Six months after the Slitheen invasion, two people are talking in a large executive office suite.
"I've checked the figures, I've checked them again and again. Always the same result. The design is not safe. It could result in the death of millions. I beg of you, stop the project right now before it's too late." Cleaver pleads.
"Well... goodness me. Obviously, Mr Cleaver, you're the expert."
"Then you'll stop it?"
"It seems I have no choice." GURGLING "Oh... Do excuse me. Civic duties leave little time for a sandwich." Margaret says sitting in a chair looking up at the standing man.
"But you promise you'll stop it today?"
"Well, of course. Nothing is more important than human life. What do you take me for, some sort of maniac?" she softly chuckles.
"Why, no."
"Am I right in thinking you've shown me your results only to me?"
"Just to you, no-one else."
"Wise move."
Cleaver turns away and wipes his brow "I can't tell you, this is such a weight off my mind. I've barely slept. I couldn't believe my own readings..." he walks over to a doorway as Margaret watches him. "The scale of it..." She starts to unzip her forehead. "Destruction like the British Isles has never seen before. If I didn't know better, I'd almost think that someone wanted this project to go wrong, as though they intended this city should be wiped off the map. Thank goodness we've got you, our esteemed leader." he turns around only to met with a big green Slitheen. The man screams as the alien uses it's claws to make the man kneel down.
___________
A train pulls up to Cardiff Central railway station and off steps Mickey, he looks towards an exit sign and follows the signs towards the exit of the station. After leaving the station he makes his way to the Roald Dahl Plass. Mickey walks up to the Tardis, which is parked in front of the huge water tower, a tall metallic fountain. He knocks on the door, only for Jack to open it.
"Who the hell are you?" Jack asks.
"What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?"
"Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever you're selling, we're not buying."
"Get out of my way!" Mickey pushes past Jack and enters the Tardis.
"Don't tell me, this must be Mickey." Jack says.
"Here comes trouble! How are you doing, Ricky boy?" the Doctor asks as he and the Captain are working on the Tardis, the Doctor up on a ledge and the Captain below working on the lower wires.
"It's Mickey!" he responds.
"Mickey! Good to see you." the Captain adds looking over at him.
Rose walks over to him "Don't listen to him, he's winding you up." she motions to the older looking man, as Jack walks past the two.
"You look fantastic." he smiles pulling her in for a hug.
"Aw, sweet! How come I never get any of that?" Jack comments.
"Buy me a drink first." the Captain tells him with smirk.
"You're such hard work."
"But worth it!"
"Did you manage to find it?" Rose asks Mickey.
"There you go." he says handing her, her passport.
"I can go anywhere now!" Rose says showing the Doctor and the Captain her passport.
"I've told you don't need a passport." the Doctor says looking down from where he's working at Rose.
"It's very well going to Platform One and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon, but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You, see I'm prepared for anything." Rose tells the man.
"It sounds like you're staying, then." Mickey says sadly. "So what are you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash? I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with Big Ears up there..."
"Oi!" the Doctor says offended.
"Look in the mirror. The Captain was pushing it, but this guy, I don't know, he's kinda..." Mickey comments.
"Handsome?" Jack asks so sure of himself.
"More like cheesy." Mickey says earning a chuckle from the Captain.
"Early 21st-century slang, is cheesy good or bad?" Jack asks.
"It's bad." Mickey nods.
"But bad means good, isn't that right?" Jack says taking a few steps closer to the two.
"Are you saying I'm not handsome?" the Doctor asks climbing down from the ladder he was stood on.
"We just stopped off, we need to refuel. Thing is, Cardiff's got a rift through the middle of the city. It's invisible but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions." Rose tells Mickey.
"The rift was healed back in 1869." the Captain says as he makes his way towards the couple as the Doctor also joins them.
"Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, because these creatures called the Gelth, they were using it as a gateway but she saved the world and closed it." Rose continues.
"But closing a rift leaves a scar, and that scar generates energy, harmless to the human race..." Jack says.
"But perfect for the Tardis. I park it here for a couple of days, on top of the scar and..." the Doctor adds.
"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation..." the Captain goes on to say.
"Like filling her up with petrol, and off we go!" Rose smiles.
"Into time!" Jack says.
"And space!" the four exclaim at the same time and high five each other.
"My God, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?"
"Yup." the Doctor and Captain nod at the same time.
"Yeah!" Rose exclaims.
"Yep." Jack says.
___________
"It'll take another 24 hours, so we've got time to kill." the Doctor informs the others as they stand outside of the Tardis.
"That old lady's staring." Mickey says.
"Probably wondering what five people can do inside a small wooden box." Jack laughs patting the Captains shoulder.
"What are you captain of - the Innuendo Squad?" Mickey asks unimpressed. Jack responds by shaping his fingers into a 'W' sign before starting to walk off.
"Wait, er, the Tardis, you can't just leave it, doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey asks.
"Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?" Jack then asks after turning back round to face the Tardis.
"It's a cloaking device." Rose says.
"It's called a chameleon circuit." the Captain tells them.
"The Tardis is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands. Like if this was ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something." the Doctor adds.
"But we landed in the 1960s, it disguied itelf as a police box, and the circuit got stuck." the Captain quickly adds.
"So, it copied a real thing. There actually was police boxes?" Mickey asks.
"Yeah on street corners." the Captain nods.
"Phone for help before they had radios, and mobiles. If they arrested somebody, they could shove 'em inside till hep came. Like a little prison cell." the Doctor adds.
"Why don't you just fix the circuit?" Jack asks the men.
"Don't even bother, I've asked if we can fix it he always sa-" the Captain starts before getting cut off by the Doctor.
"I like it, don't you?"
"I love it." Rose says.
"To be honest, I actually kind of like it." the Captain admits.
"Ah ha! Finally he admits to liking the Police box." the Doctor exclaims.
"But that's what I meant. There's no police boxes any more, so doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey asks.
"Ricky,let me tell you something, about the human race." the Doctor says standingup straight after leaning on the box. "You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town what do they do?" he asks placing his hands on the mans shoulders "Walk past it." the Doctor says before Mickey could answer. "Now top your nagging, let's go and explore."
"What's the plan?" Rose asks with a skip in her step as she reaches the Doctor he links hi arm and leans on him.
"I don't know. Cardiff, early 21st century, and the wind's coming from the...east. Trust me. The safest place in the universe." the Doctor responds as the three men follow behind Rose and the Doctor.
___________
"This nuclear power station right in the heart of Cardiff city will bring jobs for all!" Margaret announces to a room full of people who applause her. "As you can see, as Lord Mayor, I've had to sanction some radical redevelopments." she says walking over to a model of the power station as a photographer snaps a photo "No photographs! What did I say? Take pictures of the project by all means, but not me, thank you. So... Cardiff Castle will be demolished, allowing the Blaidd Drwg Project to rise up, tall and proud, a monument to Welsh industry. And, yes, some of you might shiver. The words 'nuclear power station' and 'major population centre' aren't exactly the happiest of bedfellows. But I give you my personal guarantee that as long as I walk upon this Earth, no harm will come to any of my citizens." she smiles looking round the room "Now drink up, a toast... To the future!"
"To the future!" all the people in the room raise their glasses.
"And believe me... it will glow." Margaret finishes before the room bursts out into applause again.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Blaine? My name's Cathy Salt, I represent the Cardiff Gazette." a welsh woman says walking up to Margaret.
"I'm sorry, I'm not doing interviews. I can't bear self publicity." she responds in a hushed voice.
"But are you aware of the curse?"
"Whatever do you mean? Cathy, wasn't it?" Margaret asks glancing her over.
"Cathy Salt. Some of your engineers are saying that the Blaidd Drwg Project is cursed."
"Sounds rather silly to me."
"That's what I thought. I was just chasing a bit of local colour. But the funny thing is, when you start piecing it all togther, it does begin to look a bit odd." Cathy tells her.
"In what way?"
"The deaths. The number of deaths associated with this project. First of all, the entire team of European safety inspectors."
"But they were French, it's not my fault if, 'Danger! Explosives!' was only written in Welsh." Margaret says before walking off.
"And then there was the accident with the Cardiff Heritage Committee." Cathy says quickly following her.
"The electrocution of that swimming pool was put down to natural ware and tare." she responds stopping walking.
"And then the architect."
"It was raining, visibility was low, my car simply couldn't stop."
"And then recently Mr. Cleaver, the government's nuclear adviser."
"Slipped on an icy patch."
"He was decapitated."
"It was a very icy patch. I'm afraid, these stories are nothing more than typical small-town thinking. I really haven't got time, if you'll excuse me." Margaret says before walking away again.
"Except before he died, Mr. Cleaver posted some of his findings online." Cathy says following her.
"Did he now?"
"If you know where to look. He was concerned about the reactor."
"Oh! All that technical stuff." Margaret chuckles.
"Specifically that the design of the suppression pool would cause the hydrogen recombiners to fail, precipitating the collapse of the containment system, resulting in a meltdown."
"Who's been doing their homework?"
"That's my job." Cathy smiles.
"I think... Cathy Salt... I think you and I should have a word in private." Margaret smiles before pulling Cathy out of the room by her arm and giggling. *GURGLE* "Oh, my little tummy's complaining. I think we might have to make a detour to the ladies." she says dragging her towards the toilets.
"I'll wait here."
"Oh, come on! All girls together! So you were saying? These outlandish theories of yours." Margaret says before entering a stall while Cathy waits outside. *GURGLING*
"Sounds like we got here just in time."
"Continue."
"Well, I don't know much about nuclear physics, but from what I could make out, Cleaver was saying that the whole project could go up, worse than Chernobyl." Cathy says noticing the light flicker under the door while Margaret unzips her forehead.
"Oh, they're always on the blink. I can't tell you how many memos I've sent. So... Chernobyl?"
"Apparently, but a thousand times worse. I mean it sounds absurd, there must be so many safety regulations, but Cleaver seemed to be talking about a nuclear holocaust. He almost made it sound deliberate. We're hardly The Sunday Times, we're only the Cardiff Gazette, but we do have a duty to report the facts."
"And you're going to print this information?" the now fully undressed Slitheen asks.
"Are you all right? You sound a bit..." Cathy says concerned.
"Sore throat. Ahem. Just a little tickle. But tell me, do you intend to make this information public?"
"I have to."
"So be it." the Slitheen says raising her claw ready to break the door down.
"Mind you, my boyfriend thinks I'm mad. We're getting married next month, he says if I cause a fuss, I could lose my job, just when we need the money." Cathy tells her while walking over to the mirror and fixing her hair.
"Boyfriend?" Margaret asks lowering her claw.
"Jeffery, civil servant... He's nothing exciting, but he's mine." Cathy smiles.
"When's the wedding?"
"The 19th. It's really just to stop my mother from nagging, but the baby sort of clinched it, I suppose."
"You're with child?" Margaret asks softly taking a seat on the toilet.
"Three months. It's not showing yet. It wasn't planned, it was an accident. Nice accident, though."
"Congratulations."
"Thank you. How about you? You got any kids?" Cathy asks Margaret.
"No."
"Is there a Mr. Blaine?"
"Not any more. I'm all on my own. I had quite a sizeable family once upon a time. Wonderful brothers... Oh, they were bold! But all of them gone now. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm cursed."
"Oh, no, I don't think so, not really."
"You're very kind. Er... If you don't mind, I might be a while. You run along. Perhaps we could do this another day." Margaret says slightly choking on the words.
"Are you all right?"
"Fine!"
"Okay, I tell you what, I'll leave my details with your office. Thanks for talking."
"Thank you." she responds softly. Cathy walks out of the bathroom giving one last glance to the closed door, where the Slitheen is sitting. "Oh..." Margaret mumbles sadly.