Chapter Two

The meteor hit just after noon and within the hour Terra Nova was once again thrown into the dark ages. Nathaniel Taylor had a great many concerns for the colony, they had injuries and doctors trying to work without proper equipment, soldiers patrolling with primitive weapons and no perimeter to keep wildlife away. But none of those things topped his list.

That spot belonged to his wife, she was in the badlands with a group of scientists driving her mad and a small military team; as well as a recruit just starting to shed the green. The meteor had landed in the badlands and he had no way to know if she was safe or not. No way to get her help either, her transports would be as dead as those in the colony, coms and weapons down. He was thankful she had taken her old glock, and a rifle passed down from her grandfather as those would be operational. But it was little comfort and hour by hour worry ate at him; making focus difficult.

Alicia had been off colony for months, her birthday had passed and so had their six month anniversary; something he knew he was supposed to fuss over. Nathaniel had spoken to her daily, but right now that only made him miss her more; that thin connection cut. No matter how many times he eyed his com, the device wasn't going to beep with an incoming call; it had been dead nearly twenty four hours.

He had dispatched evening patrols and checked the infirmary on autopilot; dreading he end of the day. The second night without power, going home only got harder. Out of excuses Nathaniel opened the door to the unit he shared with his wife and her pet; he was not alarmed by the green eyes glowing in the darkness. Boxer, the more feminine of the names chosen by Zoe Shannon, stared at him from her perch on the couch. If dinosaur eyes could convey disappointment the little maiasour did.

Nathaniel knew the little creature found him a pale second to his wife who fused over it and stroked the thing like a cat; it sort of looked like a cat. Not six months old the scientists predicted it would grow yet, to be the size of a large dog. Nathaniel stopped to scratch its chin, in the dim light he could see that Boxer had yet again dragged Alicia's pillow from the bed to her spot on the couch; he was competing with a dinosaur for something that had long since lost his wife's scent. But was something they both associated with her.

"I miss her too." Nathaniel slid the object from under the creature's chin; reclaiming for the night. He would never admit talking to the thing but he had never felt quite so lonely; except when he believed her dead. And Boxer couldn't tell anyone. "If I let you out you would steal that pillow and take off on me."

He dumped some leaves in the maiasour's bowl and headed for bed. He knew he wouldn't sleep well but he had to try, he had no way to know when they could leave for the badlands. He intended to go the moment they colony was secure and the transports had power; yet that would be days away.

Sleep evaded him, he spent the night wondering where she was, if she was pressing through the night to get back, or holed up somewhere safe waiting for light. Boxer climbed up on the bed beside him, nuzzling close to the coveted pillow. Nathaniel didn't fight the creature tonight.

Dawn brought a sharp knock on his door. Jim Shannon was on his step looking grim. His heart clenched, motioning the man in as he fastened one of Alicia's antique weapons on his hip. He did not enjoy using her precious store of ammunition, or the weapons she valued.

"Sixers are at the gate." Shannon reported quickly.

"What do they want?" So far there had been no problems with the Sixers but trust was not established; Nathaniel was wary.

"To speak to you." Shannon sighed, the man looked as tired as Nathaniel felt.

As he held the door Boxer darted around his legs. He growled at the critter but it tore off without looking back; damn brat. It wouldn't get under the fence, he would catch it later; probably at the Shannons with its brother.

Striding to the fence he ordered the gate raised. As the logs lifted, clanking together he saw a blur of movement. Boxer darted under the gate and out of the colony. His gut clenched, he actually wanted to chase her, and he was not comfortable with loosing his wife's pet. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Reilly give chase, which eased the knot a little, he needed to focus on the matter at hand.

A crew of Sixers took the rising barrier as an invitation. Mira led her pack and as they fanned out he saw two carried a stretcher. The Sixer leader did not waste words. "We need medical care."

"I see that." And he could see through her thin mask of control; the woman was afraid.

"Will you barter for it?" Mira's jaw set and he knew what it cost her to admit she could not provide for her people; it had cost her something to come here. Just as he knew it would have cost him were roles reversed; and the history between them.

He waited a beat, scanning the reactions of the colonists gathered. The colony had its own problems and while the Sixers had a harder way of life and he felt for them his came first. There was concern, curiosity and interest mixed among the faces; Nathaniel nodded. "Take him back to the infirmary."

And now he stepped close to Mira. "Is he the only one?"

"No, but the only one to hold on, it hasn't spread; they were working and all the men out returned like this. Our remedies haven't worked." The woman's eyes followed her man, her responsibility.

"Dr Shannon will do what she can for him." It was a reassurance he hadn't intended to offer.

Mira nodded, eyes scanned to colonists just as he had. "Meteoric ore for payment."

Nathaniel agreed, the chest of it set between them would be good for the colony. And as they had a great many repairs to do the ore would be used quickly. He was not naïve to the work the Sixers had put in to mine it from the quarry by hand.

Once the Sixers disappeared he left the gate to find the doctor; time to learn if they had seen this before. The infirmary was at capacity since the sonic wave but most injuries left were minor; more serious already treated and stabilized. It was the challenges of using ancient medical techniques that slowed it, but they had to be thankful they had a skilled doctor who knew them and had a mind for this; their previous physician had not had such skill.

Without bio beds Dr Shannon had given the entire crew a crash course in in historic medical techniques. He had dug out Alicia's old field kit for some equipment. A few tools had been added to the mix, Boylan was repairing chips by hand to conserve the blanks they had in storage. It was time consuming, even with the assistance of Josh Shannon.

The injured Sixer had one of the only operational bio beds, a hologram encircled his body. Elisabeth Shannon was studying it intently. She glanced back at him and narrowed her eyes. "Don't ask for answers I don't have. Not even sure what I am looking at yet."

"Know anything?" He tried hopefully.

"There is a toxin in his blood, the chemical breakdown of a venom but I have never seen it before and it has been metabolized into base compounds. Even with every piece of equipment operational I would be hard pressed to trace it. Too much time has passed." Elisabeth Shannon looked tired but the fire in her eyes was reassuring, the doctor was sharp; she missed very little.

The screen switched to a page of scientific terms and names; they were gibberish to him. "Is he contagious?"

"No, at this time I do not think so but we will take all precautions until we know for sure. The bed is set on containment, as long as we glove up the projection will shield us; we just have to hope there isn't another sonic wave. We need the bed live."

And that was the best news he had, he left the clinic with that. He had no way of knowing when Mira would be back for an update on her man and no simple way of getting her one. Nathaniel would not expend colony resources to get her one when his wife and Terra Nova citizens were unaccounted for. He returned to the Command Center to review the reconstruction plan, looking for a time and date when he could leave for the badlands.