Intrusion

Author's Note: Apologies for any linguistic or grammatical errors with the non-English vocabulary.

*****

Brandon and Nalini were already in the office when Rebecca arrived at the Ministry in the morning. The weather had improved a little from the previous day, but only in the sense that it had warmed up a little; the sky was hidden behind a uniform sheet of light grey and there was certainly no sign that would that sun was going to make an appearance any time soon. She wondered briefly if Curtis had been expecting more fog, but London wasn't really like that, even though the Ministry directly overlooked the Thames... or would have, if Room 42 had had a clear window.

"I'm guessing there were no new developments overnight?" she asked Brandon, as she hung her coat up. Underneath, she was wearing a checked shirt, hanging open to reveal a dark blue T-shirt emblazoned with a mathematical joke. It seemed a safe bet that nothing much had happened, since, like all of them, she was permanently on-call.

"Nah," the tech specialist replied, "we've got the police out looking for the car, but they've not found it yet. Which, since we're talking about everywhere from Cheshire to Lancashire, isn't really surprising. But we could get lucky."

"We don't think they're hiding in Cumbria, then?"

"Nah... which is just as well. I think we'd have picked up something on the ANLP if they'd got any further than, say, Morecambe. Not that there aren't enough places to hide in north Lancashire if they really want to. It depends what the heck this thing is up to... it must want something."

"Something for which a couple of university students are more useful than a newly employed accountant," said Rebecca, referring to Emma, "it's not narrowing anything down."

"It operates on sex... are the students better looking?"

At that moment, Nalini's phone chirped, and Rebecca glanced across as the doctor answered it before answering Brandon. "Not really," she said, "they're all young and reasonably fit, so far as I can tell. Which I suppose is useful for a number of things, since it seems to control people."

"To do what? I mean, are we investigating an interstellar sex tourist here? It's like we're living in a bad fanfic..."

"If we're living in a fanfic, what's it a fanfic of?"

"I dunno... I guess we chase aliens, so... Torchwood, maybe?"

Rebecca snorted, "Helen is so not Captain Jack!"

"Like I say, it's not a good fanfic."

The conversation was interrupted as Nalini made a surprised sound. Rebecca turned back to her, eyebrows raised.

"Oh..." said the medical officer, putting her phone down, and realising that the others were watching her, "uh, yes... the doctor I was talking to at the hospital has let me know that Emma Foster has been discharged. She seems to be fine now, if a little shaken up."

"And...?" prompted Rebecca. There was no way, from Nalini's expression, that was all there was to it.

"And... and he's asked me out."

"Like, on a date?"

"Well, yes, I think so." Nalini looked a little embarrassed, although, Rebecca thought, she also looked quite pleased.

"Is he cute?"

"Yeah, I guess... yes, I suppose he is." The tone of her voice made it sound a lot less equivocal than her words suggested.

"Well, good for you. It's been a while since Sandeep; you should get out more, take it from me." She paused, "you are going to say 'yes', right?"

"I don't know if I can, what with this investigation."

"Tell him you'll get back to him. If he's worth it, he'll wait."

"Yes, I could..."

"Morning!" Rebecca turned to see Kate entering the room, "oh... am I interrupting something?"

"Just girl talk," muttered Brandon, not glancing up from his screens.

Rebecca said nothing, her heart inexplicably leaping as she saw Kate arrive. She hadn't even really thought about the new security officer since she'd left work yesterday, her mind having been far too busy with the mystery of the alien sphere and its seemingly intangible occupant. Burying herself in work or scientific studies was something she habitually did to avoid thinking about the messiness of real life, and for once, it seemed to be working.

And there was no doubt that this was messy. Kate was a co-worker, but more than that, they had only just met a couple of days ago, and she really knew nothing about the army officer or her life outside of work. Apart from the fact that she was... the other way inclined... which was the even messier thing about it.

Seriously, had they come close to kissing yesterday, at the students' union. While they were at work, no less? It had been an emotional moment, her very life quite possibly on the line; it was understandable that she might overreact, do something spontaneously without really thinking about it. It wasn't as if she, Rebecca, was even gay; she didn't actually want to kiss another woman. She'd even told Kate as much.

And Kate probably wasn't interested anyway. She probably preferred... what, other military types? Masculine-looking women, perhaps. At least the tough, physical, outdoorsy types, surely? Not lanky science nerds with glasses and an encyclopaedic knowledge of Doctor Who and the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

She really wouldn't get anywhere, even if she did want to. Which, of course, she didn't. Obviously. Seriously, she really hadn't thought about Kate last night, so it couldn't be any sort of infatuation. And, right now, she wasn't going over and over in her mind how little this really meant, and how she wasn't about to change her orientation over a hot woman she'd only just met who coincidentally happened to have gorgeous blue eyes.

Damn.

Realising that she wasn't going to get a further response, Kate shrugged and moved over to the new desk she had been assigned. She looked to be just about to say something when Helen and Richard turned up, both looking ready to get down to business.

"Everyone here?" asked Helen, looking around, "no Curtis? We can do without him for the moment anyway. Right, so what's our progress so far?"

And they were back to work.

***

The Fragment was dying; it knew that now. The effort to gain the knowledge it required to subvert this new alien species had been too much for it, separated this long from the Gestalt. Its recent attempt to subvert two additional bipeds had failed; it had not even been able to spare the resources to control one of them. It could adjust their emotional responses with alacrity now, had what it considered a good understanding of their neuronal and hormonal pathways. But it no longer had sufficient energy to maintain itself in the long term.

And that was why it would, inevitably, die. That, however, did not worry the Fragment. Because that was, after all, what being a Fragment meant. The thought of its own demise did not concern it any more that one of the bipeds might mourn the loss of a toenail clipping. But, although it would never re-join the Gestalt, it was vital that it ensure the greater good before expiring.

To combat the Infestation, it would have to sacrifice the intelligent beings of this planet.

And that was it should be. The biped species was, like most aliens, composed of autonomous individuals, and not even eusocial. They did not matter in the bigger scheme of things, and it would be right to use them as a resource for the growth of the Gestalt, and for the eventual defeat of the Infestation.

Indeed, the Fragment did not even really think about those sorts of concern. They were just how the universe worked, just the natural order of things.

What concerned it more was how it would achieve its objective of subverting the planet and rendering its life-forms down into food stock and fresh processing substrate. It had had a plan, but that was now having to be revised in view of its increasing limitations. In particular, it would have to make do with just two of the biped under its control, out of the billions on this world.

Fortunately, it still had the ability to subvert new individuals, provided that it gave up one of the existing ones under its control. Of the two biped units it currently operated, the male had a connection with the facility that had now become its objective, but the female did not. Therefore, if it had to subvert some new individual, it was the current female which it would abandon.

And surely, subverting some additional individual connected with the target facility would increase the chance of its plan being successful.

So it had directed the units under its control to approach the target facility, and observe its operation. Entering the facility was, as it had anticipated, a controlled process. This was typical for non-social species, since they could never entirely trust others of their own kind. Currently, therefore, the subverted units were seated inside their mechanical transport conveyance (propelled, it seemed, by the controlled combustion of hydrocarbons, which the Fragment thought to be inefficient). Through their eyes, it observed the bipeds that entered and left the facility, hoping to find a suitable additional target.

It took some time to identify one, but eventually it located a physically fit and youthful female with an acceptably strong mating drive. Having done so, it directed the subverted units to follow her, keeping out of the direct line of sight as far as possible. This would be its second access point to the facility.

***

A light but persistent rain dripped down onto the streets as Raina drove back into town, the sky grey and leaden. It rained a lot in Macclesfield, and in that respect, it wasn't too much different from home. But the winters here were so much milder; back home the temperatures would still be sub-zero at this time of year, but there had been not a hint of frost this morning, and, of course, the rain had long since washed away even the light dusting of snow they had had in the past week. Although, if last year was in any way typical, there wasn't going to be much in the way of a summer.

Why had she even come out to this country? Well, she knew why, of course, and it had to be said that Jerzy had benefited, getting a good job as a plumber that would have been harder, and less profitable, back in Poznań. It was a great stereotype over here, apparently: the Polish plumber. But he seemed to be settling in well enough.

It hadn't been quite so easy for her. Which was why, since shortly after coming here nine months ago, she had been working as an agency cleaner. Hardly the most stimulating job, although it brought in some money and gave her something to do during the days in this depressing town in this muted, grey, corner of England. Maybe her life would have been no better back home, for there had been few prospects there, either, but she doubted it would have been worse. And at least she wouldn't have had to face those locals who thought that people like her were somehow 'stealing their jobs'.

In hindsight, she shouldn't have accepted Jerzy's invitation to join him, but what was done was done.

She hadn't made many friends here, which didn't help. There were people she knew from work, and there were Jerzy's friends, of course, but nobody close. She wondered if that was due to prejudice, or to her skill with the language (overall, she thought her English was good, despite her accent, but maybe she overjudged her ability), or just to a mood that today's grey skies were doing nothing to lift. Perhaps she should do something, although she couldn't think what.

Back in Poland, she had had several friends, but she had already lost contact with most of them. Again, her fault, probably. She hadn't made enough effort with the women, and the men... well, they had gone on to other lovers anyway. Which had always been her way with men, so that at least, had not changed. The reality was that few of them had been able to keep with her sexual appetite for long, and for a while she hadn't minded that, for there were always new opportunities.

But now she thought that she might be ready to settle down... just at a time when any hope of that seemed snatched by... well, by England. Or at least by Macclesfield. She hadn't had sex once since coming here, and, since she was living with her brother in a relatively small house, she had felt too embarrassed to buy any toys that might have brought relief. It was by far the longest she had been without sex that involved another person since she'd turned eighteen.

Wrapped up in her thoughts, she parked the car as close to the pub as she could, and then made the dash through the rain to get inside, silently cursing herself as she realised she had forgotten her umbrella this morning.

The pub was a typical two-story building, built of the same greyish brick as everything else around here. The small yard out back would have been empty were it not for the pair of smokers huddling up against the wall, and the blackboard outside promised discounted drinks on - surprise, surprise - a completely different day of the week. It wasn't much, just a small local, but Jerzy liked it, and it was where he had agreed to meet her after work.

But, as she looked around the dingy interior, she realised that he wasn't there yet. Perhaps a job had overrun; it wasn't that unusual. She pulled her mobile from her pocket to check for messages, and immediately saw that he had left one. Her heart sank as she read it - he wasn't coming. In fact, he wasn't going to be home until tomorrow evening.

Well, she knew what that meant: he and Sandra were making another night of it. It was yet another way that he was clearly getting more out of being in this country than she was.

Of course, the house was in his name, so, when he had first started dating the giggly blonde secretary, that was where they had spent the night. But it seemed that, if Raina was embarrassed to buy anything intimate that he might find, he wasn't too keen on her having to listen to his night time antics through the thin walls of the house.

She suspected that the last straw on that front had been the night that Sandra, who tended to chatter away without thinking at the best of times, had suddenly shouted "fuck me hard in the ass!" loudly enough that not only Raina, but surely also the neighbours, had been able to hear. Since then, they had spent their nights together somewhere else, which was a blessed relief under the circumstances.

She stood there for a moment, debating whether she should just turn around and go out again, or if she should at least buy a drink now she was here. No, she decided; there wasn't much point to drinking on her own. She had to admit that she was also feeling a bit 'napalony' (whatever the word was for that in English), although she couldn't really explain why. With the house to herself, she should take the opportunity to go home, curl up under the bedsheets, and work out her sexual frustration as best she could.

"Hi, Raina, isn't it? You look a bit lost... did somebody stand you up?"

She turned to see a young man, about her own age, looking at her expectantly. It took a few seconds for her to remember where she knew him from. She didn't think they'd ever spoken before, although she did wear a name badge at work, so that was probably it. And, being English, he probably didn't want to take the risk of mis-pronouncing her surname. Which, in her experience, he was almost certain to do.

"Yes... no... my brother. My brother was to meet me, that is all," she said, "but he is busy." She struggled to remember his name, knowing she'd heard it somewhere. "You are Mister... uh... Pen... Pren..."

"Call me Matthew," he said, smiling, "do you mind if I buy you a drink?"

"Oh..." she was taken aback by the sudden offer, and, at first didn't know how to respond. Didn't she want to get home? On the other hand, Matthew was rather good looking, with dark eyes, medium length hair and a short beard. He wasn't quite as muscular or as tall as her usual type, but his build was slim, without being skinny, and he was no shorter than she was. And hadn't she just been musing about how she had no friends here? "Yes, yes, of course you may," she said, "thank you."

Soon they were sitting at a small table near the bar, a drink each between them. She knew Matthew from the school that her agency did cleaning for, one of a number of different premises that she worked at, as the demand required. That was why she hadn't recognised him at first - he was a teacher, and she had only seen him in suit and tie before, not the casual shirt, sweater, and jeans he was now wearing.

She, on the other hand, was still wearing her cleaner's uniform. She wondered for a moment if that was how he had 'remembered' her name, and he'd just read the badge as she stood there, but then realised it would have been hidden beneath her coat. So he must have made a note of it when she had been at work, and genuinely remembered it now. That was flattering, at least. Few people at her work places bothered remembering the names of the cleaners.

"So, how long have you lived here?" asked Matthew.

Slowly, but surely, it all came out. Not the part about the sexual frustration, obviously, but all the rest of it. She tried not to be too negative about the country, because that would have sounded rude, and, in any event, it wasn't England - or even Macclesfield - that was the real problem. Yes, there were people here that resented her, but when Matthew was being so nice, even that was a subject she preferred to skirt around for today.

It turned out that Matthew was single; she'd assumed as much anyway, from the way he'd approached her. He seemed genuinely interested in her, but even talked a bit about his own background. He was actually from Trafford, having come to Macclesfield to work, but didn't seem to consider it much of an improvement, which led to them comparing their respective childhoods in their home towns.

It was a pleasant evening, the best she'd had in a long while. Before long, they were laughing and joking, and she couldn't help but think that he spent a lot of time gazing into her eyes. After a while, he bought her another drink, and, when he returned and sat down, Raina experimentally brushed her leg up against his beneath the table. He didn't move away, so she rubbed up against him a little more. He responded by putting his hand on her knee, and, when she smiled encouragingly in response, slipped it a little way under her skirt, stroking her outer thigh.

This was going well.

After a while, Matthew glanced at his watch, leaned back in his chair, and asked "do you want me to walk you home?"

"I have a car," she said, automatically, realising that it was much later than she had thought. Was that really the time?

Matthew nodded silently at her empty glass. Oh, yes, that was probably a fair point.

"Unless..." he said, "I could order you a taxi. You said you live nearby, but..."

"Near enough, yes," she said, "of course you can walk me home." She paused, before adding matter-of-factly, "my brother will not be home tonight."

"So you'll be on your own?" he asked.

She nodded, wondering if he felt the same desire that she did, the one that had come out of nowhere earlier in the evening, and had, if anything, only got stronger since. The way he had touched her leg earlier seemed to imply that he might do.

"That's a pity."

"Yes," she said, smiling as she got up, "a big pity."

The rain had stopped, although the sky was still cloudy, an amorphous darkness beyond the glow of the street lights. They both walked swiftly, an unspoken assumption between them that the night was not yet over, and that they needed to get indoors to conclude it. It really wasn't very far, so it wouldn't be difficult to pick her car up again in the morning. A bigger problem would be someone pinching her space in the meantime, so that she couldn't park outside her house the next day. If Jerzy got back late enough, she could park where he normally put his van. Although, that, to be honest, wasn't the foremost thought in her mind right now.