Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad
Chapter 47
It was already turning into one hell of a day, and Operation Weevil Weirdness had only just begun.
The trio donned surgical gloves and turned their attention to Jerry. Three vials of blood were drawn, hair tufts and skin scrapings collected, as well as a deeper tissue sample from near the self-inflicted gashes on the alien's unlovely face. With those items safely stored, the Torchwood operatives set about disinfecting the various wounds on the Weevil and checking for broken bones. It was while they were cutting away the soiled boilersuit to exam the creature's gashed right shoulder, that they found something very out of place on her back just past the pronounced ridge of her scapula.
"What the hell is that?" Gwen gaped when the strange fleshy lump the size of a cricket ball was exposed. "Did it just move?"
"Okay…" Jack breathed, diving into the medical kit for a large sample container and a laser scalpel. "You two, outside the cell. I'm gonna try to remove whatever this is, and I'd prefer you not be in range if things get ugly."
Reluctantly, his team complied, his partner keeping his uninjured hand on the door and staying between Cooper and the cell. They watched as their leader cautiously ran the surgical tool's beam almost all the way around the edge of the swelling, then used forceps from the kit to start peeling the flesh up. A tiny blood slick tentacle whipped out at him and he jumped back with a shout of surprise.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," he sneered, turning to look at his companions. "Change of plan. Ianto, got any weapons on you?"
"Only the ones I create," the twenty-six-year-old stated truthfully. "Will a blade do, or are you after a gun? If it's the latter, your Webley's on your belt."
"I need you to come get it and be ready to shoot what I throw into the back corner," Harkness directed. "Gwen, you stay out there and keep that door closed."
"What is it?" Ianto breathed as he entered the cell to carefully unholster the older man's weapon and prepare it to fire.
"A baby Xhoquitt," Jack frowned, delving into the first aid kit for a pair of long handled tongs. "Which means we need to check Joan and try to police the St. Mary's colony along with that section of sewer to see if there are anymore. I still want Martha to test the samples we took, but I'm thinking Jerry's behaviour may have been caused by this little monster eating her alive."
"Ready when you are," the young Welshman nodded solemnly, stepping over out of the way and already aiming the gun at the far corner.
The Captain got a good grip on the instruments he held, then peeled back the skin flap, grabbed the wriggling alien infant with the tongs and hurled it into the line of fire. The roar of the Webley was deafening in the enclosed space, but one shot was all it took. The .38 calibre round caught the mutant octopus in the top of its gator-like head, exploding its skull and half its body.
"Nice shot," Harkness grinned, letting the younger man re-holster the weapon. "Okay, Gwen, come give us a hand. We need to finish stripping off Jerry's boilersuit, make sure there aren't any more chewing on her. Then I want to cut away the dead tissue here, clean it up, and use some spray bandage over it and the rest of the deeper wounds."
The former constable joined the two immortals in the cell once more, and between them they gave the Weevil a thorough going over. Fortunately, they didn't find any other suspicious lumps so they were able to simply treat her injuries and put her in a fresh set of clothes. Then they moved her to the clean cell next to where Janice and Judy were still moaning, so she could sleep off the tranquiliser. Finally, they put the Xhoquitt remains in a container for Martha to analyse, did a cursory clean-up of the enclosure and gathered up all their gear. Operation Weevil Weirdness had been a surprising success. The down side of the mission however, was that they all needed a serious shower when they were done, to wash the stench from their skin and hair.
They trooped upstairs, left the samples in the Autopsy Lab, stored the other equipment, and prepared to go clean up. Just then the cog-wheel door opened to admit Turlough, Lois, and Martha. A quick rundown of the situation was given, along with orders for the team medic to analyse the samples while the other two tranquilised Joan, and both she and Jerry got a good once over with the Bekaran to check for Xhoquitt young, with the other two Weevils getting at least a passing scan for safety's sake.
Then Gwen grabbed the extra clothes from her locker, towels from the store room, and took over the Hub's rarely used communal shower block, with Jack and Ianto disappearing into their quarters behind the office. Thirty minutes, loads of alien enzymic shampoo/bodywash – courtesy of a huge crate that had fallen through the Rift years ago and been thoroughly tested for human safety by Owen - and untold gallons of hot water later, the three senior team members reappeared. All their soiled, containment bag wrapped clothing went into a waterproof duffle for special cleaning and were safely stored in an Archive box before being placed on the stairs near the lift past the cog-wheel door.
"Update!" Jack called as they all reassembled in the Hub. "Boardroom in five minutes, Ianto will bring the coffee."
In no time the current Torchwood team had all gathered for the meeting and were sipping fresh cups of amazing coffee prepared exactly the way they liked it.
"Everyone have a good Holiday?" Harkness asked before things got started, receiving enthusiastic replies from the late comers. "Glad to hear it. Because we've already got trouble to deal with. Turlough, any signs on the scans of further infestations with the rest of the Weevils?"
"No," the redhead reassured. "Joan checked out fine and is sleeping off her mild sedative. We did a quick scan on Janice and Judy as requested just to be sure, and they're clear. Looks like Jerry had the only uninvited guest, and fortunately just the one."
"Martha," their leader continued, relieved none of the rest of the aliens in the Vaults were infected. "Anything in those samples to explain Jerry's aggression and self-mutilation issues?"
"Nothing aside from really high adrenalin levels, loads of histamines and the beginnings of a localised infection," the young doctor explained. "I think they're all caused by that thing chewing on her. And since they don't have a way to communicate that we can understand, her violence was the only thing she had to express her pain and frustration. The tranquilisers probably took the edge off the adrenalin. If we keep her sedated for a couple of days, I think her system will rebalance itself, and I'll be able to treat the infection and allergic reaction while she's out. Make sure she gets vitamin and nutrient injections three times a day while she's down and she'll be feeling great after all's said and done."
"All good news," the American at the head of the table smiled. "Now here's the bad. We need to sweep the sewers for at least a two-kilometre radius from where we met the adult Xhoquitt. Take the Annihilator and blast every tunnel just to be sure. We also need to use it on the St. Mary's S-L, and take it on any Weevil hunts until we're sure all the nasty little predators are gone. In answer to your questioning look, Lois, S-L stands for 'Shit-Load.' Our own favourite Archivist has kept the title going by putting it in the official files for the species, but you can blame that little gem's origin on Doctor Owen Harper. He claimed it was more appropriate than 'colony' because of their coprophagic tendencies."
"Considering the storm that the various weather stations show moving in," Ianto spoke up, giving Habiba a sympathetic nod as she made a disgusted face over the Weevil revelations. "It may be wise to hit St. Mary's today and try the sewers once the weather clears, or we'll be dodging angry Weevils the whole time."
"And we're low on spray," his partner nodded. "So, let's run the Rift logs first, see if anything else has come calling. Then we'll plan the visit to Weevil Central."
A quick glance around to see if there was any other business the team wanted to bring up, then Jack rose to indicate they should all get on with the day.
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AN: Yeah… No Cosmic Rabies. Just a nasty little octo-croc (which is bad enough… poor Jerry…).
Ianto is a wee bit damaged, but doesn't have to worry about foaming at the mouth and going violently mad because of it… Yes, I know I'm awful for worrying you. Boxing Day at Torchwood will get better (sort of), I promise.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM