The following afternoon they all gathered in Connor's lab, standing and sitting around waiting for Connor to speak.
"What's this all about?" Matt asked.
"And why are we here?" Becker added.
Lester looked around at them all and rested his gaze on Connor. "Connor!" He waved his hand for Connor to explain. Which he did the best he could.
"I don't understand" Emily looked confused.
"I don't think I do either" Becker murmured.
"OK look at this" Connor pointed to his board and the various scribbles on it. "There are various different timelines." He indicated certain lines and notes. "We
don't just go forward and backwards on the same one. Everytime we cross another timeline it affects the outcome of both timelines, either because of what we
do or because of what we find out."
"Sounds like something out of Doctor Who" Kieran smiled.
Connor gave him a quick smile back before continuing " This time line we're in now is different to the one Kieran and I left yesterday. Something changed."
"What?" Amanda asked.
"I don't know exactly," Connor replied.
"But it's a problem, right?" Jess queried.
"Could be a really big problem" Matt replied seriously.
"So how do we find out?" Amanda asked.
"I want to talk to Evan Cross." Connor stated.
"Not yet" Matt looked serious "We need to find out more about what's going on over there. We need to know who's involved and for how long. The former ARC
soldier, do you know anything about him?"
Connor shook his head.
"I'll do some checking. See if there are any records" Becker stated.
Matt looked at Lester "Can we find out about the Government or Army involvement?"
"I'll speak to the Minister. No guarantees, spying on foreign armies and governments starts wars. He may not be very accommodating."
Jess smiled, "But what he doesn't know about won't hurt him I take it"
"You read my mind, Miss Parker." He sighed "It's quite worrying, how you do that."
They all looked up quickly as the sirens blared and the lights flashed.
"Duty calls" Becker sighed as they all jumped up.
"Connor stay here. Kieran, Mark, help him. The rest with me" Matt issued instructions as they all started to leave.
"I hope you didn't include me in that sweeping statement." Lester stated flatly
"Nor me" Jess grinned "These shoes are new."
Connor grabbed Abby's arm before she left. "Be careful"
She gave him a quick kiss "Always" and ran out after the others.
"What now?" Mark asked.
"Kieran, I want you to search for any creature sightings in the Vancouver area. When they were? What creature? Who dealt with it?" Connor scribbled a number
on a scrap of paper. "Call this guy and tell him you work with me."
Kieran looked at it, "Who's Duncan?"
"An old mate. He knows where to find out about every creature sighting, cover up and conspiracy theory. When we've got a list we'll cross reference it with ARC
records. See if there are any links. Mark," He scooped up an armful of papers "Evan Cross and Cross Photonics. I want to know everything about him. Who
works for him. All his connections. Friends. Enemies"
Mark nodded taking the papers as the phone rang.
Connor picked it up. "Connor...You're kidding Jess...OK I'm on my way" He put the phone down. "Damn it!"
"What's wrong?" Mark asked.
"Black boxes again. They're using mobiles and army radios for now. I have to go and sort it."
.
"What's happening Jess?" Connor asked as he raced towards the ADD.
"Same as the rest of the week," Jess replied between giving instructions to the team on the Anomaly and hacking systems. "It just goes off. The base unit has
been checked, the batteries have been changed and I've run complete diagnostics on the system. Matt, I'm into the CCTV and there's no sign of an incursion
and the anomaly signal is weak."
Connor plugged in his laptop and began furiously typing as Jess continued to give orders through her mobile.
More screens loaded onto the laptop, Connors eyes scanning them all in seconds.
"Oh no! No! No! NO!" Connor looked panicked.
Jess stopped what she was doing and turned to him "What? What's happened?"
"Lester!" Connor yelled "This is so not good!" He muttered to himself.
"Connor, what is it?" Jess asked again.
"Get Lester down here now. I need to shut down the whole system".
"What!?" Jess looked shocked. "You can't. The team's out and I need it and there'll be no …..."
Connor stopped typing and turned to her. "Jess, I know. Call Lester down here and let me talk to Matt."
Jess phoned Lester and spoke to Matt. "Anomaly's locked and stable. No incursion." She said handing the phone to Connor.
"This had better be good." Lester grumbled walking over to them. "I've just had to cut the Minister off in mid rant. Imagine how disappointing that is."
Connor and Jess didn't even acknowledge his sarcasm.
"Lester, I need to shut down the entire system. Now"
"I got that Connor. Care to explain why you need to take such drastic measures" Lester replied.
Connor pulled the laptop screen round to face Lester and motioned towards it with his hand. "This"
Lester looked and the random numbers and codes rapidly scrolling across the screen and sighed "English please. We don't all speak computer"
"Oh God!" Jess exclaimed studying it. "Explain to Matt. I'll start shut down"
Conner tucked the phone against his shoulder and talked as fast as he typed. Jess was also furiously scanning screens and typing.
"What is going on?" Lester roared.
Jess didn't miss a beat as she spoke. "In English" She emphasised "Someone has tried to hack into the ARC."
"I thought we are hack proof" Lester stated.
"We are" Jess replied as she worked. "But although they haven't managed to infiltrate the ARC computers the protection Connor and I have written into it has
blocked them."
"So if the protection worked, why is there a problem?" Lester asked, looking as if he had a headache.
"In trying to hack us, the firewalls have been corrupted. They are not only keeping them out but keeping us out too, which is why the black boxes have not
been responding."
"Can we do anything?" Lester asked.
Jess gave a small smirk and quick glance over her shoulder. "We are doing it"
"Oh...er...very good...carry on" Lester stuttered.
Connor dropped the mobile on the desk and continued on the laptop. "The others are on their way back. How we doing Jess?"
"Menagerie secure, all personnel informed, complete system shut down in progress." She listed.
"Doors isolated, scanning in progress." Connor added.
"Do we know who did this?" Lester asked.
"Little bit busy right now" Connor replied not looking up. "First we clean it, then we trace it"
"Systems going off now" Jess informed them.
They stopped typing and looked around as everything shut down, including the power to the lights.
"What now?" Lester asked.
"We hope back up kicks in" Connor answered quietly.