Hank blinked at the computer scene as the latest search came up with nothing for one Jack Harkness in his system. He tried a general search away from the police database and still came up with nothing. Not even a fictional character or an animal came up with a name search save for one American Captain that served in WWII and was killed in the Blitz of Cardiff in 1941. Hank remembered one of the church ladies mentioning that Jack was from England, or maybe it was Wales. Was there a connection to this other American, perhaps a son? But by the age Jack appeared to be, he would say more of a grandson since that would mean Jack would have to have been conceived in 1941. Jack seemed no older than 35. So Hank decided to ask Intel if they knew of a Jack Harkness that was in their system. They sent him to Scotland Yard, which told him pretty much what the Google search prior to that said. Jack Harkness in 2011 just didn't exist.
Hank in frustration ran his hands through his hair. This wouldn't go over well with the Town Folk that already have plagued him with questions about the new comer. It would seem that the events of late made those of a less refine nature assume Jack was some spawn of Satin. Hank didn't believe that. He wasn't in the old wives tales, but with no birth certificate or proof, Jack was looking to be a bit shady. If he wasn't the spawn of Satin he was hiding his true self from the people of Tempest. That didn't go over well with Hank who was proud that he knew all those in his jurisdiction. So before things got out of hand Hank grabbed his hat told the desk clerk he was heading to Kyle's farm and he would be back in a few hours. Right now the only one that could answer his questions was the very man that started them. Jack Harkness must answers his questions or he would arrest him simple as that. At set of fingerprints would perhaps come up with a least Jack's real name. But he liked the guy and didn't want it to come to that. He sighed as he drove away in his police car.
He inhaled the beginnings of fall on a still seasonal warm day. He checked his mood deciding that as long as Jack was up front nothing would come of this. He also had a feeling that he would more than likely end up just having coffee and with some of Mauve's strawberry preservers on bread while he thought of something to tell the very wonderful town folk of Tempest. In other words he would come up with a harmless untruth. Besides no matter what Jack told him the town folk wouldn't believe the truth anyway.
Kyle knocked once before walking into the shed carrying a basket with lunch for the both of them that Mauve had put together. It wasn't fancy but it would do. Kyle felt guilty for taking a few hours off with the farm. The corn needed tending being so close to harvest. There were also a late crop of beans and peas that were ready. Jack smiled when Kyle came up to him a 7 o'clock am. Jack informed him that he did all the chores this morning. He even said that he would pick the beans later. He explained that he needed to borrow Kyle. With little words, Jack explained he had some kind of idea of what was going on and he needed a little help. Kyle asked about the corn saying it didn't tend itself and it was after all his family's livelihood.
Jack smiled that smile that Kyle was beginning to see as not so charming but more of a con job before he said. "Kyle, do you think I would allow anything to interfere with food on your table and a roof over your head. I was through every row of all your crops this morning at sun up and check every plant and ear for bugs, grubs and whatever else may hurt your corn. They are all doing fine." Jack responded to Kyle like he was an expecting father. In a way he was, the ears were his children that he raised form seeds. Jack felt a pang of regret that he may have not been taking this whole farming thing seriously. In a brief spark in Kyle's eyes Jack knew he hit something deep. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to seem like a game."
"It's okay Jack, I didn't think I would ever care about this life. My Dad was so convinced I would fail at it. At times I thought I would. But you know, I didn't. Not yet, unless something goes wrong while I'm playing "detective" with you." His face reminded stoic.
"If something goes wrong it won't be my fault but the weather's. As soon as we get set up I go over that with you. But for now give me a hand with this box."
Kyle sighed losing the fight. So with nothing left to do he decided to help Jack out. That was this morning, now it was noon. Kyle left Jack to the task of setting up shop so he could go check on his "children" himself. To his surprise, Jack was right.
What Kyle didn't know was Jack took a reading from the middle of the field early in the morning and scanned each plant for any thing that may harm the growing ears. Jack knew that his method was just as good as Kyle's old fashion way. So it was a small white lie he told his friend but it seemed relax Kyle somewhat until he excused himself and left. Jack smirked at his friend for he knew exactly were Kyle was heading. Jack hoped that once Kyle returned from his own inspection it would make him more receptive to what Jack had to explain to him. So Jack went to work using a little future technology and Kyle returned looking a little guilty for not believing his friend.
It bought Kyle to part of a conversation the pair had that morning. "Sometimes, Jack, I think what some say about you is true. You can seem very unearthly at times with that far away look in your eyes. Are you sure your didn't fall from the sky?" To Kyle's surprise Jack laughed.
"Funny you should say that!" Jack smiled but left Kyle in the dark as to the story behind the statement.
That thought followed Kyle when he found himself bringing lunch to their "Hub". It was a word Jack came up with as they unloaded the boxes of stuff Jack manage to bring back from his shopping trip into town the day before. Jack explained that every investigation needed an uninterrupted base of operations. Also it must be a place where all information is gathered, a place for activity.
Of course Kyle was beginning to think he was becoming a character in one of Jess's comic books. He smiled to himself as he placed the food on the table. "Hell, I use to read those same comic books." He grinned catching Jack's attention from the large flat screen he was looking at.
"You like me don't you, Kyle, just a little deep down. I can tell." That damned grin was back on Jack's face.
"If I didn't have the best wife in the world, I might think of you that way. But right now I want to know how you are getting the Internet?" He watched Jack play a You Tube video of a cat flushing the toilet. "Is this part of the investigation?" Kyle was tilting his head as he wondered if maybe Jack was just playing this up a bit. After all everyone at one point wanted to be extraordinary. Was Jack playing or was he just insane?
The look in Jack's eyes when he sought out Kyle's told a different story all together. For the briefest of moments something ancient and faraway flashed back at Kyle giving him a shiver up his back to remember.
"You can be assured that it was stolen. I didn't want to use your connection, just incase there is a prying eye or two out there. So I high jacked a signal straight from a source in the next state and sent it bouncing in a very complex pattern mainly off of a certain satellite. But right now that lunch smells great. Cold fried chicken and some corn, I love your wife as well!" He ruffled through the basket retrieving the thing that made his nose twitch. He pulled at the skin sinking his teeth in the meat.
Kyle watched in horror. He mused that Jack most have been raised by wolves to have developed such table manners. But his own rumbling stomach had him joining Jack in his feeding frenzy. After all when in Rome… and Mauve wasn't here to complain.
Now the shed was an odd choice for a base of operations being run down. It was once used for an over flow for tools and other items that the barn seemed to have little room for. It was built as long ago as the 1920's but sometime in the 1950's electricity had been added. Jack said that it would be a better place to do his research. Judging by the cobwebs and the animal debris, Jack guessed it hadn't been touched since the late 1970's. Kyle said Jack was correct. Kyle's Dad had stopped using the shed when he added extra rooms to the main barn. It made things easier than having to go all way to the other side of the house from the barn for some thing that was needed. That was Kyle's Dad, Mr. Particle all the way through.
Kyle looked around and noticed Jack did some cleaning, it wasn't perfect but it looked less condemned. But now the shed was failing over all but for some reason Jack thought it would be of use to him. Besides the roof was still good. Kyle just wondered exactly what it was Jack thought he was going to do. Judging by the boxes that Jack bought back from town, it was computer related. There was also a camcorder and a bunch of digital cameras with an assortment of lenses.
"I couldn't get an inferred camera, I just have to improvise. I'll come up with something." Jack chocked out in between bites of corn.
He didn't here Jack fully as he caught site of something else. Kyle's eyes lit up as he saw the computer screens that appeared on the wall in front of the little table Jack had set up. "How the hell are you doing that?" He asked as he approached the table.
"Oh good, lunch! I think I have room for one more piece." He reached in to the chicken container gracing Kyle with another smile. He bit into another leg with the same vigor he had with the first one. Kyle heard Jack say something that sounded along the lines of "I can't reveal trade secrets" as he chewed.
"Well, if you want my help you have to give me a little more than that." Kyle retrieved another chicken leg taking more civilized bites this time. "Why this place? We could have worked out of the basement. My wife and son won't go near that place. They feel things down there. That is why I had to move the laundry room upstairs. Mauve kept feeling like she was being watched and she swears something inappropriately touched her. I can't feel anything but the draft from the cracks in the foundation."
"Sometimes those cracks are all it takes to bring something into another space." Jack put the chicken leg in mouth while returned to the table to type something on the keyboard. The results showed up on wall making Kyle blink.
Jack finished the leg tossing into the garbage bin behind him. He missed causing Kyle to roll his eyes. "You want me to get that?" He didn't wait for a response just went to toss the grizzly eaten remains in to the trash along with the rest of the garbage.
Jack spoke as Kyle return from cleaning up Jack's mess. "The basement has an odd metal alloy that would block my connection with a certain satellite I like bouncing my signal off of. This shed is just wood so no odd metal. It is strange but the metal that is in your basement has temporal property. So I did a scan of the area and pockets of is show up in quite a few places around here." He stood going to the wall to point out the highlighted place on the map he just bought up on to the wall.
Kyle blinked when he realized that Jack wasn't using a computer, just a keyboard and small desk screen. "Okay back this up a bit. How are you even pulling the information off the Internet or where ever with out an actual computer? Also what does a metal have to do with this?"
Jack smiled as he saw his friend's fluster face grow pink in confusion. "Oh I peeked your interest I can tell. Okay you convinced me." Kyle blinked not understanding what Jack was talking about. Jack stood and returned to the table to have another piece of chicken. Taking a bite he began to explain. " About having another piece of chicken. What? I was talking to my stomach." He caught Kyle's look before he continued while munching the leg." There are certain pockets that are time displacement areas which means they have a cosmic property." He watched Kyle register the first part of what he was saying. Taking another bite he went for the thermos of coffee. Pouring himself a cup he sniffed it before he took a swig. "She makes a great cup of coffee, Mauve does. Anyway the reason your basement is haunted is because it has a time displacement pocket caused by a piece of metal that was from a temporal ship of sorts. Not really a time machine as I see that is what thought crossed your mind, as it did mine, but something that passed through a Rift in Time and Space." He sipped some coffee giving Kyle a chance to catch up.
"So my basement is a portal? That would explain the missing socks." He laughed causing a slight chuckle out of Jack.
"And here I thought that was a sock Fairy." Jack tossed the bone backwards getting it into the can this time. He licked his fingers as he retrieved his coffee and a brownie from the basket before going back to the table.
"But what does that have to do with all the other things going on? And the storms, how is this all connected?" He went for the thermos as a whiff of coffee found his nose.
Jack smiled. "I'm getting to that but after the brownie. I think with Mauve's cooking I could grow fat here." He saw how he was frustrating his friend. It bought the bright grin to his face. "Okay, sorry, but you are so cute when you are flustered, Kyle. I have forgotten how much fun it is to tease. Anyway it has to do with pieces of the ship breaking apart and dropping little pieces all over the place. It allows for temporal pockets to form and open whenever they feel like it. I had one occur during one storm. I was approached by something. There was also an old friend that showed up in my room. Not that I minded him appearing in dreams, it just seemed wrong."
Kyle sat in the chair seemingly not to trust his feet. "I need to sit for a bit. I'm trying to understand." He watched the screen and returned his gaze to Jack. "What you said about not being able to die? It is true right?" Kyle waited for Jack to speak.
"Yes, that is true. The amount of lighting that struck me was enough to kill ten men. You yourself said I wasn't breathing at first. The thing is I don't always revive right away. It takes a little time especially when the force is powerful." He went back to the keyboard as he went to the spot on the map by Bob Connors place and next Marybeth's. "See both spots have a part of the ship under their land. But my question is has these events happened before and if yes, how often and what triggers them? I wonder if the storm activity is connected to these pockets?" He continued typing painfully aware of Kyle's burning questions.
"Jack, I took you in to my house, gave you the run of my family and gave you work. I did it because you seemed to need it, to need a place for a bit. But if you are yanking my chain with talk of Science Fiction monsters, Time Machines and men given Immortality I will throw you out or have you locked up!" Kyle was on his feet ready for the truth that Jack was just nuts to ring clear.
"I'm not yanking your change, Kyle, and I did need a place to belong, just for a bit. Actually were I come from most of what you call Science Fiction is now in some way Science Fact. They are called Aliens not monsters, though some can be monsters but I have met plenty of humans that can also be classified as monsters making the hair stand up on your neck with fear." He smirked before continuing. "Time machines, yes, they exist it was because of the power of one and a very beautiful girl with a huge heart that I became Immortal. But the "men" part as far as I know I'm one of a kind." He turned meeting Kyle's eyes with a flash of the devil radiating in his look.
Kyle just looked at Jack unmoving. He felt odd like the world stopped revolving. His head felt light almost dizzy as a rush of blood awoke a headache. He began to shake just slightly enough for Jack to take notice. "So what you are saying is all of it is real. Aliens they are here or were here, right? I mean they aren't still here." He was growing confused almost upset at how hard it was for him self to accept what the truth was. "Once I would have believed him, but now I'm an adult and the full grown Peter Pan wants me to take his hand in a leap of faith and go to Never Never Land. But what if he is just nuts." Kyle found Jack's eyes and something buried far in the back of the blue part was the truth. It was in Jack's eyes, that look that says, "I know so much more than you do." He took that leap of faith and smiled.
Jack smiled back knowing he had won Kyle over. "My eyes right, they can't lie at least not to those that know were to look. Kyle, I can't tell you everything about what I did before I came here or about myself. But we have an immediate problem and as I said I will help you. So pull up a chair and get a little bit closer." He winked making Kyle scrunch up his face a little at the almost proposition like tone in Jack's voice.
He did just that. Headache now leaving he was up to the task of learning new things. Besides sometimes he just needed a break from farming. And Alien investigation was a good enough break as any.
Hank stopped a few times to other folk that had seen things near their properties. Camden was off to the other side of Tempest with a few more animal deaths as well as a missing child. Hank swore when his Deputy told him that he would handle. It would seem a few more than a dozen complaints came in about the Stranger Jack. Hank had a bad feeling that the mob might get restless if they blame the missing child on Jack. He told Camden to keep a lid on it and that he would be over to talk with the family as soon as he finished at Kyle's.
He rounded up the driveway heading to Kyle's house waving at Jess as he played with one of the Labradors that he gave to Kyle as a gift for helping him paint his house. The dog barked once before going back to a game of ball with Jess.
Mauve was on the porch watching the sky as she broke some beans for dinner. She stood as Hank stopped the car. She asked him before anything if he wanted some lemonade.
"I just need to speak to Kyle and if possible Jack. Are they in the field, Mauve?" He opened the car door and got out not wanting to be rude and talk through an open window.
"Jack? What do you want with Jack?" She became defensive. "Honestly Hank, if this is about him being a demon, devil or a traveling sales man seducing wives I'll never let you have any of my preserves again." She wasn't joking.
"Mauve, this is just routine, there are a lot of things going on at once here. Jack is new. You know they are bound to point fingers. You know this. But to threaten to cut off my supply to your strawberry preserves, that is heartless!" He chuckled joining her laughter.
"True enough, it isn't fair for me to deny a junkie his fix. But please don't break Jack, he isn't as strong as he looks." The wind picked up as the sky drew darker threatening rain. "You better hurry, I think another storm is do in. They are in the shed on the side of the house. You know the one, you use to drink whisky there with Kyle's Pa a well as mind." She waved a finger at him. "When you are done, I'll have that lemonade and the preserves waiting form you." She waved as she left the porch heading back in the house with the beans.
He shook his head at her. She was a bit of a spitfire at times so unlike Kyle's calm nature. He was thinking on the miss-matched pair as they he rounded the corner the shed. He didn't knock just walked. He blinked not understanding what was going on in front of him. Big images hung like screens in thin air. Some had news on it; some had maps, grids, while others produced articles and talks from online media sources.
He sat there blinking at the wall before he turned his attention to the rather cozy pair of Jack and Kyle chatting away about space and time.
"It was Jack that spoke causing Kyle to snicker a little when he said. "Hank, when you have scraped your Jaw off the ground, pull up a chair so I can show you something.
End of Chapter 5
TBC