Gaia Lost

Chapter 3-Dreamers Return

Joseph's dive ended in a flash, the terminal acting erratically from the sudden cut off. He was drenched in sweat and shaking all over, still in a state of total shock. Never before had he witnessed the death of another human being, let alone that of hundreds.

He slowly rose from the terminal, his legs still shaking. He held onto the side of the terminal for support, desperately trying to catch his breath before he would try moving again. The screams of the people he had left behind filled his mind, eating away at his very soul.

He soon regained some of his lost strength and moved through the open doorway.

He stumbled through the halls, his mind still not fully his own. The other members of the station's crew quickly shifting to the sides to avoid him.

Eventually he reached his quarters. He sat down on the edge of his bed, trying to regain his composure and reflect on what had happened.

“How could this happen?” he thought to himself. “Terrorism was supposed to be a relic of our past, one we had long ago abandoned. Who would be foolish enough to bring it back?”

Joseph spent the next hour sitting on the edge of the bad, going over the event in his mind. He could still feel the crystalline rock crawling up his body, cutting off his vision an air supply. He could still feel his lungs running out of air, the slow suffocation unbearable.. Never before had he experienced death, it was something he hoped he would never have to experience again, something he wished no one had to experience. The idea that every one of those people at the conference experienced the same thing was an intolerable notion.

He began to lose it. He burst into tears, unable to hold it back any longer. Why could something like this be allowed to happen? Why would anyone do such a thing? He couldnt understand any of it, and it angered him greatly.
In a rage he reached down, grasping the bed's underside, and ripped it from its anchor in the wall. In a quick motion he threw the bed across the room, leaving a large dent in the wall. Tears streamed down his cheeks, his eyes a bright red.

“How the hell could this happen?!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, tossing over the computer terminal like a madman. “Why?!”

He walked over and sat in the corner, crying.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Over time he regained control of his emotions. He walked over to the small computer in the corner of his room the glow of the computer screen filling his eyes. He set the termincal back upright, sat down, and began to type, this time without the aid of his implants. He wanted this one to be personal, it needed to be.

To: Catherine Belotz

I wish to go to earth, it has been my dream since I was a boy. Now I seem to have that dream within my grasp thanks to you. Please, I will do anything to go to Earth. I feel I can be of great help to you in this mission. I am well versed in the mechanics of starship engine systems and am willing to technical skills to your cause. I will do anything you wish. Please, this is all I have left to turn to.

End of Message

Joseph Keldan
Telmari Corp.
Detri Sector
Station 8231a

Joseph slowly reached out and touched the send key on the screen, unaware of how much the message would change the course of his, and may others lives.

Joseph returned to his bed, ready to end the day. It was still the middle of the day, but that made no difference, he needed a break, anything to put the day's events out of his mind.

He layed down on the bed and drifted off into sleep.

As he slept he once again dreamed, his mind drifting off into a far flung world. He found himself in the cockpit of a Deltian fighter craft, flying high over Cazic IX, the desert far below him.

A battle raged all around him. A gigantic Nevian cruiser was orbiting the planet, bombarding the men on the surface as they ran for their lives. Hundreds of small fighters swarmed around him, seemingly moving at random. They banked and swooped in and out, firing off volleys of rounds at each other.

“What is going on?” Joseph thought to himself. “I recognize this planet, the first major battle of the war was fought here a hundred years ago. Why is this happening?”

Joseph didn't have much time to think however. A Nevian interceptor flew up behind him. It was a flying spike, with a surrounding ring that housed all the weapon systems. It encircled the ship, rotated around at high speed. No cockpit was visible, let alone a pilot.

“Shit” Joseph muttered under his breath, “What am I supposed to do?”

The ring around the enemy ship began to rotate faster, a sign it was building up the mass drivers magnetic charge. Soon it would be able to fire on Joseph's ship. Joseph had to do something, anything.

“How the hell do you fly this thing?” Joseph thought, quickly looking over the ships control panel. It consisted of a mess of buttons and two levitating spheres. He placed his palms on the top of the spheres and rolled them to them to the right, hoping the ship would respond.

It did. The ship banked to the right at high speed, dodging the hail of gunfire the interceptor had fired off. It was soon on his tail again, this time its weapons fully charged.

It fired off a volley. This time it scored a hit on the left wing of Joseph's small craft. The wing sheered off and plummeted to the ground below. Soon the small craft began to fall along with it. The ground rushing up towards Josephs small ship, it wouldn't be long until he hit the ground..

Soon a familiar voice came over his radio.

“Hello again Joseph. Take this as a sign of things to come, don't shrug it off like our last encounter. You would be wise to listen to these words, you wont have many more chances. Forget about Earth.”

“Who the hell are you, tell me now!” Joseph yelled.

“I would suggest you worry more about how you are going to get out of that ship first, then you might figure out what you want to know.” said the mysterious man right before Joseph's radio failed.

Joseph decided to take the mans advice. He searched the cockpit over for some sort of ejection mechanism. He couldn't find one anywhere on the control panel.

“Now what.” Joseph said as his arms slumped to the sides of his seat. His hand brushed up against something, a lever of some sort. Surprised, Joseph looked down. The lever was large and red. Joseph thought this was probably his best bet. He reached down and pulled it all the way back.

In an instant the right wing and what was left of the left wing broke off at the base from the stress of the fall and the damage caused from the enemy.

“Why isn't it working, why isn't anything happening?”

Joseph franticly looked around the cockpit, for anything that might have changed, he didn't have much time left. If he couldn't get out he may never figure out whats going on.

Something caught his attention, a red light over a small button had litten up since he had pulled the lever. He quickly punched the button, knowing this was his last chance.

Within seconds of him pushing the button the cockpit of his ship flew off and his seat was propelled through the opening left behind. A parachute then opened and Joseph began to drift slowly towards the ground.

“I'm afraid I can't let you get any further, sorry Joseph.” said a voice in Josephs head. It was the shadowy man.

Joseph could see the same ship that had shot him down in the distance, heading towards him, it's weapons rings spinning up. The last thing Joseph saw was the hail of gunfire heading towards him.

He awoke in his bed, trembling all over, wondering what had just happened. He never fought in the war, never been to Cazic IX. Never had he even seen a Nevian cruiser. All were foreign to him, and yet he still dreamed of it, the images as vivid as if he had seen them with his own eyes. He tried to cast the dream from his mind but he couldn't, it was now a part of him, as if he had lived it himself.