When Emmy woke up the next day, a smile rose on her face, she turned to lay on her back and she stared at the blue ceiling and white fabric sheets that hung with it. It was all still so new to her, but she wouldn't get tired of seeing it every day, it was better than what she was used to. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, from the other room she could hear Tanya and Michael talking to one another while moving plates and cutlery around. Emmy pushed her legs over the side of the bed and leaned forward, yawning to herself, before she stood up and stretched. She slowly walked out of her room and out towards the kitchen area. Michael was sitting on the bar stool at the kitchen island reading, while Tanya was leaning against the countertop drinking something warm, with the steam rising up from the rim of the white cup.
"How'd you sleep?" Tanya asked softly.
Emmy sat down by Michael. "The best sleep I've had in years." She nodded. "What time is it?" Emmy rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"Early," Michael answered, putting down the book from his hands on the table. "So, I'd better head off to work. I'll see you both later." Michael kissed the top of Emmy's head and waved goodbye to Tanya before he picked up his jacket and left through the front door.
"He's been here a week and he's already obsessed with working." Emmy laughed while shaking her head.
"I'm surprised he didn't want to stick around and watch you eat your first piece of real food since you arrived."
Emmy's head snapped over to Tanya. Tanya had a small smirk on her face as she sipped her drink. "Wait, so you mean—?"
"Yeah."
"No more prehistoric smoothies?"
"No more prehistoric smoothies." Tanya nodded.
"But I thought you said—?"
"I lied."
"But you're a terrible liar!" Emmy exclaimed, staring at Tanya in shock.
Tanya grinned and slid a plate over to Emmy. "I've had time to practice." She shrugged. "Perks of being a virologist."
Emmy grinned and looked down at the white, square plate. There was a pink fruit cut in half, the outside had small spikes with green tips that pointed up like flames, while the inside had a white fruit with tiny black seeds. There was an odd brown, squared shape piece of bread with some green spread. There was a small white, circular pot of purple and red berries with strange yellow banana shaped nuts, with an orange stripe going from one end to another on one side. Tanya also slid over a glass of orange juice with a spoon for the fruit. Emmy's stomach growled as she picked up the piece of bread and took a bite. She never realised how much she had missed solid foods until the moment her tongue tasted the fresh food.
"When you're done, go and get dressed, Commander Taylor asked if he could speak with you," Tanya commented as Emmy paused and looked up at her. "I'm sure it's nothing too bad. I know for a fact he won't be locking you up again," she reassured her younger sister before walking around the table to place a hand on Emmy's shoulder.
"What if he goes back on his word?" Emmy swallowed.
Tanya just shook her head.
"What if he does?"
"I've told him that you'll be of use to the colony. He won't let a mechanic slip from his fingers if he wants this place to thrive."
Emmy nodded as Tanya walked away to sit on one of the small sofas to finish off her drink. When Emmy looked back down to the plate, she suddenly didn't feel as hungry as she once did before. But her lack of appetite didn't stop her from finishing off the food and orange juice, she knew her body would thank her later for actually feeding it something good for once. She put her dishes in the sink and walked back to her room to get clothes before she made her way towards the bathroom to shower and brush her teeth. She closed the door and placed her clothes and towels on the counter by the sink.
"Everything is going to be okay." She nodded to herself as she glanced at the mirror. "He just wants to talk."
Emmy turned the water on and let it heat up before she got out of her clothes and into the shower, letting the warm water wash away the dirt and grime that had been left on her body for an entire week while she was bedridden in the hospital. It felt good to be clean and to watch the water get sucked down the drain. Back in Golad, the prisoners weren't allowed to shower like civilised people, they were taken to a small room and given a bucket and a sponge to clean. Emmy was just thankful that she was able to clean herself, even if it was a rare occasion back at Golad. She turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her body, sitting down on the side of the bath to dry her hair as best as she could before she got dressed into clean clothes.
When she left the bathroom, she placed the two towels in a small basket on the floor just to the left of the bathroom door. She walked back into her room and put her shoes on, picking up her jacket before she walked out to meet with Tanya. Emmy cleared her throat, catching Tanya's attention, she gave her an awkward smile, her hands linked in front of her as Tanya put her cup in the sink and grabbed her own jacket before opening the front door. When they stepped out, Emmy was struck with awe once more, almost forgetting the front garden that only once seemed possible in stories. She brushed her fingers against the leaves of one of the larger plants as they walked down the path, underneath the archway of tiny coloured flowers woven into the wooden frame.
"I still can't believe that this is real," Emmy murmured as she turned back around to stare at the plants once they made it onto the grey-stoned path.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Emmy froze. That wasn't Tanya's voice.
She gulped and turned around, seeing Mark standing there in his uniform, his gun in his hand and his eyes scanning the garden. Tanya stepped over to Emmy, linking her right arm with her left, holding her hand and giving it a squeeze. Emmy knew that Mark wasn't like the guards back in Golad, she knew that Terra Nova was different. But that didn't stop her from being nervous around someone who was trained in using a gun. Mark looked from the garden back to Emmy with a soft smile. He must have been recruited when he was young because he barely looked old enough to be twenty-years-old. She nodded in response to his question.
"Commander Taylor asked if I would escort you to the Command Base," he informed her. "He didn't want to waste Dr. Cade's time when she has patients to attend to."
Tanya offered him a gentle smile. "Of course." She nodded and turned to look at Emmy, giving her hand one last squeeze. "I'll see you later. Don't forget to drop by."
"Yeah," Emmy replied, lightly nodding her head at her sister before she watched Tanya walk off in a different direction.
"Nervous?" Mark laughed, tilting his head to the side.
"Something like that, yeah."
Mark motioned his head and they began walking. "So, do you know much about Terra Nova?" Mark asked, breaking the silence.
"Not really, I just know that it's Latin for 'New Land' and that's about it."
"Really?" He questioned, rather surprised with her answer.
"I was a prisoner less than a week ago, Mark. I was sixteen when I was arrested, I didn't really get to finish school in Golad."
Mark gulped. "Yeah, sorry, I forgot about that."
Emmy shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, Mark. Luck has never really been on my side."
"Well, that's about to change."
"How so?"
"This place is about new beginnings. Whatever happened before you came through the time fracture, that's over. You can reinvent yourself here, start over, go back to school if you wanted. Hell, I could even tutor you. If you wanted, that is."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you help me? As far as you're concerned, I'm just another criminal who broke their way through to Terra Nova. You don't even know why I was locked up."
"I'm not judging you on your past life, Emmy. Who knows, maybe we could be friends, I just know that Tanya would have my head on a pike if I ever let you get hurt or arrested."
Emmy laughed to herself. "Are you scared of my sister?"
"If I'm honest?" Emmy nodded. "I'm scared of both of you."
Mark waited for Emmy to respond, but she remained silent. He let out a sigh, knowing she wasn't going to continue the conversation as they made their way through the market and towards the stairs of the Command Base. Emmy stopped at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at the wooden building, frozen. Mark gently pushed her back, making her stumble forwards to the stairs. He apologised quietly as she grabbed onto the railing and pulled herself up the steps, one by one. Mark brushed in front of her and knocked on the door, waiting for Commander Taylor to let them in. Emmy stepped back and breathed deeply, fearing for the worst.
"What?" Commander Taylor opened the door, looking directly at Mark.
"She's here."
Commander Taylor looked over to Emmy and his expression softened. "Well, why didn't you start with that?" He grinned as he opened the door more. "Come on in, I don't bite."
Emmy stepped into the large circular shaped room and immediately, her attention was drawn to his desk. It was a large skull of a dinosaur with a glass table top balanced over it. Off to the side, there was a large screen with the map of the colony and a few others that had maps of the surrounding areas and forests around it. Emmy heard the door close behind her, she looked away from one of the screens that had a red tracker and towards Commander Taylor. He watched her carefully and leaned against the front of his desk with his hands gripping the edge of the glass at his sides.
"So—"
"Are you going to arrest me?" Emmy interrupted, keeping her head up high, trying not to look weak or scared in front of him.
Commander Taylor had a permanent scowl on his face. His features looked worn and his hair was already white and cut short. Emmy looked to the ground before she heard him begin to laugh, she looked back up at him as he shook his head. She looked at him weirdly as he pushed himself off of the desk and in front of her with his hands behind his back, he definitely looked like he was once a part of the military. Emmy let out a sigh, looking up at him, waiting for him to explain what it was that she was doing there. Waiting for him to explain why he had requested her to attend to his Command Base.
"I'm here to recruit you."
Emmy looked at him confused. "But I don't...I don't—?"
"Tanya told me that you were an apprentice for a mechanic before—" He stopped himself. "I don't think it would be fair to lock someone up when they have the potential to help make Terra Nova great." He walked back over to his desk.
"So, you called me here for recruitment? Not to tell me that I'm being arrested again?"
"No." He shook his head, gabbing a pen and a piece of paper before writing something down. "I think you'll be of use here," he explained, "I'm sending you to the maintenance department, I'm sure that there's something for a mechanic down there."
"I was an apprentice, Sir. I wasn't a certified mechanic."
"Well, consider yourself certified." He handed her the piece of paper. "Besides, you were arrested one day before becoming one."
"How'd you know that?"
"Tanya has told me a lot about you."
"How much exactly?"
"We shall see, won't we?"