Chapter Six – Unexpected Arrivals
It had been a week since Danny had returned through the anomaly into the present and back into the lives of the ARC team, and in that time, the former team leader had found the transition much more difficult than the other members of the team could have ever expected. Jenny had practically moved Danny into her spare room, she hated the idea of her friend staying in some cheap hotel or in the ARC accommodation alone. Becker had been staying at Jenny's flat every night since Danny had returned to the present, normally starting the night on her sofa but by the morning he would be in the spare room lying next to Danny in the large double bed having comforted him after his regular night terrors.
Jenny hadn't found the right moment to bring up the subject of a possible job with Danny, and he had spent his time confined to the ARC either catching up with Connor, Abby and Jenny or getting to know the newest members of the team Matt, Jess and Emily, he had also had two counselling sessions with Doctor Andrews but he hadn't really spoken to anyone about these apart from Becker. Jess and Abby had taken Danny out shopping so he could get some clothes of his own, and he seemed to have a thing for checked shirts and jeans. He had also had a haircut and now he looked more like the man they had known before his disappearance through the anomalies.
On the eighth morning after his return, Danny found himself in Lester's office sitting opposite the ARC director, who was watching him rather intently.
"So how is it being back Quinn" Lester asked, and Danny was surprised by the question.
"Fine guv, I think. It's been a little mental, everything is so different now. New building, new team, I don't know where I stand anymore" Danny said honestly, opening up to his former boss. Lester knew Jenny had been struggling to find the right moment to ask Danny about coming back to the ARC, so he thought he might as well do it, this now was perfect.
"If you had the option of coming to the ARC, working with us full time, how would you feel about that?" Lester asked, watching Danny for a reaction.
"What would I be doing though, would you want me back in the field?" Danny asked, just as the ADD alert went off. The sirens blared through the ARC and the red lights puled in the corners of the Hub. Both Lester and Danny watched as the team appeared and assembled at the ADD, they watched as they waited for the information they needed from Jess. The team then disappeared from the Hub, Danny turned back to face Lester, waiting for an answer.
"You won't be able to be back in the field until Doctor Andrews clears you. However I have spoken to Jess and there is always administrative stuff that needs to be done, and Abby has said she could use your help in the Menagerie" Lester said.
"So I'd be doing all the stuff no one wants to do" Danny asked, feeling a little dejected.
"You'd be doing the stuff that the team needs help with. Hiring people here is a ridiculously complicated task, the fact you have the clearance and already know what we do means we don't need to do all the paperwork to get your recruited" Lester replied, trying to make the former team leader feel better about the situation. The phone on his desk rung loudly and the ARC director picked it up.
"James Lester…yes Jess, fine, give me a moment" Lester said before putting the phone back down before standing up, Danny also stood and followed Lester out of his office.
"Go get some breakfast or something Danny, and then Jess will set you up with the relevant clearance for the computers and your new ID" Lester said, dismissing the other man as he paced through the Hub to Jess.
Xxxxx
The alert the team had received that morning had been pretty routine, the anomaly had opened up in the store room of a bakery in the city, and the team arrived in time to lock the portal in time before a creature had come through, meaning there was no incursion for the team to deal with. After two hours, the team returned to the ARC minus Matt and Emily, who had decided to have lunch in the restaurant next door to where the anomaly had opened, with the excuse of monitoring it. Abby had stolen Danny from Jess and was setting him to work in the menagerie with her whilst Jenny was sitting on the sofas in the corner of the Hub writing up her overdue field reports.
Jess, Connor and Becker were gathered around one of the workstations, pouring over Connors new designs for the updated Locking Mechanism he was working on, or MK VI as he liked to call it. This latest design Connor was working on was hopefully going to be able to deal with underwater anomalies, as the number that were appearing was slowly beginning to increase. The ARC's technical geek really did value the opinions of the field coordinator and the military captain, as they spotted flaws and possible improvements he generally wouldn't, they also asked questions that Matt didn't think of, but soon the conversation turned to Danny.
"How is he doing Becker? I haven't really properly spoken to him about what happened whilst he was…away?" Connor asked Becker, who put the papers he was reading down and looked at Connor.
"As well as can be expected. It was a different experience for him then what it was for you and Abby, you two had each other, he was completely alone" Becker answered, trying to keep his answer as vague as he could.
"Your right, I just assumed because he spent half the time acting as Robin Hood in medieval England it might have been not as bad" Connor answered, whilst in the distance the lift doors pinged loudly and slid open, Jess looked up and she nudged Becker's shoulder, nodding to the lift.
"Why has Richard Walker just walked into the Hub?" Jess asked the two men, who both looked as shocked as she did. They watched as a man, maybe in his early fifties walked out of the lift and towards Lester, who was waiting by his office. The man was tall and was wearing a dark suit, his hair brushed to the side. He was followed by second man who looked around the same age and was wearing a similar looking suit, but it was charcoal coloured. The third man was much younger, probably around the same age as Matt. He was wearing dark jeans and a black jacket; he looked out of place amongst the group.
"Walker? As in the Defence Secretary Richard Walker?" Connor said quietly, turning back to face the other two, who both nodded "Who are the other men with him?" Connor asked Becker, whose eyes were narrowed s frown appeared on his brow.
"I know one of them but not the other" Becker began "The one in the dark grey suit is Alexander Dale, he's the Director General of MI5. I saw him once when I was in Special Forces, we did a joint mission with an MI5 field team" Becker said quietly "Jess, can you do facial recognition of the other man?" he asked, turning to the young field coordinator, who gave him a small nod before walking over to the ADD and she set to work.
"What do you think they are doing here?" Connor asked "I thought we operated independently to the Home Office now?" Just as the ADD pinged and the results of the facial recognition scan came through.
"The man is Ethan Moore, he's from the CIA" Jess said quietly, clicking a few keys on the keyboard as more information pooped onto the screen "He works for the Office of Scientific Intelligence" Jess stated, just as a box popped up on the screen "His file is classified, there's no way I can find anything else out without hacking the CIA" he finished, looking up at Becker.
"Okay Jess, close the screen and delete the search history. If Lester wants us to know why they are here then he will tell us" Becker said sternly.
"Yeah, but why are the Defence Secretary, the director of MI5 and the CIA meeting with Lester, all at the same time" Connor asked quietly, saying out loud what the other two were thinking.
"It has to be something to with New Dawn. I knew it wasn't just going to be forgotten about" Jess answered, just as they heard clicking making its way across the Hub, the three turned around to see Jenny standing behind them with a suspicious look on her face and her arms folded in front of her.
"What are you three up to?" she stated, and they knew it wasn't a question.
"You see the three men in Lester's office?" Connor asked and Jenny gave him a nod "One of them is the Defence Secretary, and the other two are from MI5 and the CIA" Connor said quietly as Jenny stepped closer to them. She raised an eyebrow at Connor and looked to Becker to confirm it.
"He's right, the man in the charcoal suit is Alexander Dale, the Director General of MI5. The younger one is Ethan Moore, he works for the CIA Office of Scientific Intelligence" Becker answered, and Jenny frowned as she turned to face Lester's office.
"What the hell is going on? Why are they here" she whispered to the others, who all had similar looks of concern on their faces. The three men stayed in Lester's office for about 20 minutes, and as the four members of the team watched carefully on, it looked like they were having a pretty intense conversation. Eventually, the three men left the office and disappeared into the lift just as a phone rung on the ADD, Jess quickly went over to the super computer and answered it.
"Hello…yes he is free now…oh right…send him down, I will meet him at the lift" Jess said and put the phone down.
"Who was that Jess?" Becker asked, watching Lester in his office.
"Amy at reception, there's someone up there needing to see Lester. Apparently he has clearance and an ARC issue pass" Jess answered as she left the ADD and walked across the Hub, stopping at Lester's office to inform him of his visitor before patiently waiting by the lift for the man to reach the Hub. The lift pinged and the doors slid open, and Jess let out a little sigh, as did Jenny. The man who was standing in the lift looked like David Beckham, he had the most perfect face with bright blue eyes and dark brown hair that was styled very nicely, he also had a light layer of stubble covering his cheeks and chin. He was wearing a crisp black suit that fitted his body perfectly, and even from where Jenny was sitting she could see the light outline of his abs through the blue shirt.
"Are you Jessica Parker?" the man asked in a deep voice, and Jess blushed slightly.
"Oh yes, yes I'm Jessica, but please call me Jess, well only if you want to" Jess stammered out, and Connor glanced over at Becker, who was frowning at the young field coordinator.
"It's nice to meet Jess, I'm Gavin Ashton" he replied, holding out his hand, which Jess quickly shook as Lester appeared almost from nowhere.
"Nice to see you Gavin, and what do I owe this pleasure?" Lester asked, and Jess noticed the slight sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"Why don't we take it into your office James" Gavin replied "It's a rather delicate conversation" he added, giving Lester a pointed look.
"Yes fine, do you have work to do Miss Parker?" Lester snapped, causing the ARC field coordinator to jump slightly as Lester led the new arrival into his office. Jess quickly jogged back over to where the group was sitting, Connor and Becker both had raised eyebrows whilst Jenny was smiling.
"Any idea who he is?" Jenny asked Jess, who nodded her head before practically skipping over to the ADD to run a facial recognition scan of Gavin Ashton. Connor, Becker and Jenny followed her over to the computer just as the results came back almost instantly. The four of them were silent for a moment, not believing what they were seeing on the screen.
"Assistant Director of ARC Operations…since when has there been an Assistant Director?" Connor asked quietly, looking at the others. Jess typed a few more keys on the keyboard, and a summary came up on the screen.
"He was employed two months ago by the minster to assist Lester with the running of the ARC, before that he was the head of Royal Protection and worked for MI5…wait, he's 40" Jess exclaimed, looking up at the others.
"40, he looked a lot younger then that" Jenny murmured, giving Jess a grin
"Something is going on guys" Becker said "I don't think it's a coincidence that the MOD, MI5 and the CIA have all been to see Lester, and now this Assistant Director has popped up. Whatever is happening, it's not good" he added, giving the other three members of the team a grim look as he turned back to Lester's office, worried about her boss.