A/N: My colleague, reddwarfaddict, is responsible for the delay... not me... she's gonna kill me now... *hides*
(reddwarfaddict A/N: *waves arms around* I was busy! And I have the memory of a fish with memory problems... Oh yeah, mock the fish, the-writer1988! Mock the fish! :( )
Chapter 10 – Escape To France
It was nearly 8am when Pete returned to Torchwood. His shoulder was bandaged and his arm in a sling. He had a few cuts on his head and a bruise on his cheek where he had got into a scuffle with one of the gang members before he had managed to wound the man. That gang member had later been found dead at the edge of the clearing. James had not regained consciousness. The medics had done everything they could to save him, but his dear friend had been shot twice in the chest. It had been a miracle he hadn't died instantly.
As soon as he arrived in the office he issued a demand for all members to make haste to his office where a meeting would be held. Jackie and Rose were seated beside him. Rose rested her hands on her belly. It was 9am before every trusted member of Pete's team were assembled in his office, either seated in chairs or leaning against the wall. They all knew they had lost a number of colleagues, but James Keegan had been a dear friend of them all and now he was gone. He had been a valued member of society, a shining star in the order. One that would not be forgotten. Pete had personally informed his parents of their son's death, and promised that he would alert the President. He hoped that James Keegan would be honoured for his dedication to his country. It was the least they could do for two people who had lost their only child.
"As you may have gathered the gang, led by Daryl Ferguson, have taken the ransom money they demanded as well as John. They killed several members of our team, James Keegan among them. Already I have alerted all the authorities to track down the van that fled the scene. The car that Daryl Ferguson arrived in has been left at the scene. The van has no registration plate, so it should be easy to spot. All media outlets have been banned from reporting the situation. Our main priority is to track down John before they leave the country."
"Do you really think they will do that, Sir?" asked Tiger. Whereas Tiger would be quite bouncy, now he was solemn, sad and hard. James Keegan had been his best friend.
"It's a strong possibility," replied Pete. "As far as we can tell the van drove off in the direction of the coast. Until we can be sure of their direction, after this meeting is adjourned, I will be personally seeing to it, via the President, that all airports, trains and boats across the channel will be closed. This situation has now risen to priority red."
"This is all my fault," whispered Rose. "If I'd only listened..."
Pete shook his head. "No, Rose, it isn't. In the end paying it was the only way to save him. I naively thought that we could get out with him, even if they were never intending in releasing him. At least we know that after we agreed to pay the demand they healed him, albeit using another one of the drugs that Kayleigh liberated from our stores. What they want him for is anyone's guess, but I can only assume that it is some terrorist group in the far east that may be interested him."
"But what would they want from him?" asked Leanne.
"I would guess that they hope to utilise his brains. He would be a very valuable asset to anyone who got their hands on him," answered Matthew. "Britain has many enemies. All of them are suspects. If they don't take John out of Britain then we can rule them out, but what we know, is that the van headed in that general direction. We lost track of it on our satellites when it disappeared into a tunnel. It never came out the other side."
"So, they swapped vehicles?"
Pete nodded. "It seems like it. We now have the van they were using, but we don't know what vehicle they used to get out. They made sure to come out when traffic was around, so it is anyone's guess. If we hear any reports of suspicious vehicles near the airbases or the ports then I want to know immediately. Is that clear?"
Everyone nodded their approval. Standing up, Pete raised his free arm. "We've got work to do people. Don't let me down."
"I wish I'd trusted you, dad," sniffed Rose, once everyone had gone.
"He'd still be hurting now, sweetheart, if we hadn't taking it into our own hands," added Jackie. "Right, Pete?"
Her husband nodded. "He would. In the end, probably paying it was the best option. We just have to hope we can get him back before anything bad happens to this country."
"You really think that is what this is all about?" questioned Jackie, her eyes wide with fear.
"I do," replied Pete.
The Doctor was slowly pulled back to the world of the living. He found himself in the back of a lorry, his arms untied and his ankles loose to. He was no longer blindfolded or gagged, but he was aware of a dull throbbing pain in his arm. He tried to move it but he gasped as pain engulfed him.
"Ow, this is not good," he whispered to himself.
"I did the best I could in the circumstances," said a voice in the darkness that he knew.
"Kayleigh," hissed the Doctor.
"I'm not your enemy, John," she replied.
"You could have fooled me!" he snapped in return. "You sold me to these people. That makes you my enemy!"
"Maybe," whispered Kayleigh. "John, I thought what I was doing was for the good of the country and I thought I would benefit from it."
Realisation dawned. "But you're not."
"I don't think so," she said. "I was only in it for the money, but is it worth it for what they will force you to do?"
"What do they want me for, Kayleigh?" He knew she was warring with herself, wondering whether she could tell him.
"I don't know. All I was told was that it was for the good of the country. But the people you are being taken to, they do not have Britain's best interest at heart. They hate us, John."
"Why are you telling me this?" He shifted position, trying to get more comfortable. He knew he was in the back of the lorry. He figured that the gang probably thought he was too weak to fight, which was true, so they must have left him alone with Kayleigh to watch over him. "Where are the entourage? The rest of your esteemed gang?"
"I'm telling you because I feel guilty. I'm scared what they will force you to do. I'm sorry, John for everything."
"I don't think I can forgive you for giving me up and betraying Torchwood. If you really had my best interests at heart, you'd help me escape or at least find a way of contacting Torchwood," suggested the Doctor.
He heard Kayleigh sigh. "I can't. Daryl took my phone. I can say this now because we are alone. The rest of the gang are spread out in other modes of transport. You're too weak to fight them and so am I. The only way I can help you and Torchwood is to figure out what they want with you and alert Rose. I don't even know our destination, but if I did, I would tell them."
"Really?" The Doctor cocked an eyebrow in the darkness.
"Yes." She sounded so sincere that the Doctor nearly believed her, but he wouldn't take her into his trust yet. "All I know is that they need the money for something, but they also need you. If I knew anymore I would tell you."
"I would hope you would if you want me to trust you," he replied.
Silence reigned between them. The Doctor could only hope that Kayleigh had really changed her ways and was not leading him into a false sense of security.
Number Three sat with two of his men in the back of a different lorry. His decision to leave the Doctor unattended had worried his superiors, that their prize would be discovered but Daryl knew that lorries were scanned before passing into the ferries. However if there were more than three people in the lorry then their heat signatures would be signalled out, so they had to travel separately. He had decided to leave Kayleigh with the Doctor because it gave John some time to spend it with the woman who had betrayed him. He could trust Kayleigh, even though she didn't know their employers plans for Britain. He had hinted to her, and she had always been receptive of the ideas he had put forth, confirming to him that she was in it till the end.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and Number Three quickly brought it to his ear, answering the call. "3657DF2121." He spoke the code number he always had to give when answering the phone to his superiors. He had a specific ring tone for them so he knew what to say as soon as he answered.
A thick-heavy accented voice came over the phone. "Your position." It was not a question, more of a demand.
"Lorry A. Dover port."
"Status of the prize?"
"Lorry B. Behind."
"Good. We have received word that Pete Tyler will be issuing the order to close all ports, airports and stations. Those scheduled to leave have been granted permission to leave, pending search of all lorry's and vans. If impossible to avoid detection hijack the ship if you have to. We will await you at the Crossing."
The Crossing was a stretch of land just outside Calais Port. With the ports being closed down, Number Three would be forced to hijack the ship in order to get John Smith to those that wanted him.
"Affirmative," he said, accepting his orders. He closed the phone and glanced at his colleagues. "We have new orders." He reached for his wrist-strap and typed in a message to all members of his party. No matter what happened he would get the Doctor to his employers, even if it meant killing innocent people to achieve that goal.
With added security now evident at the port, Number Three had taken the difficult decision to hijack the ship. It would be much easier to board just after the ferry had left the port. All the lorry's that held his men, plus two small white vans, met outside the port of Dover. The Doctor was dragged kicking from his lorry where he was once again tied up and gagged before he was shepherded into a waiting motor boat which the gang had stolen a few days before. This was their back-up plan if the boarding of the ferries proved impossible. Number Three didn't want to risk being discovered hiding in the back of the lorry, so aggression was the only way. They also wanted to give the public a shock – they wanted it known that Torchwood was a failure and that their bright star had been taken by Britain's enemies.
Number Three sat beside the Doctor, with his arm around Kayleigh. Twenty men were with them, the boat just big enough to hold them all. "Take us in, Ten!" he said to one of his men.
The ferry was such a huge ship that no one on board even realised a small motor boat was travelling alongside it. Though it was bumpy, two of Daryl's men managed to secure a short rope to the side of the boat. Cocking their guns and making sure they were loaded, two men at a time started to climb up the side. Once they were onboard, chaos would ensue.
A/N: The Mistress of Doctor Angst and the Queen of Whump is forthcoming with chapter 11...