Chapter Three
Martha moved away from the hatch and took a breath.
The Doctor watched her reaction, gauging it. If she had expected to see a monster, she'd received a surprise, but that didn't change the fact that this was a situation the Time Lord would rather not be in.
The prisoner shouldn't be here now.
They shouldn't meet like this – couldn't meet like this if the original timeline was to be preserved.
"Well don't just stand there! Get him out!" Martha almost stomped out the command, and after a brief second, the Doctor did as he was bid.
There would be plenty of time for explanations – he hoped.
Scurrying up to the cell's lock, he worked silently with the sonic screwdriver until the room's defences finally gave way. As the metal door moved aside, Martha pushed past him to get to the smiling captive lounging on a sparse metal bunk.
"Jack!"
Martha's cry was so affectionate the Doctor half expected her to grab the man and never stop squeezing. Of course, she was so happy that Tesla's prisoner was a person rather than an alien creature with six heads, she'd failed to notice a few details.
For starters, 'Jack' looked a good deal younger than the version they knew.
Nevertheless, his infectious grin remained the same. "Sweetheart, with a face like that, you can call me anything you like." He pushed up from the bunk, swinging his legs onto the floor so he could better appraise his unexpected visitors. He looked the Doctor up and down and then stared at Martha approvingly.
"Stop that! Will you just STOP!" In any century, the Doctor knew exactly what this one was thinking, and he wasn't having any of it.
Jack Harkness, or whatever he was calling himself at this precise time, was a flirt who tended to let his feelings get the better of him sometimes – well, most times, actually.
Jack shrugged but the slightly lewd smile still remained. "Hey, jealous, I don't mind sharing. Three was always my lucky number."
The Doctor slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead. "He gets worse as he gets younger…"
"Younger?" Martha shifted her eyes from Jack to the Time Lord and then back again. Finally, she realized what her companion was getting at. "He's not exactly the Jack we know..?" She raised a brow.
Jack's frown indicated he was pretty much as perplexed as the new girl. "Hey, much as I'd like to get to know you, I've never set eyes on you two before. Should I have?" His eyes narrowed.
"Not yet," The Doctor mumbled. "But it's too late to avoid it now…" He paced a little, ignoring the strange look both Jack and Martha were giving him. Eventually, he set his gaze on Jack. "You came here from the 51st century?"
Jack crossed his arms and perched himself back on the edge of the bunk. "Oh, I get it, Tesla sent you two to try and interrogate me after his last attempt failed. Sorry guys, but I ain't talking. Drugs didn't work, so this little charade sure isn't going to."
Martha almost laughed and jerked a thumb towards the Doctor. "Does he really look like he could interrogate anyone? Talk them to death, maybe, but interrogate?"
"Oi!"
Jack scrutinized the Doctor again and then laughed. "You may have a point. But if you're not batting for Tesla, then what are you doing here? You gotta know if he finds you creeping around he'll have you tossed in this cell with me."
"The Rift…hole in time, Schism…whatever you want to call it. We're here to stop it." The Doctor stared at Jack. "It's killing the universe, but I think you already know that, don't you?"
Jack sighed, letting his eyes fall on the cold white walls of his cell rather than look at the man quizzing him.
The Doctor didn't let his own gaze falter. The pieces were all fitting together now, even if Martha hadn't put the jigsaw into perspective yet.
This Jack was from a time before they'd ever known him.
This was Jack, the Time Agent, not the Torchwood leader.
The Doctor's eyes fell on the nametag on the uniform Jack wore and his mouth quirked into a small smile.
Lieutenant B. Shane.
"What happened? You were sent here to check on the disturbances Tesla was causing in the Rift, but instead of stopping him, he stole your vortex manipulator and used it to augment his experiment?"
"Something like that," Jack admitted. "I spent eighteen months working my way undercover into this place and…"
"And?" Martha pushed.
"And…I got caught, obviously."
"Bet there was a woman involved," The Doctor tutted. "Or a man…or knowing you…"
Jack grinned again. "You really do know me, don't you? And as a matter of fact, it was a very pretty nurse named Amy…"
The Doctor feigned surprise. "What, just the one?"
"Well, there was that one MP up in G section…"
The Doctor resisted the urge to swat the Time Agent. "Don't start again..!"
"Alright, alright," Jack held up his hands in submission. "So, let me get this straight, you two have somehow met me in time somewhere in my future? So basically, you guys know me, but I don't know you – yet?"
"And you're here," Martha continued. "Because the Time Agency got wind something dodgy was going on at Montauk and sent you back to investigate?"
Jack nodded. "Pretty much. The vortex manipulators aren't exactly accurate. I was lucky I got the right century, let alone made it two years before my target date."
"Told you those things were bad…or will tell you so…or..." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Anyway…when you did get in here, you got yourself caught, fraternizing with some nurse?" He gave the Time Agent a disapproving look. "And now your cranky, extremely, incredibly, enormously unstable piece of technology is in the hands of a madman intent on blowing up the universe?"
Jack sighed again and let his head lean against the wall. "Well, when you put it like that…yeah." He shot Martha a look. "Is he always this much fun to be with?"
Martha nodded, a mischievous glint in her eye. "You have no idea…"
"I get the feeling I will someday." Jack sat up again and glanced at his watch. "Guys, I hate to break this to you, but it's almost feeding time here at the Tesla zoo of handsome primates. I'd hate for the guards to come spoil our little tea party…"
The Doctor scowled.
"I think he's trying to say it's time we moved," Martha suggested helpfully. "As in run really fast and hope there's another way out besides the one we came through…"
"Told you!" The Doctor rocked cheerily on the balls of his feet. "Always another way out!"
"Yeah, right past the guard's checkpoint desk," Jack offered less than helpfully. "Sheesh, you two aren't exactly the Marines when it comes to a rescue party, are you?" He pushed up from the bunk anyway, pointing to a set of chains that connected each ankle.
The Doctor looked at the manacles distractedly and then pulled out his sonic screwdriver, giving it a stern scowl of dissatisfaction. "Need something a little less…um…"
Martha pulled a pin out of her hair and waggled it under his nose. "A little less technologically inclined?" She grinned, dropping to her knees to deftly pick the locks on the leg chains.
"Riggghtht!" The Time Lord leaned in close, watching as she worked. "Now where on Earth would a nice girl like you pick up a – um…habit like that?"
"U.N.I.T.," Martha obliged. "But I'm not sure I was on Earth at the time…" She winked and the Doctor backed off.
Martha had changed so much since they had first met. She'd grown from a very intelligent trainee doctor to a highly trained government operative. He wasn't sure he liked the life-changing role he'd somehow forced on her.
Jack, however was much more appreciative. "Sweetheart, I think I need to offer you a job…"
"You already have," Martha pulled away the chains and cocked her head slightly. "Or will, in about thirty-six years…"
Jack shook his head and leaned to rub absently where the ankle chains had chaffed his legs. "Guess I'm smarter than the average bear no matter what century I'm in." He winked.
"Oh please…" The Doctor gestured towards the cell door and beyond. "Time to make a heroic exit, find the second generator, kill it and the one in the project room, confront Tesla, stop him, save the world and…"
"He doesn't want much does he?" Jack gave Martha a look that said he thought the Doctor was a little less than sane, but he followed the Time Lord out of the holding room anyway.
Once into the secondary corridor, the Time Agent had to do a double take to locate his rescuer's position. The Doctor had already bounced to the end of the clinically-white passageway and was hovering, trying to decide which way to go next that wouldn't involve soldiers.
"You might want to take a right," Jack suggested knowingly. "Although, maybe we should just talk over exactly where we're headed before we make any more decisions?"
"Like I said," the Doctor mumbled as he fiddled with another security lock. "We have to shut this place down before it shuts down the entire Universe and beyond!"
"Well first you might want to consider what might be on the other side of that door," Jack warned, stepping warily to one side as the over-active Time Lord continued to meddle with a coded door panel.
"Really?"
The metal door slid back with surprising ease to reveal a short, and very stocky airman whose shirt bore sergeant's stripes.
The sergeant's face screwed up as he spotted the Doctor, and he instantly reached for his sidearm.
The weapon came about six inches from it's holster before Jack Harkness managed to twist the soldier's arm around and snap the automatic from his grasp.
Twirling the gun around so the butt fit in his palm, he slid off the safety and pointed it at the airman's temple.
The position lasted for all of two seconds and the Time Agent found he was being relieved of the automatic – although, not in nearly as graceful a move.
The quirky Time Lord simply swatted the military issue weapon from his hand and quickly booted it to the end of the corridor in a fairly passable impersonation of David Beckham
"Oi! Didn't I tell you no guns!" He thought about it and then winced. "Although, actually…maybe not this decade. Going to have to teach you everything all over again…"
Jack spun around and for a second the Doctor thought he was going to have to duck a very heavy right hook. While the Jack Harkness he knew would never hit him – at least, he didn't think he would – this was a very different young man he was dealing with here.
This Jack had much to learn about himself and the Doctor. Indeed, he had much to learn about the universe, time travel, and the consequences of his own actions.
This Jack would soon become something of an outlaw, a rogue who traded in derelict ships and stolen technology.
The Doctor's eyes widened, preparing for the punch, but it didn't come.
Jack simply shook his head and winced. "For crying out loud! I'm running around with the original Greenpeace poster child!"
"Um fellas…" Martha broke up the bickering, tugging at Jack's shirt sleeve just enough to make him look up.
The sergeant they'd disarmed had backed up and was standing in the centre of the corridor, effectively blocking it.
The frown he had worn originally had changed. And now, his face didn't even seem human anymore.
Where pale blue eyes should have been, dark orange orbs swirled as if tiny fireflies had invaded the man's skull and were flitting around inside.
The soldier's upper lip ticked in one corner to reveal his clenched teeth and bubbling white foam that made it look like he had rabies.
In the hand that had clutched the forty-five, he now held a hunting knife that's serrated blade reflected under a nearby flickering light tube. He flexed muscles in his arm, turning the cruel-looking weapon just enough to gauge his enemies' reaction.
"Great, just great," Jack cussed holding a hand out defensively in front of him in case the man attacked. "You gonna try taking that off him too?"
The doctor sighed and slowly removed his long brown overcoat. "Well…"
Without giving Jack or the airman a chance to react, he dived forwards like a matador lunging at a very angry bull. Using the coat in front of him like it could somehow protect him, he danced lithely around the first stabbing motion, causing the sergeant to almost overbalance.
The soldier corrected his footing just in time and jabbed again and again at the coat, and the lunatic wielding it.
"He's nuts!" Jack simply stared at the wild tango taking place in the passageway like it was a mirage. "Must be the drugs Tesla gave me…this can't be real…"
Martha tried to push past him. "Don't just stand there, go help him!" She shot the Time Agent a look that said 'Her Jack would never behave like this' and then she leapt headlong into the fray.
"You're gonna get yourselves killed!" Jack took one last look and turned tail, rapidly jogging down an adjoining corridor without glancing back.
The last words he heard before the walls muted the sounds of the fight were Martha's.
"You can't just leave us, you can't! Jack would never…"
But Jack didn't ever hear what came next, and Martha was suddenly too busy to care.
The Doctor was still trying to 'net' the airman somehow with his overcoat – a strategy that was proving pretty ineffective. Whatever had suddenly come over the man, it had given him the strength of three lions, and the determination of Sun Tzu himself.
And the Doctor should know, he'd met the latter enough times.
The problem was, the Doctor didn't want to harm the man at all. He wasn't aware of his own actions, and he didn't deserve to get hurt or killed because of something Tesla's experiment had done to him.
And this was the by-product of the Schism's ever-growing energy field – the Doctor was sure of it.
"Doctor!" Martha yelled out just in time for him to dodge another swipe from the hunting knife. He scrunched his nose up at it, wondering how there could be a use for such a grotesque and dangerous thing in the world.
The sergeant seemed to see the expression and it pleased him. Whatever abhorrence the Doctor felt for such weapons, this man felt the polar opposite.
He was enjoying the battle.
He wanted to hurt, to maim, to kill.
Somehow, as the Doctor parried another blow, Martha mustered enough energy and jumped forwards, wrapping her arms and legs around the airman until she was like a jockey riding a Grand National winner.
He instantly began to squirm and kick, bucking like a bronco.
Martha looked at the Doctor expectantly, and when he just blinked in amazement she glared back. "Well do something!"
Before the dazed Time Lord could react, a fire extinguisher appeared behind the sergeant, apparently attached to Jack Harkness' arm.
Jack brought the canister down just hard enough to send the soldier – and Martha, sprawling, and then he winked at the Doctor, grinning as he dropped the extinguisher in favour of offering Martha a hand up.
"You didn't really think I'd deserted you, right?"
Martha brushed herself down and looked at the fallen man. Despite all her training, it was obvious she was still a physician at heart and she was tempted to check on him, even though she had no clue how to fix whatever was going on. "The thought had crossed my mind," she suggested absently as the Doctor tossed his coat back over his shoulders.
"What is it with you always having to make the grand entrance and exit?" The Doctor asked Jack, kneeling to pull up one of the sergeant's eyelids.
The orb beneath still glowed a fiery orange, and he let the lid flick back without commenting.
"Guess I'm the gung ho kinda guy…"
"You're something…" The Doctor mumbled in response.
Martha folded her arms again. "When you two have finished, can we make some kind of plan, yeah? We can't just run around here hoping we fix things. Why can't we just go back and shut off the generator?"
"Maybe if I actually knew who I was working with it would help." Jack raised a brow and crossed his arms, suggesting he wasn't going to move until he got more answers. "Just who are you guys?"
"I'm Martha Jones and this is…"
"The Doctor," the Time Lord finished, still staring at the sergeant.
"Doctor huh?" Jack smirked. "Well, keep up your full frontal assault attitude there and you'll be needing one…" He looked over his shoulder down the corridor as if he'd heard a sound.
Giving up further conversation, the Time Agent scooted over to where the Doctor had kicked the automatic and retrieved it. He checked the chamber and flicked on the safety, tucking the offending weapon in his belt to a look of disapproval from his companions.
He ignored the icy stares and cocked his head with a shrug. "Hey…doesn't mean I'm gonna shoot anyone!"
"So what do we do with him?" Martha pointed to the fallen airman. "We can't just leave him here."
Jack grabbed the soldier's wrists and began to drag him across to the passageway he'd used to make his 'getaway'. "I know just the place. And it'll be safe there while we have a little chat all about the wonders of time travel and whackos in long overcoats…" He looked at the Doctor pointedly and then nodded to the man he was trying to lug to his feet. "Are you gonna give me a hand here or what?"
The storeroom Jack had taken them to wasn't the biggest thing Martha had seen to use for a cell, but it would suffice. The place smelled of industrial cleaner and plastic bin liners, and the walls were filled with shelves and cupboards that reminded her of the caretaker's room back at her old school.
School – something that seemed so long ago and defunct now. She'd learned more in a few months with the Doctor than she had in years of formal education.
"There, that should hold him." Jack finished binding the soldier's wrists and ankles with a large roll of silver tape and then slapped on the airman's own set of handcuffs for good measure. "I think…"
The Doctor raised a brow, but he still seemed somewhat distant – had done since his tousle with the unconscious man. "For an hour or so at least…"
"Hour?" Martha questioned, forgetting the familiar odours in the room to focus on more important matters.
"I think the Rift energy affecting these people is growing exponentially towards a crux event, a final explosion of space, time, matter….everything we know…at least in this dimension, although there is definitely a chance of a ripple effect into a lot of parallel worlds too, given the evidence…"
"Is that your way of saying that if we don't stop this today out butts are pretty much toast?" Jack winced.
"Well…not toast," the Doctor offered helpfully. "More like a big juicy old scrambled egg! Planets, worlds, universes all imploding into each other with the force of millions of Big Bangs!"
"So not my kind of Big Bang." Jack huffed.
"Oi!" Martha stepped between the two men who seemed to have more time on their hands than sense, despite the proximity of the end of the world. "Can we cut out the innuendo and actually think?" She looked at Jack, then turned to the Doctor. "You're the genius here, how do we stop this?"
Jack looked affronted that he'd been left as the obvious 'brawn', but folded his arms to listen anyway.
"The Rift or 'Schism' has two power sources. Whatever is feeding it in the project room isn't powerful enough to be giving it the kind of energy it needs…" He began to pace. "Secondary power source has to be somewhere close….we'd need to shut them both down together…No wait! Human's probably can't enter the project room at this stage of the transition…"
"You know, Montauk has its own backup generator in case of nuclear attack? Cold War and all that," Jack offered helpfully. "I could show you where it is…"
The Doctor spun on his heels and clicked his fingers together. "Brilliant! I knew there had to be a reason why you were here!"
"Why do I feel offended?" Jack moved to the storeroom door and took a peek outside. Turning back to look at the Time Lord he asked, "What about these goons? Are we likely to meet any more freaks? Just so I know…"
"Oh yes…the energy the Rift is giving off is altering them both physically and mentally. The human mind can easily be affected by sound and energy waves…"
"Love how you say human, Doc. You sure some of that energy hasn't affected you, given that little toreador show you gave us earlier?" Jack jerked a thumb towards the airman.
"He was this way before we got to Montauk, trust me," Martha interrupted with a small smile. "Is there any way to stop them, or fix them? I mean, we can't just leave them like this."
The Doctor slid on his glasses, even though there was nothing interesting to examine in the tiny closet. The sonic screwdriver appeared in his hand as if by magic and he tapped it in his palm as if tactile contact would speed up his thought processes.
"If I can access the facility's radar dish management systems, I could modify the receiver controls…use the dish to transmit frequencies that neutralize and counteract the Rift's effects…"
"That would fix them?" Martha asked, a glimmer of hope finally shining through the darkness that had threatened to envelope them.
The Doctor sighed. "I'm sorry…there's no way to reverse it, but it would stop them." He looked up. "It would mess with their brainwave activity enough to make them collapse, pass out…"
"And give us a clear run at shutting this place down," Jack concluded. "Just as long as none of Tesla's men catch us. I mean, this thing won't affect them all, right?"
"Right…it depends on exposure time."
"Are we safe from it?" The thought suddenly hit Martha that she could turn into a Romero-style zombie before she ever saw home again, and the idea wasn't pleasant. But then, if she did, the world would probably implode an hour later, so it wouldn't matter.
"We haven't been exposed long enough." The Doctor wasn't joking now. Not at all, and that signalled to Martha just how grave the situation must be getting. "As long as we don't go back in the project room, we'll be fine."
"But don't we have to go in there to shut the thing down?" Jack was getting edgy. It was obvious from the way he was fidgeting, eager to be on the move.
To DO something.
Anything.
"Riiiigght…I was hoping you hadn't noticed that…" The Doctor clasped his hands together, almost dropping the sonic. "What say we have a good old fiddle with the radar dish first then?" He dashed for the door before anyone could disagree and launched himself down the eerily silent corridor.
Walking backwards, he grinned. "Look at it this way, Jack wouldn't be here if the Rift hadn't started ripping into time and space, and yet, time and space couldn't have been ripped into if Jack and his vortex manipulator hadn't arrived! Time isn't linear, it's this big, huge, stonking ball of…"
"Wibbly, wobbly, timey, whimey stuff," Martha finished for him. "Yeah, we get that, but how does it help with shutting the generator down?"
The Doctor stopped his rapidly paced journey to the next security door and blinked. "It doesn't," he confessed. "But you're forgetting one extraordinary piece of the puzzle!"
Jack balked. "We are? Like…?"
The Doctor grinned and Martha knew it was that smug look he got when something silly and yet pure genius was about to leave his mouth.
"Yes! ME! I said the human mind and body can easily be affected by sound and energy waves…and last time I checked I was um…a bit more …resilient, yes that's the word…more resilient than you people!"
Martha was about to throw a mock punch his way for dissing the human race for what she was sure was more than the hundredth time, but she hesitated.
One, she knew that he meant it in the best possible way. He always brought up human flaws, but the Doctor was also twice as quick to point out how brilliant and innovative mankind could be.
And second, well, second she'd just noticed what appeared to be a tiny blood trail following the frenetic Time Lord down the corridor.
The blotches of scarlet weren't very big, but against the stark whiteness of the ceramic floor tiles they stood out like the ruddiness of a lighthouse beacon against a bleak night sky.
In an instant, Martha's mind flashed back to the 'bullfight' she'd been part of only minutes earlier. Maybe the insane airman's aim had been a little more accurate after all?
The Doctor seemed to lock onto her gaze and follow it until he was staring at his own shoes – shoes that had once been white. Now, the fabric had outwardly spreading patches of red that appeared to emanate from the blood dripping from beneath his overcoat.
He frowned. "Oooh…that can't be good…I think I'm dribbling!" Sliding his hand under the edge of his blue jacket he prodded a little too eagerly with his forefingers and they came away red and sticky. The sight didn't faze him. "Or maybe 'oozing' is a superior word," he considered. "I like superior, reminds me of me…well…mostly me…'course 'ooze' isn't the only superior word…how about 'leach'…"
Martha's face scrunched into a scowl. Why did he have to make light of everything? "Doctor!"
The Time Lord smiled goofily. "Nope…definitely oozing! Emphasis on ooze!" And with that, his eyes rolled back under his lids and he doubled over, hitting the floor in a boneless heap.