"Sorry I can't offer you time off," Jim sat beside Malcolm who was driving his personal rover to the portal that hadn't been touched since Malcolm destroyed the control panel. Jim went straight to the vehicles gathering before the gate after leaving Wash and her new baby. Guzman assembled a dozen soldiers, all that were left in the colony while they pursued the Phoenix, Jim noted. Those left behind were more than ready to see action, even guarding the portal.
"Not a problem. It's not as if I've been overworked while traveling with Taylor's army. Finally makes me feel useful again after playing archeologist for months."
"Still the colony is planning a welcome home party tomorrow and I want everyone present, including you."
"Hopefully it won't take more than a few hours to fix the terminus controller. I'm rigging a relay to the communication center and we'll know if any activity is attempted."
Jim nodded, "I hope for Wash's sake we get him back. It was a shocker coming home and seeing her almost ready to pop. I didn't even know she was expecting, did you?"
Malcolm chuckled, "No, and I bet the Commander is clueless also, or he'd have been crowing all over the place."
"Well if we make contact with him, I'm not telling," Jim laughed.
"I think that's Wash's job," Malcolm agreed.
"She gave me messages to send to him if we get something."
"Maybe we should listen to them," Malcolm grinned.
"I'm not eavesdropping on a private message," Jim protested.
"Well there goes my idea of not having to listen to you while I'm working," Malcolm griped good-naturedly.
"I hope we find him. It'd be a shame for him to miss his daughter growing up," Jim sobered.
"I sure didn't see much of him in her. She's her mother's daughter in looks, a real beauty."
"She has her father's smile," Jim pulled his mini out and looked at the picture he'd taken of her while she was in her incubator in the Infirmary. Little Jade was smiling up at him and he was amazed at her clear skin. Elizabeth told him babies born with a cesarean didn't go through the trauma of the birth canal with the deforming of the soft skull. He took a close-up of her face and large luminous ebony eyes were looking up and she smiled when he snapped the still. He didn't notice it until he looked at the photo and her father's smile jumped out at him. He handed the mini to Malcolm who glanced down at the photo.
"You're right, poor kid," Malcolm handed it back.
Malcolm worked meticulously for three hours while Jim wandered around and spread the unit out to look for carno's and their genre. He asked Malcolm to let him know before he turned the unit on so he could position the troops in position of attack in case an army was waiting to come through. He also had the colony on alert and all soldiers, even while off duty, had radio's to call them to arms.
Finally, with a final examination, Malcolm called Jim over, "I'm ready." He waited for Jim to position the people.
"Okay, let's see if we have contact," Jim waited. He didn't expect to hear anything as the diaphanous blue mist filled the area between the arches.
Malcolm made an adjustment and stepped back so not to be too close to any action. He and Jim walked several yards away, near the area Nathaniel set his parameter during the eleventh.
"What do we do now?" Jim asked.
Malcolm shrugged his shoulders, "If where Taylor went has a Hope Plaza, they will be able to activate the portal now. We can turn it off, but as long as it's intact, we need it monitored for invaders. The only way I can disable it is to take it apart."
"That means round the clock guards."
"Not my area of expertise. You ask me to make it work, not the ramifications."
"Hope Plaza to Terra Nova." The unexpected contact made Jim and Malcolm visibly jump at the same time. The soldiers raised rifles to the entrance of the portal.
Jim withdrew his radio from his pocket, "Hope Plaza, this is Terra Nova."
"Oh, thank God," an excited voice responded. "We've been trans ponding every ten minutes for three days now. We have two people whose signatures match your world."
Jim exchanged a grin with Malcolm, "We're ready for them to come home. Are they at your Hope Plaza?"
There was a short space, "No Sir, Commander Taylor is in a meeting and we'll have to summons him. Hold on while we contact him."
"I'll be standing by," Jim motioned for the soldiers to lower their weapons.
"Can I tell Commander Taylor who is on the other end?"
"Jim Shannon, he knows me."
A couple minutes later the voice was back, "Mr. Shannon."
"I'm here."
"Dr. Wallace was able to contact General Simmonds, and Commander Taylor is on his way. Standby and we'll re-contact you directly," the line was severed.
Jim grinned at Malcolm, "Want to place a bet their Dr. Wallace is you?"
"He is me. I spent years at Hope Plaza coordinating the science teams and training before Commander Taylor ever stepped through the portal."
"Did you know him then?" Jim realized he didn't know that piece of information.
"We met about two years before the first pilgrimage and I worked directly with Lucas. He was supposed to examine the fissure from this side, but according to the official record, he disappeared about three months after arriving here. I had to come and do the work for the portal on this side myself."
They continued chatting until Jim remembered, "I forgot, I should call Wash."
"Maybe you should wait until we know one hundred percent it's him."
"They said the signature is identical. I'm convinced," Jim lifted the radio he still cradled in his hand.
"Shannon to Lieutenant Taylor."
Soon her sleepy voice answered, "Go ahead, Shannon."
"How are you and the baby doing?"
"You woke me up to ask me how I'm doing?" she sounded peeved.
He couldn't keep the grin off, "Only if I thought I could get the reaction I did from you; but no, I called to tell you we made contact."
Awake now, Alicia sat up and swung her feet off the bed, careful not to disturb her daughter who was sleeping in the middle of the bed beside her. "Is Nathaniel home?"
Picking up the excitement in her tone, he grinned at Malcolm, "When we got the portal fixed, it wasn't long before we had contact. Seems like a Hope Plaza has our two missing people. The Commander is on his way to Hope Plaza from wherever he was. He should be on the line momentarily so I need to cut this short. Any message for him?"
"If you can get my messages sent to him, it'll explain about the baby and I added a ton of pictures last night after everyone left."
"Well I have one I'm attaching to your file with a note from me. It's got to be better than anything you took. She was smiling at me with her eyes open."
"Go ahead; he probably won't be able to get enough of her. The vids I took are kind of boring. All she would do is sleep."
"When he asks why you aren't here, what should I tell him?" Jim really didn't have an answer.
"Tell him he'll know as soon as he views his messages from me."
"I'll tell him you ran off with Erick McKormick," Jim laughed.
"Don't you dare or you'll see what I'm really like pissed off."
"Are you coming to the portal?"
There was a pause while she gave his question some thought, "No, I'm still recovering from yesterday's C-Section, and the baby is sleeping."
"Okay, but I'm not responsible for what comes out of my mouth, Shannon out."
Alicia thumbed her radio off. She reclined on her elbow and looked at her baby. Carefully, she reached out and slipped a finger into Jade's hand. The baby instinctively gripped bringing a smile to her mother's face. "Daddy's coming home and it won't be in time for your graduation."
Nathaniel and Elliot ran into the command room at Hope Plaza. To Nathaniel's surprise, Ayani was there. He stopped beside her gave a questioning look.
"Elliot called me and I was only a block away at a little shop that sells fresh grown food. I wanted to make a special supper for you."
"Why?" he looked puzzled.
"Because I like cooking for you again, no other reason," she smiled. "Now what's so important that I've been called here?"
"We've made contact with my world," he watched her face fall and turned away to Malcolm.
"They're standing by," he motioned to the person who'd actually talked to Jim.
"Hope Plaza to Terra Nova," the tech repeated his earlier transmission.
"Go ahead, Hope Plaza," the voice of Jim Shannon was clearly heard on the loudspeakers.
Nathaniel moved to the mic built into the console, "Shannon, Taylor here."
"You my missing Taylor?" Mirth was evident in his voice.
"According to the bioscans, I belong to your time."
"Good, when you coming home?"
"If all goes well, soon," Nathaniel paused. "Jim, why am I talking to you?"
"Malcolm's here if you'd rather talk to him."
"You know what I mean."
"Well, the best explanation I can give is messages. You ready to receive?"
Nathaniel looked at Malcolm who nodded. He took his mini out and slid it into the slot for message retrieval. Within seconds, the beep signaling transfer complete sounded and he pulled his mini out and carefully put it in his pocket. "I got them, Shannon." Now came the part he didn't want to pursue, "Here's the plan. This world is almost identical to ours with a few modifications in recent years. Seems like the Nathaniel Taylor here is dead and General Philbrick is in the past with the army and won't let civilians colonize. In order for me to be released along with Mira, I've agreed to give them the technology Lucas developed to make the portal go both ways."
He stopped talking and there was unmitigated silence on the other end. He could almost hear them in his head discussing the situation. Finally, Jim's voice was back, "And you agreed to let Philbrick have access to that technology?"
"Not my world; and Philbrick won't know anything about it, at least until I'm long gone. I informed them of the risks and they are willing to accept them. By the way, Lucas is dead here also. How'd he fare during the battle?"
"He's alive," Jim didn't elaborate and Nathaniel was relieved. "If we agree on our end, when will you be home?"
"Malcolm on this end says tests will have to be run to make sure physical objects arrive intact. We'll send a probe and I want you to send it back so we can examine it. Place round the clock guards on the portal." He threw it out casually and Jim understood the implication.
"Already have. Is there any other way to get you home?"
"I tried. The answer is no. Also, they want to send representatives back with me to see how we built the colony. I'm still in negotiations to allow a short visit for them. We'll need to make accommodations for around thirty visitors."
"Understood," Jim was letting Nathaniel set the pace and he knew an open mic wasn't the place to argue.
"I'd urge you to hurry and get the technology back here so we can move to the next phase of testing the portal's compatibility with ours," Nathaniel hoped they'd be back within the hour. He knew Malcolm would have to download it to a plexpad.
There was another pause then Jim spoke again, "Malcolm says he can have the information in about two hours to you."
"I'll be waiting. Tell Wash I'm coming home."
"I'll do that, Shannon out."
Nathaniel looked at the others for the first time. He saw Elliot and standing by Ayani and they were out of the way, but close enough to hear everything that was said. Ayani looked close to tears.
"I'll be listening to my messages," he walked away, not wanting to have an idle conversation. Talking to Shannon made him homesick and it slammed into him that his world was not here. Now he knew he was close to home and the realization that's where he wanted to be above all else would make the last days here very hard on him.
Jim and Malcolm hurried back to the colony. Jim rushed off on foot as soon as the rover stopped. He banged on Wash's door and shifted from foot to foot until she answered. "I talked to him," he grabbed her in a hug. "He said to tell you he's coming home."
"He better and soon. What's stopping him from being here now?"
Jim stepped back, "They're holding him hostage until we give them the technology to make their portal go both ways. Seems like Nathaniel and Lucas Taylor in their world are dead."
"Wow. Uhhh, what does that mean for their world?"
Jim shook his head, "I don't know, but Philbrick is in charge of the past so I fear they might not fare as well as us." He brightened up, "I got the messages through so he'll find out about his spawn any minute now."
Wash put a hand to her stomach as a cramp hit, "Sorry, I need to lie down again. Elizabeth told me I'd feel like crap for a couple days as everything went back into place."
Jim escorted her inside and to the bedroom where the baby was now awake and moving her arms. Wash reclined on the bed beside her daughter.
"Can I get you anything?" Jim was worried for her.
"Some pills on the vanity," she pointed across the room.
He hurried for the bottle. She already had a glass with water in her hand. "How many?"
"One, they're pretty strong, but I don't want to fall asleep and not wake for feedings." She took the pills and he put the water on the nightstand along with the bottle. "So far she only lets out one cry when she wants changed or fed."
"I hope she stays like that. I need to stop in on Elizabeth and fill her in. I'll let you know what he says. We're due to reconnect in an hour." He left and she felt the weight of the world lift off her. The pain receded and she drifted off again.
Nathaniel moved to the far end of the large room and sat on a stool with wheels so he could gently roll back and forth, as he played his messages. "Play in order of recording, earliest date first." He waited a second then Wash's face appeared on the small screen and he ordered, "Stop." He looked around for a plexpad. Getting up he marched back to the group, "Malcolm, do you have a plexpad I can borrow?"
Malcolm went to a cabinet and pulled one out, "This one's new."
Nathaniel glanced at Ayani, "This is going to be a long day. I'm going to catch up on my mail."
"You still have to eat," she reminded him.
He forced a smile, "I'll grab something back on the base. I don't know what's on this," he held his mini up. "I might not be good company." He saw disappointment in her eyes and once again felt that tearing feeling washing over him. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had a legal wife in the past he also didn't want to hurt. Without another word, he returned to his stool and what little privacy he could find.
"Thanks for calling me, Elliot," Ayani put a hand on his arm. "This is the beginning of the end and I can prepare to lose him all over again, though I admit, I'm slightly in shock that it's so soon."
"I'll walk you out," he took her arm. "Nathaniel told me they would be working fast on their end. He claimed to know his people and he was right. I'm one of the people going to his past for either a few days or weeks, depending on how soon we wear our welcome out."
"I would give anything to see his world. He told us so many wonderful stories, I feel like I know it and the people."
"You could tell he misses them by the way he described the one's he's closest to," Elliot paused. "You know, he talked about everyone but his wife. Don't you find that odd?"
"I finally got him to open up a little about her. I chalked his hesitation with me up to what he said about feeling funny talking to me. I didn't know he didn't talk non-stop about her to you."
"Either he is regretting his marriage or has extremely deep feelings for her that he is suppressing. I'll find out when I'm with him in Terra Nova."
"Elliot," they were at her vehicle, "do everything you can to include me on that trip."
"Nathaniel might be afraid of his new wife's reaction to you."
"I won't do anything to disrupt his marriage."
"Your presence might be enough," Elliot had grave concerns on what she was asking.
"Maybe I could go as your guest," she tried again.
"I'll have to get back to you on that." He was sure Nathaniel didn't want her near his current wife, but would ask him.
Nathaniel transferred the messages to the unit with a larger screen. This time when he switched it on, he got a nice large screen to view. He turned the sound low, just loud enough for him. He hit play and his wife was the first message and smiled at her brusque tone. How he missed her coming off on him from time to time. She was the only person in the colony who could get away with such behavior.
'You've been gone all of twenty-four hours and this isn't going to work, Taylor. I knew I should have come with you. What do I have to do, strip and take care of myself in front of the stupid lens for you to get the point…. I need you here taking care of business.
He hit the pause and chuckled aloud, memories flooding back of the pleasure they indulged in before he embarked on this foolish odyssey that made him feel like Odysseus in Homer's epic. He'd been gone far, far too long in his quest to eliminate the enemy off his world. Now he wondered what the cost had been. He resumed the messages. A few words a day kept him in her life. Sometimes she talked about work, but mostly gossip around the colony. Then a message from Skye popped up.
'Hi, Commander. I want you to know the rain is depressing and I don't have you here to play chess with and talk to. I know you told me before you left, if I needed to talk to go to the Lieutenant. She's been great, but isn't you. I wanted to talk about Lucas and what he did to me and you. Maybe when you return. Don't be gone long. I hope these messages everyone is constantly recording makes it to the army someday, bye.'
He hit pause again and read between the lines. Ever since he became her de facto father, she wormed her way in his heart. That's why her betrayal hurt him so much. Time was a great healer and he missed her. He hit play again and the next message stunned him.
'I found out I'm pregnant today. I didn't want to know if we're going to have a son or daughter. I want you here when and if we decide to know. The colony has been…'
He had no idea what she was rambling on about. She bluntly informed him she was with child, his child. He finally remembered to hit pause, his mind spinning. How long? He looked at the date. Has she had the baby yet? Was she okay? Why the hell didn't Shannon tell him? He breathed deeply and looked around the room. He was going to be a father again. On impulse, he ordered the plexpad, "Play final message."
A picture of a baby appeared. He was stunned and caught his breath. Jim Shannon started talking.
'I know Wash took tons of pictures of her but I have the best one. She's a real beauty and was born yesterday afternoon. She looks like Mom, but has your smile and in the words of Malcolm, not me, "Poor Kid." If you don't come home, I'll be more than happy to raise her as my own. As you well know, I do quite well with daughters and like you not so good with sons. Wash misses you more than words can say and was real sorry you missed the birth.'
Nathaniel didn't even notice Jim stopped talking so focused was he on his daughter. He wondered at her name. "Play final four messages."
'Me again. I'm having trouble deciding on a name. I wish I knew what you liked. You've been gone so long, reminds me of when you sent me OTG and I never saw you for months.'
The face of Elizabeth Shannon appeared next, 'Commander, I am happy to inform you that a few minutes ago I delivered your perfect daughter. Wash is still drugged, so I'm giving you the details. Your daughter is twenty-one inches long and weighs six pounds and nine ounces. Her hair is dark and her eyes are her mother's. She's being cleaned up or I'd show her off.'
Wash was next and looked at him with a wide smile, "Elizabeth told me she gave the details.' She panned the camera and he saw his daughter in her incubator. She was wearing nothing but a white diaper. Wash had moved the camera to all angles. She cut back to her tired face, 'I hope someday to get this message to you and preferably with you sitting beside me when we play it. The arrival of the army hours ago sent me into contractions. The shock of you missing was too much for me to handle and I fainted. When I came to, Jade Avery Taylor had been born. I need to lie down again.'
Jim was next with the picture of his daughter that he knew was the last in his packet. Nathaniel paused the picture again, "Jade Avery Taylor," he whispered to the picture. "Your mother named you well, I like it." He kept his voice down and let a soft smile settle and stay as he gazed at his baby. Now he had a driving desire to go home to his wife and baby.
"Nathaniel," caused him slip the smile off his face and look toward the person calling his name. It was Elliot. With a last look at his daughter, he turned the plexpad off and joined the group around the control panel.
"We're ready to reconnect, Commander," Malcolm stated when he walked up.
"You never moved for two hours, Nathaniel," Elliot gave him his privacy even though he was curious as to what riveted his friend to that stool.
Nathaniel smiled in response without rising to the bait.
"Hope Plaza to Terra Nova," it was show time again.
"Go ahead, Hope Plaza," Jim's voice was back.
Elliot stepped to the mic, "This is General Simmonds. I'm in charge of Hope Plaza operations. Do you have what we are requesting?"
"Is Commander Taylor with you?" Jim wanted him to give the order before he transmitted something that might send another army his way.
"I'm here. Send the information, Jim. And Shannon, thanks for the picture."
Jim was heard chuckling, "You're welcome."
"I want to come home as fast as I can, so let's get this over."
The transmission zipped across time. "Got it," Malcolm already had the intricate formula on the screen that Nathaniel saw marked on the rock walls near Snakehead Falls.
"Do we have a probe to send through?" Nathaniel wanted to move things along quickly.
Malcolm broke off, "We do and it's ready."
"Send it through," Elliot ordered.
Nathaniel warned his people, "A probe is being sent. Clear the portal."
"We're ready," Jim replied.
"You want to do the honors," Elliot handed a ten inch sphere to Nathaniel.
With a smile, Nathaniel threw the ball into the mist. Almost immediately, data transmitted back. "The original probe was two feet across," he told Elliot.
Elliot nodded, "So was ours. They've made a lot of advancements in ten years."
Soon pictures popped up on the screen. Nathaniel eagerly looked at his home. He could see his soldiers and a few had rifles trained on the probe. The eye turned and Jim and Malcolm came into view.
"I forgot to check and see when Wash had the baby," Nathaniel didn't care if Elliot knew about his daughter. He was disappointed not to see his wife in the vicinity. It was probably just as well he decided. If he saw her, he'd be tempted to throw caution to the wind and rush the portal.
"She had her yesterday and is still recovering. Any message for her?"
"Yeah, tell her I love her, miss her and will be home soon, maybe as early as tomorrow. And tell her the name of our daughter is perfect and she makes beautiful babies."
"I'm not telling her all that after you've been gone for months. I'll send Malcolm."
"You keep every single man away from my wife especially the silver tongue of Malcolm," he grinned at the Malcolm standing beside Jim.
"What's this Wash look like?" the future Malcolm asked.
Nathaniel pulled the plexpad he had tucked under his arm and pulled up a photo of her. Both Elliot and Malcolm leaned in to look.
Malcolm let out a whistle, "She's gorgeous. Why hasn't my counterpart gotten to her first?"
Nathaniel looked at him then turned to the mic, "Malcolm, the Malcolm here wants to know if you ever made a play for my wife." He left unsaid that he wanted to know also.
The probe was still on Jim and Malcolm. Jim was grinning and Malcolm squirming, "I did, right after she came back to the colony. I asked her out and before I knew what happened I was flat on my back and she was standing over me. She told me she only dated men she couldn't do that to. I did some checking after that and found out she could fight and shoot better than me and all but two or three men in the colony. I knew right then I wasn't someone she'd give a second look to and never pursued her again. Tell you the truth, I'm scared of her."
Nathaniel wasted no time responding, "Good, you stay afraid of her."
"I mean, I like her and we get along great, but she's just a good friend," Malcolm glared at Jim who was openly laughing. "Your wife on the other hand…" he had to satisfaction of watching Jim morph from jovial to glaring.
Nathaniel chuckled, "Mira's coming back with me. Maybe you and her…"
Jim switched back to laughing and Malcolm shook his head at the probe, "She scares me worse than Wash."
Nathaniel got back to work and looked at the Malcolm standing beside him, "How's the continuity of the portal?"
"I have a few adjustments I want to make and have my counterpart send the probe back through after he's realigned his side of the portal, so we know for sure the portal goes both ways and won't scramble cells when people go through."
"How long before we can send someone through?" Elliot asked.
"I think we should be ready sometime tomorrow to test it," Malcolm gave his prediction.
Nathaniel sighed, "You guys hear that?"
"We did, Commander," Jim spoke and Nathaniel looked at him on the screen.
"I'm going to get back to my messages. Say we meet here in the morning at…" he looked at Malcolm.
"I want to examine Lucas' mathematics. How about noon."
Elliot agreed and they shut the portal down severing the link to the probe. He offered Nathaniel a ride back to the base. Plexpad in hand, Nathaniel went with him.
"You never mentioned a daughter," Elliot inquired when they were in his vehicle.
"I just found out. I've been gone a long time."
"Did you get pictures of her?" Elliot looked over when Nathaniel held his pad up. On the screen was a beautiful baby with her dark eyes open and a wide smile.
"Jim Shannon took this one yesterday."
"When was she born? She looks like a newborn."
"Day before yesterday in the evening or afternoon, I'm still fuzzy on the details. I had no clue Wash was pregnant when I left or I'd have done things differently, probably not gone after them until the baby was born."
Elliot saw his opening, "You don't talk about your wife much. No trouble in paradise, I hope."
Nathaniel switched to a picture of Wash that he froze and turned into a photo for him to look at. She was smiling into the lens and glowed. Now he knew the radiance was due to her pregnancy and she was even more beautiful to him. "When I arrived here, I was scared I'd never see her again. My feelings are too deep to express with mere words. I feel her in my soul. She's my true soul mate. I know that now."
"Not Ayani?"
Nathaniel shook his head, "I loved Ayani and would have been happy with her, never having known a different type of love. Wash is opposite Ayani. Ayani, I don't think would be happy in the past. She'd try and mask it, but I'd know. A metropolis will grow, but not in my lifetime. I thrive in the primitiveness and so does Wash. The colony and its thousand people close in on her and she slips OTG and disappears into the woods once in a while."
"When did you fall in love with Wash?" Elliot couldn't believe Nathaniel was opening up to him after weeks of being taciturn.
"I don't know. First, I loved her as a friend. She was my greatest supporter when getting ready to leave. I felt myself drawn to her right after we went to the past, especially after I spent a hundred and eighteen days alone. I wasn't ready to move on after Ayani and here this beautiful woman was my third and I had to interact with her constantly…." Nathaniel filled Elliot in on his years with Wash from her being OTG for two years to her becoming his second, "I was going to pursue her after the eleventh. We never got the chance, she got shot," Nathaniel stopped his story. He wondered if Elliot knew Lucas shot her.
"But you and she are together now," Elliot motioned for him to continue.
"She was my other half when building the colony. I took her for granted so many years and almost lost it all when she was shot. I thought she was dead when I saw her take a bullet to the head. The feelings were unlike even what I felt for Ayani when she died and don't ever want to feel like that again. I don't remember driving back to our camp; I kept replaying the shooting over and over. I went to be alone and grieve, my mind shut down and it was the rawest pain I'd ever felt. Someone made a fire for me, one of my soldiers, I still can't remember who. I finally snapped out of it a little when the youngest Shannon child came and talked to me about her and I realized she lived on in the people she touched with her life."
"Yet you found her alive?" Elliot prompted as Nathaniel stopped talking again. He knew Nathaniel was baring his soul and felt he understood the complex relationship between him and his second wife better. She wasn't the wife of his youth, but one forged out a common dream.
"It was a miracle, finding she hadn't been killed. I would like to say we had a storybook wedding, but I managed to screw up our relationship. We finally got married and after a short honeymoon period I rushed off to chase the enemy."
"And she gave you a baby." Elliot figured there was much Nathaniel was omitting, but didn't press for details. When he went to Terra Nova, he'd learn the truth.
"I'm going to have to watch myself or that baby will be the most spoiled kid in the colony," Nathaniel had switched back to staring at his daughter.
"Ayani wants to be one of the people to visit your colony," he slid a glance sideways.
Nathaniel was sober, "I don't want any trouble between her and Wash. My duty is to my current wife, not a dead one."
"Don't you think you should let your wife be the judge of that? When she finds out you spent over three weeks in close proximity with Ayani, she's going to jump to conclusions. I haven't seen anything but friendship between you and Ayani. If your wife sees the same, it would go further than you telling her nothing happened between you….unless something did?"
Nathaniel grimaced as he got out. He leaned over to talk through the open window, "Ayani would like something to happen, I won't deny it. You could do me a favor by dissuading her from coming back with me. I'm afraid I'll say yes when I mean no."
Elliot chuckled, "What if I take her and she is my guest. I'll be responsible, but it would mean a lot to her to see the place you live and your new family. It will give her some closure to move on."
"Your wife is dead. Are you thinking about moving on with Ayani?"
"I was moving in that direction until you made an appearance," Elliot admitted.
Nathaniel absorbed the news. "Well, I certainly don't want to stand in your way." He smiled, "Terra Nova is a great place to romance a woman."
"You saying, that I should take Ayani and try and court her under your nose?"
"She may never get over me unless she sees for herself I've moved on with my life, and between the two of us I think we can convince her to do the same."
"So you're giving your permission for her to come with me?" Elliot double-checked.
"I'll have to convince my wife of the plan and that might not be so easy," with a wave he headed to his quarters and more message viewing.