For The Empire - Prologue
1928
Within the shadows of a small room in the heart of London, a man sat, patiently with his hands clasped. The room was surrounded by thick concrete walls, encased within a shell of armour. Above the room, London slept. Within the room, eleven men were already seated in dark leather chairs at a beautifully carved table made from the finest oak wood. In front of each man, there was a single white, unmarked folder. There was one chair left empty.
The door opposite the man who sat at the end of the table opened and a slim figure stepped in and shut the door behind him. Without much thought, he found the empty seat and sat down.
"My apologies" he said "The meeting with the representative from Berlin ran longer than I expected"
The man that appeared to be in charge of the group nodded, a sign of understanding. He knew full well that politicians usually lacked an understanding of how unimportant they really were.
To describe the group sitting around the table would be near impossible. Their very purpose was to achieve an appearance that was unrecognisable; within this room they were faceless. They left their identities, hobbies, and passions at home. Within these four walls, decorated with the finest portraits of the Royal Family dating back to Queen Victoria, they had only one purpose. One life. They were Torchwood.
The man in charge opened the file in front of him, allowing a gentle sigh intended to do nothing more than to capture the attention of his audience. Behind him stood two, large Union Flags.
"We have a situation" he said finally, his voice betraying his age.
"Egypt?" Questioned one of the group.
The man in charge nodded.
"Egypt…" He began. "And America. If you open the folders infront of you please you will see that a United States archaeological dig has uncovered something. Before our US agent could act it was already moved to a secure location within America."
One of the group stared down at the pages in front of him. "My God…" he said "Do they know what it IS?"
"No. And neither do we. But what the Americans and our selves do know, is that it is not terrestrial in origin. Already it has been determined that it is made of an element found nowhere on earth. We've lost track of its location. Naturally this presents a problem. We have no idea what this device can do, we cannot allow this device to remain in the hands of the Americans. For all we know, it could be a weapon of some kind."
"What do we actually know about it?" Asked the man who arrived late.
"Very little." The man in charge began, "except that it is definitely goa'uld technology."
An uneasy muttering swept across the room.
"But we've only ever found trinkets, small items, fragments of that race, we haven't even found a working weapon yet!"
"Nevertheless, it is goa'uld, our operative was quite clear on that. I'm sure you're aware that we first encountered the goa'uld in 1911 when the alien that posed as the god 'Sutekh" attempted an attack upon Earth. This is the very same operative who reported those events to us. We shall be watching closely America closely. Now, any news on our primary concern?"
The man who was late stood up.
"Ah yes. It may defeat all logic, but he's been sighted in Hollywood, America. Um, them again."
"Which body is he in this time?"
"The old man it would seem"
"I assume he evaded capture?"
"Unfortunately so…"
1945
"It's travelling device." The man in charge said simply.
"A what?"
"The translation of the cover stones called it a 'Doorway to Heaven', it allows one to travel across the universe. It however, does not seem to allow one to travel back. A man named Earnest Littlefield went through it… he's now missing in action. The American government has returned the 'doorway to heaven' to storage. This time we know where it is."