4
Ianto had waited as long as he could, past breakfast before showing Jack who stood gobsmacked for a while as he slowly turned in a circle just as Ianto had done.
"It's a Beryllium Chrystal Palace" he said after he had processed.
"Sentient, I know. Like Mainframe right?"
"On steroids" Jack snorted with amusement as he touched the wall and shivered, "Ooooo, tease."
"It must…sorry…she must have been here for millennia" Ianto said as he now watched Jack examine the water, "I mean … she was left and alone. She is so happy. Is this where the Mara are getting their power from? Or did this world work with the Mara for me? Us? Is she the voice guiding me?"
Jack rose and looked at Ianto as he was slowly drawing in the realisation of what he was seeing here.
"Ianto … she is the heart of a Tardis, yes. Not a Tardis as such, components are long gone and forgotten but … yes. She came here or they pilfered her from a dumpsite and brought her here thousands of years ago … I do recall in the Agency books that they had stolen some Tardis part in the hopes of building one before finding that only on Gallifrey do they grown that way. Into Tardis hearts. Here on Earth she obviously chose another style." Jack looked around "She is the power source, the heat. She is controlling what she can, connected to the rock. Wow."
"Yeah, I know, right?" Ianto was animated, so alive and glowing as he skipped over and Jack saw that he had let go of the topside drama as he welcomed this new element.
"Poor girl, she must have felt so alone once we moved down and were so close yet ignoring her" Jack looked around.
"I have questions" Ianto blurted.
"Sure."
"The hologram wall … is that the only one or are more caverns not found as we walk past?"
Jack swung to face him, "Good one. Maybe a crew that walks with their hands on the walls either side … like a full examination in case this is not the only hidden storage area."
"Storage?"
"Yes. Look over there… junk parts. They used this as a …. Meeting place or workshop or something. Maybe to keep her alive as I am sure she needed their physical presence at times to grow. The marks on the wall show something was there and the wall had to grow around it but they took whatever it was when they left leaving the space." Jack ran his hands over the crevices in the wall "it stands to reason there might be more hidden chambers, only one her though. They don't like others too close, territorial creatures."
"Also … the river looks deep. I wanna go in and see it it's as deep and flowing as it looks" Ianto said and Jack nodded, watching his mate's clothing disappear as he walked into the water and after wading three metres in through ankle deep water he felt a drop, "a shelf. I'm right. She drops."
"Go on"
Ianto stepped off and gasped as the cold water bit under his armpits and Jack laughed as Ianto yelped and clambered back out "Shit. Glacial."
"So. As cold as up top?"
"No.. gods no … like spring water. Huh. Some deeper spots I think, eddies and some underwater caverns?" Ianto was looking at his feet as he considered, "Jack? Something touched my foot in there."
"Why you yelped? I thought it was the cold" Jack moved to crouch and peer into the water," Are you OK?"
"Yeah, yeah. Like a nibble or….fish"
"Fish? Babe? We have fish?" Jack lit up, "Oh gods, Tosh will have a meltdown if you are going to provide something for her fishy wiles."
"First of all, don't ever say something weird like that about Tosh and her sushi love again and secondly…. Maybe it's only a small school of them. We need cameras down there to see if the stock is replenishing, if it's OK to harvest." Ianto pondered at the water.
"Silurians like fish" Jack rose, "If there had been fish in here since they buggered off then I am sure there are over a hundred of them in there. Jesus, Frank will go spare at the thought of fishing. A cull might be a good idea."
Ianto looked around some more, "Do we tell?"
"What do you mean?" Jack frowned as he swung to face him.
"Well… how do we keep her safe? Everyone will want to see, touch and contaminate. They will overload her and she might crash. If she does, we lose power…everything. We need to consider this and talk to the council. Limit access." Ianto warned, "If she is like Mainframe she will be shy and choosy about whom she allows in."
"Someone she doesn't like might find that hologram more than slightly unpleasant" Jack nodded as he agreed, "They can kill intruders."
"Wow" Ianto gushed again as he clutched at Jack," Isn't' she pretty? So pretty."
Jack watched the walls glow brighter with delight and knew Ianto was right.
For all the advanced age she was …. She was still delicate.
This would take some thought.
