Although it was still early enough in the evening for the natural light to mix favorably with the electrical sources, there was still a chill in the Hub briefing room as Bruce activated the familiar main screen and an older-fashioned display screen. Ianto was not quite sure where this plastic and aluminum projection screen had emerged from - certainly Jack himself was not known to embrace minor office technology - but Bruce had a clear familiarity with all their equipment and began talking before he had even turned around.
From Bruce's point of view, this was to be a very brief briefing, fulfilling some kind of nominal need to present a case. For the team, he judged it would require little explanation for them to pursue their colleague.
"Listen carefully," said Bruce. "Harkness is gone and that is, of course, a great concern to the Torchwood resource."
Owen, now seated with the other three, adjudged Bruce's level of concern to be at or about the value of zero on the matter. Having made the decision to make an appearance that day, he was surprised to be watching this man-mountain of indeterminate Scottish origin standing in the place of Jack. Jack, who was in reality the only person they had counted as a leader, had mentioned Bruce a couple of times, and had not been very complimentary. So what, Owen wondered, was between these men? Professional rivalry? Maybe even jealousy? Certainly, Owen smiled to himself, it seemed unlikely to have been the kind of relationship that Jack seemed to initiate with almost otherworldly effort.
"We have searched all the data available to us carefully and our analysts at GCHQ have put together a number of theories," Bruce continued. He flipped quickly thru a sequence of satellite images, each overlaid with a range of energy filters. "But only one has any credibility."
A single slide remained on the screen. A pair of satellite images, time-dated around the time of Jack's disappearance, stood together. One showed a very familiar crackle of energy centred on the Rift almost exactly where they were sitting. The other location was difficult to interpret, but it seemed to be inland, far away from water. A similar pattern of crackling energy was apparent.
"Oh dear. This isn't looking good," whispered Ianto to Owen.
"There's been a lot of Chinese signal activity referring to this spike of energy," Bruce pointed out. "American satellites have nothing. Our local contacts have nothing. But machine analysis across all the Torchwood resources has highlighted this potential hotspot in the Himalayan region. Great whirls of energy have been rolling around for the past few weeks. But they ceased completely only a week or so ago. It almost exactly coincides with the disappearance of Captain Harkness."
There was a pause while the seated friends analyzed the slides. Owen raised his hand half-heartedly, almost as if admiring his fingernails. "When you say 'Himalayan region', Bruce, do you mean 'heavily disputed hostile border region of Tibet'?"
"No, Dr. Harper. The borders are fixed. The disputes are purely internal politics." Bruce closed his plastic folder containing his papers and rubbed his fingers along the screen of his tablet computer. He wanted to give the impression of a job completed.
"If there are no real questions, my proposal then, is that we investigate this hotspot. It may be a doorway connecting with the Rift on this side of the planet, and Captain Harkness has walked thru it. He may be there; he may not. He might be injured; he might be perfectly fine. He might not wish to see anyone at this time; he might be desperate to see anyone at all." Bruce paused for the natural drama of his little speech.
"We can do this as a combined Torchwood team. I have all the necessary authority to run it, move things along, but you can decide what to bring. In fact, you can also decide the opposite. Just stay here if you want."
"It's not exactly a cast-iron lead," mused Owen. "Not for a secret invasion of Communist China."
Bruce raised his eyes, "No?" showing interest for a blink, then looked down again at his screen. "Well then. There is the end of the matter."
"Owen, no." Tosh whispered. She shook her head stiffly hoping to catch Gwen's eye.
"Bruce?" smiled Gwen. "Bruce, you must know that this is a big step. Even for a friend like Jack." She turned slightly to indicate she was attempting to speak for them all. Bruce blinked skeptically.
"Of course, Constable Cooper. Let's make this simple. I know you particularly will appreciate that. I'm staying in Newport tonight. Tomorrow morning I will get on a plane. You can decide whether I return to important business defending the realm in Glasgow or head east to find our erstwhile colleague."
Gwen stayed still in her seat. There was no apparent conflict, and no apparent need to rush. Again, a series of looks passed between the team members.
"That's great, Bruce," said Gwen. "Leave us a number and we'll call you in good time." The presentation was now officially finished.
Bruce seemed ambivalent to this answer. He packed his small briefcase with his notes and pieces of equipment. He pressed a yellow sticky note onto the conference table beside Gwen, saying "A text will suffice." Then, instead of heading for the blast door exit, he walked thru to the elevator pad and stood still to await ascent.
Still seated, Owen whispered under his breath to Ianto. "Has he been here before?"
"No. There are no entries in any of the logs. I checked," replied Ianto absent-mindedly.
As he started to ascend, Bruce joined the conversation by shrugging his shoulders with some magnanimity. His hearing must have been astonishingly acute. "That must be your answer then, Dr. Harper." He seemed pleased with his sarcasm as he disappeared out of sight.
So while Bruce retired off to some unnamed local hotel where he could no doubt lock himself away from normal people, the team discussed the plan. After a short and heated side-chat about ordering take-out, they gathered again around the planning table in the conference room. Two giant pizzas were open in the centre of the table, each ready to be eaten. Ianto started to munch away without reference to his colleagues.
"Who's up for it then?" he mumbled.