Chapter 10

John and Rose materialised the TARDIS on the landing pad of the Standby Room, and stepped out through the doors.

'Hi everyone, we're back,' Rose called out to a sombre room.

'Just saved everyone from a fate worse than death,' John said as he closed the door behind him. 'Although I don't know what could be . . . worse . . . than . . .' he stopped talking as he saw the faces of the Watch members.

'What's wrong?' Rose asked. 'What's happened?'

She could see that the new recruits were as white as sheets from shock.

Gwen looked up with red rimmed eyes from where she'd been crying. 'It's Andre . . . He's been shot.'

Rose gasped. 'Oh God no,' she moaned. She didn't want to ask the next question. 'Is he . . ?'

'They lost him in the car, but somehow they got him back. He's in resus at the moment.'

Rose reached for John's hand for support. 'I've got to go and see him.'

John nodded in agreement. 'Yeah, come on, let's go.'

In the resus room of the hospital floor, Doctor Marla Jones was working on an intubated Andre to stabilise his vital signs. Nurse Rory Williams was working along side her with a team of trauma specialists.

Andre's partner was sitting on a chair in the waiting area being comforted by Alice. Rose went over to them.

'Angel. I just heard, I'm so sorry. Is there any news?'

'No. They are still working on him. They haven't said anything,' she said in a quiet, tearful voice.'

Rose reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. 'I'll see what I can find out.'

'Thank you Rose.' She gave a little sob. 'I thought I'd lost him Rose. For a moment, in the car, he was dead. I don't know what I would do without him.'

'Hey, it won't come to that.' She looked at her husband. 'Will it!'

John had a stormy look in his eyes. 'Not on your watch, no.'

They went into resus to see what was happening. John went over to Marla.

'How's he doing Martha?'

'Oh, hi John, Rose. I'm not sure at the moment. He has third degree burns to his chest with some carbonised tissue. Multiple organ damage consistent with a massive energy discharge. And don't even ask me how his heart's still beating.'

Rose had tears in her eyes. 'Will he be all right?'

Martha looked grim. 'I just don't know. We've put him into a medically induced coma to keep him stable and control his pain, but beyond that . . .'

'Is it safe to move him?' John asked her.

'Well, we'll eventually have to move him to ITU, but it's risky. I wouldn't advise it just yet,' Marla said.

'Okay. Let me put it another way. Will he die on that stretcher between here and the Standby Room?'

Marla thought long and hard. 'No.'

John gave her his winning smile. 'Good. Grab the other end then. Allons-y!'

The stretcher rattled out of the lift in the Standby Room, with John pulling, and Rory pushing. Marla was by the side of the stretcher, monitoring the portable ventilator and monitors. Rose had an arm around Angel's shoulders and was guiding her towards the TARDIS.

The members of the Watch stood and watched the morbid procession like mourners at a funeral. 'Angel?' Gwen called to her, and she looked back with haunted eyes. Everyone was silent, not wanting to know the worst.

John stopped at the doors of the TARDIS, turned, and opened them wide before pulling the stretcher inside.

'Holy shit!' Rory said, as he looked around the domed room in open mouthed amazement. He then realised there were ladies present. 'Er, sorry ladies.'

Marla laughed. 'That's all right Rory. It kinda takes you by surprise the first time. And yes, it is bigger on the inside.'

Rose normally loved to see people's reaction to the TARDIS, but today, it held no pleasure.

'What is this place?' Rory asked as they went past the console to the passageway beyond.

'Oh, that's right. You're new here aren't you? You must be Amy's fiancé Rory. Nice to meet you Rory. I'm John. The cute blonde at the back is Rose, my wife, and this . . . is the TARDIS.'

He guided the stretcher to the Medi-Bay, and they slid Andre onto one of the couches. The equipment immediately sprang into life and started beeping and pinging, as a computer graphic of Andre's body slowly appeared line by line on the monitor above his head.

A robotic arm with what looked like a paint sprayer moved up and down Andre's chest, spraying a green foam over the burnt skin. John picked up a hand held device and pressed a few buttons. A faint, golden mist sprayed out of the handset and spread over Andre's body.

'What's happening?' Rory asked.

'Nanogenes,' John told him as if that explained everything. He saw the questioning expression on Rory's face. 'Molecular robots, programmed to repair tissues at a cellular level. Very beneficial in here, but potentially disastrous out there in the big, wide world. Eh, Rose?'

'Are you my mummy?' Rose said with a smile.

'Right then, let's have a look,' John said, consulting the monitor. 'Scarring on the liver is being repaired, ditto for his kidneys and his lungs. I think you can take that tube out of his throat now Martha and wake him up.'

Rory attempted to express his disbelief. 'That's . . . that's . . .'

John grinned at him. 'Impossible? Incredible? Unbelievable? Brilliant?'

'Yeah . . . All of the above,' Rory replied, nodding his head.

'So he is going to be all right?' Angel asked.

Andre gasped and coughed as the breathing tube was removed from his throat. 'Why don't you come and see for yourself,' Marla suggested.

Angel walked forward and picked up Andre's hand. 'Andre, my love. Can you hear me?'

'Am I in 'eaven?' Andre asked. 'Because I can 'ear ze voice of an angel.'

'Oh you can hear an angel all right,' John said with a grin. 'But for you my friend, heaven can wait.'

Andre opened his eyes, looked to the side, and saw the tear stained face of his lover. ''Ello my love. Did you miss me?'

Angel laughed and cried at the same time. 'Yes! And I wish that alien would have missed you also.'

André laughed, which made him cough. When he finished coughing, he scrutinised her face for a long time, as if trying to come to a decision. When he finally spoke, his face was serious. 'Angel, you know 'ow I asked you to move into my apartment?'

'Yes,' she said uncertainly.

'Well, I 'ave changed my mind.' Being killed, if only momentarily, had made him realise how fleeting their lives were, and how uncertain the future could be.

'Oh,' she said disappointedly. 'I see . . . I understand.'

Andre smiled weakly. 'No, you do not. Angel, will you marry me?'

Angel's face wasn't the only one that looked stunned.

'Well, nothing like a near death experience for putting things into perspective, is there?' John said.

Tears started to flow down Angel's cheeks. Rose and Marla wiped their eyes. 'Yes my love. I will marry you.'

'Well isn't that nice,' John said, turning back to the monitor. 'Oh, hello. It looks like someone's already had a go at repairing your heart Andre,' John said with a frown.

'That was Adam,' Angel told him. 'He rubbed his hands together and created a green energy. He hit Andre on the chest, and he came back to life.'

'Who the hell is Adam?' John asked.

'Adam Knight, that teenager that Alice went to interview,' Rose told him. 'The alien who doesn't know he's an alien.'

'Oh, him. I'll tell you what, I bet he's got a fair idea now. I think it's time I met this knight in green, shining armour.'

Adam Knight was sitting on a couch between his parents in the visitors area, with his mother's arm around his shoulders. Lyndsey was sitting on a couch opposite, with Alice. They both still had their school uniforms on. John and Rose approached and sat on an adjacent couch.

Alice introduced them. 'Lloyd, Erica. This is Doctor John Smith, scientific advisor to Torchwood, and this is his wife, Rose. She's the Blue Watch Supervisor.'

'Oh yes,' Erica realised. 'I've seen you on the TV . . . Please, can you tell me . . . is Adam in trouble?'

'Trouble?' John said in confusion. 'No. Quite the opposite. He's a hero. He saved the life of one of our agents.'

'Has he gotten himself involved in one of those situations that we see on the documentary?' Lloyd asked.

Rose laughed. 'Y'could say that, yeah.'

'But there's only one person here who can tell us that. Isn't there Lyndsey,' John said, looking at her with those dark, ancient eyes.

Lyndsey returned his gaze with emerald eyes that weren't as ancient as his, but were certainly older than the teenage girl that owned them. 'Yes, you are correct. I am Adam's protector, charged with keeping him safe and hidden until the time of his awakening.'

Lloyd looked at his wife and back to Lyndsey. 'Protector? Awakening? What awakening?'

'Please Lloyd, let her finish,' Alice said kindly.

Lyndsey nodded her thanks. 'Adam's birth mother was Izo Beylah-Hoth. A noble woman of the Elite caste. Hundreds of years ago, a genetically engineered caste of strong, hardy individuals was created to perform difficult task that were beyond the abilities of ordinary people.'

'Slaves y'mean,' Rose said with a disapproving air.

'No, Ergos, workers. They were employed. They had rights. They worked in construction, engineering, the military.'

'Oh don't tell me this is going where I think it is going,' John said.

'The military Ergos became discontent. They felt that for defending the planet, they should be elevated to the status of Elite.'

'Told you,' John said. 'Where was this? What planet?'

'Yarka Teeyac, on the far side of the galaxy, far beyond the Condensate Wilderness, out towards the Wildlands and the Dark Matter reefs.'

'No! You're kidding me. You mean there's a planet out there called Yakety Yak?' John said with a grin.

Lyndsey looked puzzled. 'It is pronounced Yarka Teeyac. Is there a problem?'

'John,' Rose said, trying to stifle a laugh.

'What?'

'I was going to say, don't talk back.' They both started laughing.

'Don't talk back is probably the sister planet,' John said, continuing to laugh. They stopped laughing abruptly when they saw Lyndsey giving them a disapproving look.

'Do you want to hear the story of the sad demise of our planet?'

'Ah, yes,' they said sheepishly. 'Sorry.' They sat like naughty, children, looking suitably embarrassed.

'There was an uprising, and the Ergos seized control from the Elites. But this was not enough for them. They started to execute the Elites, to eradicate them from existence so that there would only be the military as the Elite caste. The Ergos that were loyal to the Elites were slaughtered with them.'

John raked his hand down his face, wishing that he hadn't laughed a moment ago. 'Genocide . . . Lyndsey, Adam, I am SO sorry.'

Lyndsey saw the haunted look in John's eyes of a memory that he would rather forget. She nodded at him. 'I know you are.' She said kinly before turning to Adam and continuing. 'The Elites that were able, fled the planet. Your father acted as a decoy so that your mother could escape.'

'What were they like?' Adam asked quietly. 'My real . . . No, not real parents, that's not the right word.' He looked at Erica and Lloyd. 'You're my real parents.'

'Your biological parents,' Erica said with a sad smile. 'I was their housekeeper on Yarka . . .' She looked at John and Rose uncertainly. '. . . . On our home world. They were kind and thoughtful, and good employers. Your mother gave me a data file for you to watch when the awakening had occurred.'

'I'm presuming the awakening is an Elite version of puberty, where a child transforms and is able to perform some remarkable feats,' John said.

Before she could reply, there was a gentle "bonging" noise and the lights pulsed with a red light.

'What's that?' Erica asked with concern.

'Special Operations Unit,' Rose told her. 'They've gone to red alert.'

She heard Jack Harkness in her ear comms. ['Rosie. Is the Doc with you?']

'Yes Jack. We're just getting some background on Adam Knight from Lyndsey. What's happened?'

['There's a very, very big object parked in orbit above us. I'd like his input on it.']

'Okay Jack, we're on our way.' She turned to John. 'Something has appeared in orbit.'

'It sounds like your friends have found you,' John said.

'It is the awakening. The energy that Adam used to save your comrade is like a beacon. It is how the Ergos tracked down and killed the Elites.'

Rose could see the oncoming storm in John's eyes as he spoke. 'This ends here, today.' His eyes then softened and he turned to Adam. 'How'd you fancy visiting the nerve centre of Torchwood?'

And Adam reacted like a typical teenager. 'Oh yeah. That'd be brilliant.'

Jack Harkness was in the Despatch Office when John entered with his little group. 'Jack. This is Lloyd and Erica Knight, and their son Adam. And this is Lyndsey . . .' He waved his hand about. 'Somebody or other.'

Jack shook their hands. 'Jack Harkness, nice to meet you all.'

John went over to the Comms desk. 'Chrissie. What have you got for me?'

On a large media screen, Chrissie brought up the image of something that looked like a leaf blower with various boxes, domes, antennae and cylinders stuck to it in a seemingly random fashion. With the star field behind it, there was no way to judge the scale of the object.

'This hundred kilometres long, irregular shaped object appeared ten thousand miles out and has parked itself in geostationary orbit above Europe. They are transmitting a repeated message.'

'Which is?' John asked.

'Deliver the changeling for execution within one of your hours or we will execute him with the rest of the planet,' Chrissie read.

'Oh isn't that just wizard,' John's inner Donna said. 'You get rid of a bunch of psychopathic robots, and a bunch of psychopathic, genetically engineered mutants turn up.' He looked at Lyndsey. 'No offence.'

Lyndsey smiled at him. She was starting to like this unusual man. 'None taken. It seems a fair assessment of the situation.'

'Psychopathic robots?' Jack asked.

Rose touched his arm. 'Don't worry about it. It's sorted.'

'Right then let's open some lines of communication shall we. See if we can have a bit of tête-à-tête so to speak. Chrissie, open a channel to the Death Star.'

'Okay John. Connection established.'

'This is Doctor John Smith of the Torchwood Institute, seeking audience with the leader of the Ergos commander under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation.'

There was a long pause before a bald headed Ergos appeared on the screen. ['We know nothing of the Shadow Proclamation. State your purpose.']

John rubbed the back of his neck. 'Blimey, you are a long way from home, aren't you. My purpose is to try and resolve this situation in a peaceful manner. On this planet, if you want to execute someone, they must have been convicted of a terrible crime.'

['We are not on your planet. The changeling is an Elite and will be executed.']

'What? For being born? It's not a crime to be born!' He rubbed the back of his neck and thought about that. 'Unless your name's Katie Hopkins I suppose . . .'

['Deliver the changeling to us, or we will destroy the planet.']

John turned to face the group. 'It's one life or seven billion.'

'You can't seriously be considering giving up our son,' Lloyd said, putting a protective arm around Adam's shoulders. 'They'll have to get past me first.'

John gave him a winning smile. Humans! Hah! Faced with insurmountable odds against an irresistible force, they stood up to the plate as the immovable object. They were the mouse that roared in the face of the salivating lion. How brilliant was that? No wonder he married one of them.

He looked to Lyndsey. 'Do the Ergos have a fleet of these ships, or is there just this one?'

'Just this one. If the world doesn't give up the Elite, they use the ship to destroy the planet.'

He turned back to the screen. 'I don't suppose there's any chance that you could forget that you found him and leave is there?'

['No!']

'Thought not . . . Deliver him to you, that's what you said wasn't it?'

['Yes!']

'John?!' Rose said in concern, but then she saw the mischievous smile on his face when he turned to face her. She could sense a deception.

He gave them a wink and turned to the screen once more. 'I have a teleport pod. It's a little blue box. If you give me the coordinates of your control centre, I'll let justice be delivered.'

The Ergos commander looked away for a moment and then looked back at the group. ['The coordinates have been sent. Do not delay, and no tricks.'] The screen went dead.

'You can't,' Erica pleaded. 'He's just a boy.'

'He's not "just" a boy, he's a remarkable boy,' John said. 'And a credit to you. He's staying here. I told them I was going to deliver justice, and I gave them a chance to leave,' he said in an emotionless voice.

Rose sidled up to him and held the lapels of his brown, pinstriped jacket. 'You've got a plan, ain'tcha?'

'When have I ever had a plan? I'm more the excitable Labrador puppy type. Just blunder in there, all enthusiasm and energy, and see what happens.'

'And that's what I love about ya,' she said. She pulled him into long, loving kiss.

He had a cocky smile on his face when she'd finished. 'I know.'

He looked at everyone in Despatch and the Standby Room, and gave them a cheeky eyebrow waggle before swaggering over to the TARDIS. He was about to open the doors when he had a sudden realisation.

'I've just remembered. Andre and his group are still in here.' He pushed the doors wide open and strolled up the ramp. 'Oi Andre. Shake a leg. You can't lounge about in here all day. Some of us have got work to do,' they heard him call out.

The TARDIS materialised in the control centre of the "Death Star", and was dwarfed by the size of it. It was standing on a raised deck that looked out over a lower deck staffed by hundreds of bald headed Ergos. To the left, was a large window that looked out along the length of the "leaf blower" to the bright blue orb of the Earth.

.

The right hand door of the TARDIS opened, and John stuck his head out. 'Hello. I'm the Doctor,' he said as he stepped out with his hands in his trouser pockets.

'Where is the changeling?' the commander asked. 'I said no tricks.'

'Yes, I know. No tricks. He's just er . . . just nipped to the toilet. I mean, he's only a lad. Facing an execution is a bit terrifying.' He raised his eyebrows and gave a single laugh. 'If it was me, I'd be wetting myself. So he just wanted to empty his bladder. Y'know, didn't want to make a bad impression. Won't be long.'

John reached into his jacket pocket, and a number of high tech "shotguns" pointed at him. He casually raised his hands. 'No weapons. I'm unarmed. I just want to reach something harmless out of my pocket,' he told them. The commander nodded.

He took out a pair of Ray ban sunglasses, unfolded them and put them on. 'Tell you what though, while we're waiting for him to finish, I could introduce you to some friends of mine . . . Wellll, I say friends. I've only met two of them, and only once.'

He carefully pulled the lapel of his jacket and reached inside, taking out his sonic screwdriver and holding it up to show it wasn't a weapon. 'But I think you'd like them. Same kind of inflexible, sadistic thinking that you're so fond of.'

'What friends? There's no one else here,' the commander said. The little blue box was certainly too small to hold anyone else but the changeling.

He took off the Ray bans and folded them up. He pressed the button on the sonic screwdriver and sonicked the glasses. 'They'll be here in a minute. Hold these for me while I go and check if the changeling has finished in the toilet.'

He threw the glasses to the commander and stepped back inside the TARDIS. As the TARDIS dematerialised, a group of shadowy figures appeared.

'So, that's that then,' John said as he stepped out of the TARDIS. The Knights were open mouthed in wonder at this blue wooden box which could appear and disappear.

'Jack, I think Adam and Lyndsey here would like to apply for refugee status and asylum,' John said, putting an arm around his wife's shoulders.

'What about that "Death Star" though? It's still in orbit,' Jack reminded him.

'Ah, yes it is. I bet the salvage rights on that are worth a bob or two, being that there's no one alive up there now.'

'John, what have you done?' Rose asked, worried that he'd done something terrible that he would later regret.

'Me? I haven't done anything,' he said in a high voice. 'Well, when I say I haven't done anything . . . I did introduced them to some like minded souls. And I'm afraid I lost your brothers glasses. We'll have to go back to Tiaanamat and he can chose something else.'

Rose realised what he had done. 'Oh my God, that's brilliant!'

He waggled his eyebrows in recognition of her praise, and then looked out over the Standby Room, searching for two faces. 'AMY! That fiancé of yours, Rory . . . I like him. Top banana. You should marry him.'

He next looked at Craig as he strolled over with Rose. 'Craig! Today you had a call from an agent that not many here have received, and by all accounts you managed to keep it together. Not bad my friend, not bad at all.'

He put his arms around their shoulders. 'Now, I don't want you to be put off by the events of today, it's quite rare . . . I mean agents getting shot, not the saving aliens and the planet being threatened . . . Although that's quite rare as well . . . Wellll, when I say quite rare, it does happen occasionally . . . Wellll, when I say occasionally . . .'

The End