Chapter 7
"This is weird!" Abby exclaimed, holding up a piece of perfectly ordinary seaweed
"I know!" Cutter agreed, shaking his head and staring into the catch pool. "Completely unheard of!"
"I don't think we've seen anything like it!" Jenny sighed, crossing her arms.
"Utterly bizarre!" Abby muttered, dropping the seaweed.
"Everything's normal!" Cutter threw his hands up in disbelief.
XXXX
"You mean to tell me," Lester began, walking over to his office window and closing the blind, "that you cannot find a single thing that is out of place in this era?"
"Nothing!" Cutter replied. "Not one species that shouldn't be there!"
"Microscopic analysis?"
"Nothing unusual biologically, but a significant amount of gold found in suspension."
"What do the spectroscopy reports say?"
"The water appears to be higher in nutrients, such as sulphur, nitrogen and phosphorus, and in heavy metal salts."
"Well if there is anything in it at least we know what music it likes!"
"The lab report also says that there has been a rise in temperature: the water coming through the anomaly is significantly warmer than the north sea."
"Aren't most things?" Lester frowned and walked back over to his desk. "Now wait a minute," he said, "surely that doesn't fit? Connor's theory was that the other side of the anomaly is in a deeper water source than this side and therefore water was being pushed through by simple water pressure. If he's right, then surely the deep water should be colder than the shallow stuff?"
"Not necessarily," Cutter warned, spreading his hands out to emphasise his words. "The mineral content of the water suggests a particularly rich area of ocean. Those tend to occur around black smokers. They're..."
"Underwater volcanoes," Lester interrupted, sitting down behind his desk. "Yes, I know. They're supposed to be predominantly high in biodiversity aren't they?"
"As a consequence of the high nutrient content of the water, and the higher temperatures around them, yes."
"So why, when we have the water from around a black smoker, and we have the minerals from around a black smoker, do we not have the life from around a black smoker?"
XXXX
"So, what we need, right, is some kind of really strong electromagnet," Connor watched Becker's eyebrows slide up his forehead, but carried on regardless, "attached to a computer that can oscillate the polarity of the magnetic field in synchrony with the field oscillations of the anomaly but at the opposite polarities!"
"And in English?" Becker sighed.
"Just find us this stuff," Peta cut in shoving a list at the bemused Becker. "We'll do the rest."
Becker glanced down at the list and his eyebrows started to rise again.
"Where do you expect me to get this stuff?"
"I dunno," Connor shrugged. "Lester said you were the guy for requisitions, so here's our requisition slip."
"A directional electromagnet?"
"An old MRI scanner would probably do the trick," Peta suggested. "We could at least make use of the parts."
Becker sighed and nodded in half agreement. He'd found in the past it was easier just to nod and smile when scientists started trying to explain things to him. The true scientist, he found, spoke a language entirely their own, punctuated by enthusiastic grins and inane gesticulations and written in some form of hieroglyphic code. What was more, they seemed generally unable to understand that they were the only ones with any comprehension of this behaviour. He turned to go, then paused and turned back.
"How close to the anomaly would you have to get this thing?"
Connor and Peta exchanged a look.
"When we figure that out, we'll let you know."
XXXX
Abby swirled the seaweed around in the water of the blue-walled catch pool. She wasn't much of a fan of fish and was blind to the differences that Cutter was keen to point out between the different species. So far, she'd either worked out or remembered that mackerel were the ones with stripes and usually went about in shoals, cod had little barbels on their chins and sand eels were the little thin ones that you saw piled up in the beaks of puffins. Other than the ability to recognise the sharp end of a decapod and know how not to get soaked by a scallop, Abby's knowledge of the oceans was limited to swimming reptiles.
"So how are things?" Jenny's voice cut through Abby's reverie.
"Hmm?" Abby looked up.
"You seem somewhat..." Jenny shrugged, searching for the word. "Distracted."
"Since when have you been the caring, sharing type?" Abby replied.
"Well, you know: I am the PR person after all."
"Everything's fine, Jenny."
"Really? It sometimes seems that your mind isn't completely on the job."
"My mind is fine. I'm not the one standing here with a broken wrist."
Jenny glanced down at the back-slab keeping her left wrist rigid.
"Since we're on the subject of wandering minds," Abby continued, fixing Jenny with a daring glare, "where exactly was yours when I found you and Cutter in the hallway? Not on your 'work' that's for sure!"
Jenny held up her right hand in defeat. "Fine: have it your way," she said. "I just thought you might like to talk about it. To another woman, that is."
"There is nothing to talk about."
"If you say so."
"There isn't!"
"Abby, I've seen you watching him," Jenny sighed. "It's like when I first met the pair of you only the other way round!"
"You know nothing about Connor and you know nothing about me!"
"I know that unless you say something to him, the two of you will carry on dancing round each other indefinitely!"
"Now is not the time. Besides: he has a new project to work on and a new fan club to help him!"
"Ah, the IT specialists. Yes, I had heard that they were looking forward to meeting him. He seems to be something of an idol for them."
"A prince among geeks!"
"Something like that."
"Who's the girl?"
"There's a girl?"
"Yeah: red hair, green jumper, taller than me, wears a hat."
"Can't say I've met her. Becker picked the team though: have a word with him. Why? Is she not pulling her weight?"
"Quite the opposite!" Abby pulled a face.
Jenny laughed. "You're jealous! Why? What has she done?"
"Nothing!" Abby replied, embarrassed, "I'm not jealous of some geek!"
"Ah, I see," Jenny's face took on an amused, knowing, smile.
"What?"
"She's a geek. Connor's a geek. No, let's face it: he really is. And you're worried he'll work out that he has more in common with her than with you!"
"That's ridiculous!"
"Of course it is: Connor's so wrapped up in trying to figure out the anomalies, he probably hasn't even noticed there's a girl in the group!"
"She leads the group."
"All the same."
"He was introduced to her."
"So?"
"She invented the new anomaly detector."
"Ah."
XXXX
"Yes, Ma'am. Understood."
The cleaner pocketed his mobile and adjusted his reflection in the bathroom mirror. So far so good. He'd been worried when he spotted the boy on the top floor, but he'd been too busy staring at the floor to notice him.
The bug was in place. It was transmitting. He knew everything that was going on in the control room, as did his commander and her team. Now he had his orders.
They were very simple.
XXXX
Abby had resumed her idle playing with the seaweed in the water. It was funny to watch the smaller creatures dart out of the way of the swirling mass of algae. One or two were actually following it, trying to stay in its shadow. She stretched out her hand towards the centre of the pool, away from the shelter of the blue sides where most of the creatures congregated.
Suddenly, she drew her hand back in pain.
"Ow!" Abby brought her hand up and examined a cut in the tip of her middle finger.
"What happened?" Jenny asked, looking up.
"I don't know!" Abby shrugged. "There's nothing in there that sharp!"
"Part of the seaweed maybe?"
"No..." Abby stopped, staring at the still swirling mass of seaweed in the centre of the pool. Something wasn't right about it. It looked bigger. The small fish following it were gone.
"What is it?" Jenny asked, following Abby's gaze.
"I don't know," Abby repeated, "but I'm going to find out. Pass me that net."
Jenny turned round and located one of the small, stem-handled hand nets they had been using to separate smaller items out of the catch for a closer look. She picked it up and passed it to Abby.
Taking the net, Abby turned it around and used the handle to prod the seaweed. The seaweed moved. So did the rest of it. She hooked the handle under a piece of seaweed and lifted it out of the water. The other piece of seaweed disappeared.
"Abby?" Jenny's tone was full of warnings.
"It's okay," Abby said quietly. "Whatever it is, it's still a fish so it can't get out of the tank."
"How can you be so sure?"
Abby prodded the clear space in the centre of the pool. The handle of the net met something at the bottom of the tank. She prodded again. This time the handle dislodged something and a thin trail of blood rose up from a small piece of disembodied flesh.
Within seconds, Abby's net handle was shoved out of the way by something unseen and the small patch of flesh widened to slowly reveal part of the shape of a fish. Abby waved a hand at Jenny for another net and, using handle to beat off the competition and the new net to lift the hapless victim, she dragged the fish out of the pool.
She dropped the deceased creature into a dry bucket. Grabbing what was nearest, Abby covered it with a nearby towel, pressing down around the body of the fish to make sure she had only removed one passenger in her net. The towel showed up the silhouette of one whole fish, slightly ragged around the edges. When she lifted it, however, all that was visible was the area of torn flesh, still floating eerily above the base of the bucket. Abby looked over at Jenny, the shock visible in her face.
"Get Cutter," she said.