No one knows what the future may bring.

James Lester looked up from yet another report, frowning.  It was sometime during the day, late enough that most people had gone home and only basic security plus a few scientists remained, but not yet early enough to expect a buzz of activity outside.  He was at his desk, going over a report that concerned the team’s work.  He reviewed it with an experienced eye, noting how to change the various phrases so that parts of it did not now show up the complete shambles that had occurred.  With a few tweaks, he could have made the Titanic’s maiden voyage an unmitigated success. 
He had been completely absorbed in his work and hadn’t noticed the sound of the anomaly alarm that had been sounding for a while.  It finally penetrated his brain and he was perturbed to find that no one had rushed in to tell him where it was nor what huge problems they would be facing this time.  He hadn’t even had a report on the team.  He got up and wandered over to the window.  Looking down, he could see no movement at all, and eventually, curiosity got the better of him. He came out of his office and walked slowly down the long ramp.  The anomaly alarm was still the only sound and this worried him since there should have been several people shouting at one another by now.  He cautiously moved through the huge room, making his way over to the side where the lights, on night mode, would not make him stand out so much.  As he walked quietly (his mind refused to say crept), he suddenly noticed something in the corner.  He stopped and surveyed it from a distance.  It was, by the uniform, a security guard and Lester hoped that his lifeless state was not genuine.  The figure was very still, however, and he did not hold out much hope.  As he stood there, he became aware of a strange sound, which was loud enough to be heard despite the siren.  He waited, listening.  The noise was almost like…heavy breathing and he tried to pinpoint it.  He could see nothing strange in the room, but there was a slight muskiness to the air which he couldn’t recognise.  He waited as the scent grew stronger.  Dog?  No, heavier, more…..wild.  Gradually, he became aware of gentle pressure on his left shoulder.  His ear felt warm and slightly moist.  He realised that something was standing not two inches away from him, something which was large, feral and possibly dangerous. 
Lester was known for keeping his head in a crisis.  There would be no circumstances under which he would attack wildly, perhaps provoking whatever it was.  So he remained still, determined to wait the creature out or until someone arrived.  His new companion, however, had other ideas.
         “What,” it asked, in a voice so low and gravel-filled that Barry White would have wept with envy, “Are you?”

         Danny Quinn arrived at the ARC with a smile on his face and a spring in his step.  He had always wanted to do this kind of work.  Being the hero suited him and various skills he had picked up on his travels were proving useful.  He wandered through the building, nodding at people and came into the main part of the ARC.  He looked around casually and was puzzled by the sight of the blinds drawn in Lester’s office.  He smiled.  Any excuse to irritate the boss was never to be turned down.  For all that he respected Lester, it would never have done to admit that he did.  Couldn’t have Lester relying on his loyalty or anything, after all.
         He approached the door with a small bit of cautiousness.  This was the boss’ office and he might need his privacy for legitimate reasons, not simply for surfing on the net for naughty pictures.  Or for provocative socks or whatever buttered Lester’s parsnips.  He could hear no sound from inside, however, and gently knocked on the door.  There was a vague noise, one of startlement, but no response.
         “Lester?”  he called out.  He could make out a frantic whispered conversation and then Lester’s voice called back, “Come in, Quinn.”
         “I was just wondering – “ Danny began, as he opened the door and went in, but the sentence was slapped from his mouth when he saw who was in the room.
         Lester sat very still at his desk, both hands on it stretched out.  For all that he tried to look composed, he gave the impression of really not wanting to be there and Danny could understand why.  Looming over him, covered in thick black hair, drool slightly dribbling from the huge jaws, teeth showing just enough to be frightening, was a figure more wolf-like than man. 
         Danny could only stand and stare for a moment.  The creature glared at him, its nostrils flaring as it marked his scent.  Danny could imagine that it did not approve of his choice of aftershave but he had truly wanted “Muchos Marraccas” and so he’d overcome his dislike of the cheap stuff.  He wondered if he might be able to raise the alarm somehow, but as soon as he braced himself for a leap at the door, the creature growled and then spoke.
         “Settle down, or I’ll kill him.” 
Danny was astonished.  He could understand the creature, although the words were much mangled.  He guessed that a wolf’s lips were not designed to shape human words.  It had also pricked up its ears and wrinkled its top lip after it had spoken, and Danny recognised the wolf signals of a dominant male.  He got down on all floors and lowered the top part of his body, showing his submission.
         “Oh, do stop rolling on the floor like a puppy,” the creature snapped.  “I can talk, you know, I don’t need body language to communicate with you.”
         “True, but I can’t tell what level of intelligence I’m dealing with.  You’ve just threatened to kill an unarmed man, after all.”  The creature seemed to look slightly ashamed. 
         “Well, I’m sorry about that,” it growled eventually.  “But you have to understand, I don’t underestimate you.  And I am one….person.  You are many.”
         “You don’t have to hurt him,” Danny persisted.  “I can understand where you’ve come from and we’d rather help you than hurt you.  Wouldn’t you be more comfortable being able to sit down, having a drink, something to eat?”
         “I didn’t kill him last night, did I?  But you’re right, a seat would be more comfortable.”
         The creature considered Danny’s words and then came round Lester’s desk.  It looked disdainfully at the chairs which were not designed for his frame and lowered itself into one carefully.  It creaked but held.  Danny went over to the water filter and grabbed a plastic cup, filled it with water and handed it to the wolf.  It took it delicately, its paw almost as well formed as a human’s hand, although ending in inch long claws.  They were, however, relatively blunt.  After a moment’s thought, Danny got a cup for Lester too, who sipped it appreciatively.  He was content to allow Danny the opportunity to take control whilst he regained his composure, even if no one else had been aware he’d lost it. 
         “Right.  What are you called?”  Danny was unprepared for the creature bounding to its feet and snarling at him.
         “What do you think I am, a dog?!  Ask my name, I have a name!”
         “Sorry, sorry,” Danny held his hands out placating. “What is your name?”  He waited as the creature struggled with its emotions and eventually it sat back down.
         “My name is Runs-On-Two-Legs-And-Eats-Its-Own-Prey-And-Has-Had-No-Master-For-Two-Hundred-Years.” It watched Danny with what Danny could have sworn was amusement.  “You can call me Fenris.”
         “But Fenris doesn’t mean…that.”
         “Nope, but I loved the ‘Narnia’ stories.  I wanted my parents to name me that.”
         They were interrupted by Becker arriving in force with a number of guns and personnel, having put two and two together and making “Intruder”.
         “Everyone all right?”  he shouted, training his gun on the recumbrant figure testing the flexibility of the chair by rocking backwards and forwards in it. 
         “Becker, we’re fine.”  Lester had evidently recovered.  “Please lower your weapon.  Besides, your security can’t be up to much, this…gentleman was able to move around the building without setting off the alarms.”
         “Well, being able to detect the infra-red beams and having a body temperature higher than a man’s does help.  Although being able to move at a sufficiently low speed so as not to alert the sensors was a definite advantage.  And the fact that you humans are quite fragile.  And your boss’ exceptional aftershave.”
         “At least you managed to incapacitate my men, rather than kill them.  I appreciate it.”  Becker managed to look fierce and grateful all at the same time.
         “The creature waved away his thanks with a languid paw.  “I’m sorry that I did have to knock one out quite hard.  He kept getting up.”
         Lester looked a little uncomfortable and Becker sighed. 
         “He’ll make a full recovery, but I would ask that you try not to hit anyone else.  And in the meantime, I guess we’ll have to see if we can overcome all the new security issues.  Knowing our luck, Helen will find a way to use those methods to bypass it as well.” 
         “Funny you should mention her.”  Lester had steepled his fingers and looked over the top of them at Danny.
         “Why?” Danny said slowly.
         “Fenris has come here with a problem.  It seems that an anomaly opened on his world, let an individual loose there, who then shot a prominent member of their society and went back the same way.”
         “Anomaly?”  The creature looked at Lester for confirmation.
         “What you came through.  The big, glowy thing that you stepped through.”
         “Ah.  The Ancient Doorway.”  The creature nodded.  “I thought that was what you were referring to.”
         “Ancient?”  Abby had come in quietly and overheard the comment.  She was quickly followed by Sarah.          
         “Well, yes.  We haven’t used them in ages.  The youngsters were always dashing through them and we often had to follow them or open it up again when they went through for too long.  They keep thinking it’s a huge joke, terrorising some poor innocent human and making out that they’re scared of silver.  Mind you, why they couldn’t have picked gold, or platinum, or something worth a bit, I’ve no idea.  I’ve had to pick bits of silver out my son and I always tell him, ‘Don’t go picking up some nasty bit of silver, you don’t know where it’s been’ but he just won’t listen.”
         Danny shifted uncomfortably, and tried to pretend he hadn’t been eying Lester’s silver paperknife.  Fenris flicked an ear at him, and opened his jaws slightly, appearing to grin.
         “So….hang on.  You’ve been using these doorways for ages.  You know how to work them and everything?”
         “Dear me, yes.  Do you not know?  Oh.  Wait.  If you don’t know, I’d better not say any more.  Look, I knew I’d gone back quite a bit when I found monkeys still in charge, but you’re way behind.”
         “Not that far.”  Abby stared defiantly at him.  They were saved from an uncomfortable moment by the arrival of Connor.  He took in the lounging figure and his usually flippant mouth snapped shut.
          “How much do you know about the anomalies?”  Abby persisted.
         “Plenty.  Well, our scientists keep records of them and so forth, but in truth, we simply keep them locked before they appear and make sure that no one sets them off.  I mean, anyone can duplicate the Light Variance Pulse to open them, but they still need a Directional Key and they are all kept safe and sound in the palace.  It was such a long time ago when we decided we didn’t need them,” he added, almost plaintively.  “And we don’t really like to be reminded of where we came from.”
         “Can you…..can you tell us how the humans were wiped out?”  Connor asked, hoping to detract from the vital information about the anomalies.  He wanted to trick Fenris into revealing more as he went on.  Fenris looked at him, considering.  Then he sighed.
         “I guess you all won’t be around to see it.  We’re talking centuries, but I will try and tell you what we think happened.  You have to remember, much of this is pieced together from archaeological finds and ancient books.  There was a plague.  No one took any notice at first, it was nothing serious, people got it and recovered.  Usually, humans develop anti-bodies that way and become resistant.  But this plague…it was different.  It learnt from humans.  And it mutated, faster than humans could.  Eventually, almost every person had died.  Civilisation was in chaos, animals ruled the world, but humans, well, they kept up their ties with dogs.  And when the dogs got together, they banded against the wilder animals, to protect what was left of the humans.  Then, as the humans died, the dogs became impertinent and some mated with some tasteless wolves, some wolves lived near the humans and sometimes, if they found a young human, it would live with them.  Eventually it would succumb to the disease, it must have remained in the air for centuries, but the wolves were able to learn other ways of communication – crude at first, but there were still recordings, books to refine it even when there were no more humans.  Man’s civilisation died.  More years passed.  And out of the remains came a new civilisation, the wolves.”
         “Not….bats?”  Abby said falteringly.
         “Bats?  Are you kidding?”  Fenris gaped his jaws in amusement, which faded when he realised that Abby was not joking.  “Bats?”  he said incredulously.
         “Yes, here.”  Lester opened a folder on his desk, and spread out the few blurred pictures they had of the Predator.  Fenris stared, shaking his huge head in disbelief.
         “Well, I’ll be….No, not bats in our time.  The wolves were far more advanced in terms of teamwork and intelligence.  I take it the bats are not, um, clear thinkers?”
         “No, they tend to run around killing everything in their path,”  said Becker, ruefully.  Fenris continued to pore over the photos, thinking furiously.          
         “Look, I don’t mean to interfere and I do worry that I might inadvertently change your time line, but I don’t see how this is possible, without some intervention.  I mean, if you manipulated the bats’ genes, and caused your race to be less prolific, then maybe.  Otherwise, I’d never have considered bats as a serious contender.  I was always amazed at dogs making it.”
         “But aren’t dogs descended from you originally?”  Connor asked.  There was suddenly an icy silence in the room.
         “We are,” Fenris eventually answered, “The superior model.  They may have come from us, I still don’t adhere to the evolutionary aspect.  I don’t care what sort of blood lineage they claim now, they are still dogs.”
         He managed to imbue the word with oceans of disgust. 
         “Anyway, I’d be on the look out for someone who seems to WANT these bat things in your future.”
         “Not us, we’ve seen the future, they wipe out mankind.”
         “No, hold on, we’re your future.”
         “Perhaps you’re a possible future.”
         Fenris shook his head.  “I can’t cope with this, I never liked this time travelling thing, us wolves just never wanted it.  But I’d say that points even more clearly to someone manipulating your timeline.  Anyway, these bats. You can’t fight them?”
         “They’re fast, extremely strong and we can’t find a weakness as yet.”
         “Speaking as someone who relies on their senses, presumably they use hearing to locate prey?”  Fenris’ ears swivelled as he looked from person to person.          
         “Yes,” replied Abby. “Strictly speaking they use sonar, but it’s connected with their hearing.  We’ve tried cutting down on the amount of noise we make, but apparently some bats now can hear something as quiet as a ladybird walking along a twig.  Imagine how much an evolved model can hear.”
         “Well, that’s a weapon right there.  Too little doesn’t work, how about too much?”  Fenris was amazed at how much the group had not considered this.  Lester looked smug.  He had, in a moment of…..hurried thinking (it was not panic, it was never panic, his mind said) tried a similar tactic.  However, his weapon would have involved the entire team resembling break dancers, so he had carefully forgotten about it. “Just my little tit bit….”
         “Hey, maybe we could make something to send out a confusing sonar signal?”  Connor was off and thinking. 
         “Make it seem like we’re huge,” Abby had joined him.  The others decided to leave them talking excitedly.
         “I think a set of stun grenades might be the solution,” Becker muttered to Quinn, who nodded his agreement.
         “So, you’re looking for whoever shot your…high ranking person?”  Becker asked.
         “Yes, it was a woman, and she had dark, short fur.  She had a device in her hands, which evidently forced the anomaly to open – we weren’t expecting one for weeks.  It didn’t look like one of our Directional Keys, but it did the trick.”
         “Do you know how she opens them?”
         “No, she used none of the equipment that we do and she presumably knew where the anomaly was as well, before it had opened.”
         “So you can tell us how to work these?”  Connor had stopped his conversation with Abby to listen. 
         “Look, not being funny or anything, but it sounds like time has been mucked around with as it is.  At least if only one person in this time knows, there’s a chance the damage can be controlled.  Particularly as said person is going to come back with me and face the consequences.”
         “And those would be?” Abby asked.
         “Trial by combat with the nearest relative of the deceased.”
         Abby looked Fenris over, noting his muscles, his teeth and his tough hide.
         “I take it you’re representative of your people?”
         “Oh yes, well, I like to think of myself as a bit of rough stuff.”
         Abby’s heart sank as she realised she was probably talking to the wolf equivalent of Connor.  “So in essence, we’re sending Helen back to be slaughtered?”
         “I expect so.  I mean, I don’t suppose she’s able to transform herself into a wolf, hey?  We will of course, allow her the option.”
         “I don’t think that she is a werewolf, no,”  Lester said patiently.  “I would imagine that for all her toughness, Helen stands as much chance against one of you as a dog against a truck.”  He noted that the remark hit home.  Fenris gently scored a delicate line in the wood of Lester’s desk, thinking.
         “Well, of course she will be allowed some sort of weapon,”  he came out with defensively.
         Lester was unimpressed.  “A tank?  A Flame-Thrower?  A small army?” 
         “Surely she must have some sort of fighting abilities?  You monkeys are so agile, she’ll no doubt be able to tire the Champion out, before he…hits her.”  Fenris flicked his eyes around the room, considering people’s build and height.  “Well, so long as she could take a hit or two.  I’m sure she’d be able….um…”
         “Those guards were probably tougher than she is.  I don’t think you mentioned how hard it was to defeat them?” Lester was evidently not going to let this go without a fight.
         “All right!”  Fenris barked.  “I will be taking her back to her death.  But does she not deserve that?  He had a mate and off-spring!  How are they to fare without an alpha to look up to?”
         “And tearing her apart in the ring would no doubt help?”
         “She must face justice!”
        “Look, I would be happy for the woman to be taken care of as soon as possible.  But I hope we can be a little more civilised than this.”
      “Civilised?  Civilised?”  Fenris rose from his seat, nostrils flaring.  “We are civilised, how dare you suppose yourself more cultured than us, you low life baboon!  Who was it who protected you, who was it who fought against the night?”
      “Dogs, by your account.”  Lester had a moment of regret before the large hairy fist of Fenris sent him flying through the air.  Fenris raised his jaws to the ceiling and roared with rage.  Becker hit the alarm and raised his gun.  Fenris turned to face him, huge arms hanging by his side, growling in his throat.  He ignored the sudden influx of guards.
    “I should have known that an ape could never understand the concepts of honour and justice.”
    “Honour?  Tearing someone apart, a person who doesn’t stand a chance?”  Becker glared at him down the barrel of his gun.  “Is his life worth more than hers?”
    “Always!  Everytime!  Even if he hadn’t been a leading scientist, a researcher into genetics, a saver of lives, a Wolf is always worth more than a monkey!”
Becker risked a look over his shoulder at Lester, who was being picked up by Abby.
    “And even in a discussion, you resort to violence rather than talking.  What can we hope from you?”
Fenris also looked over to Lester.  Abby was concerned for Lester anyway, but she made a great show of examining him and talking to him soothingly.  She was fairly sure Lester knew what she was attempting, and he said nothing about her honeyed tones.  Fenris’ ears drooped.  His hackles went down, and eventually he re-took his seat. 
    “Very well,” he said eventually.  “I shall return without the woman.  But understand this, if she sets one foot in our timeline again, she will face trial.  No matter how long we have to wait.”
      “When we find her, we will let her know.”  Becker lowered his gun. 
         Fenris nodded his head.  “Perhaps in your world, she will face justice one day.”  The chair creaked again as he stood.  “I must return.”  He came over to Lester, who had got to his feet by now, dabbing at his bleeding lip with an immaculate handkerchief. 
      “I’m sorry, James, this should not be our way.  May the wind be in your face.” Lester gave a half bow and watched Fenris, pursued by the rest of the team, leave his office.
         Fenris paced to an innocuous small office and appeared to be surveying an empty space.  He took out a small device, which he tried to keep fairly hidden, as he keyed it up.  An anomaly sprang into life and he hurriedly put the device away.  He turned to the team.
         “Goodbye, humans.  I don’t know whether to wish you good luck or not, since the outcome of your world seems doubtful either way.  I guess all of us can only hope.”  And with that, he stepped into the light and vanished.  Moments later, the anomaly disappeared too. 
         “I wonder why Helen killed that wolf?”  Connor speculated. 
         “If their timeline is different, perhaps she wants to stop it happening?”  Abby speculated.
         “But why shoot one when the wolves are already established?”  Sarah asked.     
        “Unless….it was a scientist she killed, after all.  I wonder if he ensured the survival of his race?”
      “Like finding a cure for a plague?”  Connor asked.  “A slightly different one from the one which killed all the humans?”
        “No……….She wouldn’t have….Would she?” breathed Sarah.
        “Will she?”  added Becker.
         And as they looked from one face to another, uncertain of their futures, uncertain of the world’s future, no one had an answer….