The Gaia Chronicles- Book 1

Chapter 2

10,500 B.C.

A soft breeze was blowing across a warm, sun-drenched beach, and gently passing over a young woman who was laying on the sand. The swirling and crashing of the waves soothed the young woman laying there  as she enjoyed her temporary escape. Her feet were just beyond the reach of the crawling water, inches away from touching them. The constant watery sounds were a dependable, and cathartic release from her chaotic existence.

Just before she dozed off in the perfectly warm sunshine, she was interrupted:

"Commander Gaia. Commander Gaia."
Said a disembodied voice.

When she heard the voice echoing all around her she didn't move a muscle at first, hoping it was just a glitch.
The voice rang out again: "Commander..."
"Yes!"
She answered quickly before she had to bare another moment of hearing the cold , robotic voice again.

MIMI always seemed to ruin the favorite part of her dream. And today was no different.

"What is it now MIMI?!
Another stupid downed drone?!"

She lifted up her wrist and pressed the large red button on her control watch to wake up. Her surroundings began to get dark and blurry. She closed her dream eyes. She never liked seeing the change from dream to reality.

When she got back she could see the situation was worse than she thought.
She opened the hatch of her sleep chamber and saw dozens of warning lights flashing.
"A meteor has damaged the 3rd layer of the PROTO Dome." Said the onboard computer,
"Thank you MIMI. I can see that." She coughed out bluntly.

She knew this was going to be a long day.
"Curse the dome! And curse this whole fracking butt-ugly moon base. I wish I was back on Earth!"
She stomped over to the control chair and contemplated her next task.

Her father Dek had always told her to keep things positive- even more when everything seemed to be falling apart. But right now that was so hard. Damn near impossible. She took a few deep breaths. Then attacked the first problem. She shut down the power in dome-section 51. Next she would have to run a scan , then a diagnostic check. Then a 3D model of the damage. Finally, she would need to program the surface-bot to repair it.
All of which would have to be done on an ancient control terminal. She had fried the logic board of her new terminal . The old one was missing a few buttons, but she had cleaned it up and tried it out and it still worked despite the decades of dust.

"When I'm done with all this mess I'm getting back to my vacation."

'Vacation' was her word for a 15 minute break. Her virtual reality trips were short in real time but felt 1000 percent longer. She would often use it when she was burnt out at the end of the day. Usually she would utilize its memory function. It allowed her to access her favorite memories and relive them as if she was really there.

A short 15 or 20 minute flashback memory would feel like she had been gone for days. It did serve a purpose for the mission though: it kept the individual sane long enough to perform their duties.
They had learned the hard way from previous missions.  THEY - being the Majestic Triangle, the ruling power in this immediate part of the galaxy. And They had selected Gaia for this particular mission due to her prior service as a space fleet captain. The plan was to prepare a dozen such personnel for duties at the Mars colony- Majestica. It was a hyped-up place for sure, she had thought when the recruiters talked about it.

                 The current stage of the preparation was to man a sustainable bio-dome and record the entire process in real time. The good, the bad, and the extreme boredom of it all.

Three hours later she  was finally certain the damage had been repaired, and now she could get back to her vacation capsule.
"Gaia...I need your help!"
She heard a very faint voice.
But where was it coming from?!
"Please!"
It was surreal. Like she was already in the capsule dreaming again.
When she first took the job, she was warned to look for signs of space dementia- a "slight risk" - they had said.
But the voice seemed real to her, and familiar.

I'll get back to my vacation and that should take care of it. Too much stress,
She thought.

Today started out horrible, and she couldn't wait to "go back" to Earth to escape the drudgery. She opened up the womb-like containment unit and felt herself sink in smoothly like a familiar glove. It was made of the highest quality -dark red- leather, and was temperature sensitive to automatically adjust according to not only the occupant's body, but also the memories of the occupant , from moment to moment.

I think  I'll go back to my favorite village and fly in the clouds above Muranthia. Just like when I first met Karenia. That was an awesome day. 

She had a tendency to talk to herself ever since she realized that every thing she did and said was being recorded and transcribed. It was the part of the deal she was a little apprehensive about. But she needed the capital to keep her family's centuries old chateau in Muranthia , and continue life support systems for her father. Otherwise the Majestic Triangle would have their way with him. He was , after all , government property. And they had been known to reclaim the brain and thought-pattern rights of former servicemen. Rumors were that they were valuable for war game scenarios and artificial-intelligence-run programs of the sort. Hell no would she let them cut up her dad. She would stay on the moon for 10 years if she had to.

Luckily a two year stint is all she needed to buy back their home, and all the systems and upkeep they would need three times over. So she talked to herself often. And quite enjoyed it actually.
MIMI's voice came on in the capsule: "Commencing digitized memory uplink in 5, 4 , 3, 2 ..."
As the display died down, and soothing tones emanated from her capsule to get her into a relaxed state she closed her eyes and had a smile just before she went back home.

But no sooner had she started the sequence, that the station sustained another jolt from a meteor.
This caused the dream capsule to go haywire. There were some minor sparks, and buzzes. But she had already begun to drift off into a dream state. And a she did, this time she felt a strangeness she had never felt before.