A lone Mammoth trod through an boreal forest. Its trunk moved along the ground, foraging for food and pulling up dirt and leaves as it brushed away trees, rocks and just about anything in its path. A low rumble came from the creature's throat, echoing across the seemingly endless sea of trees. A moment passed of nothing. Then, a longer but slightly lighter groan echoed in response. A second great beast stepped into the clearing, the blinding light from above making the area a harsh contrast to the darker shades of the forest. As the creatures eyes adjusted to the light, it spotted the first Mammoth.
The two animals approached each other until they stood opposite one another. The first Mammoth used its trunk to gently stroke the seconds one face, who let out an affectionate purring-like noise in response. All of a sudden, a light squeal was heard from behind the second Mammoth. The second creature stepped aside, to reveal a much smaller, lesser-developed Mammoth.
The first creature released a low grumble and wrapped its own trunk around the smaller animal's trunk. Walking trunk-in-trunk, the family of Mammoths returned to the forest.
"They are so incredibly sweet, truly," a voice came from the darkness.
Two women stepped out from behind the treeline, revealing their presence was there all along.
"I'd die to see a herd of them in the wild." Jess smiled, joining Emily.
"When is the second child due?" Emily asked, watching as the animal silhouettes disappeared among the forests shade.
"Fall, I think, though the first one came early so I can't really say. Probably ask Abby."
"We're keeping the babies if the adult's ever get chance to go home, right?"
Jess was hesitant to answer, as that was a topic that had been the source of many heated debates among the team.
"Even if they get the chance, I don't think Lester would let them go anyway," she laughed, brushing the question off. "He's grown quite close to them."
A light beeping noise sounded suddenly from the girls ear.
Emily instinctively reached her hand up and pressed the response button.
"Emily and Jess," she said to seemingly nobody.
"We're meeting in the staff area in half an hour, try not to be late," came a bitter voice over the bluetooth headsets.
"We'll be there," Jess answered, also taking into the earpiece. "Just give us a few more minutes.
Together the girls took off in the same direction where the Mammoths departed, quietly and sticking close to the ground. Last thing they wanted was to startle them as they approached. The breeding pair of Mammoths were, although the most tame, by far the most dangerous species kept in the park. Their enclosures walls may be powerful, but there was a general consensus that if the pair truly wanted out it would be but a flimsy obstacle, so extra care was made to keeping them comfortable.
Built on the land that was once home to Prospero Industries, The Stephen Hart Sanctuary For Extinct Wildlife was developed and intended as the temporary homes of a variety of different, once-extinct species. Individual creatures that, through one way or another, had ended up stranded in our time. The Sanctuary was designed to house those species until they could be returned to their own time period, or alternatively as a place where they could live out the rest of their lives in safety. A large percent of these creatures were a result of the convergence, an event that had shook the world years prior.
The second Columbian Mammoth, the female, was one such case, where a previously closed anomaly had reopened and allowed a second member of the species to join the first in the present. Housed in temporary confinement until the Sanctuaries completion, the two Mammoths bonded instantly and quickly became three Mammoths.
Not too far from the Mammoths was a second enclosure, far smaller than the first, but matching in aesthetic. The fencing around was also considerably thinner, but this time wrapped the whole way around, giving it an aviary roofing. This was housed to an ape-like reptilian creature, again, one here was a result of the convergence. The animal had faded blue skin, a killing claw on each foot and a surprisingly dexterous tail. It swung from tree to tree with it's unusually muscular arms, and occasionally swapping to its tail. The beast came to rest at the peak of the tallest tree in the forest, and let out a hideous shriek.
The noise sent a chill down it's watchers spine.
"Ugly bastard," the man outside it's cage remarked.
Unbeknownst to him, a second man approached from behind. He announced his arrival with a loud cough.
"He can't get you, you know."
The first man turned around, instantly catching sight of the his new company. He smiled.
"Matt?"
"Becker."
The two men approached each other with arms wide. They joined together for a rough hug, patting and rubbing each other on the back.
"How have you been, man?" Becker asked, pulling away from the hug.
Matt gave a small laugh and shrugged, "Oh aye, I've been keeping well. Littlens been keeping me busy."
Becker smiled hard.
"Oh yeah! I heard about that, congratulations man."
Matt grinned and nodded to himself, almost as if Becker's words were an accomplishment in themselves.
"I appreciate it. What about you, any little Hillary's on the way?" he joked.
Becker forced a laugh. He didn't appreciate Matts humor, but found it difficult to spoil the mood.
"It's Becker. Brigadier General Becker, to you. Or if you really want, Mr Becker. But not Hillary."
Matt's smile turned into a full blown shit-eating grin as he nodded in acknowledgement.
"Alright, Mr. Becker. How's Jess doing then?"
Becker resisted the urge to smile at Matt's teasing. He'd dealt with this for years, it was difficult for him to say he hadn't missed it.
"She's doing well," he nodded. "She's here today. And Emily?"
As the two began to engage in conversation they found their way over to the nearby bench.
"Still no luck in holding down a job. Abby had been able to get her a post at Wellington Zoo, barely held it down a week."
Becker cocked an eyebrow.
"What happened?"
Matt scratched at his head. He couldn't figure out if we wanted to joke or be serious.
"Apparently something involving a Penguin. Or rather, the zoo's lack of a Penguin."
"She let a Penguin escape?"
"She smuggled the Penguin out."
"Ah."
Becker couldn't tell if he was being played with again or not, so decided to simply nod in response. He gestured to the enclosure before them.
"Has it been named yet?"
"I believe he's called Henry."
"A species name," Becker corrected himself.
Matt smirked.
"Drepanosaurus, I believe. The Tree-dwelling lizard."
The arboreal species of raptor they had was a unique specimen, even among the rest of the extinct species they had. While there had been multiple traces of Columbian Mammoths presence in prehistory, be it through cave paintings or fossilization, the raptor had presented an unusual case where it had completely evaded preservation in the fossil record for millennia. When the species first showed up through the anomalies all those years ago, it was completely unknown to science and represented a large threat. There was even a theory floating around that the creature was a future evolutionary path of today's lizards, before they eventually had the right people in contact and an official designation was given.
As if on cue, the animal scurried down from the trees and onto the floor of the exhibit. From there it maneuvered its way quickly through the trees and approached the chain link fence. It remained hidden by the underbrush, but close enough for the men to take a step back. It had locked onto them, but despite the fencing separating them, had elected to keep its distance. Most likely due to its history with a certain Brigadier General.
"You know I've only just upgraded to a flat that's actually bigger than tool shed, while this little git gets the runabout of an entire forest. The time-hopping son of a gun gets better accommodations than me."
"Illegal immigration for you. Next he'll be taking our jobs and breeding with our women," Matt teased, earning him a light chuckle from Becker. He then added, "It's to stimulate his wild environment. Minimal human staff outside from the feeders, they can afford to give the creatures all the room they need. Plus, he's the last of his kind."
"I'm the last of my kind," Becker responded, not missing a beat.
Matt laughed aloud.
"Ahh yes, the Great White Hunter! I wonder, who really is the last dinosaur?"
A light beeping noise interrupted their conversation, originating from Becker's belt. He answered it, pressing the speaker.
"Becker and Matt."
"It's Lester. Connor wants us all to meet him in the Staff ar-hngh!" the voice over the radio was suddenly cut off.
Matt cocked a brow, and asked, "Lester? You still there?"
"Rex, you little sod," came a muffled response, and then, "half an hour, don't be late."
In person they wouldn't dare cracking a smile to James Lester's misfortune. Over the phone, that was different.
"On our way."
The two men stood up. They turned away from the exhibit and began making their way towards the center of the park. The Drepanosaurus watched them leave, and only after they had completely disappeared from sight did it return to the foliage.
At the center of the park the visitors center towered over its surrounding enclosures. As said the park had a strict no-visitor policy, meaning there wasn't an overabundance of family friendly decoration, but this was the area where the various scientists, biologists and feeders could find their home. It was deliberately designed to have a themeing in direct contrast to the ARC. While the latter was a darkened, sterile environment, the visitors center was brightly lit; some walls and ceilings around the complex being entirely glass. Although the foundations were steel, wooden walls had been constructed to hold the buildings together, giving the whole place a primitive, good natured feel. Although it's contents differed largely, the sanctuary looked no different to any other wildlife park… on the surface, at least.
Inside the visitors center one room had been given a lot of attention. The conference room had been temporarily rearranged to make room for a fair amount of cushioned chairs and wooden coffee table, which had a plate of biscuits surrounded by seven cups of freshly made coffee on it. The whole room had the look of a youths-hang out area, rather than a get-together place of represted, high-authority adults. One thing remained about the rooms previously professional setup, though. Portraits of former ARC members adorned the walls of the room, offering labels below each face displayed.
Stephen Hart. Nick Cutter. Christine Johnson. Sarah Page. Philip Burton. Claudia Brown.
The latter portrait looked like it had been hung relatively recently.
"Sounds like Rex is giving Lester trouble," Connor chuckled as entered the room. Although each person attended the reunion looked different from how they did years ago, Connor Temples was by far the biggest deviation. His usual stubble had now grown into a thickened beard, and his shaggy hair now sat in a man bun.
"That's my boy," Abby smiled from her position on one of the sofas.
Slowly, each member found their way to the center and into the conference room. Every arrival was met with cheers of delight and embraces. Before long everyone had drained into the room and was sat down with their share of biscuits and coffee. The attention fell onto Connor.
"Ahh, just look at you all!" he smiled.
After the convergence, only a year or so passed before the recognisable ARC lineup had began to change forever. Lester had been offered a promotion and moved onto represent the ARC in the House of Commons, becoming the companies chairman and owner. The years had been kind to his career, but less so to his appearance, as what little hair he had left began to gray over. In a surprising twist to everybody involved, Connor was the best fit as his replacement, going off of his contribution to the industry and years served, and became the new head of the ARC. With him now headlining the direction of the company, one of his first decisions was to invest more effort into the preservation of the extinct species in their care. Abby was given a grant to expand the menagerie and lead her own branch of the ARC devoted to exactly that, which eventually became the Sanctuary they were stood in presently.
With the three longest serving members of the ARC moving onto bigger and better things, new recruits had to be brought in. These were trained by Matt and Becker, and although they struggled to find a group that could hold a candle to the original team, they eventually settled on worthy successors. Replacing Connor as the lead scientist was Duncan Smith, an old uni friend of his and someone who had a... vague experience with prehistoric animals in the past. He and a few other recruits had been the new first-respondents to anomaly detentions, where they'd had their own share of stories and losses between them. Eventually the ever changing team did it's toll on Matt and he'd taken early retirement into the country, where he lived out the rest of his life in peace as a stay-at-home husband, educating Emily on the new world and caring for their kids.
Becker shared a similar fate as Connor, as he was now back serving with the military and well on his way to fulfilling his life goal of becoming a General in the BAF. Jess had stayed on serving as the team's tech girl all the way up to the present, and was today the only remaining member of the team to deny any promotion offered to her. Apparently she'd grown content with her life exactly how it was. The status of hers and Beckers relationship was constantly in the air, and it had gotten to the point where folks found it easier not to ask.
Connor smacked his hands together.
"Feels so weird, being around you all again!"
Just then a loud thump came from one side of the room, dragging everyone's attention. A moment later the door swung open.
April Leonard entered, apologizing. She carted herself in on a wheelchair, attempting to maneuver between the chairs. Becker was quick onto his feet.
"Need any help?"
She simply smiled and brushed his hand away.
"I'm fine, Becker. Sorry, carry on."
April had been paralyzed during the destruction of Prospero Industries some years ago, but after some controversial decisions made, she finally joined them at the ARC and earned her rightful spot on among the team. There was once a time where she and the team were at odds, but she had since proven herself a talented scientist and more importantly, a loyal friend. She had just as much right to be with them today as anyone had.
"That's Mister Becker," came from the back of the room, followed by self-inflicted laughter.
Connor didn't understand the joke, but laughed heartily regardless.
"You guys have no idea how epic it is to see you guys together again! I genuinely don't think I've seen all these faces together since the Christmas party a few years ago."
"You mean the one where you got drunk and sprained your ankle attempting to climb the Mammoth?" an interruption came.
Connor's attitude didn't falter.
"Yes, Lester, that one. Thank you for that."
A light chuckling spread across the room.
Abby handed Connor a notepad and patted him on the shoulder. He cleared his throat.
"Since two-thousand and seven, fourteen species have been captured and cared for by the ARC. That's one Coelurosauravus, that's Rex, but you all know him… A giant scorpion from the Silurian era in 2008, a Dracorex, two Diictodons, two Deinosuchus and a Columbian Mammoth in 2009, a Deinonychus in 2010, during the convergence we got another Mammoth, a Tyrannosaurus, an Anomalocaris, Kaprosuchus and the Denarpsaurus, which was captured graciously by our very own CEO, I might add. After that the team succeeding us ended up with…" he quickly flipped over his page and read out loud, "a flock of Rhampohorhynchus, a Moa, a Beezlebufo and a breeding pair of Sinoceratops."
"They're clearly better at their job than you lot were, then."
Connor held his hands up in defense.
"Can we stop with the heckling, guys?"
"What's a Beezlebufo?" Emily asked from the back.
"Giant Frog," Becker answered.
"Oh, disgusting," she grimaced.
"He's actually lovely," Abby smiled. "Loves sheep, they're his favorite meal."
"Apologies, Temple," Lester gestured to him. "Do carry on."
Connor thanked him with a nod and carried on.
"The Sanctuary has been up and running for six years now, the things we've been able to learn from studying these creatures in the flesh has taught us more than the fossil record ever could. We've had scientists from all over the world come to work with us, it's completely changed our understanding of paleobiology and given us a whole new perspective on evolution. Calling this place the eighth wonder of the world would be a dramatic understatement," he chuckled. "Not to mention the breakthroughs we've been having studying the contained anomalies."
He was met with nods of agreement and pride.
"And all of it couldn't have been done without you guys. Lester's grant got the ball rolling, and frankly it's just seemed like good decision after good decision since then. Me and Abby got our happy ending, but by far my biggest regret is that we couldn't take you guys with us. I want to make a point of remaining loyal to where I came from. The world has been changed thanks to you guys, but you also changed my world. I'd be nowhere without the ARC, I'd still just be some high uni student working nine to five at McDonalds. But I'm proud of where I am now. I want to put in the effort to see you guys more, we both do," he gestured to Abby, "because we miss you guys."
Gentle awwws and smiles were his response, again apart from Lester, who let out a loud groan, albeit while hiding a smile.
"Didn't know this was going to be a sap-fest, wouldn't have come otherwise."
"And also because I'm pregnant."
Every eye in the room darted to Abby, who sat smirking.
Connor's smile dropped. He glared at her.
"I was going to get to that, you wouldn't let me finish."
Jess squealed and immediately launched herself at Abby, stretching across the sofas to pull the her into an awkward hug. Emily's expression turned to that of a goldfish as she started laughing, and was pulled into Abby and Jess's hug. Becker and Matt were slower to respond, but then got up from their seats and with a football-fan-cheer, tackled Connor into gruff hugs and congratulates. Lester remained sat, but had a rare and unrecognizable grin splattered across his face. April smiled brightly, unable to join the celebrations but happy nonetheless.
She pulled herself closer to Abby. "Have you settled on a name yet?" she asked.
Abby's hand moved to her stomach.
"We're naming him Nick Phillip Temple."
"It's a boy!?" Jess half shouted.
Abby nodded, which kicked off another round of celebration hugs and kisses between the team.
Connor noticed April's expression light up at the name. He stepped towards her.
"Figured it's the least we could do. Phillip always had good intentions, we see that now. He wasn't a bad guy, he just made some bad decisions."
April gave a sad smile and nodded.
"Thank you, Connor. It means a lot."
He smiled at her, and then turned to address the room.
"And Cutter… well, I wouldn't have ever met Abby if it wasn't for him. He took sympathy on me when I was a kid, and it's because of him that everything around all of us right is possible. This room wouldn't be here without him. Those creatures out there wouldn't be. I wouldn't be."
Connor picked up his coffee cup.
"Not exactly a traditional drink, I know… but I want to propose a toast. To embracing the future, but respecting the past."
He was met with unanimous smiles all around the room. Everyone raised their cup.
"And," Abby added, "to Nick Cutter and Philip Burton. Who without them, none of this would have been possible."
"To Nick Cutter and Philip Burton," they all repeated in unison.
After these words of sentiment, the atmosphere in the room had quickly relaxed and then devolved into excited talks of the future, casual chat and general catching up between the former teammates. Although each of them had kept in contact with the others over the years, as stated, this was the first time they had all been in the same room together since the good old days. Although their situations and lives couldn't be more different than how they once were, just for a second, it felt like they were back in the hub of the ARC.
The past had an habit of coming back these days, as a great man once said.