The true nature of John Frobisher's predicament is beginning to become clear to him... Is he being used?
The newly formed 'gang of three' visit Kate at UNIT headquarters at the Tower of London...
The flashback scenes for Frobisher tally directly with the scenes from Children of The Earth, and my own take on Frobisher's character. I was keen to give an insight into how I thought he was feeling.
Facts about the 456 are sketchy, there is a great deal about them and their abilities that is not explained. I have, therefore, not attempted to do so, merely writing a version of events that may or may not be plausible.
Scene 9.
Flashback.
Events were spiralling out of control.
It proved impossible to kill Harkness. The assassination attempt failed. He just wouldn't die!
The young medic involved had been liquidated too. Another young and useful life ended.
When was this going to stop?
John Frobisher was a civil servant, he didn't sign up for this.
Murder and mayhem.
The Torchwood Hub was a smouldering hole in the ground. It was done on his say so.
Now he would have to pull in the daughter and grandson...keep them in custody, that would flush Harkness out of the woodwork.
Frobisher had come to the conclusion that Prime Minister Brian Green was nothing but a yes man. Only out to make sure he kept the voters happy at the front , whilst shafting them from behind.
He'd been so flattered to be given a key role in this affair.
Now he could see, he was being set up as a fall guy...the buck would stop just short of the leaders, the buck would stop with him.
Bridget Spears knew it, she'd said as much.
His wife knew something was up too. She'd seen how frightened he'd been the night before when he'd come home. He'd tried to appear normal, carefree, but it was all an act, and she knew it as well as he did.
Even his beloved girls, Holly and Lily, when he'd kissed them as they sat at the kitchen table, even they'd noticed that he didn't normally do that, it was unusual. He'd laughed it off, pretended he had to kiss them, in case he forgot what it felt like. But he saw Anna's face, saw how she looked at him.
She knew it was a lie.
She knew because he'd never lied to her before. Had he? Well maybe he had.
Once or twice.
He put his elbows on his desk. Head in his hands.
Why him?
Sitting around the meeting table, he'd tried to stay detached. As they discussed which children should be handed over, in return for avoiding total destruction.
Who could possibly make that decision?
Who could say whose child deserved to live and whose should be sacrificed. Thank God his own family would be safe. At least there was that.
None of their children would be chosen.
How did that make him feel?
Nauseous.
Knowing that only his position meant they were safe. How many of the children chosen might go on to make a huge difference in the world given the chance?
They'd never know.
It stank.
God. He was so weak. Why couldn't he stand up to them? Tell them where they could go. Tell them he wanted no more part of it.
Because he would lose everything. Everything he'd ever worked for. His job, his home, his wife...his children would be taken. They had the power to finish him.
What would be left?
Nothing.
Scene 10
The Doctor, Clara and Jack returned to the Tardis. But it remained on the ground. At the UNIT Headquarters in The Tower.
"So, we've learned very little." Jack sighed.
"Clearly the 456 are trying to intervene again, put Earth on a path to destruction. Revenge. It's biological warfare, on a massive scale. Somehow we have to stop them."
"But why do it this way?" said Clara, " why not make their demands as they did before, then release the virus if they were refused?"
"I don't know." The Doctor frowned, " and I really hate not knowing."
"And why do I get the distinct impression, that if we are lucky enough to find them, they're not going to be open for a friendly chat?" Added Jack.
Just then the Tardis phone trilled.
It was Kate.
"There's something you need to see Doctor. We've been doing a bit of digging."
Moments later the three were gathered around a computer screen, in Kate's office, while she scrolled through various images.
"This is a painting of Jean Armand du Plessis...better known as Cardinal Richelieu."
"Oh, Lord," said Clara, "not another one!"
Kate continued.
"Around the time of his death, in 1642, the plague began to appear in Europe, it spread rapidly...culminating in the Great Plague of 1665, which swept this country. Hundreds of thousands died. "
"So we think the 456 may have visited Earth then, and asked for children, and were rebuffed."
Jack looked puzzled.
"But the previous times they came to Britain, said we were middle men, unimportant...this was France...so they could have visited anywhere in the world, not just us?"
The Doctor scowled, as Jack continued,
"How many times throughout history, might they have turned up? I mean, The Black Death...in Medieval times, springs to mind." He said. "Anytime, anywhere? Might their demands have been met, in the past, to make them go away?"
Clara spoke up.
"Just think how they would have been viewed, back then, like a manifestation of the Devil, or the wrath of God, the populace would have been confused, terrified...they wouldn't understand the concept of aliens. It would have been like the supernatural or witches or some deep religious superstition. I mean, I'm no historian, but wasn't there a Protestant faction that believed that the second coming, or Armageddon, would happen in 1666...because it was the number of the beast? What if the beast was actually the 456?"
"The Fifth Monarchists, they were called...You're right Clara." Kate replied.
The Doctor rubbed his temples,
"When I regenerated, I wondered where this face came from. It seemed familiar. I never really know you see. They just come. Now I think I may have some idea. These people don't have my face...I have theirs!"
"So you think there may have been others?" Clara was staring at him.
"Oh, I'm absolutely sure there were. Who knows, I may even have stepped in before, in previous incarnations, intervened, foiled them in some way. Like with Malcolm. I must have angered them in some way. This face was chosen for a specific purpose. As a direct response to the threat posed by the 456."
"I don't entirely agree...it could also be because you, as a Timelord, would be useful to them. They could be drawing you in. You are powerful in their eyes, more powerful than a human." Clara said.
The Doctor turned to Kate...
"Do you have footage from 2009? I'd like to see the moment 'The Ambassador' arrived at Thames House. I would also like to see what happened when the 456 signal was reversed by Jack."
"I'm sure we have news footage...I'll find it, it shouldn't take many minutes."
They watched the screen.
A column of fire poured from the sky, directly into Thames House and the pre built holding tank.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes.
There existed no footage of the signal reversal, but Kate pulled up eye witness statements, taken at the time.
Apparently a similar phenomenon was observed.
"This is where we need to be, Jack. Clara. Right there. At that moment. It would be incredibly dangerous, but if I could fly The Tardis directly into that column, we could trace it back to source."
"An orbiting ship do you think Doctor?"
"Unlikely, nothing was detected at the time. More likely their home planet."
"Thank you Kate." The Doctor turned towards her. "I think we've seen enough. Clara, Jack, I think we have our plan!"