Chapter 15
"Jack!" The Doctor swept into the room, looking slightly perturbed. Owen spun around in his chair. He slouched lazily and crossed his arms.
"They left. got bored and decided to help control some of the larger species coming in." he stated. "Donna and Martha are still here somewhere." The Doctor nodded curtly and walked up to his computer.
"Do you have your comm?" he asked, taking Owen's keyboard and typing away. Owen nodded, casting a curious glance at Rose. She just shrugged, sitting down on the table and waiting patiently for the Doctor to start explaining. "Good, get Jack on it, I want to to talk to him. Also get Torchwood on, tell them I want everything they have on the Time Agency." he said. Rose frowned.
"Isn't that where Jack worked?" she asked. The Doctor nodded emphatically, turning to her.
"That alien that we found in the store, it had a vortex manipulator, standard for time agents. You can't just get them anywhere, you'd practically have to kill an agent to steal his manipulator." he told them.
"So, how'd the alien get one?" Owen asked, looking up at him.
"Exactly. It's a bit of a long shot, but Time Agency are the only people with the knowledge of the Vortex and how it works." The Doctor stated, leaning against the desk and crossing his arms. Rose swung her legs off the table.
"So you think the Time Agency is involved in this somehow, but why? What are they doing?" she asked. He pressed his lips together, thinking hard.
"Vortex radiation, telepathic signals, and aliens from all over the galaxy." his brow furrowed. "They're foolish but not destructive, they work to change history but without leaving a scar, making it look like it had never changed at all."
"So...maybe they're planning to change time? Is there a big event coming up they could want to stop?" Owen asked. The Doctor shook his head.
"They know better than that, the results could be catastrophic, besides what could be so big and calamitous that they would risk the damage it'd create?" He looked up as Martha and Donna walked in, both of them looking grim.
"D'ya get it sorted?" Donna asked, giving him a scalding look. He feigned looking insulted and smiled at Rose.
"Yeah, we did." Martha handed him several papers.
"It's the archangel network all over again, the telepathic waves are beginning to interfere with the computers and phones. We think they're trying to send a message." she told him. Rose stepped forward to read from behind him. She looked at Martha questioningly.
"What's the archangel network?" she asked. Martha frowned.
"It's a bit of a long story, a low-level psychic field surrounded the earth and tried to brainwash the entire human race." her jaw tightened as she spoke. Donna raised her eyebrow and looked at the Doctor.
"Why do I always miss these things?" she asked. The Doctor chuckled at her and shook his head.
"Jack's on his way in." Owen interrupted, gesturing to his comm.
"Good, how's Tosh doing with the Time Agency?" the Doctor asked.
"Nothing significant yet." Owen met River's eyes as she walked in.
"The Time Agency? What have they got to do with this?" River asked, hands on her hips.
"I don't know yet, but who else knows about the Vortex, let alone how to access it." the Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets and let out a breath. "It's worth a try." Owen held up a hand.
"Oi, we've got something..."