Doctor Who - Torchwood - 16 - First Born by James Goss

Author:James Goss [Goss, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Media Tie-In, Adventure
ISBN: 9781849902830
Google: nFCeIJY9-kAC
Amazon: 1849902836
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2011-10-11T07:00:00+00:00

'We call it the Juniper Tree,' said Eloise. 'You know, after those fairy tales where babies are found lying under Juniper Bushes.'

'Yes... but what is it?'

Eloise smiled. 'Would you believe me if I told you it was alien?'

I nodded.

'Very good. That saves us some time. Well, it's more than alien. It's an alien spaceship. Of sorts. Or the remains of one. We don't quite know. I think...'

Eloise had warmed to her subject, and was leaning back against a bench. 'Many years ago we sent the Voyager probes out into space - complete with a little primer about the human race. Some drawings, a bit of art, maths and a few seeds. So that maybe, just maybe, if another alien species encountered us...

they would know us. I think this is like that. Another species' version of a probe. Or what they'd send back.

This -' she gestured at the vast plant — 'is their way of saying hello.'

I stared at the plant. 'Hello,' I said.

'Yeah,' drawled Eloise, nodding. 'But what a greeting! It's a viable, intelligent organism. When it landed... well, it was tiny. But from an acorn grew all this... And it became, well, an institution acquired it, and gave it to your government. They discovered what it could do. It makes the Scions, Gwen. The good Lord above knows how or why, but it does. What are little girls made of? Sugar spice and all things nice.'

'Slugs and snails and puppy dog's tails,' I finished.

We smiled at each other.

'My life is a bit odd,' laughed Eloise. 'But it's kinda beautiful.'

We stood in that room, looking up at the plant.

I'm not sure for how long. It invited you to just stare at it, like the first snowdrops in spring, or a budding rose about to push out its first flower. You could almost see it growing. Eloise walked around it, telling me how she could even use it to talk to the Tree's home species. 'But what would we say to them?' she laughed.

'Is it anything to do with the stink thistles?' I asked.

Eloise nodded, approvingly. 'No one quite knows what they are. When they first started showing up, we were quite worried that they'd grow into more Juniper Trees. But they don't. They never do much

- don't even flower. We tried getting rid of them and they just grew back.'

'How did it all start?' I asked. My voice was quiet, almost a whisper, like I didn't want to disturb the plant.

She shrugged. 'I think, like all government projects, the origins are lost in a muddle of paperwork and balls-up. All I know is that someone, somewhere, got me in a few years ago to take charge.'

'What had gone wrong?'

'Oh, nothing really.' Bullshit. Eloise was a bad liar. She was evasive, her gaze sliding off anything rather than look you in the eye. 'Just... well, it was quite an undertaking.'

'But why does the plant make the children?'

Eloise clapped her hands together. 'Oh there's the question. Maybe just because it wants to.'

'Yeah, but.

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