I slowly opened my eyes to find myself in a bed. I turned to see the same man that caught me sitting at a chair, staring at me. "Better now?" He asked. "Don't know," I said, getting up. "Who are you?"
"Captain Jack Harkness," He replied, getting up, "One Three Three Squadron, Royal Air Force. American volunteer." He gave me his ID card and I smirked. "Liar," I said, "This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me."
"How do you know?" He asked. "Two things. One, I have a friend who uses this all the time. And two, you just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out," I said, letting out a chuckle.
"Tricky thing, psychic paper," Jack said. "Can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over," I said as I gave the psychic paper back to him. "Oh, you consider yourself to be footloose and fancy free," He said.
"What are you talking about?" I asked with a grin. "Actually, the word you use is also available," He said. "And another one, very." I smiled, "Can we try and get along without the psychic paper?" I asked. "That would be better, wouldn't it?" He asked and I nodded.
I started walking around and Jack followed. "Nice spaceship," I complimented. "Gets me around," He said. "Very Spock," I said. "Who?" He asked and I sighed, shaking my head, "Never mind," I muttered, "Guessing you're not a local boy, then."
"A cell phone and fabrics that won't be around for at least another two decades. Guessing you're not a local girl," Jack said. I turned around to face him, "Wow, clever you are," I teased.
I looked down at my hands and noticed rope burns. "Burn your hands on the rope?" Jack asked. "Yeah," I said and whipped my head around to look out at the window, "We're parked in mid air. Can't anyone down there see us?"
"No," He replied, "Can I have a look at your hands?" I hold out my hands and he started scanning them. "You can stop acting now. I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away," He said. "A Time Agent?" I repeated with a frown.
"I've been expecting one of you guys to show up. Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon. Do you often travel that way?" He asked. "Sometimes I get swept off my feet," I joked.
Jack smiled and took off his scarf before he wrapped it around my wrists. "What are you doing?" I asked with a frown. "Try to keep still," He said. As he pressed a button, he got closer to me. I smiled and he smiled back.
I looked back at my wrists and suddenly there was a glowing bundle in my hands. "Nanogenes. Sub-atomic robots. The air in here is full of them. They just repaired three layers of your skin," Jack explained.
The glow dissipates and he untied my wrists. "Thanks," I said. "Shall we get down to business?" Jack asked. "Business?" I repeated. "Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" He asked. He pressed a button and a latch opened, "Bring up the glasses." I grabbed the glasses and carefully brought them up as I followed him out.
As soon as I got out, I looked down and noticed the ship was invisible. "I know I'm standing on something," I said. Jack pressed a button on a remote and the ship appeared. "You have an invisible spaceship," I stated and nodded, "Nice."
"Yeah," Jack said. "Tethered up to Big Ben for some reason," I said. "First rule of active camouflage. Park somewhere you'll remember," He said. He opened the champagne bottle and I giggled. He smiled and filled a glass. He gave it to me and our hands touched. I glanced at him and he at me before I looked down, smiling.
We sat down on two chairs that he brought up. I looked around and sighed after a long moment. "You know, it's getting a bit late. I should really be getting back," I said, getting up. "We're discussing business," Jack said. "This isn't business. This is champagne and flirting," I said with a smile as I looked down.
Jack got up and walked up to me, grabbing my chin gently and he tilted my head up. "Are you travelling alone? Are you authorised to negotiate with me?" He asked.
"About what would we be negotiating?" I asked. "I have something for the Time Agency. Something they'd like to buy. Are you in power to make payment?" He asked. "I should talk to my companion," I said.
"Companion?" He repeated as I moved away from him. "I should really be getting back to him," I said. "Him?" He repeated. "It's nothing like that . . ." I trailed off and looked around, "Um, do you have the time?"
Jack pressed the button on his remote and Big Ben lit up, showing it was nine-thirty. "Thanks," I said as I looked at the clock. I looked back at Jack as he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him.
"So when you say your companion, just how disappointed should I be?" He asked. "We're not dating. We're just friends," I said as I moved away from him slightly. He grabbed my hand and kissed it. I smiled and slowly pulled my hand away. He smiled, "Do you like Glenn Miller?" He pressed the button on his remote and music started to play.
He held out his hand to me and I smiled as I took it. He pulled me close to him and we started dancing. "It's 1941," He started and looked straight in the eyes, "The height of the London Blitz, the height of the German bombing campaign, and something else has fallen on London. A fully equipped Chula warship. The last one in existence, armed to the teeth. And I know where it is, because I parked it. If the Agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours, a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever. That's your deadline. That's the deal. Now, shall we discuss payment?"
"I think you were talking just then," I said as my voice drifted off. "Two hours, the bomb falls. There'll be nothing left but dust and a crater," Jack said. "So many promises," I said. "Are you listening to any of this?" He asked.
"You used to be a Time Agent and now you're some kind of freelancer," I said. "Well, that's a little harsh. I like to think of myself as a criminal," He said and he pulled me really close to him. "I bet you do," I said, blushing a little.
"So, this companion of yours, does he handle the business?" He asked. "I delegate a lot of that, yeah," I said. "Well, maybe we should go find him," He suggested. "How're you going to do that?" I asked.
"Easy. I'll do a scan for alien tech," He said. He let go of me and started scanning. I sighed, "Finally, a professional," I muttered to myself.
... ...
Jack and I were walking down a hospital trying to look for The Doctor. "Doctor," I called out. He came out of a room and walked up to us. "Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting," Jack said and shook The Doctor's hand, "Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."
"He knows. I had to tell him about us being . . . Time Agents," I said and The Doctor nodded. "It's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Spock," Jack said and then he walked past us towards the ward The Doctor was in.
"Mr. Spock?" The Doctor repeated as he looked back at me. "What was I supposed to say?" I asked, "You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of Doctor? Doctor who?"
"Nine centuries in, I'm coping," He said, "Where've you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll." I gave him a look, "Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid."
"What?" The Doctor asked with a frown. "What's a Chula warship?" I asked. "Chula?" He repeated as we walked to the ward. We saw Jack scanning the bodies on the beds, "This just isn't possible. How did this happen?"
"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" The Doctor asked. "What?" Jack asked with a frown. "He said it was a warship," I replied to The Doctor, "He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer."
"What kind of warship?" The Doctor asked Jack. "Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this," Jack said. "This started at the bomb site," The Doctor said, "It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?"
"An ambulance!" Jack snapped, "Look." He played a hologram, "That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait."
"Bait?" I repeated. "I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk," Jack said. "You said it was a war ship," I said. "They have ambulances in wars. It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents," He explained, "You're not, are you."
"Just a couple more freelancers," I said, shrugging. "Oh. Should have known. The way you guys are blending in with the local colour," He said, "I mean, gorgeous here was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain? Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."
I looked at The Doctor, "Doctor, what is happening here?" I asked. "Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot," He said, staring at Jack. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I don't know," He replied, looking at the bodies, "Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?"
I walked closer to one of the bodies and stared at it before suddenly it sat up, making me jump. Jack wrapped an arm around me and pulled me back. "Mummy. Mummy. Mummy? Mummy?" All the bodies said. "What's happening?" I asked. "I don't know," The Doctor said. The bodies all got up and started walking closer to us.
"Mummy."
"Don't let them touch you," The Doctor warned. "What happens if they touch us?" I asked as we walked backwards. "You're looking at it," He said.
"Help me, mummy."
"Mummy."
"Mummy."
"Mummy."
"Mummy."
"Mummy."
"Mummy."