Hey, guys! So I'm sorry the first chapter's short, but I felt like it was a good place to stop. Hope you enjoy!
I walked upon the remnants of Hope Plaza, my one last hope of seeing him again. Seeing what remained of the destroyed Portal made me realize that I had no reason to live, no reason to progress. Not without him. I didn't even know if he was still alive. He left on the fifth pilgrimage, and there had been eleven. He was my best friend, my brother, my father in a way. The memories flooded back to when we were living by ourselves, just two orphans on their own. I flashed back to living in a grimy shack by ourselves. Being discovered by the government. Being placed in the army together at ages eight and eleven and under the orders of Nathaniel Taylor.
Then, when he was recruited to Terra Nova, I refused to let him stay for my sake. I was too young, only fourteen. Being three years older, he was worried for my safety, but I made him go. I don't regret it, but because of this I will never see Mark Reynolds again.
Through the blur of my tears I stumbled around the rubble. I had no one anymore. I couldn't go on with absolutely nobody to lean on. The tears spilled over and I was crying. Somehow, through my broken sobs, I noticed a shiny shard of metal that stood out against the rest of it. I blindly made my way over and snatched it from the rest of the destroyed Portal. I held it in my clenched fist and curled into a ball on the ground.
Once I cried myself dry of tears, I jumped up, wondering if I should leave. Then I heard a voice. Taylor's voice. He was in Terra Nova; I couldn't hear his voice from here in 2149. I located the direction it was coming from. I definitely wasn't hearing things. It was coming from the scrap of metal in my hand. But how? Next thing I knew, I was hurtling through space and time.
I opened my eyes and began to cough. What was with this air? I sunk to my knees, and I felt eyes on me. As I recovered from the air change, I got to my feet and was immediately grabbed by two men, one obviously a soldier and the other seeming like a normal man. They led me to their leader. There he was, Commander Taylor.
"Taylor," I said, "it's been a while." He stared at me and didn't speak. " I tried moving my arms and a burst of pain ensued from one of the men twisting it behind me. "These fools the head of your welcoming comittee?" The regular looking guy shoved me hard and I instinctively shoved back. The man lifted his hand to hit me, but Taylor signalled him to calm down.
"Who are you? Where did you come from? How did you get here?" he asked.
"I'm from 2149. I don't know how I got here. I was just in what's left of Hope Plaza, holding this piece of junk metal," I said, holding up the shard, " and next thing I knew I was here." Taylor didn't seem so satisfied.
"You didn't answer my first question. Who are you?"
"Oh, Taylor, I know it's been a while, but you really don't recognize me? I'm hurt!" I laughed. "You don't remember boot camp? Stealing extra food for the little eight year old in your unit because she was still growing? Roughing up any of the other soldiers that got in her way? The best damn little soldier you'd ever seen?"
Taylor's eyes lit up with memory.
"Jacqueline Porter. It has been a while, hasn't it?" Taylor said. He signaled for the two men to let me go and pulled me into a tight hug. Once he pulled away, I looked toward the guy that almost hit me.
"You might want to apologize, you know for trying to hit me." Man, did that guy look mad!
"Now that you're here," Taylor said, "you need a place to stay and a temporary job." He immediately found one. "I know. You can keep an eye on the Shannon kids. They are always getting into trouble." The man that tried to hit me widened his eyes and tried to protest. "In fact, you can stay with the Shannons! Shannon, take Jack back to the colony and get someone to show her around." Surprisingly, the same man reluctantly grabbed my arm and practically threw me into the rover. I just smirked at him. Life in Terra Nova had already become entertaining.
