Chapter 7
Torchwood - In Production.
After thirty four minutes of driving, the Range Rover pulled into a parking space opposite a white building, with blue wood trim. The road ended at the Inn, where it became the lawn of the Ferry House Inn, which abutted the River Yare. A number of expensive, privately owned boats were moored, along with charter hire boats of holiday makers. A navy blue hulled boat with a white cabin had the words 'POLICE' emblazoned on it, and two officers in baseball caps and life jackets were sat at a picnic table, with a young couple who looked decidedly uncomfortable.
Julia looked over to the back seat and spoke to Jackson. "Can we hold off on the filming for a moment? I want to go and introduce myself, and see if they'll be okay with you filming them. It sounds as if they're a bit embarrassed by the whole thing."
"Yes, of course. I'll wait here until you tell me otherwise, that's the operating procedure we agreed with Captain McNab."
Julia nodded and smiled at him, then got out of the car, and walked over to the picnic bench. The two police officers stood as she approached.
"Agent Julia De Graff, Torchwood," she said, holding out her hand.
"PC Colin Fox," one dark haired officer said, shaking her hand.
"PC Andy Fleming," the other fair haired officer said. "They're a bit nervous, and shy of any publicity."
"Yeah, that's understandable, can you introduce me, it'll break the ice, and they'll trust you more easily than they will me."
"Yeah, sure," Colin said. "They seem like a really nice, ordinary couple… Sebastian, Debbie, this is Julia, she works for the Torchwood Institute."
Julia shook hands with them and sat down. "Hello, I understand you had a bit of an unusual experience last night."
"Er, yeah, we don't really want to talk about it," Sebastian said.
"Let me start by saying that the reason we have come all the way here to talk to you, is that we believe you, and we can find out who did this and prosecute them," Julia said, reaching across the table and gripping their hands.
"Prosecute aliens?" Debbie said.
"Oh yes, if it was aliens, then there is a Galactic law enforcement agency that will arrest them."
The two police officers looked as stunned as the victims. "Really?" Colin asked.
"Yes, really. Now, we have a television camera with us today, trying to show people what we do, would you be agreeable to them filming this investigation? You can be in it, or you can be pixelated, or we can just film our investigation without you being in shot."
"Would it be alright if we weren't on the programme?" Debbie asked.
"Of course, I'll just have a word with the Director, and then I'll treat you to lunch while we ask you some questions."
Torchwood - On Air.
Andre and Angel helped each other put on their personal armour, until they looked like the characters from the Halo game. The viewers saw them grin at each other, before putting on their helmets. Each side of the helmet had a small spot light and camera, which gave a 3D video feed to Torchwood.
They prepared their stun guns for firing, and pressed a button on the wrist bracer, which powered up the armour. The mirrored visor on the helmet lowered, which activated the head up display, and switched on the internal air supply. Greenwood filmed them entering the shop, and the scene then cut to their helmet cameras and intercom.
The agents worked as a coordinated team, approaching the alien from different directions, viewing the 'spy-fly' feed on their helmet displays, to ensure that they could see the target at all times.
"Be ready Andre, I am going to let the target see me to provoke a reaction," Angel said.
"I'm ready, be careful."
Angel move from cover and startled the Weevil, which stood, growled, and lunged towards her.
Zap! Andre discharged his stun gun, and the Weevil fell to the ground at Angel's feet. She took out her scanner and checked that the Weevil was fully asleep.
["The Torchwood stun gun, works like a police taser, but has no wires to deliver the shock. A bolt of energy discharges through the target and renders it unconscious, allowing the agents to safely neutralise any threat."]
They called Greenwood in, and he filmed them as the visors on their helmets rose, revealing enormous grins on their faces. They approached each other and gave a high five.
["Although the suspected abductees declined to be interviewed on camera, they did agree to Julia and Jake conducting an investigation,"] Tennant said, as Jake came and spoke to the camera.
"We've scanned the victims with some of our high tech equipment, and found that some of their isotope decays are outside of the normal range. We're now going to ask the local police to take us to the victim's boat, and see if we can find any evidence there," Jake explained.
["Isotope decay is a natural process, and scientists can use it to date archaeological finds. A change in the rate of decay may indicate that the victims actually left Earth's gravity,"] Tennant told the viewers.
Jackson filmed the police boat moving away up stream, before it circled around to pick him up. It would be a continuity shot for the finished episode. He filmed the approach to the small, chartered boat, and Julia carefully stepping into it, followed by Jake. He handed the camera to Jake, and stepped over himself.
["On the boat, the agents scan the structure of the boat, and the night clothes the victims were wearing."]
"The roof of the cabin is showing signs of being disrupted by a transmat beam," Jake said to Julia.
"Yeah, and their night clothes. We'll bag them and take them back with us; the labs might be able to tell us whose transmat it was."
Jackson filmed, as Jake took off his backpack, and took out two evidence bags, and put the pyjamas and night dress into them. Julia spoke to the camera.
"So we've got some physical evidence that indicates that the victims were actually abducted, and the labs back at Torchwood should be able to identify which race actually carried out the abduction, although Jake and I already have our suspicions."
Once again, Jackson stayed on the boat, filming the police heading back down river, before it circled back to pick him up. Back at the Ferry House Inn, they told Sebastian and Debbie that their clothing would be returned to them once it had been analysed, and they thanked the local officers for their assistance and cooperation.
All that was left to do was visit the crop circle where the couple had woken up, and search for physical evidence that might identify the perpetrators. The Range Rover drove down the country lanes, following the satellite data downloaded from Torchwood Tower, and stopped at a gate to a field.
Jackson filmed Julia and Jake walking through the maize, towards the flattened circle of the crop. They had their scanners out in front of them, sweeping the area for any alien technology, or abnormal energy signatures. The scanners were also filming their progress towards the crop circle, and the viewers saw the area of flattened maize when they entered it.
They called for Jackson to come to the edge of the circle so that he could film them scanning the area.
["Jake and Julia walk around the edge of the circle opposite each other, continually recording data from their scanners as they go. They slowly spiral inwards towards the centre of the circle, when they make a discovery."]
The scene cuts to John in his workshop.
["John receives a call from Jake and Julia in Norfolk, who are out investigating the alien abduction,"] Tennant tells the viewers.
"Doctor Smith," John said into the phone.
On the screen, Jake talks into his mobile phone. "Doc, it's Jake; I've got some scanner data that I've uploaded to the server, could you have a look at it and let us know if it's safe to retrieve an artefact."
John wheeled his chair over to his computer and accessed the data. "Hmm, interesting... It seems to be inactive, no dangerous chemicals or energy signatures. It's not an obvious weapon configuration... use the usual retrieval protocol and bring it in, I'll have a look at it in the lab."
The scene cuts back to the Ferry House Inn at Surlingham near Norwich. "Okay Doc, we'll see you later."
In the Range Rover, Julia does an interview to camera. "There's a small, alien artefact in the centre of the crop circle. It appears to be inactive at the moment, but we don't take any chances when we don't know what it is. The Scientific Advisor at Torchwood has reviewed the scan data, and given us permission to deploy the robot to recover the object remotely."
Jake took the recovery robot out of the back of the Range Rover, and held it up to the camera. It looked like an oversized, remote controlled buggy, with fat tyres, and a number of spider-like arms on the front. He put it on the ground, and brought up the control application on his tablet.
The buggy zoomed down the track that had been trodden down when they first approached the circle, and with the on board camera, viewers saw it enter the circle, stopping at a metallic pink, rectangular object with curved edges.
It was approximately six inches long, three inches across, and two inches deep, and was partially covered by some of the flattened maize. Jake used the multi jointed arms to gently pick up the object, and place it in the flatbed of the buggy. The scanners indicated that it was still inactive, and Jake carefully drove the buggy back towards them.
Julia had placed a padded, steel briefcase on the ground and opened it. They stepped back as Jake used the arms again to place the object in the case, before lowering the lid and closing the catch. When the catch closed, air was sucked out of the case, which hardened the padding around the object and holding it securely in place.
A final check with the scanner indicated that all was well, and they breathed a sigh of relief, and gave a high five.
"Okay then, back to base and we'll see what Doc has to say about our little find," Jake said as everyone climbed back into the car for the journey back to London.
A disused office building.
Central London. 2003.
01:30 Hours.
Privates Stuart Sinclair and Craig Rimmer escorted the Torchwood scientist through the now deserted building, as he pushed the trolley which contained the football sized, intricate wire polygon. They passed their injured colleague, Private Brian Phillips, who was having a field dressing applied to the left, upper chest area by a UNIT medic.
They left the building at the rear, through the now destroyed doorway. Sinclair and Rimmer stood guard with other UNIT soldiers, as the device was loaded into a black van and secured with straps. The van drove off, and a number of Scene of Crime officers from the Metropolitan Police, dressed in white, paper coveralls, approached with stretchers to take away the dead terrorists.
Across the street, they saw a rental minibus start to pull away, and in the passenger seat, the SAS soldier who had led the 'official' assault on the terrorist cell, stared intently at them, as if committing their faces to memory. Torchwood knew about the SAS raid, and had coordinated with UNIT to enter the building at the same time, using the SAS as a distraction.
That had been a risky decision, because if it had been anybody other than the SAS, then there may have been many more casualties to join Private Phillips, and not shot by the terrorist, but victims of friendly fire from less well trained soldiers.
Their commanding officer, Captain Mace, finished speaking with the Torchwood team, before they climbed into the black Range Rover and left. He walked over to Sinclair and Rimmer, and they saluted.
"Alright men, the SAS and Torchwood have left; I want you to support the police in keeping the area secure until they've finished cleaning up."
"Yes sir!" Sinclair said with a gentle, Irish brogue, and then hesitated. "Er, Brian sir, is he going to be alright?"
"Ah, yes, took a bullet to the shoulder, unfortunately it went just above his body armour. Missed his lung though, lodged in the muscle apparently. He should be fine, now, back to work eh?"
"Yes sir, thank you sir."
Unified Intelligence Taskforce Barracks.
Central London.
One week later.
12:00 Hours.
Lieutenant Marion Price walked into the mess hall, and looked around the tables, searching for a couple of faces in the crowd of soldiers who were having their lunch. She spotted who she was looking for, and made her way over to their table.
"Sinclair, Rimmer," she called to them, and they stood and saluted. She returned the salute, smiling at them and motioning for them to sit and carry on eating. "Finish your meal men, Captain Mace would like to see you in his office when you've finished eating," she told them.
They looked at each other nervously and back to the lieutenant. "Are we in trouble about last week? We didn't know the SAS would be there ma'am, and Brian gettin' shot wasn't our fault."
There had been an investigation, as there always was when a soldier was injured in action. They had been debriefed and interviewed by the Health and Safety Executive officers, and strangely, given multiple choice psychology assessment tests to fill in. The results were in, and Stuart and Craig were expecting the worst.
Privates Stuart Sinclair, and Craig Rimmer, stood in Captain Mace's office, along with a tough looking man in a black uniform and black beret. They were sure it was one of the SAS soldiers that they had seen on the mission that went so badly wrong.
"Gentlemen, thank you for coming, please have a seat," Mace said, indicating the seats in front of his desk. The man in black, continued to stand to the side of Mace with his arms crossed and an enigmatic smile on his face.
"As you know, there has been an investigation into the events of the mission to deliver the Torchwood scientist to the suspected explosive device. I can announce that the investigation found no fault with how you performed on that mission, and in fact, I have some good news for you from the results of the assessment test that you took."
Stuart raised his hand to interrupt the captain. "Er, about that sir, I don't remember that test being part of an investigation before."
Mace chuckled. "That's because it wasn't part of the investigation. I'll let Captain McNab explain." He looked up at the man in black standing by his side.
Andy unfolded his arms, and walked around the desk, to sit on the edge of it. "That test is adapted from the SAS selection process, used to filter out the wheat from the chaff so to speak."
"SAS?!" Craig said.
"Yes, adapted from it, I'm using it to identify suitable candidates to join a new unit at the Torchwood Institute…, and I've got to say, you two have scored very high."
"Torchwood? That secret agent place?" Stuart said in disbelief.
Andy had to laugh at that. "Yeah, okay, if you like, but it's not really secret…, it's more…, classified. Do you remember what you saw when you escorted that scientist into the building?"
"Yeah, you lot pointin' Heckler & Koch HK MP5's at us," Craig said with a lopsided smile.
"Be thankful we were SAS, otherwise we might have been shooting you with those Heckler & Koch HK MP5's," Andy said with a grin. "But even in a stressful situation, you correctly identified the weapons being pointed at you, and what about the explosive device, could you identify that?"
"Nah, never seen anything like that, some kind of high tech equipment. That scientist said it was something from a spaceship," Stuart said.
"Hmm, and how do you feel about that?" Andy asked.
"Don't rightly know sir," Craig said.
"I've not really thought about it before, I mean, I know the military and NASA have reports of unusual sightings on file," Stuart said.
"Well, how would you like to investigate those unusual sightings?" Andy asked.
"Wha, for real?" Craig asked.
"Yep, I'm offering you a job at Torchwood, if you're interested."