CLAUDIA
"It's about time you got down here," Lester said impatiently, beckoning her over to the ADD. "We have a serious situation and – are you all right?"
The question sounded most incongruous coming from him, and Claudia would have laughed if she'd been in the mood. If James Lester could tell she had been crying, then everyone else was certain to be able to. "I'm fine," she replied tersely, staring over Francesca's shoulder at the screen. "What's happening?"
"A girl has wandered through an anomaly." Lester's tone was so indignant it was as though she had done it purely to make things difficult for him. "The Fieldwork Division is on their way now, and Professor Cutter has decided to poke his nose into it, as usual. Half of Research is down there with all kinds of gadgets to measure the anomaly, but I need you to speak to the girl, figure out where she's from, and get her back there. If she's from around here, you know what to do. If not..."
"You mean she could be from another timeline?"
"It's a possibility, yes," Lester said testily, "but that doesn't mean it's true. If that is the case, you are to bring her back here and we will question her. Now go – I don't want Professor Cutter dealing with her alone. I don't trust him not to mess the whole thing up."
She pulled up beside several other CARI vehicles and strode over to where Connor, Jones, Abby and several of their Fieldwork and Research colleagues were gathered. Connor and Jones appeared to be arguing – not that that was anything new. "What's going on?" she asked, approaching them. "Where's Professor Cutter?"
Connor broke off his tirade and turned to Claudia, exasperation written all over his features. "Cutter's talking to Evelyn, alone. He doesn't want to be interrupted. Is that so hard for you to accept, Captain Jones? If we scare her back through that anomaly then we lose her and everything she knows."
"Who is she?" Claudia asked before Jones could reply.
"Her name's Evelyn Faye. She's from a parallel universe."
Claudia felt sick. Cutter was telling the truth. "What else do we know?"
Connor shook his head. "Nothing."
"Nothing at all?" Claudia's eyes narrowed. Connor wouldn't meet her eyes, and kept glancing over his shoulder to where Cutter was talking to the girl. Evelyn, Claudia reminded herself. Evelyn Faye from a parallel universe.
"Well, her universe is a little... different," Connor said slowly. "She claims to have this thing called the 'aura', which lets her see the anomalies, because apparently not everyone can in her universe."
"I don't have time for this," Jones said, exasperated. "We should take her back to CARI and deal with her there. We need to establish a perimeter in case anything else comes through."
"Do we know what's on the other side?" Claudia asked.
Connor shook his head. "She might've told Cutter, but –"
"Then we're asking him." Jones pushed past Connor and stalked over to where Cutter and the girl were standing. Abby followed after him, and soon the rest of Fieldwork, armed with guns and vests, were on their way too.
Connor swore. "Who does he think he is? I swear, if he chases her back through, I'll –"
"Leave it, Connor," Claudia said, and followed Jones and the others.
"We need to set up a military perimeter," Jones was saying. "There could be all kinds of creatures waiting on the other side of that anomaly."
Cutter looked from Evelyn to the captain, to Abby, to Claudia and then away. "All right," he said at last. "Evelyn. Will you come with me?"
"Come back to CARI," Claudia suggested. She saw Cutter flinch at her words.
"We do what Evelyn wants," he said, without looking at Claudia. Evelyn, on the other hand, was staring at her so intensely she began to feel uncomfortable under the girl's gaze. Her eyes, Claudia realised, were exactly the same colour as Nick's.
Eventually the girl turned back to Nick. "Okay," she said eventually. "I'll go with you. We can go with the lady. She doesn't have the aura, though." Her voice was soft, her expression serious. Claudia was struggling. She comes from another universe.
"Thank God," Cutter murmured. He closed his eyes briefly before continuing: "Her name is Claudia. Claudia, this is Evelyn. She comes from Terra. Wait for me at the car; I'll be there soon." He turned to Connor, who was looking on anxiously, and began to mutter a string of low, urgent directions.
"Right," Claudia said, turning to the strange girl who had appeared out of an anomaly from another world. "Shall we?"