As they landed at the Shadow Proclamation, it was immediately clear that this place wasn't what the Doctor expected. There was no sign of the Judoon anywhere, instead the Kahler's were in charge of the space station. Cyborgs stood with guns aimed at the TARDIS and a woman in a long white dress stood with them.
"You will exit the vehicle with your hands raised or we will enter by force," She called out. Jack looked at the Doctor as they stared at the monitor. The Doctor's fingers were moving along the keyboard as he tried to hack their system for information.
"I think we should leave," Jack told the Doctor as he leaned back, watching the Doctor work.
"I agree and we will in just a mom," The Doctor replied. His words were cut off as the Kahlers opened fire on the TARDIS. She rocked violent, knocking the Doctor into Jack. "They're shooting at my TARDIS."
"Get us out of here now," Jack snapped.
"I will once I finish gathering the information I need," The Doctor argued. Alarms sounded outside the door, the station turning red. Outside the Kahler had abandoned shooting at the TARDIS and were now trying to break their way in through the doors. The Doctor leaned over, securing them with a flick of a switch.
"What is going on?" Mickey wondered as he rushed into the room.
"We are being shot at because apparently the Shadow Proclamation doesn't like it when you hack their computers," Jack explained. The Doctor smiled at Mickey and went back to typing.
"Got it," He cried out happily. Reaching over he pulled the handbrake and the gunshots ceased as the TARDIS went on her way. The Doctor quickly got her out of the time vortex, setting her to orbit a small moon as he analyzed the information he had received. The TARDIS displayed the information on her monitor, scrolling it faster than Jack could read for her thief. The Doctor didn't talk as he read and communicated with the TARDIS telepathically. Jack watched on and it was clear by the way the Doctor's face had turned into a scowl by the time he looked away that the information he had found wasn't good. He mumbled something in Gallifreyan then ran his fingers through his hair.
"What did she do now?" Jack wondered as he watched.
"About two years ago, the Shadow Agency noticed that stars were beginning to go out in the Milky Way Galaxy. While this was nothing new, as stars die, they noticed that it was happening to healthy stars that still had long estimated life spans. They began to investigate the stars dying and over time, linked it back to Earth, specifically Torchwood. They infiltrated the building and found the Void Cannon. They ordered Pete to have it destroyed and he listened to them not knowing that Rose had hidden a second one. They left Earth and soon the stars were going out again, this time at a much faster rate. They returned and soon Torchwood was under investigation, but they couldn't find another cannon," The Doctor explained to Jack.
"Because Rose had hidden it," Jack interrupted to show that he was listening. The Doctor nodded.
"We know that Pete sent Mickey after Rose and he traced her to our universe. I don't know how long ago that was for them, but in this universe over a month has passed since that day. During that month, the Earth disappeared. Several of their operatives were on Earth at the time and they lost communication with them. They sent a second team to investigate and found that the Earth was gone. Because of the Void Cannon not being shut down as instructed, they have chosen not to look for the lost planet," The Doctor informed Jack.
"That is billions of lives that are lost. They can't ignore the entire planet for one person's decision," Jack argued.
"They can and they have. Finding Earth is not a priority for them. Since Earth's disappearance, the stars have stopped going out and so the Shadow Agency is willing to let it stay missing." The Doctor sat down hard in the captain's chair.
"Isn't there a way to make them change their minds?" Jack questioned as he sat down next to the Doctor.
"Not without giving them definitive proof that humans are important to this universe. I have seen humans at the end of our universe, but I don't know for sure that they will follow the same path here and I can't risk taking the TARDIS that far in time again. Especially not here," The Doctor sighed.
"So how do we find Earth?" Jack wondered. The Doctor glanced at him.
"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "We can go back and examine the space where Earth is supposed to be, but without additional help from the Agency or even a place to start it is going to be hard to find just one missing planet Jack. It could be anywhere in the Universe or in time. It could even be in an alternate universe because of the Void Cannon," The Doctor explained. He looked forward again as he leaned his head on Jack's shoulder. "The best thing to do would be to go back to our universe and shut the gaps before our Earth goes missing as well."
"We can't do that, though," Jack told him. The Doctor didn't answer him right away as he considered his words. It would be easy to forget about this universe and return to their own. He wasn't responsible for cleaning up Rose's messes, especially when he just wanted to go home to his daughters. He sighed. How could he face them and tell them that he had let billions of people perish because he just wanted to go home?
"I know," He replied at last. He was trying not to think about the fact that he had called Torchwood his home. He would worry about that later. Right now he had a planet to save.