Herald of the Dawn (audio story)

Herald of the Dawn was the fourth audio story in Aliens Among Us 3, which concluded the three-part series.

Publisher's summary
It starts normally enough: a car park full of ramblers is incinerated by a thunderbolt. But the next day it's clear there's something very wrong. Something's changed. Something's coming. It's the end of the world. And that's what Torchwood are best at...

Plot
A group of doggers are having sex. One of them is smoking when he hears the airport being blown up by terrorists. The Rift opens and the doggers all begin chanting "God is coming".

At the hospital, Orr is sitting by Jack Harkness's bedside waiting for him to come back to life. In the meantime, they talk to a woman whose daughter's form they take, scaring her away. Jack awakes and tells Orr that he was trying to stop the bombing, which they believe, and they leave with him. They hear a news report about Inspector Bernstein and Jack says that he has found a way to stop Red Doors.

Mr Colchester sends a voicemail to Colin, who has gone to stay with his sister for a few days, and is approached by Ng, with whom he is still unhappy. They head to the Hub, where Yvonne puts Mr Colchester in charge of dealing with the Rift, which is going out of control. She sends Ng to help Andy deal with the doggers, who burnt to death and heads to meet with Ro-Jedda, who has asked to meet her.

At a café, Ng purchases food and is told by the server that God is coming. He goes out onto the street to tell everyone else the same. She meets with Andy, who tells her that the doggers were killed by flames from the sky and talks about his time since killing a refugee, saying that Rhys had been great help. Ng counts fewer victims than cars and surmises that some of the doggers survived.

Jack and Orr visit Inspector Bernstein at his office and, through Orr's powers, determine that he is not guilty of the reports of child abuse which he blames Ro-Jedda for. Jack and Orr promise to help.

Yvonne and Ro-Jedda talk in Ro-Jedda's rooftop garden. Yvonne has been given permission by Felicity, the Prime Minister, to make a deal between the Sorvix and Torchwood for the betterment of the economy of the UK. She briefly meets Tyler, a meeting that she realises was organised by Ro-Jedda to see what she would reveal. They agree to help one another wipe out Red Doors. In Tyler's office, Ro-Jedda catches him on his phone and he claims that he was postponing lunch with a friend.

In the Hub, Mr Colchester is attempting to keep the Rift under control and receives a call from Rhys, who begins asking what he thinks about "Gwen"'s reaction to the Escape Room before dismissing it and leaving to deal with Anwen.

Andy and Ng see Rory Owen shouting about God and stop to speak to him. Yvonne calls Andy and asks him to send her locations of abandoned industrial units before inviting him to dinner. The man asks Ng why she ran away from God and says that she is disappointed in her. Gwen tries to reach out to Andy.

Tyler tries to call Jack when a man claiming to be from Red Doors appears and asks him to come with him to see Jack. Tyler runs away to the Hub's main entrance but is cornered by the man, an assassin sent by Ro-Jedda. Mr Colchester opens the door and is shot before the two of them escape into the Hub. They briefly discuss the Rift, which Mr Colchester needs to close, when the assassin bursts in.

In an industrial unit, 3Sol intrude on a Red Doors meeting where they are learning how to make bombs. Yvonne intimidates the leader into putting down the bomb he was carrying. They go on to round up two more cells.

Andy locks up Rory, who they learn was one of the doggers who survived. Gwen tries again to reach out.

Mr Colchester tricks the assassin into shooting a barrel of diesel and continues fleeing with Tyler. They reset the Rift before heading to activate the Rift Manipulator. Mr Colchester starts losing his sight on the way but refuses to let Tyler call Ng, admitting that he no longer trusts her.

Yvonne and Darren of 3Sol shut down where Red Doors run their website. She tells him about how useful it was to be sit the terrorists down and give them tea to find out the location of other cells rather than shooting them. She says it is time for the mayor.

Tyler answers Andy's phone call to the Hub and asks him to send someone, but Mr Colchester tells him not to. Andy then calls Jack, who is with Inspector Bernstein and has been inadvertently dogging Yvonne's steps. Jack calls Yvonne, who does not pick up and continues drinking with Ro-Jedda. She asks Ro-Jedda why the Sorvix came to Earth and learns that they fled because of their religion. Jack leaves her an angry voicemail and tells her that Red Doors plan to bomb City Hall before listening to the voicemail left by Andy, who says that he is concerned about Gwen. Jack and Orr head to the Hub.

In the Hub, Mr Colchester has gone blind and directs Tyler on what to do. The assassin emerges and decides to eat them, but Ng arrives and shoots him. The three of them set about closing the Rift. Jack and Orr take the invisible lift and see the Rift opening, causing Orr to begin changing. Jack says that they should risk the Rift opening, knowing that it would provoke a reaction from Ng, and Orr is finally able to read her and realises that she is not Gwen. The Rift splits Ng from Gwen and Mr Colchester closes the Rift just before a creature can emerge.

A bomb detonates and destroys City Hall where Yvonne and Ro-Jedda were toasting their victory. Inspector Bernstein leads the first responders and Andy arrives with the police. Tyler receives a call about the explosion and Jack says that he chose to phone through a warning before coming for Gwen rather than going to City Hall, believing that she was more important. Tyler and Orr leave to take Mr Colchester to the hospital, but Orr stops the car to ask those worshipping God why they are doing so. They begin transforming and the worshippers call them "the Herald". Mr Colchester stops breathing.

Rhys arrives at the Hub. Ng stops looking like Gwen whilst the real Gwen wakes up and embraces him. Gwen tells Jack that she has spent her time considering who she is and what she wants and that she has decided to leave Torchwood to start a new life with Rhys and Anwen elsewhere, no longer wanting to be defined by the organisation. She bids Jack farewell and leaves with Rhys, unsure if they would see each other again. The Rift opens and Jack screams.

Yvonne wakes up on the collapsing roof of City Hall and finds Ro-Jedda. They witness the Rift opening and Ro-Jedda announces that God has finally found them.

Cast

 * Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Yvonne Hartman - Tracy-Ann Oberman
 * Ng - Alexandria Riley
 * Mr Colchester - Paul Clayton
 * Orr - Sam Béart
 * Tyler Steele - Jonny Green
 * Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
 * Sgt. Andy Davidson - Tom Price
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Ro-Jedda - Rachel Atkins
 * Rory - Garnon Davies
 * Assassin - Joseph Tweedale
 * Inspector Bernstein - Richard Elfyn
 * God Botherer - Aly Cruickshank
 * Darren - Rick Yale
 * Reporter - Charlotte O'Leary

Worldbuilding

 * A number of people in Cardiff engage in dogging.
 * VJ drives a Škoda.
 * Carol's mother is told by Mr Alturk that Carol is in a coma that she might not wake up from.
 * Colin has gone to stay with his sister.
 * Ng says the last time she and Rhys had a row, she spent the day in Tenby.
 * Yvonne mentions seeing Felicity in Brussels the following week.
 * Yvonne says that Santorini is on top of a volcano.
 * Andy says that Yvonne is fierce "in the drag queen sense".
 * Andy speaks Welsh, saying "croeso Caerdydd".
 * Bernstein is accused of being a paedophile.
 * Bernstein has a wife and children.
 * Ro-Jedda wonders who really runs Cardiff: London, the Senedd or herself.
 * Tyler has an office.
 * Rhys jokingly asks Mr Colchester if he and Anwen should be fleeing to the Brecon Beacons.
 * Andy mentions Cardiff Castle.
 * Andy mentions Jesus.
 * During Andy and Gwen's first year as partners, they had to deal with a man trying to get on a bus to Carmarthen naked. Gwen asked the man why he wanted to go to Carmarthen.
 * Red Doors blows up the Cardiff Bay Barrage.
 * Rory's wife thought he was at zumba.
 * Jack tells Orr that he will take them to Ibiza.
 * Colchester says the rift manipulator manual is handwritten and praises Mr Jones' penmanship.
 * Ro-Jedda says that Cardiff Bay is like Spain for three months of the year and Norway for the rest.

Continuity

 * Jack again mentions that his legs always heal last when he resurrects. (AUDIO: Uncanny Valley)
 * Ng talks about how Rhys acted after learning about aliens. (TV: Meat, etc.)
 * Yvonne is heard talking to the Prime Minister on the phone and mentions Kate Stewart. (TV: The Power of Three, et al) and UNIT.
 * Yvonne asks about the Escape Room and if it was run by a crazed alien. (AUDIO: Escape Room)
 * Andy is being allowed to do work away from his desk, which he had not been allowed to do since shooting a refugee. (AUDIO: The Empty Hand, Tagged)
 * Ro-Jedda mentions eating people. (AUDIO: Orr, Zero Hour, etc.)
 * Andy says "it's not the first time we've dealt with people chanting creepy alien stuff". (TV: Children of Earth: Day One et al)
 * Mr Colchester mentions Mary Cooper's death. (AUDIO: Orr)
 * Colchester says that when he first met Gwen, "all she had was a hole in the ground and some ambitions". (TV: Children of Earth: Day One)
 * Gwen references the deaths of Owen, Toshiko, Ianto and Esther. (TV: Exit Wounds, Children of Earth: Day Four, The Blood Line)
 * This is the first direct reference to the events of series four other than The Miracle and The Three Families, which was retroactively attributed to the audio plot of The Committee.