Out of the Vortex, Rifling the Air it Came

[eleanorb.livejournal.com]

Title: Out of the Vortex, Rifling the Air it Came
Author: eleanorb
Fandom: Torchwood 1918/Sapphire and Steel
Spoilers: For Torchwood 2.3 To the Last Man
Notes: A broadcast through time and space – prompt pic here Title from In Parenthesis - David Jones (1895-1974)
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There's no shimmer, no fog nor failure of focus, the corridor is simply empty one moment and filled with men the next.

Douglas Caldwell picks up his pencil with a shaky hand and writes.

St Teilo's Military Hospital – Friday 10th May 1918.

Apparitions observed at 0915. Four men, wearing yellow and blue uniforms, black boots and green helmets. (See attached sketch) There are no visible weapons, although one man carries a large box, possibly made from some type of metal, from which commands seem to be emanating.

This is the third such sighting in as many days. We must face the possibility that they are scouts for an invading alien army; far worse a prospect than the 'ghosts' the nursing staff fear. The unusual cut and material of their clothing and the lack of conventional weapons seem to indicate an off-Earth origin.

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The man and woman sit either side of the small desk, which is tucked into an office no bigger than a linen cupboard. They are dressed well, but not exactly at the height of fashion for this time and place. The man is slight and blond, with grey eyes and a suit to match. The woman is a stunner. Hair the colour of ripe corn and eyes the blue of a summer sky.

They speak with the economy of the long acquainted.

"So?" Steel's question is predictably terse.

"Yes, this is the right place," Sapphire replies. "Early Twentieth Century, the Saint Teilo Military Hospital."

"Near a battle ground?"

"No, hundreds of miles away; a major city, Cardiff," she stops as if she's listening to the tick of an unseen clock. "He’ll be here in …"

The door opens suddenly and they look up. A tall, gaunt man peers in. "Oh, I do apologise. I didn’t realise anyone would be in here."

"Gerald Carter?" Steel stands, his lack of height in no way diminishing his authority.

"Umm, yes and you are?"

"You're the one in charge here? You’re investigating the Rift?"

"Look, hold on a minute. Are you from the Intelligence Corps? The Rift is a National Secret." Carter is defensive and rightly so.

"We're here to help," Sapphire speaks quietly, so Carter has to focus to hear her. "We've been sent by Cornelius House."

The familiar nickname for Torchwood's London offices is reassuring but, he has to ask. "And you are? Can I see your papers?"

"I'm Steel and this is my colleague Sapphire. We were told you’d be expecting us."

"Ah, is that so? Gosh. Perhaps the message has been mislaid. There is a war on you know. I'll speak to Mrs. Childs when we get back to the office."

"You need to stay here, for the time being, Mr. Carter," Sapphire says firmly. "Tell us about the ghosts."

"Call me Gerald, please. So they are ghosts, not aliens?"

"Aliens," Sapphire smiles, "whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well the clothes they wear. They’re not from any period in our history, are they?"

"Not from your past, no. They’re from your future. The Rift is open in both directions, didn't you know?"

"In both directions? Harriet thought that might be possible."

Steel finally loses his patience. Time, at least time in this place, is short and they have a job to do. "So, Gerald," he asks. "When did they first appear?"

His tone is military enough to snap Gerald's mind to attention. "Sister Mary Machen reported the first one three weeks ago; in the corridor outside Florence Ward."

"Can you show us?"
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"Well, Sapphire." Steel watches as his colleague scans the painted plaster walls.

"Our information was correct. There's a definite breach here. It's nearly at its peak. We have to close it off before time leaks uncontrollably between the two time periods," she pauses. "Oh, Steel, there's something else, there's a link, it's like a hollow cord to a place, no a person, in the future."

"And this person opened the Rift?"

"Oh no, he's been put there to close it. He's a soldier from this time period, one of the men in the ward. He's in a time that has Rift closure technology. Eighty-eight years and ninety-three days in the future, to be exact."

"Really, they develop the technology so soon?” Steel pauses. "Transported there, by whom?"

"By us."
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"This is Miss Harriet Derbyshire our Rift expert." Carter introduces a prim young woman in a fashionable suit.

She is carrying what Steel initially thinks is a primitive EMF Meter but closer inspection proves to be a piece of hybrid alien technology, way out of its time and place. "Miss Derbyshire, we need you and Gerald here to do something for us."

"Of course," Harriet has been filled in by Gerald and is eager to help in whatever way she can.

"At the next breach we need you to bring us one of the soldiers from the ward up there."

"Any soldier?"

Sapphire and Steel communicate wordlessly.

There is one, Thomas Brockless. He has shell shock but he's the only one strong enough for us to put him in Cryopreservation for any length of time. Are you sure that's the only way, Steel?

Yes, I only hope they have enough found technology to let me keep him frozen for long enough. I'll speak to the girl.

Harriet.

I'll speak to the girl. Looking at the equipment she has here they may have something I can modify.

"No," Steel explains. "A young man called Thomas Brockless. Without him time and space as we know it could be destroyed forever."

"Right," Gerald looks nervous but resolute. "I'll find out which bed he’s in."

"Now, Miss Derbyshire, tell me all about the machines that have come through the Rift. We’ll need something which will take the human body close to absolute zero. Do you have anything like that?"

"We do, I think. But, how will freezing a man close the Rift?"

"It won't, not straight away. Think of it more as leaving a message for the future."