Chapter 18

The Baby Hitler Dilemma

ZZZAP!

The stun gun discharged its energy. But it wasn't into John's body; because after he had dismantled the gun in the TARDIS workshop, he had reassembled it with the barrel on backwards. The alien boy crumpled onto the flagstones.

['NOW!'] John shouted in Rose's head.

The TARDIS materialised around them and quickly started to fade away.

In the TARDIS, both John and Rose felt the remaining sixty three minds forcing them to the console.

'Heads up! Here they come. I think they're a bit annoyed with me,' John said.

The aliens were trying to reverse the flight and return them to the planet before it was fully in the Vortex, and out of their reach. John pressed buttons, whilst Rose turned dials. Finally, John pulled down the materialise/dematerialise lever to take them back.

Nothing happened.

'Hah! Emergency protocol zero five beta,' Rose said with glee as she felt the alien influence fade. 'Genius!'

'Thank you,' John said with a waggle of his eyebrows. 'Initiate a preset flight plan and disable all controls until said flight plan is completed.'

He grabbed his wife around the waist and pulled her close, kissing her on the lips and fondling her bum through the skirt of her smart uniform. 'And may I say, expertly executed.'

'Thank you,' she said with her teasing smile, before returning the kiss. 'Mmph. Much as I love snoggin' yer face off, shouldn't we get "Brain Boy" here on ice?'

'Eh? Oh, the alien. Yes. Good point.' He easily lifted the boy off the decking and threw him over his shoulder.

They left the Console room and headed down the corridor to the Medi-bay, where he lay him down on one of the couches. The couch sprang into life and started scanning its patient. Rose had picked up a headset and placed it on the boy's head. She knew from John's thoughts that the headset would keep the alien asleep while he ran the tests.

'Kinda ironic when you think about it,' she said as she switched on the headset. 'Keepin' him asleep while we experiment on him.'

He did see the irony of it and grinned. 'Diagnostic tests are hardly experimenting though.'

Rose sidled up to him and playfully nudged his shoulder. 'So what've yer diagnostic tests found then?'

'Well, they're not complete yet, but his brain is interesting,' John said, putting on his brainy specs and looking at the screen.

'How so?'

'The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex seems particularly well developed. And it seems to have an extra gyrus,' he told her.

'Ooh, I love it when you talk dirty,' she said.

'Shut up,' he replied in a reversal of roles. 'This part of the brain normally decides which voluntary movements to make according to higher-order instructions, rules, and self-generated thoughts.'

'And you're thinkin' that this extra bit does all of that to other people.'

'Yep. In people with psychic abilities, it's called the prefrontal psionic gyrus. I've not seen one this well developed before.'

Rose suddenly had a worrying thought. 'John? Are we ever goin' to be able to let him wake up? Isn't he just goin' to make us let him go, or make us kill ourselves or somethin'?'

He sighed as he took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'That's the million dollar question, and why we need to do all these tests. I wasn't lying to him when I said I wanted to find a peaceful solution.'

'I know Love,' she said, rubbing his arm in support. 'So what'cha got in mind?'

'Well, first of all, let's have a look at the recording you made of our encounter in front of that State building. Particularly the part where he made me pull the trigger.'

He went to the medical terminal on the desk and logged on. They watched as the boy's eyes glowed with a faint, golden light.

'Reminds me of someone that does,' John said as he watched.

'Really?' Rose asked. 'Is that what my eyes look like when I've got the Bad Wolf vibe goin' on?'

'Similar. But yours are a lot more intense. More powerful.'

They watched as John turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger. Rose snorted a laugh at the look of surprise on the boy's face before he collapsed.

'That is never gonna get old,' she told him. 'It's pure slapstick.'

'Well, when the records said that people were attacking each other, it was a fair bet that these aliens were making them do it . . . Oh, here we are.'

John had a number of complex waveforms dancing across the screen in an intricate electronic ballet.

'What is that?' Rose asked.

'Modulated electro-psionic radiation. It's like a remote control signal you'd send to a model aeroplane to fly it.'

'Oh, and I get it. If you know the frequencies bein' used, you can jam them,' Rose realised.

John nodded. 'Yeah. And if I'm right, I might be able to take it a step further.'

Rose saw his idea in her mind. 'Oh my God, that's brilliant! Do you think you'll be able to do it?'

'I hope so, because the alternative is unthinkable,' John said, looking off into the distance. 'But first things first. Let's create a jammer.'

After half an hour of tinkering in the TARDIS workshop, John had created one of his cobbled together devices of which he was so fond of when he was in his "other" body in the old universe. It was a silver crash helmet, the kind he and Rose had worn when they had tried to go and see Elvis, but missed (again). Inside the helmet, he'd fitted loops of wire which were connected to a small control box in the centre. He'd fitted a padlock to the chin strap so that the alien couldn't take it off.

'Okay. Let's try this on for size,' he said as he walked into the Medi-bay.

'How does it work then?' Rose asked.

'It's a bit like noise cancelling headphones. It picks up the electro-psionic waveforms inverts them, and then feeds them back. The two waveforms cancel each other out, and hey presto, the average amplitude of the signal is zero.'

'So no brain control signals.'

'No brain control signals,' John confirmed as he moved to the head of the couch. 'We're going to have to be quick. If you take off the headset, I'll put the helmet on. Okay?'

'Okay. Yer ready? One, two, THREE!' Rose snatched off the sleep headset, dishevelling the boy's neat, silver hair.

John slipped the helmet over the boy's head and thumped it down into place with the bottom of his fist. Rose fastened the chin strap and clicked the padlock into place.

'Yes!' Rose said with a fist pull. She held up her hand, and John high fived her.

'Mmph . . . Where am I?' the boy said sleepily.

'In the TARDIS,' John answered.

'The what?' the boy said, now fully awake.

'It's our ship,' Rose explained. 'It's called the TARDIS.'

'Where are the others?' he asked with concern. His eyes glowed with a faint golden light. 'Take me back.'

'Er. I don't think we will actually,' John said. 'We've taken away your mental powers, and your siblings are hundreds of light years away. You're on your own kid . . . Scary, isn't it.'

For the first time in his life, the boy was powerless and alone, and John was right. He was scared. Without the collective consciousness, he could no longer think like an adult. He was just a twelve year old boy, with all the usual issues that a twelve year old had. Tears were welling in his eyes.

'What are you going to do with me?' he asked with a trembling voice.

The "mother" in Rose felt for this alien, even after all the things he and his siblings had done to the people on that planet. After all, he was only a year older than her own son Eyulf.

'Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you. John is going to try and help you,' she explained. 'My name's Rose, and this is John. What's your name?'

'We don't have names, but my parents . . . my surrogates named me Zoriel.'

'Okay Zoriel, we need your help,' John told him. 'Or more accurately, your species needs your help. Because if I can't convince the people of my world that you are harmless, and you don't agree to me making you permanently harmless; then I'm afraid there is no hope for you and your kind.'

Zoriel started to cry. 'But I couldn't help it . . . We couldn't help it. It's the way we are, and people were afraid of us. They wanted to kill us.'

'They still do,' John said, which made the Zoriel cry even more. 'But they'll have to get past me first. So what do you say . . . Will you help us?'

Zoriel nodded and wiped his wet cheeks with his hands. 'Uh-huh. I'll help you . . . but will I be able to go back to my brothers and sisters?'

Rose put a comforting arm around his shoulders. 'Of course you will. And we'll make sure you're safe, won't we?' She looked at her husband questioningly.

John grinned at them. 'Course we will.'

The TARDIS materialised on the Standby Room landing pad with its usual wheezing and grinding noise. The right hand door opened inwards, and Rose stepped out, followed timidly by Zoriel.

'Hi Honey. I'm home,' John said jokily as he followed them out and closed the door.

'Doc, Rose. Where the hell have you been?' Andy asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

'You know,' John said with a frown, pointing over his shoulder at the TARDIS. 'We went to the Shadow Proclamation, and then to a planet which had a visitation from the same lot that visited Dunwich. Zoriel here is one of their offspring.'

'What!? One of those dangerous aliens you told us about in the meeting? You brought one here?'

'Calm down Andy. This one's completely safe,' John said, tapping Zoriel's helmet with his knuckles. 'His name's Zoriel.'

Rose knew Andy really well, and she could tell that something was bothering him. 'Andy, what's wrong?'

'The UNIT research facility at The Grange found out that all their female staff of child bearing age were pregnant,' Andy informed them.

'How did they . . ,' Rose started to ask, and then worked it out for herself. 'Margaret's partner, Dianna.'

'Yeah. She suspected that all the women would have been affected, and so did some research. She reported her findings to her bosses, and they notified UNIT HQ. They, in turn notified the Ministry of Defence, who called for an emergency meeting at COBR with the president. Jack was called to Number Ten to represent the Institute,' Andy explained.

'That sounds like a reasonable response,' John said with a shrug.

'Yeah, that does,' Andy agreed. 'But recommending compulsory abortions of all those involved doesn't.'

'WHAT?!' John and Rose exclaimed together.

'It gets worse,' Andy said. 'Marla got thinking and did some checking of her own with Trayne Hospital where the people on the buses where taken.'

'Oh no, no, no, no,' John cried out. 'All the women on the buses were pregnant!'

'That's right. The M.O.D are including ALL those involved. That's any female who was rendered unconscious within the zone of influence. ANY female.'

Rose spotted it immediately. 'But Amy was rendered unconscious for an hour. Surely they can't include her in this madness.'

'Can't they?' Andy asked with obvious annoyance.

'Has everyone taken leave of their senses while we've been away?' John asked. 'What if like Amy, the women conceived naturally and are carrying their own babies?'

'Then you'd hope the M.O.D would run test to make sure,' Andy said. 'But I wouldn't bet on it. Your story of global domination by a bunch of kids has gotten them all riled up. It's a knee-jerk reaction.'

'Come on Rose. We're going to the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms,' John said, and opened the door of the TARDIS. 'ZORIEL. You're with us,' he called from inside.

Rose ushered the boy inside. 'This is gonna bring back some memories,' she said as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

The Cabinet Office Briefing Room, was a long, narrow room, with a long wooden table taking up most of the room. There was a long lighting panel on the ceiling, and the wall opposite the door was a multimedia display wall. Sitting around the table were a number of politicians, representatives of the armed forces, and various invited organisations. The President, Harriet Jones, was chairing the meeting.

'So, Geoffrey. You propose to enforce terminations of pregnancy for every woman who was affected in the Dunwich incident?' she clarified.

'Yes Ma'am. Apparently Doctor Smith has some intel about the incident at Dunwich and the hazards it represents. The aliens these women carry will cause our extinction,' he reported. Geoffrey Miller was Secretary of Defence for the Ministry.

'That was a private, preliminary meeting, covered by the Official Secrets Act,' Jack said angrily.

'Yes. We know of your Institutes efforts to keep this secret,' Miller retorted. 'However, I am an official, and Doctor Haxby is a civilian. When she was asked about the meeting, she had no choice in answering our questions.'

'Gentlemen, that is enough,' Harriet told them. 'Jack. Where is John. I could use his input on this matter.'

'He went to the Shadow Proclamation to search their archives.' He looked deliberately at Miller as he continued. 'He went to gather evidence before people started making rash decisions.'

Harriet had a wry smile on her lips. 'Quite right too. What danger do these alien babies present then?'

'John remembered a story of a planet which had experienced a similar episode. The children were able to compel adults to do their bidding. As the children grew up, they dominated and then enslaved the indigenous populations. Eventually, the indigenous peoples were replaced by the aliens, and they became extinct,' Jack explained. As he finished speaking, he heard a familiar sound down the hallway and breathed a sigh of relief.

'Reason enough to take preemptive action,' Kate Stewart, the head of UNIT said. 'And I don't think anyone here has forgotten the events of 2007. All of which could have been avoided with preemptive action.'

'Oh Bravo,' John said, breezing into the room and applauding. 'Spoken like a true dictator.'

'Ah John. So glad you could join us,' Harriet said with relief.

'So am I Harriet, and not before time by the sound of it.' He gave Kate a withering look. 'Oh Kate, Kate, Kate. I remember your father thinking like that in the early days of UNIT. Fortunately, something happened which changed his point of view.'

'Why? What happened?' Kate asked.

John gave her his cheeky grin. 'He met me. Welllll, sort of. It was another me. And it was in another universe. But the principle still stands.'

'And who is that?' Harriet asked, as Rose ushered Zoriel into the room. 'Hello Rose. How are the children?'

'Hello Madam President. The kids are fine thanks. Growin' up so quick these days. And this is Zoriel, one of the kids this lot want to execute,' Rose said with an accusing look around the table. When her eyes met Jack's, he gave her a smile and a wink.

The military commanders leaped out of their chairs. 'You brought a hostile into this office? Are you mad?' one of them asked.

'Not mad, furious,' John said. 'Has the People's Republic of Great Britain suddenly become a police state while I was away?'

'Do you deny telling your meeting at Torchwood that these aliens were dangerous and would subjugate the human race?' the army general asked.

'What? How do you know what I said in that meeting?' John asked with a frown.

'Already covered that one John,' Jack said.

'Oh. Right. Well, no. I don't deny it. Without intervention, it's true. But I mean to intervene so that I can prevent a galactic massacre,' John said, and then stopped. 'Ooh. "Mean to intervene", I like that.'

Jack gave him a lopsided smile. 'So I take it you've neutralised his mental powers with that helmet.'

'What? Zoriel here? Oh yes. He's just a normal, scared and confused twelve year old child . . . Well. As normal as a child who's just lost his ability to control people can be.'

He turned to Zoriel, who was looking around the room like a startled deer. 'Do you trust me?' he asked quietly.

Zoriel looked into his eyes and saw honesty and conviction residing there. 'Yes . . . Yes I do.'

John nodded in satisfaction and smiled. 'Good. Now what happens next is going to be scary. But I promise you will come to no harm, so don't react to anything I say or do. Okay?'

The boy nodded.

'I presume you have brought the boy here for a reason, John,' Harriet said.

'Of course Harriet.' He reached into the pocket of his long, brown coat and took out a Heckler & Koch MP5SF, semi-automatic pistol and put it on the table. 'He's your test.'

'Our test of what?' Kate asked warily, eying the firearm with suspicion.

'Conscience, conviction and resolve,' John replied. 'You see, you make all these decisions about what should be done, and then you hand over responsibility for carrying out the sentence to someone else. In this case, it's to a bunch of medical workers who will perform the abortions.'

He looked at the faces around the table. 'Well not today. This child and his siblings have turned a planet into an Orwellian nightmare. And if I take the helmet off, he'll do the same to you lot. So who among you will be the first to pick up the gun, look him in the eye, and kill him in cold blood?'

'But you've neutralised the threat,' one of the generals reminded him.

'Shall I remove the helmet then. Would that make it easier for you to justify your actions?'

'But then he'd stop us,' another said.

'And that, is the "kill baby Hitler dilemma" in a nutshell,' John said. 'And yet you would gladly hand the gun to someone else to do it for you. They'd just be following orders, absolving themselves of any responsibility.'

'So are you saying that when they are born, everyone of the children will have to wear a helmet for the rest of their lives?'

Kate asked.

John scratched the back of his neck and pulled a face. 'Wellll. That would be one way of doing it. A bit impractical though. I mean, what about when they want to wash or cut their hair.'

'Playing devil's advocate and all that,' Harriet said. 'Are you going to force these women to give birth to these dangerous aliens?'

John gave her an open mouthed grin. 'Ooh I just knew it'd be you who asked that one Harriet. No. They didn't ask for this, but they may want to be the best of humanity. And I'm going to give them that opportunity.'