Fic: Home World Battle (Multiverse!ARC) 2/8

[goldarrow]

Title: Home World Battle – Part 2
Author: goldarrow
Word Count: 3,073 of 27,056
Characters: Lester, Jenny, Hemingway (OC), Helen, Ryan, SF Teams and OCs. Lyle, Blade, Finn, Stringer and Ditzy belong to fredbassett, who kindly lends them out. Hemingway, Blackwood and Wapasha, along with all the other OCs, are mine.
Rating: 15
Disclaimer: Everything and everyone Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, not me. I will return them when I’m done, slightly mussed but in superb spirits nonetheless.
In the Multiverse!ARC universe, following Cross-World Hunt
Part 1

 

Home World Battle – Part 2
 
Earth 1-001 (ARC World)

"We're good to go," Hemingway said a few hours later from where he was standing in Lester's office door. "We have Council permission to use a clairvoyant on Christine Johnson." He grinned. "Your idea of using the threat against her first was what tipped the vote. They liked that idea."

Lester rang Security and asked them to send a clairvoyant to Christine's cell.

"Let's go," he said, standing and heading for the door as soon as he received acknowledgement of his request.

"You're coming along?" Hemingway asked. "Why do we need a mind-speaker?"

Lester smiled wryly. "I will simply watch. It's always better for the Director of the ARC not to put himself into a position of being too hands-on."

"Huh. Okay," Hemingway replied, slightly dubiously.

"My first mentor drilled that into me," Lester said as they walked down the corridor. "And I think he was right. At least he never had any issues with subordinates, because he always made sure that he was known to be completely impartial at all times."

"Ah, when you put it like that," Hemingway said with a smile.

Lester laughed. "Exactly."

They arrived at the detention centre and met a woman in an ARC Security uniform outside Christine's cell.

"Director Lester, Liaison Hemingway," she said formally. "I'm Georgia Dobbs, clairvoyant. How can I assist?"

Lester and Hemingway nodded to her.

"We've been questioning a prisoner for the last five days," Lester explained. "We've got nowhere with her. We have Council permission to use clairvoyance to examine her, with or without her permission, if she continues to refuse cooperation."

Dobbs' eyes went wide. "Forced reading?"

"Yes." Lester gazed wearily at her. "We would not even consider it if the need were not dire. Can you do it?"

After examining their faces carefully, Dobbs straightened her shoulders. "I can, Director. Whatever you need."

Lester touched her shoulder gently. "Thank you, Georgia Dobbs. I know it's a hard thing, but we believe that the safety of the ARC is at stake."

Nodding firmly, Dobbs turned to the door and opened it. The two men passed through, with her following behind.

Lester gazed at Christine, who was sitting, or rather doing her best to mimic Helen's manner of lounging, on the bench at the back of the cell.

Della Waterston – the Lead Security officer – and Edward Billings – her Second – were standing, one on each side of the room, simply looking at Christine. They turned their heads just far enough to note who had entered, eyebrows rising as they saw both men and their fellow security officer.

"Ms Waterston, Mr Billings," Lester said quietly. "Please step back and keep watch."

As they moved back to the corners of the cell next to the door, Lester smiled at Christine. He used his most dangerous smile, and she pushed back just a fraction against the wall in unconscious response.

"Ms Johnson," he said smoothly. "I will give you one more chance to tell us what you know."

When she started to refuse again, he gestured to Dobbs, adding, "And if you do not, we have Council permission for our clairvoyant to read you, with or without your permission."

"The Council would never countenance that," Christine tried to bluster, but Lester could hear the underlying fear in her tone without even using his mind-speech to connect with her.

"They have given us full permission," Hemingway put in with his gentle smile.

Christine didn't seem to be taking any comfort in his expression. She crumpled, giving the clairvoyant a haunted look.

"Okay. Okay," she said desperately. "Just don't crawl around in my mind."

Lester raised an eyebrow at her palpable terror. "I wonder what it is that you have to hide," he said musingly, and Christine whimpered. "Never mind. If you tell us what we need to know, you can keep your personal secrets."

Still shuddering, Christine started talking rapidly. "Helen told me she wanted to take the ARC. That the current management was incompetent and didn't deserve to be the ones watching over the multiverse."

She glanced suspiciously at Dobbs, who stood stolidly by the door, her face expressionless and her eyes fixed on Christine.

Hemingway snorted, and Christine glared at him.

"That's what she told me," she insisted.

"And why were you on Earth 7-354?" Lester asked, waving for her to stop stalling.

"I was there just to destabilise it. Helen wanted a backup world to retreat to in case things went pear-shaped here." She sighed. "I was also supposed to get hold of a keyed portal device so Helen could get in here." Her expression went vicious for a second before it smoothed out. "I never was able to find out for sure who the ARC's agent was, so I failed in that."

Hemingway came to point when he heard that statement, so Lester waved for him to ask whatever it was that had come to his mind.

"You said 'for sure'," he said, his expression no longer gentle; rather showing the inner steel that had brought him to the level of Liaison to the Council. "Did you have any suspicion as to whom it was?"

Christine leaned back mulishly, until Lester made a quick gesture and Dobbs stepped forward.

"All right!" Christine stared wide-eyed at the clairvoyant. "I was suspicious of a couple of people, Thomas Becket and Marcus Yates."

"When was Helen planning to put her attack in motion?" Lester asked, groaning internally as she said the second name, but hoping his dread wasn't showing on his face.

After one last haunted glance at Dobbs, Christine said dully, "Next week. The first."

"Thank you, Christine," Lester said, keeping his tone as dry as he could, considering his sudden fear for the safety of Marcus Yates and his team of local youngsters. "I'm sure the Council will take note of your cooperation."

Christine ignored him and curled up in the corner with her back to them.

Lester waved everyone out. The moment the door was closed, he turned to the security team.

"Warn Marcus Yates on 7-354 that he is liable to be under attack at any moment. Have him put his people far underground and get back to the ARC himself as quickly as he can."

The three nodded and ran.

"Damn it." Hemingway headed for the main portal. "I'll warn the Council."

He didn't make it.

The intruder alert went off, blaring out a series of tones that as far as Lester knew had never actually been used before.

They stared at each other for a second that seemed to last a year, then headed for Lester's office at a dead run.

~*~

Tom Ryan leapt to his feet as the intruder alert sounded. His team went absolutely still for just a second, before Claudia, his Second, pulled out her communications device, hooked it to her ear and contacted Lorraine, Second to the Director of the ARC, whilst Abby turned to Stephen, who was looking lost.

"Someone has broken into the ARC," Abby said softly, whilst Claudia spoke briefly.

"Fuck," Stephen breathed. "Helen?" He turned to Ryan.

"We find out," Ryan replied. "Claudia?"

"No idea," she said, also standing. "But someone has opened a portal in the personnel housing."

"That's not good," Ryan snapped. Opening a portal to personal quarters meant that whoever was breaking in had internal backing for whatever they were planning. If whoever it was had been alone, the portal would have been opened at the armoury, though it wouldn’t have succeeded, the armoury being shielded. "Let's go. Claudia, contact whichever teams are still in-ARC right now."

Ryan knew that as his Second, Claudia would be keeping track of the other Cross-Reality teams – not necessarily where they were if they were on assignment, but at least whether they were currently in-ARC.

"It looks like Teams 2, 3, and 4 are all available, so we're in luck," she said as the four pelted down the corridors toward the armoury.

"Good." Ryan keyed on his own communicator. "Lyle, Becker, Stringer, meet at the armoury. We have someone portalling in without authorisation, and we think the armoury will be the end target."

"Damn it," Becker replied tersely. "On our way."

Lyle and Stringer were slightly more profane, but also sounded like they were moving fast.

The three teams met outside the main armoury doors, sliding to a stop as they saw the open entrance and the woman inside.

"April?" Tally, Becker's Team 2 far-sighter, squawked. "What are you doing here?"

She glanced at them, her expression a combination of nervousness and arrogance, before grabbing half a dozen portal devices and teleporting away without a word.

"That's not good," Matt Anderson said quietly, looking at the empty spot on the shelf. "Those were keyed."

"What?" Ryan spun to stare at him. "How – why?"

Becker shook his head, also eyeing the empty shelf. "Some new agents were about to be assigned to new worlds," he said bitterly. "They were going to head out this afternoon. We are in deep trouble."

"More than that," Ryan snapped as the intruder alarm went off again, giving the signal for multiple entries. "We're totally fucked."

He waved the other Team Leaders over and they held a very brief conversation, then Ryan spoke in an official tone.

"Becker, take Team 2 to the Laboratories to make sure Helen doesn't get any weapons prototypes. Lyle, Team 3 to clear the rest of the armoury. Stringer, Team 4 to the civilian offices section to guard. Team 1, we're going to the main offices. If it's Helen, she's going to hit multiple places and she'll be going after Lester." He took off quickly, with Claudia, Abby, and Stephen on his six. The other teams scattered.

"How did Tally know this April woman?" Stephen asked.

Ryan was glad to see that his newest agent had been working on his stamina, since he was still able to speak whilst at a dead run.

"They've been friends for years," Abby replied, also breathing easily even though she was taking two steps for every one of Stephen's. "We didn't have a clue that she was going Renegade."

"Why did she have to portal in, then," Stephen asked in confusion, "if she was already here?"

"She didn't," Claudia replied. "Someone else did, and told her to teleport to the armoury. It had to have been that way, since the armoury is blocked for portalling. Lorraine just told me that they've narrowed down the original portal opening to April's quarters."

"Fuck. This is not good," Ryan stopped so suddenly that Stephen almost piled into him. Abby and Claudia managed to stop slightly more gracefully as the four stared into Lester's office.

"That's torn it." Ryan turned away from the office, which contained a number of smashed items, some overturned furniture, and not one actual person. He glanced into Lorraine's office, and jumped forward. "Lorraine – are you all right?"

They crowded into her office and gathered around Lester's Second, who was pulling herself to her feet from behind her desk.

"Yes, I'm fine," the clairvoyant said, slightly shakily. "I hid at first, but when they found me I pretended to be unconscious." She winced, putting a hand to her head. "Helen tried to read me, but it didn't work. I was able to block using the concentration method." She smiled faintly. "I got the impression that she thought I had a severe concussion, considering that all she could get out of my mind was mathematical calculations."

"Well done. What did you hear?" Ryan asked, knowing that Lorraine would have kept her head and listened. Then, torn between hearing her report and keeping watch, he turned toward the door to keep an eye out for anyone else who might be coming at them.

Stephen and Abby shared a glance and moved over to the doorway to take over the guard so that Ryan and Claudia could concentrate on Lorraine.

"Good work," Claudia murmured to them as she moved back over to Ryan and Lorraine.

"Helen took Director Lester," Lorraine said unsteadily as Ryan returned his full attention to her. "Along with Liaisons Hemingway and Lewis. They stunned them and carried them away. I don't know where."

Claudia gasped. Jenny was her cousin, a fellow teleporter who should be able to get free from any bonds. If Helen had managed to take her, then Jenny had to be unable to teleport, which meant she was remaining unconscious – if not worse. Ryan placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

"We'll get them back," he said, hoping against hope that he could keep the promise.

She nodded jerkily. "What else?" she asked Lorraine.

"She had a keyed portal device." Lorraine gazed at them, an expression of pain on her face. "I managed to read from her that she had grabbed Theona, the girl that Marcus Yates has been mentoring on Earth 7-354." Lorraine's face turned vicious. "She actually threatened the girl to make Yates give her his device so they could get April Leonard into the armoury to grab all of the newly keyed ones. Someone in a place of power must have told her they were there. It shouldn't have been common knowledge."

Ryan couldn't hold back his curse of fury. Not only about someone telling Helen about the keyed portal devices, but even more at hearing what Helen had done to Theona. No one – but no one – ever went after youngsters. It just wasn't done. Ever. After the dark times and the loss of so much of the population of the ARC world millennia ago, even now children were valued beyond anything else.

Lorraine nodded. "I agree entirely." She squared her shoulders. "What happens now that Helen has unfettered access to everywhere in the ARC?"

Ryan wasn't sure. "First, we find out what's happened so far." He was about to contact the other Team Leaders when Lyle's voice came over everyone's earpieces.

"Ryan, trouble." He sounded breathless. "Helen's people have portalled into the armoury. Fuck!" He went silent for a second as they heard the whine of weaponry, then he came back again, even more breathless than before. "We got the big guns out of the armoury, but these guys now all have phased light weapons, and they've turned them on us. We only have tranqs. There's no way we can use the artilleries in here without pretty much vaporising the ARC."

Ryan closed his eyes for a second. The next words he had to say were going to hurt. And shock everyone.

"Do you have your keyed portal devices?" he asked.

There was a pregnant silence on the other end before Becker spoke. "Yes. And we have a few regular ones that were in the labs being repaired. They work."

"Right. I know that no one is going to like this," Ryan said evenly. "But we have no choice – we evacuate. Scientists, security, office personnel, teams, trainees. Right now. We need to re-arm and come back when we're organised."

"What?" Both Lyle and Stringer sounded scandalised. "We should fight, Ryan. We don't ever just walk away."

"We're out-gunned and possibly outnumbered," Ryan replied shortly. "We have to get everyone out who could help Helen. We don't want them in the line of fire, and we don't want them hurt if they refuse to help her."

"Fuck." Lyle's voice overlapped Stringer's, "That cock-sucking shitgibbon would torture people just for the fun of it."

Stringer added, "Just tell me we'll be back."

"That we will," Ryan replied implacably. "Get everyone out before someone gets hurt. Helen's not going to play games. She's already kidnapped Lester, Hemingway and Lewis. We have to get them back, and we won't be able to do that if we're either fucking around fighting Helen – or dead."

Becker's voice overrode the other two, for the first time in Ryan's memory. "They have Lester?"

"Yes," Ryan replied.

"Fucking bitch," Becker cursed. "Right, we've passed out the portal devices. I'm assuming 3-888?"

"On target," Ryan replied evenly. "Get going, get everyone on each of your levels out before Helen's people find you."

"Oh, they already have," Lyle stated angrily. "But we've taken refuge and so far they haven't managed to portal in. Signing off, see you on the other world." His last words were bracketed by the rushing sound of a portal opening, and a very large crashing noise as what sounded like a grenade smashed open the storage room door.

Knowing that Lyle would have let him know if he or any of his team been taken by the attackers, Ryan waited for Becker and Stringer to report their success, keeping an eye on Abby and Stephen at the door. So far, both Abby – his flyer – and Stephen – the Team Trainee telekinetic – were showing their mettle. After Abby's last experiences with Helen, being knocked about and then kidnapped; and Stephen's loss of his adoptive parents to Helen's murderous tendencies, he would have expected them to be a bit shakier. But they were stepping up brilliantly.

"Clear," Becker finally reported. "Team 2 heading out."

"Acknowledged," Ryan replied.

"Clear here, too," Stringer said, still sounding furious, which Ryan could sympathise with. "Team 4 going now. See you in a few, Ryan. Get the fuck out yourself."

"We're ready," Ryan replied, glancing at Lorraine.

Pulling a backup disk from its port, she nodded as she stepped away from her computer. Ryan raised his eyebrows as he saw the scrolling list of deleted files on the screen. Lorraine gave him a feral smile.

"She'll get nothing," she stated. "I've wiped the multiverse data."

"Damn," Ryan breathed. "That was fucking brilliant."

"Just don't let her get her hands on this disk," she warned, passing it over to him.

"Not a chance." He put it in his pocket and pulled out his portal device.

"Ready?" he asked as he keyed in the destination, and Claudia nodded, still looking shocked and lost.

"We'd better go, right now," Stephen said, stepping back from the door. "Helen's coming down the corridor at the trot, and she looks right royally pissed off."

"Then come on," Ryan said as he waved Stephen ahead. "Go."

He stepped through, and caught just a glimpse of Helen coming through the door as he closed the portal.

They were clear.

Now all they had to do was come up with a plan to re-take the ARC before Helen was able to consolidate her power over the multiverse.

TBC


 

Comments

[thelibraniniquity]

Ohhhhh that went from 0 to 60 pretty damned quickly! It's never a good sign when you're hearing the bad news siren for the first time! Kudos to Lorraine for lots of quick thinking there. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[goldarrow]

*g* Thanks!

I'm so glad you're liking this series!

*nods* Lorraine is a treasure.

[telperion-15.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeek, it's all kicking off! So we have April as a mole, but who's the higher up one! The suspense!

One thing's for sure, Helen's not going to be enjoying herself when the ARC team come back with a plan!

Great chapter! :D

[goldarrow]

*g* we shall see!

Oh, Helen has a surprise coming for her in the end.

Thanks!

[fififolle]

I thought Ryan was going to burst a blood vessel there!!!