On the run

Chapter 3

Steve was waiting in the almost deserted canteen. It was a bit early for the lunchtime crowd so he'd got a seat by the window that looked across the docklands and Canary Wharf itself. The canteen had an envious view, Pete himself had chosen the location where the view wasn't obscured by the other office buildings.

Rose had told him briefly of the other Torchwood back in her world, he'd only seen parts of it but she'd been able to tell him enough. The levers that the Cybermen had used to transfer themselves to her world had been dismantled as had the equipment and now, they were still toying with another device, found in an abandoned warehouse that had been used to store the metal monsters.

They could only assume Lumic's Cybus Industries had been going to use it to transport the Cybermen once the whole planet had been converted or 'upgraded'. Now Pete was in two minds to put the device together and see if they could get it working but if Yvonne did find out, she'd want it for herself and he could never allow that.

To her knowledge, the project had been tried and it just wouldn't work but maybe he could use that to his advantage? Let her think that it could be salvaged, then she might forget about going after Rose? So as Steve waited, he checked his emails, one was from Yvonne outlining what she wanted him to do.

He had hated turning on his friends, especially Rose as he had seemed to be getting somewhere with her a few months ago at the staff Christmas party. In fact, she'd kissed his cheek under the mistletoe and they had been caught, everyone cheering, well except for grumpy Mickey Smith, who obviously still carried a torch for her. He hoped Yvonne would get Martha interested in Rose's ex-boyfriend.

Yvonne had got straight on the phone to Doctor Martha Jones, who had only been there a few weeks. It was very unlikely though that she would be easily swayed so a face to face meeting was needed.

"Ah, Miss Jones, or should I call you Doctor Jones?" Yvonne asked her as Martha had stared at her phone wondering why the deputy director herself was calling.

"What can I do for you Miss Hartman?" Martha asked nervously.

"Come to my office after lunch, I need to talk to you on a rather delicate matter," Yvonne replied, mking it sound like an order and not a rewuest.

Martha though knew when an order was being given. "Oh. Well of course, I'd be happy to assist you with any personal medical issues. I can understand how busy you are to come down to medical."

"No, it's nothing like that, it's a personal matter but not medical. I don't believe we've met properly yet?"

"Sorry Miss Hartman, I assumed it was medical, my mistake. I'd be happy to come and see you. Is 1.30 agreeable?" Martha dared to suggest.

"Yes, I look forward to it but I can tell you why I wanted to see you. Have you met Mickey Smith?"

Martha had and wished she hadn't. He'd done nothing but stare at her during the last few meetings, when that rat Owen had sent her instead of attending himself. She'd quite liked the head of medical until he'd tried a few innuendoes on her and now, she tried to avoid being left alone with him, which wasn't easy. It had put her off men and Mickey Smith was included.

"Yes, we've met. Is there something wrong with him?" Martha asked.

"You tell me? We'll talk when we meet later."

Martha went back to work wondering what it was all about and why the deputy director needed her in particular. Then she hoped she wasn't intending to use her to turn Mickey over to Yvonne's side. She herself was undecided but if she had to make a hasty decision, it was better to be on the winning team whoever that was so if asked, she would have to be tactful and then go with the winning side and say she voted for Yvonne if she won.