The Rent In The Fabric Chapter 3
Dec. 29th, 2010 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
galadriel1010Title: The Rent In The Fabric
Chapter Title: Chapter 3
Challenge/Fest: Journey Story Big Bang
Rating: T
Dedication: Beta-d by my brother. Any mistakes remaining are his fault.
Summary: Jack Harkness leaves Earth behind to shake off the pain of losing everything, and to keep his promise to Ianto. Along the way, hope kindles, and he sets out on a search for the other end of the Rift and the hope of a reunion. There are aliens, space stations, a university, and a familiar face on his path.
Characters: Jack Harkness, OCs and a surprise familiar face.
Contains: Angst, world invention, liberal use of a business management degree.
Disclaimer: Torchwood and its environs, occurrences and persons belong to the BBC. The original characters have disowned me.
Jack stepped off the ship into the bustling spaceport on Terrara. It was planetside, the first time he’d stood on a planet since leaving Gwen, and a breeze through the open doors carried the smell of fresh air, street food and city living into the bustling hub. The local system was populated by a tall slender race with deep blue skin, and three joints in their arms. They were the Gliop - quick to anger but restrained by strict politeness laws and customs, allergic to alcohol but fond of other drugs, not spectacularly talented intellectually but experts at diplomacy and trade. They outnumbered other species enormously, but there were enough aliens around apart from Jack that he didn’t stand out as much as he’d feared.
Long queues snaked to the visa desks at the far end of the hall, and university hawkers prowled the lines, trying to entice people onto their courses. He joined one of the lines, with his bag over his shoulder, and waited for them to come to him. Within minutes, a young woman and an older man had descended on him with bright, welcoming smiles and touchpads extended. “Good evening,” the woman greeted him. “How was your trip? Latha Hyti University are so pleased to see you here on Terara.”
“Thanks.” He accepted the bag she shoved into his hands and glanced at the man. “And you?”
“Latha Grast University is delighted to see you here on Terrara,” the man intoned, with enough of a sparkle to make Jack warm to him. “And we hope that you will accept this gift as a token of our welcome, and look forward to educating you.”
Jack fished through the bags for the prospecti and juggled them awkwardly. “I’m looking to study the power of the Rifts. The potential for its use in transport and...”
“We’ve got just the course,” the young woman told him, taking her prospectus from him and flipping through it to the right place. The man left to find someone else to recruit, and Jack gave him a quick smile. “We do a three year course on the Rifts, covering everything from the theoretical sciences to practical uses. Our lecturers are some of the leading experts on the subject. Does that sound like what you’re looking for?”
He accepted the prospectus from her again and nodded. “Yes, I think that’s exactly it.”
“Follow me, then.” She gestured towards the row of desks at the back of the room. “Let’s get you signed up.”
X~X~X~X
He peered at the screen that listed his module options and scanned through the ones he’d noted down on the scrap of paper in his hand. The university had courses on everything, it seemed, and in his first year he could choose from any of them. A dark paranoia at the back of his mind told him not to make it too obvious what he was looking for, so he narrowed it down to a variety of subjects relating to travel and transport, including flying lessons, and chose enough of them to make his quota for the term. If he found what he was lookiing for quickly he wouldn’t need to go to any of them, but he would have to go to begin with, at least, in case he needed to pass the term and stay longer.
His tablet beeped, and he picked it up to find that the computer system had already sent him a list of the books he needed, and a quick brush of the screen would buy them all and download them to the tablet. He flicked that away, though - he’d earned enough on his trip here to pay for his enrollment, but he’d need to get another job to pay for his books and accommodation. Back on Earth he had more money than he could ever have used - out in space it was worth nothing. The temptation to hack into the system, to run one last con to get him to Ianto, was great, but he couldn’t risk alienating people he might need.
Someone behind him gave the equivalent of a pointed cough, and he moved away from the terminal to let the next person at it, settling in a chair that moulded to support him to flick through the other things he’d been sent with his module registration. His lecturers had all sent him automated messages, as had his personal tutor, and his calendar had been populated with his lectures and seminars. An alert flashed up, cheerily informing him that he had an appointment at the campus medical centre that afternoon.
He smiled fondly and acknowledged the appointment, then dropped his tablet to his side and stared up at the glimmering ceiling. Walkways criss-crossed up through the administration building, connecting different offices and departments together, and long robes were occasionally visible over the edges. Ianto would have liked the level of organisation and the simple practicality they employed in keeping their thousands of students organised.
Jack pushed that from his mind, lingering for a moment on the sharp stab of grief, and then got to his feet and made his way to the employment office. The queue here was long as well, and he had nothing to keep his mind engaged until he finally reached the front and a young androgyne beckoned him forwards to sit in front of zir. “Good morning,” zie greeted him, barely glancing up from the computer. “Have you enrolled on your course?” When he confirmed that he had, zie asked for his student number, put it in, and then peered at the results in confusion. “I’m sorry,” zie said, “but I don’t have any records for you. You must be an inter-sector student?”
“I am. I’m from Sol 3,” he explained, and zir face cleared. Earth was far too backwards to have accessible data, which helped his cause. “What do you need to know?”
“Well...” Zie tapped at the keyboard and nodded at his tablet. “I’ve sent the standard form through to your tablet, and made an appointment for you to go over it this afternoon. Fill in the form before you get there, there’s a dear.”
He blinked at the phrasing, but collected his things together and nodded, getting to his feet and hurrying out of the office, out of the way. from having an afternoon and evening free to explore the library and find out as much as he could about the Rifts, he suddenly had a full day of not explaining himself to people who needed to know more about him than he was willing to tell them.
By the time he reached his room - a box smaller than his room in the Hub, and even further away from the shared bathroom than it had been as well - he was emotionally exhausted, and had a weekly appointment with a grief counsellor, two appointments with immigration officials, and not enough hours before he had to meet his personal tutor for the first time. He fell into bed, which was comfortable at least, and tried to get to sleep. That, however, proved impossible. A nervous, terrified excitement had gripped him, and scenarios rattled through his mind, keeping him wide awake and staring at the wall. Vicious hope was building, but with it came a gut-wrenching dissappointment - already, even before he’d started.
There was every chance that Ianto wasn’t there to find, and his awareness of that was like am icy weight in the pit of his stomach.
X~X~X~X
The tutors’ offices were on an upper floor, radiating out from the lifts like the strands of a spider’s web or the crystals of a snowflake. Jack wound his way between the students, most of whom were of the tall, slender species native to the system and therefore towered over him, and found his way to the cluster of Transport and Logistics offices and the central common area they surrounded.
It took him a while to find the office he was looking for, as he has his tutor’s name - Justa Mikrat - and a room code, but no one had taken the time to teach him the coding system. His tutor had an office on the very outside of the cluster, with a wide window that looked out over the immaculate gardens. He knocked and his tutor called him to enter, but he was still working when Jack closed the door. He let his tutor know that he was assessing the room whilst he waited for him to finish what he was doing. The burnished metal shelves supported countless books, all with silver or bronze covers and deep blue symbols embossed at the top of the spine. There was very little wood, and not a lot of glass either, but dozens of different colours and shades of metal. It was an opulent room in a prime position, and told of decades of service, unrivalled expertise, and probably quite a lot of other people’s embarassing secrets.
“Captain,” Miskat greeted him at last, standing and stepping out from behind the desk to bow. “Welcome to Latha Hyti. I hope that you are settling in well.”
“It’s been a big change,” he admitted. “Still wondering what I’m doing here.”
“And it has been a trying year for you. I just read your record - I am sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Miskat indicated the visitor’s chair, and Jack perched in it whilst Miskat settled back into his own. He had been a handsome man in his youth, if Jack was any judge, but age and the sedentery lifestyle of academia had not been kind. Jack thought that he’d had a serious illness as well, but he wasn’t familiar enough with the Gliop to be sure. He was warm and welcoming, though, and the state of his desk reassured Jack that he probably wasn’t a stickler for details.
He also knew enough to wait Jack out before he spoke again. “The records indicate that your interests mostly lie in Rift study. Am I right in assuming that this has something to do with your loss?”
Jack flinched and rubbed his wrist. “I... Yes,” he answered simply. “He was taken by the Rift. With Torchwood I saw the damage that Rift travel could do to people - I’ll do whatever it takes to find him and save him from that.”
Miskat sighed and folded his long hands over each other. “Have you spoken about this to a counsellor?” Jack admitted that he hadn’t, and his tutor sighed. “I want you to explain your reasons to your counsellor in full when you see them. Grief is a powerful motivator, I know, but the damage that could be done by the increased emotional pressure on you could be more than we can risk.”
“I can’t just sit back and do nothing, though...”
“No, Captain, and you will not need to.” He raised a hand to calm him. “You can remain here at the university, but we will remove you from the course. If the counsellor advises that it is the best course of action, of course.”
He sagged and nodded. “So I just have to wait and see?”
“I think that patience is not one of your virtues, am I right? You will have to learn it for your work with the Rift,” Miskat told him firmly. “Come back and see me after your meeting, and we will arrange the optimum next stage for you. We will do everything we can to support you, whatever direction you choose to take.”
“Thank you.” He took a moment to process that, then raised his head and forced a smile. “Shall I see you tomorrow, then?”
“I’ll set up an appointment for you.” Miskat got up and came to the door to let Jack out. “Good luck, Captain. If you need me, you know where my office is now. My timetable will show if I’m otherwise engaged, and if I’m not then you are free to see me at any time.”
Jack thanked him and left, heavy steps matching his heart as he went in search of his next appointment.
X~X~X~X
There was another professor in with Mikrat when he returned the next morning. the stranger was of a different species, and posessed the wildly curling hair that Jack expected of eccentric professors in a shocking electric blue. He greeted Jack enthusiastically, pumping his hand. “You are human, yes? You are from Earth, yes?”
“Yes.” He got his hand back as politely as he could and turned to Mikrat. His meetings with the grievance counsellors had left him a little too emotionally bruised and vulnerable to be able to deal with this. “Professor?”
“This is Professor Zelik. He is an intersector expert on the Rifts.” Mikrat smiled knowingly and gestured to the chairs. “Please, take a seat.”
Jack sat gratefully, out of Zelik’s reach, and folded his arms across his chest. “You would have been my professor, then?”
“Yes yes. I am sorry to not be teaching you, yes. The counsellors, they say it would not be safe for you, yes?” He looked over at Mikrat and nodded at him. “Professor Mikrat tells me you need to find the Rifts, yes, and that you seek employ.”
“I do.” He sat up straighter. “Do you have a proposal?”
“I have a suggestion, yes. I travel soon to Beaulieu - they are experts in the Rift travel, yes - and I need assistant. You travel with me, we learn as we go, yes?” He fumbled through his bag, and Jack was grateful to have the warning of his levels of disorganisation before he accepted the position. Nothing would have put him off, but he thought he would be acquiring a new and painful appreciation fo Ianto’s skills. “Here,” Zelik said, dragging his attention back. “I have itinerary, yes. We travel these days, stay in Beaulieu. There attend conference - I present, you ask them questions. They know your answers, yes.”
Jack checked the dates - he had over a month to wait and use the library to do his own research, and then they would travel just before the university’s reading weeks. He was already nodding as he handed it back. “What would you like me to do?”
“You my assistant until my leave Beaulieu. I have research paper to prepare, yes, and need assist. You help me with my research, read through papers and report me, yes?” He hauled out another pile of papers and handed them to Jack. “You take these and read them, yes? I pay you for your work - good rate. I am disorganised, my assistant is hard work, yes. You have experience?”
He looked up from the papers he’d been handed and smiled sadly. “Not a lot, but I learned from the best.”
Zelik seemed not to notice his melancholy, as he bubbled on as before. “Good good. You think tonight, tell Professor Mikrat you take job or no, yes? I see you soon.” He leapt to his feet and swept all his papers into his bag. “Professor, Captain. I must go to lecture, yes. Busy busy start of year.”
A short whirlwind later, he was gone and the door had banged shut behind him. Jack stared at the swimming words on the paper, and started at Mikrat’s touch on his shoulder. “You will take the job,” Mikrat told him, sounding concerned. “Even though I am not sure it is the best thing for you.”
“Neither am I,” he admitted. “But I think it would be the best thing for him, and that’s all I can care about at the moment.”
“I know.” Mikrat squeezed his shoulder and returned to his seat. “You should go and have a quiet time. I will tell Zelik you will do it - after a suitable pause, of course.”
Jack smiled at him, collected everything together, and returned to his room to sit in the darkness, staring blankly at the wall.
Next chapter
Chapter Title: Chapter 3
Challenge/Fest: Journey Story Big Bang
Rating: T
Dedication: Beta-d by my brother. Any mistakes remaining are his fault.
Summary: Jack Harkness leaves Earth behind to shake off the pain of losing everything, and to keep his promise to Ianto. Along the way, hope kindles, and he sets out on a search for the other end of the Rift and the hope of a reunion. There are aliens, space stations, a university, and a familiar face on his path.
Characters: Jack Harkness, OCs and a surprise familiar face.
Contains: Angst, world invention, liberal use of a business management degree.
Disclaimer: Torchwood and its environs, occurrences and persons belong to the BBC. The original characters have disowned me.
Jack stepped off the ship into the bustling spaceport on Terrara. It was planetside, the first time he’d stood on a planet since leaving Gwen, and a breeze through the open doors carried the smell of fresh air, street food and city living into the bustling hub. The local system was populated by a tall slender race with deep blue skin, and three joints in their arms. They were the Gliop - quick to anger but restrained by strict politeness laws and customs, allergic to alcohol but fond of other drugs, not spectacularly talented intellectually but experts at diplomacy and trade. They outnumbered other species enormously, but there were enough aliens around apart from Jack that he didn’t stand out as much as he’d feared.
Long queues snaked to the visa desks at the far end of the hall, and university hawkers prowled the lines, trying to entice people onto their courses. He joined one of the lines, with his bag over his shoulder, and waited for them to come to him. Within minutes, a young woman and an older man had descended on him with bright, welcoming smiles and touchpads extended. “Good evening,” the woman greeted him. “How was your trip? Latha Hyti University are so pleased to see you here on Terara.”
“Thanks.” He accepted the bag she shoved into his hands and glanced at the man. “And you?”
“Latha Grast University is delighted to see you here on Terrara,” the man intoned, with enough of a sparkle to make Jack warm to him. “And we hope that you will accept this gift as a token of our welcome, and look forward to educating you.”
Jack fished through the bags for the prospecti and juggled them awkwardly. “I’m looking to study the power of the Rifts. The potential for its use in transport and...”
“We’ve got just the course,” the young woman told him, taking her prospectus from him and flipping through it to the right place. The man left to find someone else to recruit, and Jack gave him a quick smile. “We do a three year course on the Rifts, covering everything from the theoretical sciences to practical uses. Our lecturers are some of the leading experts on the subject. Does that sound like what you’re looking for?”
He accepted the prospectus from her again and nodded. “Yes, I think that’s exactly it.”
“Follow me, then.” She gestured towards the row of desks at the back of the room. “Let’s get you signed up.”
X~X~X~X
He peered at the screen that listed his module options and scanned through the ones he’d noted down on the scrap of paper in his hand. The university had courses on everything, it seemed, and in his first year he could choose from any of them. A dark paranoia at the back of his mind told him not to make it too obvious what he was looking for, so he narrowed it down to a variety of subjects relating to travel and transport, including flying lessons, and chose enough of them to make his quota for the term. If he found what he was lookiing for quickly he wouldn’t need to go to any of them, but he would have to go to begin with, at least, in case he needed to pass the term and stay longer.
His tablet beeped, and he picked it up to find that the computer system had already sent him a list of the books he needed, and a quick brush of the screen would buy them all and download them to the tablet. He flicked that away, though - he’d earned enough on his trip here to pay for his enrollment, but he’d need to get another job to pay for his books and accommodation. Back on Earth he had more money than he could ever have used - out in space it was worth nothing. The temptation to hack into the system, to run one last con to get him to Ianto, was great, but he couldn’t risk alienating people he might need.
Someone behind him gave the equivalent of a pointed cough, and he moved away from the terminal to let the next person at it, settling in a chair that moulded to support him to flick through the other things he’d been sent with his module registration. His lecturers had all sent him automated messages, as had his personal tutor, and his calendar had been populated with his lectures and seminars. An alert flashed up, cheerily informing him that he had an appointment at the campus medical centre that afternoon.
He smiled fondly and acknowledged the appointment, then dropped his tablet to his side and stared up at the glimmering ceiling. Walkways criss-crossed up through the administration building, connecting different offices and departments together, and long robes were occasionally visible over the edges. Ianto would have liked the level of organisation and the simple practicality they employed in keeping their thousands of students organised.
Jack pushed that from his mind, lingering for a moment on the sharp stab of grief, and then got to his feet and made his way to the employment office. The queue here was long as well, and he had nothing to keep his mind engaged until he finally reached the front and a young androgyne beckoned him forwards to sit in front of zir. “Good morning,” zie greeted him, barely glancing up from the computer. “Have you enrolled on your course?” When he confirmed that he had, zie asked for his student number, put it in, and then peered at the results in confusion. “I’m sorry,” zie said, “but I don’t have any records for you. You must be an inter-sector student?”
“I am. I’m from Sol 3,” he explained, and zir face cleared. Earth was far too backwards to have accessible data, which helped his cause. “What do you need to know?”
“Well...” Zie tapped at the keyboard and nodded at his tablet. “I’ve sent the standard form through to your tablet, and made an appointment for you to go over it this afternoon. Fill in the form before you get there, there’s a dear.”
He blinked at the phrasing, but collected his things together and nodded, getting to his feet and hurrying out of the office, out of the way. from having an afternoon and evening free to explore the library and find out as much as he could about the Rifts, he suddenly had a full day of not explaining himself to people who needed to know more about him than he was willing to tell them.
By the time he reached his room - a box smaller than his room in the Hub, and even further away from the shared bathroom than it had been as well - he was emotionally exhausted, and had a weekly appointment with a grief counsellor, two appointments with immigration officials, and not enough hours before he had to meet his personal tutor for the first time. He fell into bed, which was comfortable at least, and tried to get to sleep. That, however, proved impossible. A nervous, terrified excitement had gripped him, and scenarios rattled through his mind, keeping him wide awake and staring at the wall. Vicious hope was building, but with it came a gut-wrenching dissappointment - already, even before he’d started.
There was every chance that Ianto wasn’t there to find, and his awareness of that was like am icy weight in the pit of his stomach.
X~X~X~X
The tutors’ offices were on an upper floor, radiating out from the lifts like the strands of a spider’s web or the crystals of a snowflake. Jack wound his way between the students, most of whom were of the tall, slender species native to the system and therefore towered over him, and found his way to the cluster of Transport and Logistics offices and the central common area they surrounded.
It took him a while to find the office he was looking for, as he has his tutor’s name - Justa Mikrat - and a room code, but no one had taken the time to teach him the coding system. His tutor had an office on the very outside of the cluster, with a wide window that looked out over the immaculate gardens. He knocked and his tutor called him to enter, but he was still working when Jack closed the door. He let his tutor know that he was assessing the room whilst he waited for him to finish what he was doing. The burnished metal shelves supported countless books, all with silver or bronze covers and deep blue symbols embossed at the top of the spine. There was very little wood, and not a lot of glass either, but dozens of different colours and shades of metal. It was an opulent room in a prime position, and told of decades of service, unrivalled expertise, and probably quite a lot of other people’s embarassing secrets.
“Captain,” Miskat greeted him at last, standing and stepping out from behind the desk to bow. “Welcome to Latha Hyti. I hope that you are settling in well.”
“It’s been a big change,” he admitted. “Still wondering what I’m doing here.”
“And it has been a trying year for you. I just read your record - I am sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Miskat indicated the visitor’s chair, and Jack perched in it whilst Miskat settled back into his own. He had been a handsome man in his youth, if Jack was any judge, but age and the sedentery lifestyle of academia had not been kind. Jack thought that he’d had a serious illness as well, but he wasn’t familiar enough with the Gliop to be sure. He was warm and welcoming, though, and the state of his desk reassured Jack that he probably wasn’t a stickler for details.
He also knew enough to wait Jack out before he spoke again. “The records indicate that your interests mostly lie in Rift study. Am I right in assuming that this has something to do with your loss?”
Jack flinched and rubbed his wrist. “I... Yes,” he answered simply. “He was taken by the Rift. With Torchwood I saw the damage that Rift travel could do to people - I’ll do whatever it takes to find him and save him from that.”
Miskat sighed and folded his long hands over each other. “Have you spoken about this to a counsellor?” Jack admitted that he hadn’t, and his tutor sighed. “I want you to explain your reasons to your counsellor in full when you see them. Grief is a powerful motivator, I know, but the damage that could be done by the increased emotional pressure on you could be more than we can risk.”
“I can’t just sit back and do nothing, though...”
“No, Captain, and you will not need to.” He raised a hand to calm him. “You can remain here at the university, but we will remove you from the course. If the counsellor advises that it is the best course of action, of course.”
He sagged and nodded. “So I just have to wait and see?”
“I think that patience is not one of your virtues, am I right? You will have to learn it for your work with the Rift,” Miskat told him firmly. “Come back and see me after your meeting, and we will arrange the optimum next stage for you. We will do everything we can to support you, whatever direction you choose to take.”
“Thank you.” He took a moment to process that, then raised his head and forced a smile. “Shall I see you tomorrow, then?”
“I’ll set up an appointment for you.” Miskat got up and came to the door to let Jack out. “Good luck, Captain. If you need me, you know where my office is now. My timetable will show if I’m otherwise engaged, and if I’m not then you are free to see me at any time.”
Jack thanked him and left, heavy steps matching his heart as he went in search of his next appointment.
X~X~X~X
There was another professor in with Mikrat when he returned the next morning. the stranger was of a different species, and posessed the wildly curling hair that Jack expected of eccentric professors in a shocking electric blue. He greeted Jack enthusiastically, pumping his hand. “You are human, yes? You are from Earth, yes?”
“Yes.” He got his hand back as politely as he could and turned to Mikrat. His meetings with the grievance counsellors had left him a little too emotionally bruised and vulnerable to be able to deal with this. “Professor?”
“This is Professor Zelik. He is an intersector expert on the Rifts.” Mikrat smiled knowingly and gestured to the chairs. “Please, take a seat.”
Jack sat gratefully, out of Zelik’s reach, and folded his arms across his chest. “You would have been my professor, then?”
“Yes yes. I am sorry to not be teaching you, yes. The counsellors, they say it would not be safe for you, yes?” He looked over at Mikrat and nodded at him. “Professor Mikrat tells me you need to find the Rifts, yes, and that you seek employ.”
“I do.” He sat up straighter. “Do you have a proposal?”
“I have a suggestion, yes. I travel soon to Beaulieu - they are experts in the Rift travel, yes - and I need assistant. You travel with me, we learn as we go, yes?” He fumbled through his bag, and Jack was grateful to have the warning of his levels of disorganisation before he accepted the position. Nothing would have put him off, but he thought he would be acquiring a new and painful appreciation fo Ianto’s skills. “Here,” Zelik said, dragging his attention back. “I have itinerary, yes. We travel these days, stay in Beaulieu. There attend conference - I present, you ask them questions. They know your answers, yes.”
Jack checked the dates - he had over a month to wait and use the library to do his own research, and then they would travel just before the university’s reading weeks. He was already nodding as he handed it back. “What would you like me to do?”
“You my assistant until my leave Beaulieu. I have research paper to prepare, yes, and need assist. You help me with my research, read through papers and report me, yes?” He hauled out another pile of papers and handed them to Jack. “You take these and read them, yes? I pay you for your work - good rate. I am disorganised, my assistant is hard work, yes. You have experience?”
He looked up from the papers he’d been handed and smiled sadly. “Not a lot, but I learned from the best.”
Zelik seemed not to notice his melancholy, as he bubbled on as before. “Good good. You think tonight, tell Professor Mikrat you take job or no, yes? I see you soon.” He leapt to his feet and swept all his papers into his bag. “Professor, Captain. I must go to lecture, yes. Busy busy start of year.”
A short whirlwind later, he was gone and the door had banged shut behind him. Jack stared at the swimming words on the paper, and started at Mikrat’s touch on his shoulder. “You will take the job,” Mikrat told him, sounding concerned. “Even though I am not sure it is the best thing for you.”
“Neither am I,” he admitted. “But I think it would be the best thing for him, and that’s all I can care about at the moment.”
“I know.” Mikrat squeezed his shoulder and returned to his seat. “You should go and have a quiet time. I will tell Zelik you will do it - after a suitable pause, of course.”
Jack smiled at him, collected everything together, and returned to his room to sit in the darkness, staring blankly at the wall.
Next chapter
