ID Chapter 5
Rose and Jon hesitated just outside the Space Marshal's door.
"Ready?" Jon asked Rose.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
They grinned and started inside the door, on their way in Jon mischievously ran his fingernail up her back and she gasped a little and flushed as goosebumps broke out over her body.
"Doctor, Ms. Tyler," Space Marshal Grimm greeted them. As usual, he thought, Rose Tyler was a vision of loveliness. His admiration of her was no secret, he knew, although no one suspected that he admired her just as much for her spirit and intellect as her beauty. He was one of only a few people outside of Torchwood who knew Rose's real story, that she and her mother were in fact from another universe, and he knew what she had gone through to get back to her Doctor and help save the universes in the process. He sincerely wished she and the Doctor would stay here on this planet, but they had a mission of diplomacy as well as their personal mission to protect their daughter, and he respected that.
He asked them to be seated as his secretary got them tea, and cleared his throat before beginning.
"So, I understand there's been a breakthrough in the mysterious communications signal from the Gliese 581 system," he stated, his tone making it a question.
"Oh yes!" Jon answered smugly, "and we have Rose to thank for it. She studied the latest communication and determined it was Krillitane in origin, after which deciphering it was a piece of cake."
"I see." Grimm allowed the corners of his mouth to turn up in a slight smile, shooting a look of approval over Rose's way. "And who else knows of this discovery?"
Weeelll... Besides the three of us, Dr. Sato, Code Specialist Jacob Burns, Director Tyler, and I would suspect our respective secretaries."
"Do you think the Krillitanes are aware of this development?"
This time Rose answered. "Yes, we're quite sure they are. You see, we think my secretary, Janice Finch, is one of them."
That took Grimm aback. "Tell me more," he commanded.
Rose and Jon started from the beginning, in the other universe and their adventure at Deffry Vale High School with Mr. Finch. They then essentially repeated their conversation in the park outlining what they suspected the Krillitanes in this universe were doing, and to whom.
"So you think Ms. Tyler's recent intellectual accomplishments are temporary effects of the Krillitane oil?" he asked Jon.
"At least somewhat," Jon acknowledged, "but she is also an extremely motivated individual," he added sheepishly as Rose discreetly kicked him.
"I wonder," began Grimm, "because what she achieved with the Dimension Cannon was awfully advanced for a shop girl. No offense, Ms. Tyler, I know you're much more than that, I'm just making a point," he added kindly.
"No offense taken, sir. But I struggled to learn what I needed to in order to build it."
"Yes, but I have to wonder if you would have been able to do so at all if you hadn't once consumed that oil. I wonder if it does indeed have lingering benefits. Imagine if it did, what we could accomplish with the human race. We might be able to heal mental deficiencies..."
"Or make them much worse!" Jon cut in. "Krillitane oil enhances what is already there, there's no telling if it might also make insane people even more so, for that matter. Imagine brilliant psychopaths everywhere..." he shuddered. "No, please forget that whole idea. The human race is developing at the rate it should be, don't try to play God. Trust me, you aren't up to the job."
"I wouldn't dream of trying such a project on my own, Doctor, believe me!" Grimm declared harshly. "At any rate, we're a bit off-track here. How should we proceed to track these creatures down prevent them from accomplishing their goal? Especially in light of them already having infiltrated Torchwood, and who knows what else?"
Jon rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully as he replied, "I think the best way to approach this is to let them try to do what they came here for."
"You mean let them continue to experiment on your wife and daughter?" Grimm exploded, aghast at the idea.
"NO!" exclaimed Rose, although whether she meant that wasn't what Jon meant, or that she wouldn't allow herself and her daughter to continue in the Krillitane experiment, was unclear.
"Please just hold on a moment, both of you!" Jon looked back and forth between them in exasperation. "No, I don't want Rose and Arianna to continue in their experiment. But I don't think we can move against them just yet, we don't know enough of their plan to do so. But, " he paused for effect, and Rose and Grimm both leaned toward him, "we can force their hand. In order to do that, we have to go on as if we have no inkling of Janice Finch's involvement, but we'll have to move up our launch date. They're not going to want to let us get away, so they'll have to make their move. And then," he paused again for effect and pronounced triumphantly, "we'll HAVE them!"
The three of them continued for another 2 hours, hammering out the details of the plan. Jon and Rose left the Space Marshal's office and went straight to Pete to bring him up to date on the plan. It was agreed that only the four of them - Jon, Rose, Pete, and Grimm - would know exactly what was really going on, everyone else would be taking part in what they were told was going to be a training exercise with the small fleet.
Rose took the rest of her vacation, ostensibly to prepare for the family's mission to leave Earth and search for the Shadow Proclamation in this universe. Since Rose wasn't working, Sally Campbell, the nanny for Tony and Arianna (and who Rose and Jon suspected to be a Krillitane, as who else could be giving the oil to Arianna?) was dismissed with a month's pay and an excellent letter of reference.
"Thank you, Mrs. Tyler, and please inform your daughter-in-law that if she should need anyone to watch Arianna for any reason before they leave, please call me, here is my card." Sally turned stiffly and left the Tyler mansion.
Jackie let out a breath and called Rose.
"Well, I can't really say I'm sorry to see her go, luv. She certainly did her job well enough, I can't complain there, but there was just something so... cold... about her. Weird that, she didn't seem so cold when we interviewed her, did she?"
Rose kept her voice carefully controlled, despite the chill that ran up her spine. "No, Mum, she didn't, she seemed like a very nice lady. I gotta go, Mum, I'll call you back." She snapped the phone shut. Arianna was with Martha Jones, and Rose was wearing a wig that was close to her natural shade and dark glasses, and was sitting just down the street from the mansion in a nondescript auto, watching Sally Campbell as she climbed into her vehicle and left the mansion. Rose carefully pulled out and remained a discreet distance behind her, noting where Sally parked and watching her walk into a building. Rose frowned. Why would Sally leave her car parked in a metered space to walk into a bus terminal when her flat was just a few blocks away?
Rose called Jon and reported what she had seen.
Sally Campbell never returned to her flat, her auto was ticketed and towed, and she was never seen again.