New Tracks, Part 16
"New Tracks" by Aelfgyfu
PARTS: 20 plus epilogue
RATING: FRT (fan-rated teen: violence, occasional bad language)
CATEGORIES: Drama, angst, hurt/discomfort, some humour; AU, fix-it
SUMMARY: Noel Miller tries to find his place on Nick Cutter's team; Stephen Hart tries to find his way back onto the team; and Nick has to deal with them, creatures from the past, and his own stubbornness.
SPOILERS: Everything through 2.07 and my own story "Fresh Scars"
WARNINGS: Some tasteless humour, some medical detail
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Many thanks to Brilliant Husband (dudethemath), kristen_mara, and lukadreaming, all of whom acted as betas and made many helpful suggestions and corrections. All remaining errors, infelicities, and poor judgement are my own.
DISCLAIMER: Primeval and its characters are owned by Impossible Pictures, ITV Productions, M6 Films, Pro 7, and possibly other entities I couldn't easily find on IMDb. No copyright infringement is intended, and indeed the story probably won't make sense unless you've watched. So watch the show, buy the DVDs, etc. I do not profit from fic except insofar as comments make me happy.
Additional notes and links to all posted parts at this story's launch page
Previous Part: 15
When the fear for his team and the general population grew greater than his frustration, Stephen chose his arguments carefully.
"It's been two hours since they got there, over three since the anomaly opened!" Stephen began as soon as Lester returned on his circuit of... the whole ARC, for all Stephen knew. The man had been prowling restlessly, like an animal in a zoo. "The shadows are getting deeper. There are woods not far from that field they're in now. If the raptors headed for the woods, there's no way Miller can track them. He just doesn't have the experience!"
"Well, he'll have to do!" Lester shot back with equal frustration. "I'm not sending you to limp about in the woods at night."
"Because Cutter will yell at you? How does that compare to Cutter getting killed? Or a civilian? Or a group of Girl Guides in the woods?"
Lester's eyes narrowed a little, and Stephen wasn't sure if Lester was annoyed with him or with the situation. Lester reminded him, "They've closed off the roads and notified everyone to stay indoors and away from windows. Jenny's cover story should be highly effective."
"Should be. For those who have heard it." Stephen pulled up two maps he'd been looking at before, plotting his strategy. "Here's our maps of the area," he said, pointing, "and here are our most recent satellite photos. I can see two tracks already that don't match the maps Jenny and Robinson had to close the area."
Lester stepped right up to the screens. "I trust you told them this-"
"Of course! And the lanes don't lead out of the area, so no one should come in from outside that way," Stephen admitted, before Lester could realise it. "But people out for a walk, or a run, could be out there without hearing the warnings, without encountering any of our people. Hell, children could be out playing!"
Lester stiffened, and only then did Stephen remember that Lester had children himself. "So what do you recommend we do?" he asked, after a pause.
"I recommend that you get me out there, in a helicopter, while we've still got enough sunlight for me to spot the tracks. It's not going to be easy as it is, with the shadows as long as they are. After dark, even I'm going to have trouble."
Lester looked at him like he was stupid, but Stephen didn't flinch. He'd been through far worse. "Then why should I send you? Surely we've only half an hour or so until sundown!"
Stephen almost choked on that. "Well over an hour! Do you even look out of the windows?"
Lester raised his arm to point up to his office. "Yes, and I see you! Not helpful."
Damn. Stephen could have told him it that sunset was even later than it was; he wouldn't have known the difference.
"Driving would waste time we don't have. Commandeer me a helicopter, and help me get out there before we get a call that the raptors have found something larger than a rabbit."
"Commandeer you a helicopter? Who the hell do you think I am?"
Stephen gave his best smile. "James Lester, one of the most feared and powerful-"
"Cut that out right now!"
"-men in the Home Office, has the ear of at least one minister-"
"I'm not military, and Captain Robinson can't easily arrange a helicopter for you."
"I know," Stephen said impatiently, "or I'd have called him! Look, you know that rabbit was hardly even an appetiser if we have five or more-"
"Hart?" Miller's voice came over the headset, and for a moment Stephen feared he'd forgotten to mute his mic again. "I'm not sure but I think they may have made it to the woods. It's not a very big wood, but...."
"Hold on," Stephen said, then remembered to turn the mic on again and repeated it before pressing mute once more. "They're in the woods. Miller can't do it."
Lester frowned. "No. I'm sorry, I simply can't-"
"Can't what? You can't allow me to risk my neck, but you can live with the risk to any family who might have missed the warnings or thought, 'Any bomb that hasn't gone off in 60 years won't now'? Any farmer who got impatient waiting for the all-clear?"
"Gupta hasn't cleared you! I haven't had a report from Jacobs. I can't send you back into the field. What-"
"Well, she's left for the day, and I won't see him again until next week! The raptors aren't going to wait for the paperwork!"
"What if you injure yourself again? What if you slow down the team?"
Stephen jumped to his feet and stabbed a finger at the screen. "They've gone from here to here in two bloody hours! How can I possibly slow them down? I could crawl faster than that!"
"Do any crawling, and Gupta will have you on bed rest for week," Lester said, and Stephen knew he'd won.
Of course, the argument hadn't quite ended yet. Lester looked like he might burst a blood vessel when he asked Stephen if he'd talked to Cutter, and Stephen had to admit that Cutter had rejected his help. Stephen did convince him to make some phone calls and be sure a helicopter was on standby.
Then he called Cutter back. And got a busy signal. God, the most important man on the anomaly project didn't have call waiting on his mobile? Stephen yelled for Lester, but only Lorraine answered.
"He's on the phone," she told him from up on the ramp, "arranging your helicopter."
"Right," he sighed, and he dialled Connor.
Connor answered at once. "We've got some tracks leading into the woods," Connor told him breathlessly, apparently unaware that he knew the situation.
"Connor," Stephen tried to interrupt.
"Noel keeps making us stay back; he's worried we'll walk on the tracks."
Stephen had no doubt that Noel had other worries besides that, but he didn't say so. "Connor, I know. I need-"
"And it's getting a bit late; I don't-"
"Connor!" Stephen bellowed. "I need to talk-"
Then his own call waiting sounded. Oh, bloody hell! He asked Connor to hold and switched to the other line.
Noel didn't waste time identifying himself. "Hart, there are leaves down, and even with a torch to give me light directly on any given area, I'm having trouble seeing anything useful on the ground."
"You've positioned men around the woods, to watch in case they exit?" Stephen asked automatically.
"Of course. That much I can do." He could hear the strain in Miller's voice. "But the men are spread a bit thin. They might miss a small group, and if they separate and one comes out alone.... Hart, I can't do this. They're only bird footprints. If we were tracking them through mud, yeah. But-"
"I know," Stephen cut him off, trying to hold onto his remaining patience. "I'm coming. Lester's ordered me a helicopter."
He took a deep breath and added, "Don't tell Cutter. I'm telling him myself. His line's busy, so I've got Connor-oh, never mind. Just don't tell Cutter. I'll be there as quick as I can. Meantime, do your best. You do know this, better than you think you do. You might have it wrapped up before I even get there."
The silence continued so long Stephen wondered if they'd been cut off. "Miller? You still there?"
"Sir. Sorry, sir. Yes. Keep tracking, let you tell the professor. Got it."
"I may be out of communication for some of the time, getting on and off the chopper, that sort of thing. I'll stay on the line with you as much as I can. But I've got to talk to Cutter now."
"Right, sir. Out."
Stephen managed to retrieve his call to Connor and send Connor after Cutter. God, he should have gone there in the first place. Raptors might be dangerous, but trying to work from a desk would give him a heart attack if he kept it up.
At last he got Cutter, on Connor's phone. "Stephen, I'm on my phone with Jenny. I don't have any new information, so I'm afraid you're going to have to wait-"
"Cutter! I do have new information! I'm coming up there. I know you don't want me, but Miller-"
"What? Stephen, I can't hear you."
Stephen knew damned well that Cutter could hear him as clearly as he could hear the other man. He didn't know whether Cutter was playing at the phone not working right or honestly thought he must have misheard.
So he yelled. "I'm coming there! Lester's getting me a helicopter. I'll-"
"You can't be serious!" Cutter yelled back.
"Of course I'm serious! You've got a pack of raptors-at least one pack. Miller-"
"No!"
Stephen's patience snapped. How many times had he contained himself over the past few weeks when Cutter threatened to get on his last nerve? After a brief bout in which they simply tried to shout over each other, he yelled, "If you don't like it, talk to Lester!" and hung up.
Lester immediately walked into his line of sight from somewhere behind him. "You know I'll make you pay for that." His arms were crossed, and he didn't look at all amused.
"Don't care," Stephen said, barely managing not to yell. "Now where's my helicopter?"
"On its way. Gear up, check out whatever you need from the armoury, and for God's sake do not leave that walking stick here."
***
Noel could heard Cutter shouting into a mobile from some distance away. He thought about Hart walking out when the professor told him he should have taken Jensen's offer, and he wondered how a more serious argument between them would go. He didn't want to witness that.
He couldn't afford the distraction. He kept picking up a bit of scent here and then losing it. The other soldiers were restless, stationed around the woods; they wanted to be where the action was. Noel wanted to be able to listen as well as look and smell. And right now, all he could hear was one very angry team leader.
One very angry team leader calling his name. Noel picked his way quickly and carefully back to the approaching Cutter.
"Did you ask Stephen to come out here?" Even in the shadows, he could see that Cutter's face was flushed with anger.
"No, sir." He thought of saying more, but none of it would make matters better, so he stopped there.
"Are you still on the line with him? Because he hung up on me!"
Noel unmuted his mic. "Hart?"
Cutter moved closer to him, probably ready to yell into the mic.
"Miller?" Hart sounded breathless.
"What's your status?" Noel asked, trying to buy some time and maybe ease the situation a little.
Noel never had the chance; Cutter pulled the headset off his head. Completely unprepared for the move, he stood for a moment with his mouth hanging open. Cutter was shoving it onto his own head, fumbling a bit in his anger.
Never had any of his training, basic or advanced, covered what to do when a civilian who technically commanded you simply took your equipment. Should he ask for it back?
"If you show up here, I will fire you again! No, you listen-don't you dare cut me off! Stephen! Stephen?"
Cutter thrust the headset back at Noel. "Get him back!"
His father always said, "Discretion is the better part of valour."
Noel put the headset on. The call was well and truly lost. He dialled back and got a busy signal, then tried again and went straight to voice mail. Oh, hell. And Cutter was looking at him like it was his fault.
"Sir," Noel said as calmly as he could manage, "the best I can do is try to track the creatures before he arrives and save him the trouble. Now if you'll excuse me, I can do this easier if you're well back." He shone his torch on the ground again. Leaves, twigs-all disturbed, at least partly by one Scottish academic.
"You didn't know anything about this?"
"I heard right before he called you, sir."
Cutter snorted. Noel deliberately didn't look up. He returned to the last tracks he'd found and began making a slow spiral around them, hoping they led somewhere. Hoping, too, that they were in fact tracks, and from the raptors.
***
Stephen tried to get ready fast, but he wasn't used to changing into the black uniforms and Kevlar vests. They'd worn them for a bit in the early days of the ARC, but then the civilians had stopped using them. The others had started wearing them again after he'd been hurt-as if that would have prevented anything, since he'd been fired and they thought they were retrieving Rex. The weapons, however, he'd used much more recently. His accuracy had suffered from his injuries and time away from the range, but he'd better have something. A handgun shouldn't prove too much for his wrist. He doubted he'd need one for more than a couple of minutes at most. Either he'd get the raptors, or they'd get him, before muscle fatigue caught up with him. He finally checked a Beretta and a small tranq gun out of the armoury.
God, Stephen hoped he was ready for this. Jacobs wouldn't like it. Then again, he reasoned, Jacobs would like it even less if Stephen lost a team-mate. He'd only had the one full-blown flashback so far, and Jacobs didn't seem too worried about it. The smell of burning had caught Stephen completely by surprise that day. This time, he knew what to expect. He knew how bad things could get, but he also had training that might prevent the situation from getting bad. No one else had all his experience.
Stephen kept the stick with him as he ran towards the exit. Lester was suddenly right beside him, so he slowed a little. He'd get enough lectures about pushing himself too hard from Cutter; he didn't need them from Lester first.
"You're not really supposed to be in the field yet, so if you get hurt, we have no responsibility," Lester told him as he matched his stride.
What the hell? "I wasn't supposed to be in that building with Helen and Cutter, either," Stephen reminded him.
"Yes, but you did rather save greater London from predation by anachronistic creatures, so we decided to overlook it just the once. The paperwork was dreadful. Don't do it again."
"I have no intention of a repeat performance." Stephen sped up again.
Lester sped up too and seemed to keep pace without difficulty. "Good. By the way, Cutter's already started calling to yell at me. I handed him over to Lorraine for a bit."
Stephen shrugged. He couldn't do anything about it now.
"I think she put him on hold, but without the hold music. I do wonder how long he'll yell at no one before he realises, but I don't suppose we'll ever know."
"Connor can probably analyse the phone records for you," Stephen said absently as he mentally reviewed the maps. He'd packed hard copies in his pockets, but he might not have the time to fumble for them in the increasing gloom. He should have been on site already.
"Oh, that's a good idea." Lester sounded surprised.
Stephen went through the outer doors. A helicopter awaited him, rotors turning, ready to take off.
"Good luck," Lester shouted unexpectedly over the din of the helicopter. "And remember: this was all your idea, and don't you dare tell Cutter anything different."
Once in the helicopter, Stephen had a radio link back to the ARC, and Lorraine managed to route him through to Miller again.
"Cutter's spitting bullets," Miller warned him in a tone so low Stephen could hardly hear it, despite the earphones muting the sound of the chopper.
"I'll just tranq him," Stephen said with forced cheer, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in his stomach.
"I've lost the tracks. I simply can't find them! We've paired back up to search the woods."
"So you're with Cutter?" Stephen asked, amazed that Miller could say what he did with Cutter right there.
"He's off with Connor this time. I've got Abby."
Stephen heard Abby's voice but couldn't make out the words. He laughed, just a little. His abdominal muscles reminded him that this was the longest he'd worked since before he got himself fired, and that he hadn't done any running since then. Nor should he this evening.
It took a real effort not to think about his last encounter with creatures. These were small raptors, Connor had assured him. Nothing like what he'd faced. The size of wild turkeys, Connor said. Simply big birds, with feathers and long tails. And sharp teeth. Lots of very, very sharp teeth. Not to mention the claws.
***
It was a damned good thing Stephen wasn't in front of him right now, Nick thought, because he had a gun. He felt a tiny, momentary twinge of guilt for thinking such a thing about the man who'd saved his life, but it passed. What was Stephen thinking? He still had a walking stick, and he wouldn't even fire his guns at the range when anyone else was around. Nick knew why: Stephen must be embarrassed about his abilities now. He had no business coming out here. Stephen couldn't truly help; he could only hurt their efforts, and probably himself as well.
So Stephen was willing to go along and pretend to be a good team player again until he didn't like the way things were going, and then he went over Nick's head. He'd hardly even talked to Nick about coming out to the site. Nick had barely begun to scratch the surface of why he shouldn't! Then Lester wouldn't listen to him, and Lorraine seemed to have lost the call. Not that she could do anything to improve the situation anyway. Perhaps he could persuade her to slip Lester some arsenic next time they ordered in sandwiches.
Nick shook his head. He knew he needed to concentrate on the problem at hand. He didn't need these damned distractions. That's what Stephen had become-a distraction. How the hell was Nick supposed to take him back on the team when he only took the orders he liked?
Connor was walking bent nearly double with a torch, looking at the ground intently. Nick hardly bothered. He knew he couldn't see anything. He'd never been very good at it on field trips with Stephen, and Noel had shown him what he said were the clearest tracks. He had to take Noel's word that they were raptor tracks at all! What the hell use Connor thought he would be at this, Nick didn't know. At least one of them felt like he was doing something useful, though, and Nick wasn't going to take that away from Connor. Another soldier trailed them at a slight distance, looking constantly around.
He tried to think of what he might say when Stephen came. What would get him out of harm's way and back on that helicopter? Lester would have strong words for him if they wasted a flight like that, but it was better than throwing a disabled man into the middle of a dangerous situation. Stephen wasn't ready for this. He wasn't going to be able to do what he thought he could. He would only set back his own recovery and distract from the business of finding the raptors. There was no way in hell Nick was going to risk an already injured man-or the people who would be trying to protect that man. It was the soldiers' job, but Abby and Connor wouldn't stay away from Stephen, and if they followed orders the way Stephen did....
Nick realised Connor had been calling him. "D'you think these are tracks?" the young man asked.
"I thought we'd pretty much given up on tracks, Connor," Nick said as gently as he could. "We're looking for signs of a kill, and listening for anything unusual." If they were lucky, they'd have some warning before they encountered a raptor in the flesh. Of course, they weren't always lucky.
"I can hear soldiers tromping thataway." Connor stood and pointed. "That's all I hear. I thought they were supposed to be stealthy?"
"Maybe Noel can take that up in training." Then Nick realised he'd been overlooking the obvious. "You've been pretty close to Stephen lately, right?"
Connor's head snapped around quickly to face Nick, but with the trees blocking most of the slanting sunlight that remained, Nick couldn't see his expression.
"Yeah. I suppose so." Connor sounded noncommittal.
"What do I say to him to get him to follow orders?" Frustration crept back into Nick's voice, though he tried to keep it out. "He used to listen to me."
"He still does." Connor turned back to his search. "He.... He listens to you. Honest. Quotes you all the time."
"He does? On what?"
"Keeping the creatures alive, keeping the military in its place, the need for safety, the need to be fully certified on the tranq guns, both so that I can protect myself and so that I can protect the creatures from the soldiers, who won't be carrying tranq guns."
Was Connor making this up to appease him? Probably not; Stephen did tend to talk like that anyway. They always had agreed on some things.
Connor stopped, and Nick realised he'd followed him smack to the edge of the woods and a soldier some distance away had jumped and pointed a gun at them. He turned it aside just as quickly, calling out an apology.
"I don't think we were supposed to exit here," Connor said, turning around. "We-wait! Did you hear that?"
Nick hadn't heard anything.Then he did: gunshots.
Connor started to run back into the trees, but Nick yelled, "No! Faster to go around the outside, I think!" The soldier they'd seen had started running. Nick broke into a run after Connor, who was faster.
The gunfire had stopped after only a few rounds, and soon they could hear yelling. As they got closer, Cutter could see people down on the ground. Noel and Abby reached them before he did, Noel yelling at the soldiers. Two of the men on the ground instantly jumped up and got their guns into position. Sloppy, that they needed an officer yelling at them to do that!
Cutter didn't reach the group very long after Connor and the soldier. The men had all been clustered around an injured soldier. The wounded man lay on the ground, a medic tending bleeding wounds on his legs. Also on the ground was a raptor, clearly shot dead. The blood painted the ground so much that Nick hoped some of the blood on the soldier's trousers wasn't his own, but splatter from the dead creature.
"Contact Robinson. Have this man evacuated as soon as possible," Noel ordered. "You!" he shouted at the soldier who'd been on the outskirts of the woods. "Back to your post in case others come through back there!"
The soldier saluted and ran.
"Maybe we can get him evacuated on the chopper bringing Hart?" the medic suggested. A sergeant got on the radio immediately.
"He only saw three raptors," Abby explained to them as Noel began picking his way along a hedgerow leading away from the woods. Cutter, Abby, Connor, and a couple of soldiers followed, at a distance, giving Noel space. "Apparently we flushed them out of the woods nearly right at him!" She sounded appalled. "He wasn't sure if he hit the others," she added.
"I could do with some quiet, please," Noel called back. He shone the torch atop his weapon along the ground next to the hedgerow, and occasionally he peered into the brush cautiously. Nick shone his torch, too; Abby and Connor kept theirs off.
Finally, a trail they could follow: the bloodstains were thickening as they crept along, using the torches to augment the decreasing sunlight.
Minutes crept by. Were they even on the right trail? They should be right behind the buggers. How fast could those things run? Nick hissed the question to Connor, but suddenly Noel held up a hand for silence.
Abby hefted her tranquilliser gun, and Nick and Connor followed suit a little belatedly. Noel was carrying a tranq gun, but that wasn't the weapon he held ready.
"Wait!" hissed Abby, and she ran up alongside Noel.
Now Nick could hear it-rustling in the growth ahead of them. They all moved forward slowly, following Noel's signal. Sticks crunched under Connor's boots. There was silence for a moment, and then a louder noise-a scuffle, some squawks, and Noel ran forward. At this point they didn't need the torches: they could see two raptors tearing at each other, with blood evident even in the gathering dusk.
Noel shot four times, and all movement ceased.
For a moment there was complete stillness: no one moved, no one spoke.
Abby broke the spell with two steps that took her in front of Noel. "You didn't have to kill them!"
He was already sidestepping, pointing his gun at the ground. "Don't ever get in front of my weapon," Noel said in a voice that Nick had never heard from him before. "You know better than that."
Nick drew up right behind. "She's right, though."
"They attacked one of our men. I couldn't take the risk, sir."
"They were injured!" Abby pointed, and Nick shone his torch on them.
He could see great tears in the one on the bottom, gobs of flesh hanging off. He could see bullet holes more clearly in the one on top.
"The soldier had already hit them!" Abby was furious. "We could have tranq'd them and taken them back...."
"They were fighting for their lives," Noel explained calmly, casting his light about as he moved his gun slowly side to side. "They'd turned on each other already, and they'd have turned on us in a moment. You've told me those sedatives take a few seconds to work, minimum. They're too damned fast. If we're this close, I'm shooting. And I'm not going to argue. We don't have time."
"Guys, where are the rest?" Connor asked. He'd turned his torch on but was looking more behind them. "You said there were five of them."
"Yeah," said Noel heavily. "Price only saw three. The pack might have split up when they couldn't find enough food? Something startled them?" He answered his own question when the others didn't. "It hardly matters. The important thing is, I'm pretty sure we've got at least two more out there."
"Can we at least try to use tranquillisers?" Abby pressed. She looked to Nick for help.
Nick wanted to say something in support, but he couldn't. Stephen was too much on his mind. He had nearly lost Stephen just a few weeks ago. Nick had also held Captain Ryan while he breathed his last. People's lives were worth more than animals'. They would save the animals whenever they could, but they'd nearly lost a soldier back there to these two animals. Noel had done the right thing.
Noel raised a hand suddenly and hissed, "Hang on-what's that?"
"That's a car! Somebody-" Abby started across the field towards what might have been a narrow lane.
Noel muttered something that might have been a curse. "Don't go off by yourself!" he said. He turned almost at once to look at Nick and Connor and waved. "Come on! Nobody stays by the hedgerows alone!"
***
Part 17
***
PARTS: 20 plus epilogue
RATING: FRT (fan-rated teen: violence, occasional bad language)
CATEGORIES: Drama, angst, hurt/discomfort, some humour; AU, fix-it
SUMMARY: Noel Miller tries to find his place on Nick Cutter's team; Stephen Hart tries to find his way back onto the team; and Nick has to deal with them, creatures from the past, and his own stubbornness.
SPOILERS: Everything through 2.07 and my own story "Fresh Scars"
WARNINGS: Some tasteless humour, some medical detail
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Many thanks to Brilliant Husband (dudethemath), kristen_mara, and lukadreaming, all of whom acted as betas and made many helpful suggestions and corrections. All remaining errors, infelicities, and poor judgement are my own.
DISCLAIMER: Primeval and its characters are owned by Impossible Pictures, ITV Productions, M6 Films, Pro 7, and possibly other entities I couldn't easily find on IMDb. No copyright infringement is intended, and indeed the story probably won't make sense unless you've watched. So watch the show, buy the DVDs, etc. I do not profit from fic except insofar as comments make me happy.
Additional notes and links to all posted parts at this story's launch page
Previous Part: 15
When the fear for his team and the general population grew greater than his frustration, Stephen chose his arguments carefully.
"It's been two hours since they got there, over three since the anomaly opened!" Stephen began as soon as Lester returned on his circuit of... the whole ARC, for all Stephen knew. The man had been prowling restlessly, like an animal in a zoo. "The shadows are getting deeper. There are woods not far from that field they're in now. If the raptors headed for the woods, there's no way Miller can track them. He just doesn't have the experience!"
"Well, he'll have to do!" Lester shot back with equal frustration. "I'm not sending you to limp about in the woods at night."
"Because Cutter will yell at you? How does that compare to Cutter getting killed? Or a civilian? Or a group of Girl Guides in the woods?"
Lester's eyes narrowed a little, and Stephen wasn't sure if Lester was annoyed with him or with the situation. Lester reminded him, "They've closed off the roads and notified everyone to stay indoors and away from windows. Jenny's cover story should be highly effective."
"Should be. For those who have heard it." Stephen pulled up two maps he'd been looking at before, plotting his strategy. "Here's our maps of the area," he said, pointing, "and here are our most recent satellite photos. I can see two tracks already that don't match the maps Jenny and Robinson had to close the area."
Lester stepped right up to the screens. "I trust you told them this-"
"Of course! And the lanes don't lead out of the area, so no one should come in from outside that way," Stephen admitted, before Lester could realise it. "But people out for a walk, or a run, could be out there without hearing the warnings, without encountering any of our people. Hell, children could be out playing!"
Lester stiffened, and only then did Stephen remember that Lester had children himself. "So what do you recommend we do?" he asked, after a pause.
"I recommend that you get me out there, in a helicopter, while we've still got enough sunlight for me to spot the tracks. It's not going to be easy as it is, with the shadows as long as they are. After dark, even I'm going to have trouble."
Lester looked at him like he was stupid, but Stephen didn't flinch. He'd been through far worse. "Then why should I send you? Surely we've only half an hour or so until sundown!"
Stephen almost choked on that. "Well over an hour! Do you even look out of the windows?"
Lester raised his arm to point up to his office. "Yes, and I see you! Not helpful."
Damn. Stephen could have told him it that sunset was even later than it was; he wouldn't have known the difference.
"Driving would waste time we don't have. Commandeer me a helicopter, and help me get out there before we get a call that the raptors have found something larger than a rabbit."
"Commandeer you a helicopter? Who the hell do you think I am?"
Stephen gave his best smile. "James Lester, one of the most feared and powerful-"
"Cut that out right now!"
"-men in the Home Office, has the ear of at least one minister-"
"I'm not military, and Captain Robinson can't easily arrange a helicopter for you."
"I know," Stephen said impatiently, "or I'd have called him! Look, you know that rabbit was hardly even an appetiser if we have five or more-"
"Hart?" Miller's voice came over the headset, and for a moment Stephen feared he'd forgotten to mute his mic again. "I'm not sure but I think they may have made it to the woods. It's not a very big wood, but...."
"Hold on," Stephen said, then remembered to turn the mic on again and repeated it before pressing mute once more. "They're in the woods. Miller can't do it."
Lester frowned. "No. I'm sorry, I simply can't-"
"Can't what? You can't allow me to risk my neck, but you can live with the risk to any family who might have missed the warnings or thought, 'Any bomb that hasn't gone off in 60 years won't now'? Any farmer who got impatient waiting for the all-clear?"
"Gupta hasn't cleared you! I haven't had a report from Jacobs. I can't send you back into the field. What-"
"Well, she's left for the day, and I won't see him again until next week! The raptors aren't going to wait for the paperwork!"
"What if you injure yourself again? What if you slow down the team?"
Stephen jumped to his feet and stabbed a finger at the screen. "They've gone from here to here in two bloody hours! How can I possibly slow them down? I could crawl faster than that!"
"Do any crawling, and Gupta will have you on bed rest for week," Lester said, and Stephen knew he'd won.
Of course, the argument hadn't quite ended yet. Lester looked like he might burst a blood vessel when he asked Stephen if he'd talked to Cutter, and Stephen had to admit that Cutter had rejected his help. Stephen did convince him to make some phone calls and be sure a helicopter was on standby.
Then he called Cutter back. And got a busy signal. God, the most important man on the anomaly project didn't have call waiting on his mobile? Stephen yelled for Lester, but only Lorraine answered.
"He's on the phone," she told him from up on the ramp, "arranging your helicopter."
"Right," he sighed, and he dialled Connor.
Connor answered at once. "We've got some tracks leading into the woods," Connor told him breathlessly, apparently unaware that he knew the situation.
"Connor," Stephen tried to interrupt.
"Noel keeps making us stay back; he's worried we'll walk on the tracks."
Stephen had no doubt that Noel had other worries besides that, but he didn't say so. "Connor, I know. I need-"
"And it's getting a bit late; I don't-"
"Connor!" Stephen bellowed. "I need to talk-"
Then his own call waiting sounded. Oh, bloody hell! He asked Connor to hold and switched to the other line.
Noel didn't waste time identifying himself. "Hart, there are leaves down, and even with a torch to give me light directly on any given area, I'm having trouble seeing anything useful on the ground."
"You've positioned men around the woods, to watch in case they exit?" Stephen asked automatically.
"Of course. That much I can do." He could hear the strain in Miller's voice. "But the men are spread a bit thin. They might miss a small group, and if they separate and one comes out alone.... Hart, I can't do this. They're only bird footprints. If we were tracking them through mud, yeah. But-"
"I know," Stephen cut him off, trying to hold onto his remaining patience. "I'm coming. Lester's ordered me a helicopter."
He took a deep breath and added, "Don't tell Cutter. I'm telling him myself. His line's busy, so I've got Connor-oh, never mind. Just don't tell Cutter. I'll be there as quick as I can. Meantime, do your best. You do know this, better than you think you do. You might have it wrapped up before I even get there."
The silence continued so long Stephen wondered if they'd been cut off. "Miller? You still there?"
"Sir. Sorry, sir. Yes. Keep tracking, let you tell the professor. Got it."
"I may be out of communication for some of the time, getting on and off the chopper, that sort of thing. I'll stay on the line with you as much as I can. But I've got to talk to Cutter now."
"Right, sir. Out."
Stephen managed to retrieve his call to Connor and send Connor after Cutter. God, he should have gone there in the first place. Raptors might be dangerous, but trying to work from a desk would give him a heart attack if he kept it up.
At last he got Cutter, on Connor's phone. "Stephen, I'm on my phone with Jenny. I don't have any new information, so I'm afraid you're going to have to wait-"
"Cutter! I do have new information! I'm coming up there. I know you don't want me, but Miller-"
"What? Stephen, I can't hear you."
Stephen knew damned well that Cutter could hear him as clearly as he could hear the other man. He didn't know whether Cutter was playing at the phone not working right or honestly thought he must have misheard.
So he yelled. "I'm coming there! Lester's getting me a helicopter. I'll-"
"You can't be serious!" Cutter yelled back.
"Of course I'm serious! You've got a pack of raptors-at least one pack. Miller-"
"No!"
Stephen's patience snapped. How many times had he contained himself over the past few weeks when Cutter threatened to get on his last nerve? After a brief bout in which they simply tried to shout over each other, he yelled, "If you don't like it, talk to Lester!" and hung up.
Lester immediately walked into his line of sight from somewhere behind him. "You know I'll make you pay for that." His arms were crossed, and he didn't look at all amused.
"Don't care," Stephen said, barely managing not to yell. "Now where's my helicopter?"
"On its way. Gear up, check out whatever you need from the armoury, and for God's sake do not leave that walking stick here."
***
Noel could heard Cutter shouting into a mobile from some distance away. He thought about Hart walking out when the professor told him he should have taken Jensen's offer, and he wondered how a more serious argument between them would go. He didn't want to witness that.
He couldn't afford the distraction. He kept picking up a bit of scent here and then losing it. The other soldiers were restless, stationed around the woods; they wanted to be where the action was. Noel wanted to be able to listen as well as look and smell. And right now, all he could hear was one very angry team leader.
One very angry team leader calling his name. Noel picked his way quickly and carefully back to the approaching Cutter.
"Did you ask Stephen to come out here?" Even in the shadows, he could see that Cutter's face was flushed with anger.
"No, sir." He thought of saying more, but none of it would make matters better, so he stopped there.
"Are you still on the line with him? Because he hung up on me!"
Noel unmuted his mic. "Hart?"
Cutter moved closer to him, probably ready to yell into the mic.
"Miller?" Hart sounded breathless.
"What's your status?" Noel asked, trying to buy some time and maybe ease the situation a little.
Noel never had the chance; Cutter pulled the headset off his head. Completely unprepared for the move, he stood for a moment with his mouth hanging open. Cutter was shoving it onto his own head, fumbling a bit in his anger.
Never had any of his training, basic or advanced, covered what to do when a civilian who technically commanded you simply took your equipment. Should he ask for it back?
"If you show up here, I will fire you again! No, you listen-don't you dare cut me off! Stephen! Stephen?"
Cutter thrust the headset back at Noel. "Get him back!"
His father always said, "Discretion is the better part of valour."
Noel put the headset on. The call was well and truly lost. He dialled back and got a busy signal, then tried again and went straight to voice mail. Oh, hell. And Cutter was looking at him like it was his fault.
"Sir," Noel said as calmly as he could manage, "the best I can do is try to track the creatures before he arrives and save him the trouble. Now if you'll excuse me, I can do this easier if you're well back." He shone his torch on the ground again. Leaves, twigs-all disturbed, at least partly by one Scottish academic.
"You didn't know anything about this?"
"I heard right before he called you, sir."
Cutter snorted. Noel deliberately didn't look up. He returned to the last tracks he'd found and began making a slow spiral around them, hoping they led somewhere. Hoping, too, that they were in fact tracks, and from the raptors.
***
Stephen tried to get ready fast, but he wasn't used to changing into the black uniforms and Kevlar vests. They'd worn them for a bit in the early days of the ARC, but then the civilians had stopped using them. The others had started wearing them again after he'd been hurt-as if that would have prevented anything, since he'd been fired and they thought they were retrieving Rex. The weapons, however, he'd used much more recently. His accuracy had suffered from his injuries and time away from the range, but he'd better have something. A handgun shouldn't prove too much for his wrist. He doubted he'd need one for more than a couple of minutes at most. Either he'd get the raptors, or they'd get him, before muscle fatigue caught up with him. He finally checked a Beretta and a small tranq gun out of the armoury.
God, Stephen hoped he was ready for this. Jacobs wouldn't like it. Then again, he reasoned, Jacobs would like it even less if Stephen lost a team-mate. He'd only had the one full-blown flashback so far, and Jacobs didn't seem too worried about it. The smell of burning had caught Stephen completely by surprise that day. This time, he knew what to expect. He knew how bad things could get, but he also had training that might prevent the situation from getting bad. No one else had all his experience.
Stephen kept the stick with him as he ran towards the exit. Lester was suddenly right beside him, so he slowed a little. He'd get enough lectures about pushing himself too hard from Cutter; he didn't need them from Lester first.
"You're not really supposed to be in the field yet, so if you get hurt, we have no responsibility," Lester told him as he matched his stride.
What the hell? "I wasn't supposed to be in that building with Helen and Cutter, either," Stephen reminded him.
"Yes, but you did rather save greater London from predation by anachronistic creatures, so we decided to overlook it just the once. The paperwork was dreadful. Don't do it again."
"I have no intention of a repeat performance." Stephen sped up again.
Lester sped up too and seemed to keep pace without difficulty. "Good. By the way, Cutter's already started calling to yell at me. I handed him over to Lorraine for a bit."
Stephen shrugged. He couldn't do anything about it now.
"I think she put him on hold, but without the hold music. I do wonder how long he'll yell at no one before he realises, but I don't suppose we'll ever know."
"Connor can probably analyse the phone records for you," Stephen said absently as he mentally reviewed the maps. He'd packed hard copies in his pockets, but he might not have the time to fumble for them in the increasing gloom. He should have been on site already.
"Oh, that's a good idea." Lester sounded surprised.
Stephen went through the outer doors. A helicopter awaited him, rotors turning, ready to take off.
"Good luck," Lester shouted unexpectedly over the din of the helicopter. "And remember: this was all your idea, and don't you dare tell Cutter anything different."
Once in the helicopter, Stephen had a radio link back to the ARC, and Lorraine managed to route him through to Miller again.
"Cutter's spitting bullets," Miller warned him in a tone so low Stephen could hardly hear it, despite the earphones muting the sound of the chopper.
"I'll just tranq him," Stephen said with forced cheer, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in his stomach.
"I've lost the tracks. I simply can't find them! We've paired back up to search the woods."
"So you're with Cutter?" Stephen asked, amazed that Miller could say what he did with Cutter right there.
"He's off with Connor this time. I've got Abby."
Stephen heard Abby's voice but couldn't make out the words. He laughed, just a little. His abdominal muscles reminded him that this was the longest he'd worked since before he got himself fired, and that he hadn't done any running since then. Nor should he this evening.
It took a real effort not to think about his last encounter with creatures. These were small raptors, Connor had assured him. Nothing like what he'd faced. The size of wild turkeys, Connor said. Simply big birds, with feathers and long tails. And sharp teeth. Lots of very, very sharp teeth. Not to mention the claws.
***
It was a damned good thing Stephen wasn't in front of him right now, Nick thought, because he had a gun. He felt a tiny, momentary twinge of guilt for thinking such a thing about the man who'd saved his life, but it passed. What was Stephen thinking? He still had a walking stick, and he wouldn't even fire his guns at the range when anyone else was around. Nick knew why: Stephen must be embarrassed about his abilities now. He had no business coming out here. Stephen couldn't truly help; he could only hurt their efforts, and probably himself as well.
So Stephen was willing to go along and pretend to be a good team player again until he didn't like the way things were going, and then he went over Nick's head. He'd hardly even talked to Nick about coming out to the site. Nick had barely begun to scratch the surface of why he shouldn't! Then Lester wouldn't listen to him, and Lorraine seemed to have lost the call. Not that she could do anything to improve the situation anyway. Perhaps he could persuade her to slip Lester some arsenic next time they ordered in sandwiches.
Nick shook his head. He knew he needed to concentrate on the problem at hand. He didn't need these damned distractions. That's what Stephen had become-a distraction. How the hell was Nick supposed to take him back on the team when he only took the orders he liked?
Connor was walking bent nearly double with a torch, looking at the ground intently. Nick hardly bothered. He knew he couldn't see anything. He'd never been very good at it on field trips with Stephen, and Noel had shown him what he said were the clearest tracks. He had to take Noel's word that they were raptor tracks at all! What the hell use Connor thought he would be at this, Nick didn't know. At least one of them felt like he was doing something useful, though, and Nick wasn't going to take that away from Connor. Another soldier trailed them at a slight distance, looking constantly around.
He tried to think of what he might say when Stephen came. What would get him out of harm's way and back on that helicopter? Lester would have strong words for him if they wasted a flight like that, but it was better than throwing a disabled man into the middle of a dangerous situation. Stephen wasn't ready for this. He wasn't going to be able to do what he thought he could. He would only set back his own recovery and distract from the business of finding the raptors. There was no way in hell Nick was going to risk an already injured man-or the people who would be trying to protect that man. It was the soldiers' job, but Abby and Connor wouldn't stay away from Stephen, and if they followed orders the way Stephen did....
Nick realised Connor had been calling him. "D'you think these are tracks?" the young man asked.
"I thought we'd pretty much given up on tracks, Connor," Nick said as gently as he could. "We're looking for signs of a kill, and listening for anything unusual." If they were lucky, they'd have some warning before they encountered a raptor in the flesh. Of course, they weren't always lucky.
"I can hear soldiers tromping thataway." Connor stood and pointed. "That's all I hear. I thought they were supposed to be stealthy?"
"Maybe Noel can take that up in training." Then Nick realised he'd been overlooking the obvious. "You've been pretty close to Stephen lately, right?"
Connor's head snapped around quickly to face Nick, but with the trees blocking most of the slanting sunlight that remained, Nick couldn't see his expression.
"Yeah. I suppose so." Connor sounded noncommittal.
"What do I say to him to get him to follow orders?" Frustration crept back into Nick's voice, though he tried to keep it out. "He used to listen to me."
"He still does." Connor turned back to his search. "He.... He listens to you. Honest. Quotes you all the time."
"He does? On what?"
"Keeping the creatures alive, keeping the military in its place, the need for safety, the need to be fully certified on the tranq guns, both so that I can protect myself and so that I can protect the creatures from the soldiers, who won't be carrying tranq guns."
Was Connor making this up to appease him? Probably not; Stephen did tend to talk like that anyway. They always had agreed on some things.
Connor stopped, and Nick realised he'd followed him smack to the edge of the woods and a soldier some distance away had jumped and pointed a gun at them. He turned it aside just as quickly, calling out an apology.
"I don't think we were supposed to exit here," Connor said, turning around. "We-wait! Did you hear that?"
Nick hadn't heard anything.Then he did: gunshots.
Connor started to run back into the trees, but Nick yelled, "No! Faster to go around the outside, I think!" The soldier they'd seen had started running. Nick broke into a run after Connor, who was faster.
The gunfire had stopped after only a few rounds, and soon they could hear yelling. As they got closer, Cutter could see people down on the ground. Noel and Abby reached them before he did, Noel yelling at the soldiers. Two of the men on the ground instantly jumped up and got their guns into position. Sloppy, that they needed an officer yelling at them to do that!
Cutter didn't reach the group very long after Connor and the soldier. The men had all been clustered around an injured soldier. The wounded man lay on the ground, a medic tending bleeding wounds on his legs. Also on the ground was a raptor, clearly shot dead. The blood painted the ground so much that Nick hoped some of the blood on the soldier's trousers wasn't his own, but splatter from the dead creature.
"Contact Robinson. Have this man evacuated as soon as possible," Noel ordered. "You!" he shouted at the soldier who'd been on the outskirts of the woods. "Back to your post in case others come through back there!"
The soldier saluted and ran.
"Maybe we can get him evacuated on the chopper bringing Hart?" the medic suggested. A sergeant got on the radio immediately.
"He only saw three raptors," Abby explained to them as Noel began picking his way along a hedgerow leading away from the woods. Cutter, Abby, Connor, and a couple of soldiers followed, at a distance, giving Noel space. "Apparently we flushed them out of the woods nearly right at him!" She sounded appalled. "He wasn't sure if he hit the others," she added.
"I could do with some quiet, please," Noel called back. He shone the torch atop his weapon along the ground next to the hedgerow, and occasionally he peered into the brush cautiously. Nick shone his torch, too; Abby and Connor kept theirs off.
Finally, a trail they could follow: the bloodstains were thickening as they crept along, using the torches to augment the decreasing sunlight.
Minutes crept by. Were they even on the right trail? They should be right behind the buggers. How fast could those things run? Nick hissed the question to Connor, but suddenly Noel held up a hand for silence.
Abby hefted her tranquilliser gun, and Nick and Connor followed suit a little belatedly. Noel was carrying a tranq gun, but that wasn't the weapon he held ready.
"Wait!" hissed Abby, and she ran up alongside Noel.
Now Nick could hear it-rustling in the growth ahead of them. They all moved forward slowly, following Noel's signal. Sticks crunched under Connor's boots. There was silence for a moment, and then a louder noise-a scuffle, some squawks, and Noel ran forward. At this point they didn't need the torches: they could see two raptors tearing at each other, with blood evident even in the gathering dusk.
Noel shot four times, and all movement ceased.
For a moment there was complete stillness: no one moved, no one spoke.
Abby broke the spell with two steps that took her in front of Noel. "You didn't have to kill them!"
He was already sidestepping, pointing his gun at the ground. "Don't ever get in front of my weapon," Noel said in a voice that Nick had never heard from him before. "You know better than that."
Nick drew up right behind. "She's right, though."
"They attacked one of our men. I couldn't take the risk, sir."
"They were injured!" Abby pointed, and Nick shone his torch on them.
He could see great tears in the one on the bottom, gobs of flesh hanging off. He could see bullet holes more clearly in the one on top.
"The soldier had already hit them!" Abby was furious. "We could have tranq'd them and taken them back...."
"They were fighting for their lives," Noel explained calmly, casting his light about as he moved his gun slowly side to side. "They'd turned on each other already, and they'd have turned on us in a moment. You've told me those sedatives take a few seconds to work, minimum. They're too damned fast. If we're this close, I'm shooting. And I'm not going to argue. We don't have time."
"Guys, where are the rest?" Connor asked. He'd turned his torch on but was looking more behind them. "You said there were five of them."
"Yeah," said Noel heavily. "Price only saw three. The pack might have split up when they couldn't find enough food? Something startled them?" He answered his own question when the others didn't. "It hardly matters. The important thing is, I'm pretty sure we've got at least two more out there."
"Can we at least try to use tranquillisers?" Abby pressed. She looked to Nick for help.
Nick wanted to say something in support, but he couldn't. Stephen was too much on his mind. He had nearly lost Stephen just a few weeks ago. Nick had also held Captain Ryan while he breathed his last. People's lives were worth more than animals'. They would save the animals whenever they could, but they'd nearly lost a soldier back there to these two animals. Noel had done the right thing.
Noel raised a hand suddenly and hissed, "Hang on-what's that?"
"That's a car! Somebody-" Abby started across the field towards what might have been a narrow lane.
Noel muttered something that might have been a curse. "Don't go off by yourself!" he said. He turned almost at once to look at Nick and Connor and waved. "Come on! Nobody stays by the hedgerows alone!"
***
Part 17
***