Heathrow Airport; London, England
Gwen Cooper portaled to headquarters and drove to the airport. There weren't any simple ways to portal to the airport without being seen. After bad traffic and being stuck behind a tour bus, she wished she hadn't drove. It aggravated her stress and gave her time to think. That was the last thing she needed.
The crowded, chaotic airport contributed to the stress. Being at the hub with Anwen sounded better. That unfortunately added guilt the tangle of emotions. She needed time to get her head on straight.

"Mrs. Williams," a thirty-something man in a nice suit said as he approached. "I am Farren Wensley your guide."

"Ms. Cooper." Gwen corrected, not wanting to know how the name mistake happened.

That took him a moment to understand. "Sorry." Pause. "We are unsure what you want to inspect. While we did get a flight that originated in Auckland, and one that stopped in Jakarta, there was nothing wrong with the planes."

They entered a small office to talk privately, suggesting a misunderstanding. From his clothes and behavior, she wondered if he was a media liaison. The lack of cooperation might be a misguided attempt to protect the airport and airlines from bad press or liability.

"This is preventative. At least two planes leaving Auckland were contaminated. I need to inspect cargo and speak to passengers."

Wensley looked apologetic. She wondered if he practiced in front of a mirror. "Only two passengers are still here. Their flight leaves in an hour."

"Did you hold their luggage?"

"Yes. It was even inspected and searched."

Are you stupid? Gwen wanted to ask. "I also need to speak with anyone who had direct contact with the luggage." Pause. "What's the destination?"

"Chicago O'Hare. Their flight was redirected to John F. Kennedy in New York."

Definitely stupid, she concluded. "Chicago is facing quarantine as a result of shipments from Auckland. Do they have cargo with them?"

He checked a tablet computer. "Yes. Two crates listed as educational materials."

That immediately made her think of Montgomery Museum and the island research projects. "What are the passengers' names?"

Wensley looked up as he spoke. "That's confidential."

Gwen crossed her eyes. "As they are a potential public safety hazard traveling from one quarantine to another, they are not boarding an airplane until I have determined they're not a threat." She gave it a moment. "I can shut this airport down."

After half-an-hour of repeated excuses, she called in drones effectively shutting it down for the duration. Without specific details, Four focused scans on the international loading area, searching for luggage and crates with soil and miscellaneous that could have transferred in New Zealand. It took fifteen minutes to identify what they were looking for.

Jeannette sounded exhausted over the ear com connection. "Good news and bad. No spores, parasites or pathogens of any kind. But one crate has botanical samples from the island. The other has unknown artifacts and scan resistant meteorites. Four used maintenance bots to transport the crates and luggage to headquarters. Nova Scotia sent sentinels for the passengers."

Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose. That was guaranteed to be ugly.

"What are you doing?" Wensley demanded. "Security reports military-like robots in passenger areas."

"Hold on." She looked at him. "If you cooperated, I could have pulled the passengers and their luggage without causing a panic. Their privacy included hazardous materials." Pause. "What happened in Jakarta could have happened here."

He paled, looking like he might be sick.

"Best case scenario, they're incredibly stupid. More likely, they packed those crates to bypass standard scanners so they could transport the equivalent of bioweapons."

O'Hare Airport; Chicago, IL, USA
Rex Matheson entered the large, international airport with a growing list of concerns. They were to the point of paranoia. Owen set up a medical monitoring device for continual scans. Despite regenerating as a result of near immortality after Miracle Day, it was possible to expose him to a parasite, especially if a larger organism was involved. They didn't know what would happen as a result.

Getting through security required showing his Torchwood ID and waiting for an escort. Rex used his phone while waiting. Hearing about the Heathrow situation reminded him he couldn't stay long. Dealing with basic diplomacy was a lot to ask.

Effectively arresting two Americans for terrorism made it worse. "If it's get too bad," Rex said. "Hand it over to Owen."

"Have you seen him mad?" Ianto asked carefully.

One of the many reasons Rex chose Ianto to handle diplomacy. "He will de-stress by lashing out at everyone harassing him." While loud and angry, Owen also knew the most of the various medical problems. Facts, and honesty, were useful weapons under the circumstances.

Ianto paused, listening to someone in the background. "The Americans work for the pharmaceutical company researching on the island. While the US doesn't recognize the ICC, the company is international and can be brought before the court for transporting bioweapons. Intentional or not. That matters outside the US and might offer leverage against the US."

Who are you talking to? Rex wondered. As far as he knew, Ianto was at the hub with the kids and a babysitter. "Collect the evidence. I want to review it before it's submitted."

When someone finally approached, Rex felt he'd wasted too much time already. Despite wearing a security uniform, the man looked military. While veterans made good security guards, the government might have sent a soldier in undercover for some reason.

"Matheson," the man said, "I'm Vasquez, the shift supervisor."

"Any reports?" Rex sadly wondered if the US would admit it.

"No psyche problems."

Established parasites don't have mental health symptoms. With that in mind, Rex used a key-chain sized device to remotely access a medical scanner. It scanned Vasquez and sent the negatively results to Rex's ear com.

"Where do you want to start?"

"International freight."

Within a few minutes, Rex suspected a problem. "It would be simpler to install scanners specific to the pathogens." Something the US would never agree to. "What happened at Heathrow shows how easy it is bypass conventional technology."

"Airport management is considering options."

Very diplomatic. But it felt wrong. The more Rex thought about it, something felt off before they met. The added paranoia made him more observant and he realized there was an unusual number of military personnel in civilian clothes. Their hair cuts, body language and even the way they dressed gave them away.

"I should stop." He motioned toward an individual rest room (public toilet.)

After shutting and locking the door, Rex tapped his ear com. It didn't work. He checked the hand-held scanner and it wasn't connected to the network. That meant the medical scanner was probably not uploading. With everything going on, it wasn't a priority. He was a regenerating immortal. While he doubted it, he checked his cell phone. It had no bars.

That left containment. His phone had software and technology that could disrupt the network. Rex selected the compromised option, essentially causing it to self-destruct. He then removed the SIM card and dropped it in the trash. Torchwood had other ways to find it's tech.

With a little effort, he pried his hand-held scanner open. Using a stun pellet, he overloaded the circuitry. Then ran water over it. It wasn't that easy to destroy, but he didn't have a better idea. He ideally would have time to stash the pieces.