Bonjour! The next chapter, roughly a week later. Expect the next one in (hopefully) the same sort of time. Having said that, last week of term is hectic. So sorry the first upload had the line breaks missing.
Quick warning on this one. Obviously, I'm going through the ways that the ARC can lose Captain and one way couldn't be overlooked, but I can assure any sensitive readers, no gore, no details, more implication. I've tried to write it so it's still surprising (for all those who like surprises).
Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. I do own a post-it note. Swap?
Captain Stuart Colshaw, aged thirty-two, brown hair, and size nine boots, stood outside the office, feeling remarkably like a chastised schoolboy. He'd been waiting for twenty minutes now and doubt was starting to creep in about whether he'd be seen this hour. The person in question, a James Lester, was apparently on the phone to someone 'highly important', but Colshaw felt this was little excuse for not seeing the man brought in to ensure the team's safety. Perhaps this man felt safety was of a low order; Colshaw hoped not. Having been shown a clip of the... creatures involved in the work here, he was aware that care was needed.
Which was why it grated him slightly to accept that some of the civilian scientists here were allowed guns. Though, placed as a joke, Miss Lewis commented that Temple shouldn't be near one. Colshaw didn't ask.
"Hello, sir," broke in a voice. Colshaw looked up to see a man gently smiling and holding out his hand, which was accepted. "I'm your Sergeant, sir. Howard. Lester keeping you lingering?" Colshaw nodded. "Yeah, he'd be on the phone to the Minister. Get used to it."
Colshaw frowned. "You're openly criticising your boss? Brave fellow, aren't you?" Howard shrugged.
"You should hear what the scientists say. No, as far as I can tell, he's alright, just sarcastic."
"Well, then there'll be no need to belittle him to strangers, is there?"
"Sir, with respect..."
"Howard, as much as I appreciate your basic opinions, please allow me to formulate my own. I dare say it will help me get along with Mr Lester much better."
The Sergeant looked affronted, but remained silent. 'Great!' thought Colshaw. 'An insubordinate Sergeant, who no doubt has the scientists and security on his side.'
A half minute of quiet fell, until a suited man, with slicked-back brown hair, opened his door. Lester glanced between the solemn men.
"I see you've met Sergeant Howard, Captain. I'm afraid he takes after the scientists' attitude," Lester said.
"Nothing wrong with that," exclaimed Howard, a smile limping back up his face. Lester sighed.
"If I wanted a security section with that discipline of Connor, I'd have hired a pack of Tomcats. Still I suppose you're better than just Stephen." Lester turned to Colshaw. "Well, come in. I may have all day, but that doesn't mean I want to use it."
Colshaw, slightly taken aback by the exchange, manoeuvred inside. Howard returned to the break room to report to the others.
"So, you don't want this one to stay either?" moaned Abby. "You realise the novelty of this situation is wearing off? I would like a central leader in place of men who empowered to shot these creatures and who are inexperienced enough to do so."
"I agree. Even though I now have rights to our protection, I'd feel safer knowing we have a solid leader. Not that you're not doing well, but..." Stephen's sentence faded as Howard tightened.
"You act like I want this! Every time I have to add an extra clause onto the contract, the more likely it is there'll be no applicants this time. It's halved since Andrews at least! And I don't want to be stuck in charge, but I do want someone suitable; there's no point if he's not."
"Aye, I know, but listen, Howard," soothed Cutter. "You've had one conversation with this man. I know you're anxious; there are lives on the line. But he could be brilliant and you can't afford to lose another. The fact is..." The alarm blared out and Cutter shut his eyes briefly. "We'll talk later. Now, everyone, come on." He jumped and rushed out, followed by Connor.
"This is a disaster! He hasn't even met the men yet," groaned Howard. Abby grimaced and helped the despairing man to his feet, before rubbing his shoulder in a moment of comfort. The Sergeant was becoming a firm friend as the question of security became more relevant to everyone.
Cutter cried out to hurry up and so the remainder of the group went to work.
The first part of the journey was in an awkward silence as the four men sat, trying to ignore the frost that had settled once Howard found he had to drive the new Captain there. On the Captain's part, he didn't exactly integrate himself with a comment about 'Pest control; how hard can it be?' Considering the man had surely been told about the risks involved, and possibly the fatality figures, he had not made friends. What really compounded it was he didn't seem to sense the offence he'd cause and this lead to ask:
"Why does Stephen have to have a gun? Does he throw a fit?" There was a pause until one the soldiers in the back, Banks, summoned some courage.
"The last Captain took the gun. Stephen could have saved him, but couldn't. And we all knew he could." It was monotone, as he'd quite liked Mermin (and Sanders). No-one was expecting Colshaw's next statement.
"I'd appreciate a little more respect in your answers, Banks. I understand you feel you have the right to, but your judgement could be off. This could be more dangerous."
The shocked silent air halted. His comment was universally likened to saying you could jump off a cliff because 'it might not be as high as it looks' to someone whose home had just fallen off it. Colshaw remained unaware, and continued once it became clear no response was coming.
"Others may want your guidance, but speak so insubordinately again and I'll have you on a charge."
"THIS ISN'T THE ARMY!" yelled Banks.
"BANKS!" Howard ordered, stopping the situation before it could really get out of hand. "Captain, may I suggest you rethink your comments. In this line, you should listen to all advice. And this line isn't the army, so all you can do is fire him with good reason or have a stern word." Colshaw seemed to take a moment to absorb this information, apologised more profusely than Howard was expecting and then simply studied the rain fall copiously outside for the rest of the trip.
The anomaly was located on the fourth floor of an office block, much to Connor's chagrin. Jenny had her hands full with an office of workers, but she wouldn't have been a lot of use anyway, as all the equipment was lugged up the stairs, the lift apparently being next to the 'flashing broken glass thing'.
Colshaw made himself useful by carrying a couple of boxes up, only to have his breath taken away by the sight of the anomaly.
"Cool, eh?" prompted Connor, looking up from his typing. "It's my belief that..."
"Temple, isn't it?" interrupted Colshaw. Connor nodded. "Allow me to be the first to tell you that I'll keep the silence, so you can keep the science. I don't need a lecture at every moment of the day." Connor opened his mouth, then thought better of it. Howard's words rang in his ears. The quiet that fell didn't lift until Stephen and the aforementioned Sergeant came in, a particularly awkward box suspended between them. Stephen was the first to spot Colshaw.
"Don't worry. Normally, we deal with our own equipment, but this time, well, we're not going to refuse. Any sign of an incursion, Temple?" However, before the young scientist could answer, Colshaw cut over him, eyeing the 'equipment' that Stephen had slung across his back.
"So, you're the one that has to have a gun." He continued just before Stephen could confirm this. "I'd like to make it clear, I don't approve, but I respect that many would disagree with this view, so I leave you to bare in my mind two things. One..."
"Hang on..." started Stephen, but Colshaw barged on.
"You must realise you can't order my men about. I'm the Captain for a reason." Stephen visibly relaxed; Howard knew he had no intention of leading the men, as his interest lay in the fine expertise involved with the animals, not just the 'if it's dangerous, shoot it' attitude. "Two, if there are any problems with it, whether it be not firing in time, a slight miss or even a disagreement with any of my men, you give it back. I'm not having such a liability run round the place, and I only suffer it while my men hold you in good favour."
Howard was left slightly bewildered by this statement. Obviously the first point was a natural worry for any Captain in this situation; even Sanders realised he had to establish a form of authority so men would obey him as a leader. The second though had his brain swirling. While he knew if Colshaw tried to remove the gun from Hart's possession, he would side with the technician, the reference to Security as his men and the fact he had been listening to Banks, even when he said he didn't want to, made Howard think again about the man. Maybe Cutter was right, and he just needed time with the Captain.
Stephen, however, took the opposite view and immediately dropped the case with a thump, stretching Howard's arm. He stepped back from Colshaw and exited the room, muttering something about needing to get more boxes and helping with the commotion outside that had held everyone else up.
Howard's brain clicked.
"May I ask, how long, sir, have you been a Captain?" The question, Howard knew, would seem to come out the blue and he hoped this would be enough to obtain an answer. It did.
"Six months. Why?"
"Because, sir, as an older soldier, may I suggest that you stop viewing every slight... familiarity between men and superiors as a threat to your position. It's just, most men want to have a friendly leader they can approach and make suggestions, and they do make good suggestions sometimes by the way, and the way they create this leader is by having the odd joke, possibly at others' expense." Howard smiled as Colshaw looked at the floor, sheepishly. Young Captain with little experience. No wonder he was afraid of others questioning him.
"Guys..." broke in Connor. "I think you should..." Howard redirected his gaze to the anomaly and instantly saw the issue arising.
"DUCK!" he cried and Colshaw did on impulse which just saved him as a creature leapt over the top of him and landed on a few desks, bumping into a pillar. Howard's blood ran cold as he noticed what sort of creature this was. Dinosaurs, OK. He could deal with dinosaurs because he knew that was what the new Captain was expecting, but the future predator that now stood in front of him now was rearing up and Colshaw was taking aim.
"No!" hissed Howard, but it was too late. Colshaw fired and in less than the blink of an eye, the animal moved, growling in shock. It dived for the Captain, who rolled out of its way to Howard, so it went skidding into a plant-pot, which smashed.
"They 'see' everything using echolocation, like bats," explained Howard to the Captain. The other man was pale and shaking somewhat.
The creature whirled around again and faced the two crouching men. Its face was screwed up in its characteristic snarl and the colours of noise exploded in its vision. It discovered the hiding place of its prey. Now all that came was the kill.
Suddenly, it was placed off balance and it thrashed about in pain. It was blinded and lashed out at everything that it could. Stumbling forward, it vaguely saw the forms rushed to surround it and, in its panic, its arms spread wide. One connected with a soft object, which was hurled to the other side the room, the other pushed over a cold, hard object. A breaking sound was seen, then a peace once more reigned.
Howard had braced himself for the attack that would surely kill him when, out of nowhere, a guitar rift started up. The part of the brain that remained calm made a mental note to ask why Connor stored music on his work laptop, which wasn't technically his to begin with. The other part thanked the stars that he had flouted the rules.
He glanced across to check on Colshaw, who seemed to have regained some of his senses.
"We need to get a close-up shot, preferably in its head," whispered Howard and Colshaw nodded. The Captain signalled to the Sergeant to circle the future predator, obviously not wanting to make a sound just yet. Howard couldn't blame him; the creature was still moving erratically, edging closer to the source of its distress.
So, Colshaw went left and Howard right, keeping a small distance away from the beast, which kept tripping. As Colshaw reached a pillar, he squeezed in a little, getting a few inches nearer to the future predator.
That was all it took. Its arms whipped out, catching Colshaw in the stomach, hurling him over the desks. To make matters worse, the other arm hit the laptop, breaking it, so the music fizzled out too.
This made Colshaw's heavy breathing even more noticeable. The predator stabled itself, then went hunting for the injured animal it could hear after from the anomaly. Connor nudged Howard, indicating with his head to the fading anomaly that they stood by. This one was short-lived.
Grabbing a paper-tray, Howard hurled it at the predator, striking it on its back. The effect was instantaneous. It howled in rage, then bounded off a couple of desks, before landing in the central walkway, facing Howard and the anomaly.
Howard was seeing flashbacks from the last time he saw Mermin, who stood in this exact same position, before disappearing forever. He detected Colshaw standing up in his peripheral vision, yet mainly his concentration was on the beast before him.
Unexpectedly, the door to the stairwell opened, startling everyone in the room, as Cutter and Stephen walked in, unaware of the danger they had just encountered. Colshaw took this distraction as an advantage. He stumbled back behind the predator and aimed his gun right at the base of the neck.
Howard felt the anomaly wink out of existence.
As Colshaw pulled the trigger, the creature rushed up to face Cutter, so the shot missed and hit the carpet. Howard realised that it felt it was cornered, and was attacking anything and everything. It was more dangerous than any they'd faced before.
Luckily for Cutter, the noise of the gunshot disorientated the predator and stumbled to the ground again. Unluckily, it sorted itself out far sooner than Colshaw could reload. It flew through the air at the man, but just before it hit its target, another shot rang out. But this one was different. This one hit the creature in the side of the head and so the beast hurtled sideways and lay limp on the blue carpet, discolouring it. Stephen lowered his gun.
Howard shot it once more, just to make sure. According to Cutter, it was this creature that had claimed Ryan's life.
He looked up and faced a white Captain, who was shaking excessively. The gun was loose in his hands, which was just as well as they gripped with spasms.
"I need a medic up here right now," said Howard into his radio, never loosing eye contact with Colshaw. He gently took the man by the arm and led him down the stairs, leaving the others to deal with the body of the creature.
That night, Colshaw joined the scientists for a drink in the local pub. It was the first time they had invited him, and he was slightly smug about being included in such a way. After all, the security and the scientists have to work together, so making friends with them wouldn't hurt.
This smug feeling, though, was overshadowed tonight and the others knew why. They'd found out in the answer to the first question they asked.
"How's Colshaw doing?"
"I don't know." The others looked at him in disbelief. They knew Howard always checked on his soldiers when they were hurt and afterwards, he'd been singing Colshaw's... not praises, but compliments at least. "He left the hospital."
"That's good, right?" said Abby. Howard frowned.
"Yeah, but he left. On his own. I went to see how he was, give him a lift if necessary, but when I got to the hospital, they said he'd driven home. Couldn't stop him. I know the hospital's only round the corner to the ARC, so his car was in reach, but still..." Howard sipped his drink. "He's learning how to be an officer, one that has friend sin the ranks and can admit he's ill." He shook his head.
"But he was in shock! They wouldn't have let him out in that condition surely," Cutter protested.
"He'd said he could get a lift from one of the men. I've asked them. None of them did and his car's gone."
Stephen patted him on the back and Howard sighed. Well, at least the man was alive. That was the main thing.
It was possibly this thought which made the next morning even harder for Lester. He'd called the team in as soon as they got in and insisted Howard sat down. He explained about Colshaw driving home. He explained about the wet conditions. He explained about the lorry.
The room was eerie. No-one spoke, but once more, looked to Howard's reaction.
After five minutes, the Sergeant sat up, pulling his face from his hands.
"This job is definitely cursed."
Stephen and Abby gripped a shoulder each. Another minute went past, before Connor spoke.
"Only by paperwork. It's just... next time, you need to hire a luckier Captain."
Howard agreed, smiling grimly.
Review please. Pretty please =-)