Child of Earth
By Lumendea
Chapter Seventeen: Dalek: Into the Vault
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
….
Rose gulped down the waiting glass of water as she stepped into her Cambridge flat and locked the door behind her. Despite the November chill, her morning runs were still enough to build up a sweat. Every time she tried to talk herself out of them the reminder that in a few more months she'd be living in the TARDIS full time and having adventures even more frequently was enough to make her get up.
As she towelling off her face her phone rang and Rose answered it with a quick, 'Tyler' without even looking at the caller ID.
"Thorn," a tense-sounding Benton said. "I'm sending you to Utah."
"Utah," Rose repeated. A cold shudder went up her spine and she turned her full attention. "Not again, why? Please tell me it isn't Lake Silencio again." Though there wasn't really a lake there anymore, not unless the Americans had filled the huge hole with water.
"Van Statten," Benton informed her in a tired sounding voice. "A distress signal has been traced back to land he owns. We contacted Section 13 and they informed us that he'd got a secret bunker there. It's believed to be where he keeps his alien collection."
"A distress… he'd got a living alien then?" Rose questioned with a chill going down her spine. She remembered too clearly when one of Van Statten's 'friends' had gotten ahold of the Doctor.
"Seems like," Benton grumbled. "They're hoping you can help calm the alien down. The operation is due to go in tomorrow. Thanks to the U.N. ruling against keeping aliens prisoner without authorization we can go in. We're sending some of our forces to meet up with Section 13 there. Will you go?"
"Of course," Rose answered quickly as she started reaching for her bag. "Who knows what he's got locked up down there."
It didn't take her long to get ready. It never did if Rose was honest. A quick shower, a change of clothes and five minutes of frantic packing for two or three days and she was out on the curb as a black car pulled up. It wasn't until they were halfway to London that Rose realised she hadn't grabbed a book for the transatlantic flight.
….
One stop in a Heathrow shop, a transatlantic hop to New York City, a slice of pizza and a private flight to an airstrip outside of Salt Lake City, Rose stepped off the small plane and into the bright sunlight of the Utah desert. She was a bit achy from the flight but had thankfully gotten a few hours of sleep in the private plane.
Rose shielded her eyes and looked around. A large black SUV was parked only a few feet away with two uniformed UNIT soldiers looking ready to melt. The doors opened and another figure all but fell out of the back. Rose smiled as she recognised Swanic Eder or Swanic Donovan depending on if he was using his human wife's name. His pale skin looked almost white in the sunlight which hid the slight purple tint that she knew was there. He was shielding his eyes from the intense light. Rose noted that the white streaks in his otherwise brown hair seemed narrower than the last time she'd seen him. He wasn't exactly human, originating from the planet Viligrid so she wasn't sure what was normal for him. Otherwise, he appeared as a fairly normal human man dressed in jeans and polo shirt.
"Welcome back to Utah," Swanic greeted with a slight grimace. "I promise we'll try to make sure this visit goes better."
"Wouldn't take much," Rose countered as she pulled out her sunglasses from her shoulder bag and walked over to Swanic. "Good to see you."
"And these gentlemen are our UNIT escorts," Swanic told her as he gestured to the two men waiting for them. "Colonel Peterson sends his apologises for being unable to meet you, but he wanted to keep an eye on the operation."
"Understandable," Rose agreed as Swanic pulled open the SUV doors and she gratefully climbed into the thankfully air-conditioned car.
There were a few moments of movement as one of the UNIT men grabbed her carry on bag and stowed it in the back of the SUV and the other climbed into the driver's side. Swanic climbed in next to her with a grateful sigh. He took out a small handkerchief and dabbed his forehead.
"I'll be honest, my species really wasn't built for the desert."
"I'll be honest, mine wasn't either," Rose pointed out with a chuckle that made Swanic smile and nod in agreement. "How are Danielle and Michael?" Rose asked as the second soldier climbed into the front and the SUV began to pull forward. "Still in college right?"
"Oh yes and will be for a bit longer," Swanic replied with a chuckle. "They've both outright decided to pursue P. now. I keep telling them that they have jobs at Section 13 if they want them, everyone there has known them since they were born, but they want full qualifications."
"Well I wouldn't be too happy getting a job just because my Dad was an alien," Rose pointed out with a weak chuckle. "But it's good that they enjoy school enough to invest the time."
"Yes, what about you Rose? I know that university is a bit different in the U.K. You must be about done by now."
"Yeah I took a fourth year, concurrent degrees," Rose explained. "It's unusual, but it means I have four years like Americans. I'm doing well, but looking forward to being done."
"Ah yes… I understand you'll be leaving with the Doctor then," Swanic remarked carefully.
"That's the plan, see the universe and save some planets other than Earth from time to time," Rose responded as she eyed Swanic out of the corner of her eye. "What?"
"Oh nothing, it just seems a bit much to me." Swanic chuckled and shook his head. "I only travel with Section 13 makes me." He sighed and shifted in the seat. "To be honest I've begun taking with Matthews about retiring once Michael finishes school. Between growing up with alien artefacts and a degree in electrical engineering he'll be ready to take my place."
"That's right your wife… Evelyn is already retired isn't she?" Rose questioned.
"Yes, she is." Swanic agreed as the Utah desert kept rolling past the windows. "And it's nice to feel secure enough with the leadership that I'm not worried about what happens when I retire."
Sadly Swanic didn't have much to tell her about the signal. They hadn't moved in yet, but UNIT forces under the command of one Colonel Roberts were in the area to help. In the distance, Rose thought she could see the outskirts of Salt Lake City and inwardly sighed at the total lack of travel for fun that had been happening lately.
After about half an hour, they pulled off the road next to a large black semi-truck that Rose instantly recognised as a mobile command unit. There were no insignias on the side and she wasn't sure if it belonged to Section 13 or UNIT. As one of the soldiers opened the door to allow Rose to step out, she looked around and noted that she could see a group of structures in the distance. If that was where Van Statten was then he definitely knew they were here.
Still, she focused on the truck and as the back opened and she was gestured inside, Rose calmly climbed up the stairs. It was a tight fit and one wall was filled with computers and monitors with soldiers watching them intently. A small table was squished at the far end and she could see two officers sitting at it. One was in a UNIT uniform and the other in a U.S. Airforce uniform.
Rose nodded to Colonel Peterson, remembering that he was the head of the military forces of Section 13 and Doctor Matthews' second in command. The strongly built man looked tired but gave her a welcoming nod as she and Swanic sat down.
"Tyler," the man in the UNIT uniform greeted as he saluted her. "I'm Colonel Roberts of UNIT."
"Pleasure," Rose replied. "Glad to be here to help gentleman. What are we dealing with exactly?"
"Our scans picked up the distress signal three days ago," Colonel Peterson informed her. "Van Statten is well connected so I'm afraid we had to proceed very carefully. The man has a huge amount of power in the United States."
"Do we know anything about the distress signal?" Rose questioned as she looked at the screen.
"No," Colonel Peterson answered with a shake of his head. "It just keeps repeating a call for help. It's completely automatic, we haven't been able to reply to it, but when we tried the signal did change. That's why we're fairly confident that it is a living alien specimen."
"And Van Statten?" Rose asked, glancing towards the picture of the oily man which came up on screen.
"As you know he's the CEO of the American corporation GeoComTex. Buys up a lot of alien technology on the grey markets which he reverses engineers. Ever since the U.N. agreed on certain rules to try and keep anyone from starting a war and lessened the illegal trade his company's new technology releases have slowed."
"Oh too bad," Rose muttered sarcastically. "Well I can tell you that the Eclipse bunch don't think much of him and he's a slimy flirt, but I haven't got much else to add."
"Well hopefully Eclipse has nothing to do with this," Colonel Roberts muttered. "Course I'd love to find dirt on them in Van Statten's files."
Rose could only nod in agreement, the very reminder that they were still out there making her skin crawl. Aliens she could deal with. Many of them stood out and made noise if they were dangerous, but Eclipse was in the shadows. An elite bunch of alien technology traders that ran Black Sun with plans of world domination through some yet unknown means. They worried Rose far more than she liked.
"How are we getting in?" Rose questioned and the two officers exchanged a glance.
"As much as I'd like to rush in and take everything he's got," Colonel Peterson admitted. "We have to alert him that he's in violation and escort the alien out." He shrugged and gestured towards the screens. "We've got twenty more men on the way over, they'll be here in a few minutes."
"So we're just knocking on the front door?" Rose clarified with wide eyes.
"It's worked for you in the past," Colonel Roberts reminded her, but Rose got the distinct impression he didn't like it any more than she did.
…..
Van Statten's compound was fairly lacklustre. It was a boring looking complex with a few outbuildings around one larger, but plain looking one. Rose was fairly certain that it passed off as a warehouse for Van Statten's company. The main building had only one visible floor, confirming Rose's theory that it went deep underground. For a moment she wished that she had a vortex manipulator so she could just get down there before anything bad happened.
The UNIT soldiers spread out fast around the small fleet of SUVs and jeeps they'd all come in on, but Rose swallowed nervously even as the speaker crackled on. She couldn't help but wonder just how much firepower Van Statten had in his bunker and what he might be prepared to do with it. Next to her, partially behind one of the open topped jeeps Swanic was shifting nervously himself.
"Van Statten," Colonel Peterson's voice called over the speaker system. "A distress signal has been detected coming from within your bunker. Holding a living alien has been ruled a clear and present threat to global security by the United Nations Security Council and agreed upon by the President of the United States. Surrender the alien immediately."
The doors of the main building opened and two long lines of armed soldiers spilt out. Tensing, Rose held her breath, but thankfully no one opened fire and Van Statten's men settled into rest positions. Rose did a quick count, there were ten of them, but as she looked towards the doors she was distracted by the man himself appearing.
Van Statten just smiled from behind his soldiers with a small horde of assistants surrounding him. His eyes moved right past Rose and she was a bit relieved that he didn't seem to recognise her without the fancy dress and makeup.
"You can't be serious," Van Statten chuckled as he eyed the Colonel. "I'm Henry Van Statten and this is private property."
"You are holding a living alien in your vault," Colonel Peterson repeated and Rose began to shift away from the command staff. "Due to the newness of the laws, it has been decided to allow you to surrender the alien peacefully without any further repercussions."
Rose could tell that saying that nearly killed Peterson who looked ready to be sick to his stomach. Van Statten must have noticed too because he smiled smugly and waved his hand causing his guards to lower their guns. The realisation that he had a small private army in that bunker did not make Rose feel better about him or the situation.
"It would seem that I have no choice," Van Statten replied with his wide smile still in place.
Rose knew the instant they were all inside he was going to start making phone calls. None the less, Colonel Peterson followed him into the main building with a hesitant look in her direction. Rose couldn't deny that she had a very bad feeling about this.
They moved forward with Colonel Roberts falling into place beside her with Colonel Peterson moving along beside Swanic. Exchanging a look with Swanic, Rose was amazed at just how calm he seemed to be. If was an alien heading in here she'd be a lot more nervous. As they filed into a large concrete room with tile and more guards at the ready, Rose scanned it with her eyes. There was one emergency stairwell marked and a lift open and waiting.
"I'm sure you'll report that I've cooperated," Van Statten remarked as he turned to Colonel Peterson. "Pity, though, you know what I did with the Roswell crash. I could have done so much more."
"Aliens who send out distress signals do so because they expect someone to come for them," Peterson declared sharply as the five of them and one of Van Statten's aides climbed into the lift. "And then it becomes nasty business."
"I bought it legitimately at auction," Van Statten scowled. "Nothing had happened with its three prior owners. All it does is just sit there, all day and every day. It hasn't done anything."
"Yet," Rose muttered drawing Van Statten's attention towards her.
"You look familiar," he remarked with a raised eyebrow as his eyes moved up and down her figure. "Nice measurements."
"I kickbox," Rose replied, letting a hint of disgust into her voice.
But Van Statten just smiled and the lift opened with a soft ding. They stepped out into a rather elegant if small meeting room. There was one large flat screen television on one end of the room between some metal panelling to help dress up the dull concrete room. Van Statten sat down in the chair at the head of the table near a corner desk and an American flag. He gestured to the other places around the table with a smile.
"It will take your men a few minutes to make it down the stairs," he informed them with a chuckle before snapping his figures at his aide. "Some food for our guests." He then sighed dramatically and looked back at Rose. "I know I've seen you before."
"Then I'm sure I've blocked it out," Rose retorted, but again he only smiled and Peterson gave her a warning look. Rose figured that he knew she really wanted to hit him. She'd wanted to when they met in Seoul and she definitely wanted to now.
"So you come here and take my Metaltron," Van Statten observed as the aide returned with a pitcher of water and a plate of cut up fruit. "Then what?"
"There are authorities we can alert," Swanic replied calmly. "Earth is a level five protected planet and for the time being we want it to stay that way."
"It makes invading us illegally," Roberts told Van Statten. "But rescue missions by aliens are allowable as we are considered too primitive."
"That's a terrible system," Van Statten huffed. "It's been on Earth for almost fifty years. Why would anyone come for it now?" He leaned forward and gave them all that oily smile, "This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries. All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk."
"We're aware," Peterson assured him. "And you're not the only one, but there are lines that have to be drawn. Where is the alien?"
"In the Cage," Van Statten huffed. "We just finished it yesterday. I'd been after the Metaltron and you take it from me in only days."
Swanic was paler than before as Van Statten grabbed a remote and pointed it at the television. It flickered on to reveal a very dark room. A look of slight relief appeared on his face that made Rose's frown grow.
"There it is," Van Statten announced. "Fifty floors below us." He chuckled and gestured around them. "We're in the eagle's nest as it was."
"Fine, we need copies of all your records of the alien," Peterson told him as he rose to his feet. "Immediately."
"I'm cooperating," Van Statten insisted with a scowl.
Rose reached for the remote and studied it for a moment while Van Statten was distracted by glaring at Peterson. It was more complex than your usual television remote with a playback button. Remembering the look of relief on Van Statten's face at the dark room, Rose felt a dark suspicion flash in her head. She watched Van Statten stomp out of the room with his aide, Peterson and Roberts. Swanic stood and gave Rose a curious look, but she licked her lips and pressed the playback button.
The room was suddenly brightly lit and there on the far side of the room wrapped in heavy chains was a creature Rose had never seen herself and believed that she never would see: a Dalek. Then it began to scream.