Strange Encounter
Chapter Thirty Seven
The wood store had been used to house a Cyberman, that was clear from the equipment we had found, but there was none there now. The UNIT troopers had swept the whole building and the surroundings; nada. It had been just the three humans and only one of them was still breathing. Suzie was working with a couple of UNIT technicians, taking samples from the conversion units. I was hoping for human traces, ghoulish as that may sound, as attempts to convert humans would be easier to halt than facing fully functioning Cybermen. Owen, who had only got a flesh wound and was mobile again, was in the command truck now parked outside – God know how they got it up the track – analysing the samples. He had gone very willingly, accompanied by Lieutenant Riley.
Which just left me. I was with Colonel Mace in the wood store office with the prisoner, a couple of guards outside. The man had been hit in the right upper arm and left hip. He was moaning about being in pain but that did not concern me. His name was Philip Stokes, 26, Regular Army before being dishonourably discharged for gross insubordination. Probably didn't grovel quick enough when an officer walked past. Needless to say, any sympathy Mace had had for the man had disappeared when I'd told him of Stokes' past, information I'd received courtesy of Ianto; the boy's getting good with the databases.
"So, Philip, or is it Phil? Your one chance of getting out of here is to spill your guts. Who are you working for?" I was straddling a chair with my arms resting on the back. Colonel Mace was perched on the desk.
"Fuck off!"
"Not nice, Phil, not nice at all. Want to try that again before I make another hole in you?" I got my Webley from the holster and cocked it, holding it loosely in my hand, pointed in his direction.
"You wouldn't dare," he snarled. Oh, that was such the wrong thing to say to me. I fired and he screamed as the bullet ripped through his left foot.
"You were saying?" Out of the corner of my eye I had seen Mace flinch but he didn't say anything. He'd been around long enough to know how UNIT treated prisoners; a fleeting image of Toshiko in their detention centre crossed my mind. One of the guards looked through the office door but Mace waved him back.
"All right, all right, you bastard!"
"Calling me names is not nice." I cocked the gun again and he flinched.
"I said, all right! His name's Whyte, Peter Whyte. He hired us." That made a lot of sense, Whyte was Henry Parker's adviser on all things alien. We knew less about Whyte than about Parker which was saying something; we were going to have to rectify that omission and very soon. "We just guarded this place."
With some judicious questioning, Mace and I got the information we needed. Stokes and his two mates, both now dead, had been recruited through a contact in the murky world of soldiers for hire. They were paid £5,000 each – half up front, half on completion - to guard the wood store for five days from midday Thursday to midday Tuesday. On the Friday, the Cyber equipment had been brought in. On Saturday, one non-functioning Cyberman had arrived an hour or so before Tanizaki appeared. The doctor had checked the equipment and examined the Cyberman on both his Saturday and Sunday visits. Stokes had kept his eyes open but he and his mates had been kept well back by Whyte's own people who had been around all the time the Cyberman was present. What he did see had been through cracks in walls and peering round corners so we didn't know any detail. The Cyberman was taken away late on Sunday and the equipment was due for pick up on Tuesday morning.
Stokes was flagging by now so we let the medics have him to fix up his foot. Colonel Mace and I took a walk outside in the cool night air. It was close to ten o'clock and dark beyond the lights of the UNIT vehicles.
"What do we do with Stokes?"
"I don't want him. Think you can find room for him in one of your detention centres?" I looked across at him, waiting for the traditional denial.
"Of course." He smiled at my rueful nod. "Wanted me to deny they existed, did you? Don't see the point, Jack. They serve their purpose. Seems to me the person we need to find is this Whyte chap."
"Let me have first crack at that. He and Henry Parker are tight and we've got background on Parker. He's local. More immediately, Alan, we have to decide what to do with the equipment in there." I nodded towards the building.
"How about a little ambush?" Mace's face lit up like a schoolboy suggesting going scrumping. "It's possible Whyte and his cohorts don't know we've been here. I could leave a few men to watch the place, see if anyone comes by tomorrow to collect the gear."
The possibility of anyone not knowing UNIT had been here were miniscule but he had the manpower to waste. We agreed that he'd leave a team in place and the rest of us would get out as soon as possible. If Whyte's people came by they would be detained. If not, Colonel Mace would secure the equipment. This was the only part I was not happy about – I wanted it destroyed – but I couldn't argue too hard at this point. We needed to get back to Cardiff – I'd still not had word from Toshiko – and couldn't hang about. At least, not all of us …
A plan was forming in my mind.
"Tell me again, Jack, why do I have to stay here?" Suzie was facing me, hands on hips and her whole posture aggressive.
"Because I need someone here to make sure this stuff," I swept an arm to indicate the Cyber equipment, "doesn't fall into the wrong hands. All you have to do is be UNIT's guest for the night at their barracks then stick by Colonel Mace tomorrow. If Whyte and his buddies show, which I don't expect for an instant, make sure our interests are taken into account. It'll all be over by lunchtime when Mace will put you on a train. You'll be back in Cardiff before teatime." I beamed at her.
"What about Owen?"
"He can't do it, he's hurt."
"I know that! I meant, what are you going to do with him?" She looked exasperated now which meant she'd go along with the plan.
"Stick him in the back of the SUV and drive home with him bleating in my ear all the way." I moved closer now I was sure she was on board. "I have to get back to Cardiff, Lord knows what Tosh and Ianto will get up to otherwise. If they had the end of the world down there they wouldn't want to bother us!" She laughed at this and I gave her a quick hug.
Over the comms I heard Ianto's voice say, "I resent that." That set me laughing. I had thought the boy had turned in but it seems he was still on duty, listening in case he was needed.
"Get back to him, you two deserve one another."
I extricated Owen from the UNIT command truck and helped him into the SUV which was now parked outside the building. He didn't seem unhappy to go so I assumed he'd got shot down by the luscious Lieutenant Riley. With a wave to Suzie, we started on the long journey back to Cardiff. We stopped only once, at the South Mimms Services on the M25, to pick up some soup and sandwiches to eat in the car. I hadn't eaten since lunch with Helen Yardley out at Flat Holm which seemed a lot more than twelve hours earlier. Ianto's second thermos of coffee completed our repast.
Driving fast, I got to the outskirts of Cardiff in two and a quarter hours. Early on I had spoken to Toshiko – finally! – and she had assured me the Grenskill sonic shield was locked up in our stores and she was heading home as there was no more predicted activity. Ianto had chatted for a while but with Owen listening in I couldn't indulge in the sort of conversation I wanted to have. Besides, I could hear Ianto yawning so I told him to go to bed. Owen had been quiet for a while and I'd thought he was asleep but he spoke suddenly, bringing me out of my daydreams.
"Seems you were right, about Parker getting hold of a Cyberman."
"I'd rather I wasn't."
"We should have shut him down years ago. He's been collecting forever."
"Easier said than done. And half the time he only gets his grubby paws on harmless stuff."
"That we know of!"
"True." I slowed at a junction, then pulled out when the road was clear. "Want me to drop you off at home?"
"Yeah, may as well. Wouldn't be able to drive anyway."
"How is the leg?"
"Starting to hurt," he complained. "I've got some stuff I can take but I'll need a lift in the morning."
"No problem. But see how you feel, maybe you should take a day off."
"Fat chance! With Suzie slumming it with UNIT you've only got the geek and the teaboy. You need me!" He always had had a high opinion of his abilities – and a low opinion of everyone else's.
"That's not fair." I managed to keep a straight face but there was a laugh in my voice, I could hear it myself.
"'Cos it bloody is!"
After dropping him off, I was relieved to leave the SUV in its spot in the car park. After so long at the wheel I took a moment for a good stretch then took all three blasters and the empty thermoses with me into the Hub. It was half past midnight and the dimmed lighting made the place seem almost cosy. I put the blasters in the armoury and the thermoses in the kitchen then strolled up to the office but halted in the work area. Curled up on the couch was Ianto, his head on his – neatly – folded suit jacket. Kneeling, I kissed his lips.
"Wake up, sleeping beauty," I murmured, kissing him again. He didn't stir but I could have sworn he was awake. "Ianto?"
"Not awake yet, need another kiss," he said without opening his eyes. I obliged and his arms went round me and we were soon locked together in a more passionate embrace than Beauty ever got from her Prince. "That's better," he said finally, sinking back onto the couch.
"Everything okay?" I stood up shrugging off my coat and putting it over a chair. I glanced at the Rift predictor but it still looked clear.
"Uh huh. Want something to eat, or a drink?"
"Nah, just you in your birthday suit." I grinned at him.
With slow movements he undid his tie and let it dangle from his fingers before dropping it on the coffee table. Next those nimble fingers went to work on his shirt buttons and soon his nice hairy chest was on view. All the time his eyes were trained on my face and a small smile played around his lips.
"Help me with rest?" he asked with a coquettish tilt of his head and one raised eyebrow.
"Come here!"
In a matter of minutes, his shoes, socks and trousers were on the floor and my hands were inside his very pretty red briefs. We wrestled pleasantly for a while, hands and lips exploring and my need growing by the minute. It was only when I was straddling him that I realised I shouldn't be doing what I was intending; shagging was out.
"Don't stop." Ianto's voice dripped with need and my flimsy resolve was tested to the limit.
"You know what Owen said. We can - "
"No. Take me, Jack, it's okay now."
With a naked and willing boy beneath me, it would have taken a stronger man than me to resist. With infinite patience and care and lots of lube, we had our first shag in days and it was good. What am I saying, it was great, glorious, stupendous! Afterwards, we went down to his room and did it all over again but in more comfort before finally getting some sleep.
The following morning was sunny and bright. I'd been out early and chased a Weevil back down the sewers, only took half an hour, and the exercise set me up for the rest of the day. After breakfast with Ianto, I checked with Suzie who was about to have her own. She seemed in a good mood too though doubtful there was any point in expecting Whyte or his men to show. Toshiko came in at nine having picked up Owen. He was limping more today than yesterday and started milking her for sympathy not that she needed much encouragement. We had coffee and a chat; he was on the couch with his leg up and the rest of us were sitting or standing around.
"Okay. We know there is a, thankfully, non-functioning Cyberman in Whyte's possession. Tosh, that's your priority for today. I want to know all there is to know about Peter Whyte. Check for known associates, haunts, the usual. We need anything you can find so we can locate the Cyberman. They don't give off any particular signatures to trace but keep an eye out for anything unusual. Owen, carry on analysing those samples from yesterday and keep an eye on UNIT. We need to know what they come up with. Also, I want to know where Tanizaki goes and who he sees for the foreseeable future. Ianto, we have information in the archives on Henry Parker. Track down every last thing we have and see if you can find any more on the Web etc. I'll go through that."
"If I find anything when I'm researching Whyte," put in Toshiko, "I'll pass it along."
"Fine, I'll leave that to you two. And while we're on the subject of you two." I looked at them sternly. "You went off comms last night when I'd told you specifically not to. Not knowing what you were up was a distraction I could have done without."
Toshiko chewed her lip and looked at the floor. Ianto looked down too, hanging his head in shame I hoped. I let the silence go on. We had been lucky. If the Rift opening had deposited something more dangerous than a sonic shield, events could have turned out very differently.
"I'm sorry, Jack. It was my fault," said Toshiko finally. "I told Ianto to turn off the comms."
"No it wasn't," he said immediately. "We both agreed. I'm sorry too." She had squared her shoulders and both were now looking me in the eye.
"But we did have it under control," she added.
"You were lucky!" I snapped back. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again, either of you! I need to know I can trust you."
"You can." Her voice was steady and sincere and I believed her. Ianto was nodding and looking suitably contrite.
"All right, we'll say no more about it. Now, get cracking. I expect to see some results."
"That all they get? A slap on the wrist?" I should have known better than to speak to them in front of Owen. "You suspended me."
"That was your third time," I pointed out.
"And Suzie got shot," added Toshiko.
"Hey, it may have escaped your notice but I got shot!" He pointed to his leg melodramatically.
"Not because we turned off our comms." She was not giving in to him, good for her.
"Why is it you who's always injured?" Ianto's question was interposed into the conversation quietly with a hint of wonder. We all looked at him. "Well, he has been hurt three times since I joined you. That's once a week."
"Good point. Owen, stop getting hurt it's bad for morale. Now, kids, to work."
Everyone was smiling – maybe not Owen – when I left them to it. They all knew what they had to do and would do it best if I wasn't standing over them. The Rift was quiet for the moment so I went to the office and started writing up the notes on yesterday's events. With that done, I looked through some of the general alerts. Nothing much of interest to us, no violent deaths that we could have used the Glove on. There had been a third disappearance in the Beacons; Marcus Oliver, a thirty five year old plumber on his way home from an emergency call out. His car was found abandoned with no trace of a body. It had been the same for the earlier two – Dafydd Carson and Jennifer Ridge – which intrigued me. I put an alert on reports so I'd be notified of any more in the area. It wouldn't be the first time an alien had made a nest up there.
"The files on Henry Parker, sir." Ianto was standing in the doorway with his arms full.
"Ah, right." I was taken by surprise, I had no idea we had so much on him. "Put them down here." I cleared a space and he dumped them down. "This is Henry John Parker, right?"
"Yes, sir. You did say you wanted 'every last thing' on him."
"I did. I do. I just didn't know there would be this much." There must have been two dozen files of various thicknesses and differing ages.
"The most relevant are these." He picked up the top three. "The rest have references to him although one or two are pretty obscure but I thought they might be of interest. This is a summary of what's in each and I've flagged the important documents."
"Thanks." I was impressed. While my anticipated half an hour spent reading a slim folder was turning into a marathon research session he had made it easy.
"I'll start collecting the information from the Web now. Should be ready before lunch."
He smiled cheerily and went off leaving me with the mound of paper and a threatening headache. Opening the top folder, I wondered how much more paper would land on my desk when he'd completed the rest of his task.