Saint David's Mall; Cardiff, Wales

Friday, December 18, 2020

When John Hart he agreed to research Teri Pierce, he expected a simple case. The Torchwood case from high school meant they already had background on her. It should have been easy. Except there was nothing to find. The woman's background was perfect. Either she was a saint or it was a cover. While he couldn't connect Pierce to the black market, he did connect the Trahaym Bach Historical Society. He was working on a cover of his own to catch her in the act. The annoyance was enough to hand over to the police. That would end the mundane crime, but it wouldn't resolve the Torchwood case.

A painting in a mall display caught his attention, distracting him from Pierce. The galloping mustangs were impressive. It was something he might have purchased for his Anwen in the 2040s. The one thing all three versions he'd met had in common. They loved horses. While it would have been an appropriate present for the woman he loved, it didn't work for the eleven-year-old version.

"You like art?" Robert asked, announcing himself as he approached. The English translator he used was sounding better.

"I knew someone who liked horses."

"I'm sorry."

John turned and started walking. "It's been years." Although he could still remember her vividly.

Robert waited a few minutes. "What did you need?"

John stopped by a men's clothing store. "Do you recognize this technology?" He handed Robert a tablet.

"Where is this from?" Robert scrolled through the information.

"A local warehouse."

Robert handed it back. "Oldaria in my world was a friend of dad's and Jack's." He hesitated. "Have you heard of the Zindarri?"

"No."

"They're inter-dimensional. One of the ancient races."

John didn't like the sound of that. "Any idea why she's taking out abusers and rescuing kids?"

"Possibly. Zindarri are female-dominant." He motioned at the tablet. "Where's her ship?"

"I don't know."

Robert shook his head. "The only reason I can think she fortified a warehouse like this is she doesn't have her ship. No one could steal it."

"Another Zindarri?"

Robert smiled. "No. Oldaria is royalty. The youngest sister of the Divinity. Or the head of the Zindarri Imperium."

"How did she know Jack?"

"Dad said Oldaria was a cliche that crossed cultures. A bored rich girl running around the universe with two men her family wouldn't approve of."

"How did she get here?" An alien forced to adapt to an unfamiliar planet could be problematic and unpredictable. The fortress probably said she was scared and couldn't blend.

Robert took a moment. "If she's here without a ship, and she's the Oldaria I met, she built something to remote-access Jack's vortex manipulator. When she got here, she realized he wasn't the Jack she knew."

John wondered for years how Torchwood was able to abduct him. The explanation involved scanning Jack's wrist-strap for information. Except that didn't explain where they got the technology capable to do it. "Remote-access? Could that be used to grabbed someone wearing a wrist-strap?"

"Yeah. Why?" Robert sounded uneasy.

"My friend who liked horses, she had technology capable of tracking a wrist-strap and grabbing the person wearing it."

Robert stared at him a moment. "Your friend abducted you?"

"Yeah." John smiled. "More than once. It was complicated."

"Whatever version of you and Jack are crazy as hell."

Hughes Flats

Jack Harkness watched the sunset over Cardiff from the roof. The chaos was nothing new. A sick pregnant woman that no one wanted to discuss was different. Ianto planning an office Christmas party with Dawn, Gwen and Anwen in the same room guaranteed a bizarre holiday.

The door opened and John stepped onto the roof. One more strange aspect to both Torchwood and the holidays. Since returning with Kylia, he'd joined the team. Jack couldn't help but wonder if that was the Kearas intent. After John was fused with Nanogenes, drinking and drugs were no longer an option. One more example of the long game the Kearas were playing.

"Hiding?" John asked.

"Maybe."

John crossed the roof. "Robert recognized the technology." He explained.

"Do you believe him?"

"I don't know. Robert's not telling me everything. Under the circumstances, he's not going to."

Jack expected as much. "Any ideas what he's hiding?"

"The conflict with the Time Agency." John paused. "You know what we were like. If we didn't get separated when you left. If something happened."

"Just say it."

"Robert approached me, Jack. If I was the unstable one, he would have approached you. I got the impression after watching his father die, Robert went after the Time Agency. What would you have done? If the Time Agency killed someone you cared about in front of his son? He said a friend placed him in that hibernation chamber. Which was located under an island where you detonated a device to fix breaches between universes."

Jack could follow the logic and understand why John hesitated. There was a lot of questions they couldn't answer. The big one involved the alien. If detonating the device brought her and Robert, that meant the girls started disappearing before the alien arrived. While they should have noticed, Rhys was missing and they were distracted. They had been targeting research projects recruiting low-risk victims making high-risk victims more appealing. Or it was another cult.

"I need to approach the warehouse. We need to know what's going on." They also needed more information on the street situation. The information from the shelters and the nuns that helped working girls wasn't enough. "Can you get more information out of your contact about missing girls?"

John hedged. "Probably not."

Dmitri Petrescu stood with his arms crossed, leaning back on his kitchen table. While he didn't completely understand the new time period, he could appreciate some change. The shelter Telyn stayed at briefly was awful, but the existence of those places gave him hope. When he was young, he dreamed of helping people. He hated seeing the sick and the hopeless.

"I need to know she's all right."

Jack nodded. "I know."

"I should go with you."

"It would be better if you don't."

Dmitri knew Jack was nearly impossible to kill. It made sense that Jack go alone. If something went wrong, he'd regenerate. That didn't make Dmitri feel any better. "I'll send the message."

(warehouse near Williams Haulage)

Jack Harkness parked the Torchwood van in the car park and handed John the keys. The situation didn't require a discussion. The converted warehouse had incredible technology. If the situation went wrong, there wasn't that could be done. While Jack would survive, Torchwood had no way to dislodge the alien.

He walked through the quiet commercial district. Few people were working in the area on a Sunday night. He saw one car during the walk and no pedestrians. The warehouse looked like the rest in the area in the dim light. He flipped open his wrist-strap and started a continuing scan. Nothing noticeable changed from the readings he'd already seen from John.

Unsure what to do, he waited. From the level of technology, the alien had to know he was there. All he could do was wait. After a few minutes, an energy shift suggested a door opened. A tall woman stepped into view. She looked human, but the technology she was wearing to handle the environment said she wasn't.

"Good evening."

She stopped several feet from him.

"I'm Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood."

"Oldaria." Her voice echoed a bit. "Why you here?"

"I have questions."

"Yes."

Jack wondered if they had a translation problem. "Why are you on Earth?"

"Universe shifted."

"Why do you have humans in the warehouse?"

"Protect them." She smiled. "You not try charm. Intimidated."

Jack smiled. "Disappointed?"

Oldaria laughed. "You domesticated."

"Never." He needed to find a better translation option. "Can I check on the humans?"

"Dmitri-friend worried. Telyn safe."

"Can I talk to the humans?"

"Yes."