Chap 12
"Get yourselves ready!" Rhys yells back into the carriage.
"Oh, my." Gwen sees Ianto, "Come on!"
"Come on, let's go!" John screams as he pounds the driver's seat from behind, "Let's go! Let's go!"
"Come on!" Gwen urges her husband and he flips the switch to life the transporter off the ground.
'Okay, go! Go!"
.
.
.
"What the hell happened to you?" John asks once they are in the air.
"We got trapped a couple of klicks north of here trying to offload." Rhys explains, "I'll get us out of here."
"We've gotta go back. Slow down outside of town, then come to a complete stop." John tells him.
"No way." Rhys snorts.
"I'm giving you an order." John snarls.
"I don't care." Rhys shoots back. "The answer's no."
"The answer's yes." Ianto barks as he staggers into the cockpit, his arm bandaged roughly.
"Look, even if we get back to Cardiff," Rhys argues, "those things will just keep coming. We've got a chance here. We've got a chance to stop this thing before it goes any further."
"This is about one thing:" Jack says with open malice, "Dominion. It's not their planet anymore."
"What about him?" John asks Ianto, "Isn't our job to take him back? Is he still a prisoner, or is he one of us?"
"I can give a damn about saving this planet." Jack says to the room, "Seems like it's been after me since the day I was born. If I die, I'm gonna die fighting, not running."
Hey, Yvonne, if we blew up the nuclear power station, what would happen?" Ianto asks the woman standing at the back of the room, "I mean, there'd be a huge explosion, right?"
"No, not unless you retract the control rods and expose the core." She huffs.
"Then what?"
"Well, then you'd have a small atomic bomb, going "boom." OK?"
"How small?" Jack shifts to stand by Ianto again.
"I don't know. It'd blow out a radius of a mile, maybe two."
"Would it kill them?" Ianto demands.
"It'd certainly destroy their human hosts, but as for them..." she shrugs, "Hell, I don't know."
"John, can you get us in?" Ianto turns and John considers.
"I can try."
.
.
.
The plan was simple. Sgt. Hart, the science officer and I jumped off the train and headed towards the power plant. The others stayed aboard the transporter as it hovered above the pad. The idea was they'd provide cover and distract the Martians as we set the charges in the plant. Then they'd swing back, pick us up, Like I said, it was a simple plan. The only problem was it didn't work the way it was supposed to.
.
.
.
"How you doing, John?" Ianto asks as John fuddles with the door to the plant.
"I'm working on it." He mutters.
"Hurry up." Jack warns as the crazies start to come.
"I'm gonna remove the water jacket and destroy the containment shell." Jack says as John opens up the man screen for the facility.
"Okay, so where do I put the dynamite?" Ianto demands as he strides through the building.
"Officer to the transporter, they've spotted us." John barks as he finalises his work, "Get your ass back here now."
"Let's go" Jack pulls Ianto towards the pickup zone, "We've got to get out of here fast. The doc says the blast radius could be up to two miles."
"So, what's that mean?" John asks as he falls into step.
"It means step on it!" Jack starts to run, Ianto tucked into his arm.
"Stay here and keep it full throttle." Rhys tells his wife and Gwen turns to look at him. "What are you gonna do?"
"Lighten our load." He snarls, "I think there's some more dynamite in the rear car."
"Come on baby" Jack swings Ianto into the transporter and reaches back for John. Who slams the door with a satisfying crunch on a crazy's hand.
"See you later, you big motherfucker!" Jack snarls as he hits the detonator remote control.
As they swing into the air a blast of fire lights up the sky and they get a forward push.
"You okay?" Jack asks as he peers at the leg.
"I didn't know you was cut this deep." Jack sighs, "Should have taken care of this hours ago."
"You do that like a pro." Ianto smiles as Jack dresses the wound.
"Yeah. Me and my brother have been through a lot of battles ever since we was kids." Jack smiles as he lets his fingers slide down the arm to find the hand in need of a squeeze.
"I never thought I'd go to war with somebody like you." Ianto sighs as he starts to fade, the drugs that kept him going are finally burning out.
"I know when you get to base you'll tell those people that I helped you," Jack soothed as he stroked Ianto's brow and encouraged him to sleep, "and I wasn't the cause of all this mess around here."
"Because I know they're looking for somebody to blame." Ianto said softly, settling further into the bed, "I swear to you, Jack, as soon as I get back, I'm gonna tell my superiors all about this fucked-up planet. They'll drop the charges as soon as they get the report."
"Okay." Jack whispers, leaning in for a light kiss, "That ought to hold it. When you get there, have somebody look at it. I couldn't get it perfect, so it might leave a scar."
"I'm getting a collection." Ianto slurs.
"You'll be all right." Jack smiles, "Comfortable?"
"Yeah." Ianto sighs.
"I'll get you a blanket." Jack leans forward and there is the sound of handcuffs clicking.