Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me. This is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses etc is entirely fictitious.
A/N: A collaboration with Mijo54. A/N2 story takes place after Detour.
10.3-6 Fault Line
…being away…
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In the ARC, Jess heard a gasp, but whether it was from Abby standing beside her or Jess herself, Jess couldn't have said. The field coordinator stared at the computer monitor before her. The blinking symbols that represented the anomalies were gone.
"What is it?" asked Lester.
Jess jumped in her seat. She turned to see Lester standing behind her. She hadn't heard the ARCs director come out of his office.
"There was an anomaly," began Jess, "and then another…"
Beside her, the blonde swayed and reached a hand out to grasp the side of the ADD console.
"Incursion," whispered Abby. Her face was pale and Abby didn't take her eyes off the monitor screen.
"There was shouting," continued Jess. The field coordinator knew she had heard Becker and Connor, but Jess didn't know exactly what had happened. "And the anomalies closed."
Jess watched as Lester's concerned gaze travelled from the pregnant woman standing before him to the monitor. The six blinking symbols that represented the field team were now reduced to five. Lester's green eyes stared for a moment, then he straightened his shoulders and spoke.
"Becker," ordered Lester, "security status if you please."
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Standing knee deep in the cold waters of the Serpentine, Becker straightened up at the sound of Lester's voice. Water ran before him. The soldier turned to look at the animal specialist and the three other soldiers that had come with him as part of the security detail. The anomaly locking device was on the ground next to the edge of the water.
"We've lost Connor," replied Becker.
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In the ARC, Jess felt a sense of relief sweep over her at the sound of Hil's voice. Then, Becker's words registered. Abby's knuckles whitened as the blonde tightened her grip on the edge of the console. Jess swallowed.
"How do you lose a full grown man?" barked Lester. He placed his hand against Abby's back to steady her.
"A creature took him into the anomaly," replied Becker's voice over the intercom.
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Becker slogged his way to shore. The three soldiers that Becker had brought for security support were standing there in what appeared to be shock. They looked at each other, or the anomaly locking device or their weapons. They looked anywhere but at Becker. It was as if they couldn't believe what had happened. The new animal specialist however was crawling on his hands and knees, examining marks in the mud.
"This mark is the same as the one over there," commented the animal specialist.
"And your point," growled Becker. Tracks in the mud were not going to bring Connor back.
"The tentacles dragged the ground here," continued the man, "just like they did in front of the first anomaly."
Becker closed his eyes for just a moment. The soldier hadn't meant to sound quite so harsh when speaking to the newest team member. Becker made an effort to steady his voice.
"What difference does it make if a creature like the one that took Connor came through the other anomaly?" asked Becker.
The man on the ground looked up at the soldier. The animal specialist pointed to the long dragging marks made by the tentacles. Two long pointed grooves in the mud were accompanied by one shorter wider mark.
"Not a creature like the one that took Connor," corrected the animal specialist, "the same creature. The two anomalies are linked somehow."
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"Like a fault line," whispered Abby.
"What?" asked Jess worriedly. She didn't like how Abby looked, so pale and shaky.
"Years ago," replied Abby, "there were three different water anomalies, but it was really all the same anomaly."
Jess glanced past Abby to see Lester frowning in concentration.
"Abby, why don't I drive you to child care to pick up Sarah?" asked Lester. The man made a show of looking at his wristwatch.
"But," spluttered Abby, "I've got to wait, until we find Connor."
Jess tried to freeze her face into an emotionless mask. Surely Abby didn't expect to find Connor with the anomaly closed? Lester responded to Abby's words with what Jess thought of as his bureaucratic tone.
"Need to be at child care soon, right?" replied Lester impassively. "I'll walk you to the locker room to get your coat. And we'll call you as soon as we have any news."
"Lester," replied Abby, with a touch of false bravado, "I'm fine. I can get my own coat."
Jess watched Abby walk down the corridor towards the locker room. As soon as the blonde turned the corner and was out of earshot, Lester leaned in close and whispered.
"Bring up everything you can find on water related anomalies back in the first year," hissed Lester. "Cutter drew a line on the map from where the first two anomalies were and predicted another would appear somewhere on the line"
"What?" asked Jess.
"Don't say anything to Abby," cautioned Lester, "don't want to get her hopes up."
"Do you really think we have a chance of finding Connor?"
"We've got to try."
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"No," replied Abby, "you can't drive me home, Sarah needs a carseat."
Lester looked at the petite blonde. Abby was trying so hard to be brave, but he could tell how upset she really was.
"It's not the first time I've had a carseat in my vehicle," reminded Lester, "my wife and I have three children."
"Did you have a carseat in the jaguar?" asked Abby.
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Becker and the rest of the field team arrived back at the ARC to find Jess busily scrolling through the old reports. Document images were displayed on the monitor adjacent to the anomaly detection device. On the monitor directly in front of her, was a global map. A line connecting the two anomalies was superimposed on the image, and extended on either side beyond Hyde Park, beyond London, curving around the globe until the lines met again.
"Do you really think there's anything to Professor Cutter's fault line theory?" asked Becker as he looked over Jess's shoulder.
Jess squared her jaw before answering her fiancée.
"I don't know," admitted Jess, "but Cutter is the only person who ever actually predicted an anomaly."
Becker stepped closer to the document images. He began reading the old reports.
"I remember reading these reports when I first started," said Becker. "The high diver's body from the pool anomaly was found in the reservoir. The scuba diver was found in the basement…"
"And Cutter returned alive," reminded Jess.
Becker looked up. The bleak expression in his eyes told Jess more than words.
"It's not your fault!" exclaimed Jess forcefully.
Becker closed his eyes.
"I know," replied the soldier, "but it still hurts."
Lester walked in at that moment.
"I've called in some favors," said Lester. He handed Jess a USB drive. "Coordinates of all water related anomalies in Europe for the past ninety days."
Worldwide anomalies were a known fact of life. But while the ARC kept meticulous records of anomalies in the United Kingdom, they didn't usually retain records of anomalies in other countries. Jess inserted the small storage device on the side of her computer. The file opened, displaying map locations. The field coordinator started adding little red dots to the image on the monitor. A pattern soon became apparent.
"North of Munich, near Luxemburg," mused Lester, "south of Calais, which connects to our reports from Ashford and Maidstone…"
"And look at the dates," added Jess. "The anomalies are occurring more frequently!"
Becker was watching the progression of red dots march across the line on the map.
"We've got to get back to Hyde Park," exclaimed Becker. "More frequently and closer too!"
The soldier called for his security team and headed toward the car park. Lester followed.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Becker.
"I'm coming too," huffed the ARCs director.
"No civilians this time," snapped Becker.
"We tried that before," reminded Lester, "it didn't work then either."
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Jess found herself staring at the monitor. For the first time since taking this job, Jess found herself hoping for an anomaly. And at 9:43 pm Jess got her wish.
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