REVELATIONS
TWENTYONE
They had gone back into the TARDIS so that Wil could watch the video of The Doctor's last few moments on the earth.
Jack had already viewed it and believed there was nothing there to see, but Wil was adamant.
After playing the video several times through, Rose was crying softly and Wil shook her head at Jack.
"They had help."
"What?" said Jack.
"I know who they are. Jack, you know who they are. It was the Shrake."
Jack shook his head in confusion but then surprised realization dawned on him.
"My God, the Shrake?"
Wil nodded.
Jack turned to Rose. "Remember? They were the other major E.T. race besides the Weevils in the Cardiff area killed by the nanotech. They lived in the old coal mines outside the city. The Shrake were quiet – loners – we never had any contact with them. They came through the rift and settled down peacefully. If a kid ventured too far into the mines they'd give him a good scare, but otherwise they weren't a problem."
He looked at Wil.
"But why The Doctor? He was an innocent bystander! Worse – he was a victim himself!"
"I told you – they had help. The Shrake are fanatic, obsessive and ruthless hunters, but I don't believe for a minute that they could've brought down The Doctor alone. Someone or multiple someones helped them – I'm willing to bet these other 'interested parties' also want The Doctor. They may have influenced the Shrake's investigation and pointed them in his direction."
Jack's eyes narrowed steely cold. "Do you know where he is?"
"Yes, I do."
"Is he all right?" asked Rose.
She shook her head sadly. "I'm not sure, but I don't think so."
"So we go and get him," hissed Jack.
"I'm afraid it's not going to be that simple. If it was just the Shrake, it'd be easy. But as I said, there may be others involved. I don't know who they are but it could get real ugly, Jack."
"I can get real ugly," he answered with deadly seriousness.
His voice went hard. "And I will rescue him. But let's get something straight, first. There can only be a single chain of command and once we leave your galaxy, Wil, you work for me. I don't care if you're a Time Lord or a Terraformer or Jesus Christ reincarnated. Either you follow my orders without question or I leave you behind. That goes for you, too, Rose. Is this understood?"
The two women looked at him and saw a different Jack Harkness; they saw a merciless, uncompromising and single-minded killer. They saw a Jack Harkness who demanded absolute obedience and expected unwavering loyalty.
'Not a bad man to have covering your six,' thought Wil. 'The Doctor is fortunate.'
They both nodded in unison.
"Good. Wil, get ready to take us to where-ever we need to go. Put us in orbit. Keep it as stealthy as you can."
"With all due respect, what's your plan?" she asked.
"Well, to start with," he looked over at his duffle bag, "it involves a big, honkin' space gun and my blowing up anything that gets in the way."
He was still deadly serious.