Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me, this is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses etc is entirely fictitious.
3.11 Confrontations
"…we shouldn't be locking the anomalies."
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Everyone turned to stare at Sarah. Stephen and Jamal left the tiny kitchen and rejoined Claudia and Danny standing around the table.
"Well we shouldn't," said Sarah "for all we know we could be locking the anomaly right before they step through."
"We can't leave anomalies open," protested Cutter "the creatures don't belong here and it's a danger to the public."
"Sarah's right," said Claudia. She set her hand down on the table and leaned forward.
"Every time we close an anomaly," said Claudia earnestly "we're cutting down Abby and Connor's chances to find their way home."
From where he was standing between Sarah and Jess, the Professor looked across the room at his wife.
"So are you suggesting we just let the creatures roam free?" Cutter asked.
"No," said Claudia shaking her head. "But we need to keep as many options available as possible."
"A balanced plan," said Lester "is what is needed."
Rex left his perch on the railing above the Lesters, to soar around the room. He landed on the arm of the sofa and chirped at Lester.
"Yeah," chuckled Danny nodding at the creature. "What he said… what's the plan?"
Lester looked at Danny and started to say something, but Vivian answered first.
"We need to change our policy," said Vivian, "instead of locking the anomalies… we need to monitor them… only locking the anomalies if they represent an immediate threat to public safety."
"How do you propose monitoring a spinosaurus?" asked Becker.
The knob on the front door behind him rattled. Heavy pounding shook the door in its frame. A woman's voice could be heard calling. Lester sighed and raised his eyes to the ceiling.
"Christine Johnson," he muttered, shaking his head. He looked across the room at Becker. "Would you let her in please?"
The disagreeable woman who was currently running the ARC stalked into the room followed by two armed assistants. She stared at the anomaly research model which soared upwards in the rear of the room.
"So what exactly are you up to James?" Johnson asked with a sneer. "I've had surveillance teams following you since you transferred departments… and now we've finally found where you go after leaving the ARCH. The minister will hear about this."
"Oh yes, Christine," replied Lester "he will most certainly hear about you using tax payer funds to find and interrupt a private dinner party."
Johnson glanced around the room, noting each member of the ARC's former staff. Her eyes barely rested on the older woman sitting at the table holding little Stephanie, before moving past the woman. Johnson stopped and stared at Stephen.
"You!" she exclaimed. "Now I've been looking for you since you disappeared in June. I never really got a chance to talk to you."
The nasty woman walked slowly around the room, coming to stand directly in front of Stephen. She pointed one finger and jabbed it into Stephen's chest. He winced.
"You… are… not… Stephen Hart," said Johnson, poking him with each and every word. "But I'd really like to know who you are."
At the end of the table, Mrs. Hart caught Claudia's eye. Claudia stepped forward and took Stephanie out of her arms. The older woman put one hand on the table and reached for her cane with the other. She slowly rose to stand.
"Quit poking my nephew," said Mrs. Hart as she slowly walked towards Johnson.
"Your nephew?" asked Johnson, turning to gaze at Mrs. Hart in confusion.
"My sister's son," confirmed Mrs. Hart. "Surely… if you've ever met my son… or seen a picture of him… you can see the family resemblance."
"Hmmph, who are you?" huffed Johnson. "And what are you doing with these miscreants?"
Mrs. Hart walked closer.
"These miscreants… as you call them," said Mrs. Hart narrowing her eyes "were my son's friends… and this is a private dinner party."
"No… no… no… this is not a dinner party," laughed Johnson. "This is some sort of plot… it has to do with the anomaly research center."
Mrs. Hart continued to stare at Johnson as if she were a bug under a magnifying glass. The older woman glanced at Lester.
"I don't think we've been introduced properly," said Mrs. Hart.
Lester smirked… for just a moment. Then he stepped forward.
"Oh Christine… Eleanor… forgive me," said Lester, his voice dripping honey. "Where are my manners?"
Lester made the introductions.
"Christine Johnson, head of the Anomaly Research Center," said Lester "I'd like to introduce you to Eleanor Hart… senior financial budget analyst for the minister of defense."
Johnson blinked. Her eyes widened.
"The ARC… and all of its associated expenses," said Mrs. Hart "are under your jurisdiction at the moment."
Johnson nodded.
"I think we need to talk," added Mrs. Hart "about your use of the taxpayer's money. Tomorrow morning… nine o'clock… at my office."
"Christine," said Lester grabbing the woman by the elbow "let me see you to the door."
Johnson and her men were soon gone. Lester came back to speak with Mrs. Hart.
"Thank you," said Lester.
"I didn't do it for you," replied Mrs. Hart.
She nodded at Stephen. The young man was standing with Danny, Cutter, Claudia, Sarah, Jamal, Jess, Becker and Vivian. They were all around the anomaly research model. Jess was holding her laptop, reading off coordinates. Cutter was trying to attach the new connections to the model.
"That Stephen," said Mrs. Hart "if he's stuck here, he's going to need identification papers… a job, but most of all… he's going to need friends… and family."
"Yes," agreed Lester. His gaze rested on Vivian. "We all do."
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"Percy," hissed Connor "wake up."
"Sssh," replied the older man "I'm already awake. Gather your things, someone is coming."
"We know," whispered Abby "we can hear them."
Abby and Connor picked up their rucksacks, while Percy crawled closer to the entrance of the hut. He lifted the leather hanging in front of the opening just enough to peek out. He stifled a groan and turned to look at Abby and Connor.
"You'll need to move fast," said Percy "as soon as you get through the opening, start running for the woods… don't stop running."
"We'll all need to move fast," said Connor.
"Yeah," added Abby "we're following you. Remember?"
Abby's eyes opened wide as Percy reached for the scabbard lying on the ground beside him. He got off his knees, moving into a crouching position. Percy pulled out the sword.
"Not this time," said Percy with a grin. "As I'm the only one with a weapon, I'll bring up the rear."
"No," Abby insisted, "you're coming with us."
"You're not the only one with a weapon," said Connor.
Connor started to unzip the rucksack. At the same time Percy threw back the leather cover from the doorway and stepped out into the early morning.
"Hurry," hissed Percy, pointing to the right, "that way… to the woods."
Abby and Connor scrambled out of out of the hut. Straightening up, they saw pinkish orange light just cresting above the treetops to the east. A brisk wind sent tiny flakes of snow dancing around them. Abby started to move right, heading towards the tree line. Connor stopped and stared.
On the gentle sloping path below them, they could see a man on horse back. He was talking to two other men. These men, standing on the ground behind him and with the light of coming dawn in their faces, were carrying single bladed axes. A fourth man was sitting on the bench seat of an oxcart, holding the reins and clucking hopefully, trying to encourage the beast to move.
"They're not barbarians," said Connor "they're from the village… probably just need wood. Why are we running away?"
"We're not running from them," hissed Percy.
He pointed to the left. The trail they had been walking on yesterday was still deep in the shadows, but beneath the trees, the outlines of six or maybe more men could be seen. These men were definitely not from the village they had seen yesterday. This group was bristling with weapons, swords, spears, a double bladed axe that wasn't suitable for chopping wood and other deadly looking objects. The barbarians appeared to be watching the oncoming villagers.
"Move," urged Percy.
"We can't," protested Connor "those men will kill the villagers. We've got to stop them."
"We can't stop them," argued Percy "we'll just get ourselves killed too."
Connor reached into the open rucksack and pulled out the last stun grenade from the supplies Becker had given them so long ago.
"This might help," replied Connor "at least give the villagers a warning."
"You're going to change history," cautioned Percy.
"For all we know, we already changed history," said Connor "by leaving tracks yesterday for the barbarians to follow... we can't just let them kill the villagers."
Connor strode past Percy. Standing to the left of his friend, he pulled the pin and reaching his arm back to throw the stun grenade. The wind caught the folds of the gray cloak causing the fabric to billow out behind him.
"Hurry Conn," hissed Abby "I think they heard us."
"Oh yeah," said Percy. "They heard us."
On the edge of the forest path, a tall and broad shouldered man stood nearest. He turned his gaze from watching the villagers to see Abby, Connor and Percy. This man stepped away from the other barbarians, coming out from beneath the trees.
"Cover your ears," cried Connor as he released the stun grenade in a high arc.
On the slope below, the villagers had now seen Connor, Percy and Abby. Their low muttering voices turned to sounds of alarm when the tall blonde man with his hair pulled tightly back from his face came into view. Behind the man, the other barbarians turned to see what the villagers were looking at.
The stun grenade landed in front of the man holding the double bladed axe.
"Oh no," said Abby "it hasn't…"
The blast knocked Abby, Connor, Percy and all the barbarians to the ground. On the lower slope of the hill, the village men dropped their axes. They were covering their ears and crying out in fear or awe or something. The ox was bellowing, and the man who had been trying to get the animal to move was now trying to calm the creature. Similarly, the horse was rearing in fright. The rider was frantically trying to rein in the animal.
Abby recovered first. She quickly rolled over. Pushing herself first into a crouch, she then stood up.
In front of her, Percy had been knocked flat on his back. He'd dropped the sword when he fell. It was lying on the ground near Connor's rucksack. Moving slowly, he was trying to sit up.
Just past Percy, Connor had also been knocked backwards. Lying on the cloak, he appeared stunned and was sprawled out with his arms spread wide. The contents of the rucksack had spilled out when he fell. The cell phones and anomaly opening devices were scattered across the ground between him and Percy.
"Guys," hissed Abby "hurry! Get up."
"Ohh," moaned Connor. He rolled over, tangling himself within the cloak. He moved to pull himself up on his hands and knees facing Abby, still trying to unwind the heavy woolen fabric from around his body.
Directly past Connor, the tall blonde barbarian was already standing upright. Shaking his head, he quickly looked around, assessing the situation. The villagers appeared to be no threat. Behind him the other barbarians were still out cold. The man settled his gaze on the three people in front of the hut. His eyes met Abby's for a brief moment, before glancing at Percy and finally settling on Connor.
Quickly the long legged man approached their group, coming to a stop directly behind Connor. The blonde barbarian didn't bother to unsheathe the sword strapped to his left side. Instead, the man pulled out a long handled dagger from a smaller scabbard hidden within the folds of his clothing. Grasping the shaft with both hands, he raised the weapon high over his head.
"No!" cried Percy.
"No!" screamed Abby.
She ran forward passing Percy as he reached for his sword. Leaping high in the air, her first kick caught the blonde barbarian in his Adam's apple. He staggered back a step and dropped the dagger. Choking and grasping at his throat, he fell back to the ground. Abby's second kick put her heavy brown boot across the man's forehead. He fell back, out cold.
"Always knew you were dangerous" said Percy admiringly. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"Self defense course," replied Abby. "Living in a big city like London, a woman needs to know how to take care of herself."
"Guys," gasped Connor.
Connor appeared oblivious to his near death experience. Instead, he was staring at where Percy's sword was now touching the powerless anomaly opening device. Percy's frantic scrambling had pushed the fire blackened blade against gadget. The anomaly opening device was glowing.
"It's on!" exclaimed Abby. "We can open an anomaly."
"We can go home!" exclaimed Percy.
"We can go somewhere," said Connor.
He reached for the device. Connor's fingers closed around the metal casing. The beveled glass was lit up with a swirling, twirling array of lines.
"We need to get away," said Percy "before the villagers get here."
The villagers were coming up the hill. Connor shoved the remainder of his gadgets into the rucksack and stood up. He pressed buttons on the anomaly opening device. The air in front of the little group shimmered, fractured and an anomaly opened. Abby, Connor and Percy stepped through to another time and place. Behind them the shimmering fractured light swirled once more and the anomaly closed.
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And if somewhere, a story has survived in a small village about a knight, an elf and a wizard, saving the citizenry from a barbarian attack… well surely… that's nothing more than fiction.
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