Fic: Cross-World Hunt (Multiverse!ARC) (6/8)

[goldarrow]

Title: Cross-World Hunt (Multiverse!ARC) (6/8)
Author: goldarrow
Word Count: 2,861 of 24,135
Characters/Pairing: Stephen, Ryan, Abby, Claudia, Blackwood, Burton, Captain Ross, Hemingway, Christine, Connor, Ditzy, Hartley, Helen, Becker, Lester, Jenny, Stringer, Lyle, Lorraine, Matt, Blade, Cutter, Finn, Sarah; Ditzy, Stringer, Lyle, Finn, and Blade belong to fredbassett, who kindly lends them out. Blackwood, Hemingway and Hartley are mine, along with a host of OCs.
Rating: 15
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, not me. I will return everyone when I’m done, slightly mussed but in superb spirits nonetheless.
Synopsis: The search for Abby
Sequel to First World.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5


Cross-World Hunt - Part 6

Location: Earth 7-354 – Henry XXI Monarchy / ARC

* I've found Christine's exit from the palace. *

Blackwood's mental voice echoed in all of their heads. Stringer couldn't help but grin as Marcus Yates twitched in surprise.

"That sounds very strange," the local Agent said with a slight shiver. "It's a good thing we're not in 9-081 UTSA."

Stringer laughed. "You're right about that. They'd be burning us at the stake before we could say 'oops'." He replied mentally, knowing that Blackwood would pick it up, * "Can you describe?" *

* On the side wall, close to the back, just outside the kitchen garden. There's a hidden door and passage behind the ivy trellis, and it goes along there to an old wooden gate that looks like it's frozen shut, but it does open out onto the street. It's easy to see from inside if anyone's coming, so no chance of anybody catching her appearing out of nowhere. * She sent a quick mental picture for reinforcement.

"Good work, Blackwood, Ditzy. Keep on the job today; you, too, Quinn. We need to stay low until we can find where she lives."

* Gotcha; No problem; Will do. * The three team members' voices echoed along the mental path set up by Blackwood.

When the communication ended, Yates shook his head in admiration. "That's one hell of an ability," he said, almost enviously.

"It is that," Stringer responded. "Now, can you get your people to find the place and follow Christine home from there?"

"Easy." Yates turned to the back wall and opened a cabinet. He took a small bell-like device from the shelf and pressed a button on the top.

Stringer watched him, surprised. "I didn't think these people had long-distance communications."

"They don't, not really," Yates replied absently. "This is just one of those anomalies that show up occasionally on various worlds: a scientist worked out a way to have two devices ping each other within half a mile or so. No one could ever come up with a use for them, since that's all they do, so they tossed them away. I snagged them from the rubbish heap behind the castle. My lead kid has the other one." He set the bell back into the cupboard and closed the door. "Once she's in range, hers will ding, and she'll come by when it's a smooth time for her."

"You really do have their safety in mind."

Yates gave him an unimpressed look. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to find anyone to keep me apprised, now would I?"

Stringer clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man. Now, any idea how long it will take for your kid to respond?"

"Not a clue," Yates said with a slight shrug. "It will probably be right around dusk. Gives the kids some cover for their movements."

"That will work out pretty well," Stringer mused. "We don't really care when Christine arrives, just when she leaves." He glanced around at the almost bare room. "Do I need to disappear for a while when your contact gets here?"

Yates made a pensive face. "Probably not. It might make her a bit nervous, but I'm hoping to introduce you for future reference."

"Okay, sounds good." Stringer wandered over to the deep window and sat on the sill to look out over the city.

Yates retired to his kitchen to putter around preparing a casserole for their evening meal. The sun was lowering behind the city towers and Yates had just placed the food in the cooker when there was a 'ping' from the little device in the cupboard. Yates came out of the kitchen wiping his hands on a thin towel. "Stay there," he said as he went to the door and opened it. On the other side was a girl, probably around 14 or 15, Stringer guessed. She was thin and slightly ragged, but she'd obviously been keeping herself and her clothing as clean and tidy as she could.

"Come in, Theona," Yates said, stepping back from the door.

Theona started through, then paused suspiciously in the doorway when she saw Stringer.

"It's okay, I want to introduce a friend of mine – someone you can also rely on for help if he's around."

Stringer stepped forward and bowed. "Theona, I'm pleased to meet you. My name is Joel Stringer."

After one more quick glance at Yates, Theona entered and gave a jerky bow back to Stringer. "I'm pleased to meet you, too, sir," she said calmly.

"So, anything new going on out there, Theona?" Yates asked as he poured them all cups of tea.

Theona picked hers up and took a sip, then grinned at them both. "Word on the streets is that the Queen is about to put a bounty on the King's latest squeeze. He's getting more and more enamoured, and she's about to blow a gasket." She swallowed the rest of her tea and stood. "Anything else you need, Mr Yates?"

Yates handed her a small leather bag that clinked, along with a description of the exit spot. "Actually, yes, Theona. We know where the King's 'squeeze' is leaving the castle in early mornings, but we need someone to follow her home and give us her address."

Theona gave him and Stringer a look that was more maturely assessing than Stringer would have expected from someone her age. "You gonna take her out?" she asked shrewdly.

Stringer gave a crack of laughter. "Your kid here is very sharp," he said, as Theona started to bridle. "Yes, miss, she's a renegade from our home country, and she's here just to make trouble for everyone. We're planning on arresting her and taking her home."

Theona examined him critically. "And why should we – the 'lower classes' –," she added sarcastically, "care about that?"

"Because the more unstable things get at the top, the more they will tighten their grip on the common people," Stringer replied soberly.

Her eyes widened as she took in his words. "I think you're right about that, Mr Stringer." She tossed and caught the little bag. "The constables have already been out and about a lot more lately. I'd hate to see what they'd do if they're torqued off. Okay, we'll let you know as soon as we can." With a nonchalant salute, she spun and clattered rapidly down the staircase.

"That is one very bright girl," Stringer said admiringly.

"The entire lot of them are." Yates sounded a bit sad. "If they only had the advantages that the 'upper classes' have, they'd probably be running the country – and they'd be doing it a lot better than the current lot are."

He went back to the kitchen to stir the casserole, speaking through the archway. "The current Henry's father was a very good man. This one, not so much. He's a wastrel and only really cares about doing whatever he wants and taking whatever the people can give him."

Stringer sighed. "That's the way of strong monarchies everywhere, I'm afraid."

The men fell silent as footsteps sounded on the staircase outside.

* It's us. * Blackwood sent.

They relaxed, and Stringer went over to the bar to pour them all glasses of the weak local beer. It wasn't the best he'd ever tasted, but its slight fruitiness was rather refreshing.

"We have a watch out for Christine leaving," Stringer told them as he passed out the drinks.

"Good," Ditzy replied, "since she's with the King already this evening." He took a few swallows. "I don't know why, but based on how edgy everyone is, I'm just getting a feeling that whatever she's planning is going to happen in the next couple of days."

"Okay, give me a few minutes and I'll be back." Stringer made a quick report into his recorder. "It's time to let Ryan know what's going on."

He placed the recorder in his pocket and took out his portal device. After a quick check out the window to make sure that it wouldn't be seen from outside, he turned it on and stepped through the moment the shards finished expanding.

He came out into Ryan's conference room, but there was no one there. He contacted Lorraine immediately. "What's happening?" he asked.

He'd never heard such relief in Lorraine's voice before. "Team 3 and Team 1 have Abby. They're bringing her back."

"Thank fuck for that," Stringer breathed. "Okay, good. We've got a good line on Christine Johnson, and we're hoping to have her in custody by tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, Joel," she replied. "I'll let Lester know right away."

"Right. Out." Stringer had to fight off a desire to dance as he turned and stepped back through the portal to 7-354.

He'd barely made it through and checked for status – as in that no one had been arrested, and everyone was there – before he said flat out, "Teams 3 and 1 have Abby; they're heading back to ARC right now."

The others actually cheered – quietly, but with great feeling.

"So, we now have free rein to take CJ down, then?" Danny asked, still dancing a silly jig.

"We do." Stringer gave him a cockeyed look. "CJ?"

"Easier to say than Christine Bloody Johnson every sentence," Danny replied casually.

Stringer had to agree, but was saved from having to respond by Yates announcing that their meal was ready.

The team ate whilst making a tentative plan to take Christine prisoner, hopefully before the morning. They knew they had to have her returned to ARC and be back in their jobs before they were due on duty. Stringer wanted them to stay for the day before leaving, since that would hopefully make the locals less suspicious about them. They could depart tomorrow evening or the morning after, with various personal excuses.

"Thanks for that," Yates said, once they'd made it clear they weren't going to just walk out with Christine and leave him in the lurch. "Too many people – not of the upper crust, thankfully – know that I was recommending you guys. If you just grab her and disappear, they might blame me; and I'd rather be able to keep them as friends and informants."

Stringer nodded in agreement. "It will also give us a chance to take the pulse of the palace, to see if they believe the note we're leaving." He spoke to Yates. "What's your take on that idea, Marcus? What chance of it being believed?"

Yates shrugged. "There's no telling. It will probably depend on the King's mood. Being handed an arrest warrant for his mistress along with her disappearance will be a sure way to ruin his day. But if we manage to put enough details in to show she's just there to make trouble rather than caring about him, he just might be pissed off enough to let it go."

"If I saw something like that, I'd be likely to declare a day of celebration for getting rid of the twat," Danny snorted.

The others choked over their meals, but Yates grinned. "I, too, would be happy to be rid of her that easily."

"Right," Stringer said calmly as they all finished eating. "Now all we need to do is work out exactly what we want the warrant to say, and where we want it to be from."

Yates leaned back with his eyes closed. The others waited patiently for the local agent to work out the best approach based on his knowledge of the country.

"Here's what I think," he said, opening his eyes and glancing at the team. "We know that there's been some tension between Henry and the Premier of France lately."

Stringer frowned. The last thing they wanted to do was exacerbate some already-present tensions.

"Hear me out," Yates said firmly, raising a hand. "Spain is neutral between the two countries, and has been used frequently to mediate talks. How about, we make the note from a Spanish international group, saying that they've taken her away, and have done the same thing to a woman in France, because the two women were trying to make trouble between the two countries?"

"Has there been someone creating trouble in France?" Ditzy asked. "Surely Henry will be able to check it out."

"And won't he contact Spain to verify? I would, and I'm not even a prince, let alone a king," Danny added.

They all looked at each other, depressed. That was too complicated a plan, with too many things that could go wrong.

"Why not a simple note jilting him instead?" Blackwood asked musingly. "One saying that she had been sent to cause trouble – maybe even assassinate the king – but she fell in love with him and can't go through with it. So, she's taking the best way out and just leaving."

The men looked at each other in shock. Stringer was the first to gather his wits. "Simple and elegant." He turned to Yates. "Will that work?"

Smiling slightly, Yates gave Blackwood a salute. "Trust a woman to come up with the smoothest idea. It'll be even better than any arrest or international intrigue, since Henry has an ego the size of his palace grounds. He'll be sure to believe that she fell desperately in love with him, and very much inclined to believe that she took the only way out that a 'mere woman' would be able to think of to avoid hurting him."

"Good. Then that's what we'll do." Stringer stood up and paced for a minute, gathering his thoughts before glancing over at Yates. "Does anyone have any idea whether she's done any writing here? We'll need to make the note personal."

"I haven't the foggiest idea," Yates answered blankly. "That might be a problem."

"Maybe not," Ditzy said quietly. "We surely have examples of her writing back at ARC. Once we know what to say, Connor can mock up a note on this reality's paper if we give some to him."

Stringer was beginning to wonder just how many commendations he could come up with for his people on this jaunt. "Bloody brilliant, all of you. Marcus, can you get a few sheets of the kind of paper Christine would be able to source?"

"Not a problem," Yates answered, going over to the cabinet by the window. "There's only one grade of paper here, and this is it." He brought a thin packet back to them. "Take the whole thing, bring back what you don't use."

They sat down to work out the wording for the 'jilting you because I love you' note. Once they were done, Stringer took the paper and the note.

"Keep lookout, I'll be back as soon as I can," he said, opening a portal.

He stepped out into the main Portal Room and made his way to the science department.

"Connor, we need you right now." He said as he entered the room, only to find mild pandemonium occurring. "What's up?"

Connor jumped up with a huge grin on his face. "They've found Abby, they've brought her back!"

Stringer smiled. "I know, I heard. That's the best news we've had this week." He handed the packet of paper and the note to the young scientist. "To add to the good news, we have a good chance to bring in Christine Johnson as well."

Connor's eyes widened as his jaw dropped. "Her, too? Great!" He dropped into his chair and spun around to face his work desk. After a quick glance at the note and a muttered "Wow", he placed the note on his screen, slid a sheet of the paper into a slot in front of him, and started pressing icons on his touch keyboard. "I'm thinking you want this in Christine's writing?" he asked absently, still touching various places on his screen in a rapid sequence that had Stringer's head spinning in seconds.

"Yes, please."

"Okay, here's the first possibility." Connor pulled the sheet of paper from the slot and handed it to Stringer.

Joel looked it over and frowned. "The writing is great, it's good handwriting size, and I'll take your word on whether it matches Christine's. The only thing is that I think it doesn't quite match the ink on the note we gave you. It's just a little too dark."

"Huh, let me check." Taking the sheet back, and putting a new one in the slot, Connor pressed a few more buttons on his screen. "You're right. One tenth-click lighter, and let's see what we have now." With a flourish, he pulled the new sheet from the slot and handed it to Stringer.

"Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Thanks, Connor, you've just made our jobs a hell of a lot easier." Clapping Connor on the shoulder, he carried the note and packet of extra sheets back to the portal room.

"We're on," he said as soon as he re-entered Yates' room. "Connor to the rescue again." He handed the note to Yates, who gave an admiring whistle.

"That boy's great," Yates said, impressed. "You'd think it was written here, no question."

Stringer stretched. "Now, we just wait for the kids to give us the address."

TBC
Part 7.

Comments

[knitekat.livejournal.com]

Great to see more of this world. Love Theona and Yates having his own 'Baker st irregulars'. Good that the team is going to stuck around and not make things difficult for him. Hee, Christine might be in for a surprise.

[goldarrow]

Thanks!

*g* I was thinking of the Baker St Irregulars when I wrote her!

Yeah, I was just going to have them leave, then realised that it would be better not.

[telperion-15.livejournal.com]

Ooh, things are starting to come together! CJ isn't going to be happy when she finds out that people have discovered her hidey hole!

And Theona is a smart cookie! :)

[goldarrow]

*g* CJ is really angry...

I rather fell for Theona!

Thanks!

[purplecat]

Things are coming together here - just a matter of figuring out what is up in the theocratic states!

[goldarrow]

Indeed!

I loved the idea of Yates having his own little Baker Street Irregulars. :)

[fredbassett]

Loved Theona!

And the plotting is fab!

[goldarrow]

Thanks!

And I rather fell for Theona, too. :)

[thelibraniniquity]

Yay, team! It's all starting to come together now, plenty of time for more shenanigans though, I'm sure!

[goldarrow]

*g* Yeah, a few more things to take care of.

Thanks!

[fififolle]

This is great! I love Yates, he's brilliant!!!!
I hope their plan works...!

[goldarrow]

Thanks so much!

I rather liked the OCs in this one. :)