Chapter 55
"Tosh – can you find the original documents for the equipment that we signed over to UNIT from Torchwood London? If we have Suzie's signature there must be the countersignature of the UNIT officer that took responsibility for the consignment. Gwen, I want you to get to work on the lists of serial codes we collected yesterday, there may be other items that should have been sent to UNIT's Black Archive facility. They've had security issues plaguing that place since it was set up."
"What is this Black Archive facility?" Gwen demanded, never having heard of it before.
"It's the latest repository of all the extra-terrestrial technology amassed by UNIT," explained Tosh. "Jack's right, if we can prove beyond doubt, that items they took responsibility for never reached their destination, there will be hell to pay."
"Oh yes. Trust me, this is just what we need. Blackmail is a nasty business, but they started this and now there's only one currency they can use to buy my silence."
"Ianto?" Tosh asked optimistically.
"Yes, but we've got to move fast. I don't want him to spend a minute more as a prisoner of UNIT than he has to. Owen, get onto Martha will you? I need to know exactly how much time we've got."
"Right you are, Jack, I'll go and find out what the hell's going on there."
"OK, let's get to it people, we're working against the clock on this."
As the team made their way purposefully to their work stations, all with one aim, Jack regretted not having known about this earlier. He put a call through to Colonel Mace's secretary, confirming their meeting and the fact that he also wanted to interview both Gates and Barton. He also requested the presence of Captain Price, he had the impression that she could help swing the balance in their favour. Ironically the one person who had the diplomatic skills most likely to prove successful just so happened to be the man currently threatened with being held indefinitely in a UNIT facility, without any rights, legal representation, trial, or communication with the outside world. Jack had a gut feeling that he was only going to get one chance at getting Ianto freed and he couldn't afford to screw it up.
The door to his cell swung open. He was ordered to get to his feet by a UNIT soldier and then Martha entered the room, her face solemn.
"Good morning, Mr Jones. Did you sleep well?"
"Oh yes, I slept like a log, Dr Jones. Must have been the bright lights and that sense of being watched …"
Martha smiled sadly, recognising Ianto's attempts to put a humorous spin on the fact that he'd probably not slept a wink all night.
"Shut the door please, I'll let you know when I'm finished in here." Martha made a point of dismissing the soldier as he didn't seem to want to leave her on her own. This time she didn't take out the sonic scrambler, not wanting to arouse too much suspicion. She just needed to ensure that Ianto picked up on her prompts.
"You need to listen carefully, so you know what's going on. I'd like you to roll your sleeve up please, right arm. I need to take some more blood. You appear to have been exposed to some uncommon virus that isn't filed on our database. I need to run a DNA profile on the viral genome to cross reference it. If you prove to be contagious you'll have to be quarantined for a period of time before transfer."
"How long?" Ianto obediently rolled up the sleeve of the red jumpsuit that had been thrown at him a short while before Martha's visit.
"Varies – could be a week, could be a year. All depends on what we find." Martha gently inserted the needle into the vein in the inside of his elbow.
"Is that good news or bad?" Ianto frowned, trying to figure out whether UNIT quarantine facilities were likely to be the frying pan or the fire in comparison to the detention centre.
"Let me put it this way, if they find something medically odd, they might decide to … how shall I put this…um…" Martha swallowed hard as she tried to think of a good way of phrasing what she had to say, and failed. "They tend to experiment on subjects that go into quarantine."
"Experiment? Ah - not so good." Ianto leaned his head back as he assimilated what Martha was saying between the lines. "Would this be a good time for me to suggest you call the Torchwood doctor?"
"Have you been exposed to something in the course of your duties at Torchwood?"
"I can't give you specific details, but I am sure my physician could answer any medical questions for you."
"Right then, if you're not prepared to divulge that information I have no choice but to get in touch with Torchwood then." Martha made sure that it sounded as if she was doing this reluctantly, although it provided her with a legitimate reason for talking to Jack or Owen. "We're not meant to pass on messages, but I'll give your regards to Captain Harkness, shall I? I imagine he'd like to know how you're doing."
"Why not? If you speak to him tell him I'm missing Cardiff… but thank him for the memories." Ianto hoped Martha had heard the emphasis he'd put on the last word.
"No worries, I'll do that for you. Now I'd better take this to the lab and see what they make of it. You do need to know that if you are cleared for transfer to the prison, they'll be coming to collect you in just under three hours' time. But I'll see you before then to let you know what's happening, OK?"
"Thanks."
Martha hated to see Ianto trying so hard to keep his emotions under control, but the way he was worrying his lower lip, that already looked as if he'd been biting it, conveyed to her the inner turmoil that was tormenting him. She wanted nothing more than to give him a great big hug and promise that Jack was on his way to rescue him, and that all would be well. But she couldn't lie to him and she wasn't able to offer him any comfort, not whilst they were being observed. She could only hope that Jack was getting his act together. With a heavy heart she gave Ianto a half smile and then rapped her knuckles on the door to the cell.
"Right, soldier, I'm finished in here for now, you can let me out."
There was something about the weapon that Torchwood had used on the Sycorax, something about it rang a discordant bell in Jack's head. He dashed down the stairs from his office to find Tosh, he wasn't going to ignore his instincts now, there was too much at stake.
"Tosh – I want you to look up the department at Torchwood One that designed the weapon used against the Sycorax. I have a bad feeling about this."
"Give me a minute, I've already got the files opened on Torchwood London research departments… here it is, William Horwood, engineer in charge of the laser array. What's this? He was seconded to UNIT two months before the Battle of Canary Wharf, in May 2007! Then in October he was appointed by the Ministry of Defence to work as special weapons advisor on the Valiant."
"The Valiant? Have you got the name of the minister responsible for that invitation?" Jack held his breath; he already knew what the answer would be and it was sending shivers of dread down his spine.
"It should be here, if I just access the records. Oh my God… the minister was Harold Saxon. But –"
"Of course!" Jack felt pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place about him. "That's what was bugging me, the Valiant was armed with a scaled down version of that same damn weapon. Except Saxon had the lasers aimed at targets on the Earth, not in space. Is Horwood still with UNIT?"
"Yes, here he is – listed as a member of the technical support team at the Black Archive." Tosh pointed at her screen. "If he is our mole, he would easily be able to fake the records there, make it look as if things hadn't gone missing."
"Yes and if he was employed by Saxon, he'd have been above suspicion at the time, no one would have questioned him." Jack began to pace as he worked through the arguments. "So let's get this straight, this guy, Horwood, worked for Torchwood One, then got seconded to UNIT. While he was in London he designed the same weapon that was diverted from UNIT to Gates and his crew. Saxon got him on board to design the Valiant weapon systems. Now he's at the Black Archive facility. He would have access to all of UNIT's files on Cyber technology and would be able to stitch up Ianto. It all fits!"
"It's got to be him, Jack. I'll print out all of this." Tosh didn't wait for Jack's reply. She just set to work printing out every relevant document she could access, backing them up as she went along.
"Got a name on the release forms for those crates yet?" Jack shouted across to Gwen, who was busy squinting at a document she had managed to wrestle from the archives.
"Yes, Jack – but the signature is smudged, it looks like Bill Harwood? That doesn't make sense."
"Could it be Horwood?" Jack ran to her side to look at the crumpled piece of paper in the ring binder.
"Yes – yes it could!"
"Good work guys – this has gotta work!" Jack smacked a fist into an open palm and looked ready to celebrate.
"JACK!" Owen had been waiting for the euphoria to die down before trying to get Jack's attention, but he had to resort to bellowing his name to get through to him. Jack spun around, a silly grin plastered all over his face, one that dissolved as soon as he saw Owen's expression.
"I got through to Martha – they found evidence of an odd viral infection in his blood."
"The genetically engineered weevil virus?"
"Yeah – they were going to run more tests and if necessary put him in quarantine-"
"That would be good wouldn't it, buy more time?" asked Gwen naively.
"No, Gwen, it wouldn't be good. UNIT use quarantine subjects for experimentation."
"Oh shit."
"Exactly – so I cobbled together some records to send to Martha. Records of vaccination against an outbreak of weevil 'flu. That should explain the antibodies in his blood. That's the good news..."
"Owen – what's the bad news?" Jack's face was grim now, he could tell that Owen had yet to tell them the worst.
"The bad news is that now there's nothing preventing Ianto from being transferred to the main prison facility. We're running out of time, they're going to take him from the medical centre in just under three hours' time."
"Damn! I'm got to go. Tosh – give me what you've got printed out. It's up to you guys now, find out anything else you can that will strengthen our case and send it to my PDA. I can't hang around here any longer."
"One more thing," Owen paused briefly, looking at Jack with something akin to compassion. "Martha had a message for you from Ianto – says he's missing Cardiff and that he wanted to thank you for the memories."
Jack looked more determined than they had ever seen him. Without needing to be asked, his team rallied around him, providing the support he needed. Grabbing a sheaf of papers from Tosh, his coat from Gwen and the keys to the SUV from Owen, Jack ran out of the Hub.
His personal and professional worlds had collided, and he'd be damned if the price to be paid was Ianto's freedom.
