Reissman Lake
Mickey Smith had been back on his original home Earth for around three weeks. He enjoyed resuming his old life in London, but still missed some of the adventures of the alternate reality. When he heard about a series of disappearances near Reissman Lake, located at a park twenty minutes away on foot, he was intrigued.
Investigating, Mickey found out that four people had been pulled into the lake during the past two weeks, as reported by live witnesses. Three other missing people were believed to have been in the area shortly before anyone noticed that they had vanished. A sweep of the lake yielded nothing. The lake itself was only approximately nineteen feet deep, permitting thorough scans that did not detect any carnivorous animals that could harm humans.
"The only strange thing they found was a very large stalk nearly fifteen feet tall. It has very large leaves. They thought it was an unusual species, but they don't care enough to bring in a botanist. They don't seem to be giving it any thought," said Mildred Carter, an old woman overseeing the marina and recounting the details for Mickey. She showed a picture of the plant taken from the surface of the lake.
"You're still renting boats for the lake," Mickey commented to her.
"As long as people are interested, I'm going to be here giving them what they want," Mildred responded.
"They're not afraid?"
"Even if they believe the stories, they feel safe in the daytime."
Mickey sighed. "What do the non-believers think?"
"They believe the lake is too shallow to hide people or anything that could eat one. Would you like to go onto the lake?"
"Maybe some other time."
Mildred laughed. "That's how you're going to turn me down?"
"I'm not turning you down. Tell you what, I'll come back tomorrow and rent a boat. I promise."
...
"A plant?" Jack Harkness asked on his cellphone.
"It's apparently the only thing that could do it. It's definitely big," Mickey told him.
"What do the locals say?"
"I don't think it's occurred to them that a plant could eat a human, but I've seen enough that I don't want to dismiss that chance."
"Same here. How far are you away from Cardiff?"
"Not too far. Give me another forty minutes."
Mickey returned to Reissman Lake and the marina lake the next day. He had scuba gear as well as two small pieces of equipment with him.
"You're back!" Mildred exclaimed.
"I keep my promises."
"Would you like a paddleboat, kayak, or canoe?"
"Boat, please."
"Would you mind waiting twenty minutes? I'll have a one-seat boat back soon."
"We'll take a two-seat paddleboat, then," a familiar voice said behind Mickey.
Mickey turned around and saw Sarah Jane Smith standing there. She was wearing a bright yellow jacket.
"That is, if you don't mind some company, Mickey," she said.
Mickey smiled. "I think I know why you're here. I'd be glad to investigate with you."
...
"Oh, I think that's definitely a possibility," Sarah Jane told Mickey on the boat on the way to the plant. "I remember encountering Krynoids with the Doctor, but they appeared in pairs. I hope that rules out this being one."
As Mickey and Sarah Jane slowed down near the plant, Mickey finished putting on the scuba gear and entered the water. He had told Sarah Jane about two pieces of equipment that Jack lent him, which convinced Sarah Jane that Mr. Smith was not needed yet.
As he swam near the plant, Mickey was convinced that the stalk was big enough to fit a person vertically. He held out his right hand towards a large leaf and it immediately curled back. Mickey then pulled out a device that Jack gave him and got a reading before swimming back to the boat, where Sarah Jane was looking over Mildred's pictures.
"This device picked up electromagnetic waves that could suggest sentience," Mickey said as he boarded. "Jack wasn't even sure it was going to work; it's only useful on a few dozen species."
"That will help us narrow this down," Sarah Jane responded. "Mr. Smith couldn't identify anything specific based on the information available."
Mickey put the device down and reached for another that he kept in the boat, one that was not waterproof.
"Mickey, the bulge at the top of the plant has grown over tenfold compared to these pictures. How old are they?"
"Mildred told me they were taken only a few days ago," Mickey answered as he pointed another device at the plant. The device started to make whirring sounds and bubbles started to emanate from the plant.
"Mickey, stop!" Sarah Jane exclaimed.
Mickey stopped immediately, but he was still able to get some data.
"That couldn't have been good news," Sarah Jane remarked.
"This thing said it was analyzing two life signs." Mickey then turned his attention to the plant as he and Sarah Jane noticed that the bulge at the top had begun to glow orange. "The bulge is coming up."
Sarah squinted. "The entire plant is coming up."
Within seconds, the bulge looked like it was floating in the water. Then, it started to deflate, painting the water orange. Mickey and Sarah Jane would have been alarmed, but they were too busy watching a small dark figure in the bulge moving around. Its movements started to speed up and become more intense until the figure ripped itself out of the orange. It resembled a fat brown otter except its face was flat and lacked whiskers. Its long tail split into two prongs and it had eight appendages, all ending in paddle-like feet that reminded Mickey and Sarah Jane of duck feet.
"What do we do now?" Mickey asked.
The creature fell asleep, which seemed to result in increased and heavier breathing. Sarah Jane reached out her hand and touched it. Feeling that it was safe for the moment, she picked up the creature and put it on the boat.
"What else do those devices do?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Nothing that will help us now."
Mickey and Sarah Jane looked back at the plant after hearing more bubbles bursting at the lake's surface. The plant was now floating horizontally in the lake, attracting attention. More people came closer to the lake as more bubbles came out of the plant. Soon, the stalk burst open, revealing a collection of human clothes, bones, and hair, prompting panic from many visitors.
"We need to get back to marina!" Sarah Jane said.
Mickey and Sarah Jane quickly paddled back to shore. Without too much thought, Sarah Jane took the creature into her arms. "How did you get here?"
"I walked," Mickey responded.
"I drove. Do you remember what my car looks like?"
"Yeah."
"I'll meet you over there," Sarah Jane said while pointing.
Before Mickey could reply, Sarah Jane ran off. As quickly as he could, Mickey took care of the paperwork for returning the paddleboat and ignored all of Mildred's questions.
Sarah Jane ran to her car, but someone stopped her.
"Hello. I am Noam. What is that?" the stranger said in a very calm voice.
"Oh, this is just an animatronic device that I wanted to test," Sarah Jane responded.
"Weren't you on the lake? I could tell; that's a prominent jacket you're wearing."
"Well, I did spend some time there with a friend."
Noam looked down at the creature again and smiled. Then he turned his attention to Sarah Jane and his pupils turned silver.
Sarah Jane's eyes widened and she turned and ran towards Mickey. Seeing her, Mickey quickly finished the transaction and ran towards Sarah Jane. When he saw Noam reaching for her, Mickey ran past Sarah Jane and body-slammed Noam before leading Sarah Jane to her car. Noam recovered quickly but by the time he had gotten to Sarah Jane's car, she had locked the doors and began backing out. Noam banged on the windows, but Sarah Jane managed to drive off.
"Who is he?" Mickey asked Sarah Jane while holding the creature in his arms.
"He said his name is Noam, but I don't know anything else about who he is. He turned his pupils silver."
"Did you know someone was here?"
"What do you mean?"
"You were so frantic getting to your car with this thing and then someone tried to get to you."
"I had no idea someone was here for that thing. I just wanted to get it away from the public." Sarah Jane paused a beat. "Mr. Smith picked up the presence of an alien ship in the area around a month ago, but nothing turned up, until now apparently."
"Do you think it's safe having this here?" Mickey asked while calling Jack on his cellphone.
"I'm not sure we have a choice now, but it's clear that's a baby. If that is a dangerous species, perhaps it won't be a danger yet."
"We should go someplace where it couldn't do any harm, just in case."
Jack answered the phone and Mickey put him on speaker.
"Jack, I'm here with Sarah Jane Smith – "
"Oh, hello again, ma'am . . . " Jack interrupted.
" – and an alien baby!" Mickey finished.
"What?"
"I was right about the plant." Mickey described what happened with the bulge, what the readings indicated, and what the baby looked liked.
"It's a Bassitella. That means the plant was a Nobic. The Bassitella is harmless," Jack said as he tried to find news that was covering the events at Reissman Lake.
Sarah Jane and Mickey were both relieved at Jack's ability to identify the aliens.
"They have a symbiotic relationship. Bassitellas use Nobics for gestation and Nobics devour other lifeforms to sustain both. In turn, the Nobics feed the Bassitellas their fruit so that after they're born, they can move around and spread the seeds through their feces. The Nobic must have absorbed the energy from the second device and accelerated the whole process."
"What about that humanoid with silver pupils?"
"That sounds like a Kurind, but I don't know what a Kurid has to do with a Bassitella or a Nobic." Jack then noticed something on the news. "Oh, looks like that energy wasn't so good for the Nobic. Mickey, do the leaves have silver edges?"
"Yeah."
"The baby you have is royalty," Jack indicated as he started typing at another Torchwood console.
"How did it get here?" Mickey asked.
"Sarah Jane, you said your computer detected a ship nearby a while back, right? I would guess this Kurind is a kidnapper. How do I get access to your computer? If we pool our resources together again, I should be able to access some channels and get a message out."
Sarah Jane stopped at an abandoned office building soon after the conversation with Jack ended. Now they had to wait. Mickey handed the baby Bassitella to her after she opened the door.
"Hey!" a voice came from behind them.
Sarah Jane and Mickey turned around and saw Noam and another Kurind. Mickey groaned at the Kurinds' presence and ran towards them, ready to fight. He exchanged blows with Noam and tried to restrain the other, but the other managed to shake Mickey off and run towards Sarah Jane. Before reaching her, eight adult Bassitellas teleported into the fray. They stood on two feet, looking around two meters in length. Their faces were proportionally longer compared to the baby. Mickey's cell phone rang at around the same time.
The Kurinds tried to run away, but six Bassitellas tackled them and teleported them to their ship. The other two approached Sarah Jane and Mickey while Mickey answered his phone.
"Mickey, are the Bassitellas there yet?"
"Yeah, they're here," Mickey replied as he joined Sarah Jane.
"Excellent. They're quick. They're not going to talk, they'll just expect you to hand the baby over to them, so do it."
Sarah Jane heard Jack's instructions, so she approached the two Bassitellas and handed the baby to them. Upon receiving the child, the Bassitellas immediately teleported away.
"Well, that was something," Mickey said.
"I suppose I should update Mr. Smith's database," Sarah Jane commented.
...
The next day, Mickey went back to Cardiff.
"They're both still good," Mickey told Jack as he handed back the scanners. "I told you you could trust me."
Jack chuckled. "You two did very well."
"And we didn't need you after all," Mickey said.
"Maybe you should get the Torchwood London branch started again."
"You know, I've been thinking something similar, but on a smaller basis. Nothing corporate."
"Like freelance?"
"Yeah, maybe."
"Not a bad idea."
END
Thank you for reading. If you leave a review, thanks for that, too. I probably made some mistakes with English dialogue; sorry for that. My next story will take some time because of things going on and I just have a rough idea at the moment. It'll be about the Doctor and Martha helping a woman on a clandestine mission for her government, but they soon question if they should be helping her.