It had been about two months since the Vakarian incursion had been thwarted by our little group. I was the only one on the planet to remember it had even happened, thanks to the timey-wimey nature of their technology. As a result, I was once again alone in my stand against whatever evil the rift would deposit in Cork next. It pains me to keep such a secret from my friends, but I had no other choice. There was no way they would believe me if I started to rant about secret invasions and alien warlords. Besides, in defeating the Vakarians, most of my friends were injured or killed. I couldn't risk that again. Next time, there might not be some handy temporal reset button to see the day with.
It had also been two months since Captain Jack Harkness had offered me a job with Torchwood. In that time, he had made arrangements to set up a Cork Hub as a base of operations. There was already some refurbishment work being carried out in the central building of the college's IT campus. A few bribes and generous doses of retcon ensured that an additional basement level was built, strictly off the books, of course. Jack also saw fit to furnish the new Hub with spare technology from one of the old Torchwood warehouses apparently dotted around the UK.
The central room of the hub was a large, round working area. In the centre of the room was a large metallic pillar of sorts, made of various sized panels stacked overlapping each other with not obvious pattern. Several gaps in the panelling acted as windows, showing glimpses of a blue electrical light source pulsing within. The top of the pillar split into a web of pipework as it reaches the ceiling, which ran upwards through the walls of the building above to a sort of lightning rod on the roof of the building. This was the rift manipulator, a prototype of the one installed in the Cardiff Hub. The computers in the Hub could connect to the manipulator and use it as a sort of probe to gauge rift activity. In dire circumstances, it could even be used to adjust the rift itself, though this was too dangerous to consider. Jack made sure to keep the key to the device, to make sure I wasn't tempted to mess with the rift ever.
"Sorry kid,but I've seen firsthand what happens when a team messes with things they don't understand. I'm keeping the key."
One section of the outer wall of the room was dominated by a large curved computer screen, showing various readouts of local news headlines, background rift levels and other such details. Below the screen were two chairs and input terminals. On the opposite side of the room were the doors to a lift which linked the Hub to the building above. Either side of the life were small workstations and tool benches, with a variety of investigative tools I was not yet familiar with. Two other doors led off from this central chamber. One led to a medical bay which contained several human sized morgue freezers, and a small armory. The other led to a corridor which split in two. One branch led to several prison cells, while the other led to an engineering bay and a small garage. The garage contained a ramp leading to the campus carpark, whose exit was disguise with a perception filter outside. As a parting gift, Jack had left me with an older model of one of the Torchwood SUV's. A jet black Land Rover that acted as transportation and mobile hub.
"Right kiddo, that about does it for the tour. When does the rest of your team get to join you in your new clubhouse?" Jack proclaimed, in his loud American drawl.
"They don't. I mean, I don't have a team. Yet, anyway." I answered, somewhat sheepishly.
"You mean you still haven't told them about the Vakarians. About what they've done? You might be good kid, but you can't run all this by yourself!"
"They won't believe me anyway." I said, looking for an excuse, if I'm honest.
"Then show them all of this! Give them proof and they'll believe you. Besides, if it doesn't work out, you have a stash of retcon in the med bay."
"I can't just drug my friends!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, you can't do this on your own either. Being a part of Torchwood means making tough decisions. If you do this alone, without backup, you will die. Sooner or later." Urged Jack, aggressively.
I sighed. There was no point in hiding, I was only fooling myself.
"The reason I haven't.... I mean... even if they believe me, and join... This is dangerous. They might get hurt, even die. I've seen it happen once and I can't go through that again."
Jack put a warm hand on my shoulder. Looking me in the eye, he said.
"Listen. This is not all fun and games. This is a life or death situation. Whatever comes through that rift is a threat, and it will be deadly at times. Believe me when I say I've seen too many good men and women die in the name of duty. Ianto, Tosh, Owen...and so many before them. But they all died ensuring the safety of this planet. And I've seen what happens when you abandon all attachments and go it alone. People still die. Nameless people, bystanders, who might have lived if only you'd had backup, support."
He was right. Was it selfish of me to keep my friends out of it? I'm sure most of them would jump at the chance to be the hero. If they knew about the Hub, I couldn't keep them away, despite the risks. By not telling them, was I just prioritizing their lives over those of the people I was trying to defend? If I kept them in the dark, wouldn't they just be more faceless bystanders anyway? Wouldn't they be better off knowing what was out there and being prepared, rather than being victims of rift activities?
"Look." Jack continued, as I thought about his warning. "Start with one. So you're not alone. What about your hot friend?"
"What?!" I said, confused.
"You know, the one you keep giving puppy dog eyes to. The one with the disarming smile and winning personality." He smiled, enjoying watching me grow increasingly flustered.
"You mean Susan?" I asked, hesitantly.
"That's the one. Stunning, she is. Have you made a move yet? You could bring her down here for a good time. Give her a go on your blaster cannon." He winked, in a way that I can only describe as perfectly Jack.
"How dare you." I began, before Jack interrupted.
"What? There are lots of toys in the armory, surely shell enjoy one of them." His tone changed, as he became serious once more. "I mean it. Tell her about you. About this. Worst case scenario you have to retcon her. Just don't be alone down here."
"Well, actually, we do have a date tonight."
"Perfect. No excuses so. Anyway, I'd best be off. I've left Andy in charge. Gwen and Rhys have a parent teacher meeting. Better get back or there will Winne Weevils in the Assembly. Again." With a final cheeky grin, he activated his Vortex Manipulator and vanished in a puff of electricity. Meanwhile, I had a date to prepare for.
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