Jack shifted over to sit next to him and peered intently at the screen. After he scanned it, he looked at Alonso bewilderedly.
"It's just information about the 456's toxin," he said disappointedly.
"Yes, but watch." Alonso reached over and set the screen back to the 456's strange, jagged script. He pulled up a translator and ran a search for the word "toxin". It highlighted all the occurrences of the word on the page.
"Okay, so you can translate and search at the same time. What does that have to do with Ianto?"
"Shush."
Jack drew back, offended. He hadn't been shushed by anyone in ages.
Alonso cancelled the search and started a new one. "See what happens when I search the word 'virus.'"
The program highlighted the same word as the previous search all over the page.
"What?"
"Don't you see?" Alonso said excitedly. "They're the same thing to the 456!"
"How does that change anything? Ianto's dead, whether by virus or by toxin." Saying those words seemed to hurt Jack, and he turned away. "And it's all my fault."
"Oh, no. Don't you start that again." Alonso yanked Jack back to where he could see the screen. A click of a button set the display back to English. "Look at what the toxin does, Jack!"
Jack reread the description. "It's a type of live toxin… No wonder they didn't bother to distinguish. It can pass through nearly every substance within minutes of its release. But it dies after about two hours, it seems." He turned back to Alonso. "All this does is explain how the 456 managed to release it from their airtight tank and how it spread so quickly but we could get in so soon after."
"Yes, but Jack, check what it does." Impatient, Alonso scrolled down to the workings of the toxin. "It puts its victims into a sort of chemical stasis. They seem to be dead, but they're really just kind of frozen. If the victim isn't exposed to either the antidote or more toxin within twenty-four hours, they die."
"That's what they used on the children from 1965 to keep them alive and unchanging for so long." Jack began to connect the dots. "Continuous exposure to the toxin."
"Yes!"
"But we didn't administer the antidote or more toxin to Ianto."
"Yeah, but you said you got him into cryogenic stasis within twenty-four hours. It's just possible that keeping him literally frozen prolonged the stasis, acting like more toxin would have."
"There's a chance he's still alive?"
"Yes, Jack. There is." A smile broke out across Alonso's face as he watched Jack light up. He looked much younger, with all the grief and guilt erased from his immortal face. Alonso let out a startled squeak as Jack sprang up and kissed him full on the mouth.
"Thank you, Alonso. I don't think I can ever repay you for this."
"You don't need to. Take it as me passing on the favour the Doctor did for me."
Jack embraced Alonso tightly. "I have to go get this fixed," he said, indicating his wrist strap.
"Don't you want to get dressed first?" Alonso pointed to the blanket, which had fallen to the ground in Jack's excitement.
Jack grinned shamelessly.
"Jack, clothes, now." Alonso grabbed garments off the floor and various pieces of furniture and bundled them into Jack's arms.
"Why?"
"If you're going to get that fixed to teleport back to Earth right away so you can wake up Ianto, I have to warn you: it's going to take more than you think." Alonso hated to burst Jack's bubble, especially since it had been reformed so recently, but if Jack just woke Ianto up, there could be terrible consequences.
"Enlighten me, then." Jack dressed quickly and efficiently, the routine down to an art, except for putting on his coat, which Ianto had done.
"You need to give him the antidote before he wakes up completely. The toxin is still in his system, just frozen. If he wakes without it gone completely, it could kill him."
Jack tied the laces on his boots and looked up at Alonso.
"Where do I find the cure?"
"It's not going to be an easy find."
"I'd go to the ends of the universe to save Ianto. Believe me, I've been there; it's not so bad."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"All right, then." Alonso pulled up an information page on the antidote. "The only species that has the antidote is the 456. It looks like it's a synthetic that they manufacture to counteract their own venom."
Jack gripped the edge of the bed he sat on, knuckles going white from the strain. "I have to go face them. Again. And not for the purpose of killing them?"
"I'm sorry."
"Can't we get it off the black market or something?"
"No. It's incredibly rare. The 456 make it so infrequently that even smugglers can't get their hands on it."
"How are we going to get it, then?"
"We have to go to the source."
"Do we have to leave the source alive?"
"Yes."
"Damn it, Alonso, I can't just go find them and not take revenge. They turned my home into a heartless hell and they just get away unscathed?"
"You can't blame the species for the crimes of one single member!"
"How do you know there was only one of them? The pulse could have killed others in the spaceship we couldn't find."
"No, it couldn't have. Sounds don't travel in space."
"I know that. But this species seems to be attuned to the frequency."
"You still don't know. I can't help you if all you're going to do is slaughter the 456."
Jack nearly stormed out of the room at Alonso's assertion. Instead, he bit his tongue and glared at Alonso until he calmed down.
"Fine," he said eventually. "But I get any wind that they're doing something dangerous and I will attack."
"That's all right." Alonso pulled up the planet's co-ordinates in the database. "Jack?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you trusting me? I just met you last night."
"It was a good night."
"Yeah, but one good lay is not grounds for this kind of faith. I could take you to some far-off world and sell you to slavers or something."
"Been there, done that, escaped and shut them down."
"So it's because you figure I can't really hurt you."
"Not completely. I know the Doctor quite well, you see. I travelled with him for a while."
"I know. But you weren't with him when I met him."
"Yeah, long story. Anyway, I ended up immortal, and we parted."
"All right. What does that have to do with me?"
"Last night, I saw him in the bar. He looked… resigned, almost like he was trapped."
"Trapped by what?"
"I don't know… It was unsettling. Anyway, he handed me a note with your name on it saying you could help."
"Help with what?"
"I guess with this. I'm not sure how he knew, though."
"He's the Doctor. He knows everything."
"True." Jack grinned.
"But that can't just be it. One recommendation from the Doctor and you automatically trust me? Don't you want a second opinion?"
"That was bad," said Jack, shaking his head. "But there is another reason: you remind me of him."
"Of Ianto?" Jack studied Alonso's face carefully but saw only genuine surprise.
"Yeah. And over the years I've learned to trust people like him."
"Hmm…" Alonso looked off into space for a few moments, and then seemed to compose himself. "Well, we'd better be off. Time is wasting." He pulled up an image of the planet, a misty moon in the far reaches of Mutter's Spiral where only the 456 managed to thrive. "Right, looks like it's going to take us a bit of time for us to reach conventionally."
"How long?"
"Six months, and that's on an express cruiser."
"Hmm. That might be problematic."
"Tickets are dead expensive. I certainly don't have enough to get one. Besides, I can't get leave for six months. We usually don't even get six hours!"
"Point taken. I could get my vortex manipulator fixed."
"How long would that take?"
"We're on Sto, right? Good. We'd be in trouble on Earth, or another planet that hasn't developed teleport yet, but as long as I find some reasonable sonic technology and a teleport base code, I'll be good."
"I can probably find you that on board, in the mechanics bay. That's all you need?"
"The last time the Doctor disabled my vortex manipulator, he fried a few circuits along with it, just to make sure I couldn't get away with just the base code like I had. Since Earth had absolutely no sonic anything, I couldn't fix it. Now I can."
"That's brilliant! So we'll leave once you get it fixed?"
"I'll leave once I get it fixed."
"You can't take me?"
"I can take you. But I'm not sure if I will."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't go. After all, I'm the one who found them."
"I can't die. You can." Jack held up a hand as Alonso began to interrupt. "Let me rephrase. I can't stay dead, whether I want to or not. You can't come back to life, whether you want to or not."
"From what you've told me of Torchwood, death hasn't stopped you before."
"We're a statistical anomaly, suffice it to say."
"I'm still going with you."
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't just run off and leave you here where you're safe."
"I have the database."
"I'll manage."
"Look, Jack. You're not leaving me behind. I'm the fastest way you have to getting Ianto back and you know it. I've faced danger before; that's a given, seeing as I've met the Doctor and he can't stay out of it."
"I know you have. But I've seen what these creatures can do, and even if the rest of them don't, they're capable."
"It'll take you considerably longer to get there without my help; teleport base codes and even rudimentary sonic technology are only available to the biggest corporations and the military."
Alonso had hoped that would convince Jack, but he still had a smug, "I'm doing this for your own good" look on his face.
"That's perfectly fine. Once I get the vortex manipulator going, I can hop back to whatever time is necessary."
Jack had Alonso there, but Alonso wasn't going to give in that easily. "I'm coming. I can have you detained for suspicious activity, you know."
"Alonso, not to sound cliché, but I have all the time in the world."
"But do you want to wait that long? Let me come with you. Please."
"I don't think so."
Alonso turned away and began typing furiously on the database screen, looking for any reason for Jack to take him. But after ten minutes of searching, he'd found nothing. Just as he was about to give up, Alonso spied something.
"Jack!"
"Nothing you say can convince me, Alonso. You're not coming." Jack had struggled into his greatcoat while Alonso searched. He strode towards the door and was about to open it when Alonso spoke up.
"So you do want to get jailed for life on the 456's planet, then?"
"What?"
"Turns out that their planet is restricted, partly due to the toxic chemicals the 456 breathe, partly because the 456 are a rather secretive species. No one allowed in or out unless they have ambassadorial status or express permission from the 456 government."
"I'm sure they have ways to sneak in."
"Nope. All ships in and out of the world are thoroughly searched, and then all airlocks are opened. Anyone not a 456 is basically gassed out. Anyone caught is jailed for life if the council is being lenient; if not, they just toss him or her outside."
"I'll revive, you know."
"Yes, but you'll keep dying. Only those with permission are allowed suits or oxygen tanks. They'll find you eventually."
"That's a risk I'll have to take. And now I'm really not going to take you."
"I can get us ambassadorial status."
"How?"
"I'm a midshipman for Capricorn Cruiseliners. It's simple enough to send a dispatch that I would I like to visit the planet as a representative of the cruise line seeking new ports of call."
"Why would a cruise ship visit inhospitable planets?"
"If you worked for a cruise company, you'd know the answer: exploration. It's the adventure and thrill of seeing a place so few others not of the natives have."
"You have a point there."
"So, I'll go send that dispatch now. And Jack? I am coming. I'm getting status for us both, and since I'm the officer, they won't accept you alone onto the planet."
"What you're saying is that you're blackmailing me into letting you come?"
"Tsk, tsk, Jack. It's extortion, not blackmail. I thought you'd know that."
"I'm learning every day."
"Come along, now. To the officers' deck."
Jack pressed the button to open the door and stood beside it, gesturing gallantly for Alonso to go ahead. Alonso supposed he should be flattered or amused at the chivalrous act, but as he crossed the threshold, all he felt was a growing feeling of anticipation.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay; I was on vacation last Friday, and I will be for the next two Fridays as well, so I guess I'm on temporary hiatus. Thanks as always to gernumblies for editing and making sure I sound coherent, and thanks to Crowded Mind, loewchen, specialfrancine, MegKF, Lorien Lupin, A-D, and Allons-y alonso . for reviewing. Also as always, reviews are much appreciated!
Disclaimer:
Jack and Alonso and other various characters aren't mine (unfortunately); they all belong to the BBC.
