The Secrets of the Outpost

DAY ZERO - NIGHT

1.5 hours earlier

2:30 a.m. On Kepler-438, the Earth-like exoplanet, a day lasted forty-eight hours and lacked a precise demarcation between day and night. For this reason, time was calculated following the same parameters used on Earth, to avoid disrupting the wake-sleep cycle of Gemini's inhabitants.

Shynar had been awakened right in the middle of what she thought was a beautiful dream, although since she could hardly remember it, it might not have been a dream at all. The images in her mind were already disappearing as she woke up, and that was fortunate for her after all the nightmares she'd been having since arriving on the planet. Nightmares that stemmed from her recent past, which she was trying so hard to escape from and which she wanted above all to forget. She felt like she'd only just fallen asleep.

Like she did almost every night, she'd gone to bed entirely too late. Maybe she was working herself too hard. But she was the type of person who had to have everything under control at all times, and this often caused her to neglect the specific tasks her role demanded during the day in order to monitor her co-workers and the scientific staff of the facility. Then, in the evenings, she had to play catch-up, inevitably ending up burning the midnight oil.

Ever since she'd arrived on base a year earlier, for one reason or another she hardly ever managed to get a full sleep cycle of at least six hours, which was crucial for her. The lack of rest made her nervous and she knew that, in the eyes of her team, she could come across as too harsh, even though they would never dare point it out to her. And not just because she was the commander. She had convinced herself that they respected her after all, and of course she reciprocated that feeling toward each of them. After all these months, she'd come to know and appreciate her whole team, which was a good one. She'd been well received when she'd taken over from the old commander, who had reached retirement age. Most importantly, they hadn't given her any grief because she was a woman, and in charge of the base to boot.

But tonight she'd been summoned due to an emergency and had to hurry to the bio-security lab in the Botany Department.

"Kane had better be right that this is an emergency," she muttered as she headed out of her quarters. He'd called her through the personal com-link, simply saying that she should join him and 'see for herself', only to break off communication immediately, without giving her time to ask any questions. She'd been tempted to call him back, but given his obvious concern, she'd figured that it would be better to go down there and check out what was going on. She'd barely taken the time to rinse her face and get dressed, quickly slipping into a pair of overalls.

Usually, even when she was utterly exhausted, she still cared about her appearance and always tried to make herself presentable, since she was the only adult woman in the command group. Kane and five of the six technicians were men. The sixth member was Lena, a young woman born on the Moon and orphaned as a child when her parents had been killed. Any of Shynar's team were old enough to be her parents.

If compared to the classic definition of beauty, Shynar would be considered far from perfect. She had emerald green eyes and attractive facial features, but she always pulled her red hair into a ponytail which didn't suit her. Her lean, muscular physique was due to her daily exercise regime, consisting of running and workouts at the gym. She wasn't tall, but those who looked at her could not help but detect that she possessed uncommon energy and strength. She had small tattoos on her hands: three dots lined up on her right hand to indicate past, present, and future, and a small arrow on her left hand for protection. She'd had them for as long as she could remember but, despite all her research, she hadn't been able to figure out where they came from. She'd never met her parents, growing up in an orphanage on Earth. As an adult, she'd had to struggle more than most to find her place in the world and earn people's respect, especially in her line of work.