Abby was worried. The anomaly had opened ages ago and Connor was not here. Yesterday he seemed to have disappeared altogether after solving the riddle of the projected anomalies. He hadn't come home to Jess's flat that night. They'd had little time to go searching for a flat of their own what with all the recent creature incursions and anomalies. It seemed to be getting worse.
Jess had suggested that maybe he was working late at Prospero when Abby voiced her worries. It wouldn't have been the first time. Sometimes Abby felt that Connor spent more time with his boss Phillip Burton than with her. However this behaviour was not like him.
"Abby!" called Matt. "I need to tell you something."
He strode past the glittering anomaly surrounded by Becker's men. He had to step over parts of the roof that remained broken on the floor.
This old warehouse had been abandoned for years and had fallen into disrepair. It made everyone's job easier. No civilians to deal with. However it did add to the creepiness factor. Abby shivered as she stared into the dimly lit storage space. There was also no sign of a creature – yet. But they needed Connor to lock the anomaly all the same in case one tried to come through.
"Come with me." Matt commanded.
Abby followed him outside. The warehouse was on a barren hill looking down on the fields of countryside. A single road wound round the hill and ran by the fields like a river. There was one way in, one way out. There may have been no civilians for miles but a creature could be hiding anywhere. A party of men were searching through the fields as she thought this. From this high view point Abby could see their black uniform clearly amongst the rye. She turned to Matt and was surprised.
"Matt what is it? Why is –" she began.
Before Abby could reveal anything to Jess Matt removed her earpiece as he had already done.
"Danny told me to pass on a message. Phillip is not to be trusted."
Abby had never liked Phillip and reckoned she could trust him about as far as she could throw him but Danny had never even met the man before yesterday.
"What made him say that?"
"He said that Phillip knew Helen Cutter." Matt explained.
"We need to tell Connor." Abby decided. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I – didn't have time." replied Matt.
For a minute it looked as if he'd been about to admit to something else but had changed his mind.
"Why not?" Abby questioned, Matt was up to something.
"That's not important now. We're running out of time. Jess will be getting suspicious," Abby already knew that Jess had been suspicious of Matt's activities for a long time now. She had reason to believe that he occasionally turned off his black box, an incredibly stupid thing to do as far as she was concerned. "We need to put our earpieces back in."
Before Abby could argue he put his earpiece back on handing her hers.
"Abby, Matt you need to get out of there!" came Jess's voice.
The pair looked at each other, then at the warehouse. A fully grown sabre-tooth tiger smashed through the window and came roaring towards them, claws at the ready. Its eyes were wild as it pounced. Then it fell mid-spring as the light disappeared from its eyes. Becker stood behind it by the warehouse doors cocking his tranquilizer. It was impressive that he was there at all having been shot by Patrick only the day before.
"Aren't you meant to be resting?" asked Abby.
"Aren't you meant to have guns?" Becker retorted unaware that they'd left them in the warehouse because of their private chat. "Lester said he needed someone to bring the locking mechanism down here since Connor's doing stuff at Prospero."
Abby and Matt exchanged glances. That was not a good sign.
Together the three of them walked back into the warehouse. All the men lay dead on the floor, their bodies severely mauled. It was a gruesome sight to behold. With such serious injuries it was impossible for any of the men to have survived. Matt and Abby hadn't even heard gun shots. The attack had been silent, vicious and impossibly fast. The soldiers had had no time to fight back. Becker handpicked his men. Right now he was very angry.
"They're all dead." he informed Jess.
"We need to get the tiger back through the anomaly." said Matt.
"Why can't we just kill it before it comes round and does what it did to my men?" Becker questioned fiercely.
"Because I won't let you." reminded Abby.
Becker was seething but he knew from experience that he'd never be able to change her mind.
"So how do we get it back through?" he quizzed, consenting to this option for the time being.
"We could drive it through." Matt suggested.
Half an hour later everything was set up. After a considerable amount of effort the sabre tooth lay strung up on top of the car. Matt was at the wheel and Becker stood by the car side ready to shoot if necessary. The only problem was Abby.
"You've seen Connor use the locking mechanism so many times and yet you still can't work it?" Jess shrieked incredulously through the earpiece.
"Whoa Jess! Do you know how to use it?" asked Matt.
"Theoretically yes." she confirmed.
"Then you can instruct Abby." And with that thought he drove through the anomaly. Theoretically was the best they could get for the moment. Besides, what's life like without a little risk? Once out the other side he cut down the unconscious tiger not bothering to examine his surroundings. Matt had been through an anomaly before, now he felt that he'd seen as much of these environments as was entirely necessary. He just wanted to get his job done. He clambered back into the car and drove back through; just out of the corner of his eye he saw the creature's claw stir. Then he was on the other side of the anomaly, he was back home. He got out of the car and ran over to join Abby who was staring at the locking mechanism in confusion. "Jess hurry, I saw that cat move its claw. It'll come round soon." Matt warned.
"Okay okay! Right, Abby open the red lid." instructed Jess.
"It's already open." Abby remarked.
"Oh. Erm...in that case search for a yellowy grey button about as big as your palm."
"Yellowy grey?" mouthed Becker.
The soldier was becoming increasingly worried about their chances of survival. Matt shrugged in response.
"Got it. Now what?" declared Abby.
"Slam it down!"
So she did. Nothing happened.
"Did it work?" inquired Jess hopefully.
"No."
A roar came from the anomaly.
"You must be pressing the wrong button, try the big red one to your left." Jess insisted.
Becker aimed his gun at the anomaly as Abby pushed the red button. The anomaly shrunk and locked. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Guys? Did it work?" probed Jess anxiously.
"Yes Jess you're brilliant!" complimented Becker.
Abby smiled, knowing how much a compliment from him would mean to Jess.
"Cut it a bit fine though." Lester's voice softly mentioned in the background. "Is Connor the only person who can work these things?"
"Sarah could do it." Becker remembered fondly. "She said you just had to press a few buttons, Connor's ego was crushed."
"Who's Sarah?" questioned a curious and slightly jealous Jess.
"Her file got deleted some time after she – died." Becker expressed choking on the final word. "Some idiot wanted to create more memory space and decided she wasn't important enough to keep." he explained bitterly.
They left for the ARC in their cars after a minute of silence for the dead soldiers. They couldn't bury them but felt that the men deserved some respect. Abby texted Connor before getting into her car.
Where r u!