Chapter 6

"What's the diagnosis?" Lester asked as Cutter emerged from the isolation room.

"He's sick," Cutter replied, discarding the face mask, paper suit and latex gloves he had been wearing.

"Full marks for observation, Professor. You truly are worth your weight in gold! No mere mortal could possibly have worked that one out!"

"Diagnoses do not appear when you snap your fingers, Lester," Cutter chided, swabbing down a syringe of blood with alcohol and cotton wool before transferring the blood to a sterile vial and discarding the syringe and a second pair of gloves into the same biohazard bin as the clothes.

"Well what do I have to do to make them appear?" Lester muttered, unrepentant.

"You have to wait," Cutter sighed. "Wait and pray that this blood will be enough to tell us what is going on here."

"Hmm," Lester wasn't convinced. He decided to change tactics. "Where is Miss Maitland, by the way?"

"I have no idea, Lester," said Cutter, his patience wearing thin. "Probably off looking after her lab or in the gym or mooning about wondering if she did the right thing staying in this dump instead of running off into the sunset with Connor. Now will you let me get on with my work?"

"You do realise why I'm asking, Cutter?" Lester frowned.

"Your usual determination to keep tabs on us every second of every day?" Cutter sighed.

"That too, but also the minor fact that, should this mystery illness be anomaly related, not only have a considerable number of my military staff been exposed, so have both Miss Maitland and yourself."

Cutter stopped and considered this.

"Okay, you have a point," he conceded. "I'm not ill, though."

"Well, perhaps the illness doesn't like you. It wouldn't be alone."

"Perhaps," Cutter nodded. He remained silent for a few moments, thinking back to the last time he had seen Abby. He had been so busy overseeing the placement and testing of the samples that he hadn't even sat down since he got back, except for the minute or so when he took the blood from the infected soldier in the room behind him. "Send somebody to look for her. She'll be around somewhere," he said. "I'll take this back to the lab and start analysis. There are several hungry vampires waiting to get their teeth into it."

"Vampires?" Lester queried.

"Haematologists," Cutter explained, heading out of the prep room and leaving Lester on his own.

Lester moved his gaze from the doorway to the window of the isolation room and the sick soldier within. It had to be anomaly related of course. The only cases of the mysterious illness were those who had been through the anomaly at his son's school. Approximately half of those who had spent time on the other side of that anomaly were now showing signs of illness. Of the other half, some had changed shift and gone home, a few were unaffected at present, and a few, like Miss Maitland, were still unaccounted for. He already had his ARC based staff combing the building for them, complete with strict instructions that they were not to touch any of the individuals, should they find them, until the proper protective clothing had been issued.

Footsteps echoed behind Lester and he turned, half hoping to see Cutter back with some news. Instead, he found his new PA hovering in the doorway.

"Telephone call, sir," the PA intoned politely. "Mr Temple for you."

XXXX

Kate, Becker, John and their entourage stood at the foot of the cliff. The path they had followed took them down a slope that brought them all the way down to beach level. They had then scrambled, stumbled and tripped across the rocky beach after their eccentric guide, whom Kate had now discovered was one Elizabeth Docherty, part-owner of the farm, part-time writer and avid collector of fossils. What lay before them now, other than yet more rocks, was and anomaly that appeared to be protruding directly out of the cliff face.

"When... How, did you discover it?" Becker asked Elizabeth, reaching out and hooking a finger into John's collar as the boy began to edge towards the anomaly.

"Oh, you know," Elizabeth replied cheerfully. "I just came down to see what the high tide had washed up, or out, and there it was. Didn't have a clue what it was, of course. Not until I found a real one, that is."

"Real one?" Kate frowned.

"Real, live ammonite," Elizabeth nodded. "Sitting there on the rocks waving it's tentacles at me bold as brass! Probably hadn't a clue what had happened to it, poor thing. Anyway, right behind it, directly up the shore, was that thing. I picked a pebble up, flint, mind you: nothing that might have something valuable in it, and threw it at the thing, just to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light, and it went straight through. It was all just a matter of logic after that. The ammonite must have been washed through at high tide, and then got stuck here. Interesting. I wonder how many others came through and escaped to the open sea. Or what went back the other way, for that matter."

Kate glanced over at Becker, whose grip on John's collar had tightened. He looked over and caught Kate's eye.

"What?" Kate hissed.

"Well?" Becker replied. "Where does it go?"

"Don't look at me!" Kate shrugged. "Ammonites were around from the Silurian right up to the end of the Cretaceous! They overlap and pre-date all of the dinosaur eras. Which one are you hoping for? Take your pick!"

XXXX

"My lady," Cai gasped, his breath catching in his throat as he hurried down the stone steps in the caves. "I wasn't expecting you back so soon!"

"I had to make sure I was back in time Cai," Helen replied, taking the arm that was offered as she ascended the stairs. "Have there been any other breaches?"

"None, my lady," Cai answered. "Not in your absence. All others you know of."

"Good. You must expect one soon. It may appear at any time."

"In the usual place?"

"No, Cai," Helen shook her head. "This breach will occur where radiation levels are dangerously high. Averaging two point five Seiverts. Temperature at twenty five degrees centigrade. There will be a number of appearances before anything comes through, but the moment one appears, you must call me immediately, regardless of the time of day. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my lady," Cai nodded. "What do you expect to see come through the breach?"

"We must keep watch with the satellites," said Helen. "But the first time something comes through it will probably be an antiquated probe in the form of a buggy or 'rover'. The first of the Temple series probes. After that, you must look for the man himself. He will have a team with him, twelve at most, but they will not have anti-radiation suits for all of them and the ones they do have are considerably worse than those you have here. You must have a team ready to be despatched with twelve spare suits and transport as soon as you spot them. It is absolutely crucial that you are ready, Cai. We cannot afford delay. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my lady."

"Good," Helen nodded as they came to the top of the stairs and continued along winding, disorientating corridors.

Silence fell on the group as they made their way through the labyrinthine tunnels. Finally, they emerged into a wider area where glowing spheres hanging from the ceiling replaced the wall-mounted bioluminescent strips that had lit their way from the entrance. Cai led the group off down a side corridor and through a door, waiting by a control panel until everyone was inside the room.

Once the multiple cleaners had filled the space, Cai pressed a few buttons on the control panel. The pressure of the room lifted and the air became momentarily thinner and colder, then returned to normal. Cai pressed another few buttons and a door on the far side of the chamber opened. Helen led her troops through and watched, the younger Nick by her side, as they filed away into another part of the caves.

"What now?" Nick asked.

"Now?" Helen replied with a smile. "Now, my love, we save the world."