Jetsam (comic story)

Summary
Just outside Cardiff Bay, a cargo ship holds several alien artifacts. The crew were paid handsomely for transporting it. When they first set off, all the devices were dormant. However, when they got in range of the Cardiff rift one of the devices started telepathically talking with the crew. It foretold tales of war and gave the taste of blood and metal. Spooked, the crew jettisoned the crates into the sea.

The next morning, the creates have washed up on a beach and Torchwood Three are among the first on the scene. They immediately start trying to quarantine the items and usher the public away. Tosh finds a giant motorcycle by one of the crates. In the sand next to it, however, are similarly sized tyre tracks, indicating it was part of a pair. Surrounding the large tyre tracks are several smaller motorcycle tracks.

Gwen deduces that a group of Harley-Davidson motorcycles dragged the larger bike away and that they should start investigating dive bars for the bikers responsible.

Characters

 * Jack Harkness
 * Gwen Cooper
 * Owen Harper
 * Toshiko Sato
 * Ianto Jones
 * Drew Blayney

Continuity

 * Toshiko draws on her childhood fears when piloting the ritual motorcycle - demons from Japanese folklore such as Raiden. Toshiko is seen hearing tales of Japanese folklore during her childhood in TWN: Trace Memory.
 * This is one of several stories in Torchwood series 2 and related media that deals with the illegal trade of alien artefacts. (TW: A Day in the Death, TWM: The Beauty of Our Weapons, The Book of Jahi)

Timeline

 * Jetsam occurs after: TWM: The Legacy of Torchwood One!
 * Jatsam occurs before: TWM: Rift War! Part One