A few moments ago, Malcolm knelt down beside Kate's form near her head brushed the loose hair from her face. He moved his hand down the side of her face to her back and softly massaged his hand up and down her spine.
"Kate" he murmured in her ear waking her up slowly as she made a noise acknowledging she heard him. "Time to get up so we can go home" he told her gently.
"Mhmm I just have to put my feet on" Kate murmured but she didn't make any signs of moving which made Malcolm smile as he wondered if she was really awake or not.
"Kate, your feet are attached to you don't you mean you need your boots?" he asked her.
"Mhmm that's what I said" She said as she rolled onto her side and rubbed her face to try and wake up.
"Your boots are by the door" he told her as he moved to get up but Kate caught the front of his shirt and pulled him back down so quick he nearly would have lost his balance if he hadn't braced his hands on the sides of the lounge framing her.
"Hey" she said in a sleepy yet husky voice. She pulled him down and captured his lips with hers in a passionate and slow kiss for a few moments before releasing him.
"Hey, don't go back to sleep" he told with an amused smile as he leaned over her. She looked like she was about to fall asleep again as she looked up at him with a sleepy expression.
"Why not?" she asked as she was ready to drift back to sleep.
"Because you'll be far more comfortable in our bed than here, now come on" he said as he offered his hands to her. Kate made a face as she rolled onto her back and took his hands knowing he was right.
"You're a cruel man pulling a sleepy pregnant woman out of bed" Kate told him.
"Yes I'm right up there with all the other evil dictators from history" Malcolm drawled sarcastically as he pulled her up off the lounge to her feet. Kate gave a groan as she leaned against him and closed her eyes ready to go back to sleep. Malcolm wrapped his arms around her and held her close as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Are you trying to sleep standing up?" he whispered to her as she started leaning heavily on him.
"I'm trying to" Kate murmured into his shirt. Malcolm chuckled as he moved her away from the lounge and towards the dining table.
"By the way where is Taylor? Asleep?" Evan asked as he looked over his shoulder to Malcolm practically carrying Kate over to the table and sitting her down beside Evan.
"Someone still is" Alicia mused as she placed a hot cup of coffee in front of Evan before she sat down opposite him with her own coffee. "Taylor's awake he's just dealing with the twins" Alicia said as she watched Kate reached for Evan's coffee but only to have him slap her hand away. She made a face of displeasure that was rather reminiscent of Olivia's when she didn't get her way.
"No, mine" Evan told her as he moved the coffee away from her, Kate turned to Malcolm who brought her boots over to her and she took them from him and haphazardly pulled them on while Malcolm held her by the shoulders to stop her from falling backwards off the chair.
"So how did you guys fair tonight?" Alicia asked as she chuckled at Kate's less than conscious state.
"Good, I'll have the terminus repaired by the end of the week thanks to Malcolm's help" Evan replied.
"What does that mean for overall project?" Taylor asked as he finally joined them, he gave a nod to Malcolm and Evan acknowledging their presence before he moved into the kitchen to pour himself a coffee.
"Well Lucas and I will have to rewrite the operating systems and update the software to make it do what we want it to so we are ahead of schedule." Evan said carefully as he looked to Kate, she didn't seem to be paying attention as Malcolm took a seat at the table and was currently leaning on him with her eyes closed.
"So as long as Lucas stays focussed we should be able to finish the project sooner than anticipated" Malcolm said as he'd rather have the impromptu meeting now than rehash the same information with Taylor tomorrow.
"Yeah" Evan said with a weary sigh. Taylor eyed Evan as he must have felt the undercurrent in Evan's demeanour.
"Good, Malcolm why don't I help you with Kate and do a once over of the house. Just for Kate's peace of mind" Taylor offered.
"I'm sure we'll be fine" Malcolm said as he didn't feel it was necessary. They had the security systems and the alarms hadn't been tripped except for Kate and her destroying a vase with a pistol the one time.
"Then for my peace of mind" Taylor said.
"Just let him do it" Evan said to Malcolm.
"Ok" Malcolm said as he was in no mood to argue. He also knew that Taylor was stubborn he wouldn't give up until he got his way.
"Good give me 5 to get changed and put my boots on" Taylor said as he got up from the table.
10 minutes later after Malcolm had nudged Kate and woke her up. They had said their goodbyes to Alicia and Evan and they left the house with Taylor at their side to where they were now at Kate and Malcolm's door step.
"You know this isn't necessary" Malcolm said as he disarmed the alarms and the lock on the door. Taylor knew all the codes but knew better to not step on Malcolm's toes. It was his house not Taylor's, he didn't want to make it seem like he was belittling Malcolm's ability to protect Kate more than he had for one evening.
"Humour me Malcolm" Taylor said as Malcolm opened the front door for him. Taylor who was dressed in his usual garb of black BDU pants and t-shirt unclipped the strap on his shoulder holster and walked into the house one hand on his weapon just in case.
He walked into the house, turning on lights and checking the rooms before he was satisfied everything was in order, he clipped the strap over the butt of his gun and went back outside.
"It's secure" Taylor informed them. Kate murmured a thanks before she and Malcolm went inside and Taylor waited until he heard the door lock before he walked back to his house.
In the early hours of the morning, Caetano stood at the back window of Deputy Wallace nee Renshaw with small spray canister filled with blood. She didn't know what was more exciting the planning and the preparation to this moment or the thrill of getting this far without being caught. She looked to her partner in crime the man who convinced her go through with his bloodthirsty plan in the first place. He watched her work with his arms folded keeping an eye out for soldiers as they would be coming soon.
"We shouldn't be here, the others won't be happy" She told him in a low voice as she finished her work on the back windows of the house.
"They just don't understand and isn't this fun?" he asked her as he moved off the back veranda and looked around the ground. She stepped back to admire her work but remembered to keep her head low as she knew they would have cameras. She had seen them being installed, she turned to the man.
"What are you doing?" she hissed at him.
"The rock, throw it" he told her as he pointed to one on the ground. Caetano bit her bottom lip as she picked up the rock and looked back to the window. "Throw it, the whole point of this exercise is to put fear in her" he whispered in her ear.
Kate and Malcolm woke up in a panicked start as the sound of glass shattering and a loud thud followed sounded in the living area. Whatever it was that smashed the window triggered the alarms and the lights in the house turnd on brightly and alarms blared loudly. The noise and the lighting was near incapacitating to Kate as she covered her ears and squinted through the brightness for her attacker but before she could put two words together in her head Malcolm wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her off the bed to the floor of his side that was furthest from the door.
Kate watched in complete surprise as Malcolm signalled for her to stay low and pulled a gun from his bedside dresser drawer and watched the bedroom door. She wondered in what reality she had woken up in as she never thought she'd see the day when Malcolm held a gun and looked like he knew what he was doing with said gun. Let alone use military hand signals and tell her how to act in the situation.
Alicia and Taylor woke up at the sound of the alarms blaring from Malcolm and Kate's house, they immediately got out of bed out of habit when Alicia realised she wouldn't be following Taylor she still got changed with him just in case.
"Where do you think you're going?" Taylor asked Alicia after he called the command centre and pulled on his BDU pants and t-shirt.
"To check on the kids. What's happening?" Alicia asked him as he shrugged into his holster and headed for the front door.
"Surveillance picked up on our killer trying to enter the premises but the Alarm spooked her. I'm going over to disarm the alarm system and check on Malcolm and Kate, make sure they are ok" Taylor told her as he quickly pulled on his boots.
"Ok, be careful" Alicia said to him, he gave a quirk of the lips and was tempted to kiss her but the sound of the twins rearing up at the noise stopped him as the alarm could only be overrided on the premise.
"I'll be right back. Keep this door locked" he told her before he left the house.
"It's just scare tactics. If she's in here she would have made a move!" Kate shouted over the Alarm to Malcolm as it had been at least two minutes and no signs of an intruder. The alarm was making it hard for her to think to the point she wanted to kill someone to make the noise stop. She couldn't understand how Malcolm was able to calmly keep an eye on the door with the gun ready at his side barrel pointing at the ground.
"If it is Taylor or Guzman will be here in a moment-" he stopped shouting for a moment as the alarm silenced itself and continued at a lower level "To turn off the Alarm" Malcolm finished with a thankful sigh.
"Malcolm? Kate?" Taylor called out.
"In here, we are ok" Malcolm called out.
"Good, stay in there for the moment my soldiers are securing the exterior." Taylor told them through the door.
"Talk for yourself I have a massive headache" Kate grumbled as they got to their feet. She grabbed the gun from Malcolm's hand "And when the hell did you get this and learn how to use it?" Kate asked him as she disarmed the pistol and held it up to him like a mother would ask a child where they found something they shouldn't have in the first place.
"Commander Taylor offered it to me" Malcolm said trying to not look amused as he picked up a discarded T-shirt and pulled it on figuring Taylor wouldn't appreciate him being half naked in his pyjama pants like Kate did. He looked at Kate in his pyjama shirt looking bedraggled and annoyed thinking it was incredibly sexy and slightly scary at the same time.
"And you didn't think to tell me this why?" Kate asked him.
"Because then I would appear as a hypocrite?" he offered truthfully as he was a hypocrite. He espoused his dislike for guns but he had one in his possession and was more than willing to use it. Though it had taken a lot of convincing to make it happen.
"Damn right you do-" Kate stopped as the door to the bedroom opened and Taylor came in with his hands in surrender. "Hilarious, you gave him a gun and didn't tell me" Kate said to Taylor.
"Yes, you needed more than one gun in the house and he needed to know how to use one. Can we get back to the more pertinent matter at hand?" Taylor asked Kate as he was going to indulge her in her vitirol over Malcolm having a gun especially when Malcolm was going to give it back the second the killer was caught.
"Sure, tell me is there a dead body or a message out on the front verandah?" Kate asked folding her arms across her chest.
"No bodies but a message, I don't think you should see it in your current state until you've calmed down" Taylor told her a if she were a misbehaving child and not an adult.
"I'm calm as I'm going to get until I have some painkillers and good night's sleep" Kate said with a sigh as the fight left her system. Against his better judgement Taylor nodded and motion they follow him.
Kate looked around the living room and found everything was intact bar the shattered glass on the floor and a garden rock on the floor. It wasn't until she looked to the broken window did she see the whole picture as there were soldiers standing outside looking in at a message written in blood across the back windows. She read the message and turned her back to the window. She closed her eyes pinching the bridge of her nose as she cursed under her breath.
"I'm going to post guards on your house from now on" Taylor told them as he watched their reactions. Kate had turned her back to the window while Malcolm stared at it with a closed expression of concern and displeasure.
"What did the surveillance catch?" Kate asked in a calm voice even though she really felt exhausted and completely burned out. Her head with was throbbing from the alarms and she just wanted to go back to sleep and not deal with it.
"No facial recognition due to her wearing a hood and facing away from the camera. She moved into the back area and then threw the rock with set off the internal motion detectors." Taylor explained as Guzman had given him the run down on his way to the house. He had wished they put motion detectors on the exterior of the house but then every stray child or animal would be setting it off. So they just kept the circuit feed running 24/7. It played on its own screen but with 30 screens running at once it was easy to miss something happening when one wasn't looking closely enough.
"What do we do now?" Malcolm asked Taylor.
"I need to lie down" Kate said before Taylor could answer Malcolm's question. Both men exchanged looks as Kate didn't even wait for a response and went back into the bedroom drawing the door closed. A clear sign she was removing herself from the process entirely.
"We'll clean up the broken glass, in the morning I'll get you to run tests on the blood and see if it's human or not. If it is human run a DNA panel and see if it matches with anyone in the colony. I will make sure the window is replaced in the morning" Taylor said, Malcolm gave a nod of acknowledgement.
Kate laid on her side wide awake waiting for Malcolm. She felt horrible for leaving the men to clean up the mess but she couldn't control her emotions as she knew if she stayed out there she would have completely lost her cool. She just didn't understand where the strong confident person she was had gone to. She tried to reason if she was being followed by a killer in a non pregnant state she'd set up some kind of trap with a low survival rate but high reward of her taking the killer out and it being finished. Sadly she couldn't think of any safer low risk high reward options as the murderer's behaviour was erratic. Well that and she was just completely fried from the hormones and trying to wrap her head around the concept that she was married and pregnant two things she had never imagined herself being.
Now she had the proverbial dream her life and that dream were being threatened and she just didn't know what to do. Taking a back seat and allowing others to do protect her was a new concept for her.
She heard Taylor talk to Malcolm in a low voice and then the sound of the front door closing. A moment later the bedroom door slid open and then closed. She felt the bed dip as he sat down on the bed and a glass of water appeared in front of her face.
"I brought you some painkillers" Malcolm told her as she sat up and turned to face him. Taking the glass of water and the tablets he offered, she downed the tablets with half of the water before placing the glass on the bedside table.
"Thank you" Kate told him.
"You ok?" he asked her as he moved to make himself comfortable on the bed with his back against the wall and laid his legs out straight on the bed as he watched her closely.
"I will be" Kate said with a tired sigh.
"You changing sides of the bed on me?" he asked with a smile trying to lighten the mood. Kate had been lying on his side of the bed not that it mattered as she always ended up on his side lying on top of him. Something in the start of them sharing a bed he had found rather startling and amusing to wake up with her half on top of him or her body wrapped around his like she were some kind of human octopus.
"I'm sorry I left you to clean up the mess out there. I just can't keep my head on straight lately" Kate told him as she straddled him and dropped her head on his shoulder with her arms low around his torso. He ran his hands up her back slowly in a comforting manner as he drew her in closer.
"It will be alright" he reassured her as he placed a kiss on the side of her neck.
"You married a mental case" She grumbled into his shoulder.
"You married an amnesiac" He countered as he continued to massage her back.
"Who apparently knows how use a gun. Is this where you've been going and doing in the mornings?" Kate asked lifting her head and looking at him questioningly.
"Yes and I still don't like guns" Malcolm told her firmly so she knew his stance on the subject.
"Shame" Kate said with a slight pout.
"Why?"
"You were kinda hot with a gun"
"Only kind of?"
"Yeah, you hunched over a lab table talking in Latin is heaps sexy" She told him with a teasing smile.
"Now you're mocking me" he said calling her on it as he knew there was nothing sexy about him hunched over a lab table.
"Just a tiny bit" Kate told him with a smile before she kissed him.
"Ok if you are mocking me then I think we should go back to sleep" he told her before she could kiss him again.
"Will you hold me?" She asked him but it wasn't in a mocking manner as she looked at him in a way that made her seem incredibly fragile.
"When am I ever not holding you in this bed?" He asked her his words made her smile.
"I love you" Kate told him, he smiled at her words and captured her lips in a searing kiss.
"Is everything ok?" Alicia asked when Taylor came back into the house half an hour later, she had been going out of her mind imagining the worst had happened to Kate and Malcolm and nearly went across to their house to see what was going on but the twins had kicked up a fuss and Sean had woken up so by the time she had them all settled and asleep again she knew there was no way she could leave the house. She was actually amazed Olivia hadn't woken up with all the racket but she had yet to make a peep. When Alicia checked on her the little girl had been out like a light and even snoring the cutest of snores.
"They are fine, they just got a visit with a smashed window and message written in blood on the back windows" Taylor informed her.
"What did it say?"
"You will die next" Taylor said repeating the message, Alicia didn't look impressed.
"Well at least it's direct, did they give a day or time?" Alicia asked dryly as she felt frustrated at not being able to help out.
"No" Taylor said trying to stifle a smile as he was amused at his wife's question. "I posted guards at the house to stop any further meetings and in the morning Jim and I will go over the footage" Taylor said as he kicked off his boots.
"How did Kate react?" Alicia asked.
"Not well. I wish I knew where her head was at. She's not one to just turn tail and go to bed" Taylor said with a shrug though he hadn't been entirely impressed with her walking away but on the other hand it was better than her having a complete meltdown or worse.
"That's what she did?" Alicia asked in disbelief.
"Yes" Taylor replied.
"Well you told her to leave it to you and Jim." Alicia said with a dismissive shrug as she didn't want to make a big deal out of it.
"She's burned out" Taylor stated before he gave a sigh. "I really don't want to talk about this anymore. I just want to go to bed and sleep for another 5 hours before I go to work" he added as he moved to Alicia as wrapped his arms around her.
"You know it looks like she's talking to someone" Jim said as he and Taylor watched the footage of the woman early the next morning in the command centre. They were hoping to spy a reflective surface they could use to grab an image of the killer's face. Something, anything at all to work with than what they did have which was pretty much nothing.
"But there are no comm. frequencies recorded in that area except for the soldiers and we have the recordings"
"Talking to herself maybe?"
"Oh so now she's psychotic, that's real comforting"
"I don't know it's a thought"
"All the colonists have three mandatory psychological evaluations and a full mental and physical work up before they are put on a pilgrimage" Taylor told him.
"Really? You want to argue that every person who has come through is perfectly healthy and mentally stable?" Jim asked him folding his arms as he could name a lot of colonist who weren't right in the head or in prime physical condition.
"No, I'm not arguing but I can say for a fact that if a prospective colonist showed signs or a family history of schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder or some psychological issue that made them talk to themselves or hallucinations. It would have been picked up" Taylor told him.
"Fair point. What do you want to do?"
"Well Malcolm is going to run tests on the blood see where it came from and go from there" Taylor said.
"Ok, by the way how is Kate going with all this?"
"She's fried, I don't think she'll be any use to us at the moment" Taylor told Jim.
"That's a bit harsh after everything she has done for us" Jim said while he agreed Kate was burnt out he would never say out loud.
"The truth always is" Taylor remarked.
Kate sat at the dining table looking at the message on the window written in blood hating the fact she couldn't wash it off until Jim came and had a look and did his 'cop' thing. She wished he would hurry up as she couldn't stand the message as it mocked her like she hadn't heard those words before. She had been in mid thought of her mental rant about how she had been sold that Terra Nova was the 'promised land' when a knock at the door caught her attention.
She got up from the table and opened the door to a somewhat sheerful Carter and the always calm and reserved Daniel the local Glass expertise of Terra Nova.
"Morning Sunshine, heard someone broke a window last night. You get slammed with another fine?" Carter asked making a dig at the latest gossip about her shooting a bug and being fined for discharing her weapon.
"No, but I got a lovely message written in blood" Kate offered sarcastically as she opened the door and welcomed them in. Carter's smile dropped somewhat and he cursed as he saw the message, he and Daniel exchanged looks before Carter spoke up.
"You going to keep the message as a souvenir or you want it gone?" he asked as he and Daniel walked into the house.
"The Sheriff has to see it first before I can wash it off" Kate said as Daniel and Carter moved to the hole where the broken window was and inspected it.
"Fair enough, well I'll be able to replace the window in an hour now that I know which part I'm replacing" Daniel said as looked back to Kate who gave a nod of acknowledgment.
"That would be greatly appreciated" Kate said to them.
"No problems, Carter let's make tracks. We'll be back in 15 with the glass" Daniel told her as he smacked Carter in the arm motioning for them to go.
"Mira, what's going on?" Carter asked as he and Daniel had come back to the workshop to pick up their supplies to head back to Kate's house.
"Annika is missing" Mira said cutting to the chase as she was never one for small talk.
"I think she and Curran were hooked up last night you talk to him?" Carter asked it earned him the 'do I look stupid of course I did' look.
"He was on duty last night" Mira replied as she watched Carter and Daniel pack equipment into their designated rover.
"Ok well what about the group she was designated with?" Carter asked he ignored the look she gave him and wondered why the woman didn't just slap him upside the head as she looked ready to hit him.
"She left a message on the plex about 2:30 pm yesterday that she was off with Curran for the night and didn't bother to run it up. We need to find her" Mira said simply.
"I'm working and anyway I have a feeling I know where some of her is" Carter said grimacing.
"Some?" Mira stated as she wanted him to clarify what he meant by 'some'.
"Kate's back window has a lovely message about her being the next one to die written in blood and it ain't dino blood" Carter said as he helped Daniel pick up the slab of glass they needed. Mira closed her eyes and took a moment before opening them and looking at him.
"When did this happen?" Mira asked.
"Don't know, didn't ask" Carter said.
"Find out and pass the word around I want everyone at my house at 6pm. Full attendance, no excuses" Mira told him and Daniel who both nodded. Even though they had all acclimated back to being in the colony they still kept their hierarchy that had when they were Sixers and in that hierarchy Mira was at the top.
TBC~ Cya all soon with more!
