True to his word, Major Seales led them in a straight line down the corridor and up one flight of stairs. At the end of a side corridor was a massive door which sealed the computer area off from the rest of the ship. "We can get you access so you can get in on your own," he said, indicating the door.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I already do," Ianto said with a small smile. He noted the major's surprise at his comment. The other man stepped to the side and gestured at the door panel. Ianto stepped up to it and typed in a code. A screen lit up with a small display which asked for another code. Ianto typed that in and an access panel slid open to reveal an optic scanner. He looked into it and it scanned his retina. The major stood back and watched as the LCD display recognized his clearance and opened the door. Impressed, he said nothing as Ianto walked through into the room beyond, the major following behind him. There were several technicians positioned about the room sitting at various workstations. They all stood at attention as the two men entered the room.

"This is Agent Jones from the Torchwood Institute. He is here to help configure the systems and test them for optimal performance," Major Seales said. He could see that a few of them looked at the young man in the suit curiously. "Please note that he has the highest clearance as well as the complete trust of the chiefs of staff. You will respond to his requests accordingly." He turned to Ianto and nodded. "I'm back to the command deck. If you need anything, please let me know." Ianto nodded and the major headed towards the door before he stopped and turned back towards the operative. "Oh, dinner is 1900 hours local time, and I know that the General would be disappointed if you didn't attend. I'll have someone come get you to lead you to the Captain's mess."

"Very good, I'll be ready," Ianto nodded. The major smiled and passed out the doors, which closed behind him. Ianto swept a glance around the room and headed over to one of the occupied consoles. "I'll need to tie my laptop into the system. May I do that from this console?" The worker nodded nervously and left the station immediately. "Thank you," Ianto said before taking a seat. He opened his laptop bag and pulled Tosh's computer out of the case. Opening it and laying it on the console, he connected into a port over the desk and powered the laptop up. He ignored the audience behind him as he typed. There were several layers of security protocol before he was able to get to the screen he needed. Pulling up a schematic plan he heard a gasp behind him as he consulted something before switching programs and pulling up the source code for the computer system. Numbers scrolled past as the code loaded and he scanned for what he was looking for, staring at the screen intently. Finding what he needed, he froze the screen and nodded.

"Okay, I'm ready," he said. He turned to where one of the workers was sitting at a console near him. "I'm going to transfer autonomous flight control over to your station to monitor. The work I'm going to do will take the navigational and weapon systems off line while I work on them. It will be up to you to work with the bridge and interface any command requests manually. Understood?" The young woman nodded nervously. "Good." He tapped a com on the counter and hailed the bridge.

"Captain, Agent Jones here," he said briskly.

"Yes, Agent Jones?" A woman's voice responded. He heard nervous shuffling behind him. "I've heard a lot about you. I do so hope you live up to your reputation." Ianto raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"I hope so as well," he said and the woman gave a sultry laugh. "Captain, I've routed manual navigational control through the system here on P level to a local control. " He muted the mic for a moment and turned to the woman next to him. "What is your name?"

"Ensign Matthews, sir," the young woman said, eyes wide. Ianto nodded and took his finger off the button.

"Ensign Matthews is now controlling the ship as I begin the upgrade of the navigational systems. She should be able to do anything manually that you require while I work. Will that be acceptable?"

"I suppose so," the Captain drawled and for a moment Ianto had a mental image of a female Jack. Maybe it had something to do with the title they both shared. "How long do you expect this to last?"

"If everything goes smoothly for this first segment, about four to six hours. If not, then I will have to give you an estimate once I can assess the upgrade. After that I will upgrade the weapons array and tracking. That should take another four hours or so. With your permission, Captain, I will begin now."

"Please proceed, Agent Jones," the Captain said. A whistle signified that she had closed down the call and he nodded. Typing quickly he proceeded to set the upload of the first program module to begin. Once that had started he stood up and surveyed the room. The staff stood at attention.

"Please relax," he told them. "I'm not military and I don't expect you to stand there while I work. Rotate breaks if you'd like, but this is going to take a while." Several of the personnel smiled and went into a more relaxed stance. Ianto took off his suit jacket and draped it over the back of his chair. He then reached into his laptop bag and pulled out an object which he stuck into his trouser pocket. "Now then, if someone would be so kind as to point me in the direction of the Core, I'll need to do some work in there while the navigational code is uploading."

He could tell by the looks of surprise that none of them expected him to ask that question. "Is there a problem?"

"No one goes into the Core, sir," one of the men said who was standing off to the side. "No one has access to it."

"I do," Ianto said with a smile. "Please show me the access panel." The man nodded nervously and gestured to a recessed area behind him. Ianto approached the wall and examined it. It had a similar security access to it that the room had had, so he started by typing his Torchwood access code into it. He heard a gasp behind him as a door opened to reveal the LCD display and a keyboard. Pulling the keyboard tray out, he typed quickly, since it was a timed access query, putting his responses in to each security question as it popped up on the LCD. Several minutes later the retinal scanner popped up and scanned his eye for identification. After it had processed that information, a panel slid open. It revealed a narrow walkway that led into the heart of the Valiant. He heard another gasp behind him somewhere as the door opened.

"Please wait here," Ianto said. He reached in and flipped a switch which illuminated the interior of the Core. Several workers peered curiously inside. Stepping through the opening he headed down the narrow corridor. He heard that door close behind him, but he wasn't worried. He made his way past several banks of computers until he reached a small circular room. He tapped his comm.

"Jack, I'm in," he said quietly. He felt like he was in a church and had to keep his voice down. There was a single chair at a console and he sat down in it. The air was warm, though he could hear the vents turning on as the machinery registered his presence. He undid his cuffs and rolled them up his arms as he waited.