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Previous: "New Beginnings"
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Next: "The Next Step Forward"
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Series 5 Episode 1
"Public Relations"
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“Anytime now Connor!”, Abby shouted. A Raptor was walking towards her. She felt her back against a wall. Connor was taking his time, making sure he aimed at the right place. One time before, he shot Abby with a tranquilliser instead of a baby Raptor. But this Raptor was full-grown. The Raptor was face to face with Abby. Connor shut one eye, and pulled the trigger. The Raptor groaned, and dropped unconscious to the floor. Abby breathed a sigh of relief. So did Connor. They hugged each other. Abby’s now shoulder-length hair was in Connor’s face.
“I’m so glad we’re still close friends”, Abby smiled.
“Me too”, Connor grinned.
“Let’s go join the team”, Abby decided.
James Lester and Claudia Brown had a lot to deal with. The anomaly operation had made the press, and they were not best pleased. They called a meeting with the team, who had just arrived back, in the Main Operations Room. Apart from Abby and Connor, amongst them were Nick Cutter, a professor who founded the team, Danny Quinn, joint leader with Cutter and an ex-policeman, Connor’s wife Mia Turner, Egyptologist Sarah Page and trainee Harriet Stafford, plus PR supremo Jenny Lewis, soldier Captain Mitchell and field co-ordinator Jess Parker. They were chatting amongst themselves about the situation.
“Right everyone, quieten down please”, Lester spoke above the level of noise.
“We have a PR emergency. The anomaly operation is now known to some of the public through a tabloid newspaper”, Claudia explained. Connor put his hand up.
“What is it, Connor?”, sighed Lester.
“It’s just a tabloid, who believes what’s written in them? They could write about an alien invasion and no-one would believe them. Well, maybe I would, but you get the…”, Connor got cut-off.
“Thanks Connor…”, Claudia butted in, “James and I will be having a meeting with the Home Office in the coming weeks, and our meeting with the Minister is today”. Connor put his hand up again.
“Is it important?”, Lester sighed, again. Connor nodded.
“What are we meant to do?” Connor asked.
“You are meant to keep this place secure. Jess can watch the CCTV on the Detector, and Mitchell and his soldiers will guard all exits. The press will be arriving, we all know what nosey people they are”, Lester explained.
“What if an anomaly comes up?”, Mia queried.
“Then only some of you shall go out to deal with it, and the rest will stay here”, Lester explained. Then he muttered under his breath, “Common sense”. Claudia heard and elbowed him.
“I think that’s all. Go on, get on with whatever you do all day”, Lester finished the meeting. The team all stood up, picked up their chairs and returned to work.
Around ten minutes later, Lester and Claudia arrived at the Minister’s headquarters. They showed their ID passes at the door, and were allowed access. They walked inside and were shown to the Minister’s office. They had to wait outside, and the man who showed them there knocked on the Minister’s office door to alert him of the duo arriving.
“Ah yes, send them in please”, the Minister said, in his quite posh voice. Lester and Claudia were escorted in.
”Good morning James, lovely to see you again. And Ms. Brown, pleased to meet you”, the Minister shook their hands, and offered them a seat. The Minister was wearing a smart suit, with a yellow tie. He had dark, short hair, a lot like Lester’s really. And so their meeting began…
Meanwhile, at the ARC, Jess was paying close attention to the Detector. She had the CCTV cameras of outside up. Mitchell and his soldiers were keeping a few members of the press contained.
“Jenny?”, Jess called out.
“She’s in her office”, Abby shouted back. Jess got up and walked past Lester’s office, to the ARC corridor. She bounced down to Jenny’s office, knocked on the door, heard a reply and went inside.
”Jenny, I need your help. Well, not me personally, but Mitchell does. Well, I think he does, I don’t know cause I’m not actually with him, but you’re an expert in PR, right?”, Jess was extremely hyper. But Jenny was used to it. She loved Jess, as she was always so happy. A quality she wished she had.
“Yeah, that’s my job”, Jenny smiled.
”Well, do you think you’d be able to go down and help Mitchell get rid of them?”, Jess pleaded with Jenny.
“OK, I will. But I’m going to tell Lester it’s your fault if I don’t have this work done by later today”, Jenny laughed. Jess realised it was a joke about 10 seconds later. They both left the room.
DING DING! DING DING! DING DING!
Jess heard that familiar noise, and it set of her own alarm bells in her head. She started running to her chair, but struggled with the bright blue shoes she was wearing. She ended up slipping them off. Jenny, who was walking behind her, found this amusing.
Jess reached her chair, and spoke into the tannoy connected to the Detector.
“Anomaly detected, location…unknown…”, Jess paused. She was completely confused by this. The anomaly’s location was not displayed on the Detector. And then the signal completely stopped. The Anomaly Detector resumed the CCTV footage. Sarah, Abby, Mia and Connor were already to go, and Harry was just picking up her bag from her locker. They walked over to Jess.
“What happened?”, Connor asked.
“I don’t know, it just cut out”, Jess replied.
“Where’s the anomaly?”, Cutter asked, walking over to them. Danny also joined them, as did Harry.
“It said the location was unknown. Then it just lost the signal completely”, Jess told them.
“Check the log, it should have recorded it there”, Connor suggested. Jess did so, yet the log showed nothing.
“That is some weird signal”, Mia laughed.
“It’s no laughing matter, there could be a Raptor or two roaming around a shopping mall right now, and believe me, we know what that’s like, don’t we?”, Abby explained, looking at Connor and Cutter. They both nodded.
“I guess we’re just sitting ducks then”, Danny commented.
“You guys get back to work. I’ll keep an eye on this”, Jess decided. They all went back to their workstations, but Jess called back Sarah and Harry. She asked them to go and help Jenny and Mitchell, as they weren’t having much luck with the press.
Outside, Mitchell and Jenny were having a bad time with the press, as Jess knew.
“I’ve sent Sarah and Harry down to help you”, Jess said, through to their earpieces.
“Thanks Jess”, Jenny replied.
Jenny put the megaphone she brought out to her mouth, and spoke into it, “Right everyone. I know you’ve seen some weird and rather abnormal things in the press, but I’d suggest you all move away right now, unless you want to be arrested”. The press listened to Jenny, for once, and backed off, just as Sarah and Harry arrived.
“Should we go back inside or keep guard out here incase they come back?”, Sarah asked.
“We should stay, we know what they’re like”, Mitchell decided.
“So James, I’m led to believe that the anomaly operation has been leaked to the papers. Is this correct?”, the Minister questioned.
”Yes sir, it is. The previous anomaly operation had several members of the public evacuated from a library. It could’ve been any of them”, Lester told him.
“But how serious some people take this is a completely different matter, as the tabloids did publish it. If it were a broadsheet, maybe it would be more credible. But who’s really going to believe that dinosaurs exist?”, Claudia added.
“You bring up a good point there, Ms. Brown”, the Minister praised Claudia’s comment.
“Please, call me Claudia”, Claudia smiled. The Minister nodded.
“The good side to this disaster is that there is no photographic evidence to say that this is true. And it was just one person, we assume, who overheard what your team were saying”, the Minister was trying to look on the bright side.
”Yes, that’s what we believe”, verified Lester.
“Right, I think we’re safe for the moment. But James, please bear this in mind, that you must make sure your team keep this as secret as possible. If, or when, there is photographic proof, this could spell the end of the ARC, at least under your control”, the Minister left it on a dark note. Lester and Claudia exchanged worried glances.
DING DING! DING DING! DING DING!
“Here we go again guys!”, Jess shouted out, “But still no location. It’s the same anomaly, presumably”.
The team rushed over.
”Can you quickly search for any faults in the system?”, Connor asked.
”Sure. But I doubt it’s the Detector that’s causing this”, Jess ran the check. No system bugs.
“What can be causing something like this?”, Cutter sounded puzzled.
At the nearby town, where the team first encountered Mia, an anomaly had opened. But it was a different anomaly. It had some sort of a bubble around it. And standing next to it was none other than Helen Cutter…
“I’m so glad we’re still close friends”, Abby smiled.
“Me too”, Connor grinned.
“Let’s go join the team”, Abby decided.
James Lester and Claudia Brown had a lot to deal with. The anomaly operation had made the press, and they were not best pleased. They called a meeting with the team, who had just arrived back, in the Main Operations Room. Apart from Abby and Connor, amongst them were Nick Cutter, a professor who founded the team, Danny Quinn, joint leader with Cutter and an ex-policeman, Connor’s wife Mia Turner, Egyptologist Sarah Page and trainee Harriet Stafford, plus PR supremo Jenny Lewis, soldier Captain Mitchell and field co-ordinator Jess Parker. They were chatting amongst themselves about the situation.
“Right everyone, quieten down please”, Lester spoke above the level of noise.
“We have a PR emergency. The anomaly operation is now known to some of the public through a tabloid newspaper”, Claudia explained. Connor put his hand up.
“What is it, Connor?”, sighed Lester.
“It’s just a tabloid, who believes what’s written in them? They could write about an alien invasion and no-one would believe them. Well, maybe I would, but you get the…”, Connor got cut-off.
“Thanks Connor…”, Claudia butted in, “James and I will be having a meeting with the Home Office in the coming weeks, and our meeting with the Minister is today”. Connor put his hand up again.
“Is it important?”, Lester sighed, again. Connor nodded.
“What are we meant to do?” Connor asked.
“You are meant to keep this place secure. Jess can watch the CCTV on the Detector, and Mitchell and his soldiers will guard all exits. The press will be arriving, we all know what nosey people they are”, Lester explained.
“What if an anomaly comes up?”, Mia queried.
“Then only some of you shall go out to deal with it, and the rest will stay here”, Lester explained. Then he muttered under his breath, “Common sense”. Claudia heard and elbowed him.
“I think that’s all. Go on, get on with whatever you do all day”, Lester finished the meeting. The team all stood up, picked up their chairs and returned to work.
Around ten minutes later, Lester and Claudia arrived at the Minister’s headquarters. They showed their ID passes at the door, and were allowed access. They walked inside and were shown to the Minister’s office. They had to wait outside, and the man who showed them there knocked on the Minister’s office door to alert him of the duo arriving.
“Ah yes, send them in please”, the Minister said, in his quite posh voice. Lester and Claudia were escorted in.
”Good morning James, lovely to see you again. And Ms. Brown, pleased to meet you”, the Minister shook their hands, and offered them a seat. The Minister was wearing a smart suit, with a yellow tie. He had dark, short hair, a lot like Lester’s really. And so their meeting began…
Meanwhile, at the ARC, Jess was paying close attention to the Detector. She had the CCTV cameras of outside up. Mitchell and his soldiers were keeping a few members of the press contained.
“Jenny?”, Jess called out.
“She’s in her office”, Abby shouted back. Jess got up and walked past Lester’s office, to the ARC corridor. She bounced down to Jenny’s office, knocked on the door, heard a reply and went inside.
”Jenny, I need your help. Well, not me personally, but Mitchell does. Well, I think he does, I don’t know cause I’m not actually with him, but you’re an expert in PR, right?”, Jess was extremely hyper. But Jenny was used to it. She loved Jess, as she was always so happy. A quality she wished she had.
“Yeah, that’s my job”, Jenny smiled.
”Well, do you think you’d be able to go down and help Mitchell get rid of them?”, Jess pleaded with Jenny.
“OK, I will. But I’m going to tell Lester it’s your fault if I don’t have this work done by later today”, Jenny laughed. Jess realised it was a joke about 10 seconds later. They both left the room.
DING DING! DING DING! DING DING!
Jess heard that familiar noise, and it set of her own alarm bells in her head. She started running to her chair, but struggled with the bright blue shoes she was wearing. She ended up slipping them off. Jenny, who was walking behind her, found this amusing.
Jess reached her chair, and spoke into the tannoy connected to the Detector.
“Anomaly detected, location…unknown…”, Jess paused. She was completely confused by this. The anomaly’s location was not displayed on the Detector. And then the signal completely stopped. The Anomaly Detector resumed the CCTV footage. Sarah, Abby, Mia and Connor were already to go, and Harry was just picking up her bag from her locker. They walked over to Jess.
“What happened?”, Connor asked.
“I don’t know, it just cut out”, Jess replied.
“Where’s the anomaly?”, Cutter asked, walking over to them. Danny also joined them, as did Harry.
“It said the location was unknown. Then it just lost the signal completely”, Jess told them.
“Check the log, it should have recorded it there”, Connor suggested. Jess did so, yet the log showed nothing.
“That is some weird signal”, Mia laughed.
“It’s no laughing matter, there could be a Raptor or two roaming around a shopping mall right now, and believe me, we know what that’s like, don’t we?”, Abby explained, looking at Connor and Cutter. They both nodded.
“I guess we’re just sitting ducks then”, Danny commented.
“You guys get back to work. I’ll keep an eye on this”, Jess decided. They all went back to their workstations, but Jess called back Sarah and Harry. She asked them to go and help Jenny and Mitchell, as they weren’t having much luck with the press.
Outside, Mitchell and Jenny were having a bad time with the press, as Jess knew.
“I’ve sent Sarah and Harry down to help you”, Jess said, through to their earpieces.
“Thanks Jess”, Jenny replied.
Jenny put the megaphone she brought out to her mouth, and spoke into it, “Right everyone. I know you’ve seen some weird and rather abnormal things in the press, but I’d suggest you all move away right now, unless you want to be arrested”. The press listened to Jenny, for once, and backed off, just as Sarah and Harry arrived.
“Should we go back inside or keep guard out here incase they come back?”, Sarah asked.
“We should stay, we know what they’re like”, Mitchell decided.
“So James, I’m led to believe that the anomaly operation has been leaked to the papers. Is this correct?”, the Minister questioned.
”Yes sir, it is. The previous anomaly operation had several members of the public evacuated from a library. It could’ve been any of them”, Lester told him.
“But how serious some people take this is a completely different matter, as the tabloids did publish it. If it were a broadsheet, maybe it would be more credible. But who’s really going to believe that dinosaurs exist?”, Claudia added.
“You bring up a good point there, Ms. Brown”, the Minister praised Claudia’s comment.
“Please, call me Claudia”, Claudia smiled. The Minister nodded.
“The good side to this disaster is that there is no photographic evidence to say that this is true. And it was just one person, we assume, who overheard what your team were saying”, the Minister was trying to look on the bright side.
”Yes, that’s what we believe”, verified Lester.
“Right, I think we’re safe for the moment. But James, please bear this in mind, that you must make sure your team keep this as secret as possible. If, or when, there is photographic proof, this could spell the end of the ARC, at least under your control”, the Minister left it on a dark note. Lester and Claudia exchanged worried glances.
DING DING! DING DING! DING DING!
“Here we go again guys!”, Jess shouted out, “But still no location. It’s the same anomaly, presumably”.
The team rushed over.
”Can you quickly search for any faults in the system?”, Connor asked.
”Sure. But I doubt it’s the Detector that’s causing this”, Jess ran the check. No system bugs.
“What can be causing something like this?”, Cutter sounded puzzled.
At the nearby town, where the team first encountered Mia, an anomaly had opened. But it was a different anomaly. It had some sort of a bubble around it. And standing next to it was none other than Helen Cutter…
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Next: "The Next Step Forward"
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