Chapter Text
There was a phone ringing somewhere. Sarah Jane Smith rubbed her eyes, and felt around on the sofa for it. "Hello," she said sleepily.
"Did I get the time wrong again?" A familiar voice asked lazily.
That woke her up. "No, Turlough. It's only 10pm. I must have dozed off. Sorry. I had an emergency last night. Didn't get much sleep. Did you call for a reason?" She sat up straight on the sofa, brushing her shoulder length brown hair back, and letting the book she had been reading before she fell asleep fall to the floor.
"A bit of politics has turned nasty." Turlough might claim that Trion was more civilised than Earth, but from what Sarah Jane had seen, the political infighting best resembled Renaissance Italy in the Borgias' time. "The Caslovans and the Avenirs." There had been a period of upheaval in the government when the people in charge had sent selected political opponents to exile on Earth. Turlough had been one of those, and later he'd worked with Sarah Jane, searching the records and arranging transport home for those who wanted it. Some had chosen to stay, including Alexi Caslovan
"You think someone will see her as a target?" Sarah Jane asked needlessly. It wouldn't be the first time that alien politics had been played out on Earth and it wouldn't be the last. As long as they were subtle about it, the Shadow Proclamation would ignore it. "Where is she now? Still in the States?"
"Yeah. I've sent Mr Smith what I've got. She's been writing home to her parents semi-regularly. Do you think you can keep her safe for about a month? As the self-appointed diplomatic liaison to Earth, I'll come out as soon as I can, but I need to take care of some things here first."
"That serious, huh? It'll be good to see you in person again," Sarah Jane replied. It had been way too long, but the Trion only returned to Earth under duress.
Turlough laughed. "You're the only thing that makes a trip to Earth bearable. Well, that and proper tea."
"I'm glad I rate that highly with you," Sarah Jane said mock-sarcastically. "I don't suppose-"
"I can probably spend a few days there, after we've got that sorted," he replied. "It's not fair that I have to come there to see you. I'd love to sic you on some of the people I deal with."
"If you have some ideas to speed up the development of space flight without totally wrecking the timeline, I'd be happy to hear them." They both knew it was impossible, but somehow they always came back to this.
He had no answer for her, so they chatted for a little while longer before she reluctantly ended the call. The name Alexi Caslovan had produced a niggling feeling in the back of her brain, a feeling she recognised all too well. Crossing one's own timeline was dangerous at best, and she'd done it way too often. The feeling would be a memory that had faded to protect the timestream. But knowing that something was there, Sarah Jane knew that if she focused on the thing that had set it off, often she could get something through word association or muscle memory.
It was the latter this time. She found she'd entered a number into her phone. US country code and all. Without hesitation, she pressed dial.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end had an English accent.
Sarah Jane stared at the mobile for a long time forcing herself into the mindset she needed to do what she had to to keep Alexi Caslovan safe. He was a perfectly appropriate person to call, but she always felt guilty about lying to him. Still, Josh Townsend was the best bodyguard she knew, and he might baulk but in the end he'd do as she asked.
"I need you to do something for me." Normally she'd have couched it as a request and Josh would have humoured her need to pretend that she wasn't in control, but just the fact that she was ordering him to do anything would give him context and convey the urgency of the situation which, if her instincts were telling her to call him, was very bad indeed.
"Let me get this straight, SJ," Josh said to the woman at the other end of the trans-Atlantic call. "You are asking me to get close to Alexi Caslovan and protect her from threats without her knowing what I'm doing. As I recall, you were incredibly displeased when I did that to you." He still had some of the things she'd said ringing in his ears. "Though I also remember you weren't being anywhere near as honest with me as you expected me to be with you."
"You wouldn't have understood. Not then," Sarah Jane replied. "And don't call me SJ," she added automatically but without any force.
She'd been saying that for years, and while it was true, Josh didn't consider it a good argument. She'd never even tried to apologise, perhaps because she knew he didn't need it. He changed the subject instead. "Are you lifting your ban on guns?" Another sticking point in their relationship.
"No, but we both know you'll ignore me, so I don't know why you bothered to ask," Sarah replied. "Look, Josh, ideological issues aside, I'm asking you because I know from personal experience that you're good at this and because I know that whatever else happens, I can count on your loyalty."
Josh bit back a question. Reading between the lines, the answer was obvious. Instead he asked, "Do I need to point out that with Dad still ill, I'm running his business empire?"
"Your dad found it easy enough to get away when he needed to. I'm sure you can too. How is he doing, by the way?"
She had only played this card openly once, on the Dauntless, but her meaning was clear. Josh suspected she tried not to think about it, unless she absolutely had to. "Dad's about the same." He'd sent her regular reports; he just hadn't been sure that she'd read them until his father let it slip that he'd been corresponding with her. "I suppose it would be useless to ask why you need me to do this?
"It's complicated." She sounded more tired than she ought to be. It was only 11pm back home in England. "What happened on the Dauntless is a stone being dropped in a river and this is one of the ripples that resulted."
"More than it should," Josh said ruefully. It was useless to ask if she was asking him to do this as the Herald or as a friend. He knew her answer would be "both". But he'd known her long enough to know that she wouldn't be asking this of him without a reason, and the fact that she was willing to ask him as de facto Keeper of the White Chapter told him just how important this was to her. Nat had complained more than once that Sarah used people but as he'd discovered six years ago, Sarah had her reasons. They might argue about terminology, but he knew his faith in her had not been misplaced.
In the end they both knew he would do what she requested.