Original
Broadcast: 7 Jul, 2009
The huge blast from the
bomb inside Jack’s stomach rips through the entire Hub, destroying decades of
Torchwood history. Above ground, Gwen is thrown off her feet. The blast has
temporarily dulled her senses, and she stumbles about unable to register the magnitude
of the explosion. Desperate to find her friends she returns to the bombsite, as
fires blaze all around her.
An ambulance arrives on
the scene and two paramedics hasten across the Plass towards Gwen; as she
wrestles in their grasp, they drag her back to their waiting vehicle. Her
hearing restored, Gwen suspects that they’re not who they claim to be and while
one readies the syringe with the lethal dose, Gwen chomps down on the arm of
the other. Leaping to her feet, she grabs the fire extinguisher and strikes out
with it at both men. Inside their uniform coats she discovers that these NHS
boys are packing heat. Taking both weapons from the unconscious men, she jumps
from the vehicle, only to find a red laser picking her out.
Firing back as the
gunman on top of the MC opens fire, she ducks behind the side of the ambulance,
eventually climbing into the driver’s side and drives away from the crash site,
putting a distance between her and the scene of the explosion. With only one
ambulance man in the back, the other having fallen out at the scene, she has a
few questions of her own when he comes too.
Picking his way through
the debris, Ianto Jones is also picked out by a sniper, who miraculously misses
his target each time. Ianto sprints from the scene as the sniper heads down the
flight of stairs in pursuit.
At Frobisher’s home, the
phone rings, something of a habit that Anna Frobisher is beginning to
realise. It’s Johnson, reporting in.
It’s not completely positive news, and although Harkness appears to have been
eliminated, Frobisher is less than happy that both Jones and Cooper escaped
capture.
As Frobisher ends the call
there’s a knock at the door. Dekker has the translations. In the study,
Frobisher pores over the documents.
‘Instructions. Specifications for something
they want us to build.’ Dekker explains. ‘And we haven’t got much time to do it
in.’
With the communications
such as this, with the detail of the build, Frobisher can’t help but wonder why
they target the children.
‘Because they can.’ Replies Dekker. ‘And
because they want to scare us.’
Parked up, a safe distance
from the blast site, Gwen switches off the engine. The ambulance man is awake.
He plans his next move as he hears Gwen alight from the vehicle. She climbs
into the back, her weapon trained on the soldier.
‘Who do you work for? Who do you work for?’
she demands; her mouth still bloody from biting the other soldier.
‘The NHS.’ Gwen fires the gun through the
roof of the ambulance before pointing it back at the soldier’s head. She’s not
playing games now.
‘Who do you work for? You tried to kill me.
My friends, my friends could be dead, so don’t think I won’t use this.’ Gwen
growls her contempt.
‘The government. I’m working for the
government.’ The young soldier replies, with what appears to be a Yorkshire
accent. ‘I just follow orders, that’s all.’
Gwen finds it hard to
believe that the Government want them dead, when they’re meant to be on the
same side.
The ambulance man takes
his chance, and attempts to jab Gwen with the syringe he has hiding behind his
back. Gwen retaliates by shooting him in the foot. Determined to find out why
the government want to destroy Torchwood, she asks the young soldier again, but
as with most foot soldiers, he’s following orders. Hearing a siren in the
distance, Gwen leaves the scene.
At the blast site, the
Police begin cordoning off the area. PC Andy Davidson and his partner watch as
Johnson barks orders. Only when Ianto and Gwen’s names come up in conversation
does Andy speak up. When he hears that Johnson figures her a terrorist does
Andy feel he needs to defend her.
‘I’m just saying, you’re barking up the
wrong tree, that’s all.’
Johnson wants their houses
raided. It’s imperative to her that she ties up all loose ends.
Rhys has a rude awakening
as Gwen bursts into their bedroom, demanding he get up, they have to leave
immediately. Having never been on the run before, Rhys has no idea what to take
with him.
Rumbling along the road in
an army Land Rover, PC Andy sits in between Johnson and the driver. Defending
Gwen might have been an honourable thing, but now riding with the team that
intend on extinguishing a ‘terrorist’ threat, Andy feels less than comfortable.
As Gwen buzzes around the
house, searching for keys to the car, Rhys looks out some reading material and
grabs a suitcase.
‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?’
‘Packing.’
‘Well,
you're not going to have time to read. And they can trace us with that.’ Gwen
replies pointedly, snatching his mobile phone and tossing it away.
‘Well I don’t know, I’ve not gone into
hiding before, have I?’ He replies defensively.
Ianto locates a phone box.
Andy gives the directions
to Gwen’s flat, completely convinced that Gwen will not be a problem, and is
definitely not a terrorist. Worried that they’ll go in all guns blazing, when
he gives the final destination, Johnson and team, tool up.
In the flat, the phone
rings. Before Gwen can stop him, Rhys has already picked up the receiver. Even
though it’s only Ianto, Gwen is less than pleased that Rhys even touched the
device.
‘Ianto, are you OK?’ She asks, taking the
phone to the window, glancing out of the curtains.
‘Yeah. Have you heard from Jack?’
‘No. No I haven’t. Sorry, hang on. Do you
think he survived?’
‘He usually does.’ Ianto replies. ‘Who was
it? Any idea?’
Gwen tells him that the
soldier in the ambulance said he worked for the government, which didn’t make
any sense to either of them. Gwen couldn’t understand how the bomb inside of
Jack could have been planted. Ianto on the other hand, had a fair idea.
‘It was him, that Dr Rupesh guy. He was shot
and killed in the hospital earlier tonight. It must’ve been then.’
Suddenly, Rhys finds the
car keys after searching inside the sofa. Gwen instructs him to take the bags
and get the car ready. Desperately she tries to think where she and Ianto could
meet up. But before a meet up can be arranged, Johnson’s Land Rover is heading
towards them. Rhys toots the horn.
Gwen hangs up.
Running out into the
street, Gwen fires shots at the Land Rover’s radiator and tyres, slowing them
down to a standstill.
Jumping in the car, she
instructs Rhys to put his foot down. Johnson watches them speed away.
‘Now do you believe she’s a terrorist?’
Johnson asks the policeman. Andy is less than convinced.
‘She shot the wheels. What kind of terrorist
shoots your wheels, hmm?’
‘A clever one.’
Rhys parks up the car in a
remote spot. Gwen insists they have to leave it behind.
Unconvinced, Gwen informs
him that number plate recognition would have them picked up in seconds. Despite
the car being new, Rhys is still unconvinced that going on the run is a good
idea. He thinks that giving themselves up might save them from a hail of
gunfire if they’re caught. But Gwen is far from giving herself up to any
official of the government, least not until she’s got some answers of her own
first.
‘When I know what’s happened, I’ll tell
someone. Until then, we’re going underground.’
‘Well, let me carry the bag.’ Rhys offers.
Gwen stops dead. The thoughts of her pregnancy suddenly swimming before her
eyes, how would he know?
‘What?’
‘You want your trigger finger free, don’t
you?’
Smiling, she reaches up
and kisses him, out of relief and out of his kindness.
Armed soldiers break down
the front door of Johnny Davies’ home. They file up the stairs bursting in on
the dark bedrooms, shining torches at the occupants of the beds, frightening
the children.
‘We’re looking for Ianto Jones. Don’t move.
Don’t move.’ The soldiers announce as they pound the rooms to find him.
Bursting in on Johnny’s bedroom, Johnny is less than impressed that they’ve
disturbed his sleep, and more than a little annoyed that they expected to find
Ianto in his bed.
Picking his way through
the dark streets of Cardiff, Ianto is spooked when a newspaper delivery van
pulls up behind him. When it drives on, after dropping off a pile of
newspapers, he lifts out the top newspaper and reads the headline.
‘Message to the world We Are Coming.’
The next morning, in the
Frobisher household, John insists that his girls keep their phones on them all
day, so that he can speak to them if he needs to. Holly insists that if they go
off in class, they’ll not get them back till Friday. John suggests that they
put them on mute.
When he heads out into the
hallway, his wife follows him. No longer able to put up with the secret phone
calls, the mystery meetings, she wants some answers, except, John isn’t willing
to unburden himself, just yet.
Anna can put up with
almost anything, but when it affects her own children, that’s a line too far.
‘I saw how scared you were last night.’ She
tells him.
‘I know. It’s frightening to see it first
hand. There’s no lasting damage, it’s quickly over.’
‘This isn’t a hula hoop craze.’ Anna snaps.
‘It’s happened to Brian and Wendy’s kids, and they live in Canada. You don’t
think this is over any more than I do.’
Not wishing to be drawn
into an argument first thing in the morning, John restates his wishes regarding
his girls and their phones. He kisses his wife, and tells the girls he’ll see
them later.
When the girls adopt the
glazed gaze and demand a pony, John takes it in his stride.
‘See?’ He assures his wife. ‘Nothing to
worry about.’
Clement MacDonald walks
casually down a street and lifts a free newspaper, and is spooked by the
headline.
At Alice Carter’s home,
the radio announces the news of the terrible blast in Cardiff, which prompts
her to phone her Dad and find out if he is OK. When she gets no response but
the answer phone, she begins to worry.
Lois Habiba arrives at
work for another busy shift. While Louise Minchin broadcasts the news.
‘Residents in Cardiff are reacting with
shock and outrage. The entire Bay area has been closed off and witnesses say
the effects of the explosion last night could be felt five miles away. No one
can say for sure why this area was the site of such an unexpected attack, and
the Prime Minister’s office has refused to speculate until more details are
known. Fortunately, the timing of the device last night was….'
She logs into the
Government Information Network using Bridget Spears’ password and reads up more
about Torchwood and its personnel.
In Prime Minister Green’s
office, Frobisher keeps him in the loop.
‘As you know, Harkness is a difficult man to
kill. Current theories suggest that his longevity is connected in some way to
the Torchwood Hub. Which necessitated taking out the entire operation.’
Frobisher explains.
‘Well, he can’t still be alive after that.’
‘As I said, awaiting results.’
‘What about these er, these specifications
from the 456? I could barely understand a word of them.’ The Prime Minister
asks of the document.
‘Nor me. But I am told the translations are
excellent. And they’ve started work. Dekker’s called in the damage control
team. They’re working as fast as they can. Early reports are looking, well,
let’s say promising.’
Green wonders when he can
see the progress made on the top floor and is informed that they’ll be able to
at 4pm.
‘Can I ask? Did the 456 contact any other
country?’ Frobisher asks, wondering if others are building the same structure.
‘Intel’s been listening. No chatter on the
wires. Seems like it’s only Britain.’ The Prime Minister tells him.
Frobisher wonders how long
they can keep it a secret. When the children had announced about the creature
coming back, he wonders when it had last been in Britain.
Keen to crack on, Green
dismisses Frobisher, but at the door, Frobisher hesitates. Like a humble
servant, he thanks the Prime Minister for entrusting him with the
responsibility. Green on the other hand replies flippantly, that all he’s done,
is put Frobisher up for a fall. The front line. First to fall.
Fire and rescue services
swarm all around the debris thrown up by the blast. The search for the missing
Captain begins. Johnson watches as a fireman abseils into the crater. An arm is
detected poking out of the debris, as the fireman calls out hoping that there
is a body attached, it soon becomes clear that this is an unattached limb.
Alice tries again to
contact her Dad but again, it goes to answer phone. She leaves a message.
‘It’s me. Call me, when you get a chance.’
Bridget spies Lois deep in
thought and queries if she’s alright. Snapping out of it, Lois informs her that
they’re expected and the car is waiting for them. Bridget hurries her on.
As they’re joined by John
Frobisher, his mobile phone rings. It’s Johnson.
‘We thought there was a body, but we’ve got
an arm, a shoulder and the remains of a head. It’s almost a waste of a body
bag.’ She tells him. Frobisher asks if it’s Harkness, but at this stage, it’s
difficult to identify. He suggests they take him to Ashton Down and keep him
under surveillance.
Ianto watches from the
roof of the MC building and takes down the number of the black van carrying
Jack’s remains. NK03 OXR.
Hearing mention of Captain
Jack Harkness in the phone call with Johnson, Lois mentions that a Captain Jack
Harkness had in fact called the office yesterday offering his help. She backs
it up by confirming that she marked it in the log. Frobisher informs her that
he won’t be helping anyone any more.
‘That bomb in Cardiff last night, he was the
one at the centre of it. It tore him to shreds.’
Johnny is fixing the front
door after the raid the night before. Two official men, one with a camera,
watch from a nearby parked car. A paper-boy drops off his newspaper. Carrying
it into the house, he opens it as a white envelope falls out. David picks it up
announcing that it will be from Uncle Ianto, but to keep it quiet as they’re
probably bugged.
Over acting on his part,
Johnny loudly conveys his disgust at the raid, indicating that his son peed the
bed. Rhiannon takes the letter upstairs and opens the envelope to find a card
inside, with instructions of where she can find Ianto – Where Dad broke my leg,
at noon. Bring laptop. I.
‘What’s he done? Why’s he bringing it to our
door?’
‘Hey, hey, we’re the only family he’s got.’
Johnny replies, taking a seat beside her on the bed.
At Ashton Down cells,
Johnson instructs the soldiers where to put the body bag. It’s small and light,
and is placed on a metal table. Alice calls her Dad again, but still no answer.
At the monitoring station,
Rhys Williams’ and Gwen Coopers’ debit cards are flagged up, and captured on
CCTV. Both are unable to withdraw any cash.
‘What now? How are we going to manage
without money, Gwen?’ Rhys asks.
‘We need to get to London.’ She tells him.
‘That’s where all the decisions are made. Whoever wants us dead, that’s where
they’ll be.’ Rhys considers that the best place for them is a few hundred miles
in the opposite direction but as Gwen explains that she needs to speak to
people, and without the list of contacts, from the Hub, London is the place to
be. They have to leave immediately, because ‘soon as you put your card in,
bells start ringing somewhere.’
Frobisher, Bridget and
Lois arrive at Thames House.
At Ashton Down monitoring
station, Johnson asks if there’s any change to their current body bag. The
Operative replies no, but wants to know if the body of Patanjali can be
released to the family. As Johnson stares at the monitor, Jack’s body bag begins
to take shape.
Johnson and the Operative
head to the cells where the fully skeletal form of Captain Harkness is now
evident in the bag, complete with a level of flesh beginning to reform. The
Operative wrinkles his nose up, it’s a disgusting sight as he unzips the body
bag.
‘It was a bag of bits when it came in, and I
asked you to keep an eye on it. ‘
Johnson scowls. ‘Get it out of that thing and cuff it to the wall.’ She
instructs.
Johnson contacts Frobisher
with further news, he receives it as he’s riding the lift in the MI5 building.
‘The good news is we don’t have to wait for
the DNA tests. This is definitely Jack Harkness.’ Johnson informs him.
‘And what’s the bad news?’
‘His Lazarus qualities remain undiminished.’
‘Jesus Christ.’ Frobisher curses.
‘If he can survive that, what can’t he
survive?’ Johnson replies.
As Frobisher and the team
reach Floor 13 of Thames House, he instructs Johnson to keep searching for
Jones and Cooper, he wants the whole team out of the way by tonight.
As he enters the
construction area, Bridget instructs Lois to wait behind. She tries to peer
inside but there is little to see apart from welding.
At a small vegetable
packing business across the road from Tony’s service station, Gwen and Rhys
climb into the back of a lorry bound for London. It’s carrying food but not of
the kind they can expect to grab a meal from, not unless they’ve got a chip pan
handy.
Climbing up to the back of
the lorry to avoid being spotted, when the lorry driver returns to spot the
curtain clasp swinging, Rhys and Gwen, bed down on a bed of raw potatoes for
the long journey to London.
Gwen asks Rhys if he may
have a penknife handy, initially thinking she’s that desperate to eat raw
spuds, she quickly explains that they may need to cut their way out.
At the Davies’ home Johnny
has rounded up a few local lads to surround the surveillance car, while
Rhiannon uses this moment to escape with her laptop. The lads rock the car from
side to side, preventing the men from going anywhere fast.
At Ashton Down monitoring
station, Captain Jack Harkness is still regrowing, only now, fully aware of the
situation, he can do nothing else but scream at the pain.
The operative who had been
left in charge of monitoring his condition considers that Harkness would have
been better off dead.
Riding in the back of the
lorry, Gwen is anything but comfortable.
‘My best friend’s belly had a bomb go off in
it last night. Someone’s been trying to kill us ever since. I’m travelling at
seventy miles an hour on top of a bed of potatoes and I think I’m going to be
sick.’
‘Travel sick is it?’ he asks.
‘When have you ever known me to be travel
sick?’ she asks him.
‘Well, when have you ever travelled like
this? On an empty stomach. What? What?’ he asks her, trying to read her.
‘You know some announcements you rehearse in
your head?’ She smiles, hoping she doesn’t have to explain herself, and as the
penny drops, and her smile deepens, Rhys is over the moon at the prospect of
becoming a father. But then a thought strikes him between the eyes.
‘Hang on. The bomb, the guns, the car chase,
the hiding from the law. God, what am I like, letting you do all that in your
condition.’
‘Well you carried my bag.’
‘Gwen, I’m serious. This changes
everything.’
‘No, no, it doesn’t. We’re up the same creek
and we still need a paddle.’
‘Yeah, but three of us in the boat?’
Rhiannon sits on the park bench waiting on
Ianto while children play on the swings in the play area. He greets her and
she’s surprised at his appearance. Glancing around to be sure she wasn’t
followed he takes a seat beside her. When Rhiannon tells him that their dad
didn’t break his leg on purpose, he refuses to accept it, believing that he
shouldn’t have pushed so hard. Rhiannon is concerned about the state of him.
‘That bomb. It was meant for me and the
people I work with.’ He explains.
‘My God, why?’ She exclaims, but Ianto has
no clue. ‘What sort of civil servants are you?’
‘Unappreciated ones.’ He replies. He tells
her that he has no way of knowing if the man he loves is still alive, but he
knows so far that Gwen is alive but has no way of contacting her.
The children in the park
are quiet, there is an eerie silence.
Rhys jokes with Gwen in
the truck.
‘If it’s a boy, Edward.’ He says, raising up
a potato when she questions him. ‘Yeah, after the king.’ They laugh.
Suddenly the lorry stops
and sounds the horn. In the road, at the
crossing, the children have stopped moving, mid step across the road, holding
up traffic both ways. After a few moments they begin to chant in unison.
‘We are coming tomorrow. We are coming
tomorrow. We are coming tomorrow.’
The news flashes up on
Bridget’s computer screen and she instantly informs Frobisher.
‘It’s happened again.’
‘Shit. What did they say?’
‘We are coming tomorrow.’ She relays.
The children continue to
chant, and across the city, at the Hereford Arms, one middle aged man also
chants the same thing. In front of the barmaid and the locals in the tavern.
In the park the children
continue to chant, until the moment passes and they return to play. In the
Hereford Arms, Clement is surprised to find he too had been in a trance like
state and hurries out into the road, like a mad man.
‘They’re coming. Oh, I can smell them.’ He
cries. ‘They’re coming! Tomorrow, and they’ll be here.’
At the park Ianto hurries
to a little girl who was in a trance like state, but only arouses the
suspicions of her parent who shoos him away. Rhiannon is on her phone and
discovers the children at school were exactly the same.
‘It happened to David and Mica. What is it?
What is it?’
‘I don’t know. But this is what we do. We
deal with things like this.’
‘So deal with it. Stop it.’ She begs him.
‘I need to find Jack. Give me that.’
‘How will this help?’ She asks.
‘I took the number of the van they put him
in. You can track any vehicle with the right computer programmes.’
‘Really?’ She’s amazed.
Ianto asks for the car
keys and although reluctant, she hands them over. He hurries towards it without
a backward glance.
‘Be careful.’ She begs as he drives away.
Lois manages the phones
taking calls from anxious people after another bout of chanting children. The
newscaster continues to report the news as it comes in from France to China,
every child chanting in English, ‘We are coming tomorrow.’
From a phone box in
Parliament Street, Gwen makes a call to Frobisher but gets Lois instead.
Unaware of who she is until Gwen mentions Torchwood, Lois quickly brings up her
file. When Gwen urgently requests Frobisher’s attention, Lois is quick to
realise that this would be a suicide mission on Gwen’s part.
As Lois appears to fob
Gwen off, Gwen demands to know with whom she’s speaking to. Giving her name,
Gwen asks her if she’s heard of Torchwood. Lois has, and it’s for this reason
alone that her interest into why Torchwood haven’t been called in to help has
forced her to question who she is working for.
‘Then you should know that right now, you
lot need us. The whole world needs us. But someone’s trying to kill us. Someone
who claims to be working for the government.’
‘Why would the government want to kill
people who can help?’
‘Yeah,
exactly. That's what I have to find out. That's why I need to see him. Look, I
know all this sounds mad, but you have to believe me.’
‘I do. I do believe you. Hold the line,
please.’
Frobisher exits his office
and insists that his wife is called, as he’s in a meeting with the PM. Bridget
informs him that she’s putting the school through. Frobisher re-enters his
office and speaks with the school enquiring after his daughter’s.
Back in the phone box Gwen
wonders if Lois is tracing the call, when she denies it, Gwen presses her for a
meeting. Lois agrees.
In Café Aroma, Rhys and
Gwen sit impatiently at a table with a good view of the door. Rhys is starving,
as is Gwen.
‘Can we trust this guy?’ Rhys asks.
‘He's our man in the government. If we
can't, we really are in trouble.’
Lois enters the café and
introduces herself when she identifies Gwen.
‘Where’s Frobisher?’ Gwen’s guard goes up.
‘He’s not coming.’
‘Why not?’
‘My God, this is probably the worst mistake
of my life. I’ve read your files. Some of the stuff you’ve done, you’re like
unsung national heroes.’
‘Listen. I don’t do autographs and I don’t
want to be rude, but why am I talking to you and not your boss?’
‘Because if he knew you were here, you’d be
dead. He gave the order to have Jack Harkness killed.’
Taking a seat beside Rhys,
facing Gwen, she asked after Captain Andrew Staines, Colonel Michael Sanders
and Ellen Hunt. Gwen is surprised to learn that each of these names have
already been eliminated by the government, the same day that Jack was.
‘I didn’t take the job to commit treason on
my second day. What am I doing here?’
‘You tell me Lois.’ Gwen is curious too.
‘If you're the bad guys, why doesn't it say
that on your file? And if you're the good guys, who am I working for, and why
do they want you dead?’
‘Listen, this a lot to talk about. And we're
going to arouse suspicion. And we haven't ordered. When we went on the run, we
didn't have any money, see? We put the last of the coins into the phone box to
get through to you. So if there's any chance you could, er…’ Rhys hints
heavily. Lois digs into her bag and hands over notes to Rhys who cheerfully
goes to the counter to order two steak pie and chips and a cup of tea for him
and Gwen and a Latte for Lois.
While Rhys orders lunch,
Lois enlightens Gwen about the work on the top floor of the MI5 building.
Although she’s unsure what it’s for, it seems strange to her that the people
who can deal with aliens are being hunted down before the aliens arrive
tomorrow.
‘Why does Mr Frobisher want you out of the
way all of a sudden?’
Gwen enquires after Ianto
and Jack. Lois informs her that Captain Harkness is dead, but Gwen knows that
Jack is a hard man to kill. Lois agrees as it seemed strange that Frobisher
requested that he remained under surveillance.
‘I mean, why do that to a dead person?’
Jack Harkness is quite
vocal in the concrete cells that he’s chained to by the wrists. Completely
naked and fully formed, he shouts his discontent, demanding that they show
themselves and face him like a man. Up on the roof of the building, a hatch
slides open, and Johnson peers down at him.
‘I'm not a man.’
‘Who are you? What's all this about?’
‘Apparently you can't die, so it would be
foolish to tell you anything. But I will say this. If I can't kill you, I can
contain you.’
Squeaking over the roof,
the long arm of the concrete funnel edges into the hole in the roof, and Jack
can only scream as gallons of wet concrete fill the cell and encase him in a
concrete tomb.
Safe from capture, Ianto
watches through binoculars, Jack’s screams echoing from the building as he
drowns in concrete.
In Café Aroma Lois relays
details of where Jack is being held, showing a floor plan of the military base.
As Rhys takes a seat, she passes over the condiments to him, while she
continues to give information about Ashton Down and how to get inside, posing
as funeral directors.
‘Well, Mr Frobisher’s just authorised the
release of a body from Ashton Down. This is Rupesh Patanjali.’
‘They must have thought he was one of us.’
Gwen considers.
‘Well, the undertaker’s name is Richard
Rossiter, and he’s got an appointment to pick him up at five thirty today. And
I was thinking, access to a funeral director would be easier than access to a
secure military compound, so, he’d have to pass through here at some time
between five and five fifteen to get to Ashton Down for five thirty.’ She
explains. ‘And there’d be no witnesses. The name of the contact at the compound
is a Corporal Camara. His number’s on there, and he’ll be expecting you.
Sugar?’ Lois passes some over. Gwen is staring at her curiously. Lois smiles.
‘Im a P.A. it’s what I do.'
With much admiration for the young PA, Gwen
smiles back.
‘When this is all over, and you want a job,
come and see me.’
In a country lane,
stripped and gagged and lying in an empty coffin, the undertaker’s muffled
indignations are heard by Gwen and Rhys as they carry the box into the
undergrowth.
‘I’m sorry.’ She explains. ‘I don’t suppose
you’ll believe it, but this is all in the national interest.’
On Floor 13 of Thames
House, the Prime Minister views the room for the first time. Dekker as usual
isn’t too far away.
‘Have they sent us any further information?’
He asks.
‘Not
since they sent us the designs for this thing.’ Frobisher replies. ‘I've got
two radio operators working round the clock. They're sending out continuous
messages on the 456 wavelength, but we're getting nothing back.'
‘Carry on. Don't mind me. What's the latest
from Jodrell Bank? Any signs of their approach?’ Green asks.
‘No, but then there wasn't last time.’ Frobisher
replies.
Green views the large
container.
‘What’s that for?’
‘It’s for them.’ Frobisher replies.
Dressed in the undertaker’s clothing which appear to be an exact size, Rhys
pulls up at the Ashton Down sentry post. He tells the soldier that they’re here
to pick up a body, a 5:30 appointment. When they mention the Corporal’s name,
the sentry is suddenly shocked, assuming that Corporal Camara is dead, shocked
more so as the guy owes him money. When he discovers this is an error on his
part, he’s extremely relieved he radios Camara who lets them in.
A CCTV camera follows the
van’s progress towards the cell block.
‘We’re not going to get away with this.’
Says Rhys fearfully.
‘You really shouldn’t be here, Rhys.’ Gwen
tells him.
‘I shouldn’t be? Hello? If Jack needs
carrying, you’re going to need me here.’ Rhys shows the soldier the paperwork.
Camara directs him to the easiest route.
‘See that fire exit? Do you want to back up
to that, save you having to wheel him round the block?’
Inside the Cell Block,
Camara leads Rhys and Gwen towards the cell containing Rupesh Patanjali. He
strikes up a light conversation with Gwen as Rhys wheels the trolley after
them. Camara tells Gwen about there being three bodies already in the cells.
The corporal frowns, certain that he’s seen Gwen before. Gwen shakes her head.
‘You don’t look like an undertaker. If more
undertaker’s looked like you, there’s be more of a demand for bereavement. Ooh
ooh hand on. I’m just going to open the fire door for your mate. Corporal
Camara at the west corridor. Just opening the fire door for the body-snatchers,
OK?’
Rhys wheels in the
trolley. Camara walks beside Rhys, in the vain hope that he might be able to
get a date with Gwen if he asks the right questions. However, Rhys, adorable
Rhys, almost lets the cat out of the bag when he snaps at the soldier,
declaring that she’s married and pregnant.
‘So you can forget it, mate, right?’
Gwen spins around and
indicates with her hands that Rhys should shut the hell up. Calming down, they
enter Rupesh’s cell. The body in the bag confirms it. Using her pen like device
that disconnects the cameras into the cells, the Operative in the call room
calls down to the corporal.
‘Everything OK, the camera’s not working.’
‘Yeah, just checking the paperwork. No
problem.’ Suddenly he’s hit from behind and falls to the ground unconscious.
Gwen snatches up his set of keys and they exit the cell to try the other doors.
Using her zapper, she shuts off all the other active cameras.
The operative in the call
unit is concerned when he doesn’t hear back from Camara and the third camera
goes down, he sounds the alarm. Gwen and Rhys are running out of time, and
luck…
‘Intruders, two of, west corridor.
Intruders, two of, west corridor.’
‘Shit.’ Gwen exclaims. Rhys tries unlocking
the next cell unsuccessfully. Gwen applies a little more force to it and blows
the lock by shooting at it. When she pulls back the door, she’s met by a
concrete wall.
‘What the hell is that?’
Soldiers pile into the
cells and Gwen is forced to retreat around the corner. But as more soldiers
block their escape, Rhys feels that their only option is to surrender. Out of
options, Gwen is almost out of bullets, as Johnson instructs her to lay down
her weapons.
‘You’re as trapped and helpless as the man
in the concrete cell. Put the guns down!’
Resigned, Gwen lowers her
weapons, just as the cell block is shaken and Jack’s cell is removed by the aid
of a JCB driven by Ianto Jones wearing a hard hat.
Taking the opportunity,
Gwen with Rhys runs from the cell block and climbs onto the JCB.
‘Ah, Ianto, you took your time.’ She
announces climbing aboard.
With the roof collapsing,
the soldier’s exit the cell block and open fire on the JCB. As the vehicle
heads away from the cells, the soldier’s pile into trucks determined not to let
any of them escape.
‘They’re going to catch up.’ Rhys replies.
‘Hold on tight.’ Ianto insists.
Eyeing the petrol tanker,
Gwen insists Rhys move it into the road to slow their pursuers down. As he
climbs back onto the JCB, she fires shots at the lorry, causing a fireball.
‘Come on.’
Blocked on the other side
of the tanker, Johnson watches their prey leave yet again.
‘We’ve got a problem. Cooper and Jones
stalled us at a roadblock.’ Johnson informs Frobisher.
‘How did that happen?’
‘I’m sorry. There’s a chopper on the way,
but they’ve got a head start on us now.’
‘If he talks we’re in deep, deep shit. I’ll
have to call you back.’ Frobisher hangs up.
Ianto drives the digger to
a deep quarry with only one thing on his mind. To free Jack.
‘Get the car started. We’ve only got a few
minutes. Come on.’ He instructs Gwen as he pulls up near Johnny’s car.
Extending the hydraulic arm holding Jack’s cell over the precipice he waits
till it’s fully extended before flipping the lever that will tip the concrete
tomb over the edge. As it drops and smashes below, the trio speed down into the
quarry as fast as they can.
Jack gasps for breath and
sits up, dusty but alive. As the saloon car pulls up, Jack stands naked and
still cuffed and walks towards them.
‘Told you I’d be back.’
‘With a little help from us.’ Rhys adds.
‘What the hell’s going on?’
‘Don’t know yet, but the latest from the
kids is that it’s happening tomorrow.’
‘I’m just in time then.’
‘Get in the car, come on, we’ve got work to
do.’ Gwen orders as she hands him a coat to cover himself up. Jack throws it
over his shoulder and pads towards the back seat of the saloon car, Gwen averts
her eyes.
Reporters update the world
on the news so far, which is nothing to what is really going on upstairs at
Thames House. Dekker informs Frobisher that the seals are locked on the glass
cabinet in the room. With the go ahead for the technician, the cabinet is
filled with gas.
‘As per the 456 instructions, a combination
of 25% nitrosyl chloride, 22% hydrogen chloride, 20% nitrogen, 12% fluorine, 9%
hydrogen cyanide, 6% acetone, 6% phosgene. In short, poison. I’d hold on to
your nose, Bridget, though come to think of it, you’ve been doing that for
years.’ Dekker delivers, sarcastically.
‘And that’s what they breathe?’ Frobisher is
shocked.
‘Breathe. Eat. Fart. We know nothing about
them.’ Dekker admits.
‘Excuse me. If we know the composition of
that gas, can’t we work out what sort of creature could live inside it?’
Bridget asks.
‘Could do, if we had all the time in the
world.’ Dekker replies.
‘So they arrive, and then what?’
‘The whole room’s laid out according to 456
instructions. Something of an ambassadorial suite, I’d say. Or a throne room.
Who knows? Maybe a slaughterhouse.’
‘But if they arrive tomorrow, then how? How
do they arrive inside that?’ Bridget enquires.
‘No idea.’ Confesses Dekker.
‘Who else knows about this?’ Bridget asks
curiously.
‘Well, for all we know, they’ve sent the
same instructions to every country in the world. We’ve said nothing. Maybe
everyone else is keeping quiet, too.’
‘Oh, I don’t think so. Whoever they are,
they’re coming for Britain.’ Dekker replies.
‘But why?’
‘Exactly. Why is that Mr Frobisher?’ Dekker
asks, turning the tables.
As Frobisher and Bridget
leave, Dekker walks closer to the large glass cabinet filled with poison and
embraces it like a mad scientist in love with his own creation.
April 1st - Day
Three
