Chapter 4
Meeting of Minds
There was a sudden 'Oh!' from the crowd opposite the United Nations Building, as a silver bubble expanded with breathtaking speed in the sky above. A gust of air tore at Secretary General Stormgren's clothes as the tiny ship came to rest in the courtyard fifteen metres away, floating delicately a few centimetres above the ground, as if it feared contamination with Earth.
As he walked slowly forward, Stormgren saw a puckering of the seamless metallic hull, and in a moment the opening appeared before him. He stepped through it into the ship's single, softly lit room.
In the Comms Hub of Torchwood One, the senior staff of Blue Watch were watching the Secretary General closely.
'Are you getting this on the "fly" Charles?' Jack asked Charles DiCaprio, director of Torchwood New York.
['Not at the moment. We had to "park" the Spy-Fly on the back of Stormgren's jacket collar so that it wouldn't be noticed.']
The entrance of the metallic bubble sealed itself as if it had never been, shutting the Secretary General of the United Nations inside. It rose suddenly into the air, causing a partial vacuum which blew leaves and waste paper around. Hundreds of telescopes watched as the shiny ball bearing approached the massive ship above.
['Damn. We've lost the telemetry on the Spy-Fly,'] John Weston, the New York, Special Operations Technical Support specialist reported.
'Ah, thought that might happen,' John said, tugging his earlobe. 'It's the energy field around the ship blocking the signal. Hopefully, the internal memory on the Spy-Fly will continue to record and we can download it when it comes back.'
'Charlie, you'll upload the data to the server as soon as the Spy-Fly comes back online?' Jack asked the face on the screen.
['Of course Jack. I suggest we reconvene in the Conference Rooms with video link and view the data together.']
'Good idea. Okay people, keep your diaries free for the next few hours and I'll give you a call when we're ready.'
Three hours later, news media cameras and telescopes saw the metal ball leave the alien's ship and descend back towards the United Nations Building. Torchwood New York "pinged" the Spy-Fly with the data request signal, and it started downloading the recorded data.
In the Conference Room in Canary Wharf, senior staff sat around the conference table, with senior staff in New York on screens around the walls. They were listening to the introductory chit-chat of two people getting to know one another.
'Stormgren did agree to ask our questions?' Jack asked Charles on the screen.
['Oh yes. He said they were questions he himself wanted to ask.']
Stormgren was getting down to business on the recording. ['So Karellen, when are we actually going to meet?'] They had worked out that the Secretary General was sitting at a desk, in a room on his own.
A deep, warm, resonant voice replied. Rose said it reminded her of the actor, Patrick Stewart. ['Ah, yes. For that Rikki, you must be patient. The human race is not yet ready to meet us face to face.']
['Really? And why is that?']
['I cannot say. The reason will become apparent when we finally reveal ourselves. Until that day, I will have to ask you to trust me.']
'That's not a good start,' John said out loud.
'Yeah. I wonder what they're hidin'?' Rose asked.
['I wonder if you really appreciate how difficult this state of affairs will make my job?'] Stormgren continued earnestly,
['It doesn't exactly help mine,'] replied Karellen with some spirit. ['I don't want people to think of me as a dictator. I'm only a civil servant trying to administer a colonial policy in whose shaping I had no hand.']
'That was quite an engaging description,' Jack said. 'I wonder just how true it is.'
['Can't you at least give us some reason for your concealment? Because we don't understand it, it annoys us and gives rise to endless rumours,'] Stormgren explained.
Karellen gave a rich, deep laugh, just too resonant, to be altogether human. ['What am I supposed to be today? Does the robot theory still hold the field? I'd rather be a mass of microprocessors than a thing like a centipede.] He must have seen Stormgren's reaction. ['Oh yes, I've seen that cartoon in yesterday's Chicago Tribune! I'm thinking of requesting the original.']
Stormgren pursed his lips primly. He thought Karellen was taking his position too lightly. ['This is serious,'] he said reprovingly.
['My dear Rikki,'] Karellen retorted, ['it's only by not taking the human race seriously that I will retain what fragments of my once considerable mental powers I still possess!']
['That doesn't help me a great deal, does it? I have to go down there and convince my fellow men that although you won't show yourself, you've got nothing to hide. It's not an easy job. Curiosity is one of the most dominant of human characteristics. You can't defy it forever.']
['Of all the problems that face us coming to Earth, this is the most difficult,'] admitted Karellen. [I regret the need for this concealment as much as you do, but the reasons are sufficient. However, I will try and get a statement from my superiors which may satisfy you and perhaps placate those who doubt our intentions.]
wever, I will try and get a statement from my superiors which may satisfy you and perhaps placate those who doubt our intentions.]
'Told you,' John said smugly. 'These guys are working for someone else.'
['Very well. Now, the questions people have about you are, firstly, who are you?']
There was humour in his voice when Karellen answered. ['As they already know my name, I presume that you mean our race. The closest name that translates in English, is Overseers.']
'Overseers?' Alice said. 'That sounds a bit ominous.'
Andy nodded. 'Karellen said he was Supervisor for Earth, but supervising what?'
['And where do you come from, where do you call home?']
['Ah, yes. Your astronomers call our star 2MASS J23062928-0502285. Not very poetic is it,'] Karellen said with a chuckle. ['It's a dim cold red star, also known to you as TRAPPIST-1, about thirty nine light-years from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius. Our planet is the third from our sun.']
Jack looked to his scientific lead. 'John?'
John checked his tablet PC. 'Ah, here we are. TRAPPIST-1, first studied with the TRAPPIST telescope in Chile.'
'What, like in trappist monks?' Rose asked with a frown.
John grinned at his wife. 'Nah, Transiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope. TRAPPIST-1 is a type of star known as an ultracool dwarf. It's two thousand times less bright than our sun, a bit less than half as warm as our sun, about one-twelfth the sun's mass, and less than one-eighth the sun's width, making it only slightly larger in diameter than Jupiter.'
['And why are you here Overseer Karellen, Supervisor for Earth? I know you said in your original message that you had come to help us, to prevent us from annihilating ourselves . . . Why would you want to do that?']
'Ooh, nicely done Rikki,' Jack said.
['Your race has shown a notable incapacity for dealing with the problems of its own rather small planet. When we arrived, you were on the point of destroying yourselves with the powers that science had rashly given you. Without our intervention, the Earth would become a radioactive wilderness. We wish you to have a world at peace, and a united race. Eventually you will be sufficiently civilized to run your planet without our assistance. Perhaps you could eventually handle the problems of an entire solar system say fifty moons and planets. But do you really imagine that you could ever cope with this?']
'He must be showing him something on a screen,' John reasoned.
['In this single galaxy of ours,'] murmured Karellen, ['there are eighty seven thousand million suns. Even that figure gives only a faint idea of the immensity of space. In challenging it, you would be like ants attempting to label and classify all the grains of sand in all the deserts of the world.']
'I was right,' said John. 'A display of the galaxy by the sound of it.'
['Your race, in its present stage of evolution, cannot face that stupendous challenge. One of my duties is to protect you from the powers and forces that lie among the stars forces beyond anything that you can ever imagine.']
'Pompous git!' John exclaimed. He'd heard plenty sanctimonious dictators in his nine hundred years as the Doctor.
['So you are denying us the stars?'] Stormgren asked with a hint of annoyance.
Karellen's voice was soothing, placating as he replied. ['I did say "in its present stage of evolution". We are tasked with overseeing the survival and evolution of the human race.']
['Saving us from ourselves, so to speak.']
There was a deep chuckle. ['So to speak.']
['And how will you "save us from ourselves"? How do you enforce peace without becoming a dictator?']
'Good question,' Andy said. 'Even the United Nations Peacekeeping Force couldn't force people to keep the peace.'
Karellen answered both of their questions with a quote. ['I believe one of your philosophers, Lao Tzu wrote; "Counsel people not to use force, for this would only lead to resistance".']
'They're Taoist,' John said in surprise. 'Who'd have thought it?'
['That doesn't answer my question Karellen. People will want to know how you are going to achieve world peace. In your original message you said, and I quote; "You may kill one another if you wish, and that is a matter between you and your own laws. But if you slay, except for food or in self defence, the beasts that share your world with you then you may be answerable to me". You also said; "Dictators of oppressive and corrupt regimes who torture and execute innocent civilians, should hand power to a democratically elected leader or suffer the consequences".']
['I see you have the transcript of my speech on your device,'] Karellen said.
['Yes, and I'm wondering how you will achieve this?']
['As is everyone else I should imagine,] Karellen replied. ['I'm afraid I must impose on you Rikki as Secretary General of the United Nations, to make an announcement to the world's press. Tell them that anyone in the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, in Madrid tomorrow evening will experience a demonstration of the methods we will use if any animals are harmed there. There will also be other, less public interventions around the world.']
Jack started to plan for next day. 'Chrissie, I need your team to hack into every camera in the Plaza de Toros tomorrow.'
'No problem,' she replied.
Karellen continued. ['Also, any oppressive and corrupt governments who rule by creating a culture of fear, and who threaten their populations with violence, must begin the process of free democratic elections, or they too will experience a demonstration of our methods of reform. You may assure them that we will use no force or violence, but we WILL make our displeasure known.']
'I can't wait to see that,' John said with a boyish grin. 'Isn't he a tease?'
Jack turned to one of the screens. 'Charlie. Can you get the CIA to position some of its spy satellites over some of the "unfriendly" countries and see what happens?'
['Good idea Jack. I'll get Gene to contact them now,'] Charles said. Eugene Hunter was head of the New York Special Operations Unit.
The recorded meeting wound down, and there were no more important revelations about the Overseers. It was mainly United Nations business, so Jack called an end to the meeting. All they could do now was wait until tomorrow when everything would "kick off".
'We'd better get to bed,' Rose suggested as she switched off the TV after another normal evening at home.
'Did you hear that?' John asked as the room went silent.
'Hear what?'
'There's a small furry animal scratchin' the french windows in the dinin' room,' Donna-the-House told them.
'Wha'? Y'mean we've got rats?' Rose said in alarm.
'No,' Donna-the-House said in a "rolling the eyes" tone of voice. 'It's a cat. A black one. Are they supposed to be good luck or bad?'
'Good, unless they cross your path,' John told her.
'What's it doin' outside our dinin' room?' Rose wondered.
'Tryin' to get in by the look of it,' Donna-the-House said.
'Well, when we go to bed it'll get bored and go back to it's home,' John said, standing up and holding his hand out for Rose.
As Rose stood up there was more scratching at the french windows, and a mournful meow. 'Oh listen to that,' Rose said sympathetically. 'It might be injured.'
'Or looking for a free supper from a sucker for a sob story,' John said with a grin.
They went through to the dining room, and John unlocked the french windows, opening the right hand door outwards. Rose stooped down and stroked the cat's head.
'Hello little fellah. What's the matter.' They were expecting another mournful meow.
'Doctor Smith I presume, and Mrs. Smith, how nice to meet you. Can I have a word?' is what they actually got from the cat, which to be fair, wasn't what they were expecting.
'Er, yeah. Okay,' John said uncertainly. 'Would you like to come in?'
'Yes, thank you. Oh, a bespoke kitchen . . . very nice. The living room through here is it?'
John and Rose watched as the cat strolled out of the dining room towards the living room. They looked at each other, and then at Donna-the-Robot, who just shrugged and said, 'he's got nice manners anyway.'
The cat strolled into the living room with that usual air of feline arrogance which said he had every right to be there. Rickey the Cyber Dog on the other hand didn't agree. His ears lowered as he growled at the cat.
'Ah, a cyber dog. So much more civilised than those hairy oafs that sniff each others backsides,' the cat said. 'I do like the realistic behaviour responses you've incorporated into the base program.'
'Thank you,' John said with a bemused smile as they followed the cat into the living room. 'It's all right Rickey. In your basket, there's a good lad.'
The Cyber Dog stopped growling, looked up at John, and then trotted to his charging basket. The cat wandered over to the fireplace, and sat on the rug in front of the hearth.
'Oh look,' Donna-the-Robot said. 'The cat sat on the mat.'
The cat looked left and right, and then looked up at them. 'Hardly a mat. More of an excellent quality rug I would say. Very comfortable.'
'So . . . cat. Can we get you anything?' John said awkwardly. 'A saucer of milk perhaps?'
'The name's Alogue, and a drop of beer wouldn't go amiss.'
'In a glass or a saucer?' Donna-the-Robot asked sarcastically.
'A saucer would be nice. I get less of it on my ears and whiskers that way.'
Donna-the-Robot sniffed. 'Fair enough,' she said and went to get one of John's cans of beer out of the fridge. Oh, and a saucer.
'So, Alogue. You wanted a word,' John said as he and Rose sat on the sofa.
'Ah, yes. I'm guessing you know about the ships appearing in the sky.'
'Kinda hard to miss,' Rose said jokingly.
Donna-the-Robot put the saucer on the rug and poured some beer into it. 'You want the rest?' she asked John.
'Er, yeah. Thanks Donna.'
'You want a saucer as well?' she asked with a smirk.
John laughed at his mickey taking, mechanical house
keeper. 'Nah, I'm good thanks.' He took the offered can and raised it towards Alogue. 'Cheers. Now, I'm guessing you know something about these Overseers. Am I right?'
Alogue licked his lips after lapping some of his beer. 'The Overseers, no. My ancestors never saw them, and didn't know their name when they encountered these ships on other worlds in the past.'
'So cats are aliens!' Rose exclaimed. 'I thought you were just windin' me up,' she said to John.
'Actually, I was born on this planet, which technically makes me a naturalised citizen. Other cats however, are indigenous.'
'Ah, that explains a lot,' Rose told him.
The cat frowned. 'Excuse me?'
'Well your grasp of our language and your manners. John and me are fluent in cat, and all they seem to talk about is birds, mice, and shaggin' other cats.'
'They are rather uncouth aren't they?' Alogue said with a feline grin, and then became straight faced. 'You speak cat?'
'We speak lots of alien languages,' John explained, and then brought him back to the point. 'You were telling us about these ships.'
'Yes. My people were employed as administrators by the Osirians. We are very meticulous and fastidious in our record keeping.'
'Osirians? Osirians? Hang on. That was that Sutekh bloke and his pyramids,' Rose remembered.
'You know of Sutekh?' Alogue asked in surprise. 'He is the reason we got left behind on Earth, when the Osirians had to chase after him.'
'We ran into him a couple of years ago,' John told him. 'Rose did a number on him and sent him packing.'
'Then I was right to trust you,' Alogue said, and saw the questioning look on their faces. 'My associates were worried that you may expose us and make our lives difficult.'
'Nah, not us. Anything you say in this house, stays in this house,' John assured him.
'Thank you. I will tell you what I know. On two separate occasions, when the Osirians were building pyramids on other worlds, these ships appeared in the skies. The visitors did something to the apex lifeforms. In fact, when I think about it, they remind me of humans. Even though they didn't look like you, they were inquisitive, inventive and very intuitive.'
'Ooh, I love a good bit of alliteration,' John said with a grin, and then became serious. 'What did they do to these inquisitive, inventive and intuitive people? Karellen said he was tasked with overseeing the survival and evolution of the human race'
'That sounds familiar. Over a generation, they changed them, made them more intuitive until they became psychic. It was as if they accelerated their evolutionary development.'
'Hmm. And how did that end for them?'
'I don't know. The Osirians left before the conclusion. I do know that it was the children that were changed. The parents had no more offspring, and those remaining children were the last of their kind.'
'But that's awful,' Rose said. 'Surely they can't want to do that to us?'
'Not on my watch,' John said with a hint of the Oncoming Storm in his voice. 'But why would they want a world of psychic children?'
'I don't think they did,' Alogue said sadly. 'From what our ancestors heard from the Osirians, when the last of the adults had past away, the remaining children left their material form behind. They became beings of thought alone. Their planet disintegrated to dust in the process.'
Rose looked at her husband for reassurance. 'But that's not our destiny, is it? I mean, we've been to New Earth in the year five billion and it was full of humans. Oh, and cat people.' She looked at Alogue. 'I wonder if that was your lot?'
Alogue frowned. 'The year five billion? My lot?'
John scratched the back of his head. 'Er, yeah . . . Bit complicated. Time can be rewritten,' he said hesitantly. 'But on the other hand, it could be that we stop it from happening.'
'So which one is it?' Rose asked him.
'Haven't a clue. Isn't that brilliant. Tell you what though, if I could have a look at your ancestor's records Alogue, I might be able to work it out.'
'Ah, that may be a problem. How's your sense of smell?'
'Excuse me?' John asked with a frown. 'It's superior to most humans, but not as good as a full Gallifreyan . . . Why?'
'We Bastetians have a . . . unique form of non verbal communication. We have around two hundred million odor-sensitive cells in our noses, and we also produce over five thousand individual volatile ketones which we can use to record information.'
'Oh that is gorgeous,' John said with an open mouthed smile. 'No, really. That is . . .'
'What?' Rose asked with a puzzled expression.
'A chemical alphabet. No, not an alphabet. A chemical Kangxi Dictionary.' Rose gave him "that look". The one that said he would have to give her a bit more than that.
'It's like written Chinese. The characters don't constitute an alphabet or a compact syllabary as such. Rather, the writing system is roughly logosyllabic; y'know, a character generally representing one syllable of spoken Chinese and may be a word on its own or a part of a polysyllabic word. Alogue here can combine thousands of these chemical characters to form a complete text.'
'Oh,' Rose said, and Alogue had a rather pleased smile on his face . . . for a cat.
'I should be able to use the sonic screwdriver as a text reader,' John said with a smile which matched Alogue's.
