"Oh dear god," Ianto said as he stopped abruptly at the sight. Beyond the door a layer of some grey substance was spread across the interior. It was sticky and dripping from the ceiling, covering everything within. Along the floor was a small pathway which obviously Mrs. Trundle had used to walk about inside. Jack stepped inside and Ianto cautiously followed him.

On either side of the path were bundles of stuff and as Ianto took a closer look he saw that they were eggs encased in this liquid and that they were pulsating. Stifling a shudder, his gaze moved behind them to the interior wall of the room where people were suspended. They were unconscious, the viscous liquid hard hardened around them, trapping them where they were. The implication was obvious.

"How do we get them out?" Ianto asked. Jack shook his head grimly and kept on moving, his eyes moving from side to side as he went further into the underground room. It seemed to Ianto that it seemed to on forever, the eggs were spread out all over the floor with the missing people scattered about the room in what had to be strategic positions for when they hatched. He shuddered at the thought. The urge to light a match to the place was incredible, and he shook his head, trying to clear it of the angry thoughts. Their goal was to rescue the poor people here before it was too late.

"Here," Jack said, indicating a small woman who looked extremely pale. It was obvious that she had been there for some time. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a serrated switchblade which he handed to Ianto. "We start with her. Let's get her free and you can carry her out to the basement. We get all of them out and then we figure out what to do with the rest of this." Ianto nodded. Jack kept his gun on the area while Ianto carefully made his way through the egg pods to the trapped woman.

Leaning close, he could hear her breathing, though it was shallow and rapid. He started cutting away the hardened massy goo and pulling it away from the woman. Reaching under her arm to support her, he cut down the length of her body, being careful to aim the knife away from her skin. When he was able to cut enough of it away he pulled her over his shoulder. She hung limply as he stepped back the way he originally walked to the pathway. He handed the woman to Jack who quickly moved her out to the basement. Ianto turned and made his way to the next person. By the time he had cut the sticky mass away from the young man, Jack was back. Ianto lifted the teenager in his arms and brought him back over to Jack.

One by one they repeated the process, being careful not to disturb any of the eggs. They weren't here to harm them, but they certainly weren't about to let them harm anyone else. They worked steadily, knowing that at any moment one of the eggs could hatch and start looking for its first meal. By the time they had released the last victim, several of the people were stirring in the room beyond.

"Let's get them upstairs," Jack said. Ianto nodded wearily and they made their way out of the nest and into the roasting room. Jack shoved the plywood door in place before they helped each of the people up the stairs and into the coffee house proper. Ianto carried up one by one those who weren't awake. Those people that were awake they helped up the stairs. They were extremely disoriented and in some ways were more helpless than those people who were still unconscious.

"Gwen, can you please call Andy and tell him we need some medical assistance?" Jack asked. She nodded and opened her mobile. Jack kept his gun trained on the woman in front of him while she did that, keeping Ianto in view as he brought a new victim in and laid her on the floor.

"Oh my god," Ticia gasped. Both she and Terry were in shock. "Is that Maire?" Ianto looked up from where he had just laid down the first woman that they had released.

"You know her?" He looked up at her and she nodded.

"That's Maire, she used to work here," Ticia said, and then covered her mouth in shock as she realized that all this time her ex-coworker had been trapped in the basement below her. "Oh my god, she really is an alien?" She turned to look at Mrs. Trundle who was just staring at them dully. In the distance they could hear sirens approaching.

Jack approached the alien woman. "Talk to me." She looked up at him but said nothing. "What happened to the woman whose body you're wearing? Is there anything left of her?"

The alien shook her head. "No, this is but an empty shell. She is dead."

"What are you?" Jack asked. Ianto could see he was holding his anger back as he bit off each word.

"What do you care?" The creature replied disdainfully. "You just condemned my children, what do you care?"

"We didn't touch them. There has to be another way," Jack said. "But you have to talk to me."

The creature let out a shuddering breath. "I am a Motraton. Does that mean anything to you?" Jack shook his head and she sighed. "My race is ancient and we have always traveled the galaxy. I was accidentally left here by my ship while I was exploring. I took this body when I realized that I was ready to lay and needed a secure place for my children. It was self defense!"

"Killing an innocent woman was self defense?" Jack asked. The sirens wailed as several vehicles stopped outside the shop. Ianto could see that several ambulances had arrived as well as police escort cars. The door opened and the police entered. They were unarmed, but stopped when they saw Jack and Gwen with their guns trained on the woman in the chair.