"You want me to be your Second in Command for the Colony?" Jim asked he wasn't sure he just heard Taylor say that Alicia was stepping down from her liaison position as Second in Command of the Colony and the Military.
"Yes, Wash wants to oversee just the Military day to day with me which means you and I will coordinate the Colony as a whole, you'll of course take her duties that relate to Civilian matters that may arise." Taylor said.
"Why does Wash want to step down?" Jim asked, he was honoured to be considered and to actually be offered a more official standing in the Chain of Command than just a random civilian cop with a sheriff title but he couldn't see why Alicia would give up the role. It was a demotion if anything.
"She has her reasons which you can discuss with her. So what do you say?" Taylor asked. Jim didn't get to answer as a soldier came in.
"Sir we have a report of a disturbance at Lt Washington's house. L.T. is not answering her comm. and the team we sent are not answering" the soldier informed.
Taylor was about to start giving orders but was stopped as several explosions sounded and the ground tremor from the shock waves. Chaos erupted and Taylor's comm. unit gurgle to life with chatter as reports came in.
"We're being invaded…"
"Phoenix soldiers"
"Several explosions, need fire assist…"
Taylor and Jim were already gearing up and when they stepped out the door they could see the fire and smoke in the distance in several seemingly random places. Civilians were scattering in the panic while Taylor's soldiers were fighting the phoenix soldiers. Jim and Taylor ran down the stairs and joined the fight like an organised team Taylor shouting orders to his men and Jim moving civilians to safety while fighting off the soldiers.
"We have you surrounded even if you escape the house we'll still trap you" a soldier said.
Alicia was pissed off. Not only was her house a mess now she was going to have to buy new cutlery and kitchen knives as they were all currently imbedded in an enemy soldier, or her walls or bent out of shape from sonic blasts. She was also annoyed because she hadn't stashed a gun in the kitchen. When this was over she was going to have a gun hidden everywhere but out of child's reach of course. She picked up the tranquilizer gun and sighed as it was her last defence before she'd have to use physical force.
Kate coughed as smoke and ash filtered into her lungs. She couldn't see anything as debris covered the bath tub she had jumped into to escape the explosion. She was amazed she had even survived. She turned onto her back and tried to take shallow breaths as she kicked at the debris. No way was she suffocating to death in a bath tub but the debris wouldn't shift.
"Hold on, I'll have you out in a minute" a male voice Kate didn't recognize call through the debris. She pulled her baton from her pocket as she heard wood and debris being shifted. She blinked at the bright sunlight and the smoke as she took the offer of help. The man pulled her up out of the bath and helped move her clear of the burning wreck of a house.
Once clear Kate pulled out her baton and expanded it quickly. Carter took a couple of steps back from her and held his hands out in surrender even though he had a rifle swung over his shoulder.
"Hey take it easy I just saved you" he told her.
"What the hell is a Sixer doing saving me!" Kate asked, she knew his face from one of the many profiles she flipped through months ago when trying to figure out who the sixer spy was. Rule number one in her work 'know thy enemy'.
"I need your help. So consider me on your side." He said and before Kate could react he pulled the rifle and fired it. Kate was shocked when the blast missed her she whipped her head around and saw a phoenix soldier dead on the ground behind her. She swung her head back to Carter. "Name's Carter and you should pick up a weapon there are more coming" he told her.
Taylor ran towards Alicia and Kate's home, he was only 6 houses away when he saw Alicia being carried out by Phoenix soldiers further down the road. He picked up his speed and fired his weapon but the soldiers were too busy with their cargo. Just as he was passing her house, it exploded the force of the explosion sent him flying. He rolled to the ground like a tumble weed until his head smack something hard and he blacked out.
Kate dropped the weapon as it ran out charge and pulled her baton out and ran at the soldier and swung hard connecting her baton with the man's temple. The soldier dropped to the ground and Kate picked up his side arm. She killed five more soldiers with head shots and stopped as there were no more phoenix soldiers left standing between her and Carter.
Kate turned on her feet scanning the area for more threats only to stop at Carter who got to his feet. She raised her weapon, pointing it directly at him as she stalked towards him.
"What the hell is going on?" Kate demanded.
"Terra Nova is under attack" Carter told her as he dropped his gun which was dead and held his hands up in surrender.
"Really? I'm so glad you clarified because I thought this was an early surprise party for my Birthday!" Kate exclaimed sarcastically.
"Phoenix Soldiers are here to retrieve two targets. I thought one of them was you but they wanted you dead" Carter said.
"No shit Sherlock" Kate said angry.
"Wow take it down a notch" Carter told her as he was trying to figure out why the Phoenix soldiers wanted her dead when he had thought the man wanted her. She was far more valuable alive and hell a fine piece of ass to boot as he could tell looking her over. She may be covered in blood, soot and dirt but he could still appreciate her body and good looks.
"Who is the other target? Why now?" Kate demanded.
"I think you already know. I know where they are going but I want to make a deal for the information" Carter told her.
"Or I could just beat it out of you" Kate said looking at him coldly.
An hour later,
Taylor, Jim and Kate were seated at the conference table in the Command Centre sitting opposite Carter. They were all still a mess of blood, dirt and sweat as no one had had time to change. The Colony was secured and any soldier that wasn't injured was now patrolling the fences and in the lookouts.
The damage to the Colony was extensive, Alicia and Kate's house was gone, five houses on East side that had been completed where gone in the attempt to kill Kate. It just luck she jump into the tub and Carter was there to pull her out. Power distribution stations disabled, it was going to take awhile for repairs not to mention the fallout from loss of life.
The reports of the fatalities and casualties were still pending as they had to account for 1000 people. It was going to take time the only thing they did know for sure was that Malcolm and Alicia had been taken. Jim had checked in on his family and made sure they were alive and well.
Maddy and Zoe had been at school and Josh had slept through the entire event thanks to a late night drinking with his friends. After Kate checked Carter into the brig she went in search of Malcolm. She of course didn't find him but instead found Taylor.
The man had a bad concussion but otherwise alive, she helped him to the infirmary to get his head wound healed. Elisabeth had demanded Kate have a scan but a patient at a nearby bed went into cardiac arrest. So Kate and Taylor escaped.
They moved onto trying to follow the tracks of the men who took Alicia but the whole area was mess of many foot tracks and vehicles about a click outside of the perimeter. There were rover tracks but all going in varying directions. They just didn't have the man power or time to follow them all. So here they were sitting with Carter much to Taylor's disdain.
"What's the proposition?" Taylor asked losing patience he wanted to jump in his rover and get his people back. Now.
"Mira sent me as her representative. The Sixers have been taken prisoner by the Phoenix Group-" Carter said, the man was smug as if he had all the power. He truly underestimated Taylor and especially Kate as the man ogled the redhead openly.
"Save the sob story for later. What do you want?" Taylor asked cutting Carter off.
"For Dr Wallace to fix the Terminus and reopen the fracture back to 2149 if it is possible. Mira wants absolution for all the Sixers and to return to the Colony for the period of time it takes to re-open the fracture and for those who just want to come in from the cold." Carter said.
"I'm hearing demands but not what I gain from this" Taylor said.
"Mira is the only one who knows where your precious Lieutenant is. So here's the deal, I know you don't have enough manpower to pull off a rescue. But I don't need an army I just need Red here. She helps me 'dispose' of the remaining Phoenix Soldiers that are holding Mira and the others. I can't see her complaining as she'll save her lover. When the camp is under Sixer control, Mira will then tell you the location of Lt. Washington. Then what you do with that information is up to you" Carter said.
"Why would Lt Washington be in a different location to Dr Wallace?" Jim asked.
"Escher wanted her for his own pleasure. We figured it was a small price to pay when everything was going well. I assumed he had wanted Red, not like he's the only man with that dream but I was wrong" Carter said.
"Escher?" Kate asked ignoring his comment. She actually had no problems believing it to be Escher to behind all of this. He was a calculative person. He thought everything through like life was a game of chess.
"Yeah the snake, he was one of our 'spies' until he fed us bad intelligence lost 4 good men. Mira took it personally but her dislike for the man was trumped by her desire to see her kid again. Thing is when Lucas was close to finishing his calculations on finding a fracture he disappeared. Escher said he's got the man in safe place so we all keep to our parts of the plan" Carter explained with a shrug.
"The plan?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah, he's the puppet master. He's the one who set this entire operation up even motivated the soldiers to sacrifice themselves for the mission. So are you going to need a minute because we really need to hit the road" Carter said to Taylor.
"I don't like this. Ideas?" Taylor asked once they were outside of the Command Centre on the balcony out of Carter's hearing range. Guzman had stepped in with four guards to keep an eye on Carter.
"What does Escher want with Alicia? He's never looked at her once or even spoken to her" Kate said.
"Well someone should check out his place. Might give us clues to where they have gone, look at his plex history see if he's been looking at maps" Jim said. Kate shook her head.
"No, he's too smart to leave around photo collages and maps with love hearts and arrows pointing 'saying here we here'. I say we cut a deal with Carter. It will be quicker" Kate said.
"We'll do both. Kate you and I are going to make a counter offer for the information. Jim you check out Escher's house" Taylor said.
"Ok. But what if he won't agree to your terms. Right now he thinks he has all the power in this situation and we don't have three days to torture him" Jim said bringing up the 'Boylan' incident that hadn't played out so well. Taylor looked to Kate which made Jim wary. He was not a person who agreed to torturing people for information it never yielded the results that could be trusted.
"You can change his mind without too much persuasion" Taylor said to her. They both had a loved one out there, they should have taken a step back as they wouldn't be rational, couldn't be rational about this.
"You want me to take over the negotiations?" Kate asked Taylor in a cautious tone.
"Yes, I'll agree to the sixers returning but it will be on my terms one of them being no absolution. They want to return to Terra Nova. They will have to surrender at the gates and comply to all my terms…" Taylor rattled off everything to Kate while Jim listened. Kate nodded as he was not going to let the Sixers get a free ride for nothing. "Now let's get the location of the camp and get Malcolm and then Wash back so this can be over" Taylor said.
"Only if we get Alicia first" Kate said.
"Malcolm is the civilian he gets priority. You know this" Taylor said.
"I do but I don't agree with it and since this agreement hinges on me putting my ass on the line then I want to get Alicia first" Kate said. It was true, Carter's deal said only Kate to infiltrate the camp with him but even so it wasn't like Taylor couldn't spare the resources from the colony to do two separate rescue missions without compromising Colony's safety. They barely had enough men to cover the perimeter.
"Wash is a highly qualified Military Officer she can survive longer than Malcolm" Taylor said.
"No she can't" Kate said as she looked away and winced as she knew she had to tell Taylor the truth.
"I think I know my own XO" Taylor said darkly.
"She's pregnant" Kate said in a low voice.
"Excuse me?" Taylor said as he wasn't sure he heard Kate right.
"She's pregnant, she could not survive if she had a miscarriage and wasn't treated with proper medical treatment or care" Kate said not looking at either of the men. Jim wondered if he had just heard Kate right while Taylor looked shell shocked by the news. Suddenly then it all clicked for Taylor: last night's conversation about stepping down and everything to be ready for the future to the intense love making session.
"This is what you two have been hiding from me! How long have you known? Why didn't she just tell me?" Taylor asked panicked and angered as grabbed Kate by the arms and shook her. He was angry at himself for not pushing Alicia last night, by not asking her when he knew something was going on. He was now even more scared that she and his unborn child was out in the wilderness at the mercy of madman. Kate looked at him and didn't fight his bruising grip on her arms.
"Alicia was going to tell you at lunch today. Can we please get back to the task at hand" Kate asked him in a calm and detached way. He could see she was just as scared, struggling for control of her emotions but she was keeping them contained better than him. Something he wished he could do but the news of the pregnancy compounding into the impossible situation made him incapable of seeing a solution. So he did the only thing he could, he locked eyes with Kate.
"You do whatever it takes to make him agree" Taylor told her. Kate nodded but he tightened his grip "whatever it takes" he reiterated slowly so there was no mistaking his orders that she understood that he didn't care if she pulled the man to bits as long as they got Alicia back home.
"I understand" Kate said, Taylor removed his hand from her arm and walked away as he couldn't be anywhere near the Command Centre as he was sure he would kill Carter before the man could be useful. He also needed time to process the information and focus his thoughts and prepare for the mission.
"Be careful when you're checking Escher's house" Kate said to Jim as they watched Taylor walk away. He could see Kate didn't want to be touched, something about her felt hurt, cold and distant. It was a change from the woman who ran around the colony laughing and smiling and cracking jokes at his and her own expense.
The whole exchange between Taylor and Kate went over Jim's head. He realised that it was on a level he wouldn't understand and a part of him that really didn't want to know.
"You can't go in there alone" Jim told her. Kate looked at him and shook her head.
"Guzman can sit in with me. I'll be fine, let me know if you find anything in his place" Kate said as she squared her shoulders.
"Are you sure you're ok to do this?" He asked her. Jim could see the sadness and reluctance at wanting to do what Taylor asked. He knew she would do it but that didn't mean she was ok with what she was being asked to do.
"My personal comfort is irrelevant" Kate said as she walked back into the Command Centre. Jim dropped his head and rubbed his neck and sighed before he went after Taylor.
He didn't have to go far to find the Commander as Taylor was in the Main Square barking orders and packing weapons into the back of a rhino.
"So you and Wash" Jim said as he helped Taylor with the weapons. It wasn't news to anyone in the colony but they all let Taylor and Alicia have their way by not making a big deal of it. The two did their job and they were an exceptional power couple.
"Don't pretend you didn't know" Taylor said as he started to reassembled a sniper rifle Jim had seen Kate prepare before the occupation. It was a long rifle which apparently armour piercing sonic blasts.
"Ok. So this is why Wash wants to step down?" Jim asked.
"Yes, but it was supposed to be in preparation for having a family and coming out and being more public about our union and pending family" Taylor said.
"Like getting married… I think it's the least you could do since you knocked her up" Jim said, he knew any other day of the week Taylor would have decked him for such a statement but the poor man was still in shock and his concern for Alicia's welfare now tripled.
"It is the plan." Taylor said snidely as he checked the scopes. He stopped for a moment feeling the shock hit him again. "I'm going to be a father again" he said in a low voice.
"Well I guess I should accept the job as your Second in Command for the Colony. Unofficially as I still have to discuss it with my wife but I'll need a deputy to help me with the sheriffing around here and a Rover" Jim said as he decided it was best to distract Taylor from his current train of thought. It wasn't going to help the man if he couldn't keep a clear head. They all needed Taylor to stay focused.
"You can have a deputy but no personal rover. Nice try" Taylor said as he dismantled and packed away the weapon before he turned to face Jim.
"How about a free extension on my house, you said there was no pay rise so I might as well get something out of the deal as getting a deputy is just a inevitability. A second bedroom and a separate toilet" Jim stated. After the fun filled week of 5 sick people with one toilet he had wished he had taken Kate's advice at getting an extension.
"Deputy and the house extension but it will have to wait until all my soldiers are housed" Taylor said. He couldn't believe he was negotiating Jim's work contract right now of all times but appreciated the distraction of where his thoughts were leading.
"Sure and I get to pick my deputy" Jim said.
"I get final ok on the individual and no poaching of my soldiers" he told him.
"Agreed" Jim said, they shook hands on the agreement. "I'm going to go check Escher's place. You want to join me?" Jim asked.
Kate walked into the command centre and pulled out the chair next to Carter and turned the back of the chair to the table and sat down. She relaxed completely into the chair and crossed her ankles and turned her head to look at Carter. He looked amused at her behaviour and moved his chair slightly to accommodate so she didn't have to crane her neck.
"You going to torture me now?" Carter asked.
"No, you'd enjoy that too much" Kate said, she looked over her shoulder to Guzman. "You mind if we lose the guards? If Carter gets out of hand I'll subdue him. Sergeant, you're also welcome to stay" Kate told him.
Guzman nodded and flicked a hand at the junior officers in the room filed out. He folded his arms and remained in his chair.
"Can't we get rid of him?" Carter asked Kate with a mischievous smile.
"Guzman has to stay. He is my best friend. He and I, we do everything together when we aren't on duty. Don't we?" Kate asked not looking back at the soldier.
"Yeah we're like two peas in a pod" Guzman said dryly. The statement couldn't be further from the truth but Kate appreciated him playing along in good humour.
"So the Commander gave me permission to continue the negotiation as he hates your smug face" Kate said, Carter laughed.
"Good, I prefer dealing with you. You speak my language. So do you agree? To everything else I asked for?" Carter asked Kate shook her head.
"No"
"No?" Carter said surprised.
"Here's my counter offer. You tell me where to find Lt Washington. After I recover her, then I'll help you and the Sixers finish the Phoenix Soldiers and save Dr Wallace. Then I will escort you and the sixers to the main gate where Taylor will state his conditions and terms of surrender. Those who agree can come in and those who don't well they know where the jungle is" Kate said.
"But I don't know where Lt Washington is. Mira does" Carter said with a smile, Kate's lips quirked into a little smile of her own.
"Let's not play games. You know everything. You're a smart man, you knew about the attack and you didn't warn us. Instead you waited for an opening to save me so as to ingratiate yourself in my books. So you could use me because let's face it you think I have no integrity and that I will do what is necessary and not hesitate. But here's the thing we have a mutual desire for this to be over with quickly. Now do you agree to my terms?" Kate asked.
"You know I'm really turned on by this domineering tone" Carter told her. He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively at her as he sat forward in his chair. Carter's smile widened as he watched her demeanour turn dark and her grey eyes became cold to the point where he started believed the rumours of her having no soul or mercy. It scared the hell out of him but at the same time he liked it because in that moment he saw her. It was not an act.
"I don't like to waste time. Answer the question. Do you agree with my terms?" Kate asked him.
"I really don't have a choice" Carter said as he leaned in closer to her. She was not ruffled by his close proximity one iota. "One question though what if Lt Washington is dead?" Carter asked.
"For your sake she better not be" Kate told him.
"Well then you should get me a plex" Carter told her.