(AN) I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please R&R. I am still looking for a new creature to be the basis of season eight! please leave any ideas you have!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own primeval or any of it's characters.
Season Seven, Episode Four
Tyrannosauridae or Albertosaurinae?
Cutter, Matt, Emily, And Mac were already at the scene when Connor arrived. He stepped out of his car and surveyed the damage around him. Vehicles had been flipped over, an office building had a hole in the second story window and there were blood streaks across the ground. The anomaly was tucked into a side alley.
"Did it go back through?" Connor asked asked he walked up to the others.
"No," Matt answered. "It was gone when we got here, we sent Becker and Danny to go find it."
"You sent them after a tyrannosaur?" Connor asked. "They've probably been killed!"
"Tyrannosaur? It's not a T-Rex, Connor," Mac said. "It is an Albertosaurus."
"T-Rex isn't the only species of tyrannosaurs, Mac; tyrannosarids are a family group. The actual species in that family are split into two subgroups; Albertosaurinae and Tyrannosaridae. Tyrannosauridae includes Tarbosaurus Bataar, Daspletosaurus Torosus, Alioramus Remotus, Tyrannosaurus Rex and several others. Albertosaurinae consists of Albertosaurus Sarcophagus and Gorgosaurus Liberatus. It is a common-"
"Connor!" Cutter interrupted. "Not now."
"Oh, yeah, sorry." Connor nodded sheepishly.
"He is right." Cutter said to Matt. "If there is an Tyrannosaur of any type, Danny and Becker are in trouble.
"We need to contact them, tell them to regroup." Connor said.
Matt nodded at reached for his radio. "Danny," Matt spoke into it.
"Matt!" Danny shouted panted through his radio. "We're coming back, and it is directly behind us!"
"How close are you?" Matt asked.
There was a roar, and Danny and Becker raced around the corner, followed by the Albertosaurus.
"Very!" Danny shouted.
"Get out of the way!" Matt and Becker shouted to everybody.
All of the A.R.C employees that where standing around the anomaly site scrambled away as the Albertosaurus ran into the area- then it was gone through the anomaly.
"Get that thing locked," Becker shouted. "Now!"
An A.R.K soldier ran up in front of the anomaly with an anomaly locking mechanism. Connor recognized him as Trevor.
A shadow seemed to come through the anomaly, followed by the Albertosaurus. It charged back through the anomaly and past Trevor. The soldier was about to run when the bipedal dinosaur turned around. It's beady eyes locked on Trevor, then it advanced towards him. Trevor yelped and bolted away from the creature, but his path out of the alley was blocked; his only chance of escape from the Albertosaurus was through the anomaly. He scrambled through the golden orb and the dinosaur went through directly after.
"We need to go after him!" Emily shouted.
"We can't risk sending a team after him." Becker responded to her request. "If we send a team in there we won't be able to stop the creature from coming back through."
"Then we won't send a whole team." Connor said. "Trevor was a friend of mine, and I'm through to bring him back before he gets himself killed.
"If you go through you'll be killed; you don't have any combat training." Becker frowned.
"Then I'll go with him." Mac volunteered. "One less man won't make a big deal. Besides, we have to go after him."
Becker looked as though he as about to protest, but then he nodded. "Alright, just... when you get back, we'd best not tell Lester about this."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Connor laughed.
Mac nodded to Becker, and with that they raced through the anomaly. The came through and stopped abruptly.
"Oh, damn." Connor breathed.
"This is going to be a lot harder than I imagined." Mac said.
The two men stood on a beach. Sand, grass, forest, water and dozens of anomalies surrounded them. Trevor and the Albertosaurus were nowhere to be found.
"Any guesses to which one they went through?" Connor asked.
"None." Mac responded dully.
"Wait a sec," Connor squinted. "There is a knife marking that anomaly, that must be Trevor's!" Connor rushed forwards.
Mac followed him for a few steps then stopped. He turned around and copied Trevor's idea, stabbing his combat knife into the dirt in front of their anomaly. He then went to catch up with Connor, who was crouched before an anomaly.
"Find anything?"
"Yes." Connor nodded. "Trevor definitely went through there; he must've left the knife as a marker..."
"Alright then," Mac said, helping Connor up. "Charge up your E.M.D; we're going through."
Connor nodded and activated his E.M.D. The weapon glowed blue and whirred to life. They both took deep breaths before plunging through the anomaly.
"Whoa!" Mac exclaimed as the two men teetered on the edge of a steep hill. They stood in a vast canyon, surrounded by red.. There where no signs of life anywhere.
Connor inhaled sharply. "This landscape, the rust in the soil,the lack of life... we're in the apocalyptic future!"
"But I though that you stopped that future from happening!" Mac said.
"We did, but there must have been another event that causes an end to all the life on the planet..."
Mac looked around, then pointed down the hill. "Foot prints!"
Connor looked to where he was pointing and acknowledged with a nod. "Lets got get Trevor back!"
Abby opened her eyes as someone the doorbell. With a groan, the slid out of bed shuffled down the stairs in her pyjamas. I bet Connor is in the garage working one of his projects. She glanced through the window and saw Claudia and Cutter standing on the porch. She opened the door and looked at them.
"Abby," Claudia said gently. "We need to talk, may we come in?"
"Of course," Abby nodded, opening the door wider and stepping to the side. "Is something wrong?"
"Perhaps you should sit down..." Cutter said softly.
They led the young woman into her living room and sat her down on the long couch. Cutter and Claudia sat down on either side of her.
"Shouldn't we get Connor?" Abby asked. At the look she got from Claudia she suddenly felt a pang of concern. "Its about him, isn't it? What happened?"
Cutter took a breath, then spoke. "This morning, approximately thirty minutes ago, one of the A.R.C's operatives went missing through an anomaly. Connor and Mac went through to bring him back."
Abby's eyes began to well up with tears. "Oh, God... is he- did he... did he come back?" Abby asked hopefully. She looked to Claudia.
I'm sorry." Claudia said solemnly. "The anomaly closed before they could come through."
"What year is he in?" Abby croaked.
"We... couldn't get a clear reading..." Cutter said.
"Why not?" Abby demanded. "And don't lie to me, I'll be able to tell."
"The numbers kept changing from on year to another; we think that the anomaly led to an anomaly junction."
Abby's lower lip trembled. If Connor had gone through another anomaly then he might never find his way back.
"Don't worry," Claudia put an arm around Abby to comfort her. "I'm sure he is fine; Connor survived in the the Cretaceous era for a year. I'm sure that he'll be fine."
Abby nodded. Although Connor disappearing would be bad at any time, disappearing when she was pregnant was even worse. If he never came back she would be crushed; she wanted Connor there to help her every day, to be present when she gives birth and help name the child.
"Are you going to be OK?" Claudia asked.
Abby shook her head. "No..."
"Here, why don't you come with stay with us? You're welcome to stay as long as you want; it will help you." Claudia offered.
"That... would be very kind of you..." Abby said through the tears dripping down her face. "I would appreciate that."
"Come. I'll help you pack a bag, and Cutter will go get the car ready."
Trevor was limping alongside Connor, trying to move as fast as he could. The anomalies were closing around them fast.
As they shuffled quickly towards their anomaly, Connor caught a glimpse of Evan and Dylan running to their own anomaly. They reached it and disappeared.
"Come on, Trevor!" Connor encouraged the soldier. "We're almost-"
Their anomaly faded.
"Damn!" Trevor cursed. "We can't stay here!"
"I agree," Connor nodded. "Through this one!" He dragged Trevor through an anomaly to their right. Fell through the other side and collapsed on the ground, which consisted of dirt and dried up grass.
The anomaly closed second's after they passed through it.
Connor knelt on the ground. "Abby..." He murdered, holding his head in his hands
"Connor!" Trevor said. "Look!"
"What is it?" Connor looked over to Trevor.
"Horses!"
Connor looked to where Trevor was pointing. A horse drawn carriage thundered down the dirt road towards them. The horses slowed as they neared where the two men sat.
"What are you doin' all the ways out here?" A man from atop a bench at the front of the carriage asked, looking down at them. "No horse, no hats; you two look like you've been robbed!"
"Henry," A woman's voice from inside the carriage called. "Why have we stopped?"
"There be a couple of men sitting in the middle of the road, Ma'am." The driver, who must be Henry, replied.
"Are they're robbing us?"
"No Ma'am, they seem to have been robbed themselves!" Henry said to the woman in the carriage.
"Are they injured?" The door to the carriage opened and a slim woman in a blue dress stuck her head out.
Connor spoke up. "No, Ma'am; we aren't; we're just lost."
"Lost?" She repeated, then turned to Henry. "Henry, if you'd please."
Henry hopped down from his seat and held out his hand to the woman. She took it and stepped onto the ground.
"Lost, huh?" Henry said as the woman let go of his hand. "You wouldn't happened to have... appeared out of 'thin air', did you?"
"What makes you..." Connor's voice faded away. "I... I know you!"
"What?"
"You look very familiar!" Connor racked his brain, thinking of who this old man reminded him of. Then it hit him; he didn't just recognize this man, he knew this man!
"Stephen?"