In an airplane, high above Sudan near the Darfur region, Jack and Johnson are doing final checks on their gear and inspecting their chutes.
"Okay Harkness, this is going to be tricky. Night jumps always are but this one is very difficult. We will be aiming for a small clearing just at the edge of this dense jungle." She points to a map spread out on the deck. "This is the last known location of the activist group that has been assisting with the SLM/A. Our Intel believes this is the group that is holding him hostage. They have a base camp here," she circles the spot with her finger," at least we think it's still here. They tend to pack up and move around a lot."
"Well, there's only one way to know, lets get down there and find out." Excitement in his voice.
"On the first pass we will be dropping the gear, and the second pass we jump. You got it?" She tightens the straps on her chute.
"Yes understood, baggage then people. Got you." He laughs nervously, there is one thing he never really understood and that's why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good plane, though he has done it many times, he keeps asking the question.
"Coming up on first pass," she pushes the bags out the door. "Now it's our turn, be ready."
"I can't get any more ready Johnson, lets do this!"
"3, 2, 1, Go!"
First she jumps then he does. They both look at the gadgets attached to their wrists. It shows them the rate and direction of their descent. It starts to flash red to indicate they need to pull the chute cord. They do; the chutes open quickly and quietly, then they drift slowly toward the both decend slow and steady circling the area as they watch thier guages to find the landing target. Moments later they hit the ground running, they pull the release button and scramble to hide their shoots, then hunt for the gear they dropped earlier. Finally seeing the gear they gather it up, remove their backpacks and strap them on then Johnson checks her GPS.
"We need to go this way." She wades into the dense brush pulling out a machete and hacks away at anything that is unlucky enough to get in her way. Jack follows along silently until he hears something off in the distance. He grabs Johnson and pulls her down just as a group of men come stomping through. They watch quietly as each of the men passes them the two of them go completely undetected.
Tom was scared he was being dragged through the jungle by men who are heavily armed. Behind him, a man lies wounded in a make shift cot. He prays they reach their destination soon. His hair was matted and dirty, the sweat beads dripping down his face mixing in with the dried blood. His drenched sleeves were torn in several places, arms covered with scrapes and scratches. He forgot the last time he had a meal but he was in better shape then the guy behind him. He glances back. He doesn't think the man can hold on much longer and he is sure if the man dies then he will die too. The interogation he recieved earlier had left him in a weakened state. He wonders how many people survived the attack on the clinic.
Jack saw Tom and watched silently as he passed by, indicating to Johnson that was their man. Tom who would have been relieved to see them only saw the guy walking in front of him pulling on the rope attached to his bound hands. He continued to struggle to stay on his feet as they trekked on.
"Stay close Captain, we do this right and they will lead us right to the encampment."
"Looks like Tom is unharmed, well, mostly unharmed. Can't say the same for the guy they are carrying."
"Stay low and lets get moving." She crouches down as she creeps through the jungle followed by a larger and slightly clumsier mass. They follow the group for about an hour, then in the distance they see several buildings and heavily armed guards marching along the perimeters. They find cover and watch as Tom and the wounded man are led into one of the buildings. They both sit quietly watching and listening assessing the situation. A couple hours pass before they see Tom being brought out of the building and taken to the one next to it. They watch as he is shoved through the door, and then it is locked securely behind him. Two guards stand outside of it.
"This isn't going to be easy. A lot of foot traffic passing by those buildings."
"They are all heavily armed as well."
"We're going to need some kind of distraction. Once they move away from that building I can slip in and retrieve Tom."
"Who is this Tom person anyway? I mean why are we risking our lives from him, isn't there other doctors you can use?" She sounds very annoyed.
"Tom is unique in that I already know how he reacts to difficult situations. He is willing to sacrifice his life to save someone else. He came here to make a difference, to give care to those who would not ordinarily receive it. This is the type of person I want on my team. Besides, Martha recommends him and I trust her completely."
"Martha is a good judge of character, except in your case of course. * she smirks then changes the subject." When did you meet Tom?"
Jack purses his lips and raises his eyebrows before responding. "I've never actually met the man."
"Captain, seems the more I know you the less I know you. One minute you are a great strategist, next you are trusting someone you haven't even met yet.. Either way you are dangerous." She pauses as a guard passes close by. "What is your big plan to distract these men?"
"Really simple actually. I'm sure you have some explosives tucked away in that bag somewhere. Just go and blow something up, I seem to remember you are very good at that." Jack is still angry with her; he knows she is the right person for the job but he just can't seem to forgive her for what she did to him. What happened with his team and with... He takes a deep breath. It's not like she was the first person to kill him and she won't be the last but this time he took it very personally.
She isn't certain how to react to that so she just quietly gathers up her bags and heads to the opposite edge of the encampment. Jack watches her leave then turns his attention back toward the building and waits. Moments later he hears her voice in his earpiece.
" Captain I am in place explosives are ready I await your command."
" Alright Johnson, hit it!"
Just then an explosion is heard, and a huge fireball leaps into the air. Jack stands and waits for the guards to leave, then rushes to the door. It's padlocked so he pulls his gun and blows it off, no one notices him as he enters the building, looking around the darkened room he sees what he is looking for. Huddled in a corner of the building is a lone man wrapped in a well-worn blanket. Jack walks over to him and gently shakes him, Tom wakes with a start and curls into a defensive mode.
"Dr. Mulligan, Tom Mulligan?"
Tom is surprised to hear his name. "Yes, yes that's me, who are you?"
"I am Captain Jack Harkness," Jack smiles.
"Do I know you?" Looking very confused.
"I am here to rescue you." Seeing Tom is still confused he adds," Martha sent me."
"Martha, how is she? Is Mickey keeping her happy?"
"Lets get you out of here first then we can discuss Martha. Can you walk?"
"Yes I think so but I am a bit shaky."
"That's okay I'll help you, now we have to hurry." He helps Tom to his feet, wrapping one arm around his shoulders.
They make their way to the door and after Jack peeks out to see if it is safe, they rush out heading for the jungle. Once they reach the jungles edge they duck down under some brush and watch the chaos caused by the explosion.
"She sure knows how to cause a commotion."
"I was just doing as I was ordered Captain." Both Jack and Tom jump.
"I wish you wouldn't do that."
"Do what?"
"You know what. Let's just get out of here before they figure out he is gone." Just then they hear several guards yelling Toms name above all the noise.
"I believe they know he's missing Captain."
"Thank you for that Intel Johnson, would have never known without it." Jack speaks very sarcastically.
Johnson scowls at him."We better get moving."
They help Tom up and run deeper into the jungle. They run into a small clearing as Jack checks his wristband. " This way." Pointing to the west, they keep moving. They can hear men yelling and running getting closer to where they are.
"We aren't going to make it at this rate." Jack looks at his wristband again. "Just keep heading in that direction about 200 more yards. I will meet you at the airstrip."
Johnson pulls a couple of guns from her backpack and hands them to Jack. "All right we'll meet you there." She leads Tom away as Jack prepares.
About that time several heavily armed guards come through the jungle into the clearing. They see Jack and head toward him but before they can do anything Jack rushes towards them, screaming and waving his guns, taken by surprise they turn and run. Jack chases them several feet yelling and firing the guns into the air. They suddenly come to an abrupt halt when they realize Jack has stopped firing. They turn around and walk slowly toward Jack. He freezes holding the emptied guns. "This is really going to hurt." That's the last thing he said before he's filled with enough hot lead to take down a bull elephant. The guards don't hesitate to trample his body as they continue to look for the others. Jack laid there, motionless for several minutes. Then his body snaps back to life as he gasps for air. He tries to stand but wavers, he catches his breath then climbs back on his feet and heads towards the encampment. It's almost completely deserted but he does see an ATV that has a large machine gun mounted to the front of it. He thinks to himself this will do, this will do nicely. He sees a couple of gas cans grabs them and straps then to the ATV. He hops on and starts it up and then drives towards his destination. After a couple minutes he arrives to find they have Johnson and Tom pinned down behind some fallen trees. Jack can hear the small jet overhead and knows he will have to do something and quick if he is to get them on the plane. He taps his earpiece and tells Johnson to be ready then powers up the ATV and heads to their position.
Johnson watches as he approaches and increases her gunfire toward the men. Once Jack is there they both get on and Jack drives quickly to the opposite end of the field and asks Johnson for something, drops them off and turns towards the men who are trying to follow him. As he closes in on them he points the gun mounted on the ATV in their direction and begins firing. The men hit the ground as the jet flies past them landing where Johnson and Tom are waiting. Jack watches as the two of them run for the plane. The men have gotten up and started running towards them. Jack shoots a couple more times before he uses the knife Johnson gave him and punches a whole in it. He drives from sone side of the airfiled to the other spilling gas as he goes. He stopps the ATV grabs the other gas can and runs to where the plane is waiting. Once he is about halfway there he throws the can away from him and fires his gun causing it to explode. Once again the men hit the dirt. He turns and runs toward the plane. As he reaches the plane he fires at the ATV it explodes catching the gas on fire and creating a wall of flames. Jack run up the stairs and closes the door as the plane takes off. Jack sits down, he looks at Johnson. "Well looks like you aren't the only one who can blow things up. He grins and raises his eyebrows. "How are you doing there Tom?"
Tom looks sad and very confused. "I am okay I guess. I just can't understand why anyone would go to all this trouble just to rescue me."
" I need, we need you on the team Tom. We need a good doctor that we can depend on. Besides someone as handsome as you was wasted in the jungle." Jack smiles his sly infectious smile as Tom laughs. Johnson shakes her head grabs a kit and starts cleaning her guns.