Fic, Under a Pitiless Sky, Danny, 15
Mar. 31st, 2016 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fredbassettTitle : Under a Pitiless Sky
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 15
Characters : Danny
Disclaimer : Not mine, no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Summary : This wasn’t quite how Danny had imagined things ending.
A/N: Written for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
primeval_denial monthly challenge, using the prompt: There are few situations in life that cannot be honourably settled, and without loss of time, either by suicide, a bag of gold, or by thrusting a despised antagonist over the edge of a precipice upon a dark night.
Danny had known instantly that she was dead. The dull thump of Helen’s body hitting the ground coupled with the sharper crack of her skull against the rock had told him all he needed to know.
But to go through the motions, he’d felt for her pulse. Unsurprisingly, she was very definitely dead.
Danny stared down at her, not even sure what emotions were running through him.
He’d never really wished her – or any other human being – dead. Sure, he’d come across some scum in his time as a copper that the world could have easily have done without but what happened after he’d charged them was down to the courts, not him. He’d never really imagined himself as judge or jury, and certainly not executioner. Then again, the woman lying at his feet had just attempted to snuff out humanity before it had even got established. He could have made an exception for her. Maybe.
The sight of the hairy, ape-like creatures that might have been his ancestors lying strewn around the valley, dead and dying, had turned his stomach. There had been nothing he could do for them and he hadn’t had the guts to put them out of their misery. That would have been too much like murder in his book. He’d held one of them while the light had faded from its eyes. Now all he wanted to do was get back to his own time, but something had drawn him back here, to Helen Cutter’s dead body.
The ground was too hard to dig a grave, but just leaving her body for predators to find went against the grain somehow. He heaved the dead raptor off her and dragged it some distance away, hoping its corpse would provide some fresh meat for any scavengers in the vicinity. But that still left Helen to deal with. The best he could think of doing was building a cairn of stones over her.
To make life easier, he hauled her body over to the base of the cliff from which she’d fallen. Not knowing how easy it would be to find his way home, Danny took two knives and a compass off her body. She owed him that, at least, for trying to change the course of history and wipe him out of existence several million years before he’d been conceived in a drunken one night stand.
He closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. The expression on Helen’s face was one of mild surprise, as though the Mistress of Time, as he’d come to think of her, couldn’t quite believe that her life had been ended by something as random as a raptor and a cliff. He smoothed her hair back into place. It was an empty gesture, but it was all he had to give.
He picked up the first stone and placed it by her feet. He worked in a crescent shape around her body, curving outwards from the rock wall, building up each layer of stones so that they gradually covered her body. The sun beat down from amidst an inexorable blue sky and sweat was soon running down his back and dripping in his eyes. Eventually, after a couple of hours of backbreaking work, only her face remained to be seen. Somehow, Danny couldn’t bring himself to put the last stone directly onto her face. Somehow, it seemed wrong, so he damn nearly broke his back lugging over a large, flat rock from beside the river. It was wide enough to bridge the gap left in the cairn without pressing down on her now waxy-looking flesh.
He stood back and wiped his hands on his already filthy trousers. The cairn wasn’t much, and it probably wouldn’t even keep the predators at bay, but it was the best she was going to get. Danny leaned against the rock wall of the overhanging cliff. It had taken him just over two hours to build Helen’s tomb. He dreaded to think how much longer it was going to take him to make a similar one for her victims, but he couldn’t bear to leave them unburied. They deserved better than that just providing food for scavengers.
Danny straightened up. He had no idea if the anomaly that had brought him here was still open, but if he didn’t want this to be a one way ticket to the past he was going to have to get a move on.
As he stepped away from the shelter, a deep rumble of thunder caught him by surprise. He looked up. The sky that only a short while ago had been clear and blue was now playing host to a mass of dark clouds. Vivid forked lightning leaped down towards the dry, dusty earth and moments later fat raindrops exploded all around him like mini water-bombs.
Danny ducked back under the shelter of the rock overhang. He wasn’t worried about getting wet, but the lightning was dancing around everywhere, and he didn’t fancy being the tallest thing around while that was going on. He settled down with his back against the cliff and watched the show. It was even more impressive than the fireworks had been at the Millennium celebrations in London, and that was saying something.
The rain teemed down until a small river was running past the shelter, gurgling over the stones, and carrying debris down with it to join the main river channel. In a lull in the thunder and lightning, Danny stepped out from the cover of the rocks and was immediately soaked to the skin, but at least it washed away the sweat and grime that had accumulated on his body humping the stones for Helen’s cairn into place. The river that had carried the poison had now turned into a raging torrent, sweeping away what remained of Helen’s mad attempt to eradicate humanity from the face of the planet.
From what he could see, the water had also swept away the bodies of the hominids. With the river now in full spate, Danny knew he had little or no chance of recovering the bodies. Vague memories of Connor holding forth one night in the pub about why some creatures ended up as fossils and others didn’t came back to mind, and he remembered something being said about how being covered by silt could be an aid to fossilisation. Maybe he was just going to have to let nature take its course….
The sky was still dark, but there had been no flashes of lightning for the last couple of minutes. Danny looked at his watch. He’d give it another five minutes and then make a run for it.
In less than the time he’d allotted, the storm died down almost as quickly as it had sprung up. Danny didn’t waste any more time and, without a backwards glance at the cairn he’d spent so long building, he set off at a run. Within the space of a few minutes, the clouds had been driven away by a strong wind, leaving behind another cornflower blue sky. He covered the ground as quickly as he could, scrambling up the rapidly-drying ground as he scaled a small hill and looked down into another steep-sided valley.
Danny’s face creased in a wide smile as he saw the dark, hairy forms of another band of hominids, some sitting in the sun grooming each other, while others wandered upright around the valley, all in blissful ignorance that someone had tried to snuff out their lives with no more thought than pouring boiling water into an ants’ nest. Danny watched as one of the females, a baby firmly attached to one hairy breast, got up and ambled over to a large termite nest. She picked up a stick and used it to poke out a fat grub, which she promptly popped between her lips.
Still smiling, Danny turned away.
The First Family might have lost their lives to a mad woman, but the Second Family and all their friends and relations was very much alive and well.
Now all he needed to do was find his way home again…
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 15
Characters : Danny
Disclaimer : Not mine, no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Summary : This wasn’t quite how Danny had imagined things ending.
A/N: Written for the
primeval_denial monthly challenge, using the prompt: There are few situations in life that cannot be honourably settled, and without loss of time, either by suicide, a bag of gold, or by thrusting a despised antagonist over the edge of a precipice upon a dark night.Danny had known instantly that she was dead. The dull thump of Helen’s body hitting the ground coupled with the sharper crack of her skull against the rock had told him all he needed to know.
But to go through the motions, he’d felt for her pulse. Unsurprisingly, she was very definitely dead.
Danny stared down at her, not even sure what emotions were running through him.
He’d never really wished her – or any other human being – dead. Sure, he’d come across some scum in his time as a copper that the world could have easily have done without but what happened after he’d charged them was down to the courts, not him. He’d never really imagined himself as judge or jury, and certainly not executioner. Then again, the woman lying at his feet had just attempted to snuff out humanity before it had even got established. He could have made an exception for her. Maybe.
The sight of the hairy, ape-like creatures that might have been his ancestors lying strewn around the valley, dead and dying, had turned his stomach. There had been nothing he could do for them and he hadn’t had the guts to put them out of their misery. That would have been too much like murder in his book. He’d held one of them while the light had faded from its eyes. Now all he wanted to do was get back to his own time, but something had drawn him back here, to Helen Cutter’s dead body.
The ground was too hard to dig a grave, but just leaving her body for predators to find went against the grain somehow. He heaved the dead raptor off her and dragged it some distance away, hoping its corpse would provide some fresh meat for any scavengers in the vicinity. But that still left Helen to deal with. The best he could think of doing was building a cairn of stones over her.
To make life easier, he hauled her body over to the base of the cliff from which she’d fallen. Not knowing how easy it would be to find his way home, Danny took two knives and a compass off her body. She owed him that, at least, for trying to change the course of history and wipe him out of existence several million years before he’d been conceived in a drunken one night stand.
He closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. The expression on Helen’s face was one of mild surprise, as though the Mistress of Time, as he’d come to think of her, couldn’t quite believe that her life had been ended by something as random as a raptor and a cliff. He smoothed her hair back into place. It was an empty gesture, but it was all he had to give.
He picked up the first stone and placed it by her feet. He worked in a crescent shape around her body, curving outwards from the rock wall, building up each layer of stones so that they gradually covered her body. The sun beat down from amidst an inexorable blue sky and sweat was soon running down his back and dripping in his eyes. Eventually, after a couple of hours of backbreaking work, only her face remained to be seen. Somehow, Danny couldn’t bring himself to put the last stone directly onto her face. Somehow, it seemed wrong, so he damn nearly broke his back lugging over a large, flat rock from beside the river. It was wide enough to bridge the gap left in the cairn without pressing down on her now waxy-looking flesh.
He stood back and wiped his hands on his already filthy trousers. The cairn wasn’t much, and it probably wouldn’t even keep the predators at bay, but it was the best she was going to get. Danny leaned against the rock wall of the overhanging cliff. It had taken him just over two hours to build Helen’s tomb. He dreaded to think how much longer it was going to take him to make a similar one for her victims, but he couldn’t bear to leave them unburied. They deserved better than that just providing food for scavengers.
Danny straightened up. He had no idea if the anomaly that had brought him here was still open, but if he didn’t want this to be a one way ticket to the past he was going to have to get a move on.
As he stepped away from the shelter, a deep rumble of thunder caught him by surprise. He looked up. The sky that only a short while ago had been clear and blue was now playing host to a mass of dark clouds. Vivid forked lightning leaped down towards the dry, dusty earth and moments later fat raindrops exploded all around him like mini water-bombs.
Danny ducked back under the shelter of the rock overhang. He wasn’t worried about getting wet, but the lightning was dancing around everywhere, and he didn’t fancy being the tallest thing around while that was going on. He settled down with his back against the cliff and watched the show. It was even more impressive than the fireworks had been at the Millennium celebrations in London, and that was saying something.
The rain teemed down until a small river was running past the shelter, gurgling over the stones, and carrying debris down with it to join the main river channel. In a lull in the thunder and lightning, Danny stepped out from the cover of the rocks and was immediately soaked to the skin, but at least it washed away the sweat and grime that had accumulated on his body humping the stones for Helen’s cairn into place. The river that had carried the poison had now turned into a raging torrent, sweeping away what remained of Helen’s mad attempt to eradicate humanity from the face of the planet.
From what he could see, the water had also swept away the bodies of the hominids. With the river now in full spate, Danny knew he had little or no chance of recovering the bodies. Vague memories of Connor holding forth one night in the pub about why some creatures ended up as fossils and others didn’t came back to mind, and he remembered something being said about how being covered by silt could be an aid to fossilisation. Maybe he was just going to have to let nature take its course….
The sky was still dark, but there had been no flashes of lightning for the last couple of minutes. Danny looked at his watch. He’d give it another five minutes and then make a run for it.
In less than the time he’d allotted, the storm died down almost as quickly as it had sprung up. Danny didn’t waste any more time and, without a backwards glance at the cairn he’d spent so long building, he set off at a run. Within the space of a few minutes, the clouds had been driven away by a strong wind, leaving behind another cornflower blue sky. He covered the ground as quickly as he could, scrambling up the rapidly-drying ground as he scaled a small hill and looked down into another steep-sided valley.
Danny’s face creased in a wide smile as he saw the dark, hairy forms of another band of hominids, some sitting in the sun grooming each other, while others wandered upright around the valley, all in blissful ignorance that someone had tried to snuff out their lives with no more thought than pouring boiling water into an ants’ nest. Danny watched as one of the females, a baby firmly attached to one hairy breast, got up and ambled over to a large termite nest. She picked up a stick and used it to poke out a fat grub, which she promptly popped between her lips.
Still smiling, Danny turned away.
The First Family might have lost their lives to a mad woman, but the Second Family and all their friends and relations was very much alive and well.
Now all he needed to do was find his way home again…