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Previous: "The Disappearance of Sir James Lester Part 1"
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Next: "A Day Out"
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Series 4 Episode 5
"The Disappearance of Sir James Lester - Part 2"
Written by DRWHOfan
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Guest Starring: Ruth Kearney
The ARC conference room was full for the first time since it’s creation. It was one of the cleanest rooms in the ARC; the table was glass with five leather chairs on each side. On the left were Harriet, Abby and Jenny, on the right were Claudia, Lloyd and Jess and at the head of the table was Cutter. The team had tried to contact Danny, Mia and the others, but they were dealing with an Anomaly. They had had no luck. A heated discussion had just begun. Connor burst in…
‘I’ve got the scans’ he announced.
‘So what’s the result?’ Cutter asked.
‘Well… from what I can tell the Anomaly leads to the future, which for Lester is a really, really bad thing.’
‘And Lester…?’ Cutter asked impatiently.
‘Well, he’s in a kind of Dream state… In Limbo so to speak.’
‘So he’s in the future, but dreaming?’ Lloyd joined in.
‘Correct…someone must have used some type of future technology on him. But who?’ Connor said.
‘H.C.’ Jenny added, holding up the note for everyone to see. She threw it onto the table. Everyone fell silent.
‘We don’t know who it is, but if anything… she’s the primary suspect since she probably would be able to gain access to any future technology.’ Cutter added.
‘Yes…’ Connor agreed solemnly ‘But how do we get him out? He could already be dead…’
‘But if he’s in a dream, he can’t die.’ Lloyd said after a minute of silence.
‘He can die, he’s in the future and here in the ARC, he can die and he WILL die. He will be a target for hundreds of predators. He’s as good as dead.’ Cutter replied
* * *
The night had nearly crept in, but Lester was still running. Despite having a few close shaves, two of the Megator’s had given up (they were big, but very slow). The third however was very persistent.
He only had two grenades left and he wasn’t going to waste them on this, so he just kept running: dodging cars and jumping over debris. He was going to try to survive as long as possible. To prove Aplo wrong and return to the world he knew, he also needed to put the bins out – but that wasn’t as important.
After a few minutes Lester stopped, ‘Oh no…’, he’d come to the edge of a cliff. It was at least a 50ft drop. Below him were thousands of Megopteran’s flying in all directions; he couldn’t even see the valley floor. It was a vertical drop into darkness. The Megator was hurling up cars in pursuit, it was metres away. He made a decision in a spilt second and one he may regret. The Megator made a grab at him and he jumped. He plummeted down to the Valley floor.
He was falling for around three seconds, surrounded by Megopteran’s; he then hit the floor and fell unconscious.
* * *
‘Try again…’ Cutter sighed.
‘Can’t you see it’s not working?’ Connor shouted impatiently.
‘Look, we can’t give up on him. Without Lester, the operations here are over.’ Lloyd declared.
After a long discussion the team had decided that they should reverse the Anomaly locker’s settings to expand the Anomaly that was encircling Lester’s head, if it worked they could send in a rescue team.
‘Right, one last time then…’ Connor added.
Nothing happened for a few seconds, then, all of a sudden, there was a screeching noise and the room was flooded with bright light. They retreated slowly. The light died after a few seconds, the Anomaly had grown and filled the entire room. The team punched the air with joy. They were just deciding who was going to go through when a figure came out of the Anomaly.
‘Lester is that you?’ Abby shouted. It wasn’t him it was a young woman, probably in her 30’s. She pointed a device at Cutter, Connor and Lloyd. There was a loud crack and everything went dark.
* * *
Cutter was the first to wake up, his eyes were filled with dust, but he knew where he was. The future. It all came flooding back to him – Lester, Anomalies and that mysterious woman… was it Helen? This was probably all her doing.
He woke Lloyd and Connor up.
‘Where are we?’ Connor murmured.
‘The future.’ Cutter replied, ripping part of his trousers and tying round Lloyd’s leg. He was bleeding badly.
‘Wow…what the hell?’ Lloyd hadn’t noticed how bad his leg was; he was staring at the sky.
Cutter and Connor both turned and looked up. They were in a deep valley and just above them thousands of Megopteran’s whizzed and flew around.
‘Megopteran’s…’ Connor muttered ‘We need to move now’
Lloyd tried to get up. ‘Arggh…I can’t walk!’ He fell back down to the ground. ‘it’s my leg…’
Cutter and Connor helped Lloyd up and carried him to the edge of the cliff.
‘He needs medical help…he won’t survive for long in this condition’ Cutter whispered to Connor.
‘How are we going to get back? We don’t even have an Anomaly opener?’ Connor replied.
‘I’m working on it.’
Just then a quiet shout came from behind the rocks. ‘Lloyd was that you? Cutter shouted.
‘What was me?’ He shouted back.
‘So who was that?’ Connor ran over and looked behind the rocks
To his amazement, there, was a badly bruised and unconscious James Lester.
* * *
Abby and Claudia made a grab at the woman, they could see her more clearly now. She hurled a knife at them.
‘Why did you do that?’ Jenny screamed in frustration.
‘You sent them in to the future…they could be dead!’ Harriet added.
The woman scowled and stabbed at the air a few more times with her knife. She then turned and replied – ‘I did it because I could…’ She disappeared; they didn’t know what to say.
* * *
Cutter was carried Lester to the Anomaly, Connor and Lloyd were a bit further behind. A trail of blood followed behind Lloyd. They needed to get out of her fast, if a Predator caught a whiff of the blood, game over.
They were in the middle of the Valley, with thousands of Megopteran’s above them – yet they didn’t take any notice of them. Unusual. One thing struck Cutter – if the woman wanted to trap them in the future: why did she leave the anomaly open? His question would be answered soon.
‘Cutter…’ Lloyd called out. His leg was getting worse. ‘My leg – I’m in so much pain…’
‘I know… We’re nearly there though – look.’
He turned – BANG! The bullet shot past his ear – heading for Connor. It all happened in slow motion. Lloyd dived in front of him. The bullet penetrated his leg. He screamed in pain.
‘Hahaha…’ It was the woman – standing in front of the anomaly, she was holding a gun.
‘You’re not going anywhere…’ She laughed.
‘Oh yeah…’ It was Lloyd – he had grabbed a rock and had scooped up some of his blood from the ground, he threw it at a Megopteran. The rock then fell back to the ground and hit Aplo in the arm. The creature looked down and made a dive at Aplo. She hit a button on her arm and teleported out. The anomaly began to close. Cutter grabbed Lester and Connor grabbed Lloyd. Cutter ran through the anomaly – it led to the ARC. He quickly dropped Lester on the floor and ran back through.
Connor and Lloyd were on the valley floor. Lloyd was in such a bad condition – he couldn’t be moved. ‘Lloyd, come on we need to go!’ Connor shouted. Lloyd reached up to Connor’s ear and whispered something. A tear rolled down Connor cheek, he understood immediately. He ran to Cutter, grabbed him and ran through the anomaly. The anomaly closed.
Everyone was silent in the ARC. Lloyd was not with them. Lester had been recovered and Lloyd had been lost.
Connor walked over to the nearest laptop, he selected some music and it began to echo throughout the control room – it was Lloyd’s first performance on the X Factor. Tears rolled onto the floor.
* * *
Aplo stood on the cliff, watching the valley floor. It was empty. They had succeeded – they weren’t supposed to have done this time. She turned; she was no longer Aplo Sparks. She was Helen Cutter and she wanted revenge.
‘I’ve got the scans’ he announced.
‘So what’s the result?’ Cutter asked.
‘Well… from what I can tell the Anomaly leads to the future, which for Lester is a really, really bad thing.’
‘And Lester…?’ Cutter asked impatiently.
‘Well, he’s in a kind of Dream state… In Limbo so to speak.’
‘So he’s in the future, but dreaming?’ Lloyd joined in.
‘Correct…someone must have used some type of future technology on him. But who?’ Connor said.
‘H.C.’ Jenny added, holding up the note for everyone to see. She threw it onto the table. Everyone fell silent.
‘We don’t know who it is, but if anything… she’s the primary suspect since she probably would be able to gain access to any future technology.’ Cutter added.
‘Yes…’ Connor agreed solemnly ‘But how do we get him out? He could already be dead…’
‘But if he’s in a dream, he can’t die.’ Lloyd said after a minute of silence.
‘He can die, he’s in the future and here in the ARC, he can die and he WILL die. He will be a target for hundreds of predators. He’s as good as dead.’ Cutter replied
* * *
The night had nearly crept in, but Lester was still running. Despite having a few close shaves, two of the Megator’s had given up (they were big, but very slow). The third however was very persistent.
He only had two grenades left and he wasn’t going to waste them on this, so he just kept running: dodging cars and jumping over debris. He was going to try to survive as long as possible. To prove Aplo wrong and return to the world he knew, he also needed to put the bins out – but that wasn’t as important.
After a few minutes Lester stopped, ‘Oh no…’, he’d come to the edge of a cliff. It was at least a 50ft drop. Below him were thousands of Megopteran’s flying in all directions; he couldn’t even see the valley floor. It was a vertical drop into darkness. The Megator was hurling up cars in pursuit, it was metres away. He made a decision in a spilt second and one he may regret. The Megator made a grab at him and he jumped. He plummeted down to the Valley floor.
He was falling for around three seconds, surrounded by Megopteran’s; he then hit the floor and fell unconscious.
* * *
‘Try again…’ Cutter sighed.
‘Can’t you see it’s not working?’ Connor shouted impatiently.
‘Look, we can’t give up on him. Without Lester, the operations here are over.’ Lloyd declared.
After a long discussion the team had decided that they should reverse the Anomaly locker’s settings to expand the Anomaly that was encircling Lester’s head, if it worked they could send in a rescue team.
‘Right, one last time then…’ Connor added.
Nothing happened for a few seconds, then, all of a sudden, there was a screeching noise and the room was flooded with bright light. They retreated slowly. The light died after a few seconds, the Anomaly had grown and filled the entire room. The team punched the air with joy. They were just deciding who was going to go through when a figure came out of the Anomaly.
‘Lester is that you?’ Abby shouted. It wasn’t him it was a young woman, probably in her 30’s. She pointed a device at Cutter, Connor and Lloyd. There was a loud crack and everything went dark.
* * *
Cutter was the first to wake up, his eyes were filled with dust, but he knew where he was. The future. It all came flooding back to him – Lester, Anomalies and that mysterious woman… was it Helen? This was probably all her doing.
He woke Lloyd and Connor up.
‘Where are we?’ Connor murmured.
‘The future.’ Cutter replied, ripping part of his trousers and tying round Lloyd’s leg. He was bleeding badly.
‘Wow…what the hell?’ Lloyd hadn’t noticed how bad his leg was; he was staring at the sky.
Cutter and Connor both turned and looked up. They were in a deep valley and just above them thousands of Megopteran’s whizzed and flew around.
‘Megopteran’s…’ Connor muttered ‘We need to move now’
Lloyd tried to get up. ‘Arggh…I can’t walk!’ He fell back down to the ground. ‘it’s my leg…’
Cutter and Connor helped Lloyd up and carried him to the edge of the cliff.
‘He needs medical help…he won’t survive for long in this condition’ Cutter whispered to Connor.
‘How are we going to get back? We don’t even have an Anomaly opener?’ Connor replied.
‘I’m working on it.’
Just then a quiet shout came from behind the rocks. ‘Lloyd was that you? Cutter shouted.
‘What was me?’ He shouted back.
‘So who was that?’ Connor ran over and looked behind the rocks
To his amazement, there, was a badly bruised and unconscious James Lester.
* * *
Abby and Claudia made a grab at the woman, they could see her more clearly now. She hurled a knife at them.
‘Why did you do that?’ Jenny screamed in frustration.
‘You sent them in to the future…they could be dead!’ Harriet added.
The woman scowled and stabbed at the air a few more times with her knife. She then turned and replied – ‘I did it because I could…’ She disappeared; they didn’t know what to say.
* * *
Cutter was carried Lester to the Anomaly, Connor and Lloyd were a bit further behind. A trail of blood followed behind Lloyd. They needed to get out of her fast, if a Predator caught a whiff of the blood, game over.
They were in the middle of the Valley, with thousands of Megopteran’s above them – yet they didn’t take any notice of them. Unusual. One thing struck Cutter – if the woman wanted to trap them in the future: why did she leave the anomaly open? His question would be answered soon.
‘Cutter…’ Lloyd called out. His leg was getting worse. ‘My leg – I’m in so much pain…’
‘I know… We’re nearly there though – look.’
He turned – BANG! The bullet shot past his ear – heading for Connor. It all happened in slow motion. Lloyd dived in front of him. The bullet penetrated his leg. He screamed in pain.
‘Hahaha…’ It was the woman – standing in front of the anomaly, she was holding a gun.
‘You’re not going anywhere…’ She laughed.
‘Oh yeah…’ It was Lloyd – he had grabbed a rock and had scooped up some of his blood from the ground, he threw it at a Megopteran. The rock then fell back to the ground and hit Aplo in the arm. The creature looked down and made a dive at Aplo. She hit a button on her arm and teleported out. The anomaly began to close. Cutter grabbed Lester and Connor grabbed Lloyd. Cutter ran through the anomaly – it led to the ARC. He quickly dropped Lester on the floor and ran back through.
Connor and Lloyd were on the valley floor. Lloyd was in such a bad condition – he couldn’t be moved. ‘Lloyd, come on we need to go!’ Connor shouted. Lloyd reached up to Connor’s ear and whispered something. A tear rolled down Connor cheek, he understood immediately. He ran to Cutter, grabbed him and ran through the anomaly. The anomaly closed.
Everyone was silent in the ARC. Lloyd was not with them. Lester had been recovered and Lloyd had been lost.
Connor walked over to the nearest laptop, he selected some music and it began to echo throughout the control room – it was Lloyd’s first performance on the X Factor. Tears rolled onto the floor.
* * *
Aplo stood on the cliff, watching the valley floor. It was empty. They had succeeded – they weren’t supposed to have done this time. She turned; she was no longer Aplo Sparks. She was Helen Cutter and she wanted revenge.
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Next: "A Day Out"
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