UNIT: Transition

[thisbluespirit]

Title: UNIT: Transition
Author: thisbluespirit
Rating: Teen (for some darker themes and cruelty to animals in Ch1)
Summary: July 1977: UNIT, post-Brigadier. In the aftermath of an explosion at Fetch Priory, Torchwood take their chance to neutralise a diminished UNIT as a threat and they want Professor Colby’s help. Colonel Crichton isn’t prepared to see that happen and Colby isn’t too keen, either, but both are dangerously outnumbered.
(WIP)

(Oh, and one note: I realised I hadn't written in either this or Remnants Crichton's initial meeting with Mrs Tyler, so it is now in Ch1 of this, as it was an accidental omission.)

*

Yes, really obscure fic. Hurrah. I'm sorry. But the plot bunnies didn't so much bite as kidnap me and lock me in a room with pen and paper. But two familiar faces will appear, one a couple of times and another in a cameo, for sensible reasons, of course, but to try and make it a little more accessible.

I was going to not write this (because my fic is really getting so obscure at the moment that you need some kind of Classic Who Dictionary to follow it and just because I've been studying minor characters with intensity that doesn't mean anyone else is interested), but it suddenly occurred to me that it would make sense of the two UNIT stories I was unable to write but still have pages of around. One I've mentioned elsewhere as my 'evil' story - sort of UNIT: End of An Era and the one I thought of which had Bambera in early days at UNIT, serving under Crichton, with zombies. Sort of. This fits in the middle and in a funny way, makes sense of them, so I wrote it. When they're all done at some point, it'll make a weird little UNIT trilogy.

I wrote it out all longhand, properly all week and it's quite odd typing it up, as I didn't work out where the chapter breaks were after the first one and Chapter Three now looks as though it's going somewhere it really, really isn't, which is strange. 

Edit: Oh, and I'm sorry about the dog.  And I do realise that when trying to give a completely neglected UNIT CO some credibility, wheeling in his Aunt is not the way to do it, but... 

 *

But it does mean I haven't typed up any more of The Devil Is A Gentleman (Fifth Doctor, 1851 fic), nor have I fixed the middle of This Perilous Grace (my tardis_gen) story and I really should, especially since I can finally talk about it!

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

'blot bunnies'? I know - you have to be blotto to avoid the plot bunnies... :D

Personally I just think you're out to oppress everyone into watching all your fave episodes and that's why you keep writing fics featuring obscure characters...

ETA: PS Just re-read 'Passing Angels' - moar pls!

[thisbluespirit]

Whoops. I've just corrected it and been attacked by plot bunnies and not a strange alternate breed. :-)

And I'm not. I suppose it's no stranger, in Colby's case than wanting to write fic about a character in a film, because he has the same amount of screen time, but... It's this Happy Ending thing. And I can easily see people not liking Image, so definitely no evil plot here.

*Passes Hex and Martha to persiflage_1* you can play with them!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Whoops. I've just corrected it and been attacked by plot bunnies and not a strange alternate breed. :-)

*giggles*

And I'm not. I suppose it's no stranger, in Colby's case than wanting to write fic about a character in a film, because he has the same amount of screen time, but... It's this Happy Ending thing. And I can easily see people not liking Image, so definitely no evil plot here.

Sure, sure, I believe you... :P

*Passes Hex and Martha to persiflage_1* you can play with them!

What, carry on with Hex at TW with Martha and Jack?

[thisbluespirit]

I;m telling the truth, I dunno... ;-p (It's me; I like having questions. I can wonder forever now about aspects of the characters, but for someone people that's definitely a bad thing).

And, yes, Hex at TW with Martha and Jack, if you wanted. Oh, sorry. You got plot bunnies rampaging, too, I forgot!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I'm telling the truth, I dunno... ;-p (It's me; I like having questions. I can wonder forever now about aspects of the characters, but for someone people that's definitely a bad thing).

I know - I'm just teasing you! One of the reasons I love writing fic is because I love wondering about aspects of characters - and how they'll deal with certain situations...

And, yes, Hex at TW with Martha and Jack, if you wanted. Oh, sorry. You got plot bunnies rampaging, too, I forgot!

Indeed I have! However, I'll leave the idea to simmer in the back of my brain and we'll see what the plot bunnies do with it!

[belantana.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I'm liking this. Very dark and mysterious; makes a noticeable change from your usual stuff! Have bookmarked later chapters for the mythical future when I have more time...

(Also, I don't think I need to say that I would be wildly excited should the one with zombies ever get finished. ZOMBIES OMG.)

[thisbluespirit]

Thank you! (And what is it with you and zombies? They're not actual proper zombies - they're boring and bits drop off them. But nearly... ;-D)

I'm feeling annoyed with myself. Yes, I wrote something a bit 'darker' than normal. (Well, ish. It still has a likeable soldier and an aunty Mildred even so). Why? I had a course I organised coming up, therefore dread loomed; I needed somewhere to hide. Course is now successfully over; I get home and think: La la la... Hmm, now where did I get to with my other stories? (Luckily, this one is all written out and only needs typing up or I'd probably have abandoned it!!!)

[belantana.livejournal.com]

I do not know what it is about the zombies. All I know is that I have never read a fanfic with zombies in that was not utterly awesome.

Oh, I'm sorry that the 'dark' story isn't working out for you. Maybe you should shelve it until you next have a dread-inducing course? :) I'll be extra glad to see your normal lighthearted fics from now on, now that I know they are an indicator of mood!

[thisbluespirit]

Not much to live up to, then. I'll never dare! ;-p

Oh, the story worked out (despite my slight whimpering over the fact that I really do prefer the AU version!); it was just I hid in a story and I kind of annoy myself qwhen I do that. Last time I did it, it was How The West Was Lost, only at least that was a more cheerful place to hide!

I still like this fic, I'm just feeling predictable. ;-)

[belantana.livejournal.com]

Pfft, the only thing predictable about your writing is its brilliant quality!

[pedanther]

I was waiting until I'd re-watched 'Fendahl', which I've done, so now I've read your story and I like it. (And like several other commenters, I'm particularly glad Aunt Mildred insisted on being included.)

One thing I don't quite get (I hope this is not a bad place to ask) is how the blackmail plot was supposed to work. What was in the report that would have caused trouble for the blackmailee?

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, thank you! :-D

No, ask away! It wouldn't have harmed the person being blackmailed specifically, but the idea was that the government wouldn't want a report that said "And, by the way we're all descended from aliens" being published and in all the papers. (They don't have one, but if they have Colby, they can at least pretend they do.) TW hope that this threat will get them to agree to de-fanging UNIT, especially since they aren't exactly fond of UNIT anyway.

It was a direct link back to Fendahl, so maybe I didn't spell it out enough? Because that would cause quite a stir (!), plus, aliens vs apes kind of theories had been soundly debunked (so the ever unreliable ABout Time tells me - which might be why Colby's so sceptical about the whole thing - really, really stubbornly so!).

But I don't know how far TW would have got, because if the minister (or whoever it was now) had pushed back and said, "Well, go ahead; we'll just find a way to disprove it!" it would have fallen apart. Still, Belfort liked the idea, but he's not a good judge of anything.

I hope that makes sense. Hmm, I shall have to go and look at it again now. Sometimes I don't like writing things out loud, as it were, which is usually a drawback in these things... But, yes, that was the idea.

[pedanther]

Ah, I see.

If it helps, I think the problem was that I don't recall anyone in the story saying specifically what the report was about, and I was inclined by Colby's repeated insistence that he didn't know anything much about Fendleman's methods to think that it was the methods, and not the results, that TW was most interested in.

I understand about not wanting to write things out loud sometimes; I do that, too, sometimes with the same drawback. (We're in good company, though - there's a subplot in Raymond Chandler's first novel that's famously supposed to not have a solution; the solution actually is there in the book, but it's not spelled out explicitly, it just sort of comes together in the background while the characters are trying to resolve the main plot.)

[thisbluespirit]

Heh. I went to have a look once I had the time, because obvious I need to look at things like clarity, but I did think I did explain it somewhere. And, right at the end of Pt 3:

Colby stared back at him. “I don’t believe it. That’s it, isn’t it? Because you know what Fendelman’s theories were -.”

“Human development from alien interference,” he said. “It’s been mooted before.”

He said, “And discredited, if it was ever taken seriously. But this could be different. And if you can’t have the actual findings, you can at least try and fool whoever it is that you have in mind, that maybe I ran out with the notes stuffed in my lab coat. You don’t want a scientific advance — and this wasn’t, anyway — you want to use it as a threat. How much will someone offer you not to publish this?”

“And you still haven’t answered my question, Colby. Why did you come, knowing that there was no glory left in it for you? This won’t help your reputation.”

He smiled back at him. “Yes. Only if I want to discredit myself completely. I came here because I thought you might have some answers about this whole mess, but that was a mistake. You know even less than I do!”

“So,” said Belfort, waiting for him to finish. “Here we are, cards on the table. We don’t mean you any harm. Do as we ask and you’ll at least get your pay.”

“What, help you blackmail the government, or whoever it is by writing balderdash for you? I don’t think so!”

There's some references back to this in ch4-6, but not explicitly, as I fondly imagined before I reread them.

And, yes, it's 3rd person limited, so up till that point the reader in those sections only knows what Colby knows and he's a bit mystified himself... :lol: