Torchhouse (complete)

Torchhouse (complete)

Chapter 1

September, 2008
Cardiff, Wales, UK

Owen Harper touched his ear and opened the communications link to The Hub. "Lost 'im in the airport, Jack. I'm sorry," he panted. He came so close to catching him. His fingers had brushed the back of the boy's shirt but failed to find purchase as the boy twisted sideways and disappeared.

Literally disappeared. One second there and the next second gone, with not even the popping sound to indicate air rushing in to fill the space where he had been.

"Say that last part again?" Tosh looked up at the screen even though it was only showing the swirling blue screensaver.

"I said there wasn't even that popping sound you get when something teleports." He drew another breath and tried to calm himself down. Christ, he wanted a beer. Maybe he could just pop into the Echo...

Jack's voice put an end to that. "You lost him at the airport, Owen?"

"That's what I said, yeah. He just vanished."

Tosh looked over her shoulder at Jack. "Owen said he disappeared. It wasn't a teleportation. There wasn't the usual signs of it."

"No blips, either." Ianto added. "Teleportation always shows a distinct wave pattern. There was nothing like that anywhere near Owen's location."

"So whatever he's got gives him the power of invisibility. Probably some sort of a cloaking device. Owen, come on back home. Tosh, you keep trying to figure out the signature of the thing. See if we can narrow down the race that built it. That ought to give us an idea of how it operates. It's got to be small. Something for a ship would be huge. Impossible to carry or at least conceal." He noticed Gwen's confused stare and gestured a cube. "A ship's cloaking device is bigger than a breadbox. Who came up with that as a unit of measure, anyhow? Ianto!"

"Wasn't me, sir. I've always wondered how one would describe a breadbox." He mimed his own cube. "Hey, this breadbox is the size of a breadbox."

Jack bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "Research, Ianto. Find me everything about everything that renders the holder invisible. Invisibility cloaks, rings, charms, potions... anything we've got. Gwen, you take the surveillance footage and see if you can get a good shot of our invisible friend. Find out who he is, where he's from, and why he was running to the airport. Hopefully he hasn't left Cardiff."

Something flashed in the corner of Tosh's main monitor. She glanced over from the secondary monitor where her code was displayed and moved the mouse to the blinking icon. A database alert. She double-clicked and quickly scanned the text. "Jack? Jack!"

He looked up from the stack of government reports he was supposed to be reading. "What is it?"

"Remember the disappearing guy? He's turned up."

Jack was away from his desk and standing behind Tosh in the blink of an eye. "Where?"

Tosh tapped a few keys and pulled up the information. "He's in hospital. Irregular heartbeat, hallucinations, fever, systemic failure..."

"Which hospital?" Owen joined the two and read through the medical information. "Princeton-Plainsboro? Where the hell's that?"

"Princeton, New Jersey."

"America." Owen grumbled.

Across the room, Ianto turned his headset on and tapped away at his keyboard. He transferred funds from the Torchwood petty cash account to their US bank.

"Ianto. Two tickets to New Jersey. Owen and me." Jack turned to Tosh. "I want you, Ianto, and Gwen to stay here. Keep an eye on things. The last thing we need is something coming through the rift while no one's here. I'll also need you to fake up some records for Owen and our disappearing friend. We're going to need access to him, so make him Owen's patient. Put together a medical history for him. Ianto, monitor his current treatment. Make sure they don't do anything that might lead them to discover the artifact. Gwen, pull the records for for the invisible man and the artifact. I need that on my desk before we leave. Ianto! When are we leaving?"

"four-thirty, sir. That'll get you there about noon. I've flagged your passports and tickets to get you through security and customs without question in case you need to pack anything that might raise suspicions."

"Good man," Jack patted Ianto on the shoulder as he passed his desk. Unseen by the other members of Torchwood, Jack's thumb caressed the nape of Ianto's neck. Ianto didn't even crack a smile. Good man, thought Jack. "Go home and pack what you need, Owen. We don't have a lot of time to waste."

"It's like time travel," Owen said.

Jack snapped back into full wakefulness. "What?"

Taken aback, Owen leaned away from Jack and repeated himself. "We left at suppertime. We'll be getting there at lunchtime. It's like time travel."

Jack regained his composure. "Oh. Yeah. You're right."