Torchwood: Divergence
Book Four: Hatchweliad
Chapter 24
Jack and Ianto had slept a solid six hours, quite the rarity for the older man and increasingly so for the younger. They'd risen and dressed in clean clothes, Harkness in his usual attire with his Archivist opting for old blue jeans, undershirt, and a pale pink dress weight button-up, skipping the tie. The young Guardian had put on fresh coffee once they'd emerged from the office, then pulled up the Archive lists for what was in the multitude of vast chambers downstairs on one monitor at Gwen's station and the inventory of what they'd saved from Torchwood-Glasgow on another, while his partner made a run out for dinner. By the time the cog-wheel door opened to admit the returning Captain, the younger immortal had a plan in mind for integrating all the boxes, crates, stasis pods, space ships, alien equipment, and large artefacts.
"Oh, God… that smells fantastic," Ianto called, coming away from the workstation to go fetch drinks and other needed items from the kitchenette.
"The pub was advertising a 'traditional Welsh dinner'," Jack explained as he sat several containers out on the low table by the couch. "Cawl with lamb and bacon, crempog smothered in butter and leeks, and a brandied apple trifle for afters. It actually sounded really appealing, then I caught a whiff of everything… oh, ho, ho… done deal."
"Well, I've got water and beer if you want it," his lover smiled as he approached the table with a small tray. "Paper napkins, spoons, forks, and sharp knives if needed."
"Let me ditch my coat and we can dive in," Harkness nodded.
"Got it," the young Welshman insisted, helping the older man slip out of his RAF greatcoat and trotting over to the office to hang it up.
"I'm seeing active monitors," Jack stated with a raised brow as his companion returned to the table. "Why?"
"New plan for the Archive move," Ianto replied simply. "Figured I might as well do something useful while you fetched dinner."
"So, what did you come up with?" the American queried as they sat down to eat.
"Well, we have about sixty random empty chambers opened up down there," Ianto began, uncapping a beer for the man when he nodded acceptance of the offered libation. "We need to open and air out a total of twelve more on every level to have room to work. Then we start filling the farthest one first with the items from Glasgow, head toward the current Archives so there'll be at least two empty spaces between. I've made a list of which order the cargo blocks need to be stowed and on which level, so it'll be easiest to integrate the old and new by date originally acquired and type, with the shortest distance between the necessary chambers. I also ran a search and found where Suzie stored the scissor-lift, and thought it wouldn't be bad to acquire another one or two, as well as some of those heavy-load trolleys like construction crews use since we only have the two Phloxian Anti-Grav sleds still working. So, I'll look into them after we eat, when I check with Rhys about a driving cabin capable of pulling those lovely wheeled cargo containers UNIT's lending us."
"You were way too busy while I was gone," Harkness insisted with a crooked smile. "We're supposed to be relaxing."
"And we will," the younger immortal answered equitably. "This way we're set for tomorrow, and have the entire rest of the night to do other things… as soon as I make a call or two."
"I like the sound of that," Jack chuckled, sipping broth straight from the rim of the container he was holding. "So, how's the 'traditional' fare?"
"Good," Ianto smiled. "Not chuffed about the massive quantity of leeks on the crempog, but all together it's a very nice meal."
"Just shovel the unwanted stuff over here onto mine," his partner suggested, obviously liking the caramelized goo. "And I'll do clean up when we're done, so you can finish your master plan for the morning. Then it's relaxing time."
"An offer I can't refuse," Ianto nodded, spooning broth and a piece of roasted lamb into his mouth with a sigh as the tender meat practically melted on his tongue.
They finished their main meal, then the Scieron Changeling fetched coffee to have with dessert. Once the trifle was gone as well, the Captain shooed his lover toward the active workstation and began clearing up from dinner. He listened as the young Welshman made arrangements with Rhys for the use of a heavy cabin to pull the massive cargo blocks, then convinced UNIT to permanently donate two scissor-lifts as well as four construction trolleys, two Robraxis hover sleds, and a pair of large Anti-Grav hand-clamps they hadn't used in more than a year. And he smiled as the twenty-six-year-old talked the Roads Commission contact UNIT gave him into blocking the area near the car park tunnel for a few days, to make it easier to bring in the heavy 'sewer and waterway upgrade' trailers without risking an accident. Harkness had in fact just finished washing the utensils they'd used, when he was surprised to hear his companion swear with unusual vehemence.
"Jack, we've got a problem!" Ianto called loudly, busily typing away on the computer and bringing up new images on all the monitors. "Rift Storm, just like before we left for Scotland. I set the system to scan for odd weather like with the Faeries, and it just pinged a sudden super intense electrical storm between the Hayes and where the first one occurred. Extremely localised, showing signs of heavy temporal flux and oscillating high energy Rift activity… generation point flags as 'undetermined future date'. This isn't a normal surge, so the system wouldn't have tripped an alert, and because of the Time issue it's not something Mother Shadow being here can block."
"Pinpoint the exact location," the American commanded with a frown. "I'll grab a camera and the molecular drill just in case. Warn off the Police and Emergency Services, then contact UNIT to stand by if we need back up."
"Time flux was centred along Penarth Road, northeast of Tresillian Way, near St. Mary Street," the younger man reported as he dialled their UNIT contact on his mobile, and went directly into the Heddlu computer system at the same time. "Should I pull any heavy arms this round?"
"Always good to be prepared, but I think we're okay without them if you aren't detecting any life forms," Jack decided, hurrying to gather the items he'd named as well as the big medical kit from the Autopsy Lab and some other equipment. "I'll grab the keys and our coats."
Ianto finished up at the workstation, met the Captain by the office to pull on his long black coat, pocket his PDA and take charge of the rest of the gear. Then the pair were out the cog-wheel door and on their way to check out the problem… so much for a relaxing evening.
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AN: Yep… the Rift is still having its say.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM