Eight
Ianto looked up the climbing wall/come sheer cliff face. The configuration of hand and foot holds was nowhere near as challenging as he would have liked. As always his desire for the most complex and difficult of challenges was outweighed by the reality of his skill level. It was more than a challenge and the next three hours were part of his plan: keep himself busy. A busy Ianto was a Ianto who didn't have to ponder the betrayal of his father or the author of reports or the way Martha Jones kept looking at him. No he wasn't going to go running to her making appointments and opening up about how he bloody well felt!
Time enough when the returned. Then the volcano that was building up could find release. First eruption: his father. Right now he had three sweet hours climbing.
Then he had a series of tutorials and individual one-on-ones. He felt a thrill he hadn't felt for a long time because they were approaching the Perdiansystemwhich waslocated right on the edge of this part of the quadrant. This was an opportunity for his mapping students to complete their qualifications and add to the knowledge about this area of space.
The fast approaching system was an ideal subject due its complexity and the fact it was filled with a large number of moons. Several of the moons had ring systems; some had moons orbiting moons in stacks of up to seven. There was a dust-filled ice belt and several active comets. There were areas of dark matter along with gravity wells of one form or another. The Perdiansystem was a true navigational hazard because it was still in the process of formation. Come back in a hundred million years and there would be a tolerable solar system with possible habitable planets if they hadn't been smashed to pieces.
As fascinating as the Perdiansystem was it was also a death zone and had been the cause of the loss of a number of ships over the past fifty years. It was considered so dangerous it was a level six space hazard; the highest rating possible.
For the other students, including his, had a grimmer task. They were to investigate and find if possible any traces of the last ship lost here. The Tsiolkovsky had beena private mining vessel which had last reported its position at the edge of the system two years ago. Nothing more was heard from them again except a single garbled distress call hitched to an emergency beacon picked up six months ago.
The rest of his students, along with several other teams, would be sending in a series probes to see if they could discern any debris. Whatever had happened had been sudden and catastrophic. The most reasonable scenario was they had been hit by some wandering body the system was noted for. It was also entirely possible they could have been caught in one of the many gravity wells.
To compound the difficulties the Perdiansystem was a communication black spot caused by the presence of twin rotating white stars which poured out radiation. The only way to get out a distress signal would be to launch a beacon and pray someone picked it up. So if the Torchwood got into any difficulty like the Tsiolkovsky they were on their own for weeks before help would arrive. In light of all this the Torchwood would only be skirting around the very outer limits of the system.
With any lucky they might be able to report back the fate of the Tsiolkovsky. Considering the volatile nature of the system they might find a few fragments of debris. Personally he held no hope there would be any survivors but just maybe some of the crew had managed to escape to one of the three barely habitable moons and eked out survival for two years.
'Computer save configuration. I want to try this for free climbing,' Ianto said out loud and checked through his climbing equipment.
'Ianto, free climbing is a level six activity and you and I need to talk before you try such stupidity,' Owen's voice boomed out.
For a moment Ianto thought Owen had entered the holo-suite. As the voice continued he realised he was listening to a pre-recorded message.
'I knew as soon as you told me you had taken up climbing you and I would be having this conversation. You always have to take things to their most extreme.' There was a pause. 'I suppose I should be grateful you haven't taken up base jumping. Speak to me so I can at least try and talk you out of it.' The recording ended with some muttering then the words 'recording off.'
'Save the configuration. I will talk to him later,' Ianto ordered the computer. Looking up the cliff face, 'You are not my father Owen Harper,' he shouted out.
'Noted,' the computer replied. Ianto burst out laughing then moved forward to begin his climb.
Opening his eyes Ianto realised he was flat on his back in the dark. He was still seeing stars; their constant movement meant they were no help in determining just where he was.
Maybe his back had seized and he had fallen and somehow landed onto the flat surface he now found himself on. He flexed out cautiously but there were no daggers of pain running up and down his body so that theory was a bust.
Several moments passed and he felt his senses returning. A memory begun to re-form. He had been reaching for a hand hold when he had been surrounded with a violet glow that appeared to flow around him like a liquid. Next he had falling backwards as his body convulsed with shock. His last conscious thought had been that the safety system had gone into operation and cushioned his fall.
So he was lying on his back on the holo-suite floor in complete darkness. Reaching for his wrist communicator he tried to raise someone. A few finger japs confirmed it was completely dead.
Turning over he got onto his knees and crawled slowly forward until the top of his head touched the wall. Standing he turned so his back was against the solid surface. Sliding his hands along the wall and moving sideways he felt his way towards the central control system by the entrance. Reaching it a quick check confirmed the entire holo-suite system was dead without a single amp of power. Using his fingers he traced down the side panel alongside the door and opened it. The manual door release had popped to open but the door remained closed. He tried to force the doors, first left then right but they remained unmovable. As a final resort he checked his wrist strap again. Whatever it was that had hit the holo-suite had also knocked out his communicator, the main power systems and the backup. Listening he felt a jolt of fear as he noted the main life support system that control the ship's atmosphere was also out. 'Joy,' he thought. He was trapped in a sealed box with no way out.
Had he missed a notification of a drill? Ianto wondered. There had been several during the voyage where the students had been put into situations where they had to bring the ship back to working status. Normally there was fair warning and a degree of excited anticipation from the students to what might form the drill might take. Ianto smiled; Captain Boston certainly ensured that no opportunity for learning was passed by and his 'throw the student crew into the deep end' strategy had allowed the students to really test their abilities. As hard as he could think he couldn't recall seeing anything. There was only one option: make himself as comfortable as he could and await rescue.
Ianto had counted to eleven thousand six hundred and three when he noted a red glow began to appear around the edge of the holo-suite wall. The glow signalled the emergency power system coming back on line. Ianto felt a surge of relief when a second later he felt air movement which indicated the life support system had been restored to some kind of functional status. Ianto felt weak with relief; he was not alone, there was someone still alive restoring systems.
A few more moments passed and the room flooded with light and the central holo-suite system came back on line followed by the door opening. A flood of clean air washed around him and he took a breath. Clicking back the manual door release to neutral he closed the panel.
Stepping out into the corridor he tried his communicator again, nothing but static replied. He mapped out his next step. He should head for engineering to see if there was anything he could do to help. Turning a corner he stopped mid-step.
One of the crew with their hands tied behind their back was being manhandled forcibly along the corridor aided by several kicks and punches. The three men given this task were armed with what looked like long stick-like weapons with a blue glowing bulge at the end.
Their attention entirely focused on their captive, Ianto slowly backed up. Two steps and he felt something touch his lower back.
'I've got another one,' he heard a gruff voice shout out from behind. Without thinking Ianto spun round and surged forward, lashing out with his fists. The man, not expecting resistance hesitated for a micro second. This was all Ianto needed and his right fist connected with the man's chin and the man staggered aside.
Ianto leapt past the befuddled man and raced back down the corridor towards the holo-suite. Cries of pursuit rang out as the three men he had seen now joined in the hunt.
Reaching the door he stepped in and willed his fingers to hit the right combination of keys on the panel. A face red with rage was just visible as the door sealed itself closed.
Unless this was some sick social event called, 'let's play prisoners and guards,' the ship had been attacked.
Several fists pounding on the holo-suite door got his attention. He checked the lists of backgrounds, trying to come up with a landscape he could hide in. His fingers paused. If he did call up a background they would know he was still in there, seal the place down and he would be trapped.
A better idea came to mind and he set up a scenario and pressed the enact sequence. He sprinted across to the furthest point away from the door, turned and pressed his back against the wall. An instant passed and he heard the familiar crackle of the image formation system.
'Got ya now you piece of shit.' A large pock-faced man burst through the door.
The man walked around what appeared to be black box whose surface was covered in lines, forming squares. 'I could have sworn he had come in here.'
'Craven, you and Habuf go search the rest of the corridors. He can't have gotten far,' the pock-faced man now ordered. 'What is this place?' the pock-faced man asked as they obeyed his order and left.
'Holo-suite. You can tell by the lines on the wall and ceiling,' another man who was garishly dressed spoke up.
'The pock-faced man smiled and touched what appeared to be a wall.
Ianto held onto his breath as the man's hand touched the imaged wall inches from where Ianto was standing.
'This is high tech stuff, worth a fortune,' he turned, smiling.
'Don't start counting that bounty yet.' The garishly dressed man looked worried.
You worry too much.' The pocked-face man looked about.
'Mining ships, the odd passing trader or passenger ships trying a short cut are one thing but this ship is a Space Command vessel.'
The pock-face man face twisted with a smile. 'Full of tech and slaves.'
'Listen,' the garishly dressed man said. 'This ship is not some garbage at the end of its service whose disappearance can be put down to the volatile nature of the Perdiansystem. This is a state of the art vessel with over three hundred crew on board. Space Command will investigate.'
The pock-faced man turned and stared at him. 'By the time the Gaffer has finished, this ship will be in pieces and its crew sold to the highest bidder. There won't be nothing to investigate. It will be just another ship to add to the ships graveyard. Any living bodies will be through the BetaTauriRift to the slave markets on VegaValissian just like all the others.' He now rubbed his fingers together. 'And we get a nice tidy percentage. Or are you allergic to being rich?'
'I'm telling you we are out of our league. This ship has systems on board that are so advanced it's possible even our techs won't be able to get this to move, let alone transporting three hundred souls to be processed.'
The pock-faced man headed towards the door. 'We had better get moving then.'
As they reached the door the pock-faced man snatched the garishly dressed man's throat and slammed him into the wall.
'What grieves me Bas is your total lack of faith in the powers that be. Maybe I should inform Commodore Sebol about your lack of faith in his command abilities and we can have fun seeing how long you last after being spaced or maybe I'll end your miserable existence right here and now.'
Bas felt the hand tightening around his throat and his eyes bulged as he fought to force air down the narrowing of his throat.
The pocked-faced man let go and Bas fell to the floor, clutching his throat. 'You see, I do have faith. We own this system. That makes anything that strays here is ours. If the whole of Space Command turn up then we will take them too. Got it?'
Turning he left and the doors swooshed open and then closed. Several moments passed as Bas coughed his way to standing. Stumbling towards the door flashing lights to his right caught his attention. Looking closer he saw the control panel was active.
He had never seen a holo-suite control panel before but he knew enough to know any panel that was active meant something was on. He pressed all the buttons in sequence, and then randomly. Strange; the panel appeared not to be working but it was showing something was up and running. Was a programme running and the man who they had seen was hiding in here somehow?
Curious he walked around, testing several sections of each wall with the tip of his weapon. It was all solid as far as he could tell. A sound caught his attention and he strained to hear when his radio crackled into life ordering all hands to the cargo bay to start loading the captured crew onto the transport that had docked.
Taking a last look around the door closed as he left.
Ianto, his body aching from the effort of holding himself in one position, counted to three hundred. As he stretched his arms above his head the door burst open.
Bas looked around to see if he had managed to unsettled anything or anyone into movement. Still not satisfied he checked every wall again with his weapon then attempted to access the panel one more. Then without warning Bas threw a small object he was holding in his hand towards a wall. The object hit the solid surface and clattered to the floor filling the space with echoes characteristic of an empty room. Bas stood a few seconds longer then, apparently satisfied it was empty, left.
Trembling form the effort of holding his arms above his head Ianto remained still. Then with extreme slowness he moved his arms slowly to his sides While he stood there a battle raged in his head, part of him knew he had to move but if he did and he misjudged the moment he would be caught. But he couldn't remain there forever. He had to move. He reached a compromise and began counting.
'One thousand nine hundred and nighty eight, one thousand and nine hundred and ninety nine…' His body creaking and stiff Ianto made his way across to the panel, unlocked it then sealed the door and turned off the illusion.
Using the holo-suite panel he attempted to access the main system. Normally there would be a pathway allowing him to use his command status to access the operating programmes.
At first he thought his inability to access the main system was due to the strange energy anomaly that had knocked him out, and he suspected the crew. The more he tried the more he realised his lock out was deliberate. Someone within the command staff must have realised the danger and in the few moments they had, used their command code to lock down the ship.
In practical terms Ianto knew it meant only those systems on the ship that allowed basic survival of the crew would be functioning. Life support, emergency communications systems, basic replicator functions, all of these were part of the secondary power systems and meant the lifts would be also working. For a moment Ianto was puzzled as to why the holo-suites were still functioning, and then he recalled that they had independent power protocols which translated to a third system which they shared with the sensor arrays.
Ianto shuddered at the implications for the crew and the ship. He needed no imagination to know their fate. Secondly the ship was adrift and possibly still under momentum. With no way to correct its course it could be moving towards any or all the hazards within in this system. It was only a matter of time before the ship ran into one or more of them, sealing its fate.
It was also highly likely he was the only member of the crew still free. Even if he could remain free it was him against star knows how many others. He already knew there were five, including the leader, Commodore Sebol. Even if the conversation he had overheard indicated the slavers were outnumbered by the crew it was still twenty even thirty to one. Reinforcements might be on their way to the ship increasing the odds against him.
His duty right now was to alert Space Command of their predicament. Checking the system he found a distress beacon had already been sent as part of the lock down procedure. Like the Tsiolkovsky all it would indicate was their last known position, ship's read outs on all systems showing the ship's operations.
To send a beacon alerting anyone to what really had happened meant it would have to be programmed, something that would require more than the panel in the holo-suites. Secondly any beacon needed to be directed towards the nearest navigation beacon eight star systems away and or if possible towards the central beacon in this sector of space. Ianto pursed his lips in thought. Just for good measure one could be launched that could lay dormant for several weeks before activating in case the others were discovered.
To have any hope of remaining free to launch any distress beacon meant accessing the maintenance thoroughfares; to do so Ianto knew he needed the correct tool. The correct tool would be in any engineering tool locker. To reach any of the lockers he knew his options were reduced to one.
Using the manual release system he opened the door a crack and looked out. The lighting had improved or he had gotten more used to it. He listened for any noise but could hear nothing expect the background noise of the life support system.
Looking backwards and forwards he kept as light on his toes as possible and moved towards the lift. He felt naked without something in his hands as a weapon. The horrible truth was there was nothing on this deck he could fashion into a weapon. He added a weapon to an ever growing list of equipment.
One thing in his favour was the nature of the deck. Holding only holo-suites and having been searched hopefully the deck had been marked off. Reaching the lift he placed his ear to the door, and readied himself to take flight. Listening he waited until the lift came to a halt and remained unused for several seconds. Hearing no conversations or activity he pressed the button.
Moving back a step he braced himself to fight but the door opened to reveal an empty space.
Stepping in, the door closed and he pushed the stop button to prevent it moving. He was jolted when to his horror within seconds the lift began to move. Looking up, in one leap he balanced on the hand rail. Pushing and testing each panel he found one that was loose. Reaching up he pushed it aside and pulled him up just as the door opened. He was sure they must have seen him a foot or his replacing the panel. To his relief only a few seconds passed and the lift door closed again and began another journey down this time. As each up and or down completed it was clear no one was coming for him.
Ianto took a look around pleased his hunch had paid off. Lifts may have become more advanced but they still required a substantial motor to function, and this one was no different. The motor was tall enough if it went to the highest deck he would not be flattened with enough room for him to lay flat. The lift began to move and he slid the ceiling panel back but left a sliver of a gap so he could see.
The lift went down several floors and the door opened. Two more unknowns entered carrying the same kind of weapon he had seen earlier. From the look and shape they appeared to be some sort of stun weapon. It made sense because no one was going to pay for a dead slave, Ianto noted to himself.
They were complaining about the speed of the lifts and its strange erratic behaviour of coming when not being asked or taking them to floors not requested. Ianto figured whatever had taken out the main power system initially was affecting its performance.
The lift moved to a different floor and he watched as several of the Torchwood crew were pushed and kicked into the space. They were wearing some kind of collar; each one was emitting a soft blue glow. Squirming to get a better position and squinting he tried to see if there was a control device. He was rewarded when he saw one of the slavers had a small box with different coloured buttons on it.
Ianto then watched in alarm as one of the slavers turned to one of their captives, a young ensign, and pushed her against the wall and ran his hands downward. Ianto gritted his teeth as he fought every instinct he had not to jump down and smash the abuser's face to splinters at the sight and sound of the young woman's distress.
The assault stopped seconds later when his slaver companion pointing out they had time to break in slaves in preparation for the sex trade later. Furious at being stopped the first man raised the flat of his hand in an attempt to slap the young woman only to be stopped again. A fight seemed imminent when the door opened and the captors pushed out the crew at what Ianto recognised as the lower cargo hold.
With the movement of the lift from floor to floor it was clear the slavers were systematically searching the ship deck by deck. The captured crew that were contained on other decks were being moved to the main cargo hold. Much to his relief transferring the crew was done in a rough but semi-professional manner. Ianto didn't fool himself to what would happen to the crew once they had been removed from the Torchwood.
Hours passed as Ianto continued to gather intelligence. The conversations were enlightening and confirmed what he had heard in the holo-suite. The Torchwood was more sophisticated than what they had stolen before. The slavers were overwhelmed by the sheer number of prisoners and the tech level of the ship. That said they were not stupid.
The greatest danger was the crew itself. So far all efforts were being made to get them off the ship onto transports as soon as possible. The slavers were gleeful they were finally going to test the capacity of each transport to the limit. 'Try and squeeze another one in' seemed to be a phrase on every slaver's lips.
Any hope Ianto had that every crew member had survived the initial crippling of the ship ended when two of the slavers began to discuss the only fatality so far.
The energy had not only stopped the ship and paralysed the crew to unconsciousness it also disrupted the electrical activity in the body. One crew member had died of a heart attack. The name of the crew member hit Ianto with the force of a storm. He turned and lay on his back and no matter how hard he tried to stop them the tears kept coming.
Moving deck by deck Ianto felt some semblance of calm return. The best revenge he told himself was to stop the slavers so they could never attack another ship. To do that he had to send the distress signals. Then, using every means possible, track the bastards down and destroy each and every one of them.
To do that he needed equipment. The problem was the lift he was currently riding was an interlinking one, it served quarters, holo-suites, the Hub, social rooms like the theatre and leisure rooms. There was a single stop off in engineering and sick bay. The lift which led to the lower storage decks was on the far side of the ship. There he could fossick to his heart's content. But to get there he would have to transverse almost the entire length of a deck then access another empty lift. As his first and most important imperative was to remain free this was not even a consideration. There was an equipment locker a few meters from the lift in Engineering. Once he had the right tool and accessed the maintenance tunnels he could safely to arm himself. His next move would have to be to wait until the current activity died down, then and only then could he make his move.
Hours passed and Ianto feared he would never get his chance to reach the engineering floor. His bladder was screaming but he knew if he did give in and release the pressure it might be the one clue that would lead to his capture.
A fortuitous squawk from one of the slavers communicators summoned a large number of them to the main cargo bay. From the conversations he overheard it was clear the crew were not going down without a fight and were making their stand. Ianto knew if he was in their place it would fight like the devil to remain on board. Where ever they were being taken was alien and unknown.
Several ups and downs of the lift he counted twenty three slavers including the pocked-faced man with the attitude problem. Sounds of the battle could be clearly heard as he reached the cargo space. Ianto's heart wrenched as he fought to contain himself and hold himself back. As the last man left the lift and the sounds of the fight dimmed Ianto bided his time. It remained stationary for several long moments with the door closed. It was now or never.
Jumping down he stood on the rail one footed and placed the panel back. Pressing the level he required he prepared himself for what might await him. The lift stopped and the door opened. Like the deck with the holo-suites there was a curving corridor to his right and it was clear of any slaver.
Sending the lift back to the cargo deck he quickly stepped out just as the door closed. With any luck the slavers were so busy none of them would notice the lift had been used then returned or put its movement down to its erratic nature.
Sliding along the outwardly curving corridor he made his way to the tool locker. He was so close he could taste it. Just as he reached the opening he almost tripped over a heaped pile of tech, possibly being gathered for removal by the open door of the tool locker. Beside them was a stacked pile of tools. One in particular caught his attention: it was the magnetic catch release tool he needed.
Jerking his head up at a noise in front of him he found himself standing face to face with a slaver.