4338.210 · July 29, 2018 AD
Conservation Interests
Ten weeks of careful cultivation have led to this afternoon. The TerraNova Conservation Foundation has invested months in the Ironbach siblings — demonstrations, documentation, a secure project portal with phased briefing materials. Melanie has done the groundwork; Brad Coleman is arriving to finalise arrangements. Grant and Sarah have their bags packed, their equipment ready, their minds open to possibilities their field has never offered. Everything is in place. But not everyone walking through Bonorong's gates today is who they appear to be.
The correspondence tells only part of the story. Behind the carefully worded emails lies a network years in the making — Project Terra Nova, cultivating Earth-based expertise for purposes its contributors don't fully understand. Melanie identified the Ironbachs. She showed them things that rewrote their understanding of what conservation could mean. She took them briefly through a portal and let them glimpse a world without centuries of human damage. By the time Brad Coleman's introduction email arrived, the Ironbachs were already believers. The subsequent weeks of documentation review, secure portal access, and logistical planning merely formalised what Melanie's demonstrations had already accomplished.
Now the moment has arrived. Grant and Sarah have arranged coverage at Bonorong, packed equipment for a two-week site assessment, and prepared themselves for an adventure that will redefine their careers. Brad Coleman is expected early afternoon to escort them through. Everything proceeds according to plan — until a stranger on his own reconnaissance mission walks into a case of mistaken identity that spirals beyond anyone's control.
By the time the real Brad Coleman arrives, the Ironbachs will already be gone. And the life they knew will have ended without farewell.
