Both Duncan and Tom gaped at him in amazement.
‘Her?’ Duncan asked in disbelief.
‘A girl.’ Tom sounded amused but Connor nodded smugly, before jumping to his feet and grabbing a rolled-up sleeping bag.
‘You forgot this one,’ Tom said eagerly, passing over Connor’s rucksack which had a brand-new Roswell alien key ring hanging from its zip.
‘Hey,’ said Connor. ‘That’s cool.’
‘That’s our little house-warming present,’ Tom responded kindly.
‘I’m touched,’ replied Connor, slightly taken aback by the gesture. ‘Thanks, dudes.’ He slid the van door open and beamed at his two mates. ‘See ya.’
As Connor ran across the road, Tom glanced at Duncan.
‘You did turn it on?’ he asked.
‘Of course I turned it on,’ Duncan retorted. ‘Whatever his secret is, we’ll soon know.’
‘Oh, yes,’ said Tom with satisfaction as Duncan pulled out a home-modified, portable satnav system. It was beeping intermittently and the screen displayed an electronic map with a flashing circle denoting the position of Abby’s flat.
Looking across at where Connor was standing, waiting to be let in, they could just see the tiny red eyes of the key ring glowing. Like a couple of gormless baddies in a kid’s cartoon, they both laughed knowingly.
James Lester looked through the two-way mirror into the interrogation room where Helen Cutter was sitting at the illuminated table, her face expressionless. He frowned and turned back to Cutter and Claudia in the anteroom.
‘Smilodon,’ the professor was saying. ‘Literal meaning “knife-tooth”. Up to three metres long, sabre teeth, they hunt in packs – an efficient and ruthless predator.’ He glanced at Claudia who was listening intently, unlike her boss – whose mind appeared to be elsewhere. Cutter continued. ‘Now, according to Helen, a large pride has established their territory near an anomaly and it’s only a matter of time before they come through.’ He spoke urgently now, ignoring Lester’s nonchalance.
‘London’s a big place,’ Claudia pointed out. ‘Where exactly is this going to happen?’
‘That’s the problem,’ Cutter said grimly. ‘She won’t tell us. She wants to take us there herself.’
Lester glanced at Helen. A muscle twitched in his cheek. ‘It’s a trick.’
‘I agree,’ Claudia said.
‘It’s possible,’ Cutter replied, feeling annoyed. He wasn’t best pleased with Helen, but he still had faith in his wife’s sense of humanity. He tried again. ‘Maybe she wants to prove to you that she’s not as callous as you imagine, ’ he said, glancing at Lester.
‘She could do that without moving a muscle,’ Lester remarked wryly, unwilling to give an inch.
‘Look, she may be selfish, but she’s not evil. I know her,’ Cutter insisted.
‘You mean you used to.’ Claudia’s voice was hard.
‘I trust her about as far as I can throw a Stegosaurus,’ Lester quipped.
‘OK then.’ Cutter’s expression was grave. ‘But the consequences of doing nothing could be massive.’ He paused, shrugging. ‘I don’t know how you explain that to the tourist board.’
Helen led the way into the empty football stadium. She was flanked by SAS officers, and Cutter and Claudia followed behind.
‘Here?’ Claudia asked incredulously, glancing up at the stands.
Helen nodded and looked round at the others. She could tell by the expressions on their faces that they were imagining the consequences of a pride of Smilodons being unleashed on thousands of fans.
‘Do exactly as I say,’ she said confidently, ‘and this doesn’t have to be a disaster.’
Ryan shone his torch round the large, empty room. The light bounced off the shiny metal surfaces. Here, inside the football stadium kitchens, there was no sign of any kind of life other than themselves.
Helen walked purposefully up an aisle past the cookers. She stopped in front of a large walk-in freezer. She appeared to be concentrating.
‘In there?’ Claudia asked sceptically, following her gaze. She didn’t trust this woman and she had the distinct feeling that they were being played. But they had no choice but to follow her lead.
‘Yup,’ replied Helen, a smile playing across her lips. ‘In there.’
Claudia looked back at the zoologists. She tipped her head towards the freezer. ‘Connor.’
Connor glanced at Cutter, who gave him the nod. He gulped and stepped forward.
There was palpable tension in the air. Everyone was scared about what exactly the freezer had in store for them, and everyone was anxious that Helen was leading them into some kind of trap.
Connor held the compass up to the door. The needle remained steady. ‘There’s no magnetic force,’ he stated.
‘The doors are too thick. It can’t penetrate the metal,’ Helen hurriedly informed them.
‘Is that true?’ Claudia turned to Cutter, her voice full of mistrust.
‘It’s possible,’ Cutter replied.
‘Watch her,’ Claudia commanded Ryan and strode over to the doors, raising her hands to the padlock chain.
‘Hey!’ Helen shouted out in alarm. Claudia spun round. ‘What if the cats have already come through?’
Claudia ignored Helen, snapping at Cutter instead. ‘You know, she’s really beginning to get on my nerves.’
Cutter smiled back at her. ‘I can understand that.’
However, Claudia felt a growing sense of unease. She couldn’t let this woman maintain the upper hand. ‘You’re bluffing,’ she announced, narrowing her eyes at Helen.
‘Try me,’ Helen challenged.
Claudia threw her a black look. ‘Stephen,’ she said simply.
Stephen approached the freezer doors and grabbed the chain. It didn’t budge. Ryan came forward to lend a hand with a large knife. He cut the chain and Stephen nodded his thanks, before pulling hard on the door handles. The SAS team raised their guns in anticipation.
On the count of three, they inched opened the door. Pots and pans began to rattle and move in the surrounding kitchen. Claudia glanced nervously at Helen.
Finally, Stephen wrenched the doors fully open and, immediately, a powerful anomaly rippled into the air. At the same time, all the loose metal objects in the room began flying towards the freezer where they were sucked forcefully through the anomaly. Everyone ducked except Connor, who stood motionless, his eyes wide in amazement. Stephen plucked a colander out of the air, millimetres from his face.
‘This is where you duck,’ he said.
‘OK.’ Connor nodded, dumbstruck.
As they all crouched on the floor, ladles, sieves and frying pans flying over their heads, Helen leaned in and spoke to Claudia. ‘You know,’ she said smugly, ‘you’d make a terrible poker player.’
‘This is Area 51 all over again,’ Tom whispered. He was holding an open newspaper in front of his face, pretending to read it.
‘The alien landing site?’ Duncan asked, from behind his.
They were parked outside the stadium in the VW van and were watching the comings and goings of the patrolling SAS soldiers.
‘Uh-huh,’ replied Tom knowledgeably. ‘The SWAT teams, the secrecy… they must have some kind of bunker in there.’
Duncan lowered his paper and squinted out of the window. ‘In a football stadium?’ he said dubiously.
‘These people are clever.’ Tom shook his head in wonder. ‘Really clever.’
Connor picked up a meat pie from a loaded tray just inside the freezer.
‘Anyone hungry?’ he joked.
Helen spun round, panic flashing across her face when she saw what he was holding. ‘We have to get rid of them. The meat will act like bait!’ she exclaimed, lungeing towards the freezer, but Ryan grabbed hold of her and restrained her.
In the next instant, Cutter ran forward and began hauling out the trays, swiftly passing them to Stephen and Connor. Helen grabbed Ryan by the collar and snarled in his face. ‘Unless you want you
r men to be breakfast, I suggest you do something!’
Ryan looked uncertainly at Claudia, who nodded her permission. ‘OK, clear them out,’ he commanded his men, releasing Helen.
She watched him closely as he took a pile of heavy boxes from Cutter. Then, as the professor wheeled out a trolley of the pies and the SAS officer stepped out of the way, Helen took her chance. Head down, she sprinted through the anomaly.
‘Bring her back!’ Claudia screamed as Ryan went racing after her.
‘Helen!’ Cutter shouted, rushing towards the anomaly. But one of the soldiers blocked his path. He looked wildly around, caught Stephen’s eye and motioned with his head towards the freezer.
Then, in the split second that the professor pushed the trolley across the path of the other SAS men, Stephen hurtled through the anomaly.
‘For goodness’ sake, someone stop him!’ Claudia yelled.
Stephen rolled down the bank of grass, then came to a halt and got to his feet, just as Ryan turned and trained his gun on him.
Stephen raised a hand and Ryan sighed with relief before looking back over his shoulder. Stephen followed his gaze.
Instead of emerging in the midst of a pack of carnivores, they were standing on a vast grassy plain under a dazzling blue sky. There were no animals in sight. Instead, on every side were dozens of anomalies, rippling across the landscape as far as the eye could see.
The two men were totally mesmerized.
‘That’s incredible,’ Cutter said, blinking slowly at the image on Connor Temple’s laptop.
Stephen had taking a recording of the anomaly field on his mobile phone and Connor had downloaded it on to his computer.
The student grinned at the screen. ‘The spaghetti junction of anomalies.’
‘There was no way I could follow her,’ Stephen explained apologetically to Cutter. ‘It’d be like running into a hall of mirrors.’
‘Let me guess,’ Claudia said dryly. ‘Not a sabre-tooth tiger in sight?’
‘Not even a kitten,’ Stephen replied.
Claudia tore her eyes away from the screen and glared at Cutter.
‘You tried to follow her!’ she said accusingly.
‘To stop her,’ Cutter retorted. Then, more gently, he said, ‘What possible reason could I have for wanting her to escape? I want answers more than anyone.’ Claudia held his gaze for a long moment, as if she was trying to fathom whether he was telling the truth or not.
‘Incoming!’ Ryan suddenly shouted, aiming his gun at the open freezer.
His men raised their weapons and everyone stared at the anomaly as it pulsated, ominous squawks emanating from the other side.
All at once, as the air dissolved, the gateway expelled its burden, spitting out a flock of feathery, plump, squawking… dodos.
Panic-stricken, the birds clumsily scattered in all directions. At first, everyone was too dumbstruck to move.
Then Cutter snapped to his senses. ‘Round them up, everybody!’ he shouted. ‘Don’t let them get out!’
Immediately, everyone started scrabbling round trying to catch the birds, who, despite being flightless, were surprisingly nimble. There were about a dozen of them and they had scattered in every direction.
In the chaos, one of the dodos discovered Connor’s rucksack. Catching sight of a banana sticking out of the top, it plucked it out and swallowed it whole. Then it laid eyes on the Roswell key ring, and, attracted by the red glowing eyes, snapped it up in its beak before waddling off, unnoticed, in the direction of the exit.
Tom and Duncan crept out from behind the battered yellow VW. Tom held the satnav in his hand.
‘Right, Connor’s on the move,’ he said, inching cautiously forwards.
Duncan joined him at the side of the vehicle and peered over his shoulder. According to the dot on their screen, Connor was moving towards them.
‘He should be appearing about… now!’ Tom said, just as the dodo broke out of the shadows of the stadium and ran across the car park.
‘Oh, no.’ Duncan was flabbergasted. ‘They’ve turned Connor into a turkey!’
The dodo floundered around, evidently confused by its alien surroundings.
‘That,’ said Tom decisively, ‘is not a turkey. Come on, let’s grab it!’ And he rushed towards the dodo, Duncan hot on his heels.
Cutter sat in the middle of the catering manager’s office, surrounded by a group of dodos. He was grinning childishly as they hopped about, clumsily knocking things to the ground. For a few moments he was enjoying himself – in the knowledge that they were completely harmless. After all, never in his wildest dreams did he expect to come face to face with these wonderful creatures.
Claudia, Connor and Abby peered in from the doorway; Ryan hung back behind them.
‘Dodos?’ Claudia said in amazement.
‘They’re so cute,’ Abby commented, wrinkling her nose in delight.
‘And so dumb,’ Connor added, nodding towards the circus going on around Cutter.
‘They’re not stupid, just trusting,’ Abby said defensively. ‘It’s not their fault they became extinct.’
‘Funny – you weren’t this sentimental about the Gorgonopsid,’ Connor teased her, as Stephen joined the group of spectators.
Claudia wasn’t in the mood for joking. She was harassed and had practical matters on her mind. ‘Is that the lot?’ she asked Stephen officiously.
‘Yup, that’s it.’ He raised his eyebrows. Like his fellow zoologists, he found the surreal but non-threatening situation they were in faintly amusing.
‘OK,’ Cutter said with authority. ‘Let’s ship them back before we upset Darwin.’ His face broke into a grin. ‘Right, everyone, grab a dodo!’
Tom and Duncan got into the front of the VW and slammed the door shut. They both stared at their prize in disbelief. They had managed to bundle the unsuspecting bird into the back of the van.
‘Well, if it walks like a dodo… squawks like a dodo…’ Tom trailed off.
‘… scratches like a dodo…’ interjected Duncan, who was thoroughly confused by what he was witnessing.
‘That’s what this conspiracy is about!’ Tom exclaimed. ‘They’re cloning them.’ He motioned to the dodo, who was hopping about on the back seat, scratching itself furiously.
‘But…’ said Duncan, absent-mindedly scratching his head in imitation, ‘why would anyone clone a flightless bird?’
‘What would you start with, Dunc?’ Tom mocked him, ‘A T-rex?’
Convinced that he had the whole conspiracy taped, Tom started the engine and put the van into gear. They were taking the dodo back to their flat. Now they were in the driving seat.
‘Come on,’ Cutter cajoled one of the remaining dodos, guiding it gently towards the freezer.
His team and a few of Ryan’s men were in the process of carefully shepherding the dodos from the office through to the anomaly, where one by one they were sucked through the energy field back to their own world.
Stephen was holding a metal baking tray, keeping the dodo next in line occupied until Cutter was ready for him. Abby giggled, watching the ungainly bird bobbing its head at its reflection.
Stephen glanced at Abby. ‘So… Connor’s moved in?’ he asked breezily.
‘Just until he finds a new place,’ Abby said firmly, but she could tell that he didn’t believe her. She had to admit that it looked dodgy. Earlier that day he had come round to her flat to tell her that Helen had revealed the whereabouts of the new anomaly, and he’d discovered her and Connor in their underwear. Even Connor knew that the only reason she wore skimpy clothes around him was because she needed to keep the thermostat high for her menagerie of pet lizards, but it must have looked highly suspect.
Suddenly, there was an urgent shout from Ryan.
‘Professor! We’ve got a dodo down.’
Cutter hurried over to the lifeless bird lying in a corner of the kitchen. He gently put a hand on it. Stephen crouched down beside him.
‘How did th
at happen?’ Abby asked sadly.
‘Maybe it ate one of the pies,’ Connor quipped, not looking up from his compass which he was holding out to see if the anomaly was showing any signs of weakening. His comment was met by a disapproving silence. ‘Sorry,’ he muttered.
Cutter looked uneasily at the inanimate creature. ‘Poor little guy. We should do an autopsy to find out how he died.’
‘It could have been the shock,’ Stephen said seriously.
‘Well, we’ve both been through and we’re all right,’ replied Cutter, unconvinced.
‘As far as we know…’ Stephen smiled wryly at his boss.
‘Cutter!’ Connor said sharply. They both turned to look at him. ‘The anomaly’s fading!’ he informed them, waving his compass.
‘If we play our cards right, our student loans are a thing of the past, man,’ Tom said, shaking his head in wonderment as he watched the kidnapped dodo jumping around on a swivel chair and pecking curiously at the littered desk.
‘Friendly little chap, isn’t he?’ Duncan remarked, pushing his glasses up his nose and grinning broadly.
The dodo picked up his MP3 player from the table and started to munch on it curiously.
‘Hey!’ Duncan cried.
Tom put a hand on his arm. ‘Let him have it. You’ll be able to buy a hundred MP3s when this gets out.’
Duncan relaxed and nodded. This dodo was their ticket to the big time.
Cutter, Stephen and Abby stood round the dissection table in the Home Office laboratory. They were kitted out in white clinical suits and were about to start their autopsy.
Cutter picked up a scalpel to make an incision, when, suddenly, the dodo twitched violently, causing them all to jump away from the table.
‘It’s… just muscle spasm,’ Stephen suggested nervously.
‘No,’ replied Cutter, shaking his head. ‘It’s been dead for hours…’
He took a deep breath and they all stepped back to the table, but just as he was about to make a cut, the corpse spasmed violently and something vile slithered out of its beak. Before any of them could react it had plopped to the floor and began to writhe its way towards Abby. She backed away hurriedly but within a matter of seconds it had her cornered against a wall. She let out a frightened squeal as it reared up off the ground, but just as it was about to strike Stephen slammed a bell jar over it.
Dangerous Dimension Page 5
