Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or its characters.
Secrets
Chapter 11 – The Device
Sitting at the ADD, Jess found it hard to believe that just a few weeks ago she had been cursing the lack of anomalies. After the week they'd just had, she would love to return to the peace and quiet of previous weeks. The number of anomalies they were seeing had increased again. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as it had been during convergence, but it was enough to keep the team feeling tired and over worked.
It didn't help that as a result of this people were beginning to make mistakes in the field. Nothing that ended in anyone being seriously injured—or worse—just small, silly things, that frustrated the people out in the field with them. Things like not putting the sequence into the locking device correctly—therefore leaving it open longer, allowing a creature through—and accidently shooting a creature on too high of an EMD setting. None of these things had ended in serious injury or loss of life, but they were a pain to deal with.
So far no one had been able to work out why exactly this change had occurred, though many people wondered if it was because of the tests Connor had been doing while trying to create his anomaly opening devices. But despite their fears, no one told him to stop his research. They knew Connor's device was their best chance at rescuing Becker, and they all wanted their captain back.
Putting the ADD in standby mode Jess rose out of her chair, stretched, and went in search of a hot drink, she was in desperate need of a break. Today was the eighth day in a row that the team had had to work, and Jess couldn't take another moment of looking at those computer screens.
Entering the breakroom Jess found Abby and Emily sitting on one of the couches. They both looked as exhausted as Jess felt. Making herself a cup of tea she joined her friends.
"Where are the girls today, Jess?" Emily asked as she sat down.
"Becker's sister Melissa took them out for the day, I thought they could use some time away from the ARC."
"It is nice that they get to spend some time with their aunt."
"Yeah, and I want to make sure they don't feel like they've been cut off from their family or vice versa."
"I'm sure they do not feel that way."
"I hope not. I just don't want them to feel like they're being abandoned or that no one cares about them."
"How could they possibly feel that way Jess? With all you have done to ensure they do not."
"Did you tell them about what the judge said?"
"If you mean about how the case is only temporarily closed; no, I couldn't. I didn't want to taint the first piece of good news they'd received in weeks."
"You know you'll have to tell them eventually."
"I know… I just don't know how to."
They fell into silence, neither Abby nor Emily knew what to say to the young woman that would be of any assistance. It was a delicate situation, and if Jess didn't handle it carefully she could end up causing all the pain she had hoped to avoid.
How do I even go about explaining to them that their father is about to be pronounced dead, at which point the custody case will be reopened and they could be taken away to live with strangers.
Connor came running in, stumbling over his own feet and breaking the silence that had fallen over the woman.
"I-I did it." Connor said, panting.
Abby groaned. "Oh Connor, what did you do?"
"I finished it. The anomaly opening device."
The three of them looked at him, shocked, they couldn't believe it. They had all had faith in his abilities to build the device; but the fact that it was done, and they now actually had a chance of rescuing Becker, was almost too good to be true.
"Does this mean we can finally go after Becker?" Jess asked being the first to recover.
"It does."
Like that all the melancholy the past week had left them with, disappeared. They were all overjoyed by the possibility of getting their captain back.
The team met with Lester in his office to tell him the news. Connor explained that his device was now complete, and after having run some test he was confident that he would be able to reopen the anomaly that Becker had been thrown through.
Lester listened to everything they had to say, his face schooled carefully, so as not to show any reaction.
"Am I right in assuming this means you wish to go through the anomaly in search of Captain Becker?"
"Well that was the point of building the device, wannit?"
"Originally that may have been the case, but the truth of the matter is this mission is no longer supported by the Minister. He wants no rescue attempts to be made."
"What!? But we can't just abandon him!"
"What about Maddie and Lily!? They need him back!"
"You let him go after us when Danny, Connor, and I went missing."
"With all due respect sir, we're not asking for your permission. We're going to go after him with or without your support." Matt told Lester, being the only one able to keep his composure.
Lester regarded them silently.
"Yes I thought that would be the case. Which is why I want this operation to be conducted quietly. You can take a small team to carry out the search, no more than eight people—two of which will remain behind to watch the anomaly and relay information back to the ARC. The team must also consist of only those who have volunteered for the mission, and make sure they know what it is they're getting themselves into."
"So we can only take four of the soldiers on this mission, and only two of them will actually be coming with us. That's going to slow down the search process."
"I'm sorry Mrs Temple but discretion is key here, and the fewer of you there are going on this expedition the more likely you are to get away with it."
"Actually, if it is alright with everyone I would like to remain behind."
Everyone looked at Emily shocked, none of them had thought she would be one to shy away from a trip through an anomaly.
"How come?" Matt asked.
"Jess is going to be busy monitoring this operation, and coordinating any alerts should any other anomalies open, she very well may have to work long hours. She is going to need help tending to Becker's daughters, therefore one of us is going to have to remain behind to provide it. I am willing to be that person, and this way you will be able to take an extra soldier with you."
"Thank you Ms Merchant for understanding that sometime we may not be able to do things the way we would like. Your maturity is a welcome break from these two." Lester gestured at Abby and Connor, who rolled their eyes.
"Speaking of Lily and Maddie, what are we going to do?" Jess asked speaking up for the first time. "Do we tell them that we're finally able to try searching for Becker, and risk getting their hopes up only to crush them? Or do we keep quiet and wait until we know more before saying anything."
The team fell silent, considering their options. On one hand Maddie and Lily deserved to know what was going on, Becker was their father after all. On the other, they didn't want to cause the girls any unnecessary sadness.
It was Abby who came up with the solution.
"I don't think we should mention it. That way, whether we come back with good news or bad, we'll be able to give them the closure they need and be there for them in whatever way we can. But if we come back having learnt nothing, we haven't got their hopes up only to leave them with more questions than they had to begin with."
The team agreed with Abby's reasoning, and after discussing the finer details, they left Lester's office to begin preparing for the rescue mission.
The next day found Jess and the rest of the team back at the ARC, despite the fact that it was a Saturday. They were going through the anomaly that day, wanting to get the mission under way as soon as possible since they still had the minister's threat hanging over their heads.
Jess was in the office attached to the menagerie with Abby, who was getting ready to leave for the mission. The team had to return to the site of the original anomaly to be able to open the one for them to go through. This had annoyed most of the people going on the exploration, none of them wanting to waste the time they could be searching for Becker making the long drive out there. But once Connor had explained that they needed to do this so they would cross into the same area Becker would have landed in, they saw the reasoning behind it and agreed it made sense.
"Are you nervous about going through the anomaly?"
"Not really."
"I would be; I'd be terrified it'd close."
"I mean, yeah, that's a possibility, but you guys have the opening device now so I'm not too worried about it. Besides I've already survived a year living amongst dinosaurs, what's one more."
"Don't even joke about it. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Matt, and Connor as well."
"Sorry Jess, that was insensitive. Don't worry about us okay, we'll all be fine."
Abby looked at the normally cheerful field coordinator.
"Is there something else bothering you?"
"I just can't stop thinking about the whole Becker being pronounced dead thing, and the possibility of the girls' case being reopened any day now. What if they decide to put them into foster care?"
"Hey, don't think about it. None of it has happened yet, and if today goes well it never will. There's no point stressing over something that may never happen."
"Just promise me you'll try to make sure it does go well."
"I promise Jess, we're all going to come back."
The two women hugged and then it was time for Abby to go and meet up with the rest of the search team.