Rose stared in horror at the “ghosts” dotting the sidewalks, the parks, and even her own mother’s apartment. They’d been appearing so often that the human race had gotten used to them – even given them names and identities. But something about these “ghosts” frightened Rose. She could hear the TARDIS sending her own disapproval through the earring she wore. Squaring her shoulders, Rose fingered the earring and strapped some steel to her spine as Maggie would have told her to do. She held up the sonic screwdriver and put it to the setting that would let her trace where these “ghosts” were originating from. If they were coming through from some place too far to detect, the sonic would tell her at least where the local transmission point was. The Doctor, had he been there, would no doubt have cobbled together some impressive device that would do what she wanted so much better but Rose felt as if she didn’t have the time to try that.
The data came back. The point of origin was a massive office building in the center of London. Canary Wharf, it was called. Rose wondered if she would be able to get there on her own or if she should risk taking the TARDIS instead. As she stood studying the ghost, trying to figure out just what exactly it was, her mother stormed across the grassy courtyard behind the estate, fury on her face. Jackie had been upset the moment Rose saw the ghost in her apartment and had refused to recognize it as her Granddad Prentice.
“Do you have to reduce everything to science, Rose? I swear, you’re becoming more and more like him every time I see you!” she shouted as soon as she reached her daughter. Jackie grabbed Rose’s arm, intent on dragging her back to their flat and locking her in her room. She’d had enough of this nonsense with her daughter flitting off through time and space with some damned alien who didn’t even have the decency to stop by for a cup of tea when he and Rose were on Earth. “Where is he, anyway? I’ve got a piece of my mind to give that alien!”
“He’s busy,” Rose said absently. “Now, just go back home and let us handle this.”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Jackie retorted. “I’m going to have it out with him over what he’s doing to you!” She marched up to the TARDIS and began banging on the doors. “Oi! You get your arse out here this minute, you Time Lord git!”
“Mum, really, he’s…”
“GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!”
“Mum,” she sighed, rubbing her head. “He’s not in there.”
“Then where is he?”
“Busy.”
“WHERE IS HE, ROSE MARION TYLER?”
“I told you. Now, go back home. I have work to do.”
Jackie waited a beat, glaring at her daughter but Rose met her stare for stare. Something shivered inside Jackie as she realized that somewhere along the way, her daughter really had grown up. Her little girl who was barely twenty years old was grown up into her own woman. Part of her was proud at this but she still feared the woman Rose might be grown into. Would that woman ever settle down? Or would she run through time and space with a mad alien who couldn’t even be bothered to say hello to her own mum? True, he and Jackie had never gotten along too well back when he was big-eared and leather-clad but since his regeneration and recovery, the pair had begun to make an effort to be nicer to each other knowing that their bickering only upset Rose.
But now the damned alien wouldn’t even greet her. Jackie was beginning to suspect that something terrible had happened. As she glanced at Rose studying the sonic screwdriver and muttering to herself, Jackie had a feeling that things were only going to get worse and no clue if they would ever get better for her little girl. Turning back towards her apartment, Jackie started to walk off, glancing carefully behind her. When Rose saw that her mother was leaving, she ducked quickly back into the TARDIS. Jackie moved swiftly and followed, bursting through the doors and looking around for the Time Lord who had swanned off with her daughter.
The room she was standing in gave a sudden lurch and the metal grating shuddered beneath her feet. Jackie grabbed onto the railing, clinging to it for support as she heard that eerie engine turn itself over and watched as the pump-thing in the middle of the raised platform began moving up and down. Rose was standing on the other side of the console, staring at a computer monitor. The blue glow of the desktop illuminated her face. Jackie’s heart softened slightly. She was still plenty angry at her daughter but she knew yelling would do no good. Rose looked so thoughtful and tired. Instead of shouting at her daughter, Jackie resolved to wait until himself was within slapping range to let him know just what she thought of him running Rose so ragged.
“Canary Wharf,” Rose muttered to herself, fingering that strange earring she wore. “I wonder just what the hell they think they’re doing. Yeah, I get that, Maggie. I know. I’ll do my best to stop it. I’ve got the same feeling, sister. I’ll take care of it, though. Just like the Doctor would have.”
Rose yelped and jumped in fright as she made her way around the console and saw her mother standing there, still gripping the railing and staring at her. “Mum, I told you to go back home!” Rose groaned.
“If we’ve landed on Mars, I’m going to slap you,” Jackie threatened without heat.
“We’re not on Mars,” Rose said wearily. “We’re still on Earth. In London. If this monitor is correct, we’re inside the Canary Wharf building in central London.”
“Canary Wharf? That fancy office building?” Jackie muttered, confused. “Where the hell is the Doctor?”
“Mum, I really don’t have time for this,” Rose sighed, rubbing her head in irritation. “Just stay here. Stay safe.”
“Rose, I’m not just going to…”
“Just do it, Mum!” Rose snapped. “When I step outside of these doors, there are going to be about a dozen guns pointing at me. I think I can calm them down, keep them from firing. But if you come with me…you’ll only distract me. Stay here in the TARDIS. I’ll come for you when it’s safe,” Rose finished. Before Jackie could react, her daughter darted out the doors. Jackie gasped but kept her silence when she heard the loud report of dozens of semi-automatic guns being readied. “Hello,” Rose said, a little breathlessly.
“Oh, how marvelous,” a woman with curly dark blonde hair and a no-nonsense attitude said warmly. She gestured and the soldiers holstered their weapons. Then all of them began to applaud Rose. “Very good. Superb, happy day!” Rose began to wonder if she had landed in an insane asylum instead of Canary Wharf.
“Um, thanks,” Rose said slowly. “Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, Rose Tyler, if you only knew how long we’ve been waiting to meet you and the Doctor,” the woman said brightly. “Where is he?”
“Um, he’s…busy at the moment,” Rose lied. “You know. Doctor..stuff.”
“He’s not with you,” the woman said sharply. “You…a mere human are…oh, this is fantastic! Our technicians will be wanting to get a good look at you, Rose Tyler.”
“No offense,” Rose said, “but how do you know my name? Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Yvonne Hartmann,” the woman replied with a broad grin. “And this is Torchwood. Founded by her Majesty, Queen Victoria in 1879 to protect Britain from alien threats. Your name and the Doctor’s name are both mentioned in the charter. I dare say, without you, none of us would be here.” Another round of applause sounded through the room. “Now, come with us. We have much to show you and would like your input on our plans, Ms. Tyler.”
“Sure,” Rose said uncertainly, wondering where this would lead. She hoped that her mother would stay safe inside the TARDIS. Until Rose could figure out some way to get them out of this situation, the last thing she needed was her mum causing problems. Fingering the earring, she sent silent reassurance to her sister, asking her to watch over her mum while Rose followed Yvonne Hartmann deeper into this Torchwood.
~*~*~*~
Rose stared at the sphere that floated high over her head. She felt terror trying to claw its way up through the pit of her stomach. The earring the TARDIS had given her was cold with the ship’s fear. As Rose stared at the thing, she wondered just what it was that could inspire such fright with just a look.
A void ship the TARDIS answered. And it’s covered in Void stuff. You are, too, from our trip to the alternate London. But the Void has saturated and permeated this ship.
“Any clue what’s inside it?” Rose asked mentally.
No. But whatever it is, it won’t be good. And it’s damaged this reality.
“Damaged? How?”
Like a rock hitting the windshield of a car, this ship has slammed through the Void and into this reality. It’s left a hole in its wake and cracks are splintering out from it. It could even be affecting parallel universes.
“Can it be repaired?”
Yes. The ghosts – they’re not ghosts, of course – are coming through from a parallel universe. There’s a crack here. I don’t know what this Torchwood is doing, but they are widening that crack. If they don’t stop, the whole thing will shatter and this reality and adjacent realities will be destroyed. It will be worse than the Time War’s destruction.
Rose shuddered. It seemed she had her mission. She turned and began walking down the stairs, back to the floor. She was going to do whatever it took to seal off this crack and repair the damage done. The TARDIS continued pouring information into her brain and she filed it away to be recalled later, when necessary. The young woman no longer wondered at this – she was barely even aware that her own native intelligence and memory had been enhanced by her telepathic relationship with the TARDIS. Instead, she kept hearing her mother’s admonishment that she was changing and that, one day, she would no longer be human anymore. Guilt lanced through her. She’d been a terrible daughter to her mum. Her mum deserved so much better than a child who would run off and disappear for a year. And Mickey…she’d been a rubbish girlfriend to him. He’d helped her piece her life back together after Jimmy and she’d abandoned him to run with the Doctor. And then, when he’d tagged along, she’d been irritated with him. She was a terrible person.
No wonder everyone left her. She didn’t deserve any of them. She deserved to be alone, haunted by the ghosts of all her wrongs. If anything, she should turn herself over to Jimmy and let him beat her to death like he had tried to do before she’d left him. That was what she deserved. That was all she was worthy of.
A hiss pulled Rose from her morbid thoughts. She glanced over to see one of the research assistants grinning at her. Her heart leapt to her throat. “It can’t be…” she thought to herself.
Mickey? How was he here? He was off living in a parallel London with his gran and his friends – friends who were so much better to him than she had ever been. Surely her mind was playing tricks on her to put him here.
Mickey lifted a finger to his lips, ordering her to stay silent. He then inclined his head towards the massive steel doors that led out to the hallway. Rose nodded and followed him.
“Is it really you?” she asked once they were in the hallway.
“Rose, it’s me,” he grinned. “We’ve been tracking them, following them.”
“Following who?”
“The Cybermen,” he answered. “There’s a Torchwood on that parallel Earth. A bunch of us came over as kind of the advance guard to stop them before they could ‘upgrade’ this world.”
“Oh, Mickey,” Rose sighed, clasping her hands over her mouth. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry for what, Rose?”
“Sorry that I was such a terrible person to you. You deserved better. And now look at you,” she said, pulling away and beaming at him, “you stand tall. Taller than any man I’ve ever known.”
“You’re not so bad yourself, you know,” he grinned, chucking her chin. “And where is the Doctor? Has that bloke finally learned to appreciate you?”
“I haven’t gone back to get him yet,” Rose sighed. “I’m still trying to work out a way to do something so great that he’ll let me stay on with him and Reinette.”
“Rose, you really ought to get back to him as soon as you can,” Mickey said seriously. “Look, I’m not going to say anything but…”
“Then don’t,” Rose laughed. “Just…could you forgive me for being such a terrible girlfriend and friend? Maybe let me make it up to you by trying to be a better one?”
“A better what?” he smiled softly. “I’m not interested in you like that anymore, Rose.”
“I know,” she nodded. “A friend, then.”
“Best mates?”
“Best mates.”
“So, best mate, how are the Cybermen involved? Are they in that Void ship?”
“That sphere thing? I dunno. Probably. It’s all so crazy, Rose. Back home – in the other London, that is – we’d finally gotten all the Cybermen locked up in the factories. We’d shut down the conversion chambers. Everything was starting to get back to normal. But then people started to talk. To protest, even. Said we couldn’t just kill the Cybermen. Wanted to find a way to help them.”
“Is there a way? To change them back?”
“Naw. We did try, Rose. A few of ‘em…but they died. Horribly,” he shuddered. “The others, they didn’t want to try to change back. Thought they were superior. Then,” he sighed. “Poof. They all vanished. Took us a while to track ‘em but we discovered that they’ve been working their way to this universe.”
“Why this one?” Rose wondered.
“I think it’s the closest,” Mickey shrugged. “Pete has researchers on it. It’s like our universe and that one run almost exactly parallel to each other. I even went back and checked some history. Pretty much everything before 1880 is the same. Then Queen Victoria got killed by some monster and the British government set up Torchwood to investigate things like that. Never did re-establish the monarchy, though.”
Rose’s mind flitted back. She and the Doctor had saved Queen Victoria from the werewolf back in 1879. Granted, he had been trying to take her to an Ian Dury concert instead of a place where she was called a timorous beastie and a naked child but they had saved the Queen nonetheless. And apparently that event had led to the creation of Torchwood here. “Wait, did you say Pete?” she asked, latching on to that name. “As in Pete Tyler?”
“Yeah,” Mickey laughed. “He’s really sorry about how he reacted, you know, back then. He’s been trying not to ask but I’ve been dropping hints about Jackie to him. Think maybe we could get the two of them together and then you’d have a family again?”
“That would be…weird. Like we’re running a trans-dimensional dating service,” Rose laughed. “My mum’s here, by the way.”
“Where?”
“In the TARDIS,” Rose laughed. “And no, I’m not traveling through time and space with my mother. She barged in just as I was moving it from the Powell Estates to this place.”
“I’ll bet she’s ready to chew iron and spit nails,” Mickey laughed. “Look, I’ll keep an eye on that sphere thing. You go see if you can stop this Torchwood from opening up that rift again. It’s causing all kinds of problems…”
“Yeah, I know,” Rose nodded. “The TARDIS filled me in,” she fingered the earring. “Once this is all settled, you wanna come along with me?”
“Rose, sweetheart, I wish I could but…my gran needs me back in that other universe. I’ve got a life there. Friends. Maybe you could come with me?”
“Maybe I could,” Rose sighed. “I don’t know, though. I’ve got the TARDIS. I promised her I’d stay with her.”
“Bring the TARDIS, too.”
“But I can’t,” Rose muttered wistfully. “She belongs to the Doctor. If we all go and live off in a parallel universe, what would he do with himself? She’s the only thing he has left.”
“Not the only thing,” Mickey grunted sourly, remembering how the alien had taken Rose away from him. In the end, it had been for the best. Rose deserved to get out of the Estates and into the world more than anyone. And the Doctor clearly had feelings for the girl. If only he weren’t an enormous git of a bloke who could get distracted by a pair of nice breasts…
Rose winced. True, the Doctor had Reinette now as well. Maybe the pair of them would have half-Time Lord, half-human babies. Maybe with his queen at his side, the Doctor could rebuild Gallifrey. Then he wouldn’t be alone in the universe. Reinette was noble and worthier of bearing the Doctor’s children than a chavvy blonde who grew up fatherless on a council estate. She shook her head to clear it, feeling the TARDIS sending gentle waves of comfort through the earring.
“Right, so, let’s go stop this lot from destroying the universe,” Rose said with false warmth and bravado. “Then we’ll see about sending all those Cybermen and that sphere thing back to where they came from and get you home in time to have tea with your gran.”
~*~*~*~
“Look, I’m telling you,” Rose said to Yvonne Hartmann, “just cancel the shift.” She’d done her best to explain what opening the rift was doing to the universe but Yvonne seemed to think that if nothing untoward had happened yet, nothing untoward would happen. “Just this once,” Rose pleaded. “Give yourself time to test what I’ve told you.”
Yvonne seemed to be considering Rose’s pleas. Finally, she nodded. “Cancel the shift.” Rose heaved a sigh of relief. “The next shift will go forward as planned, however.”
“You really ought to reconsider that, Yvonne,” Rose muttered. “It could take you longer than a few hours to find out that I’m right about this. Sure, you’ve done this hundreds of times without any problem but this time could be the time that finally shatters it all apart,” she added, gesturing to the broken security glass that was strewn on the floor from her demonstration of what was going on.
“I am a scientist above all else, Ms. Tyler,” Yvonne said coldly. “But your theory is, as yet, untested. I’m not going to risk our research on mere assertions from a girl barely into womanhood.”
Rose growled but kept her peace. At least Yvonne was ordering her people to conduct the investigations and experiments Rose wanted. The data from them should be enough to prove her right and bring an end to this toying with a breach between realities. She settled down, leaning against the wall and relaxing slightly. Weariness was beginning to wash over her and Rose tried to remember the last time she’d slept. She’d taken to catching cat naps here and there in the TARDIS. Realizing that it had been several days since she’d done more than nap, Rose hoped that this matter would be resolved quickly so she could take her mother back to the Powell Estates and then go back into the Vortex to sleep for a bit before she jaunted off on her next mission. She toted up the things she had done and figured that perhaps now she had proven herself worthy to continue on with the Doctor. She smiled as she felt her sister’s agreement through the earring along with a promise that the TARDIS wouldn’t go anywhere unless Rose was on board.
“Is my mum still there?” Rose asked the TARDIS silently.
No. They moved me to a storage area. Something about ‘if it’s alien, it’s ours.’ Your mother snuck out intending to find you and give you a piece of her mind. She thinks that you’re not too old for a slap if that’s necessary.
“Oh God,” Rose said mentally. “I just hope she doesn’t cause a scene. Mickey’s here, by the way. Apparently it’s the Cybermen who are crossing over through that rift. I think I’ve convinced this lot to stop what they’re doing. Hopefully we can put an end to it properly and be on our way soon.”
Before the TARDIS could reply, Rose’s attention was pulled away from her mental conversation. A high-pitched whining filled the air and Rose could feel her hackles rising. Yvonne stood up from her desk and began striding into the room where the levers that controlled the ghost shift were. “Excuse me, everyone,” she said firmly, trying to get their attention. “I thought I said stop the ghost shift.” Rose stood up straight and followed behind Yvonne. Three of the workers were sitting at their stations, staring straight ahead as they tapped commands on their keyboards. “Who started the program?” Yvonne demanded as the whining noise grew louder and the levers began to move into their upright position, opening the rift. “I ordered you to stop!” Yvonne continued, her voice rising with panic. “Who’s doing that? Right, step away from the monitors, everyone. Gareth, Adie, stop what you’re doing right now! Matt, step away from your desk. That’s an order! Stop the levers! Andrew, stop the levers!” Two men in white lab coats moved to the levers and tried to pull them back down, doing their best to stop the ghost shift.
“What’s she doing?” Rose wondered as she walked past Yvonne and approached the young black woman sitting at one of the desks.
“Adie,” Yvonne said, following Rose, “step away from the desk.” Rose studied the young woman. She was wearing two ear pieces. A chill ran down the blonde’s spine. This was way too familiar. “Listen to me,” Yvonne continued, “step away from the desk.” Rose snapped her fingers in Adie’s face and tried to get her attention but she was focused on her work.
“She can’t hear you,” Rose grimaced. “They’re overriding the system. We’re going into ghost shift.” Rose stared at the distant wall that housed the rift between realities, sighing as it grew brighter and brighter as the rift was opened. “It’s the earpiece controlling them. I’ve seen this before.” Rose reached into her pocket and pulled out the sonic screwdriver she carried everywhere now. “Sorry about this,” she winced as she set it and aimed it at the earpiece. Adie and the others screamed, their eyes widening in pain as Rose interrupted the signal controlling them. They then fell forward on their desks, dead.
“What happened? What did you just do?” Yvonne demanded.
“They’re dead,” Rose sighed, tears forming in her eyes.
“You killed them.”
“Someone else did that long before I got here.”
“But you killed them!”
“Yvonne, I haven’t got time for this!” Rose shouted, guilt gnawing at her. She gently moved Adie’s keyboard out from under the woman’s body and began trying to trip the system to stop the unauthorized ghost shift.
“What are those earpieces?” Yvonne demanded, not giving up.
“Don’t,” Rose warned.
“But they’re standard comms devices. How does it control them?”
“Trust me, leave them alone,” Rose ordered as she moved to another desk, moving a male body out of her way as she worked at his terminal.
“But what are they?” Yvonne asked as she reached down and pulled one of the earpieces free. A long string of nerve tissue dangled from the end of it. “Oh, God! It goes inside their brain!” Yvonne winced as she dropped the device.
“What about the ghost shift?” Rose asked, trying to focus on the top priority at the moment. She could explain about the earpieces and stew in her own guilt for helping to murder three people later.
“90% and still running. Can you stop it?”
“They’re still controlling it. They’ve hijacked the system.”
“Who’s ‘they?’”
“Might be a remote transmitter but it’s got to be close by. I can trace it,” Rose muttered as she tinkered with her sonic screwdriver. She dashed off towards where the signal was emanating from.
~*~*~*~
Mickey was still in the sphere room. Jackie had blundered in but he had covered for her, keeping Rajesh from calling security. Jackie was still grimacing at the thought that she was supposed to be one of the Doctor’s assistants and that her presence here was sanctioned. When Rajesh stood up from his desk as the room began to shake, Mickey overheard him demanding to know what was going on and saying that he thought the next ghost shift had been cancelled. Mickey nodded to Jackie and began moving into position as the sphere shuddered and started registering on the monitors.
“We’ve got a problem down here,” Rajesh was reporting but no one seemed to be paying attention to him. “Yvonne, can you hear me? Yvonne, for God’s sake, the sphere is active! The readings are going wild! It’s got weight, it’s got mass, it’s got an electromagnetic field. It exists!” A loud banging behind him made him and the other two in the room jump in fright. “The door’s sealed. Automatic quarantine. We…we can’t get out!”
“It’s all right, Jackie,” Mickey said confidently. “We’ve beaten them before. We can beat them again. That’s why I’m here. The fight goes on.”
“The fight against what?” Jackie asked.
“What do you think?” he grinned. “We had them beaten but then they escaped. The Cybermen just vanished. They found their way through to this world but so did we.”
“What the hell are Cybermen? And what other world?” Jackie demanded angrily. “What’s inside that sphere?”
“No one knows. Cyber Leader. Cyber King. Emperor of the Cybermen. Whatever it is, he’s dead meat.”
“It’s good to see you, Mickey,” Jackie sighed. At least the boy seemed to have a clear idea of what was going on.
“It’s good to see you again, too.”
Meanwhile, in the back of the room, Rajesh was frantically trying to get someone’s attention. “Can anyone here me? I need help down here. I need…”
“But these Cybermen,” Jackie was asking, “what have they got to do with the ghosts?”
“The ghosts are Cybermen. Making their way into this world,” Mickey explained. “All of the ghosts are Cybermen. Millions of them. Right across the world.” The sphere began opening and Mickey took off his lab coat and cast his ear piece aside. “I know what’s in there and I’m ready for them,” he said to both Jackie and Rajesh as he strode across the room and picked up his trusty gun from its hiding place. “I’ve got just the thing,” he hefted it. “This is going to blast them to hell.”
“Samuel,” Rajesh demanded, sounding flabbergasted. “What are you doing?”
“My name’s Mickey. Mickey Smith. And I’m defending the Earth.”