Dangerous Dimension

by Pippa Le Quesne

  Books in the Primeval series

  A RIP IN TIME

  DANGEROUS DIMENSION

  THE LOST PREDATOR

  FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL

  PUFFIN

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

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  First published 2008

  1

  Text copyright © Impossible Pictures, 2008

  Photographs copyright © Impossible Pictures, 2008

  Adapted by Pippa Le Quesne

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  978-0-14-191857-0

  List of Illustrations

  The team were on the trail of another anomaly.

  Connor and Abby froze, their eyes following the sea monster’s every move.

  Connor rammed an oar right into the Mosasaur’s gaping mouth.

  Stephen was glad Abby was all right.

  ‘Whatever his secret is, we’ll soon know,’ Duncan said.

  Helen led the way into the empty football stadium.

  The new anomaly was behind the freezer door.

  Stephen used Ryan’s knife to cut through the chains.

  Despite being flightless, the dodos were surprisingly nimble.

  Rounding up the dodos was a lot of fun.

  Tom and Duncan were amazed to see the dodo appear in the car park.

  ‘I can show you where this thing really came from…’ said Abby.

  ‘Connor…?’ Tom said in a small voice, releasing Abby.

  ‘Move away! He will kill you,’ Ryan shouted at Connor.

  Anthony Barton stood with his arms stretched above him and his toes curled over the end of the diving board. He hesitated for a second to watch his pretty girlfriend, Diane Johnson, gliding through the water in the swimming pool below. They had persuaded the janitor to let them stay behind once all the other lifeguards and swimmers had been ushered out at closing time. He hadn’t taken much convincing – after all, they were both lifeguards – so what possible danger could a swimming pool hold for them?

  Anthony sprang off the board and arced through the air, gracefully slicing the surface of the water. When he came up for breath, Diane had already climbed out and was rubbing her long dark hair with a towel.

  ‘We should go before someone comes,’ she said.

  ‘We’re lifeguards. We’re supposed to be in the pool,’ Anthony reminded her playfully.

  Diane grinned in response and headed for the changing rooms.

  She’ll be ages getting ready, Anthony thought to himself, pushing away from the edge with his feet. Floating lazily into the centre of the pool, he closed his eyes and sighed with contentment.

  Out of nowhere, an enormous dark shape snaked through the water towards him.

  Diane hummed to herself as she blow-dried her hair. It had been a long day and she was looking forward to the Chinese takeaway they were going to pick up on the way back to her flat.

  Anthony became aware of the water shifting around him and although his eyes remained shut he felt the odd sensation of something swimming underneath him. Diane? Bewildered, he opened his eyes at the precise moment that something huge and immensely powerful clamped down hard on his legs. Anthony Barton experienced a moment of pure distilled fear before he was yanked violently underwater.

  Diane snapped off the hairdryer. What on earth was that?

  The changing room was eerily silent, but her heart was hammering in her chest.

  And then a blood-curdling scream, followed by the thud of a huge wave slapping the pool sides, sent her hurtling out of the changing area.

  She careered round the corner and stood shaking at the water’s edge. The swimming pool was empty, but in the dim light she saw with horror that the water was slowly changing from translucent to crimson. There was no sign of Anthony, just an ever-widening cloud of his blood. And then, all at once, a dark shape rose to the surface and out of the water burst a giant sea monster.

  It was something from her childhood nightmares and, as if in a dream, Diane was frozen to the spot.

  She watched in utter terror as the colossal lizard, with its massive armoured body, opened its powerful jaws to reveal sharp, glinting teeth. For a split second, it focused on her, its slit eyes gleaming malevolently. And then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it dived down again, sending a sheet of water pouring over the side of the pool, drenching Diane from head to foot. Still, she did not move a muscle, her mouth open in a silent scream as she remained staring at the spot where the monster had disappeared into thin air, leaving bloody water churning in its wake.

  Professor Nick Cutter felt like a fish out of water in the Home Office operations centre, but he seemed to be spending more time there of late than in his own home. Now he was with Claudia Brown and James Lester, watching a live CCTV feed of the anomaly that they had discovered in the London Underground station. A group of silent, suited officials watched the big screen with stony expressions, as student Connor Temple talked to the camera.

  Despite the terrifying events he had witnessed in that tunnel, Connor’s tone was still jovial. ‘The strength of the magnetic field is remaining consistent at about five teslas,’ he said, holding up a magnetometer. ‘At this point there is no sign of any deterioration. Let me demonstrate –’

  Grinning like a demented game show contestant, he waved the large metal ladle that he was holding in his other hand, then let it go. The huddle of scientists and soldiers ducked as the ladle flew over their heads, disappearing with a faint pop of energy as it was dragged through the anomaly.

  ‘Bullseye!’ Connor chuckled. ‘That kills me every time.’

  Nick Cutter smiled to himself. He couldn’t help liking the affable student. But he had come to learn that there was no laughter within the walls of the Home Office, particularly in the presence of the unscrupulous Lester, whose preferred method of lightening the mood was sarcasm.

  ‘Who is that idiot?’ The civil servant’s tone was icy.

  ‘Connor Temple,’ Cutter replied. ‘He looks like a halfwit but he actually has an outstanding brain.’

  ‘We may be on the brink of Armageddon but at least we have an irritating student on our side. How reassuring,’ Lester said, clicking off the CCTV feed and turning to address the other officials. ‘The previous anomaly proved to be temporary but,
as you’ve just heard, this one shows no signs of weakening.’

  ‘The anomalies are conclusive proof that the past exists in a fourth dimension as solid and real as those we already know. Our job is to predict and contain them,’ Nick Cutter interjected. His audience shifted uneasily and he could tell that the general mood was one of disbelief. Still, he continued. ‘When I entered the Permian era, I found a human corpse and some kind of military camp, clear evidence that someone, at some point, has attempted to interfere with the past. We need to establish what happened –’

  ‘Thank you, Professor,’ Lester interrupted. ‘We’ll take it from here.’ He nodded to Claudia, who reluctantly took her cue to lead Cutter away. Lester smiled smoothly and went on. ‘I should emphasize that the professor is talking in an independent capacity. Official policy has yet to be finalized.’

  Cutter’s stomach turned at the mention of ‘official policy’. There was a potential catastrophe in the real world and all James Lester cared about was the red tape.

  Just then, an assistant entered the room and discreetly handed his boss a note. Lester glanced at it, paled, and looked up, his bristling manner suddenly subdued.

  ‘It appears we may have another one.’

  Stephen Hart hauled his holdall on to the hospital bed and began stuffing his collection of belongings from his stay in intensive care into it. Connor was lounging in a nearby chair.

  ‘You really can’t remember a thing?’ he said, a bemused expression on his face.

  ‘Nope.’ Stephen shrugged. ‘Nothing after I went into the tunnel. But they say it’ll probably be short term.’

  ‘This has all been pretty scary, hasn’t it?’ Connor mused. ‘Until you got bitten, I never thought we might actually die doing it. It really upset me.’

  ‘You must have gone through hell.’ Stephen raised an eyebrow at his friend.

  At that moment, Abby Maitland sailed into the room. Usually dressed in jeans or combats, she was wearing a fashionable skirt and her white-blonde hair had been styled nicely.

  Connor wrinkled his nose. ‘Is that perfume?’

  ‘I can do the girl thing, you know,’ Abby retorted.

  ‘You look really good,’ Stephen said seriously.

  Abby glowed in the warmth of his compliment and held his eye for a second.

  Stephen cleared his throat. ‘It’s good of you both to come. You shouldn’t have bothered.’

  ‘Don’t flatter yourself.’ Connor grinned. ‘Some of us just like hanging around nurses.’

  Abby put a reassuring hand on Stephen’s arm. ‘Come on. I’ll give you a lift home.’

  ‘No need,’ Stephen replied politely. ‘My girlfriend’s picking me up.’

  Abby blanched, struggling to hide her shock. He’d never mentioned her before!

  ‘Girlfriend?’ Connor exclaimed.

  ‘Alison,’ Stephen said simply. ‘She’s been away on a research trip for a couple of years.’ He glanced at Abby, noticing she seemed uneasy, but he couldn’t understand what had changed in the last thirty seconds. Catching his gaze, Abby pulled herself together and forced a smile.

  ‘You must have missed her.’

  Stephen shrugged. ‘I… better go,’ he said awkwardly, picking up his holdall and leaving the room.

  Abby slumped on the bed and ran a hand savagely through her hair, returning it to its normal unruly thatch.

  ‘So much for the girl thing,’ she said dolefully.

  ‘I think you look great,’ Connor commented enthusiastically.

  Abby continued staring bitterly at her skirt, not noticing his wistful expression.

  Connor’s mobile rang. He glanced at it and looked meaningfully at Abby.

  ‘It’s Cutter.’

  ‘It’s pretty obvious she killed her boyfriend, but we don’t know what she’s done with the body,’ the detective inspector said, nodding at Diane Johnson, who was sitting wrapped in a blanket by the side of the pool, flanked by two policemen. She was clearly traumatized.

  ‘She’s crazy. Just keeps babbling about monsters and sea serpents.’

  ‘Let me talk to her,’ Cutter suggested.

  ‘About monsters?’ the inspector asked incredulously. ‘I’m conducting a murder investigation here –’

  ‘There was no murder,’ Cutter interrupted. ‘Anthony Barton was killed by an ancient marine predator which then returned to its home millions of years in the past.’

  ‘Who are you people?’ The detective looked at Nick Cutter as though he were completely insane.

  Cutter glimpsed Claudia’s tight-lipped expression and guessed this was going to be another Home Office cover-up and that he would be in trouble for saying the wrong thing. Again.

  Connor glanced at the professor chatting to the detective, and wondered how Nick was explaining the presence of zoologists at a murder investigation.

  At that moment, Stephen broke through the surface of the water, pushed up his scuba mask and silently handed over a tiny greenish-grey object.

  Connor automatically deposited it in a clear plastic container and stared at it suspiciously.

  ‘Looks like a reptile,’ Abby said, bending down beside him to take a look at the scaly skin.

  ‘Either that or lizard skin trunks are back in this year,’ Connor quipped. He frowned. ‘I’m surprised the creature came through. To a reptile it would be like swimming in a bucket of acid.’

  Stephen hauled himself out of the pool. ‘It must have sensed the danger and got out fast, before the anomaly closed.’

  Connor looked at him seriously. ‘Not fast enough for Anthony Barton.’

  ∗

  James Lester was walking at speed along the hallway.

  ‘The police have charged Diane Johnson,’ Claudia said, trying to keep up with him.

  ‘I know,’ Lester replied.

  ‘We have to intervene.’

  ‘We’re not going to do that.’ Lester’s tone was matter-of-fact.

  ‘Why not?’ Claudia couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  ‘I will not let this story become public property. At least in prison the newspapers can’t get hold of her.’

  ‘So we let them lock up an innocent girl?’ Claudia was incredulous.

  Lester stopped abruptly. ‘Of course it’s undesirable,’ he snapped. ‘But would you rather tell the police an ancient sea monster is cruising our swimming pools consuming lifeguards?’

  Claudia stared at him. She didn’t have an adequate response. She could see his logic, but she hated it.

  It was the perfect autumnal day – clear skies, a light breeze and warm sunshine, and the reservoir was bustling with activity. The air was filled with the happy shouts and laughter of kayakers and canoeists, and in the background the colourful sails of several yachts could be seen tacking across the water.

  A windsurfer skimmed across the lake, looking for a clear passageway as she leaned into the wind. There was a pale circular shape just up ahead, floating in the water. She cut close to it to get a better look… and screamed.

  Cutter blinked. The images pinned on the wall of the ops room were hideous. Mangled flesh, hideously distorted, but just about recognizable as something that had once been human.

  Claudia was the first to speak. ‘The DNA is conclusive. It’s Anthony Barton. Or what’s left of him.’

  ‘It’s a bolus,’ the professor explained, swinging round to face Claudia and Lester. ‘The creature swallowed him whole, then vomited up what it couldn’t digest.’

  ‘What type of creature could have done this to him?’ Lester asked. Even he was ruffled.

  ‘That’s not what matters,’ Cutter replied. ‘What we should be asking ourselves is how the remains of a man who was attacked in a swimming pool end up in a reservoir twenty miles away.’

  ‘Maybe there never was an anomaly,’ Lester suggested. ‘Maybe the girl dumped him in the reservoir.’

  ‘Very likely,’ Cutter said, a smile playing on his lips, ‘provided you also think she swallo
wed his still living body then drove miles down the motorway just to regurgitate the remains.’

  Lester bristled. He didn’t like being made to look foolish. ‘All right. You explain it.’

  The professor scratched his head. ‘Perhaps the anomaly has a fixed point of origin in the past yet is somehow fluid in our time.’ Cutter paused. He hadn’t fully got to grips with his theory yet, but he may as well cut to the chase. His gaze rested on Claudia.

  ‘The anomaly didn’t just open. It moved.’

  Nick Cutter had to hand it to them. If nothing else, they were thorough. He watched the SAS boats cruising slowly up and down the reservoir. Below the surface, a number of divers were executing a comprehensive search of the murky depths. And his team were busy carrying out vital tests of the area. He gazed at the gently rippling water, his mind churning.

  ‘Professor!’

  A sharp yell pierced his thoughts. It was Connor. He was on the jetty nearby, waving a measuring stick. ‘You really need to see this,’ he said as Cutter approached. ‘The reservoir is landlocked, right?’

  Cutter nodded.

  ‘So, allowing for rainfall and condensation, the depth should be pretty consistent.’ Connor motioned to an orange band wrapped round the measuring stick. ‘Here – I marked the water level earlier.’ Checking he had the professor’s full attention, Connor plunged the stick into the water. The level now fell well short of the marker. He looked up. ‘This isn’t a reservoir any more. It’s a tidal lake. The water’s literally pouring out of it.’

  Cutter’s eyes widened. ‘It must be flowing away through the anomaly…’ He looked out over the reservoir. ‘It’s still down there somewhere.’

  Cutter sighed. The SAS had doubled their efforts but still nothing had been found. His mind wandered back to the last anomaly he had seen in the Underground station. And to what Stephen claimed to have seen there…

  There was a sudden creak on the boards behind him and he turned to see Claudia.

  ‘You’re thinking about Helen,’ she said, coming to stand next to him on the jetty.

  Cutter was floored. ‘How did you know?’