Chapter 11:
"Oh, you are a lifesaver." The Prime Minister sat in the car. She took the hot coffee from her aide.
"Prime Minister?"
"Please, call me, Helen." She watched the aide get into the car. "I'm sorry it's so early. The sun's barely up."
"How many more sunrises will we see before it's over? I'm sorry." Her aide looked down at her coffee.
"Janet. Right?" She watched the young woman wipe her tears away. "We're not dead yet."
"Why are you out here near the ship? Shouldn't you be in a bunker or at least your office, where you'll be safe?"
"Janet, if the world is going to end soon, there is no place that is safe, and I made a promise to the people that voted for me that I would never run or hide from any kind of danger."
"Who would have thought that aliens would be included in that?"
"Wouldn't be the first time." Helen noted the look of surprise on Janet's face. She silently drank her coffee. "How are we doing with finding the people?"
"We got most of them. One remains elusive."
"Captain Jack Harkness."
"Who is he, Prime… Helen." Janet drank her coffee.
"Complicated and a pain in the ass. Figures he would be involved in this. Him and Torchwood except there is no Torchwood."
"Torchwood?"
"How is Gwen Cooper's status?"
"Unchanged. Why are we monitoring her," Janet asked.
"We just are." The Prime Minister finished her coffee. "Bloody world's going to end, and we can't stop it."
"Can he? The Captain?"
"God, I hope so." The Prime Minister saw flashing lights in the distance. "What now?" She exited the car. "Finish your coffee, Janet."
"I'm done." Janet took a quick swig of her coffee and jumped out of the car. "The Military won't let them through, whoever they are."
"Ma'am." A soldier hurried over to the Prime Minister.
"I call my grandmother, ma'am, son."
"Prime Minister, they said it's an urgent matter that they get through."
"Who, soldier? Who is trying to get through?"
"Torchwood," he replied.
"I thought there was no Torchwood," Janet said.
"What are you doing standing here? Let them through. Hurry up. Let them in," the Prime Minister exclaimed.
"Helen." Janet watched the soldier hurry away, yelling into his radio to let them through. "I thought Torchwood was gone."
"As far as I am concerned, Captain Jack Harkness is Torchwood." She watched a police car and black van speed toward them. "And he better have some damn answers for me."
"If he doesn't?"
"Then, we will have the soldiers remove him and put him with the others. At least, he gets to escape the end of the world, but his Gwen won't."
Janet was going to ask what that meant, but two men jumped out of the black van. They opened the back passenger doors. The man in the long, military-style coat reached inside and pulled out a young woman. She was very pale.
"We need to get to that ship." Jack carried the woman over to them. "You have to let us through."
"We did, Captain Jack Harkness. We let you through, but this as far as you get. If she needs medical attention, which she obviously does, then we'll get her to the hospital," the Prime Minister said.
"Her name's on the list," Rex said.
"She still needs to go to the hospital," the Prime Minister said.
"They can't help her. Only the aliens can."
"I'm sorry, Captain."
"It's Jack, Prime Minister, and how do you know me?"
"You have a very thick file, and I'm sorry. But I'm not letting you near that ship until you tell me what you know."
"We don't know anything." Rex stepped closer to the Prime Minister.
"I'm sorry. You are?" The Prime Minister looked at him.
"Rex. Rex Matheson, and we need to get to that ship over there." He pointed at the spaceship nearby. "Her life depends on it," he said, gesturing to the woman that Jack was holding.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Matheson, but the answer's no."
"You don't understand," Jack yelled at the Prime Minister. "She is going to die."
"So is the rest of us, and my answer is final. This is as close to the ship as you will get until it is time for them to take you."
"You're just going to give them the people they asked for?"
"The Chosen, Mr. Matheson? Yeah. What choice do we have? They could wipe us out, but instead, they are just sitting in their ships, waiting. And we have no idea what comes next."
"Excuse me?" Everyone looked at Janet. "He's glowing."
The Prime Minister looked at Jack. He glowed a soft yellow, so did the woman in his arms. He looked around himself and then at the Prime Minister.
"Jack?"
"Rex," Jack said. "What's happening to me?"
Suddenly, Jack disintegrated, and so did the woman with him. Their participles scattered across the ground, and then they slowly lifted upward. They were pulled into the ship.
"They were watching us," the Prime Minister gasped. "They knew that I wouldn't let you through. They're watching our every move." She looked at Rex, noting the concern on his face. "I'm sorry." She touched his arm. "They're gone," she said. "To where? Only the aliens know."
"They'll be back," Rex said.
"How can you be so sure," Janet cried.
"Because it's Jack," Rex answered.
"I hope you are right," the Prime Minister said.
…
BREAKING NEWS
One spaceship from New Delhi has taken off with what they are calling, the Chosen. Twenty people carried away, but the other spaceships have not left yet. Are the people on their list still being looked for, and how many of them are willing to leave this world? Do they even have a choice, and what will happen to the rest of us?