Written by JC Wilsher
Directed by Ashley Way
Produced by Richard Stokes
It’s late
at night when a lone Weevil crosses open Industrial land and heads towards an
open warehouse containing clear framed structures. It weaves itself in and around them glancing
back and forth. Within moments, one half
of the Torchwood Three team – Owen and
Toshiko are hot on its trail, torches glaring ahead of them, weapons at the
ready, heading in as silent as the creature they pursue. The Weevil watches them from its safe vantage
point as they dart through the darkness of the warehouse, as if skipping the
light fantastic. Is it really the Weevil
they seek? The Weevil lets out a snarl
as it moves closer to its prey. Owen
following its echoing snarl locates it and shines the torch directly at
it. Again the creature snarls before
disappearing into the darkness of the building.
Owen quickly shines the torch into the area it had left and spies a body
of a man lying on green tarpaulin.
Edging over, aware that the Weevil might not have been alone, he checks
the victim, glancing up at Toshiko, confirming the worst.
“He’s dead!”
Back at the
Torchwood Office entrance - the Tourist Booth, Ianto casually flips through a
magazine as the door is pushed open, signifying the jingling of the door
bell. He glances up.
“Sorry, we’re closing.” He replies smiling, before resuming with his
magazine. A hand holds up an ID card and
Ianto quickly assumes an air of apologetic flustering.
“Excuse me ma’am.” He quickly gestures towards the entrance to
the Hub as he unlocks the door, via the button beneath the counter.
“Documents on the body identify the victim
as…” Jack holds up the Driver’s licence of
the victim, as he rests his arms against the railings of the Autopsy room upper
floor. “…Meredith Roberts.” Toshiko glances across at the details.
“No obvious signs of violence.” Owen notes.
“Are we saying it wasn’t the Weevil?” Gwen asks.
“Give me a chance, Miss Cooper, I’ve only
just started.” Owen replies before
resuming his autopsy.
Ianto
messages Jack over the intercom.
“Jack,
your VIP visitor is here.” Jack can’t
leave the room fast enough. The team
soon follow, curiously.
“I didn’t realise we were having a
visitor.” Gwen says.
Jack
saunters towards the work stations, a grin as wide as the Cheshire cat, his
eyes on the door as it begins to roll back slowly, the alarms telling him of
the arrival.
“Suddenly in an underground mortuary, on a
wet night in Cardiff
They
embrace as old friends, Jack as excited as a child who has just been given the
keys to a toy shop. He introduces Martha
to the team and vice versa.
“Just a casual visit or…?” Owen asks.
“I’m here to complete your
post-mortem.” Martha replies walking
past him with her heavy luggage. Owen is
confused.
“Dr Jones is from UNIT.” Jack adds following after her.
“Oh, I’m sorry, sorry I get a bit confused,
which one’s UNIT?” Gwen asks following
them all into the Autopsy room again.
“Intelligence. Military, cute red caps. The acceptable face of intelligence gathering
on aliens. We’re more ad hoc, but better
looking.” He says over the railing to
Martha below, just pulling on her gloves.
“I identified a pattern from UNIT’s data on
sudden deaths – toxic shock. Nothing to
link the victims. Different ages, sexes,
ethnic origins, occupations. But there
was a statistically significant concentration in South
Wales .” Martha explains as
she pulls on her coat and prepares to examine the body.
“Oh come on Martha, be honest. You just came all this way to see me.”
“Still struggling to conquer your shyness,
Jack?” She says glancing up at him. He laughs wholeheartedly.
“So, what about this pattern then, Dr
Jones?” Owen enquires.
“They were being written off as suicides or
accidents.” Martha replies, examining
the body, locating the source and smiles knowingly. “Look.”
She says calling Owen over, to glance more clearly through the
magnifying glass and light device in her hand at the black mark just below the
man’s pupil. “Puncture mark. Hypodermic needle. You’ll find his bloodstream was pumped full
of ammonium hydroxide.”
“Yeah bloodstream, that was the thing I was
going to do next.” Owen replies.
“Have you checked his medical records?”
“Er, no, I was just about to.”
“Well, let’s give it a go. You never know Owen, you might learn
something.”
At
Toshiko’s workstation, the screen open to the Royal Cardiff Infirmary Records,
Owen relays the information to Toshiko as she types it up.
“One Meredith Roberts, age 45.”
“I know there’s been a major crash on the
NHS system, wiped a shed load of files.”
“Including all the victims I flagged up from
the UNIT data…and now yours.” Martha replies as the system flashes up
Irretrievable on the screen.
“A computer crash wouldn’t delete data so
cleanly. This is deliberate. Let me look into it.”
In Jack’s
office a while later, Martha pokes around in the book collection while Jack
sits with his feet up on his desk.
“How’s the family?”
“Getting better. They send their love.” She replies glancing over, smiling.
“Give them mine. So, End of the World Survivors Club.”
“God, I am so glad to see you, Jack.”
“See, you did come all this way just to see
me. It’s the jaw line. Once seen, always yearned for.” They share a laugh. “D’you miss him?” He asks referring to the Doctor.
“No.
I made my choice.” She defends,
but as Jack intensifies his look she admits ”Maybe sometimes.”
“Ah!”
He says pointing his finger at her, grinning.
“Tiny bit.
Tiny, tiny…then I come to my senses again. Anyway, I’ve got plenty to occupy me.” She says.
“Oh yeah, Miss Highfalutin’ what is it?
Medical officer?”
“Oh yes.”
“So do I have to call you ma’am?” Jack asks rising from his chair as Martha leans
back in hers.
“No, just follow my orders to the
letter.” They share another laugh
together. Jack leans against his desk.
“You should have called me if you were
looking for a job.”
“I wasn’t.
This woman from UNIT rang out of the blue, said I was just what they
needed. That I’d come highly recommended
by an impeccable source.”
“You mean?”
Jack points up towards the ceiling.
“Well, who else would have done it?”
“He must have thought he owed you a
favour. Guess we all do. So, do you think you could get me one of
those red caps…for personal use? I’m
thinking Ianto might look good in it.”
“You want uniforms, get your own. Now, am I going to get the guided tour?”
“Yes ma’am! Whatever you say, ma’am,
huh!” Jack mock salutes.
“Leave it.”
Martha replies.
Jack takes
Martha on the tour around the Hub, collecting up Gwen along the way who is
still curious about the connection Jack has with Martha. Jack points out the efficiency of the Hot
House and continues on through it.
“So
that’s the Hot House. Tour continues
this way, ladies, please. No
dawdling.” Gwen and Martha dawdle.
“Um, so, you know Jack pretty well
then?” Gwen asks just as Martha sets to
follow Jack.
“Oh we were only together for…a few days,
but it was pretty intense.”
“You mean?”
Gwen asks, mind a-racing.
“Oh God no, no not that sort of intense,
nothing like that.” Martha replies
blushing. “Why? Are you and him?”
“No, no, not at all.”
“We must be the only two people on the
planet.”
“I
know! What are we doing wrong?” They share a laugh together.
“Oi, you talking about me?” Jack calls over.
“No, no, we were just discussing alien
flora, weren’t we?”
“Oh yeah.”
“She’s no fun. Raise your game girls.”
Back
outside the workstations, a light box displays a strange alien device. Martha picks it up and scrutinises it.
“You’ve got some well weird kit, what’s
this?”
“Be careful, it’s an alien artefact.” Jack replies over her shoulder.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of argument about this,
but for my money, it’s got to be a surgical instrument.” Owen steps from the Cold Storage room into
the main Hub and takes the device from Martha.
He alters the wheel on the side of the ‘scalpel’ and stares with focused
determination at the screen on the front of the device.
“Really?”
Martha asks, intrigued.
“He’s guessing. Typical medic.”
“Hmm. Ok, right, well I call it a
singularity scalpel. See, what it does
is it concentrates energy on a tiny fixed point without damaging anything on
the way. It’s brilliant."
“It’s amazing.”
“Yeah, do you remember the last time you did
that, Owen?” Gwen asks.
“Yes, yes.
Right. Now all we’re going to do
is, we’re going to vaporise this paper without even scorching the cup.” He says scrumpling up some paper and placing
it inside an empty plastic cup that he sits on the light box.
“This is going to end in tears.” Jack whispers in her ear, then quietly leads
her away from the blast centre!
“OK.”
Owen says, fiddling with the device, sighting the paper inside the
cup. A powerful hum begins to emit from
the device with the primped edging around a coloured screen. Owen continues to turn the dial on the side,
clarifying the cup and content visibly seen in the centre. Gwen moves away from her desk, pushing her
chair back with her feet. Martha stares
intently from the device to the cup. As
Ianto moves into view with a tray in his hand, a loud bang is heard from a
computer screen behind him. He yells in
fright sending the contents of the tray behind him. Martha has her hands to her ears, the noise
was deafening. Ianto looks up over the light box, clearly not happy. Jack and Gwen burst into uncontrolled
giggling.
“Er, haven’t quite got the calibration right
yet.” Owen replies.
Composing
himself, Ianto glares at Owen before walking up the remaining stairs towards
Jack.
“Jack?”
He says. “There’s been another
attack. Assault with a hypodermic. Only this time, the victim survived. Woman, aged 27. She’s in the hospital. Medical records wiped just like the
others.” He says as Jack leaves and the
others follow.
Martha
takes a phial of blood from the victim’s arm at the hospital as she sits up in
bed, surrounded by bleeping monitors.
“Yeah but the doctors said they’d finished
with me.”
“We’re a bit different.”
“We know this is tough on you, Marie, but
did you recognise the man who attacked you?”
“I already told the Police.”
“We’re different from them too.”
“No I never seen him before.”
“Did he say anything in the course of the
attack?”
“No.”
“Open wide.”
Martha asks taking a swab.
“Look, he just…he came towards me with a
great big bloody needle, didn’t he. You
know, my dog bit him, and then I kicked him in the nuts.”
“Respect!” Jack laughs, raising a smile from
the victim, Marie.
Back in the
Hub, Owen and Martha work together in the bio lab, being run from the Hot House
while Gorillaz track ‘Feel Good Inc’ plays loudly while they gather data. Martha swipes a petrie dish while Owen feeds
two syringes of liquid into a bottle.
They talk briefly over slides and graphs, keying in the data onto the
computer screen as they work. They
eventually stare at a fuzzy blue moving screen ahead of them, their findings
from the tests. Both leaning their
behinds against the desk, Owen pushes to find out more about Martha Jones…
“So you and Jack go back a long way?”
“Forward and back, really.”
“What brought you together?”
“Let’s say we were under the same
Doctor.” Owen is confused but doesn’t
push it any further. Martha smiles and
returns her attention to the screen.
“These killings…why the ammonium hydroxide, it’s a weird way to kill
someone?”
“Yeah, yeah it’s gross. It’s like injecting them with bleach.”
“Unless the objective isn’t just killing.”
“It’s destroying something in the victim’s
bloodstream.”
“Getting rid of evidence!” Owen agrees.
In Jack’s
office a screen covers the window, the details of the latest victim is
portrayed for all to see.
“Locally, we’ve got a murder victim and a
survivor. Both attacked with
hypodermics, both with their medical records wiped.”
“And more cases across the UK
“Gwen, Ianto, pursue the criminal
investigation.”
“Ok.”
“Martha, Owen, will follow up with the
medical side.”
“Fine.”
“Tosh, any luck in retrieving those medical
records?”
“Not yet.
I’m gonna have to dig down into the system memories, see if I can find
any remnants of deleted or temporary files.
Completely illegally of course…”
“Do what you have to. We’re not dealing with a freak with some
needle fetish. This is a conspiracy.”
At her
desk, Toshiko comms Ianto to another victim.
“Ianto, the police have found another body
in Heath Park
“I’ll get Gwen, head out there now.” He says quickly strolling through the Hub.
Daylight
and in a park surrounded by SOCO and police crime tape and the usual forensic
tent, Gwen and Ianto arrive at the scene and cross the police tape. Gwen calls to a waiting police officer to
gather more details.
“What have you got?” She asks strolling towards the tent.
“Body was found early this morning. Caucasian male – early 20’s.”
“Ok thanks."
Inside the
tent they see the victim was a young male, long blond hair. Gwen and Ianto examine the body.
“Who is he?”
Gwen asks of the same officer.
“Barry Leonard. Student. Doctor said it looked like…”
“Toxic shock.” Gwen confirms revealing the needle mark in
the white of the eye to Ianto, who was surprised at first of her quick
diagnosis.
Walking
through the dark corridors back at the Hub, Gwen relayed her intel to Martha as
they walked towards the Meeting room doorway.
“The attack took place in the woods, so no
witnesses, no CCTV.”
“Same as the others.”
“Yeah, Tosh just checked Barry’s medical
records – already wiped.” Gwen says
turning to Martha after keying in the code for the door.
“And the puncture mark on his eyeball was
identical to the other victims. I mean,
Jack’s right, these attacks are not random, they’re clinical. Professional.
More like assassinations.”
“Except Barry Leonard was a student. Who’d assassinate a student?”
“Student Loans Company?”
“Yeah yeah, I think you’ve cracked it.” They
laugh. “But why delete medical
records? You know, what did all these
people have in common?”
“Owen’s analysing Marie’s test results
now. I’m hoping that will give us an
indication.”
“So we’re still in the dark, no idea where
the killer will strike next and the attacks are getting more frequent.”
“We keep looking Gwen, we’ll find
something.”
“Martha, call from the hospital, Marie’s had
some sort of seizure.” Ianto calls over
the comms link.
Martha
calls in on Owen in the Hot House where he’s been analysing the data from
Marie’s blood.
“They want us at the hospital, Marie’s
collapsed.”
“Yeah?
My money’s on this stuff.” He
says pointing to the screen. “From
Marie’s blood. It’s a new one on me.”
“Yeah me too. Have you run an isoenzyme analysis on it?”
“No not yet.
What are you thinking - Parasitic infection?”
“Could be.”
Martha replies.
“It's got to be down to this stuff, coz otherwise
I haven't got a clue what's wrong with her.”
“Yeah - no infections, no deficiencies in
organ function, perfect cholesterol levels, ideal blood pressure. “
“Yeah, exactly. She's so normal, she's
abnormal.”
In the
hospital, machines bleep around Marie’s bed.
Martha examines Marie while Owen looks on.
“Marie? Marie, can you hear me?”
“Mm, yeah!”
“Ok, you’ve got something in your blood that
we don’t recognise, all right? We think
it’s behind your current illness and we need to know what’s been happening to
you so we can help you.” Owen explains.
“Well you’re the doctors, you tell me.”
In a
student flat, Gwen sits with a mug of coffee in her hand listening to the boy
on the bed talking about Barry, while Ianto examines pictures on the wall of
the room. As he talks, Gwen can only see
the dead man lying in the woods with the needle puncture to his eye.
“Barry was my best mate. We were doing the same course. Met him on the first day.”
“Was Barry doing any sort of drugs at all?”
“Well he used to be really clean. Reckoned he had to be careful about what went
into his body because of his diabetes.”
“Barry was diabetic?”
“Sure.
But when they cured that, he was doing booze, blow…”
“Wait a minute. You’re telling me Barry’s diabetes was
cured?”
“Sure.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Well he stopped taking insulin. He was fine.”
Ianto
pressed his comms link. “Owen, something
you should know.”
“So who performed this miracle cure?”
“I don’t know. He was very quiet about that. All I know is he was suddenly flashing a load
of wedge about.”
“Barry Leonard is said to have recovered
from diabetes.” Ianto tells Owen.
“Thanks, Ianto. Right, Listen, Marie, you're
gonna have to level with us. This could be a matter of life and death. Have you
ever had a serious medical condition?”
“Too good to be true.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had HIV.”
“You’re perfectly clear of antibodies. That’s not medically possible.”
“That’s the Reset.” Marie says clapping a
hand to her head.
“Reset?
What are you talking about? A drug?”
“Right, I’m not familiar with Reset, so any
idea of a chemical name?”
Marie
laughs then begins to cough uncontrollably.
“Where do you get it from Marie?”
“I got it from the Pharm.”
“The farm?”
Martha is puzzled. “What farm?”
“No.
P-H-A-R-M, the Pharm. It’s a
medical research place, alright.”
“How did you get it from there?”
“They gave it to me. They paid me a lot of money. They said I should keep quiet about it coz it
was part of the contract.“
“Are you saying you were a clinical trial
subject?”
Marie
suddenly collapses back on the bed she begins to twitch as she struggles to get
her breath.
“Marie?”
Martha holds down Marie’s hands to calm her.
“Convulsing.” Owen shouts and leaps towards the Velcro bag
of adrenalin shots.
“Marie.”
Martha calls again as Marie continues to struggle.
“I’ll give her another 10ml.” Owen says, injecting Marie in the leg.
“You’re alright.” Martha assures her, but it’s too late. She flat lines. “She’s dead.”
Owen holds
up one on the end of his gloved finger.
On a large
screen in the Meeting room, a 3D blue image of a Mayfly is viewed by the Owen and Martha.
“So it’s an alien larva incubating in human
bodies.”
“We’ve never seen anything like it. So it left Marie’s body when she died,
presumably looking for another host for its next stage of development.”
“Which could have been us.”
“Yeah, fortunately, when they didn’t find
one quickly they died.”
“I wonder what this cute little larva grows
up to be?”
With their
investigations gathered from Marie’s blood, Owen and Martha sell their
information to the team back in the Meeting room sometime later in the
day.
“This folks, is a molecular model of the
drug that we found in Marie’s blood.”
“She called it Reset.” Martha informs them.
“So what does it do?”
“Think about when you run a virus scan
through your computer, yeah? The
software works its way through the files and when it finds a Trojan, or a
virus, or whatever, identifies it and then it deletes it. That is what this stuff does to the human
body. But it’s not just viruses. It’s harmful bacteria, toxins. Even mutant cells, you name it. It’s like the body’s been turned back to its
factory settings.”
“It’s the ultimate magic bullet. It super cedes anything and everything in the
pharmacological armoury.”
“But that would be the greatest medical
discovery in history.”
“Exactly.
Except it comes bundled with a lethal alien parasite.”
“Ah, not so good a discovery.”
“The parasite needs a healthy body until
it’s incubated. So the parasite egg
incorporates this magic bullet which puts everything in the system back to its
factory settings.”
“Reset.
Neato. So who runs the Pharm?”
Jack asks.
“Well, the public image is innocent
enough. Private – public partnership,
between the government and a consortium of the pharmaceutical companies,
researching and developing cutting edge biotechnology.” Ianto reads from his
document passing it to Gwen.
“Their IT systems are way more cutting edge
than they need to be. Plus they’ve got
seemingly unrestricted security clearance.”
“Which means they’d have the capability to
erase medical records if they wanted to.”
“Exactly.”
“Who runs this outfit?”
“Institute Director is a Dr Aaron Copley.”
Gwen replies as Ianto brings up his details and photo up onto the screen. Owen recognises him immediately.
“Yeah, I know his work. He’s one of the most respected research
scientists in his field.”
“Harvard graduate, did research at Cambridge UK
“Hmm, he's kinda handsome, too. D'you think
he'll like visitors?”
The
following day Jack and Owen go and visit Professor Copley at the Pharm located
off the beaten track in the wonderful green countryside. They pull up at the security gate and give
their details, the guard checks them against his list and nods, allowing them
access through. Expecting some level of hostile response, Jack and Owen are
equally surprised, but as they drive through the gate Jack notices the side
arms on the guards and those protecting the facility behind secure mesh
fencing. Just what or who are they
protecting?
Inside a
plush office of minimal furniture, a white haired older man glances over at the
two men opposite him as he reads a document on his lap.
“Sorry you’ve had a wasted journey,
Mr…Harker.” He says to Jack.
“Harkness.”
Jack corrects him. “And it’s
Captain, but you can call me Jack.”
“Captain? Where did you park your boat?”
Jack
laughs, glancing over to Owen standing just to his side. “I like a man with a sense of humour. Know any good gags about clinical
trials?” He looks back at Copley.
“Well, Jack, none of these faces mean
anything to me. And as the institute
director, I would have met them personally, had they been our trial subjects.”
“Dr Copley…”
“Professor actually.”
“But I can call you Aaron right?” Jack asks leaning forward, rising from his
seat as Copley delivers the folder back to the Captain. Jack opens the folder again and lays them out
in front of Copley. “See, this is a
little awkward. Two of these people were
murdered, another died of a parasitic infection of alien origin and one of the
victims mentioned your organisation’s name shortly before she died.”
“Alien origin, that’s preposterous!”
“Er, professor, when I was writing my MD
thesis, your published works on immunology were very helpful, so thank
you.” Owen adds as Jack steps away from
the desk and stands the other side of Owen.
“I’m glad to be of service.” Copley replies.
“Now, if there was a drug that could restore
the human body back to its factory settings as it were, you would know about
it.”
“You’re right, I would, but nothing like
that exists.” Copley assures him.
“I had a boyfriend whose nostrils flared
when he was lying.” Jack points out.
“I’m already late for my next appointment.” Copley says glancing idly at his watch and
rising from his seat.
“You go ahead, we’ll have a look around.”
Jack tells him, glancing towards Owen.
“Well obviously our research suites are
classified, so we can’t grant you access to those, but we’d be delighted to
give you the PR tour.”
“Normally, Aaron, we go where we like.”
“Not here, actually. Ask Whitehall
“Yeah, I had a bad experience with a
politician recently. I tend not to
listen to Whitehall
“Let me get someone to guide you back to
your vehicle.”
“Was it me or was he a little touchy?” Jack says to Owen as they’re escorted from
the building. Jack unlocks the SUV as
Owen makes his way to the passenger side and climbs in.
“Yeah, so much for the polite approach. We need to turn this place over.” He says
buckling up.
Jack keys
in details on his VM and is surprised by what he finds. “Oh yeah.
According to these readings this place has the highest concentration of
alien life forms this side of the Rift.”
He replies, noting the high level of security that they saw on their way
in. He glances at the female guard
standing to attention at the entrance to the building and looks disgustedly at
Owen.
“Grey is so not her colour.”
They return
to base.
Inside the
Hub, at her workstation, Toshiko tries one more time but fails to access the
computer systems at the Pharm. She pulls
off her spectacles in defeat.
“I can’t hack in there Jack. And if I keep on trying with a brute force
approach they’ll know they’re under attack.”
“An alien life form is preying on the human
bloodstream. I need a way in there.” Jack says insistently.
Ianto calls
over. “Tosh, I’ve got the results of
that research. On the screen now.” Suddenly a series of web shots appear on her
work screen giving details of the Pharm and how to become a volunteer for the
clinical trials.
“Ianto, that’s brilliant.” She replies, drawing interest from the other
members of the team including Martha.
“They’re on the market for volunteers.”
“That’s understandable, given their wastage
rate.” Jack says.
“Then one of us goes in undercover.” Gwen suggests.
“No, we don’t know enough about the workings
of that place. Too many things could go
wrong.”
“Unless you were to put a medic in
there…someone who knew what to look for.”
“Yeah, but I can’t do it.” Owen says.
“They know me now don’t they.”
“I know it’s hard to believe Owen, but I
wasn’t thinking of you.” Martha glances
over at Jack, a knowing smile on her face.
Jack smiles back but it’s a risk he’s not prepared to take.
“No way.”
“Come on Jack, I’ve been in worse places and
you know it.”
He glances
around for responses from his team, the nod from Gwen, the shake of the head
from Owen, the glare from Toshiko. He
looks back towards Martha.
“Ok.”
He smiles.
As Jack
heads back to his office, Owen catches him up.
“Jack, can I have a word?” Jack stops and listens to Owen’s
concerns. “Listen, I know you’re big
buddies from way back but you can’t just send her in like this.”
“Trust me, she’s more than capable. I’d rely on Martha if the world was
ending.” He leans closer and
whispers. “In fact, I did.” Again Owen is left confused.
In the
bowels of the Autopsy room, Ianto relays details of the layout of the Pharm to
Martha from documents he sets out on the table in front of them.
“OK, these are the plans for the Pharm’s
buildings. From what Jack and Owen saw,
they reckon that the main house contains Copley’s office, medical research
suites and the accommodation for the clinical trials subjects.”
“What about the buildings at the rear?” Martha asks.
“Restricted area. Fenced off.
Armed Security. Jack thinks
that’s where the readings of alien life forms came from.”
“Cool.”
“But you don’t need to go anywhere near
there.”
“Spoilsport.” Martha says with mock disappointment. She loads her clinical bag with devices as
Ianto continues to talk.
“The first thing you need to do is get
yourself accepted as a clinical trials subject. Don't try too hard, don't draw
too much attention to yourself.”
“Be invisible. I can do that.”
“Once you’re in we need you to gain access
to the Pharm’s IT systems, close down the system firewalls and security
protocols. That way Tosh can gain access
to the files and see what they’re really up to.”
“Industrial espionage, it’s very civilised.”
“Once you’ve done that, get out! Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”
“Understood.”
“Cool.”
“So, Jack asked me if I could get you a UNIT
cap to wear.”
Ianto
hesitates a moment then laughs. “Did he?
Well red is my colour.” He
replies heading for the stairs.
“So am I right in thinking that you and
he…?” Martha enquires.
“We…dabble.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“So what’s his dabbling like?”
“Innovative.”
“Really?”
“Bordering on the avant garde.”
“Wow.”
“Oh yeah.”
Ianto’s mind wanders for a few moments before snapping back. “Huh.
So shall we get your cover story sorted?”
“Absolutely.”
In Jack’s
office Ianto holds up a clear plastic Torchwood bag containing an ID card.
“Fake ID.
First name Samantha, thought the Jones would be safe.” Ianto replies, smiling.
“OK.
How do I stay in touch?”
“Communication’s very tricky. The whole place could be wired. We don’t want you chattering away to us and
being overheard.” Toshiko explains.
“But I want to monitor you at all
times.” Jack says.
“So?”
Toshiko
hands over an open box containing contact lenses.
“But I don’t need contact lenses.” Martha replies.
“You need these.” Toshiko replies.
In the main
Hub Owen stands in front of Martha who stares at her hand raised in front of
her. Toshiko’s screen visualises all
that is being picked up from the Torchwood special lenses.
“Oh I’m a camera.” Martha marvels.
“As Chris Isherwood once said to me when we
were cruising the Kurfurstendamm…”
Owen shakes
his head as once again Jack rambles on.
Toshiko taps a few keys on her keyboard.
“And we... can... text.” She types a sentence that Martha can read
from the lenses.
“U LOOK WE C”
Martha’s
eyes widen. “Wow!”
“Power comes from the body heat, so they can
only work when you’re wearing them.”
Toshiko explains.
“Yeah, so you have to wear them
everywhere.” Owen says, flashing his
eyebrows at her.
“Well I’ll be doing some things with my eyes
shut then.” Martha replies.
“In case of emergency, we can speak directly
to you.” Jack adds.
“The lens will communicate with your sensory
neuroreceptors. Bypasses the auditory system.”
Toshiko explains.
“But can't these signals be intercepted?”
“Alien technology. Which exploits a solution
to the EPR paradox.” Ianto tells her,
showing off his knowledge of scientific detail.
“Oh, quantum entanglement of remote
particles, ok, cool.”
“Yeah.”
Ianto replies having had his thunder stolen from under him.
“Did I mention she was brilliant?” Jack replies.
Owen grins.
At the
Pharm, wearing her contact lenses Martha has two phials of blood taken from
her.
“It’s standard procedure to take two blood
tests. One of them will be analysed
overnight. Thank you nurse.” The woman replies passing the bloods to a
waiting nurse. “So tell us the places
you’ve been to, Samantha.”
Viewed
under scrutiny from the Hub, Martha gives a well rehearsed response to the
question.
“Well, I had a great time in North America, France and Germany ,
Australia
"Well, I had a great time in North America, France
and Germany , Australia
“What about the Third World, Africa, Latin America ?”
The woman in the pink top asks while her back is turned to Martha.
At the Hub
Toshiko types in a Warning Triangle symbol.
Martha pauses before she answers.
“No but I’m sure I’ll get round to it.”
“Travel off the beaten track can be a bit of
a problem for us. If you had some exotic
tropical disease there could be unexpected side effects, and volunteers’
welfare is our absolute priority.”
“Oh I don’t think there’ll be any problem
with that. And of course I’m very
conscious of health issues.” The warning
triangle symbol reappears in her eyeline and she pauses again. “My Mum’s a nurse.” She smiles.
Professor
Copley enters the room and is introduced to Martha, under her new name.
“This is Professor Copley, Samantha. Institute director.” The woman introduces them both.
“Hi Sam, nice to meet you.”
“Hello.”
“Tell her to get close to Copley.” Jack says from the Hub, it’s texted back to
Martha.
“I see you’re a postgraduate student at the
moment.” Copley notices.
“That’s right.”
“Studying what?”
“Creative writing. So I really need the cash.”
Copley and
the woman exchange glances, it doesn’t look hopeful.
“Well I’m sure you’ll understand Samantha
that we have a lot of applicants.”
“Tell her not to lose him.” Toshiko texts Jack’s instructions.
“We’ll let you know in due course.”
“Actually, there’s something I should have
told you.” Martha says quickly getting
up from the seat.
“Oh yes?”
Copley is mildly intrigued.
“It’ll show up in the test results
anyway. I did have a hepatitis
infection.”
“No, no, no.” Owen says back at the Hub. “She’s bullshitting. It’s her way in.”
“I mean, I’m fine now, but it stays in the
blood. Strictly speaking, it’s
incurable, right?”
“Well that puts a different complexion on
things. We could use a subject with
hepatitis. Are you available to start
right now?”
“Well, sure.
I’ve brought my overnight things.”
“Then all we need is your signature on this
Confidentiality Agreement.”
“She’s in.”
Owen says, with relief.
“As Chris Isherwood also said…it’s not the
getting in, it’s the getting out.”
“Thank you.”
Copley replies.
“So what sort of drugs will you want me to
take?” Martha asks, her bag slung over her shoulder, ready to start.
“We have got various products at the
clinical trials stage.” He tells
her. “You’ll be given a full briefing
once we’ve finalised the programme, and of course we won’t proceed unless we
have your informed consent."
“Come on Martha.” Jack says, slightly
impatient back at the Hub.
“Let her settle in. It’s gonna be a long night ahead.” Owen tells him.
Its night
time in Cardiff
“You and Martha are getting on well.” She says casually interested.
“Yeah, you know me - Mr Sociable.” Owen
replies with a laugh as he checks out Martha’s details on the screen in front
of him.
“She's beautiful.”
“Is she?”
He teases. Toshiko nudges him and
he laughs.
“You
know she is.”
“Yes,
well, fair cop.”
“And a
doctor. Perfect match.”
“No, she's only interested in work.”
“Do
you think?“
“Yeah, a bit of flirting so I'll show her
the ropes. Plus, if I tried anything with her, I think Jack would have my
kneecaps.” He grins ruefully. Toshiko
can quite imagine that. Changing the
subject Owen enquires after another matter. “What happened to that, um, pool tournament
you were organising?”
“That? It was never a tournament.”
“What was all that about, then?”
“It was supposed to be a date.”
“Sorry?”
“I was asking you out on a date.”
“A… a date?”
“You didn't realise?”
“You and me?”
“Yeah.”
“I see. And... you still want that?”
“Yeah.”
“Right.”
“I just thought if we spent some time
together, an evening...”
“All right.”
“Sorry?”
“Just do it.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“No.”
He laughs, tapping in details onto the computer screen.
“You're being polite. You'll stand me up.”
“I've just said yes, haven't I? One date,
see how it goes, which might be nowhere.”
“That's fine. A drink.”
“OK.”
“Yeah.”
“And I'm going to keep flirting with people,
OK? Just cos of this, doesn't mean I'm going to stop flirting.”
“You can be King of Flirts.”
“OK. Right, then.”
“Yeah.”
“Good. We should, er... concentrate on
Martha.”
“Yeah.”
Lying on
top of the duvet in her large spacious bedroom, with ambient lighting, Martha
waits for the right time to do a little investigating. Still fully dressed, Martha checks the time
on her watch before getting up. She
checks the corridor is clear before exiting her room closing the door behind
her. Still wearing her contact lenses, the pair back at the Hub can monitor her
every move. Owen texts her to ‘Be
Careful’ as she reaches the winding staircase.
She acknowledges Owen’s concerns and descends the spiral staircase. Jack wanders over to watch her progress on
the monitor screen. Down the stairs and along the stone corridor Martha edges,
till she finally reaches the Administration room, only to discover it
completely locked. She gives the door a
resounding rattle but it doesn’t give.
“Tosh, can you get us past this?” Owen asks.
“Easy peasy.” She replies.
“She just needs to get the lenses to within the EPR field.” Tosh texts ‘Look Closer’. Martha does so and the computer begins
calculating the correct number sequences.
As soon as Toshiko receives the correct digit she relays it back to
Martha, but time is against her…she can hear the sound of footsteps coming
along a corridor towards her. Finally
the full code ‘41040’ is displayed on the retina screen and Martha quickly
types it into the interface on the wall.
Entering the room, Martha shuts the door just as two guards with torch
light bouncing up along the walls, reach her corridor.
Martha
holds her breath for the few moments that the guards linger in the corridor
before continuing with their patrols.
The Administration room has a few computers sitting on a desk, and one
is still switched on. As Martha moves
the mouse and clicks the cursor on the screen, a demand for the password pops
up.
“Tosh, can you help her blag her way into
the computer system?” Owen asks.
“It’ll take time to talk her through it.”
“We don’t have time. I want her out of that office.” Jack insists.
Gwen strolls over to view Martha’s progress.
“Well if I can get her to give me remote
control of the computer…” Toshiko types
computer instructions for Martha to follow allowing Toshiko access.
“I have control.”
As Toshiko
scrolls down the list of files and folders, the identity of the creature is
brought up on the screen in front of Martha.
“The life cycle of the parasite. They call it the Mayfly.” She says out loud.
“Wow.
We’ve never seen a species like that before.”
“It’s beautiful.” Toshiko says, fully absorbed in the
creature.
“It’s lethal.”
“But what is Copley doing with them?” Using a desk top microphone Jack quickly
contacts Martha. “Martha, now we’ve got
control we can download all of this and go through it here. Get out of there pronto.”
As Martha
exits the room, activity in the Hub is heightened.
“Tosh, do you have that code breaker
software?”
“I’m sending the patch through now.” She calls over. Within seconds Gwen is working through the
covert files.
As Martha
ascends the stairs, an alarm rings out causing pandemonium outside.
“Break out in Zone A. All patrols to Zone A
immediately. Breakout in Zone A. Break out in Zone A. All patrols proceed with
extreme caution. The escaped creature is extremely dangerous.”
Martha
makes her way to the window and looks out at the security men being called to
deal with the escaped creature. She
smiles. They won’t be interested in her
now. She looks for an escape route. Owen types ‘Get to safety’ that flashes up on
her retina display. Pulling open a window she climbs out.
In the Hub
Gwen has the file of the clinical trials subjects. She calls Jack over. He reads through the list and questions one
of the names.
“Ooh, who’s BD?”
“Executive actions?” Gwen reads.
“Old CIA terminology for
assassinations. The Pharm are running
their own hitman, which is kind of unusual for a medical research facility.”
“Wait a minute, there’s a name here that we
haven’t seen before. Elin Morgan? She hasn’t been reported missing or dead.”
“She soon will be. Take Ianto and pull her in.”
Shinning
down a drainpipe and dusting her hands off on landing, Martha, lit up red in
the security lighting runs through the courtyard of the testing facility. Ahead of her in a lane are security men and
lights. She pauses. Glancing to her
right she heads for the gate and sees a large number display but voices ahead
deter her from waiting for Torchwood to run a code breaker. She dives for cover as security head in her
direction.
“Find it before it gets any further…Sector
12 now…” A security officer says running
past.
“Do not attempt to approach the creature, is
that understood? Stun and sedate only,
the creature is highly dangerous.”
Informs a female security officer over the radio.
“Understood.
Come on, keep moving.” The guard
instructs his team.
The guard
types in the code for the restricted section.
They leave the gate to close behind them, before it does, Martha is also
through it.
“What the hell is she doing?” Owen says
horrified. “If the Pharm have their own
hitman, God knows what they’re capable of.”
“Yeah, and I put her in there.” Jack regrets.
Running
along the side of the building Martha hears a warbling sound behind her. It’s close.
She turns slowly. Suddenly the
entire screen at the Hub turns a brilliant white.
“Shit.”
“What was that?”
“Radiation surge.” Toshiko replies. “We’ve lost her signal.”
Gasping in
both fright and pain, Martha quickly removes the lenses as the warbling
continues nearby. Appearing clearly from
around a corner, a fully grown Mayfly appears, far larger than any bug Martha
had seen in her lifetime, the size of a small car, clumsily stumbling towards
her. Quickly, Martha runs and hides
behind a large industrial yellow wheelie bin as a guard locates the creature
and radios for back up.
“There it is! Call patrol. Creature located.
Zone A, sector 12.”
As the
Mayfly stumbles past towards the light of the building, Martha steps from her
hiding place and takes a closer look at the magnificent creature, leaving her
vulnerable to attack from all quarters.
She’s caught in the neck by a sedative dart fired by a security guard and
passes out almost immediately.
Frantically
tapping on the screen Toshiko has to admit defeat.
“I can’t get her back.” She tells Jack who sighs heavily and walks off.
“We have to get her out of there.”
“That
place is swamped in security. If we try
and steam in, we’ll be putting her at risk.”
“We
can't just leave her in there can we?”
Owen says.
“If I can't get her signal back in 30
minutes, then we think of alternatives.”
Toshiko tells him.
“Anything could be happening to her in
there.”
“Martha can handle herself. She's been in
worse situations than this.” Jack assures them.
“Sure about that?”
Ianto
drives the SUV along the quiet streets heading towards Elin’s flat. He’s curious as to what Gwen is up to on the
computer map in front of her.
“What’s that?”
“Billy Davis’ mobile. He’ll be at Elin’s flat in three
minutes.”
Ianto
floors the SUV.
In the
quiet of the bedroom as Elin sleeps, Billy Davis stands poised by the door with
spray and the hypodermic needle. He
enters the room and sits on the bed as Elin stirs. She opens her eyes but the spray paralyses
her, allowing Billy to widen the eye as Gwen and Ianto barge into the
room. Gwen yells at Billy, her weapon
drawn.
“Hands above your head. Up!”
Billy does
as he’s told, taken by surprise. Gwen
takes the syringe from him as Ianto enters the room and fires the stun gun into
him, knocking him out. As Gwen tends to
Elin, Ianto calls the Hub.
“Jack, we’ve got Billy Davis. He could help get you into the Pharm.”
When Martha
awakes, she finds herself strapped into a cross shaped bed. A security guard fully armed stands guard by
the door.
“Will you tell this gorilla to let me
go? What is going on?”
“Good work.”
Copley dismisses the guard as he enters.
“I’m here as a clinical volunteer, you can’t
treat me like this.”
“You lied to us Samantha.” Copley says removing his outer coat in favour
of his white clinical jacket.
“Can I just explain? I got bored, stuck in that room, so I went
for a walk and first that thing attacked me, and then your heavies assaulted
me.” Martha explains glancing from
Copley to the woman who took her blood earlier that day.
“You don’t owe any loyalty to
Torchwood. Jack Harkness has treated you
in a criminally irresponsible way.”
“Who?
I really don’t understand.”
“Don’t bother. This is not an interrogation. Torchwood is irrelevant to us, not even a
nuisance. In fact, they’ve done us quite
a favour putting you in here. We’ve
analysed your test results – you really are something special.”
Down in the
Cells and a very much awake Billy Davis is complaining of stomach pains, but
he’s far from interested in confessing his sins to either Owen or Jack.
“Ok let’s do it the hard way.” Says Jack
stepping away from the cell door as Ianto pushes out a snarling, growling,
really pissed off Weevil ahead of him, with threats of Weevil spray if it as
much as thinks of attacking him. When it
spies Billy Davis
“Merciful Christ, what the fuhhhhhh?” Billy edges back in his chair.
“They have a tendency to act up.” Jack tells the terrified man.
“Losing him.” Ianto shouts from behind the Weevil as he
grips the chain with all his strength.
“Please!”
Begs Billy.
“Something to say Billy?” Jack shouts above the noise of the Weevil.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you want, just get it
away from me! Get it off me!”
Ianto uses
the Weevil spray on the creature and forces it back into the cell.
Billy tries
to compose himself but his guts are still hurting him.
“OK Billy, you’ve been on a killing spree,
why?”
“I work for the Pharm. They’d been giving people this Reset drug but
then there were these side effects – parasites or something. They were gonna die anyway, so I had to get
rid of them before any weird symptoms showed up…in public.”
“Do you know what lymphocytes are, Samantha?” Copley asks Martha as she remains on the
cross shaped bed, surrounded by monitors and drip tubes.
“A kind of white blood cell, part of the
immune system.”
“Well,
your lymphocytes are really quite extraordinary.”
“We've
never seen anything like them before, not in a human being. Aliens are a
different matter.”
“Aliens?
I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Your
lymphocytes and God knows what other cells have mutated.”
“Mutated?
How?”
“Under
the influence of radiation. Radiation that's not found in the temporally stable
environments on Earth.”
“I don't
know what that means.”
“We've
dealt with aliens before, but we have never come across anything as exotic as
you. A human being who's travelled in time and space. Tell me about it. How is
that possible? What did you see out there?”
“This
is mad. I don't know what you mean.”
“Fine.
If that's the way you want to play it. However it happened, it means that you
have a uniquely effective immune system, which is exactly what we need. We're
developing a drug that's going to change the world, Sam. Incurable cancers,
AIDS - all the scourges of the human race wiped out. A revolution in medicine
and social welfare. Except it's still imperfect. I'd like to know what your
funky lymphatic system makes of those imperfections.”
The woman
assisting the professor sets up the Reset bag and prepares Martha for the dose
of the drug, drip fed into her arm.
“I am
not taking that!”
“But
you volunteered.” Copley replies.
It isn’t
looking good for Martha.
Back in the
Cells things aren’t looking too grand for Billy. His stomach is on fire.
“Ok Billy, we’re going into the Pharm and
you’re going to front it for us.”
“Yeah, yeah.
Ok. My stomach! My stomach!
My stomach!” He begins to yell
and cough up blood.
“Woah!”
“Owen we need him alive.” Jack says holding Billy’s head up as blood
spurts from his mouth. Ianto enters the
Cells, arms folded, horrified at the events unfolding.
“Yeah, alright, I’m flying blind here Jack.”
“Do something.”
“Let’s start with this.” He says snatching up the Singularity Scalpel
and fiddling with it. “I think I’ve got
it. Ok? I’ve got the calibrations
right. I can get it out of him.” He says but it’s too late. In a final bid for freedom the Mayfly rips
out of Billy’s stomach in a scene almost similar to that of Alien. Billy is dead. The Mayfly is still alive. Spattered by blood and bodily fluid, Owen is
taken aback by the actions of the creature.
“Owen, deal with it. Are you sure you had the calibrations right?”
Jack asks studying the ruptured stomach lining.
“I’m sorry alright?” Owen grabs a bucket and tongs and lifts the
creature up and into the bucket. “He
must have breathed in larva when one of his victims died. This could have been me or Martha.”
Back at the
Pharm Martha is looking none too good. With a raised temperature she fights
against the pain in her abdomen.
“I’ve given her twice the critical
dose.” The assistant to Copley says as
she collects up a fresh batch of the Reset drug and hooks it up to the stand.
“So the Mayfly larvae are incubating?” Copley notes.
“Are you sure about this? Her immune system’s clearly reacting. There’s obviously quite a fight going on
inside her.”
“Keep your nerve.” Copley says watching over Martha. “We’re making history.”
Toshiko calls
Ianto over as he enters the main Hub.
“Ianto, what have you done with Billy Davis’
body?” She asks at her workstation.
“Um, I was just about to dispose of it,
why?”
“I’ve thought of a way we can use him to get
us into the Pharm.” She replies hitting
a few keys to show him her idea. “Clever, huh?”
Ianto
stares in horror at the screen. “Oh, you
are warped on the inside. How do you
think of these things?”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Lying in
the back of Billy Davis’ Landrover, the Torchwood team remain silent as the
vehicle reaches the gate of the Pharm.
Toshiko watches the proceedings from her laptop screen as she guides the
upright corpse of Billy Davis, duct taped to the seat through the gates towards
the main building. As the vehicle draws
to a halt, the corpse slumps forward against the steering wheel. Everyone bails out of the back of the
vehicle, Jack relays instructions.
“Tosh, Gwen, Ianto, check out Zone A. We’re going after Martha. Let’s go!”
Splitting up, Owen follows Jack into the building, while the others with
weapons and torches head to the restricted section. Using her hand held code
breaker, Toshiko triggers the correct password and enters through the meshed
gate with Ianto and Gwen.
From the
monitor screen, Copley can see the Mayfly larvae growing inside Martha using
the high tech monitoring equipment.
Martha herself is ailing fast, it’s only a matter of time before it’s
too late for the UNIT doctor.
Jack and
Owen enter dramatically causing Copley to turn suddenly from his work.
“Hands above your head!” Jack shouts, his weapon aimed at the
professor. “What have you done to
her?” He says as Copley, his hands
raised gets up from his seat.
“Tell me that’s not Reset?” Owen says,
instantly coming to her aid as the drugs continue to drip through the tubing.
“She’s survived the larval stage, the only
subject ever to do so. Fascinating! Turns out these bugs practice sibling
cannibalism. Only the strongest
individual is left now. God knows what
happens next.”
“Put a stop to this.”
“I can’t.” Jack raises his weapon. Copley looks back at him. “I don’t know how.”
Entering
Zone A, a large warehouse housing many testing chambers and gas bottles propped
against walls. Circles of light dot the
flooring in and around the chambers. The
team edge along, aware of danger at every possible turn. Copley’s assistant is up ahead of Gwen,
oblivious to their presence. She lifts
jars containing the Reset drug from the bottom of a testing chamber.
“Put your hands above your head.” Gwen shouts to her. Slowly, putting down her jars she straightens
up raising her hands.
As the team
near her, they see for themselves what lives in the testing chambers. Toshiko calls Ianto over.
“Ianto.”
“Bloody hell.”
Back
inside, Martha’s health is failing. The
creature is showing signs of movement within her abdomen. They’re running out of time.
“Jack, this thing’s killing her. I don’t know what I can do.”
“Owen, stay calm, there has gotta be
something.”
Inside his
bag, Owen spots the Scalpel.
The Weevil
groans inside its chamber, no longer in it’s boiler suit. The Weevils inside
all chambers are very much exposed.
“What’s happening here?” Gwen asks.
“This is what the Pharm is all about. We farm captive aliens for the exotic
chemical products they metabolise.”
“What the hell do you get from a
Weevil?” Ianto asks.
“Some pesticides, and a quite powerful
chemical defoliant. But the Weevils
aren’t what’s going to clinch the Nobel for us.” Unperturbed by the Torchwood team, Copley’s
assistant leads the team towards their prize possession. “The Mayfly.
Our feedstock for Reset. Given
time we’ll tweak the product for human use and then it’ll be bigger than
penicillin.”
Inside
another chamber is a large upright forlorn Mayfly. It registers when it sees Gwen and copies her
head movements, pressing its bony fore arm against the glass as Gwen almost
reaches out to it. Ianto has seen enough
and contacts Jack as he walks away from the chamber.
“Jack, I can give you a report on Zone
A. They’re holding dozens of creatures
captive down here. They seem to be using
them as test subjects.”
“Understood Ianto. Tell Tosh to go for total shutdown. This place is a torture chamber.” Jack instructs as he turns to face
Copley.
“I don’t need to debate medical ethics with
you.” Copley replies, his eyes on the
prize growing inside Martha.
“You abused the Mayflies, you turned them
into parasites.”
“We didn’t understand how the Mayflies
reproduced. We tried to limit the
damage.”
“What, by murdering people?”
“They were going to die anyway.” Copley replies flippantly. “We’re on the edge of the greatest discovery
in history. It’s gotta be worth a few
sacrifices. You must understand that, Jack,
you’re involved in alien research.”
While Jack
and Copley discuss life and aliens, Owen does his best to make Martha as
comfortable as possible.
“Not like this. I’m closing this place down.”
“In your dreams. This is a state of the art, official
facility.”
“Oh, I’m not going to do it by sending a
memo. We’re in control of your IT
systems. As we speak we’re crashing your
data banks, wiping your records.”
“That’s cyber terrorism.”
Owen
collects up the Singularity Scalpel and takes a big risk.
“And that’s just for starters. We’re going to trip the systems of your fire,
radiation and biohazard safety networks.
The power will cut, sprinklers will be activated, and a large part of
this facility will be sealed and flooded with inert gases.”
“The aliens will die.”
“They’re already dying. This way they’ll be put out of their misery.”
“For God’s sake, we’re on the same side!”
“No.
Combating hostile aliens is one thing, but this is slavery. Exploitation! A War crime!”
Martha has
a seizure, just like Marie. Owen calls
Jack for help, Copley takes the opportunity and hastens from the room.
“What the hell are you doing to her?” Jack asks Owen as Martha twitches and gasps
beneath him, as he holds her down.
“This is the only way we’ll save
Martha.” Owen tells him as he sets what
he hopes is the correct frequency for the scalpel device in his hand. “I think I understand how it works.”
“You’d better be sure because it’s never
worked before. Owen, are you sure it’s
safe?”
The Mayfly
is visible on the screen of the scalpel, the pitch is perfect…Owen shouts to
Jack to move.
“Ok, Jack.”
“Owen, tell me you’re sure. You could kill her with that thing. We’re losing her.” Jack yells as Owen’s mind argues with
itself. Aware of the risk to Martha he
has to take the chance. With the
screaming of the creature inside of her, Martha’s own gasps and groans, he
triggers the scalpel. Martha gasps and
sits bolt upright on the bed before collapsing back onto the bed. The monitor flatlines. Owen holds his breath.
“What have you done?!” Jack asks flatly.
Within
seconds the monitor begins to bleep healthily again. Martha coughs. Owen breathes out, relieved.
“Oh bloody hell, it worked. Thank God for that.”
“Let’s get her out of here.” Jack hurriedly lifts Martha from the bed and
out of the room, while Owen grabs his bag and drapes his coat around Martha’s
shoulders. There’s no time to lose.
There’s much activity outside of the building,
many personnel are brought out at gunpoint.
Tosh works on the laptop as she walks.
Jack and Owen with Martha proceed to exit the building.
“I am prescribing rest and recuperation for
you madam, and a few days in bed, preferably under my supervision.” Owen advises.
“Owen, I don’t know how to break this to you
but, I’ve got a boyfriend.”
“Yeah but has he saved your life like I
did?”
“Um, yes, actually.”
“Oh.”
Upon
reaching the Land Rover with the dead Billy Davis still in the driver’s seat,
Gwen tells the assistant to place her arms on the wheel, to which she
complies. Gwen checks for hidden
weapons, something she’d forgotten to do earlier!!!
Jack gives
the nod to Toshiko, the final order.
“Do it.”
Hitting on
key on the laptop signifies SHUTDOWN on the entire facility. Screaming of dying creatures and the sound of
alarm systems ring out across the front of the building. A tannoy system announcement kicks in.
“Facility shutdown in progress, all
personnel must evacuate immediately.
Facility in progress, all personnel must evacuate immediately.”
Satisfied,
job done, Jack instructs the team back into the vehicle, when Copley exits the
building brandishing a handgun.
“Did you really think I was going to let you
just walk away? You’ve ruined everything
I’ve worked for.”
Putting
himself between Martha and the mad professor, Owen tries reasoning with the
man. Gwen keeps her weapon drawn, Jack
and the team can only watch.
“Now, let’s not be stupid, ok? We’re both
rational men, scientists. I know you
don’t want to shoot that.”
Copley
fires a shot hitting Owen in the chest.
He falls back bleeding heavily.
Jack pulls the Webley as Copley threatens to kill Martha. Jack fires a shot, hitting Copley in the
forehead, killing him instantly.
Martha and
the team rush to Owen’s side. He
struggles to breath, blood running from his mouth.
“Owen!
Can you hear me, Owen?” Martha
calls first on the scene.
“You’ve got to help him.” Tosh begs.
“Owen, stay with me. Owen.
Owen, look at me, look at me. Owen, look right at me. Stay with me.
Owen. Stay with me buddy. Come on.
Come on.” Jack begs, already
knowing it’s too late.
Gasping for
breath, panic and fear intermixed, Owen can do nothing to help himself. Receiving a shot of adrenalin to the heart it
just isn’t enough to save him.
“Owen, speak to me.” Martha says as he exhales for the last time.
For several shocked moments nobody can breathe, scared to suggest the worst,
but as Owen’s eyes stare up without blinking, without a breath from his lips,
Martha feels for a pulse.
“He’s dead.”
She confirms looking at Jack.
Jack in turn looks at his team gathered around before turning his
attention back to the young medic.
“Owen.”
Jack whispers.
A stunned
silence falls across the gathered team around the body of Dr Owen Harper.
The End.
Next Month – Dead Man Walking
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