Terra Nova Quest
Dragonlots aka Dana Bell
Chapter 1
"Mark, look!" Maddy grabbed her boyfriend's arm and pointed at the column of smoke drifting up into the afternoon sun.
Mark Reynolds slowed the Rover, marking the spot. "Contact Terra Nova and let them know."
"Right." Maddy grabbed the com, pressing the contact button. "Terra Nova, this is Rover Four. We've spotted some smoke and are going to investigate."
"Roger Rover Four," Commander Taylor's voice answered. "Where are you?"
Maddy looked at Mark. "About three clicks out near Wooden Row."
He'd promised to show her the unique grouping during their date. Maddy realized they might have to wait if someone needed assistance. She reported their position.
"Copy that. Be careful."
"We will," Maddy promised, disconnecting and sitting back, her worry increasing the closer they got.
The rover climbed the steep hill. In the valley below Maddy could see massive trees reaching up into the sky. Their branches had interlocked making it look like a massive hug spreading across like an impassable gate.
"What is that?" Mark asked, stopping at the top and looking below them.
"I've seen pictures. It looks like plane." The skies back in 2149 were so bad aircraft hadn't been used since before she'd been born. "Oh, god, Mark, are those bodies?"
His young face tightened. "We'll find out." He started the rover and headed down.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Was that Maddy?" Jim Shannon asked as he joined Commander Taylor in the command center.
The older man glanced up at his second in command and nodded. "They're near Wooden Row. They saw smoke and are checking it out."
"Hope it's not Sixers again." A group had broken off with Phoenix and had been launching raids trying to intercept badly needed supplies. He suspected Mira might be among them, but they'd never gotten a close enough look to know for certain.
"Me, too." Taylor rubbed his gray beard, which matched his hair. Today he wore a dark T-shirt and camo pants, his gun belt slung easily over his shoulder. "We'll know more when they check back in."
Jim had been unsure about the date Mark had planned with his daughter. He knew the soldier would do anything to protect her, but as her father, he was still concerned. "Going topside." He grabbed the binoculars and climbed up the ladder. At the top he looked in the general direction he knew they went. Faintly he could see a wisp of smoke.
Not a campfire then. His worry increased. Whatever they'd found, the blaze might be too hot or too out of control. He just hoped they didn't get caught in it.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The rover slowed and Maddy cast a worried look at her boyfriend. "Why are we stopping?"
"Terrain is too rough. We'll have to walk from here." He slung his rifle over this shoulder and tucked a couple more clips into his pack. "Grab the first aid kit."
She nodded grabbing the kit and their canteens. Slowly they worked their way through the thick brittle yellowed grass and around large black boulders. Noting the rock, since she'd been apprenticing in the lab, she quickly identified it. "Volcanic."
"What?" Mark turned his face toward her. She took a moment to admire his good looks and short dark hair. Not to mention how great he looked in his uniform.
"These rocks are volcanic."
He chuckled. "You spend too much time in the lab." Mark extended his hand, which she took. "Come on."
"Coming," she answered as they worked their way carefully into a deep gulley. Luckily, the smoke blew in the opposite direction and Maddy was glad they didn't have to wear masks.
They followed it until it widened out. Near the edge sat the plane she'd seen, half on the flat ground, half tilted upright and dug into the dirt. The blaze they'd spotted seemed to be dying. What she thought had been bodies, were moving, pulling boxes and other things back under an overhang where one member of the party lay a bit too still.
Mark let go of her hand and gripped his rifle. Cautiously they approached unsure of what kind of reception they'd get.
One the party, a red headed girl, in a pink outfit and blue stockings, pointed and another man, with the whitest hair she'd ever seen, turned to face them. He pulled a weapon and Mark stopped, ordering, "Get behind me."
Maddy did what he asked, peaking past his broad shoulders to watch the encounter.
Two young teen boys stared. The blond bolted running like his life depended on it. He wore a black top and blue jeans.
"Jonny!" the man called, running to stop him.
"My dad," the boy panted. He stopped a few feet away, raising his hands slightly. "I'm not armed. Please, my dad needs help!"
She felt Mark relax. "What happened?" He put his weapon away, while still warily watching the approaching man.
"My dad is hurt," the teen repeated. A small white creature followed him making an odd loud sound.
"Jonny," the man reached him, gripping the boy's shoulder. "That was reckless."
Jonny reached down and recovered the animal, who growled at them.
Her boyfriend took a step forward. "I'm Lt. Mark Reynolds. This is Maddy Shannon."
She stepped out from behind Mark and gave them a weak smile.
The man relaxed, but stayed watchful. She'd seen her dad do that.
"Race Bannon." He squeezed the boy's shoulder. "This is Jonny."
"We're here to help," Mark used his reassuring tone. Maddy had heard it often enough to recognize it.
"We could use it." Race released the boy.
They moved with the pair to the overhang. The girl sat there on some boxes, while the other boy, with darker skin and a turban on his head decorated by a red jewel gave them a warm greeting. "I am Hadji. This is Jessie."
"Hi," the girl said, her green eyes narrowing slightly.
"Hi," Maddy greeted. Her dark eyes drifted to the prone figure on the ground. A blanket had been pulled over his shivering form. Even her untrained eyes told her he wasn't doing well.
She handed the kit to Mark. He took it and knelt down next to the older man. "What happened?"
"Broken leg," Race answered. "Possibly other injuries." He shook his head. "We just don't know. We managed to get him out of the plane."
"Dad landed," Jonny put in, sitting down, biting his lip. His animal crawled into his lap whining.
"Told him to let me do it," Race bit out, immediately looking abashed at his outburst.
Marks' face looked grim. "We need to get him back to Terra Nova as fast as we can."
"Wait, no one is going anywhere. They'll be looking for us." Race crossed his arm over his broad chest. Maddy wondered why he wore a red shirt.
"I doubt it." Mark got to his feet. "You have no idea where you are, do you?"
A flicker of doubt flashed across the other man's face. "We're-"
"We lost the GPS signal," Hadji said. "Dr. Quest did not know where we were."
Quest. Why did that name sound familiar? Maddy wished she had her Plex to look it up.
"He didn't for several minutes before we went down, Dad." Jessie walked to Race. "Not since we went through that," she shook her head, "whatever it was."
Mark and Maddy exchanged a look. Not the first time they'd heard a similar story.
"Look." Maddy decided to try and reason with them. "You need help and we're here to do that." She turned to Mark, "Can we get everyone into the Rover?"
"It'll be a tight fit, but I think so."
Race nodded. "Then we need to get moving." He glanced at the unconscious man. "Good thing you're out doc. This is gonna hurt."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The rover carrying his daughter and the people they'd rescued raced across the plain just outside the gate. Taylor had already ordered the gate opened. Jim's wife, Elisabeth and several nurses, waited to transport them to the infirmary.
Jim hurried down the stairs after the commander. Maddy had radioed in letting them know their ETA and that one of the party had been badly injured.
The vehicle screeched to a halt and the door barely opened before Elisabeth took command over the survivors and guided them to medical.
Mark saluted Taylor. "Permission to return to the site and retrieve the supplies they left behind."
He saw Taylor hesitate. It would be dark in a few hours. No patrols would be allowed out.
"I think that would be good idea, Taylor," Shannon agreed. "No reason to leave it for the Sixers."
"Sound advice," the commander agreed. "Grab a couple of men Reynolds, and another rover if you need it."
"Thank you, sir." He gave Maddy a quick kiss. "We'll try again."
"You'd better," she answered, a faint blush touching her cheeks.
He grinned, moving off to collect some help. Within minutes Dunham and a couple others had joined him, the party driving off.
Maddy watched and sighed.
"Take it your date didn't go as planned." Jim knew it hadn't and waited to see how she'd answer.
"No, but I'm glad we could help those people." She frowned. "I need to check something, Dad. Do you know if the Eye is occupied?"
"No idea."
"I'll check." She took off across the compound.
"The Eye?" Taylor looked at him for enlightenment.
He shrugged. "She didn't say."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
While another doctor took the other survivors to be examined, Elisabeth concentrated on the worst injured. His internal image hovered above her. His vitals looked good, although the leg had been broken in two places. That she could set and immobilize so it could heal. The scan also revealed he had a concussion and a serious one since he hadn't regained consciousness.
"Any brain injury?" Skye asked. The teen had been apprenticing in medical and had an aptitude for it.
"Doesn't look like it, a slight fracture, no swelling. That's good." She went to work on his leg. "Let's get this repaired and then I want you to sit with him. Any change, not matter how small, I want to know about it immediately."
"Yes, Dr. Shannon."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When her knock received no reply, Maddy pushed open the metal door and sighed in relief no one sat in the oversized chair. She hurried over and spoke. "Information needed. A Dr. Quest associated with a son Jonny and anyone named Race Bannon."
Images floated above her head as the Eye sorted her request. "Race Bannon. Retired military pilot. Recruited by Impossible One and assigned as body guard to Dr. Benton Quest after repeated assassinations attempts on the scientist and his family. Resigned from I-1 and worked directly for Dr. Quest, although reports indicate they continued to accept assignments from the government."
Dr. Benton Quest! Of course, she'd run into his name several times when researching the portal. Some of his work had been used as a basis for its creation. He'd been a brilliant scientist back in the late twentieth, early twenty first century.
"More information on Dr. Quest's family, please."
New images appeared. "Wife Dr. Rachelle Quest," A lovely picture of a blonde woman with blue eyes shimmered. "Killed by Dr. Zin under mysterious circumstances when their son Jonny was twelve." A picture of a much younger version of the boy she'd met popped in. "Hadji Singh, adopted by the Quests after a trip to India." Another picture of a young boy sitting outside a stone wall with a musical instrument in this hands and a coiled rope.
"What about a girl named Jessie?"
An image swirled up of a young red haired girl with striking green eyes. "Jessie Bannon. Daughter of Race Bannon. Records unclear as mother's names are listed as either Estella or Jade."
"Date of death?" Not that she really wanted to know.
"Unknown." A few seconds passed. "Questor One disappeared after taking off from Denver, Colorado in route to Rockport, Maine. Disappeared off radar before reaching Ohio. Due the classified nature of Dr. Quest's work, a massive search was conducted lasting for one month. No wreckage or bodies found. Government took possession of Quest compound afterwards. All aboard reported missing presumed lost. Legally declared dead seven years later after several legal battles by the Quest lawyers."
"Last recorded message from the plane?"
"Routine flight information over the Black Hills area."
"No distress signal?"
"None. Conclusion made upon completion of the investigation is that whatever had happened, there must have been no warning."
"Wow." Maddy stood up. "Thank you."
She headed out thinking about what she'd learned. Maddy would talk with her parents about it later. They would know what to do.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"What's this I hear about finding survivors?" Dr. Malcolm Wallace asked as he darted inside Elisabeth's office.
She looked up from her desk with a frown, not happy he'd barged in uninvited. "Lt. Reynolds and my daughter found them after their plane crashed."
"Plane?" He stopped, staring at her. Why did he always look like tourist with bright tops and pastel pants? "There are no planes here."
"I know." She sat back in her seat, enjoying the moment. "Interesting mystery."
"Who is it and where are they from?"
"They're," she started before frowning at the rising noise level.
Skye poked her head in. The teen seemed a bit flustered. "I'm sorry, Dr. Shannon. The kids are protesting having to stay overnight and we can't keep Mr. Bannon in bed. He says he's fine and wants to talk to the person in charge."
"I'll handle it." She got up. "If you want to meet them, Malcolm, follow me." Elisabeth went out to the main infirmary area and into a side room. Her eyes quickly took in the scene. All the beds contained no occupants and the teens stood by the window looking like they were planning an escape.
Race Bannon glared at her, looking quite intimidating. "I want to talk to someone other than a doctor."
She was used to difficult patients. "I'm afraid at the moment all you have is me."
"Look at that white hair," Malcolm murmured behind her. She chose to ignore him.
"We're keeping you here overnight for observation just to make certain there are no hidden or unexpected injuries from your accident. If you're fine in the morning, than I will speak with Commander Taylor about finding you quarters."
"What about our stuff in the plane?" Jonny demanded.
"My understanding is that Lt. Reynolds went back out and collected them for you."
"I need Bandits food." The boy pointed at the small white dog with a black mask over its eyes.
"Skye!" she called.
The young woman appeared. "Please find out where the belongings for our guests were put and locate the dog's food and have it brought here, please."
"Sure thing."
"So that's a dog." Malcolm knelt down peering at the canine. It growled at him.
Hadji frowned. "How can you not know what a dog is?"
Malcolm looked up at him. "Long story." He rose. "I'm Dr. Malcolm Wallace, head of the Science Division."
"Dr. Quest will want to talk to you," Race said.
"Doctor…Did you say Quest?" Malcolm's eyes widened and Elisabeth had no idea why.
Bannon nodded.
"Dr. Benton Quest?"
"That's right."
Dr. Wallace turned to Elisabeth. "He's here?"
"Yes. I'm treating his injuries." She had no idea why he sounded so excited.
Her old friend raised his hand to touch his head. "Elisabeth, you have to pull him through. He's one of the most brilliant scientists who ever lived and I suspect we just solved one of history's most mysterious disappearances!"