Specters

[agentx]

The Sentinel had watched in horror as the "Succor" slowly died, then followed Jacoby to the computer. That creature was still alive. It was a living, breathing life form. They had no right to do that. Even if it had hurt them, it had only wanted to escape. To be free. he thought.

The Sentinel studied the computer carefully. "They've updated it pretty well." he remarked.

Yeah, they've been making the processor go faster every day. I'll be amazed if it works." Jacoby explained.

[Sarah Jane]

Arian had been unwilling or unable to answer her that moment. She'd had to send him on his way in hopes that his curiosity would get the best of him, and he would have to come join she and Lutessa in the U.S.A.

The whole next day was a flurry of buying tickets, packing, and studying all the classified information she could get out of Mr.Smith. And answering Lutessa's seventy four questions, though the girl was a bright spot in all of this, wide eyed and eager as a puppy on a hike.

They stayed in the best hotel of the small town had to offer. Sarah Jane had decided to break out the handful of gold dust she still carried from all those years ago. It had been so easy to scoop up a handful on Voga, the golden planet, where she had first crossed paths with the Cybermen. She'd slept hard at the hotel, having stayed upnearly half the night before with the girl figuring out how to conceal her Sonic Lipstick inside her Alien Detector Device. Not the watch, the larger, more powerful one she'd scavenged from Mister Dread. They'd taken the casing off her Sonic, and wired it in just like they might a battery, taking the original piece out. This, being human technology, was easy enough to conceal into her blow dryer.

After all those years of saving that gold, and now she had suddenly sold almost all of it. In return, she'd bought some gold jewelry. If she'd brought with her it in it's powdery, dirt-like form found on Voga, she would have tipped her hand to United States government. Everybody who was anybody knew the best way to kill a Cyberman; throw a handful of gold dust into their chest mechanisms. Now she and Lutessa wore it, half of it for each of them. For Lutessa, she'd gotten a rather age- inappropriate, 3mm belly chain that hung low on the girl's slim hips to keep it out of sight. Sarah Jane, who was less likely to be doing as much stripping down out at Black Rock City, had chosen twin bracelets that tripled around her wrists. A fine enough strand to crush if she must, though they were lovely, and deep down, she hoped to get through this adventure with them intact.

They had both brought rather professionally looking clothes for this day. The day they toured one of the Majestic 12's major facilities. They had left the gold in the hotel safe for now, while they waited outside it for their transportation to arrive.

"Tessa." she said, catching the girl's elbow with her hand, smiling to see the girl look so well scrubbed and sharply dressed beside her."I want you to remember while we are there, that questions about 'what' a thing is are easily answered by Mr.Smith, or perhaps answered by me, later. File 'what' questions away in that big brain of yours to ask later. Today I am interested in "how" and "why". Especially 'why'. You know what though? I can't really ask the 'why' questions, and neither can you, because it would let them know to what deep degree I am coming to judge and to investigate them, and they'd find a reason to send us away or worse. Basically Lutessa, we have to pretend to be not quite so bright as we are, and not so worried as we are. Pay as much attention as you can to everything, but don't let them know that you are. Understand? On the outside, just have a nice time."

It had been tricky, trying to explain the subterfuge of investigating. She had found herself wishing that much of it didn't sum up to "Lie enough about who you are, and why you are there, to trick people into telling you things." and "Acting dumb helps sometimes." She didn't want the girl to think of it that way, for Sarah felt fairly noble about what she did, but it didn't quite sound as noble when she described it to her, to Sarah Jane's chagrin.

[Archetype2]

The last few days had gone quickly, passed by in a flash of busyness, a flurry of packing, preparing, organizing and memorizing. Allot of what she was good at. This trip was going well, Sarah Jane had popped out some gold dust she'd gotten from who knew where and now they were wearing it. She liked the new accessories, they were shiny, shiny was fun.

She had gotten a new outfit too, very professional one. It consisted of black high heals which where not as easy to get used to as she'd thought, a long sleeved white shirt hidden mostly by a button up black blows and a black skirt that reached down to about her knees, something that looked kind of office-y in nature. She liked it allot. She'd put her red hair up into a ponytale to keep many of the strands from entering her line of vision.

Sarah Jane had explained that it was wisest to avoid asking questions while on their tour or whatever they were doing at this apparently very majestic place. This assumption was made based on the whole Majestic Twelve thing...it made sense right? Majestic people worked and lived in Majestic places.

Lutessa looked over at Sarah Jane as she explained the betterment of not asking questions till they were alone or till she could talk with Mr. Smith, she nodded and stayed silent; practice! This was practice, simple as that. "I understand, No questions till later." she agreed.

[The First Doctor]

Jacoby completely misunderstood the Sentinel's look of horror. "Yeah," he said, "NIGHTMARE GREENs are pretty rough, the first time you see one. We've kept that one contained here for - what? four months now? Lost two strike teams, slowing it down long enough to stick in the cell. We're still trying to figure out what makes it tick."

He showed the Sentinel around the room, then ran the diagnostic computer through a few simulated tests. "COYOTE made a few suggestions for upping the processing speed on these systems. The men were complaining about having to be hooked up to them, and I can't really say I blame them."

He gestured around the room. "This is all state of the art, or even a little beyond. We could almost let it run itself - we probably would, if we were working with robots instead of cyborgs."

After giving the Sentinel time to examine the room, he spoke up again. "This is pretty much it. I mean, we've got COYOTE's lab if you want to see that, as well as the other research rooms. They're pretty much standard clean rooms. Oh, and the armory. Did you want to see any of those, or are you ready to meet with the General?"

---

Sarah's room phone rang. "Hello?" the voice on the other end said. "Ms. Smith? This is Doctor Sambur. We're down in the lobby, whenever you are ready to join us."

[Sarah Jane]

"Thank you Dr.Sambur."

They headed out

"Look how serious you are, you clever girl." She said proudly, giving the girl a brushing tug on her chin as they stood in the elevator. "I think we're going to pull this off."

"Tess, you can ask questions." The last thing she wanted to do was squelch the girl's curiosity. "So let's do this. I would challenge you to choose two questions to ask while we're on the tour, so choose carefully. Don't pick something that will give us away, and don't pick something you can easily research yourself, or ask me later. Alright?"

[The First Doctor]

The lobby was mildly busy, the sort of thing you expect from early mornings during travel season. A small line of hotel guests waited to check out at the counter, and more poked at the continental breakfast - danishes, cereal bars, and coffee - with the sort of determined hunger demonstrated by someone that has a perk and is going to use it, by God.

The "we" Doctor Sambur had referred to turned out to be three people. Marvin Sambur himself was a smiling, clean-cut man in his early 30s, dark haired, wearing the sort of tailored navy suit and power tie that you would expect to see on any up-and-coming executive in the corporate world.

The second was another dark-haired man, dressed in desert camouflage BDUs - Captain James Hayes, easily recognizable from Mr. Smith's dossier and from the Oprah Winfrey show. In the flesh, so to speak, the reconstructive surgery was top notch, mostly noticeable in his facial expressions - his face moved like a man recovered from a bad stroke.

The third was also recognizable from Mr. Smith's dossier. In person he was auburn haired, wearing a grey suit with a grey silk tie, with a silver-handled ebony cane resting in the crook of his arm. It was difficult to estimate his height, because he was crouched down in front of a knot of children, doing something with his fingers that held them fascinated.

"Then fold like this," he was saying. "Left over right, right over left..."

The mystery man himself. Christopher Mesler.

Doctor Sambur rose and crossed the lobby, offering his hand. "Sarah Jane Smith," he said. It was not a question. "I'm Marvin Sambur."

"Chris?" Captain Hayes called. "They're here."

"Just a moment," he replied without looking. "Then pull like so... and... voila!" An off-white origami crane rested in his hand.

Three of the children applauded. The fourth - the oldest - looked unimpressed. "My dad taught me how to do that, years ago," he said.

Doctor Sambur gestured at the other two men. "I've brought along two members of the primary program hosted by this facility. Allow me to introduce you."

"Chris," Captain Hayes repeated. "You're keeping them waiting."

Christopher didn't respond. Instead, he smiled a sly smile at the oldest boy. "He did, you say?"

"Yes," the boy said defiantly.

"Ah. But did he teach you how to do... this?" He exhaled a long, gentle breath onto the crane, which began to flap. Awkwardly, it lifted from his hand and fluttered across the lobby, then nose-dived to the floor.

The children gaped. Christopher's sly smile became a grin of delight as the oldest boy tentatively picked up the crane. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"Work it out for yourself," Christopher replied. He stood up, fending off further questions and requests with a gentle "That's all, I'm afraid," and moved to join Doctor Sambur and Captain Hayes.

"Sarah Jane Smith," Doctor Sambur said, "this is Captain James Hayes, SPECTERS team leader..."

"Call me Jim, please," he said, his voice conveying a warmth that his expression couldn't. The prosthetic hand was firm, but padded to approximate the shape and feel of a hand of flesh and blood. The padding couldn't hide the faint whirring sensation of the servos, though.

"And Christopher Mesler, scientific advisor to the SPECTERS program."

"Chris," he said with a smile. "And may I call you Sarah? Or do you prefer Ms. Smith?" His voice had a faint, oddly familiar accent, and his hand was oddly cool to the touch. His eyes lingered on her gold bracelet, just for an instant, and he ever so slightly lifted one eyebrow.

[Archetype2]

She watched Sarah Jane closely and listened to her words, she was allowed to ask questions, that was good...questions were good. She'd have to think about what to ask very carefully.

As the elevator doors slid open in the lobby, she saw several people around the room, a few of whom looked very important with their suits and ties and whatnot. One of the men approached the two women and spoke to Sarah Jane, then called another over. Emerald eyes flicked over to the man that was being called and she saw waht he was doing, something involving....paper folding? Why was he folding paper. A child said something which the man reacted to by sending the paper bird flying to which the child retrieved.

She watched the bird as it flew, eyes fixed on it but not so much so as to lose focus of the conversation or the rest of her surroundings. The man walked over leaving the children to their own devised and addressed Sarah Jane, she was one popular person today huh?

The redhead stood there watching them interact, saw the first man's eyes land briefly on Sarah Jane's bracelet...why was he looking at it? What was so interesting about it?

[Sarah Jane]

Jackpot.

Mr.Smith's intelligence was once again top rate. Stepping into the lobby, she saw two of the men high on her curious persons list. She kept Lutessa close to her side as she went to greet the third and unknown man who had risen at the sight of her. She recognized him as soon as she heard his voice.

"Dr. Sambur." She shook his hand, unsurprised to find him careful, cultured, and firm, "How kind of you to come greet me in person." She gave him a genuine smile. He had been quite helpful. "This is one of my students and protégé, Lutessa, who is an exceptionally bright young lady. One of the reasons for my trip is to help expose her to different specialties to help her see what paths of study intrigue her. Lutessa, this is Dr.Sambur." She was tempted to nudge the girl, but did not. Let the girl sink or swim on her own, as a teenager, she would not be held to a high standard of courtesy and protocol.

All this while, she had not missed the tiny drama nearby between the Cybernetically Enhanced Soldier in the form of Captain James Hayes, the elusive Dr.Mesler whose apparently Top Secret information was only to be found in
an off - the - grid computer through the passwords "MAJESTIC BLUEBOX LONELY GOD", a random bunch of very cute children, and a paper crane of unusual properties. The dynamics between all four parties was very interesting.

"Sarah Jane Smith," Doctor Sambur said, " - this is Captain James Hayes, SPECTERS team leader..."

"Call me Jim, please," Said the beautifully swarthy soldier man. He must have been quite handsome, she thought, and supposed that he still was. She couldn't even really be too put off by his almost expressionless face. She'd known too many wounded soldiers in the past. However, when he took her hand in his grip and she felt the servos humming inside, she felt a wave of fear grip her as well. Cybermen. She'd felt their touch before. She could not help the sudden small gasp she made, then laughed it off a bit nervously.

"Thank you for coming, Jim."
She had to consciously not cradle her hand to herself as he released it, though he'd been perfectly gentle. She knew just how deadly strong that hand could be. Dr.Mesler had joined them, bringing a cane and a crooked smile. They were of an age, and when they shook hands it was a in the style of an earlier time. Less . . . .corporate. Simply by what she suspected off him, she found touching him even more eerie than touching Cyborg Jim.

She saw him take note of her bracelet, and saw how he boldly raised an eyebrow at her. So. It began already. She let both of her delicately dark winged eyebrows drift up in innocent inquire in return. Butter would not have melted in her mouth, so guiless her eyes. Then she smiled to both men, a true smile, for the game was on.

"Thank you for coming, Chris. Please, gentlemen, I prefer Sarah Jane." Only the Doctor called her Sarah. "How nice to meet you both. I saw you on the Oprah show, and since then I've been eager to get a closer look at the advances that you are making in the efforts of protecting the Human culture with this new technology."

All this while, she'd had her other hand resting on Lutessa's spine. She'd been tapping with her fingers in Morse code, and hoping the girl's studies had taken her to look at the old communication form.
Sarah Jane was tapping- "G-E-T B-I-R-D G-E-T B-I-R-D" Five times total before nudging Lutessa off in the direction of the oldest boy and the paper he held.

She choose that moment to pull out her Alien Lifeform and Technology Scanner. It looked a bit like a bronze metallic electric mens razor without the blades. "You were kind enough to let me travel with this." She held it out to him."And I'm happy to put it in your care if you like until you've had a chance to examine it, though I don't recommend opening it."

[The First Doctor]

"Thank you for coming, Chris. Please, gentlemen, I prefer Sarah Jane."

"Of course, Sarah Jane," Chris responded, the slight burr of his accent still maddeningly familiar.

Captain Hayes offered his hand to Lutessa. "And you are..?" he asked.

Doctor Sambur, meanwhile, peered around. "I assume that your husband isn't joining us? I've heard quite a bit about Mr. Smith as well, and I had hoped to meet the both of you."

"How nice to meet you both. I saw you on the Oprah show, and since then I've been eager to get a closer look at the advances that you are making in the efforts of protecting the Human culture with this new technology."

Captain Hayes stiffened a little, and he looked as if he would blush if he could. "Oh God," he said, hand over his face, an embarrassed note in his voice, "You saw that?"

Doctor Sambur clapped him on the shoulder. "Relax, Jim," he said. "You were amazing."

Sarah choose that moment to pull out her Alien Lifeform and Technology Scanner. It looked a bit like a bronze metallic electric mens razor without the blades. "You were kind enough to let me travel with this." She held it out to him."And I'm happy to put it in your care if you like until you've had a chance to examine it, though I don't recommend opening it."

Doctor Sambur took the device carefully, and placed it in his briefcase. "Thank you, Sarah Jane. I'll have this back to you within an hour of returning to the base. Speaking of which, I have a car waiting for us outside. Shall we?"

With a sweeping gesture, he turned and strode towards the door. Chris Mesler stood for a minute, a little smile on his face as he watched Lutessa recover the origami bird from the young man - who didn't seem all that interested in keeping it, since he couldn't get it to work. "If you'd like," he said offhandedly to Sarah, "I can teach her how to do that."

[agentx]

"Let's go see the General now. I'm done here so far." The Sentinel replied. They walked out of the room and returned to the hallway. When they stopped at a door, Jacoby turned to the Sentinel and said, "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Harper."

"Likewise, Lieutenant." The Sentinel told him. As Jacoby turned and walked out of sight, a man in a general's uniform came out. His stern green eyes surveyed the time lord. "Agent Harper, I presume?" the man asked.

"Yes, General. I have news for you, and not all of it's good." The Sentinel confirmed, leading him into another room with a projector.

[Sarah Jane]

He was so human.

How could that be? She new what lurked under his fake skin. But there he was all humble about appearing with America's Daytime Darling.

"Your daughter seems a very sweet little girl." She replied, not having anything else positive to say about it. It was surreal to be so close to him and try to behave casually. It was like trying to ignore the snoozing grizzly bear standing in the middle of a party.

" -I have a car waiting for us outside. Shall we?" Dr.Sambur was saying, pointing the way.

"Indeed." She agreed. "Lutessa, the car is waiting, time to go." She gave the girl a wink for having gotten her hands on the little paper sculpture.

It was then that the real danger in the room approached by way of the charming Christopher Mesler who was offering to spend some time with her young ward. It made her hackles go up, but she managed an easy smile. Sarah Jane could not hide the fire in her eyes though, as she replied.

"Would you be so kind as to show me, Chris?" She said.

Keep yourself away from my daughter, is what she was thinking, much to her own surprise, Lutessa not actually being her daughter. She almost was, though. Almost.

[The First Doctor]

"Your daughter seems a very sweet little girl."

"Thank you," Captain Hayes said, ducking his head. "I'm sure she gets it all from her mother."

The introductions concluded, and Christopher Mesler made his offer to teach Lutessa the secrets of the flying paper crane.

"Would you be so kind as to show me, Chris?" she replied to the offer, with slightly more heat than she had intended.

Chris smiled with apparent genuine pleasure. "I would love to."

He chattered on about it all the way to the car. "Really, I'd need to have a piece of paper at hand right now to do the explanation justice, because some things are better shown and explained." His began to gesture with his oddly-cool hands and expressive fingers, miming a complicated series of folds. "But it's all in how you fold the paper. There are a few recursive folds, very small, that set up something like a gearing arrangement. A party game, really. Something we did for fun in the Academy."

There was a definite capitalization to the word "Academy".

The car, if you were raised on a diet of Hollywood spy thrillers, was a disappointment. Movies and television primed a person to expect sleek and expensive black sedans or SUVs, always the latest model, with tinted windows. This "car" was more of a full-size van, off-white, with the seal of the Department of Homeland Security painted on the front doors.

The only tinting on the glass was from the Arizona dust.

---

"Yes, General. I have news for you, and not all of it's good." The Sentinel confirmed, leading him into another room with a projector.

The General narrowed his eyes as he took a seat. "I don't really need bad news right now, Agent Harper." He sighed, sounding harried. "I've got the Director of the Office of Extraterrestrial Intelligence arriving in the next two hours, and he's bringing along British VIP."

He leaned back in the chair. "So let's get this over with. What is your news?"

---

"Allow me," Chris said, opening the door for Sarah and Lutessa. He executed a short bow. Doctor Sambur had climbed into the front passenger seat, and Captain Hayes was waiting for the two women to enter as well.

The interior was somewhat more impressive than the exterior, with padded bucket seats on swivels instead of the benches one would expect. All of the interior seats - driver and front passenger, as well as the four in the back - were reinforced, clearly designed for occupants that weighed more than normal. They had five-point harnesses as well, instead of regular seatbelts.

The reason for the reinforced seats became obvious, as the van sagged a little under Captain Hayes' weight.

With a rumble, the driver started the van. As it pulled away from the curb, Doctor Sambur spun his seat around. "I'm afraid we have nearly an hour and a half before we reach the base. I thought we could use the time to talk about the SPECTERS program, since that's the primary focus of the installation. Where would you like to start?"

[agentx]

The Sentinel nodded, and put a film reel in the projector. Without further ado, it started up.

- - - - - - -

When he left the room a half hour later, he walked through the lobby to the entry door. As the Sentinel opened them, he thought about the contents of the reel he had shown the General. When it had finished, the man had been utterly shocked. Then when he recovered, he asked if anyone else knew about this.

So far, the military's top scientists has been informed, as have the Specters. The Sentinel had confirmed. They've been working on how long it'll take them to fully build it. They calculate a month or two at the very least.

The General had thanked him for the warning, and he had taken his leave. Now, the clock was racing, and if the Sentinel knew one thing, it was that he couldn't do this alone.

It was time to call the other Time Lords.

((OOC: I'm keeping it cryptic until he shows the Doctor and Co., if they meet. Mainly for suspense reasons. Still, there's a chance you have a good idea where I'm taking this, anyway.))

[Sarah Jane]

"Now that you explain it, Chris, I think perhaps you should show Lutessa. She's a very clever girl. Just keep in mind I don't expect her to leave my sight. Teenagers, you know, so don't distract her away from the task at hand. Perhaps at lunch or some such, if you will."

"Allow me." Said the Mad Scientist,
"Thank you" She said with a secretly amused grin, she went so far as to take his hand as she clambered into the back.

She was impressed. Very comfortable. She took her bucket seat in the back, encouraging Lutessa to take the seat near hers. She couldn't help but share a smile with her. Better to think of the excitement of the ride through the desert than to think about the monsters in the van. Close enough to men they were, that Sarah could let herself pretend. Just to make it easy, and to help set the tone for her protege.

"This is some of the fun part, where they drive you around in big trucks." At some point, as her luck went, she would probably have to cover this ground again by unicycle or some other unlikely vehicle. This time, she'd take the route in style. As she went to put the elaborate seat belt on, she found it about 47 sizes too big for her in every direction. With a chuckle and a nudge to Lutessa, she began readjusting those straps with a few tugs until it was comfortably snug.

An hour, and a half, really? Quite a bit longer than she had expected. She caught Lutessa's attention again and gave her the subtle sign that she would like the girl to begin memorizing their travel.

Well, time was a wasting then. Sarah Jane knew better than to beat around the bush when it came to Military men. They'd sniff you out. Skip the small talk.

"That would be perfect, Chris, thank you. I would like to know if the military is aware that your work in the Specters program is based heavily on Alien technology." Her voice lent only invitation, no judgment, though one might see it if they could get a good look at the very corners of her eyebrows, the slightest quirked with her censure.

[The First Doctor]

(OOC: I'm terribly excited to see where your part of this is going, AgentX.)

"This is some of the fun part, where they drive you around in big trucks."

Chris snorted, and Jim laughed. "This is textbook Army, Sarah," said the cyborg. "Hurry up and wait. But yeah, we're hell-and-gone..." His voice cut off as he looked at the two women. His mostly immobile features strained to look embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, I mean, the base is pretty far from here, and the van gets better mileage and attracts less attention than a helicopter."

Doctor Sambur offered to begin the briefing by talking about the SPECTERS.

"That would be perfect, Chris, thank you. I would like to know if the military is aware that your work in the Specters program is based heavily on Alien technology."

There was dead silence in the van for the space of about ten seconds. Chris lifted an eyebrow. Jim seemed lost in examining the way his right hand flexed as he moved his fingers. Doctor Sambur cleared his throat.

Chris nodded in approval. "Direct. To the point." He grinned. "I like you."

"That rather depends on what you mean by 'the military', Ms. Smith," Doctor Sambur answered. "It's no great secret that the so-called Year of Ghosts ended with a significant quantity of off-world cybernetic technology-"

"Not to mention actual, fully-functioning cyborgs," interjected Jim.

"Quite so, yes," agreed Doctor Sambur. "Although not many. Most seemed to cease functioning-"

"Die, you mean," Chris interrupted.

Sambur nodded his head. "Yes. Die. Most of them seemed to die within hours of the Canary Wharf incident in Cardiff. What we found interesting about the remaining cybernetic components was that, with the exception of neural interface systems, they were only moderately more advanced than what we had been able to achieve through DARPA's Revolutionizing Prosthetics project."

He gestured vaguely. "Since it was based on recognizable engineering principles, it made perfect sense to integrate it into our own efforts. The only things that are classified-"

Chris grinned. "MAJESTIC GARNET TIN WOODSMAN, if you're curious," he said with a laugh.

Jim raised his hands in irritation. "Chris!"

"I'm sorry," Chris laughed, not looking sorry at all. "I love your cryptospeak. I just love it."

Jim and Doctor Sambur both glared at him, stern stares that rolled off him without noticeable effect.

Doctor Sambur shook his head with the air of a man struggling with an almost unbearable burden. "The only things classified are the specifics of the military versions of the prosthetics, and the exact degree to which we use terrestrial versus extraterrestrial components."

"And how the neural interface systems work," added Chris.

Sambur nodded. "Yes, of course. We'd still be trying to solve that riddle, although I'm confident we would be close to cracking it. We owe quite a debt, in that regard, to the OEI's scientific adviser."

From his seat, Chris sketched a rough bow.