1

It has been six months since the Floods and the world was now a different place. The cities were now underwater and once it was accepted that the waters were not receding as they had the previous times. They had gone down enough for some rooftops to be visible up in the mountain passes, that's it.

The ship was almost ready to float, the time to put things into action for the new life they had all worked hard to create. There had been no sign of Lurkers anywhere, the remote drones that scoured the outcropping land still above water level found nothing but the occasional animal. That was a good sign at least, the fact life went on.

Today everyone was in the Ready Room going over the last of the preparations for the act of tearing the Torchwood from the sea floor to rise and float… hopefully. God. Hopefully.

"Right… so the latest reports from the air test was no bubbles" Toshiko said as she swung from the screen, her large belly showing the child within was growing well. "We are now ready to begin the pressure tests."

Pressure tests. They had filled the bulkhead with air, the area between the outer hull and the inner 'skin' of the vessel and searched for bubbles that might show damage to the hull. None had been found but they all knew dirt could be plugging a multitude of sins that, once free of the dirt, might sink them again. A Pressure Test would move that dirt as the air was now pressured to force it's way through any cracks or holes.

"Bar fissures… we are a go" Korine agrees with her co-worker, smiling at Toshiko who was tapping on her tablet to one side now.

"Time frame?" Ianto asked calmly, singing in his chair beside Jack.

"Three hours tops, then we blow the valves" John spoke now, motioning Toshiko to sit and Owen looked at him with gratitude as John Strode forward to continue the conversation "We are confident that the patches are holding, a final pressure test for shits and giggles… then we are a go to engage the engines."

"And those?" Jack asked, doodling on a piece of paper.

"Last firing was the purr of a kitten. Seriously, you guys did not even know that yesterday we fired her up to impulse with the brakes on?" John asked with glee "So… yes. I think she will rise with no problems."

"Knock on wood" Ianto muttered.

"Yep" Jonh said, reaching for the table of wood, knocking his knuckles along the Torchwood Tree trunk used to form the table.

Time to rise this bitch.

.

.

"Five by five, green lights… wait … a red on the door seals in… no… fixed." Toshiko was speaking so softly you might not hear her but the man standing next to her had exceptional hearing, able to hear a door slamming something in the vessel the size of Manhattan Island.

"OK… are we ready?" John asked, his hands paused as he glanced over at Ianto who nodded and took a physical step back, allowing Jack to take the spot.

This was a big deal. A Crusty was in charge. Not just any Crusty mind, Prince Ianto's Crusty.

"OK kids, let's take this slow and fine. Dominosh, I see a light blinking, is it OK?"

"Yes Sir, it is the same problem as last time, Frick and Frack down there have their bloody door open again, nothing new. I have already sent word to Hamish to walk across the way and slam it on them" cane a grumbled response.

Ianto was amused as was everyone else, waiting for the light to change before the Dweller crew all nodded in unison and then Ianto nodded to Jack gave the order to rise.

There was a soft coughing noise… then nothing.

Jack slowly turned to look at Ianto who shrugged then offered "Maybe she needed to clear her throat? A lot of crap in her intake valves and such… might take a couple of goes to flush the system properly, all the tests were with the park brake on sir."

"Cheeky little Dweller" Jack scolded then nodded "Toshiko give her one more flush of the pipes, this time with impulse speed set along with the … park brake."

Giggling around the flight deck as Toshiko did as asked, those with her moving their hands over the console she had come to know intimately. There was another cough, then a lough booming sound that had some of them jumping even Ianto said softly "Thar she blows."

"OK, this time" Jack said quietly as he anchored his feet, "let's give this majestic lady some time to do it right."

Toshiko nodded, turning in her chair to speak in another dialect she had also come to know well, those working for her nodding as fingers flew and then there was a soft resonating hum.

"Gurl, fix that" she muttered, still focused on her own screen. And the Dweller chirped a reply.

Then there was a soft shudder and she said louder "It's OK, she just shaking off the mud like a wet dog… come on Mainframe… you get do this."

Then… silence.

"We're free" someone yelled, the entire place whooping as it became clear that the vessel was rising up through the depths, the screens for the outside cameras showing the passing over an underground city.

Ianto shuddered as he knew it was really a tomb, so many trapped in underground bunkers where they mistakenly thought they would be safe. Now all gone. Rescue Parties had checked, hopeful of survivors but… the seals had not held in any of them, all those inside perished.

Then there was a brightness that cut the feed for a moment before it flickered back. The cameras had adjusted.

Sunlight.

"Oh, my goddess on a dragon's back" someone called out with glee "We did it… she's floating!"

"Tosh" Jack said firmly "deploy the tethers."

"Aye Captain" she replied, pushing a button that send multiple anchors shooting down towards the murk they had just escaped, then as they hit bottom, the chains tightened back up.

They all felt a slight bump, a subtle change then Toshko said "We have stability. She is secure."

Jack swung to Ianto and nodded this part for him alone.

Ianto swallowed thickly and then said with as much calm as he could muster "open the vents… let the air in."

Everyone cheered as around the vessel vent after vent opened, those people waiting behind them watching the huge doors rising to show large areas that had been submerged for so long, silt, a few fish flapping and even coral on the edges… but each venting station had an area flattened along the hull the size of a football field for maintenance and such, making it a muddy area that you could carefully walk on.

And they did.

People stood outside for the first time since the floods… for some.. the first time in their entire lives.

No longer Crusties, no longer Dwellers.

They were all people of the Torchwood now.