Chapter Three
Year 2034
Nicki came into work the next day and Jess immediately filled her in on what had been found out.
No one knew why he'd broken into the ARC but looking more closely at his criminal record all the places he had been suspected of breaking into were government facilities.
The files that had gone missing were classified ones, all on either the ARC or missing government agents. They couldn't figure out why he was doing all of this, just that whatever the reason he'd been planning the break in for a few years now.
He'd been moved from the interview room to a holding cell and Connor had given strict instructions to his daughter on staying out of that area of the building.
In reply she'd scoffed and said she had no plans of going there in the first place, she was telling the truth of course and had spent her morning in her lab, working on the creature detector while Rex chattered happily, and wondering why Ryan Grace had entered her lab of all things.
Most of the equipment used in the field was in there, the locking device, the dating calculator, the anomaly detector.
Nicki was always constantly messing with them and upgrading them into smaller models or so they had finer tuning to them. He could have been after any one of these things, they were all pretty valuable.
By lunch time she'd had enough of her wondering thoughts and decided to visit her mother in the menagerie, Rex would be glad of some company as well.
She'd had the lizard with her since she moved out of her parent's house and into her own flat six months ago. He liked to roam her apartment and was quiet happy to fly around the ARC when she was at work.
He'd gotten into trouble a few times for knocking things over but had learned to stay out of other people's way and to follow Nicki where ever she went.
As she approached the door to the menagerie office she saw her mother through the window.
Abby was stroking a small mouse/rat thing with black stripes running across its back.
It was no more than a foot long including the tale and was actually rather cute. Nicki entered the room and Abby immediately looked up at her,
"Hey Mum, who's this little guy." She smiled softly.
"This little girl is an Eomaia from the earlier Cretaceous, her name is Maya and… I think she's pregnant." Abby said, feeling around the small mammals stomach.
It squeaked slightly in panic as Rex flew into the room and landed on the table, but calmed down again quickly as Nicki scooped the reptile into her arms and held on tight. Abby sent a disapproving look to her daughter and she apologised.
"So what are you doing here then?" Abby asked as she finished off the exam and put the animal in her cage. Nicki let Rex fly free once Maya was safely away.
"Rex was getting a little lonely so I thought he could use some company, where are Sid and Nancy anyway?"
"In the garden." She stroked Rex and nodded toward the door leading to the main part of the menagerie.
About twelve years ago the government had finally gotten to setting up an actual living area for the prehistoric creatures.
Each had their own environments that were temperature and climate controlled and even filled with some plants and vegetation from their own time.
Abby had helped with the whole design and new technology had also paid a huge part, everything about the climates were artificial, it was too risky to have them actually outside so fresh air was pumped through ventilation shafts and specialised lights provided a replica of the sun.
"So what are you really doing here Nicki?" her mother asked pointedly. Nicki shifted uncomfortably before breaking,
"I was thinking about what that Grace guy was doing breaking into my lab. All the equipment in there is really important and I can't narrow it down to one thing. And what would have happened if he had gotten a hold of it, I thought security was meant to be all 'top notch'-"
"Nicki, he didn't get anything so don't worry and yes, security is as tight as it possibly could be. You're Dad told me it was you're little security system that caught him though. Nicki, if it wasn't for you god knows what he could've gotten a hold of."
Nicki sighed uncomfortable, not wanting to admit the thing that had been bothering her the most until it finally broke free.
"I know, it's just I had the anomaly opening device in there as well. What if he'd gotten that, you and Dad have told me what happened in the past with that kind of equipment-Helen nearly destroyed the human race and you and Dad were stuck in the Cretaceous for a year. Danny was stuck jumping from anomaly to anomaly for nearly two years!"
Nicki sighed in frustration, rubbing at the back of her neck. Just like her father, Abby thought, blaming herself for everything.
"Nothing happened, Nicki. And we know you wouldn't be reckless with technology like that, we've drilled it into you exactly how dangerous it is dozens of times and you've taken massive precautions to ensure nothing like that happens again."
It was true, when nearly a year ago Nicki had told her parents she wanted to create the anomaly opening device her parents had immediately shut down all of her ideas.
Nicki had grown up hearing the stories of her parent's job and everything that had happened.
When she was sixteen she'd hacked into the ARC's computer system and read every file they had on every anomaly that had opened.
She understood why her parents were so against the idea and took some time to gather her ideas, after a while of explaining why she wanted to do it her parents talked with Lester and they all set some strict guidelines for her work.
The device would have to be password protected; only the minimum amount of people would have access to the machine.
Nicki had agreed to this and when Lester mentioned anyone who knew the passwords would be a target to any 'bad guys' after the device, she insisted she be the only one who knows it.
Her parents had argued and Nicki allowed her father to be the only other person with the passwords.
The other rule was something Connor had decided on after a long night of numerous calculations and theories.
New Dawn had ripped apart time and space by opening the first anomaly in a place where there wasn't meant to be one.
By only opening anomalies where there had previously already been an anomaly it should be safe enough to open without there being any other side effects.
Nicki had agreed to this as well and thought about the map Nick Cutter had been creating before his death.
The map would show where every anomaly was and with enough work she should also be able to tell what year they go to. The only thing was that recreating that map would take years and years of work.
"Everything's fine Nicki." Abby said, enveloping her daughter in her arms and resting her chin on her head. "We agreed then that if you kept to the rules this shouldn't back fire and could save a lot of lives." Nicki nodded her head against Abby's chest.
"I know." She said quietly. "It's just sometimes it really hits me how dangerous it could be in the wrong hands." Her mother stroked her dark hair and placed a comforting kiss on top of her head.
"Everything's going to be just fine, sweetheart." Abby stepped back and picked up the small cage she'd put the Eomaia in.
"Now, I've gotta go put this girl back home. Take Rex to visit Sid and Nancy and I'll see you later. And make sure they don't get out!" she called as she entered the door to the make shift Cretaceous period pens. She headed to the Permian ones where Sid and Nancy would be.