Part 11) Vinegar in the Wound

My cell phone began vibrating again a few moments after I had the news pulled up on one of the monitors. The screen was filled with the image of the courthouse, shattered windows spewing black clouds of smoking whilst the ground was littered in glass and ash. The reporter was remarking on the estimated casualties to Cardiff's upper class but there was no mention of the old cop who died trying to find his way out of a cupboard. There was no sign either of Mayor Owena or Chief Sterlington but they were out there. They set off the bomb regardless of what Hazel Sawyer says.

I pick up the phone and answer it.

"Hello," I said.

"Have you been watching the news," Jack asked.

"I just turned it on now. I thought it would be a cheery break from the BBC," I said trying to sound upbeat but my voice came out flat and emotionless.

"Were the Slitheen inside?"

"No. The bastards cleared the building before setting off the bomb."

Jack paused for a moment, "What happened, Anwen?"

"I know you said not to answer the phone but I needed to know… If Andy was okay. They, uh, left him his phone and uh… he called just before... He was drugged and in the dark. He thought he was in a cupboard and…" I took a deep shuddering breathe trying to calm myself. "I want to hurt them Jack. I want to hurt them so bad."

My fists were clenched and I could feel my nails breaking the skin of my left hand.

"Anwen, I'm so sorry. I promise you that the Slitheen will pay for what they've done and I think I know how."

"How?"

"The Slitheen you hit with the pepper spray earlier hasn't turned up. He was a judge of sorts and was on the guest list but hasn't been seen since we left the court house earlier but Lionel and Owena have been in the public eye."

"What does that mean?"

"Slitheen are vulnerable to acetic acid due to a high calcium content in their bodies and the substance literally dissolves them. When exposed to high volumes of acetic acid their bodies release a gas that can cause them to… blow up," added a female voice.

"I didn't enjoy sciences in school Marnie speak mortal."

"Your pepper spray killed the Slitheen Judge. Pepper spray contains acetic acid," Jack said. "The hub has an emergency sprinkler system installed if you go into the computer and type in emergency code 4119246 then the sprinkler system will be automatically hooked up to a tank of vinegar."

"You just happen to have a tank of vinegar that you can spray the hub with at free will?"

"Not exactly. Vinegar is a key component in the weevil repellant. It was a safety precaution installed in case a weevil ever got loose from the cells. I want you to cover the computers and ensure all the paper work and files are safe and away then be prepared because I am watching Lionel Sterlington and Owena Clifford driving away from the scene of the explosion right now."

I hung up the phone and got started.

I could hear the approach of the Slitheen. They sounded as if they'd removed their skin suits on the way in and were speaking in garbled tones as if I were hearing them under water. I folded my arms across my chest and clenched my fists. This is it. I feel the fire alarm under my hand and consider pulling it as I listen to their footsteps but something inside me keeps me still. It's a dark something that I've felt crawling around under my skin ever since Sterlington showed up at the police station and Andy was missing. It got stronger when I was forced to listen to him die. The huge green creatures entered the storage hall.

"You," hissed the one I believe to be Lionel.

"Yes it is me. Were you hoping I was stupid enough to run to the police department after you told the media I'm a terrorist?" I asked flexing the fingers that rested on the lever. "You are a liar."

"What are you talking about?" asked the Slitheen.

"As if you don't know! Locking an innocent man in a cupboard so I'd get to listen to him die as the court house blew up. You are sick, sick people you Slitheen are," I snapped pounding my fist against the wall.

"Oh for goodness sakes we aren't Slitheen, child. You think the Slitheen are the only family from Raxacoricofallapatoria that could do something like this! It was convenient before now it is just annoying. We are Blaeveen. The Northern Blaeveen to be more exact. Secondly we ordered our ood to dispose of your friend and I sincerely do not know what you are talking about…" the alien stopped talking suddenly and looked down at its arm. We were all silent for a moment and I heard it. The faint plop of water on skin followed by a hiss.

"Acetic acid," the creature hissed. "It is a trap!"

"You won't get to the exit before I pull this lever and if you try to kill me I'll pull it anyway."

"What does it matter to you if Torchwood is looted? The worst that can happen is you forget," snarled Lionel. "What do you want from us?"

"I want my friends back," I said pulling the lever and watching as the fluid rained down on the three of us. It felt just like water on my skin but the two Blaeveen screamed and true to Marnie's description: exploded. I flinched as green goop splattered against the walls of the storage hall but it didn't take long for the vinegar to begin working its chemical magic. The green ooze slid down the drain in the middle of the floor and it was as if they'd never been there. A drop of vinegar ran down my cheek and I wiped it away and started to walk towards the exit.

I walked past to computers covered in tarp and slipped underneath to send out one more pulse across the city. There were still strong readings of alien tech in the police station. I thought that I'd call Jack when I got out there but when I crawled out from beneath the tarp I nearly screamed. An ood stood before me tilting its huge head, unmasked and unblinking.

"Vengeance is bittersweet is it not?" the ood asked. Its tentacles curled and bobbed as it spoke holding a bright orb in front of my face. "You hurt those who wronged you but what does it leave behind? You're friend is still dead but now there is blood on your hands too."

"I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt your friend. Your masters are gone now. You are free!" The creature blinked and stared for a long moment before saying.

"Our kind is many years away from freedom also many years from our enslavement. You have a familiar look about you though. One mustn't forget the face of a time traveler."

"You're completely mad," I said.

"Perhaps it is early to talk of travelling doctors and blue boxes. We wish you well and if it is all the same to the human race we will return what has been stolen to the Navarinos," the ood said turning to leave.

"Thank you for saving Andy," I shouted to the retreating ood. "It was you that sheltered him wasn't it?"

"Yes. The Ood express their deepest sympathies he did not survive but it was not at our liberty to change your history. However," the ood paused turning to face her once again. "As a parting gift and thanks for what has yet to happen. There is a bomb of Raxacoricofallapatorian origin in the police department you have five minutes to detonation. Godspeed, Anwen Williams," the ood said before disappearing before my very eyes.