▲Time Dilation▼ Terra Nova (English Version)

Chapter 5: The Deal

The combination of moisture and warmth hung heavily in the air, making breathing difficult. Jill had already gotten used to the bright sunlight, but the tropical temperature in the jungle significantly dulled her senses. She wasn't accustomed to the climate, so her lungs felt as if the warm air would never leave them when exhaling. To divert her thoughts, she admiringly observed the unfamiliar surroundings, whose flora seemed prehistoric. The dry ground was surrounded by tall trees, shrubs, and other unusually tall plants. The piercing green of the dense leaves of numerous treetops concealed the place from a distance. Jill ventured further away from the tent when suddenly something pulled her shoulders strongly backwards. With a deafening noise, a large military vehicle passed by the sensory-overloaded woman. If she had stood there for just one more minute, there probably wouldn't be much left of her now. She swallowed her fear hard and began to understand that he had once again saved her from mortal danger. Her back was pressed closely to Lucas's upper body, and as she looked up at his face, he turned his angry gaze away from the passing Phoenix soldiers' rover and now looked at her not exactly pleased. "You should pay better attention. I understand that all of this is pretty new to you. However, you shouldn't be complacent, or you'll quickly get into trouble again." Touching her felt more than just unfamiliar to him. His reflexes never failed him, and this time he was grateful to himself for reacting so quickly. "Thank you," she whispered from her lips. She was disappointed in herself, thinking that she had been reckless and naive. If she only knew what was going on in the young man's mind. His enthusiasm for her had taken on a tremendous level and made him feel things he had thought he had long forgotten how to feel. He was burning with desire to enjoy her company, yet he found her silently by his side again. Skepticism led him to observe her behavior out of the corner of his eye as she stopped in front of the giant mammoth tree. Having crossed the barren area that was traversed by many rovers. The tree canopy provided shade, hiding the round sun disc, whose rays tried to make their way through the branches and leaves. When Jill saw the high wooden steps along the trunk, she paused in her movement. Lucas set his foot on the first step and placed his hand on the equally wooden railing. With an inviting gesture, he indicated for her to proceed. In the morning, he had authoritatively made it clear to Hooper that she was both his responsibility and his property alone, and now she felt uncomfortable about the whole thing. With each further step, his words became louder in her head, resembling an echo. The fact that she was a prisoner didn't match his behavior towards her. What if he expected something specific from her? After all, she hadn't met any other women in this camp so far, and this thought troubled her greatly. The sharp pain in her thigh caused the suspicious woman to stagger slightly backward, but before she could fall, Lucas's hands shot up to her arms for the second time that day and held her firmly for a brief moment. He had overestimated her current health capacity, and it must have been a burden for her to climb the long staircase. Nevertheless, he didn't regret it, as it was not in his nature to feel remorse. "Can you continue on your own, or do you need help?" with a fleeting glance at her still white bandage, he made sure the stitches hadn't come undone. "I can manage," she hissed through clenched teeth, pushing away her pain. Encouraged by his warm breath on her neck, she withdrew her arms from his warm palms and gathered all her strength to climb the stairs completely, albeit slowly. A little later, she found herself standing in front of a treehouse, whose appearance spoke of stability and security. To her advantage, she didn't suffer from acrophobia and was incredibly thrilled by the sight of the jungle from above. However, the throbbing in her leg reminded her that it needed to be spared, stealing her moment of carefreeness. Meanwhile, Lucas held the wooden door of his treehouse open and waited for Jill to step over the threshold. She was cautious and looked around the not particularly large room. The space looked as if it belonged to an escaped patient from a psychiatric clinic. Instead of crazy words or phrases, it was equations that adorned the walls of the room made denser with gray fabric. Sheets scattered everywhere on the floor, a table, and chairs. Loud calculations and geometric shapes revealed his passion or rather obsession with physics and mathematics. Near the stacked piles of papers stood homemade models of complex mechanisms and other things that she couldn't interpret. This was probably due to her time dimension, which had not yet progressed to the level of development of her own future. A haphazardly draped blanket on the bamboo-like bed in the corner of the room caught her eye. As if he would just unroll it and not bother to straighten his bed. Ultimately, she found the room's interior disturbing and wondered how he could work in all that chaos. But she no longer doubted that he wasn't really normal. What function he had in the camp remained a mystery to her for now. In any case, he seemed to be a leader, as he had a considerable amount of freedom and privileges and didn't have to serve or obey anyone, as far as she could judge for herself. As she enjoyed the silence and processed her thoughts, her slightly hunched posture did not go unnoticed by the young man beside her, who had closed the door beforehand. It wasn't hard to deduce that she was exerting pressure on her bandaged arm with her delicate palms to alleviate the pain. Lucas resolved to send the doctor up later for an examination. For now, he wanted to talk to her. "Take a seat," he pushed one of the chairs back for her. Relief washed over the young woman once she could sit down and her leg was now relieved. "Interior design is not my strength," he suddenly joked with a quirky smile on his face as he sat across from her. Hoping to ease the tension since she wasn't saying a word anymore. He was used to everyone around him talking a lot, usually with a lot of unnecessary chatter. He always preferred to keep his thoughts to himself and only wanted to talk about the most important things. In this aspect, Jill was like him. Her eyes flicked to the calculations on the walls before looking at him. She didn't laugh. He was fascinated by what was going on in her mind, without being granted insight into it. She was like a puzzle or an equation that he desperately tried to solve. The young woman was cautious, not easily trusting the man opposite her out of the blue. In his eyes, she had to appear weak and fragile to gain the greatest advantage sooner or later. If he bought her act much earlier, she would definitely have a chance to escape later on. Embarrassed, she lowered her gaze, her wavy hair swaying slightly, reminding Lucas of liquid gold. An amused laughter rang out from him at her behavior. It hadn't escaped him that she had washed up and now appeared angelic to him, seemingly flawless. He found her exceptionally attractive, and he couldn't blame himself for it. It took him a lot of self-discipline not to shower her with his affection. Something deep in his consciousness assured him that she would stay. She wouldn't dare to flee after his warning. She looked too innocent and serious in his eyes for him to believe she was capable of such a plan. His relaxed attitude in her presence she could use to her advantage in the near future. Disappointed by his failed attempt at cheering her up, he leaned forward, the tension in his shoulder blades visible at the pronounced vein in his neck. "I know you blame me for all of this and could do without my company, but I offer you the luxury that no one else in the camp would have given you," his eyes looked at her intently. "You're here now and can no longer continue your old life, but if you help me and comply with my demands, then after I finish my work here, I'll send you back to your time dimension, and you can continue your life carefree from the moment you were snatched away. After all, I'm to blame for all of this. Fair deal," he offered. Deep down, he hoped it wouldn't come to that and that she would be stuck with him in this dimension forever. His offer was only meant as a means to an end, for that was just him. Lucas Taylor could be manipulative by cleverly using his intelligence or charm. By admitting his feigned feelings of guilt to her, he tried to mislead her into accepting his offer. In reality, he didn't want to let her go and wanted to gain her trust. She hesitated for a moment, weighing the probabilities of the sincerity of his words and decided to agree, as she had nothing left to lose. She was separated from her old life, from her family, her university, and ultimately from herself. In the time dimension, she had the opportunity to learn new things and possibly find herself and eventually maybe even return to her old life. On the other hand, she kept her escape plan in the back of her mind in case his demands were excessive. Ultimately, time would tell whether he was lying or serious. Her narrowed eyes revealed to Lucas that she was considering it. He fervently hoped she would accept his offer. She shouldn't face his unpleasant side right from the start. "I accept the offer, but before that, you must tell me what I will help you with and how long your work here will take," she presented her polished counter-question to him. One of his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You'll help me match my calculations so I can eliminate errors in my codings faster. Once this is done, and the portal structure is repaired by then, I'll finish my work and then send you home. It would take approximately four months in total, but with your help, I could reduce it to three or less, depending on the quality and capacity of your help," he told her a fraction of his plan, bending the narrative to his advantage and thus her appeasement. Once again, she let her gaze fall on the wooden tabletop. If he dared to play along as well, she would be forced to start her escape plan in the future. She had to be patient and wait until her leg and ribs were fully healed to be fit enough for it. She had no other choice. "All right, I'll do it. I'll help you with your work, but you must keep your word," pleased with her response, his eyes sparkled, "I will," he promised earnestly, yet something dark was hidden in the way he promised her. The hazel specks in the exotic green eyes of the young man seemed to have something wild about them. The intense eye contact with the young woman at the table ended as Lucas internally admonished himself not to continue staring at her. Instead, he now took a PlexPad from the crate next to him and placed it on the table in front of Jill. He was seated close to her on his chair as he took the PlexPad in his hands and turned it on. "This is a PlexPad. A tablet from your time dimension in the future, granting access to all data. It will be introduced to the market in the year 2149 and be considered the most energy-efficient access device in the world and the future of technology. From today on, you will work with it," he showed her the stored content. The PlexPad left the young woman speechless, as she could indeed see the device's technological advancement. Even the design alone resembled something out of science fiction, with its unusual shape and a frame with a handle for the hand on one side. The screen was transparent in idle mode, and the display looked like a projected hologram once the device was turned on. "This is the folder you need, everything else is irrelevant. Here you will find my calculations in the correct order. They are 90 percent free of errors and gaps because I had the opportunity to have them checked by another device to which I no longer have access. You need to compare my written calculations with those on the PlexPad and complement, correct, or report back to me on any discrepancies and differences you may discover. If I also take on this task, I won't be finished here for a long time, so you help me with it and in return, you get the chance to return home. Do you understand?" his voice softened towards the end, dreamier and with a touch of tenderness. Hoarsely, she affirmed, nervously biting her lower lip and waiting to see what would come next. He wondered if she was aware of her own beauty, Lucas thought in the meantime. His resistance melted away like ice in the sunlight as he watched her. Her eyes resembled a stormy sea, and he couldn't get enough of looking at Jill. He found her presence captivating, as her body warmth proved to be inviting to him. However, he knew how to show her respect and did not let anything of the sort show. He swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and ignored his stubborn thoughts. She was a prisoner and not just any woman waiting to be explored by him. Focused on his explanation, he continued demonstrating the upcoming work.