Fic, Silk and Steel, Part 24
Dec. 17th, 2008 03:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fredbassettTitle : Silk and Steel, Part 24
Authors :![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fredbassett & munchkinofdoom
Fandom : Primeval
Characters : Lester, Anne Morris
Rating : 18
Disclaimer : Not ours, no money made, don’t sue
Spoilers : None.
Summary : Lester asks an old friend for a favour.
Warning : Slave!fic!
A/N : The remainder of the series can be found here
The day was warm and sunny. Unusual for late November, but welcome, nonetheless. Sir James Lester was seated comfortably on a bench in the small, tree-filled park just to one side of the Cavendish Labs' car park. From there, he could see the squat, ziggurat-shaped grey building which housed the Physics Department and experimental laboratories of Cambridge University.
Closing his eyes, Lester allowed himself to relax for a moment, turning his face up to catch the mottled rays of pale winter sun filtering through the leaves. Breathing slowly, he tried to relax, missing his usual brand of stress relief. But he suspected that fucking Captain Ryan over the back of a park bench, in the grounds of such an esteemed university, would not be quite the done thing.
"Am I keeping your from your afternoon nap, James?"
Lester opened his eyes. “Just enjoying a day away from the office, Annie.”
“No doubt at taxpayers' expense.”
Patting the seat beside him, Lester smiled and didn’t rise to the bait.
She sat down and stretched her short legs out comfortably. "Well, this is nice."
"You're looking well, Annie." Lester remarked, with perfect truth.
It had been several years since he had last seen Anne Morris, Cambridge Professor of Experimental Astrophysics. Despite the grey hair and the plain clothing, his fellow university student, who had saved him on numerous occasions from the consequences of his acid tongue, had indeed weathered well. Lester could only assume it came of working in a field that one actually loved. It appeared that the effect of job satisfaction on longevity was not to be underestimated, if Annie Morris was anything to go by.
“Flattery will get you nowhere, dear boy. But much as that tie doesn’t suit you, you’re not looking too bad yourself.”
Lester shrugged. An active sex life wasn’t to be underestimated either. But that wasn’t something he was brave enough to broach with his former flat-mate.
"So what has drawn you out from that monstrosity of modern architecture of yours that everyone is so pointedly not talking about?" asked Annie.
"Ah. So you've heard about the move then?"
"Everybody who is anybody in the sciences has heard about the move, James," Annie admonished.
Lester raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow in polite enquiry.
"We are all speculating on what kind of singularity could attract – and utterly remove from the scientific radar – the best and brightest young things from a number of disciplines, mine included."
"Unfortunately," sighed Lester, with an exaggerated lack of sincerity, "those bright young things, as you describe them, are destined to remain below the scientific radar for the foreseeable future. My monstrosity has recently been granted Prohibited Place status."
Annie turned to stare at Lester in shock. "What, James, have you got yourself involved in now?"
"I would be right in assuming your security clearance is still in its usual impeccable condition?"
"As if you need to ask," snorted Annie scornfully. "Get to the point, James."
"I need your help," Lester said flatly.
"Go on." Annie sat quietly, seemingly content to contemplate the ground at her feet.
James Lester stared closely at his long-time friend and pondered, for a moment, the possible consequences of the action he was about to take. Consequences that could be far-reaching for both of them, if she agreed to help him. But he had come this far, and it was too late to turn back now. Even if he told her nothing at all, the mere fact of their meeting would place her at risk if – when – a move was made against him.
And Annie Morris was no fool. She had agreed to meet him, outside in a public place, away from cameras and recording devices but still in clear view of any interested parties.
Time to lay his cards on the table, Lester decided.
"You will pardon my insulting your intellect, my dear, but as usual, I appear to be playing for high stakes. You know the risk you’re taking, meeting me in public …."
"Get on with it, James."
Lester nodded acquiescence, "Let's postulate, hypothetically of course, that it is possible for one to move backward and forward in time, via a seemingly naturally occurring portal."
Annie nodded, saying nothing.
"These portals – anomalies – apparently appear at completely random intervals, in different locations, and access different eras in the past. And possibly the future. Then they vanish as inexplicably as they appear."
"What is known already about these hypothetical anomalies? What’s their magnetic field? What levels and types of radiation have been observed? And more to the point, who is heading your completely hypothetical physics team?"
"Professor Adam Butterfield.”
Annie stared at Lester in shock. "Butterfield? He's a pen-pusher. He hasn't done any hard science in years. We very happily offered up his name for the Government’s Grants Committee in several years ago and were bloody glad to see the back of him." She shook her head ruefully, "So that explains where he went, but really, James, you had to have known he was hopeless."
Lester glared at her. "I had no say in his appointment. But now that I have evidence of his incompetence, I have every intention of appointing his replacement before another imbecile is foisted on me."
"And that's where I come in? You can't afford me, James," Annie pointed out.
"I need you, Annie ..." Lester watched as his friend stared at him.
Her face gave very little away, but her eyes were growing speculative. "Why now? We've been gossiping, in our own hallowed academic halls, about your merry little band for months. So why now? And why me?"
Lester frowned. He might have known that a project the size of the ARC couldn’t be kept totally under the radar, but he had at least hoped for a modicum of secrecy. Clearly his political masters were nowhere near as good at keeping secrets as they liked to believe
Choosing his words carefully, Lester continued, "I had, until recently, a scientist who – I believed – could be trusted to investigate the anomaly phenomenon with complete impartiality. His name was Professor Nick Cutter, an evolutionary biologist who had been present at our first known anomaly. He had assembled a serviceable team around him, a bit rag, tag and bobtail, but they got the job done. When we moved to the Anomaly Research Centre – our monstrosity, as you so rightly call it," Lester smiled briefly, "he also quickly gained the respect of the other scientists who joined the expanded project."
"But?" asked Annie.
"The Nick Cutter who recently returned through an anomaly, which linked our time to the Permian era, was not the same man who left. Or so he claimed. He has since insisted, somewhat stridently on occasion, that the timeline has changed. I need to know if that is possible."
"Changed in what way? I need to know details."
Lester sighed. It was still going to sound ludicrous, no matter how often he’d rehearsed this speech. "Three primary changes. One – the System of Indenture did not exist prior to his return; two – the Anomaly Research Centre did not exist; and three – our Public Relations advisor, Jenny Lewis, had been a completely different person called Claudia Brown. Oh, and apparently our ranking military officer had just died in his arms. This was quite a shock to Captain Ryan, considering he was standing beside me when Professor Cutter made that particular announcement, moments after returning through the anomaly."
"When had Cutter returned from – the Permian, you said? Not my field. Remind me, how long ago is that?"
"Somewhere between two hundred and fifty and three hundred million years ago."
Annie blinked. "Three hundred million years? And no pit-stops in between?"
"He says he'd made no detours."
"James, there is absolutely no way that a man could go back three hundred million years into the past, change something, and come back to a world with only a handful of superficial alterations. The cascade effect should either have ensured no discernable changes or alternatively made the world he returned to unrecognisable."
"So Professor Cutter is certifiable? Wonderful."
"No, dear boy. There is another possibility. You said that a different man had returned. You might be more right than you know. Professor Cutter might not have returned to a different timeline. It is entirely possible, if you accept the Bubble theory of multiple universes, that an entirely different Professor Cutter came through that anomaly and that your Professor Cutter has actually travelled from this universe to another."
"Pardon?"
"Don’t be tiresome, James, you heard perfectly well what I said. I’m going to need to analyse these anomalies of yours, their magnetic fields, radiation types and levels, duration, whether there have been any observations of aberrant behaviour by any particular anomaly, check their wavelengths. Perhaps run computer models of their appearances for signs of a pattern ….. " Annie Morris broke off in mid-flow and stared into the middle distance.
Lester recognised the signs, with something approaching relief. "You have a theory." It was a statement, not a question.
"Perhaps," Annie replied, with a slight smile. "It's too early to tell, but I have a hunch that might be worth investigating."
"Annie, no-one else has mentioned returning to a changed timeline. Could it really have happened just this once, bringing a different Cutter through to our world? How? How the hell could something like that happen? And could it happen again?"
"You always were an impatient little sod, James. I honestly can't say, not without further investigation."
"I need my original Nick Cutter back, Annie. This one is drawing attention to himself and the Anomaly Project in ways that we can ill afford, and certain parties are trying to take advantage of the situation. He‘s a loose cannon and frankly, if he carries on like this, he could bring the entire project down." Lester took a deep breath, "Will you help me?"
Annie smiled. "Will I have complete control of the Physics Department?"
"Yes."
"Can I collar Doctor Butterfield?"
Lester laughed. "Yes."
"I'm in."
Sir James Lester released a breath he hadn't even realised that he'd been holding.
Maybe now he had a chance of surviving this bloody madness.
Authors :
fredbassett & munchkinofdoom Fandom : Primeval
Characters : Lester, Anne Morris
Rating : 18
Disclaimer : Not ours, no money made, don’t sue
Spoilers : None.
Summary : Lester asks an old friend for a favour.
Warning : Slave!fic!
A/N : The remainder of the series can be found here
The day was warm and sunny. Unusual for late November, but welcome, nonetheless. Sir James Lester was seated comfortably on a bench in the small, tree-filled park just to one side of the Cavendish Labs' car park. From there, he could see the squat, ziggurat-shaped grey building which housed the Physics Department and experimental laboratories of Cambridge University.
Closing his eyes, Lester allowed himself to relax for a moment, turning his face up to catch the mottled rays of pale winter sun filtering through the leaves. Breathing slowly, he tried to relax, missing his usual brand of stress relief. But he suspected that fucking Captain Ryan over the back of a park bench, in the grounds of such an esteemed university, would not be quite the done thing.
"Am I keeping your from your afternoon nap, James?"
Lester opened his eyes. “Just enjoying a day away from the office, Annie.”
“No doubt at taxpayers' expense.”
Patting the seat beside him, Lester smiled and didn’t rise to the bait.
She sat down and stretched her short legs out comfortably. "Well, this is nice."
"You're looking well, Annie." Lester remarked, with perfect truth.
It had been several years since he had last seen Anne Morris, Cambridge Professor of Experimental Astrophysics. Despite the grey hair and the plain clothing, his fellow university student, who had saved him on numerous occasions from the consequences of his acid tongue, had indeed weathered well. Lester could only assume it came of working in a field that one actually loved. It appeared that the effect of job satisfaction on longevity was not to be underestimated, if Annie Morris was anything to go by.
“Flattery will get you nowhere, dear boy. But much as that tie doesn’t suit you, you’re not looking too bad yourself.”
Lester shrugged. An active sex life wasn’t to be underestimated either. But that wasn’t something he was brave enough to broach with his former flat-mate.
"So what has drawn you out from that monstrosity of modern architecture of yours that everyone is so pointedly not talking about?" asked Annie.
"Ah. So you've heard about the move then?"
"Everybody who is anybody in the sciences has heard about the move, James," Annie admonished.
Lester raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow in polite enquiry.
"We are all speculating on what kind of singularity could attract – and utterly remove from the scientific radar – the best and brightest young things from a number of disciplines, mine included."
"Unfortunately," sighed Lester, with an exaggerated lack of sincerity, "those bright young things, as you describe them, are destined to remain below the scientific radar for the foreseeable future. My monstrosity has recently been granted Prohibited Place status."
Annie turned to stare at Lester in shock. "What, James, have you got yourself involved in now?"
"I would be right in assuming your security clearance is still in its usual impeccable condition?"
"As if you need to ask," snorted Annie scornfully. "Get to the point, James."
"I need your help," Lester said flatly.
"Go on." Annie sat quietly, seemingly content to contemplate the ground at her feet.
James Lester stared closely at his long-time friend and pondered, for a moment, the possible consequences of the action he was about to take. Consequences that could be far-reaching for both of them, if she agreed to help him. But he had come this far, and it was too late to turn back now. Even if he told her nothing at all, the mere fact of their meeting would place her at risk if – when – a move was made against him.
And Annie Morris was no fool. She had agreed to meet him, outside in a public place, away from cameras and recording devices but still in clear view of any interested parties.
Time to lay his cards on the table, Lester decided.
"You will pardon my insulting your intellect, my dear, but as usual, I appear to be playing for high stakes. You know the risk you’re taking, meeting me in public …."
"Get on with it, James."
Lester nodded acquiescence, "Let's postulate, hypothetically of course, that it is possible for one to move backward and forward in time, via a seemingly naturally occurring portal."
Annie nodded, saying nothing.
"These portals – anomalies – apparently appear at completely random intervals, in different locations, and access different eras in the past. And possibly the future. Then they vanish as inexplicably as they appear."
"What is known already about these hypothetical anomalies? What’s their magnetic field? What levels and types of radiation have been observed? And more to the point, who is heading your completely hypothetical physics team?"
"Professor Adam Butterfield.”
Annie stared at Lester in shock. "Butterfield? He's a pen-pusher. He hasn't done any hard science in years. We very happily offered up his name for the Government’s Grants Committee in several years ago and were bloody glad to see the back of him." She shook her head ruefully, "So that explains where he went, but really, James, you had to have known he was hopeless."
Lester glared at her. "I had no say in his appointment. But now that I have evidence of his incompetence, I have every intention of appointing his replacement before another imbecile is foisted on me."
"And that's where I come in? You can't afford me, James," Annie pointed out.
"I need you, Annie ..." Lester watched as his friend stared at him.
Her face gave very little away, but her eyes were growing speculative. "Why now? We've been gossiping, in our own hallowed academic halls, about your merry little band for months. So why now? And why me?"
Lester frowned. He might have known that a project the size of the ARC couldn’t be kept totally under the radar, but he had at least hoped for a modicum of secrecy. Clearly his political masters were nowhere near as good at keeping secrets as they liked to believe
Choosing his words carefully, Lester continued, "I had, until recently, a scientist who – I believed – could be trusted to investigate the anomaly phenomenon with complete impartiality. His name was Professor Nick Cutter, an evolutionary biologist who had been present at our first known anomaly. He had assembled a serviceable team around him, a bit rag, tag and bobtail, but they got the job done. When we moved to the Anomaly Research Centre – our monstrosity, as you so rightly call it," Lester smiled briefly, "he also quickly gained the respect of the other scientists who joined the expanded project."
"But?" asked Annie.
"The Nick Cutter who recently returned through an anomaly, which linked our time to the Permian era, was not the same man who left. Or so he claimed. He has since insisted, somewhat stridently on occasion, that the timeline has changed. I need to know if that is possible."
"Changed in what way? I need to know details."
Lester sighed. It was still going to sound ludicrous, no matter how often he’d rehearsed this speech. "Three primary changes. One – the System of Indenture did not exist prior to his return; two – the Anomaly Research Centre did not exist; and three – our Public Relations advisor, Jenny Lewis, had been a completely different person called Claudia Brown. Oh, and apparently our ranking military officer had just died in his arms. This was quite a shock to Captain Ryan, considering he was standing beside me when Professor Cutter made that particular announcement, moments after returning through the anomaly."
"When had Cutter returned from – the Permian, you said? Not my field. Remind me, how long ago is that?"
"Somewhere between two hundred and fifty and three hundred million years ago."
Annie blinked. "Three hundred million years? And no pit-stops in between?"
"He says he'd made no detours."
"James, there is absolutely no way that a man could go back three hundred million years into the past, change something, and come back to a world with only a handful of superficial alterations. The cascade effect should either have ensured no discernable changes or alternatively made the world he returned to unrecognisable."
"So Professor Cutter is certifiable? Wonderful."
"No, dear boy. There is another possibility. You said that a different man had returned. You might be more right than you know. Professor Cutter might not have returned to a different timeline. It is entirely possible, if you accept the Bubble theory of multiple universes, that an entirely different Professor Cutter came through that anomaly and that your Professor Cutter has actually travelled from this universe to another."
"Pardon?"
"Don’t be tiresome, James, you heard perfectly well what I said. I’m going to need to analyse these anomalies of yours, their magnetic fields, radiation types and levels, duration, whether there have been any observations of aberrant behaviour by any particular anomaly, check their wavelengths. Perhaps run computer models of their appearances for signs of a pattern ….. " Annie Morris broke off in mid-flow and stared into the middle distance.
Lester recognised the signs, with something approaching relief. "You have a theory." It was a statement, not a question.
"Perhaps," Annie replied, with a slight smile. "It's too early to tell, but I have a hunch that might be worth investigating."
"Annie, no-one else has mentioned returning to a changed timeline. Could it really have happened just this once, bringing a different Cutter through to our world? How? How the hell could something like that happen? And could it happen again?"
"You always were an impatient little sod, James. I honestly can't say, not without further investigation."
"I need my original Nick Cutter back, Annie. This one is drawing attention to himself and the Anomaly Project in ways that we can ill afford, and certain parties are trying to take advantage of the situation. He‘s a loose cannon and frankly, if he carries on like this, he could bring the entire project down." Lester took a deep breath, "Will you help me?"
Annie smiled. "Will I have complete control of the Physics Department?"
"Yes."
"Can I collar Doctor Butterfield?"
Lester laughed. "Yes."
"I'm in."
Sir James Lester released a breath he hadn't even realised that he'd been holding.
Maybe now he had a chance of surviving this bloody madness.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-12-17 03:48 pm (UTC)*fireworks!*
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Date: 2008-12-17 03:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-18 02:50 am (UTC)Although I had a slight scare when I discovered an Anne working at the real Cavendish Labs!
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Date: 2008-12-17 04:05 pm (UTC)Oh so bloody interesting!
I love your Annie and the time travel/dimension travel theory for once it's not giving me headaches ;)
Can't wait to see her at the ARC!
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Date: 2008-12-17 04:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-18 02:53 am (UTC)I have plans! *evil cackle*
This was fun to set up, as I had to do lots of research on the various multiple universes theories and pinch bits from many of them to make something that at least sounds feasable. Then fred ran it past mr fb andn he didn't fall over laughing... so here we are!
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Date: 2008-12-17 04:22 pm (UTC)This was brilliant. I could just imagine James sitting there, looking all yummy on the bench :D
Loving it! Just loving it!
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Date: 2008-12-17 04:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2008-12-17 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-17 08:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2008-12-17 08:40 pm (UTC)And hurrah for alternate timelines! My favourite kind of brain melting physics! *g*
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Date: 2008-12-17 08:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2008-12-17 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-18 03:04 am (UTC)We've started the siege-fic proper now, and fred was having fun last night with Annie and Jenny. The ladies are going to be highlighted this time around... which scares us both just a little.
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Date: 2008-12-18 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-05-07 10:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-07 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-10 11:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-11 03:20 am (UTC)I'll be intrigued to hear what you think of her as we go on. Annie has a bigger role in our siege challenge, which is in the later part of this universe.
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Date: 2009-06-08 11:58 pm (UTC)Love that Lester has second thoughts about endangering her.. bit late, but he does have them.. *snorts* over the imagined reaction to his normal stress relief!
The bit about parallel uni's makes more sense than 1 that changes.. as Anne says, unlikely to just change those things.. much better explaination.
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Date: 2009-06-09 08:54 am (UTC)Thank you for your comments on Annie. We have more fun with her later, when we featured the girls in the siege challenge.
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Date: 2010-11-27 07:25 pm (UTC)I just love it!
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Date: 2010-11-27 07:32 pm (UTC)All the theories are explained in Part 68, which has recently posted. I'm not sure if you've seen that one or not.
Thanks for commenting!
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Date: 2010-12-11 10:13 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-06-01 10:23 pm (UTC)Fic that deals with alternate universe is always interesting as well.
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Date: 2011-06-02 09:18 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2014-02-20 10:38 pm (UTC)Excellent. Lester is back in control and plotting. I like Annie a lot - she has Lester's measure. And clearly Lester trusts her.
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Date: 2014-02-21 09:53 am (UTC)