Skye's heart warmed as Zoe ran over to hug Lieutenant Washington for saving their family. The whole Shannon family had gone over to visit the Lieutenant and thank her for sacrificing herself to save them. Skye had come along with Josh since they were going to go for a walk together right afterwards.
Skye stood next to the door, leaning against the doorframe. She glanced into the hall, and her eyes fell onto the small body being monitored on a bio-bed in the room across the hall. There was nobody there but the patient, and nobody was paying any attention to her, so Skye silently backed out into the hall and quietly slid open the door to the next room.
She scanned the room for any unseen doctors or nurses, and then turned to the small body lying on the bed. So this was the little girl that had rescued Wash.
Skye scanned the translucent screen suspended in the air that was monitoring the girl's vitals. She had learned enough from working at the infirmary to understand how it worked, and she realized that the girl's heartbeat was a tad faster than a normal person's.
Skye glanced at the girl's face. She had soft facial features, and strands of her long dark hair were thrown in various directions. She seemed vaguely familiar, but Skye couldn't place where she had seen the girl before.
"Skye?"
Skye whirled around quickly with a small jump. "Josh! You startled me!" She turned back to the girl, the thought of seeing her before nagging at the back of her mind.
"What are you doing in here? I'm not sure if we're allowed to be in here," Josh whispered, looking a bit uneasy.
Skye shrugged. "I was curious. Look, this is the girl that saved Lieutenant Washington's life. I don't know why, but her heartbeat is faster than-"
"What are you two doing in here?"
Skye whirled around for the second time in less than a minute. She turned to see Dr. Shannon standing at the door with an expression of mild annoyance.
"Mom! We were just…"
"It was my idea. I was curious to see the girl who had taken a blast for the Lieutenant," Skye admitted, shooting a warning glance at Josh. He had already gotten into enough trouble for lying for her.
"I suppose that there's no harm in that, but you must ask for permission first. We wouldn't want you to walk into a room contaminated with a disease," Dr. Shannon said sternly.
"Yes, ma'am," Skye and Josh said simultaneously. They start to head back into the other room when Skye stops.
"Dr. Shannon? Have you found out anything about that girl yet?" Skye asked. Josh stopped just outside the room to wait for her, but Skye had to know where the girl had come from.
"I'm sorry Skye, we don't know much about her yet, but she seems to be around the age of 12, and…well, she seems to have a few different…let's say, characteristics," the Doctor replied, tapping a few buttons on the screen.
"Like her heartbeat?" Skye persisted. She walked back to stand next to the bed, and Josh lingered near the door.
"Yes, that's definitely one. She also seems to be healing much faster than the average human, and she withstood the sonic cannon," Dr. Shannon said, turning to look at Skye. "A girl her age would probably have died from what she had gone through. We're still unsure when she will wake up, but from the rate that she's healing, my guess is soon."
Skye nodded, taking in all the information. She was now convinced that she had seen the girl before, and was determined to find out where.
"Well, I ought to go back to Josh now. He must be getting impatient," Skye said, backing out of the room. "Thank you for filling me in."
"Of course," Dr. Shannon said with a smile.
Skye walked over to where Josh was waiting. "Come on, let's go," she said.
Twelve year old Skye stood next to her parents as the train sped along. Scattered coughs could be heard from all around her, but she managed to keep in her own coughs. Skye's parents had been chosen to go to Terra Nova. On their way to Hope Plaza, Skye could hardly wait until they went to the past, where you didn't need to where rebreathers and you can actually see the sky.
Skye spotted a little girl that looked around the age of five. She didn't seem to have any adults with her. With a glance at her mother and holding tightly onto poles to keep her balance, Skye made her way to where the girl was standing.
"Hi," Skye said through her rebreather. She was bored – she felt the need to talk to somebody.
"Hello," the girl replied, her small voice muffled by her own rebreather. The girl's rebreather was big for her small face. The girl had black hair that was tied back into two small braids. Her dark eyes seemed to be sizing Skye up.
"Are you going to Hope Plaza on the fifth pilgrimage?" Skye asked.
The girl nodded, looking a bit unsure.
"Aren't there any adults with you?" Skye asked, glancing around again yet still seeing nobody around the child that seemed to be her parent or guardian.
The girl shook her head. "Both my parents were killed…but I'm going on the fifth pilgrimage to live with someone I know."
"Oh, I'm so sorry…what's your name? I'm Skye Tate."
"My real name is Ren…Nair (Nīr), but I prefer to be called Dusk." The girl's eyes glittered under the dim lights of the train.
"That's a nice name," Skye said with a small smile.
"Thank you," Dusk said, starting to pull on her hood.
"Skye! Let's go!"
Skye hadn't even noticed that the train had stopped. "Coming," she called back to her mom. When she turned to say good bye to Dusk, the girl was gone. Shrugging to herself, Skye followed her parents out of the train.
They passed the security checks after what had seemed like a lifetime. Skye was eager to see the world that lots of people wanted to go to. Now they were walking along with the people on the catwalk towards the portal.
Underneath their feet, the ground seemed to shake as the portal powered up. There was a flash of blue light, and then people started to walk into the light, disappearing after stepping into the circle. The line seemed to never end, but eventually the progress was noticeable and they were less than a few people away from going through the portal.
"Go in after your mom and I'll be right behind you," Skye's dad whispered into her ear as they neared the portal. Skye could only respond with a quick nod as the last person that was in front of them stepped through the portal. Now it was their turn.
Skye's mom walked through the portal calmly, and then disappeared in a flash of blue light. Skye felt a small pang of fear, but after a nudge from her dad, she walked towards the portal. Trying to look as calm as her mom had, she kept walking until she was in the portal.
Everything was white for a second, but then color flooded her sight. She stopped, feeling dizzy as the world spun around her. The colors were so bright compared to the dark and gloomy future. She was on the verge of collapsing when she saw people in blue clothes rush towards her and place a mask on her face. It felt a bit like a rebreather, but some things about it were a bit different.
As she breathed heavily through the mask, Skye took a moment to look at her surroundings. She saw her father come through the portal seemingly less affected by the changes than Skye was. Skye looked around at her surroundings. There were actual trees, with leaves that were green and not shriveled up. And lots of thick green plants and oh, so much color! The sky was a bright blue, untouched by smoke or pollution, and white fluffy clouds floated across the sky.
Skye's head cleared as she got used to the oxygen rich air. She pulled the mask off, eager to be free of the bulky and uncomfortable piece of headgear. Taking an unsteady step towards a tree, she leaned against the part of it that she had learned was called the trunk of the tree.
With a glance at where the people who had just arrived were gathering, Skye confirmed her suspicion. Dusk hadn't come through yet. As person after person came through the portal, Skye began to wonder if the little girl was going to come at all.
"Skye, come over here. Look at this." Her mom was at the base of a tree, pointing at something. Skye came over and looked over her mom's shoulder. A large black beetle-like creature was slowly crawling up the bark. "I heard that those are edible. They serve them in the colony," her mom said with a grin.
Skye made a face that can be classified between awe and disgust. "Gross," she said. "I hope they serve things other than bugs."
Her mom laughed. "I'm sure they do. Don't worry, I bet that you'll love it here."
"I'm not worried," Skye said. "It sure beats the future."
Everyone started to walk towards the colony, guided and protected by soldiers and medics. Skye kept close to her parents, anxious about this living in this new place. It was just so different from the future. She kept her eyes on the ground, careful to watch her step as they trekked through the dense jungle but also kept a watch out for Dusk. The girl was nowhere to be seen.
The person in front of her moved a branch of a bush forward as they stepped through and it snapped backwards and caught Skye in the face. She fell back, stumbling into the person behind her. "Ow!" she cried. The person behind her caught her unsteadily, but kept her from falling onto her rump.
"You alright?" he asked.
Skye scrambled to regain her footing. "Yeah, thanks." She rubbed her face gingerly, a red mark starting to appear. She turned to face the person behind her. It was a kid.
"I'm Hunter," the boy said, extending his right arm out.
"Skye," she replied, taking his hand and shaking it. "Thanks for catching me."
"Sure," Hunter said, retracting his hand. "It was either that or have you knock me down too. You know, the domino effect."
Skye smiled. "Yeah." Her parents were already ahead, past the slapping bush. "Let's go before we get left behind."
Hunter nods, silently agreeing. They go past the bush and catch up to everyone else.
Skye pondered for a moment. "Did you happen to see a little girl around?"
Hunter glanced up for a moment before skirting around a large boulder. "Huh. Yeah, I think so. Black hair in braids?"
"That's the one. Do you happen to know where she went?"
"I saw her come through the portal a few people behind me, and then after being checked out by a medic, she snuck out into the jungle. I didn't think much of it at the time," Hunter said.
Skye's mind whirled with questions. Why did Dusk run off? Where could she possibly go? Would she survive out there in the jungle?
Everything started to whirl around her, making her dizzy. She collapsed onto the ground, and everything went black.
Skye woke up in her bed, her dream still fresh in her mind, and sat up straight.
Was Dusk the girl who had rescued Lieutenant Washington?