Kiss Her Goodbye
Chapter 3
Twenty minutes later Jacqueline, her team, the Doctor, Marcus, and Joanna were seated around the conference room table. Iana circled the table, placing coffee in front of everyone, before pulling a chair up behind Jacqueline, who sat at the head of the table. Owena came in last, covered in scratches from trying to wrestle the furry creature they'd captured into a cage.
"So, apparently we have two people looking to keep Harriet Saxon out of the Prime Minister's chair. Let's start with what we have on Saxon. Tosh?" Jacqueline said.
Tosh stood up from his position at the opposite end of the table and walked over to the large computer screen on the wall. "I did a cursory search through the usual sources of information for any record of Harriet Saxon. Strangely enough, though the public record has her listed as a Rhodean scholar, a Cambridge fellow, and other intellectual achievements, I could find no official substantial evidence of such. If you dig deep enough through the governmental documents, there is no formal evidence of Harriet Saxon prior to approximately eighteen months ago when she sponsored and guided the launch of the Archangel network."
"What's the Archangel network?" Owena asked, thoughtfully chewing on her pen.
"It's a cellular infrastructure. Fifteen satellites in geosynchronous orbit, and it appears that nearly every cellular network in the world is piggy-backed on Archangel's network," Tosh explained.
"All right, so Saxon didn't exist before she launched Archangel. Who is she then, and where did she come from?" Jacqueline asked.
"I believe that's where I come in," the Doctor said. Jacqueline nodded and the Doctor stood up. "Harriet Saxon is a false identity for a Time Lord known as the Master."
"The Master? I thought she died, years ago, back on Bellas Majora when Ross and I were held hostage!" Jacqueline said.
"That was true. She was dead, I brought her body back to the Time Lords myself, remember?" the Doctor said. "But then the Time War came. And the Council of Gallifrey, in their infinite wisdom, decided the Master would be a great warrior to help them fight a war. Of course, because the Council never did anything that could be construed as actual action, or so help them, offensive action. So they resurrected the Master, put her on the front lines, right in the middle of the Medusa Cascade."
"Time War?" Gwynn asked, confused.
"The war to end all, between the Daleks and the Time Lords," Jacqueline said. "And we were at the other front line, at Space Station Five."
The Doctor nodded, avoiding Jacqueline's gaze. "Yes. The Master was leading the troops at the Medusa Cascade, supposedly the main front in the war, but we stumbled on a sneak attack, Davros leading a separate army of Daleks against Earth itself."
"Daleks coming to attack Earth? Why haven't we heard about this?" Owena asked.
"It hasn't happened yet," Jacqueline said. "At least, for you. Earth was in the year, what was it, 200100?" The Doctor nodded. "So your future, my past...sort of."
"So if the Master was leading the Time Lords against the Daleks, then how did she end up here?" Iana asked quietly.
"That part I'm not quite sure of. Partly because I had my own battle to deal with, and partly because she disappeared in the middle of the battle. Poof. Then the TARDIS, just a few days ago, took on a mind of her own and brought us to a little planet called Poosh. Whenever the Master wasn't hiding out somewhere on Gallifrey, she liked to spend time on Poosh. I still had a key to her cottage, and I took a peek. She wasn't there, but there was a note on the table, just the words 'a new Gallifrey' and a date scribbled on a 'Vote Saxon' campaign flyer," the Doctor said. "So I went back to my TARDIS and looked up that date."
"Let me guess, the date Archangel was launched?" Jacqueline said.
"Precisely," the Doctor confirmed.
"So you think Saxon is the Master?" Jacqueline asked. The Doctor nodded. "But your only proof is that date written on a campaign flyer."
"Time Lords can sense each other, but somehow she's masking her presence here," the Doctor said. "That's what's concerning me. The Master always had the ability to be hypnotic, to hide in plain sight, but this is on a massive scale, and I can't figure out how she's doing it."
"Is it my turn yet?" Joanna whined.
Jacqueline ignored her. "Anything else Doctor?"
"No. Go ahead Miss Hart," the Doctor replied, sitting down.
"That's Captain Hart," Joanna said. She stood up and moved to the end of the conference table. "So, I get my orders from the Time Agency, go to Earth, Earth-date 2009, find Harriet Saxon and stop her from becoming Prime Minister, extreme action pre-approved."
"Do your orders say why you should be stopping Saxon? Other than the Time Agency doesn't like her?" the Doctor asked.
"Her election to Prime Minister resulted in the downfall of all Earth civilization," Hart replied. "Simple mission, stop Saxon from getting elected, but it becomes complicated when the Agency is unable to track her."
"So you thought you'd ask us to track her for you," Jacqueline said.
"Like I said before, local knowledge! Come on, Jackie, don't you miss the thrill of the chase, the fun of these missions?" Joanna said.
"Don't. Call. Me. Jackie," Jacqueline growled. "I'm still not entirely convinced that Saxon needs to be eliminated. The Time Agency's files have not always proven to be trustworthy, and their committee decisions even less so. A hunch that Saxon is actually a Time Lord, and a Time Agency decision do not convince me. Granted, there is something odd here, and it needs to be looked in to, but the kind of 'elimination' the Time Agency generally orders...I don't know."
"You've changed Jacqueline," the Doctor said. "Since when don't you trust my instincts?"
"It's not that. It's the fact that your instincts and the Time Agency's committee are in agreement that worries me."
"So then what do we do?" Gwynn asked.
Jacqueline leaned back in her chair, propping her feet up on the corner of the conference table and earning herself a glare from Iana. She regarded each person around the table with an intense gaze.
"All right. Let's see if we can't find more information. We'll work together, one big team, and try and find some more solid evidence to work from," Jacqueline finally said. "Doctor and Marcus, you're with me. We'll do some checking behind the scenes. Gwynn, Iana, and Joanna are team two, check out the Saxon campaign offices, on the down low, see if you can find anything that rings alarm bells. Toshiyuki and Owena, you're team three. Check the local government out, see if there's any dirt to be found on Saxon, and see if you can't find anything more about this Archangel Network, it smells fishy to me."
"Understood," Tosh said.
"You be careful," Iana whispered in Jacqueline's ear before standing up.
"Why can't I go with you Jackie?" Joanna whined.
"Because I said so. Gwynn, Iana, a word in my office. Doctor, Marcus, wait for me here, I'll be right back," Jacqueline said, and headed out the back door of the conference room.
Once the trio was in Jacqueline's office, she locked the door and leaned against it. "All right. I'm going to cut to the chase. I don't trust Joanna."
"I gathered that," Gwynn said. "So why are we working with her?"
"Because there is the tiniest chance that this is one of the few Time Agency missions that is not entirely corrupt. The Doctor may be right, Saxon might be the Master. I don't entirely believe it could be true but I'm not going to take the chance. If the Doctor's theory is right, then Joanna might actually be a help when it comes to stopping Saxon," Jacqueline explained. "I'm sending you two with her because I think you can take care of yourselves. Don't trust anything she says, and under no circumstances let her kiss you. Either of you. Got it?"
"Understood," Iana said. "We'll be careful. You watch yourself, though, especially if you're going after Saxon's inner circle."
"I will, I promise," Jacqueline said. "Okay team, let's get started."
Jacqueline led the Doctor and Marcus across the Plass, taking the long way back to where she had parked the SUV because the Doctor's TARDIS was parked right on the Invisible Lift in front of the water fountain. Marcus climbed in the back seat while Jacqueline and the Doctor settled in the front.
Jacqueline fiddled with a monitor screen that was in the centre of the dashboard for a bit, while Marcus stared at all the gadgetry packed into the car in wonder. Finally she sighed and tapped her Bluetooth earpiece to activate it.
"Tosh? I can't get the SUV computers to access our database? Mmmhmm, yes I tried that. I'm looking for Archangel Network's main office for one, not sure what else, that will depend what I find at their office. Mmmmhmmm....okay....huh, that's odd. No, no, keep with your mission. I'm sure it's just temporary interference. See what you find at the Welsh Assembly Government offices and check our connections later. Good luck!" Jacqueline tapped the earpiece and slid back in her seat.
"Something wrong?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm having trouble accessing the Hub computers to look up the location of Archangel Network's main offices. I'm sure it must just be temporary interference," Jacqueline said. "But I'm not even sure where to look for them."
"I have an address we found earlier," Marcus said, pulling a small notepad from his jacket pocket. "Would that help?"
Jacqueline took the notepad and read off the address. "That's right near the Welsh Assembly Government records office in Splott! How odd...."
"What do you mean?" Marcus asked, as Jacqueline input the address into her GPS system.
"Well, if this is a major company, and the Master is running for Prime Minister, why have their main office located here in Cardiff? It seems a little fishy." Jacqueline handed the notepad back to Marcus. "All of this seems fishy, to tell you the truth."
"Something unusual is going on, that much is certain," the Doctor agreed.
"That's what worries me," Jacqueline said. "Buckle up, I have a feeling it's going to be a bumpy ride." She put the SUV in gear and peeled away from the Plass.
Gwynn and Iana left Jacqueline's office and headed into the Hothouse for a brief discussion.
"All right, so what's our plan?" Gwynn asked.
"You have your weapon?" Iana asked. Gwynn nodded. "So do I. Let's not let on to her that we're armed. I will get the location of Saxon's campaign office in Wales from Toshiyuki's computer while you bring your car around to the Tourist Office."
"All right. Watch yourself, if you'll be down here alone with her," Gwynn cautioned.
Iana smiled. "I can take care of myself. See you up top."
Gwynn left the Hothouse at a jog, heading toward the garage entrance where he'd left his Saab when they entered earlier. Iana watched him go, then pulled out her gun, checking that it was fully loaded. She slid it into the pocket on the inside of her suit jacket and checked her reflection in the Hothouse glass doors to make sure it wasn't visible. She took a deep breath and headed out of the Hothouse, slowly descending the staircase toward the main level where the workstations were and where Joanna Hart paced, waiting for her.
"About time! What, did you have a quickie with Jackie? Oooh, that rhymed!" Joanna said.
Iana rolled her eyes. "No, I was checking over security information. I just need a moment to look up the location of the office we're visiting and we will be ready to go." She felt Joanna's eyes on her back as she walked past the mysterious woman and headed for Toshiyuki's workstation to access the Saxon research stored there.