Something in the Water

TWENTY-FOUR

‘Water hag,’ said Jack, pointing at the screen.

His finger was resting on the fuzzy image of a tall, skeletal figure with long, dark hair standing behind Gwen, relieving her of her gun. The pistol was casually tossed away, irrelevant, forgotten. Gwen seemed to be sinking as they watched, her knees giving way.

‘It’s the one Bob Strong coughed up,’ Owen said. ‘Fully grown. It has to be. Saskia’s not working on her own.’

‘We’ve got to help Gwen,’ croaked Ianto, moving towards the lift. He collapsed halfway, sliding down the concrete steps until he hit the floor with a clang. He lay there and coughed, bringing up red slime and heaving as he felt the homunculus inside him quiver in anticipation.

‘That is what these things grow into, isn’t it?’ Jack said, tapping the image on the monitor. ‘Water hags.’

Toshiko shook her head as she worked hurriedly at the keyboard. ‘I’ve no idea what they’re really called, but yes, these are the creatures that have been living in stagnant ponds and lakes — dragging people to their deaths, killing, preparing the way …’

Owen lifted his head heavily, blinking. ‘Preparing the way for what?’

‘Invasion.’

Jack nodded, pushing himself upright so he could look at the images on the other screens, where Toshiko had pulled up a map of the region peppered with blinking green dots. ‘Yeah. This is it. The first sightings were all way out, in canals and rivers and ponds and marshland, in a huge circle around Cardiff. But they’ve been getting closer, drawing in all the time …’

‘Homing in on the Rift,’ realised Toshiko.

‘Spreading the disease on the way. Releasing the spores, infecting every human who breathes ’em in.’

Owen stood up shakily. ‘But only the men produce a new one, right? It grows inside them, then climbs out, ready to turn into one of them. A snotty little water hag.’

‘And so it goes on,’ Toshiko said. ‘An exponential cycle.’

More green dots appeared on the screen. Clustered in the heart of Cardiff. A few keystrokes zoomed in on the city centre, showing a cluster of dots all around the bay. ‘They’re everywhere.’

‘They’re coming for the Rift,’ Jack said, falling heavily against the railing again and sliding to the floor. ‘Gwen? Gwen, can you hear me …?’

‘All right, what’s going on here, ladies? It’s not Hallowe’en yet, y’know.’

The policeman smiled happily, thumbs hooked into his belt, pleased at his joke. Gwen sagged, and she knew that he would presume she was drunk. The cop duly ignored her, dismissing her as a likely threat, and turned his attention to her mate in the fancy dress.

His face fell when he looked into her eyes. ‘Crikey,’ he whispered. ‘That’s enough to give anyone a bad turn, that, love.’ He recovered slightly and grinned again. ‘You’ll be giving me nightmares!’

Gwen tried to raise a hand to point at the water fountain behind him, but she barely had the strength.

But when Saskia Harden, who had been observing all this with amusement, finally spoke, the result was almost comic. ‘It’s all right, officer,’ she said. ‘These are my friends. It’s a private party.’

The policeman whirled round and stared at her, blinking. ‘Pardon me, miss,’ he stammered. ‘I didn’t see you there. Bloody hell, I must be blind! You lot been to this party, then, or just going? Hen night, is it?’

Saskia stepped off the pavement, walking slowly towards the policeman. Gwen wanted to warn him, to tell him to run, but all she could do was open her mouth and watch.

‘See,’ continued the policeman, smiling politely at Saskia as she approached, ‘you can’t actually hang around here any longer, girls. With all this business with the bug that’s going round, we’ve got to keep people on the streets to an absolute minimum. Orders, see. Everyone indoors.’

‘I quite understand, officer,’ said Saskia. ‘I’m not sure my friends will, though.’

‘Eh?’ The policeman turned around to see a number of equally strange women walking across the area towards them. They were all moving at the same pace, converging on the water tower. ‘Hello, girls.’

They drew closer, and the policeman had to squint at some of them as they approached. They all appeared to be wearing masks — white faces with thin, viciously sharp features and long, straggling wet hair. There was something in the hair — weeds or grass, he couldn’t tell in the dark. ‘Boy, you’re a scary lot. Wouldn’t like to meet you on a dark night.’

‘You just have,’ said Saskia.

They watched it on the CCTV monitor. One of the water hags reached out with long, sharp fingers and tore away the policeman’s throat. He lurched back, a jet of blood visible in the air for a moment before he simply corkscrewed to the ground and lay there, kicking and waving while they gathered round and watched.

Jack used the last of his strength to pull himself up by Toshiko’s chair. ‘Got to stop them …’

Toshiko turned and looked at him. He was ashen-faced, his eyes bloodshot and hooded. As he spoke, blood appeared on his white lips. ‘You can barely stand,’ she told him, her voice hollow. ‘You can’t fight.’

‘Gotta do something …’ He sank back down to his knees, hands falling limply. ‘What’s happening to me … Why am I so weak?’

Toshiko looked at him, and at the others: Owen, propped up against the wall by the sofa, wracked by coughs, holding his chest and throat. Ianto, sprawled on the floor below them, weeping and gurgling through the massive build-up of mucus.

Toshiko looked back at her computers, at the keyboards. Her hands were shaking, but she knew she had no choice. ‘The homunculi are getting ready to hatch,’ she told Jack, trying to sound matter-of-fact, as scientific as possible. Not as though she was terrified out of her wits. ‘They’re growing fast and taking all the energy they need from you. That’s why you’re so weak.’

‘Right,’ Jack said. ‘We need to get rid of them. How?’

‘I’m not sure. I can think of a few things that might work, but it’s not certain-’

‘Do it,’ Jack urged her weakly, screwing his face up in pain. ‘Do ’em all. Anything.’

‘It might not work. It might kill you.’

He opened his eyes and stared up at her. ‘Wanna bet?’

The policeman gradually stopped moving. It was a slow process. Gwen watched him die, watched the lifeblood running out of his neck and across the flagstones, winding its way through the cracks in little geometric red rivers. There was nothing she could do to prevent it.

Eventually the man’s legs stopped quivering and all was quiet. The hags had done nothing but stand over him and watch, silent and patient. Now some of them reached down to dip their long, crooked fingers into the blood, lifting it to their lips.

Gwen started to crawl away, tears running down her face. She didn’t get far before one of the water hags picked her up as if she weighed nothing. Gwen felt her feet leave the ground and she hung in the air while Saskia approached. ‘Going somewhere?’

‘You’re sick,’ Gwen spat at her. ‘Twisted!’

‘I’m afraid not. We’re just survivors, like you. Only we’re better at it, obviously.’

The water hag let her go and Gwen crashed to the ground, crying out in pain. She rolled over and away, but she couldn’t get far. She was just too weak. She crawled another metre or so and then stopped, coughing heavily, and Saskia laughed. ‘And by the way, you’re the one who’s sick, remember?’

‘Why here?’ Gwen asked, panting. ‘Why Earth?’

‘Why not?’

‘Because we’re here. The human race. It’s our planet.’

‘Not for much longer.’

Gwen smiled and gave a little laugh, sinking to her knees.

‘What’s so funny?’ Saskia demanded.

‘Nothing. It’s just …’ Gwen laughed again. ‘It’s just … I can’t believe aliens are invading Earth … starting with Cardiff.’

‘I’m glad you find it so amusing.’

Gwen stopped laughing, straightened her face, bit her lip. ‘No, no, you’re right, it’s not funny,’ she said. ‘But this is.’

She brought the gun up, pulled the trigger. The shot echoed around the bay area, the muzzle flash lighting up the water tower like a camera flash. Saskia jerked backwards, lifted off her feet by the bullet. It probably wasn’t a killing shot. She hadn’t been able to take her time and aim properly. She had just managed to crawl her way over to where the gun had been lying half-hidden in the shadow of the tower, and grab it, shoot it. But it was enough. The other water hags hissed in shock, automatically turning to their leader as she staggered backwards.

And then Gwen ran, heading for the road, pointing the automatic behind her and pulling the trigger again and again. She didn’t care if she hit any of them, she just wanted to create a noise, a commotion, something that would attract attention. She couldn’t do this on her own. Toshiko slid the needle deep into Jack’s forearm and depressed the plunger. The contents of the syringe disappeared into his bloodstream as she looked up at him and smiled. ‘Just a little prick,’ she said with a shy smile.

‘Knew you’d say that,’ he croaked. He tried returning the smile but didn’t really have the strength. Instead he closed his eyes and sank back into his office chair with a sigh.

Toshiko bit her lip. She looked at the empty hypodermic thoughtfully.

‘What was in it?’ asked Owen. He had crawled across the floor, coughing fitfully and too weak to stand up. His eyes were red-rimmed, the skin around them a distinct grey colour. He knew, as Toshiko did, that every time he coughed now could be the beginning of the end. His lips were caked in thick, congealing blood.

‘It’s a cocktail,’ she told him. ‘A wide-spectrum antibiotic mixed with an emetic and a little something extra.’

‘Antibiotics are a long shot,’ whispered Owen. ‘Emetics won’t help. What’s the little extra?’

‘Oestrogen.’

As sick as he was, Owen still managed to raise an eyebrow. ‘Female hormones? Jack will be delighted.’

Toshiko looked back at Jack. He hadn’t moved and his breathing was shallow. He was paler than ever, deep shadows around his eyes and his cheeks sunken. She had never seen him look so bad.

‘I’m hoping the mixture will be enough to weaken the homunculus and cause it to exit early. That way it might not kill the host.’

With an effort Owen levered himself up on one arm and began to roll up his sleeve. ‘Give it to me as well.’

‘I can’t,’ Toshiko said. ‘It’s purely experimental. Jack’s taking the risk for you.’

‘Tosh … we can’t afford to wait …’ Owen was breathing with difficulty now, forcing air in and out of his lungs in huge, wheezing gulps. ‘If Jack can take his chances … then so must we.’

Toshiko helped him upright. ‘It’s a one in three chance of success, Owen. Not great odds.’

‘One in three? I’d call that perfect odds. Jack, Ianto and me. One of us will make it.’ Owen coughed, retching on his hands and knees, putting one hand up to his neck as the muscles bulged until the veins stood out like wires.

‘Everybody …’ Ianto’s voice, although small and weak, nevertheless carried right across the Hub. Perhaps it was the note of alarm that attracted their attention, but Toshiko and Owen both turned around to look at him. Ianto was leaning against Toshiko’s workstation, pointing at one of the CCTV monitors.

Toshiko hurried across for a closer look. ‘It’s Gwen,’ she said. The screen showed Gwen backing away from the water tower, gun in hand, surrounded by water hags.

Owen pulled himself up onto the seat. Jack was still unconscious, his head lolling back, exposing the skin of his throat. The flesh was moving as the homunculus inside began to stir.

‘It’s starting,’ Owen said.