Astride the Rift.
Introduction, Recap and teaser

Welcome back. In my evil streak I decided to let those of you who wanted a sequel to "Libraries" wait for it. No, not really. Actually I couldn't think of a way to write the sequel. I was a little busy with other stories and ideas and I couldn't come up with a working plot. It took me a while, then I got this little idea...

Insert evil laugh here

Disclaimer
I don't own Doctor Who, Torchwood or Battlestar Galactica. I did create the character of the Librarian but I earn no money from his creation.

Recap
In an AU of Battlestar Galactica(2003), after fleeing New Caprica Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace finds a small asteroid in orbit around a planet. A door built into the living rock lead to a vast library of an ancient race and it's last guardian.

The Librarian was one of the last of his race. His people were old before time began, the man's decrepit body failing him he literally regenerated into a new body. Declaring the records off limits he banished the Colonial landing team and vanished.

Only that was not the last Kara Thrace saw of him. Posing as a Cylon the Librarian returned her kindness during their first encounter by giving her a chance to say goodbye to her mother. Deciding to take her with him he invited her to set off across the universe. Brow beaten and weary by her life Kara leapt at the chance to simply get away from it all. Almost not caring where she ended up...

Teaser

The two of them sat at a table, they were outside of a lunch room watching people walk past. Kara couldn't say she'd been to this colony before, it was a strange combination of people from all the tribes of man. All skin tones, heights and shapes, there were no clues in the clothes either. Where ever they were it wasn't normal, most of the time the colonies stuck to themselves. 'So where are we?'

'They call it a coffee shop. Serves hot drinks, mostly.' Her travelling companion waved at a man in a smart shirt and trousers. The Librarian was an odd friend to have. Even in this place. Rolling his dark shirt's sleeves to his elbows he asked the man for two coffees and two chocolate muffins.

'A little less specific please.' Kara growled, getting him back to the point. She felt distinctly underdressed in her combat trousers and black vest.

'Err. I think the place is called Cardiff. I'm not sure, wasn't really where I was aiming for.'

'What?' she gasped.

He gave a half shrug 'Something pulled my TARDIS off course. A massive temporal rift running across the city like a bead of mercury. We fell through it like a stone though a wet paper bag.'

Kara didn't like the sound of that one bit 'Isn't that a problem? I mean how the Hades are we supposed to get out of here if this thing pulls us off course...' He waved off her question and pulled out some paper money.

That told her something, they could have been in the past on old Caprica. It wasn't that long ago they had finally done away with hard cash. These days Cubits were only seen on betting tables and the like. He paid for the drinks and little chocolate cakes. The Librarian took a sip of the dark drink and winced; 'Urg, now I know why he suggested I try tea first.'

'Why didn't you then?' she tasted her own drink. It was bitter but she felt she could get used to it. On the other hand baking a mini cake, just big enough for one, was a brilliant idea. It mustn't have caught on though.

He took a mouthful of the chocolate cake and swallowed. 'I was seeing if my old friend could be trusted.' he wiped the corners of his mouth. 'He never exactly was the most trustworthy of people.'

'Ahh the mysterious "friend" of yours. The one who's supposed to be here. I thought you said your race was dead.' she winced. 'Sorry I didn't mean...'

'No, it's alright. I've devoted my life to protecting their knowledge just in case something like this happened. For all things there is a time my child. Ours has come to an end.' He had that sad smile she saw on her own face since the destruction of the colonies. The "at-least-someone-survived" brave face. 'If anyone could survive it he would, and this is favourite planet.'

'And you still won't tell me which planet we're on.' The thing about the Librarian was he kept on pulling secrets out of his backside. Anymore and she'll seriously begin to lose it. Kara had accepted his offer because she had enough troubles on the Galactica. Of all things she needed time. Everyone did but all the angst and deception was just too much. When he offered her a break, anywhere in the universe, she jumped on it. The idea that she could just jump back in time to the moment she left was just the excuse she needed.

'Relax, if he's going to turn up anywhere it would be here. The temporal rift would draw him here even quicker than it did us.'

'I hope so.' She muttered to herself, almost missing the frown he suddenly developed. 'What?'

Elsewhere, underneath the ground in a vast hub, an elite team of alien hunters were staring at a screen. Their leader, a Captain Jack Harkness, had just done the one thing they had never expected him to. He panicked.

Running out of his office he shouted at everyone for ANY rift activity before running back in again and inspecting his little coral plant. Tosh found it half a second later. A rift event that was so big it had quite literally overloaded everything this side of the detector and crashed the system

Jack was there before she had finished calling his name. 'What happened?' he asked.

'I don't know. There was a massive surge that knocked out the computer. If I didn't know any better I'd say someone was using a rift manipulator.'

'No.' Jack shook his head. 'It wasn't that. Looks like someone with a time ship smashed into the rift. They might not have know it was there.'

'So they're not local then?' Gwen asked.

'No. It can't be what I think it is. It just can't be.' he looked at the readings, then his wrist strap and shook his head again.

'What is it Jack?' Owen asked

'It's an energy signature of a TARDIS. The ship of a Time Lord. But he knows about the rift. He wouldn't make that sort of mistake.'

No one moved, no one breathed. Time Lord, that could only mean one thing. 'What's a Timelord?' Gwen frowned

End teaser