Disclaimer: I do not own Terra Nova or any of the associated characters, that is the property of Fox Studios. I only own my OC's.

Anon: Thank you for the note, but I'm not too sure about that. I've done quite a lot of research and Mark began as a Private in the show, and was later promoted to a Corporal. Perhaps he will become a Sergeant later on :)

The silence drew out as Mark's words finally sunk in. Foster was murdered; the words bounced around in my mind, not quite making sense. Mark had dropped by my unit just as I had asked, and had just finished telling me about his time in Terra Nova. I swallowed thickly, my heart pounding. I had known Ken Foster; he had trained at the academy with Mark, and although he had just been another friendly face to me, I knew he and Mark had been close.

'I'm so sorry,' I whispered at last, finally managing to find my voice. I didn't ask who had done it; I was sure that I would find that out from somebody else soon enough.

'It's not your fault,' he said dismissively. The overhanging lights in the kitchen cast his face into shadow, masking his expression.

I bit my lip as the silence thickened, unsure of how to redirect the conversation. The tension grew, until it was disrupted by the rumbling of my stomach. The corner of Mark's mouth twitched up into a smile, and I laughed. 'Hungry?' he asked. And just like that, the tension melted away.

'Very,' I agreed with a smile. 'Except I can't eat any real food for the next three days.' I walked around to the other side of the kitchen bench and began mixing up the nutrient drink. Eventually it turned into a blue, milk-like substance. I chugged it down, grimacing at the sour aftertaste.

'That bad, huh?' he asked.

I turned towards him, incredulous. 'You mean to say you never had it?'

Mark shook his head, smiling. 'Never tasted it before, but I've heard that it's pretty unpleasant.'

'So what'd you do instead, if you didn't drink this?'

Mark bit his lip sheepishly. 'We uh, just ate whatever we could find; fruit, fish, stuff like that.'

'And how'd that turn out for you?' I asked, a grin slowly spreading itself across my face.

'Not very well,' he admitted. 'We were left puking for days.'

I laughed. 'I guess the drink's better than the alternative then.'

'So it would seem,' he said with a smile.

'But training was interesting today,' I said, making my way back round to Mark's side of the kitchen.

'Indeed,' he said, leaning back against the bench.

'So how well do you know Sergeant Harris, and the others?' I asked, rocking back on my heels.

Mark grinned. 'Well,' he began in an enthusiastic tone, 'the black-haired man is Corporal Marshal Rodgers, who spends majority of his days in Boylan's bar; with the amount he drinks, I'm always surprised that he manages to stay on his feet!'

'So I shouldn't expect much trouble from him, then?' I asked, smiling.

'Definitely not,' he agreed. 'But the auburn-haired siblings on the other hand….' He trailed off. 'Corporal Pamela Harris and Sergeant Sean Harris. They both have fiery tempers that are a force to be reckoned with. As you have already seen. And it's even worse when they're together.'

I nodded solemnly, wondering what the Commander would say when he found out what had happened at the training session. That was sure to be an interesting conversation.

'Ok, so I've told you my story, now it's your turn.' he said.

'It's a long story,' I warned.

'And I have plenty of time,' he said.

I took a deep breath to steel myself, before launching straight into my story; no sense delaying the inevitable. 'Not long after you left for Terra Nova on the fifth pilgrimage, my father went out as part of a security force to deal with a particularly violent raid that was getting out of hand. He was dispatched with a group of about ten men, all of whom were elite soldiers. Everything went to plan, and the raid was dealt with. Except he never came home.' My voice caught at the end, and I took a deep breath to calm myself, my heart knocking at my ribs. 'We waited and waited through the long days and nights that followed, but still he never came back. The agency declared him 'missing in action', and provided us with a small sum of money to compensate for his 'unfortunate disappearance'.' My tone turned bitter at the end, as I remembered the useless words the agency had used in an attempt to console us.

I remembered my father well, with his light brown hair and pale blue eyes. I remembered how I used to ride on his shoulders as he took me around on tours of the academy. I remembered how much I had loved his laugh. So many fond memories. A tear slid down my cheek as I breathed in shakily. Mark laid his hand over mine, looking up into my eyes that were swimming with tears. 'I'm so sorry,' he said genuinely, giving my hand a comforting squeeze.

I swallowed, offering him a watery smile as I continued, staring at the light and blinking away the moisture in my eyes. 'After that I spent more and more time at the academy. I enjoyed it there, and was able to find some comfort there as well. Then about a year after he disappeared, my mother was working late one night in the lab, trying to synthesise a new medicine, when there was a raid on the manufacturer's warehouse next door. They started a fire, which reacted to the chemicals being held in the lab, and then that caused an explosion while she was still inside and—' I broke off as my throat closed up and tears spilled down my cheeks. Mark pulled me to him and hugged me tightly as I finally let the renewed grief sink in. My mother had been beautiful, with dark hair that fell in gentle curls just past her shoulders, and bright intelligent eyes. By the time I was 15, I had become an orphan. For the past two years I had locked the grief of my mother's death deep inside me, but now it burst forth. I closed my eyes, riding the chaotic wave of emotions.

We stayed like that for a while, until my breathing slowed and I wiped my eyes. I pulled back and looked up at him. 'I'm sorry,' I said. 'Thank you.'

His eyes searched my face with concern. 'Don't be,' he said. 'I'm so sorry that you've had to go through so much. I only wish I was able to be there for you.'

I smiled wanly. 'You're here now. That's all that matters.' He smiled back, and it was the same warm, caring smile I remembered and loved so dearly. I took a deep breath and continued on with my story. 'After that I moved to the academy and started full-time there. That was when I met Brendon and Sam. Over the years we grew closer and closer, working together. By the time we graduated, we were put in the same unit together, because of our ability to work so well with one another. By then I had stopped working at my internship at the lab and infirmary; it held too many painful memories.' Mark offered a gentle, sympathetic smile, urging me onwards.

I lowered my voice as I continued, not wanting to be overheard; Mark leaned in closer. 'Then one day I stumbled upon a small group of men who were acting extremely furtive, talking in hushed tones and glancing around suspiciously, so I moved closer to investigate and overhead their conversation. They were talking about the 'true' intentions for Terra Nova, and mentioned something about a group of people called Sixers. At the time I had no idea what they were on about, and so I went to discuss it with General Vayner. He bade me keep it a secret and then he began sending me out on secret missions to investigate it further.

'Over the year or so that I had been uncovering information about the Sixers' employers, I also spent time at an elite specialists' school. General Vayner had asked me to go there to make absolutely sure that I was able to defend myself if I was caught snooping around. The people that we're dealing with are pretty sinister, and I'm sure they don't have any qualms about doing whatever is necessary to make sure that what they're doing succeeds, and remains a secret as long as possible. There were a few close calls on several occasions, but I was never caught. I learned so much about this secretive organisation, and that is a large part of the reason why I was sent here.'

Mark's eyes had widened as I told my tale, and now he seemed so shocked that he remained speechless for a while before he could find his voice to speak. 'So you're saying that you've been investigating the purpose of the Sixers, back in 2149?' He whispered incredulously; I nodded. 'And you've been doing it for over a year?' Again, I nodded.

'The situation back in 2149 is getting worse; much worse than when you last saw it. Now there are constant raids causing fires and all kinds of damage, as everyone becomes more and more desperate to survive, as the conditions get worse and worse. The air is so bad that even a rebreather isn't enough anymore, and so hospitals have been flooded with people who can hardly breathe on their own now.

'Not long before we left for Terra Nova, Sam, Brendon and I were sent to deal with a raid, where a fire had erupted and the fighting had gotten out of control; that was how I fractured my ribs. We managed to get most people out of there before the whole building went up, but there were still those few who we couldn't get out.' I closed my eyes, remembering how I had been haunted by nightmares for several days afterwards. I shuddered at the horrible memories.

Mark looked at me, a pained expression in his eyes, as he squeezed my hand firmly. 'You did all that you could. Don't waste time regretting what was out of your control.' I nodded, but my heart still felt heavy.

'The Commander has asked me to continue my investigations here, and as you have probably guessed by now, he has also asked me to train some of the soldiers.' I said.

'I couldn't think of anyone more suited to the job.' I smiled, thinking how great it was to have him back in my life; it was like some part of me had been missing all these years, and had only now been filled. And after all the things I'd faced, I really did need someone to shine some optimism in my life. 'Well I'd better be off,' he said, seeing the time. 'I have an early shift tomorrow so I have to make sure I have enough energy to last the day. Don't want to be drifting off on the job,' he said with a wink. I laughed as we walked to the front of the unit, opening the door to let in the cool night air. 'Goodnight,' he said, giving me one last hug.

'Goodnight,' I replied as he released me and offered me one last smile, before his figure slowly retreated into the darkness.

I'm so sorry for the long delay! This chapter gave me a lot more trouble than I ever expected! But I hope you enjoyed it :)