Chapter 4
Cameron McIvoy could not believe his luck when he was approached for the job. Not only was he making a vast sum of money, he was getting to spend time with gorgeous women whenever he wanted. Well, providing the one he wanted was not with a client at the time. He sat at his desk, his hands clasped behind his head. Life didn't get any better than this. All he had to do was make sure that the clients paid up, and the women did as they were told. Nothing could be better than this, well, almost nothing. Now all he had to do was make sure that the next group of women who were due to arrive did so and safely. The creak of his new leather jacket reminded him of just how much money was riding on this business continuing. The door opened to the office and a man walked in wearing a black suit. His hair was peppered with grey. His eyes almost black, he walked over to Cameron
"Is everything ready for our new girls?"
Cameron brought his feet off the desk and his hands down in front of him
"Yes sir, everything. They should be arriving tomorrow night. Their profiles have been put into our new brochure. We should be seeing some interest in the next few days for them"
Mr Brian Fontaine was a high flyer. He was one of Cardiff's richest men. As he watched Cameron go on about the new girls arriving his own fantasy was taking effect. As owner of the business he got to test the merchandise daily and what merchandise this was. Beautiful exotic women, very exotic indeed. Other countries were far too common for Mr Fontaine. He found his girls from somewhere more further away. Only one other man besides himself knew where the girls were coming from. Cameron was good for certain things, but if he knew where the girls were coming from there was no guarantee that he would keep his mouth shut. Mr Fontaine watched as Cameron switched on the video camera, something caught his eye,
"Wait, rewind that"
Cameron hit the switch on the camera, Mr Fontaine watched as a woman appeared in the distance. The video was of prospective girls who were being recorded. One woman stood out in the background. Brian knew right away that she was not Lillayean, her long red hair was blowing lightly in the breeze. Brian sat down on the edge of the desk, his leg propped up on the chair. Cameron smirked as he watched his boss
"See something you like boss?"
Brian nodded softly
"Yes, that woman there…behind our girls…do we have any idea who she is?"
Cameron squinted as he looked at the screen
"You'll have to talk to David about that one sir. He is the one who takes care of recruiting the girls and he is the one who made the video tape"
Brian nodded
"As soon as he gets back I want him in my office immediately"
David Ryder had emerged from the rift, the seven girls behind him looking around. Each one of them was dressed in white robes, their faces hidden from view. He turned and motioned for them to follow him. They descended down the stairs of the building and outside. Two four by four vehicles were situated at the front of the building, waiting. The soft whimpers of the girls were heard as they were ushered into the cars. David removed the cell phone from his pocket
"We're on our way back. Lift the cloak"
He moved into the car and looked back at the girls
"Silence"
The cars moved forward. David had to get them back to the facility and settled in before their work started in the next few days. Each one of the girls had no idea what they were about to be put through. Ripped from their homes and families, fear was evident in the air as the cars pulled to a stop outside the facility. Each of the girls was ushered out and taken inside. They would be given time to settle in before the bidding war was complete. There were thousands of men situated all over the world who would pay a large sum of money for a night with one of these amazing creatures. Mr Fontaine wanted the best in his business, and it was the best he got. David did not understand why he was ordered into Mr Fontaines office upon his return. He gave Cameron the job of ensuring the girls were taken to their rooms. As he walked down the corridor, David could not help but admire the artifacts on the wall. He knew for a fact that the pieces were not of the earth, but of other worlds far from his own. David knocked on Mr Fontaines door; a voice came from the other side
"Come in"
David entered the huge office. Brian Fontaine was situated behind a vast mahogany desk, a computer on the right hand corner, several framed photographs on the left. The office was littered with alien artifacts, the ones which Brian Fontaine had taken a personal interest in recovering.
"Have a seat David"
David sat down, crossing his legs he looked at Brian who removed a remote from his desk. He clicked it towards the plasma television hooked onto the wall, footage of the women they had brought in several weeks before appeared on the screen.
"Tell me what you see David"
David looked confused, he looked at the screen
"These are the girls we brought in a while back sir…is something wrong with them?"
Brian Fontaine shook his head
"Not at all David. In fact, I am so pleased with the women you have been bringing in I am giving you a raise. Now, if you look behind the girls you will see a woman with red hair"
David looked at the screen, he could see the woman
"Yes sir"
Brian Fontaine nodded
"Yes. I want her"
David's head spun around
"Excuse me?"
Brian paused the video, he put the remote onto the desk and stood up. As he walked around the desk a strange feeling came over David. Almost as though he knew exactly what was coming.
"That woman. I want her. You find her and bring her to me. Understood?"
David nodded
"Yes sir. Perfectly understood"
The search had taken the best part of the night and they could not find the croaspis. Jack was furious by the time they returned back to the Hub. He kicked the leg of his desk, his hands moving to grip his hair tightly. Ianto entered his office and looked at him, Jack turned, his eyes meeting Ianto's
"Nothing, we found nothing!"
Ianto looked to the ground before looking back to Jack
"Owen thinks he might have come up with something"
They made their way down to Owens Lab. Owen was stirring a clear liquid in a beaker. He looked towards Jack.
"I took the antidote from the stomach of the croaspis we found and mixed it with adrenaline and a few other little things. This should help Max until we find the real antidote. I can make some more of this and it should be enough for a couple of weeks. You need to know Jack that this isn't a permanent solution. We need to find the other croaspis"
Jack looked at Owen, his arms folded over his chest
"You think I don't know that Owen"
Gwen, Ianto and Tosh looked at Jack and then Owen. They had never seen Jack so wound up before. The atmosphere around the lab thickened, no-one knew what to say. Jack took the beaker and headed back to Max. When he entered the room he was relieved to see her sitting up.
"Jack. I know that this is hard for you. But don't take it out on your team. Please"
Jack held his head in his hands for a few brief seconds before looking at Max
"I have to find the thing that did this and help you…I'm not sure why but I do"
Max smiled softly
"I know Jack, I know. But you know as well as I do that we can't save everybody. No matter what has happened in the past"
He looked at her, a small smile appearing on his own lips
"Even through all this you can still smile. You always could, no matter what the situation you could always go through it without getting worried or down"
Max chuckled softly
"Yeah well, you know how it is Jack. Look on the bright side and all that. In all seriousness though, I'll take that solution Owen created. I need to be back up on my feet to find these girls. More could have been taken by now and they are here. I traced them, they came through the rift-"
"Nothing gets through the rift without Torchwood knowing about it"
Max raised her eyebrow
"Still so confident in yourself huh? Jack they came out here. It could be that there is a cloak put over their point of entry so that no-one can detect them. Meaning…"
Jack leaned back
"Meaning. That whoever is doing this has the money for that sort of technology"
Max nodded
"We have to find these girls Jack. Who knows what could be done to them"
Jack looked straight at Max
"You already know exactly why these girls are being brought here"
"I try not to think about it" her voice trailed off.
Jack moved his hand to hers and held it slowly
"We'll find them Max, and we'll stop them"
