The Wizard's Guide to Timelords and Other Demons Book 1: The Forgotten War

The Valiant

Ianto Jones sat anxiously in the ready room of the Valiant waiting for news of his injured comrades. It had been over twelve hours since Captain Jack had used the Vortex Manipulator to go in search of the Doctor, and nearly six hours since UNIT forces had rescued the rest of the Torchwood team from their shelter in what remained of the lobby of the Senedd building in Cardiff.

The Torchwood underground complex had been totally destroyed when large portions of the Raold Dahl Plass above it had collapsed due to the extreme seismic and atmospheric forces caused by the open rift. The rift manipulator built into the water tower at the north end of the plaza had also been destroyed, eliminating Earth's only possibility of closing the rift and stopping the havoc. All that stood in Cardiff now were a few of the newer, better-built structures, but they too would soon collapse under the stress of the constant quaking.

Much of the population of Cardiff had been evacuated to other cities over the past few days but this was only a temporary solution. The effects were spreading rapidly and soon there would be no safe place—on Earth.

Many people are going to die, Ianto lamented. Find him Jack! Please find the Doctor!

Just prior to their timely extraction by the brave crew of a UNIT rescue helicopter, Ianto's friend and teammate had been injured by falling debris that had been dislodged from the ceiling during a particularly intense tremor. Gwen Cooper was currently undergoing surgery in the Valiant's sick bay just down the hall. His anxiety over his friend was only worsened by the memory of his dear friends Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper who had been killed months earlier while saving Cardiff from a different disaster. It never ends, he thought to himself.

The ready room creaked and shuddered as the sheer force of the wind and waves outside pounded against the hull of the Valiant. Even at nearly 100 miles from Cardiff, the powerful effects of the rift on the waters of the Bristol Channel were intensely felt, but the amazing vessel was enduring it well.

The Valiant had originally been designed and constructed as an enormous flying fortress to serve as an air-based headquarters for the UNIT organization. It had been severely damaged months ago during the Dalek attack but had since been salvaged and restored, though it no longer possessed the powerful turbo fans that had once given it flight capability.

After a few modifications, however, the Valiant was surprisingly seaworthy, and UNIT had been using it to assist with the evacuation effort in Cardiff as well as in other nearby cities and villages affected by the growing calamity. With the recent increase in seismic and meteorological disturbances in the vicinity of the rift, the Valiant had been forced to leave the area and was headed out into the Celtic Sea where it would join another carrier group and provide relief operations along the west coast of Wales should the need arise soon—which was a certainty.

Just then, an older man in surgical scrubs entered the ready room. The guard standing beside the open door immediately snapped to attention.

"Mr. Jones?" the man said.

Ianto rose immediately from the cushioned chair and turned to face the man.

"I'm Doctor Johansson, chief surgeon aboard the Valiant."

"Yes, how is she?" Ianto queried earnestly.

"Ms. Cooper is out of surgery and resting peacefully," the surgeon assured, "We're expecting her to make a full recovery as well."

"May I see her?" Ianto asked.

Ms. Cooper has not yet awakened from the anesthesia, "Doctor Johansson replied. "I will return within the hour to give you an update on her condition."