Cow Pasture; County Claire, Ireland

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

General Trefor Williams walked through the damp grass. With everything, he nearly left without his boots. Jeannette pointed out he needed them as part of her argument to ride along. And someone he could trust to watch his back. That wasn't Rogan.

Jeannette walked over to the general. "Four and Xiu have the coms working."

"Good." He wrist-strap again. "Does Four know why the readings are inconsistent?"

"He thinks it's trapped like he was."

The only one they had capable of finding that technology was Nessa and she wasn't up for it. "We may have to leave it." If they couldn't access it, it was unlikely anyone else could.

Rogan ended a call on his mobile and walked over. "The government wants the technology." He didn't like that idea. "The liaison is retired military. He might know what it does."

"It's disrupting vehicles and appliances for five miles," Jeannette said. "If we can access, we're containing it. No one is playing with alien technology."

The general agreed. "How did they know it was here?" He was having trouble getting scan readings with his wrist-strap.

"Four said there is another device near here. Contemporary tech."

The general tapped his ear com. "Hey."

"It was intentional," the computer said. "They summoned it. Similar to the Global space station."

"Where is the other device?" The general wasn't sure he wanted to know. They would have to confiscate it. Which was guaranteed to get ugly.

Torchwood Three; Cardiff, Wales

Sitting at a table in the kitchen area felt normal, Toshiko Sato thought. After four days and Nanogene treatment, the side effects of the energy lingered. The symptoms might have been psychosomatic, but Owen was having similar problems. And nightmares. He wouldn't talk about it.

Tosh accepted a mug of coffee from Owen. "Ireland has a situation similar to Germany. General Williams has proof the device is there intentionally."

Owen sat down across from her with his own mug. "Stupid."

"How did they do it?" Tosh sipped her coffee. "Detonating a bomb under the island was part of it." She shakes her head slightly. "They had to know what the explosion would do and how to take advantage of it."

"It didn't work."

"Why? Was it a mistake? Or did the aliens or…" Tosh wasn't sure what the options were. "Provide bad information."

"Did the destruction benefit anyone?" Owen sipped his coffee.

"We don't have enough information."

Owen thought for a moment. "We have too much." Pause. "The explosion had a global effect. Unless a device is causing enough trouble for us to respond, we don't have enough people to check it."

Tosh set down her mug. "We need to review reports and military movement. Anyone wanting alien technology knows we will interfere." Pause. "They need to find and remove it before we get there."

"We start with reports of unusual or unexplained injuries, disappearances or deaths."

Torchwood Nova Scotia; Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada

Aman Oliveira entered the observation room adjacent to the secure cell holding Luc. Eryn wasn't responding to her ear com. It was easy to tell why. She was curled up on the floor with blankets, pillows and the teddy bear she gave Bobby while he was with them. The ear com was on the floor next to her.

Luc walked over to the glass looking concerned and motioned toward the intercom.

Aman tapped it. "Eryn's sleeping."

"Good." Luc sounded calm. He lowered his voice. "We have another problem."

"How bad?"

"The restrictions on my computer access won't work anymore."

He had the frame of mind to tell me, Aman thought. That was good. "Why?"

"I no longer need a computer console to access the system. I can visualize the facility and make changes without physical access." Luc held out his hand and a three-dimensional image, like a hologram, appeared. "It only works while I'm calm." He closed his hand and the image disappeared. "It's a matter of time before I can directly access the Internet."

That didn't sound good. "Can you get out?"

"Unfortunately." Luc wasn't happy about it.

Aman swore quietly. "If we increase the sedative dosage any higher, it could kill you."

Luc looked down at Eryn. At the angle, Aman doubted Luc could see her clearly. "When I gain access to the Internet, if I can't control it…"

"She needs to know."

Luc disagreed. "Eryn would try to stop you."

Torchwood Four; Dublin, Ireland

Jeannette Dove had an idea. Before her life changed, she was really good at misdirection. If she wanted to go to a party, she'd tell her parents a story they'd believe. If she wanted to hide something, she'd take responsibility for something else. Her parents would get mad, and generally stop asking questions. It didn't work with her brother and sister because they actually cared. Conning them took more effort and a much different approach.

While the area effect was problematic enough for them to investigate, it disrupted electronics or electrical systems for five miles of farmland. A few lorries, tractors, and coffee pots annoyed the locals, but had no major complications. No one in range had medical equipment or even a pacemaker. It looked a lot worse than it was.

Hiding anything from Torchwood required an impressive distraction. With all the arguing over jurisdiction, technology, and quarantine, it could work. If they were searching for something, they needed to prevent energy readings, or reports, that would catch their attention. Whereas hiding it from Rogan required a different approach. Unusual circumstances would attract Gardai attention. Either an official report or rumors would alert him.

With advanced notice, they could have planned something innocuous. "Four, were there any military training exercises or government activities that require high-security clearance soldiers, equipment, and trucks? Since the island explosion."

"A few."

"Look for something boring. Uniform inspections. Vehicle maintenance."

"Why?" Four sounded puzzled.

"If you were looking for a super secret mission, where's the last place you would look?"

After a few minutes later, an eternity for a computer with Four's capability, he commented. "Found one. If it was a recovery and transport, finding the technology will take time."

Jeannette nodded. "They would need a place to hide it. High security. No civilians. Some way to block your scans."

General Trefor Williams stood on one side of his room with his arms crossed. Nesting was the word that came to mind watching Nessa rearrange his bedroom for the third time. He tried pointing out the first time that she didn't sleep there that often and Liam would react badly. It had no effect.

Nessa's mood swings, irritability, dietary issues and nesting looked like pregnancy. He'd even contacted his mum and asked if she had any ideas. There was a condition that caused a woman's body exhibited pregnancy symptoms without being pregnant. That didn't appear to be the situation. He consulted with Harper. If he wasn't a complete arse, the general would have asked him to examine Nessa.

He couldn't help but wonder how it related to the ancients. John went off the deep end when he was originally affected. Luc was in lockdown. Ianto's transformation was slower and had no obvious consequences. Something Idrissa said suggested they were having a problem there also. It should have occurred to him earlier. Nessa was the only female affected that he knew of. It could be part of the change.

"Trefor," Four said, "Jeannette needs to talk to you."

The general moved toward the door. It opened. Jeannette was standing outside the room. He stepped out and allowed the door to close behind him.

"The cow pasture was a con." Jeannette handed him a tablet. "The government has a storehouse of alien technology. Four had to get creative. He found a way to determine how they're blocking his scans."

The general skimmed through it. "Impressive. What made you look for it?"

Jeannette smiles. "Authority issues."

"Show this to Liam. If Ireland's connected to the joint military activities, the other countries are probably using the same approach."

Jeannette nodded. "I already did. The Germany situation was real, unlike Claire County. He's looking for a US storage facility near there."

"Good." The general wondered what they were going to do with the facilities. Attacking them could result in world war three. While taking over the world's defense would happen, it wouldn't work in the current political and cultural environment.