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munchkinTitle: Defying Destiny
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
munchkinofdoom
Characters: (Numb3rs) Don, Charlie, Nikki, Liz, David, Colby, Ian, Tim King, Amita. (Primeval) Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, Captain Tom Ryan. Brief Stargate cameo at the end. *veg*
Rating/Category: Gen. PG13 for explicit violence, some language.
Word-count 16,000
Spoilers: Spoilers for Numb3rs finale. Vague spoilers for eps 1x01-3 and season 5 of Primeval
Summary: Anomaly: 1.Deviation or departure from normal or common order, form or rule. 2.Time portal which enables travel between different time periods.
Rips in time are appearing and disappearing throughout the Los Angeles FBI Field Office, placing both agents and consultants in mortal peril. But they also give three men, who had each sacrificed his life for the Anomaly Project, a second chance. But first, everyone has to survive the experience.
Warnings: Explicit violence, death of OCs
Disclaimer: Numb3rs and its characters are the property of CBS. Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. No money is being made from this fanfic.
Artist/Vidders masterlink and feedback post: here.
![[livejournal.com profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
numb3rs_novella Fic/Art Masterlink: here
Notes: Many thanks totli for her wonderful vid trailer. You've caught the sense and feeling of the story perfectly and you should have seen my face the first time I watched it. *happy sigh*
Also thank you, as usual, to my Evil Twin,fredbassett for hand-holding and betaing. A special mention also goes to all the people who followed this fic's progress during primeval_denial's May Primeval Writer Month daily sessions.
Part 2
Nikki had parked herself at a work station that gave her a clear view of both elevators, her MP5 rifle cradled in her arms. The surveillance footage of the strange portal and the huge birds that had come through it had unnerved her in a way that hardened criminals had failed to do. The footage had been grainy, with the light from the thing Captain Ryan had called an anomaly flickering in the poor light of the parking garage, painting the creatures in shards of gold and silver.
Everyone had gathered around the huge computer screen that Charlie had thrown the footage up onto for better viewing, and they'd watched as Ryan had first fallen backward out of the anomaly, soon followed by the birds. They'd watched the silent image of the three people running for the stairwell, the first of the birds throwing itself against the closed door, and then nothing. It had taken Charlie, calling up the cameras that covered the elevator doors, for them to find out what had happened next.
One of the doors had opened, two agents alighting, unaware of the danger stalking them. The first bird had come at them from the elevator's blind spot – the area leading to the stairwell. One agent had been attacked before they'd had a chance to draw their weapons, but the second had fared better, getting off the shots that had brought down one creature before the second attacked. The agent had backed into the elevator before it had had a chance to close, but not fast enough. The remaining bird had followed him.
Nikki swallowed, remembering that image – the lone agent in the elevator car, the bird facing him as the door closed behind them. She knew that a bird had made it up to the Computer Forensics Unit, and no-one had mentioned it having already been injured. She didn't want to think about how that second agent must have died, locked in that tiny elevator with a monster.
Footsteps sounded behind her and Nikki spared a quick glance behind her to see Liz approaching, fully rigged out in kevlar, rifle cradled against one elbow and her Glock tucked into her belt. Don had ranted over and over – mainly because Colby insisted on sticking his down the back of his pants – but to no avail. They all still stuck their semi-automatic wherever they could in a tense situation, not wanting to be slowed down by a holster in a firefight.
"Thought you might want this," Liz said as she handed a kevlar vest to Nikki. The senior agent took up watching the elevator doors as Nikki kitted up, then the two women settled down to wait.
"We still on lock down?" asked Nikki.
Liz shrugged. "Yes and no. SWAT is on the move, and since we have the most info on what is going on, we've got command."
The elevator button pinged and both women stood, took a few steps back to give them a clear field of view, and aimed their MP5 rifles. Liz flicked the talk button on her earpiece. "Don, incoming."
Then the doors opened.
"King!" Nikki exclaimed. "You could warn a girl!"
Agent Tim King ignored her as he and another SWAT member escorted two men out of the elevator car. "Where's Eppes?" he asked.
"War room," Liz said, pointing toward the darkened communications hub where figures could be seen moving around.
"Okay, then," King said, turning his attention to the two strangers.
Nikki's eyes followed him and she assessed the newcomers. One was tall, young, dark-haired and gorgeous. He had piercing blue eyes that were taking in everything. The other man was older, neither as tall nor as fit as the first man. It was obvious that both men were worried, and Nikki hoped that things weren't about to get worse.
King pointed the two men toward the war room and ushered them into it. The second SWAT member, a tall, thin man, stayed behind, taking up position with Liz and Nikki, watchful.
They were quiet for a while, then Nikki turned to look at him. "You were in the weapons range?"
He nodded.
She looked at him for a moment and then tried again. "Bad?"
"Bad enough," he said flatly.
Well, that was helpful, she thought sourly. "Was it one of those birds?" she asked. "We thought there were only two of them."
He shook his head, his expression darkening. "It was something else." He frowned thoughtfully before continuing. "I've never seen anything like it." Then he added almost in afterthought, "It was dead by the time we got there."
"What did it look like?" Liz chimed in.
The SWAT member just shrugged.
"A mammal?" Nikki asked.
The man shrugged again. Nikki sighed and gave up. She caught Liz's eye and lifted her shoulders in defeat.
Maybe she'd have better luck with Charlie or Amita later. Her two friends certainly seemed to be in the thick of things. Nikki looked over her shoulder at the war room, where everyone was concentrated in front of the huge center screen. It looked like one of those anomaly things was on show, and Nikki wished she was in there, not out here on guard.
Then she frowned. Where were David and Colby?
* * * * *
Colby couldn't help grinning as he shrugged off his jacket and pulled his kevlar vest over his head, twisting to fasten the strapping snugly. Monsters. They had monsters in the office, and he was in the thick of it.
David just looked at him and wryly shook his head.
"Can you believe it? Monsters," Colby said.
"Monster that kill people, Granger," David replied. "Our people."
Colby looked up from where he was trying to decide between the Heckler & Koch MP5 or his Mossberg Tactical shotgun. The MP5 had the benefit of being a semi/full automatic, but if he had to go up against a nightmare bird, Colby wanted something that was pretty much guaranteed to blow the head off any nightmare that tried to eat him.
"People have been trying to kill us from the day we took the oath, man, but these are monsters. Monsters, David." Colby admitted it to himself, he was excited. He pulled out the Mossberg, some extra rounds, and grinned at his partner.
David finally returned his grin, which just made Colby happier. Then something began to pull gently on the metal stock of his shotgun and the smile was wiped clean off of David's face. Colby looked behind him, to where David was staring.
"Oh fuck," Colby whispered. Broken shards of lights erupted from a center point, throwing out clear, silver and gold shards in all direction. "And of course the damn thing is between us and the door..."
* * * * *
Nick Cutter took a moment to look around the darkened room as he and Stephen were escorted inside and shown to seats. Everyone and their dog was armed to the teeth, weapons worn as if they were extensions of the FBI agents' bodies. A tall man with dark, piercing eyes and close-cropped black hair stood in one corner, his gaze intent on them and his hand idly – but purposefully, Nick had no doubt – hung only millimeters from a holstered gun.
Then he looked down and his eyes widened as he realized who the man who radiated lethal intent was guarding – Ryan. Nick couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. They had quite possibly run headlong from the frying pan straight into the fire, and it sounded like they'd ended up in America, of all places – but Nick didn't care. Ryan had sacrificed his own escape to make sure that Nick and Stephen had made it through the anomaly, and Nick had been sure that they'd never see the soldier again. Left behind in the late Paleocene, low on ammunition – Nick had known that Ryan's plight had been hopeless and had only hoped that his sacrifice hadn't been in vain.
Now, impossibly, all three of them were alive and well, if heavily guarded. They'd fared far better than Nick could ever have imagined.
"I'm glad to see you're all right, Captain," Nick said. "I didn't think I'd see you again."
Ryan smiled at him, his pale blue eyes crinkling, and then the soldier looked up at one of the other agents. "Eppes, this is Professor Cutter, the scientist I told you about. If anyone knows what's going on, Cutter is your man."
A man with dark, lightly curled hair stepped forward and offered his hand. He was casually dressed, a protective vest of some sort covering a dark tee-shirt, and had a gun clipped to his belt.
"Special Agent Don Eppes," the man introduced himself, and he pointed toward a shorter man and an attractive young woman, both with dark hair. "Charlie, my brother, and Amita. Charlie's a math professor and Amita is a doctor of math and physics. They consult for us."
The agent sat down across from Nick, his back to the large screen that played footage of the anomaly that had brought them to this time. Agent Eppes leaned forward, only to be beaten to the punch by the smaller brother, Charlie.
"Professor, I'm so glad to finally meet you! We were worried after Captain Ryan said you'd got separated."
Don turned a chagrined glare on his brother, and Nick tried not to smile. Charlie reminded him of an older, more successful Connor Temple – all bright eyes and enthusiasm. He wondered if this was what Connor would be like in another decade or so. Then something occurred to him.
"What year is this?" Nick asked.
"2010," said Charlie, smiling. "You've traveled forward in time four years."
"It's worse than that," Nick said. "The anomaly we came through brought us from the future. A future that looks like our civilization has been destroyed by those predators."
"That four-legged thing in the weapons range?" the SWAT man asked.
Don looked up with concern. "They weren't large birds?"
The SWAT man shook his head. "It looked like a huge, hairless, long-legged rat. From what the surviving agents said, it could climb walls and run upside down on the ceiling. It was fucking fast."
"Wait, let me get this straight," said Don, frowning. "We have two different kinds of creatures loose? From two different times? That's what you're all saying?"
Nick nodded. "Let me start at the beginning. We had a report of large birds loose and decided to investigate in case it was an anomaly - "
"You can't monitor these anomalies?" Charlie interjected.
"No. We have no way to track when one opens without eyewitness reports. The project is still in its early days – Stephen, my technical assistant – " he nodded at Stephen, who remained silent, watching the proceedings. "We still work from my offices at the Central Metropolitan University. I'm an evolutionary zoologist."
"You consult for the British government, like we do for the FBI," said Charlie.
"Yeah. The Home Office calls us in whenever there's an incursion – normally someone reporting strange creatures or strange lights. It's still early days and we've only investigated a few anomalies so far."
"Where do the anomalies come from?" asked Charlie. "Do you have a hypothesis? Are they man-made or a natural phenomenon?"
"Whoa, slow down, buddy!" Don interrupted. "We can worry about all that later – our immediate problem, now, is what to do about the creatures." He smiled reassuringly at his brother and then turned to the SWAT member who was still leaning against the wall. "Tim? Oh, by the way, Professor Cutter? This is Special Agent Tim King, head of our SWAT team."
Nick offered his hand and Tim shook it. Then the SWAT leader turned his attention back to Don.
Don continued, "Is the situation in the weapons range contained?"
Tim nodded. "The anomaly closed before we arrived on the scene. There were three deaths, two agents injured, and one dead beast. The second one had been wounded, according to Agent Hoskins' report, but had escaped back through the anomaly before it had closed."
Don nodded. "Professor, I don't suppose that was the last anomaly?"
"I can't say. The last incursion we dealt with was an anomaly that was moving along a temporal rift line, opening in new locations over the space of more than twenty-four hours. Each opening lasted anything from a few minutes to a number of hours."
This incursion seems to be similar, except that both ends of the anomaly are moving, rather than one being in a fixed point and the one in our time moving."
Don just stared at him, although Nick could see Charlie almost dying to ask questions. He looked around, meeting Stephen's wry look, and – apart from Charlie and Amita – all the FBI agents just looked confused. Nick sighed.
"Let me try again. An anomaly is like a door. On one side is one era in time, and on the other is a second era – usually our time, or we wouldn't have known about them. With me so far?" Everyone nodded. "Okay. All the anomalies we've dealt with so far had a fixed point in time and space on the other side. The Cretaceous or the Permian, for example."
But this current incursion is different. It seems to be bouncing between eras in the past, present and future."
"How do you know it is even the same anomaly, then?" asked Charlie.
That was a good question. "I don't," Nick answered. "But I've never experienced so many anomalies in such a short time, all of short duration, and seemingly limited to only a few eras."
Charlie started to count off his fingers. "The years 2006 and 2010, the future and – the Paleocene, you said?"
"Yes. We lost Ryan in the Paleocene when he covered our retreat through the anomaly. It never occurred to me that the anomaly wouldn't take us back to 2006. It was in the same place as the original anomaly. It must have closed and re-opened while we were fending off the Gastornis. That anomaly took us to what I assume is the near future and another anomaly in that same place brought us here."
"The creatures that came through the anomaly in the weapons range came from that future?" Tim asked.
Nick nodded. "They seem to have ruined that future. We saw no other people."
"Just derelict, destroyed buildings," Stephen said, finally joining the conversation.
Don homed in on that comment. "Any idea of what city it was? How far in the future?"
Nick frowned in thought, trying to picture the scene in his mind. Then he shook his head. "It could have been anywhere."
"No," Stephen interjected. "It was most likely North American. The cars were strewn all over the place, but the street signs I saw faced the right side of the road. And they were in English." Then he shrugged. "I don't know any American landmarks well enough to narrow it down to which city, sorry."
"There must be some way of identifying the eras an anomaly connects without sending someone through to make an educated guess," Amita mused, and Nick studied her for the first time. She was young, beautiful, and he somehow felt calmer just listening to her speak.
"We can't even tell when one opens," Nick replied.
"No offense, Professor - "
"Call me Cutter," he offered.
Amita smiled. "No offense, Cutter, but you're a zoologist, not a physicist. At the very least, we should be able to use the anomaly's magnetic field to identify when one opens. First we must identify what frequency and oscillation each one uses. If they all use the same frequency we might be able to set up an alert system and even disrupt the magnetic field enough to cause the anomaly to collapse in on itself."
"Any chance of building an anomaly-collapser soon?" Don asked hopefully.
Amita shook her head. "Not enough information. Let's identify the anomaly's magnetic frequency first and then go on from there. Once we have that frequency, perhaps we can use magnetometers to identify hotspots."
"Hotspots?" Nick didn't like the sound of that.
Charlie took up the explanation. "In the long term, identifying the frequency of the anomalies should let us set up an alert system, but our immediate problem is where to expect this current anomaly to appear next."
"You think you can do that?" asked Don.
"Maybe. I can't promise anything, Don. But if something is drawing the anomaly to these precise locations in time and space, there might be signs in the local magnetic field. We need to measure the magnetic field in the locations where there was already an anomaly."
"You think you're on to something..." Don observed.
"Magnetic fields differ greatly due to local conditions. They can be affected by anything from the types of rock substrate to electro-magnetic radiation emitted by our technology," Amita said. "I don't know what allows an anomaly to punch through into our time, but once it does, I suspect it leaves a footprint as well as weakening the temporal location in question. If we can identify the footprint already left by this anomaly, hopefully we can use magnetometers to identify risk points – places where a compromised magnetic field might allow the anomaly to punch through again."
"So we'll at least know where to put guards? Until this thing is over?"
"Yes, Don," Charlie said.
"But none of you can tell me how long this is going to go on?" Don looked first at Charlie and Amita, who both shook their heads. Then he met Nick's gaze.
"As Amita said, I'm an evolutionary zoologist. I was brought onto the Anomaly Project to deal with the creature incursions. Physics isn't my field," Nick replied.
"Has anyone thought of actually asking this Anomaly Project for help or advice?" Amita asked.
"I'm waiting on a callback from the British Embassy," Don said. "Until then, we're on our own."
"So what do you want us to do, Don?" Tim King asked. "You've got our SWAT teams at your disposal."
"Charlie, where are these magnetometers you mentioned?" Don asked.
"We can borrow whatever CalSci's Physics and Geology Departments have on hand."
"Okay," Don mused. "So, first thing is to get Charlie and Amita safely out of the building. Tim, you're on that."
Tim King nodded and lifted his hand to his tactical ear-piece.
"Ah," Stephen interrupted. "We've had problems with those in the immediate vicinity of an anomaly. Same with mobile phones."
Tim looked at Ryan, who had been sitting quietly through the proceedings. "Any particular frequency? And any idea of the range of interference?"
"We haven't had time to do any in-depth testing." Ryan shrugged. "Basically, if you can see the anomaly, you're going to have problems."
Tim nodded. Then he turned back to Don. "What about evacuating the building? If we use the stairwells, hopefully we can avoid any more elevator ambushes."
Don nodded. "That'll give us the run of the building without having to worry about collateral damage. Get security to start a staged evacuation, floor by floor. That way, we can offer protection for the agents who have less experience with firearms."
"Done," Tim answered, then he started to talk quietly into his radio.
"Charlie, Amita, you go with Tim and his SWAT team and get back here as fast as you can. Give me a call when you reach the building. Don't come back into the building without an armed escort, you hear?"
Charlie nodded. Nick watched as Tim King escorted the two scientists out of the room. Don stood up, nodding to Nick and Stephen as he did so, and looked over their heads toward the elevators.
"Liz and Nikki are already kitted up and watching the elevators on this floor. We split up when Charlie and Amita get back. I'll take Charlie, with Liz and Nikki on protection detail. Ian, you'll be with Amita. Take David and Colby with you."
The tall, dangerous-looking man finally joined in the conversation. He stepped forward, scrutinizing Nick as he did so. Then he frowned. "Where are Sinclair and Granger, anyway?"
* * * * *
"Will you just shoot the damn thing!" Colby yelled as he ducked. Hot breath fanned the exposed back of his neck as the thing missed him by inches as it threw itself from one side of the locker room to the other. It scurried up the wall and hung upside down over the anomaly, and Colby would have sworn it would have been glaring balefully at him if it had eyes.
"The anomaly is throwing off my aim," David muttered.
Colby rolled and snatched up the shotgun that the creature had knocked from his hands when it had first come through the anomaly and brought it to bear. He cocked the slide and let off a round, swearing as the anomaly pulled it off its trajectory, missing the monster in the process. "I see what you mean."
The creature dropped, upside down, into the anomaly and disappeared. Colby sighed with relief.
"Don't count your chickens yet, Granger," David answered, and then the thing was upon them again, bursting through the anomaly at face level, and all Colby saw was teeth before David grabbed him and pulled him down and out of the way.
Now neither of them had the damn thing in their sights.
Something hit him hard from behind, forcing the air from his lungs in an agonized grunt. His shotgun slipped from his weakened hand and he felt David's hand slip away. He could hear yelling but couldn't understand the words. A sharp clicking sound chirped in his ears, reverberating in his skull like someone was shaking his head and it was full of marbles. Fetid breath blew down the back of his neck, raising goosebumps.
Then he screamed as the Mossberg fired close-by. His ears ached mercilessly, but the body on top of his toppled to one side. The Mossberg's report sounded again. David must have been making sure, Colby thought idly as he tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head.
Colby struggled to his feet and stared at his partner. David's returning grin was feral. Colby knew how he felt.
"We have to get out of this room," David said.
Colby stared at the anomaly, wishing as hard as he could that it would just go away. It didn't.
"So, through or around?" he asked.
David actually appeared to be considering the suggestion. "There could be more of those things waiting for us. If I understand how these things work, and going by what the creature just did, we'd have to run through the anomaly, circle it, and enter from the other side to get to the door. You really want to risk that?"
Colby looked at the anomaly blocking their path. "Around it is."
David sighed. "Good call."
* * * * *
"Stop," Charlie asked. "Can we stop for a minute?"
Tim King looked away from the traffic around them on the down-town LA streets and cocked his head at Charlie. "Why?"
Charlie waved a hand-held magnetometer in the air. "We're going to be surrounded by small variations in the background magnetic field as soon as we're back in the office. I'd like to try my theory out in an area with less technology."
"Oh, what about the park outside the field office?" Amita offered from the back seat.
"Yeah, that would be great," answered Charlie.
"Okay, we can do that, but I'll have to run it by Don first," Tim said.
Charlie pulled out his cell-phone. "I'll call him."
Tim just nodded and took a right turn, heading away from the entry to the under-cover parking garage and toward the small park that the staff often used for fresh air and jogging.
The government-issue SUV was soon parked, and Tim helped Charlie and Amita as they pulled out rucksacks full of technical equipment of various sizes.
"We're going to need multiple field readings in order to calculate the background field before we can start to pinpoint anomalous readings." Charlie pulled out a hand-held magnetometer and handed it to Tim. "Your cell has GPS?"
Tim nodded.
"Okay," Charlie said. "We divide the park into three sectors. Take readings every few feet and note the GPS co-ordinates. We'll meet up on the west side of the park and compare measurements."
Amita nodded. "That should be enough readings to get a baseline magnetic field and see if there are any major variations."
"You're saying that the spikes will be potential anomalies?" asked Tim.
Amita shrugged. "There may be no real variation at all that can't be explained. Anomalies may not leave a footprint until they've actually punched through into our time. But we need to know, one way or the other. At least this will give us an idea of what the normal range of variation is."
Charlie worried as they walked their allotted zones, afraid of what might be happening inside the office building. The conversation with Don had been short, and Charlie felt that his brother had been hiding something from him. He could only do his job and hope that everyone left behind in the FBI office were okay.
The three of them finally hit the western end of the park and compared notes. Tim happily handed over the list of readings and GPS co-ordinates and left Charlie and Amita to it. They huddled over the sheets of paper, scanning the masses of readings.
"There," Amita said, pointing to two readings from Tim's sheet and another two from Charlie's. "They're definitely anomalous, considering the standard range of deviation we've plotted."
Charlie nodded. The readings stood out like a sore thumb against the minor background variations in the local magnetic field. He could only hope that the variations caused by electronic equipment in the office wouldn't mask or mimic these anomalous readings, or they were screwed.
He pulled out his cell again and called Don. "Don? We've got it - " Then he pulled the phone away from his ear and frowned. Don had just hung up on him.
As he wondered what was happening with Don, he heard voices coming from the direction of the office and he turned. The evacuation had started.
* * * * *
Don was beginning to worry. David and Colby hadn't returned to the war room after kitting up. He left Ian in charge of their time travelers and headed out into the office. First he headed for the elevators.
"Liz, Nikki," he called. "Have you seen David or Colby?"
Liz turned to greet him while Nikki kept her watch on the closed elevator doors. A lanky SWAT member stood beside her. Don spared a brief, grateful thought for Tim King.
"No, we haven't," Liz said. "They were in the locker room when I kitted up but I haven't seen them since then."
Don frowned. "Okay, I'll go check the locker room. Yell if you need me."
"Will do."
Don turned away and then remembered. "Oh," he added, turning back to Liz. "The Brits say that we'll have trouble with our cells and radios if an anomaly opens. You'll have to use the landlines."
"Understood, Don."
Don headed off toward the locker rooms. He unclipped his Glock just in case, responding to a slight shiver that set the hairs at the nape of his neck on edge. He'd always trusted his instincts, just as Charlie had always trusted numbers.
He approached the closed door of the locker room. He'd never really noticed the heavy metal door that acted as a locking mechanism for the heavy armaments within, but this time it felt ominous, as if it was hiding nightmares behind its substantial weight. Holding his Glock ready, he punched in the entry code for the door and reached for the handle.
Then his cell-phone rang. He holstered his weapon and reached for the phone, noting Charlie's ID. "Charlie?" He listened for a moment, then broke into the conversation. "Charlie, hold it a minute, I just want to – " then the call cut out.
Don stared at his cell-phone, then back at the closed door. This wasn't good. He slipped the cell back into his pocket and unclipped the Glock from his belt. He rekeyed the control panel for the door and lifted his gun in readiness as he turned the door handle.
Bright, flickering lights burst into his vision, momentarily blinding him, and he took an involuntary step backward. "Colby! David, you in there?"
"Yeah," David's voice came back. "We're going to try to go around it."
Don took a closer look at the anomaly that hung a foot or so above the floor. It was damned close to the door. If it had been Liz or Nikki, yeah, he could see them making it around the thing without falling in, but David and Colby? "Are you both okay? Anything come through yet?"
"Colby had the wind knocked out of him by a big, bouncy rat-thing but I killed it."
Okay, that wasn't good, Don thought. Sounded like the anomaly went to the future that Cutter had talked about. "You need to get out of there, guys. Now."
"You won't get any argument from us," Colby said. He didn't sound too bad. Don figured he couldn't be too damaged if he could talk. "Okay, stay put and keep a watch out for any more of those creatures. I'll go get Professor Cutter."
"Who's Cutter?" Colby yelled, but Don was already on his way back to the war room. He just hoped that nothing else came through before they figured out how to get his team members out.
* * * * *
"Professor! We've got a situation," Don called from outside of the communications hub.
Ryan sat up just that little bit straighter in his seat. Something was happening. Behind him, Ian Edgerton straightened too, one hand coming to rest on Ryan's shoulder in warning. Ryan looked over his shoulder at the agent and gave him a slight nod.
"Agent Eppes?" Nick asked, staggering to his feet as Don rushed into the room.
"One of your anomalies has opened in the locker room and it's between the door and two of my agents."
"Sinclair and Granger?" Ian asked.
Don nodded. "They're going to try to go around it but it's going to be a tight fit."
"That isn't a good idea," Nick said. Ryan couldn't help but agree. One wrong step and they'd be in another era. If they were going to have to go through the anomaly to get out of that room, it would be best it if it was a planned excursion, not a trip and slip.
Don frowned. "Yeah. What happens if they touch the anomaly?"
Nick shrugged. "It depends on how much of their body enters the anomaly. There was a boy at our first anomaly, Ben, who was able to poke just his face through the anomaly to see what was on the other side. It's early days and we haven't had the chance to test what the threshold is."
"Will it suck them in?" Don asked, worried.
"No, definitely not. But eventually, I think, if there's more body in the anomaly than out, they're going to end up going through."
"What if we pull them through the anomaly by the hand?" Ian asked.
Nick turned to look at the other agent, who, Ryan noted, was still guarding him. His respect for the FBI agent was increasing by the moment. Maybe they had a chance of surviving this.
"Ian?" Nick asked, and Ryan watched as Ian nodded. "Again, we just don't know. You may end up going through the anomaly with them, or have to let go to avoid being pulled through. We'll just have to see what happens."
Then Nick turned back to Don. "Have any creatures come through?"
"Yeah," Don said ominously. "One of those bat-things you were talking about. They killed it, but Colby might be injured."
Ryan's face froze. The terror birds were bad enough, and he'd prefer them any day over what Nick had described of the future. He turned his head to look up at Ian, and the agent met his gaze. "You're going to need me."
Ian looked at Don, who nodded. Ryan stood up, accepting his M4 carbine from the agent, and walked to Nick's side. Stephen stood up as well, taking up position on Nick's other side.
Nick looked at Don. "Let's go see what we can do about getting your people out of there."
* * * * *
Nikki looked around at the sound of running feet. "Something's up," she said urgently, sharing a concerned look with Liz as they watched everyone troop out of the war room at speed.
The SWAT member stiffened beside them. "They've rearmed the Brit," he said.
"Something's definitely up," Nikki repeated. "What should we do?"
Liz looked torn for a moment. "You go and – " She broke off as the SWAT man lifted a hand to his radio and reported in. He spoke a few times in monosyllables and then turned his attention back to Liz and Nikki.
"Agent King is on his way up in the elevator. Professor Eppes is worried – he lost contact with Agent Eppes."
Nikki's eyes widened. "Don't those anomalies interfere with cell-phones?"
They all looked in the direction of the locker room in the distance, where a faint golden light was shining though the now-open door.
"Weren't David and Colby in there?" Nikki asked.
"Oh God," breathed Liz. "Go, I'll keep watch here."
The SWAT man caught Nikki's arm as she started to run. "No. King will be here in a minute, with the rest of our team. That thing is blocking the door, so no-one is getting past it. You'll only get in the way."
Nikki tried to pull her arm away, but his grip was strong. Then the elevator button pinged and the door opened.
"Sir," the SWAT agent on watch said as Tim exited the elevator, a rucksack in hand. "We have a situation."
Tim turned to look at his agent as Charlie and Amita passed him, more SWAT members hard on their heels. Charlie looked frightened, and Nikki swallowed. Maybe they should have left the civilians outside? Oh well, it was all too late now.
"Report," said Tim.
"There's an anomaly in the locker room and it looks like two agents are trapped inside."
"Don?" Charlie asked. His face went white and Liz reached out to steady him.
"No, not Don," she said reassuringly. "We think it's David and Colby."
"Oh..." Charlie stopped in his tracks for a moment. The SWAT team moved around him and started toward the locker room. His eyes followed them, then he caught sight of Don in the distance. Don was standing in front of the open locker room door, his face light by pale golden light. Nikki could see Ian's tall form beyond his, and it looked like the people who had come through the two anomalies where with them.
Charlie frowned. "He shouldn't stand so close."
"Don knows what he's doing, Charlie," Nikki tried to reassure him, but then something burst free from the light and bowled Don over before continuing on into the open office. Something else came out after it, not even stopping as it flew over Don's downed form. A third creature sailed right over the top of the group of people, bounced once on a nearby desk and then scuttled upside down across the ceiling.
Then the light flared and was gone.
* * * * *
Ryan grabbed Nick, shoved him under a nearby desk and took up a protective stance over him. He could clearly hear the professor's swearing over the hubbub of raised voices and the infernal sound of high-pitched clicking that seemed to come from all directions.
Off to one side, Ian helped Don to his feet and checked him over for injuries. As far as Ryan could tell, the FBI agent just seemed winded. He'd got off lucky.
"Arm Hart," Ryan yelled, and Ian unclipped a Glock from his belt and handed it over to Stephen. Spare magazines followed. Ryan spared the agent a smile in gratitude. Stephen Hart might be an academic, like Nick, but he was also their tracker and the most experienced live animal handler after Abby Maitland.
Ryan wished for a moment that they had Miss Maitland with them, but then one of the creatures bounded out of nowhere and rushed them. Stephen lifted the Glock and got off a few rounds which did little to slow the thing down.
A handsome dark-skinned man exited the locker room with a Mossberg shotgun at the ready. He cocked the pump action and let off a heavy round, which scored a deep furrow along the side of the creature's head and caught it in one shoulder. The thing hissed, its clicking taking on a strange, strangled note, and then it launched itself back onto the ceiling and scurried away, leaving a dripping trail of blood to mark its passage.
"Good timing, David," Ian said. "How's Colby."
"Dizzy," came a voice from inside the room. Then a second man, fair-haired and heavy-set, staggered into view. He was pale, looking like he was going to throw up any moment. Ryan figured this was Colby.
"Where'd they go?" Colby asked.
"The creatures?" Don looked around, a bit blearily, then seemed to notice the blood trail across a line of desks, leading toward the war room. He turned back to Ian. "You didn't kill it?"
Ian seemed to bristle, then shook his head.
"How many are there? I remember one walking all over me," Don asked.
"Three came through before the anomaly closed!" Ryan said. "Cutter, what do we need to know about these things?"
"Let me out from under here and I'll bloody well tell you!"
Ah, Ryan thought, Cutter had his dander up again. Oh well, he'd just thump him if he got out of line. Cutter was his responsibility and he took that seriously. Giving in to the inevitable, Ryan stepped to one side, letting Cutter crawl free. The Scotsman glared at him as he climbed to his feet.
Then, fortunately for him, Ryan suspected, Stephen distracted the professor.
"Stay close to me," Stephen warned. "That clicking – it's some sort of echo-location, right?"
"I think so. We have to find some way to scramble their senses or they'll just pick us off one by one."
"They're hard to kill," Stephen added.
"Well, we can't just stand here and wait for them to come to us," Don mused. He looked at Ian and continued, "We split up, everyone armed to the teeth, and see if we can get these things before the others get back. I don't want Charlie and Amita anywhere near here with them on the loose."
"You sure you're up to this, Don?" asked Ian. Don nodded, but Ryan noticed he was favoring one shoulder.
Ian didn't look convinced.
"Colby, you stay with Nick and Stephen," Don said. "I'll take David. Ian, you team up with Captain Ryan and we end this."
David nodded. "Any idea where Charlie and Amita are? We should keep the civilians together for protection."
"Don sent them off to CalSci for magnetometers. Charlie thinks he might be able to predict where an anomaly might open," Ian said.
"They aren't coming back into the building, are they?" David asked, shocked.
"Too late," Stephen chimed in, and Ryan turned to see where the other man was looking.
Oh God, Ryan thought despairingly, they'd actually returned.
A small group of heavily-armed FBI agents and kitted up SWAT members surrounded the two academics. They were making their way across the huge expanses of cubicles and glassed rooms. It looked like they were heading for the locker room, which – Ryan admitted – was probably a good idea now that the anomaly had closed. Maybe, once they got all the useful info out of Nick, they could shove him in there with the others. Stephen could stay at large – he was useful in a fire-fight, Ryan had to admit.
"The two girls are agents?" Nick asked and Stephen shook his head ruefully.
"The two women are Liz and Nikki," David replied and Ryan stifled a smile.
"And they're agents," Ian continued.
"And Nikki is dating Ian," Colby chimed in, ignoring the glare Ian gave him.
"Down!" Nick yelled at the top of his lungs and then everything went to hell.
A creature scuttled across the ceiling toward the little group that was making its way across the floor. It stopped, hanging upside down above them, and then dropped into the midst of the people. Bodies flew in all directions, agents throwing themselves on top of the two scientists protectively, and Ryan could hear yelling and screaming.
"Go!" Don yelled to Ian. "We'll take the injured one. Go!"
Ian and Ryan ran toward the fray, staying low as they felt a presence over them, forewarned by the ominous clicking sound. Ian ducked and rolled out of the way as a second creature lunged at him, and Ryan opened fire. He caught the creature along one flank and it barely broke stride. He knew that if the thing caught hold of Ian that he'd never be able to risk semi-automatic fire so close to him. He swore at himself for not having the foresight to ask for the return of his own Glock.
The creature turned on its long, spindly legs and lunged for Ian again. The agent flipped over onto his back as the thing landed on him, but he already had a knife free and plunged it deep into the creature's throat. Blood gushed like a fountain, but the creature didn't even seem to slow down. Ian pulled the knife free and stabbed again, planting his elbow under the thing's jaw as it tried to maul him.
Ryan ran forward and pulled backward on the creature's bony shoulders, trying to keep clear of the sharp talons on the long limbs. He hauled it off of Ian's body. Ian rolled to his side, snatched up the rifle that had been knocked from his grasp, and yelled for Ryan to get out of the way. Ryan gave the thing one last shove and turned and ran for his life, listening to the sound of semi-automatic gunfire behind him. The creature didn't follow.
He turned back and stood guard over Ian as he got to his feet. He looked at the blood covering the agent's garments.
Ian looked down and shrugged.
"Better that thing than me."
Ryan couldn't help but agree. "There's still two more of them."
Ian nodded and they turned back toward the little group that had already come under siege. A SWAT member was down, but he seemed to be the only casualty so far. The SWAT leader, Tim King, stood over his wounded team-member while the two women each grabbed a scientist and started pulling.
"Liz!" Ian yelled, and a woman with long, straight dark hair looked up. "Get them into the locker room. We'll take care of the creature."
"The anomaly!" Charlie yelled. "What about Don?"
The other woman, Ryan assumed had to be Nikki, grabbed Charlie by the arm and started pulling. "Don's on his feet and the anomaly has closed. It's the safest place on the floor."
"What if it opens again?"
Ryan could hear Charlie's voice carrying across the floor as he and Amita were escorted toward him and Ian. Nikki started to smile at Ian as she approached, but her eyes widened as she saw the blood on Ian's clothes.
"It isn't mine," Ian assured her.
"Okay." Nikki took a deep breath. "Charlie does have a point though – what if the anomaly does open again?"
Ryan frowned in thought. "I think we've been dealing with the same anomaly all along. If so, it's going to open again nearby but not in the same location. Stay close to the door in case it does appear further into the room, but it probably won't."
Nikki nodded. "Be careful," she said as she headed off. Ryan suspected the warning was more for Ian than himself, but he could live with that.
Ryan stopped to look at the chaos around them. The scientists were safe, but two creatures were still loose and had already proven themselves hard to kill. To one side of the huge space, Don and David were standing back to back, concentrating on the wounded creatures. A SWAT member was with them. They looked to be holding their own.
Ryan turned back to where the Tim and the rest of the team who had come in with the scientists had come under attack. One man was down and not moving. A second was bleeding but mobile, and Tim was pulling the man out of the range of the beast with one hand while firing his pistol with the other. The damn thing was still on its feet.
Ryan started running, his M4 carbine at the ready. Ian kept pace beside him, his knife still in one hand.
"They're damn hard to kill," the agent said, no sign of breathlessness or fatigue in his voice. Ryan definitely liked this man. "You haven't seen these things before?"
"No," Ryan said. "This is the first time something's come through from the future."
They threw themselves into the thick of the action. Ryan ducked to one side, setting himself up as a decoy while Ian leaned in and slit the throat of the distracted creature. The thing lurched to one side but soon recovered, coming up clicking, its maw open and showing massive teeth already stained red. Blood ran down its bony chest and its breathing was harsh, forced. Ian must have missed its windpipe, Ryan thought.
They threw themselves away from the wounded beast and then both turned toward it, opening fire. It lurched toward Ian, seeming to sense that he was the most dangerous of them. But another burst of semi-automatic fire cracked its skull like ripe fruit and it dropped to the ground.
Ian stood guard while Ryan checked the downed SWAT member. Ryan felt through the blood for a pulse, then held his hand over the man's nose in hopes of feeling his breath. Nothing. He looked up at Tim and shook his head. The SWAT leader sighed and nodded, then turned his attention back to his wounded agent. Blood soaked the right arm of the man's jacket, and he seemed barely able to stay on his feet. But he was alive.
Now there was only one beast to deal with.
* * * * *
Don pulled in a deep breath, felt the constriction of his kevlar vest against his bruised ribs, and slowly, carefully exhaled. David's solid bulk beside him was reassuring, and the presence of a SWAT member off to one side helped some.
But, right in front of him, its sightless head homed in on his location, was something out of a horror movie. The wound along its huge head still dripped blood, but the thing didn't seem bothered by its injury. If anything, it just seemed to make it more dangerous-looking.
"If we take out its legs, maybe we can slow it down enough to kill it," David whispered. The creature's head angled a little in David's direction at the sound of his voice.
"Agent Eppes?" the SWAT man called softly, and the thing shifted its hind quarters to try to keep all three of them within range of its clicking.
"Aim for its front legs," Don yelled and opened fire as the creature whirled at the sound of his voice and charged. All the agents opened fire, careful not to catch any of the others in a cross-fire, but the creature was already on the move. It sprang on legs like springs, landing sure-footedly on a nearby desk before throwing itself into the air, rotating itself as it did so, finally coming to rest on the ceiling. Then it launched itself straight at Don.
Don threw himself to one side. He twisted as he came to a stop against a cubicle wall and rolled onto his back, bringing his assault rifle up as he did so. The thing was almost on him as he opened fire on full automatic, cutting a swathe of red across the creature's maw, shattering teeth and bone.
The thing fell heavily, landing on Don. Its front legs scrabbled futilely against Don's vest and blood and shattered teeth splattered across his head and shoulders. Then David's face appeared above the creature and he started to pull the body off. Don helped as best he could, pushing with his arms and knees until the creature slid off and fell to the side.
Don decided he could spare a moment to catch his breath.
Then he heard running feet and sat up, but the cubicle was in the way.
"Don!"
Oh God, it was Charlie. "David, get him back inside the locker room. We aren't secure," Don ordered as he struggled to his feet. He couldn't let Charlie see him covered in blood and bone – his little brother would have a heart attack. And worse, he'd tell their dad.
Then Charlie's curly head appeared on the other side of the cubicle that had hidden him until then. Too late, Don sighed to himself.
"Don, oh my God, Don! You're hurt," Charlie whispered.
"No, no, buddy, this isn't mine," answered Don as he made a futile effort to wipe the gore off his face and only succeeded in spreading it further. It was sticky, gritty, and Don grimaced. Dad would never forgive him if Charlie ended up having nightmares.
Then the sharp clack of heels clattered toward him. Don hung his head and rubbed his face with his hands. That was all he needed – Amita too.
"Don," she called, "Charlie, there's a definite magnetic spike in the locker room. I think we're on to something." Then she blinked when she saw Don's condition. "Are you okay?"
Don just nodded tiredly.
Someone moved behind Amita, and Don stiffened for a second. Then Nick Cutter came into sight. Stephen Hart was right behind him, a Glock held securely in one hand. The dark-haired man was alert, his gaze quartering their surroundings and coming to rest on the dead creature. He stepped around Nick and knelt beside the monster.
He rolled it onto its side with David's help and then inspected it. "Cutter?" he called, and Nick joined him. The zoologist rolled the creature onto its back and got David and Stephen to hold it there so that he could get a good look. "It's definitely a mammal. A DNA sample should tell me what it was descended from."
"Could it be genetically altered?" asked Stephen.
Don frowned. This was going nowhere and could be shelved for another time. "Cutter, is it over? Will the anomaly open again, you think?"
Cutter looked up from the creature and shrugged. "Only time will tell."
"So what do we do now?" Don asked.
Charlie rested his forearms on the top of the cubicle wall and rested his head. He shared a look with Don and then shrugged. "We can use the surveillance cameras."
"For how long?"
Charlie shrugged again. "For as long as it takes."
Don sighed again. At this rate, the building could be off-limits for days. Oh well, he had a job to do and at least now he had some way of doing it, even if the whole situation seemed like something out of a science fiction movie.
Then his cell-phone rang.
"Eppes." He listened for a moment, frowned, said, "Yes, sir," and hung up. He stared the phone, shook his head ruefully and then turned his attention to the interested faces around him. "Cutter, the British Embassy is sending a car for you. All three of you have diplomatic immunity."
Don pocketed his cell and rubbed his eyes again. Well, there went any hope of getting an explanation. It would be up to Charlie and Amita now. Then he looked up to find his little brother and Amita huddled together over some sort of hand-held gadget.
Well, Don figured, it could have been worse.
* * * * *
Charlie smiled as Alan carried a tray of coffee mugs into the Craftsman's front room. The sun was setting outside and the temperature was dropping quickly. They'd have to light the fire soon. He'd miss this house while he and Amita were in England.
He was also just a bit concerned about what his garage would look like when they got home. A man-cave? Charlie shuddered and Amita looked up. She smiled happily at him, Her wedding ring shone on her left hand and Charlie felt a warm flutter inside. It hadn't even been a week yet and he was having some difficulty believing that they'd finally managed to get married. Alan still teased them about how he'd had to step in and get it done or they'd still be dawdling. That wasn't quite how it happened, but Charlie let his dad have his version.
Anita thanked Alan for the coffee and turned her attention back to the reams of data and calculations spread out on the large coffee table. Charlie did the same, looking at row after row of raw magnetic frequency and GPS data. They'd spent weeks going over every floor of the FBI offices, starting with the anomaly sites, and the amount of data was staggering. But they had the beginnings of something, some way of at least identifying potential anomaly sites. But they still had a long way to go.
A car pulled up outside and Alan went to look out the window. He turned back to where Charlie and Amita were looking at him. He frowned. "It's big and black. Definitely government," he said flatly.
Charlie got up and went to the window. A gray-haired man in uniform got out of the car and adjusted his jacket before walking up to the door. Charlie beat him there and had it open before the man had the chance to knock.
"Can I help you?" asked Charlie.
"Professor Eppes?"
"Yes – " Charlie peered closely at the various epaulettes. "General?"
"Jack O'Neill." The general held out his hand.
"Please, come in." Charlie opened the door and let O'Neill in, shrugging in confusion when Amita sent him a querying look. He led the general into the front room and offered him a seat. Charlie gave Amita a grateful smile when she quickly collected up their research on anomalies.
"Please, don't clean up for me," O'Neill said.
"Can I get you some coffee?" Alan asked, trying not to look too disapproving of having a military man in his – Charlie's – home.
"That'd be great," O'Neill said. He watched as Alan left the room. Then he turned back to Charlie and Amita.
Here it comes, Charlie thought.
"Now that we're alone," the general started, "I'd like to make you – both of you – a proposition."
"Who are you?" Amita asked.
"I work for Home-World Security."
"Don't you mean Home-Land?" Charlie asked.
O'Neill just smiled and continued. "First off, congratulations on your recent wedding. I hear you're leaving tomorrow for three months in England."
Charlie nodded. Home-World Security? He'd never heard of it before.
"Now, this ties in with my little proposition," O'Neill said. "We'd like you to represent us while you're over there. Have a bit of a look around the Anomaly Research Center for us, that sort of thing."
Charlie blinked. "Anomaly Research Center?" How did O'Neill know about that?
"Professor Cutter got pretty excited when we told him you were coming."
Amita gasped. "You're in contact with Professor Cutter?"
O'Neill grinned. "I know a lot of people. So, will you do it for us?"
"Do what?" Amita asked.
"Find out what the hell that little weasel Burton is doing and why the Brit government didn't bother to tell us, its allies, about the anomalies. The IOA isn't happy about this." O'Neill nodded, looking as if the thought of this IOA – whoever they were – being unhappy made his day.
Alan returned at that moment and set a mug down in front of General O'Neill. The general just looked at him until Alan sighed and left the room again.
"So, are you in?" Jack O'Neill grinned like a Cheshire cat.
Charlie shrugged, looked at Amita, who gave him a small nod, and replied. "We're in."
THE END
Author:
munchkinofdoomCharacters: (Numb3rs) Don, Charlie, Nikki, Liz, David, Colby, Ian, Tim King, Amita. (Primeval) Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, Captain Tom Ryan. Brief Stargate cameo at the end. *veg*
Rating/Category: Gen. PG13 for explicit violence, some language.
Word-count 16,000
Spoilers: Spoilers for Numb3rs finale. Vague spoilers for eps 1x01-3 and season 5 of Primeval
Summary: Anomaly: 1.Deviation or departure from normal or common order, form or rule. 2.Time portal which enables travel between different time periods.
Rips in time are appearing and disappearing throughout the Los Angeles FBI Field Office, placing both agents and consultants in mortal peril. But they also give three men, who had each sacrificed his life for the Anomaly Project, a second chance. But first, everyone has to survive the experience.
Warnings: Explicit violence, death of OCs
Disclaimer: Numb3rs and its characters are the property of CBS. Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. No money is being made from this fanfic.
Artist/Vidders masterlink and feedback post: here.
numb3rs_novella Fic/Art Masterlink: hereNotes: Many thanks to
tli for her wonderful vid trailer. You've caught the sense and feeling of the story perfectly and you should have seen my face the first time I watched it. *happy sigh*Also thank you, as usual, to my Evil Twin,
fredbassett for hand-holding and betaing. A special mention also goes to all the people who followed this fic's progress during primeval_denial's May Primeval Writer Month daily sessions.Part 2
Nikki had parked herself at a work station that gave her a clear view of both elevators, her MP5 rifle cradled in her arms. The surveillance footage of the strange portal and the huge birds that had come through it had unnerved her in a way that hardened criminals had failed to do. The footage had been grainy, with the light from the thing Captain Ryan had called an anomaly flickering in the poor light of the parking garage, painting the creatures in shards of gold and silver.
Everyone had gathered around the huge computer screen that Charlie had thrown the footage up onto for better viewing, and they'd watched as Ryan had first fallen backward out of the anomaly, soon followed by the birds. They'd watched the silent image of the three people running for the stairwell, the first of the birds throwing itself against the closed door, and then nothing. It had taken Charlie, calling up the cameras that covered the elevator doors, for them to find out what had happened next.
One of the doors had opened, two agents alighting, unaware of the danger stalking them. The first bird had come at them from the elevator's blind spot – the area leading to the stairwell. One agent had been attacked before they'd had a chance to draw their weapons, but the second had fared better, getting off the shots that had brought down one creature before the second attacked. The agent had backed into the elevator before it had had a chance to close, but not fast enough. The remaining bird had followed him.
Nikki swallowed, remembering that image – the lone agent in the elevator car, the bird facing him as the door closed behind them. She knew that a bird had made it up to the Computer Forensics Unit, and no-one had mentioned it having already been injured. She didn't want to think about how that second agent must have died, locked in that tiny elevator with a monster.
Footsteps sounded behind her and Nikki spared a quick glance behind her to see Liz approaching, fully rigged out in kevlar, rifle cradled against one elbow and her Glock tucked into her belt. Don had ranted over and over – mainly because Colby insisted on sticking his down the back of his pants – but to no avail. They all still stuck their semi-automatic wherever they could in a tense situation, not wanting to be slowed down by a holster in a firefight.
"Thought you might want this," Liz said as she handed a kevlar vest to Nikki. The senior agent took up watching the elevator doors as Nikki kitted up, then the two women settled down to wait.
"We still on lock down?" asked Nikki.
Liz shrugged. "Yes and no. SWAT is on the move, and since we have the most info on what is going on, we've got command."
The elevator button pinged and both women stood, took a few steps back to give them a clear field of view, and aimed their MP5 rifles. Liz flicked the talk button on her earpiece. "Don, incoming."
Then the doors opened.
"King!" Nikki exclaimed. "You could warn a girl!"
Agent Tim King ignored her as he and another SWAT member escorted two men out of the elevator car. "Where's Eppes?" he asked.
"War room," Liz said, pointing toward the darkened communications hub where figures could be seen moving around.
"Okay, then," King said, turning his attention to the two strangers.
Nikki's eyes followed him and she assessed the newcomers. One was tall, young, dark-haired and gorgeous. He had piercing blue eyes that were taking in everything. The other man was older, neither as tall nor as fit as the first man. It was obvious that both men were worried, and Nikki hoped that things weren't about to get worse.
King pointed the two men toward the war room and ushered them into it. The second SWAT member, a tall, thin man, stayed behind, taking up position with Liz and Nikki, watchful.
They were quiet for a while, then Nikki turned to look at him. "You were in the weapons range?"
He nodded.
She looked at him for a moment and then tried again. "Bad?"
"Bad enough," he said flatly.
Well, that was helpful, she thought sourly. "Was it one of those birds?" she asked. "We thought there were only two of them."
He shook his head, his expression darkening. "It was something else." He frowned thoughtfully before continuing. "I've never seen anything like it." Then he added almost in afterthought, "It was dead by the time we got there."
"What did it look like?" Liz chimed in.
The SWAT member just shrugged.
"A mammal?" Nikki asked.
The man shrugged again. Nikki sighed and gave up. She caught Liz's eye and lifted her shoulders in defeat.
Maybe she'd have better luck with Charlie or Amita later. Her two friends certainly seemed to be in the thick of things. Nikki looked over her shoulder at the war room, where everyone was concentrated in front of the huge center screen. It looked like one of those anomaly things was on show, and Nikki wished she was in there, not out here on guard.
Then she frowned. Where were David and Colby?
* * * * *
Colby couldn't help grinning as he shrugged off his jacket and pulled his kevlar vest over his head, twisting to fasten the strapping snugly. Monsters. They had monsters in the office, and he was in the thick of it.
David just looked at him and wryly shook his head.
"Can you believe it? Monsters," Colby said.
"Monster that kill people, Granger," David replied. "Our people."
Colby looked up from where he was trying to decide between the Heckler & Koch MP5 or his Mossberg Tactical shotgun. The MP5 had the benefit of being a semi/full automatic, but if he had to go up against a nightmare bird, Colby wanted something that was pretty much guaranteed to blow the head off any nightmare that tried to eat him.
"People have been trying to kill us from the day we took the oath, man, but these are monsters. Monsters, David." Colby admitted it to himself, he was excited. He pulled out the Mossberg, some extra rounds, and grinned at his partner.
David finally returned his grin, which just made Colby happier. Then something began to pull gently on the metal stock of his shotgun and the smile was wiped clean off of David's face. Colby looked behind him, to where David was staring.
"Oh fuck," Colby whispered. Broken shards of lights erupted from a center point, throwing out clear, silver and gold shards in all direction. "And of course the damn thing is between us and the door..."
* * * * *
Nick Cutter took a moment to look around the darkened room as he and Stephen were escorted inside and shown to seats. Everyone and their dog was armed to the teeth, weapons worn as if they were extensions of the FBI agents' bodies. A tall man with dark, piercing eyes and close-cropped black hair stood in one corner, his gaze intent on them and his hand idly – but purposefully, Nick had no doubt – hung only millimeters from a holstered gun.
Then he looked down and his eyes widened as he realized who the man who radiated lethal intent was guarding – Ryan. Nick couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. They had quite possibly run headlong from the frying pan straight into the fire, and it sounded like they'd ended up in America, of all places – but Nick didn't care. Ryan had sacrificed his own escape to make sure that Nick and Stephen had made it through the anomaly, and Nick had been sure that they'd never see the soldier again. Left behind in the late Paleocene, low on ammunition – Nick had known that Ryan's plight had been hopeless and had only hoped that his sacrifice hadn't been in vain.
Now, impossibly, all three of them were alive and well, if heavily guarded. They'd fared far better than Nick could ever have imagined.
"I'm glad to see you're all right, Captain," Nick said. "I didn't think I'd see you again."
Ryan smiled at him, his pale blue eyes crinkling, and then the soldier looked up at one of the other agents. "Eppes, this is Professor Cutter, the scientist I told you about. If anyone knows what's going on, Cutter is your man."
A man with dark, lightly curled hair stepped forward and offered his hand. He was casually dressed, a protective vest of some sort covering a dark tee-shirt, and had a gun clipped to his belt.
"Special Agent Don Eppes," the man introduced himself, and he pointed toward a shorter man and an attractive young woman, both with dark hair. "Charlie, my brother, and Amita. Charlie's a math professor and Amita is a doctor of math and physics. They consult for us."
The agent sat down across from Nick, his back to the large screen that played footage of the anomaly that had brought them to this time. Agent Eppes leaned forward, only to be beaten to the punch by the smaller brother, Charlie.
"Professor, I'm so glad to finally meet you! We were worried after Captain Ryan said you'd got separated."
Don turned a chagrined glare on his brother, and Nick tried not to smile. Charlie reminded him of an older, more successful Connor Temple – all bright eyes and enthusiasm. He wondered if this was what Connor would be like in another decade or so. Then something occurred to him.
"What year is this?" Nick asked.
"2010," said Charlie, smiling. "You've traveled forward in time four years."
"It's worse than that," Nick said. "The anomaly we came through brought us from the future. A future that looks like our civilization has been destroyed by those predators."
"That four-legged thing in the weapons range?" the SWAT man asked.
Don looked up with concern. "They weren't large birds?"
The SWAT man shook his head. "It looked like a huge, hairless, long-legged rat. From what the surviving agents said, it could climb walls and run upside down on the ceiling. It was fucking fast."
"Wait, let me get this straight," said Don, frowning. "We have two different kinds of creatures loose? From two different times? That's what you're all saying?"
Nick nodded. "Let me start at the beginning. We had a report of large birds loose and decided to investigate in case it was an anomaly - "
"You can't monitor these anomalies?" Charlie interjected.
"No. We have no way to track when one opens without eyewitness reports. The project is still in its early days – Stephen, my technical assistant – " he nodded at Stephen, who remained silent, watching the proceedings. "We still work from my offices at the Central Metropolitan University. I'm an evolutionary zoologist."
"You consult for the British government, like we do for the FBI," said Charlie.
"Yeah. The Home Office calls us in whenever there's an incursion – normally someone reporting strange creatures or strange lights. It's still early days and we've only investigated a few anomalies so far."
"Where do the anomalies come from?" asked Charlie. "Do you have a hypothesis? Are they man-made or a natural phenomenon?"
"Whoa, slow down, buddy!" Don interrupted. "We can worry about all that later – our immediate problem, now, is what to do about the creatures." He smiled reassuringly at his brother and then turned to the SWAT member who was still leaning against the wall. "Tim? Oh, by the way, Professor Cutter? This is Special Agent Tim King, head of our SWAT team."
Nick offered his hand and Tim shook it. Then the SWAT leader turned his attention back to Don.
Don continued, "Is the situation in the weapons range contained?"
Tim nodded. "The anomaly closed before we arrived on the scene. There were three deaths, two agents injured, and one dead beast. The second one had been wounded, according to Agent Hoskins' report, but had escaped back through the anomaly before it had closed."
Don nodded. "Professor, I don't suppose that was the last anomaly?"
"I can't say. The last incursion we dealt with was an anomaly that was moving along a temporal rift line, opening in new locations over the space of more than twenty-four hours. Each opening lasted anything from a few minutes to a number of hours."
This incursion seems to be similar, except that both ends of the anomaly are moving, rather than one being in a fixed point and the one in our time moving."
Don just stared at him, although Nick could see Charlie almost dying to ask questions. He looked around, meeting Stephen's wry look, and – apart from Charlie and Amita – all the FBI agents just looked confused. Nick sighed.
"Let me try again. An anomaly is like a door. On one side is one era in time, and on the other is a second era – usually our time, or we wouldn't have known about them. With me so far?" Everyone nodded. "Okay. All the anomalies we've dealt with so far had a fixed point in time and space on the other side. The Cretaceous or the Permian, for example."
But this current incursion is different. It seems to be bouncing between eras in the past, present and future."
"How do you know it is even the same anomaly, then?" asked Charlie.
That was a good question. "I don't," Nick answered. "But I've never experienced so many anomalies in such a short time, all of short duration, and seemingly limited to only a few eras."
Charlie started to count off his fingers. "The years 2006 and 2010, the future and – the Paleocene, you said?"
"Yes. We lost Ryan in the Paleocene when he covered our retreat through the anomaly. It never occurred to me that the anomaly wouldn't take us back to 2006. It was in the same place as the original anomaly. It must have closed and re-opened while we were fending off the Gastornis. That anomaly took us to what I assume is the near future and another anomaly in that same place brought us here."
"The creatures that came through the anomaly in the weapons range came from that future?" Tim asked.
Nick nodded. "They seem to have ruined that future. We saw no other people."
"Just derelict, destroyed buildings," Stephen said, finally joining the conversation.
Don homed in on that comment. "Any idea of what city it was? How far in the future?"
Nick frowned in thought, trying to picture the scene in his mind. Then he shook his head. "It could have been anywhere."
"No," Stephen interjected. "It was most likely North American. The cars were strewn all over the place, but the street signs I saw faced the right side of the road. And they were in English." Then he shrugged. "I don't know any American landmarks well enough to narrow it down to which city, sorry."
"There must be some way of identifying the eras an anomaly connects without sending someone through to make an educated guess," Amita mused, and Nick studied her for the first time. She was young, beautiful, and he somehow felt calmer just listening to her speak.
"We can't even tell when one opens," Nick replied.
"No offense, Professor - "
"Call me Cutter," he offered.
Amita smiled. "No offense, Cutter, but you're a zoologist, not a physicist. At the very least, we should be able to use the anomaly's magnetic field to identify when one opens. First we must identify what frequency and oscillation each one uses. If they all use the same frequency we might be able to set up an alert system and even disrupt the magnetic field enough to cause the anomaly to collapse in on itself."
"Any chance of building an anomaly-collapser soon?" Don asked hopefully.
Amita shook her head. "Not enough information. Let's identify the anomaly's magnetic frequency first and then go on from there. Once we have that frequency, perhaps we can use magnetometers to identify hotspots."
"Hotspots?" Nick didn't like the sound of that.
Charlie took up the explanation. "In the long term, identifying the frequency of the anomalies should let us set up an alert system, but our immediate problem is where to expect this current anomaly to appear next."
"You think you can do that?" asked Don.
"Maybe. I can't promise anything, Don. But if something is drawing the anomaly to these precise locations in time and space, there might be signs in the local magnetic field. We need to measure the magnetic field in the locations where there was already an anomaly."
"You think you're on to something..." Don observed.
"Magnetic fields differ greatly due to local conditions. They can be affected by anything from the types of rock substrate to electro-magnetic radiation emitted by our technology," Amita said. "I don't know what allows an anomaly to punch through into our time, but once it does, I suspect it leaves a footprint as well as weakening the temporal location in question. If we can identify the footprint already left by this anomaly, hopefully we can use magnetometers to identify risk points – places where a compromised magnetic field might allow the anomaly to punch through again."
"So we'll at least know where to put guards? Until this thing is over?"
"Yes, Don," Charlie said.
"But none of you can tell me how long this is going to go on?" Don looked first at Charlie and Amita, who both shook their heads. Then he met Nick's gaze.
"As Amita said, I'm an evolutionary zoologist. I was brought onto the Anomaly Project to deal with the creature incursions. Physics isn't my field," Nick replied.
"Has anyone thought of actually asking this Anomaly Project for help or advice?" Amita asked.
"I'm waiting on a callback from the British Embassy," Don said. "Until then, we're on our own."
"So what do you want us to do, Don?" Tim King asked. "You've got our SWAT teams at your disposal."
"Charlie, where are these magnetometers you mentioned?" Don asked.
"We can borrow whatever CalSci's Physics and Geology Departments have on hand."
"Okay," Don mused. "So, first thing is to get Charlie and Amita safely out of the building. Tim, you're on that."
Tim King nodded and lifted his hand to his tactical ear-piece.
"Ah," Stephen interrupted. "We've had problems with those in the immediate vicinity of an anomaly. Same with mobile phones."
Tim looked at Ryan, who had been sitting quietly through the proceedings. "Any particular frequency? And any idea of the range of interference?"
"We haven't had time to do any in-depth testing." Ryan shrugged. "Basically, if you can see the anomaly, you're going to have problems."
Tim nodded. Then he turned back to Don. "What about evacuating the building? If we use the stairwells, hopefully we can avoid any more elevator ambushes."
Don nodded. "That'll give us the run of the building without having to worry about collateral damage. Get security to start a staged evacuation, floor by floor. That way, we can offer protection for the agents who have less experience with firearms."
"Done," Tim answered, then he started to talk quietly into his radio.
"Charlie, Amita, you go with Tim and his SWAT team and get back here as fast as you can. Give me a call when you reach the building. Don't come back into the building without an armed escort, you hear?"
Charlie nodded. Nick watched as Tim King escorted the two scientists out of the room. Don stood up, nodding to Nick and Stephen as he did so, and looked over their heads toward the elevators.
"Liz and Nikki are already kitted up and watching the elevators on this floor. We split up when Charlie and Amita get back. I'll take Charlie, with Liz and Nikki on protection detail. Ian, you'll be with Amita. Take David and Colby with you."
The tall, dangerous-looking man finally joined in the conversation. He stepped forward, scrutinizing Nick as he did so. Then he frowned. "Where are Sinclair and Granger, anyway?"
* * * * *
"Will you just shoot the damn thing!" Colby yelled as he ducked. Hot breath fanned the exposed back of his neck as the thing missed him by inches as it threw itself from one side of the locker room to the other. It scurried up the wall and hung upside down over the anomaly, and Colby would have sworn it would have been glaring balefully at him if it had eyes.
"The anomaly is throwing off my aim," David muttered.
Colby rolled and snatched up the shotgun that the creature had knocked from his hands when it had first come through the anomaly and brought it to bear. He cocked the slide and let off a round, swearing as the anomaly pulled it off its trajectory, missing the monster in the process. "I see what you mean."
The creature dropped, upside down, into the anomaly and disappeared. Colby sighed with relief.
"Don't count your chickens yet, Granger," David answered, and then the thing was upon them again, bursting through the anomaly at face level, and all Colby saw was teeth before David grabbed him and pulled him down and out of the way.
Now neither of them had the damn thing in their sights.
Something hit him hard from behind, forcing the air from his lungs in an agonized grunt. His shotgun slipped from his weakened hand and he felt David's hand slip away. He could hear yelling but couldn't understand the words. A sharp clicking sound chirped in his ears, reverberating in his skull like someone was shaking his head and it was full of marbles. Fetid breath blew down the back of his neck, raising goosebumps.
Then he screamed as the Mossberg fired close-by. His ears ached mercilessly, but the body on top of his toppled to one side. The Mossberg's report sounded again. David must have been making sure, Colby thought idly as he tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head.
Colby struggled to his feet and stared at his partner. David's returning grin was feral. Colby knew how he felt.
"We have to get out of this room," David said.
Colby stared at the anomaly, wishing as hard as he could that it would just go away. It didn't.
"So, through or around?" he asked.
David actually appeared to be considering the suggestion. "There could be more of those things waiting for us. If I understand how these things work, and going by what the creature just did, we'd have to run through the anomaly, circle it, and enter from the other side to get to the door. You really want to risk that?"
Colby looked at the anomaly blocking their path. "Around it is."
David sighed. "Good call."
* * * * *
"Stop," Charlie asked. "Can we stop for a minute?"
Tim King looked away from the traffic around them on the down-town LA streets and cocked his head at Charlie. "Why?"
Charlie waved a hand-held magnetometer in the air. "We're going to be surrounded by small variations in the background magnetic field as soon as we're back in the office. I'd like to try my theory out in an area with less technology."
"Oh, what about the park outside the field office?" Amita offered from the back seat.
"Yeah, that would be great," answered Charlie.
"Okay, we can do that, but I'll have to run it by Don first," Tim said.
Charlie pulled out his cell-phone. "I'll call him."
Tim just nodded and took a right turn, heading away from the entry to the under-cover parking garage and toward the small park that the staff often used for fresh air and jogging.
The government-issue SUV was soon parked, and Tim helped Charlie and Amita as they pulled out rucksacks full of technical equipment of various sizes.
"We're going to need multiple field readings in order to calculate the background field before we can start to pinpoint anomalous readings." Charlie pulled out a hand-held magnetometer and handed it to Tim. "Your cell has GPS?"
Tim nodded.
"Okay," Charlie said. "We divide the park into three sectors. Take readings every few feet and note the GPS co-ordinates. We'll meet up on the west side of the park and compare measurements."
Amita nodded. "That should be enough readings to get a baseline magnetic field and see if there are any major variations."
"You're saying that the spikes will be potential anomalies?" asked Tim.
Amita shrugged. "There may be no real variation at all that can't be explained. Anomalies may not leave a footprint until they've actually punched through into our time. But we need to know, one way or the other. At least this will give us an idea of what the normal range of variation is."
Charlie worried as they walked their allotted zones, afraid of what might be happening inside the office building. The conversation with Don had been short, and Charlie felt that his brother had been hiding something from him. He could only do his job and hope that everyone left behind in the FBI office were okay.
The three of them finally hit the western end of the park and compared notes. Tim happily handed over the list of readings and GPS co-ordinates and left Charlie and Amita to it. They huddled over the sheets of paper, scanning the masses of readings.
"There," Amita said, pointing to two readings from Tim's sheet and another two from Charlie's. "They're definitely anomalous, considering the standard range of deviation we've plotted."
Charlie nodded. The readings stood out like a sore thumb against the minor background variations in the local magnetic field. He could only hope that the variations caused by electronic equipment in the office wouldn't mask or mimic these anomalous readings, or they were screwed.
He pulled out his cell again and called Don. "Don? We've got it - " Then he pulled the phone away from his ear and frowned. Don had just hung up on him.
As he wondered what was happening with Don, he heard voices coming from the direction of the office and he turned. The evacuation had started.
* * * * *
Don was beginning to worry. David and Colby hadn't returned to the war room after kitting up. He left Ian in charge of their time travelers and headed out into the office. First he headed for the elevators.
"Liz, Nikki," he called. "Have you seen David or Colby?"
Liz turned to greet him while Nikki kept her watch on the closed elevator doors. A lanky SWAT member stood beside her. Don spared a brief, grateful thought for Tim King.
"No, we haven't," Liz said. "They were in the locker room when I kitted up but I haven't seen them since then."
Don frowned. "Okay, I'll go check the locker room. Yell if you need me."
"Will do."
Don turned away and then remembered. "Oh," he added, turning back to Liz. "The Brits say that we'll have trouble with our cells and radios if an anomaly opens. You'll have to use the landlines."
"Understood, Don."
Don headed off toward the locker rooms. He unclipped his Glock just in case, responding to a slight shiver that set the hairs at the nape of his neck on edge. He'd always trusted his instincts, just as Charlie had always trusted numbers.
He approached the closed door of the locker room. He'd never really noticed the heavy metal door that acted as a locking mechanism for the heavy armaments within, but this time it felt ominous, as if it was hiding nightmares behind its substantial weight. Holding his Glock ready, he punched in the entry code for the door and reached for the handle.
Then his cell-phone rang. He holstered his weapon and reached for the phone, noting Charlie's ID. "Charlie?" He listened for a moment, then broke into the conversation. "Charlie, hold it a minute, I just want to – " then the call cut out.
Don stared at his cell-phone, then back at the closed door. This wasn't good. He slipped the cell back into his pocket and unclipped the Glock from his belt. He rekeyed the control panel for the door and lifted his gun in readiness as he turned the door handle.
Bright, flickering lights burst into his vision, momentarily blinding him, and he took an involuntary step backward. "Colby! David, you in there?"
"Yeah," David's voice came back. "We're going to try to go around it."
Don took a closer look at the anomaly that hung a foot or so above the floor. It was damned close to the door. If it had been Liz or Nikki, yeah, he could see them making it around the thing without falling in, but David and Colby? "Are you both okay? Anything come through yet?"
"Colby had the wind knocked out of him by a big, bouncy rat-thing but I killed it."
Okay, that wasn't good, Don thought. Sounded like the anomaly went to the future that Cutter had talked about. "You need to get out of there, guys. Now."
"You won't get any argument from us," Colby said. He didn't sound too bad. Don figured he couldn't be too damaged if he could talk. "Okay, stay put and keep a watch out for any more of those creatures. I'll go get Professor Cutter."
"Who's Cutter?" Colby yelled, but Don was already on his way back to the war room. He just hoped that nothing else came through before they figured out how to get his team members out.
* * * * *
"Professor! We've got a situation," Don called from outside of the communications hub.
Ryan sat up just that little bit straighter in his seat. Something was happening. Behind him, Ian Edgerton straightened too, one hand coming to rest on Ryan's shoulder in warning. Ryan looked over his shoulder at the agent and gave him a slight nod.
"Agent Eppes?" Nick asked, staggering to his feet as Don rushed into the room.
"One of your anomalies has opened in the locker room and it's between the door and two of my agents."
"Sinclair and Granger?" Ian asked.
Don nodded. "They're going to try to go around it but it's going to be a tight fit."
"That isn't a good idea," Nick said. Ryan couldn't help but agree. One wrong step and they'd be in another era. If they were going to have to go through the anomaly to get out of that room, it would be best it if it was a planned excursion, not a trip and slip.
Don frowned. "Yeah. What happens if they touch the anomaly?"
Nick shrugged. "It depends on how much of their body enters the anomaly. There was a boy at our first anomaly, Ben, who was able to poke just his face through the anomaly to see what was on the other side. It's early days and we haven't had the chance to test what the threshold is."
"Will it suck them in?" Don asked, worried.
"No, definitely not. But eventually, I think, if there's more body in the anomaly than out, they're going to end up going through."
"What if we pull them through the anomaly by the hand?" Ian asked.
Nick turned to look at the other agent, who, Ryan noted, was still guarding him. His respect for the FBI agent was increasing by the moment. Maybe they had a chance of surviving this.
"Ian?" Nick asked, and Ryan watched as Ian nodded. "Again, we just don't know. You may end up going through the anomaly with them, or have to let go to avoid being pulled through. We'll just have to see what happens."
Then Nick turned back to Don. "Have any creatures come through?"
"Yeah," Don said ominously. "One of those bat-things you were talking about. They killed it, but Colby might be injured."
Ryan's face froze. The terror birds were bad enough, and he'd prefer them any day over what Nick had described of the future. He turned his head to look up at Ian, and the agent met his gaze. "You're going to need me."
Ian looked at Don, who nodded. Ryan stood up, accepting his M4 carbine from the agent, and walked to Nick's side. Stephen stood up as well, taking up position on Nick's other side.
Nick looked at Don. "Let's go see what we can do about getting your people out of there."
* * * * *
Nikki looked around at the sound of running feet. "Something's up," she said urgently, sharing a concerned look with Liz as they watched everyone troop out of the war room at speed.
The SWAT member stiffened beside them. "They've rearmed the Brit," he said.
"Something's definitely up," Nikki repeated. "What should we do?"
Liz looked torn for a moment. "You go and – " She broke off as the SWAT man lifted a hand to his radio and reported in. He spoke a few times in monosyllables and then turned his attention back to Liz and Nikki.
"Agent King is on his way up in the elevator. Professor Eppes is worried – he lost contact with Agent Eppes."
Nikki's eyes widened. "Don't those anomalies interfere with cell-phones?"
They all looked in the direction of the locker room in the distance, where a faint golden light was shining though the now-open door.
"Weren't David and Colby in there?" Nikki asked.
"Oh God," breathed Liz. "Go, I'll keep watch here."
The SWAT man caught Nikki's arm as she started to run. "No. King will be here in a minute, with the rest of our team. That thing is blocking the door, so no-one is getting past it. You'll only get in the way."
Nikki tried to pull her arm away, but his grip was strong. Then the elevator button pinged and the door opened.
"Sir," the SWAT agent on watch said as Tim exited the elevator, a rucksack in hand. "We have a situation."
Tim turned to look at his agent as Charlie and Amita passed him, more SWAT members hard on their heels. Charlie looked frightened, and Nikki swallowed. Maybe they should have left the civilians outside? Oh well, it was all too late now.
"Report," said Tim.
"There's an anomaly in the locker room and it looks like two agents are trapped inside."
"Don?" Charlie asked. His face went white and Liz reached out to steady him.
"No, not Don," she said reassuringly. "We think it's David and Colby."
"Oh..." Charlie stopped in his tracks for a moment. The SWAT team moved around him and started toward the locker room. His eyes followed them, then he caught sight of Don in the distance. Don was standing in front of the open locker room door, his face light by pale golden light. Nikki could see Ian's tall form beyond his, and it looked like the people who had come through the two anomalies where with them.
Charlie frowned. "He shouldn't stand so close."
"Don knows what he's doing, Charlie," Nikki tried to reassure him, but then something burst free from the light and bowled Don over before continuing on into the open office. Something else came out after it, not even stopping as it flew over Don's downed form. A third creature sailed right over the top of the group of people, bounced once on a nearby desk and then scuttled upside down across the ceiling.
Then the light flared and was gone.
* * * * *
Ryan grabbed Nick, shoved him under a nearby desk and took up a protective stance over him. He could clearly hear the professor's swearing over the hubbub of raised voices and the infernal sound of high-pitched clicking that seemed to come from all directions.
Off to one side, Ian helped Don to his feet and checked him over for injuries. As far as Ryan could tell, the FBI agent just seemed winded. He'd got off lucky.
"Arm Hart," Ryan yelled, and Ian unclipped a Glock from his belt and handed it over to Stephen. Spare magazines followed. Ryan spared the agent a smile in gratitude. Stephen Hart might be an academic, like Nick, but he was also their tracker and the most experienced live animal handler after Abby Maitland.
Ryan wished for a moment that they had Miss Maitland with them, but then one of the creatures bounded out of nowhere and rushed them. Stephen lifted the Glock and got off a few rounds which did little to slow the thing down.
A handsome dark-skinned man exited the locker room with a Mossberg shotgun at the ready. He cocked the pump action and let off a heavy round, which scored a deep furrow along the side of the creature's head and caught it in one shoulder. The thing hissed, its clicking taking on a strange, strangled note, and then it launched itself back onto the ceiling and scurried away, leaving a dripping trail of blood to mark its passage.
"Good timing, David," Ian said. "How's Colby."
"Dizzy," came a voice from inside the room. Then a second man, fair-haired and heavy-set, staggered into view. He was pale, looking like he was going to throw up any moment. Ryan figured this was Colby.
"Where'd they go?" Colby asked.
"The creatures?" Don looked around, a bit blearily, then seemed to notice the blood trail across a line of desks, leading toward the war room. He turned back to Ian. "You didn't kill it?"
Ian seemed to bristle, then shook his head.
"How many are there? I remember one walking all over me," Don asked.
"Three came through before the anomaly closed!" Ryan said. "Cutter, what do we need to know about these things?"
"Let me out from under here and I'll bloody well tell you!"
Ah, Ryan thought, Cutter had his dander up again. Oh well, he'd just thump him if he got out of line. Cutter was his responsibility and he took that seriously. Giving in to the inevitable, Ryan stepped to one side, letting Cutter crawl free. The Scotsman glared at him as he climbed to his feet.
Then, fortunately for him, Ryan suspected, Stephen distracted the professor.
"Stay close to me," Stephen warned. "That clicking – it's some sort of echo-location, right?"
"I think so. We have to find some way to scramble their senses or they'll just pick us off one by one."
"They're hard to kill," Stephen added.
"Well, we can't just stand here and wait for them to come to us," Don mused. He looked at Ian and continued, "We split up, everyone armed to the teeth, and see if we can get these things before the others get back. I don't want Charlie and Amita anywhere near here with them on the loose."
"You sure you're up to this, Don?" asked Ian. Don nodded, but Ryan noticed he was favoring one shoulder.
Ian didn't look convinced.
"Colby, you stay with Nick and Stephen," Don said. "I'll take David. Ian, you team up with Captain Ryan and we end this."
David nodded. "Any idea where Charlie and Amita are? We should keep the civilians together for protection."
"Don sent them off to CalSci for magnetometers. Charlie thinks he might be able to predict where an anomaly might open," Ian said.
"They aren't coming back into the building, are they?" David asked, shocked.
"Too late," Stephen chimed in, and Ryan turned to see where the other man was looking.
Oh God, Ryan thought despairingly, they'd actually returned.
A small group of heavily-armed FBI agents and kitted up SWAT members surrounded the two academics. They were making their way across the huge expanses of cubicles and glassed rooms. It looked like they were heading for the locker room, which – Ryan admitted – was probably a good idea now that the anomaly had closed. Maybe, once they got all the useful info out of Nick, they could shove him in there with the others. Stephen could stay at large – he was useful in a fire-fight, Ryan had to admit.
"The two girls are agents?" Nick asked and Stephen shook his head ruefully.
"The two women are Liz and Nikki," David replied and Ryan stifled a smile.
"And they're agents," Ian continued.
"And Nikki is dating Ian," Colby chimed in, ignoring the glare Ian gave him.
"Down!" Nick yelled at the top of his lungs and then everything went to hell.
A creature scuttled across the ceiling toward the little group that was making its way across the floor. It stopped, hanging upside down above them, and then dropped into the midst of the people. Bodies flew in all directions, agents throwing themselves on top of the two scientists protectively, and Ryan could hear yelling and screaming.
"Go!" Don yelled to Ian. "We'll take the injured one. Go!"
Ian and Ryan ran toward the fray, staying low as they felt a presence over them, forewarned by the ominous clicking sound. Ian ducked and rolled out of the way as a second creature lunged at him, and Ryan opened fire. He caught the creature along one flank and it barely broke stride. He knew that if the thing caught hold of Ian that he'd never be able to risk semi-automatic fire so close to him. He swore at himself for not having the foresight to ask for the return of his own Glock.
The creature turned on its long, spindly legs and lunged for Ian again. The agent flipped over onto his back as the thing landed on him, but he already had a knife free and plunged it deep into the creature's throat. Blood gushed like a fountain, but the creature didn't even seem to slow down. Ian pulled the knife free and stabbed again, planting his elbow under the thing's jaw as it tried to maul him.
Ryan ran forward and pulled backward on the creature's bony shoulders, trying to keep clear of the sharp talons on the long limbs. He hauled it off of Ian's body. Ian rolled to his side, snatched up the rifle that had been knocked from his grasp, and yelled for Ryan to get out of the way. Ryan gave the thing one last shove and turned and ran for his life, listening to the sound of semi-automatic gunfire behind him. The creature didn't follow.
He turned back and stood guard over Ian as he got to his feet. He looked at the blood covering the agent's garments.
Ian looked down and shrugged.
"Better that thing than me."
Ryan couldn't help but agree. "There's still two more of them."
Ian nodded and they turned back toward the little group that had already come under siege. A SWAT member was down, but he seemed to be the only casualty so far. The SWAT leader, Tim King, stood over his wounded team-member while the two women each grabbed a scientist and started pulling.
"Liz!" Ian yelled, and a woman with long, straight dark hair looked up. "Get them into the locker room. We'll take care of the creature."
"The anomaly!" Charlie yelled. "What about Don?"
The other woman, Ryan assumed had to be Nikki, grabbed Charlie by the arm and started pulling. "Don's on his feet and the anomaly has closed. It's the safest place on the floor."
"What if it opens again?"
Ryan could hear Charlie's voice carrying across the floor as he and Amita were escorted toward him and Ian. Nikki started to smile at Ian as she approached, but her eyes widened as she saw the blood on Ian's clothes.
"It isn't mine," Ian assured her.
"Okay." Nikki took a deep breath. "Charlie does have a point though – what if the anomaly does open again?"
Ryan frowned in thought. "I think we've been dealing with the same anomaly all along. If so, it's going to open again nearby but not in the same location. Stay close to the door in case it does appear further into the room, but it probably won't."
Nikki nodded. "Be careful," she said as she headed off. Ryan suspected the warning was more for Ian than himself, but he could live with that.
Ryan stopped to look at the chaos around them. The scientists were safe, but two creatures were still loose and had already proven themselves hard to kill. To one side of the huge space, Don and David were standing back to back, concentrating on the wounded creatures. A SWAT member was with them. They looked to be holding their own.
Ryan turned back to where the Tim and the rest of the team who had come in with the scientists had come under attack. One man was down and not moving. A second was bleeding but mobile, and Tim was pulling the man out of the range of the beast with one hand while firing his pistol with the other. The damn thing was still on its feet.
Ryan started running, his M4 carbine at the ready. Ian kept pace beside him, his knife still in one hand.
"They're damn hard to kill," the agent said, no sign of breathlessness or fatigue in his voice. Ryan definitely liked this man. "You haven't seen these things before?"
"No," Ryan said. "This is the first time something's come through from the future."
They threw themselves into the thick of the action. Ryan ducked to one side, setting himself up as a decoy while Ian leaned in and slit the throat of the distracted creature. The thing lurched to one side but soon recovered, coming up clicking, its maw open and showing massive teeth already stained red. Blood ran down its bony chest and its breathing was harsh, forced. Ian must have missed its windpipe, Ryan thought.
They threw themselves away from the wounded beast and then both turned toward it, opening fire. It lurched toward Ian, seeming to sense that he was the most dangerous of them. But another burst of semi-automatic fire cracked its skull like ripe fruit and it dropped to the ground.
Ian stood guard while Ryan checked the downed SWAT member. Ryan felt through the blood for a pulse, then held his hand over the man's nose in hopes of feeling his breath. Nothing. He looked up at Tim and shook his head. The SWAT leader sighed and nodded, then turned his attention back to his wounded agent. Blood soaked the right arm of the man's jacket, and he seemed barely able to stay on his feet. But he was alive.
Now there was only one beast to deal with.
* * * * *
Don pulled in a deep breath, felt the constriction of his kevlar vest against his bruised ribs, and slowly, carefully exhaled. David's solid bulk beside him was reassuring, and the presence of a SWAT member off to one side helped some.
But, right in front of him, its sightless head homed in on his location, was something out of a horror movie. The wound along its huge head still dripped blood, but the thing didn't seem bothered by its injury. If anything, it just seemed to make it more dangerous-looking.
"If we take out its legs, maybe we can slow it down enough to kill it," David whispered. The creature's head angled a little in David's direction at the sound of his voice.
"Agent Eppes?" the SWAT man called softly, and the thing shifted its hind quarters to try to keep all three of them within range of its clicking.
"Aim for its front legs," Don yelled and opened fire as the creature whirled at the sound of his voice and charged. All the agents opened fire, careful not to catch any of the others in a cross-fire, but the creature was already on the move. It sprang on legs like springs, landing sure-footedly on a nearby desk before throwing itself into the air, rotating itself as it did so, finally coming to rest on the ceiling. Then it launched itself straight at Don.
Don threw himself to one side. He twisted as he came to a stop against a cubicle wall and rolled onto his back, bringing his assault rifle up as he did so. The thing was almost on him as he opened fire on full automatic, cutting a swathe of red across the creature's maw, shattering teeth and bone.
The thing fell heavily, landing on Don. Its front legs scrabbled futilely against Don's vest and blood and shattered teeth splattered across his head and shoulders. Then David's face appeared above the creature and he started to pull the body off. Don helped as best he could, pushing with his arms and knees until the creature slid off and fell to the side.
Don decided he could spare a moment to catch his breath.
Then he heard running feet and sat up, but the cubicle was in the way.
"Don!"
Oh God, it was Charlie. "David, get him back inside the locker room. We aren't secure," Don ordered as he struggled to his feet. He couldn't let Charlie see him covered in blood and bone – his little brother would have a heart attack. And worse, he'd tell their dad.
Then Charlie's curly head appeared on the other side of the cubicle that had hidden him until then. Too late, Don sighed to himself.
"Don, oh my God, Don! You're hurt," Charlie whispered.
"No, no, buddy, this isn't mine," answered Don as he made a futile effort to wipe the gore off his face and only succeeded in spreading it further. It was sticky, gritty, and Don grimaced. Dad would never forgive him if Charlie ended up having nightmares.
Then the sharp clack of heels clattered toward him. Don hung his head and rubbed his face with his hands. That was all he needed – Amita too.
"Don," she called, "Charlie, there's a definite magnetic spike in the locker room. I think we're on to something." Then she blinked when she saw Don's condition. "Are you okay?"
Don just nodded tiredly.
Someone moved behind Amita, and Don stiffened for a second. Then Nick Cutter came into sight. Stephen Hart was right behind him, a Glock held securely in one hand. The dark-haired man was alert, his gaze quartering their surroundings and coming to rest on the dead creature. He stepped around Nick and knelt beside the monster.
He rolled it onto its side with David's help and then inspected it. "Cutter?" he called, and Nick joined him. The zoologist rolled the creature onto its back and got David and Stephen to hold it there so that he could get a good look. "It's definitely a mammal. A DNA sample should tell me what it was descended from."
"Could it be genetically altered?" asked Stephen.
Don frowned. This was going nowhere and could be shelved for another time. "Cutter, is it over? Will the anomaly open again, you think?"
Cutter looked up from the creature and shrugged. "Only time will tell."
"So what do we do now?" Don asked.
Charlie rested his forearms on the top of the cubicle wall and rested his head. He shared a look with Don and then shrugged. "We can use the surveillance cameras."
"For how long?"
Charlie shrugged again. "For as long as it takes."
Don sighed again. At this rate, the building could be off-limits for days. Oh well, he had a job to do and at least now he had some way of doing it, even if the whole situation seemed like something out of a science fiction movie.
Then his cell-phone rang.
"Eppes." He listened for a moment, frowned, said, "Yes, sir," and hung up. He stared the phone, shook his head ruefully and then turned his attention to the interested faces around him. "Cutter, the British Embassy is sending a car for you. All three of you have diplomatic immunity."
Don pocketed his cell and rubbed his eyes again. Well, there went any hope of getting an explanation. It would be up to Charlie and Amita now. Then he looked up to find his little brother and Amita huddled together over some sort of hand-held gadget.
Well, Don figured, it could have been worse.
* * * * *
Charlie smiled as Alan carried a tray of coffee mugs into the Craftsman's front room. The sun was setting outside and the temperature was dropping quickly. They'd have to light the fire soon. He'd miss this house while he and Amita were in England.
He was also just a bit concerned about what his garage would look like when they got home. A man-cave? Charlie shuddered and Amita looked up. She smiled happily at him, Her wedding ring shone on her left hand and Charlie felt a warm flutter inside. It hadn't even been a week yet and he was having some difficulty believing that they'd finally managed to get married. Alan still teased them about how he'd had to step in and get it done or they'd still be dawdling. That wasn't quite how it happened, but Charlie let his dad have his version.
Anita thanked Alan for the coffee and turned her attention back to the reams of data and calculations spread out on the large coffee table. Charlie did the same, looking at row after row of raw magnetic frequency and GPS data. They'd spent weeks going over every floor of the FBI offices, starting with the anomaly sites, and the amount of data was staggering. But they had the beginnings of something, some way of at least identifying potential anomaly sites. But they still had a long way to go.
A car pulled up outside and Alan went to look out the window. He turned back to where Charlie and Amita were looking at him. He frowned. "It's big and black. Definitely government," he said flatly.
Charlie got up and went to the window. A gray-haired man in uniform got out of the car and adjusted his jacket before walking up to the door. Charlie beat him there and had it open before the man had the chance to knock.
"Can I help you?" asked Charlie.
"Professor Eppes?"
"Yes – " Charlie peered closely at the various epaulettes. "General?"
"Jack O'Neill." The general held out his hand.
"Please, come in." Charlie opened the door and let O'Neill in, shrugging in confusion when Amita sent him a querying look. He led the general into the front room and offered him a seat. Charlie gave Amita a grateful smile when she quickly collected up their research on anomalies.
"Please, don't clean up for me," O'Neill said.
"Can I get you some coffee?" Alan asked, trying not to look too disapproving of having a military man in his – Charlie's – home.
"That'd be great," O'Neill said. He watched as Alan left the room. Then he turned back to Charlie and Amita.
Here it comes, Charlie thought.
"Now that we're alone," the general started, "I'd like to make you – both of you – a proposition."
"Who are you?" Amita asked.
"I work for Home-World Security."
"Don't you mean Home-Land?" Charlie asked.
O'Neill just smiled and continued. "First off, congratulations on your recent wedding. I hear you're leaving tomorrow for three months in England."
Charlie nodded. Home-World Security? He'd never heard of it before.
"Now, this ties in with my little proposition," O'Neill said. "We'd like you to represent us while you're over there. Have a bit of a look around the Anomaly Research Center for us, that sort of thing."
Charlie blinked. "Anomaly Research Center?" How did O'Neill know about that?
"Professor Cutter got pretty excited when we told him you were coming."
Amita gasped. "You're in contact with Professor Cutter?"
O'Neill grinned. "I know a lot of people. So, will you do it for us?"
"Do what?" Amita asked.
"Find out what the hell that little weasel Burton is doing and why the Brit government didn't bother to tell us, its allies, about the anomalies. The IOA isn't happy about this." O'Neill nodded, looking as if the thought of this IOA – whoever they were – being unhappy made his day.
Alan returned at that moment and set a mug down in front of General O'Neill. The general just looked at him until Alan sighed and left the room again.
"So, are you in?" Jack O'Neill grinned like a Cheshire cat.
Charlie shrugged, looked at Amita, who gave him a small nod, and replied. "We're in."
THE END
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 09:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 10:32 am (UTC)This is my favourite sort of story - edge of the seat sort of stuff, with lots of blood and guts and creatures. *g8
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 11:21 am (UTC)Was my reward for the first 5 job applications of the day ...
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 11:58 am (UTC)Good luck with the applications!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 10:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 10:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 11:45 am (UTC)My favourite Primeval men all together *G*. Hee for bonus Stargate. And Ian is LDP? Yay!!
I love how Amita quickly offers more potential explanations and solutions to the anomalies than the Primeval scriptwriters did ;)
Ryan the dedicated Cutter Babysitter *hearts* Stuff him under a desk and only release him when he threatens to go nuclear
They all made a great team.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 12:04 pm (UTC)I do love the idea of Cutter etc returning to the Anomaly Project to find that the stuff Amita was suggesting has already been invented to a large extent. *veg*
Nick, Stephen and Ryan have missed a lot!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 12:20 pm (UTC)LOL!!!
Colby couldn't help grinning as he shrugged off his jacket and pulled his kevlar vest over his head, twisting to fasten the strapping snugly. Monsters. They had monsters in the office, and he was in the thick of it.
Heee hee heee.
A fun ride! It all made sense to me (even without the Primeval knowledge) and I like that level of whump of everybody.
Loved Jack at the end. Heeeee.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 01:09 pm (UTC)So I've been wanting to throw Don and his team in the thick of it for ages. The mini big bang was the perfect opportunity. *veg*
Then Jack O'Neill at the end was just perfect! It tied in with Charlie and Amita' trip to the UK, what was happening in season 5 of Primeval, and the whole idea of an international oversight agency that gets on Jack's nerves. It would drive the IOA mad to find out the brits had been keeping the Anomaly Project under wraps for 5 years!!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 04:13 pm (UTC)I love the way you've combined the two shows so perfectly in this with everyone so absolutely themselves.
Competent Ryan is always a deep joy. *happy sigh*
And with a combination of Terror Birds and Daves there's bound to be stunning action!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-20 12:19 am (UTC)I'd like to have done more with the Terror Birds, but Dave took over! *sigh*
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 08:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-20 12:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-20 09:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 08:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-20 12:23 am (UTC)I love creature/team romps in both shows, so I've wanted to combine them for a while now. And it gave me the chance to save Nick, Stephen and Ryan and dump them in season 5 with no warning. *veg*
And what could be more perfect than anomalies in the FBI building?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-21 09:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-22 05:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 08:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-20 12:28 am (UTC)I have a thing for team fic in both shows, which seemed the best way to handle a crossover. The thought of creatures rampaging through theh FBI building was just too tempting to pass up, and it gave me the chance to play with the N3 characters' reactions.
I think one of my favourite parts is the whole sequence with David and Colby in the locker room. I love the dynamic between them, and cornering them gave me the chance to play with that, while inflicting some whumping - also one of my favourite things. *g*
from Charlie and Amita's immediate offer to help - as only they could
I'd love to have got Larry in there too, but I needed to keep it immediate and had more than enough characters already. He would have loved it! I love my silly little dinosaur show, but it's always annoyed me that they had no trained physicists etc in the beginning. They just kept shoehorning Connor into whatever tech/science role they needed. And I could so see how Charlie and Amita would react to the knowledge of anomalies.
Again, thank you! I love this sort of feedback. *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-19 08:45 pm (UTC)And you just know that Cutter would have a blast geeking out with Amita and Charlie and coming up with possible theories.
And the action? Awesome!
After reading this, all I could think is "I want more!"
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-20 12:32 am (UTC)This was for a Numb3rs mini big bang, so I had to be careful, but what I really wanted to set up was a return of season 1 Nick, Stephen and Ryan to a season 5 ARC too. *veg*
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-21 09:09 pm (UTC)I loved this entire thing and have no idea why it took me until today to read it, because the video really made me want to read it! The action was well paced and... truthfully, this whole story made me feel like I was actually reading a movie. And to me, if I can get that type of feeling for a story, it's FANTASTIC!!
While I have no concept of Primeval, I really like all the characters interactions. And yes, while I would have loved to have had Larry there right along with everyone else, I'm so glad that you made room for Ian! :)
/shrug... I can't say anything else that hasn't already been commented or mentioned by the above people so....
And yes, I wouldn't mind another one :) Just as long as it's in the same style, meaning I wouldn't want a lot more blood and gore because, truly, this was so well done.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-22 05:14 am (UTC)The nice thing about Primeval is that there is a reason fandom calls it our silly little dinosaur show. It tries ot be high drama, but it is made to be shown early evening when the whole family can watch it. Think of Doctor Who and you'll get an idea of the level of violence etc.
It does tend to kill off major characters - all in order to show how dangerous their work is, the producers say - but we tend to think it's more for shock value. All three of the Primeval characters that I used had been killed on the job. We're big on fix-it fics in Primeval fandom, which is partially what this fic is. *veg*
If I did go back and write more of this, it would be from the Primeval side, with probably only Charlie and Amita in it. I'd love to do their time in the UK, throwing in the Anomaly Research Centre. Hence why I left this story where I did. *veg*
The action was well paced and... truthfully, this whole story made me feel like I was actually reading a movie. And to me, if I can get that type of feeling for a story, it's FANTASTIC!!
*hugs* I love action stories, but the characters need to be in focus. So I'm glad this pulled you in, even though you didn't know the Primeval side of things. That was why it was so important for N3 fans to see
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-21 08:54 am (UTC)I loved the way Charlie and Amita here were immediately treating the anomalies as a scientific problem and asking all those questions we never see anyone in the show ask. I really wished there could be characters like them in Primeval because I think you showed here what could be done with them.
I'll confess I'm really curious about what happened next. What did the ARC make of Nick, Stephen and Ryan's sudden reappearance? Had the time line changed? Which timeline had changed? Did they go back to 2006 and attempt to change stuff?
And I so want the story of Charlie and Amita in the ARC with Connor and Lester and facing off Burton!!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-21 10:54 am (UTC)But that was the great thing about a Numb3rs/Primeval crossover, because Charlie is a math prodigy/boy genius in canon and Amita has both computational maths and astrophysics qualifications. It was too tempting to have canon characters who would be absolutely fascinated by the anomalies, and not for the creatures that came through!
Hmmm... I'm not sure what I'd do next, but it would follow pretty closely to late season 4/season 5 Primeval. The big difference would be that Nick had been removed from the timeline earlier than originally, allowing for someone like Matt to come forward earlier, maybe. It would still follow canon pretty closely, because Helen believed that the ARC was responsible, even after Nick's death.
Basically, I was going to dump Nick, Stephen and Ryan in late Primeval canon, without the fallout from Helen's revelations about the affair, and see what would happen. Then - since Numb3rs actually finished with Charlie and Amita's wedding before leaving for a 3 month placement in Oxford - it would be the perfect opportunity to dump our two N3 geeks on the ARC. *veg*
*sigh* It's on my do-do list...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-11-24 07:29 am (UTC)