Trading Places
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Chapter 10- Gwen Cooper
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Going Batty
Abby and Gwen followed Andrews through the maze of corridors as they made their way down to the staffroom. Danny and Neil were waiting there with their catch, the bat-thing that Danny had tranquilised earlier. Abby looked through the vet's pack Andrews had in his backpack, finally coming up with what she needed. They had tranquilised enough creatures at various anomaly sites and then encountered problems when they tried to send them back through the anomalies that she now always carried antidote with her. Some of these animals were big and heavy and their being able to walk back through the anomalies themselves was so much easier.
Now, she crouched over the unconscious creature in the teachers' staff room, checking it over for injuries.
"How much tranquiliser did you shoot the poor thing with?" she asked Danny.
He frowned. "Just one dart. That one there."
"For goodness' sake," she told him. "For the last time- pink ones for anything smaller than a dog, red ones for anything larger."
Danny knew she'd told him that before but he found it just slowed him down if he had to keep swapping and changing. If he didn't know what they were going to find when they went into a place, he pre-loaded the gun for the worst possible eventuality. He figured that, where some of these creatures were concerned, the stronger the tranquiliser the better.
"It did the job, didn't it?"
Abby just rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the creature. Now that she had one to study closely, she realised that the teacher's description had been pretty much spot on. It was about a metre in length, from nose to tail, with the little beady eyes and flattened snout of a bat, but its body was elongated. Like a lizard, it had little stumpy legs with sharp claws on the feet and a tail that stretched out behind it about six inches. She ran her hand carefully over the dark fur that covered its body, surprised by how soft it was.
"Funny little thing, isn't it?" Gwen said, leaning in to get a closer look. She hesitantly stretched out a hand to touch, smiling a little when she stroked its fur. "I was expecting it to be wiry hair but it's not; it feels like stroking a cat."
She pulled her hand back suddenly, swatting at something on her skin. "I think it also has fleas," she said, scratching.
Danny and the soldiers took a step back.
"Men," Abby muttered. "Such babies. I suppose this means me and Gwen have to do this on our own?"
They had originally thought to record the bat-creature's call in order to entice the others out of hiding around the school but that idea had quickly been abandoned. They had no recording equipment with them and what the school had was built into the music rooms. Unfortunately, they needed to entice the creatures towards the gym and, more importantly, the anomaly. The next best thing was to take the creature back there. Hopefully the others would come out to the aid of the injured one.
Gwen glanced up at the men and laughed. They were really trying to keep up the tough-guy routine whilst keeping a safe distance from the fleas.
"Come on, Danny," she said, batting her eyelashes at him. "We need a big strong man to carry this critter for us."
Danny held out for about twenty seconds until finally giving in to the girls' pleading gazes.
"Fine," he grumbled, going to pick the creature up. "But if I catch anything from this little sod, I'm blaming you two." Noticing Abby putting the syringe back into the vet's case, he frowned. "Hang on a minute; is this thing going to start waking up while I'm carrying it?"
Abby smiled sweetly and picked up her bag. "Better walk fast, hadn't you?"
In the gymnasium, Sarah had finished patching up the boy's arm and was currently trying to distract him from the creature trapped in the cage. He was visibly scared of it, even though he wouldn't admit it to her. He was also worried about the two other boys he had come inside the building with. They were still missing, presumably holed up somewhere after the creature attacked them and they got separated from Christian.
"So what's that thingy behind us?" he asked, pointing to the anomaly.
"It's like a gateway through time," she said. "We investigate them."
His eyes sparkled with interest. "You mean like on Stargate? You're like SG1."
"Not quite," Sarah told him. "They travel through space, to different worlds, whereas these anomalies only open in time. Usually backwards by millions of years but there have been a few future ones."
"Cool. So is that where those bat things came from?"
Sarah nodded, telling him about some of the other weird and wonderful creatures that she had seen in her time at the ARC. When Abby came through the door, holding it open for the others and locking it securely behind them again, Christian jumped to his feet.
His eyes wide, he turned to Sarah. "What's he brought another one here for?"
She reached out to him, trying to calm him down. "It's OK," she said. "We need this one to attract the others, so that we can send them all back home."
"There're more of those things?"
"Yes, and as soon as we can get them out of the school and through the anomaly, we can go and look for your friends."
Ten minutes later, the creature was fully awake and fighting against the cage it was contained in. Well, it wasn't exactly a cage, it was actually one of the basketball storage baskets that had been upturned to trap it underneath.
"I don't suppose we could get on with this, could we?" Danny asked, scratching idly at the back of his neck. Then his stomach. "That is the last time I let you talk me into carting some flea-ridden animal around. I need a shower," he said, adding, "and some insecticide."
Abby had to agree that it sounded like a great idea, and she could see Gwen scratching as well. Why had she decided to touch the thing? She could have administered the antidote to the tranquiliser without catching anything but no, she had to pet the thing.
"Right then," Abby began. "Sarah, get ready to unlock the anomaly. Neil, open the doors."
Sarah looked across at Christian. "Do you want to wait in the locker rooms? If we make sure there aren't any creatures in there, you can keep the doors locked-"
"No, I'll stay," he said, looking determined.
"Well, make sure you keep back and don't antagonise them," Abby told him. "Most animals react based on how you act. If you panic, or try to lash out at them, they'll attack."
Once everyone was in position, Abby and Andrews dragged the baskets containing the two creatures closer together, so that the conscious one could see the other, moving both baskets closer to the anomaly. Almost instantly, the conscious one let out a high pitched shrieking sound, high enough that everyone in the room cringed. It was something akin to fingernails being scratched down a blackboard but higher in pitch.
"Shut that bloody thing up!"
Abby shook her head. "I can't. We need it to keep making this noise, remember?"
Standing by the doors, Neil suddenly clicked the safety off his tranquiliser gun, raising it. Gwen moved herself back behind the door as she held it open.
"Incoming!" she yelled.
Sarah quickly unlocked the anomaly, standing back to wait with Christian as one of the bat creatures came flitting through the door. Its darting movements made it hard to keep track of but Abby knew it wouldn't stray too far from the captured ones. Moments later, a second creature came flying in, skimming so low over Abby and Danny that they had to duck.
One of the creatures misjudged a turn and vanished as it got too close to the anomaly. Its companion seemed even more panicked at the disappearance, its flight-path becoming more erratic.
"I've had just about enough of this damn thing," Danny said, ducking as it tried to fly into his head again. "I say we toss the two we've got trapped through the anomaly and hope it follows."
Abby sighed. "You can't just throw them through it- that one is injured. It can't fly."
"Fine, so give it here. I'll take it through and leave it there."
Since the remaining free creature seemed to have no intention of going near the anomaly, especially after seeing its companion vanish into it, they didn't really have a lot of choice. It didn't look as though there were any more; the noise that the trapped one was making would certainly have drawn them out if there were. Signalling for Gwen and Neil to close the doors, the others began to get ready to move their captives. It was difficult, what with the flying one dive-bombing them, but eventually they had the unconscious creature in its basket. The other one, still squawking like crazy and fighting against the confines, was in its basket with a piece of net over the top.
"Danny and I will take them," Andrew said, cutting off any arguments with a glare. "I don't want any more than necessary going through the anomaly."
He swore as the airborne creature flew at him again. "If we don't get rid of that thing soon I'm going to shoot it myself," he said, earning a disapproving look from Abby.
Danny picked up one of the baskets and followed Andrews to the anomaly, glancing back over his shoulder to check for the third creature. He didn't see it. They didn't bother to stay and look around, quickly depositing the creatures on the ground.
On the other side of the anomaly, Abby and Gwen watched as the creature once again avoided the anomaly. Neil was waiting with Sarah and Christian, trying to keep out of its way. They had tried to entice it to the anomaly, even going so far as to stand in front of it and wave their arms about, hoping that it would fly straight at them. However, it didn't.
"That's it," Neil said, raising his gun. "I'm tranquilising it."
This time, there was no argument from Abby.
Two hours later, after the anomaly had shimmered out, closing itself, Abby finally climbed into the back of one of the four-by-fours. She was glad to be going home at last; she was tired and itchy and in desperate need of a shower. They had found the remaining two boys once the building was creature free, where they had been hiding in a cleaning closet on the second floor. The injured kids, including Christian, had been ferried away to the local hospital, their parents called. No doubt they would be the talk of the school for weeks to come, but that didn't matter.
"I don't envy the school for having to explain what happened to the parents," Danny said from the driver's seat. "I doubt they'll believe that prehistoric bats attacked their kids."
Gwen smiled. "We have the same problem at Torchwood, only there we have to try and explain about aliens."
"You realise that we still have to put in a report to Lester," Abby pointed out. "He'll bitch about it being a 'public relations nightmare'. Like it's our fault the thing appeared in a school."
Danny didn't even bother going back to the ARC, instead dropping Gwen and Abby off at Abby's flat.
"We can fill out reports tomorrow," he said. "I, for one, would rather get home and finally be able to stop scratching."
Those who had not been in contact with the flea-ridden bat creatures had made a point of keeping a safe distance from the three of them, even going so far as to make them take a separate car home, threatening to get it fumigated afterwards. Though she had wanted to be offended, Abby had agreed with them.
It took two showers before Abby finally felt clean again, leaving her clothing in a plastic bag that was securely tied up to deal with later. Gwen was already getting comfortable on the sofa in her jogging trousers and a t-shirt when she got to the lounge. At her feet, Sid and Nancy jostled for Gwen's attention as she teased them with a cat toy on a string.
"So, what are we watching?" Abby asked, sitting down beside her. She had made a quick detour to the kitchen and now set a bottle and two glasses down on the table. She figured that after the day they'd had, they deserved a lazy evening in front of the TV with a glass of wine and a movie.
Gwen put the toy away and the two creatures settled down, lying on the floor next to the sofa, curled up together.
"I found the perfect film," she said with a wicked grin, indicating to the TV guide that was on the coffee table. "Jurassic Park."
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To Be Continued…