Time and the Trickster
By Lumendea
Chapter Thirty-Six: Torchwood One: The Front Door
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
…
The problem with facing off with aliens almost every month, taking a spring trip to Spain and then letting your significant other take you on a two-day comet-chasing trip for your birthday was that in late April there was a lot of work to do to get ready for finals. All those papers that she was theoretically supposed to be working on since Christmas were barely started. It didn't help matters that her classmate and breakfast friend Jennifer already had one of hers done. Nor did it help that one of the said papers was for Ian's class and shared connection with the Doctor or not he deserved his reputation as a demanding professor.
Thus Rose Tyler was sitting at her desk with her glow of her laptop illuminating her face so late on a Saturday night that is was almost early instead of sleeping or being out with some of her uni friends. Finals were starting soon and Rose was determined to get at least one paper done by the end of next week in case the world tried to end during finals week. It was a dark thought, but there were moments she got the feeling that the universe didn't approve of her trying for a degree and just wanted her travelling with the Doctor. At the moment the idea certainly seemed much more attractive. But she had her mother's stubbornness for better or for worse.
Sighing, Rose leaned back in her chair and reread the paragraph that she had just written. She groaned slightly. It was accurate and explained the science of the topic well enough, but it was horribly dry and the language was stiff.
"A writer I am not," Rose grumbled as she pulled up the thesaurus to see what she could change to make reading the paper a little less mind numbing. She was pretty sure that Ian would take marks off if she put him to sleep.
The ringing of her mobile was both a happy interruption and an annoying one. She'd just felt a small surge of victory as she replaced show with demonstrating and it was already gone. Still, she picked up the phone and glanced at the caller ID. It was Spock.
"Spock," Rose greeted.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Rose," Spock said, "But this is an emergency and I don't think it's a good idea for Sarah Jane to take this one."
Rose frowned and held her phone closer to her ear. "What's going on Spock?"
"I have detected an Otharan distress beacon from a ship that has crashed on Earth."
"Have the Otharans detected it?" Rose asked seriously. "And is that good or bad for Earth?"
"The Otharans are usually a peaceful species," Spock answered calmly. "But I'm afraid that the ship which crashed is carrying an important member of the Otharan Council."
"Bugger," Rose groaned. "That's not good, they might freak out."
"I'm afraid it is much worse than that," Spock told her. "Torchwood responded faster than UNIT and has taken the ship and Councilor Markin into custody meaning that UNIT has no jurisdiction. The distress signal is coming from inside Torchwood One and Torchwood's policy is-"
"If it's alien it's ours," Rose quoted. "Hartman is about to start a war."
"As I said," Spock said in his monotone voice. "This is an emergency. I suggest you get to London immediately."
Rose hung the phone after a quick promise to call again soon and rushed around her flat changing out of her lounging shorts into blue jeans and switching out her tank top for a t-shirt before pulling on her boots. She grabbed her sonic pen, wallet, keys and her mobile as she rushed out the door. There were still a few people awake in her building, but the garage was empty as she climbed into her jeep. Backing it up, Rose set her mobile on the passenger seat so that Spock could call her. Thankfully traffic was light as she manoeuvred her way toward M11 and London. The phone rang again after a few minutes and Rose quickly answered it, putting it on speak phone.
"I'm on my way Spock," Rose informed him as she kept her eyes on the road. "Please get me the layout of Torchwood One, any security information you can find and the exact location of the Otha… of the Councillor."
"Recusing the Otharans Councillor will not be a simple task," Spock reminded her. "According to the information I have already collected on the situation Hartman has almost all of Torchwood in the building and working on the ship."
"So the ship is out for an escape," Rose said thoughtfully.
"Perhaps you should call the Doctor," Spock suggested through the phone.
"No," Rose rejected quickly. "There's a very… intense alien research group that is about to start a war because they have an alien Council member. I don't want my alien involved in this."
"Perhaps I should wake Sarah Jane or you should call your friend Jack Harkness," Spock suggested.
"I'll be fine," Rose told Spock with a chuckle. "I've done this before."
"You've gone inside Torchwood only once and that was with Mister Harkness' help."
"I've handled tense situations before," Rose amended. "And I don't want to get Sarah Jane in trouble. She's got Luke to worry about after all."
"And your excuse for Jack?" Spock asked a bit smugly.
"That wasn't an excuse," Rose insisted, raising an eyebrow despite the fact that Spock could not see her. "But I just saw Jack, if I was supposed to handle this with him, I'm sure he would have said so. Besides I'm not completely sure that Jack is human and would rather not risk Torchwood cutting him open."
"Just mind that your confidence doesn't get you into trouble," Spock said and a noise that sounded like a sigh came through the phone. "I will alert you if I find any additional information."
"Thanks, Spock," Rose replied gratefully. "I'll call when I get to London. And keep trying to reach the Otharans."
"Do you have a plan?" Spock asked.
"Not yet," Rose admitted. "But I'll have one when I get there."
"I urge you to keep in mind that Torchwood knows who you are," Spock reminded her sternly. "Your mother might not appreciate them arriving at her home."
Rose flinched and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "Okay," she conceded. "I'll try to think of a safe plan with a decent chance of success."
"That would be preferable," Spock replied. "I will have K-9 track the Otharans' progress into the solar system."
"Thanks," Rose said. "Both of you."
Driving in silence, Rose turned the problem over in her head. It was almost funny, she'd predicted after her first real encounter with Torchwood at Christmas that someday Hartman's over-eager nature would cause a war. She doubted that it would be easy to get to the Councillor as Hartman was sure to guard a live alien specimen very carefully. Briefly Rose considered that she might, in fact, be too worried about this. Hartman was perhaps a little too zealous in her job, but she didn't strike Rose as someone whose first course of action with an alien would be to torture it. In fact, Rose considered, it was equally possible that Hartman was working on charming the alien to reveal details of life on its planet and its technology. She hoped so at least. Her mobile rang again and Rose put it on speakerphone.
"Yes, Spock?"
"I have a briefing on the Otharans ready for you," Spock informed her. "And I have identified the vessel entering the solar system as a Serlan Class Battlecruiser."
"That doesn't sound good," Rose muttered, nibbling at her lip.
"It was the closest major ship," Spock informed her. "The Councillor was apparently on his way to a meeting with the Rivin Republic so he was only in a light cruiser. The distress call indicates that the ship suffered from overheating from a solar flare and control was lost. It is quite remarkable that they even made it to Earth."
"Do we know anything about the crew of the ship?" Rose asked.
"The Lamore Light Cruisers only have a crew of three," Spock informed heer "Apparently the rest of the Councillors negotiation party was already on Rivin. Torchwood files indicate that two badly damaged bodies were removed from the front of the ship and a third alien died in transport."
"Then how can you be sure that the Councillor is even still alive," Rose said with concern.
"The Councillor is equipped with a small beacon, the crew are not," Spock explained. "It is his beacon that is transmitting to his people currently. They can monitor his health with it. I have accessed the signal, it is strong, but there are clear injuries. It is impossible to tell if he is conscious and if Torchwood is trying to treat his injuries."
"Okay," Rose breathed as she tried to gather her thoughts. "Spock what do you know about the Otharans in general."
"The Otharans are an older species in the galaxy and highly respected by the Shadow Proclamation. They live on three planets in their home solar system and have never expanded beyond that point, but have a wide network of alliances and formerly claim many of the nearby planets. Historically they claimed these worlds roughly five hundred years ago, but have never settled on them. Since then the Council of Otharans, which is the ruling body, had granted many of these planets to endangered species. They also protect these planets with their fleet which is a significant militant force, but as I noted is mostly automated due to the Otharans' low population."
"So they're pretty much good guys," Rose observed.
"One of the species they recently granted a planet was the Verlans, your friend Eve lives under their fleet's protection."
Rose's grip on her steering wheel tightened. "Spock do you have any projections for how the Otharans will react to this event?"
"Difficult to project," Spock answered carefully. "As the Councillor crashed on this planet they will not blame humans for the loss of the ship and the crew, but they also recognise Earth's current status as a level five planet. It is most likely that they will use a small team of automatons to extract the Councillor in order to avoid violating the rules against Earth's protected status while recovering the survivor. In any event, at their current speed, they will in Earth space in three hours."
Drumming her fingers, Rose nodded to herself. "Alright," she murmured. "Anything else."
"Not at present, Torchwood's defences are impressive and I'm having accessing their files," Spock informed her thoughtfully. "It is possible that another entity is trying to hack into the system as well. I am detecting some strange commands in the system. It may be another party or one of Torchwood's defences."
"Alright," Rose said. "Well, let me know if you find anything else."
When the line went dead, Rose checked her mirrors and then pushed down a little harder on the gas. In the distance, she could the glare of the lights of London and the vast suburbs. Picking up her phone, she carefully set the alarm for two and half hours, just in case.
Traffic in London was never empty, but at the early hour, it was lighter than she had seen. For a moment Rose thought nostalgically back to when aliens had emptied Earth and left the roadways wonderfully empty for a whole day. Of course, she hadn't been able to drive back then and hadn't had a car so Roe really didn't know how that would have been. But with her phone counting down and getting stuck in traffic, Rose was willing to bet that it would have been wonderful.
Canary Wharf was empty except for the towering Torchwood building where almost every light was on. Rose parked around the corner, close enough for a fast escape she hoped and not so close that Hartman would catch her in an instant. A creeping sense of dread was growing in her and she wondered again if this was a good idea. If something went wrong then the Doctor would be exposed to Torchwood trying to protect her and UNIT might have a major incident on their hands. Not to mention what might happen with the Otharans.
"Okay," Rose breathed as she climbed out of her jeep and looked over at the tall Torchwood One building. Digging into her pocket she pulled out a 10 pence and tossed it lightly in her hand. "Heads sneak in and free the Otharan and tails try the safer diplomatic method."
She tossed the coin in the air and caught it in her right hand. Quickly, without looking at it, Rose slapped it down on her left arm. It was tails. Letting out a small huff, Rose slipped the coin back into her pocket and checked her appearance in the driver's side mirror. Then she opened the door back up and dug into the glove compartment until she found a comb and a spare hair tie.
Pulling out her phone, she quickly texted a message to Spock to alert UNIT to the situation if he didn't hear from her by the time the Otharans reached the asteroid belt. If nothing else maybe UNIT would be able to assure the Otharans that Torchwood was acting alone and did not represent the human species. Rose straightened her t-shirt which had a patterned Spanish motif from Cordoba on it and wished she dressed a little nicer for speaking with Hartman. Giving a small sigh, Rose turned and walked down the street towards Torchwood One.
Glancing upwards, Rose studied the building and wondered where they kept aliens they captured. Was there a special above ground level or were they kept below ground? She knew that research on alien technology took place all throughout the building, breaking the traditional view of that kind of thing happening below ground. Her eyes found the top of the building which looked like it was still undergoing some kind of construction. With a frown, she remembered Benton commenting on how strange their new building was, but shrugged it off as she reached the front door. A glance to the right verified that a camera was fixed on her. Rose smiled and waved at it before pressing the buzzer by the front door.
"Rose Tyler here to see Yvonne Hartman," she said calmly. "It's urgent."
The door clicked as the lock disengaged and a moment later the elegant door opened. Stepping into the lobby, Rose noted that the security guard was standing on his feet and watching her. Rose walked a short distance in and towards the desk as her eyes glanced towards the lift. She wasn't disappointed as the lift dinged a few moments later. Yvonne Hartman dressed in an elegant charcoal dress suit and high heel with her blonde hair fluffed to perfection stepped out into the lobby. Torchwood's administrator smiled widely at Rose.
"Rose," she greeted pleasantly. "This is a pleasant surprise." She gestured to the lift behind her. "Please come in, come in."
"Hello Yvonne," Rose replied with a nod as she walked over towards the lift. Stepping into the lift, Rose watched as Hartman pressed one of the higher level buttons.
"You have wonderful timing," Hartman said to her. "But then I'm sure you know that." Hartman looked over at Rose with a smile. "I'll be honest I was expecting you to try the back door, not the front one."