Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad
Chapter 30
The snowy streets were still quiet around Trowbridge, a fact for which the Torchwood team was thankful. Another helpful point was that they could drive right to the spot they wanted because it was an open lot outside the new neighbourhood being built there. That meant their vehicle's broad tires would obliterate the tread tracks from their visitor with a little careful steering, making additional clean up unnecessary.
To avoid possible problems, Jack used his wrist strap to briefly cut the little metal dog's power so he and Ianto could simply load the unit into the back of the SUV and disappear. They took the Doctor's preferred model of robot to an empty bay at the big storage facility Torchwood owned in Splott for archiving the lives of past operatives, settled it among waiting packing blankets and rolls of plastic pallet wrap, then cleaned all the snow off of it. Finally, the Captain allowed the unit's power to re-engage. The tiny dish ears rotated, and the antennae tail slowly wagged as systems came back online, but the robot's workings did not sound healthy at all.
"Mm… Mmm… Master?" K-9 stammered, trying to focus on the two men before it, the red glow behind the covers over his photo-receptor eyes going bright and dim at random.
"Sorry, K-9," Harkness apologised, crouching down to be at the robot's level. "I'm not the Doctor, but we're trying to get in touch with him."
"Please ident… ident… identify," the dog requested, his speech patterns and the noisy whirring of his mechanics proving he was obviously damaged in some way.
"I'm Captain Jack Harkness," the American made appropriate introductions. "This is Ianto Jones. We're part of Torchwood Cardiff in Wales on Earth. I'm an old Companion of the Doctor's, and my team here tries to protect this world from hostile aliens. You came through the Space-Time Rift that runs through the city, into the year 2011."
"T… Torchwood anagram acknowledged fr… fr… from local Mm... Mm… Mark VI download re… re… received upon arrival," K-9 responded haltingly. "Request ass… assistance to… to… to… to find Mistress…"
"Do you mean Sarah Jane Smith?" Ianto asked curiously, wondering if the unit was hers after all but time lost and so not missing yet as far as she knew.
"Negative," the robot replied, awkwardly trundling over to where Jack crouched and extending the cup-like sensor on his head. "Contact l… lost with Mistress Romana. Re… request… re… request… re… re… Help… TARDIS, help find…"
"We can't help you find the TARDIS," Harkness said sadly. "We're on Earth and there's no telling where the Doctor is."
"You are… are… TARDIS," K-9 stated, retracting the sensor.
"No, I'm Jack," the Captain half-smiled, feeling sorry for the obviously confused machine.
"Sensors identify as… as TARDIS," was the short response. "Chronon and… and… and Vortex sig… signatures con… con… confirmed."
"I…" Jack blinked in surprise. "I was told I've been touched by the core energy at the heart of the Doctor's TARDIS, but I'm not the actual vessel."
"Help…" K-9 repeated, lowering both his head and tail in apparent distress.
"I wish I could," Harkness breathed, resting his hand on the dog's blocky silver back for a moment before standing up once more.
Ianto's mobile rang just then and he quickly answered it, switching to speaker as soon as he heard who was on the other end of the line.
[I have a very tenuous connection with the Doctor,] Turlough reported from who knew where, the reception crackling off and on. [He wants to know the model number of the unit with you.]
"K-9," Ianto called evenly. "Your Master needs to know which version you are."
"Mark… Mark II…" the robot stuttered.
There was a pause as Turlough apparently relayed the information, only pulses of static audible from the mobile.
[He wants to know what it's doing in Cardiff,] the redhead finally stated, sounding more than slightly irritated.
"He said he wants our help to find his Mistress," the young Welshman supplied. "Someone named Romana."
Another period of static broken silence followed, then a less than cheerful answer.
[The Doctor wants you to "put the unit into sleep mode and store it somewhere safe" until he comes for it,] Turlough explained, the line crackling again. [He's concerned, but obviously not enough to consider it a priority. Mark I stayed on Gallifrey, but apparently Mark II was severely damaged a long time ago when the TARDIS passed through an anomaly in a Rift Storm and entered E-Space. He left the unit in the Null Universe there, where it was able to function normally again. It was with a fellow Timelord who chose to remain in that dimension… a woman named Romana. He thinks she eventually returned to Gallifrey before disappearing again, but left K-9 in E-Space as an ambassador with the Tharil, Biroc, that she'd worked with while there. The Doctor didn't realise the Cardiff Rift cut through E-Space as well, and says it's "not a good sign". He promised to try to investigate the situation, but claims he's "just too busy" at the moment.]
"Great," Jack frowned. "Thanks for the help, Turlough. Ianto and I will take care of things here and meet you back at the Hub."
[Sorry we couldn't do more,] the thirty-year-old replied then ended the call.
"K-9," Harkness called, crouching once more to gently pat the metal dog on the head. "The Doctor has asked us to have you go to sleep, so we can put you somewhere safe until he's able to come for you. Can you do that?"
"A… Affirmative," the unit acknowledged. "K-9 lost the Mistress… K-9 is a bad… a bad… a bad dog."
"No," Ianto reassured as he came to crouch beside his partner. "You're a good dog, K-9. You came to get help."
The robot wagged his tail and swivelled his dish-like ears upright, apparently consoled.
"We can put you a few bays over with my things," the young Archivist suggested. "And there's a nice thick blanket in the SUV to keep you from collecting dust while you sleep."
"Affirmative," K-9 wagged. "En… engaging long term sl… sl… sleep mode."
His head lowered all the way, the light left his eyes and the little unit became utterly still as the strained sound of his internal workings went silent.
"Let's get him moved," Jack sighed. "Then you grab the blanket and we'll lock everything back up again."
"I can carry him," Ianto offered, getting a secure grip on the metal dog where his neck connected to his body and the bottom edge of his chassis in the back. "Being a Changeling does sometimes have advantages."
"Oh, yeah," his partner nodded, opening the roll-up door so the younger man could exit the storage bay, then locking it down once they were both outside. "That whole muscle and body mass thing for flight and battle. A little stronger, faster and more agile than a normal human. Higher stamina too?"
"Supposedly," Ianto confirmed vaguely, finding a nice open space among his possessions where a throw rug rested in the bay the older man opened, and settling K-9 into it. "At least barring recent resurrection hangovers or serious trauma. Thinking of putting the notion to the test?"
"Well, tonight is 'dabble' till you drop night," Harkness pointed out with a shrug. "And the team does have the Holiday off tomorrow."
"So, plenty of opportunity for a full-blown experiment," Ianto stated with raised brows. "Good thing I'm a willing test subject in this case."
He disappeared outside for a moment, returned a moment later carrying a gold wool horse blanket with broad stripes of black and red across one end. The two of them got it draped over K-9's still form, tucking it close at the bottom.
"Good dog," the young Welshman murmured, lightly patting the robot's blanket muffled head. "I feel so sorry for the poor thing. Sounds like he's really lost and in a bad way. I'd have thought the Doctor would be more willing to come for him, especially if he's concerned about how he got into the Rift."
"Me too," the older immortal admitted with a brief frown. "I wonder if he Regenerated again since I last saw him."
"Turlough might know," Ianto offered, waiting as the Captain locked down the storage bay once more. "Might be worth asking him when we get back."
They climbed into the SUV, both of them casting a sad look at the sealed compartment across the car park.
"I wonder if his Mistress is still alive," Jack murmured. "If she got away from Gallifrey before it all went to hell, she'd be the only other surviving Timelord in the Universe now. And she may not even know what happened to their world."
"Which makes me even more curious as to why the Doctor doesn't seem very interested," his Archivist sighed, pulling his PDA from his coat pocket. "I was going to suggest we go back for K-9 and take the poor thing to the Hub. But scans show he's bleeding high levels of extremely unstable chronon energy, as well as some tiny traces of gamma radiation, residual Rift pulses, and something disturbingly close to dark energy. That's why the phone reception was so rough, and it would likely play merry hob with the computers back home."
Harkness nodded unhappy agreement as he started the big black Torchwood vehicle, and pulled out onto the road. Soon they were cruising through Splott, heading back for the Millennium Centre and the Hub, their earlier high spirits now considerably dimmed as they thought of the poor lost K-9 unit sleeping alone in the dark of the storage bay.
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AN: Poor K-9… at least they have him tucked away safe now until the Doctor shows up.
Posting Saturday and Sunday until New Year's Day… And I'll be doubling up as well as posting when I can during the week, because I really want to at least get through Christmas Eve by our own Christmas Day. Happy Holidays…
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM