Fic: Magnificent Sight

[badly_knitted]

 


Title: Magnificent Sight
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: In the depths of space, Jack and Ianto encounter something truly magnificent.
Word Count: 1299
Written For: Prompt 138 – Leviathan at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘verse.
 


 
Space was vast, so big it was impossible for anyone, human or alien, to wrap their heads, if they even had heads, around its immensity. No one had yet succeeded in counting the stars, and they probably never would since new stars were being born and old ones dying all the time. Suffice to say there were a lot, although not all of them were orbited by planets, and of the ones that were, only a percentage of those planets were habitable. Still, it meant that life in the universe was very varied indeed, the different races each having evolved to suit their individual environments.
 

Ianto and Jack were out beyond the rim of known space, doing some survey work for several large corporations that were seeking new sources of certain minerals and metallic ores. They were also mapping the sector for the Federation and were qualified to make first contact if they came across any inhabited worlds, although that last was at their own discretion. Not everyone could be counted on to welcome visitors from beyond the stars, and there were strict rules, laid down by the Shadow Proclamation, regarding non-interference with races below a certain technological level.
 

After more than a decade of travelling with Jack from world to world, picking up and transporting a mind-boggling variety of cargoes, and even occasionally passengers, Ianto had still only encountered a few hundred alien races, a tiny percentage of the several billion sentient peoples that made up the Galactic Federation. What he was faced with now was something new and yet still faintly familiar, bringing back memories of his time with Torchwood Three back in Cardiff, before his first death. Even so, what he’d seen back then had in no way prepared him for this.

 
The first thing he’d noticed was a blip on the Happy Wanderer’s sensors, indicating that something was moving through space to port, a couple of thousand galactic standard miles from the cargo ship. It was travelling roughly parallel to their course, although the distance between it and them was gradually decreasing. Deciding to err on the side of caution, because this far out there was no knowing what they might encounter, and no guarantee it would prove friendly, he called Jack, who was running routine checks down in the cargo bays.
 

“Jack? You’d better get up here, looks like we might have company coming.”

 
“On my way,” Jack replied.
 

The Wanderer was approximately the size of Cardiff’s Millennium Centre, her interior a bit of a maze consisting of passageways, catwalks, and staircases connecting several levels. Because of that, it took Jack almost ten minutes to get from the depths of the ship to the bridge, and during that time, the mystery vessel had closed the distance between them by another hundred and twelve galactic standard miles. It was still out of visual range, but from the readings he was getting, Ianto could already tell it was a lot bigger than them.
 

“What have we got?” Jack asked, closing the bulkhead door behind him, slipping into the co-pilot’s seat, and strapping himself in, just in case they had to do some fast manoeuvring.
 

“I have no idea. All I can tell you is that it’s big, it’s fast, and it’s moving towards us. Not on an intercept course though. Providing we both continue on our current headings, it’ll be crossing our path in approximately twenty minutes, a lot closer than I’m comfortable with, so we need to be ready to take evasive action. We don’t want to risk running into it if it decides to stop right in our path; I don’t think we’d come out of an encounter like that too well.”
 

Ianto was doing his best to remain calm, but he was nervous. Even known space had its dangers, but out beyond the rim everything had to be treated as potentially life-threatening. Being immortal wouldn’t help them much if they wound up floating in a vacuum with their ship destroyed.
 

“When you say big...” Jack was busily pulling up the sensor data to see for himself.

 
“Bigger than the Wanderer. A lot bigger. Like forty or fifty times bigger, maybe more.”
 

Jack let out a low whistle as data scrolled across a small screen on the control panel in front of him. “Okay, you’re right, that’s big.”
 

“Yes it is. Should we change course, or slow down, detour around it?” Ianto hadn’t taken his eyes off his own computer screens.
 

“We could, but don’t you want to know what it is? We’re out here to see what we can see.”

 
“That doesn’t mean we have to get up close and personal. We don’t head straight for planets or asteroids; we skirt around them at a safe distance.”
 

“Planets and asteroids generally have orbits that can be calculated so it’s easy to go around them,2 Jack pointed out. “Whatever this is, it’s behaving more like a spacecraft.”
 

“And how many spacecraft have you come across that are anywhere near this big? Even the largest Explorer Class ship is less than half the size of this thing,” Ianto pointed out.
 

“All the more reason to get a good look at it. We can always make a quick jump into the vortex if necessary. We’re a lot more manoeuvrable than anything that size could possibly be. Besides, we’re almost in visual range. A few more minutes and we’ll be able to see it.”

 
“Well, okay, I guess we can take a quick look first.” Ianto kept his hands close to the helm, ready to change course immediately if it became necessary, but when the object appeared on their viewscreens a few minutes later, still hundreds of miles away, his breath caught in his throat, his mouth went dry, and his heart started pounding. “Leviathan,” he breathed, eyes wide and voice filled with awe.
 

“Space Whale,” Jack replied. “I’ve seen a few, but I had no idea they could grow that big!” From its nose to the tip of its tail flukes, the creature must have been several miles long.
 

Ianto blinked, eyes refocusing as Jack slowed their approach, starting to take in more detail. “You mean like the one...”
 

“Yeah. Sometimes life persists, even in a vacuum. The one back in Cardiff must have been a baby, or a different, smaller species.” Even after so many years, it still stung to remember how Torchwood had failed to save the poor creature, butchered at the hands of greedy idiots who saw it as a quick way of making money.

 
“It’s magnificent!” As the Wanderer gradually drew closer, the Space Whale filled the viewscreen, its vast body, pitted and scarred by age and meteorites, gliding smoothly past them. Jack reached for the co-pilot’s controls and changed course, steering the Wanderer towards the whale’s massive head until they could gaze into an eye the size of their ship.

 
It saw them, they were both sure of that, its eye swivelled towards them but they felt no fear. It had no interest in harming them so long as they did nothing to threaten it. So in silence, they watched as the magnificent creature passed by, propelled by strong, steady strokes of its tail flukes. Even after the way ahead was clear once more, the two immortals sat, immobile, following the whale’s progress on their viewscreens until it passed out of visual range. Finally, they came out of the trance the awe-inspiring sight had put them in.

 
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more magnificent,” Ianto murmured, as though reluctant to disturb the hush inside the cockpit.
 

Jack smiled agreement. “Maybe someday, if we’re really lucky, we might cross its path again.”
 

Until then, both men knew that however long they might live, it was a sight they’d never forget.
 
 

The End