Chapter 10
Antagonism
New York City, New York
March 30, 2006
"Master I just find this very disconcerting to say the least." Janaline said with frustration evident in her voice.
"Master I find myself in total agreement with my colleague here." Arthur said with an intention jab towards his former master.
"So the two of you, with a world wide global network that has been giving you real-time data failed to detect an organization that is been in existence since 1879?" Emetrius asked. "What I find disconcerting is that you two, with very vast and meticulous information gathering network that was unable to find this human organization. Janaline, what do we know about it now?"
"It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria. Its prime purpose is to defend the earth against extraterrestrial threats. In its original charter, it was established to use its findings to restore the British Empire to its former glory…"
"Hail Britannia!" Emetrius interrupted sarcastically. "I know all that and what I am concerned about is how a "human" organization can escape our detection for 127 years. I also want to know what happened to our source within the organization. Tell me that."
"Master, over three hundred years ago, I made an offspring for the very purpose of infiltrating such human organizations. He was very good at what he did and he was absolutely ruthless in eliminating threats. He could alter his physical as well as his psychic appearances and walk right into any place he pleased. I even had him do the same to other vampiric networks with nothing but success. We accidentally discovered Torchwood and I sent him in. He managed to get out a limited amount of information. Ten days ago, we lost all contact with him. I had a psychic link to him so that I could read his thoughts at will." She ignored the dark look that both Emetrius and Arthur gave her as she continued.
"When we lost contact with him, that psychic link was abruptly cut off meaning that he has been destroyed. His body was found in Cardiff, Wales. Master, a group of well organized; well armed determined humans can kill a fledgling that is less that a year old only with great difficulty. This vampire was experienced and strong. He was over 300 years old. It would take a group of vampires to destroy such a creature or one of us; as in Nooroo, you, myself or The One."
"How is Bob doing these days?" Emetrius asked mockingly.
"Master there is going to be a huge fight between the two of you if you continue to antagonize him." Arthur said.
Emetrius ignored both of them and went to the multiple computer displays that lined the room. His organization had managed to confirm that there were ten incarnations of the Doctor. Somehow the man could change his body and mind and yet retain all the experiences of the preceding incarnations. It was also confirmed that the Doctor was a time traveler. Emetrius turned and regarded both of them and asked, "The Doctor is probably an alien being, and falling into the bailiwick of this Torchwood wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes Master it would seem to be a safe assumption." Arthur said.
"I concur." said Janaline.
"What affiliation would Torchwood have with U.N.I.T.?" asked Emetrius.
"I am sorry Master but we have insufficient information about Torchwood. The director of the London location is Yvonne Hartman."
Emetrius turned and went back to the displays of the Doctor. He stood there for several minutes seemingly lost in thought. Finally he turned and looked at his two minions.
"It's time for us to make a move. I want all political and economic options put into play at once. It would seem that this Torchwood is a threat to all of us and I intend to deal with it directly. I want our contacts in the various militaries around the world to be put into play. Start that at once, it is time for us to deal with U.N.I.T. as well."
"Master, The One is not going to be pleased about us doing this without consulting him first. He has carefully set his own operatives in place and this is going to be disruptive to him." Janaline said.
"Janaline, I shall deal with Bob when the time comes, you and Nooroo can sit out when that happens. You of all creatures should be aware that I can be more than persistent when I choose to be. Arthur, call ahead to the airport and get my Gulfstream V ready for the hop across the Atlantic, I am going to go and introduce myself to Ms. Hartman."
"Yes Master," Arthur said to Emetrius's back as he walked out. "Why do you think he is doing this?" he asked Janaline.
"It's quite impossible to tell. Other than finding the Doctor I don't know what he wants, what he is looking for."
Arthur began to dump a large some of money into the Asian stock markets as one phase of the plan that Emetrius had set into motion began. He looked at his former Master and he saw something there that astonished him. He saw fear.
Aboard the Gulfstream V
March 30, 2006
Emetrius thought about that very thing. He was going to force the Doctor to take him back to when all this began for him and somehow prevent it. Failing that, he was going to use all of his contacts to secure access to the world's nuclear arsenals. He would bring about the destruction of not only himself, but the rest of this wretched planet. He did not share Nooroo's, Bob's or Janaline's version of a vampire controlled world. This planet with all of its inhabitants was nothing more that a pasture stocked with cattle. He scoffed inside his head that any human could take out a vampire. He would show this Yvonne Hartman and all of her ilk just what a really determined vampire could do.
London, England
April 1, 2006
Yvonne Hartman stood by the video monitor, looking at the man sitting on the park bench across the street from Torchwood headquarters.
"How long has he been sitting there?" she asked her assistant.
"He has been there since just after 0200. He has been sitting there for the last 7 hours. Around 0600 we had a couple of our agents go and speak with him and he told them that he was just sitting there reminiscing about his late wife. He convinced them."
"He is not just a lonely widower, his name is Emetrius and he is one of 4 super vampires." Yvonne told her assistant. "At least that is they appear to call themselves and quite possibly that is how the vampiric mythos began is by these creatures. The one of those "things" that managed to infiltrate its way in here was dealt with."
She turned and looked at the two hybrid Day Walkers that served as her body guard and said "Tell me, is it possible to dispatch this one like we did the last one?"
"All true vampires are susceptible to UV radiation. That high intensity blast enabled us to kill the last one. Emetrius is one of 3 original vampires that were not created by another vampire. The fourth one, Janaline was created by Emetrius there and killed one of the originals ones and apparently was able to take its place. We will of course fight to the death for you Ms. Hartman. Look!"
The man on the bench got up and began to walk towards the front doors of the Torchwood Institute.
"Mister Emetrius, you will have a small surprise waiting for you," Yvonne said.
London, England
April 1, 2006
Emetrius had arrived at the park bench around 2:00am. His first impulse was to storm the building and go on an orgy of destruction but he resisted. He knew that he needed to exercise caution and was mindful of the fact that these people had managed to eliminate a relatively powerful vampire. He decided to sit here and wait to see what their reaction would be. He was immune to most human weaponry and had not to long ago been shot at close range in the head. Such a wound would be debilitating to a fledgling vampire but it had merely caused him to get very angry. A fact not lost on the shooter since he was trussed up in some nice heavy duty chain, turned into a Day Walker and buried in the middle of the desert. It is going to take him decades of tortuous existence to finally die. Around 6:00am, a couple of agents from the Torchwood Institute came around to talk to him. They were dressed in police officer's uniforms and he spent the time to craft a psychic tag on both of them. He now had the probable location of where inside that building, Yvonne Hartman would be located. He pulled out a fob watch and noted the time was 9:02am. He looked up into the clear blue sky and decided that now would be the time. A curious sensation passed through him. He knew he could be walking towards his death but that really didn't bother him. He was wearing an expensive tailored suite and a pair of dark sunglasses. He speculated that the people inside this building would be expecting him to strike at night as opposed to this daylight assault. He reached the front of the building and removed his sunglasses, unbuttoned his suit jacket and placed them inside the front pocket. He walked up to the doors and discovered that they were unlocked. The windows were more than likely bullet proof due to the green tint that they gave off when the sun light hit them. He walked into the foyer of the building. Six guards, armed with automatic weapons immediately challenged him.
"There is no need for you men to die today," he said to them as he regarded them.
"Stand down and let him pass," a female voice said over the guards collar mounted radio. The guards immediately lowered their weapons and allowed him to pass. Emetrius walked towards the stair case. He speculated the Hartman would be up near the top of the tower. He marveled at the fact that this place was not only in London, but one of the most recognizable buildings within the city. He ascended the stairway until he reached the floor where the two men that he implanted a psychic tag upon were at. He was mindful of the fact that he was more than likely being observed as he climbed the stairs in a leisurely pace. He tried the door and found it unlocked. He walked into what would appear to be a normal office setting. When the door closed, he heard an electronic lock take hold.
"Welcome Emetrius," Yvonne Hartman said. "It's not everyday that someone braves the lions den so casually."
Emetrius walked half the distance that separated him from her and stopped. He could see the Thames out the windows behind Hartman as she stood there before him with a slight smile on her face. He decided to get her attention by making a demonstration with the 70 or so people that were sitting at desks and computer monitors in the room. He reached out with his mind to begin to take their life-force from them and was astonished when he found out that he could not. It gave him pause and Hartman merely smiled.
"It would seem, that the great Emetrius has got a little more that he bargained for. You see, we have extensive information about you and all of your unnatural powers that you so casually employ. Let me see here, you were born Nigel Brown, 2 January, 1861 to Robert and Helen Brown right here in London. You led a quite unassuming life and were betrothed to Elizabeth Jones. Your life changed abruptly on the night of 4 November, 1888 when you made an unfortunate decision to use the London Underground to go and see your bonnie lass. You had the unfortunate luck of hiding on board the TARDIS which, unbeknownst to you, was a time machine and deposited you in the Egyptian desert in the year 1,000 B.C. Instead of staying put, which by the way if you had, you never would have been transformed into your current fashion, you ventured out into the night and somehow became the Vampire Emetrius. It's a fascinating story as to how you stayed faithful to a dream to one day be reunited with your bonnie lass, Elizabeth. It is funny to me how someone with all the power that you obviously possess, to stay so faithful to such a dream as you waited almost 3,000 years to see her once again. Your own treacherous creation was the one who spoiled that for you."
"Enough with the history lesson Ms. Hartman. Suffice it to say that I am impressed with your knowledge of my past. Information is a powerful tool and that is why I am here today. I need it and you have it. Tell me all that the Torchwood Institute knows about the man known as the Doctor and his TARDIS," he told her. "There is no need for a large death toll in here this morning. My conflict is with the Doctor and not with the Torchwood Institute."
"Catherine if you would be so kind," said Yvonne. A woman off to Yvonne's right hand side activated a control and a glowing blue force-field enveloped Emetrius where he stood. He stood slack jawed in amazement for several seconds before touching the field. It had an electric charge that would have proved fatal to a human. He pressed on the sides of the field, lightly at first, then with more force, finally with all the strength he possessed. He began to violently thrash and pound the field all to no effect. He stood very still at that point, almost if he was made of marble. He could hear the faint hum of the field as well as the generator that projected it. He could feel the airflow from the buildings air conditioning system against his exposed flesh.
"Mr. Emetrius, one does not brave the lions den without consequences. It is you that is going to be providing information today as opposed to us. Allow me to apologize in advance to this next demonstration," she said as she donned a pair of very dark glasses. All around the room, the others did the same. "Catherine if you would be so kind again."
Very intense UV lamps began to bombard Emetrius. Hartman stood there watching him with a smile on her face and her hands on her hips. Emetrius reacted as if scalding acid had been poured upon him and began to thrash and writhe in apparent agony. Truth of the matter is, that the UV beams were quite uncomfortable; they really had no debilitating effect upon him.
"That's enough with the UV lamps Catherine," Hartman said. "Now Mr. Emetrius, you will tell me the probable locations of the vampires known as Nooroo, Janaline and The One or you soon will wish that you had."
Emetrius merely stood still and looked at her, scarcely believing the condition that he was in. He looked over at Catherine on the controls and then back at Hartman. Then he closed his eyes and seemed to dissolve into a fine vaporous mist. The mist pooled along the floor, still within the force field then, against the air current that was blowing in the room, rapidly made its way to where Catherine was standing. The vapor swirled around her and then she screamed a high terrible scream and then fell sideways, her eyes wide and staring. The vapor coalesced back into Emetrius as he stood by the controls that Catherine had been controlling. He made fists with both hands and smashed the controls and all the electronics that were within reach. He reached into his jacket with both hands and came out with a pair of Sig Sauer pistols. He closed his eyes and emitted the high pitched screech that he used to use during the daylight in the past. Immediately he had a three dimensional map of the room and all of the targets contained within. A pair of figures was rushing towards him at a high rate of speed. Those would be the Day Walkers his mind registered as he loosed two shots from each gun, shooting both of the hybrid vampires in the eyes, incapacitating them. He had thirteen shots in each gun left and with the echoes from the guns still reverberating through out the room; twenty five more targets were either dead or dying in as much time as it took to pull the triggers. The last shot in the second gun jammed its action as Emetrius merely tossed it aside and reloaded the first gun. He targeted the UV lamps on the ceiling and what he thought was the mechanism that the force field came from. With a super human speed, he had Yvonne Hartman within his hand.
He looked into her eyes and said, "Hi!" with a feigned smile.
"Ms. Hartman, UV radiation on the exposed skin of a vampire is hellishly painful, but it's the eyes that would cause such a weapon to be incapacitating to a vampire such as me. While contact lenses have been around since 1827, modern day optics allows lenses to be made that block out 100% of all UV radiation going into the eyes. Did you not notice that my normally brown eyes have almost magically changed to be a jet black in color?"
Hartman's knees were shaking as she had so misjudged the creature that she had before her. He placed his hand on her chest, right above her heart and she could feel her life draining from her slowly. A high wailing screech escaped her lips as he let her slide to the floor. She was dying and she knew it. He then touched her on the head, and her breathing eased and yet she was still dying. She realized with horror what was happening to her. She was being transformed into a hybrid and she knew it.
"Ms. Hartman, I am more than prepared to show you that there are fates far worse than death. Rise to your feet and go into your office, pull up all relevant data regarding the Doctor, his TARDIS and Rose Tyler."
Sobbing, she rose to her feet and went into the next room. She turned on her terminal and logged in. All the relevant information was on the screen and Emetrius spent the next several hours pouring over the information. He sent it to Janaline in New York to be added to her catalog. All the time he was studying the information that the Torchwood Institute had on the Doctor.
"Ms. Hartman, I assume that you have a helicopter available?"
"Y-y-y-yes we do. Please don't leave me like this, complete my transformation."
"In due time, Ms. Hartman, in the interim, I need you to get that helicopter ready for a flight to Cardiff, and I need this vortex manipulator that I read about."
Hartman stood still, trying to resist, trying to hold to mandate of the Torchwood Institute. Emetrius walked up to her and took her left hand in his own, as if to gently persuade her. He crushed it in his own hand, the crackling bones making an audible noise. All the color drained out of Hartman's face as she screamed in agony.
She fell to the floor, clutching the ruined hand in her other. "Bring the vortex manipulator and get the helicopter ready to take off," she screamed.
"You are coming with me Ms. Hartman, lets be off now."
Cardiff, Wales
April 2, 2006
Emetrius walked to the geographic location where the rift is located and stood there for a moment. He was actually giddy with excitement. In moments, he would activate the vortex manipulator and the Doctor would shortly appear thereafter. The helicopter was in a field not to far away, its pilot's broken body was still in the cockpit. Yvonne Hartman was lying in the field a short way from the helicopter. He had shot her in the throat, destroying vocal cords, in her shoulders, her hips and her knees. He shot her several times in the abdomen and removed her eyes. She would spend decades in a hospital bed before her new hybrid nature would heal that damage; providing that Nooroo or The One didn't find her first and dispatch her. Her suffering made him happy.
He took a deep breath that he didn't need to and stretched his muscles in a purely human gesture. He set the vortex manipulator on the ground and activated it. He lowered himself into a three point stance and waited.
The familiar grinding noise of the TARDIS began to fill the air and Emetrius tensed. As soon as it had fully materialized, he broke into a fast run. The door had just begun to open when he reached it. He threw all the force he could muster and the door slammed open as opposed to being torn off of its hinges as he expected. The Doctor had been heading out and was thrown across the control room of the TARDIS and tumbled up against the consol. Emetrius tumbled in a somersault and was on his feet at once. With a primitive snarl, he launched himself at the hated Doctor again. The Doctor moved with a quickness that should not have been possible and used Emetrius's own momentum against him as he caused him to trip and stumble wildly. He didn't lose his footing this time and he turned to face the Doctor once again. He caught site of Rose Tyler out of the corner of his eye and decided in that instant, just to spite the Doctor he would transform her into what he was after the Doctor was dead.
"Stop," the Doctor cried holding up his hands. "Let me help you and we can find a way to reverse what has happened to you."
Emetrius paid him no mind as he crouched low, looking for an opening, ready to strike. Three thousand years he had waited for this moment and he would not rest until the Doctor lay dead at his feet.
He struck once again, rushing the Doctor in what would seem to be a blind rush again and the Doctor once again reached out to sending him flying again. Emetrius reached out at the last moment and grabbed the Doctor's arm, pulling him around with him. His hand reached out and grabbed hold of the Doctor's chest and began to drain the life-force out of him.
Rose Tyler reached out underneath the consol of the TARDIS and pulled out a cable. She rushed up and touched it to Emetrius's neck at which point, both her and the vampire were thrown clear of the Doctor. She flew backwards and struck her head on the consol, her consciousness exploding in sparkles. Emetrius flew head long and struck the opposite wall.
Emetrius was on his feet at once as the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pointed it at Emetrius and activated it. At once Emetrius stopped and put his hands across his ears, snarling with pain. The Doctor adjusted the frequency of the screwdriver and Emetrius dropped to one knee. Another frequency change and Emetrius was on the floor. Finally in desperation, Emetrius reached out with his mind and battered against the Doctor's mental defenses. The Doctor hesitated slightly with the screwdriver and Emetrius was on him in a flash. He locked on with his hand and once again began to drain the life from the Doctor. The Doctor's face twisted in fear and he began to glow with swirling yellow energy.
"Doctor," Rose cried weakly, knowing what was happening and struggled to a sitting position. A flash of yellow light caught her attention. She turned and noticed that the consol of the TARDIS had opened in a small opening. With no hesitation, she looked into the heart of the TARDIS.
The Doctor began to regenerate and Emetrius was thrown to the floor as the yellow energy shot out in all directions from the Doctor. Instinctively, Emetrius reached out with his mind and the golden energy began to be drawn into his own body. Both he and the Doctor cried out at once and the energy flow ceased. The Doctor stood staring at his hands and feeling his face, a look of astonishment on his face.
Emetrius rose to his feet and said, "That was fun Doctor, let's do it again." He reached out for the Doctor.