Chapter 19

The End Of A Hectic Day

'Hah! I wish I'd had a camera,' Jack laughed. 'The look on General Roberts face when you told him he'd got to shoot our young friend here.'

Rose laughed with him. 'Yeah. It certainly made them aware of the consequences of the decisions they make.'

'And talking of consequences, does everyone in Dunwich know the truth now?' John asked. 'Because if the press get hold of this and we haven't got a handle on it . . .'

'Ah, now that's one thing we can thank UNIT for,' Jack informed him. 'When Diana Dawson did her own blood tests on The Grange staff and reported her findings to Colonel Latcher, he put The Grange in lock down and invoked the Official Secrets Act.'

'We should be grateful for small mercies,' John said with a cheeky grin. 'Or in this case, small minds.'

Jack laughed and continued. 'Alice has taken some of her staff to Dunwich to prepare the briefing. They're staying at the Inn. The police at Trayne have agreed to contact the people who were on the buses and take them to Dunwich for the meeting.'

John nodded. 'Good. When is it scheduled for?'

'Around 12:30 in the village hall,' said Jack.

'John, what are we goin' to do with Zoriel 'til then?' Rose asked.

'Well, I've got to do some detailed scans of his brain while he tries to do his remote control, brainy . . . wainy . . . stuff,' John said with a wince.

'Brainy-wainy?' Rose asked with a laugh.

'Okay. How does psionic telemotor compulsion sound?' he asked.

'A lot more scientific than brainy-wainy, that's for sure.'

Jack was grinning at their banter. 'Okay. I'll leave you kids to it then. You'll need to be in Dunwich at least an hour before the meeting so that you can liaise with Alice on how best to break the news.' He stood up and headed for the door, when he suddenly remembered a promise he'd made.

'Oh. I nearly forgot. I've got a phone number here for you.' He reached into his RAF grey coat pocket and took out a beer mat from the Scythe and Stone Inn and handed it to Rose.

She looked at the cardboard coaster and saw a mobile phone number written on it. 'Whose number is it?'

'It belongs to a woman I met in the pub when I went to the memorial service,' Jack told them. 'Her name is Templeton, Donna Templeton. She and her husband were on holiday when the incident happened. They got back the day after everyone had woken up. A lovely couple, and she is your absolute numero uno, ultimate number one fan. I said you'd give her a ring because I knew you'd be as excited to meet her as she is to meet you.'

Rose rolled her eyes. Not another groupie. 'And why would we be excited to meet another fan of the show?'

Jack gave them his perfect smile. 'Because her maiden name was Noble . . . Don't forget, nice and early tomorrow you two.' He turned around and left them with stunned expressions on their faces.

Donna Templeton took her mobile phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and checked it again. Yes, she still had three bars on the signal strength indicator. No, she still had no missed calls. She sighed and put it back in her pocket. She realised that a busy, celebrity heiress, and a world renowned scientist wouldn't want to phone her. Why would they? She wasn't important. She was nobody. Just a secretary from Chiswick who had married her gorgeous boss.

But Jack Harkness had promised to pass on her number, and seemed certain that for some reason Rose and John Smith would want to speak to her. And they seemed such a genuine couple when they were on camera. Maybe that was all show, but she couldn't believe that of them. She had seen and recorded the news when they had landed in Ecuador last Thursday, so she knew they were back from their holiday. She presumed they would have been back at Torchwood today, Monday.

She jumped when she heard "diddle-de-dum, diddle-de-dum, diddle-de-dum, dah", from her back pocket.

'Oh my God.' She fumbled with the phone and saw the caller was unknown. 'It's them,' she said to herself and answered the call. There was a delay before she heard a voice.

['Have you been injured in an accident? Ever wondered if you could claim compensation . . ?']

'I know somebody who'll be havin' an accident if I get me hands on ya mate,' she said to the automated call as she disconnected.

'Still haven't called then?' Shaun asked as he came into the kitchen from his study at the back of the cottage.

'Nah. They're not goin' to bother to call someone like me, are they.'

'That Captain Harkness seemed to think they would be keen,' he said supportively. 'And don't forget, they've been away for two weeks. They're going to have a lot of paperwork to catch up on.'

'Oh yeah. I hadn't thought of that,' Donna said, feeling a little more optimistic.

She heard the letterbox rattle in the front door, and went to see what had been posted through. It was too early for the regular post office delivery. She saw a folded piece of paper sticking through the flap of the letterbox. She pulled it through and opened it up as she walked along the short hallway to the kitchen.

'What's that you've got?' Shaun asked her.

'It's a flyer about The Narcolepsy incident,' she said as she read the leaflet. 'There's a meetin' at the village hall tomorrow at twelve thirty,' she read, and then became more excited. 'It says Torchwood are gonna be there. They've got an update on their investigation which will impact on everyone in the village. They're askin' for everyone to attend.' She looked up at Shaun, mouth open. 'I bet Doctor Smith's gonna be there, bein' the scientific advisor. I bet that's why they haven't had time to phone.'

Shaun smiled at her hopeful enthusiasm. 'But we weren't involved in the incident. It can't mean us.'

'It-says, "impact-on-everyone-in-the-village",' she said, deliberately emphasizing each word with a head wobble of attitude. 'We're in the village, so we're goin'.'

Shaun had learned not to argue with his wife when she wobbled her head like that.

Diddle-de-dum, diddle-de-dum, diddle-de-dum, dah, her phone sang in her pocket. 'Oh not another nuisance call again,' she said as she took it out of her pocket. The display said "unknown" again.

She answered the call and put the phone to her ear. 'No, I have not had an accident!' she told the automated voice.

['I'm sorry?'] a familiar female voice asked.

Donna stood open mouthed, frozen to the spot. She managed to get her mouth moving. 'Hello?'

['Is that Donna?'] she heard the object of her fascination, Rose Smith ask.

'Yeah. That's me.'

['And was that Donna Noble before you were married?']

'Yeah. That was me,' was all she could think of saying. For once in her life, she was completely lost for words.

['(It's her!)'] she heard the woman say excitedly to someone else.

['(Here, let me have a word.) Hello. Is that really you Donna?'] she heard Doctor John Smith ask her.

'Er, we've already covered that. Yeah, it's still me.'

['Oh my God. It IS you! It is her. (Yeah, I know.)']

'Yeah. I know as well. Is that really you an' Rose? Phonin' me?' she asked. 'This isn't Nerys is it?'

['Who's Nerys?'] John asked. ['Hang on. I'll put it on speakerphone . . . There, that should be better. Hello Donna. It's the Doctor and Rose, and WE are so glad Jack found you.']

'Oh-this-is-BRILLIANT!,' Donna exclaimed. And then the reality of the situation hit her. 'But . . . Why me . . ? Not that I'm not over the moon about this.'

['Hah. Over the Moon. That's a good one,'] John said with a laugh. ['Still the same old Donna sense of humour. (John?) Eh? (She wants to know why her.) Oh. Yeah. Because, Donna Noble, you-are-brilliant . . . (Let me have my phone back.) Sorry Donna, you'll get no sense out of him at the moment, he's too excited. It's a long, complicated story spannin' two universes, and we would love to explain it to you. Will you be at the meetin' tomorrow?']

'Yeah. Definitely! I was just readin' the flyer when you phoned.'

['Good. We'll see you after the meetin', and arrange a time when you can come to dinner so we can tell you the story,'] said Rose.

'Dinner. You mean at your house? You're invitin' me to dinner at your house?'

['We could have dinner in the shed if you'd prefer,'] John said. ['John! Behave . . . Yes Donna, at our house, if that's all right. Only the information is confidential, and we don't want anyone in a restaurant or bistro eavesdroppin'.']

Donna nearly squealed. 'No. Dinner at yours is fine. I'll clear my diary, so I'm available any time.' she beamed a smile at Shaun, and then realised he hadn't been mentioned. 'Er, can I ask . . ? Is my husband included in the invite.'

She heard Rose laugh. ['Oh Donna. Of course Shaun is invited. He needs to hear what we've got to say as well.']

'That is SO kind of you. Thank you. We'll see you tomorrow.'

['See you tomorrow. Bye.']

Rose disconnected the call and looked at John. He had a dopey smile on his face, and his eyes glistened with tears.

'We're going to meet Donna Noble,' he said.

'Donna Templeton,' she corrected him.

'Whatever . . . It's Donna.'

'Right. So how's the scan comin' along?' She asked, giving Zoriel a warm smile as he lay on the Medi-bay couch in the TARDIS.

John looked at the screen. 'All done. We have a baseline, high resolution 3D scan of his brain. What we need to do now Zoriel, is ask you to try and make me do something against my will, like you did with the stun gun.'

'What stun gun?' Zoriel asked with a frown.

'You know. On your planet. You made me turn the gun on myself.'

'Oh, yes. I remember,' he said with a wan smile.

'Hmmm,' John said with a worried frown. 'Okay. So, make me stand up.'

Zoriel's brow creased as he tried to concentrate. They knew nothing would happen, because the helmet was blocking the signals, but the functional scan overlaid on the 3D scan should show increased activity in the area responsible for his telepathic powers. John watched the screen, but there were only minor changes in brain activity, and not really conclusive.

'I was watchin' his eyes, John, and there was no glow like you saw before,' Rose told him.

John scratched the back of his neck. 'The helmet shouldn't stop the neurons from firing, just the psionic waves from getting out . . . I think we need an emotional element to boost the output.'

['John, what are you goin' to do?'] Rose asked in his head.

['Nothing dangerous or that will hurt him. We need something to surprise him. Y'know, like a practical joke.'] He showed her his idea in her head. ['How good's your acting?']

['Good enough for that,'] she told him.

'Rose, Would you pass me the neural stimulator out of the draw please?'

She went over to a set of draws and took out an opthalmoscope. 'Is this it?'

'That's the one.'

She handed it over, and John held her wrist. 'I just need to show Zoriel how it works,' he said and touched the ophthalmoscope on the back of her hand.

Rose squealed and writhed as she tried to pull her hand free. John released her wrist and she pulled away, rubbing her hand.

'Jesus John! That really hurt.'

'Sorry Love, but I need Zoriel to realise what will happen if he doesn't try and stop me.' He moved towards the terrified boy on the couch, with the ophthalmoscope poised ready.

'No. Please. Don't!' Zoriel cried. His eyes were wide, and had a golden hue to them.

['John. Stop it please. He's terrified,'] Rose thought to him.

John touched the ophthalmoscope to the back of his own hand and said, 'bzzzt. Bzzzt.' Rose held Zoriel's hand and tried to comfort him.

'Sorry about that Zoriel. It's just a device for looking in people's eyes. It doesn't cause any pain. I just needed you to think it did, so you would use your mind to stop me.' He looked at the scanner screen and saw a number of colours superimposed on the 3D scan. 'Hah. Bingo. It worked.' He put his brainy specs on and leaned in close to the screen. 'Ooh, now that's interesting.'

'What'cha found?' Rose asked. Zoriel sat up and looked over as well.

'We knew the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex had that extra gyrus, and we were right that it's involved in the propagation of the psionic waves. But look at that in the basal ganglia.' He used the mouse to rotate the 3D model and look at it from underneath. 'The Amygdala is firing, and there's a tract linking them together.'

'So, not as straightforward as you hoped then,' Rose said.

'No. But still doable,' he replied with a smile. 'Bear with me Zoriel. We'll have you back with your siblings before you know it.'

Zoriel grabbed John's hand as a tear trickled down his cheek. 'Thank you John, and you Rose. I'm not sure we deserve your help after everything we've done.'

John squeezed his hand in return, turned to the screen, and pointed at the superimposed nerve tracts. 'See that? Those nerve tracts are responsible for what happened on your planet, not you. And I'm going to fix it for you. I promise.'

'Well that's sorted then,' Rose said, standing up and checking her wristwatch. 'We're comin' to the end of the shift John. I'll have to hand over the Watch, and then we'll have to get the kids.' It was then that she realised John hadn't answered her earlier question. 'John, what's goin' to happen to Zoriel? Where's he goin' to stay while you sort his brain out?'

'Oh yeah. I hadn't thought about that.' He scratched the back of his head. 'There's the apartments on floor thirty two.'

'John, he's twelve. He needs lookin' after,' said Rose.

'Well, the Hospital Wing then. The nursing staff will be able to keep an eye on him and see to his every whim,' John said, giving Zoriel a wink and a cheeky grin.

['Can't he stay with us tonight? He's never been on his own before, and I think meetin' the kids will be good for him.']

John smiled and enveloped her in his arms. He kissed her on the lips. 'Once again, your compassion leaves me humbled. I love you.' He turned to Zoriel. 'How would you like to stay with us for a few days while I work out how to help you?'

Zoriel looked from one to the other. 'I would like that very much.'

The three of them stepped out of the TARDIS into the Standby Room, and Rose started towards the office, when she saw Angel and André walking through the doors.

'Oh my God, John. Angel and André. You were going to see Martha about their . . . problem.'

'Oh yes. With everything going on, I haven't had chance. Tell you what, let's go see Martha now and get the egg rolling,' he said with a cheeky smile.

Rose rolled her eyes. 'I can't believe you just said that.'

She sat Zoriel on one of the comfy chairs and introduced him to the members of the watch who weren't on assignment, which was most of them. There was only "Irish" Stu and "Welsh" Pete who were still on a shout, and White Watch would probably have to relieve them. Gwen started chatting to Zoriel whilst Rose prepared the handover paperwork.

In the Hospital Wing, John was directed to one of the consulting rooms, where he found Marla. 'Hi Martha. I meant to come and see you earlier, but things got away from me a bit.'

'Never mind. You said you needed some help with Angel and André's fertility issues,' Marla recalled.

'Yes. In a nutshell, you know that sperm go through capacitation to prepare them for the acrosome reaction?' John asked Marla.

'Yes. That's the enzymatic penetration of the egg's tough membrane, the zona pellucida,' Marla explained, for Angel and André's benefit.

'Right. Like a lock and key,' John said, holding his thumb and fingertip together. 'But there are many locks and keys. First the sperm has to get through the follicle cells of the corona radiata.'

'Ah, I can see where you're going with this,' Marla said. 'Human sperm cells have the wrong set of enzyme "keys".'

'Exactly. What if we could change the keys so that they could unlock the corona radiata and zona pellucida?'

'Bit of an ask,' Marla replied. 'Wouldn't it be easier to do in vitro fertilization?'

'You could, yes. But then there's no guarantee that after in vitro fertilization, the embryo isn't damaged in some way and doesn't implant.'

'Which is why many of the in vitro embryos fail. So what do you propose?' Marla asked.

'Eluting stents in the fallopian tubes which slowly release enzymes which will change the keys on the sperm as they swim past,' John explained. 'I can create the stents. Can you put them in the right place?'

'You're kidding me,' Marla said. 'Of course I can.'

The TARDIS materialised in living room of Tyler mansion, to the wheezing, groaning sound of time and space being bent out of shape. The right hand door opened inwards, and Rose stepped out, leading Zoriel by the hand.

'It's all right Zoriel. This is my family, no one's going to hurt you,' Rose reassured him.

'Hi Sweetheart. What'cha been up to then?' Jackie greeted them. 'When y'come in the TARDIS, it usually means yer've been lookin' for trouble . . . And is John not with ya?'

'Hi everyone. John lost the toss and has to drive the DeLorien home through the traffic,' Rose explained, and then thought about what her mother had said. 'What'cha mean, "lookin' for trouble"? I've come to pick up the kids, and introduce you to Zoriel . . . Say hello Zoriel.'

He looked nervously at the people in the room. 'Hello.'

'Zoriel is from another planet, and he's helping us with the investigation into the Dunwich incident,' Rose told them. 'This is my mum, Jackie. My dad, Pete, and two of my children, Juleshka and Jason. My eldest son, Eyulf makes his own way home with his friends. You'll meet him when we get home.'

'Takin' in strays are ya now?' Jackie asked with a lopsided smile. She could see that Zoriel was nervous. She went over and gently rubbed his upper arm. 'Hello Zoriel. Welcome to our home.'

He looked up at Rose for reassurance, and she nodded. He looked back at Jackie. 'Thank you.'

Jason strolled up to him. 'Hi. I'm Jason. I like your crash helmet.'

'Thank you. It's necessary for me to wear it so I do not cause you any harm.'

Pete looked at Rose with concern. 'Rose?'

'It's all right Dad. He's grown up with the ability to compel people to do things, and he's had nobody to guide him and tell him it's wrong. John designed the helmet so that it blocks the signals.'

Juleshka came up to him. 'Does that mean he'll have to wear that for the rest of his life?' she asked her mother.

'No Sweetheart. Your dad's goin' to help him so he can take the helmet off,' Rose told her. 'So, are you both ready to go home?'

'Yes Mum,' they said together, and picked up their bags and coats. They had a kiss and a cuddle off their grandparents and stepped into the TARDIS. Rose guided Zoriel inside, and Jackie held her elbow.

'I don't know what you've gotten yerself into Sweetheart, but the children will be safe won't they?' Jackie asked her quietly.

Rose kissed her on the cheek. 'Yeah Mum, they're safe. I wouldn't let him within a million miles of the kids if it wasn't safe. It's just that the people on his planet were so afraid of him, that they would have torn him limb from limb.'

'Okay Sweetheart. Thanks for that. See ya tomorrow then,' Jackie said.

'Yeah. See ya both tomorrow. Bye.' She stepped inside and closed the door. Once again, the room filled with the wheezing, grinding sound, as the TARDIS slowly faded away.