I sat in the waiting room of my new work place. My feet were resting on the table in front of me and I was skimming through my new college's files.
Matthew Anderson: Team leader likes to be called Matt. He is from the future. Warning: Secretive about his personal life.
Connor Temple: The team genius though he has no common sense. He loves video games and knows everything about dinosaurs. He is married to Abby Temple. Warning: Do Not Trust Connor Temple With Guns.
Abigail Temple: She loves animals and does not like killing them. She is married to Connor Temple. Warning: Do not call her Abigail. Call her Abby.
Jessica Parker: She likes to be called Jess and is the Field Co-ordinator and Lester's personal assistant. She was very close to Captain H Becker. Warning: Do not mention Captain Becker in front of her.
As I finished reading the files I concluded that everyone working here was mad, Matt wasn't going to talk much, Connor was always going to be begging me for a gun, and Abby was going to be yelling at me for trying to protect the team from the creatures and Jess was going to hate me as I was taking Becker's place on the team.
"I take it you're the new recruit."
I glanced up from the files when I heard an Irish voice. A youngish man with brown spiked hair was leaning on the door frame. "I'm Matt Anderson: team leader."
"Captain Bruno Stevens," I greeted, getting to my feet.
"Yeah, I know who you are." Matt nodded. "Follow me." He turned and walked off down the corridor. I followed him wondering where exactly he was taking me. "I hope you've been fully briefed on what we do here."
"You fight dinosaurs and take them back through time zones called anomalies," I said almost sarcastically.
"Why do you think you were picked for the job?" Matt questioned me.
"I thought that would be obvious," I replied sarcastically. "I've had great practice with handling dinosaurs."
"I'm getting déjà vu," another voice came from behind me. I spun round to see an older man than myself and Matt, wearing an Italian suit. "Captain Becker said the same thing when I met him. I told him exactly what you need to know: I do the sarcasm around here."
"Of course, sir." I nodded sharply. "I believe you are James Lester."
"Indeed I am," Lester agreed. "And we finally have someone in the building who's good at taking orders. Ever since Becker's," Lester hesitated, trying to word what he was trying to say, "incident, no one's been taking any notice of my orders." I glanced at Matt and noticed a smirk on his face. I raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure I can change that." I smiled.
"You won't be thinking that for long," I heard Lester murmur as he walked off. Matt and I shared a smirk before we continued down the corridor.
"I taking you to the main hub to meet the rest of the team," Matt explained.
"Connor, Abby and Jess?" I recalled.
"Correct," Matt nodded. "You have a good memory."
Matt pushed the door to the hub open to reveal a young and pretty blonde-haired girl who was standing next to a young, sort of geeky looking man. I guessed the pair were Abby and Connor, but my attention was almost immediately turned to an even younger looking girl with long brown hair. But my attention was on her dress. It was brightly coloured and really short. I guessed this was Jess.
"Oh my god," Jess gasped, hurrying to her seat, not taking her glance off me, and collapsed into it. Abby ran over to Jess and started murmuring things to her in a low, soothing tone. I glanced at Connor, who shrugged, so I turned to Matt with a frown.
"She had a bit of a thing for Becker," Matt explained. "And you kind of look like him."
"Really?" I asked raising my eyebrows. I glanced over to Jess to see her crying.
Inside I felt really guilty. Could it be my fault that I look like a dead person? I started to make my way over when a sudden blaring alarm went off. I glanced around, slightly unsure what to do. Matt and Connor ran over to Jess and Abby. They were all crowded round a sort of super computer thing. I hesitated before going to join them. Matt spun round to face me, handing me a black box thing.
"Just so we know where you are," Matt explained.
"A tracking device?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is this really necessary?"
"Yes." Matt nodded eagerly. "You'll find out why one day." He pulled a silver thing out of his pocket. "Earpiece, we need to keep in touch with each other." I clipped the black box onto my belt before taking the earpiece Matt was holding and putting it into my ear. The team started to walk off towards the entrance.
"Wait, don't we need firearms?" I asked as I ran after them.
"Our EMDs are already in the car," Matt answered simply.
"EMD?" I repeated, frowning once again.
"Becker used to call them peashooters," Connor smirked at me.
"Tasers?" I stopped walking. "Tasers are never going to work against dinosaurs."
"Matt managed to take down a Tyrannosaurus Rex with one," Abby told me as we reached the car.
"As if," I scoffed.
"I don't think he believes us Matt," Jess said through the coms.
"Maybe I'll have to shoot him with one like I did with Becker," Matt laughed. For the first time since I met Jess (which wasn't actually that long ago) I actually heard her laugh.
"You shot Becker?" I asked.
"Yeah," Matt nodded, opening a silver case and pulling a gun out of it. "With this." He chucked it at me. I turned it over, examining it from all angles.
"It doesn't look very powerful," I frowned. Connor snatched it off me.
"Look, we've been using these for two years and we've only lost Becker from the ARC team," Connor told me.
"Stop arguing and go stop that dinosaur," Lester said from behind me. "Those creatures don't chase themselves."
I love that last line from Primeval. I couldn't resist putting it in!
