Eventually they pulled into a valley area in a deserted part of the mountain range. Jack pulled over to the side right next to where Rhys had parked his lorry. Off in the distance they could see a herd of cows eating placidly, not at all disturbed by the sounds of the engines. Ianto got out and walked over to where Rhys was getting down from the driver's side. Jack opened up his door and got out as well.
Deciding she didn't want to be alone with the alien, Gwen motioned for her to exit with her gun. The alien stepped out of the SUV and hurried over to the lorry. Jack and Ianto both brought up their guns and she stopped.
"Stay right there," Jack said. He motioned her further away and she retreated. "That's good. Go ahead, Ianto."
Ianto opened up the back of the lorry and pulled out a bin. The Motraton gasped as she saw her children nestled within.
"My babies!" She cried, taking a step towards where Ianto was standing. Jack tsked at her and lifted his gun. She backed off. "What are you going to do with my children?"
"Give them a fighting chance," Jack said. "Which is something you weren't going to allow you victims at the coffee shop. This is what we're going to do. We're going to leave you and your kids here. You have a food source for them, but you're going to have to catch them on your own. Provide for your young. And stay up here where none of you can harm anyone. This place is deserted, and it will stay this way. No humans about. You can live here. You can contact your people if you want, but you're not going to hurt any more of my people. You do, we come back and finish the job. Understand?" She nodded. "Don't make me regret this."
"I understand," the Motraton said. "I will need a way to contact the ship."
"We can help you with that. Just tell us what you need and we can do it from our vehicle over there," Jack said. The alien gave them the information for sending out a distress signal and Gwen made a note of that on her PDA before going to the boot of the SUV to get a transmitter. She programmed it with the correct frequency from the computer inside the SUV before bringing it out for deployment. After a nod from Jack she placed it on the ground and set it to transmit. It was also programmed with the standard warning that any reprisals would be met with deadly force by Torchwood.
The Motraton watched anxiously as Ianto and Rhys carefully scooped the eggs up and deposited them under a tree at the edge of the field. Once they were done they backed off and she rushed over to count them. Satisfied, she nodded. "I will stay."
"Good," Jack said. He nodded to her before motioning to the others to leave. Gwen got in the lorry with Rhys to keep him company while Jack and Ianto got into the SUV. Jack took the wheel and drove them back down off the mountain. He was silent while he drove, saying nothing while Ianto removed the contacts and put them away in a case. They followed the lorry down the road, Jack tailing it down to the highway.
"Did we do the right thing?" Ianto asked. He still wasn't sure, but he knew he couldn't indiscriminately kill a bunch of alien children. He wasn't sure either whether leaving them on a mountain was a good idea either, but it was better than locking them up.
"It was the best idea we had," Jack said. "Better than what I was thinking." He turned on the headlights so that they could see. Night was falling. Ianto sighed. It had been a long day.
"I'm glad it's over," Ianto said. "Though we're going to have to go back and either retcon those kids or leave them."
"Leave them for now," Jack said. "Stop by and see if they even come back. Maybe we can make it up to them and let them take over the coffee shop." Ianto liked that idea. Maybe some good could come out of this whole thing.
