They waited in one of the meeting rooms while the home office scientists tested the samples they collected from the pool. Avery wanted to help them but they declined with an air of superiority. Apparently they thought a university student didn't know enough to be helping them.
"I know why they didn't want me helping them but what about you?" Avery asked Abby who sat across from her on the wide oval table.
"I think some of them are jealous that they can't go into the field. I can't blame them if I was in their shoes I would want to be out there seeing the creatures as well." Abby replied.
"Fair enough. Hey Connor!" Avery called out down the table. She giggled as he jumped and whipped his head around. "What's happening out there?" She noticed he was peeking near the door trying to listen to several soldiers standing near the door. As she called out however one of the soldiers turned around and she met his eyes. It was the same man she bumped into a while ago. Becker she believed his name was. She got up to talk to him when his fiends led him away from the prying ears of Connor. She sat back down as Claudia walked in.
"What's happening with Miss Johnson?" Avery asked her as she walked towards her.
Claudia just sighed and sat down in a chair next to her. "It's not good I'm afraid. There's nothing Lester can do without revealing our secret."
"Then why don't we tell them." Stephen replied from across Claudia. "There has got to be some proof we can obtain to get her off."
"Even if we could tell them the anomaly has disappeared, along with the body and creature. All evidence points towards Diane. It's out of my hands." She huffed.
A soldier knocked at the door of the conference room and let himself in. "Ma'am, there has been an unidentified organic mass found at North York reservoir." He said back straight and legs spread apart slightly. "Several of my men are already bringing it in."
"Okay I'll come and get the co-ordinates." She stood up and addressed the people in the room. "You stay here until the object has been seen by the scientists. Cutter you're just in time. Come with me something has been found." She walked past him and he followed after sending a confused look to Avery.
"A bolus?" Avery asked sitting in the passenger seat next to Cutter. She looked over the pictures taken of the mass. She didn't feel queasy looking at it, unlike Connor who practically turned green when he first saw the images.
"Yeah." He replied looking at her then back at the road. "A big mass as well. But the DNA was definitely the boy from the swimming pool. Poor Lad."
"To be eaten whole. It must have been a big creature…" She trailed off as a thought occurred to her "...Are you sure it belongs to the boy. I mean how did it end up in the reservoir?"
"I think the anomaly may be fixed in one position in the past, yet for some reason in our time it's more fluid and can move. But that just makes it harder to know what these anomalies are and why they suddenly decided to appear now."
"Well this would be the third one we've seen so far. I have a feeling we are going to see more." Avery continued. "That gives us more time to study them."
"Hmm" Cutter hummed agreeing with her. He looked towards the back seat where Stephen usually sat and remembered he never hopped in the car. "What's going on with you and Stephen?"
"Nothing really. Just a bit of miscommunication. Nothing to worry about." Avery said hurriedly.
"It's not nothing he's been avoiding you for most of the day." He said giving her a stare that was impossible to ignore.
"Fine, there's something but we can sort it out after we find out what's happening."
"Okay. Just sort it out soon. I need you and Stephen working together, you're better as a team than alone."
They searched the reservoir on a steel boat to try and catch a glimpse of the creature. As they approached the pier Avery could see Connor standing at the other end sticking a long stick into the water. He had different colored marks on it, with slight water stains underneath. Stephen and Abby were busy on the shore testing water samples and comparing them to the ones collected at the pool. Another boat still stayed on the water and occasionally a diver returned to it to report what they had seen.
Nick greeted Ryan as they got off the boat to talk to Claudia. Nick usually didn't like soldiers, the ones he usually met cared mainly for themselves and though they were better than others because of their status. It's easy to meet soldiers when you work with creatures that sometimes get mistaken as being dangerous to humans. But Ryan was different he cared for his men and knew when he was out of his league. He left the science to Cutter and focused on being backup.
"We haven't found anything yet." Claudia reported "No creature, no anomaly, no nothing. We're still searching the reservoir, but with any luck the anomaly's closed again."
"It's hard to search in these waters. It's not very clear is it?" Avery said looking back towards the water. She preferred more natural lakes teeming with life, but she couldn't blame others for wanting to come out here. It was a great place to relax without having to worry about what might be in the water. Until now.
"I need detailed local maps, lists of swimming pools, rivers, lakes, anything nearby. Can you get those for me?" Nick said.
Claudia smiled, "Should I be asking why?"
"It's just an idea."
"Do you know what I miss? Those soul-crushingly dull civil service meetings, which made suicide look like an exciting career option." Nick smiled unbelievably at Claudia's words. "I used to sit there praying something would happen in my life"
"Careful what you wish for."