Torchwood: Divergence
Book Four: Hatchweliad
Chapter 19
"Oh, that is so not good," Ianto murmured to himself, bringing up another programme to clarify the results of one of those already running.
Their initially peaceful day had just gone straight to hell.
The young Welshman typed away for several minutes, then groaned and touched the stud on his Bluetooth to speak to all of his teammates at once.
"This could get very complicated," Ianto prefaced his report. "That electrical storm that blew in out of nowhere around 5:00 this morning and was gone by 5:20, wasn't just a bit of funny weather. System shows an extremely unstable whirlpool of Rift energy appearing at Detective Swanson's crime scene during that time. Heavy temporal flux, but too variable to set off the alert system as a spike. It's like a mini-Rift Storm popped into existence on the spot the body was found, then just went away. Duration was only about five minutes, from 5:13 to 5:18. Which means it took the victim about ten to fifteen minutes to actually die… gruesome."
[Not exactly good news on any point, but at least now we know how he got there] Jack responded. [Can the system track the Rift Storm? Obviously it dumped at the construction site, but where did it originate?]
"That's where the complicated part comes in," his partner explained. "According to what I can decipher from the graphs, the serious temporal flux in the area is due to the fact that Rift Storm Junior hasn't been born yet. Generation point looks to be some undetermined location, day, and time in the future."
[So, the man who's dead] Gwen put in darkly. [Is actually still alive somewhere at this moment?]
"Yep," the young Welshman at the Hub confirmed, typing once more. "And I'm now hijacking the police database to confiscate the ID it just made, before anyone there sees it or it prints… and I'm blocking the SAS automatic enquiry about one Sergeant Charles R. Abernathy, because the ID check pinged their system. I'll pull his files through UNIT, but you'll have to deal with the shut-out on your end, Jack. I know Detective Swanson likely won't be pleased, and I wish you luck explaining why they can't know who the victim is."
[Good catch] Harkness insisted evenly. [I'll deal with the Dragon Lady. Pull together everything you can about the weather cloaked Rift Storm that caused this, and as much as you can find on our corpse. I'll send you the video footage shortly, we're almost there. We need to get in, take any readings we can on site, and move the body ASAP, people. Ianto, let us know if anything new crops up with the Rift or the police.]
"Yes, sir," his Archivist replied automatically, already starting to collate the data he'd been pulling from the system.
He worked in relative silence for about five minutes, then his Bluetooth connected again.
[I'm transmitting the video feed now, Ianto] the Captain stated grimly. [Wow… This guy is totally soaked in alcohol. Well-aged whiskey from the smell of it. Parts of his clothes are still more wet than damp, and he's been here for several hours now.]
"That is a really ugly way to go," Ianto murmured, peering at the images that started streaming on one of the monitors. "And he's in full kit, like for a high security detail, or a raid of some sort, or live weapon manoeuvres. I'd briefly hoped the booze might help us narrow down the pending Rift Storm to pubs, or even breweries and distillery warehouses. But I really don't see him around any of those with the way he's dressed."
[Quick pint with the team after a mission?] Martha suggested.
[Not wearing his body armour] Jack countered, the images he was transmitting zooming in on the flack vest then panning around the area for a moment. [And not carrying a loaded assault rifle and flash bombs. No… this soldier was definitely on duty when he was caught in the Rift. So, why would he be dripping with expensive Scotch?]
"Complicated," the Hub bound Changeling reiterated. "Do a close pass around behind him, Jack, then a full circle from about three or four metres back if you can. That should give us complete views of him and the general area of the Rift Storm. Unless Martha wants close zooms on any particular points, that'll pretty much cover it for the video documentation."
[Anything change with the readings or enquiries?] Harkness asked as he performed the requested video sweeps.
"Nothing new with the Rift or the area you're in," Ianto replied. "And the local constabulary has dropped the whole thing like a fuel rod from the Turnmill plant. Looks like whatever you told Detective Swanson did the trick. The investigation has been closed, and labelled 'special ops' under her signature. This one's all in our laps now."
[Oh, bloody hell] Gwen's voice suddenly sounded over the comms, apparently having just arrived with Turlough. [You said it took him a while to die? Like that?]
"Milkman reported someone screaming for help from the construction site," Ianto explained, still collating the information the system continued to produce regarding the incident. "Blues and twos were on scene within ten minutes, but he was dead by then… still warm though according to the report, so he likely only passed a minute or two before they found him. Site was sealed as a crime scene, SOCO tented the area but couldn't figure out how to handle the extraction. It was bumped to Detective Swanson after that, she took one look and called Jack. And I'd love to know what you told her, that made her so eager to wash her hands of the whole thing, Captain Cardiff."
[I told her the truth for once] the American responded, sounding slightly amused. [I said it looked like the aftermath of the military experimenting with alien technology they didn't understand, and we'd co-ordinate with UNIT to try to prevent it from happening again. She said a transfer to Aberdeen was sounding more appealing all the time, wished us luck with the investigation, thanked us for taking it off her plate, and promised to shut it down at the Precinct. Guess two years without Torchwood helped the police realise we aren't the bad guys after all.]
"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.
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AN: Things have been too quiet, so now Torchwood Three is getting it in spades.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM