Torchwood Four; Dublin, Ireland
Monday, August 29, 2020
Liam Dougherty settled into a chair in a the break room. He needed to sleep for a week. Once Trefor confirmed the threat was over, he needed to clean out his flat. Working for Torchwood was exhausting, but it paid well. Nessa's landlord had an available unit. It sounded good. Once he worked out the details, he'd talk her into clubbing. The downside to working with Trefor was frustration. The man was gorgeous and not interested.
His mobile rang. The screen made him smile. "Morning."
"I got your message." His grandmother's tone was odd.
He'd left several messages and was starting to worry that she hadn't called him back. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
Liam doubted that. "I'm sorry to bother you. I needed to ask some questions."
"You're working for Torchwood."
That was unexpected. "Yeah. The money's good and I don't have to deal with stupid tourists."
"It's a bad idea."
Normally, he'd say he understood his grandmother. "Why?" Something about the conversation was strange.
"There are things you don't understand." She'd said something like that once when he was eleven. Years later, he wondered if she knew he was gay before he did and didn't know how to discuss it.
"Yeah." Liam hesitated. "Can you tell me what grandpa did during the war?"
"I don't know."
"You know something."
"While your grandfather served in the British military during WWII, I lived in London. The only job I could get involved traveling." She sighed. "I had a friend named Estelle. She dated an American named Captain Jack Harkness. She loved him more than anything."
"I don't understand."
"Captain Harkness still works for Torchwood. I stayed in contact with Estelle after the war. A man claiming to be his son started checking on her in the years before she died. He looked and sounded exactly like the man she dated during the war. Exactly. He's not someone a woman forgets."
That might not be the strangest thing he'd heard since meeting Trefor.
"The man you work for, Trefor Williams, looks exactly like Captain Harkness did during the war. There is something seriously wrong with that, Liam."
"Captain Harkness is Trefor's father."
"Yeah. He's told you his father works with his mother? His father works with a woman named Gwen Cooper Williams. She has a three year-old son named Trefor. There are rumors that a Torchwood investigation went very wrong around the time that boy was conceived. He's probably Harkness' son."
"How do you know that?"
"It doesn't matter, Liam. Whatever Trefor Williams has told you about himself and his family, he's leaving out important details. Captain Jack Harkness does not have an adult son. At least not one he's claimed. He has a daughter named Alice who was placed in protective Torchwood custody after Captain Harkness defeated the alien race called the 456. His grandson disappeared that day."
Liam was trying to follow what his grandmother was telling him.
"The government in London built a special room for the 456. The creature or creatures needed a specific atmosphere. A Torchwood negotiation went badly. Captain Harkness and his partner, a man named Ianto Jones, were gassed by the 456. It should have been fatal."
The 456 situation happened ten years ago. From what Liam knew about Ianto, he couldn't have been involved. He wasn't old enough. "I don't know, grandma. I asked about grandpa because there might be more to how he died."
"There is. Ask Captain Harkness, he was near Antarctica in 1948 after your grandfather died." The call ended.
Liam knew he was missing something. For his grandmother to have that information, she had to have connections to someone familiar with Torchwood. All three of her husbands were military. Two served with the British. The last served with the Irish military. As a kid, she'd told him they died for their countries. He'd had no reason to question it. Her knowledge of Torchwood made him rethink everything he knew about his grandmother. Not to mention Torchwood.
General Trefor Williams reviewed information Rex Masterson finally provided about the missing scientists in Antarctica and the Arctic Wind. Eryn notes about what they knew, conspiracy sites, possible sources for public access to information and the Antarctic treaty were impressive. As with any records, even Torchwood, he wondered how much was true. Masterson's involvement made him uneasy. His mother had trusted him. She shouldn't have. With what he knew of the situation, it was a wonder Jack didn't hunt Rex down and lock him in an air tight room for eternity. The fact that Jack hadn't said there was more to it.
He used spreadsheet software to assemble a time line. The basic Antarctic research had to be wrong. Both Jack and Masterson flagged that. Sending the icebreaker wasn't completely unreasonable. Except Jack and Dmitri were already on it when the call came in about the missing scientists. Dmitri said there were rumors about a ship in the ice. There was nothing in the information provided. Dmitri had added a few comments, including a recent update that Tiarni Atmore stated that Dominic Russo, the engineer of the Arctic Wind, was trapped with her at her with Atmore and died there. From what Rhys had said about Atmore, and what they used to survive, the general couldn't help but wonder if Russo's contributions during his time there led to the others being able to survive later on.
Eryn's notes and Google found him more information on the international effort in Antarctica in 1957. With minimal technology and early science knowledge, the information was minimal. She already tracked different organizations and online information sources. Jack had said her research was impressive, but he had no idea. The Eryn he knew from his time worked with her husband Dr. Sarkisian. He wasn't her duties included. From her notes, he suspected she was some type of research assistant. Or a scientist living in her husband's shadow.
The general's mobile rings. "Williams."
"Hey," Miri said. The situation after the air raid had been strange. Miriam met Nessa. It went better than expected. But had been tense. "I spoke to Notasha. She admitted to being with the team that found the missing Americans in 1948. I'm not sure what year she disappeared from. It sounds like there was a covert post WWII allies project in Antarctica. Although it's been more than seventy years, she refuses to reveal classified information. From what Dawn said, Rhys believed that Notasha was Russian military from the 1950s."
Which fit what he'd learned from Jack and his mum. Rhys specifically told Namir not to transmit information about anyone that might be controversial or classified, including Notasha Gordieva. "Did she say anything that might be relevant today?"
"An organization funded American research. It was founded in New York by a businessman named Angelo Colasanto that immigrated from Italy to the United States in 1927. Colasanto had the clothes on his back when he arrived in New York, according to his bio, and was impressively wealthy when he died. He extended his life using jellyfish research. Both him and his granddaughter Olivia died during Miracle Day. I couldn't get a straight answer from the Refuge representative here helping Bree, but it sounds like there was something strange about the Colasantos and how they died. Their surviving family are still connected to various business and scientific projects, including current research in Antarctica."
There was definitely something strange about Angelo Colasanto. He and Jack met during some type of immigration mishap in the United States. The friendship turned into a relationship that like Ianto defied Jack's general MO. Except Angelo turned on him. He didn't know the details. But Angelo's actions resulted in Jack encountering the three families: Ablemarch, Consterdane and Frines. Which lead to a lot of shit over the next eighty some years, including Miracle Day. He wasn't sure if Jack and Masterson ever successfully took them down.
"Thank you."
Miri hesitated. "Are you happy in Ireland?"
"Yeah."
"You have a family with the Doves." She sounded sad.
"You will work things out with Thomas."
"I hope. He's good with Drystan." She hesitated again. "I want you to be happy, Trefor. I don't know how to work it out in my head. Someone told me it's the all-powerful-psychic trip I'm on. I can't understand how you could want anyone else."
The general wondered who had the guts to tell her that. He couldn't think of anyone at the Refuge who would've dared. Zhao didn't give relationship advice. "You'll figure it out."
"Yeah. Call me when you need someone to kick ass. I can't see Nessa wearing body armor." The call ended.
He shook his head. Of all the times he got on Jack's case about psychotic exes, none of them were quite as memorable as Miri. At least she wasn't trying to blow up Cardiff, create an army of super soldiers or destroy the planet. Or date his sister.
Which was nothing compared to the conversation he needed to have with Jack about the Colasantos. Angelo was the only person who died during Miracle Day. Jack was alone with him. What he knew came from his mum. He'd never had a reason to ask for specifics. Trefor accessed his mobile's contacts. He didn't look forward to opening old wounds.