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Cutter pulled Ryan aside when they got back to the Home Office. Helen was already stalking towards Lester, determined to get him on side for her expedition plan to the Permian.
“Something isn’t right here, Ryan. Helen’s too eager about this.”
“Agreed. But if we stop the idea in its tracks she’ll try and run again. I’m not letting her get away this time.”
“I have an idea, but it is risky. Can you source something small and portable that can play sound at high volume?”
“Should be easy enough, why?”
“I’m going to convince Lester to go along with Helen’s plan to keep her on side. We need to know what she’s up to, but I’m not convinced that we got all the predators. They leave no tracks so how can we be sure? There could also be more in the Permian. If we can confuse their echolocation we should be able to defend ourselves better.”
Ryan rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s risky, but it’s probably the best chance we’ve got. I’ll also see if I can scrounge more equipment to try to pick up on the predators’ own sound waves and make sure everyone going through the anomaly knows what to keep an eye out for. The better prepared we are, the happier I’ll be.”
Cutter cracked a smile. “Pack handcuffs. I suspect we’ll need them.”
Straightening his shoulders, Cutter stormed off to add his voice to the rather vehement discussion Helen and Lester were already engaged in. Ryan shook his head and then headed off to find the equipment needed. Anything Helen Cutter was involved in was undoubtedly a disaster waiting to happen. He really wanted to chuck her in the most isolated, secure cell he could find and throw away the key.
***
At the Permian anomaly site, Ryan checked and rechecked his gear, including the speakers he’d filched from the Special Forces’ gym deep in the bowels of the Home Office, and also his own iPod, set to a particular album. It was possibly not the sort of scientific equipment Cutter might be expecting, but Metallica was always useful when you wanted to cause a racket.
His tac vest now held one of the nifty little sonar capable devices he’d managed to acquire. Hopefully with a few of the men monitoring them at all times, they would get plenty of warning. Passing Cutter on his way to check with his men, he heard the professor quietly ordering his assistant to keep a sharp eye on Connor’s own device, just in case. Hart just raised an eyebrow and nodded.
Ryan approached Ditzy and clapped him on the shoulder. The medic was staying behind to take charge of the guard on site in the present and be prepared for any injuries if things went badly.
“Everything in place, Ditz?”
“Yes, sir.”
They shared a grim smile. Helen wasn’t going to slip away this time if Ryan had anything to say about it.
***
Ryan pursed his lips in irritation. They were in the past, surrounded by potentially lethal animals and hunting an anomaly in order to defend said past from incredibly powerful predators and Helen bloody Cutter was acting like a tourist. She had been here before, for goodness sake.
Cutter caught his eye and made a face, before trotting off to play the not quite so doting estranged husband (and hadn’t the expression on Helen’s face when Claudia snogged the bloke been hilarious?). Ryan kept an eye on their surroundings as he helped his men set up camp.
When Cutter started shouting at him about creating their own past, a shiver went down Ryan’s spine. Various detection devices began beeping a mere 30 seconds later and his blood turned to ice.
He made a dive for the iPod and hit the play button.
Fifteen minutes and the intervention of one hungry gorgonopsid later, the future predator was dead and being eaten somewhere hopefully far away, the campsite hand been demolished and Johnson, the youngest soldier in the squad, had been shredded.
Thankfully there were only a few minor wounds among the rest, so Ditzy would be able to patch them up with his own personal brand of sarcasm.
Ryan frowned when Helen said all the predator young were dead, as he’d just spotted movement at the edge of the ridge. Approaching cautiously, he spotted two youngsters and put a round into each skull.
Cutter was glaring at Helen.
“Time to go back.”
Cutter looked at him grimly. “The skeleton.”
Ryan realized what he wanted to do and started to protest. “Oh no…”
“Ryan, we can’t risk changing our own pasts. The consequences could be incalculable. We need to bury Johnson.”
Ryan grimaced. He hated time travel and sometimes he really hated command. This would be his decision.
“I don’t like the idea any more that you do,” Cutter said quietly. “But it has to be done. We can at least bury him properly. I don’t think his family would want to see him like this. I’m sure Claudia and Lester can come up with a suitable explanation for the lack of remains.”
Ryan stared at Cutter hard, but Cutter just met his eyes.
“Fuck. All right then. But if we ever get the chance we’re retrieving him.”
“I’ll help you get him home.”
Ryan nodded and went to give the order. He was going to spend his time sticking to Helen Cutter like glue.
***
When the somber group stepped back through the anomaly, the first thing Ryan saw was the brilliant smile on Claudia’s face as she laid eyes on Cutter, safe and sound.
Ryan approached Lester. “All the predators have been destroyed sir, including the adult that came after us. Unfortunately we lost Johnson.”
“No one should go through the anomaly again. At least not this version,” said Cutter.
“I’m sorry to break your new rule, Nick, but I’m not staying.”
Keeping his hand low, Ryan signaled Ditzy while the two Cutters argued. Ditzy sidled towards Helen, keeping a hand out of sight. Cutter spotted him, and managed to hide his surprise reasonably well. He wasn’t in on this part of the plan.
When Cutter refused Helen’s invitation to go with her, a sly smile slid over her face and her glance flicked over towards Hart. Ryan didn’t like the look of that. The bitch clearly had a plan to cause some sort of trouble. He gave Ditzy the signal to proceed and the medic lunged forward and inserted a small syringe into Helen’s neck.
Ryan dashed forwards to grab her wrists so she couldn’t swing at Ditzy as he held her.
“Sorry, Mrs Cutter,” Ryan murmured. “You’re not going anywhere.” He glanced at Nick as the sedative started to kick in. The professor merely gave him a resigned smile and a nod, before heading over to talk to Claudia and Hart.
Lester approached as Ditzy checked the woman’s vital signs. “Shall we throw away the key this time?”
“Sounds good to me, sir.”