Torchwood: Divergence
Book Four: Hatchweliad
Chapter 20
"Not really a…" Ianto started to comment, only to have alarms go off all around him, the lights shifting to red as the base went into Lockdown.
[What the hell is that?] Jack and Gwen both called over the comms, recognising the claxon immediately.
"Not sure," the Archivist replied hurriedly, quickly killing the loud alarm and moving to Turlough's station to query the system. "The whole base has gone into some sort of automatic emergency Lockdown. It's not an intruder, it's been tripped by some programme in the system. I'm trying to find the source and override it."
[Ianto, all the doors just locked on their own up here] Lois' voice stated nervously. [Is there a problem?]
"Sit tight," the young Welshman responded. "I'm working on the issue. Doesn't look like we're in any danger, so try to relax for a bit."
[Do you need me to remote in from the SUV?] Turlough offered.
"No… I've found the culprit," the base-bound Changeling stated evenly, frowning at what the system was telling him. "It's a really old defence trigger… probably went off when Canary Wharf fell, likely did the same to Torchwood-Two when the Hub was destroyed by Johnson before. Standard six-hour Lockdown, but I should be able to get us back in business if I can find what tripped it. Looks like… Crap…"
[This did happen when the Torchwood Tower in London went down, and it was a total pain in the ass] Harkness complained. [Can you override it?]
"In the process," his partner reassured. "But we've got a big problem, and need to open up as much room as possible in the Archives within three days. Old Archie apparently took to wearing that Plynthian Life Bond cuff that disappeared from the T1 Archives a couple of years before the Battle that Yvonne claimed you'd nicked, Jack. He synched it with an ancient security programme at Torchwood-Glasgow. System indicates he just dropped over from a massive coronary event that also caused a catastrophic cerebral aneurysm rupture, which triggered a Lockdown there and here as soon as his brain activity flatlined. Once I override it, we've got seventy-one hours to clear anything we want to save from the T2 base, and get emergency crews on site."
[Why seventy-one hours?] several voices asked at once.
"Because Archie set the place to wipe the servers and incinerate the entire complex seventy-two hours after Lockdown ends in the event of his death," Ianto explained flatly. "I've got Mainframe ready to isolate everything T3 connected and had her annex the link to Torchwood House, but I can't remote in to the T2 system to countermand the ordered completely… he obviously disabled that function. So, as soon as I override the Lockdown here, it'll override there as well because of the programme that tripped it. Which means the clock starts ticking when I input the commands to unseal the base. Guess the mad old bastard was trying to keep things out of the wrong hands, and thought immolation was better than contacting us or UNIT. I get the feeling he didn't read the notification that I was back in the land of the living and didn't trust a new Archivist to take care of things properly. No wonder he never answered any of the calls I tried to make and was snippy via e-mail."
[He never asked in our monthly calls either, and never said a word about using that damn cuff] Jack growled, then blew out a quick breath. [Okay, here's the plan. Finish taking readings and samples double-time, Martha and I will secure the body, then we head back for the Hub ASAP. Ianto, hold off on the override until we hit the carpark. We stow the body in a cooler, set the on-site data to collate and get ready for a trip to Scotland. Call UNIT while we're finishing up, Barista Boy, see if you can get them to loan us some personnel and secured transports to get out the artefacts and weaponry. Turlough, you and Martha concentrate on pulling all the server blades when we get there. Gwen, Lois, you'll help Ianto box and load as many of the physical documents as you can. Anyone who gets done with time to spare, can come help me and the red caps with the heavy stuff. We'll put everything in secure storage till we can make room for it. So, let's get this site cleared and move out.]
"Keep the SUV in front on the way back," Ianto advised. "It's got the better tracker. I'll trip the override as soon as you hit the mouth of our private carpark, so the doors will be unlocked by the time you get to them."
[Sounds good] the Captain acknowledged. [Don't stress, yeah? We'll get this sorted.]
"We always do," his lover agreed. "Be careful with the molecular drill, and don't let the top of that steel stanchion drop on your head… or anyone else's for that matter."
[Way ahead of you, buddy] the American chuckled. [I've been shaving it off from the top down, so there won't be anything left to fall. Get things rolling for the trip to Glasgow. We'll be back as soon as we can load this guy in the van.]
"I'll have Lois help me co-ordinate travel if UNIT doesn't offer," Ianto reassured. "See you soon."
He immediately pulled out his mobile and dialled the direct line for their contact in UNIT's High Command who had oversight of the base near Newport, and prepared to talk the man into lending as much support as possible on the mission. In three days' time, Torchwood-Cardiff would be the only active branch of the Institute still in existence, and they couldn't afford to lose anything important from T2 the way they had when Canary Wharf went down. The next seventy-two hours were going to be a caffeine boosted whirlwind of frantic packing, cataloguing, and transporting; with little to no sleep, spotty meals, and short tempers… amazingly like many long stretches between losing Owen and Tosh, and the arrival of the 456. And Ianto was not looking forward to it one bit.
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AN: And so the madness begins.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM
