Chapter VI: Conflict and acceptance

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow when Noah entered through the front door: her clothes were all wrinkled and full of smudges. Noah raised her hands in an apologetic gesture.

"I'm sorry, Nath.. commander Taylor took me for a climb."

"You better go and take a shower then. Dinner is in half an hour."

Elizabeth watched her go into her room to get new clothes before concentrating on the food again. She hid her smile as she realized that something must have happened between them if Noah almost used Taylor's first name, something no one else in Terra Nova did.

Minutes later Noah tried to drown herself under the shower. With her eyes closed she rested her head against the side, thinking. Kissing Taylor, let alone everything else that happened out there, was not something she had anticipated. But then again, these things never happened when you anticipated them. Noah felt the hot water flow over her breasts and immediately another image, a memory, came to mind. Noah felt her cheeks burn and tried to suppress the memory. She had never been a good one for relationships: no man had ever truly connected with her. They either thought she was a complete nutcase or felt emasculated by her intellect. Nathaniel Taylor wasn't like that: he seemed to look right into her soul, just like she had the impression she could look into his soul when she looked into his eyes. When she did that she had the feeling she recognized something, something profound, something you couldn't describe with words. Noah smiled and finally gave into the daydream that had been lurking at the borders of her consciousness, only to receive a rude awakening some 5 minutes later when Elizabeth yelled she had to speed up because dinner was almost ready.

Taylor and Jim were looking at a map which pinpointed the location of every Sixer-transmission Terra Nova had been able to pick up in the last 12 hours.

"This doesn't look good." Taylor muttered. "They're all over the place."

"Yeah, but they might just be hunting for food. After all, there is nothing in the badlands."

"Maybe." Taylor continued to gaze at the map, clearly unconvinced.

Jim hesitated for a moment.

"I interrogated those two soldiers from the 21st century this afternoon."

"And?"

"They're… harmless."

Taylor turned his head towards Jim with a look of disbelieve in his eyes.

"They're kids." Jim explained. "Neither of them is older than 25. Both of them got sucked into this because they wanted to live the life of a soldier and they had been thrown out of the military."

Taylor's eyebrows went even further up his head.

"That doesn't mean they're harmless, Jim. Personally, I'd love to leave them out there but I suppose that isn't an option either."

Taylor turned back towards the map and stared at it before he let out a deep sigh.

"Oh well, we're not going to solve this puzzle tonight. Why don't you head home? I'll see you tomorrow."

Jim bid the commander a goodnight and ran straight home: Elizabeth was cooking and Jim knew that it was going to be good.

As it turned out, Jim was only just in time for dinner. Noah, still with wet hair, Maddy and Zoë were already seated. Josh was working late. The first minutes everyone concentrated on the food, which was a carnotaurus-steak with something that vaguely resembled potatoes.

"Dad, is it true? Mark said that the Sixers were back in the region." Maddy said.

Jim nodded. "They're all over the place but… I think they're just here for hunting. There is nothing eatable in the badlands."

Noah only followed the conversation with half an ear. Her thoughts were still on the afternoon she spent with Taylor. It wasn't until she heard the names Michael and Mathew that she looked up.

"What? The two soldiers that I brought with me?"

"Yes." Jim looked at her with a grave look. "We still have to decide what to do with them. Taylor said that he'd love to throw them out of Terra Nova and…"

Noah dropped her fork. Jim immediately stopped talking when he saw her face: anger and fear were battling fiercely for precedence. Anger won.

"But he can't do that! That's a death sentence!"

Elizabeth was shocked at the sudden force in Noah's voice. Granted, she didn't agree with some of the harsh laws of Terra Nova, and this was one of them, but Noah's shock over it seemed a bit excessive: after all, Taylor had explained the situation they were living in.

Jim tried to calm her down: "Look, I'm sure Taylor didn't mean it. He'll probably send them back with you."

Noah was unconvinced but dropped the subject out of respect for her hosts. In fact, she rarely spoke a words for the rest of the evening and went to bed relatively early.

The next morning however, Noah marched straight for Taylor's headquarters. She had hardly slept at all last night, pondering the situation. Given all that happened between them yesterday Noah felt somewhat betrayed by Taylor. Once again, she thought, it had been proven how bad a judge of character she was. As she approached the square she could see that there was already a great deal of activity. She could see Guz organizing men, probably to go on patrol. Noah ignored them and climbed the stairs. She could hear Taylor's voice as he was giving instructions and indeed, she passed a soldier leaving as she walked in.

Taylor seemed unaware of her mood and, given that he was alone now, walked over to her to kiss her. Noah, however, took a step back and stared at him with angry eyes.

"What's wrong?" Taylor asked, taken aback by the expression on her face.

"What's wrong?!" Noah spat out. "Jim told me last night that you want to throw Michael and Mathew out of Terra Nova, out there! They won't survive that, it's a death sentence! How can you do that? They're just two young men who got sucked into this by me and Leech! How can you do that?"

Taylor stared at her: her anger was incredible to behold, he had not thought someone so idealistic as she could show that degree of anger. Nevertheless, he also felt hurt, insulted even, that she should think so lowly of him.

"First of all," he answered with a cold voice "I told Jim that doing that was not an option, even if I wanted too. Second, I haven't even spoken to these men yet so I haven't decided anything. And third, thank you for the vote of confidence."

Taylor's words, spoken coldly and yet full of anger, had washed away Noah's own anger in an instance. His anger and cold voice had pierced her armor of rage and suddenly she felt ashamed for not trusting him. Noah could feel her cheeks burn and stared at the floor, unable to look Taylor in the eye. She should have known Taylor would never do it. Noah wanted to apologize but was unable to speak; she could still feel Taylor's cold gaze. After a minute or two Taylor turned away and walked over to his desk. Noah continued to stare at the floor. She could feel his anger and disappointment on her all the way across the room and it was more then she could bear.

"I really wish I could drown myself right now." She said in a whisper.

Taylor turned towards her and leaned on his desk but didn't respond.

"I… I don't… I didn't think. I never seem to do…." She continued, trying to bite back the tears. "I'm so stupid."

Noah felt as if she couldn't breathe: her head felt as if she was being choked again. She still didn't dare to look up at Taylor so instead, she focused on the wall opposite of her.

"I…I'm sorry." She finally managed to say.

But still Taylor didn't respond, he didn't even move. Noah finally looked at him and stared straight into his eyes. She saw everything she feared she would see: anger, hurt, disappointment.

"I'm sorry." She repeated, "I should probably go."

Slowly, and with hanging head, she turned towards the door. But before she reached it Taylor had crossed the room and grabbed her by the arm. Noah turned towards him and stared at him.

"Next time, just ask me about it."

Noah nodded, still feeling immensely guilty. Taylor, however, couldn't help it: Noah looked so innocent as she was standing there. He pulled her close to him and kissed her, something Noah all to gladly gave into.

Just as they stood there Reynolds walked in to hand Taylor a rapport he had requested. At the same moment he stood still, in shock and embarrassment, Jim's arm reached in through the door and pulled Reynolds out by the collar of his vest.

Minutes later Taylor and Noah, still with a red face, emerged from the room into the sunlight. Reynolds stood still besides the door with Jim talking to him. The scene somewhat seemed artificial to Taylor, who had immediately noticed the corporal's rigidness and Jim's feeble attempts to control the wide grin on his face.

"Jim, I'm going down to the brick to talk to those idiots. Hold the fort."

He paused a moment before saying: "Corporal Reynolds, is there something wrong?"

Reynolds obviously had no idea how best to respond to that question: he could hardly admit he had walked in on his commanding officer kissing a woman. Besides, no one in Terra Nova had ever even imagined Taylor as someone's lover. It was an image to improbable to behold.

"Everything… Eh, everything is alright, sir." He eventually responded, staring past Taylor. "I, eh, I've got the rapport you… you've requested."

He tried to hand the rapport to Taylor, still unable to look him in the eye. Taylor didn't accept it, still puzzled by his corporals funny behavior.

"Well, put it on the desk and continue with your duty, corporal." He eventually said.

It took Reynolds a second or two to comprehend the order and walk into Taylor's office.

"What's wrong with him?" Noah asked.

"He saw a little too much WILDlife this morning." Jim responded, still with a wide grin on his face.

Noah's eyes grew wide for a second, as she realized what Jim meant. Right at that moment Reynolds passed Taylor and almost fell down the stairs because he was hurrying to get away. Taylor stared after him for a second as he too realized what Jim meant.

"Well," Taylor said dryly, "I'm down to the brick. Noah is going with me, she knows these men. We might be able to come to some arrangement with them."

Jim didn't say anything but nodded and stood aside to let them pass.

In the brick the two men jumped up as Taylor opened the door and walked in. For the first time Taylor had the opportunity to study the men's faces and what he saw pleased him. They were both still very young and hadn't required the look of disdain yet he had seen on so many mercenaries faces. In fact, neither of them actually looked like mercenaries at all, more like schoolboys who had been caught doing something wrong.

Noah was the first to speak.

"Hello, Mathew. How's the book going?"

Mathew, book still in hand, smiled a little. "Fine, it's a lot better than I expected."

"What are you reading, son?" Taylor asked.

"Eh, 'War and Peace', sir."

Taylor was impressed, that was serious literature.

"Jim Shannon said the both of you were discharged from the military. Why was that?"

Michael and Mathew seemed thoroughly embarrassed: they looked at each other uncomfortably before Michael started talking.

"Eh, I was asked to leave because I had a forbidden relationship with a female superior officer."

Taylor nodded and turned to Mathew Demeer, he was very curious to what the reason of his discharge could've been.

Mathew shrugged: "I hit my commanding officer."

Taylor raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

Mathew raised his head and looked Taylor in the eye. For the first time Taylor saw his pride as a soldier.

"My commander tried to rape a female fellow soldier, sir. I have no regrets." He added defiantly.

"Neither would I." Taylor responded. "I'd probably would've held him for you."

Noah smiled, relieved: it was clear to her that Taylor liked both of them. She observed Taylor as he observed the two men in the brick: Taylor's eyes were not unfriendly, they gazed at the men with a kind interest rather than harsh conviction.

"Alright," Taylor eventually said, "you two can choose: either you go back to the 21st century or you stay here in Terra Nova."

"As what?" Michael said, quickly adding "Sir" when he saw Taylor look.

"As members of Terra Nova's security-force. Under my command. I can use good men."

Neither of the two men moved, they seemed to contemplate this offer in the silence of their own mind. Mathew was the first to nod, Michael soon followed.

They both saluted Taylor as to confirm their choice to him.

"We'd be honored to serve in Terra Nova, sir." Michael said.

Some distance from Terra Nova, on a ridge, Lucas Taylor was observing the colony with his binoculars. He had used them to search the place and was now focusing on the roof of the science building. The presence of the soldier had intrigued him and soon he had noticed the strange looking equipment next to him. Lucas realized that he was looking at a portal. The strange shape of the thing fascinated him. Next to him Mira moved.

"And? Any sign of this Storms?"

"No," Lucas responded without putting his binoculars down, "but I can see the portal she build. Brilliant, it's simply brilliant. She must have created entirely new technology to achieve this. Brilliant."

Mira realized that Lucas wasn't talking to her but rather to himself and remained silent.

Lucas suddenly saw the ladder at the side of the building move and a woman with short brown hair appeared. He recognized her immediately: Noah Storms. Her biography was the first he had ever read and he had been inspired by it. Her hardship, the fact no one had acknowledged her genius, it had made Lucas identify himself with her as a child. She was beautiful, in his eyes she was the perfect woman: a scientist, smart, someone who would undoubtedly understand his sufferings, maybe even admire his strength of character and his determination to achieve his goals. Lucas watched her check the equipment with a silent sense of longing, not just for the equipment which would enable him to finish the work he started but also for the woman who had invented it.

Lucas saw her climb back down after exchanging a few words with the soldier on the roof. Lucas followed her with his binoculars. His eyes narrowed when he saw that his father was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. The next moment however, his eyes flew wide open with shock when he saw his father kiss her, a full kiss that expressed love rather than friendship. Lucas let out a low growl of displeasure at his fathers' betrayal. How could he tarnish Ayani Taylor's, Lucas' mother's memory like that! And with a woman he could have known his son would love as well!

Down in Terra Nova neither Taylor or Noah were aware of the fact that they were being watched. Taylor continued to hold Noah in his arms after she had told him her key was almost fully recharged and that she would be able to leave tomorrow.

"So this is it." Taylor said.

Noah nodded, unable to speak. She had never felt worse in her life, not even when her father had told her to move out because her scientific believes in time travel tarnished the families reputation as learned people. She wanted to stay so badly.

"I will come back." She eventually managed to say.

Taylor held her at arm's length and looked her in the eye.

"I know you will. This is your home too!"

They walked away, still unaware of the vengeful eyes following them.

Lucas lowered his binoculars but continued to stare at the colony without really seeing it. The cold hatred he felt for his father was entirely projected on that place. The fact that he would be paid handsomely for delivering this world into the destructive hands of his employers hardly mattered to him at all. His main target was to destroy his father and he knew how he could do that: by destroying his father's lifework, by destroying Terra Nova.

He turned to Mira.

"Let's go." He said dryly; "We won't learn anything more here today. Judging from the behavior down there, I think she'll be leaving tomorrow. If she leaves."

Mira didn't ask what he meant with that last remark; her fear of Lucas had increased tenfold in the last few months. His behavior had become more disturbed after they had lost the fight for Terra Nova and had been forced back into the badlands. What they had discovered there, had only been confirmed by Noah Storms appearance: that there were multiple rifts. It was just a question of how to find the right one. Lucas had been obsessed by finding the other rifts and Noah's work had confirmed his findings. Mira almost felt sorry for Noah if she fell into their hands; she knew Lucas would go at any lengths to get the information from her that he wanted, even if it meant torture. However, she also knew that she would be worse, far worse than Lucas, on the woman if she didn't want to cooperate. She wanted to go home; she wanted her daughter. And no one would stop her getting what she wanted.

Taylor had brought Noah to the Shannon home and returned to the work behind his desk. Not that he could get anything done. The departure of the woman he loved and the uncertainty of when, or even if, she would return was eating away all his concentration. Taylor felt extremely uneasy about Noah's departure, not just for personal reasons; there was so much that could go wrong, so many things that could mess this up. He was still puzzled over the behavior of the Sixers and why they had chosen to reappear at this moment: Jim was probably right in thinking that they were just hunting. But what if it was more, what if they had learned about Noah's presence? Jim and he had not discussed it, but the consequences of what would happen if Lucas would get his hands on Noah's key were disastrous. Taylor closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He could force her to stay, it was within his power to do so and he was seriously tempted but he knew he would never do it: it would keep her from the one chance she had to save her family from a future that would only bring pain and misery. She would never forgive him.

"I don't want to go."

The silently spoken words made Taylor look up. There, in the doorway, with the black night's sky behind her, was Noah. Her eyes were sad and worried. She looked extremely anxious, as if she knew as well how much was at stake and how much could go wrong.

Within seconds Taylor had gotten up and crossed the room. Without thinking, without speaking, he kissed her. All of his fears and all of his hopes and reassurances were in his kiss.

"Then stay." He finally said, "If not tomorrow, then tonight."

Noah nodded, she wanted nothing else.

Miles away, Lucas and Mira were explaining the plan to Cooper and Leech.

"Our best shot is to ambush Storms at the site of the rift. Knowing my father, he will leave her alone there. That way she can leave in peace."

Mira nodded: "We wait until Taylor and his men pull back and we seize her and her equipment. We have to move quick. If Taylor hears us and comes back for her, we'll have a tough time getting out of there alive."

Cooper nodded: "How many men do we take with us?"

Mira thought for a second: "Not too many, all of us and Carter. If we use to many of our men, it will be too difficult to hide long enough. You can be damn sure Taylor will sweep the area before leaving her."

"How do you know that she'll be leaving tomorrow?" Leech asked aggressively.

His way of speaking enraged Lucas, who heartedly disliked the man. He managed to hide it though, when he answered his question.

"Because I saw her check her equipment; she uses solar power to recharge her portal. Assuming she started recharging the day she got her equipment back and knowing how much energy it takes to create a portal, I'd say it will be tomorrow."

Leech tried to say something but Lucas, thoroughly annoyed by the man, interrupted him: "Look, I say it's going to be tomorrow! She's going to try to leave tomorrow or she's not going to leave at all! Got it?"

Leech nodded and remained silent. Even in this short period with these people he had come to understand Lucas' power and the others' fear of Lucas.

Mira chose to ignore Lucas outburst and looked around at the men.

"We better get some sleep. We leave for the site first thing at dawn."