Bend It Like Becker

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Chapter 22 – NOCTURNAL NUISANCES

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Becker flipped up his night vision goggles to rub his eyes. He hated the lack of peripheral vision they afforded him, but on such a dark, moonless night, he didn't have much of a choice but to wear them.

Hearing a noise behind him, he flipped the goggles back down over his eyes as he whirled around, his EMD at the ready. However, instead of facing a tall Early Bird, he saw what looked like a bat fluttering about. It dove towards his head, and Becker barely ducked out of the way.

Swearing under his breath, he asked into the comms, "Are these bats prehistoric, too?"

"Bats?" Emily asked.

"Ooh, what do they look like?" Connor asked excitedly.

"What do you think they look like? They look like bloody bats!" How else was he to describe them?

"There were no bats during the Cretaceous," Matt advised, "which is where this anomaly leads. All the mammals from that era are quite distinct from any around today."

"They're probably Daubenton's Bats," Abby explained. "I've read that they live here in the Heath."

"Brilliant," Becker grumbled – something else he wasn't allowed to shoot.

"Bats can carry rabies, can't they?" Jess asked, sounding worried. "Be careful, and try not to get bit."

But Becker didn't have time to respond because he heard movement in the undergrowth. He turned and followed the noise, running through the trees in pursuit of the creature. As he turned a corner, he caught sight of a bushy tail as it disappeared down into a hole. A fox, Becker realised, scolding himself for not recognising the animal sooner.

"Was that a fox?" Jess asked.

Becker had forgotten that Jess could see everything he could, which was a bit unnerving. But before he could answer, Matt chimed in, "Foxes wouldn't be from the Cretaceous," as if Becker hadn't already figured that out.

The soldier glanced around, trying to get his bearings, when suddenly he heard a barking noise off to his left.

"Do these things bark?" he asked into the comms.

"Foxes?" Connor asked.

"No, not foxes! The incursion, these Early Bird creatures."

"Oh, Mononykus," Connor said, having caught on.

"Not that we know of," Abby answered.

"Of course, it's hard to be certain based only on the fossil records," Matt explained.

"Why?" Connor asked. "Didja hear something?"

Becker fought the urge to snap, "Obviously!" and instead gave a simple, "Yes."

"What kind of bark was it?" Abby asked.

"Yeah," Connor said, "what'd it sound like?"

Becker shrugged, even though it was pointless since no one was around to see. "I don't know. It sounded like...a bark."

"Well, what KIND of bark?" Connor pursued. "Was it a yappy arf arf or more like a deep rowff rowff? Or maybe…?"

As Connor continued to do his ridiculous barking imitations, Becker heard the actual barking noise again and decided to pursue it himself. Creeping along slowly so as not to startle the creature, the soldier made his way quietly through the dark. He carefully approached a small clearing and then quickly wheeled around from behind a tree, his EMD held in front of him as both a weapon and a torch. The light shown not on an Early Bird but on a small deer instead, which froze where it was. Becker gave a frustrated sigh and lowered his EMD, and the deer darted away.

"…or was it more like a howling—"

Becker interrupted Connor to state, "Never mind. The barking wasn't from the creature. It was from a deer."

"A deer?" Emily repeated. "A barking deer? Are you certain?"

No, I'm bloody making it up! "Yes, I'm certain – I saw it myself."

"I think it was a muntjac deer," Jess said.

Since when did Jess know anything about animals? "A what?"

"A muntjac deer, otherwise known as a barking deer," Jess continued. "According to this link on the Parks website, these deer are common in the Heath. They're nocturnal, too, which explains why they'd be out and about now."

Of course they're nocturnal, thought Becker. The entire park seemed to be awake tonight. And here he'd assumed that George Michael and friends would be the only nocturnal activities going on at the Heath!

"Deer wouldn't have been-" Matt started, but Becker finished for him.

"…Alive in the Cretaceous, yeah, I got that, Matt."

"There's the creature," Jess cried out. "Becker, he just took off to your left."

Becker wondered how she knew and then realised she must've spotted it through his goggles when he'd been busy rolling his eyes at Matt's comment.

Becker gave a frustrated sigh as he rushed off in pursuit of the creature.

…

"Jess, what time is it?" Emily's voice sounded through the comms.

Glancing at the monitor, Jess was surprised to see that a secure line was established betwixt her and the former Victorian. One of the features of the new earpieces, which Jess had demonstrated at the all-staff meeting less than 24 hours ago, was that those in the field could establish secure links themselves, something which previously could only be done at the hub. Jess was certain it would prove to be a useful feature for the team, though she wasn't sure that merely asking for the time was quite the intended purpose.

"It's nearly four," Jess replied. "Are you alone?" she asked, too sleepy and distracted by the goggle feeds to be paying much attention to the black box locations on the monitor.

"Yes, Becker still has me guarding the gateway," Emily replied. "Matt suggested that we keep it open so we can more easily herd the creatures back as we find them. Unfortunately, bats keep trying to pass through it, but I'm doing my best to stop them. They seem to be attracted to the light of the gateway, but at least they're keeping me busy and thus awake."

Jess couldn't help but smile at Emily's practical outlook. She considered explaining to her Victorian friend that bats actually use sonar to "see" in the dark and thus probably couldn't sense the anomaly's glowing light, but perhaps the middle of the night wasn't the best time for a science lesson. Instead, Jess offered, "I hope you were able to get some rest before we were called out. You didn't stay too late at the park practicing, did you?"

"No, only about another hour after you left. It started getting dark, so we thought it best to head home."

"Well, don't push Matt TOO hard – we need him well-rested for the match on Saturday."

"Certainly none of us will be well-rested for practice later today," Emily pointed out.

Jess sighed, knowing her friend was right, and quietly took a sip of her coffee, thankful to at least be inside on such a long night.

"So how about you?" Emily asked. "How was your evening? Did you enjoy your date?"

"Date?" Jess practically choked on her coffee - where on earth had Emily gotten that notion from?

"I overheard you at the park talking with Captain Becker about sharing a meal and then going to see a moving picture together. Matt's explained to me that one refers to such an evening spent between a man and a woman as a 'date' in this century. Am I mistaken with that definition?"

"No, you're not mistaken," Jess confirmed, "but that was definitely not a date." She hoped Emily didn't ask her why not because Jess didn't really have an answer.

"I am sorry," Emily was quick to apologise. "I was given the impression that Captain Becker was courting you."

If Jess had been taking a sip at that moment, the hub would've been showered with lukewarm coffee. Instead, Jess merely coughed in surprise before replying, "No, Becker is most definitely not 'courting' me."

"Oh. Why ever not?" Emily asked bluntly. "Neither of you is currently involved in a romantic relationship with anyone, and you both obviously care deeply for one another."

Jess wasn't sure where her friend was getting this "caring" idea from – probably Abby. Jess reminded herself never to confide in her flatmate again regarding affairs of the heart. "Becker and I don't 'care' for each other that way," she explained. "He and I are simply friends – nothing more."

"That's not true," Emily stated matter-of-factly. "You care more than simply friends. I've seen the way you look at him – you blush more than my childhood friends back home. And don't forget, I was there during the beetle incursion."

Jess shivered – she didn't like to be reminded of how close she'd come to dying that day, and she wasn't sure how that incident was in any way related to the current topic of conversation. "What about the beetle incursion?"

"Jess, I was there. I saw the look on Becker's face when he thought we were going to lose you – I've never seen anyone so scared in all my life, and believe me, I've been to some rather scary places. Becker was willing to risk his own life, and even the lives of all Londoners, simply to save yours, so don't tell me he only cares for you as a friend. His feelings clearly run much deeper."

Jess was speechless. Emily made a powerful point, and the practical girl was not exactly prone to hyperbole! So now Jess had proof that he did like her after all, despite what he'd said. She'd been longing to talk to someone about her situation, so why not Emily? She was liable to be discrete, especially if Jess asked her to be. And she was imminently practical – no doubt she'd be able to see through Becker's contradictory behaviour and make some sense of it.

Even if she did still cling to her old-fashioned Victorian concepts of courting!

"Oh, Emily, I'm so confused. Becker's been behaving so strangely these last few days, I don't know what to think. He said he only wanted to be friends, but then he gave me a key to his flat – oh, but please don't mention that to anyone! It's bad enough that Abby knows all about the Look, I can only imagine what she'd say if she found out about the key. And I have no idea what the key even means. And then there was the movie tonight – oh Emily, it was so embarrassing. I mean it was US, and it was totally his couch, and I can feel my face turning red now just thinking about it! He seemed weird about it, too, so I think it means he likes me, and of course you already said that he does, but I just can't be certain. So what do you think I should do?"

It felt so good to get it all off her chest, Jess gave a sigh of relief as she stopped her rambling. But then, much to her horror, instead of Emily's voice through the comms, she heard Becker's.

"Just leave it, Emily."

Omigod! He'd heard! Becker'd heard everything! Jess knew they should've done more tests on the new earpieces before putting them into service, but she'd gone ahead and handed them out tonight and now she'd totally put her foot in it!

She glanced up at the monitors, as if somehow expecting to see Becker's annoyance through his goggle feed, but instead only saw him shooing one of the Mononykus towards Emily, who was standing near the anomaly-closing device. Jess watched numbly as the two herded the Early Bird safely through before she thought to check the comms info. By some miracle, she and Emily were still on a secure channel - Becker's comment had all to do with the incursion and nothing to do with Jess's pathetic rambling!

But just to be safe, she decided that perhaps she should wait to discuss things with Emily till they could be completely certain not to be overheard!

…

[Author's note: I totally did my research for this scene and yes, all of those nocturnal animals do live in Hampstead Heath. However, I'd recommend NOT doing an internet search for "Hampstead Heath nocturnal" because you'll mostly get articles about George Michael! :) ]