ACT TWO

Chapter Twenty

The Lions' Den

"Sir James Peregrine Lester, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Mister President," Lester began, "I believe we have an international crisis on our hands. As I'm sure you're aware, a tourist attraction has opened outside Miami, Florida, which boasts a selection of prehistoric creatures. British agents inside the park have confirmed these claims. In addition, they seem to have acquired creatures from the future. We believe their creatures have been acquired through anomalies. They are incredibly dangerous, and their close proximity to such a built-up area makes this an area of huge importance."

"Lester, our military are currently preparing for a mission to Everglades Land of Time. They call it 'Operation Peacekeeper'. British military assistance would be much appreciated, if that is what's on offer."

Becker perked up, sat on the other side of Lester's office.

"The Anomaly Research Centre would be happy to offer assistance," Lester replied.

…

Previously…

- Danny came towards the now-uplifting gate and, with seconds to spare, the anomaly burst back into full size. He drove straight up the ramp, and drove through, to the other side. And the indricothere followed.

Sarah ran over to the portal. "Danny!" There was no reply. Then, before she could call again, the shimmering anomaly closed.

The indricothere was still spurting blood, but it would survive. It lay down on the ground after an exhausting day. The sun was setting, and Danny needed to find somewhere safe.

He mounted his bike, and then drove off towards the far end of the ridge. He couldn't see how navigable this way was, as it was obscured by shrubbery. But if a gigantic indricothere could get up here, surely he could get down. -

…

The first casualty when war comes is truth. – Hiram W. Johnson

...

After about an hour, Danny reached the bottom of the mountain. He had in fact emerged in a canyon, about twenty yards wide.

He set his bike down on the rocky ground. He then sat down beside it, and considered his options.

He could wait until the anomaly re-opened. However, that could take years.

Quinn looked around the canyon, with a small stream being the only visible source of water.

Here didn't seem like a very nice place to spend a week or two.

Something growled.

Danny turned to see, about twenty yards down the cliff-side, one of the giant wolf things, at a wider part of the canyon. It was up against the cliff-side, and was backing away from something, hidden by a stand of trees.

With a rustle of the branches, the something emerged.

It was a human.

As the human walked towards the wolf, he or she held a rifle at it, ready to pull the trigger. The person was followed by two more people, each with rifles. They were all dressed in black jumpsuits.

Danny quickly hid against the canyon wall. Hopefully the people with guns would be too busy with the wolf to notice him.

The giant wolf pounced. It easily pushed the human to the ground. Danny saw blood spurt from the person's body.

The other two people quickly shot at it. These didn't seem like bullets, though. They looked more like darts.

The wolf fell.

One of its attackers whistled.

Before long, a black truck came around a corner in the cliff-side. It was pulling a large trailer.

The people helped their bloody comrade up and sat him in the truck passenger seat. Then, they grabbed a huge net, and placed around the dormant predator. With the truck's winch, they pulled it up and onto the trailer. Then, they got on beside it, and drove away.

The truck was not unlike the silver Hilux used by the ARC team at the airport. Was this the ARC team? After all, who else could travel to the past?

Danny followed the truck at a safe distance. After a few hundred yards, it turned right, and disappeared from view. As Danny caught up, he realized that it had entered a cave. He followed, and as he peered into the cave, he saw where the truck had gone.

A shimmering anomaly was clearly visible in the darkness.

Danny thanked his lucky stars. He had his route home.

"So, you and the President are on good terms?"

Lester had only just hung up. "Well, we have been in contact with each other before. Since the Russian incident, we've been in contact with some other governments, as you know. France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and Norway, as any anomalies that open here could easily affect them, and require their cooperation to contain. We have also informed the US, as our closest ally could easily help us, both financially and militarily. There have been no reported anomalies on American soil, but it's in both our interests that we share knowledge and research on the subject."

Becker stood up. "So, what breakthroughs have they helped us make?"

"Well, without any active anomalies of their own, they can only theorize. But there may well be controlled anomalies in America right now, and that's where you come in."

"What's the plan? You're not going to go harping on about chessboards again, are you?"

"Christine is no longer a threat, thanks to the rather fortunate movement of that anomaly. So, it would appear our team in America is most in need right now."

"What about Quinn? He's on the wrong side of that anomaly right now. I'm not abandoning him now that we're sufficiently prepared to deal with what's on the other side."

"Are you? It seems that those creatures did quite some damage to Christine's base."

"They were unprepared."

Lester sighed. "Be quick about it."

"Thank you, sir."

"I want you back within two hours, with or without Quinn. I'm sending troops to that park as soon as we get the go-ahead from America. Whichever troops you choose to bring on this rescue mission will be going with you and the anomaly locker as soon as you're back, on the second convoy."

"Understood, sir."

"Dismissed."

Becker marched out of the office and down the walkway. Lester turned his attention to the ARC team in America.

He dialed Jenny's number, and waited. She wasn't accessible.

That's odd. Jenny always picks up, and she never lets her phone run out of battery…

He dialed Hemple instead. He was the same.

So was Abby, and all of the soldiers. And Connor.

Something had happened…

XXXX

Danny sprinted back up the canyon, picked up his bike, and drove towards the anomaly. Stealth was no longer a priority, speed was.

He turned towards the cave, and drove into the shimmering portal in time.

Almost immediately, he felt the change. Apart from the weird tingling sensation, there was also a noticeable difference in heat. From scorching, arid desert, the air now felt cold.

He quickly stopped the bike, and dismounted. He found himself in a large, high corridor, about thirty feet wide, thirty feet high and stretched about twenty yards long. He switched off the bike's engine and walked to the end of the corridor. It ended in a central hub, with several desks covered in papers. There was also some kind of electrical mechanism in this hub. It was attached to several wires, which led back to the anomaly. Above the anomaly, there was a noticeable, small, electrical device, which looked a bit like a laser-gun. It was attached to the ceiling, and pointed straight at the anomaly. The wires from the mechanism led straight to it. Danny could not make out what this mechanism did, but the laser did bear a resemblance to Connor Temple's anomaly locking device, so he assumed that that was its purpose. The mechanism was, however, active, humming away. It must have been doing something else.

He heard a grunting noise coming from somewhere in the building. Adjacent and to the right of the corridor he had just emerged from, there was a second, longer corridor. It, unlike the hub, was not lit up by electrical lights. He presumed that was where the truck from before had since gone. Seeing as there were no other exits, he assumed that was also the way out.

He heard footsteps coming from up that corridor. He had nowhere to hide, other than beneath one of the desks.

He hid beneath one of the desks.

As they came closer, he heard them talking.

"So that's the last?" The first voice was a man's.

"Yes, Professor Skinner, until tomorrow." The second came from a younger man.

"Good. Rossiter wants us to be there for the grand opening. He wants me to close them all, to stop the storms. They seem to have an effect on the weather," Skinner replied. "Wait…" The footsteps stopped. "Is that a motorcycle?"

Danny hadn't had time to hide his bike. The footsteps started again, passed Danny's table, and marched to the corridor.

This could give Danny just the chance he needed.

"He put this here?" Skinner and his accomplice inspected the bike. Danny quietly crept out from under the table, and tiptoed away. He glanced back, to finally see their faces. Skinner was a man who looked to be in his thirties, with a white coat on. He had thick black hair. His accomplice looked to be not much younger, perhaps late twenties, with blonde hair. He too wore a white coat.

Danny quickly passed around them, and hurried down the darkened corridor.

Behind him, he heard Skinner shout "Close it!"

Danny carried on, until he came to a lightened passage. He was at a crossroads, with two paths splitting off from the original one. Each path was easily wide enough to hold a truck. At the end of the left one, he saw the black Hilux. The men were now hauling the rhino-sized wolf into a containment pen.

Danny suddenly realized where he might be. Could this be the park?

He turned to hide down the opposite path. In here, he saw many cages and containers, with various creatures inside. He saw raptors, and a massive Stegosaurus.

One of the smaller cages was rattling, but as Danny took a closer look, it appeared to be empty.

Then he saw its outline. It started out translucent, but fturned grey, and, in some parts, shades of black.

Danny stepped back. It was that gremlin. The toothy horror that had killed his brother.

Danny was breathing heavily. He looked away.

He viewed the containers and cages around him. Perhaps this was where they placed the creatures before being moved to the larger park.

Danny realized that, by sheer dumb luck, he had been transported right where he wanted to go.

Danny jumped as something in the cage behind him roared. He wheeled around to see a strange, dome-headed dinosaur. The rounded skull was surrounded by spikes. And the creature was waving this dome at Danny.

It stepped back, and then rammed the cage bars. They dented slightly with the force of the impact. The dinosaur was pushed backwards, off its feet.

"What was that?" shouted a voice. It was a woman, and came from deeper within this side of this facility. Danny noticed that, beyond the cages, there was what looked like a laboratory through an open door. The woman came out, followed by several other scientists, all in lab coats like Skinner.

"Guards!" she shouted.

Danny ran the other way, straight into the arms of one of the men who had captured the wolf. The man knocked him over the head with the butt of his rifle.

Danny fell.

…

Danny awoke on a bed. He was fully clothed, lying on the covers. His head hurt. He opened his eyes, to see a woman sitting at the side of his bed. She had cropped dark hair.

"Who are you? Where am I?" he asked.

"I'm from the Anomaly Research Centre. You may not know me, my name's Helen." She extended her hand for Danny to shake. Danny obliged, and sat himself up on the bed.

"Are you… checking out the park?" Danny asked.

"Danny, it's our park!" Helen replied, with a smile. "We built this place, so we could show the world our amazing discovery. And so we could research the creatures."

"What? But… why? How can you contain them?"

"We have extensive containment measures in place. Electrified fencing, concrete in some places, and of course we have perfectly natural environments for them, so they wouldn't want to escape!"

Danny massaged his temple. "But what about that gremlin? It can turn invisible!"

"Yes, that is a rather fascinating trait, isn't it? We are researching to see if we can use that sort of ability in our own technology. Isn't it exciting?"

"But… I've…"

"Danny, we know you have been involved with the anomalies before. But how did you get here? Our security cameras show you came through the anomaly. How did you end up in the Oligocene epoch?"

"There was an anomaly, in London. I drove through it. I was in the… 'Oligocene', and then I saw your men capturing one of those wolves. I followed them, and I found this anomaly."

"Interesting. A shortcut from London to here. Danny, could you tell me where that film-set was?"

"Err…" Danny went through his memory. He then listed out the address. "Wait, where's my bike?"

"Well, Danny, it's still being tested for disease it may have brought back from the past. Same for your phone. You already have been tested, and cleared." Helen stood up. "Danny, thank you for your help. This," she motioned around the room, "is your complimentary Land of Time overnight room. As a gift to one of the ARC's old allies, you may stay at the park for tonight and the following day, free of charge."

"I have no American money…"

"That's OK, there's some cash on the bedside table."

"Thanks… what time is it?" Danny asked, looking to the digital clock. It said 4:00pm.

"You were out for quite some time, Danny," Helen told him. "Have a very good day!" She then left the room.

…

Helen rang Ketterman.

"Helen?" he answered.

"Ketterman! Why the hell weren't you picking up before?" Helen asked.

"Sorry, my phone was dead. I had to buy a charger. What is it?"

"Where are you?"

"London. Quinn's apartment is empty."

"That's because Quinn isn't in London. He's here."

"Really? Was that what someone was ringing you about?"

"Yes. He says that he came here through an anomaly. There's a portal in a film-set in London. It leads to the same place and time as one of our anomalies. It'll be surrounded by ARC forces, but if you can get through, it'll provide a short cut here. The address is…" She listed the address that Danny had given her. "Call back when you're there, so we can open the right anomaly here. Now go find Page."

…

Danny returned to his room at 10pm. He had inspected many of the park's exhibits, including the mammoths, the terror-birds, the raptors and the T-Rex. Not all of them, though – he had yet to see what those 'mystery creatures' were. Perhaps he had bitten off a little bit more than he could chew this time. All this created by the ARC. What the hell were they playing at? They were being completely stupid, and arrogant to think they could keep these creatures in.

He lay in his bed, and considered the only constellation. He had got what he'd wanted, a way into the park. But this was the hard part.

It was hard to imagine that an anomaly in a film-set in London led to the same time and place as a controlled anomaly in Land of Time.

XXXX

"Can we go now?" Becker was getting impatient.

"Not until we get word from America," Lester said.

Becker and his squad were all ready for the two missions.

Lester's desk intercom buzzed. He pressed the 'speak' button.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Sir, it's the President of the United States, he's on the line," said his secretary.

Becker smiled at Lester. Lester picked up the phone. "Yes, Mr. President?"

"Sir James Lester, Operation Peacekeeper is now in effect. You have seven hours to prepare your soldiers, and get them to Florida. They will be briefed there by our Delta Force captain."

"Alright. Thank you."

The President then hung up.

Becker looked expectantly at Lester.

"Alright, go."

Becker led his men down the walkway and to the armory. Four ARC soldiers, led by Becker, grabbed G-36s. They then entered the trucks and drove to the film-set. They were going to go through that anomaly, and find Danny. Wherever he was.

…

Lieutenant Owen Clarke was put in charge of the larger cohort of ARC soldiers, bound for Florida. Most of them grabbed G-36s, while six soldiers were fitted with a GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun) for light support, along with Sig Sauer side arms. The squad was then driven to the RAF London base, a mile and a half away from the ARC, in a black SUV with tinted black glass. They didn't spend much time at the base - after being cleared at the security checkpoint they were immediately sent off to their designated hangar. From there they quickly boarded an RAF Hercules. After that they just had to wait.

Clarke checked his watch. At 0200 hours – 2 a.m. - they left London. They had plenty of time to get to Florida. Lester and Becker had not told them much information – presumably, there wasn't much information to give. They were just told to expect dangerous predators, including the future predators. Primarily, they just made sure that they received their equipment. Everything else was now down to the RAF pilot taking them to America.

Operation Peacekeeper was now under way.