Chapter Twenty

Who Has the Better Hand

It's been a horribly long journey, bouncing down rutted tracks that keep their progress appallingly slow. Every so often, there are signs of activity, branches cut back, fallen debris cleared from the road. At least the fact that Malcolm has already travelled this way means they've had the mess cleared up for them.

"This is gonna break Max into pieces." Jim says, grimly, "Once she knows that Robert Stanley is behind the attacks. She thought Malcolm would be safe with him. We all did."

"She's stronger than you think, Shannon." Taylor disagrees, concentrating on the track ahead, "Yes, she'll come apart - but she'll put herself back together; though whether she'll ever let anyone near her again will be debatable. I let her down over Niall. I swear to God I'm not going to let her down over Malcolm."

"I messaged Elisabeth to go see her: it's better she knows from us than find out from gossip. This'll be all over the compound by noon."

"God - how is it that everyone came through on the Sixth with ulterior motives?"

"Not everyone, Taylor." Jim reminds him. "Just the Sixers and Stanley."

"It sure as hell feels like everyone." Taylor observes, sourly, as he squints ahead, the bright lamps atop the rover startling a pair of Ovosaurs off the track and back into the forest, "Why didn't this show up in the psych tests?" he adds, rather pointlessly.

"Maybe because Robert's not nuts? I was a cop for years and I saw everything you could imagine, not to mention a whole lot more that you wouldn't want to, even compared to battlefields. It's possible to hate someone so much that destroying them becomes your prime motivation; and still be perfectly sane. Hate's one of the strongest motivators I know: I'm pretty sure that only love is stronger, but that's not by much."

"Two sides of the same coin."

"Don't dump me out of the rover for this, Taylor, but; given Malcolm's motives for getting Elisabeth here, are you completely convinced that he's as innocent in this as he makes out?"

"Christ, Shannon - he can be a complete idiot, sure; but he's never put his personal feelings ahead of the welfare of the colony and he sure as hell isn't that stupid. When he recommended Elisabeth, I didn't just take his word for it: He thought she just had Josh and Maddy - and that you were pretty much finished thanks to the conditions at Golad - he lost both his parents to COPD and, given that you were away for six years, the chances of you seeing daylight again were minimal at best for the same reason. He thought he was offering her and her kids a new life: if there was a chance of getting back together, then fair enough - but recruiting the best for the colony was what pushed it. Did he make any attempt to interfere once he met you?"

"Well…there was that time when he had the amnesia virus…"

"I mean when he wasn't compromised, Shannon."

"No." Jim admits, "He didn't. Elisabeth would've told me if he did."

"And kicked his ass square over the line." Taylor smirks, suddenly, "She's one tough lady, that wife of yours."

"She sure is." He looks up, and shifts slightly, "There's the outpost."

"And Malcolm's rover."

Taylor pulls up alongside. From the outside, there doesn't appear to be anything strange about the scene at all. The rover is parked tidily, the safety gate is closed, and so is the door beyond it. Above them, through a gap in the canopy, Jim can see the first streaks of dawn staining the sky. It's taken them all damn night to get there - and there's no guarantee that they've arrived in time.

The first indication that all is not as it should be is the dusty powder on the floor just inside the entrance. It's been scuffed about, as though something's been moved around on it, and it smells a bit weird; like musty socks.

"Up there." Taylor indicates with the point of his pistol. Following the point, Jim looks up to the ceiling and can make out what looks like the blown-out remains of a small pod-like structure - woven from fibres of some sort or another.

"Some kind of bomb?" he ventures.

"Chemical weapon, I think." Taylor says, "Judging from the mess on the floor. It looks like this was booby trapped."

"And the trap was sprung."

Moving with care, they make their way slowly down the corridor. There's certainly been some form of fight - if that device at the door was anything to go by. If they're in luck, then Robert's not the sort of person to allow his quarry to die without some sort of Bond villain-like gloat-fest, and he may well have Malcolm imprisoned somewhere - in order to regale him at length over the reasons for his capture. Neither man wants to think what they might find if they're not.

There's no sign of anyone in the main laboratory, though a fallen scaffolding pole in the middle of the floor is testament to the fact that Malcolm did not succumb without a fight. The weapon is too improvised to have been Stanley's; not when he's had as long as he has to put this whole shooting match together. Perhaps he's knocked the man out, and is now hiding somewhere.

"Do we shout?" Jim whispers to Taylor.

"No - if Stanley has him somewhere, then we'll just prompt him to do something stupid. Let's split up. You go left, I'll go right. When you've searched your sector, meet me back at the Main lab. If you find anyone," he lifts up his comm unit, "Send two clicks and withdraw to the main lab."

Jim nods. Pistol at the ready, he makes his way down the indicated corridor. The silence in the place is eerie; and, regardless of his hopes, he is quite certain that there is no one alive in here. Surely there would be signs of life? Movement? Voices? Either they're not here - or they're…

He pulls the thought up at once. He can't afford to think that - if Malcolm is dead, then what the hell are they going to tell Max? For her sake, if nothing else, they have to find him alive. They must…

He rounds a corner and finds a dead end. That's it then - no one in his sector. Now to work out how the hell to get back to the Main lab.

When he emerges, he is not surprised to find Taylor waiting for him, "I got nothing. You?"

Jim shakes his head, "Where the hell are they? Has Robert taken him outside somewhere?"

"Only one way to find out."

It's full daylight by the time they emerge, and sunlight is dappling the forest floor. If they weren't facing the situation that they are, then it would be a great day to be out.

"They could be anywhere." Jim observes, tiredly; then turns to Taylor, who is looking about, and sniffing.

"Smell that? Woodsmoke."

"They came outside? What - to bond over a campfire or something?"

"We can hope." Already, Taylor is looking about, and points at something that may, or may not, be a track, "Let's try this."

The smell grows stronger as they make their way through the thick foliage. Both men have their pistols ready - such a route is an ideal ambush point - but they see nothing until they emerge into a small clearing.

"This has been cleared by hand." Taylor advises, quietly, then pauses and points, "There."

Jim has also seen it, and grimaces. Beside the smoking remains of the fire lies a corpse - or at least part of one. A leg has been chewed almost down to the bone, while the abdomen has been largely eviscerated: "Nykoraptor?" he ventures.

Taylor nods, "Didn't kill him, though. Look at his neck." He crouches beside the mess, and points with his pistol. Joining him, Jim looks closer, and sees the deep slash through the throat. No dinosaur would've done that - it must've been a blade.

"Malcolm?" he asks.

"Can't see him doing something like this - not even in a panic. Besides, if he did, where is he? Why didn't he go back to the outpost and call for help?"

Rising again, Taylor begins to explore the clearing, moving towards a mound of earth, "Shannon."

Immediately, Jim crosses to join him, "What the hell?"

They are looking down into an earthen pit, which contains a battered, rather customised aluminum locker. The door is open, but it's clear that the locker had been buried at some point, then dug up again.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Taylor murmurs, his expression very grim.

"Christ - are you suggesting that this was Robert? That he tried to bury Malcolm alive?"

"I'd say so." He turns back to the corpse, "Which begs the question: if Malcolm was underground in that locker, how the hell did he get out and kill Robert Stanley?"

"He couldn't have done." Jim says, pointing, "He was locked in - look, there's the remains of a padlock down there. Someone smashed it off. Presumably with the shovel while they were digging him up."

"Yeah - but that still doesn't give any hint as to who it was, does it?" Taylor says, then turns, sharply, at the sound of rustling in the nearby bushes. Lowering his pistol towards the noise, he calls out, in a much louder voice, "Malcolm - is that you?"

Silence - except for more rustling.

"I've got a sonic pistol trained in your direction on maximum setting. Get out here where I can see you, or I start firing."

Both men stare in astonishment as the hidden watcher emerges.

"God - how is it that you were so noisy?" Jim asks, "Having an off day?"

Mira's eyes are narrowed, and hostile, "Don't be ridiculous. I've been trailing you ever since you arrived. I only wanted to make sure you didn't shoot me down, so I made myself more noticeable. Put that gun down, Commander - if you shoot me, then I can't tell you what I know, and your precious Chief Science Officer's a dead man."


"What the hell are you doing here, Mira?" Taylor asks, his voice thick with dislike.

"Searching out new hunting grounds. Now that we're in business together, I don't want to risk us depopulating the Gallusaur stocks so that your people can keep enjoying their steak sandwiches." She says offhandedly, "I saw the rover outside the outpost entrance, but I didn't get the opportunity to investigate it. There was too much shouting going on."

"Shouting?"

"Well, that's one way of describing the sound of Malcolm Wallace begging for his life."

"Don't push your luck Mira. What the hell happened?"

She leans back against the trunk of a tree, "Well. I could tell you - but then what? No. I think that, if you want to know what I know, then it's time we made a deal. Isn't it?"

"Not a chance, Mira. You tell us where Malcolm is, and I'll consider renegotiating."

She shakes her head, "If you really think I'm going to put all the chips in your hands, and then hope that you'll let me have some of them back, then this conversation ends here, and it ends now. Go find Doctor Wallace on your own." She folds her arms and regards him calmly and with mild disinterest.

"And leave him to die out here?"

"Believe me, I can wait. So can he; for now. Hear me out: I take you to where he's gone, and help you get him back. In exchange, you agree to re-admit my people back into Terra Nova. No prejudice, no conditions, no sanctions. We have skills you could use and we need a safe haven. That's my offer: take it or leave it."

"Screw that. Just get your people back to the Phoenix group where you all belong." Taylor snaps, furiously.

Mira rolls her eyes, "I take it you weren't listening when I told you about those idiots? The Phoenix soldiers are finished. Chances are there are none left - we were all that were keeping them alive, remember? They're a spent force - and if they're still alive out there, then it'll be a miracle."

"And they're still there?"

"Bound to be. Hooper's not moving."

"Hooper? Is he the reason they've stayed?" Jim asks.

"He's got one reason to keep going, Shannon. One and one alone - getting back to 2149. Whatever he has to do, he'll do it; though I'm surprised he hasn't sent a team to get his hands on Wallace. Whatever they think they can do, they can't do it until he's mended that stupid terminus."

"Never mind that. Where's Malcolm? If you were here, you saw what happened."

"I did. Didn't I?" she smiles, "Okay - as a show of good faith, here's what I'll do: I'll tell you what happened here. Then you agree to my terms and we take it from there."

Taylor rolls his eyes, "Just tell me, Mira."

"It's simple, really. Who was the guy that Wallace was with? Chubby, dishevelled."

"One of our botanists."

"Doesn't matter who he was, really; but he hated Wallace. I'll give him that - he must've done; judging by the state of that locker, he enlarged it to hold a human being, so that would've taken some work. He had him secured with cable ties - hands behind his back, no less, and dumped him face down in the locker. Even if he'd used a cardboard box, there was no way Wallace was going to be able to dig his way out of that."

The two men watch her in sullen silence. Shrugging, she continues, "Once he'd locked it and shoved it into the hole, he started dumping earth onto it. And then he was shot down with his own sonic rifle. It seems I wasn't the only person in the area. Hooper had someone, too."

"What did they do?" Jim asks, though he can guess.

"Carved fatty's throat open with his own machete and then got to work digging Wallace back up again." Mira shrugs.

"And it never occurred to you to intervene?"

"The man had a sonic rifle. What did you expect me to do? Besides, with blood in the air, how long d'you think it would've been before something came to investigate? No - they talked a while, then he took Wallace away - presumably to take his rover. I got up a tree pretty damn quick. Just as well - it wasn't long before a Nyko turned up."

"So you don't know where they went?" Taylor says, cynically.

"Of course I do. It was one of Hooper's lot, wasn't it?" Mira says, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world, and Taylor is an idiot for not realising it.

"So this person's taken Malcolm back to the encampment in the Badlands? Why the hell would we need you to tell us where that is? We found it weeks ago."

"And you think you can approach it undetected? You could get within a mile at most, and then they'd throw everything they have at you - and probably include Wallace's corpse into the bargain. There's only one way to get to it without being seen - and you'll never find it without me."

"Believe me, I can try." Taylor opts not to mention Guzman's expedition.

"Have you any idea how far out they are? If you've got enough water to get there, then be my guest. They started out with everything they needed - rations, water, survival equipment. But the rations are nearly gone, the equipment's failing. They haven't got anyone who can repair it properly - and certainly not since we left them. Even if they can't get him to do anything else, he'll be good for repairing water condensers and recyclers; they haven't got anyone else who could do it."

"What about the terminus?" Jim asks.

"I saw what Wallace did to it. Hooper knows damn all about electronics - if he thinks that it's repairable then he's living in a fantasy land. The best he can hope for is that Wallace can keep them in water while the lot of them starve to death. Basically," she looks up at Taylor with a rather smug air, "You've got as long as it takes a man in reasonable health to die of starvation to make your decision."

"Forget it. We'll find him ourselves."

"Then you'll find his dead body - assuming you even get there. They'll see you coming long before you get anywhere near their perimeter - and they'll take the pair of you out. Who'll rescue your precious Science Officer then?"

Taylor glares at her.

"I'm right - and you know it. Just accept that." Mira smiles at him, "I think the cards are in my favour this time, don't you? I have the better hand. Give me what I want, and I'll help you rescue Wallace. How about you make a start by giving me his rover?"

He says nothing, but jerks his head to the side, an indication that she should follow them. Knowing that they have no alternative, Jim offers no objection, and follows. They could, of course, pause to bury the remains of Robert Stanley - but with time as precious as it is, and given what he did, why bother? Let the scavengers have the rest of him. Perhaps he should feel appalled at his indifference to the abandonment of human remains; but how could Max ever forgive them if they lost the man she loves because they were busy burying the mortal remains of the man who tried to kill him?

The vehicles are still parked up beside the safety cage when they return, unmolested by man or beast. Her expression verging on the triumphant, Mira seats herself at the wheel of Malcolm's rover, "I take it you have an override?"

Taylor rolls his eyes, "655798900."

She punches in the code, and the engine sputters briefly, then fails. Frowning, she tries again. And again.

"Er. Mira." Jim is looking at the rear of the vehicle, "It looks like Robert's foiled your plan. The back panel's off and it looks like he's removed the power cell: that rover's going nowhere."

Scowling, she emerges and marches round to the rear of the vehicle to join Jim, "Damn him."

"Just when you thought you'd scored yourself a new set of wheels." Jim smirks at her, receiving a vicious glare in return.

"It looks as though Stanley thought of pretty much everything." Taylor says, quietly, "If Hooper's man hadn't intervened, then Malcolm would be dead."

Mira looks at him coldly, "If you don't agree to my deal, Taylor - then he still may well end up that way. What's your decision?"


Taylor's scowl almost matches Mira's when she emerged from the rover, "That's a choice that's no choice. Accept your ragtag band, or lose a valued member of my team."

"Valued?" she laughs again, "I thought we'd had that conversation: the lot of you think he's a pompous jerk. Are you out here because you want to get him back, or because he's a valuable commodity that you can't afford to do without?"

"There is not one single individual in the Colony who could be considered to be nothing more than a commodity, Mira," Taylor snarls, furiously, "Regardless of anyone's comments about Malcolm, he's a human being, not an object, and he's part of our family. We could manage without his expertise if we had to: he's not the only scientist in Terra Nova - we've got at least six people who can work together to replace his knowledge if it comes down to it. Yes: he can be a pain in the ass - but so can anyone else inside that compound. We accept his faults as much as his virtues - and he does have virtues, dammit - that's what families do. If you talk about him like that again, then I swear to God I'm gonna make you run along behind that damn rover when we move out."

"Is that what you think, Shannon?" Mira taunts, quietly, "D'you think I don't know why Wallace recruited your wife?"

"Don't even go there, Mira." Jim sighs, "You wouldn't know why he did it unless you can see inside his head. Whatever his motives were, his choice got me, and my family, out of that filthy world and into a better one. You might want to go back there, but I sure as hell don't. The water's so far under that bridge that it's made its way to the ocean and disappeared. He's no threat to my marriage, so don't try to pretend that he is."

"I wouldn't. Isn't he screwing a metalworker now?"

"What was that about making her run along behind?" Jim asks Taylor, crossly.

"Much as I'm enjoying our fascinating conversation," Taylor advises, "The longer it goes on, the longer Malcolm's in trouble. Get into the rover, Mira."

"You haven't given me an answer." She insists, stubbornly, "We come back into the Colony, or you fail to rescue Wallace. You need to make sure he's safe. I need to do the same with my people - we can't sustain our habitation much longer. If you don't agree, then I don't help you. Simple as that. If I lose, then so do you."

Taylor regards her for a moment. To an uncharitable observer, Mira's behaviour might be considered to be pure spite; but he can see her eyes - and there's concern there. Her people really are on the verge of dying. She's just as interested in keeping them alive as he is in keeping the Colonists alive. Their motives are - in the end - identical.

"Fair enough." He concedes, "You help us retrieve Malcolm, and, in return, you and your people return to Terra Nova. You become full members of the Colony - no arguments, no restrictions, no caveats - and we draw a line in the sand."

She nods.

"But if he dies," Taylor adds, "Then the deal's off and you can stay out in the woods until there's none of you left. How's that for motivation?"

"And what if Hooper kills him on the spot?" Mira asks, "You have no idea - none at all - how much Hooper wants to hurt him for destroying the terminus. Assuming he survives whatever punishment Hooper throws at him, he's still got to try and repair it."

"But why? It's a piece of useless junk if Hope Plaza's toast." Jim adds, "Were you able to make contact with anyone in 2149 after the terminus blew?"

Mira shrugs, "No idea. Hooper blocked me out of communications with anyone of any kind. Whether he can or he can't, it doesn't matter. He wants to get back and he'll torture Wallace if he has to to make him repair that damned terminus."

Taylor is staring at her, "Why all this determination about the terminus? Even if Malcolm could repair it - which even he thinks is highly unlikely - what good would it do? You can anchor a fracture - but what about the other end? Presumably you'd need to have a connection there in order to go both ways - and, last I saw, the Phoenix Group were fresh out of particle accelerators."

"That's not the plan." Mira says, calmly, "They don't want to connect to Hope Plaza in 2151. They want to do it back in 2149 - prior to the departure of the eleventh pilgrimage."

"Is that even possible?" Jim asks, concerned.

"Of course it isn't. The fracture just opens and closes - it can't be adjusted - the two ends move constantly forward in time between the two eras that they connect. Even I know that and I'm just a grubby survivalist who used to have feathers in her hair." Mira's tone is derisive, presumably quoting someone's insult.

"So how does Hooper think he can use the terminus to go back to a predetermined point in the future's past? For want of a better word." Jim frowns slightly, trying to make sense of the terminology that he's attempting to describe.

"He doesn't. Does he?" Suddenly, Taylor sounds very, very weary, "There's only one person who could even start to find a way to pull that off."

Mira watches him, almost warily, as though she expects him to explode, but nods.

"Lucas? Lucas is still alive?" Jim asks, and then plunges on, suddenly angry, "You knew, didn't you? Right from the start - you knew, and you didn't tell us that he made it. He was shot - twice! How the hell did he survive that?"

"How do you think? Hate's an incredibly strong motivator. He was appallingly injured, but he made his way back to the perimeter, and one of my men found him. Hooper demanded that he come along - we couldn't do anything without him. It took nearly eight months for him to fully recover - and then it was all 'terminus' this and 'terminus' that. Hooper wouldn't have known where to start. Lucas thinks that he's found a way to make the fracture deposit him back at Hope Plaza at a time of his choosing."

"He was here last night." Taylor adds, quietly, "Wasn't he? He was the one who killed Stanley and took Malcolm. 'Hooper's man'."

Mira nods, still keeping her distance.

"If I didn't need you to get me to the encampment and retrieve Malcolm, then…God, I'd kill you where you stand. You've known all along that my son is still alive, and you didn't tell us. The one thing we most needed to know - and you kept it to yourself. If we'd known, then I would never have let Malcolm go OTG. And I wouldn't be having to face the possibility of having to tell the woman who loves him that he's dead."

"It was my final bargaining chip." She says simply, but without regret, "What would you have done in my position?"

For a moment, it looks as though the impending explosion is going to detonate; but instead, Taylor's scowl grows even deeper, and he jabs his finger towards their rover, "Get in the back."

"And then what?"

"We retrieve Malcolm, and then I decide whether or not your silence about my son has just cost you our deal."