Analysis
Toshiko was in her element. She had removed the laptop from the hamper, with Jack's agreement, and had it half-concealed on her lap, covered by her jacket. From a distance it looked as if she was sitting with her jacket over raised knees. She typed quickly and accurately, which always impressed Jack: he could hit the right keys but not always in the right order. He couldn't wait for thought activation to be invented. Toshiko was mumbling and Jack smiled, she was so good at what she did and lost herself in it totally. He had tried asking a question or two but had been told to wait so was staring out to sea and taking sips from his water bottle.
"Done" announced Toshiko.
"Fire away," said Jack, turning to face her.
"Okay. You'll recall we found the Fenccisitian tablet because of the levels of energy it was emitting. This proved harmless and we examined it some more and eventually managed to open it, where it had been damaged down one of the seams. It contained much higher levels of energy once opened which originated from a small block of a high density material that we still haven't identified. The energy was compatible with electricity."
"Yeah, we ran one of Owen's scanners on it. Worked a treat."
"Precisely. That test showed that a minute piece of the block would power the whole base indefinitely, well, for at least a hundred years."
Jack laughed, "Ianto was so peeved I wouldn't let him hook everything up. Said we could save a fortune on fuel bills."
She looked over at him, her face stern. "It could do more than that, Jack. If we could understand it, it could meet the world's energy needs and stop this stupid dependency on fossil fuels. It could have driven vehicles as well as homes and businesses you know."
"I know, Tosh, I know. We had all this out before. The Earth has to find its own way out of the mess it's made. We cannot use alien technology whenever it suits us." He was emphatic and she sighed in frustration; there were so many things Torchwood had found that would have benefited mankind and they were just mouldering in the archives. He relented when her saw her expression, "Don't look so despondent. You people are very inventive and in a few years you'll wonder why you bothered with oil for so long."
Feeling a little better, Toshiko went back to her laptop. "Anyway," she said, "getting back to the point. The thing out under the water is giving off the same energy and I am 99 per cent sure that the object Gwen found on the satellite scan contains another of the energy giving blocks. It's much larger than the one in the tablet so could be capable of powering much, much more." She paused, then continued. "When the thing found its way here, UNIT noted it and followed up. The report shows that they sent down divers, having decided it was not dangerous, but couldn't find a way to open it. Like us, they realised it's potential and have flagged the object up for further examination. But it doesn't have a high priority. I'd say it'll take them another few weeks at least to get together a team and come back."
"So," Jack conjectured, "UNIT put it on hold but probably knew what it could do, i.e. act as a power source. This Carter guy tells his wife who immediately sees the potential. If she can get to it first, she'd have something of immense value that individuals and even governments would fight to get. And what she needs to access it is right at hand, the family's salvage boat." He stared at the craft.
"I think they've already tapped into it." Jack stared at her. "You remember, the scan showed the energy on the boat as well as below it?" Realisation dawned on his face. "That's right, they must have opened it and are powering machinery on the boat. They've been at it for at least two weeks which for an experienced salvage team is more than enough time," she concluded.
Will be concluded with the next chapters - promise