I live near Sheffield so I couldn't resist bringing someone from so close to home into my story _
I own NOTHING :( oh wait, I own my OCs. Cool.
This is basically the interviews for the two new members of the team. Its so you can get a good idea about them and their backgrounds before they are thrown head first into the hectic world of Primeval.
Rated T for language.
"Name and rank"
"Lieutenant Amelia Rodgers" I reply staring intently at the man questioning me. There is no sign of emotion on his face making it impossible to read his intentions, which in turn makes me nervous and twitchy.
"Age and birthdate"
"21, 17th August 1990" I say without hesitation
"Birthplace"
"Sheffield" I smirk at the only emotion the man has shown throughtout the entire interview. A impressed smile flittered on his lips for a nano second before it vanishes. Sheffield makes good people on the odd occasion.
I sit straight in my chair remembering my military training. Forcing my eyes to stay open is hard though, I get home to be told I was needed in London. Stat. So I had uped and drove here and hadn't had chance to sleep yet. Looks like it was going to be while before I got the chance too. "Look before we carry on with this Q&A would you mind telling me whats going on here. I've had no explanation" I ask placing my hands on the desk and clutching them together refraining myself from flipping out.
The blonde haired man raises an eyebrow and looks down at my file "Explosives expert. Can handle all weapons well. You can speak 10 different languages fluently. Female British Taekwondo champion. Traveled around the world visiting most countries. Passed all your A levels at A or above"
"Have I done something wrong?" I ask slightly panicked. I like my life as it is, adventure around every corner, being spontaneous. I'd hate if that was all taken away from me now.
He chuckles "God no. I can't seem to find a single fault in your portfolio" his mouth turns up slightly at the corners which I reckon is the start of a smile. I allow my heart to slow to its normal rate now that he has assured me I' not in trouble.
"Right back to my original question then, what is going on here?" putting down the folder he sits back in his chair arms crossed
"What have you been told?"
"that I was wanted in London to speak with a secret Government facility" we sit in silence for a moment his eyes studying me
"do you know what the building you are currently in is called?"
my eyebrows furrow together refraining from laughing "yes, the ARC"
suddenly he leans forwards arms on the table supporting him "What if I told you that your General put you forward for this position. You and you only"
I raise an eyebrow "he did huh?" copying his motions I lean towards him "So do tell whats this position exactly?"
Sitting back he nods to the soldier next to him. The black clad man steps forwards putting a laptop down in front of me. The screen remains black for a second before it bursts to life with CCTV footage. Grainy footage at that.
I squint to watch as the man interviewing me runs into view an EMD in hand pointed back the way he came "Your holding it all wrong" I mumble under my breath "Excuse me?" I look up feeling guilty. Instead of explaining I turn back to the footage and am beyond shocked at what I see. A dinosaur. A goddam freaking Dinosaur. Luckily with all my military training I'm able to keep my face completely blank of emotion.
The video finnishes and then the laptop is removed. I take a moment to think about what I just saw. A bright light which seemed to be some kind of portal which the dinosaurs used to pass from where ever they came from to us. Did my General know what he signed me up for?
"So secret government facility that deals with Dinosaurs" I finally say to break the silence and he nods"where do I sign up?"
His eyes open wide with shock before composing himself and retreating to his emotionless state "first we have to deal with the basics, can you follow orders?"
"whos asking?" I instantly quip back. I don't like it when people question my loyalty. It makes me twitchy and irritable.
"Matt Anderson the team leader" once again thanking the stars for being able to hide emotions I simply stare at him
"I don't take kindly to those kinds of questions sir. I've done and seen things in my life to give me complete respect for authority" I say withdrawing all emotion from my voice.
"well, thats, good then. What about working as a team?" picking up my file once again he looks down at it
"I'm loyal to the end. I find it easier to get something done with someone I trust guarding my back, quicker too" I tap my fingers on the table creating a rhythm showing my impatience
"mmm-hmm" he mumbles in response whilst reading through the file "says here you were shot last year"
I wince "it was just a surface wound"
"not according to the medical report" he glances up breifly "It was lodged in your upper arm and yet you refused to give up. You protected the civilian with you willing to take a bullet"
"another bullet. I dove in front of the first bullet, the one that got lodged in my arm" he raises an eyebrow looking down at the report and scanning it to see if what I said was true
"did she survive, the child?" I smile thinking of the small girl who had been kidnapped and I had saved. The beautiful little 5 year old that had done nothing wrong. Thats why you do what you do I tell myself to protect those that cannot do so themselves
"yeah. I visit her and her family alot. We've become close friends" he nods a more genueine smile on his lips
"Well you've turned out to be better than I ever hoped you would be. I can't find a single fault" I smile proudly "But this is a serious job Lt, it involves secrets, lies and you'll have to move to London"
"what would the job entail exactly?" I ask nervously holding his gaze
"I'll not go into the science of it just yet, save that for the breifing, but you'd be part of a team of dedicated people involved with stopping whatever comes through the anomoly from causing havoc" his gaze like steel boring into mine he pauses
"People die don't they?" I say just above a whisper
"yes, but its no different than being on the battlefield. I bet you've seen people die out there" I nod simply "I've seen people go insane from what they've seen. Has that happened before?" he furrows his eyebrow asif thinking about what I've said for a moment
"Well there was Helen," he says eventually "and Leek and possibly Phillip. Although wheather the last two were insane or not is debatable" I laugh along with him Once we both settle down I smile at him "what would I be required to do?"
"Whatever it takes to keep the public safe. Do you think you could do it?"
I pause thinking seriosuly through it. Here right in front of me is the chance to work with dinosaurs, something people outside of this building have no idea about. Such a rare opputunity. Or I can go back to being the soldier fighting a war, somebody else's war.
"Wouldn't miss it" I say with a smirk Matt nods whilst pushing some papers across the table to me
"Officail secrets act and some other important Government things you need to sign"
Looking at the stack of paper I sigh, will I ever escape the paperwork?
"Name and rank"
"Lance corporal Samson Lewis" leaning back in the chair I strech my legs out in front of me and cross my arms. Looks like I'm going to be here a while may as well get comphy.
"Age and Birthdate"
"23, 23rd March 1987" I try to sound more bored than nervous. What is this about anyway?
"Birthplace" Right this man is on my nerves now. Surely all this stuff is in that file right in front of him. Why does he have to ask instead of just looking down?
"Bradford. But lets not talk about me, whats your name?" I ask intently leaning forwards resting my head in my hands on the table. My interviewer simply raises his eyebrow
"Matt Anderson and if you don't mind I'm asking the questions here"
returing to my original position I sigh "right best get on with it then"
"indeed" finally opening the file I fight the urge to reach across the table and slap him. Could he not have done that in the first place? "you joined the army as soon as you had your degree, yes?"
"yeah" we sit in silence for a moment both waiting for the other to speak first.
"It also says you went to university early" I smirk as he is the first to break. I've had an older brother to deal with all my life he is going to have to do better than that.
"yeah." I shrug "I started the degree when I was 16. I'd already done my A levels at the same time my friends were doing their GCSEs"
"What made you want to become a field medic rather than a doctor?" he asks me seriously leaning forwards on the table
Sitting up straight I grip the edge of the metal table, my knuckles white "My brother. He was killed in action-they tried to save him. They honestly did but there were no field medics available to help him"
"So you decided to become one to honor your brothers death?" feeling my fingers start to go numb I pry them away
"more to prevent it from occuring ever again." Rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands I fight the urge to lash out "I know its impossible to prevent every death in the war but every person I can save counts right?" looking up and straight into his eyes I silently plead with him. No more about my brother.
"Do you know why your here today Mr Lewis?" he asks instead
"In the ARK?" biting down on the inside of my cheek so hard I taste blood I try to avoid laughing "all I know is that this is a secret government facility that wanted to talk to me specifically"
he nods looking down at the file "how about if I told you we are looking for a field medic to be a permanent part of our team"
"Team?" instead of a answer the soldier standing guard by the door moves forward and places a laptop in front of me. After a few seconds of a blank screen a grainy CCTV video blares to life "Oooh a home video. I love those" Leaning forward I rest my head on one of my hands "got any popcorn?". Instead of answering Matt simply chuckles. He thinks I was joking.
Huffing my annoyance I settle to watch the video. What could be so important that they have to show a vide-
Is that a dinosaur?
Sitting up a little bit I narrow my eyes scrutinising the evidence in front of me. That is definetly a dinosaur and the man running around waving the tazer would be none other than Matt Anderson. This cannot be real.
In the background a bright light is brought into focus and it appears that is where Matt is leading the overgrown lizard. The light seems to be floating slightly above the ground flashing and thrashing around. Around the edges what appears to broken shrads of glass are orbiting around it. Magnetic perhaps?
Watching video Matt carefully he stands directly in the path of the dinosaur, right in front of the shiny flashy thing. The dinosaur moves to charge Matt but he stands his ground until the last second when he dives out of the way landing with a thud on the concrete floor a good metre away. The dinosaur runs into the light and is then gone.
"Holy shit!" I say excitidly as the screen returns to black "show me again!" The soilder gives me a funny look as he picks up the laptop once again moving far away as possible.
Matt simply looks down at the file "so, what do you think Mr Lewis?"
"that this is one hell of a job" I smile "Unless your pulling my strings then I know 15 ways to kill you with my little finger, just saying"
"This could be your job." ignoring my last comment he pulls out some pieces of paper and holds them in the air "what do you say?"
cracking my fingers I reply "how can I say no to that?"
"learning my lesson yesterday with the woman I interviewed for the other position I have to ask some personal questions first" Matt says as he places the paper back on the table "just thought I'd warn you in case you take offence"
"Err-thanks for warning me?" I say my eyebrows furrowed in confusion
"how are you at following orders?" I gulp. Well then that is a touchy subject. No wonder the woman from yesterday flipped out.
"I-err-" feeling my throat contsrict I desperately seacrh my mind for an answer that is decent and only twists the truth a tiny bit
"I already know about Corporal Harrison." he says a smirk playing on his lips "why don't you explain instead of lying through your teeth?"
Placing my hands on the table I stare at them "We were in the middle of a shoot out. Mark is my best friend and when he got shot-" the words get stuck in my mouth refusing to finnish the sentence "the other medics gave up on him. Even my General told me to leave him"
"but you didn't?"
a sad smile rests on my lips "I'm stubborn as hell. I refused to give up on him because I know he would never give up on me"
"It paid off in the end" Matt says in a voice proberbly used to soothe children
"yeah. The others were stunned when he started coughing then started cursing me in German" I laugh at the memories of 'Mad Mark' and myself joking around "but I was just so relieved" I clench and un-clench my fists on the table "its moments like that which made me become a field medic in the first place ya'know?"
Matt nods "Although you completely ignored orders I can't fault you. Your loyal to those that mean most to you" he pushes the paper across the table to me "we could use someone like you"
I let a full smile show through "Glad to be of service sir" lets get this show on the road!