Chapter Three

Jack sat at the table and rapped his knuckles on the smooth surface, his coffee was getting cold and the sandwich forgotten. For a man who had travelled time and space and battled even the terrifying DALEKS he was allowing such a small thing to upset him. Specifically he was sitting at the table alone, him! His ego could hardly digest it, the fact that someone could resist his charm was not altogether unheard of, but this time he had been the one being charmed.

A little earlier:

Noah grinned at the older man, and then the grin turned into a whole-hearted laugh and then he continued until tears were leaking out the side of his eyes, "Let me get this right," asked Noah, once he had breath to talk again, "You escaped prison by seducing not just one, but both of your guards – at the same time?"

Jack shrugged in his usual manner of part-humble and part-arrogant body language, "It was actually three if you count the gate-keeper."

"That's unbelievable, isn't it guys?" Noah asked of Hayley and Josh.

The couple hesitated and looked at each other, "Urh, yeah – pretty amazing," Josh finally answered, his cheeks reddening. Noah noticed this but wisely chose not to mention it; he figured it was good ammunition to use for another time.

"So does that make you an escaped convict or something?" he asked Jack, touching him on the forearm as he spoke.

The captain flicked his eyes to the innocent touch, "Depends who you ask, but on this planet – at this particular time, no."

Noah drew away, "What a strange thing to say, but then I've never quite got you Americans – you always seem such a conflicted culture."

How Jack really wanted to explain that he was not technically American, and as for conflicted, the only conflict he was feeling was just who was meant to be flirting with whom? Noah was continuing his explanation, "It's like, as a nation, you preach freedom and democracy but in smaller sections of your community there are groups who take away the freedom of others in the name of such democracy."

Hayley groaned, "Stop, please – they should never have allowed you to go on to do your masters – being an undergrad was bad enough but now we have to endure this!"

"It's a requirement of further education Hayles, you should know that – we must disparage and question the world around us," Noah retorted, he seemed only semi-serious though, flashing Jack a smirk and a wink, obviously he had sounded out this tirade many times. Jack could not help but smile back and found himself ordering another coffee and a sandwich, even though he knew there were things to do – he did not want to leave Noah just yet.

"No, let him continue," said Josh, obviously believing Noah would dig his own hole if he kept on, "I'm sure Jack would love to hear about the evils of his own country."

"I never said 'evil', just confused – they say one thing, and mean another," as he said this his knee bumped into Jack's and Noah gave him a leering grin, again it seemed purely innocent but the Captain was now getting well and truly flustered, normally he had control of the situation but in no time this young buck had turned the tables – and Jack was unsure if it was on purpose or not.

"So, what brings you to Summer Bay?" Noah changed the subject when Jack seemed unable to respond to his 'American' diatribe.

Ahh my cover story thought Jack, "Actually here on business, engineering firm in the city, just thought I'd pop out to see the sites."

"Engineering?"

"Astronautic engineering, you know-"

"Yeah spaceships, so your some kind of rocket scientist, that's hot," this time there was no disguising the playfulness in Noah's voice so Jack decided it was time to enter the game.

"Sort of, I'm a pilot," Jack knew that was impressive in any time. Noah raised his eyebrows and nodded, taking the moment to drink his juice.

Just when Jack thought that was the end of it the young man finally spoke, in a totally deadpan voice, "So that means you'd be really good on a joystick?"

Josh snorted and Hayley almost choked on her milkshake, grabbing her arm Josh got up, "I think that's our que to leave, sure we'll see you around Jack – if you need a place to crash you know where we are."

"Oh come on guys," laughed Noah, "I was just getting started, wait till I ask him about having a game on my X-box," but it was too late, the couple had already moved off, leaving Jack and Noah alone.

The silence continued, Noah kept flashing Jack a devious smile and Jack pretended to play it cool, believing he had this one in the bag. As his coffee and sandwich arrived Jack finally asked, "Noah, what exactly is an X-box?"

Noah did not give a direct answer, as if he thought Jack was just joking around, instead he got up and moved around Jack, bringing an arm around his side so that his lips were close to Jack's ear he whispered, while writing a number on the napkin, "If you want to, give me a call later on – we can discuss matters of… international conflict."

Before Jack could respond the young man had left, the only people left in the dining room were Jack, Colleen and a young couple in the far corner. Jack swiftly memorised the number then moved it to his pocket, Colleen started clearing the table and harrumphed loudly, "Watching you all carry on, it was like some kind of…trip sleaze"

Jack was going to correct her, then decided her mis-pronunciation was probably more appropriate, instead he changed the subject, "So my gorgeous delight, what's the quickest way to the city?"

Once she had given him the bus details Jack decided he needed to find out about other matters, and Colleen seemed to have her fingers on the pulse of this community.

"The lady who freaked out earlier," Jack began, "Does that happen to her a lot, or is it something recent?"

Colleen took a careful look around then sat down, leaning in to speak conspiratorially, "Our Leah has always been a little bit sensitive to the 'other side', she sees things that aren't there and that's not the first time she's had a turn running into someone."

Jack wanted to act dis-interested so as not to attract suspicion but he needed this information if what he believed had happened, had actually happened, "Who else, did it happen yesterday?"

Colleen looked surprised, "Well as a matter of fact it did, her own husband came walking in that door and she went screaming out the back, yelling about ghosts and the dead walking – it got so bad he had to leave."

"What about you, have you noticed anything out of place, had the feeling someone was here that shouldn't be?" Jack had not forgotten Colleen's earlier remark about Hayley being married to Noah, but had she forgotten it?

The older woman just tutted and held her handkerchief to her mouth, "There's some would say I'm always seeing things that aren't there, they think I'm not right in the head," she hesitated, seemingly uncertain whether to continue.

Jack decided to be more up-front, in a round-a-bout kind of way, "I'm going to be honest with you Colleen, I'm not really here just to find engine parts," he flipped out his psychic paper, "I'm with the International Investigation Agency," to Colleen's eyes the credentials on his pad looked real, "And we know something strange has been going on, I'm here to find out what – and I really need your help."

"Little old me," squeaked Colleen, her eyes getting smaller and both hands going to her mouth, "Surely there's nothing I could do."

"Au contraire mon petite," soothed Jack, "I bet working here you get to see a lot and hear just about everything."

Colleen gulped but accepted his rationale, "Well now that you mention it I have heard a lot of people whispering recently, little things like losing keys, objects being moved and people turning up to work when they don't work there – I myself went home last night but instead of going to my little cottage, I went to the caravan park – I haven't lived there in years. Thought it was the alfmyers setting in, but then I've heard three people mention doing the exact same thing just this morning."

Listening intently Jack nodded, urging her to continue, "What else, anything could be helpful, no matter how small," he cringed as he realised just how much like a cop he was sounding.

"It was the strangest thing," she whispered, "I was walking down the beach this morning, you know – before work, because as I always say – a healthy body and a healthy um," she lost her place and Jack momentarily regretted asking for her help, but she gathered herself and continued, "Anyway, right there in the sand was what looked like a blue bottle."

"A blue… bottle," said Jack, not quite understanding where she was going.

"Yeees, you know, a jellyfish – anyway, I avoided it, just in case it was still alive, don't want to walk on one of those oh no, let me tell you-."

Jack waved his hands furiously, stopping her from launching off on a different tangent.

"Yes, where was I, the blue bottle – it followed me."

"A jelly-fish!" said Jack incredulously.

"I know," squawked Colleen, "That's what I thought, but the thing seemed to flow along towards me, I went to run when it just disappeared in a great blue flash, then everything was blue for a moment before-."

"What," asked Jack.

"You'll just thing I'm barmy," said Colleen embarrassed.

"No, please – I promise, no thoughts of 'barmy' will enter this head," said Jack, tapping his skull.

This seemed to placate her and she went on, "The blue covered everything, like… foam, then poof – it shattered, everything shattered into bits of blue that just sunk into the ground – then everything was normal," Colleen shook her head, not quite believing she had told him this story.

Jack didn't laugh, he did not even comfort her.

He was not sure what to do because he had only a vague notion of how things might play out, and knowing his luck it would not be a good ending.

"Well?" asked Colleen, "What do you think it means?"

Jack looked at her with sad eyes, "It could be nothing, just a hiccup in time-."

"Or?" persevered the older woman.

Jack hesitated a moment, then rasped, "The end of the world."