Chapter 33: E-mails

"But I still don't understand," persisted Owen. "We all wake up with 18 hours of our lives wiped out. Eighteen hours we will never have again. They're lost forever." He looked around the table where the others were eating their rather late lunch,. "Doesn't it bother you?"

Gwen looked cheesed off. "What if it does? There's nothing we can do about it. There must have been a very good reason for taking the Retcon. Just let it drop!"

"That's all very well but who knows what we did – or what was done to us – in that time." Owen was not going to let it drop without a fight.

"Oh, shut up, Owen!" retorted Gwen, tired of the argument going round and round. She was also rather annoyed at being the only one to say it. Toshiko and Ianto had their heads down, concentrating on the Chinese food in front of them, and Jack was lost in some day-dream. "And while I think about it, Owen Harper, is this supposed to be funny?" She threw a piece of paper towards him.

Owen picked it up and saw it was a cartoon of a bride in full regalia – long dress, veil etc – toting a gun in her bouquet. Behind her was a strange alien creature with sharp pointy teeth. Owen laughed. Ianto, seated next to him, looked over at the drawing and laughed too.

"What's so funny?" asked Jack. The paper was passed over and he and Toshiko laughed in their turn when they saw it. "Good likeness, Owen," he said admiringly.

"I didn't do it," Owen protested.

Ianto interrupted Owen's protests. "And I suppose you didn't send this one either?" he said, pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper from his inside jacket pocket. "Instructing me to feed more vegetables to the Weevils and to play them music, preferably Mozart?" he went on. The others laughed, at the e-mail and at Owen's outraged expression.

"I like it," said Jack, still laughing, "Mozart-loving Weevils! Great idea."

"It wasn't me!" protested Owen again.

"I thought I was the only one," interjected Toshiko. "I had an e-mail from the 'Museum at the end of the Universe' about that artefact we found, the Oretullic globe. The one that's disappeared. Said the artefact had been taken as a permanent item in their new exhibition." She looked accusingly at Owen. "I want it back, Owen." The others were laughing again.

"I swear, it wasn't me!!" said Owen again, but no-one believed him despite him being totally innocent – this time.

"If you're so innocent, why didn't you get a e-mail?" said Gwen triumphantly.

Owen looked thoughtful. "Maybe I did," he said before leaping up and going to the PC in the corner of the room. He typed quickly and brought up his in-box. He pointed excitedly at an entry, "See! I didn't think much of it at the time but now ..."

Gwen moved up beside him and read out loud, "Instructions for the use of the singularity scalpel: twist knobs madly, peer excitedly at the screen and cross your fingers and all other appendages." She looked at the others. "There's a picture of some sort of machine, looks like one of those the supermarkets use to price goods, and some poor woman who is very pregnant." She turned to Owen, "You could have planted this."

"I didn't!" he protested. "I don't know what that e-mail's all about. I did not send it or any others." He paused and looked directly at Jack. "What about you? You get one?"

The others looked at Jack. "Yes. This, a photo of some Weevils." He passed a piece of paper to Toshiko who laughed aloud. The others moved across to peer over her shoulder. They saw a photograph of two Weevils sitting in the back seat of the SUV. Underneath was the slogan 'Clunk, click every trip!' The Weevils were obviously not following the advice!

"That's really well done, Owen. How did you get the perspective right?" asked Gwen through her laughter.

"It wasn't me!!"

Jack watched the others pestering the still protesting Owen. He sat back and thought again of when he had opened the e-mail and seen the photo, which had made him laugh. That had been strange enough but then he had seen the PS (which he had not included on the hard copy) and had quickly stopped laughing. There were five words, 'Tell Ianto you love him'. Just that. The picture he could understand; it was a joke and a good one. But the PS? Who would have sent that? He had idly considered it might have been Ianto himself but had rejected the thought almost straight away; he just wouldn't do that sort of thing. But it made him think. Maybe he should act on it. He sighed, there was plenty of time to decide. He went back to his food and tuned back into the argument still raging between Owen and the others.

So that's the end. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews always appreciated.