The Rent In The Fabric Chapter 4
Dec. 29th, 2010 12:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
galadriel1010Title: The Rent In The Fabric
Chapter Title: Chapter 4
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 collected the schedule from the printer in Zelik’s office and slid it into the pocket on the inside of the folder whilst the professor chattered away to himself. He set it on the desk in front of him, open to the schedule and the contacts page opposite it. “We dock in half an hour, Professor,” he told him. “There’s your schedule for this afternoon and the contact details for the conference. I’ve organised all the files and notes for this afternoon’s presentations - they’re all in the folder - and I have as many pens as you can possibly lose.”
“Yes yes. We must prepare our papers, yes?”
“I have them.” He sighed and moved Zelik’s mug off them. As much as he loved Ianto and tried to honour his memory, he couldn’t help thinking that he wouldn’t have coped with Zelik at all well. “Or I had them, and now I have them again. Everything is ready, and you signed the disembarkation papers this morning, remember?”
Zelik though back on it and shrugged. “I believe you, yes. You keep me organised, Captain. I will not want to let you go, yes.”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” he murmured, and beat a retreat to his little corner of the office. Zelik’s desk was littered with papers and files, and Jack knew that they were all irrelevant because he had all the relevant ones in the two files on his own desk or in the boxes that were sealed and labelled to be taken to their accommodation. They had had a two night flight, and the first half hour had been enough for him to reduce their rented office on the liner to the state that his office at the university was. Jack was beyond grateful that they’d got separate cabins. Never again would be be able to see an untidy desk without flinching.
The first docking announcement rolled over the tannoy with the incomprehensibility of all PA announcements everywhere in the universe. It brought Zelik to a halt for a moment whilst he tried to understand it, but then he launched off into a litany of complaints and reminiscences. Jack kept his head down and ignored him, letting himself wind himself down in his own time.
They were travelling on a C class liner, a jumbo jet for interstellar distances. As well as individual cabins and suites, there were also offices where those travelling for work could conduct their business during the journey, dining halls and entertainment facilities to make the journey pass more quickly, and a considerable cargo hold. Most of the passengers on the ship were travelling for holidays and had their cases or even their vehicles in the hold, but some were emigrating permanently and had filled whole compartments with their posessions.
Jack’s looked more meagre than ever when compared to them. His whole life fitted into the rucksack that sat by the side of his desk.
In what seemed like no time at all, another announcement came, and Jack had to collect the last of the professor’s things into the box he’d set aside, tape it closed and have it ready to take off the ship with them. Most of their things were ready adn being delivered to the research centre where the conference was being held, but he hadn’t been able to part Zelik from everything. The professor followed long behind him to the disembarkation point, leaving Jack to carry his own bag, the box of papers and equipment and the three folders.
“Welcome to Beaulieu,” a steward greeted him. “Can I have any of your things dispatched to your accommodation to make your arrival easier?”
“Yeah, this box, please.” He passed it off to the steward and gave him the address he’d been given by the conference organisers, and the code of their original shipment as well just in case. “Where can we get a taxi oncer we get out of the port?”
The steward consulted his file and glance up at him. “There’s a car waiting for you,” he informed him. “There is another group travelling to the conference, and someone will be there to collect you in the arrivals lounge.”
“Thank you,” he said with feeling. Getting Zelik anywhere was not high on his list of favourite passtimes. “Follow the signs, then?”
“Absolutely, sir. Down this corridor,” he indicated it, “and left at the end into the arrivals hall. You have your paperwork? If your paperwork is all ready then it will only take a moment to get through check in and then you’ll be in the arrivals lounge.”
Jack thanked him again and hurried to catch up with Zelik, who was studying the signs halfway down the corridor and drifting towards the right. He guided him through to check in, presented the clerk with their paperwork, and then sent him to sit down whilst he got everything sorted. When he rejoined him, Zelik was sitting with an elderly couple and talking animatedly. Jack approached cautiously and was immediately tugged into a seat by one of the females. “You must be Captain!” she cooed. “Antimony has been telling us how well you look after him.” She dropped her voice and glanced over at Zelik. “It’s not easy, I know. He’s not been the same since Hatty left him.”
“Hatty...”
“His last assistant,” the other female explained, talking right over Zelik. “She got tired fo clearning up after him. You’re lucky you’re on a short cpontract.”
“Thank you,” Zelik huffed. “Captain knows quite well what he’s let himself in for. Where are we going now, dear boy?”
Jack smiled and gestured over his shoudler at the room behind them. “I’;ll go and see if I can find out transpoirt and come back for you. There’s a car waiting for us, apparently.” He went and did that, and heard the shorter and louder of the two fermales asking Zelik how much he paid him, where he found him, and if he would be interested in working for them once his contract with Zelik was over.
The car was familiar enough compared to Earth vehicles - with the same front-facing layout and storage space above rather than behind the seats. He and the driver got the scientists’ equipment packed into the storage space whilst they carried on talking, adn then he sat in the front and let them carry on their conversation in the back.
The drive took them away from the airport and the attached complex of shops, restaurants and hotels, and through quiet lanes instead of along the highway. The research centree they were aiming for appeared as a white blob on the horizon, but as they got closer it was revealed as another cluster of tall, angular buildings with high level walkways between them, like most other universities Jack had seen. It was an especially popular design in this sector, where universities, shopping complexes and even cities all looked much the same.
They pulled into a driveway in front of the main administration building, which has a hint of Art Deco about it, behind an elegant fountain, and were greeted by a smartly-dressed member of staff. She guided them up into the building to check in at the front desk, adn then from there towards the conference rooms. “The introductions have only just got started,” she assured them. “There will be food and drink available in this room all night, so if you’d like to go to your rooms first and then return here, that’s absolutely fine.”
The couple they’d arrived with did that, and another member of staff went with them to show them their rooms. Zelik, however, decided to stay, so Jack hovered in the corner and let the staff member take their bags up to their room for them.
Aliens of half a dozen species were already mingling in the sparsely filled conference room, most of them clustered by the buffet - according to the laws of buffet entertaining. There was a Raxacoricophalipatorian talking to a Briati and sucking canapés off the end of its claws whilst the Briati sipped wine with one of its mouths. Two Jirathi ruffled their feathers in an attempt to keep them away from the piled plate that an enormous Urxa was gesticulating with.
He started drifting towards the buffet, avoiding Zelik. The tables should have been groaning, they were so laden down. With so many different species represented, there was a huge variety of cuisines and flavours, something to suit every palate without killing them. He could identify half a dozen dishes that were definitely toxic to the human body at a single glance, and another dozen that he didn’t dare try just in case. There were fruits and breads, though, and several meat dishes that he thought were safe.
He was considering a plate of pastries when a soft voice behind thim told him, “I wouldn’t try them. They’re impossibly hot. Probably won’t kill you, but you’ll wish they had.”
Jack had dropped his plate halfway through the first sentence, and wheeled around to face the woman behind him. “Diane?”
Diane Holmes was dressed in the tunic and trousers that were the fashion in that sector, but something of her humanity shone through in the way she wore it. She looked absolutely content, and held her head higher than he rememebred. Aware of his shock, she smiled at him and held out her hand. “Hi, Ianto, was it? I never expected to see you again.”
He took her hand and swallowed hard. “Not Ianto.”
“Oh, the other one...” She frowned in thought. “Was it Jack?”
“Yep. Just Captain these days.” He shrugged at her, and folded his arms tightly. “I wondered what had happened to you.”
“I feel guilty for not remembering me as well as you remember me.” Diane shrugged one shoulder and gestured at the buffet. “How about we get some food and fill each other in?”
He nodded and collected his plate together again, following her lead for things that were safe to eat, and then followed her to a table in the corner of the room. His hands shook as he put the plate down, and he had to sit down. “So...” he started. “So you made it?”
“Well, I didn’t make it home.” She tucked her short hair behind her ears and rested her elbows on the table. “But I ended up here, mostly undamaged - that was because I was travelling in the plane, apparently - and I’ve been working here ever since. Anyway, what about you? Ypou’ll hear all about me later. How’s Owen?”
He swallowed and glanced down at the table. “They all died,” he said quietly. “All but Gwen, gone.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” There was confusion in her eyes for a moment, and he could see her dismiss it rather than reconcile it. “John and Emma...”
“Emma has a retro shop in London, and a boyfriend and a baby. She’s doing well.” He and Ianto had gone to see her just after the baby was born, and Ianto had taken her some of his father’s sewing equipment. Jack sighed and piccked at his plate. “John... didn’t make it. Suicide.”
“Oh...” She dropped her head, tiltign it away from him. “I should have stayed and helped him more...”
“It would have been too late,” he told her shortly. “He died the night you left.”
Her eyes were sad when she raised her head, and she reached out for him. “All of them. Wow. No wonder you’re out here. Still following the Rift, though?”
“It’s... complicated. Ianto died, but then there was a being within the Rift and...” He sighed and started again. “I wanted to see him one last time, so I went to a seance where they said that people really returned. It was kind of famous. I went there, and I saw him. I touched him and held him...” He choked. “And then he walked back into the Rift to close it. It’s closed, but if he’s in the Rift... I had to see if I could find him.”
She digested that in silence and traced her fingertip across the table. “We’ll see what we can do. If anyone can help you, it’s the team here. Or the conference. Either way, you’ve made your way to the right place.”
X~X~X~X
Diane led him out of the conference room when it filled up, and guided him deep into the complex towards the research suites. The conferences guests were chattering, filling the room with noise and life, and he’d been on the verge of bolting when she returned and guided him to safety.
The corridors were pale blue, with dark blue doorframes and picture frames. They were curved above, rather than having flat ceilings, and echoed eerily at every step, bouncing the sound back at them. He followed a step behind Diane down through the buildings, along two aerial walkways, and into what looked like a staff room. Half a dozen other people were in there, most of them were members of the native species, and they all stopped talking and turned to look at them when they entered. “This is Jack, guys,” Diane told them, pulling her tunic off to reveal the vest top underneath and tossing it onto a chair. “He needs our help.”
“Hi Jack.” They all turned to look at the speaker, who was sitting on a table with one leg swinging. “Diane has told us a bit about you. You were Torchwood, right?”
“Yeah, I was.” He accepted the seat that Diane indicated and leaned back in it, folding his hands in his lap to keep them still. “I worked on the Rift for a hundred years.”
“Wow. That’s a long time.” He slid his other leg off the table and swung both in counterpoint to each other. “I’m Hakkan, you know Diane, then we have Raura, Kiki, Priva, Loura and Gri.”
Jack nodded to them. “Nice to meet you. I was Jack, but I go by Captain now. That’s how my boss knows me, anyway.”
“Noted, Captain.” Diane passed him a cup of something almost entirely unlike tea and sat down next to him. “Now, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to tell us again what happened.”
He nodded and tightened his hands in his lap. “Alright. How far back to start... Like I said, I worked for Torchwood on the Rift in Cardiff. My partner worked there too, Diane met him, and after he... died, I wanted to see him again. There was a pub that was on a Rift hot spot, and it was said that people saw the dead there. Are you familiar with the concept of a medium contacting the dead for people?” They confirmed that they were and he continued, “So I went, and there was this being called Cyrieth. She was calling the dead back into being to trick their loved ones. I don’t know how she did it, but I saw him there. It was my one chance to close the Rift forever and... I could’t do it, because she said that if I did it I’d lose him again.”
They were silence, and looked at each other awkwardly until Raura asked, “It didn’t work, though?”
“No. He did it for me.” He turned his gaze away and closed his eyes. “He walked back into the Rift. And so here I am.”
Diane reached over and rested her hand on his arm. “We know Cyrieth. There is a way we can find out what happened. If we can, we’ll get him back for you.”
“I just want to know he’s not lost,” he told his knees. “I can’t bear the thought of him being out there and suffering without doing anything to help him.”
“We’ll do what we can,” she repeated. “You’re in the right place. The first thing we have to do is contact Cyrieth - then we’ll know if we can help him.”
Jack nodded gratefully and sank back in his chair to watch them discuss the best way to begin.
X~X~X~X
The Rift Operations Room was a cavernous chamber a mile away from the main complex. The second day of the conference had centred around a trip out there to see the equipment and expertise in action. Jack had stood by Professor Zelik’s side, between him and the visiting scientist couple who were still trying to adopt him, and watched them demonstrate what they were capable of.
The Rift opened into a sealed chamber, where anything malicious could be trapped without posing a threat to the scientists, and the delegates were arranged on a balcony around with the resident scientists working in the suites below their feet and under the chamber. Inside the sealed box there was a raised dias, on which stood an archway of twining metal across which lights flickered. Out of the resident scientists, only Hakkan stayed with them to explain what was going on and show them where to look.
“We do not have complete control of the Rift,” he had told them firmly. “It still opens unpredictably at its high energy locations. Here, however, we can open it at our will, the better to understand the power that brings the flotsam and jetsam of the universe to our door - no offence to Doctor Holmes, of course.”
They had opened the Rift to show them it was possible and, by controlling the flex of energy within the Rift, they were able to open up a window to another world that was framed by the archway. Waves crashed against rock and splashed through onto the dias, and great birds wheeled overhead. Jack gasped and his grip on the rail in front of him tightened even further.
“This is Earth - pre-human era,” Hakkan told them. The window closed again, leaving behind the smell of the sea and a lingering heat. “The Rift will remain active at six key locations across the planet for the duration of the planet’s life.”
Jack swallowed hard at that and looked around at the scientists. They were all nodding thoughtfully, as if this had confirmed their theories. He knew of six locations, and unless there was another he didn’t know about...
He was still worrying about that by the time the delegates were returned to the conference centre and Diane had come to fetch him down to their operations centre. Once they were no longer on display, the operations rooms had slid back up until they were level with the chamber and the viewing balcony was once again hidden in the ceiling. The team moved around them to set up the equipment they would need for one last experiment, and let Diane guide Jack to a chair and press not-tea into his hands. He smiled at her gratefully and tried not to stare at the archway. “That was impressive,” he said, for want of anything better. “You’ve given them a lot to think about.”
“None as much as you,” Kiki commented, peering at him through her thick goggles and between tousled hair that drifted across her face. “We don’t have to do this if you aren’t ready for it.”
He shook his head and clutched his not-tea tighter. “I’ve got this far, now I have to go the rest of the way,” he told her, “if I don’t find out, I’ll never be able to rest for not knowing.”
She accepted this with a nod and got up out of her chair to show him her files. “We’re planning a single opening, tied into Cyrieth’s energy. We’ve encountered her often enough to be able to find her again, although we’ve never attempted it before. Once we’ve summoned her, you and Diane will have a maximum of ten minutes to talk to her before we have to close the window. After that, we won’t be able to open it again without a specific destination for a month, preferably two, so this is effectively your only chance.”
“Got it.” He forced himself to relax and put the mug aside before he hurt himself with it. “I guess I should know what I need to ask before I go in there, then.”
“Diane will help you compile some questions,” she confirmed. “We’ll be ready to start when you are.”
They were ready an hour later, with a list of the questions they needed answers to and the ones the would like answers to. Jack had insisted that they leave the most important question until last, because he didn’t know if he would be able to go on once he found out the answer.
Because she was incorporeal, Hakkan had given them permission to enter the chamber to speak to her. They took up their positions in front of the archway with the operation rooms to either side of them, visible in their peripheal vision, and waited as the lights trailing up the archway increased in brightness and speed. The lights reached a blur that lit the whole arch, as they had before, and then the window opened into the Rift. Fiery lights and darkness twisted and span, flickering and shimmering with time. Before long they started seeing familiar faces in the lights, and Jack’s pain sharpened suddenly at the reminder of those he’d lost.
“Cyrieth,” Diane snapped, jerking him out of his trance. “We have summoned you, your tricks are of no use.”
“Your heart is hardened, child,” the sing-song voice that haunted Jack’s sleep told her. “But for Captain Jack...”
“He is no more a fool than I am. You may cause him pain, but you will not trick him again.” Diane looked over at him, and he gestured for her to go on with the questioning. His mouth was dry and his pulse was racing - he couldn’t think, let alone speak. She continued, turning to face the archway rather than his state, “What did you want with Cardiff?”
“What do I ever want?” the voice asked plaintively. “A home, to exist outside the Rift. Reality.”
“Dominion, slaves and power,” Diane corrected her. “Why Cardiff?”
“Cardiff was there,” Cyrieth spat. “There was a moment of infinite power, a gateway to their world. There will be others, I will have my freedom, on that world or another. And another. One world will let me in, and all will fall.”
“The Rift was closed,” Jack said, cursing his raw voice. “Ianto closed the Rift. You will never get control of Cardiff.”
“Oh, you silly, silly boy.” She was laughing, and the sound was like the icy wind of winter. “The Rift is more powerful than you can imagine. It is not tied to one time or even one place. You could close the Rift today, and it would be unchanged a moment later. There will be every opportunity I could wish for. Your dear sacrifice was worth nothing.”
He shuddered, and wiped tears off his cheeks. “If he’d come with me, if we’d walked away, what would have happened?”
“I would have claimed your world, and your Ianto would have been gone. He was but the touch of the Rift, no more real than your soul. I took him back to drive you away, and now Cardiff is mine for the taking,” she gloated. “Just an image. Just a mirage to use your desperation.”
He choked and balled his hands into fists. “I will not let you take Cardiff. He wouldn’t have...”
“Could you really return there, knowing that he was lost to you? Love won, and you lost, dear, dear Captain.”
The shimmering faded, leaving just the swhirling lights of the Rift’s power, and Jack knew that Cyrieth had gone. Diane caught his arm and led him through the operations rooms to a duty bunk room, and when she pushed him into the bed he curled in on himself and escaped into his mind.
Next chapter
Chapter Title: Chapter 4
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 collected the schedule from the printer in Zelik’s office and slid it into the pocket on the inside of the folder whilst the professor chattered away to himself. He set it on the desk in front of him, open to the schedule and the contacts page opposite it. “We dock in half an hour, Professor,” he told him. “There’s your schedule for this afternoon and the contact details for the conference. I’ve organised all the files and notes for this afternoon’s presentations - they’re all in the folder - and I have as many pens as you can possibly lose.”
“Yes yes. We must prepare our papers, yes?”
“I have them.” He sighed and moved Zelik’s mug off them. As much as he loved Ianto and tried to honour his memory, he couldn’t help thinking that he wouldn’t have coped with Zelik at all well. “Or I had them, and now I have them again. Everything is ready, and you signed the disembarkation papers this morning, remember?”
Zelik though back on it and shrugged. “I believe you, yes. You keep me organised, Captain. I will not want to let you go, yes.”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” he murmured, and beat a retreat to his little corner of the office. Zelik’s desk was littered with papers and files, and Jack knew that they were all irrelevant because he had all the relevant ones in the two files on his own desk or in the boxes that were sealed and labelled to be taken to their accommodation. They had had a two night flight, and the first half hour had been enough for him to reduce their rented office on the liner to the state that his office at the university was. Jack was beyond grateful that they’d got separate cabins. Never again would be be able to see an untidy desk without flinching.
The first docking announcement rolled over the tannoy with the incomprehensibility of all PA announcements everywhere in the universe. It brought Zelik to a halt for a moment whilst he tried to understand it, but then he launched off into a litany of complaints and reminiscences. Jack kept his head down and ignored him, letting himself wind himself down in his own time.
They were travelling on a C class liner, a jumbo jet for interstellar distances. As well as individual cabins and suites, there were also offices where those travelling for work could conduct their business during the journey, dining halls and entertainment facilities to make the journey pass more quickly, and a considerable cargo hold. Most of the passengers on the ship were travelling for holidays and had their cases or even their vehicles in the hold, but some were emigrating permanently and had filled whole compartments with their posessions.
Jack’s looked more meagre than ever when compared to them. His whole life fitted into the rucksack that sat by the side of his desk.
In what seemed like no time at all, another announcement came, and Jack had to collect the last of the professor’s things into the box he’d set aside, tape it closed and have it ready to take off the ship with them. Most of their things were ready adn being delivered to the research centre where the conference was being held, but he hadn’t been able to part Zelik from everything. The professor followed long behind him to the disembarkation point, leaving Jack to carry his own bag, the box of papers and equipment and the three folders.
“Welcome to Beaulieu,” a steward greeted him. “Can I have any of your things dispatched to your accommodation to make your arrival easier?”
“Yeah, this box, please.” He passed it off to the steward and gave him the address he’d been given by the conference organisers, and the code of their original shipment as well just in case. “Where can we get a taxi oncer we get out of the port?”
The steward consulted his file and glance up at him. “There’s a car waiting for you,” he informed him. “There is another group travelling to the conference, and someone will be there to collect you in the arrivals lounge.”
“Thank you,” he said with feeling. Getting Zelik anywhere was not high on his list of favourite passtimes. “Follow the signs, then?”
“Absolutely, sir. Down this corridor,” he indicated it, “and left at the end into the arrivals hall. You have your paperwork? If your paperwork is all ready then it will only take a moment to get through check in and then you’ll be in the arrivals lounge.”
Jack thanked him again and hurried to catch up with Zelik, who was studying the signs halfway down the corridor and drifting towards the right. He guided him through to check in, presented the clerk with their paperwork, and then sent him to sit down whilst he got everything sorted. When he rejoined him, Zelik was sitting with an elderly couple and talking animatedly. Jack approached cautiously and was immediately tugged into a seat by one of the females. “You must be Captain!” she cooed. “Antimony has been telling us how well you look after him.” She dropped her voice and glanced over at Zelik. “It’s not easy, I know. He’s not been the same since Hatty left him.”
“Hatty...”
“His last assistant,” the other female explained, talking right over Zelik. “She got tired fo clearning up after him. You’re lucky you’re on a short cpontract.”
“Thank you,” Zelik huffed. “Captain knows quite well what he’s let himself in for. Where are we going now, dear boy?”
Jack smiled and gestured over his shoudler at the room behind them. “I’;ll go and see if I can find out transpoirt and come back for you. There’s a car waiting for us, apparently.” He went and did that, and heard the shorter and louder of the two fermales asking Zelik how much he paid him, where he found him, and if he would be interested in working for them once his contract with Zelik was over.
The car was familiar enough compared to Earth vehicles - with the same front-facing layout and storage space above rather than behind the seats. He and the driver got the scientists’ equipment packed into the storage space whilst they carried on talking, adn then he sat in the front and let them carry on their conversation in the back.
The drive took them away from the airport and the attached complex of shops, restaurants and hotels, and through quiet lanes instead of along the highway. The research centree they were aiming for appeared as a white blob on the horizon, but as they got closer it was revealed as another cluster of tall, angular buildings with high level walkways between them, like most other universities Jack had seen. It was an especially popular design in this sector, where universities, shopping complexes and even cities all looked much the same.
They pulled into a driveway in front of the main administration building, which has a hint of Art Deco about it, behind an elegant fountain, and were greeted by a smartly-dressed member of staff. She guided them up into the building to check in at the front desk, adn then from there towards the conference rooms. “The introductions have only just got started,” she assured them. “There will be food and drink available in this room all night, so if you’d like to go to your rooms first and then return here, that’s absolutely fine.”
The couple they’d arrived with did that, and another member of staff went with them to show them their rooms. Zelik, however, decided to stay, so Jack hovered in the corner and let the staff member take their bags up to their room for them.
Aliens of half a dozen species were already mingling in the sparsely filled conference room, most of them clustered by the buffet - according to the laws of buffet entertaining. There was a Raxacoricophalipatorian talking to a Briati and sucking canapés off the end of its claws whilst the Briati sipped wine with one of its mouths. Two Jirathi ruffled their feathers in an attempt to keep them away from the piled plate that an enormous Urxa was gesticulating with.
He started drifting towards the buffet, avoiding Zelik. The tables should have been groaning, they were so laden down. With so many different species represented, there was a huge variety of cuisines and flavours, something to suit every palate without killing them. He could identify half a dozen dishes that were definitely toxic to the human body at a single glance, and another dozen that he didn’t dare try just in case. There were fruits and breads, though, and several meat dishes that he thought were safe.
He was considering a plate of pastries when a soft voice behind thim told him, “I wouldn’t try them. They’re impossibly hot. Probably won’t kill you, but you’ll wish they had.”
Jack had dropped his plate halfway through the first sentence, and wheeled around to face the woman behind him. “Diane?”
Diane Holmes was dressed in the tunic and trousers that were the fashion in that sector, but something of her humanity shone through in the way she wore it. She looked absolutely content, and held her head higher than he rememebred. Aware of his shock, she smiled at him and held out her hand. “Hi, Ianto, was it? I never expected to see you again.”
He took her hand and swallowed hard. “Not Ianto.”
“Oh, the other one...” She frowned in thought. “Was it Jack?”
“Yep. Just Captain these days.” He shrugged at her, and folded his arms tightly. “I wondered what had happened to you.”
“I feel guilty for not remembering me as well as you remember me.” Diane shrugged one shoulder and gestured at the buffet. “How about we get some food and fill each other in?”
He nodded and collected his plate together again, following her lead for things that were safe to eat, and then followed her to a table in the corner of the room. His hands shook as he put the plate down, and he had to sit down. “So...” he started. “So you made it?”
“Well, I didn’t make it home.” She tucked her short hair behind her ears and rested her elbows on the table. “But I ended up here, mostly undamaged - that was because I was travelling in the plane, apparently - and I’ve been working here ever since. Anyway, what about you? Ypou’ll hear all about me later. How’s Owen?”
He swallowed and glanced down at the table. “They all died,” he said quietly. “All but Gwen, gone.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” There was confusion in her eyes for a moment, and he could see her dismiss it rather than reconcile it. “John and Emma...”
“Emma has a retro shop in London, and a boyfriend and a baby. She’s doing well.” He and Ianto had gone to see her just after the baby was born, and Ianto had taken her some of his father’s sewing equipment. Jack sighed and piccked at his plate. “John... didn’t make it. Suicide.”
“Oh...” She dropped her head, tiltign it away from him. “I should have stayed and helped him more...”
“It would have been too late,” he told her shortly. “He died the night you left.”
Her eyes were sad when she raised her head, and she reached out for him. “All of them. Wow. No wonder you’re out here. Still following the Rift, though?”
“It’s... complicated. Ianto died, but then there was a being within the Rift and...” He sighed and started again. “I wanted to see him one last time, so I went to a seance where they said that people really returned. It was kind of famous. I went there, and I saw him. I touched him and held him...” He choked. “And then he walked back into the Rift to close it. It’s closed, but if he’s in the Rift... I had to see if I could find him.”
She digested that in silence and traced her fingertip across the table. “We’ll see what we can do. If anyone can help you, it’s the team here. Or the conference. Either way, you’ve made your way to the right place.”
X~X~X~X
Diane led him out of the conference room when it filled up, and guided him deep into the complex towards the research suites. The conferences guests were chattering, filling the room with noise and life, and he’d been on the verge of bolting when she returned and guided him to safety.
The corridors were pale blue, with dark blue doorframes and picture frames. They were curved above, rather than having flat ceilings, and echoed eerily at every step, bouncing the sound back at them. He followed a step behind Diane down through the buildings, along two aerial walkways, and into what looked like a staff room. Half a dozen other people were in there, most of them were members of the native species, and they all stopped talking and turned to look at them when they entered. “This is Jack, guys,” Diane told them, pulling her tunic off to reveal the vest top underneath and tossing it onto a chair. “He needs our help.”
“Hi Jack.” They all turned to look at the speaker, who was sitting on a table with one leg swinging. “Diane has told us a bit about you. You were Torchwood, right?”
“Yeah, I was.” He accepted the seat that Diane indicated and leaned back in it, folding his hands in his lap to keep them still. “I worked on the Rift for a hundred years.”
“Wow. That’s a long time.” He slid his other leg off the table and swung both in counterpoint to each other. “I’m Hakkan, you know Diane, then we have Raura, Kiki, Priva, Loura and Gri.”
Jack nodded to them. “Nice to meet you. I was Jack, but I go by Captain now. That’s how my boss knows me, anyway.”
“Noted, Captain.” Diane passed him a cup of something almost entirely unlike tea and sat down next to him. “Now, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to tell us again what happened.”
He nodded and tightened his hands in his lap. “Alright. How far back to start... Like I said, I worked for Torchwood on the Rift in Cardiff. My partner worked there too, Diane met him, and after he... died, I wanted to see him again. There was a pub that was on a Rift hot spot, and it was said that people saw the dead there. Are you familiar with the concept of a medium contacting the dead for people?” They confirmed that they were and he continued, “So I went, and there was this being called Cyrieth. She was calling the dead back into being to trick their loved ones. I don’t know how she did it, but I saw him there. It was my one chance to close the Rift forever and... I could’t do it, because she said that if I did it I’d lose him again.”
They were silence, and looked at each other awkwardly until Raura asked, “It didn’t work, though?”
“No. He did it for me.” He turned his gaze away and closed his eyes. “He walked back into the Rift. And so here I am.”
Diane reached over and rested her hand on his arm. “We know Cyrieth. There is a way we can find out what happened. If we can, we’ll get him back for you.”
“I just want to know he’s not lost,” he told his knees. “I can’t bear the thought of him being out there and suffering without doing anything to help him.”
“We’ll do what we can,” she repeated. “You’re in the right place. The first thing we have to do is contact Cyrieth - then we’ll know if we can help him.”
Jack nodded gratefully and sank back in his chair to watch them discuss the best way to begin.
X~X~X~X
The Rift Operations Room was a cavernous chamber a mile away from the main complex. The second day of the conference had centred around a trip out there to see the equipment and expertise in action. Jack had stood by Professor Zelik’s side, between him and the visiting scientist couple who were still trying to adopt him, and watched them demonstrate what they were capable of.
The Rift opened into a sealed chamber, where anything malicious could be trapped without posing a threat to the scientists, and the delegates were arranged on a balcony around with the resident scientists working in the suites below their feet and under the chamber. Inside the sealed box there was a raised dias, on which stood an archway of twining metal across which lights flickered. Out of the resident scientists, only Hakkan stayed with them to explain what was going on and show them where to look.
“We do not have complete control of the Rift,” he had told them firmly. “It still opens unpredictably at its high energy locations. Here, however, we can open it at our will, the better to understand the power that brings the flotsam and jetsam of the universe to our door - no offence to Doctor Holmes, of course.”
They had opened the Rift to show them it was possible and, by controlling the flex of energy within the Rift, they were able to open up a window to another world that was framed by the archway. Waves crashed against rock and splashed through onto the dias, and great birds wheeled overhead. Jack gasped and his grip on the rail in front of him tightened even further.
“This is Earth - pre-human era,” Hakkan told them. The window closed again, leaving behind the smell of the sea and a lingering heat. “The Rift will remain active at six key locations across the planet for the duration of the planet’s life.”
Jack swallowed hard at that and looked around at the scientists. They were all nodding thoughtfully, as if this had confirmed their theories. He knew of six locations, and unless there was another he didn’t know about...
He was still worrying about that by the time the delegates were returned to the conference centre and Diane had come to fetch him down to their operations centre. Once they were no longer on display, the operations rooms had slid back up until they were level with the chamber and the viewing balcony was once again hidden in the ceiling. The team moved around them to set up the equipment they would need for one last experiment, and let Diane guide Jack to a chair and press not-tea into his hands. He smiled at her gratefully and tried not to stare at the archway. “That was impressive,” he said, for want of anything better. “You’ve given them a lot to think about.”
“None as much as you,” Kiki commented, peering at him through her thick goggles and between tousled hair that drifted across her face. “We don’t have to do this if you aren’t ready for it.”
He shook his head and clutched his not-tea tighter. “I’ve got this far, now I have to go the rest of the way,” he told her, “if I don’t find out, I’ll never be able to rest for not knowing.”
She accepted this with a nod and got up out of her chair to show him her files. “We’re planning a single opening, tied into Cyrieth’s energy. We’ve encountered her often enough to be able to find her again, although we’ve never attempted it before. Once we’ve summoned her, you and Diane will have a maximum of ten minutes to talk to her before we have to close the window. After that, we won’t be able to open it again without a specific destination for a month, preferably two, so this is effectively your only chance.”
“Got it.” He forced himself to relax and put the mug aside before he hurt himself with it. “I guess I should know what I need to ask before I go in there, then.”
“Diane will help you compile some questions,” she confirmed. “We’ll be ready to start when you are.”
They were ready an hour later, with a list of the questions they needed answers to and the ones the would like answers to. Jack had insisted that they leave the most important question until last, because he didn’t know if he would be able to go on once he found out the answer.
Because she was incorporeal, Hakkan had given them permission to enter the chamber to speak to her. They took up their positions in front of the archway with the operation rooms to either side of them, visible in their peripheal vision, and waited as the lights trailing up the archway increased in brightness and speed. The lights reached a blur that lit the whole arch, as they had before, and then the window opened into the Rift. Fiery lights and darkness twisted and span, flickering and shimmering with time. Before long they started seeing familiar faces in the lights, and Jack’s pain sharpened suddenly at the reminder of those he’d lost.
“Cyrieth,” Diane snapped, jerking him out of his trance. “We have summoned you, your tricks are of no use.”
“Your heart is hardened, child,” the sing-song voice that haunted Jack’s sleep told her. “But for Captain Jack...”
“He is no more a fool than I am. You may cause him pain, but you will not trick him again.” Diane looked over at him, and he gestured for her to go on with the questioning. His mouth was dry and his pulse was racing - he couldn’t think, let alone speak. She continued, turning to face the archway rather than his state, “What did you want with Cardiff?”
“What do I ever want?” the voice asked plaintively. “A home, to exist outside the Rift. Reality.”
“Dominion, slaves and power,” Diane corrected her. “Why Cardiff?”
“Cardiff was there,” Cyrieth spat. “There was a moment of infinite power, a gateway to their world. There will be others, I will have my freedom, on that world or another. And another. One world will let me in, and all will fall.”
“The Rift was closed,” Jack said, cursing his raw voice. “Ianto closed the Rift. You will never get control of Cardiff.”
“Oh, you silly, silly boy.” She was laughing, and the sound was like the icy wind of winter. “The Rift is more powerful than you can imagine. It is not tied to one time or even one place. You could close the Rift today, and it would be unchanged a moment later. There will be every opportunity I could wish for. Your dear sacrifice was worth nothing.”
He shuddered, and wiped tears off his cheeks. “If he’d come with me, if we’d walked away, what would have happened?”
“I would have claimed your world, and your Ianto would have been gone. He was but the touch of the Rift, no more real than your soul. I took him back to drive you away, and now Cardiff is mine for the taking,” she gloated. “Just an image. Just a mirage to use your desperation.”
He choked and balled his hands into fists. “I will not let you take Cardiff. He wouldn’t have...”
“Could you really return there, knowing that he was lost to you? Love won, and you lost, dear, dear Captain.”
The shimmering faded, leaving just the swhirling lights of the Rift’s power, and Jack knew that Cyrieth had gone. Diane caught his arm and led him through the operations rooms to a duty bunk room, and when she pushed him into the bed he curled in on himself and escaped into his mind.
Next chapter
