Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me, this is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses etc is entirely fictitious.
3.11 Not Where, When
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James Lester shouted. He didn't normally shout, it was rude after all, and generally a sign that negotiations had broken down, but the people assembled in front of him were definitely not agreeing on anything.
"Quiet!" Lester shouted. He glared in frustration at the disparate groups of people arguing in the ARCs main control room.
Becker, with his shoulder, arm and chest wrapped in bandages was standing to the right of Lester. He was next to the anomaly detection device. Becker's stance seemed similar to the parade rest position he usually took when awaiting orders, but was just off kilter enough to look uncomfortable. The soldier's left arm remained in a sling and his right hand dangled by his side, unable to clasp his left hand behind his back as he normally would. Sarah was beside Becker, spinning Connor's vacant chair in a slow circle.
"We need to go back to the racetrack anomaly," Becker repeated fiercely. "The only way we are going to find Abby, Connor and Danny is to follow them."
"No," objected Cutter emphatically. The Scot was leaning, half sitting really, on the nearby desk directly in front of Lester. Claudia was sitting in the chair beside him, hands folded on her abdomen, feet propped up on an overturned wastebasket. Behind Claudia the tall, slim figure of Lester's wife Vivian stood watching everyone.
"Nobody goes back," continued Cutter. "You saw Ryan…"
"I saw my own men torn to pieces in front of me," interrupted Becker bitterly "I know how dangerous it is. We can't leave them..."
"For all you know," said Cutter bleakly "Abby, Connor and Danny are already dead… torn apart like your men."
"No," denied Becker firmly. "Hendriks was carrying the hand held detector when we entered the anomaly site… it registered two anomalies before we were attacked. The anomalies opened and closed one right after the other… one anomaly could be either Helen or them, but two..."
"Really," interjected Lester with a quiet sigh, "it would be nice if the people who worked for me listened to me when I spoke."
Shouting hadn't worked, but his quiet tired words got five of the six people before him to stare at him silently.
The sixth person, standing to Lester's left, spoke. "I don't work for you," Jamal reminded him. "I work for the British Museum."
"I don't work for you either James," added Vivian with a faint smirk. "And Claudia works for me."
"We are all going to have to work together," replied Lester "if we want to find out where Abby, Connor and Danny have gone."
"Lester," said Cutter, his Scottish brogue somber, "you're not asking the right question. It's not where are they… it's when are they?"
Cutter turned to look directly at Vivian.
"What exactly is your role in the ARC?" he asked suspiciously.
"Really Cutter," answered Lester sharply, "my wife's security clearance is higher than yours… beyond that, you don't need to know anything."
"I need to know if I can trust her," said Cutter bluntly.
Lester opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again at Vivian's look. The woman stepped forward, stilettos clicking on the tile floor. She looked at Cutter curiously.
"Why don't you trust me?" she asked.
"You're the one that had a filter put on the detector," he said suspiciously. "Why?"
"To separate the creature incursions," she answered "from the human incursions. Our group handles the more dangerous incursions."
"More dangerous!?" exclaimed Sarah questioningly.
"Yes," replied Vivian. Sounding oddly like Abby, she continued. "Creatures… most of them just want to go home. The carnivores… want to eat you and then go home. People that come through… some are lost. Like creatures, they just want to go home. Some though… have plans."
"What kind of plans?" asked Cutter.
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Danny trudged back through the rugged terrain of the Great Rift Valley.
He really didn't want to see the bodies of the poisoned Australopithecus that Helen had murdered again, but he figured if he was going to be stuck in the Pliocene for any length of time, he should check her body and backpack for supplies. Danny hadn't done that earlier in his haste to return to Connor and Abby, but the anomaly closing, separating him from his friends, changed all that. Danny tried to convince himself that he wasn't being a grave robber, just being practical.
Cresting the low hill, he looked down on the river bank. The bodies of the early humans were still lying where they had fallen. The raptors body was near the base of the cliff. There was just one difference.
Helen's body was gone.
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Abby grunted a little as Connor leaned on her. He was heavier than he looked.
"Are you all right?" Connor asked balancing between her and the staff he carried.
"Yeah,' she replied. "Now let's go find Danny and go home."
"You make it sound so easy," he teased as they set off.
"Piece of cake," she replied with a throaty chuckle. Abby wasn't about to let Connor know how really worried she was.
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Connor was babbling again. He was telling Abby every detail he could remember about the Cretaceous era. They had been following Danny's trail for about an hour now, and every step Connor took was agony. He was partially talking to distract himself from the pain. But a part of his brain was worrying… and just in case... if anything were to happen to Connor, he wanted Abby to know as many details of this era as possible. Knowledge could make the difference between survival or not.
"The world is warmer now," Connor said "than the time we live in. The first mammals are starting about now, and flowering plants are beginning, there should be bulbs we can eat…"
"Connor," Abby replied "shut up."
For a moment, the words she used brought a surge of hope to him. Was she going to kiss him again? But then he realized that she was crouching lower, staring at something in the distance.
"Ssshh."
"What is it?" Connor asked as he crouched beside her.
"Don't know yet," she whispered "just don't want it to find us."
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