Chapter II: When the past and future meet

Elizabeth studied the information that the med-bed gave her. The frown on her forehead told everyone present that there was something off.

"This doesn't make any sense. I mean… Look at these readings: they're inconsistent with anything you'd expect. Jim, look at this!" she said pointing and a column of numbers.

Jim backed away. "Uh, I can't even read that, Elizabeth, let alone know what it means."

Taylor backed away as well, the last thing he wanted was to look like a dumb soldier. Elizabeth sighed and turned towards the med-bed again.

"You know how everyone is marked with a trace because of the journey through the portal?"

Taylor nodded: "Yeah, you can determine with which pilgrimage a person came through with that trace."

Elizabeth looked vaguely impressed: "Well, the readings on this chart show that she didn't come through with any of the pilgrimages we know, not even the eleventh. And then there are the tox-ratings: because we all lived in a polluted environment back in the future we have a certain amount of toxic materials in our bloodstream. But the rating in her blood suggests she's been in Terra Nova for at least 11 years."

"That's impossible!" Taylor exclaimed; "The colony is almost 8 years old, not 11. And I think I would recognize her if that was the case."

"I know, but everything else suggest she's a recent arrival."

Jim only followed the conversation with half an ear: there was something vaguely familiar about her. "You know," he said tentatively "I think I've seen her somewhere before."

Elizabeth looked at him with surprise: "You too? I've had the same impression. And yet I'm sure I've never met her before."

At that moment a tired looked Malcolm sailed into the clinic.

"Commander, I need to…"

Malcolm had stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the med-bed. The others looked at him puzzled: the expression on Malcolms' face was one of utter disbelieve. It wasn't until a full 2 minutes later that he opened his mouth again.

"How… I mean… What is she doing here? This is impossible!"

"You know who she is?" Taylor asked.

Malcolm looked at everyone in the room. "You mean you guys haven't recognized her? We all know her! This is Noah Storms!"

Jim and Taylor looked puzzled for a moment but Elizabeth gasped.

"No way! That is impossible! Malcolm, she was a theorist, as far as we know she never attempted to create a device to actually travel through time."

"It's her, I've seen her face so many times!"

Jim was still confused: "Excuse me, a word of explanation for the science-illiterate maybe?"

"Jim, this is Noah Storms; the physicist that first wrote down the laws of time travel. If it hadn't been for her work Terra Nova might never have existed. In fact, she was the first to name Terra Nova!"

Taylor smacked himself on the forehead: "Off course, they made me read her manifest on just causes for time travel before I left for this place. That's why I wanted to call this place 'Terra Nova'."

"That doesn't explain how she got here." Malcolm stared at the unconscious woman.

Elizabeth too, looked down on her: "We'll have to wait until she wakes up, which might take a while. My guess is, she won't come around before dawn. We'll just have to wait."

Slowly, very slowly, Noah began to be more aware of her surroundings. With her eyes closed her senses were down to feeling, smelling and hearing. She was clearly lying down on a comfortable bed, she was inside and there was someone else in the room. She could hear breathing, calm and slowly as if someone was sleeping. Noah opened her eyes: it was not day yet, although the hint of light outside told her that it was not far away. As she sat up and took her surroundings in she realized were she must be: this must have been part of the colony Maddy had told her about. The thought of the frightened teenager gave her a burst of the energy she lacked only seconds before. She jumped of the odd looking bed she had been lying on and tried to reach the door. After 2 or 3 steps however, she had to grab a nearby table because she was dizzy. She took a few moments to recover. In those moments she became, again, aware of another person breathing. Slowly she looked around and saw a man in a military uniform sitting on a chair at the end of her bed. Noah kept eying the man as she silently walked towards the door. Outside another surprise awaited.

Commander Taylor overlooked the square in front of Terra Nova headquarters: 4 rovers stood ready to depart as soon as it was day, the drivers and passengers still in their beds. He hadn't slept all night; he worried too much. Even now Hope Plaza was gone and the future couldn't reach them, he knew that sooner or later the sixers and Phoenix-army would return. Together, he knew, they would be an enemy that was not to be underestimated. Taylor sighed and went back inside, unaware that his moves were being watched by someone across the square.

Noahs' gaze followed the tall man with the light beard. She knew that this must be commander Taylor. Since she had gotten outside, about 10 minutes ago, she had fallen from one surprise into another. The gate in front of her and the elevated, wooden building to her left seemed vaguely familiar. She shook her head, this was no time for dreaming: she had a job to do. Without further hesitation she crossed the square and climbed up the stairs leading to the doorway through which she had seen commander Taylor disappear.

Once inside she looked around: the room seemed quiet empty. She studied a desk which seemed to be made from a tyrannosaur-like skull. It made her smile.

"Can I help you?"

The deep voice behind her made her jump. She spun around and stared direct into commander Taylors' eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but she had no idea what to say. The mans' gaze made her incredibly uncomfortable.

"Are you ok?" He sounded concerned. "What are you doing here?"

Noah hesitated a moment. "I…I was looking for you."

His surprise was genuine. "Me? Why would you look for me, miss Storms? You don't know who I am."

"Yes, I do. And… Wait. How do you know my name?"

Taylors' smile made her blush slightly; there was something about him that made her uncomfortable and yet, at the same time, the timbre of his voice and his eyes made her feel safe. She tried shaking these feelings.

"You are Noah Storms and you were a physicist at the start of the 21st century. You wrote down the laws of time travel and you published a manifest on the just causes for time travel. That is you, isn't it?"

Noah frowned. "Yes, but… how do you know all that?"

Taylors' smile widened. "Do you know how we call our colony?"

Noah shook her head.

"This is Terra Nova, and it's the colony you envisioned when you wrote that manifest."

Noah stared at him, but the more she stared the less she could see him: the room felt like it was floating. The next moment, she was sitting in a chair with her head in her hands, feeling immensely dizzy.

"Are…" Noah swallowed away a feeling of sickness "Are you sure about that? I mean, how is that possible?"

Taylor handed her a glass of water before responding. He sat down in front of her.

"Yes, this is the Terra Nova you envisioned. At least, that's what folks around like to believe. You're an honored person here. If it hadn't been for you, we might never have gotten a second chance. Our scientists might not have figured it out in time. They might never have realized what the rift was."

It were those last words that brought Noah back to the present; Maddy! She was still out there. Before she could tell Taylor though a man came through the door at high speed.

"Taylor, are you ready? We're waiting for you."

Jim stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Noah there. Noah, in return, stared at him: there was something vaguely familiar about him.

"I'll be there in a minute, Jim. Noah, this is Jim Shannon. He is…"

"You're Maddys' father." Noah interrupted him.

The men went quiet, they both stared at her.

Jim swallowed. "You … you've seen her."

Noah got up, she was till unsteady on her feet and was grateful for Taylors' helping hand.

"I saw her yesterday. She… she got taken by… by the men that came with me."

Taylor let go of her arm: "What? You're not here alone?"

Noah shook her head. "No, but… they betrayed me the instant they got here. I told them; this is science not a quick buck. They want to go back and sell my invention."

Jim advanced on her, his entire body showed hostility.

"Where are they?"

"There camp was about 15 kilometers to the west from here, next to a well in a clearing."

"We have to go. Now!"

Taylor tried to calm Jim down.

"We don't know how many there are and if they are still there. We need to be rational, Jim. We can't go in there guns blazing, she could get hurt."

"But what if they go back to 2017? We'll never get her back!"

The panic in his voice was clearly audible.

Noah shook her head: "They won't go back, they can't. I'm the only one who can operate the key: the control panel will only work if I place my hand on it; it recognizes my heat signature. And there are only four of them." She added with a look on Taylor.

Taylor nodded. "Jim, tell the men we leave in 5 minutes. Tell them to expect a fight." He turned to Noah and grabbed her arm. "I'm taking you back to the clinic. You'll be safe there."

Noah shook him of. "No, I have to go with you. I need to get my key back or I'll never be able to leave. Besides: the battery is very powerful: if it gets hit by a bullet it might explode and trust me: that's the last thing you want to happen!"

Taylor looked intensely at her for a few seconds, then he nodded. "On one condition: you obey every order I give you."

Noah nodded and followed the men out the door.