27
Ianto had the antsies. Ants in his pants. Was Antsy. Had been for the last few days, ever since the horrible realization that they might be attacked by fuckwits. To this end, he was second guessing himself and was currently in his personal Ark Dome surrounded by papers. The blueprints and project files were scattered around him on the floor as he checked and double checked they were safe.
Jack had given up trying to comfort him. Instead he was feeding him, not a lot else to do really other than his daily routine around the mad man.
"Jack?"
"Hmmmm?" Jack pretended not to be waiting on edge.
"When the roads were cut around the back of the domes for the maintenance vehicles so we could access the sewer ponds… the heavy machinery was left behind right? For the deconstruction if this didn't get picked up?"
Jack stood staring at Ianto like he had grown an extra head "What?"
"The Dozer and digger… they were left behind. And the crane for the dome tops? Remember? We had a hell of a fight because they didn't see a problem with it, thinking they would use them again when we push out for the press area. Of course, the press area never happened as I won that argument, the then refused to take them saying they would rather leave them for a few months so when it all went tits up they could use them again. Soooo rude. In the end we agreed to leave them there, then locked them out as the contract states 'until project completion' which is now… well… another three months" Ianto explained calmly "So… there is a dozer and digger behind the equipment sheds."
"OK" Jack said slowly "So… what made you think of them?"
"Weapons."
Jack blinked, then tilted his head to one side while screwing his face up, "Huh?"
"I need to go check there are no keys or whatever that can make them start. Imagine if these activists or… private contractors… or hit men... or whatever the hell these people are who are fucking with us… find them. I never allowed for the possibility of one of those hitting the Domes. Might not do any damage but… what if." Ianto stopped speaking, tapping the page with his pen.
"So… we go check."
"We have to keep to the brief here. I mean, we have to pretend we are on an alien planet or something so… we will have to suit up like we are going out into an alien atmosphere" Ianto grimaced "Right. I hate the breathing devices. Best we do it at dawn or just before… so no press about if we cock up? Also, we don't want them to know what we are doing so… a training exercise?"
"If you want to go out and poke around, we have to do it right. Come on, Owen will have a cow if he can't' do it too" Jack patted Ianto's shoulder and they rose to go get their gear sorted for the morning push.
.
.
The atmo suits were the same kind that astronauts wore so they were basically big, bulky and shitty to move in. Owen was ahead of them like a puppy, rushing back and forth looking at everything like it had been years since he was allowed loose from a life of captivity.
They got around past the sheds and were all panting, Ianto not bothering to reply as Owen continued to complain loudly that they would all probably died on an alien planet by now. Weak laughter as they told him to behave and Ianto hoisted himself up the ladder to look inside the huge crane.
He jumped back down, then grunted as the extra weight was not comfortable, Jack in the bulldozer called out 'no keys' as did Owen from the digger. They did all confirm full tanks mind. Seriously. They had just… left them fully tanked up like … what… they had NO faith in the project?
Now Ianto was a little hurt.
They made it back into the airlock and Owen ripped off his helmet, panting as he complained that he could have died. He was fucking melting over here.
"Well, at least it is so early, there are no media out there to see us do that. Imagine the carry on if they knew those were there. Might have some dickhead hotwire one" Ianto laughed as he held Owen out of his suit "Damn… Owen you are sweltering in here. You did turn the cooling fan on in the helmet right?"
"The what?"
Ianto stared at him for a moment, then started to shake his head as it became apparent that they needed some drills with these suits, and a good training day for everyone to know how to survive in one if they have to pretend to abandon the domes… not that Ianto would let that happen but… his Ark Dome was still not known by others outside and it would give the media a good show.
"I need a drink" Owen muttered, taking off to leave the two men in their suits, gaping after him. More giggling ensued as they helped one anther out of their own hot sticky suits, not as hot as Owen's mind.
"You know, in a crisis he would feed us to the wolves to get a better chance of escape for himself" Jack said with a shake of his head.
"Yeah, I always thought that in a zombie apocalypse he might be the best nerd to be around but now… he might leave us behind to slow them down" Ianto agreed, both men laughing softly as they knew that in a real crisis that man would give his very life to protect everyone, just like them.
Committed to the cause.