Author's note: For those who thought I forgot the title of this Terra Nova tale was "Mark and Maddy", with this chapter, I hope you all have some fun with this cute couple! :D

Chapter 14 – Lost Legacy

Maddy looked at the new monitor screens that she and Malcolm had developed to carefully survey the integrity of the temporal shield that covered Terra Nova and the vast volume that the time jammer protected them. They were making sure all the devices were aimed and tuned so that there were no gaps. The new system was an order of magnitude more sensitive than the original temporal jammer's sensors and extended the time jamming planet wide. They had a complete shield against 2149's intrusion. Her colonial school friend Rebecca was a technician charged with maintaining the integrity of the grid, and she grimaced as she fiddled with the new system, making sure everything was perfectly set.

Rebecca kept looking at something that was amiss on the grid, and warned, "There is an odd reading inside Quadrant 6. I've got it tuned as good as I can."

"Thanks, Rebecca," Maddy said, scrutinizing the readings with no resolution, and so turned and asked the Chief Scientist, "Malcolm, what do you make of that?"

"A temporal anomaly of a kind I've never seen, Maddy."

"Is there something wrong with our sensor net?" she postulated.

"No. Maddy. The jammers should never look like that. That is something generating its own signature," Malcolm reflected.

Maddy speculated, "Could it be Lucas' lost lab? Or another portal?"

"It must be. Or worse - an intruder from 2149 with a time travel device that can overcome our jamming. It's inside the perimeter."

"I sure hope that is not the case. We have to check this out," observed Maddy.

"There is only one soldier on the planet who can protect you there," teased Rebecca.

Maddy grinned knowingly, "I can't imagine who. It's my mom's day off. I'll have to see if she'll watch Aaron."

Malcolm chuckled, "Do you really think 'grandma' will say no?"

…

Mark and Maddy rode together in an armored car toward Quadrant 6. They drove with purpose, as 'Maddy the scientist' and 'Mark the soldier', not as husband and wife. They knew what was already there, not realizing until now that there may be even more to the lost legacy and genius of Lucas Taylor. They stopped at the rocky cavern, with its beautiful falls, creek, ponds, and the imposing cliffs above. From their vantage point above the falls, they could see the equations that Lucas had scratched into the cliff walls to aggravate his father. Even to Maddy, who understood every cryptic line scrawling into the igneous rock, it looked like an alien race had left a trail on the cliff face.

This place held special significance to Mark and Maddy, not because it was a special place for them, but for three other couples. This was the place Skye and Josh admitted and first consummated their love for each other, where Taylor and Mira fought once nearly to the death, but established a truce to survive the natural threats in the area. It was also where Taylor and Washington had fallen for each other in their unexpected, accidental, and ultimately tragic 'second chance' love.

Maddy was focused on their task, out of communication with Terra Nova, due to the nature of the canyon and the radio-absorbing rock structure. Mark and Maddy were totally cut off from civilization here. Skye and Josh liked that immensely in their continuing private moments here together.

She pointed her probe toward the cliff's sheer face, "It's coming from in there. Behind the rocks. There must be a cave."

The sensor was directing them to cross the deepest part of the pool below the falls.

She shed her garments and plunged into the pool. Her beautiful dark skin, as always, completely distracted her husband, still standing on the shore. She still had a perfect figure, even after the birth of their first child together.

"Maddy? What are you doing?" asked Mark with a quirked eyebrow.

"Investigating a hunch. Are you coming with me?" she said seriously, ignoring the fact that she was totally nude.

Mark shook his head and did likewise, and dove into the pond and surfaced next to her. He kissed her, but she scolded, "Not now, Mark. We have a mission."

They searched the underwater segments of the cliffs, and found an opening. They surfaced, and spoke, "Mark, I think there is an underwater entrance here. My bet is that it's short, and there is a lab behind those rocks."

"If you are in the slightest trouble, we turn around and come back. Understood?" he ordered.

"Understood."

They took deep breaths, and dove underwater into the tunnel, and prayed for no booby traps. They surfaced quickly inside as Maddy predicted. They helped each other climb out, and were surrounded by electronics and cave walls full of equations. They were pretty sure that their presence had not triggered any defenses.

It was a treasure trove of temporal experiments, electronics, and tools. It seemed to be a smaller version of everything that was left of his secret forest lab that the Terra Novans assumed he had taken with him to the Badlands. Mark was dazzled by the many things he didn't understand, but Maddy was following one lead after another, carefully powering things up to assure there were no traps. Mark was also, however, dazzled by Maddy's body. It was not often that a scientist could be found doing research completely nude. He didn't interrupt her though.

Maddy's eyes lit up and she carefully examined a vest, "Mark look at this! This is one of his personal-sized temporal vests. Malcolm and I have to study this. And it's still working. That is what was acting like an anomaly on our new sensor grid. We never saw this because the old grid wasn't strong enough to detect it."

"Isn't this vest the way he bypassed the big clunky portals and appeared in the lab through personal time travel?" Mark recollected her retelling of the story, since he was defending the colony when Lucas' unexpected appearance in the Lab nearly ended her.

"Exactly. And it looks like there are parts for at least six vests. We have to get them out of here. How do you suppose he got the one out? They are not waterproof."

They explored the cave, and discovered a debris covered land entrance, but they didn't exit.

"We'll come back, but take everything through here."

Their discovery now complete, they let their guard down for a moment. She was simply too beautiful for him.

"Maddy…do you suppose calling an extraction team here could wait a little bit?" he stared at her in the center of the lab. Now she wasn't a scientist. She was his wife. And 'dressed' the way he liked her best. Her long brown hair was still wet, clung to her, and framed her lithe light brown bbody enticingly.

Maddy finally paid attention his stunning warrior's physique displayed uncovered before her, and it was very clear to Maddy that he was only concentrating on her, which broke her determination from her otherwise single-minded task to discover the explore everything about Lucas' lab. They were alone together, with no possibility of contact or interruption, almost for the first time in a year since Aaron's birth. She tried to keep her professional demeanor. But they were in no hurry, and there was no crisis or sense of urgency.

"Uhhh, Mark, we have to stay focused here," as she tried to unsuccessfully maintain her discipline of science over growing desire.

He kissed her. Flustered for but a moment, she gave in to her husband's advances, wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders, and kissed him back.

She made a fabricated excuse and grinned, "Now that you mention it, the study of time travel is really….umm…timeless, Mark. Besides, I always did like a man not in uniform... "

He smiled back with her intentionally lame pun, "I thought you might see it my way. Umm…Josh told me there is a beach across the pond."

"Oh? You and Josh are comparing your conquests, hmm?" but she urged him on by exclaiming, "Last one there is a rotten T. Rex egg. And those are really nasty."

They faked wrestling each other to get to the underwater tunnel first, laughing together, but Mark bowed, and invited, "Maddy, ladies first."

She raised and eyebrow, and shot back, "You just want to follow me so you have the best view swimming behind me."

"Busted," he smiled mischievously.

But knowing full well what Mark liked, she entered the water, and motioned him to follow, with a bit of a blush. She made sure to swim using the 'frog kick', so Mark would enjoy seeing her in the fullest as he followed. That only served to add to his desire. Which she wanted.

They exited the watery tunnel, and popped up in the pond. They wrapped up into a tight embrace with each other in the shallows, and kissed. She could feel his response.

"Can't wait?" she kidded.

"Well, no. Who needs a beach, anyway? And besides, it's your brother's beach."

With a mixture of heat from them and coolness of the water, they tangled up tightly into each other and loved each other as intensely as in their newlywed days. While they had resumed relations after Aaron's birth, it was never as private or relaxed as here in this idyllic place.

They kissed gently afterwards, "That was nice, Mark."

She sighed, "I suppose we should call Terra Nova and get all this stuff out of there."

"Let's swim a little while longer, Maddy, or are you in a big hurry?" he coaxed.

"OK," she agreed.

While they spent a while swimming, sliding together down the smooth natural rocky falls spillways, and splashed and threw mud balls at each other, they simply couldn't resist each other and fell together again on a soft pebbly edge of the stream.

As they held each other afterwards, she ran her fingers through his close cropped military style hair, feeling safe and warm in his strong arms, but warned, "Mark, we're not taking any precautions."

"I'm ready for a second child if you are, Maddy."

She grinned and pecked him, "That would be fine with me, Mark."

"We better get dressed and go," he sighed.

"Darn. I can see why Josh and Skye love this place."

Atop one of the cliffs, Mark sighed, and activated his radio, with Maddy holding him close, "Expedition 1 to base. We're done here. Have specimens."

"Roger, Expedition 1. Bringing assistance. It'll be about two hours. You OK with that?" responded the dispatcher.

"Acknowledged. Plenty to look at here," he noted as he switched off the comm link.

He eyed his bride slyly and she knew exactly that 'plenty to look at' was her.

"Wanna go for another swim?" he invited.

"I thought you'd never ask," she smiled enticingly.

It was a race to see who could peel their clothes off faster as they ran to the stream hand in hand.