Disclaimer: Still don't own Primeval.
Chapter 3
Explanations
In which Jo's secret is revealed…
The creature stalked slowly towards Cutter and Claudia, lying helplessly on the ground. Everywhere was panic, even the soldiers, running, wanting nothing but to escape the forest, spraying bullets randomly in the direction of the creature as Captain Ryan shouted, desperately trying to regain some order to his men.
Suddenly, an insistent horn blared through the trees. The Gorgonopsid snapped its head round to challenge this new threat.
Stephen raced the 4x4 through the trees, relying on his instincts to avoid the trees in the dark, his determined gaze locked on the beast as it raced towards him. Beside him, Jo closed her eyes as the creature neared.
The impact jarred Stephen's whole body, crashing both of them into the dashboard, and crumpling the front of the car. The Gorgonopsid rebounded off the car, flying through the air and landing on its side, eyes closed.
Stephen and Jo got out of the car, Jo more shakily, and looked at the still body of the Gorgonopsid in front of them. Stephen glanced at Jo, making sure she was alright, then began to walk towards where Cutter and Claudia still crouched on the ground. Jo walked around the motionless beast to stand at Stephen's side.
The Gorgonopsid's eye flicked open.
Cutter shouted a warning as it rose behind Stephen and Jo. Jo panicked, leaping ten foot into the air with her wings extended, and catching hold of a tree. Grabbing the gun Cutter threw towards him, Stephen knelt, spraying bullets at the creature.
The beast faltered as the bullets penetrated its hard, thick skin, then fell to the ground once more, roaring in pain. Jo stood by helplessly as it tried to stand, shuddering, roaring faintly, before crashing back to the ground.
Stephen and Cutter shared looks of relief as Jo flew down from the tree and ran to the creature's side. Stephen dropped the gun and followed her. Kneeling beside her and the creature, he put his arm around her, once again feeling the thrill of touching her wings, warm from exertion.
"Are you alright?" he gasped, partly in shock.
Tears rolled down her face as she nodded. "It shouldn't have died," she said simply.
Stephen looked anxious, ready but reluctant to defend his actions, when she smiled sadly at him.
"I understand why you had to do it," she explained, wiping her face with a dirty hand. "He just didn't deserve to die so far away from home."
Patting her on the shoulder, Stephen stood up, aware that the rest of the team were beginning to gather around him and Jo. He sighed. This was going to be difficult…
"So, you're, like, an alien? A real, proper alien?" Connor enthused as they rode back to the Home Office in the cars that hadn't been damaged in the Gorgonopsid attack.
Jo sighed, more relaxed than she would normally have been in this situation, Stephen's reassuring hand on her knee as he smiled out of the window, watching the trees of the Forest of Dean being replaced by the concrete and brick of housing estates and motorways.
"No," she said patiently, "I was born on Earth. That makes me an indigenous species. Just like Humans. However many times you ask, I will still not suddenly sprout antennae and confess to being a Martian."
In the front seat, Cutter shared a smile with Abby. Connor looked confused. "Well, obviously!" he said. Jo looked relieved, the endless, repetitive questions seeming to be over for the moment.
"Everyone knows Martians don't have antennae," he continued, ignoring groans of protest. "They've got sort of funny-looking ears, but that's all. The antennae thing is a government invention, so we don't recognise them." He finished triumphantly, smiling at Jo.
Jo groaned and leaned back, resting her head. "I give up," she muttered. Cutter and Stephen chuckled.
"So," Cutter began, "how do you know about the anomalies?"
Jo answered, "I was kind of brought up into it, really. It's a species thing. Our job. We travel through time, using the anomalies, and guard them along the way. We used to go around in groups a lot, cos it got lonely, but when you were twenty years old, you could go on your own, Most people didn't choose to, though.
"We were peaceful, most of the time. And there were rules. You couldn't deliberately change time, or use the anomalies for your own advantage. It all had to be for the good of the creatures. I'm only sixteen, so I hardly know any of the anomaly theory. You'd start theory at eighteen, when you'd stop practical for those last two years. Mostly, we'd just try to keep the anomalies out of the humans' way, keep the secret. I mean, could you imagine what would happen if the media got their hands on one? Nightmare."
"And then there was the war," Stephen guessed.
Jo stiffened. "Yes." She replied, not wanting to say any more.
Stephen nodded, and put his arm around Jo's shoulder, feeling once again the hard ridges under her top that were her wings. Jo leaned against him, closing her eyes, and Stephen tightened his grip.
They sat like this for the rest of the journey to London, Jo asleep on Stephen's chest, mumbling in her sleep every so often. Every time she did so, Stephen would look at her face to check she was still asleep, and rub her shoulder, the only comfort he could give.
So, introductions are done, i wonder what will happen next? I live off reviews, good or bad!