Whole New World - Terra Nova

-Memories

"So you want to go OTG so you can study dinosaur shit?"

Ruby nodded vigorously. "Yes, collecting feces samples would be an excellent reference for our records."

Taylor wrinkled his nose. "Just so long as you don't need my help with that."

"I'll do the dirty work, Sir. After all, it is my job."

He chuckled. Then he asked, more seriously, "How's your training with Lieutenant Washington going?"

"Good! I'm sore and stiff after every session, but I think that means good things. The Lieutenant is an excellent trainer, she knows her stuff."

"That she does."

"And I'm a hard worker, and a fast learner, so at this rate, I'll be OTG in no time!"

He gave a stiff nod in return to her enthusiasm. "I'll leave you to it. Have a good evening, Doc."

"Thank you Sir, you as well." It was now or never - okay, well, maybe not never, but rarely were they alone. 

Okay, that was kind of weird, but still, she wanted to grab this rare moment. And so she spoke up again. "Sir?"

"Hmm?" He turned back. 

"Before you go, I was wondering - and hoping - that you might consider training me a little..."

The shock was evidently clear on his face, his eyebrows shooting up, and she launched on, continuing before he could protest or accept, or say anything else really. "I appreciate Lieutenant Washington's time and efforts very much, but you survived on your own out there for months, you probably have the best survival skills out of any of us."

Finally, he spoke. Or, she stopped rambling long enough to allow him to speak. "Well, I'm not sure I'd say that..."

"But it's true! You're a survivor! I've said it before and I'll say it again: the only way for us to get accurate information is to-"

"-Is to go out there," he finished, having heard this several times from her, and Professor Phillips before her. 

"Exactly. And observe and take tests of our prehistoric friends and neighbours."

"I hear you, Doc. But the safety of this colony and its members is my top priority. It has to be. But I'll think about it."

"Thank you, please do."

He bid her good night once more and was gone. Meanwhile, she exhaled a heavy breath she had been holding. 

If he agreed, she would be learning valuable survival skills, as well as spending more time with him, and one-on-one - win-win. Heat flared up within her at the very thought, likely turning her face a red to rival that of her hair. She wasn't sure what had overcome her to ask him such a thing, but she had gone and done it, and there was no turning back now.

And she was glad, glad that she had just come out and asked him.

Professor Phillips had been the first to notice her crush on the Commander - even before she herself, perhaps.

On the day she stepped through the portal, from what she could tell, she was the only person making the journey to Terra Nova alone. Everyone else seemed to have at least one other person traveling with them. 

The journey had been thrilling but terrifying. That first inhale of fresh air had taken her breath away - literally. Her head spinning, she saw the fuzzy outline of a figure before her. 

"Hey, you okay?" the figure - a woman - asked her. 

"Y-yeah."

"You alone?"

"Yeah."

"Me too. I'm Mira."

"Ruby. Thanks Mira."

And then she saw him: Professor Phillips, her mentor. He had awaited her arrival, just as he said he would before he had left on his own pilgrimage those several months before.

"Doc!"

"Professor!" She flew into his arms in a hug. Tossed around from one foster home to another throughout her childhood, he was the closest thing she had to a father figure.

"Come on, lets get you home."

The colonists greeted the newcomers warmly as they made their way into the town centre. There, they were greeted by the Commander, standing above the crowd on the main building's balcony. 

"There's the boss," the professor said. 

"Citizens of 2147, I'm Commander Nathaniel Taylor - but you probably already know that. Congratulations. Each one of you has taken a first step, just as I did five years ago, toward a new beginning. Together, we are at the dawn of a new civilization - no pressure. The world you left behind fell victim to some of the baser instincts of our species: greed, war, ignorance. We blew it, we destroyed our home-"

You can sure say that aagin, she thought.

"-But now we have been entrusted with a second chance. A chance to start over. A chance to get it right. Welcome to Terra Nova, folks, welcome home." 

He certainly knew how to hold a crowd. Everyone burst into cheers and applause.

Then his face had broken out into a huge smile and he applauded along with everyone else.

"Come on, let's get you settled in your place in the lab," the prof said. 

She beamed. "I thought you'd never say so!"

While she was getting settled in - her own lab! - the Commander arrived to meet one-on-one. 

He gave a firm handshake, not that she expected any less. "Dr. Marshall. The Prof here sings your highest praises."

"Oh, well, and he has mine. He's been there the whole of my career so far, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Well welcome, Doc. Welcome to Terra Nova." And he gave her a smile which instantly melted her. Behind the gruff seriousness, there was an immense warmth and kindness. Oh boy, was she in trouble, and already. But to be fair, she had never seen a smile like his before.

(The beginning of this chapter is an ode to one of my favourite Dr. Ian Malcolm moments in Jurassic Park: "That is one big pile of shit"

The previous chapter, and this one, borrowed scenes from Terra Nova Episode One: Genesis, Part 1.

Was all ready to finish this chapter and then I decided to rework it... Anyways, here it is! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))