Torchwood Three; Cardiff, Wales

Thursday, October 14, 2021

The conference room was crowded. Jack Harkness sat at the head of the table. Gwen sat to his right with Trefor sitting on her lap. His rested his head on his crossed arms on the table. Anwen sat next Gwen reading a tablet. Owen sat opposite Jack and reviewed paper files. Tosh had a dedicated tablet and leaned against Owen. Ianto sat on Jack's left with Michael sleeping on his lap. The mood was grim.

The door opened and John entered. Jack and Gwen looked up as John walked around the table and stood next to Ianto. "Simon, Robert and Oldaria are here." John motioned toward space. "The Atmore energy is opening a portal of unknown type above Earth's atmosphere. Several satellites have been destroyed."

Jack stood. "I need to meet with Simon."

John nodded. "On Global." Pause. "Having you and the general in the same place requires answering too many questions. The three of you together…"

Gwen smiles weakly. "Rex will have a heart attack."

"Be safe," Trefor said sleepily.

Anwen reached over and tousled Trefor's hair. "Uncle Jack is indestructible." She looked and John and mouthed "be careful."

Jack heads out of the room, and waited until the door closed. "What didn't you say?"

They started walking again.

"Oldaria thinks the Atmore energy was used to access ancient technology in a pocket of other-dimensional space." John shakes his heads. "Robert tried to explain the specifics." He added, unsure if he should be amused or insulted, "With Oldaria laughing in the background."

"What's the joke?"

"It's impossible to con, charm or shag interdimentional physics. We won't understand."

Jack laughed.


Torchwood Global; Earth Orbit

General Williams walked into a circus. Jack and Simon argued on one side of the room with John trying to mediate. Robert watched with amusement. Azrael paced partially visible. Keara, the one he knew from the original time line, used an impressive portable tactics station that was part VR and part holograms. While Rex stood with back to a corner watching the room with his arms crossed.

The general opted for the least insane option and walked over the Rex. Seeing him on the station wasn't the highlight of the day. Not with knowing what he would do to Torchwood. But he hadn't done it yet. Hadn't become that person yet. Nessa had pointed out more than once that the future wasn't written. It might be possible to prevent Rex from taking that path.

"WWII is multiplying."

The general smiled. "One Jack is bad enough."

Jack, John and Simon's wrist-straps sounded moments before station alarms filled the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Keara. The alarms ended.

Keara spoke, keeping her eyes on her tactical display. "We have a large, derelict ship emerging. No signs of power."

Robert tapped a control and disappeared in a pillar of white.

"We need to intercept and if possible keep it from entering the atmosphere. If that does not work, it needs to towed and set down on Antarctica. The international treaty will ideally slow any military response."

Simon used his wrist-strap and disappeared in a pillar of white.

"Robert has smaller ships. You flew them before." Her hands moved over a virtual keyboard with VR gloves. "Prepare to transport."

Jack, John and the general than disappeared.


Earth Orbit and Atmosphere

The somewhat spherical ship entered normal space with energy sparked around it like small bolts of lightning. From the pilot's seat of a small ship, Jack Harkness reviewed streaming data coordinated by Soldier Keara. It wasn't the worst scenario he imagined, but it was bad.

Jack activated the com. "We need more than a tow. Can the Atmore drones produce a partial energy container?" He imagined it like a giant cup underneath it.

Simon asked, "You want to push it?"

"Azrael went to Nova Scotia," Keara said, explaining, "Luc's in containment."

"Kailen is the drone pilot," the general commented.

An uneasy feeling settled over Jack as precious minutes ticked. The derelict ship's orbit deteriorated as expected. Robert and Simon kept above it. The small ships stayed on different sides. It was too easy. With the energy exchange, possible problems in the area and the military groups sense of urgency, they were missing something.

"First Atmore drone," Keara announced. She made an unhappy sound.

Jack checked his scan readings. "It crashed." Which didn't make sense. The drones were designed to withstand Atmore energy.

"The energy changed," John explained.

There wasn't enough information for Jack to guess. He flipped open his wrist-strap and scanned the ship he was piloting. "John, Trefor, get out of range. Energy around the ship is altering everything it comes in contact with."

"Jack," Simon said, "We can use your ship to create the container."

"Can it be remote piloted?" Jack wasn't sure how long the ship would survive the energy.

"Potentially." Robert hesitated. "Jack, how are we getting you out of the ship?"

Jack wondered that himself. The portal device wouldn't work. Or at least not without consequences. For similar reasons, the teleporter wasn't an option. He quickly checked the computer. As a spaceship, it didn't have an ejection option. He needed to get out of range of the energy and land. Which he couldn't do if the ship was needed to guide the derelict.

"I'm not."

"Jack," John said, "We don't know what the energy will do to you."

"What happens if it hits the ocean?" Jack asked. That was the important question and they didn't have an answer.

A brief silence followed.

"We can't reach Antarctica," Keara said. "There is no one on Amsterdam Island."

A memory tugged. "Mount Dives is a volcano." Jack than thought about impact. The eruption should be limited to the island. "Can we prevent an Earthquake?"

"Possibly," Keara said. "Issuing tsunami watch now for Australia, Tasmania, Antarctica and nearby islands." Pause. "Preparing wave response."

With information from Simon, Jack flew into position.

"Do you want to record a message, Jack?" The general asked.

"Yeah."


Torchwood Three; Cardiff, Wales

Watching satellite footage on the screen was unreal. Ianto Jones opted to wait with Gwen and the kids in the conference room while Owen and Tosh went to her lab. Watching the small ships move around the derelict left Ianto wondering what was happening. When one moved under the derelict, trying to slow it's descent, it didn't take much to guess who was piloting it. Or that it would end badly.

Gwen and Anwen watched, gripping each other's hands. Trefor slept.

As the ships descended, it didn't take much to guess what was going to happen. Jack would get crushed by the ship. Or he'd escape impact and still crash. No matter how many times he watched Jack die, it never go easier. His age was uncertain. He survived the Blessing, being buried, blown up, and transformed during the second explosion on the island south of Vietnam. But Ianto couldn't help but wonder if Jack was truly indestructible. Or if his luck would run out eventually.

Watching and waiting did nothing for the growing sense of dread. Michael shifted on Ianto's lap. He held Michael and kissed the top of his head. As the derelict neared land, the image on the screen lost focus and then disappeared entirely.

Ianto closed his eyes as tears welled. He wanted to believe he was overreacting. And blame the PTSD. But he knew it ended badly. Jack was trapped or worse.

"Dad," Michael said.

Ianto looked down, trying to keep it together.

"Your eyes are blue," Anwen said quietly from across the table.