The Anomaly Within
Chapter Nine
Abby was on her feet in an instant. Connor hadn't expected her reaction, feeling stunned when she slapped him hard across the face. A sigh escaped him and he sagged back against the corner of Lester's desk. It was the least he deserved for what he had done. The shocked expressions on everyone's faces were more than enough proof for him, and he just stood there ready to accept all the well deserved contempt from everyone.
"Don't you dare say that again, Connor Temple. Not ever!"
The fire in Abby's crystal blue eyes cut through him like a knife, and it took a moment for his brain to catch up with the meaning of her words.
"I... Abby, ... what? I did this, don't you see? It's all down to me. If I had never worked with Phillip; helped him create New Dawn none of this would ever have happened. But it's more than that. It was my plan to merge the anomalies. I caused the cataclysm that wiped out..." Connor had to stop speaking as his throat closed up on him. He needed to take a moment, running his hands down his face. He shook his head slowly continuing, "I am the reason that all life will be destroyed, not Phillip; not Helen; it's all down to me."
Abby had clearly followed what Connor was saying. "But Earth isn't Mars, Connor. We still have the hard iron core and the molten iron surrounding it. Wouldn't that just create a new magnetic field?"
"That process takes thousands of years, Abby. By then the surface of the planet will have been stripped of life and most of the atmosphere. The oceans will boil and kill everything in them before drying up and leaving nothing behind."
Lester rose from his desk and stepped around it straightening his tie and smoothing it down his shirt front.
"As much as I am certain you would like to wallow in self-pity there really isn't time for that now. The fact remains that Phillip created New Dawn; with or without your help is quite beside the point now. I don't know about you, but neither one of the futures that resulted or will result from his infernal machine are ones that I care to entertain.
"Connor you are the only person with the knowledge necessary to solve this problem so if you don't mind, drop the self-flagellation and get back to work."
Lester had done it yet again. The shock value of his words were enough to snap Connor out of the funk he was sinking into. Lester was right; he didn't have the luxury of feeling sorry for himself. He needed to make this right.
Lester could clearly see that his remarks had the effect he was looking for so he cleared his throat before continuing. "So, bearing all of that in mind, tell me what you need."
Connor looked at Lester a little confused. "What I need?"
With a long suffering expression planted firmly in place Lester rolled his eyes as though he were talking to a dim witted teenager. "Yes, what do you need to save the world from a massive explosion that will occur at some point in the future, wiping out all life as we know it? It was a rather obvious question, I thought."
Connor just stared at him for a moment. "I.. I've no idea. That much power doesn't just disappear; it must be expressed somehow, somewhere." Connor looked stricken. "I don't know, I'm not sure there is anything that can be done to stop it. I've no idea when this will happen."
Lester gave Connor a hard look. "So that's it then, you're just giving up? That doesn't sound like the young man who worked closely with Nick Cutter and wanted so desperately to continue his work. It certainly doesn't sound like the man who stood here in this very office not two years ago insisting that he deserved to remain here at the ARC to fight until he's won, or have you forgotten what you said when you came back from your year in the Cretaceous?"
Connor remembered how angry he was when Lester and Phillip told him that he had been sacked and some of that fire returned to his eyes. Lester jumped in before he could say anything else.
"The first thing you need to do is to figure out a way to determine when this event is most likely to occur and how best to deal with it, so what do you need to do that?"
Connor stood mute for a moment just trying to wrap his head around the scope of the task in front of him. The time for recriminations was not now, and he knew that. There must be some way to make things right, and he meant to find it or die trying.
"In your own time." Lester said, impatiently.
Connor drew in a breath and started thinking and talking at the same time.
"Your right, we need to try and figure out when this will happen. I'll need every scrap of Phillip's research that's in the ARC databases as well as the main Prospero data banks at his offices. I can pull the cloned hard drive from my computer. That will have most of it, but I'll need a far bigger database to work off of. Matt, I'll need you to help me place a date on the future we saw on the other side of New Dawn. If we can date the anomaly to within a year of when it will open we might have a chance." Connor looked at Matt hopefully.
Matt shook his head. "I don't really know if I can give you very accurate data there. I have the chronicles of the fall, but those dates were lost with the destruction of everything. I'll only have my own recollections and what I learned growing up in the aftermath."
Just as a sinking feeling began to well up inside Connor again Emily spoke directly to the team leader. "Matt, didn't you tell me that others were sent back in time besides you and your father? Is there any way to contact them?"
"It's true others were sent back to different times within this era, but I don't know when. My father and I were sent back to this time; the others could have been here for years or have not yet arrived."
"Your father?" Becker asked just as Lester said, "You mean there are other people from the future here?"
"Yes, Becker, my father came back to this time with me, and yes it is possible that there are other agents from my time here now, James."
"Well then let's have a talk with your father for a start. He would be far more helpful in finding an accurate date for the calamity I would think." Lester insisted.
"We came back in pairs. My father's function here was to set up a background that ensured my position here at the ARC, but we can't confer with him."
"Why the hell not. The time for secrets is long past, Matt." Becker demanded.
Connor saw pain and grief pass over Matt's face but it was Emily who answered. "He's dead. He died a few months ago."
"He knew he only had a limited time. My father lived far longer than most people from my time do. In the world I grew up in, human life expectancy is no more than 30 to 40 years. I know that he remembered a time before the world that I was born into. He was just a young boy when everything changed; he was one of the few survivors."
"And you have no idea what year your father was born in?" Abby asked.
"Dates had little to no meaning for us. We struggled day-to-day just trying to survive. But some of the others who came back may have a better idea of a date when this all began. I have names, but they will have probably changed. You can be assured that they have been or will be in someway connected to the ARC."
Connor was stunned by these revelations. Someone he had possibly worked with may have all the answers or at the very least some of them.
Lester turned to Jess, "Jess this sounds like a job for you. Comb through the files of every ARC employee, or consultant whether military or civilian past and present. You'll need to work with Matt and see if you can find anyone who is from his time. Look for CV's that are too good to be true."
"I knew you had never climbed Everest." Becker said, under his breath.
Lester chose to ignore the gibe at the team leader and continued to direct the meeting. "Alright then, even considering we can accurately put a date on this explosion, we still need to deal with how to stop it. That is back to you, Connor."
Connor wanted to protest that there was no way to stop the explosion from happening, but he didn't want to go down that road again. He would have to figure out a way to contain it, or divert it, or redirect it in some way. He began pacing as he thought. "We'll need to divide our efforts here at the ARC."
Lester crossed his arms over his chest. "Divide them how?"
"We already deal with detection and containment. Nothing should change with that, but we will need to have divisions specifically dedicated to anomaly research, geomagnetic sciences, and biological research. The only way we can hope to change the outcome of the future is to know everything there is to know about the anomalies. If we understand them fully, then there might be a possibility that we can use them to stop this ever happening."
Connor cast a sharp glance at Abby. He was mildly concerned that he would get slapped again for eluding to going back in time to prevent New Dawn. She didn't show any sign of attack so he continued.
"Understanding the anomalies and how to protect Earth's magnetic field is only part of the battle. We also need to know as much as we can about the future predators. We have fought them off before, but they are fast, powerful, and deadly enough that our efforts would be useless if faced with too many of them at once. We need to know how these creatures evolved and what kinds of radiation levels they were exposed to. The radiation signature in the creature's tissues might even be able to help us determine a time line."
Lester listened carefully to what Connor had to say taking it all in. He nodded his head slightly and put a hand thoughtfully to his chin. "Alright it sounds like you have a solid idea of what direction we need to move in, but all of those things that need to happen will require specialized personnel. Who will you need to accomplish this?"
Connor paused in his pacing for a moment thinking about the task at hand. "For anomaly and geomagnetic research we'll need physicists, the top people in their fields."
"What fields?" Matt asked, now curious.
"Geophysics, Theoretical Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Mathematical Physics, Quantum Field Theory, and Quantum Mechanics for a start. We will have to have extremely strict protocols in place. We can't ever risk having what Phillip did repeated. I know it will be tempting to try and recreate Phillip's work in order to find a solution, but that can't ever happen."
"I should say not." Lester intoned, before continuing. "Who will you need for the biological end of this?"
Connor looked to Abby. She had a stronger background in the creature end of things. She frowned thinking and spoke carefully. "For the biological research on the future predators and any other creature from the future that we encounter, we'll need Bio-Physicists with specialties such as Computational Molecular Biology, Evolutionary Biology and Physiology, Neurobiology, Neuroethology, Comparative Animal Physiology, and Invertebrate Zoology."
Lester raised his eyebrows and looked around at the assembled team. "Oh dear, that is certainly a lot of 'ologys'. Alright then, Matt, you are still the team leader and in charge of the detection and containment division of the ARC, as always.
"Abby, you are our zoologist so you will be heading up the biological research team. Sit down with Connor and make up a comprehensive list of all the biologists you will need to make up your team and whatever specialized equipment will be necessary to get the job done.
"Connor, you will be heading up the division for anomaly and magnetic field research. Same instruction. I will need a comprehensive list of the different physicists you will need for your team and what resources they will require."
Jess couldn't help but say something as she listened. "Without Phillip and Prospero, how will all of this umm... well, get paid for?"
A victorious smile crept over Lester's face. "Happily Phillip had already put another half billion pounds into anomaly research. Oh he didn't mean for us to be able to use it per se, but the money sits there and we need to research the anomalies, so it's a simple solution. After I have a long lunch with the minister explaining that at some point in the not too distant future the world will come to an end and all life on the planet will be destroyed if we don't do something about it, should loosen any other purse strings that may be required."
"And what if we fail?" Every eye turned to Becker. "I'm sorry to be the one to say it, but don't we have to ask that question? What if all of the physicists and all of the 'ologists' can't put Humpty together again?"
"Oh fear not, that will also be discussed with the minister. He will be obligated to share what we know with the heads of every other world government. Where do you think I am going to get all of those physicists and biologists? This is no longer just a problem for Great Brittan but for the world."
"Lester's right, we need to make sure that underground shelters are built now before the calamity. Almost no one survived in my time. If the human race is prepared to face this we can still have a chance IF we fail to stop it happening." Matt interjected with conviction.
"I see your point, Matt. It looks like you will have to pull double duty then. Along with being the head of detection and containment, you will also have to be the minister's advisor on what to do to prepare for the future if we fail. Now I suppose we'll have to tell him that you are indeed a man from the future after all. Good Lord, I don't think lunch will work. It will have to be dinner. The minister is going to need a drink."
End Episode 1 Series 6
A/N:
I hope you enjoyed this story. This is how I would have continued the series if it hadn't been canceled. We have only seen 3 of the Primeval New World episodes so I have no idea if any of this has been addressed in the new series. It seems to be a bit off. The main character keeps telling his "team" they are trying to keep this secret, but with anomalies opening all over the world during convergence the world already knows about it. The new series seems to be ignoring that rather glaring cannon point.
It was nice to see Connor in the pilot but his part was so small and he had little to say. The series is clearly trying to start over hoping for more success that the original. Personally I thought the original was splendid and I am sad to see it discontinued with so many different directions it could have gone.
I have no solid plans to write an episode two, but if anyone seriously wants to collaborate I would be open to that. This story took mountains of research and all of the facts stated by Connor are researched and accurate. To continue this would require the same level of research and planning. Personally I'm not sure I am equal to that task at this time. Life is rather cluttered at the moment. I would love to show this idea to TPTB and offer my writing talents to them but somehow I don't think that would ever happen. ;-) Oh well.
Thanks for reading and please take a moment to tell me what you thought of the story. Your comments, whether good or critical are one of the reasons that authors of fan fiction continue to spend hours of work to bring you these stories.
Alice I
