Below are the 17 most recent journal entries recorded in harriet_jones' LiveJournal:

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
6:31 am	Meanwhile, Elsewhere... I am so bloody tired of Major Hearst's cloak and dagger games. Why can't he have a meeting at a decent hour? And why this sudden use of such overblown language. Fate of the world, indeed. Still, I suppose I had better go see what he wants. I owe UNIT a favor after the most recent Christmas debacle. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 26th, 2006
8:06 am	Postscript And to think of the fight that the Minister of Defence put up when I told him to put the army on alert on Christmas Eve. Well, then, let them think I have an undisclosed intelligence source. It'll keep them on their toes. Now I need to have a word with Captain Harkness about Torchwood's total lack of internal communications. Talk about not letting the left hand know what the right was doing. How could he not know about their base under the Thames? (Comment on this)
Friday, November 10th, 2006
11:40 pm	Burning the Midnight Oil. Major Hearst had better have a bloody good reason for wanting a meeting at this time of night. Still, when the head of UNIT's England operations tells you it's important, it probably is. Another late night. A shame that Jones boy has left. He made such excellent coffee. (Comment on this)
Monday, October 30th, 2006
9:17 pm	Hmm... I had the oddest encounter with Major Hearst at the monthly briefiing. Lacking practically any other conversational gambit with the man - I don't even know if he's married, I've realized - I made a little dig about how he hasn't bothered me for access to Torchwood for weeks. Instead of the usual grumpy muttering, he looked positively serene and said how that really didn't matter at this point, "Everything is going to work out. Everything." he assured me, but I don't think my presence was precisely vital - or even registered - during this exchange. I've dropped a note to the current head of Torchwood London, strongly suggesting an immediate audit of personnel. Whether or not she listens to me is something else altogether. That's the trouble with these supra-governmental organizations. They're frightfully independent. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 24th, 2006
11:52 am	That Sinking Feeling. I haven't heard from Major Hearst in quite some time. This might be a good sign, or it could be very bad. Either he's found another way to get what he was so fervently pestering me for - as if I could grant it with a wave of the hand - or he's found something else to occupy his time. Even after those recent rumblings in Cardiff, I haven't heard a peep from the man. Is he ill, perhaps? Or has he managed to get a mole within the organization? Worse yet, would could possibly drag his attention away from Torchwood? Unfortunately, I've got to focus on stumping for the upcoming by-elections, or else Major Hearst might well become the opposition's headache, and I can't have that happening just yet. (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 8th, 2006
10:12 pm	Checking In... The next time I meet The Doctor - and it seems rather inevitable that I will - I might feel compelled to kick him in the shins. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 25th, 2006
10:19 am	My word. It seems that the Civil Service's promises to reduce bureaucracy and create a more open government were actually genuine. I've just received a copy of some rather interesting papers from the Sax-Coburg estate. Having thoroughly weasled my way into knowledge of Torchwood didn't hurt, either, as there was no reason to withhold any information on the basis of protecting that project. Although it seems that a lot of what I'd previously learned was carefully crafted misinformation - not wrong, per se, just placed a little inaccurately on the calendar. There was no hint that Torchwood was a going concern before the Second World War, let alone sixty years before. Not that I've got unalloyed information, mind - but only a third or so of it has been blacked out, which is better than the 100% blackout that I expected. I forget which act was cited to justify breaking the 100 year rule, but it was one of those hush-hush laws that you have to have a security clearance to even hear about, let alone encounter. A doctor from Balmory with supiciously advanced knowledge of things non-Terran, and a half-dressed girl from London with a clever mouth. Even with almost all other details deleted from my copy, I smell a rat. Rather, I smell a Time Lord... I would be rather smug about Victoria's last order to the pair of them but, for heaven's sake, it's not like it's something that can be enforced - not reasonably. But it is reassuring to see that I'm not the first person who doesn't greet the Doctor's presence with unquestioning, wide-open arms. Death and destruction follow the man around, and are only occasionally compensated for by his actions - often taken up in direct consequence of the aforementioned destruction. I shouldn't lose sight of the fact that I'd be dead if it wasn't for his presence in Ten Downing Street that day - but nor should I forget everything else I've learned in the meantime. (Comment on this)
Monday, April 24th, 2006
2:41 pm	Blast. UNIT - more to the point, Major Hearst - is playing hardball regarding the sharing of certain information. This is almost certainly about Torchwood. We hardly interact about anything else, and we're usually in serene agreement during those times. I'll just have to cope, I suppose. UNIT is sitting on some reports regarding The Doctor that might prove informative, but if I give way on the Torchwood matter, it'll be the thin end of the wedge. UNIT will poke its nose in to all sorts of place by holding information hostage. A little give and take is necessary in politics, but I have a feeling that Hearst would take quite a lot and offer not very much in return, given the opportunity. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 18th, 2006
6:25 am	Major Hearst must be up to something, because he hasn't sent me a pestering memo in at least a fortnight. I'd better go take a look at the administrivia for Torchwood and make sure he hasn't weasled his way in there - although if he's cultivated a source of information over there, I doubt I'll be able to identify it. Nor can I involve anyone else. The PM mobilizing MI5 against UNIT? Ridiculous - and guaranteed to be leaked to the press within days. It's a shame, as we get along rather well, otherwise. Thinking of getting along, planet Earth in general and England in particular are ticking over nicely despite a lack of interference from Time Lords and for that I'm quite grateful. I can almost convince myself that I overreacted about The Doctor's behavior at Christmas - if it wasn't for that damned vote... Even failures can prove successful. A fair bit has been gleaned from the Slitheen "fake" ship, It was a functional vessel in it's way, just designed for a very short operating life. The MoD had a bit of a tantrum when they realized that I wasn't going to divert any part of the national budget towards their building of flying saucers or whatever it was they wanted - they've already got a bloody great ray gun, after all. Torchwood had to be developed by the military, but a new form of transportation can be 'sub-contracted', as it were, to the private sector. They're the ones who'll make the money off it - let them spend billions on research and development. Sad to say, the private sector is where most of our best-and-brightest minds go, anyway. As long as the MoD (and, by extension, HMG) gets a share of the resulting patent, then there's no cause for anyone to complain. The army will get their hover-tanks (or whatever) in approximately the same time-frame, and for half the cost than if they went the usual government-R&D-contract route. Some of those former contractors were amongst the most shameless unhanged scoundrels in the kingdom. I'm quite glad that this government has done away with no-bid contracts and put some teeth into the penalties for private companies trying to feather their nests at taxpayers' expense - hence my confidence that the current methodolgy is the better one. I don't know why I'm dedicating so much thought to matters extra-terrestrial. I've got enough domestic issues keeping me awake at night as it is. MI5 is convinced that a recent outbreak of the "vomiting bug" at a bank in the City was actually a test run (or a misfired real-thing) of a chemical weapon in the hands of Allah-knows-who. Investigating that without leaking the possible truth has proven savage fun... Meanwhile, the undeserving poor are clamoring for another handout (I'm starting to wonder if re-instating certain welfare programs was such a good idea) and the Americans are being bothersome again/as usual. I'm starting to see why my predecessors seemed to age so rapidly once taking office. In completely domestic news, it appears that I'm a spinster again. I feel guilty about how I neglected Craig, but I feel worse for the fact that I didn't even realize he was seeing someone else until some overly solicitious nitwit from DPG brought it up. I don't think Craig appreciated it much, either... (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 26th, 2006
8:25 pm	Catching Up... Major Hearst and I have been having some rather interesting talks about subjects of mutual interest, but we've come to an impasse regarding one matter - Torchwood - and I fear that it might cause a permanent rupture between us. That would be a shame, as we get along fairly well, otherwise. But I'm not going to give way on this. Torchwood is a strictly domestic concern, and none of UNIT's business, no matter how much they stamp their foot and grumble about usually having primary access to alien technology. Usually doesn't mean always. I understand that Hearst had a hand in kicking Torchwood off when he was a part of the British army, but as UN personnel, he simply has no place within it now, no matter how nostalgic he might be feeling. But the weekly memo requesting access to the project is becoming a bit of a bore. I'm tempted to fold the bloody things up into airplanes and throw them at him during our next conference, but I doubt that would improve our relationship at all. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 31st, 2006
6:47 pm	New Brooms... I've just returned from the press conference announcing Major Hearst's appointment, and I must admit he's not at all what I expected. What I expected was a fifty-something career office - obligatory silly mustache and a bit of a extra weight around the middle. What I met was a rather handsome man, young enough to make me feel my age. Apparently our Major Hearst is a bit of a wunderkind. I hope that he's got a thick skin, because there were a few muttered comments by the mustachioed late-middle-aged careerists - comments I was supposed to overhear - about high fliers getting burned before too long. As long as he avoids that particular fate, I don't give a damn how he's thought of by his peers. Clearly Major Hearst is competent, otherwise he wouldn't be in the position he's currently in. I've told Alex to make an appointment for me and Major Hearst to have a little chat in the next couple of weeks. I want a lot more transparency between UNIT and HMG from now on, particularly in regards to contingency plans for situations like the one we faced on Christmas. I'm sure he'll balk and bluster about security and whatnot, but unless the UN wants to suddenly have Station Blake turned out on the streets - they use their facilities at the sufferance of British taxpayers - I'm sure they'll come around to my point of view. (Comment on this)
Monday, January 30th, 2006
5:53 pm	Good News At last, things are moving forward, in one area, at least. I've just been told that Major Michael Hearst has been confirmed as Major Blake's replacement at UNIT. It's a silly thing to quibble about, but I was worried the UN was going to send some American, a move which would have caused some ruffled feathers and quashed morale here in London, as silly as that should be. In principle, the UN is a cosmopolitan body but, in practice, it's just created formal procedures for provincial thinking. Oh well one must take the bad with the good - although I'll accept Hearst's appointment as good news. Major Hearst is British born and bred, making the jump from Army intelligence to UNIT early in his military career. His credentials are solid, and Blake's peers are apparently pleased by news of the appointment, so I'm hoping that the interim overseeing of UNIT's activities is off my office's docket. Not that I won't be keeping an eye on them, of course - and they on me. I know they're still wondering how I found out about Torchwood. For heaven's sake, it's an ongoing miracle that half the bloody country hadn't heard about it before Christmas Day. Incidentally, Hearst himself was instrumental in Torchwood's initial development, and the ongoing finding/hoarding of ET information. I've heard that his appointment is of no surprise to anyone inside UNIT. It might be a little paranoid of me, but now that I think of it, it might do me well to make sure I've got a few friendly eyes and ears within UNIT and Torchwood or else who knows what I might not hear about until after it's too late? Hearst would be the place to start, but definitely not the only place. I'll have to speak to Alex about making some appointments in the next few weeks. It's a relief that UNIT seems to be better at keeping things under wraps than the FBI and CIA - unless Roswell is a giant red herring. That's an interesting thought. I might look into that, once the American President is over his fit of pique... (Comment on this)
5:40 pm	Thoughts On The Doctor ( OOC Note ) I'm a third of the way through the sizable stack of documents, reports and flat-out speculations regarding The Doctor. I must admit that, had I not already met him and gotten an impression of the man, I'd be inclined to dismiss this file as a collection of paranoid delusions. As it is, I'm not sure if the Doctor should be welcomed as a boon, or chased off the planet as a menace. UNIT takes the former view. Their experts - particularly reports of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart who has probably had the longest continuous contact with the Doctor - accept the Doctor as an erratic but brilliant individual who, more often than not, is willing to assist us Earthlings when alien trouble rears its head. Although even Stewart had to admit that a lot of that assistance must have been at least partially motivated by self-interest, as the Doctor was trapped on earth for several years in the 1960s and 1970s. Once his TARDIS was restored to him, his attention was erratic at best. Perhaps I'm more cynical than I realized, but I have difficulty accepting The Doctor as some sort of "benign alien philanthropist with a sentimental interest in Earth" - that being a direct quote from UNIT's 1974 report. Self-interest comes into play somewhere, even in the most (apparently) altruistic of actions. Moreover, I have difficulty trusting a person who apparently managed to implant some sort of mass-hypnosis, post-hypnotic command within a significant percentage of the British public. Was it everyone who's read the text of the Official Secrets Act, perhaps? In which case, perhaps it's time to introduce a significant re-working of it... Six words, he said, and I faced a vote of no confidence within a day. It would be easier on my sanity if I could believe that it was coincidence, but I don't. The motion came out of nowhere, and on the flimsiest of grounds. The Doctor must have some sort of agenda. He's proven that by dropping that benign mask when things didn't go his way with the Sycorax. There's a steel fist in that cloth glove and I don't like the idea of a single alien, one apparently in disgrace with his own people, manipulating the events of a sovereign country - the entire planet - to further that agenda. So much for the stated Time Lord policy of non-interference. Unfortunately, the Time Lords are good for bugger all, at the moment. It used to be that in return for bulletins detailing the Doctor's activities, we would receive small but valuable bits of information from Gallifrey. Nothing on the scale of what led to Torchwood, but suggestions regarding the flight path of the Pioneer satellites, that sort of thing. I believe now that perhaps those flight plans were designed to keep those satellites from running into any number of aliens, but there's not much point in speculation. To return to my original point, nothing has been heard from the Time Lords in over fifteen years, so there's little chance that I can speak with them to ask for clarification. Before contact was lost, the Time Lords disclosed that The Doctor is quite allergic to gasses in the Abraxis range - whatever that is. I've made a point of reminding UNIT of that piece of information. It might be useful, once it's understood. But for all of my worry and concern, I can't deny that there's something likable about the man. The paranoid part of me suspects that might be tied in with his probable skills of hypnosis. The more optimistic part of my nature hopes that it's simply because he is likable and believes he has humanity's best interests in mind. A lot of tyrants believed that they had the people's best interests in mind. In light of what happened with the Sycorax and the aftermath of same, I’m forced to wonder on which side of the line both I and the Doctor stand. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
10:15 pm	I feel sorry for Craig, I really do. Well, I feel sorry for us, really. Nine months ago, things were going nicely along and I was thinking about popping the question on our next long weekend together, if he didn't beat me to it. Then aliens landed - not for the first time, granted - and all hell broke loose. It's rather hard to date when one's in the bloody spotlight. Oh, we've managed to have some time together - thank god for the DPG and discreet exits out of Number 11 - but it's hardly the relationship it was. Neither of us want to go public - I'll have to fend off a load of bloody stupid questions, speculation and, god help me, gushy women's magazines. Craig would have to deal with his bosses encouraging him to try his hand at a bit of undue influence - and let's not get into how my party would take it that I'm dating a fiscally conservative banker, shall we? The loony lefties will start screeching undue influence out of principle and I'd rather not have to explain to them that economic policy is just about the last thing we'd ever discuss between ourselves. I don't want to just let it go, though. I'm surrounded by people all the time, but it's rather true what they say about positions of power - they can be very lonely. (Comment on this)
Monday, January 23rd, 2006
8:11 pm	Evening Thoughts. A somewhat satisfying day. The Minister for Education has been fired - pardon me, strongly encouraged to tender his resignation and MI5 has promised to pull its socks up regarding these little details in a person's background. Not so long ago, I and my fellow backbenchers would harp on about how we would manage things if we were in charge. No matter how sterling the leadership, an MP is going to have some ambition, some ideas of their own and they usually come out after a few drinks. Cabinets would be re-organized, budgets re-written and - on occasion - certain members would be sent to the Tower. The shoe is, of course, on the other foot now. And misery loves company. The Slitheen wiped out a significant portion of the upper echelons of the government, not just the intelligence community, and so a few other (former) bankbenchers have been dragged up the greasy pole with me. Some it was simple common sense, a few other appointments were a necessary bit of quid pro quo. The general state of shock was, however, universal. I can't speak for the others, but I feel like I'd just about found my feet - getting a rather audacious budget through the Commons helped my morale, I must admit - and then something else comes careening out of a clear blue sky to knock me down again. Sometimes literally. I'm enjoying it, in a way, although not in the way I expected. It's difficult to explain. The scale of the responsibility is daunting, but successfully bearing that responsibilty is extremely satisfying. It's an ongoing challenge and, alright, I like a challenge. I just never believed I'd have to tackle anything more significant than an economically depressed northern town in dire need of something more than yet another string of pubs and betting shops. However, if I can't ride out this damned Sycorax business and the attendant global fuss about aliens existing and that I had the audacity to upstage that nitwit in Washington DC (as if I had any choice), then I'll be really satisified. I've been told that it's going to be at least a week before UNIT has a new head man in place, locally. It's a shame, as I could very much use their advice right now, especially in regards as to how to shut up the Army and RAF's whingeing about Torchwood and how come they weren't informed. Dealing with that is a task that I'll be glad to delegate. (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 22nd, 2006
8:18 pm	Catching Up... It only took two months - something of a record for the bureaucracy around here - but I now have an awfully thick stack of files to read regarding the Doctor. I've never seen so many Ultra Secret, Don't Even Look at This Folder Without Clearance stamps on anything in my life. Even Torchwood was more accessible than this stuff. Thinking of which, I hope UNIT appoints a replacement for Major Blake, soon, as the list of things to be sorted out with them is getting quite significant. Of course, it's nothing I can delegate, so they're my headaches until further notice. Like I don't have enough headaches as it is. I've just been told that the Education Minister has a sizable collection of child pornography on his home computer... (Comment on this)
8:15 pm	Fictional Journal, Friends Only, Etc. This is a journal for a fictional character. I can't even take credit for creating her, as that belongs to the lovely chaps at the Beeb. This incarnation of Harriet is a part of tardis_tour, a free-form Dr. Who RPG, featuring the tenth Doctor and a cheerful disregard for canon after TCI, as we're making our own. The comm is accepting applications for membership if you're interested. Harriet is currently being quasi-NPC'd by one of the group mods, although said-mod is getting rather fond of her... All entries will be f-locked, so unless you're a member of tardis_tour, there's not much to see here. (Comment on this)