by Kay Woodward
Cutter whirled round to face Claudia. ‘Can you trace her mobile?’
Connor leant against a tree, waiting for Abby to emerge from her tent. Tonight was the night. Abby would finally realize how wonderfully clever and lovable he was – and together they would discover the anomaly, step through it and find a dinosaur or two. And true love, obviously.
Excellent.
His mobile rang, ruining the moment utterly. Connor saw Stephen’s name appear on the tiny screen and immediately switched the phone to silent. The lab technician wasn’t even here and he was still getting in the way of a beautiful friendship.
‘My tent’s only big enough for one,’ Abby said, clambering out of it. ‘You should have brought your own.’
‘I like sleeping out,’ said Connor, despite the disappointment sweeping over him. ‘I did the Duke of Edinburgh Award, you know. For a morning.’ He grinned ruefully. ‘Then I hurt my ankle.’
Abby smiled, taking the plastic cup of tea he offered her. She sipped it gratefully, shivering a little with cold. Then, her cheeks suddenly pink, she turned quickly to Connor. ‘Can I ask you a personal question?’ she said.
Connor felt a surge of hope. This was it – the moment he’d waited for. ‘Go ahead,’ he said. ‘Anything.’
‘Is Stephen seeing anyone?’ she asked.
‘Stephen?’ Connor’s spirits plummeted.
‘Has he said anything about me?’ Abby continued.
Connor shrugged. ‘Not that I remember,’ he said sullenly. Noticing Abby’s disappointed expression, he suddenly saw an opportunity to make her feel as bad as he did. ‘Actually… I’ve never seen him with a woman. He might not like them.’
Abby absorbed this unwanted information in silence, before hurling the rest of her tea across the forest floor. She stomped over to her tent and ducked inside, zipping it up firmly.
‘I’ll keep first watch then, shall I…?’ Connor said. He contemplated the tatty sleeping bag beside him and sighed.
∗
‘Wake up!’
Confused and disorientated, Connor jolted awake to find Abby shaking him. He was about to protest when he heard a low animal growl. An uneasy silence followed. Then – crash! – a heavy tread smashed through the undergrowth just metres away.
Abby caught a glimpse of a reptilian head silhouetted against the trees. ‘Oh my…’ she breathed, as a spine-chilling growl echoed through the forest.
Connor looked around in panic, before signalling to Abby to make a break for it. At the same moment, the creature burst from the trees, its hideous, snarling features clearer in the moonlight. The terrified student grabbed a pathetic-looking stick and turned to confront the monster –
Clunk! It promptly fell over.
The student grabbed for his torch and shone it on the dinosaur, which lay unmoving on the forest floor. Its jaws hung wide open and its eyes were still. Was it dead? If so, what had killed it? Quickly, Connor swept the torch’s beam along the length of its body, seeing at once that they were the victims of an elaborate hoax. The creature was not made of flesh and blood, but of papier-mâché and latex. It sat atop an old pram. Behind it, doubled up with laughter, stood Connor’s geek friends from university. They carried a digital recorder, which was emitting lifelike roars and crashes.
‘Careful!’ called Tom. ‘It bites!’
Duncan howled with glee.
But before Connor could react, headlights swept through the woods and a car pulled up. A police officer got out and stared at the strange scene, looking totally bemused by what he saw. Swiftly, Tom and Duncan disappeared into the safety of the forest, just as Cutter and Stephen arrived.
Connor gulped. He was in trouble. Big trouble.
Once the police officer was satisfied that this was no more than a student prank, he left. Nick Cutter walked over to Connor and Abby. He looked so angry that they were more afraid than when they’d been confronted by the cardboard beast.
‘I know what you’re going to say,’ Connor began.
‘Sorry,’ added Abby, shamefaced.
‘You’re lucky the police aren’t going to prosecute you for trespassing,’ snapped Cutter. Furiously, he turned to Connor. ‘Suppose it really had been a predator. What were you going to do? Tame it? You knew exactly what was at stake, but you just couldn’t keep your mouth shut.’
Connor swallowed hard, realizing that he had to come clean. ‘It’s just so big,’ he admitted. ‘I had to share it with someone…’ He hung his head. ‘I’m sorry. I blew it.’
The professor’s next words hit him like a sledgehammer blow. ‘Forget the anomaly,’ he said. ‘It never happened. Go back to college and get on with your work. I’ll find you another supervisor.’
‘I’m just as much to blame as he is,’ Abby said quickly.
‘Just as stupid, maybe,’ said Cutter. ‘But you didn’t tell anyone and you still have skills I can use. You stay.’
Abby felt a terrible mixture of relief and guilt. However mean Connor had been about Stephen, he certainly didn’t deserve this.
As he stood forlornly in the New Forest, Connor had no way of knowing that he was right. There was another anomaly. But it wasn’t anywhere near the New Forest. And it had nothing to do with dinosaurs – fake or otherwise. Deep underneath the city of London, trouble was brewing…
‘This kind of thing doesn’t normally interest the government,’ said Dr Lewis, looking at the unconscious man in the hospital bed. She knew the drill. Any sort of crime and the police were involved. This time, it was different. She was being treated to a visit from a Home Office official and a university professor. Why did this poor victim warrant such attention?
Claudia answered briskly. ‘We like to keep an eye on violent crime, especially where there are unusual circumstances.’ She and Cutter regarded the patient, who was hooked up to an array of life-support machines. Violent spasms shook his body, but the only sign of injury was the bandage wrapped round his neck.
‘They found him in the Underground early this morning,’ explained the doctor. ‘He’s a pest controller. Judging from the size of his wound, he’d been attacked with a knife or an axe.’ She paused. ‘But it makes no sense… It’s not the wound that’s killing him. It’s the poison. His system is drowning in it.’
Claudia went pale. ‘You’re suggesting that someone took an axe to him and then injected poison into the wound?’
‘Venom, to be precise,’ said Dr Lewis. ‘We’re running every test we can think of, but the truth is that we just don’t know what we’re dealing with.’
‘Did he say anything before he lost consciousness?’ Claudia went on.
The doctor’s reply was offhand. ‘He was babbling about monsters – not very helpful.’
Cutter and Claudia shared an uneasy look, then watched as Dr Lewis peeled back the patient’s dressing to reveal an ugly gash in his neck.
The professor spoke up. ‘It’s a single puncture, but it wasn’t made by a knife,’ he said. ‘It’s more like a bite.’
This changed everything.
Lester was both furious and dismayed. He was furious because Claudia’s demand was nothing short of outrageous. And he was dismayed because another unbelievable case had arrived to disturb his inner calm – and the ink had barely dried on the first one.
‘I can’t close the Underground on a wild hunch,’ he protested.
Cutter’s reply was curt. ‘Something down there injected a fatal dose of venom into his bloodstream,’ he said.
‘And how do you suggest I explain this to the mayor?’ Lester spluttered. ‘Excuse me, sir. Would you mind terribly throwing the whole Underground into chaos because we think there might be a fare-dodging creepy-crawly loose somewhere?’
‘We’re not talking about shutting down the system,’ Claudia said hurriedly. ‘Just the area where the attack took place. There’s a whole network of disused tunnels down there.’
Lester looked at her bitterly, not even bothering to hide his contempt. Then, finall
y, he nodded his consent.
The SAS were on the case. Ryan and his team hurtled through the streets of London in unmarked cars, skidding to a halt outside Aldwych tube station. Within minutes, the road was sealed off and a stream of military personnel was pouring down the escalators into the depths of the Underground system. The fluorescent bibs they wore signalled to curious onlookers that they were staff. And no one suspected that the clinking holdalls they carried were crammed with anything other than maintenance equipment. After all, Lester had made it very clear that if a single member of the public were to suspect what was going on, the whole team would be for the high jump.
A dusty staircase led them into the depths of the system and away from the crowds. Once out of sight, the team dumped their bibs and clamped on night-vision goggles. The holdalls were unzipped to reveal a stash of hi-tech rifles.
Ryan consulted a diagram and gave a brief nod in the direction of a locked door at the foot of the stairs. A quick snip later, the bolt-cutter had dispatched the padlock as if it were made of butter. Behind the door was a dusty, long-forgotten corridor that stretched back into inky darkness. Pausing only to clamp on their goggles, Ryan and his team strode forward.
‘I should be down there with them,’ Cutter mumbled, staring at the tarmac as if imagining the events taking place far below them.
He, Claudia, Stephen and Abby were gathered at the temporary command centre that had sprung up outside the long-abandoned tube station. To the general public, it might look like an ordinary van, but inside was enough computer equipment to hack into the Bank of England.
‘Special Forces go in first,’ said Claudia patiently. ‘You didn’t think Lester was going to let you have it all your own way?’ She gave him a sideways glance. ‘Anyway, he knows how valuable you are to us. He’s trying to keep you safe.’
The professor grinned. ‘Is that true?’ he asked.
‘No,’ she replied, smiling back at him. ‘But I thought it might make you feel better.’
The wartime bunker was crammed with half a century of junk. Ancient rubbish littered the floor – piles of wood, dust-covered bottles of turpentine and stacks of yellow, curling Underground posters. No one had been here for a very long time.
No one.
But something had been here much more recently.
Ryan gazed around the room, trying to ignore a feeling of growing unease. Then out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw something – a scuttling movement that made him think of an insect. But it couldn’t have been. Insects weren’t that big.
The sense of dread threatened to overwhelm him. Then instinct made him turn sharply to look at one of his men standing just behind. Through the night-vision goggles, it seemed that his outline was quivering. No… It was worse than that. Something was climbing up the man’s back, reaching a long, hairy limb over his shoulder –
Thwack!
Ryan swung the butt of his rifle at the huge mutant spider – measuring nearly a metre across – and it fell to the ground, quickly running into a dark corner. The soldier gave him a grateful nod.
Then, just when it seemed as if the danger was over, chunky balls of fur began to fall from above. Ryan’s eyes flicked upwards and what he saw made his skin crawl. The ceiling was alive with movement. Ever since they had entered the bunker, the seething mass of giant spiders had been above them. And now the creatures were attacking.
‘Argh!’ shouted one of the soldiers as he was bitten.
In slow motion, another soldier raised his rifle to eye level and aimed at the enormous spider balanced precariously on top of a packing crate.
‘Hold your fire!’ commanded Ryan.
Too late.
The shot rang out, missing its target and ricocheting around the room at high velocity. The bullet flared like a torch, leaving a blindingly bright trail behind it.
Ryan watched in horror as more shots were fired. His men were in danger. Any second now, one of them would catch a stray bullet. There was only one thing to do.
‘Withdraw!’ he ordered.
The SAS were in a bad way. Pale, sweaty and nauseous, they looked more like plague victims than an elite fighting force. Paramedics whisked away the injured soldier, blood flowing from his wound. Cutter and his team crowded around Ryan to hear his story.
‘They were like spiders… but with pincers… not fangs,’ the soldier gasped, his words punctuated by violent coughing and retching. ‘Some of them were over a metre long… horrible little –’
Cutter interrupted him with a frown. ‘Tell me exactly how you feel,’ he said.
‘Sick,’ replied Ryan. ‘Can’t stop coughing. And my ears are ringing.’
‘Any blurred vision?’
He nodded. ‘There was something else too. The gunshots – they were too bright, like fireworks.’
This was just the clue that Stephen needed. ‘Classic signs of excess oxygen in the atmosphere,’ he said.
Cutter nodded. Seeing that Claudia looked puzzled, he clarified the situation. ‘Richer, more heavily oxygenated air must be seeping in through another anomaly. We’re not talking the Permian period any longer. This is much earlier, maybe the Carboniferous. About three hundred million years ago.’ A determined expression appeared on his craggy face. ‘We need to find out exactly what these creatures are. I have to see for myself.’
‘I’m ready…’ began Ryan, standing up. But he stumbled dizzily.
‘You’re staying here,’ said Claudia, supporting him.
But Cutter was growing impatient. He needed to get down there and fast. ‘Give me a chance to do my job,’ he said.
Claudia nodded. She knew there was no other choice.
It didn’t take long for Cutter to get kitted out. Abby and Stephen would be going too – they looked nervous, but excited. All three wore protective clothing, gloves and heavy boots.
‘We’ll need torches,’ Cutter told Ryan. ‘The most powerful you can find.’
‘Take the night-vision goggles,’ suggested the soldier.
Cutter shook his head. ‘Vision isn’t the issue.’
Wearing a puzzled frown, Ryan hurried away to be replaced by Claudia, who had just finished speaking on her mobile. She didn’t look happy.
‘The pest controller died a few minutes ago,’ she said. ‘They’re running more tests on our casualty now.’ Then Claudia spotted Abby, registering her heavy-duty overalls. ‘What’s she doing?’ she demanded crossly.
‘Abby’s had more practical experience with animals than the rest of us put together,’ said Cutter.
‘I don’t care if she’s Doctor Dolittle,’ snapped Claudia. ‘It’s too risky.’
‘I can help,’ said Abby, smiling earnestly. ‘I’ve just finished a study in insect behaviour.’
The woman from the Home Office appeared unconvinced, but nevertheless gave her grudging consent. As she hurried away, Stephen smiled knowingly at Abby.
‘Is that true?’
‘Kind of,’ replied Abby. ‘If parasites count.’ The bright grin didn’t hide her nervousness and she shrugged. ‘To tell you the truth, spiders aren’t really my thing.’
Stephen gave her a wry smile. ‘Technically, these are probably scorpions.’
Abby nodded thoughtfully. ‘Like spiders, only three feet long. I feel better already.’
‘Stay near me,’ Cutter’s assistant joked. ‘I need protecting.’
Their eyes met, both of them suddenly very aware that something was going on here. But the spell was broken by Claudia’s return.
‘Keep in touch at all times,’ she said, thrusting a radio receiver into Cutter’s gloved hand. And it wasn’t a request. It was an order.
Beams of torchlight sliced through the darkness as they made their way through the bunker, the blinding brightness sending spiders scattering left and right. The team of three gazed around, taking in the cluttered surroundings, the abandoned equipment and – above all – the atmosphere of foreboding.
Stephen stifled a grunt of
disgust as a horribly furry insect dropped from the ceiling in his path. He kicked out at it.
Meanwhile, Cutter was examining a door at the far end of the bunker. ‘Where does that lead?’ he asked.
Stephen shrugged. ‘Dead end…’
‘Cutter!’ Her face ghostly in the low light, Abby appeared mesmerized, until the others realized that the dusty air before her was moving. A small patch – no bigger than a chessboard – was more opaque than the rest. And this was where the spiders were heading. One by one, they scampered towards it, their many feet scratching on the concrete floor.
Then they vanished into thin air.
‘What’s happening to us?’ breathed Cutter as the three of them watched the anomaly, utterly transfixed.
Abby’s torch slid from her fingers, clattering noisily on to the floor. Jerked out of her reverie, she bent to retrieve it and caught a glimpse of a truly monstrous creature, towering above her. As the light hit it, the enormous thing let out a long, angry hiss, then leapt forward, its deadly mouth wide open, with saliva dripping from razor-sharp pincers.
Screaming with terror, Abby dived out of the way. And the hideous creature retracted its massive body and vanished behind a pile of boxes, as quickly as it had appeared. Stephen rushed to Abby’s side. They could hear it creeping through the shadows, but despite swinging their torches around they failed to catch more than the briefest glimpse of the monster. Then without warning, it lunged at them again, sending Abby and Stephen sprawling across the room.
Cutter was next on the monster’s hit list. But he was ready, hurling himself out of the reach of the deadly pincers at the last minute. He spoke desperately into the radio from his hiding place behind a pile of wood. ‘There’s another creature in here. We’re coming out!’
Together, Stephen and Abby made for the exit, closely followed by the huge creature. In a last-ditch attempt to distract it, Stephen flung a bottle he found lying on the floor against the wall. As it smashed, the monster shied away from the noise, giving them a chance to get out.
