Chapter Twenty: All Troops Together

"The Valiant's down!" Cassie shouted.

"Air force retreating over North Africa," Tosh reported. "Daleks landing in Japan."

"We've lost contact with the Prime Minister's plane. Jack! Manhattan." Gwen's hands started to tremble slightly as she realized the scale of the issue.

"Martha, get out of there," Jack said into the phone.

"I can't, Jack," Martha replied. "I've got a job to do."

"They're targeting military bases and you're next on the list!" Jack's voice started to shake as he feared the loss of his friend.

The voice of a UNIT commander sounded through the phone. "Dr. Jones, you will come with me. Project Indigo is being activated. Quick march."

"But we can't use Project Indigo," Martha argued. "It hasn't been tested, sir. We don't even know if it works."

Just then, a Dalek popped up. "UNIT FORCES WILL BE EXTERMINATED! ANNIHILATE UNIT! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

"Put it on. Fast as you can," the commander said.

"Martha, I'm telling you," Jack begged. "Don't use Project Indigo. It's not safe!"

"You take your orders from UNIT, Dr. Jones. Not from Torchwood."

"But why me?" Martha asked.

"You're our only hope of finding the Doctor. But failing that, if no help is coming, then with the power invested in me by the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, I authorise you to take this. The Osterhagen Key."

"I can't take that, sir." Martha's voice suddenly became somewhat commanding.

"You know what to do, for the sake of the human race."

The Dalek voices grew louder and louder as the commander said, "Dr. Jones, good luck." The commander faced the Daleks and stared them down, going down with honor or something like that.

"Bye, Jack," Martha said regretfully.

"Martha, don't do it!" They heard a slight zapping sound as she vanished. "Don't!" The last thing they heard before the line went dead was the screams of the commander and soldier as they died.

"What's Project Indigo?" Owen asked.

"Experimental teleport salvaged from the Sontarans. But they haven't got coordinates, or stabilisation." Jack sat down in his chair with a look of defeat.

"So where is she?" Gwen walked over to Jack and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Scattered into atoms. Martha's down."

Suddenly, a woman's voice rang through the computer. "Can anyone hear me? The Subwave Network is open. You should be able to hear my voice. Is there anyone there? This message is of the utmost importance. We haven't much time. Can anyone hear me?"

"Someone's trying to get in touch," said Gwen, walking over to the computer.

"The whole world's crying out. Just leave it." Jack sighed, still saddened over the loss of Martha, for both his own sake and for the Doctor's.

The person apparently didn't like that, because she said, "Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you. Now stand to attention, sir."

"What? Who is that?" Jack walked over to the computer to see-

"-Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."

"Yeah, I know who you are."

"Sarah Jane Smith, 13 Bannerman Road. Are you there?" Harriet asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here," said Sarah Jane. "That, that's me."

"Good," said Harriet. "Now let's see if we can talk to each other." Four images came up on the screen: Harriet, Sarah Jane and Luke, Torchwood, and… static. "The fourth contact seems to be having some trouble getting through."

"Hello?"

Jack grinned broadly. "Ha, ha! Martha Jones! Martha, where are you?"

"I guess Project Indigo was more clever Than we thought. One second I was in Manhattan, next second… Maybe Indigo tapped into my mind, because I ended up in the one place that I wanted to be. At home, with my mum. But then all of a sudden, it's like the laptop turned itself on."

"It did," said Harriet. "That was me. Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."

"Yes, I know who you are," Martha said, trying not to sigh.

"I thought it was about time we all met, given the current crisis," Harriet explained. "Torchwood, this is Sarah Jane Smith."

"I've been following your work. Nice job with the Slitheen," Jack gave Sarah Jane a respectful nod.

"Yeah, well, I've been staying away from you lot. Too many guns." She gave a nod towards the child next to her.

"All the same, might I say looking good, ma'am?" Jack said with a grin. Cassie shot Gwen an apologetic look, who shrugged, clearly saying Happens all the time.

Sarah Jane, clearly unaware of Jack's…. Jackness… replied with "Really? Oooh…"

"Not now, Captain," Harriet sighed. "And Dr. Martha Jones, former companion to the Doctor."

"But how did you find me?" Martha asked.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Subwave Network," Harriet explained. "A sentient piece of software programmed to seek out anyone and everyone who can help to contact the Doctor."

"What if the Daleks can hear us?" Martha's voice was rightfully worried.

"No, that's the beauty of the Subwave. It's undetectable."

"And you… invented it?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I developed it. It was created by the Mr. Copper Foundation."

"Yeah, but what we need right now is a weapon," Jack interjected. "Martha, back there at UNIT, what did they give you? What was that key thing?"

"The Osterhagen Key," Martha explained.

"That key is not to be used, Doctor Jones. Not under any circumstances." Harriet's voice was commanding, as though she were still Prime Minister.

"But what is an Osterhagen key?" Owen asked.

"Forget about the key, and that's an order. All we need is the Doctor."

Sarah Jane had a thought. "Only, excuse me, Harriet, but… Well, the thing is, if you're looking for the Doctor, didn't he depose you?"

"He did. And I've wondered about that for a long time, whether I was wrong. But I stand by my actions to this day, because I knew, I knew that one day, the Earth would be in danger, and the Doctor would fail to appear. I told him so myself, and he didn't listen." Harriet seemed slightly sad, but still sure of herself.

"But I've been trying to find him," said Martha. "The Doctor's got my phone on the Tardis, but I can't get through."

"I was trying to find him, too, but I couldn't," said Cassie. "Cassandra Yvonne Tyler, by the way. Cassie for short."

"Tyler?" Sarah Jane asked. "As in Rose Tyler?"

"She's my mum," Cassie grinned.

"Oh, I knew that would work out," Sarah Jane chuckled.

"If we could please focus," Harriet interrupted the little exchange. "We need the Subwave to bring us all together. Combine forces. The Doctor's secret army."

"Wait a minute," said Jack. "We boost the signal."

"That's it!" Tosh interjected excitedly. "We transmit that telephone number through Torchwood itself, using all the power of the Rift."

"And we've got Mister Smith," Luke exclaimed. "He can link up with every telephone exchange on the Earth. He can get the whole world to call the same number, all at the same time. Billions of phones, calling out all at once."

"Brilliant," Jack said. "Who's the kid?"

"That's my son," Sarah Jane said proudly.

Ianto suddenly had a thought. "Excuse me. Sorry. Sorry. Hello. Ianto Jones. Er, if we start transmitting, then this Subwave Network is going to become visible. I mean, to the Daleks." As he said this, Cassie's face fell, knowing what was coming.

"Yes, and they'll trace it back to me. But my life doesn't matter. Not if it saves the Earth." Harriet straightened herself up as she spoke, hiding her fear.

Jack gave a salute. "Ma'am."

"Thank you, Captain," said Harriet. "But there are people out there dying on the streets. Now, enough of words. Let's begin."

"Rift power activated," said Jack, throwing a switch.

"All terminals coordinated," Gwen said, pulling a lever. Ianto was meanwhile messing with and then plugging in a giant power cable.

"National grid online," said Owen from the computer.

"Guys?" Tosh said worriedly. "I can't get full power."

"Brilliant!" Cassie exclaimed. "My hunch is right! Tosh, do what you can, and I can boost the signal with my screwdriver." She pointed the sonic at the machinery, and it hummed to life.

"Connecting you to Mister Smith," said Sarah Jane.

"All telephone networks combined!" Luke grinned.

"Sending you the number now," said Martha.

"Opening Subwave Network to maximum," Harriet said, pushing a button.

"Mister Smith, make that call," Sarah Jane instructed.

"Calling the Doctor." Mister Smith's mechanical voice rang out.

"And sending!" Jack exclaimed.


"Phone!" the Doctor, Rose, and Donna said at the same moment.

"Martha, is that you?" the Doctor asked. "It's a signal."

"Can we follow it?" Rose asked hopefully.

The Doctor pulled out his stethoscope. "Oh, just watch me!" He kissed Rose's head and then began pulling levers.


"I think we've got a fix!" Jack said excitedly.

"Mister Smith now at two hundred per cent," Sarah Jane reported. "Oh, come on, Doctor…" The entire gang shared a hopeful look.

"Harriet, a saucer's locked on to your location. They've found you." Gwen sighed softly, already mourning the loss of this unsung hero.

"I know. I'm using the Network to mask your transmission. Keep going."

"Exterminate!" Three Daleks burst through the window of Harriet's home.

"Captain, I'm transferring the Subwave Network to Torchwood. You're in charge now. And tell the Doctor from me: he chose his companions well. It's been an honour." Harriet faced the three Daleks and showed her ID. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister."

"Yes, we know who you are," said the middle Dalek. Cassie successfully masked her grin at the Dalek's voice.

"Oh, you know nothing of any human, and that will be your downfall." There was a silence amongst the others as they watched Harriet openly embrace death.

"Exterminate!" And Harriet's bit of the screen dissolved into static.


"Three, two, one!" The Doctor, Rose, and Donna screamed as the planets appeared around them. The TARDIS stopped shaking.

"Twenty seven planets. And there's the Earth. But why couldn't we see them?" Donna looked rather confused.

"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe," the Doctor explained. "Perfect hiding place. Tiny little pocket of time. But we found them. Ooo, ooo, ooo, what's that? Hold on, hold on. Some sort of Subwave Network."

"Where the hell have you been?!" Jack Harkness's voice came through the screen. "Doctor, it's the Daleks."

The Doctor looked at all the people on the screen. "Sarah Jane. Who's that boy? That must be Torchwood. Oh, they're brilliant. Look at you all, you clever people."

"That's Martha!" Donna said excitedly. "And Jack!"

"Cassie!" Rose exclaimed, seeing her daughter on the screen. "Oh, Cassie, you're alive! Doctor, she's alive!"

"Can't get rid of me," Cassie grinned.

All of a sudden, the screen went blank.

"Oh," the Doctor sighed.

"We've lost them!" Rose exclaimed.

"No, no, no, no, no. There's another signal coming through. There's someone else out there. Hello? Can you hear me?" The Doctor tapped the screen.

"Your voice is different, and yet its arrogance is unchanged," a new voice came through. "Welcome to my new Empire, Doctor. It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, lord and creator of the Dalek race.

"Doctor?" Donna asked.

"Who the hell is that?" Rose became quickly worried.

"Have you nothing to say?" Davros's voice was cold and cruel.

"Doctor, Rose, it's all right," Donna said softly. "We're, we're in the Tardis. We're safe." She put a hand on each of her friends' shoulders, trying to stay calm.

"But you were destroyed," the Doctor said to Davros. "In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysium. I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you."

"But it took one stronger than you," said Davros. "Dalek Caan himself."

"I flew into the wild and fire," said an insane voice, apparently that of Dalek Caan. "I danced and died a thousand times."

"Emergency Temporal Shift took him back into the Time War itself," Davros explained.

"But that's impossible! The entire War is time-locked."

"And yet he succeeded," said the Dalek creator. "Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine. A single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"

"And you made a new race of Daleks," the Doctor mused.

"I gave myself to them, quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." Davros opened his tunic to reveal his bare ribs with just a few nerve endings over them, and his internal organs inside. "New Daleks, true Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have now?"

The Doctor sighed. "After all this time, everything we saw, everything we lost, I have only one thing to say to you." His voice was solemn, and then he shot Rose a cheeky grin. "Bye!" He threw a lever and the TARDIS jolted.


"Guys, Dalek saucer heading for the Bay. They've found us!" Ianto's voice was worried. "What now?"

"I've got a lock on the TARDIS," Tosh interjected.

"Jack, come here. I'll fix your teleport." Cassie sonicked Jack's watch. "You have to go, now." She handed Jack a mega-gun. "The Daleks will have found the TARDIS too. You have to go and try to kill them before I get there. I have a plan that might work, and it relies on the rest of these guys, and I have to tell you, too, but right now you have to go! I'll be there in a minute."

"Don't worry about us. Just go," Gwen said softly. She kissed Jack's cheek and he vanished. "Cassie, what's your plan?

"Gwen, take this." Cassie pulled a little button out of her backpack. "When the Daleks show up, don't shoot at them or they'll kill you faster. You have to press this button. It might save the universe."

"Okay," Gwen replied, taking the button. "What's going to-" But Cassie had already vanished, leaving a scrap of paper. Gwen picked it up, and on it was written He loves you. She smiled softly, and then they heard the crash.


"TARDIS heading for vector seven," said Mister Smith. "Grid reference six six five." Sarah Jane ran for the door.

"But there are Daleks out there," Luke protested.

"I know, I'm sorry, but I have got to find the Doctor. Don't move. Don't leave the house. Don't do anything."

"I will protect the boy, Sarah Jane," Mister Smith assured her.

Sarah Jane looked right at her son. "I love you. Remember that." And with that she ran for her car and drove away.


The TARDIS landed in front of a church. "That's the church where I was supposed to get married!" Donna laughed, but then she realized the quietness of the street. "It's like a ghost town."

They heard a voice in the distance. "Mum! Dad! Donna!"

"Cassie!" Rose shouted back. The Doctor said nothing, but instead ran for his daughter, Cassie running as well.

"Exterminate!" A Dalek ray just grazed the Doctor, but he fell down.

"No!" Jack jumped out of a bush and blasted the Dalek, and then ran for the Doctor. Cassie was faster, though, and she reached her dad first.

"Kill the Dalek!" Cassie shouted, turning to Jack who was just behind her. "I think that's what I said, yeah! Kill the bloody Dalek!"

"I didn't see it!" Jack knelt down. "Oh, God, it's starting. Get him into the TARDIS, quick. Move."

"Dad, you're going to be alright. I have a plan." And she began to whisper in her dad's ear as they moved him to the TARDIS.


"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"They're here," Tosh whispered. "Oh my God, we're going to die." Owen walked over to her side and hugged her close.

"Gwen, what is that, the thing Cassie gave you?" Ianto walked over to Gwen and looked at the little button.

"I don't know. She said to press it when they show up."

"What'll that do?" Owen asked. "Unless it blows them up, we're going to die!"

"She said it might save the universe," Gwen declared. "We have to take the chance. If we die, we'll go down like Harriet did."

The team shared a look, and all nodded. "Together?" Tosh asked.

"Together," Gwen confirmed, and they looked the approaching Daleks in the face.


"All human transport is forbidden."

"I surrender. I'm sorry!" Tears formed in Sarah Jane's eyes.

"Daleks do not accept apologies. You will be exterminated. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"


"What, what do we do? There must be some medicine, or something." Donna began pacing around the TARDIS, trying to come up with a solution.

"Just step back. Rose, do as I say, and get back. He's dying and you know what happens next." Jack's voice was broken but still strong.

"What do you mean? He can't!" Donna looked at Jack, confused. "What do you mean, what happens next?"

Cassie and the Doctor shared a look. "You can do it, Dad," she said softly.


Hey everyone! Chapter twenty is here! Cassie's got a bunch of plans here! What are they? Well, you'll have to find out!

Love and ducks as always to Rachel and Jubilee and hugs to all of my other reviewers and supporters!

Ofelia xxxx