Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad
Chapter 2
The Rift alarm echoed through the Hub. Back to Torchwood business as usual.
"Large surge," Gwen reported from her station. "Some temporal distortion… no organic life forms detected. Oh, not good. It's putting off bursts of high-level cobalt radiation, and it's right in the middle of the wreckage from sodding SkyPoint."
"That place is like Tretarri," Ianto stated as he came back through the big main door. "It's a Rift surge magnet."
"And falling to bits still since they never finished demolition," Turlough added. "CCTV in the area's hit and miss, but one of the cameras is picking up an open breach with something suspended in it. I can't make out the form, but it's estimated mass is slightly over a large human's and it's made of metal… non-Earth origin. The good news, is that the radiation is fading. Bad news is that until the object drops all the way out or gets shoved back in, that rip in the fabric of Space and Time won't close."
"Turlough, grab a metre to track cobalt emissions," Jack called evenly, obviously preparing to sort the matter. "Ianto, finish your coffee and hit the Armoury. We need something that can hook the item if we decide to pull it through, and something with enough bang to push it back in if we have to. Gwen, you stay here co-ordinate for us, keep us up to date on readings while we're on the road and let us know what you can see on that CCTV feed. Martha, normal medical stand-by; but be ready to prep a large quantity of white vinegar, activated charcoal powder, potassium phosphate, soda powder, fine ground black tea, and petroleum gel as a thin slurry if we end up with any radiation absorption. I've only got one Cosmic Sponge and Turlough will need it more than me or Ianto. We'll go the slushy route if it comes to that."
"Is that mix for external or internal use?" the young doctor prodded curiously.
"Both," Harkness replied with a wink, turning to grab his coat and his partner's. "How's the cobalt level looking from long range?"
"Still dropping," Cooper reported, then frowned. "But dangerous yet. And I think whatever's in that Rift opening just moved, but it's definitely not registering as a life form."
Ianto came out of the Armoury with a heavy carryall, left his coffee cup on the table by the couch and smiled as Jack held his Burberry for him. Gwen passed the two men headsets, tossed another to Turlough as the redhead reappeared with an obviously alien-made radiation metre and put on his black hoodless parka.
"We'll keep the channels open," the Captain promised, he and the other two men on the team heading out with their gear.
As the cog-wheel door rotated closed once more, Martha came to stand behind Gwen and peer at all the readings on the array of monitors.
"Jack's obviously dealt with this type of radiation before," the young doctor murmured, looking closely at the levels registering from the site their friends were headed toward. "He knows what to use to leach as much of it out of human tissues as possible without heavy equipment or an equally toxic pharmacy hoard, and he left us both here at the Hub."
"What's that?" Cooper queried, not sure what the other woman was getting at.
"They use cobalt radiation to treat some cancers," Martha explained. "And studies show that where men recover from exposure with only a 10% chance of transient sterility, women never fully purge the radiation. Minute traces remain for the rest of their lives, and though it's not enough to hurt them, it has a strange habit of collecting in their ovaries. So, every egg is slightly tainted with cobalt and depending on the retained levels it results in either permanent sterility, a 90% probability of repeat miscarriages, or a 75% chance of serious birth defects in full term gestations."
"Bloody hell," Gwen gaped, quickly looking back at her work station. "I thought he was just peevish over my walking into their room this morning."
[We're about ten minutes from the incursion site,] Ianto's voice reported over the communication channel. [Jack would like an update on the radiation level and any signs of movement at two-minute intervals, please.]
"Right," the former constable acknowledged. "System indicates the cobalt levels are at 10% above human safety standards and still dropping. No real conscious movement from whatever's in the Rift breach, just an occasional twitch, like a branch pushed by the tide."
Martha returned to the Autopsy Lab to get things ready in case the team ended up with any injuries, and the periodic reports continued. By the time the SUV made it to the location, the radiation had almost completely disappeared, registering at nearly 85% below acceptable levels for human safety.
At the ruins of SkyPoint, Jack and the others exited the vehicle with their gear and cautiously approached the anomaly on foot.
"Okay…" Harkness decided when they reached a point about sixty metres from the glowing portal. "It looks to be more out than in, so we'll make one attempt to pull it free. What've you got for me, Ianto?"
The young Welshman delved into the carryall to produce a sonic concussion rifle and a metre long titanium fishing gaff with about fifty metres of thin but sturdy steel cable attached to the blunt end in a secured coil.
"Push and pull," he stated, displaying each item in turn.
"So, we need to get it hooked to try the pull," Turlough put in with a raised eyebrow. "The question is, can we get close enough to a fully active breach to catch it without risking being sucked in?"
"I can," Ianto nodded, meeting the redhead's gaze, then Jack's. "Scieron block the Rift, remember? I'm pretty sure I have enough of their cells to be able to walk right up on it without any danger of it trying to pull me in."
"Just be really careful," the Captain urged, moving to pick up the rifle. "Turlough, how's the radiation level? No new emissions?"
"Levels are so low they barely register and are well under safety standards," the twenty-nine-year-old reported, panning the device he held around the area. "No new waves. But that could change when we try to move whatever that is."
"Keep monitoring," Harkness acknowledged.
Ianto was moving toward the breach, spooling out the cable on the gaff as he went. The intense white and gold light of the Rift opening blurred the form of what was trapped in its event horizon, but the curve of silver metal visible as he crouched down to its level, suddenly made the twenty-six-year-old feel uneasy. It was almost like the back of a curled-up person. He carefully prodded it with the hook ended pole he held, and the object twitched in response. Now even more apprehensive, the Archivist used the gaff to tug at the far edge of the item to lodge the hook, causing the thing to roll a little further out of the breach. In the same instant that he saw part of a far too familiar configuration of metal tubes and an auditory amplification cup, metal clad fingers clawed at the front of his coat and twisted into the material. The young Guardian's guts went cold with dread, horrific memories of blood and fire crowding his mind.
"No!"
With a strangled cry of denial, Ianto tried to backpedal away from the breach, but the monster it held had him captured in an unbreakable grip.
"Jack!"
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AN: Yep… I've hit you with a cliff-hanger right off the bat.
Cruel? Yeah, it really is, but also a sure way to keep your attention and have you eager for the next chapter.
Also, sorry for the later posting… internet issues.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM