Chapter 3

"Lester, we have to get to that anomaly site!" Cutter grabbed Lester's arm as he caught up with the taciturn home office executive.

"Feel free to swim." Lester quipped, plucking Cutter's hand off of his arm as if it were a thorn. "No, wait a minute," he added, "I need you. Throw Connor in instead."

"Hey!" Connor protested, but Lester had disappeared inside the small seaside hotel they had taken over as a base with Nick Cutter fast on his heels. Connor and Abby followed, watching Jenny hurry off ahead of them.

"Don't worry: I'm sure he was only joking," Abby grinned, pulling her jacket closer around her against the fierce wind. "After all: you're the one who came up with the anomaly detector."

"Fat lot of good that's been this time round!"

"Why d'you think it didn't pick it up?"

"Dunno," Connor shrugged and shook his head. "Could just be that it's out of range, like what's-his-name... Becker... Like he said."

"You don't think it's the interference thing then?"

"No. No, it shouldn't be that. I mean: that's how we spotted it in the first place: it was interfering with the other channels. Besides: even if there is something else on the same wavelength out there, there isn't back at the detector. Plus, they're picking up the signal from here, so it must be a distance thing. It's a bit off the beaten track this one, so it's understandable."

"Hmm."

They walked on in silence. Hurrying through the sturdy wooden doors of their new base until they reached the warm, relatively quiet interior.

"How do think Lester organised this place?" Abby murmured, looking around at the bustling activity.

"Not sure I want to know," Connor replied. "Do we have to check in though, or what? It's not like we were expecting to be staying long."

"Dunno, but I'll need to let Sam know if we are staying."

"Oh yeah: Sam... Is he a close friend then or what?"

"Depends what you mean by close, I guess."

"It's just I've never really heard you mention him, that's all."

"Haven't really thought about him since I left uni. He just turned up."

"Turns up out of the blue asking to stay and you let him?"

"Wouldn't be the first time someone's done that," Abby glared pointedly at Connor. "Besides: I owed him."

"Really? What for?"

"He got me that job at the zoo. Since that's what pays for that place, I couldn't really turn him away."

Abby turned and wandered over towards the reception, scanning the crown for Jenny, Cutter or Lester.

"Ah, there you are!"

Abby stopped and turned in the direction of the voice. It was Becker. He was striding towards her with a determined air. Connor caught up with her as Becker reached them.

"I'm afraid we've only got one room left, but don't worry: it's a twin room so nobody has to sleep on the floor and there's even an en suite."

"You what?" Connor cut in, confused.

"I'm not sharing with him!" Abby exclaimed.

"Thanks!"

"You snore!"

"Do not!"

"I can hear you through the wall!"

Captain Becker looked from one to the other of them like a Pimms fan watching tennis. Raising an eyebrow, he held up two keys.

"Like it or not: you're stuck with each other. I suggest you make the best of it. Third floor, turn right out of the lift, last door on the left." Dropping the keys into Connor's hand, he turned and stalked off. Abby rolled her eyes and walked in the direction of the lifts.

"I don't snore!" Connor called after her.

XXXX

"There is water pouring through that anomaly, Lester: enough water to raise the sea level of the North Sea!" Cutter's voice was raised, but not quite at shouting level yet.

"What precisely do you intend to do about it, Professor?" Lester asked sternly. "As far as I can recall, we have never yet managed to stop anything coming through an anomaly if it wanted to, living or otherwise!"

"We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"As opposed to what, exactly: sitting on a sinking boat and drowning? Tell me, professor: how is that constructive?"

"I'm open to suggestions!" Shouting level grew nearer. "What's your plan? Wait for it to close and start handing out sandbags?"

"Shore defences are being improved as we speak," Lester reassured Cutter calmly. "We've had the MET office send out a storm surge warning throughout the UK. We've even advised a closure of the Thames barrier."

"And what happens when it breaches those defences? Lester, there are millions of tons of water pouring through that anomaly. No other anomaly has cause a rise in water levels that quickly and to that extent. Even if the anomaly were to close right now, we wouldn't be able to get rid of that water! Who knows the effect it will have on our coastlines and our climate!"

Lester sighed and walked over to the window of his appropriated office. He was a firm believer in the serenity of accepting the things one cannot change. Twisting the blind cord so that he and Cutter could see through to the hotel lobby beyond, he raised a hand and pointed at the activity beyond.

"You see all those people, Professor Cutter," he said. "They are home office experts in almost every field you can imagine. Like you, they have all signed the official secrets act and are therefore privy to exactly the same level of knowledge as yourself, in their own fields anyway. Do you see them panicking? No. Why not? Because, unlike you, they have been doing this job for considerably longer and know that panicking does not get things done. They are using their skills to collect and collate vital data and produce forecasts that will help us deal with this crisis."

"Do they all know about the anomalies?"

"No: not all of them. In fact very few of them. There is no need for them to know."

"Then where do they think the water is coming from?"

"Melting glacier releasing water from an underground lake, exacerbated by the storm surge."

"And they're buying that?"

"You think they're more likely to accept that it's coming through a tear in time and space?"

Cutter shrugged, seeing Lester's point in this at least.

"Get to work, Professor: I want to know where this anomaly goes and why there is so much water coming through it. I also want to know what else, if anything, has come through with the water and if there is any way to close it."

"We've never tried to close an anomaly before."

"Then I suggest you start now."