"Captain, thank you for taking the time to see us," Major Seales said, speaking up before the general had a chance to stick his foot in his mouth. "We realize how incredibly busy you must be and we appreciate your making time in your schedule."
"Major Seales," Jack said, nodding curtly in recognition before pulling out his chair and sitting down, Gwen a heartbeat behind him. "You're a long way from the Valiant." He leaned on the table in front of him before moving his glance over to the other man. "General Maddock."
Ianto moved over to the kitchen area off to the side. He started brewing some coffee and gathered some supplies from the small fridge built into the cabinetry. Once the coffee was brewed, he retrieved a tray from the secluded coffee area with several coffee mugs which he set in front of the four seated UNIT members. Moving efficiently, he set out cream and sugar for their use before bringing Jack and Gwen their usual. He added a carafe to each end of the table before pouring himself a cup and taking a seat opposite Gwen.
"Captain, you're a difficult man to reach," General Maddock said. He had gotten the message, and now that he had gained access to the much vaunted Torchwood facility, he was prepared to be a little more tolerant.
Ianto pulled a pad of paper towards him, setting up the space around him, ready to record notes of the meeting. The UNIT aides were still fumbling with their belongings, struggling to pull their own supplies out in preparation for their own note taking. The contrast between them and Ianto's quiet competence was striking.
"We've been busy," Jack said before raising his cup and taking a sip. He sighed in appreciation. "But never too busy for a chat and a cup of coffee. Thank you, Ianto, for your usual efficiency."
"I try my best, sir." Ianto said. He shared a glance with Gwen before picking up a pen and holding it poised above his pad. "Shall we begin?"
"Captain, this is a courtesy mission that UNIT had undertaken on behalf of a request from the Prime Minister to assure ourselves that things here are running smoothly and that you are not in need of assistance," Stan Seales said, taking the lead despite being the junior officer at the table.
"We're running quite smoothly, thanks for asking," Jack said, resting his cup down on the tabletop and leaning forward. "UNIT and the Prime Minister have our reports. I believe that they are complete and up to date."
"Captain, we all know that there are things that never end up in one's reports," The general said, mellowed by the reception so far. He was prepared to be conciliatory, and his previous irritation dissipated now that they were finally meeting. "We just want to make sure that you have everything you need. It's been a rough few months for you here in Cardiff and if our group can be of assistance, we're prepared to help." He shifted his glance around the room. "Interesting place you have here."
Jack relaxed, leaning back in his seat. "It works for us," he said quietly. "Gwen, what do you think about our need for help here?"
"We're doing well enough," she said, her large eyes gazing intently at their visitors. "I also think that a military presence wouldn't go over well with the locals." She smiled sweetly at the general. "No offense intended, General."
"None taken," the General said. He had read the dossiers on the way over, and had heard a lot about the woman known as Gwen Cooper. The Welsh were always a strange group, and fiercely independent. "Any chance of a tour?" He asked, changing the subject.
"C'mon General, if I gave you a tour, we'd be here for months," Jack said with a laugh. "This complex is quite large, and we really don't have the time to spend giving VIP tours."
"It was worth a try," the general said, smiling for the first time. He found himself liking the man in front of him. He had heard the stories – they all had. And he had grilled Seales on what had happened on the Valiant on the way into Cardiff. Even discounting most of the second hand accounts from the events that happened there, the reports that Torchwood regularly filed as a courtesy told the rest of the story. This was a group that worked quietly and efficiently behind the scenes to clean up a lot of alien messes that arrived on their doorstep. He read the intelligence reports about each of them, and found himself forming a grudging respect for their operations.
The conversation bantered back and forth as the UNIT personnel tried to get the Torchwood group to give out additional information. It wasn't an easy discussion, but it had lost the adversarial edge that it had at the beginning of the meeting. It was in the midst of a discussion between Jack and Major Seales about alien tech artifacts that they were startled by an alarm going off somewhere.
"Excuse me," Ianto said, standing and moving over to a console at one side of the room. He moved too quickly for the soldiers to really see what he was doing, and the monitor display was angled in such a way to make it difficult for them to read it properly. Ianto was making notes on a pad of paper by the keyboard. Ripping a page off the pad, he scribbled another note before placing it in front of Jack. Gwen looked down to see what he had written.
To anyone else looking at it, it just looked like a squiggled line which arced up before dipping back down and, coming back up again to the center. A negative rift spike. She looked up at him, asking him with a glance if he needed assistance. He shook his head minutely, a silent communication occurring between the two operatives.
Jack glanced down briefly before returning his attention to the men in front of him. "Go." Ianto pocketed the other piece of paper before heading out of the boardroom. The two soldiers standing at rest on either side of the door looked at him curiously as the door opened to let him pass.
"Trouble?" The general asked, curiosity getting the better of him. He had been unable to see what Agent Jones had written, but had caught the look of concern that had passed over Cooper's face. "Anything my boys can help you with?"
"No," Jack assured him. The last thing they needed was UNIT finding a rift survivor or their operations on Flat Holm. "Just investigating a rift spike. Standard, routine procedure. It's probably nothing," he said casually, his posture relaxed. Major Seales looked at him, wondering to himself what the real story was. "Ianto is more than capable of dealing with it on his own." He turned the conversation back to the previous topic, effectively cutting off any further discussion of what had just happened.
