Disclaimer: I do not own Terra Nova or any of its characters
A/N: This is the first chapter! I hope you guys like it! As always, reviews help make me a better writer and are welcome!
Chapter One
James Shannon glanced up from the gray wall of his prison cell when he heard the window of his door slide open. Hardly daring to believe it, he cautiously got up from his all-too-familiar prison bed, taking three shuffling steps over to the window.
It was nearing the end of his third year of prison. Three years of his life, rotting away in a cell. Three years of missing his wife and kids, all because he didn't want the government to take away Zoe.
Zoe. She was so amazing…so illegal.
In the year of 2149, years upon years of death and destruction had devastated the planet. The air was so polluted that people couldn't breathe without the aid of filtering masks. The plants of the planet had withered and died, and the rain was more acid than water. Resources such as food, clean water, and clean air were running low. The planet earth was dying, and so were its people. There was no hope, no future, no nothing.
Only the richest of the rich were able to afford to live in the domes—which were exactly what they sounded like. Giant domes, filled with clean air, where people could live like they used to. There was plentiful food and water, and everyone had hope.
The rest of the population were left to die.
The planet was too crammed with people to support its dying self. So population controlling laws had been passed. Each family could have no more than two children, providing that a mother and father was present. Four people overall. If a third child was produced, that child would be taken by the government and shot.
So when Zoe had been born, Jim and his wife, Elizabeth, had known they had to hide her away. That fate could never befall her. But it was only a few blessed years before she was found, and he fought the guards to keep them from taking him away.
Which was how he ended up in the cell. Missing out on the lives of his family. His children—Jim closed his eyes and wept at the mere thought of them.
Maddie, the seventeen-year-old who was probably smarter than he was, with her straight brown hair and warm doe eyes. She'd been constantly with her nose in a book, or fiddling with some electronic device. He was so proud of her-she'd follow in her mother's footsteps and become a very prominent woman. Her mind was one that could make change, and good change at that—she had a very strong sense of what was right and wrong, an amazing emotional intelligence, and a strong determination. She was a little quieter than her mother, but just looking at her, you could see how her eyes shone with a light that told you she'd go on to do great things.
Josh, his little boy, with his wide blue eyes and his never-ending questions. So curious about everything. He'd follow Jim around like a puppy, peppering him with questions and cocking his head to one while he waited for an answer, smiling at him innocently. He could never hurt a fly, or be mean to anyone. He was a little angel, but that made him weak—he'd just take whatever anyone threw at him without even thinking of standing up for himself. He'd be what, fifteen?
And Zoe. With her Indian appearance contrasting her blue eyes, and her sweet little smile. She'd be five years old, he remembered. He wondered if she still loved stories as much as she had before he'd gone to jail. Maybe she could even tell her own tales now.
Right then Jim put his hands through the small little window, just barely able to fit them through. His eyes fell on his son's for the first time in three years.
"Hello Daddy," Josh smiled, speaking in a breathy voice that was half-laughter, half-sobs. His big blue eyes sparkled with a light that he remembered from all those years ago.
"Hey," he wheezed, coughing slightly.
His eyes creased in concern. "I brought you a filter. Since they can't be bothered to filter the air in here." He pushed the mask through the window—a Rebreather 7000—and closed his father's fingers around it. Broken. He would get no clean air from it.
Glancing up with a question on his lips, he saw Josh's look and the small shake of his head and stopped himself. Obviously it had some use he hadn't discerned yet.
Josh leaned his forehead against the reinforced glass that prevented his escape. His black hair fell into his face as he laughed shakily. "I've got news," he whispered, suddenly not so happy. "Mom's been recruited for Terra Nova."
Jim's eyes widened. A probe had recently discovered a crack in time and space, one that transported things (and people) back to just after 85 million B.C, during the dinosaur age. It was a different dimension entirely, so any changes to its history would not impact the contemporary planet earth. Steadily, people had been sent back into that peaceful world, building up a colony that was being called Terra Nova—New Earth.
Terra Nova was a new beginning, where all past faults would be forgotten. It was a chance to re-do the earth and halt the mistakes made by the current people. However, it was just barely starting, so only the most useful and talented people were recruited, along with their families. Doctors, scientists, warriors, mathematicians, biologists, strategists—these were the kinds of people that get recruited by Terra Nova. People went through the portal in waves, called pilgrimages. Elizabeth would be going through on the—what—tenth?
But there was no way of communicating with the people in Terra Nova. No way of hearing from his family… "That's…wonderful," he managed, trying to swallow past the sudden lump in his throat.
His eyes shone. "Yes. You're going to love it."
"Time's up!" Josh left him spluttering in shock by the door as the guards firmly escorted him out. He sat down unsteadily, mind whizzing, filling with questions.
The filter. He hurriedly opened it up and two things fell out.
The first was a small chip, sleek and black, with no markings on it save for a single button.
The second was a folded-up slip of paper.
Jim pressed the button on the chip experimentally and jumped when a laser popped out and sliced through one of the legs of his prison bed, like it was butter. He gripped it in his hand firmly, smiling to himself even as a thrum of fear shot through him. Oh, Josh, he thought. If he was caught...He took a breath and shook his head, dispelling the thought.
The paper had plans on it. Plans that were painstakingly and carefully crafted and laid out. Plans written in Josh's hand. Plans that would ensure his freedom and travel to Terra Nova along with his family.
He'd get to see his family again. Three years had passed, but he'd see them!
Tilting his face upwards, James Shannon felt tears streaking down his face, but for the first time in three years they were tears of happiness.