1

It had been six months since the events on Sol3 were deemed solid with the council finally declaring the 'Free Zone' a new habitat for all humans regardless of colour, race or religion. Ianto and Jack had fought for the two months to make it so, Ianto's pregnancy finally showing as they were forced to declare it and remove themselves from the stress of the bickering involved with those in power, especially Idris who was making it clear that he was still a king and now they were free to roam once more, relieved to be returning to the black expanse of space where those bloody worms could not go.

It was currently late at 'night' and Suzie had the helm as Torchwood cruised along without a care in the world. There had been cake at the evening meal and Suzie had pilfered an extra piece, sitting in Jack's chair licking the cake fork as she hummed with delight. A good man that Rhys.

Of course Andy had some too, sitting primly in his own seat with his extra large piece still getting a good going at when there was a soft ping on his screen that had his fork freezing half way to his mouth.

"Bugger" he sighed, placing the plate down then spearing his cake with the fork. He leaned in and examined the message from Mainframe. "Suzie?"

"That's acting Captain Suzie there Sparky" she answered with a cheeky grin.

"Well … Acting Captain Suzie there Sparky, we have a mayday" he replied with the same sass that made them a good team.

"Oooooh" she rose and wlked over to leam over his shudder, her hair loose tonight and falling in his face. He blew at it with disgust, her laughter light as she flicked it back. "Where?"

"Looks like three clicks to our port" he frowned as he checked, "A vessel of somesort, seems frantic to make contact but Maineframe is still scanning for viruses."

"Gods. I bags not to be the one to wake them" she whispered, looking intently as Andy clicked the controls some more.

"I say we wake Tosh, see if she can filter out the garbage to decifer the call. If it's old, like some old piece of space debris with a warning that it is out there, we need to stay clear, not rush to look right?" Andy surpmised, "If it's something to check we can wake them but if it's just a fishing job we can handle it ourselves, right?"

"Sounds like a solid plan" she agreed, neither of them wanting to ping the captain's quarters where Ianto and Jack were fast asleep, the fat belly between them now an obvious cause of discomfort and afternoon heartburn. It was not easy for a male dam to carry, no real room for a bub and it meant a lot of space suddenly snatched away by a lovely parasite. As much as they were looking forward to the impending birth … they all really loked forward to their FO returning to normal finction, the first hormonal tantrum had bene both epic and terriffying as he had screamed, ranted, then cried because his shoes did not fit. To see the usually dower man loose control was not a good thing, it made all of them uneasy, not least of all the poor captain who wanted to cut his limbs off to make it better.

So lovely to see the bond.

So terrifying to see Ianto angry, that belly swinging as he gives you a look that might induce a brain bleed or something. Suzie nods "Anything we can do to avoid that is good."

Andy pinged the Harper Berth and Tosh was soon wandering in with a soft smile, her sleep already interrupted with Torchwood quietly informing her. "Owen and the baby are asleep again, typical men! What do we have?"

They all watched her fingers dance as she checked things and hummed, then she said softly "wake Gray."

They moved to comply, the Captain's brother a strange man with sporadic movements and spates or intense staring that was quite unnerving before you realised he was trying to mess with you. Suzie was quietly enthralled with him and although she tried to hide it, he was well aware as he scented the air around her at times. He was clever, naturally gifted with tech and Tosh knew he would see what she could see, making it easier to explain to the others.

The only reason she hadn't made a move was the fact their FO was not taken with the man, only being polite as it was his mate's brother. BJ took the cues from his Tad and also acted civil but not overly friendly, preferring to step aside and wraith in the way he had been taught.

Gray agreed with Tosh, it was a distress deacon. "Definitely pre-recorded without updates. No idea how long it's been playing. Could be weeks … months … given the long range of sound …years? We could be going to an empty hull, all on board long gone."

"So … we get closer to peek before we wake them?" Suzie asked.

"Sounds solid" he agreed, "Might be a non starter but by universal decree we have to investigate."

"Lets hope so" Suzie agred "He's not going to be happy if we interupt his sleep."

They all nodded as Suzie ordered the Torchwood closer to the source of the signal.