Jack watched indulgently as Tosh set up her lap top and linked it to the large plasma screen that graced the far wall of the boardroom. She cleared her throat, took a sip of water and began.

'There are a couple of hard core sex sites that operate out of Cardiff, 'she began, 'very difficult to access, part of the Darknet, so..'

Owen interrupted, 'the Darknet?'

'Yeah. A Darknet is a private network in cyber space where connections are made only between trusted peers — sometimes called "friends"— using non-standard protocols and ports. Darknets are distinct from other distributed peer-to-peer networks as sharing is anonymous so IP addresses are not publicly shared, and therefore users can communicate with little fear of external interference from organisations like the police or the security services.'

'And are you a part of this...Darknet,' asked Jack curiously

'I find it useful to be so, yes' replied tosh levelly.

'Psychos and sickos' snorted Owen dismissively

'Psychos and sickos, who consistently operate outside the norms of society, 'said Tosh reprovingly, 'people who see and hear the kinds of things that 99% of the people up there,' she gestured upwards towards the plas, 'never see. These people are familiar with the outré and this situation is definitely outré.'

'Do you contribute?' Owen couldn't seem to leave it alone.

Toshiko laughed,' this isn't mumsnet,' she said, 'you don't lurk on these sites, most are invitation only, so yeah, I contribute'

Owen opened his mouth once more but Jack intervened, 'enough, Owen. So Tosh, what have you heard?'

Tosh shot Jack a grateful look and continued, 'there is a lot of talk about a new "exotic" sex club that is operating out of Cardiff centre. It caters to all sexual tastes up to and including extreme breath play and snuff; there are no limits, and I mean none at all. It costs £20,000 to join, a further £10,000 for each visit and member must commit to a minimum of 12 visits per year.' Owen let out a low whistle and Tosh nodded in understanding, 'yeah someone is making a fortune' she said, 'and the extreme BDSM elements explain the states in which we found both N'wr and the Tolaxsian.'

Jack looked sick, it was no secret that he loved sex in all its forms but the notion of forced compliance was repugnant to him, sex should be about fun and laughter and caring, the best sex was about love too and to cheapen it in this way made his bowels clench. 'Where is it?' he ground out from between clenched teeth.

Tosh tapped her key board and bought up an aerial view of the plas, 'It's operating from the plas,' she said, 'the closest I can narrow it is to this block of shops here. I think they must be using some kind of cloaking device or perception filter,' she tapped some keys and an innocent line of shops, bars and cafes appeared on the screen. 'None of these look like they are the front for an alien sex club do they?'

Jack shook his head, 'these fucking bastards are operating right under our noses' he muttered, 'Tosh, have you got any computer wizardry up your sleeve?'

Tosh blushed, 'Well yes and no.' she said

'Tosh?'

Tosh's fingers roamed over her laptop keyboard once more. 'Darknet is beyond anonymous,' she said as she typed, 'the security protocols are second to none, beyond international security standards if you can believe it, however...' she finished typing with a flourish and the pictures of forty different men appeared on the screen, 'for someone who routinely hacks into The Pentagon, the NSA and homeland security organisation across Europe just to keep their hand in, they not that hard to hack.'

Owen was applauding quietly and Jack said, 'these men are the ones who are running this?'

'I don't know which if any of them, are actually behind the kidnappings or if they just frequent the club but these are the people who have received invitations to the establishment Once invited their joining instruction are sent to them off line so the chance of narrowing down the location via their computer activity is slim. I'm trying to trace their payments to a bank account, try to get a name or at least a business address but I'm being bounced around various financial sites at the moment, I keep on it'

'Hmm; so, we know roughly where the premises are and, thanks to our resident tech genius, we have the faces of the scum involved; all we need to do is position ourselves close to the building and watch.'

Owen gave a short laugh, 'and how are we going to do that, Jack? I can't see you on the plas selling ice-creams or hot dogs.'

Toshiko coughed modestly, 'as it happens, I also have a solution to that problem too.'

People had told him that a modern unit on the newly regenerated plas was not the ideal place to open an antiquarian book shop. They had pointed out that all the rest of the businesses would be modern outlets selling over priced tourist tat interspersed with genuinely expensive art galleries and designer clothes shops; not the kind of commercial environment that would necessarily attract serious book collectors . However, as things turned out, he was making a nice living selling contemporary books about Welsh history and Celtic mythology whilst building up a solid reputation for selling his antiquarian books over the internet. He enjoyed the social interaction of working in the store, chatting to tourists all day meant that when he closed the shop and took the lift up to his flat, four floors above the store, he didn't feel too lonely.

As the last customer left the shop, he locked the front door and flipped the sign to "closed". He made his way to the small cafe area, turning off the coffee machine and wiping down the countertop. Cleaning the coffee machine was his way of formally ending the day, separating work from personal time, and his hands moved without conscious thought, almost automatically. Just as he had finished his mobile phone rang, he glanced at the caller ID and a rare smile crossed his face.

'Tosh? How are you?'

'Good. And you, how are things at the shop?'

He laughed, 'same old, same old,' he said, 'actually things are going so well I'm thinking of taking on more staff, staying open longer and having evening events, book signings, poetry recitals stuff like that.'

'Really?' he could tell Tosh was smiling, he liked it when she smiled. Like himself, she was generally very serious, probably one of the reasons she was virtually the only friend he had made since he opened his business on the plas. He realised he had zoned out and missed most of what she had been saying. 'Sorry, Tosh, can you say that again?'

Tosh's sigh echoed down the line, 'You know I work in special ops' she repeated patiently, 'we need to keep an unobtrusive observation on the bank of shops opposite yours and I wondered if, as a personal favour to me you would consider...'

'Employing someone from your team in the shop?' he asked drily

Tosh laughed, 'it's because you are so intelligent that I love you so much.' she said, 'actually it would be two of us, me and my boss.' A deep voice could be heard in the background and Tosh continued, 'he says to tell you that we would pay a generous fee for the use of your premises. ' she lowered her voice, 'and I'm happy to actually help out as a staff member.'

'Is it likely to be dangerous?'

'No' Tosh was emphatic, 'but you would be helping us to do a good thing, a really good thing.'

'Ok, just one thing though...'

Back in the Hub, Tosh ended her call and turned to Jack, 'He's on board but he wants to meet you.'

Jack frowned, 'why?'

'I don't know. Maybe he wants to see if you look trustworthy before he is prepared to leave you alone in his shop.'

'Hey!' Jack was hurt, 'look at this face. It screams trustworthy.'

Yes, yes,' Tosh patted his arm reassuringly, 'very honourable and unbearably handsome, we all agree. C'mon, he is waiting at the shop.'

'Now?'

'Yes, now'

As he moved to unlock the door of the shop, he could see them striding across the plas. Tiny, delicate Tosh was almost dwarfed by the tall man in the amazing World War II style greatcoat, matching his pace to her shorter stride. The setting sun behind the tall man made his features indistinct, but outlined him in a nimbus of flame making him look heroic and other worldly. He looked larger than life and the thought of having this person actually in his shop stopped the breath in his throat.

Jack paused to let Toshiko precede him into the shop which had the name '"Celtic Mythos" written in ornate gold script across the large plate glass windows. He glanced back at the innocuous row of businesses facing the bookstore, there was nothing to indicate that any number of off-worlders were being tortured and abused behind one of the bland shop fronts. He made a silent promise to them and turned to follow Tosh into the book store.

Once inside, Jack got a vague sense of a wide space lined with book shelves, many comfortable looking sofas scattered around and an efficient looking lift up to a first floor balcony where the antiquarian books were on display, many in glass fronted cases. He always pictured antiquarian books shops as being dark and cramped but this had wide aisles between the cases and lots of open space. The overall impression was of a warm and welcoming place. However Jack's attention was soon focussed entirely on the young man who was manoeuvring himself around the low counter. He was, without doubt, the most gorgeous creature Jack had seen for a very long time. His long, dark, wavy hair was brushed back from a broad creamy forehead and reached his shoulders and his grey blue eyes regarded Jack with sombre evaluation, the quirk of the full red mouth suggesting that the young bookseller liked what he saw. With the skill borne of long practice, the young man propelled his wheel chair across the space between them, coming to a halt in front Jack. He gave a shy smile and stuck out his hand.

'You must be Captain Harkness; Tosh has told me so much about you.'

'Really?' Jack raised an eyebrow at Tosh who had the grace to redden and develop an interest in her shoes. Jack gave his best smile and took the proffered hand in a warm and firm grasp, 'please, call me Jack...and you are?'

The young man blushed delightfully causing Jack's cock to twitch appreciatively, 'I'm Ianto, Ianto Jones.'