Army of Ghosts
"Planet Earth.
A beautiful planet, 4.54 billion years old, filled with life. Its surface is 71% water, the rest is huge landmasses, upon which its inhabitants, the Human race live. It is where I fell. It is where the Doctor found me again.
Ten years prior, I had been orbiting Earth. I meant them no harm; I was merely observing the planet that was so beloved by that mad Time Lord. It was in his memory, that I stood in the doorway of my ship and watched it turning and turning. I believed him dead, lost in the fire and the rage of the Time War. It was my belief that I would never see that man again. Watching Earth was one of the few ways I could feel close to him again.
Then, Torchwood shot me down. My ship burned and I crashed. I died and yet, I didn't.
I am the Captain. I am the last of the Time Ladies.
This is how the Doctor found me."
Deep inside the heart of Torchwood, were two impossible things.
The first was a sphere, a huge thing, suspended in the air, quiet and unmoving. A foreboding presence, making the scientists who observed it feel wrong and somewhat ill. Unable to look at it directly for long periods of time, it was monitored through the use of computers, but it gave no readings to speak of. No mass, no age, it didn't radiate anything at all. According to the machines, the sphere didn't even exist.
The second was hidden away in a different room, sealed off to nearly everyone apart from a select few. Suspended inside a spherical glass stasis chamber was Torchwood's most valuable find.
It was a woman, young in appearance and seemingly fairly tall. Her arms were stretched out, her wrists shackled, the rest of her body just hanging limply, her chin against her chest with long black hair hanging either side of her face like curtains. She wore a plain black vest top and a pair of matching jeans, but her feet were bare. Hanging from her neck, secured with a bright gold clasp was a red cloak, embroidered with bizarre golden symbols. Her skin was pale but, every so often, her entire body glowed with a golden hue and her lips would part, letting out wisps of golden energy that was swirl in front of her before disappearing.
At a desk in the corner of the room, scientist Rajesh Singh looked up from his Sudoku book, his pencil poised over one of the boxes as he eyed her, watching her body settle back to its unmoving state before returning to his book. This particular puzzle was a rather difficult one.
Yvonne Hartman smirked arrogantly as she watched the young woman on a laptop screen. As the leader of Torchwood, she considered the capture of her as one of her biggest achievements. Soon, she would be able to capture the famous Doctor in the same way and add him to Torchwood's extensive alien collection. She knew that it would be hard to capture him, she knew he would hate everything they did within the company but with the woman as leverage? She knew, somehow, that he wouldn't refuse.
She checked her watch. It was nearly quarter to. Nearly time for the next ghost shift of the day. She smiled, picking up a pair of sunglasses from her desk before heading out of her office.
"Two minutes to the next shift. Let's make it a good one, people!"
Through the doorway into the room came one of the workers, Adeola, though she was expressionless, her movements robotic as she walked to her desk.
"Come on, you two." Yvonne tutted.
"Sorry, we're late." Adeola replied, though there was not a hint of embarrassment or guilt displayed on her face.
"Save it 'til later." muttered Yvonne, rolling her eyes as Adeola was followed by another worker, Gareth.
"Sorry we're late." he repeated in the same flat tone, passing his boss without a single glance at her, both of them taking a seat at their desks.
Yvonne hardly noticed as she took a deep breath and addressed the entire room, her voice carrying from her place just in front of her office to the other end, where after the two giant levers on either side of the room, was just an empty space and a blank white wall. She marched forward, slipping on her sunglasses as, through the white wall, the room became batched in a bright white light.
"And we're into Ghost Shift."
"Online," came the automatic voice of the computer.
Barely a minute passed before an alarm sounded and Yvonne, who had been standing proudly at the front of the room, jumped in surprise. She ripped the sunglasses from her face and hurried over to one of the computers, looking over the young man's shoulder at his computer screen, looking at the readings and the problem.
"What've we got?"
"Something's interfering with the ghost field."
"Location?" she questioned.
"It's close..." he murmured, tracing the location. "It's within the city."
Yvonne looked up, the Ghost Shift still active. Realising the severity of the situation, she scowled. "Close it down."
The scientists operating the large levers glanced at each other, unsure whether to follow her instruction. A Ghost Shift had never been terminated early before. Then again, there had never been an issue before.
"Close it down!"
At Yvonne's shriek, they jumped and obeyed, using their strength to pull the levers, forcing the system offline and ending the Ghost Shift, the levers clicking into the correct position. Yvonne eyed the two scientists and the levers, making certain that her instruction had been properly obeyed before turning her attention back to the computer screen, wanting to find out what had interrupted the Shift.
"It was a very specific excitation of the ghost field which makes it easy to pinpoint."
On his screen, there was an image of the Earth, which he clicked on, zooming right into the UK and then even further, in on London.
"Almost there... South London," he clicked again, frowning. "South East 15. It's a council estate, the Powell Estate. S-U-15-7-G-O. It was a public area."
Yvonne gave him a sideways glance. "Can we patch into the CCTV network?"
He started to rapidly type on his keyboard, inputting the appropriate commands. "Doing it now."
It was mere seconds before a live viewing of a small park appeared on the screen. Controlling the camera, he forced it to turn, showing them the rest of the area. Slowly, a blue 1960s Police Box, the TARDIS, was brought into the frame of the camera. Yvonne's eyes widened, recognising it. She tried to lean in closer to the screen in an attempt to get a better look.
"Oh my God..." she uttered, stunned.
"Is it him?!"
Another click zoomed in on the video, confirming their thoughts.
"It's him!"
Then, on the screen, the box faded and disappeared. Yvonne straightened, the sight she'd just witnessed an unbelievable one. She knew what it meant though. It was all going exactly as expected. She hurried from the room, breaking into a run once she reached the corridor. As she fled along the hall, she pressed a button on the comm in her ear, linking her with Rajesh Singh, who was still sitting in front of the woman.
"Rajesh," came her voice into his ear. "It's him!"
Startled, he rose from his desk, leaving his puzzle book upon it and walked towards the stasis chamber.
"Now, we get to find out who you are, Time Lady."
Within the ground floor warehouse of Torchwood, the TARDIS appeared. As it materialised, soldiers armed with guns burst in through the doors, one of them shouting orders, surrounding the box on all sides and cocking their weapons. For a moment, nothing happened and they all glanced at each other, waiting for the new arrival to come out. If they didn't come out, then they were under orders to go in.
Just as they were about to move, the door opened and out came the man they had all been waiting for.
He was youthful in appearance and very tall and slim. His hands, which he raised in response to the guns, had long fingers and his skin was stretched rather tautly over his bones. He had a head of thick brown hair with sideburns crawling down the sides of his face. Aside from those, he was clean shaven, but his pale skin was dotted with freckles. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown, his eyebrows currently frowning at the soldiers that surrounded him. He was dressed in a well-fitting dark brown suit with blue pinstripes, a white shirt and a brown tie patterned with misshapen blue squares.
This was the Doctor.
Yvonne entered the room, pushing through the soldiers and standing in front of the Doctor, somewhat out of breath from all her rushing about.
"Oh!" she gasps, an excited note in her voice. "Oh, how marvellous."
She began to clap, smiling widely. "Oh, very good! Superb! Happy day!"
The soldiers glanced at each other for a moment before they lowered their guns and followed suit, also applauding. The Doctor looked somewhat bewildered and lowered his hands slowly as they stopped clapping.
"Um... Thanks..." he paused, still unsure of what to make of the reception. "Nice to meet you. I'm... the Doctor."
At his introduction, they all started clapping again.
"Oh, I should say!" Yvonne exclaimed. "Hurray!"
"You... You've heard of me then?"
"Well, of course we have!" Yvonne replied, the tone in her voice implying that that was obvious. "And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here! The Doctor and the TARDIS!"
She gasped, seemingly overcome with the excitement of it all and the applause started up again. This time, the Doctor seemed to be relishing in it and he smiled, giving them all appreciative looks before he gestured for silence before focusing on the woman in front of him.
"And... and... and you are?"
"Oh, plenty of time for that," Yvonne dismissed. "But according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his companion. That's a pattern, isn't it? Right?"
The Doctor didn't say anything. He simply stared at her, silent.
Yvonne's smiled turned slightly sinister, her tone adopting an equally sinister quality. "There's no point hiding anything. Not from us. So, where is she?"
The Doctor seemed to contemplate her words for a moment before sniffing. "Yes! Sorry. Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all."
Without looking behind him, he opened the TARDIS door behind him just a small amount, feeling inside before pulling out a middle-aged woman with dyed blonde hair, somewhat short in stature, heavy dark blue makeup around her eyes and sporting a faded denim jacket over a blue tracksuit.
"But here she is, Rose Tyler," the Doctor introduced, looking the woman up and down with an almost critical eye. "Hmm, she's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde, not too steady on her pins. A lot of that," he mimed chatting with his hand while she glared at him viciously for the rude remarks. Yvonne simply laughed.
"And just last week," the Doctor continued. "She stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty-seven years. But she'll do," his voice had taken on an almost resigned note.
"I'm forty!" 'Rose' cried indignantly, now outraged by the proceedings.
"Deluded," the Doctor sniffed. "Bless. I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good... I mean, not bad," he paused, seeming to consider what he was saying. "Well. I say not bad... anyway! Lead on. But not too fast, her ankle's going."
Yvonne simply smirked at the pair before turning to lead the way out of the small room they were all in, the Doctor and 'Rose' following, the blonde seething, "I'll show you where my ankle's going!"
"It was only a matter of time until you found us. And at last, you've made it. I'd like to welcome you, Doctor," Yvonne spoke, leading them through a small corridor before pushing open a pair of double doors which led into a huge factory, filled to the brim with alien technology and scientists examining and experimenting on them. "Welcome... to Torchwood."
The Doctor seemed appalled and yet amazed as he looked around. He eyes focused on a large black spaceship which was parked in one section of the room. "That's a Jathar Sunglider!"
"Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands, ten years ago."
"What? Did it crash?"
"No, we shot it down. It violated our airspace. Then, we stripped it bare," Yvonne's voice took on a proud note. "The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us! Now, if you'd like to come with me..."
Turning, she led them through the warehouse, the Doctor following, frowning at his surroundings as Yvonne continued talking.
"The Torchwood Institute has a motto, 'if it's alien, it's ours'. Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down and we use it. For the good of the British Empire."
"For the good of the what?" 'Rose' questioned, incredulous.
"The British Empire," Yvonne repeated, blinking at her.
"There isn't a British Empire."
"Not yet," Yvonne smiled before turning to a soldier who was carrying a weapon. "Excuse me. Now, if you wouldn't mind... do you recognise this, Doctor?"
The Time Lord didn't miss a beat. "That's a particle gun."
"Good, isn't it?" Yvonne asked, her voice pleased as she looked it over. "Took us eight years to get it to work..."
"It's the twenty-first century," the Doctor protested. He did not like what this Torchwood was doing. "You can't have particle guns!"
"We must defend our border against the alien," she shrugged before handing it back to the waiting soldier beside her. "Thank you... Sebastian, isn't it?"
"Yes, ma'am," he nodded, arranging the particle gun comfortably in his arms.
Yvonne grinned, pleased that she'd gotten his name right. "Thank you, Sebastian," she turned back to face the Doctor and his companion, "I think it's very important to know everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organisation. People skills, that's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person."
Her expression was a smug one, her whole body language screaming arrogance. 'Rose' rolled her eyes, not impressed by the woman and finding her irritating.
"Have you got anyone called Alonso?" the Doctor asked, suddenly, surprising Yvonne.
"No, I don't think so. Is that important?"
The Doctor shrugged, walking away from her to go and look around the other artefacts, despite his disgust at what Torchwood were pleased to do, he was curious at what they had managed to obtain. "I suppose not. What was your name?"
"Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman."
The Doctor didn't answer, pulled a large black device from a box, turning it over in his hands, examining it.
"Ah, yes," Yvonne's smile was back in place, seemingly pleased that he was taking an interest in what they had. "The Magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric."
The Doctor threw the device back into the box, brushing his hands together before turning to look around. 'Rose' looked impressed at the device though. "I could do with that to carry the shopping!"
Yvonne's lip curled. "All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit. Not the general public's."
Offended at Yvonne's patronising tone, 'Rose' scowled while the Doctor looked through a magnifying glass, wanting to move on to a more pressing situation at hand. "So, what about these ghosts then?"
"Ah, yes, the ghosts," Yvonne paused, trying to work out how to explain them. "They're a... what you might call a side effect."
"Of what?"
"All in good time, Doctor. There is an itinerary, trust me."
The doors at the other end of the warehouse opened as a truck drove in, the TARDIS having been lifted on to the back of it to move it, seized and now in Torchwood's possession.
"Oi!" 'Rose' cried at the sight of it. "Where are you taking that?"
Yvonne simply smirked before repeating, "If it's alien, it's ours."
The Doctor didn't seem at all perturbed by the fact that they were taking away his ship. "You'll never get inside it."
"Hm, et cetera," Yvonne shrugged. The Doctor might well believe that, and it could potentially be true. However, that wouldn't stop them from trying. She could only imagine what magnificent technology the Doctor had hidden away inside the walls of his precious blue box. She walked away from the pair.
The Doctor eyed the TARDIS as it passed him, the doors opening a crack from the inside as his true companion, the real Rose Tyler, her mother Jackie being the blonde standing beside him, peered through them at him. He nodded at her, encouraging her silently to be brave and think of something before looking away and following Yvonne through the rest of the warehouse.
The trio stride down a long corridor, surrounded by more armed soldiers on all sides. The Doctor was frowning, taking the entire place in.
"All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you."
"But of course not," Yvonne scoffed, "You're the enemy. You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown,"
"1879..." the Doctor murmured, remembering a previous trip to that particular time period, involving Her Majesty Queen Victoria and a vicious werewolf. In his musings, he realised an important detail from that particular event. "That was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland."
"That's right," Yvonne nodded, confirming his thoughts. That house must have been when Torchwood was founded, where it all began. "Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf."
"I think he makes half of it up," Jackie scoffed, rolling her eyes. Werewolves couldn't possibly be real.
"Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great and fighting the alien horde." Yvonne continued, ignoring Jackie's comment.
The Doctor blinked before asking, without a trace of worry in his voice, "But if I'm the enemy, does that mean that I'm a prisoner?"
Yvonne smiled. "Oh, yes!"
They rounded a corner before coming to a large black door. Yvonne pulled out her ID badge.
"And you're not the only prisoner we have, Doctor," Yvonne smirked. "We've been waiting for your arrival for years, particularly when we acquired this specimen. I wonder if you'll be able to teach us about this particular creature..."
The Doctor and Jackie shared a glance as Yvonne pressed her ID to the digital scanner fixed to the wall and the doors slid open, revealing the large chamber on the other side. The moment the Doctor stepped into the room, he recoiled in horror as the silence in his mind, the telepathic connection that he used to share with the rest of his people, was suddenly live and active again. A woman's voice was screaming in agony, the woman being the same one who was suspended in the stasis chamber opposite him.
Rage bubbled inside of him. "What have you done?!"
He sprinted forward, looking up at her, taking her in. The closer he got, he realised something very, very important. The golden hue of her pale skin, the limpness of her body, the fact that despite he could hear her in his mind, screaming, she didn't even appear to be alive. The worst fact of all was that he knew who she was.
"It's a stasis chamber," Yvonne told him, hardly affected by his anger as he whirled round and glared fiercely at her. Even Jackie took a step back at the fury reflected in his eyes. "She's been in the same condition for ten years."
"An entire decade?!" he shouted; teeth gritted. It was taking everything he had inside of him to not lash out at the woman. "Why?"
Yvonne shrugged. "If it's alien, it's ours."
That did it.
He produced his sonic screwdriver and fiddled with the settings before pointing it at the chamber, the sonic waves resonating through the glass, causing it to crack. Another moment and the entire glass sphere shattered, and the woman fell in a rain of shards and hit the floor. Instantly, it was like she exploded.
A blood-curdling scream escaped her, resonating around the entire chamber, her eyes snapping open. They shone a brilliant gold, her entire body glowed brighter and brighter as the Time Lady, held in the regeneration process for ten years, was finally freed and allowed to complete the process. Everyone in the room had to shield their eyes from the sheer brightness of her regeneration energy. She convulsed from the violence of it, and it seemed to the Doctor to last an eternity before finally, the energy dissipated and in her place was a completely different looking woman.
The Doctor stepped forward and kneeled, tentatively reaching out for her and gathering her in his arms. He barely breathed as he waited for some kind of movement, anything to let him know that she was okay.
"Please," he murmured lowly, his grip on her tightening. "Please, be okay."
Another moment passed and then, slowly, her eyes fluttered, and they opened revealing them to be a bright shade of green. She blinked once and then again before her vision focused on the Doctor's face above her. She gave a small smile.
"Hello, Doctor..."
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