay with him, to not leave him. Ianto remembered how it had felt like to die. He hadn't seen a white light or a tunnel – on the contrary, everything was starting to become dark and spongy before his eyes. He had felt incredibly tired, a comforting warmth inside his body. Inevitably he had to think of Jack. He wondered if he was still alive. How much time had passed since then? What century was it now?
Finally sheer desperation overcame Ianto, and he gave in to the hot tears, that secretly ran down his cheeks. Everyone he knew had to be dead by now. The world would no longer be what he knew. And, as it seemed, he was all on his own, alone.
...
After they had crossed a dark tunnel for several silent minutes, they finally came to an exit. Ianto saw a black spaceship on a brightly lit landing field. The area was dark, no other person or building could be seen. Ianto noticed how cold it was in the cool night. A large robot suddenly appeared beside them – the body was copper-coloured, its physique stocky. He had to be 8 feet tall. The glowing blue eyes in its face looked lifeless and blunt.
"Carry him aboard and dress him", the stranger issued a command and before Ianto knew it, the machine flicked him over his shoulder and carried him inside the shuttle. The heavy steps of the robot resounded upon the metal floor of the spaceship. The sound of loud jets and turbines rang out, the walls of the conveyance vibrated quietly. A short jerking made the robot sway, and Ianto assumed that the spaceship rose into the air, continuously leaving the atmosphere. Finally the robot threw him into barren furnished cabin onto the ground. Not a second later it threw clothes against Ianto's head.
"Dress", the machine ordered, then it closed the cabin door with a loud roar.
...
Ianto considered the clothing sceptically – it looked like a uniform, standard clothing. Everything was black, even the shoes and underwear they gave him. With trembling fingers Ianto got dressed quickly, observing the cabin. Everything seemed quite sterile; the walls were made of aluminium, the floor of titanium. A bed of steel stood in a corner, at least something that seemed familiar to Ianto.
A small porthole aroused his curiosity – with rapid steps he hurried to the bed, knelt down and stared out into the black galaxy. He stopped breathing. Below him he saw the earth, shrinking and slowly leaving his field of vision. Meteorites moved past them, billions of stars shone in red, white and blue through the darkness. Nebulas, like colourful wispy clouds, spread out before him. Again and again he saw isolated planets in the distance. Suddenly Ianto felt terribly small and unimportant compared to the infinite universe presenting itself before his eyes.
Where would the nameless fly them to? What would happen to him?
…
Ianto spent the next monotonous long hours huddled upon the bed, brooding. He had seen enough of the pompous galaxy. All he wanted now was to see his beloved. His sister and her family, Gwen, Jack... the idea that they were all dead for ages now, brought tears to his eyes. A little voice in his head made him hope that Jack was probably still alive. But his mind was convinced that he would never see him again – how should he ever find him in these stretched vastnesses, if he was alive? And how could Jack come to know that Ianto was still alive?
Again Ianto perceived the noises of the engines, felt the ship shaking back and forth. The nozzles became silent, and an eerie silence filled the ship. They must have landed. With a loud jolt the door of the cabin opened, the man and his robot stood in front of him. Again a dirty grin graced the face of the stranger.
"Get up. We're there."
...
When they left the ship and returned to walk on solid ground, Ianto could feel the chilly hands of the robot resting on his shoulders, preventing him from running away. His commander walked in front of them. Puzzled Ianto watched the landscape around him – the soil was sandy and hard – a parched land, a desert. The sun shone with a reddish light, illuminated the planet, but there was not much to see in the distance. The next building, to which they proceeded, was white, tall and oval. It had no windows and reminded Ianto of a football stadium, but without an open roof.
"Where are we going? What is this building?", Ianto asked the man in front of him, but he just grinned and gave no answers. He desperately tried to free himself from the grip of the robot, but it only increased its grip and Ianto had to cope the last few meters half bent over.
…
They came to a counter – the receptionist surprised Ianto and made him speechless. It was an alien, Ianto knew not their race. It measured about 9 feet, had purple skin and black, long hair. His eyes were deep and turquoise. Ianto counted six fingers on each hand, the spaces in between them were webbed. His forehead was adorned by two blue horns, each about 15 centimetres or more. As he spoke, it reminded the young Welshman of smokers, whose larynx had been removed and who had to speak with auxiliary devices.
"Name, age, gender, race", the alien said, whereupon the nameless man shoved Ianto towards the counter to let him answer the questions in his stead.
"Ianto Jones, 26 years old, male, race: human", Ianto replied monotonously. He realized he was being committed to an institution – for the better or for the worse he didn't know, only, that he was being pushed around against his will and that he had no say. Who knew what had happened to human rights and the basic essence of a democracy by now...
"Exquisite health, no diseases or infections", the stranger added with a slimy smile. The purplederm nodded unaffectedly after he had recorded the data, and rummaged around in a cash box. Two aliens, dressed in white coats, and which also had lilac skin and who were tall and muscular, came to them. The colour of their horns seemed to differ from individual to individual. When Ianto was rudely taken and led away, he looked back to the stranger, who received a packet of money and waved a sardonic goodbye. He had been sold like a piece of meat.