The Stolen Earth Incident - Chapter Thirty-Six
30 April 2009
The Dalek Crucible
Jack led them back into the access tunnel he’d emerged from, once again using his penlight to guide the way. The mainframe hadn’t been all that far away, and it would take some time to wire the warp star into it, to cause the maximum amount of damage to the Daleks. He could feel the warp star, now safe in his pocket, the warmth of it rivalling that of his dragon.
He really did wonder if the power in his pocket would have been enough to end him forever. He really didn’t want to use it, but he would if he had to, if it meant his family would have been protected. He thought of Ianto, down on Earth in the Hub, waiting for him to return. Of Alice, incapacitated by the moving of the Earth. Steven, still in school, wondering where his family was and when they would be coming to get him.
Of his team, who needed him to be their leader, to make the difficult decisions. And this was one of the most difficult ones he’d ever have to make.
“When I was travelling with the Doctor,” Sarah Jane’s soft voice echoed around the enclosed space, “the Doctor had a chance to end the Daleks before they’d even really began.”
“He didn’t do it?” Jackie asked incredulously.
“He felt like, although the Daleks were a conquering race, even they were a strange force for good,” Sarah Jane answered. “Entire races are brought together because of the threat of the Daleks.”
“And how many innocents died because of that reasoning?” Mickey argued.
Jack might not have died, but he certainly wouldn’t exist as he was today, if the Daleks hadn’t invaded the Gamestation, sometime far in the future and yet a long time ago in the past. He wouldn’t have become immortal…and he would never have met Ianto.
That was a scary thought.
To his mind, everything that had led up to his mating with his dragon had been worth it, even if he still had nightmares about it.
He led them to a junction he recognised. “The mainframe is through here.” He indicated another access hatch. Once again using his Vortex Manipulator, he had it open in no time, carefully stepping through first just in case there were Daleks on the other side. Yes, he ran the risk of being exterminated once more, and while the pain of it was terrible it was still better that he die than someone else.
Luckily for them, the room beyond was empty.
It looked like any basic computer core, with banks of equipment; only they were in odd shapes and there wasn’t a single keyboard to be seen, only sockets for the Dalek suction arms. Jack didn’t need one, though, to find the panel he needed.
“Keep both an ear and eye out,” he asked his companions. “We don’t want the Daleks find our bit of sabotage before it’s ready.”
With Mickey’s help, he got the panel removed from its housing, revealing the fine processors that lined the interior of the machine. He had always wondered who the Daleks enslaved to build their equipment, because they’d given up fine motor skills when they’d retreated to their travel armour. Had some poor, conquered race been forced to construct the Crucible? Perhaps one that had called one of the worlds that surrounded them home?
Jack supposed they’d never really know.
Once he had several wires traced and exposed, he used his pocket knife to cut away the insulation. Connecting the warp star would be fairly simple; he just needed to twist the ends of the wires around its casing. Once that was done, it would be fairly simple to smash the shell and destroy everything in this room.
It would also most likely be the entire Crucible as well, knowing first-hand just what a warp star could do.
This didn’t solve the problem of getting all the planets back to where they belonged. But Jack was just hoping to negotiate with the Daleks. Get them to send the planets back in exchange for not blowing up the Crucible.
That he still intended to do so was something he’d keep to himself for the time being.
“There’s what looks like a communications panel over here,” Sarah Jane murmured.
Jack looked up from his work, and saw the older woman standing next to a screen on the wall, next to another set of controls. Jack favoured her with a big smile as he completed wiring the warp star into place. “Let’s ring up the head Dalek and give him our demands.”
Mickey did the honours, looking over the panel and working out just how to use it. There wasn’t any sort of button on it, only the socket for the Dalek arm, but somehow he managed to get it turned on using a pocket knife and a bit of elbow grease.
Jack hoped they made a united front as the screen activated.
Before he could even get a word out, the picture on the screen split, revealing two different rooms. The first resembled more of a closet than anything else, only one that was a bit more high-tech than the one Ianto kept his suits in. Seated in a chair in that room was Martha, and Jack internally rejoiced seeing her well, even though he was really confused by her surroundings. It must have had something to do with this mysterious Osterhagen Key, and a shiver went down his spine even though he had no real idea just what it was for.
The other side of the monitor showed a large chamber, bare except for a large panel that was obviously some sort of control suite. There were a couple of Daleks, as well as the being known as Davros. Even though they were separated by walls and decks, there was something about him, a sense of the fanatic, that had Jack afraid that his bluff wasn’t going to work.
Also in the room was the Doctor and Rose.
He was glad they were both still alive. Although he’d been happy to give his life for them, it would have been in vain if they’d been murdered later. Jack was never averse to sacrificing himself, even though it drove Ianto spare.
It did the rest of his team as well, but Ianto was the worst of the lot. Jack knew it was because Ianto loved him, and hated seeing him hurt, but there were times when giving his life was the best alternative. Plus, he always came back.
“Captain Jack Harkness,” he introduced himself jauntily, “calling all Dalek boys and girls!”
The look on Rose’s face confirmed that she had no idea that Jack was now immortal. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, to be honest.
“He’s still alive!” her gasp was clearly audible over the speaker, full of joy and confusion in equal measure. Then she frowned, her face going a bit pale. “Oh my god, is that my Mum?”
“And Mickey.” The Doctor was equally confused, but it wasn’t over Jack’s continued survival. His own face went hard as he regarded Jack. “Captain, what are you up to?”
Yeah, there was that now-familiar disapproval. And it was only going to get worse, after this, Jack just knew it. “I have a warp star wired into the mainframe,” he answered boldly, finally accepting the fact that he was no longer worried about disappointing the Time Lord with his actions. “I break this shell, and the entire Crucible goes up.” Well, he thought it would. The warp star certainly was powerful enough for that.
“You can’t!” the Doctor shouted. And there it was, the disappointment Jack had been expecting. It no longer made Jack’s heart hurt; he’d made his decision, standing with Ianto over the actions against the Master, and it was time Jack owned up to it. “Where did you get a warp star anyway?”
For a split second, Jack thought he’d have to lie and say he’d had it with him. He certainly wouldn’t have blamed Sarah Jane for not taking the credit for having it; she had far more to lose than Jack did, where the Doctor’s approval came into things.
And yet, she stepped forward and around Jack, accepting the responsibility and firmly allying herself with Jack, and not with the Time Lord. He wanted to hug her for it, but he had to maintain his threatening attitude. He didn’t dare show any sort of emotion or weakness - and to the Daleks, they were one and the same - in front of the aliens he was trying to bluff.
“From me,” she piped up. Sarah Jane was practically vibrating in rage over the situation, and he couldn’t help but compare her to a mama bear protecting her cub. “We had no choice. We saw what happened to the Daleks’ prisoners.”
From the expression on the Doctor’s face, he knew exactly what Sarah Jane was talking about. Jack hadn’t seen it first-hand, but from the description he’d been given it had been a hideous way for those poor people to die.
And yet, still, the Doctor couldn’t see that, sometimes, desperate measures needed to be taken. Even if those desperate measures were a bluff that the fate of the universe rested on.
No, it didn’t make him nervous at all.
Actually, he’d have been shitting his trousers at this point if it weren’t so damned important.
Davros was staring at Sarah Jane as if he was seeing a ghost. Of course…she’d been there, in the beginning, travelling with a version of the Doctor that Jack would never be able to meet.
“You remember me?” Sarah Jane challenged the monster on the monitor.
“You were there,” Davros answered, sounding almost reverent. “After all those years…”
“It’s been quite a while.”
Jack was astonished by her sudden calm at Davros acknowledging her. Oh, why hadn’t he ever tried to hire her for Torchwood? She would have been magnificent!
“Oh, this is too good,” Davros was cackling. “This was meant to be…you, here, at the end of all things, just as you were in the beginning. If I believed in omens, this would be a good one indeed!”
“Let the Doctor go,” Jack growled. “Send the planets back to where they belong. I won’t hesitate to use this.”
Well, he would.
He wanted this bluff to work. He needed it to work, because he didn’t want all of these planets trapped wherever the hell they were. He had no idea if the equilibrium that kept them viable would remain intact if the Crucible was destroyed.
All of those innocent people down on Earth, and whoever remained on the other twenty-six planets. They would be at risk no matter how this turned out, until their worlds were back where they belonged.
Still, he had no idea just what the Daleks’ weapon would do. If it meant the end of the universe, then he’d have to make the hard decision…these worlds for the rest of creation.
It wasn’t an easy thought. But then, it was why he was the Director of the Torchwood Institute. He had to make the impossible decisions that would cost lives if it came down to it. He’d done it before, and he was positive he’d do it many times in the future, even though it made him sick to his stomach each and every time.
His thoughts went to his family…to his mate. He might never see Ianto ever again, when he’d promised his eternity to his dragon.
They might not get that.
Goddess, he needed this bluff to work, more than anything he needed this to work.
“Don’t imagine I won’t,” he threatened. Because he would. He’d hate himself for the rest of his unnaturally long life, but he would if it meant the fate of untold billions.
Davros was laughing, a harsh, nightmare inducing sound that sent chills through Jack. He knew, in that moment, that this wasn’t going to work. Davros wasn’t going to fall to the bluff, and that he was going to have to crack open the warp star and wipe everything out.
His heart broke. He said a mental apology to his mate, and to his family, and he hoped that he’d one ay see them again.
“Enough,” Davros said. “Engage transmat.”
Jack didn’t even have time to react before he felt the tell-tale sensation of teleport.
The warp star dropped to the deck.
The Dalek Crucible
Jack led them back into the access tunnel he’d emerged from, once again using his penlight to guide the way. The mainframe hadn’t been all that far away, and it would take some time to wire the warp star into it, to cause the maximum amount of damage to the Daleks. He could feel the warp star, now safe in his pocket, the warmth of it rivalling that of his dragon.
He really did wonder if the power in his pocket would have been enough to end him forever. He really didn’t want to use it, but he would if he had to, if it meant his family would have been protected. He thought of Ianto, down on Earth in the Hub, waiting for him to return. Of Alice, incapacitated by the moving of the Earth. Steven, still in school, wondering where his family was and when they would be coming to get him.
Of his team, who needed him to be their leader, to make the difficult decisions. And this was one of the most difficult ones he’d ever have to make.
“When I was travelling with the Doctor,” Sarah Jane’s soft voice echoed around the enclosed space, “the Doctor had a chance to end the Daleks before they’d even really began.”
“He didn’t do it?” Jackie asked incredulously.
“He felt like, although the Daleks were a conquering race, even they were a strange force for good,” Sarah Jane answered. “Entire races are brought together because of the threat of the Daleks.”
“And how many innocents died because of that reasoning?” Mickey argued.
Jack might not have died, but he certainly wouldn’t exist as he was today, if the Daleks hadn’t invaded the Gamestation, sometime far in the future and yet a long time ago in the past. He wouldn’t have become immortal…and he would never have met Ianto.
That was a scary thought.
To his mind, everything that had led up to his mating with his dragon had been worth it, even if he still had nightmares about it.
He led them to a junction he recognised. “The mainframe is through here.” He indicated another access hatch. Once again using his Vortex Manipulator, he had it open in no time, carefully stepping through first just in case there were Daleks on the other side. Yes, he ran the risk of being exterminated once more, and while the pain of it was terrible it was still better that he die than someone else.
Luckily for them, the room beyond was empty.
It looked like any basic computer core, with banks of equipment; only they were in odd shapes and there wasn’t a single keyboard to be seen, only sockets for the Dalek suction arms. Jack didn’t need one, though, to find the panel he needed.
“Keep both an ear and eye out,” he asked his companions. “We don’t want the Daleks find our bit of sabotage before it’s ready.”
With Mickey’s help, he got the panel removed from its housing, revealing the fine processors that lined the interior of the machine. He had always wondered who the Daleks enslaved to build their equipment, because they’d given up fine motor skills when they’d retreated to their travel armour. Had some poor, conquered race been forced to construct the Crucible? Perhaps one that had called one of the worlds that surrounded them home?
Jack supposed they’d never really know.
Once he had several wires traced and exposed, he used his pocket knife to cut away the insulation. Connecting the warp star would be fairly simple; he just needed to twist the ends of the wires around its casing. Once that was done, it would be fairly simple to smash the shell and destroy everything in this room.
It would also most likely be the entire Crucible as well, knowing first-hand just what a warp star could do.
This didn’t solve the problem of getting all the planets back to where they belonged. But Jack was just hoping to negotiate with the Daleks. Get them to send the planets back in exchange for not blowing up the Crucible.
That he still intended to do so was something he’d keep to himself for the time being.
“There’s what looks like a communications panel over here,” Sarah Jane murmured.
Jack looked up from his work, and saw the older woman standing next to a screen on the wall, next to another set of controls. Jack favoured her with a big smile as he completed wiring the warp star into place. “Let’s ring up the head Dalek and give him our demands.”
Mickey did the honours, looking over the panel and working out just how to use it. There wasn’t any sort of button on it, only the socket for the Dalek arm, but somehow he managed to get it turned on using a pocket knife and a bit of elbow grease.
Jack hoped they made a united front as the screen activated.
Before he could even get a word out, the picture on the screen split, revealing two different rooms. The first resembled more of a closet than anything else, only one that was a bit more high-tech than the one Ianto kept his suits in. Seated in a chair in that room was Martha, and Jack internally rejoiced seeing her well, even though he was really confused by her surroundings. It must have had something to do with this mysterious Osterhagen Key, and a shiver went down his spine even though he had no real idea just what it was for.
The other side of the monitor showed a large chamber, bare except for a large panel that was obviously some sort of control suite. There were a couple of Daleks, as well as the being known as Davros. Even though they were separated by walls and decks, there was something about him, a sense of the fanatic, that had Jack afraid that his bluff wasn’t going to work.
Also in the room was the Doctor and Rose.
He was glad they were both still alive. Although he’d been happy to give his life for them, it would have been in vain if they’d been murdered later. Jack was never averse to sacrificing himself, even though it drove Ianto spare.
It did the rest of his team as well, but Ianto was the worst of the lot. Jack knew it was because Ianto loved him, and hated seeing him hurt, but there were times when giving his life was the best alternative. Plus, he always came back.
“Captain Jack Harkness,” he introduced himself jauntily, “calling all Dalek boys and girls!”
The look on Rose’s face confirmed that she had no idea that Jack was now immortal. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, to be honest.
“He’s still alive!” her gasp was clearly audible over the speaker, full of joy and confusion in equal measure. Then she frowned, her face going a bit pale. “Oh my god, is that my Mum?”
“And Mickey.” The Doctor was equally confused, but it wasn’t over Jack’s continued survival. His own face went hard as he regarded Jack. “Captain, what are you up to?”
Yeah, there was that now-familiar disapproval. And it was only going to get worse, after this, Jack just knew it. “I have a warp star wired into the mainframe,” he answered boldly, finally accepting the fact that he was no longer worried about disappointing the Time Lord with his actions. “I break this shell, and the entire Crucible goes up.” Well, he thought it would. The warp star certainly was powerful enough for that.
“You can’t!” the Doctor shouted. And there it was, the disappointment Jack had been expecting. It no longer made Jack’s heart hurt; he’d made his decision, standing with Ianto over the actions against the Master, and it was time Jack owned up to it. “Where did you get a warp star anyway?”
For a split second, Jack thought he’d have to lie and say he’d had it with him. He certainly wouldn’t have blamed Sarah Jane for not taking the credit for having it; she had far more to lose than Jack did, where the Doctor’s approval came into things.
And yet, she stepped forward and around Jack, accepting the responsibility and firmly allying herself with Jack, and not with the Time Lord. He wanted to hug her for it, but he had to maintain his threatening attitude. He didn’t dare show any sort of emotion or weakness - and to the Daleks, they were one and the same - in front of the aliens he was trying to bluff.
“From me,” she piped up. Sarah Jane was practically vibrating in rage over the situation, and he couldn’t help but compare her to a mama bear protecting her cub. “We had no choice. We saw what happened to the Daleks’ prisoners.”
From the expression on the Doctor’s face, he knew exactly what Sarah Jane was talking about. Jack hadn’t seen it first-hand, but from the description he’d been given it had been a hideous way for those poor people to die.
And yet, still, the Doctor couldn’t see that, sometimes, desperate measures needed to be taken. Even if those desperate measures were a bluff that the fate of the universe rested on.
No, it didn’t make him nervous at all.
Actually, he’d have been shitting his trousers at this point if it weren’t so damned important.
Davros was staring at Sarah Jane as if he was seeing a ghost. Of course…she’d been there, in the beginning, travelling with a version of the Doctor that Jack would never be able to meet.
“You remember me?” Sarah Jane challenged the monster on the monitor.
“You were there,” Davros answered, sounding almost reverent. “After all those years…”
“It’s been quite a while.”
Jack was astonished by her sudden calm at Davros acknowledging her. Oh, why hadn’t he ever tried to hire her for Torchwood? She would have been magnificent!
“Oh, this is too good,” Davros was cackling. “This was meant to be…you, here, at the end of all things, just as you were in the beginning. If I believed in omens, this would be a good one indeed!”
“Let the Doctor go,” Jack growled. “Send the planets back to where they belong. I won’t hesitate to use this.”
Well, he would.
He wanted this bluff to work. He needed it to work, because he didn’t want all of these planets trapped wherever the hell they were. He had no idea if the equilibrium that kept them viable would remain intact if the Crucible was destroyed.
All of those innocent people down on Earth, and whoever remained on the other twenty-six planets. They would be at risk no matter how this turned out, until their worlds were back where they belonged.
Still, he had no idea just what the Daleks’ weapon would do. If it meant the end of the universe, then he’d have to make the hard decision…these worlds for the rest of creation.
It wasn’t an easy thought. But then, it was why he was the Director of the Torchwood Institute. He had to make the impossible decisions that would cost lives if it came down to it. He’d done it before, and he was positive he’d do it many times in the future, even though it made him sick to his stomach each and every time.
His thoughts went to his family…to his mate. He might never see Ianto ever again, when he’d promised his eternity to his dragon.
They might not get that.
Goddess, he needed this bluff to work, more than anything he needed this to work.
“Don’t imagine I won’t,” he threatened. Because he would. He’d hate himself for the rest of his unnaturally long life, but he would if it meant the fate of untold billions.
Davros was laughing, a harsh, nightmare inducing sound that sent chills through Jack. He knew, in that moment, that this wasn’t going to work. Davros wasn’t going to fall to the bluff, and that he was going to have to crack open the warp star and wipe everything out.
His heart broke. He said a mental apology to his mate, and to his family, and he hoped that he’d one ay see them again.
“Enough,” Davros said. “Engage transmat.”
Jack didn’t even have time to react before he felt the tell-tale sensation of teleport.
The warp star dropped to the deck.