It took three days to requisition the copiers and have them shipped from New Texas to Chicago. From there they were placed on three trucks to be driven through the portal. Nathaniel was kept busy filtering the through the names of people selected to visit his world. A few were duplicates he couldn't allow. Finally, he had a list of military officers, scientists and engineers and one civilian, Ayani.
Three days earlier:
Elliot went directly to Ayani's after he dropped Nathaniel off. She looked questioningly at him when she opened her door.
"Was there bad news on Nathaniel's messages?" It was the only thing she could think of that would bring Elliot to her door in the well before dinnertime.
"No, quite the opposite. If you let me in, I'll tell you all about it."
"I'm sorry," she stepped back. "I was just going to have some coffee, join me?"
"Sounds good," he took a chair in her small living room.
Coffee in hand, he waited for Ayani to settle in her chair and look expectantly at him. "Nathaniel said you can go to the past for a visit as my guest."
"Your Guest?"
"That means I'm responsible for you."
"I see. He's worried I'll cause a scene with his wife," she sipped her coffee.
"I don't think he'll tolerate any misstep on your part. He found out today he is a father to a baby girl and he had no idea he left behind a pregnant wife."
"This Wash was pregnant and he didn't know it?" Ayani felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She knew Nathaniel. No way would he leave a child. Her half-baked plan of showing him she was his perfect companion just flew out the window. Now she wasn't sure she wanted to go and watch the happy family.
Elliot shook his head, "No, it was a shock to him, but he has the pictures. The baby is beautiful, doesn't look like him at all. He's chomping at the bit to get this done and go home to see his daughter… and wife," he added the wife after a slight pause.
"If Nathaniel thinks I'll embarrass him, he doesn't know me very well," she spoke softly.
"I think it's hard on him, the tension of a past wife and current one. The Nathaniel I remember was a stickler for proper protocol and appearances."
Ayani chuckled, "You don't know the half of it. I had to make every move in our courtship and he was uncertain he wasn't taking advantage of me. I was so glad when we finally got married and he could loosen up."
"That's one of the reasons he was chosen to be the governor of the colony, his unyielding tenets that most people can't measure up to."
"He still has high principles and morals. I know, I tried to get him to break them," she confessed.
"Get to first base?" Elliot was curious.
"Maybe half way. When do we leave?"
"I'm not sure; we still have details to work out." They talked until she invited him to supper, which he accepted.
Nathaniel got engrossed in his messages and forgot to eat. It was late when he finally got to the end. He wandered to the cafeteria for mediocre food and to relive the months away from his wife. His messages to her consisted of army life and how he missed her and their various finds, while hers riveted him to the screen, anxiously awaiting the next installment of her pregnancy. He also missed the fresh produce and meat from the colony. Everything here tasted stale. He sat down at a long table with his tray of breakfast foods. Pulling his mini, he discovered it was two in the morning.
He went to see Mira one last time before going to Hope Plaza. He woke late after staying up half the night. For once Elliot wasn't banging on his door and he was at loose ends.
"When they bring you to Hope Plaza, you'll go through first;" Nathaniel filled her in. "I'll be right behind you."
"Trading one jail cell for another isn't going to matter much," Mira was in a despondent mood. Solitary confinement was wearing on her.
"You should have considered that was a possibility when you took the job," he reminded her.
"I won't cause any problems, neither will my people."
"We'll discuss your long term rehab, but not until my guests leave, and I don't know how long they'll be at Terra Nova. Part of the deal I had to make to get us out of here."
"I have a suggestion," she had time to think and came up with something he might agree to. "You could send me and my people back to our time before you dismantle the terminus. That way, we'd be out of your hair forever."
"I'll think about it. You realize you're gambling on where you might end up?"
"It's a risk I'm willing to take to find my daughter."
Nathaniel smiled, "I understand, Mira. I too will do anything to get to my daughter." He waited for the words to sink in.
Mira looked puzzled, "I realize you took Skye under your wing, but she's hardly your daughter."
He grinned and pulled his mini from a pocket. Pulling up the picture Jim took, he handed the device to her.
She looked carefully at the baby, "You and Washington had this?"
"Her name is Jade and she was born a few days ago. Everyday I'm gone is a festering sore. I want to see her as a newborn."
With a last look, she handed his mini back. "She looks like her mother."
"For that, I'll be eternally grateful."
"Then you know what I'm going through, Taylor."
He nodded and left.
On his way to Hope Plaza, Ayani called, "Nathaniel, I want you and Elliot to come for supper and I'm not taking any excuse for you to say no."
He didn't know if Elliot informed her of the baby and wasn't sure how she'd take the news. "If I'm not in meetings or tied up, I'll come." He couldn't tactfully tell her he shouldn't eat with her. Now that he knew of his child, nothing would make him mess up his marriage to Wash.
"I'll make sure Elliot has you with him," she hung up.
On the Terra Nova side, Jim asked Alicia to cancel the colony wide party until the Commander was home and could join in. Alicia agreed and sent the message postponing for a week. She also gave her soldiers light duty. Only those on portal rotation and guards on the towers assigned. She made four shifts so nobody had to put in more than six hours.
Baby in her arms, she climbed the steps to the Command Center and addressed her soldiers in person only two days after giving birth. She cautioned them not to discuss at all any artifact found and said she knew the Commander also told them. She also reiterated the story passed around the colony of what happened to the girls and told those who knew better to forget reality.
"The last item I have is your duty roster. If you need to make changes, see Lieutenant Guzman, dismissed." She gratefully sank into Nathaniel's chair as the packed room of soldiers filed out. She looked up to see Jim standing on the other side of the glass top. "Aren't you going to spend any time with your family?" she asked. He was present for the meeting with her soldiers.
"My number one job right now is getting your husband home. I can rest when that's done. Elizabeth understands and agrees, so don't bother going to her. Now before I go back to the portal, do you need anything?"
"No, I'm going to do the paperwork associated with a returning army and having that done, hopefully before Nathaniel gets back so we can take some time off. It'll take my mind off waiting."
Jim took one final look at the crib Erick McKormick carried up the steps the day before. It was a gift from the colony to the Taylor's and most families chipped in a terra for two cribs, one that was delivered to Wash's home the day before. She'd been resting after Jim left and had fallen asleep again. About an hour later she was pulled from a healing sleep. Struggling to her feet, she hurried to the door, hoping it wasn't the beginning of people wanting a glimpse of the baby. It was Erick McKormick holding a crib with wooden slats in his strong, muscular arms and a wide smile on his face.
"Mrs. Taylor, the colony chipped in and bought you two cribs, one for here and another I took to the Command Center."
"Ohhh, come in. I'm speechless that the colony would do something like that for Nathaniel and I."
"Word got out you didn't want a baby shower and the women said they were going to do something for you whether you liked it or not. Several, led by Dr. Shannon came to me and asked what large item you hadn't purchased yet. I told them you bought a bassinet, but not a crib. We talked and soon word went out that two cribs were needed." Erick smiled at her uncomfortable expression, "It's the colonies way of rejoicing with you. They know you're having a hard time, what with the Commander missing and all."
"Bring it to the bedroom," she led the way. He got another glimpse of the personal space for the command team and the bed he made so many months before. He helped Taylor set the bed up.
"How do you like the bed?" He asked as he placed the crib down where she pointed. He looked around and saw the bassinet by the large bed now unoccupied. The infant was in the middle of the large bed and looked so small and he took a few steps to look closer at her while her mother responded to his question.
"It's wonderful. Those shells at the foot posts are the handiest cup holders ever. Nathaniel put his wedding ring in his," Wash went over and picked it up. "You can't wear rings into battle and he told me to leave it there until he returned and claimed it." She placed it back in the shell.
"He's a lucky guy having caught you, the hot… I mean, awe hell, the hottest woman in the colony," Erick grinned.
Alicia laughed and led him to the front door, "Right now I look and feel like I just had a baby. Thanks for everything, Erick."
Now she was hard at work writing up reports, a specialty of hers since Nathaniel for years managed to pawn his off on her. Jade started crying, startling her. "I better get used to that," she muttered and went to the crib where the baby was working up her best cry since birth. "And I thought I was going to get lucky with you," Alicia checked the diaper, messy.
She went for her diaper bag and once again thanked herself for listening to the women in the colony, who plainly stated disposable diapers had to be number one on the list of replacement items. They were easy to make with the proper materials. Nathaniel balked at her listening to the women, but she stood her ground by telling him he got to change all diapers and she would put out a notice for women to bring the babies to the Command Center for him to use old fashioned cloth. She laughed at the memory of him backing down so fast. She took a moist cloth in a special container filled with water and skin moisturizers and cleaned the bottom. She noticed the umbilical cord had dried and would fall off soon. Re-diapering, she saw Jade was much quieter, but still whimpering. She placed the cloth and dirty diaper in another bag inside the diaper bag for disposal.
She had Paul Herbert develop disposable baby items using a mixture of cotton and plant fibers. His usual brusque manner with her dissolved when she sent a colony wide memo praising him for his ingenuity. To this day, mothers with babies would stop him on the streets and give thanks.
Alicia carried Jade to the desk, sat back down and slid her under the nursing top after she unfastened her nursing bra. She knew she'd be in the company of men who would be uncomfortable with her nursing a baby in front of them so she had Cami make her a few special tops that were loose and flowing in the front so she could slip the baby underneath. That's where she was when several women entered.
Elizabeth spoke for the group, who were all holding a bag or something in their hands, "Lieutenant Guzman assured us you were alone and he has guards posted to keep the men out. You're getting a shower whether you want one or not."
Alicia noticed Skye was holding something and focused on her.
"I'm recording this for the Commander. Word is out that he's coming home," Skye explained what she was doing.
"Well, I'm not going to stand here holding this cake all day," Maddy looked for a place to set it.
"The table," Alicia pointed to her work area. Soon the table was piled with bags and the cake and some ice cream Chad made for the occasion. The women wanted to see the baby so Alicia reluctantly pulled her shirt up so the women could see the baby nursing. "Nobody but Nathaniel had better ever see this or you're in trouble, Skye."
"I'm leaving it with you," Skye assured her.
"I can see I have no authority in the colony over baby showers," Alicia switched Jade to the other side.
"How are you feeling?" Elizabeth switched to doctor mode.
"Sore, but much better than yesterday."
"Good, but I want you to go home after the party."
"We're not going to play stupid games are we?"
"We are."
Zoe came up to get her first glimpse of the baby and stood quietly by Alicia's chair and Skye recorded her mesmerized with the baby. When Jade was done, Alicia quickly reattached her bra and lowered her shirt. She wiped milk off Jade's face and held her so Zoe could get a good look. "What do you think, Zoe?"
"She's small."
"That will change fast."
"Let's do gifts before we eat," Elizabeth called out after several games were played and small prizes handed out.
"I didn't expect all this," Alicia stood at the head of her table after putting Jade in her crib. "When Erick dropped the crib off at the house and told me there was another here, I was overwhelmed by everyone's generosity."
"These are a few gifts from your friends, whereas the cribs were a colony effort as thank you for all you do for us," Elizabeth smiled and got up. Going to the crib, she scooped Jade up and returned to the table where the baby was passed around until she ended back up with Elizabeth.
"Open mine first," Zoe was excited at the prospect of seeing so many gifts.
Alicia took the small reusable bag and pulled out a dinosaur. "Wow, her first stuffed toy. Thank you Zoe." She looked at the unrecognizable tube with legs and turned it over. On the back were a row of triangle shaped appendages. "Let me guess, a stegosaur."
"Yep," Zoe beamed at her toy being recognized.
"Why don't you put it in her crib and she'll have something to play with here." Everyone watched seven year old Zoe run off.
"I'll go next," Reilly volunteered. "Since all your female soldiers just found out about everything day before yesterday and was informed about the shower yesterday, we didn't have time to shop. With due diligence and snooping, we discovered you didn't have an essential piece of furniture. Private Burns, would you please bring it in."
Everyone watched as Elika Burns hurried out and returned with a highchair from where it had been stashed on the balcony.
Alicia shook her head, "Thanks, but that doesn't get you out of duty." She laughed at their mock protests.
She opened bags with mostly bedding. Again, Elizabeth spoke for the group. "Since we knew about the two cribs and you didn't have any bedding, we all discussed what to make so we wouldn't duplicate.
Alicia held up a baby quilt Debora made.
"I got one with that same pattern for Skye when she was born and just fell in love with the design."
Alicia looked at the soft yellow and greens and agreed.
Elizabeth and Maddy had made a summer blanket of white with pink dinosaurs covering it. Before Alicia knew it, she was stocked up on bedding and sheets and more changing pads. They helped her carry the gifts to her rover. True to her word, she quit for the day as the party wore her out again.
Once home, she radioed Jim, "Okay Shannon, it's safe to come home."
She heard him laughing, "I talked with Taylor today and told him you were having a baby shower and all the men were banned from the Command Center. He said it was just as well he was trapped on the other side then."
"Tomorrow I'm going to the portal and talk to him myself."
"I think he'd like that. He was disappointed you weren't here today and said a baby shower was a lousy excuse."
"What about what I told you to say to him, you did didn't did you?" She couldn't believe he left Nathaniel with the impression she'd rather go to a baby shower than talk to him, especially one she knew nothing about.
Once again he laughed, "Oh eventually, but not until I let him think you'd ditched him for a shower."
"You're dead, Shannon, just as soon as I get over having this kid."
Nathaniel finally put in an appearance at Hope Plaza. Elliot was present and having a meeting with the joint chiefs at the control panel near the terminus, so he joined them, noticing the portal was powered up.
Elliot turned when he saw sever eyes on the screen look behind him, "Nathaniel, I figured you'd have a late night catching up with your colony so let you sleep in."
"I did just that."
"We are finalizing plans for traveling to our past before you leave. We want to do it either this evening or in the morning," Elliot filled him in.
"Once you go, you have to reconfigure your portal on that side. Is Malcolm going?"
"He is. He knows what Lucas did to reverse polarity so to speak. He figures a few hours and he'll be able to return."
"What if you're captured and held prisoner?" Nathaniel didn't trust this Richard Philbrick either.
"We're taking a unit with us," a person that Nathaniel didn't know answered.
"Commander Taylor, meet Commander Dawson," Elliot waited for the men to shake hands then continued. "Commander Dawson is in charge of the mission to make the portal go both ways and give an accurate report as to the conditions on the other side."
The tech from the panel called out, "General Simmonds, I have contact with Terra Nova again."
Nathaniel moved swiftly, hoping Wash was on the other end. He was disappointed to hear Jim's voice. "Where's Wash?" was the first words out of his mouth.
"Good to hear your voice again, Sir," Jim was all but laughing.
"You didn't answer my question," Nathaniel growled. He wasn't in the mood for Shannon's games.
"Well, the ladies are throwing her a baby shower and she couldn't very well stand them up."
"But she could me?" now he was pissed. "She could have come to the portal before she had her stupid party."
"Well to be fair to Wash, she knew nothing about the party and sent a message for you. She said she'll be here tomorrow um, uhh, she had to make arrangements with Jade and a babysitter and uhh….. Look Taylor, don't ask too many questions over an open mic. I can't believe she asked me to pass this idiotic message on," Jim was talking more to himself and Nathaniel heard Malcolm roaring in the background.
"Is there a problem with the baby?" Nathaniel was starting to worry.
"In a way…no, I didn't say that. There's nothing wrong with the baby, it's Wash has to produce milk for the babysitter and Corbin the head mechanic is having to make the instrument if you know what I mean… and I'm going to kill Wash…" he trailed off.
Nathaniel frowned then comprehension dawned, "Oh, I get it. Never mind, Shannon. Tomorrow is fine. "Corbin doesn't have to fit anything does he?"
"I don't know. He's working with Elizabeth and it's going to be part of the Infirmary."
"If he has to fit anything, he can use your wife."
"Very funny," Jim changed the subject. "Malcolm has the probe ready to send back. He said there were no abnormalities on our end when it came through."
Nathaniel looked at Elliot who nodded, so he spoke for the General, "Give it a toss and we'll see how it performs coming this way."
"Watch out." Soon the probe pierced the miasma and rolled down the walkway. A technician retrieved it and took it to Malcolm who immediately started tests.
"My counterpart is good, as I'd expect myself to be," Malcolm boasted. "His work is exemplary. I'm ready to send people to our past."
Elliot looked back to the watching brass in Washington. "All we need is your permission and in a few hours we can have a report for you."
The senior General looked around the table and saw subtle nods. He looked back at Elliot, "Send your team. I want you in charge of them leaving. If something goes wrong, you may have to lead another team of soldiers, instead of taking a vacation in Commander Taylor's past."
"Understood." There was no additional discussion the purchase of the copiers that Nathaniel was anxious to return home with for his colony.
Within two hours, a unit of soldiers marched in with backpacks, heavily armed. Malcolm had left after he realigned the terminus to his past. He returned with his own backpack and a large toolbox that Nathaniel found out had another complete controller inside.
"It'll be faster to replace the old control box with this one that I've already calibrated to return."
Nathaniel laughed, "Just think what I could do with two Malcolm's."
Elliot and Nathaniel watched as the army marched by two's into the mist and vanished. Malcolm was last to enter and looked slightly hesitant.
Nathaniel spoke to Elliot as he watched Malcolm disappear, "The last night we were in the wilderness from fighting the Phoenix, Malcolm and Jim had cut us off from our future, our Malcolm noted how large the forest looked to him."
"We should have contact any second if all went well with them," Elliot kept staring at the blue swirls.
Malcolm's voice filtered over the speakers, "Terra Nova to Hope Plaza."
Elliot spoke, "Go ahead, Malcolm. What do you see on your side?"
"I'll have our probe operational momentary and you can see for yourself." There was silence and suddenly the large screen over the control panel lit up. Elliot was speechless and didn't say a word. He made a call to the joint chiefs and requested they gather immediately.
Nathaniel looked at the screen, "This is the same exact place my portal is set up. So much for Philbrick saying the planet was a wasteland. Your past is identical to mine and my suspicions about him are confirmed, he was sending you footage of the badlands lava flows from an active volcano about two thousand klicks south of this location."
Elliot gave Nathaniel a measured look but addressed his words to Malcolm, "Malcolm, get back here as soon as you can."
"I have to shut down the terminus to work on it," Malcolm already had his replacement controller out and the cover off the portal.
"Shutting down now," Elliot nodded to the technician and he powered down. There was silence as the reality set in.
The General in charge of the joint chiefs got their attention, "We seem to have a problem with our General Philbrick."
"It is as Commander Taylor told us. We'd do wise to heed his warning," Elliot chimed in.
"Commander Taylor, I would appreciate before you leave a full account of your impressions and interaction with your Philbrick and anyone else you know was working against your past."
"General, I'll impart with what knowledge I have on Philbrick, but I'm afraid it's rather limited. I'll give you names of others who invaded our home. I'll have my people send you names."
Nathaniel and Elliot waited. One hour became two. Ayani called to remind them to come for supper.
"I don't know if we can get away, Ayani," Elliot told her. "We've got a team in the past and have to wait for them to return."
"Alright, if you aren't going to make it, call me, and I'll feed you leftovers tomorrow."
Another hour passed and without warning the terminus powered up and the army returned with Malcolm once again bringing up the rear. He rushed to the control panel and pushed a few buttons. The portal went dark. He turned to Elliot to give his report.
"There are things on that side of the portal that can eat a man in a single bite. Our brave soldiers shot at them and they vanished with terrible roars." Malcolm still looked frightened.
"That's what you have to report?" Nathaniel smiled widely as he teased Malcolm.
"How do you live with those monsters roaming at will?" Malcolm wasn't ready to give it up just yet.
"We manage. Now to business, did you get spotted?"
Malcolm shook his head, "Not unless Carnosaurs can talk. The past was beautiful and the oxygen so thick you can almost see it. Several of the people had trouble breathing until we used your solutions of diluted carbon dioxide for a few minutes until they adjusted. It took me three hours to change out the controller. We did as you suggested and erased our tracks back to the portal."
"And you got continuous recordings of everything?" Elliot asked.
Malcolm took a recording unit and inserted it into a slot, "Transferring now."
"A job well done, Malcolm," Elliot congratulated him. "Is there anyway those in the past can figure out what you've done?"
"No, the innards are identical. There are no visible changes."
"Call it a day, Malcolm." As soon as they were alone, Elliot turned to Nathaniel, "You ready to descend on Ayani for some food?"
Nathaniel nodded, "She'll want to know what happened today.
Ayani saw two tired men cross her threshold. "Food is ready, sit down." She bustled about setting food on the table. Both men were quiet so she knew something was up. "Could I get one of you men to open this bottle of wine?" She saw Elliot get up with a smile and take the bottle from her.
"Sit, Ayani. Food smells wonderful and I don't know about Nathaniel, but I'm starved."
"So am I as I forgot to eat today," Nathaniel added.
"Elliot told me about your daughter, congratulations," Ayani decided not to wait for him to bring it up.
Nathaniel chewed his bite and swallowed, "It was a surprise. I'm looking forward to seeing her."
"How will Lucas take to his sister?" she asked.
Nathaniel didn't want to tell them where his son was. When Jim told him Lucas was alive, he knew he was in the brig and wouldn't be allowed to even see his sister, if he had any say about it. "Lucas is a grown man. A baby would hardly interest him."
"Has he found someone at Terra Nova?" Ayani kept the questions up. Getting information about Lucas was like pulling teeth and she saw her opening.
"He likes a young woman." Jim had told him what happened at the bar between Lucas and Josh in detail.
"Is he serious about her?"
"I think it's a case where she's probably not interested in him, at least not right now. She's a teenager and I don't encourage her to do more than date. She's seventeen."
"Anyone you've mentioned to us?" Ayani pursued.
"Skye Tate, my foster daughter. Lucas knew her for a few years."
"What's she like?" Ayani looked at Elliot, "I'm sorry for ignoring you, Elliot, but this is so interesting. Maybe a light into what my Lucas would be like as a man."
"I'm interested also and getting Nathaniel here to talk about certain people is hard." They both looked to him to continue.
"She's young and pretty, blond, umm, I don't remember the color of her eyes. Blue I think. She knows the area very well and runs all over the countryside. I have her gathering materials for me as she likes to travel. Now she's interning in the Infirmary as a lab tech."
"What age are the girls getting married?"
"Well, Ayani, I believe as young as seventeen or eighteen. I encourage marriage and babies to grow the colony after we got cut off. I'm not encouraging Skye to marry. She likes another young man in the colony and he's not ready. I hope when they grow up, they'll most likely marry each other."
"Lucas likes a girl and you don't want her to marry him. What's wrong with her?" Ayani wasn't buying his line.
He looked at her, tired of this conversation, "I'm done talking about Lucas and his girlfriends."
"Look, Nathaniel, I know you're mad at him for stabbing you," he saw Elliot give him a surprised look at Ayani's outburst. "He can change. Now that he has a sister, he'll forgive you and want a baby of his own."
"You didn't tell me that your son stabbed you," Elliot wanted to hear more about that. Nathaniel was keeping things from him and he was certain Lucas was one of them.
"Lucas in this time is dead or I'd tell you all about him. He's my personal failure and I am not talking about him, so drop it," he let a warning note enter into his tone.
"Okay, what can you tell us about your daughter?" Elliot gave Ayani a warning look as he tried to change the course of the conversation.
Ready to change the subject, Nathaniel nodded, "Her name is Jade Avery and she looks like her mother," he pulled his mini out and showed her picture to Ayani.
Ayani took the mini and looked at the beautiful baby, "She doesn't look like you at all. Are you sure she's yours?" She wished she could take the words back as soon as they were out of her mouth. "I'm sorry, Nathaniel, I didn't mean it that way."
Nathaniel held his hand out for his mini. He didn't speak, just glared at her as he carefully put his mini in his pocket.
Ayani reached out and took his hand. He jerked it away, "You just called my wife a slut. I can't believe even you'd say something so crass. You will stay away from my wife and daughter," he stood and stalked out ignoring Elliot's pleas for him to stop.
Ayani shook her head, "I could have used better words."
"He's been gone from his family for a long time. You did come off as a bitch," Elliot took a drink of wine. He was leaning things about Ayani that surprised him. If positions were reversed and he was the one with another wife, he supposed his other one would be upset and not as gracious as normal.
"I think I'm more upset than I should be that he had a baby with another woman. In a way it feels like he cheated on me and I know better," Ayani looked remorseful and Elliot couldn't stay angry at her.
"Maybe you should tell him that. You know, he loves her and she's his future, not you. You can have a good visit to his world or he can make it miserable for you. I think I'd make peace before you leave."
"Somehow I don't see him letting me anywhere near his past after what I said."
"You know, Ayani, this is going to end and soon. He'll be in his world and you in yours. You can hold onto the past or find another man and remarry, like he did."
"I'm thinking I should stay here when he leaves instead of dragging the past out," Ayani was feeling bad.
"Or you could come to the past with me and forget about Nathaniel. Ayani, do I stand a chance with you?" he wanted to ask for a long time.
Ayani looked at him like that for the first time, "I was good friends with Betty. I didn't want to impose on you after she died."
"Betty's been gone for five years. I've had my mourning period, but I'm on the market again and looking for another woman. Let me know if it's not going to be you and I'll keep looking."
"What would Nathaniel say if we started dating?" Ayani wasn't averse to dating Elliot. He was a good looking man and she'd known him for thirty years and watched his daughter grow up.
"Who cares, but for the record he wondered what was wrong with me not going after you."
"Was he now?" she started to feel better. They finished supper and talked about dating with the possibility of marriage in the future.
Nathaniel opened to the knock at his door. It was late and he was getting ready for bed after his walk back to the base. He counted back in his head nine months, his honeymoon. He knew his wife didn't look twice at the men in the colony, a reciprocated act on his part as well. What he saw with Ayani was pure jealously and he couldn't remember ever seeing her that way in his marriage. He had a flashback to when he walked off from Wash after he thought he saw a jealous flicker when he had supper with Debora. He identified the emotion that he loathed. He decided supper with Ayani was a mistake that he wouldn't repeat and hoped he could leave for the past very soon.
Ayani stood on the other side. Before he could move or speak, she spoke, "Nathaniel, I'm so sorry for impugning your wife's reputation. I was wrong. I don't know why I said what I did."
"You were jealous," he spoke bluntly while letting her stand in the hall.
She looked down then back into his eyes, "Yes I am. You come back into my life sporting a new wife and now a child. Don't ask me to be rational when you came back from being dead. I just want to apologize for my behavior; I was out of line, no matter the reason. Elliot and I are going to pursue a relationship and move beyond mere friends. I'll be here for him when he comes back from your world."
Her revelation surprised him, "So you're not going to the past with the group?"
"I don't know how I could look your wife in the eye after what I said tonight."
"My biggest concern with you going is how you'd treat my wife and child. I won't tolerate one contemptible word or look from you." He sighed, "The Ayani I was married to would never have said what you did. Have you changed so much?"
"I've been in mourning you for so many years and never moved on with my life and it's made me a bitter woman. I see that now. The Ayani you married has changed, just like the Lucas I knew."
He acknowledged the truth of her words, "If you promise to be respectful to my wife, the best place in the world to fall in love is Terra Nova, with its natural beauty. You can spend time with Elliot and for the record; I find no deceit in him. If he's in on the destruction of Terra Nova, I haven't seen any signs."
"Are you giving your permission then?" she gave a small smile.
"I think you two are perfect for each other at this stage of your lives."
"Am I forgiven then?"
"Once; I won't be so lenient next time."
"I don't plan on a next time. Goodnight, Nathaniel," he watched her walk away. He wasn't surprised she came. His Ayani wouldn't have been able to sleep if she caused offense. He felt partly responsible for her reaction by flaunting his daughter in her face.
Nathaniel arrived at Hope Plaza after breakfast in the mess. He hadn't seen or heard from Elliot. To his surprise, the place was bustling with activity and three trucks and four rovers were lined up ready to go through the portal.
Elliot saw him looking around and came over, "Your copiers. We also managed to misappropriate four rovers for you to have also."
"You're giving me the vehicles also?" Nathaniel didn't know why.
"You told me you were scheduled for more vehicles on the eleventh. My gift to you."
Nathaniel grinned, "Well, my gift to you will be…," his grin morphed into a frown. "Just how long are you planning on staying?"
"Well, the powers that be think two weeks minimum to learn eight years of your wisdom and that of your people. We are going to take our past back and colonize. We want to gather every person who is in your colony that's still alive and put them in our colony."
"I'm not sure you'll want them all," Nathaniel was thinking about Curran and a few others who gave him trouble.
"The good and bad alike."
"When's our departure?" Nathaniel felt a surge of excitement course through him at the thought of going home today.
"I've put out the word to everyone going with us to meet here no later than noon. Now we need to contact your people so they know it's today."
In response, Nathaniel hurried to the portal that was already powered up, "Raise Terra Nova," he instructed the technician.
"Hope Plaza to Terra Nova," the tech started his ten minute reiteration.
They got lucky and his people were at the portal and waiting. He heard his wife's voice, "Go ahead, Hope Plaza."
Elliot moved to Nathaniel's side when he heard the first woman to respond.
Nathaniel grinned, "I don't want to hear of some lousy excuse that a baby shower got in the way of you doing your job, Lieutenant Commander."
"And I don't want to hear some lousy excuse that you were held against your will, Sir."
"Is that how you talk to your superior? I'll make you take those words back in a few hours."
There was a pause before she clicked the mic again, "How many people are we preparing for?"
"Thirty to forty, along with four rovers and three loaded transports." He paused, "Wash, uhhh, things are a little different in this version of the future. Here you and I died, but Ayani lived." There he warned her, "She's one of the guests."