Chapter Four: Name Sake

"Real name or Earth name? Because I have been thinking of a few," she began.

"Don't be pedantic," Jack commanded, "We have no need of any 'Earth name' if you chose to take one."

"Alright then, but I can't speak it with this tongue – its rather difficult. However the closest thing you've got to it is Adelaide; and I quite like that."

"And the Princess?" Gwen questioned. Wondering if she'd get an answer, the alien was the body guard and was protecting her. Well, she still seemed to be protecting her, in a way.

"Now that," she paused and tutted slightly, "I really shouldn't tell you; although, I can't actually say the true name. So I guess it doesn't matter," she left a pause, seemingly for dramatic effect but you could be almost certain it was to annoy Jack, "Closest you'd hear it would be: Peewee. Yeah, Princess Peewee," she smiled, hoping to be helpful.

"Why can't you say the real name?" Gwen asked, "Well, I mean, surely after so long here on earth you'd learn to say it?"

"You would think that but it's complicated. There aren't enough hairs on your tongue and the mouth shape is very different. Plus the vocal chords," she explained, or at least she was trying, but it was obvious from Gwen's expression that she didn't think it mattered.

"Though I do think that I need a human name," she added, "Adelaide isn't common enough. Need something less unusual and more normal."

"Why would this be?" asked Jack, "Planning another trip, say to the outside and the streets of Cardiff?"

"Well, I'd be hoping that to help you I'll be joining you for a search. Better if I help on the outside, I'll know her instantly."

"So you know her human form?" Gwen asked, "So you've obviously seen her on Earth before you two separated?"

"Yes, and yes again. So am I correct in thinking I'll be walking with a slight freedom to help you find her?" she asked. Her gaze was only directed at Jack because she'd noticed that there was no point in persuading Gwen as Jack seemed to make every decision. Although she did guess that he'd give her the answer:

"No," Jack fired back almost instantaneously. He looked at her. "If Torchwood or UNIT found out, we'd be in serious trouble and I don't have any case backing me up!"

"With the device you could pass me off quite easily as part of the team. Give me a false identity, hire me, whatever. I'm sure someone around here knows what to do," she spoke.

"You aren't getting me with that!"

"The only reason you or UNIT knows about my bounty is because you found the information on the ship. The only reason you lot have a bounty on me is because we're more advanced," she pointed out, "but they plan on sending me back. And you aren't the only one who knows that they can't do that."

"They think you can though," Jack added, "and that technology would advance Earth by how many years?"

"Maybe a couple of centuries, but that's too much," She replied.

"I'm sorry what?" Gwen asked, confused.

It seemed both 'Adelaide' and Jack knew what was going on. Yet poor Gwen, a twenty-first century human, had no idea what they where talking about. Of course, not many people would. Only very clever people like physicists, certain types of scientists, and a lot of people who carried intellectual titles, like a doctor, might understand what was going on.

"It's a lot to explain Gwen," Jack pointed out, "But if you must know," he protested but the glance she gave him suggested that she didn't want to be thought of as dumb. He took a deep breath, "she's from the future. Don't know how but obviously a lot more advanced from when I last met up with them. Especially as they weren't even close to time travel, most of them didn't even believe in it. They're version of witchcraft."

"Well, to ease your mind, we don't know time-travel," she pointed out. He seemed a little relieved but furthered his questions. His tone a little less tense, probably because if she ever got caught they wouldn't advance as far as he was thinking.

"Then how did you get so far back?" Gwen jumped in to ask; seemingly beating Jack.

"Like I said, rifts in space, we thought it was just a worm-hole or some kind of shift, or warp-portal. Though, our technology isn't so advanced that we can actually create them. But, the theories are already thought up and written down," she began, "the only thing we knew about it was that it wasn't a black hole and, as we were being chased through space, it was worth a try to gain some time."

"A lot of time," Jack ended.

"Well we didn't know that," she added, "but we came out of it very close to your atmosphere and lost our controls, crash landing in a field near Watford. I think."

"And when did you learn to take the form of a human?" Jack questioned.

"Before, but I had to modify the settings to an high level evasive mode. Tricky business when you're plummeting to a hard surface and the world around you is shaking like nothing you've ever seen before," she answered, "Then I pressed the ejector. Just in time really, although it was the best timing, as any later and we'd have been part of the impact. However, any time before that we could have caused some serious damage to our bodies."

"So what time period are you from?" Jack asked, more casually this time.

"Don't know. We always had different calendars to the humans and I suspect it's at most a millennia. However last time I looked at our calendar we were on 2011 AT"

"AT?"

"Yeah, After the Tyrunnials," she said, "they're the extinct race; a bit like humans and Neanderthals, except the Tyrunnials lived with us quite peacefully."

"That's the earth date when you landed," he pointed out, "2011 AD!"

"Well, you're rift really doesn't help?"

"The rift through Cardiff?" Gwen asked

"Yeah, bloody rift, that's why you're here and the Weevils. The rift, I'm guessing, as we seemed to be above something a little like Cardiff before we crashed. That it must have been this rift that pulled us through."

"You've got a link though. Its 2011AD, and 2011AT somewhere else," Jack added, rather thrilled at his own thoughts and cleverness.