Chapter 10

Rose's diary.

Entry Date: Thursday, 21st June, 2018.

'It was little Bro's birthday today, only he's not so little. Seven years old, seven years. Where has the time gone? I remember him being born, well actually I remember how sad I was when he was born. Stuck here without the Doctor, thinking that I'd never have a family.'

'And here I am now, another one on the way and starting to crave Christmas puddings of all things. Thank God we've got the TARDIS. John nips back to Christmas and picks some up for me. (Bless him)'

'And regarding my work, sometimes, our missions don't come from the situation status feeds. They can come from the most unexpected sources, like a birthday party for instance….'

Doctor's diary.

Entry Date: Thursday, 21st June, 2018.

'It's Tony's birthday today and he's having a pool party at the Mansion swimming pool. We will be going along before our shift as we're on evenings this week. The party starts at five and our shift starts at four, but what's the point of having a time machine if you don't use it?'

'Rose seems to have developed a taste for Christmas pudding lately. There must be some ingredient that her body needs while she is pregnant….'

Tyler Mansion.

Swimming Pool.

Around 17:30

Another child shaped torpedo launched itself down the fun slide and splashed into the water with a 'whoop'. The cheers and laughter echoed around the tiled room. John and Rose were in the water with EJ and Tony. EJ was wearing a 'life jacket' style floatation aid, and John was lifting him out of the water on to the side so that he could come down the slide again into the arms of his mother.

"Yaaaaaaaay," he called out has he slid around the slide and was launched across the water, to land with a splash near Rose. She glided over and supported him under his bottom. He was beaming a smile and giggling.

"Okay you lot," Jackie shouted. "Come on out and get some food."

There was a deafening cheer as the water foamed and boiled with arms and legs powering the bodies to the pools edge. Parents were waiting with towels to wrap up their children and dry them off before going through to the Dining Room.

Rose stood up in the thigh high water, carrying EJ to the pools edge. In her bikini, it was quite obvious now that she was pregnant, her stomach bulging out in front, and her boobs starting to swell. She lifted EJ on to the tiled floor, and John wrapped him in a large towel and started to rub him down.

"Excuse me. Its Rose Smith isn't it? Tony's sister?" A mother said as she dried of her daughter.

"Yeah, that's right," Rose said with a smile.

"Hi. My name's Cheryl. I'm Simone's mother." She nodded at the smiling young girl who she was patting down with the towel. "And that must be Eyulf. Jackie talks about him all the time."

Rose laughed. "She does like bein' the proud Grandma."

"Go on then, off you go," John said as he put a baggy T-shirt on EJ and patted his bottom, sending him on his way to the dining room with Simone and the other guests.

Cheryl hesitated. "Er, do you mind if I ask you a question Rose?"

Rose smiled at her. She got questions about her family and her celebrity status all the time. It was annoying at first, but over the years she'd gotten used to it, and occasionally, being famous had its uses. "No, I don't mind. What can I do for you?"

"Well, it sounds a bit silly really, but I know you work for Torchwood, and they deal with all sorts of weird things don't they?"

Rose laughed. "Yeah, I suppose we do. So, what have you got that's weird?"

"A haunted house," Cheryl said with a straight face and no hint of humour in her voice.

Special Operations Unit.

Torchwood One, London

16:00

"Good afternoon people," Captain Andy McNab said, giving his usual greeting to the assembled team of agents. They settled into the Special Operations room with their usual coffees and teas, ready for the briefing. He handed out the couple of 'shouts' that were on the situation board, before turning to John and Rose.

"Doc. Wife has mentioned that you might have a 'shout' of your own."

"Yes, that's right. One of the mums at her brother's birthday party said that they have a holiday cottage in the Cotswolds that has had some unusual goings on. It might be nothing, but there again…."

"Okay, grab your gear and go and check it out while its the 'Q' word," Andy said.

"Thanks Cap'n," Rose said.

"As it's a two hour drive, we'll take Delores and she can drive herself there while we enjoy the scenery," John said, referring to Delores the DeLorian, their intelligent electric car that is able to drive and navigate itself.

"Ooh brilliant. I love travellin' in that car when she does that."

John went to his lab to get some specialist scanning equipment, while Rose popped to the restaurant to get some sandwiches and a flask of tea. By 16:20, they were on the north bank of the Thames heading west towards the A40.

By 17:45 they were on the outskirts of Oxford, and continued west until they got to Burford, where they then headed north towards Stow on the Wold on the A424. When they came to traffic lights at the junction with the Fosse Way, the DeLorian went straight over towards a Cotswold stone house, and a driveway bordered with a Cotswold stone wall. After half a mile of wooded driveway, they came to a house on the right, made of the same distinctive grey stone.

"So this is it then. It's a bit posh," Rose said.

"What, and having your own planet isn't?" John replied.

"Oh yeah. Good point," Rose said with a smile. "Now, Cheryl said that her friends Kevin and Heather were stayin' here for the week."

"Okay. Let's go and see if they're home then." The doors of the DeLorian lifted up and they climbed out. Walking over to the wide wooden gate, they looked over the wall at the beautiful garden with manicured lawns, cast iron garden furniture and potted shrubs.

John took out his sonic screwdriver and started scanning, while Rose took out her Torchwood scanner and did the same. Whilst they were doing this, a face appeared at a window.

"You gettin' anythin'?" Rose asked.

"Not yet. We may have to do more detailed scans. I'll get the gear out of the boot." He went to the front of the DeLorian, opened the boot and took out a large holdall.

"Excuse me. Can I help you?" a ginger haired man said, standing in the doorway of the cottage.

"No, we've got it thanks. This stuff will be a bit technical for you," John said.

Rose rolled her eyes. "No John. What he means is 'who are we and what are we doin'?" Rose explained.

"Ah! That odd human pastime of saying one thing and meaning another. Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose. You must be Kevin?"

"Er, yes. And you are Doctor who exactly…. No, wait. I've seen you on TV. You're Dr. Smith, and this is your wife Rose."

"Hello," Rose said with a wave of her fingers.

"So that's the introductions out of the way, perhaps you could explain what you're doing."

"Ah right, Yes. Oh, may be you could help us with that. While you've been here have you noticed any unusual phenomena?"

Kevin was looking decidedly baffled. "Phenomena?" he repeated.

"D't-der-de-dada," Rose sang with a grin.

They both looked at her, John looking as baffled as Kevin.

"The Manamana song," she said by way of explanation. "You must have heard of it. Manamana, d't-der-de-dada."

"Okayyy. So, back to the investigation. Cheryl told Rose here that there had been some strange goings on at the cottage."

"Really? How wonderful. I love all of that paranormal stuff, it's fascinating."

"Who is it dear?" a woman asked as she came to the door.

"It's the Ghostbusters. Y'know, those celebrity investigators off the telly."

"No! Really? Hang on, don't let them leave. I'll get the camera."

"I don't think they're leaving Sweetheart. Cheryl wants them to do an investigation."

"Oh that's brilliant. I'll put the kettle on."

They sat at the large wooden table in the modern, designer kitchen, drinking cups of tea. 'Cups with proper saucers' Rose noted, 'no mugs here'. She had a little giggle to herself. 'Wellll, maybe just one'.

The woman, who had introduced herself as Heather and was completely in awe of her unexpected celebrity visitors, was asking a question. "So Rose, what did Cheryl say exactly?"

Rose put her cup back in the saucer. "Well, apparently, over the last twelve months, objects have been left behind by guests who have been rentin' the cottage. Only when she asks the people about them, they deny any knowledge of them."

"Fascinating," Kevin said. "What kind of objects?"

"Mainly gold jewellery and some old coins. She told me that she's put them in a shoebox in the dining room dresser."

"Ooh, I'll go and have a look." Heather put her cup and saucer on the table and left the kitchen.

"And have you noticed anything unusual while you've been here?" John asked Kevin.

"No. Nothing at all. It's rather quiet and peaceful here. That's why we like renting it off Cheryl when we can."

Heather came back with a shoebox in her hands. She put it on the table and took the lid off. They all leaned forward and looked over the rim of the box. There were a dozen or so gold rings, bracelets, brooches and some coins.

John took his sonic out of the breast pocket of his uniform.

"Oh I say. Would you look at that Heather? Is that a Ghostbusters gadget?" Kevin said.

John looked at him, not quite sure what to say. "Sort of, only there are no such things as ghosts." Kevin's expression went from eager to disappointed. "But there are none corporeal and gaseous life forms that can be mistaken for ghosts," he added, trying to get Kevin's enthusiasm back.

He started scanning the objects in the box and looked at the holographic display.

"That's interesting. The gold is 24 carats, and none of the jewellery has any hallmarks. Also, they all seems to be copies of the Roman style of decoration."

"D'yer think someone is planning on burying it and playin' a prank on the archeologists? It seems a bit of an expensive prank if it is," Rose said.

"Did Cheryl say where she found them?" John asked.

"In the outhouse that's been converted into a utility room," Rose told him.

"Oh, that's just off the kitchen through there." Heather pointed to a white painted wooden door.

John grinned at Rose and waggled his eyebrows. "Come on then Wife. Allons y."

Rose laughed. "You haven't said that for a while." They finished their tea and headed for the door. John held the door knob and turned it. If they were expecting ghostly creaking hinges, they were disappointed. The door opened quietly into a brick room with a chest freezer, washing machine and tumble dryer.

They both scanned the room and compared results.

"They room is colder than the kitchen, but that's to be expected from the construction and lack of heating," John said.

"I'm going to do a tighter sweep and see if there is a cold spot," Rose said as she started to spiral into the centre of the room.

"Ah, I think I'm on to something John. Have you got something to mark the floor?"

"I think Simone has some chalks in her toy box," Heather said helpfully from the doorway. She disappeared for a minute or two and came back with a packet of chalk.

"Brilliant. Thanks," Rose said as she took the packet and removed a stick. Holding the scanner close to the floor, she did slow sweeping movements, stopping and marking the floor as she went. When she had finished, there was part of a four feet diameter circle marked with chalk 'X's on the quarry tiled floor. Part of the circle was under the chest freezer.

"A cold spot! I've seen that on those paranormal programmes on the telly," Kevin said.

"Maybe. But this is a cylindrical column of ground and air that is having energy drawn out of it, and when you draw the energy out of a system, it gets cold," John informed them.

"Like a refrigerator," Rose speculated. "But where's the energy goin'."

John smiled his proud smile at Rose. "Always asking the right questions. Let's find out shall we?" He straightened up and headed back into the kitchen, where he returned with his holdall. He took out three metallic cones and stood them on the quarried floor at points around the circle.

"What'cha doin'," Rose asked him.

"Well, this cold spot is like a bucket. It's filling with energy until it's got enough to do whatever it is that it does. I'm going to turn the taps on and fill the bucket." He wired the cones together and plugged the wires into a handset.

"Right, we're ready to go. Everyone back into the kitchen," he instructed. They all backed away from the utility door, never taking their eyes off the room beyond.

"And, three, two, one." He pressed the button on the handset and a green light came on. Small, red LED's started to flash on each of the cones. And that was all.

"Did it work?" Kevin asked.

"Oh yes, it's working. It will take a while to fill the bucket," John said.

"What do you think it is John?" Rose asked.

"I suspect that it's some sort of vortex manipulator that charges itself up and then operates a temporal shift that transfers something from around 300 AD and deposits it here."

"Excuse me for asking," Heather said. "But do you two occasionally speak English?"

Rose spluttered a laugh. "Yeah, I do, but John here, he's fluent in techno-babble."

"Oi!" John exclaimed. "Techno-babble? I don't techno-babble. I'll have you know I give very good scientific explanations."

"Er, if I may interrupt," Kevin said nodding at the utility room. "I think something is occurring."

John and Rose turned their heads to look into the utility. There was a column of faint blue-white light, about four feet across. John checked the handset and then took out his sonic and scanned the anomaly.

"Well, it looks like the buckets full," he announced.

"What happens next then?" Rose asked, looking at John and then back to the anomaly. Her hand instinctively reaching for his and intertwining fingers.

"We wait."

They watched the column of light start to take on a swirling pattern like milk being stirred into a glass of water. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and a 'whop' sound, followed by a clatter of metal. Not the tinkle of a ring or a bracelet, this was definitely a clatter of large metal objects, followed by an 'oof'.

"Did I just hear someone go 'oof'?" Heather asked as she blinked her eyes, trying to clear the flash image from in front of her eyes.

"Quid est hoc? Aut ubi sum?" they heard from the utility room.

"Is that Italian?" Kevin asked.

"Close," John said. "It's Latin. And it's being spoken by a native."

There, standing in the doorway, was a Roman soldier. He drew his sword, eyes wide in fear. "Qui sunt vobis?" John and Rose heard 'who are you people?', his words being translated through their link with the TARDIS.

John raised his hand in greeting. "Hello. My name is John the Doctor, and this is Rose the Wolf Girl. What this place is, and where you are is a bit complicated."

"Demons!" he roared as he charged at John.

Zzap. The soldier fell forwards onto the kitchen floor, unconscious. John looked to Rose who was blowing imaginary smoke off the end of her stun gun.

"Is…. Is…. Is that a ghost?" Heather asked. Both of them were as white as a sheet.

"The ghost of a Roman soldier?" Kevin added.

"Nah," John said with a smile. "You see, I told you there were no such things as ghosts! What you have here is a genuine, living, breathing, er, sleeping Roman soldier from the third century AD."

They looked on in stunned amazement as Rose cuffed his wrists behind him. She picked up his sword and tested the weight of it before swirling it in a figure of eight around her body.

"Nicely balanced," she commented.

"Wha, what's a Roman soldier doing on the kitchen floor?" Kevin asked.

"Ooh, that's a good question Kevin. Well, the Fosse Way is only half a mile away. In this man's time, it was the main highway between Exeter and Lincoln," John explained.

"In his time? In his time! What the hell's happened to his time?" Kevin was now going into shock as his once stable and knowable world started to crumble into chaos.

Rose could empathise with this and went over to Kevin and Heather and put her arms around their shoulders. "It's a bit complicated, not to mention classified. Why don't you come through to the living room and have a sit down, I'll put the kettle on and make a pot of tea."

When they were safely ensconced in the living room, with cups of tea rattling in their saucers, Rose and John sat down at the kitchen table and regarded the Roman lying on the floor.

"What are we gonna do with 'im?" Rose asked.

"We'll have to take him back home. I wonder if I can reverse the polarity of the cones and generate a feedback loop that will 'suck' him back."

"Can you do that?"

"I don't know. Let's have a look." He stood and walked over to the utility room with Rose close behind. The column of light was still there, swirling around like smoke in a spot light.

"John, can you hear voices?" Rose asked, tilting her head to one side. John stood still, looking at her and tilting his head to the side as well. Sure enough, he could hear mutterings coming through the column. Faint and indistinct, but unmistakably human voices.

"Rose, give me your notebook and a pen," he told her, holding out his hand and making a beckoning gesture with his fingers. She opened a leg pocket on her uniform and took out her Torchwood notebook with pen attached. He wrote, 'Hello. I'm the Doctor' on a sheet of paper, scrunched it into a ball and threw it at the column of light. There was a small blue flash of light around the ball of paper as it disappeared.

"The connection is still active," he announced. "We might be able to send our friend back anyway."

Just then, there was a small blue flash and a ball of paper bounced off his forehead. "What the….?"

Rose retrieved the paper and opened it and burst out laughing.

"What?" John asked. Rose handed him the paper, which now had writing on both sides. He read his original message, 'Hello. I'm the Doctor', and under that, in Rose's handwriting was the reply, 'Well isn't that just wizard!'

"What?" he asked in confusion. Rose was now in a full fit of giggles at John's expression. He turned the paper over and saw a message written in his own handwriting. 'Reversing the polarity of the cones will generate a feedback loop that will 'suck' the whole building and everyone in it back to Roman Britain. Use the TARDIS, it's safer."

The TARDIS materialized in a grassy area, in front of a small, modest Roman house. It was made of stone with plaster rendering and a red tiled roof. The doors of the TARDIS opened, and muttering could be heard coming from inside.

"Blimey he's heavy with all this armour on," John said as they struggled through the doors.

"Am I even supposed to be doin' this when I'm pregnant?" Rose asked with a Roman ankle under each armpit.

"Ah, you'll be fine. You're a Tyler." They made it to the door of the house and laid the soldier on the veranda.

"And there's definitely no one home?"

"Nope. The TARDIS shows that there must have just been this guy before he got sucked back to the future."

"Right, well let's get him inside before he wakes up or before he has visitors," Rose said.

John opened the door, grabbed the man's arms and dragged him into the house. The floor was tiled and the walls were painted an over bearing deep red colour. There was a sofa along one wall that John headed for.

"Here, let's get him on the sofa." With a 'urgh', they managed to lift, pull and push him onto the sofa.

"I'll go and get his sword and the artefacts and we can leave them on the table," Rose said and went back out the door. John looked around the room and spotted a shrine to the house gods on a cabinet. He wandered over and opened the doors of the shrine.

Inside the shrine was an delicately engraved ornament which obviously didn't belong in this time or on this planet. He heard Rose placing the sword and jewellery on the table before coming over to him.

"What'cha found?" she asked him.

He took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the object before examining the results. "It's some kind of vortex manipulator. It's off world, so I'm guessing it fell to earth and has been seen as a gift from the gods."

Rose scanned the area with her scanner. "It's warm. Is this where the energy is goin' from the cottage?"

"It looks like it. It seems to be stuck on an emergency teleport, but without the energy to transport a whole person. It recharges itself until it has enough energy to transport an electrical conductor, and starts the whole cycle again."

"Ah, so anyone prayin' when it fires off, would have their rings or bracelets mysteriously disappear," Rose surmised.

"Yeah. It would look like a gift to the gods." Just at that moment in time, a ball of paper appeared in a flash of blue light. "Oh, it's us listening in."

"Here, let me," Rose giggled and wrote 'Well, isn't that just wizard!' under 'Hello. I'm the Doctor'.

"Here, I'd better write my bit on the back. If I try and throw energy at this thing it's going to overload it, create a vortex vacuum, suck us all in here and then explode." He wrote his warning and recommendation before scrunching it up and throwing it at the shrine, where it disappeared in a flash of blue light.

"So that's it then?" Rose asked. "The time lines have come full circle?"

"Almost, there's just one more little detail to take care of." He went out of the front door and returned a couple of minutes later with a CO2 fire extinguisher. He aimed it at the shrine and fired a blast of freezing gas at the shrine.

"Right, that's switched it off, now to disable it." He aimed the sonic and pressed the button. There was a whistling warble for a couple of seconds and then he stopped and put the sonic back in his pocket.

There was a groan from the sofa.

"Whoops! Come on lets get out of here." He grabbed her hand and they hurried out of the door, across the grass and back to the safety of the TARDIS.