Something in the Water

TWENTY-SEVEN

She heard footsteps pounding along the boardwalk and opened her eyes to see Owen arrive, breathing hard. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Jack’s after Saskia,’ Gwen told him faintly. ‘Tosh saw them heading for the waterfront. I can’t find them, and now I can’t get a reply from Tosh either. What’s happening?’

Owen collapsed next to her against the Tourist Information kiosk, his breath coming in harsh, ugly gasps. ‘Dunno. The water hags won’t stay down when we shoot ’em. How unfair is that? Ianto’s trying to pin them back, but he won’t be able to keep it going for ever.’

‘We’re stuffed, aren’t we?’

He rested his head against the wood and closed his eyes. ‘Give me a second and then I’ll try to find Jack. He might know what to do.’

‘Stay here, you’re done in,’ advised Gwen.

‘What about you?’ he panted, nodding at her hand. ‘You’re injured.’

‘It’s nothing, I’ll live.’

Owen shook his head. There was too much blood. When Gwen glanced down she saw that her T-shirt was soaked in it and the sight almost made her faint.

‘Let me see it,’ Owen said, dropping his MP5 on the ground.

Carefully, Gwen pulled her hand out from under her arm. The blood had started to congeal and her T-shirt stuck momentarily to the flesh, making her gasp as it came free.

Owen already had his medical kit out, unwrapping a field dressing with trembling fingers. Gwen cried out as her turned her hand over, examining the deep cut along the edge with a tut. ‘Nasty. Could’ve been worse — missed an artery by half an inch.’

‘Funnily enough, that doesn’t make me feel any better …’

Owen pressed the dressing against the wound and then began to wind adhesive tape around it. ‘This’ll stop it bleeding, but you’re going to need stitches.’ He looked up at her and smiled coldly. ‘For you, my dear, ze var is over.’

‘What about you? What happened down in the Hub?’

Owen avoided her eyes then, looking quickly down at her hand as he worked. The smile faded. ‘Tosh came up with a serum — some sort of vaccine. God knows what she was thinking of, she’s no doctor. Educated guess, I suppose — and the best person for it. Made the homunculi emerge early.’

Gwen watched his face carefully. It was twitching in a way she knew only too well — Owen was being forced into talking about something he didn’t want to even think about.

He still wouldn’t look at her as he fished out a morphine syrette from his kit, pulled the cap off with his teeth and jabbed it quickly and expertly into her arm.

‘Ow,’ she said.

‘Painkiller.’

‘You could have fooled me.’

‘Always do.’

‘What happened to the homunculi?’

Owen stopped for a moment, hesitated, and then packed away the rest of the medical kit. ‘Dead.’

Gwen thought back to Jack, raising his boot so that Saskia could see the bloody detritus in the treads. She felt sick.

‘Still,’ Owen said, finally looking up at her and rewarding her with that sudden, cheeky smile, ‘Better out than in, eh?’

‘Saskia Harden!’

They heard Jack’s voice calling out from somewhere behind them. Owen helped Gwen up, and together they limped down to the quayside.

Further along, next to the railings overlooking the bay, stood Jack. His coat swirled in the freezing wind coming in off the water, but otherwise he stood rock still, as if he was challenging the elements themselves.

Of Saskia there was no sign — until a dark blur appeared out of the night air and struck Jack square in the chest, lifting him right off his feet. He hit the ground and rolled, coming up on all fours, ready for the next assault.

The water hag leapt on him with a savage growl, talons raking the air, missing him by a fraction of an inch as Jack twisted away, but not quickly enough — the next slashing sweep caught him on the shoulder and tore right through the heavy material of his greatcoat.

He used the impact to dive further, hit the ground again and jumped to his feet. At the same time, he threw off the greatcoat, wrapping it around one forearm as a bulky shield to absorb the next lash with the talons. He just about made it, as Saskia was on him with another series of wild, flailing attempts to rip his head clean off.

Eventually, Jack was able to drop his body, swinging his boot up so that it connected with the water hag’s throat and sent her flying backwards. Jack stumbled, shirt hanging in tatters off one arm, blood running down from his shoulder. Saskia rounded on him again, exchanging furious blows and snarls, until Jack swung under one of the swinging claws, punched her hard in the kidney area, and then flung her in a judo throw high over his shoulder to land with a splintering crash on the boardwalk.

Saskia scrambled back onto her feet, eyes blazing, but stationary.

Jack stood, his shirt in shreds, blood streaming from multiple cuts and slashes over his shoulders, chest and face.

For a minute, the two of them stood where they had landed, glaring at each other, waiting to see who would make the next move. Jack was panting hard but Saskia still looked fresh. Then her grey-green flesh suddenly rippled, and she resumed her appearance as a striking blonde human woman.

A striking, blonde, naked human woman.

‘Oh, I bet you do that to all the boys,’ said Jack. Even from behind, Gwen could tell in his voice that he’d summoned that boyish grin of his, the one that, combined with his looks and blue eyes, could charm a nun out of her habit.

‘By the way,’ Jack continued, beginning to get his breath back, ‘Saskia Harden or Sally Blackteeth? If we’re gonna get to know each other better, I need to know which one is your real name.’

‘Neither.’ She started to walk towards him, controlled, poised. Ready for the contest.

‘I bet your real name’s unpronounceable by human beings,’ Jack said. ‘They usually are.’

Saskia spat something which sounded like a cross between a curse and someone choking on custard.

‘Nice name,’ Jack said. ‘Prefer Saskia, though.’

She stopped short of him by just a couple of metres. ‘So this is it, is it, Jack?’

He drew his revolver and pointed it at her head. ‘Stay where you are.’

‘Too close for comfort?’

‘Close enough. I never kiss on a first date anyway.’

‘So what are you going to do? Shoot me where I stand?’

‘If I have to.’ Jack let out a sigh, a tiny wisp of breath that disappeared on the breeze. ‘But I’d rather give you the chance to leave. Just go.’

‘That could be a problem.’ She was standing so close to him now, her nakedness contrasting with his torn clothes and boots. ‘I have nowhere else to go. I’m hopeless. Strepto is gone — just disappeared.’

Jack raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

‘So it’s Earth or nothing, I’m afraid.’

‘It can’t be Earth,’ said Jack. ‘So that leaves nothing.’

‘Or somewhere in between,’ Saskia replied. Then she simply turned, stepped up to the edge of the quay in one smooth motion and leapt out into the bay.

Jack roared, ‘No!’ He darted forward, just in time to see her disappear beneath the waves. Immediately he hurled his greatcoat away and removed his boots.

‘Jack, don’t be stupid!’ yelled Gwen, catching up with him.

‘She’s gone! Let it go!’ Owen added furiously.

Jack glanced back at them, just the once, and his eyes were ice cold. Then he turned, threw his arms above his head and dived off the quayside. He hit the churning water like an arrow and vanished beneath the dark, uncaring surface.

Gwen stared, open-mouthed. ‘What did he do that for?’

‘You know Jack,’ Owen panted. ‘Never gives up.’

‘I can’t see him anywhere!’

They watched the cold swell of the ocean but there was no sign of either Saskia or Jack.

‘The currents are strong around here,’ Owen said. ‘They could’ve been dragged right down into the bay.’

They heard footsteps and turned to see Ianto coming up, Heckler amp; Koch slung over his shoulder. His face was smudged and dirty and his hair was a mess. ‘It’s no use,’ he told them, his voice ragged. ‘I couldn’t hold them off. The bullets just wouldn’t stop them.’

‘Where are they now?’ Owen asked.

‘Heading for the water tower. They’re circling it.’ Ianto swallowed hard. ‘Where’s Jack?’

Gwen pointed out at the bay but, before Ianto could respond, Toshiko’s voice came through: ‘Everyone! Listen! We have an emergency in the Hub — repeat, an emergency in the Hub.’

‘What’s up?’ Gwen asked.

‘I think something’s coming through the Rift,’ Toshiko said. She was trying to keep calm, but there was no mistaking the shrill edge of panic in her voice. ‘It’s coming through right into the Hub. Lots of things … I can see something in the water … Oh no, they’re in the water …’

‘It’s them,’ Ianto said. ‘The water hags. They’ve got inside the Hub.’