VS3:12 -- "Point of Impact", Part Three
Point of Impact -- Part Three
Wales: 51° 28' N. 3° 11' W., Friday
"Put the gun down, Ianto!" Megan snapped again, grunting as she leaned on the alien's legs, fighting to keep hir from tearing open the stitches she'd so painstakingly put across the wound in hir belly. She glared, and Ianto gave up his hesitation, along with his shooter's stance, and hurried down the stairs to her side.
The alien screamed again, long, cold fingers scratching down Megan's neck before ze flopped back onto the trolley, mouth agape - full of tiny, peg-like teeth - and gasping. Instead of fighting her, ze wrapped a hand in her scrubs, clinging.
"Try that Galactic-B Jack was showing off," Megan panted into the brief silence. She spread her hands over hir torso trying to hold hir still without doing any more damage.
Ianto flushed.
"Please tell me he's been teaching you something besides alien pick-up lines."
That earned her one of his wonderfully dry glares.
"Halt luktanta," Ianto said awkwardly, "Vi estas severe mal - uh - sana."
The alien whimpered, a tea-kettle whistle, thrashing again under their hands. Black blood welled up from between the stitches.
"Ne!" Ianto grabbed hir wrists, only to have hir shriek and fight. "Ni ne vol d-doloro vi! Ze's not listening-"
"Ze doesn't understand." Megan let go, trusting Ianto to keep the alien safely restrained, and leaned into hir view, grasping the long, cool face and forcing it to look at her. "Stop it," she said firmly. She didn't try and smile, recalling one of Jack's rare useful bits of advice about bared teeth seen as a sign of aggression by most non-human species. "Stop. Stop."
Muscles flexed oddly under her hands as the alien's jaw worked, hir eyes rolling wildly as ze looked around. One of Ianto's computers pinged annoyingly in the background with steadily increasing volume. Megan was going to have a talk to Jack about staffing. No more catering to whatever trauma the man was clinging to; it was going to get the rest of them killed.
"I have to-" Ianto started.
"Stay right where you are," Megan interrupted firmly. "I need you here." She went on to the alien, "I know you can't understand us, but we won't hurt you." Cautiously, Megan let go to reach for a bandage and show it to hir, before pressing it gently to a so far ignored, minor scrape. There weren't many better proofs of peaceful intentions than offering medical care, not on Earth, and Megan had faith it was true elsewhere, too.
The alien trembled but didn't struggle. Ze reached for her and Megan let hir, patting at her face as ze began to speak hurriedly, stammering with pain. Hir voice was piping and high-pitched - and incomprehensible.
Megan could do nothing, despite the clear desperation filling the alien language. "I'm sorry," she said. "We don't understand."
"Megan," Ianto said insistently. "I have to answer that."
"Okay." Megan rested a hand on the alien's narrow chest, hoping ze would take the hint and lie still as Ianto stepped away. She glanced over at him with a sharp frown. "No more guns in my med bay without my say-so."
Ianto just ducked his head and turned to hurry up the stairs, two at a time.
Megan reached for her equipment. She didn't have a painkiller suitable for the alien's physiology, but she had to repair the torn stitches regardless. "This is going to hurt," she said. "I'm sorry."
Ze clearly didn't understand, but didn't struggle, except, frantically, to talk.
Ianto looked up, a little wild-eyed, as Megan came up from med bay a few moments later feeling exasperated by her own limitations, Torchwood's, and pretty much everything else. She had nothing but hand gestures to communicate with and could only hope the alien understood she really wasn't trying to torture hir.
"Is ze...?"
She shook her head. "No, but ze won't lie quietly with me there. Keeps trying to tell me something. Pity Jack isn't here."
Ianto touched his earpiece briefly, worry lines creasing his forehead before his face settled into its customary placid mask. "He's busy."
"We're all busy," she said without rancour. She could see Ianto's mobile sitting by his keyboard, automatically cycling Jack's number as he tried to ring out through whatever was blocking them. "What can I do to help?"
Ianto blinked and cleared his throat, his relief palpable, and pointed at the neighbouring monitor. "How about directing the reinforcements from St. Athan to the site."
Megan could do that, at least, so she tucked her earpiece back in and settled down in front of the monitor. The immediate buzz of military jargon was like white noise, familiar without being welcome. "I'll be taking over from Agent Jones," she added. "We've still had no contact from our people."
"Jack!" Ianto said suddenly, straightening up in his seat, hands frozen for a moment on his keyboard as his phone flashed to life. "Yes, we're-"
Megan could hear Jack's voice even from several feet away as he blustered over Ianto's update, and snorted in irritation. He might get better answers if he ever bothered to stop and listen.
"We had-" Ianto stopped again and pressed his lips together until Jack paused for breath. "The alien woke up, that's all- No, ze's not dangerous, ze can't even stand up, Jack. Ze doesn't speak Galactic Standard. Reinforcements from St. Athan are en route," Ianto went on, glancing over at her, and she hurriedly checked their status.
"And they're also regaining communications with Major Hopps's unit," she noted, rapidly decoding the jargon.
He passed that on. "I've got a radio club heading to their civilian tower to activate it, but I'll call them off, now."
Megan watched his face and the darkening look in his eyes made her key her Bluetooth into the main system. Jack's voice came online suddenly, his voice crisp and sharp in a way she'd never heard before.
"-significant alien incursion, clearly hostile," he was saying. "Several deaths. Ianto, I want you to get in touch with the local emergency services here... people need to stay in their homes and off the roads. That alien of yours needs to be secured; ze's a different species but they could be..." Jack paused. "They could be allies, or the Nwaxan-chu could be their captives. Either way, we don't have room for risks."
"Sir-"
"We need to know where the ship came from," Jack hurried on. "Call the Americans, they've got that secret satellite out by Jupiter, have them back-trace the route."
"Will do," Ianto replied briskly. "Different species? What are they, Jack?"
The pause was long enough that Megan wondered if they'd lost communications. "Captain?" she prompted.
The sound of a long breath came hissing over the line. "Dangerous. Very dangerous. Don't take any risks... and find out if there's anything else out there!"
Ianto's quick glance to her was pinched. "We will, Jack."
Jack signed off in a burst of background shouting but not, Megan thought thankfully, any gunfire. She met Ianto's gaze for a long, quiet moment. Jack sounded more strained than she'd ever heard him. In the med bay the injured alien was chirping and squalling again, sounding no less worried than Megan felt.
"Was Jack going to send you a data stream?" Megan asked as a peculiar looking network access request popped up on her monitor.
Wales: 51° 33' 16" N. 3° 06' 37" W., Friday
"Jack!" Gwen yelled from beside the UNIT vehicle. "I think they've found something." Jack dropped his phone in his pocket and hurried over. "They've found a farm with some dead sheep in one of the pastures," Gwen said. "Headless sheep. They're going to check the house and barn, now."
"Tell them to be careful," Jack warned Major Hopps. "These things are dangerous."
The major held up a hand forestalling any further instructions. "They've been fully briefed, Captain." Hopps looked grim. "We need to know where the aliens are and we need to know now."
"Jack." Gwen moved out of earshot of the UNIT forces, motioning Jack to follow her. "Are you sure they're a threat? I mean, this could be a misunderstanding, right? After all, they had just crashed when armed soldiers surrounded them. Maybe they…" Gwen's words petered out as a worried expression came over her face. "Jack?"
"Gwen, I-" Jack drew in a deep breath, letting it out in a frustrated huff. It would be easier to yell, but neither Gwen nor Ianto seemed willing to accept 'because I say so' any longer. He was pretty sure Dr. Muli never would, but she hadn't earned his easy capitulation yet. Give it time. While he'd been thinking, Gwen's expression had gone from concerned to stubborn. He'd better get on with it. "I'm not sure. Not completely. But if these things are what I think they are, we can't take any chances. They're the stuff of nightmares. My nightmares, anyway."
Lt. Mallory trotted over to them. "We've lost contact with the recon team. Major Hopps is moving all available troops into the area. If you'd like, I can ride with you, keep you informed."
Jack nodded. "Good idea. We'll meet you at the SUV." Mallory left and Jack turned back to Gwen. "If it's any consolation, I really want to be wrong about this."
"I hope you are," Gwen said.
"Not much chance of that unless the recon team is still alive. It's one thing to defend yourself against superior forces. It's another to overwhelm a smaller force and take no prisoners. Come on."
It wasn't far to the site, a small farm in the area that was just beyond the original search range. Lt. Mallory told them UNIT had been doing quick sweeps ranging farther and farther out hoping to find some obvious sign of the aliens when this report had come in. There was still no word from the recon team, and the first troops on site after the call went out hadn't seen anything. When they arrived, UNIT was already setting up a perimeter using vehicles and troops with large work lights scattered throughout.
Jack parked out of the way of the UNIT vehicles. "And they say I'm not subtle? Where'd you get all the lights?"
Lt. Mallory shrugged. "Major Hopps thinks our presence won't come as a surprise to the aliens and he wants us to have a chance of spotting them if they make a break for it. We've got some of our teams around back with night scopes. Unfortunately, we don't have enough night vision gear to equip an assault force."
"Anything new?" Jack asked Major Hopps as they arrived at the small command post, which looked more like a UNIT brand SUV with delusions of grandeur.
"The troops around back spotted a body. Looks like one of our recon team. Headless." The major glared in the direction of the barn, fingers drumming on the roof of the vehicle. "We've got heat signatures from inside the barn and some of the teams report movement in the woods." He nodded to the left and right of the buildings. "We need to wait for the backup from St. Athan, if we can."
A young lieutenant trotted up just then. "Runners in from the rear, sir. Nothing new to report regarding the barn, but they report a group of aliens heading for the barn. Request for orders."
"Don't block them. Shift aside and hit them from the flank. The last thing we need-"
"Sir! Incoming!"
Jack grabbed Gwen and pulled her behind the SUV as giant bugs surged out of the woods to the left, UNIT giving way, then taking position and hitting the aliens from the side as they charged past. Some bugs scurried on, while others attacked the troops. Several bugs fell, but some hit the line, crashing into the group of soldiers. Sharp screams joined the bursts of weapons fire.
"Major!" Lt. Mallory called. "The barn! They're breaking out!"
The doors had opened and several of the sofa-sized bugs scrambled out, scattering across the field, running in all directions. UNIT opened fire just as an explosion burst directly overhead and the light stand fell over with a resounding crash. Looking up, Jack noticed a swarm of bugs flying straight towards them from the barn.
"They're after the lights!" he yelled. "Gwen!" Together, they began shooting at the flying beetles, but the cat-sized dark shapes were hard to track. One flew straight into a light, breaking the bulb and knocking it to the ground.
Strange bright patches became crazily swinging shadows and then darkness, as one after another the bugs destroyed the lights. Each time the UNIT forces redirected their shooting to the skies, the ground forces attacked, and vice versa. As soon as the lights were gone, the bugs withdrew, zig-zagging across the ground and finally darting into the barn. Several twitching bug corpses littered the field, but Jack could also hear the sobbing of UNIT soldiers as the medics rushed to tend them. He stood up cautiously, reaching out a hand to pull Gwen to her feet.
"You okay?" he asked her.
"Yeah. Glad you make us spend time on the target range. Why did they do that?"
Jack shrugged. "If I had to guess, they didn't like the lights."
"Thanks. Couldn't have figured that out, could I?" Gwen shook her head, but she had a small smile on her face.
"While we were occupied, it appears that more bugs broke from the woods and made it into the barn," Major Hopps reported. "It's unusual. Normally, they'd want to keep their forces free to flank us."
"Maybe they want us watching the barn?" Gwen asked. She looked around at the wreckage of the lights. "Just, not watching it too closely."
"Could be," Jack said. "Keeping our attention focussed on the barn while they plan something would make sense."
"We'll keep an eye out," the major said. "We'll have to wait for reinforcements now. I'll spread out the recon teams equipped with night scopes so we can guard the barn and watch for more in the woods. Lt. Mallory. Torchwood won't be needing you right now. Come with me."
Jack sighed. "It's gonna be a long night."
Wales: 51° 28' N. 3° 11' W., Friday
Ianto glanced over and frowned, then pulled up the same message that was blinking on Megan's screen. "Someone's trying to access the mainframe..." his voice climbed, fingers scrambling across his keyboard. "No, they've already accessed the system!"
Gwen and Jack were out there and Megan knew, just as Ianto did, that they were depending on them for support: information, coordination, back-up. "Can you quarantine it until we have time to deal with it?"
Ianto hit enter and Megan's screen dimmed, the blue threading background growing dull and sluggish. "With Mainframe's anti-intrusion program active, I can't get to the archive indexes or half the data transfer programs... or anything we really need." Ianto smacked his work-top in frustration, a gesture Megan had seen less than an hour ago, from Jack.
"Maybe it's just signal interference," she said gently.
Ianto shot her a look, clearly uninterested in supportive commentary. "That was static. This," he gestured at his screen where the system monitor fluctuated and a list of file names scrolled down the screen, "is intentional. If... rather pointless. None of those files are key functions."
Ianto scowled at the monitor and hit a key combo, the brief moment of satisfaction disappearing almost instantly as nothing worked.
The screen flickered as a new program window popped up.
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"Could that be something JJ left behind?" Megan leaned forward, recognising binary, then leaned back again as Ianto listed away from her - he was always touchy about his personal space.
"No." Ianto shook his head. "I cleared everything-" his voice shook, only a little, but it caught Megan's attention as nothing else would. "What kind of devices were in the alien? A transmitter? Something to receive a signal? Cybernetics?"
"No idea," Megan said promptly, watching Ianto's expression, because the garbled text on the screen meant nothing to her. The fear on his face did, though. "Some were clearly medical devices and others had no obvious medical function. All of them were implanted with skill and care."
Ianto's frozen posture cracked then and he hurriedly sorted through several systems, then pointed. "Those aren't the mainframe's processes and I can't shut them down. Quarantine after all," he muttered, typing incomprehensible commands, and half the monitors around them went dark. Three of them flickered back on, and Ianto's wild look told Megan that it wasn't his doing.
The Hub airlock shut with a clunk and Megan rolled her eyes. "Do you think we'll get to keep the oxygen this time?"
"I just need to hold it off long enough for Tosh's trace to work," Ianto said without even looking up. He shut down system after system until he hesitated, clearly torn. "If I put the mainframe into save mode, it'll take hours to wake it back up. We'll be useless."
His sidelong look was a muted plea, but Megan couldn't make this decision for him any more than when they'd stood over his niece's bedside. The computer beeped, and the innocuous noise made both of them jump.
"The trace - the intrusion is coming from in here."
Ianto snatched up his gun and Megan grabbed his wrist. "No!"
"It's the alien!" He jerked away. "It's doing something to our systems. That's the only thing it could be."
"Ze's a patient!"
"We don't know what it is-" Ianto pulled free, twisting away from her and darting past to the med bay. "Take no chances, Jack said, and I'm not about to."
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"Ianto!" With one harried glance at the jumble on the screen, Megan chased after him. "It doesn't have to be a zero-sum game! Don't you dare shoot my patient, Ianto Jones!"
The sight of him at the med bay railing, gun in a two-fisted grip, made Megan freeze, pulse racing with anger and fear. His eyes were wide and he looked so ridiculously young. She sidled up to him, carefully.
The alien, despite Muli's earlier insistent gestures, was sitting up on the exam table. Half wrapped in a blue treatment sheet, ze was hugging hirself and rocking back and forth, whistling mournfully - a picture of fear and loss, no matter how alien ze was. Megan could see hir attention fix on the dark gleam of Ianto's gun, recognising a weapon. Ze stilled then, inhuman gaze lifting to Ianto's face. Ze didn't try and escape, didn't flinch away. The alien understood. Megan looked at Ianto and realised - with relief - that he wasn't the sort of man who could look a person in the eyes and commit murder.
The Hub's speakers activated with a hiss of static. I DON'T WANT TO DIE
"Jesus!" Ianto yelped. The alien babbled frantically but didn't look away, echoed seconds later by the Hub's system - impersonally feminine, like a GPS recording, begging for its life.
TERRIBLE DANGER COMES
"You can't!" Megan grabbed Ianto's arm, wrestling it down and praying he wouldn't shoot his own foot, or hers. She pulled Ianto around to force him to look at her. "You can't just shoot a helpless person. That's not who you are."
"Torchwood is that and I'm Torchwood." His eyes were full of things Megan couldn't imagine. That young face and those tired eyes made all the files and records she'd been reading painfully real.
She tightened her grip. "It's not who we should be."
ALL MUST FLEE
THEY ARE COMING
THE SWARM IS HERE
DON'T KILL ME
"Listen," Megan insisted, begging when she'd rather demand, but Ianto had a gun in his hand and she knew his self-effacing politeness was only a mask. He'd do what he thought he must. "Ze's trying to help us, warn us. That's no attack."
"About what?"
"I don't know." Megan stepped back, letting her hand slide down to the gun in Ianto's grip, pointing it safely away from them all. "Why don't you ask?"
Wales: 51° 33' 16" N. 3° 06' 37" W., Friday
Gwen shifted in the cold, tucking her hands into her armpits for warmth. She'd spent part of the night resting in the UNIT SUV, but now the first of the reinforcements were starting to arrive and the sounds had woken her up. She was just thinking about checking in with Ianto and Megan when Jack's phone rang.
"Ianto," Jack said, his face one big grin for about half a second, before he heard whatever Ianto had to say. Gwen shivered as a cold expression slid over his face. "How do you know that?" There was a long pause as he listened. "Tell me exactly what ze said." Pause. "Then get the recording. I'll wait." Pulling the phone away from his face, Jack spoke to Gwen. "Our new alien buddy said these guys," Jack nodded towards the barn, "have an invasion force holding just outside our solar system, waiting for the signal to attack."
"Jack?" Gwen could just hear Ianto's voice through the phone.
"Here!" Jack responded. "Go on." He listened intently for several moments. "The major said they took the comm van on purpose. I guess now we know why. We've got to find it. Can you... Great! We're on our way." Jack squashed the mobile against his shoulder and flipped open his vortex manipulator. "I'll just- Shit! Ianto! There's too much scatter from these bugs. I can't get a fix on the van they swiped." He made some adjustments and gave the whole thing a slap. "There. I've got a rough direction and distance. You'll need to tune the Hub's sensors and find them for me. Call me when you've got it." He rang off and shoved the mobile in his pocket. "Gwen! We're leaving."
Major Hopps whipped round, glaring. All around them, UNIT soldiers were reinforcing their lines and preparing to meet the next wave of bugs when they came. "UNIT could use Torchwood's help, Captain. I don't appreciate you buggering off whenever you feel like it."
"Sorry," Jack said, "but we need to stop the rest before they can use your comm van to send a signal. I don't have time to explain, but they've got an attack fleet waiting. You'll have to trust us."
Major Hopps stared at Jack for a long moment, eyes narrowed.
"Sir! They're coming!" one of the men called as the sound of crashing from the woods alerted them to the danger.
"Bugger it! Harkness, go! Take Lt. Mallory. Mallory, take a team. Stop them from sending the damn signal. UNIT can handle a few bugs." He spun, running behind his lines in a low crouch, shouting orders and encouragement.
"Come on," Jack yelled. "Gwen! Mallory! We'll take the SUV."
Gwen ran after Jack. She could hear Erin yelling for a couple of men to follow her. Jack was in the driver's seat and the engine roared to life as Gwen climbed in.
"Captain!" Erin called to Jack. "We'll follow in a second vehicle in case they split up. Go!"
With a nod, Jack put his foot down and the SUV's tyres churned briefly before the vehicle slewed across the field, bouncing wildly. They hit the road and picked up speed. Jack wasn't holding back for her sake this time, Gwen noted. Giving her safety harness a quick tug, she checked her pistol.
"Reload," Jack ordered.
"On it," Gwen said. "Give me yours." As Gwen handled the weapons, Jack slapped the hands-free speed dial to the Hub.
"Ianto!" he said when the line picked up. "Guide us in."
There was a pause, before Megan answered. "He and Naz are just deciding-"
"Naz? Who the hell is- No, don't tell me. The alien."
"Ze's warned us about the Wirrin and is helping us track them. Ze's not dangerous and it seems ze's on our side."
"I'll be the judge of that," Jack said, grimly.
There was a longer pause, and when Megan continued, her voice was tense. "Ze's helping Ianto decide how best to configure the tracker to locate the aliens. They're homing in on the terahertz radiation and-"
"Dr. Muli, I don't need a lecture, I need a location!"
"If you'd been patient," she said forcefully, "I'd have told you it would be another minute."
"Look," Jack said. Gwen opened her mouth to intervene, but then Megan put an end to the discussion.
"We'll call you when they have them pinpointed. Until then, stay with the original coordinates." She rang off.
Jack's mouth hung open for a moment, apparently too stunned at Megan's audacity to close it. "Damn her," he finally said, screeching up to a crossroads and narrowly missing the only other vehicle in sight.
"You should stop pushing," Gwen said, mildly, not wanting to irritate Jack any further while he was driving.
"I have to push her! She always thinks she's right. She just... does things!" Jack slapped the steering wheel. "Consequences be damned!"
"Sounds a lot like you, if you ask me."
"Who's asking you?" Jack grumbled, but he heaved a sigh.
"You're not always right, you know," Gwen told him.
"I'm not always wrong, either. And until she's been here longer, she won't know when to push and when not to."
Gwen gripped the armrest and braced herself as Jack whipped around a curve. She decided to let the subject drop for now so that Jack could concentrate on driving. They might learn to work together, even get along most of the time, but she didn't think Megan and Jack would ever stop arguing completely. The phone rang just as they hit a straight stretch of road.
"Finally," Jack said, as the call came through from the Hub. Gwen leaned over and pressed the hands-free device.
"Hello, Jack?" Ianto's voice came over the speakers.
"Here! Why are you letting our guest, a potentially dangerous alien, help with the equipment?"
"Because ze's a better tech than I am! We don't have time to argue about this. I promise to let you yell at me later. Take the next road to the left and I'm sending the directions through to the SUV. You've got to hurry."
"Synching your data with the onboard computer," Gwen called, trying to derail the argument. "We're set! Jack-"
"Got it! Ianto, stay on the tracking and be careful. We'll discuss staffing issues later." Jack rang off, and punched the accelerator. Gwen hung on for dear life as they rocketed along the rural roads heading for what looked like the middle of nowhere just north and east of the crash site. The UNIT vehicle clung to their tail, their driver's skill impressing Gwen.
Ten minutes of bouncing over back roads brought them to the coordinates. The aliens had been stationary ever since Ianto had sent through the tracking information, and Gwen worried that they were already too late to stop the signal. At least they weren't going to face the bugs in the dark. The sky had turned from black to grey while they were driving. She was just reaching to check her pistol and spare magazines, when Jack swore violently and wrenched the SUV to the side, narrowly avoiding going off the road. Dark shapes darted out of the woods towards them and the SUV rocked as something hit the side with a loud bang.
"Hang on!" Jack yelled, whipping the SUV back and forth, finally slewing violently and skidding to a halt. There was a cow-sized beetle in their path, sleek dark carapace braced firmly in the dirt, like a living roadblock. A horn blared behind them and the UNIT vehicle roared past, turning sideways at the last instant to catch the beetle at an angle, using the force of its momentum to ram the creature and push it off the road, engine straining, as it cleared a narrow path for the SUV.
"Go! Go! Go!" Gwen yelled. Jack punched the accelerator and they lunged past UNIT and the beetle, out of the trees and into the misty morning and an open road. Up ahead, Gwen spotted a fence surrounding a concrete block building, a squat one-storey structure that couldn't be more than one or two rooms, nestled right next to a tall radio tower - some sort of secondary transmitter, perhaps, maintained but mostly ignored. As they got closer, Gwen could see that the door had been pulled off its hinges and flung some distance away. The UNIT comm van was parked next to the structure, rear doors open, and there were cables strung out the back and into the building. She couldn't make out any bugs yet.
Jack swerved off the main road, using the grassy field as a shortcut. He was just starting to brake, when Gwen spotted a flurry of movement. One bug, long and flat, moving faster than Gwen had imagined possible, raced in from the side of the field, ran beside them for a moment, and then darted in front. There wasn't time to scream before they hit its back like a ramp; it lifted just enough to flip the SUV sideways and over. They landed with a crash on the driver's side and slid, dirt and grass flying, to the sound of horrible metallic shrieking. They stopped suddenly, a thump coming from the direction of the roof, and Gwen could hear the skittering of creatures around the vehicle.
Shakily, she looked around, wondering why she wasn't bruised and dangling from her safety harness. The harness itself was hanging from its straps, shredded, as if something had forced it away from her body. Reaching up with a shaky hand to examine the frayed ends, she noticed a soft blue glow. She was surrounded by some kind of force-net. It seemed to support her everywhere while allowing her full movement as she shifted. Wide-eyed, she stretched her hand down to check on Jack. He was so still, lying below her, his ordinary safety harness holding him in place amid the remains of the SUV's airbags. She was about to call to him, when a scrabbling sound overhead had her yanking out her gun instead. She twisted slowly, the strange restraint - had to be alien tech - letting her move into position without any difficulty. She could see pairs of thin, waving things through the-
Oh God.
Feelers. Antennae. She could see them through the windscreen, though no full-sized bugs had ventured into view. She shifted again, her foot kicking the dashboard. There was a sudden flurry of scrabbling. All the feelers disappeared. Everything was quiet.
Gwen eyed her door, gun held at the ready, for what felt like a long time. She heard Jack moan and glanced down to see him starting to shift. Not dead, and he'd only been unconscious for a few minutes, so hopefully he wasn't too badly hurt. Slowly, she pulled the mobile from her pocket, but there was no signal. Not surprising, this close to the bugs. Slipping it back again, she gritted her teeth and eyed the door, wondering whether the blue force-net would stay with her or keep her from leaving the vehicle. There was one way to find out for sure. No time to be skittish. With a click, she unlocked the door, struggling to push it open from below. If it weren't for the strange safety net, acting like some kind of anti-gravity device, she wouldn't have been able to manage it. Her body felt strange and awkward, but she finally twisted until she could get her feet up and slam the door open. Somehow, she managed to hold it steady with one foot while she watched the opening.
The complete silence from outside was unnerving. Like turning on the kitchen light in the middle of the night to a floor full of bugs, only to have the things scatter within seconds. She was just reaching up, the gun a comforting weight in her hand, when she saw two waving feelers appearing through the opening. She swallowed heavily, her breath catching, as the things shifted slowly, deliberately, towards her. One gently touched her trousers, running along the leg and down, questing. Holding herself still, barely breathing, she waited. A head appeared, strange and flat with tiny specks of inky black for eyes. Gwen fired.
The head vanished, but Gwen had no idea if she'd hit the creature. She reached up, grabbed the edge of the doorframe and pulled herself up and out, the blue force-net dissipating as she left the interior. Bracing the door with one shoulder, she dropped to the ground, the door slamming shut again behind her. Quickly, she thrust her hand into her pocket and hit the remote lock, hoping that would keep Jack safe until he could defend himself. There were no bugs that she could see. Carefully, she stepped away from the SUV, moving towards the small building. There was a light mist and the clouds were just turning a brilliant red across the sky. She heard a sound behind her.
Dropping into a crouch and spinning, she managed to put three bullets into the looming shape that had rushed her. Two others broke around it on either side as it fell, circling her. They looked like the smaller beetles, with strange spiky appendages on their backs that reminded her of shark fins. One raised its shell, translucent wings lifting from its back as it took to the air with a loud buzz. More buzzing came from behind her. Without hesitating, Gwen flicked her head sideways, marking the second beetle's position. She aimed, dropping the second one with two shots and dodging the other, taking it down as it came back for another attack. It hit the ground, struggled briefly towards the building, then slumped.
One of the big roach-like bugs and two small beetles - down.
The sound of weapons fire started from the woods where they'd left Erin's team. At least they were still alive, but it sounded as if Gwen couldn't count on them for back-up just yet. A quick look around, and she ran for the UNIT comm van. If she could just destroy the equipment, they might be able to stop this. There was another rustle from behind her. She dodged sideways, the bug hitting her with a glancing blow that knocked her down. She rolled awkwardly, hand slapping the ground to absorb the impact, doing her best to protect her belly. Another of the roaches raised up, its giant mandibles extending from its jaws as it lunged at her. She got off one wild shot, driving it back. There was a loud bang from the direction of the SUV just as the creature lunged in again, falling across her. She screamed as its legs - disgusting hairy spines - caught in her clothing and pulled as it twitched then lay still.
The sound of more gunfire came from the SUV.
"Gwen!" Jack's voice. She reached up, planting her hands firmly on the corpse, and heaved. It tumbled off her to the side. She rolled over, pushing herself up, and spotted half-a-dozen creatures scurrying towards her. "Go!" Jack yelled. "I'll cover you!" He was sitting on the SUV, wielding one of their automatic rifles. There were more bugs running towards him, but he ignored them and began picking off the ones chasing her instead. She ran.
The ground was slick with morning dew and the building was on a small rise. She slipped on the slope, catching herself on her hands and stumbling to her feet. She kept running, the chatter of Jack's gun keeping her company. Just beyond the van she could see a second car, flipped over completely, dark shapes on the ground near it. She slowed, approaching more cautiously, edging her way towards the van, until she realised they weren't more bugs. Three headless corpses littered the ground around the car. Gwen shuddered, but kept going, scanning the area under the van. She turned and aimed as a flurry of movement from the building caught her attention. Three bugs, long and stick-like, raced towards her. The lead bug was too close, but another burst of gunfire from Jack dropped it. Gwen took care of one of the others, and the last one veered off, finding cover.
"Be careful," Jack yelled unnecessarily. She didn't respond, the sound of weapons-fire telling her he was dealing with his own problems. She had to do this. The back of the van was open, filled with electronics equipment. The last bug was nearby, but where?
She bent cautiously, looking under the vehicle. Nothing. It had either run for the woods, or was perched on top of the van, waiting. Taking a steadying breath, she ran the last few steps and jumped into the back of the van, grunting with the effort. She was just reaching for the controls when the last stick-bug dove in through a window and landed on her. She fell back, gasping at the strong scent of damp wood rot that surrounded the creature and permeated the van. She grabbed its legs, the thick fleshy knobs rolling under her fingers as she jerked and twisted. The strange mandibles snapped close to her face as she brought up one leg and used it to kick the bug in the thorax, tumbling it out of the van.
A short burst of gunfire from Jack, and the creature lay still. Gwen looked at Jack across a field littered with corpses. Varying sizes of bugs lay dead and dying. There was a distinctive smell of rot in the air - the same as in the van - and Gwen realised the thick, earthy scent must be something to do with the creatures themselves; she recalled smelling it back in the UNIT tent the night before.
Sitting up, Gwen was reaching for the controls again when there was a shout from Jack. "Look out!"
Two small shapes with iridescent wings and shiny black carapaces flew from the building, darting madly through the air, impossible to train the gun on. One of them aimed straight for her face and Gwen stretched out her arms, attempting to cover the consoles, but the small creature snared itself in her shirt and jerked about madly, keeping her from being able to balance. She grabbed it just as she heard the thudding of footsteps running towards her.
"Gwen! Get down," Jack hollered.
She threw herself onto the floor, crushing the small bug - about the size of a housecat - beneath her. It fluttered madly. With a grimace, she pressed down, grinding it into the floor. Three single shots rang out. Gwen dropped the bug and rolled away from the sound of sparking electricity.
"Damn it!" Jack swore. "Gwen!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the van, supporting her as her feet hit the ground and she steadied herself. Erin and the other two UNIT soldiers stood nearby.
"We didn't stop them," Jack said.
Startled, Gwen looked around the van. There were curls of smoke rising from the electronics and the other small bug was lying dead on the console. The flexible appendages that lined the creature's limbs curled around dials and switches. She could just make out a small green light blinking erratically in fits and starts as the equipment continued to spark.
Jack leaned inside, brushing the body off the console, and began flipping switches frantically. Erin dove for the power cables, the other two helping her disconnect them.
"Did we... did we stop it in time?" Gwen asked.
Jack shook his head, studying the controls. "They made the connection, somehow. They must have been almost ready when we got here. They've signalled the attack fleet."
Knuckles gripped white on his gun, he turned towards her, gazing across the field of corpses gleaming in the red dawn. Taking in a deep breath, he raised his chin and straightened his shoulders.
"Call Ianto and Muli. Tell them we failed. Tell them to get ready."
TO BE CONTINUED