There was a general mêlée over the pizza boxes. No-one wanted to be the first to admit they relished the idea of an adventure slightly further afield than their normal hinterland. And finding Jack seemed to be a given. But they would have to live with this character Bruce.
"What are we saying then? Are we actually all going to run off on some wild-goose chase to the Himalayas?" suggested Owen. His wrinkled nose suggested a degree of doubt.
"We owe it to Jack to follow this up," replied Ianto quietly. "I didn't think we would need to argue about it."
"Remember. He's the one who disappeared," began Owen. "I didn't find a note asking us to follow him."
Ianto waved a triangle of pizza in a circle. "This energy swirl may have grabbed him. I don't think he had any choice."
"Look. Maybe he doesn't want to be around us any more." Owen sighed. "I do feel slightly guilty about it. After all, no-one else in the team has actually killed Jack…"
"Apart from Suzie," interjected Gwen without humor. "But he wouldn't hold that kind of grudge, Owen. There was a big reason for him to go. Do we want to try and find him? That's all."
Owen paused. Gwen's question revealed her decision. There was certainly a lot about Jack that defied conventional discussion. Perhaps a few of them needed to follow him to the ends of the Earth to prove their loyalty. Owen would need to think carefully about the loyalty aspect. But in London he had made a decision to commit to the team so that probably sorted his travel plans for the next few weeks.
"Who will feed the pets while we're away?" Owen countered weakly. "We can't just leave the Hub unattended."
"What pets?" asked Tosh bewildered.
"I think he means our pterodactyl guard-dog," Gwen chipped in slightly irritated.
"Myfanwy is big enough to look after herself. I can rig up a timed feeding mechanism," answered Ianto with growing excitement.
"When do we have to leave then?" Owen found himself asking.
"Bruce said tomorrow morning," Gwen answered with a wary smile. "I expect we'd have to go at the same time. How does that sound? You're not doing anything else are you?"
At that point they had all decided it seemed. There were a few shrugged shoulders, an ambivalent lower lip, but gradually they all began to nod. Gwen even smiled. Owen still frowned.
Gwen sent the text message quickly, before they could talk each other out of the decision.
"Replay those schematics from the briefing," said Tosh, "we might need some specialist sensors."
"Will we have to bring tents or anything like that?" asked Gwen.
"Not really sure." Ianto mused on whether Bruce had considered any of the more mundane aspects of projecting the team to a location beyond the end of the street.
Let alone onto a mountain top. On the other side of the world. At least it was the same planet.
"What about special weapons?" asked Gwen.
"Want to get your hands on some of the big guns this time?" laughed Owen.
"I was thinking more of a force field or something like that. Do we have force fields?" queried Gwen. Tosh nodded matter-of-factly; she may have had something small in mind.
"For trouble, I think guns will do," said Owen.
Ianto nodded. "Yes. Guns. Definitely guns. As many as we can take as hand luggage."
Bruce checked the confirmation message, then decided to get some sleep with some satisfaction. He was glad that the instant decapitation strategy had not been required. The find in China was a genuine investigation and this team would be more help than most, and - of course - as disposable as any other. The need to detonate remotely the miniature thermal device in the lavatory block was thus unnecessary. However, rather than stage any kind of elaborate attempt to retrieve the device, he decided to leave it in place as a souvenir. No-one would ever know he had planted it, and if it ever did go off accidentally... Well, he never planned to return to Torchwood Three anyway. Or indeed, Wales.
Ianto went to a special drawer at his old desk. He had a gun that he was keeping for a special occasion, and this seemed to qualify. A friend from Bureau Zero in France had traded it with him for a Greek-looking discus, which Ianto had never found a use for, although he always felt cheated at letting it go. It was a pretty conventional looking revolver from the 19th Century, but it had some very nice bullets, no doubt alien in origin. Ianto had only been allowed to practise with it once in their subterranean target range, before receiving an official safety warning. Surely, the other side of the earth would be now be a safe distance to make proper use of it.
"Take your pick," said Gwen. She opened the smaller armory cupboard for Owen.
Owen thought carefully, but settled for the HiCapa 4.3. He noticed an extra molding in the carry-on flight-case, so he threw in a second for luck.
"Why don't we take this too?" suggested Ianto pointing out a stubby looking rifle which could easily have been a large piece of medical kit. "Those Tokyo Marui guys make a mean assault rifle. But, look at this. Some of this design must have fallen off a spaceship." Owen nodded, although the whole toys-for-boys thing was wearing thin.
Gwen settled for a German made SIG Sauer P226, standard police issue with a few extra corrosion-resistant components. Nothing fancy.
"What about, you Tosh?" Gwen asked. "A little something for the holidays?"
Tosh seemed unsure and shook her head. "Why don't you sort out the security side and I'll get the computers together. We won't be shooting in the mountains anyway. There's no-one there."
Gwen plucked a small taser from several boxes on the lower shelf. Just right for a ladies purse.
"Haven't you got anything bigger?" Owen mused. "What if that Bruce kicks off and we have to teach him a lesson?"
"Jack always says you should never join a team where you can't wrestle the biggest guy to the ground," Ianto noted.
"I'm sure he does," Owen fake-smiled.