Rhea of the Moon

(1) Setting: Rhea of the Moon is a science fiction story that takes place on the moon, mostly in a Luna City bar co-owned by Rhea and her business partner Rooklyn. There are a few events which occur elsewhere, in the port reception area and in the departure bay, and even a brief scene which takes place on Earth.

(2a) Protagonist: The main character is Rhea.

(2b) Flaws: Rhea is stuck in the past, mourning a relationship that ended abruptly, and nostalgic for a home she remembers through rose-tinted glasses. She doesn’t think she should have to stick her neck out for anyone. She is jaded and cynical. She is also super fake; no one would believe she isn’t the boisterous clown she pretends to be. On the inside, Rhea is an angry, depressed hot mess.

(2c) Goals / Wants: Emotionally, Rhea wants to be left alone to lick her wounds and wallow in self-pity. In her daily life, she wants to pay out her half of the business to leave Luna City. Ideally, she also wants to travel, either back to Earth or forward into the stars.

(2d) Needs: Rhea needs to get over Mabel, avoid romanticizing Earth, and get her head out of the past so maybe she can stop being so bitter. She needs to realize that it takes a village; we all need each other, and her friends are her chosen family. She needs to live in the here and now. Rhea needs to face her feelings and own her truth.

(3) Conflicts:
It takes money to get a travel pass, and right now even that might not be enough. The war for oxygen is making travel everywhere more difficult. It was always going to be difficult to obtain a visa, since Rhea was a ward of a state that no longer exists back on Earth. Rooklyn isn’t eager to help, as she has a financial interest in keeping Rhea in Luna City. (WHY THO?) And now a murder has occurred on the station – an ambassador whose transit papers have gone missing – so security is tighter than ever. Sometimes it’s just easier to stay stuck.

(4) Antagonists: Who or what is creating the conflict(s)?
The inspector sent from Earth to investigate the ambassador’s murder seems like a decent enough person, but he is partnered up with a local security agent who has it in for Rhea (WHY THO?). The agent is less concerned with finding the real killer than with closing the case to put a feather in his cap, and thus will stop at nothing to conveniently pin the murder on Mabel and Elijah.

(5) Write a provocative one-sentence description of your story.
Rhea, jaded co-owner of a Luna City bar, is caught between helping her ex-girlfriend Mabels’s fugitive fiance Elijah escape to the outer planets, versus turning them in for the money so she can travel home to an Earth she no longer even knows.