CHAPTER 3

After staring for a few seconds at the steel door in front of him, Matt Anderson hurried over to pick up the laptop under the table. He'd always felt ready to deal with whatever emergency situation this life threw at him. He'd grown up in a world of uncertainty: survival was a victory of sorts growing up in an environment that was constantly trying to kill you. As long as you were proactive and attacked the problem you were likely to make it out alive. This was NOT a situation that he was leading the attack. He was tech support….oh damn…..he was Connor. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the screen in front of him. He remembered a T shirt he'd seen on the street yesterday when he stopped for a coffee. What would Jesus do?…WWJD, it said…He realized if he was wearing one of those shirts right at this moment it should say "What would Connor do?...WWCD." How many times when the team was fighting incursions had Connor come forward with a piece of the solution that let them come away with the anomaly closed and lives saved? He immediately felt calmer. He had a plan. Find out what was coming through the anomalies and get the team the information they needed to stay alive. He could do that. He began entering information into the laptop. This was an attack plan.

Abby wordlessly gestured to Becker that she would cover him as he moved forward to get a clear shot at the creature. It looked like a raptor in size and shape but the huge eyes were not a feature of that species. However, the large claws on both feet were definitely similar and definitely used to slash its victims in the same manner. It moved carefully and purposefully around the entrance to the hub as if looking and assessing the position of the humans it had just encountered. Becker stepped out from behind the half wall he had been crouching behind and took aim at the dinosaur's torso knowing, from experience, that this would be the best target to take down the creature with one shot. He had to conserve power since this EMD was not completely charged.

Jess, standing behind the large ADD monitor, tried to calm herself as she watched Becker move quickly out from behind his cover to take a shot at the creature. Becker was completely exposed and though she had great confidence in his ability to bring down the animal, she knew these were extraordinary circumstances. Abby and Becker had no back up. His men were trapped two floors down and his first shot had to be perfect. A miss would mean the creature would charge and Abby would be the last line of defense. Her fear for he and Abby was palpable. She needed to push it down. If the unthinkable happened she, alone, would be their last chance to survive this. The creature suddenly snapped its head around to see Becker taking aim. At that moment, an impossibly fast movement from behind knocked him off his feet and sent the EMD flying toward the wall. A second animal attacked from the side and began to slash at him with its sickle shaped claw. Jess screamed as Abby yelled Becker's name and jumped forward to shoot the second creature. Abby jumped out of position and neatly shot the dinosaur in the torso to quickly incapacitate it. The first creature seemed to sense Abby's vulnerability with her back facing the entry and jumped forward to knock her into the wall head first as her weapon skittered across the floor and landed near the lift.

Connor made a decision to use the quickest means to the hub which required using the lift. He ran toward it, awkwardly carrying the two EMD's from the lab and pushed the ground floor buttons several times in hopes of encouraging the doors to close faster and get him to the command center as quickly as possible. As the doors shut and the humming of the motor commenced, Connor prayed silently that Abby was safely in the hub and not on the lower floors. He had no delusions that she wasn't capable of taking care of herself…no probably MORE capable than he of taking care of herself but worry for her was at the forefront of his thoughts at the moment. As soon as he apprised Jess and hopefully Becker of the situation and contacted Matt to check on his progress on the database search, he knew he had to find her to ease his fears. The lift doors opened and in a split second Connor's fears were realized. Becker lay on the floor bleeding from a deep leg wound. Abby lay unconscious next to the wall while simultaneously a raptor-like creature was moving quickly toward Abby. Jess darted across the room toward an EMD that was lying next to the wall near Becker.

"CONNOR! Jess screamed, "Shoot it….NOW!"

Connor dropped the heavier weapon and quickly brought the lighter EMD up to waist level and fired. The first creature that had been ready to pounce on Abby fell to the ground. A second creature lay on the ground near Becker. Connor ran over to Abby just as she began to try to sit up.

"Abby! Are you OK? What happened? How did the creature get in this area? Where's the rest of the team?" he peppered her with questions as she slowly sat up shaking her head slightly.

Jess had run directly to Becker after Connor shot the first creature.

"Becker…..Becker…..Oh…. your leg!...Connor get me the first aid kit, Now!" Jess began to apply pressure to Becker's wound. Running her hands up and down his body, she began to check for any other damage he had incurred.

"Jess…" Becker's whisper caused Jess to immediately lean closer to him to hear what he was saying.

"Becker! Oh thank God, stay very still. You have a laceration on your right leg and it's bleeding very badly!"

"The creatures…?" he tried to sit up….

"NO, Becker, please…please lay back down. They're down. Abby took out the first one and Connor got the second one. Abby's OK….Connor is staying with her." Jess tried not to let the panic she felt be transmitted to her voice as she pleaded with him to stay quiet.

Connor handed her the kit and she quickly made use of the large gauze pad to apply direct pressure to his wound. Though the blood quickly drenched the gauze pad the direct pressure seemed to slow the flow. She grabbed multiple pads and began applying more pressure whilst searching for adhesive tape to apply the dressing.

"Jess…you're OK? I need to stand up…." Becker moved himself to a sitting position.

"Yes, I'm the least of our worries right now," she finished checking for more injuries and satisfied herself that this one, though worrisome itself, was the only laceration from the creatures vicious claws. Jess helped Becker into one of the chairs near the ADD, propping his leg up on another nearby chair. The movement caused the wound to begin bleeding again. Jess quickly added more dressing.

"Becker" she brought her face close to his. "You can't move this leg! This is a very deep cut and any movement is going to start the bleeding again. Please….just stay right here while I check on Abby. Please…" He looked at her pale face and silently nodded. He hated the feeling of helplessness that was threatening to overwhelm him. Their options were rapidly running out. He prayed that they could figure out a way to free his men to give them the manpower to deal with the anomalies. If Matt was still alive and able to help him and Abby, they would have only three to deal with the creature incursions while Connor closed the anomalies and Jess coordinated at the ADD. He watched as she helped Connor move Abby to one of the other chairs next to him. He needed to protect his team. He needed to protect HER.

"Abby, you hit your head pretty hard…How are you feeling?" Connor was using a flashlight to check Abby's pupils.

"I think she might have a mild concussion. She says every time she stands up she gets very dizzy and starts to feel sick…" Connor worriedly continued checking Abby for more injuries as Abby insisted she was fine while trying to stop the spinning sensation in her head that threatened to overwhelm her. As long as she remained sitting or lying down it did not seem as bad.

"Abby," Jess began, "I think you are experiencing some vertigo as a result of the concussion. You're going to have to sit here and not get up. The minute you get out of this chair the room's going to spin like you're on a carousel. "

Becker immediately began to assess their chances. With Abby down with a concussion, he was their only option besides Connor to deal with whatever came through the anomaly until he could figure out how to get to his men. He struggled to stand up and limp toward the EMD Jess had picked up and placed a few feet away as he felt a wetness begin to drip rapidly down his leg.

"BECKER!" Jess moved quickly over to him, pulling his arm over her shoulder as the room began to grow fuzzy and dark.

She was able to pull him over to her chair at the ADD. "Now, you listen to me, Hilary Becker….that wound will begin to bleed like a faucet EVERY time you stand up…..You will not make it more than a few steps before you pass out and won't be able to help yourself, least of all anyone else here." She spoke rapidly, her voice raspy with worry and exertion. She put her hand on his cheek as she spoke softly so only he could hear, "You need to trust me. I know what we need to do. You need to trust me so that we can deal with this….together…." she smiled softly into his eyes and he felt calmer. There was a plan. Jess would find a way to release his men and then they could deal with the creatures. She would be coordinating here at the hub and as soon as his wound was attended he would join his men and finish dealing with the incursions. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave her, what he hoped, was a smile of complete confidence.

Jess stood up, picked up the EMD she had placed in the chair and threw Connor the weapon he had dropped after he incapacitated the dinosaur. He neatly caught it as he looked first, at her, then Abby and then at Becker. Their eyes met with mutual understanding. Becker and Abby would not be able to deal with the creatures, but they would be able to sit at the monitor and coordinate their efforts. They would essentially become Jess at the ADD. Jess and Connor needed to deal with the creatures that came through the anomaly before they could close it. When she had been sitting at the ADD earlier, she noticed that the incursion in the auditorium downstairs was near an outside set of hallways that would lead to every room in the ARC. Essentially, those personnel trapped in those areas would be in the greatest danger since their escape routes were cut off….."sitting ducks" on a pond…she had noticed some movement on the CCTV cameras on the lower levels and hoped she and Connor would find some soldiers that had not been trapped with the others that could help them deal with the situation. If those creatures were able to enter those hallways, they could enter any room in the ARC, including the hub where Abby and Becker would be essentially helpless…NO….that could not, would not happen…she looked again as he discussed how they the two of them could deal with the anomalies….….She looked at Becker looking at her expectantly knowing he had no idea that her plan included everyone on the team doing something completely out of their normal job description….Hell, was there a job description for what any of them did for a living?

Jess took a deep breath and swiveled Becker's chair around to the front of the ADD monitor.

"OK…..here we go" she spoke rapidly as she waited for her plan to dawn on him. " First we need to try to get some of the comms up and running so you can feed us the intel. She pointed to a video feed. "These are the monitor feeds for the entire ARC. You should be able to access them here. Here is the ARC map feed. I've basically opened it for the entire ARC complex so you should be able to see where we are. I'm going to establish communication with Matt so he can give us intel from the lab. Connor told me he's locked in but has a connection to the ARC computers with Connor's laptop…."

Becker immediately grasped Jess' plan the same time that it dawned on Abby. He grabbed her arm tightly as he began to try to stand up again.

"NO way in Hell, Jess, NO…I won't let you…You, Connor dealing with this by yourselves…..Abby, me coordinating? …..No, damn it, what are you thinking?...NO….." the words spilled out as Abby stood up quickly from her chair.

"Are you kidding? The two of you alone with multiple incursions?" Abby's horrified look conveyed her thoughts on the plan. She looked at Connor as panic set in. She felt the dizziness threaten to drop her rather quickly to the floor and sat back down.

Jess knew now was the moment she and Connor needed to take control. They both needed to believe this was the only option because, well, it WAS their only option.

Connor spoke quickly.

"Abby, it's the ONLY option. We can't sit here waiting for them to spread through the ARC and kill us all one by one. Is that what you want us to do? Sit here….waiting for someone else to take care of the problem…we can't….You and Becker know that"…He knelt down next to her and spoke more softly.

"Abs, you know I'm right…"

Abby became quiet and looked directly into his eyes. Connor was the one who kept hope alive, helped keep her alive their year in the cretaceous…..if he and Jess were their best chance to get out of this alive then they deserved her best effort…..in keeping them alive by feeding them the information they would desperately need. She and Becker could do this.

Jess immediately stood up and grabbed the EMD's Becker had brought in addition to the one Connor brought. Kicking off her heels, she faced Becker with a smile that conveyed an optimism she didn't feel.

"They're new. I don't want to ruin them…..and their not exactly military issue…" she stated with a smirk.

Becker knew he had only one option. The many times he'd taken a new recruit into battle he always made sure that man knew he was ultimately confident that he would perform well. A good leader made sure his soldiers believed they could win. Now, he needed to give that to her: A woman who, whether he was ready to admit it or not, he loved beyond reason. A woman he was sending into one of the most dangerous situations they'd encountered. He pushed these feelings down as he gently laid his hand on top of hers as it sat on the monitor.

"Watch your back, Jess. Try to keep something solid at your back when you're shooting. It seems they like to coordinate their attacks with multiple hostiles. While one distracts, the other attacks from the side or back…You've coordinated all this from this chair and now you're just doing it in person…Coordinate with Connor so you aren't in each others crossfire…I know you can get this done. I just hope I can give you the same advantage sitting here that you give us every day in the field….."

Abby, sitting in the other chair, told Jess she had Matt back on the comms and within a few minutes she would be able to connect all of them. Connor began to direct Matt to the site he used to identify creatures and find vulnerabilities they could use in the field. As he talked softly over the comms, Jess came to stand near Becker.

Remembering their conversation earlier that morning Jess crouched down beside Becker's chair as he pulled up the maps page. He turned looking at her for a full minute as she looked back.

"I know we're both fish out of water right now, but all we have to do is….swim…..just swim," she whispered quietly, as she smiled at him.

Jess stood up quickly, the large EMD on her hip, and turned to head toward the lift. She suddenly turned back, looking down at Becker, her large blue eyes serious. Striding back to him she balanced the weapon on her hip, leaned down, and softly placed her lips against his. Becker immediately placed his hands gently behind her neck and kissed her back firmly knowing time was too short for more.

"Probably not a good idea to distract a soldier with a mission…" he said as he raised his eyebrow, smiling.

"Becker", she laughed, "That's not a distraction….that's incentive!" and strode quickly to the lift before she could think about what she was about to do.

Connor looked on quizzically…..

"What, Temple?" he barked.

"Well, I just had that scene pictured a different way…." Connor smirked.

"Shut it, Temple!" Becker scowled and grabbed a loaded glock he kept in the hub for emergencies. He threw it to him. "Just get her back here in one piece."

Connor leaned down to kiss Abby as she put her hand on his arm and walked rapidly to the lift where Jess was waiting.

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Oh dear….this chapter ran a little long. I'm not great at dialogue. Will most likely update weekly. Thanks for your kind reviews!