The Spirits Withn 5/21 + epilogue
Sep. 24th, 2012 01:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbottomsThe Spirits Within
Chapter: 5/21 + epilogue
Characters: Jack, Ianto Owen, Tosh, Rhys, John Hart, the Doctor
Rating: PG
Warnings: Character death
Spoilers: Only if you’ve never seen Torchwood of Final Fantasy
Notes: See chapter 1 for notes and disclaimer.
Chapter 5
Jack sat four rows behind General Hart and watched as the Council members came in through the hidden door and took their seats. The council hall was one of those places that made Jack feel small. Thirty four years before, when the Leonid Meteor had smashed into Earth, carrying the Phantoms, the Council had been formed from what was left of the Earth’s governments to coordinate the efforts to hold humanity together. At first they didn’t have much luck, especially with the Phantoms spreading out all over the planet.
Then the Doctor had made his discoveries, which allowed the barriers to be built and created places for the remains of humanity to safely go. During that early time, the Council had gained more and more power.
By the time Jack was born the Council effectively ruled everything, in conjunction with the powerful UNIT, the military force of the remaining combined nations. The old national borders were long gone. Only inside the barriers remained.
The council chamber had been built in London, not the old city of London, where he had pulled Ianto out of, but behind the largest barrier in the world, which protected millions. The council chamber itself was high-tech, a massive space inside, with audience seating halfway around in a hundred-row high balcony.
The eight-member Council sat on a high dais halfway up the open wall across from the audience. Anyone coming in to talk to the Council stood or sat at tables across from them. That was where Ianto and the Doctor now sat as the council session began.
UNIT also had a position, to the right and lower than council members. That was where Jack was seated, along with a dozen other officers.
Jack had never seen a council meeting where the military was not in attendance. A dozen times since becoming a captain and leading the elite squad known as Deep Eyes, he had been asked to join the military contingent. Today he was there, he was sure, because of his involvement the day before in old London.
When Ianto and the Doctor entered, Jack had felt as if his heart might jump out of his chest. Just the sight of his old lover brought back memories and feelings he had for him. And yesterday he had saved his life, then Ianto had saved his. Yet Ianto still hadn’t told Jack why he had left him, what he had done wrong to deserve that. And that rejection by the man he loved and by the man who clearly still loved him, ate at him. He had to know why.
As the Council members took their seats and the session opened, General Hart, one of the most powerful men in UNIT, rose in front of Jack to speak. Hart was a tough man intent on wiping the Phantoms off the face of the Earth single-handedly. Jack didn’t like him much, but the general got things done., And in a time of war that was all that mattered.
Ianto looked over, and at that moment Jack could see his gaze move behind the general up to him. For an instant he almost seemed to smile. Then a frozen look came over him and he looked away.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Council,” General Hart started, “could you please explain why nothing has been done?” His words seemed to echo through the huge chamber, slicing even the light murmur of small talk in the audience.
In the middle of the vast room a holographic image of Earth and the space station came into being, controlled by a holographic panel in front of Hart. The space station had been built ten years before, to hold position right over the Leonid meteor rift. Jack had never been to the station, but he knew that it was a formidable weapon, designed solely to fight Phantoms right where they lived.
“The Hub was completed a month ago,” Hart said, as a beam from the space station hologram was fired at the Earth below. “If we attack the meteor with this weapon, we will eliminate the Phantoms in their home. Why hasn’t this been done?”
On the image, the Hub beam hit the meteor in the rift, eliminating it effortlessly.
Jack wondered the same thing. Why hadn’t the weapon they had spent so much time and money to build been used? Ianto had tried to explain to him that destroying the meteor and Phantoms wouldn’t really happen the way UNIT engineers wanted. He couldn’t say what might happen, but he was insistent that if General Hart was to be given permission to fire his weapon, there was no telling what damage would be done.
Those conversations had been back in the days when they were still talking, still holding each other, still making love, still sharing their lives. It hadn’t been that long ago, but right now it felt to Jack like a lifetime had passed.
“So, esteemed Council, I would like an answer to my question. We have built the weapon that could save our planet. Why not use it?
“We are here today to vote on that very issue,” Councilwoman Noble said, her voice sharp and controlled.
Jack liked her most of all the Council, but he knew Hart hated her. She seemed to be the strongest-willed, and the one not controlled by UNIT. And where Noble’s votes went, so went many other council members’. Jack knew she drove Hart crazy at times.
General Hart sat down, his back ramrod straight.
Jack stared at the back of General Hart’s head. He didn’t seem old enough to be a general. Jack didn’t feel old enough to be a captain and lead Deep Eyes, yet he was. It was a time of war, and the young had to grow up fast.
“I’d like to ask the Director of the Torchwood Bio-Etheric Centre to speak,’ Councilwoman Noble said. “Doctor, please.’’
The Doctor stood, and a holographic control panel appeared in the air like a podium in front of him. The image of the space station disappeared as the holo-image filling the area zoomed down in toward the rift.
“Thank you,’’ the Doctor said. “As you all, know, the Phantom’s nest is in the Leonid Meteor.”
Jack watched as, over the image of the meteor rift, another image was imposed.
“What you are seeing,’’ the Doctor said, “are the records of every assault on the Leonid Meteor to date. Putting it simply, physical attacks have had no effect.”
The images scanned quickly through smaller bombs fired at the rift back when Jack was young, then larger and more concentrated attacks ten years before, until finally an atomic bomb had been dropped into the rift five years ago. At that, the image froze for a moment.
Numbers appeared beside the images. It was clear the numbers indicated Phantoms. After each attack the number dropped, than came quickly back to a stable place. Jack knew about this factor. The Doctor was not telling them anything new.
“This scene took place three months ago,’’ he added, “during a full bombardment.”
The image again went into motion as Bio-Etheric beams were fired at the Phantoms. Basically those beams were smaller versions of the Hub weapon. Jack watched as thousands of Phantoms were destroyed.
“Please note,’’ the Doctor continued, “that Phantoms outside and inside the meteor are indeed destroyed. However, deep under the meteor, many that were dormant seem to come to life.’’
Jack watched as the numbers showing how many Phantoms were alive dropped, than came back up. Jack remembered being very depressed the day of that attack.
“As you see, overall Phantom density remains the same, as it always does. And the newly risen aliens respond to the attack by burrowing deeper into the Earth.’’
Councilwoman Noble stopped the Doctor. “This is very interesting,” she said, "because we see the same thing during surgery when using Bio-Etheric lasers on Phantom particles, do we not? The alien particles go deeper."
Jack knew she was right. His team had shown him the replay of how Ianto had had to go deep inside his spirit after a burrowing Phantom particle. “Yes, indeed we do,” the Doctor said. "You see, the injured particles escape. Let me emphasise that term again. They escape.”
As he talked, the image of the space station came back, with the Hub beam again being fired at the rift. Only this time the image followed the beam down into the rift, showing the meteor being destroyed. But not all the Phantoms.
“They bury or dig themselves deeper into a patient's body,” the Doctor said. "And when we increase the laser power to destroy those deeper particles, we have had incidents resulting in further injury to the patient and, in some cases, death."
On the screen, the image showed the Hub beam cutting through the meteor and deep into the Earth, hitting and damaging a blue layer deep inside the crust.
Jack felt himself shudder. He had been very lucky yesterday. Lucky that Ianto was there, and that he was as good as he was at operating on Phantom infestations.
"And what exactly do these images mean, Doctor?" Councilman Copley asked from the far end of the platform. "I'm not really following you."
Jack knew Copley was solidly behind General Hart.
"It means," the Doctor replied, "that there is a very good chance the beam from the Hub Cannon will burn the Phantoms in the meteor."
"Exactly," General Hart said loudly, without standing. "Thank you."
"However," the Doctor continued, "it also means that the beam's energy may be too strong, injuring the Earth as well."
"Injure the Earth?" Councilman Copley asked.
The Doctor only nodded.
"You mean the spirit of the Earth, don't you, Doctor?" Copley demanded, his voice cold and low.
Around the chamber the audience stirred and filled the air with a low murmur of talking. Jack felt uncomfortable for the Doctor and Ianto.
"Yes," the Doctor said, his shoulders back as he faced the Council. "Yes, I mean the spirit of the Earth."
It was as if someone had dropped a bomb into the middle of the council chamber. Everyone seemed to be talking at once.
Jack just sat and stared at Ianto. He was whispering something to the Doctor, who said something in return and then turned back to face the Council.
In front of Jack, General Hart stood. "This is ridiculous! How stupid do you think we are?" His voice echoed over the chamber as the talking subsided to an uneasy silence. After a moment General Hart went on. "Doctor, with all due respect, did you come here just to talk about some Vortex theory?"
A week later he had left him.
Before the Doctor could respond, General Hart kept talking. "Are you trying to tell us that our planet is alive? That Earth has a spirit?" General Hart laughed. “That's a fairy tale, Doctor, and I'm sorry, but we don't have time for that."
The Doctor stood his ground, his back straight, facing the council. "You people are like backward monkeys. It is not a fairy tale. It is true."
Laughter broke out throughout the chamber. The sound was like a slap to the Doctor, but Jack watched as he stood his ground. Jack had to admit, the old guy was strong and knew his mind. Councilwoman Noble banged her gavel, bringing the chamber to order. When she could finally be heard, he said, "Doctor, the Vortex theory has not been proven."
"Even if Vortex does exist," Councilman Copley asked, "won't we still have to remove the Phantoms?"
"Yes, we will," the Doctor answered.
"Then," Councilman Copley said, "I think that if there is any chance of success, we should take it. Don't you agree, Doctor? Much as we do with any patient?"
"Of course I do," the Doctor said.
"So you agree we should use the Hub Cannon?" General Hart asked, his words carrying to the back corners of the chamber.
"No!" the Doctor said. "Not yet. I think there is an alternative to the Hub space cannon that we must try first."
"Another method? Another weapon?" Council-woman Noble asked, as again the audience noise increased, then hushed, waiting for the Doctor's answer.
"Yes, a means of disabling the Phantoms."
"Please," Councilman Copley said. "Explain this to us."
General Hart dropped back into his seat with disgust.
The Doctor nodded, then keyed a new holographic image to take the place of the meteor rift in the middle of the chamber. This new image was of an alien spirit, swirling in sharp, red tones. Jack knew exactly what he was looking at, because Ianto had shown it to him.
The audience gasped and many sat back, as if just the image of the Phantom spirit could hurt them.
The Doctor pointed at the image floating in the middle of the council chamber. "All the aliens display a distinct energy pattern," the Doctor explained. "Now it is a fact that two opposing bio-etheric waves, placed one over the other, will cancel each other out."
General Hart jumped to his feet as the Doctor went on.
"It is theoretically possible to construct a wave pattern in direct opposition to the Phantom energy."
Beside the red energy pattern, a blue one appeared, very similar.
"The operative word there is theoretically," General Hart said as the blue pattern started to match and move closer to the red pattern in the air. Jack was amazed at the idea of it all. Would it actually be possible to destroy the Phantoms simply by cancelling them off the planet? After all the ones he had killed, that was hard to believe.
"We have been collecting energy signatures for that very purpose from a variety of sources," the Doctor said, ignoring General Hart, "including animals and plants."
Jack suddenly understood why Ianto had said the weed he had gotten yesterday was worth all their lives. If the Doctor was right, it was.
"Doctor!" General Hart shouted over the audience noise as the two coloured patterns started to merge in the air.
"We are currently assembling such a wave, and are nearing completion." the Doctor said. As the blue wave covered and merged with the red one, both vanished.
The audience again burst into loud talking. Jack had to admit that the images the Doctor had put together were compelling. But the question was, would they be enough to buy the Doctor and Ianto some time?
Councilwoman Noble banged for order, and slowly the talking dimmed.
"Members of the Council," General Hart said, his voice holding the power of someone used to having his words listened to. "Gathering plants and animals from around the world to fight the Phantoms is utter nonsense."
Put that way, Jack had to agree. It sounded stupid. The audience agreed with their snickers and laughs. Clearly this was not going well for Ianto and the Doctor.
General Hart went on. "The Hub space cannon is a proven, effective weapon. It will kill Phantoms. I ask you, can we afford to wait for some crazy invention, some army of touchy-feely plants and animals?"
Jack was impressed. Right now the general clearly had the audience and the Council right where he wanted them.
"The Doctor," General Hart said, pointing at him and Ianto, "offers no solid evidence that his idea will destroy the aliens."
The Doctor tried to stop Ianto, but he brushed him aside, Jack had no idea what he was about to do, but he had no doubt it was going to be dramatic. Ianto never did anything halfway.
General Hart stood, staring at him, as if his look could cut him down.
"What is your evidence, Doctor?" Councilwoman Noble asked Ianto.
Ianto stared at her. "Members of the Council," Ianto said. He then took a deep breath before going on. "Our partially completed energy wave has successfully stopped Phantom particles from spreading through a terminally infected patient."
A stunned silence filled the hall as everyone took in what Ianto was saying. Jack was stunned as well. Before now the only way to save a person infected with Phantom particles, as Jack had been the day before, was to destroy those particles quickly.
Suddenly the stunned silence broke once more into loud talking, as Councilwoman Noble again banged for silence.
"Doctor," Councilman Copley said to Ianto, staring at him, "do you claim to have evidence that a terminal patient has been cured?"
"Not cured," Ianto said. "The wave, as the Doctor reported, is not yet complete. But we have succeeded in containing the particles safely inside the patient by using the wave as a shield the particles cannot pass through."
Now everyone was talking, and Councilwoman Noble was making no effort to contain it. Ianto just stood and stared straight ahead.
Again Jack was shocked, as was everyone else. His entire life he had lived with the fear that a single brush with a Phantom particle would bring on death if not caught and acted on quickly. Now Ianto was telling him that might not be the case. It was world-altering news. It meant suddenly that the enemy he faced wasn't quite as dangerous as a moment before.
General Hart shouted over the commotion, bringing silence with the power of his command voice.
"Doctor," Hart shouted and banged a fist on the desk in front of him. "Where is this proof you claim to have?"
"Right here," Ianto said.
He opened his tunic to show his chest covered by what looked to Jack to be a metallic wrapping of some sort. It was shiny and had a few small readout meters just above his belt "I'm the patient," Ianto said. The council chamber was stunned into complete silence. Ianto stepped up to the holographic display, adjusted a few controls, then tapped something on the metal wrapped around his chest.
Suddenly, in the middle of the council chamber, a grotesque red shape writhed and twisted. Jack knew what it was instantly, as did everyone in the room. Phantom particles.
"This is what is being contained inside me," Ianto said. "General, I am your proof, because I am standing here talking to you, very much alive."
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whaou!!!!
on 2012-09-24 08:17 pm (UTC)I hope that Jack will respond well ...
Re: whaou!!!!
on 2012-09-24 09:36 pm (UTC)