The Forest of Dean
Whatever tracks the gorganopsid left when it came through the anomaly were trampled by the soldiers, and the forest was huge. And the creature had been at large for several hours.
Connor started to get a little anxious. He hadn't been able to get a hold of Cutter in a few hours, and they didn't know how much longer the anomaly was going to stay open. Finally he decided to join the search.
"Madge, stay here. I'm going after it," he said.
"I'm coming with you." Madge told him.
Connor shook his head. "I can't look for the creature and look after you at the same time. You'll be safer here anyways."
"Not if another one of those things comes through." She said. "Please, Connor. I know the Forest of Dean pretty well."
He didn't like it, but Madge wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Fine. But be careful. We don't know what else might've come through."
As a last ditch effort, Connor sent a text to Cutter.
I tried calling you. Madge and I got tired of waiting and we're going to help look for the creature.
...
Whitehall
"This… phenomenon, Professor. Claudia tells me that you have an explanation."
"A theory." Cutter corrected. "The creatures must have come through the anomaly, and the scutosaurus went back through, which tells us that there is a concrete landscape on the other side of the anomaly. And I think it's the Earth, many millions of years ago."
"And this, anomaly, as you call it, is a door between time zones in the Earth's history?"
Cutter nodded in agreement.
"Suppose this- remarkable theory is correct," Lester suggested. "What are the immediate risks?"
"Famine." He said. "War, pestilence. The ends of the world as we know it- you know, the usual stuff." Cutter looked pretty entertained by his sarcastic answer.
Lester was far less amused than Cutter was. "I think I could do without the facetiousness."
"Well, I could do without standing in some anemic office in Whitehall, talking to a civil service pen pusher when I should be exploring the most significant phenomenon in the history of science."
"Technically, I'm not actually a civil servant." Lester corrected. "More of a troubleshooter without portfolio in the PM's office."
"You mean you're a government hatchet man." Which means you're paid very highly to make problems like this go away. Cutter thought.
"Colorful, but surprisingly accurate."
"Then there's something else you should know. I intend to find out what happened to my wife, whatever the risks. So I'm going through that anomaly, and if you want to stop me, you're going to have to shoot me."
Lester chuckled. "I hope it won't come to that."
...
The Forest of Dean
"Do you see anything?" Connor asked.
"No." Madge said. "What exactly are were looking for?"
"Tracks, feces, broken foliage," he said. "Leftovers." He added.
Madge nodded, and felt a little bit sick at the thought of 'leftovers'. "Thanks for the image, Connor."
"Basically anything that tells us that a creature passed through here."
Madge spotted something, and bent over to get a better look. "How about another shoe print?"
"That's not exactly what I meant, Madge." Connor said, but came over to look anyway.
"Look," she said, pointing at some of the more distinctive treads. "It's exactly the same as the one back at the site."
"I could just be a coincidence." Connor said. "There's got to be hikers in this forest all the time."
Madge looked up, and saw something under some brush up ahead. "Connor, look."
He did. "Is that a footprint?" They two of them went over the look at it.
"And that's not all." Connor said. "There's more shoe prints, and they're following the gorgonopsid."
...
Whitehall
Cutter's phone buzzed. He took the phone out of his pocket and checked his messages. He frowned as he read the text, and dialed his voice mail.
"I'm sorry, are we interrupting you?" Lester asked. "Is there something more important than a gaping whole through time and space in the middle of the Forest of Dean?"
"It's from Connor and Madge." Cutter said. "They've gone after the creature. They think it's a gorgonopsid."
"A gorgon-what?" Claudia asked.
"A gorgonopsid. It was the top predator of the permian era. I need to go and help them." Cutter started dialing Connor's number.
"But what about the anomaly?" Lester asked.
"It's going to have to wait." Cutter said. "He's not answering. Claudia, I'm going to need a ride back to the forest."
Claudia nodded. "I'll get my keys."
Cutter went to follow her, but Lester stopped him. "Don't try to go through the anomaly until we've filled out the proper paperwork." He warned Cutter.
"What, like a, an time travel passport?" Cutter asked sarcastically.
"Something along those lines, yes."
"You'll excuse me if I'm just a little bit more concerned about my students right now than exploring the anomaly." Cutter followed after Claudia.
...
The Forest of Dean
"Did you try calling Cutter again?" Madge asked.
"I can't. There's no signal on my phone."
Madge checked her own phone. "Nor mine. There's more tracks, though. We've got to be getting closer." After a moment. she said, "Connor, one question. After we find it, how do we get it back through the anomaly?"
Connor hesitated. "I'll think of something."
"You'll what?" Madge sounded concerned.
"I said I'll think of something." He said. "I hadn't really thought that far ahead."
"When you said that you were going to look for it, I thought you had some kind of plan."
"Well you didn't have to come along." He pointed out.
"And what if something had happened to you?" Madge asked. "What if you fell and got knocked unconscious?"
Connor didn't answer, but he stopped walking. Madge stopped too.
"Connor-"
Connor shushed her. "I think there's something watching us."
Madge looked around. "I don't see anything."
"I heard something."
Something behind them got closer. That time, Madge heard it too. Slowly, they looked at each other, and then looked behind them.
Connor stared, open-mouthed. "But that's impossible." He finally said.
"Connor, who is that?" Madge asked.
The woman answered. "My name is Helen Cutter. I've… been away. Not really sure how long."