Mars station was an orbital facility that served numerous functions for both planets.

While it acted like a space port, it's main purpose was scientific research. Mars station was tasked with studying the planet's atmosphere and surface to aid in our terraformation pursuits.

Also, like so many other missions before us, we were using it as a launch pad to the farther reaches of the solar system.

Additionally, minerals and resources were received from the surface to be transported back to Earth and also the other way around.

"You're not going down to the surface are you?" Rudy asked through the corridors of the Station. He'd been sent by our handler to lead us through check-in and now to her office. "Cause there's currently a storm"

"That's classified, specialist" Will answered simply.

"Oh right" Rudy replied nervously "Sorry". He looked to me and smiled. I averted my gaze quickly and focused on the path ahead.

Landing on Mars was a bit different than landing on Earth. With only about 1% of Earth's atmospheric density, for us to get down to the surface, we'd have to free fall in a capsule which would then initiate a two stage sequence of releasing parachutes then engaging the RAD systems. Rocket Assisted Descent.

'No thanks' I thought to myself.

Unlike the space port on Earth, there wasn't as many people on Mars Station. Of course I couldn't know the exact amount of people but it couldn't have been more than 500 people.

I did my best to ignore the looks we got as we passed groups of workers. I guessed everybody knew everybody there.

"Here it is" Rudy cheerfully told us as we arrived at an office door. "I hope your mission's a success. Whatever it is"

"Thank you, Specialist" Will responded.

Rudy waved at me before taking off. I didn't think I'd see anyone around my age in space but there he was. Must've been one of those Mars program kids. Probably rich 1% parents.

I'd expected their children to all be stuck up brats but he seemed nice.. if a bit awkward.

"Come in" I heard a woman's voice after Will knocked.

We all shuffled into the small office door to reveal a room that was deceptively big on the inside. A dark haired woman in a blue suit sat at a large desk on the other end of the room.

Behind her was a thick glass pane that offered views of part of the station's lower levels and the endless darkness beyond.

"Pathfinder team, welcome!" she called to us while walking out from behind her desk.

While extending her hand to Will, she introduced herself "Sofia Chavez, Acting Director of Outer Solar System Affairs"

"I'm Will Ness, Captain of the Pathfinder" he replied shaking her hand.

"Oh of course I know who you are, all of you" She said excitedly "I've been waiting for you".

She glanced at all of us, "Heather Jones, Cillian Doyle, John Mudridge, Robert Harvey and Daniel..." she had paused slight but quickly recovered ".. Fahey".

"He have your ship in top condition and ready for your journey" She said as she walked past us and towards the door "Come, we'll use the conference. There's some people who can't wait to talk to you".

=^..^=

"Just two more days now, I'm sure you're very excited" Caitlyn spoke over the video.

Of course Sofia didn't actually mean 'talk' in the normal sense of the word.

Given the distance between us and Earth, that would have been impossible. What she meant was that they'd left a message for us and we could send a message back.

Currently it would take about 25 Earth minutes for message from Earth to reach us. That would get worse the farther away we got and obviously become impossible as soon as we crossed the wormhole.

"We're all very excited for this mission" Caitlyn said over the video. There were a lot of people in the background including the administrator.

"The pathfinder is ready, all systems green across the board, we've all been preparing for this moment. We believe in you".

And that was it, the message was over. Just like we'd planned, Caitlyn and Mission Control back on Earth would leave us messages at crucial points. Just before we left in two days and when we awoke from Stasis nearing the wormhole.

The pathfinder was constantly relaying reports back to Earth so if there were any issues, one of those messages would be for us to abort.

If the final message gave us the green light, there'd be no going back.

"This next message is for Mr. Ness alone so follow the Specialists outside the door. They will lead you to your rooms. Get some sleep."

"Yes ma'am" We answered and left.

=^..^=

A common misconception about stasis was that after sleeping for four months, you'd be refreshed and ready to go when you woke up. It was actually the opposite.

During stasis, the body was stuck in NREM stage 2 of sleep where your heart rate and breathing slowed and your body temperature dropped. The body was never allowed to enter deep sleep (stage 3) where actual recovery happened or REM sleep.

Research was still ongoing about the longterm effects of prolonged exposure to stasis. For now though, the experts only recommended getting some actual sleep after exiting stasis.

Which is exactly what I wanted to do at that moment.

The room itself was more like a prison cell than anything. A tiny compartment with a bed and a shared bathroom at the end of the section. Still it looked inviting enough due to how tired I was. Anyway I could deal with this since it was only for two days.

=^..^=

I ended up sleeping all night and felt a little more like myself when I woke up.

'Or was it all day?' I wondered. Obviously there were no day or nights up here.

After a quick shower, I decided to explore the station a bit.

'From tomorrow the walls of the Pathfinder, would be all I'd have to look at for the foreseeable future. This was my last chance to see something different' I reasoned.

The grey v-neck t-shirt and joggers combo I'd found in the closet had the exact same cut as my jumpsuit from earlier. These must have been 3D printed in the same measurements as all the other clothes that were provided to me.

The tight fit that seemed purpose built to assentuate the figure I'd tried to hide for so long which left me extremely uncomfortable as I wandered the halls of the station.

Still, I took in the sights. The best thing about Mars Station was all the greenery, and even better it wasn't even artificial.

I spent a lot of time exploring the open garden that had a variety of plants and trees I had never seen before. Some of them even had 'endangered' signs hanging nearby with a list of all the locations where they could still be found.

Eventually I made my way to a bar and settled in at one of the booths.

"Earth's dead already and we don't need it anymore. We need our independence" I heard a group talking and listened.

"The first true Martians have already been born. Do you want our kids to grow up in a world where 80% of everything they mine is sent to another planet?" Another agreed.

"We still receive food and supplies from Earth?" Another chimed in.

"For how much longer? They already can't feed themselves. I'd rather eat synthetic food if it meant we could finally be free of them already"

"But we can't just leave them to die..."

"Shh shh" One of the group alerted while looking directly at me. "That's one of them that arrived off the Solaris yesterday". They all turned to me and so I turned away.

The silence was deafening and their shushed voices told me they were talking about me.

When I heard a plastic, probably printed chair shuffle, I exhaled.

'Are they leaving?' I thought.

"Barkeep, a drink for our friend here" The one I assumed to be the ringleader called out.

Soon he had shuffled over and was now filling the chair across from me.

I stood to leave..

"Relax lady, I'm not gonna harm you"

I looked around, at the rest of the workers whose eyes were still trained on me. I looked at the other patrons who seemed to be minding their business. Or atleast pretending.

"So you've just arrived from earth eh? How's the motherland?" He asked with a smile. He was attractive and well kept. Another high zone asshole who secured a gig on Mars through his connections probably.

I didn't respond.

"You've just arrived but there are no scheduled trips to the surface all week... which means you're going further" he deduced. "Where? Europa? Enceladus?"

I didn't respond.

"Somewhere else then?" He pressed.

"You know I'm not going to tell you anything. What do you want?" I stood my ground.

He took a look around then leaned in,

"Listen, Earth's done. The elites are already offering their friends the opportunity to buy property on the surface. We have contacts, We can get you a place here on Mars permanently" He took one last look around "tell me what you know and what your mission is"

He sat back in the chair. "You look like a smart girl, you scratch my back, you know how it goes"

It looked like he was dead serious. Were they really already buying up property on Mars? They weren't even going to try to save earth or find another solution? Mars couldn't even support half of Earth's population even if it's fully terraformed in time.

Right now it would take what? Maybe 500 thousand? They were leaving everyone to die. Gaia was now our only hope to save everyone.

"Thanks but no" I said as i stood up. Of course I didn't need a place on Mars. I was leaving the Milky Way forever.

"Going back to Earth is suicide" he told me. "Leave a message with the Barkeep if you change your mind".

I left and didn't look back.

=^..^=

Robert had suggested we don't tell Will who wasn't around when I returned.

"He probably knows already that they are basically selling seats on the life boat and abandoning Earth and everyone on it. He's in on it" Robert stated.

"We don't know that. And even if he knew, he's still here risking his life to give us another option" I defended him.

"Yeah he could just chill on Mars with the rest of them" Heather supported.

"He's keeping a lot of secrets" John chose his side "It's smarter not to tell him everything we know"

Looking over to Cillian, we all prompted him to say something. Honestly I fully expected him to side with them. The last few months we've spent together, I've only known him to me cynical about human nature.

"I know people. I've known bad men. I do not think he is one of them. As long as he is making this journey with us, we can atleast know he's on our side... even if he is keeping a lot of secrets but then again, who isn't?"

The man of few words had shocked me. In the end, we agreed to not fracture the team before the mission even started and tell him.

"What about Caitlyn?" I asked him "Is she a good person?"

"She would do whatever it took to survive" He nodded seemingly please with his answer.

=^..^=

"Yes, property is being bought up on the surface faster than it can be built." Will had admitted. We'd accosted him the moment he walked through the door and I told him about the offer I'd received.

"I'm afraid if we fail, the focus will shift, and building more biodomes on the surface will become the priority."

I believe that moment sparked something within us. Humanity's fate rested on our shoulders. If Mars became our new home, only the very worst of us would survive. The greedy and the power hungry. We would lose all the best qualities of ourselves. We couldn't let that happen.

The next day, as we stood in the rising elevator that would take us to the pathfinder, we had a new conviction. We would make Gaia humanity's new home no matter what.

=^..^=

The Pathfinder was much bigger than the Solaris so the corridors felt that much roomier as we made our way to the bridge.

This was the first time I'd actually been inside it. Since it was designed to be used in space, it had only been suspended when we'd seen it on the ground at NASA. Two months later, it had been dismantled and sent into space piece by piece.

Of course I'd walked these halls about 500 times in simulations so the layout atleast was familiar.

As the doors to the bridge slid open, I heard a familiar voice ring out across the room's speakers.

"Hello, Pathfinder crew"

It wasn't Alexa. The Pathfinder Operations and Logistics AI which we all called Pola was the on-board AI built from the ground up to manage the ship's systems.

"Hello Pola" Will said as he gestured for us to take our seats.

"There is an incoming message from Earth. Shall I begin playback?"

Will's nod gave her the approval she needed which caused the massive viewport at the front of the bridge that had previously showed the Mars and the real-time space outside the ship to switch to a video of Caitlyn.

Unlike the usual design where the bridge would be at the front of the ship and the glass panes would provide a view outside, Pathfinder's bridge was somewhere in the middle to provide quicker access to the rest of the ship due to its size.

Although there were only 6 of us on board, this ship was intended to carry thousands of people across the stars. The size was wasted on us but would come in handy when the actual missions started.

A ship this size would have been impossible for such a small crew to pilot without Pola.

"Hello again" Caitlyn's video recording started, "All signs are still green so the mission is officially a go. Our wormhole is still as stable as the day it appeared with no signs of deterioration."

Unlike the last video, in this one it was just her in her office.

"I am so very proud of what you have achieved so far. I believe in you. We will speak again in two years" She smiled "For you, it will feel like tomorrow. Goodnight Pathfinder crew, have a nice nap"

And that was it. The mission was a go.

"Okay Dany, time for pre-flight checks. The rest of you can go inspect your equipment and make sure everything is perfect. You know what to do. Let's get moving, I'm sure the Martians are sick of us already"

I took my seat in the assistant's chair as the rest of the crew exited the bridge.

"Life support systems, check" Will voiced.

I read the meters and responded "Check"

"Navigation, check"

"Check" I responded again. Oh God, it was really happening

We went through every last system like the training instructed, solar panels and fuel cells, communication, temperature regulation, humidity control, air filtration, backup power, fire suppression and more.

All of this wasn't really necessary of course as Pola would detect any issues long before we did and Mars Station would have also performed their own checks but still we did. Just in case.

The last check performed was the Propulsion systems check which was usually the most rigorous. We went through engine checks, propellant flow,throttle control and most importantly thrust vector control that ensured our maneuverability.

All systems were green.

"Begin undocking sequence".

Carefully I pressed the buttons which detached us from the station. Last thing I wanted to do was rip out a section of Mars Station on my first day

I was sure that couldn't happen but still.

The ship tilted slightly then corrected which is how I knew we'd undocked. Well that and the screen in front of me telling me we had.

"Begin propulsion systems checks" Will instructed.

The first to be tested was chemical propulsion. I applied a bit of forward pressure on the control sticks, the thrust gauge lit up and the positional systems told me that we infact had moved.

The chemical propulsion system wasn't our main source of propulsion. This was only to be used in specific situations like accelerating out of port, getting into open space and occasionally navigating an astroid belt or debris field. The liquid hydrogen that powered it of course was a finite resource.

Our main propulsion would be the ion thrusters which were powered by the solar sails we would release later in our journey.

This was how we would cover most of our journey to the wormhole and then to Gaia.

The last system I tested was the Omni-directional control system which which ensured we could turn in any direction or rotate if needed. This also included the stabilization mechanisms.

When we were done with our redundant checks and we were sure everything was working perfectly, Will signaled me once again, a thumbs up back to him told him that I was ready and so we began our journey.

=^..^=

The solar sails were open, Pola had taken flight controls, it was time for Stasis. We all gathered in the med bay where John was already preparing.

John had been trained to put himself into stasis so he would help us then put himself under last.

"What if I fuck up and I'm not able to fall asleep?" He asked.

"Then we'll see you in two years" Heather laughed "Don't eat all our food though" she said seriously.

That was a real problem that had happened before but John had put himself into stasis multiple times over the past few months so we weren't worried.

It was actually incredible. The next time I opened my eyes, it would be 2045 and I would be 22.

As you probably know, my body would still age so I was essentially just losing two years of my life. But that was the mission.

"Dany, you're up first"

I wanted to protest remembered that this was the exact sequence Will decided on. I guess I felt like if John fucked up somehow, I wouldn't want to be the one as selfish as that was. Either way, I tried to trust him.

He hooked me up to the machine which would monitor my brain activity for the entire duration as well as wake me up when Pola decided it was time.

He injected me with the serum that primed me and then placed the breathing mask on my face.

"Can you hear me?" I heard but extremely muffled.

I was already so dizzy.

"Dany, I need you to count back with me from 10, 9, 8, 7..."

=^..^=

My body involuntarily jumped upright and I was hit with the worst headache I'd ever experienced. Everything hurt. All my joints felt like they would fall apart with every move.

"Lie back down" John guided me and placed my head back. The inside of the tube in which I lay perfectly molded my body which was designed to keep me in place during stasis.

"Is... everyone else up? " I groaned.

"You're the first" He said softly "First in, first out, you know the rules... except the doctor of course."

He handed me the same juice as before.

"Thanks" I whispered.

"If you thought you looked like a woman before, now with all that hair..."

"Don't finish that sentence" I interrupted. "And by the way you look like a caveman" I added.

He really did. Full head of hair and full beard. Far cry from the freshly trimmed hunk we'd left Mars with.

"How long do I have to sit in here?" I asked. I'd been in that tube for 2 years, my body needed out.

"You can leave whenever you no longer feel disoriented... But finish your juice" He called out as he went to tend to the next person.

=^..^=

I walked into the bathroom and beelined for the mirror. God, he was right. I marveled at the woman staring back at me. Atleast I looked older now.

My hair that barely reached my ears now went well past my shoulders. Even worse is that it was a tangled mess.

I inspected my chin. In two years, I'd only managed a little irregular stubble. So ugly. Even more than the hair on my head, those hair patches had to go.

Suddenly a loud scream coming from the med bay shocked me but then I realised it meant Heather was now awake.

Thankfully the bathroom had disposable and recyclable shaving sticks so I quickly took care of the stubble. I made a mental note to ask John or Heather to help me cut my hair later. In the meantime I brushed it as well as I could.

=^..^=

By the time I rejoined the crew in the med bay, I saw that Robert was now awake as well and Heather was on her feet drinking the juice.

The agreed stasis order - me, Heather, Robert, Cillian, Will and then John was being followed.

"I actually hate that a man is prettier than me" Heather said as I walked back into the room.

"Honestly now I'm not so sure she is one" Robert agreed. Robert who made it his life's work to disagree with everyone finally agreed on something and it was that I look like a woman.

"Can one of you help me cut this hair off?" I asked.

"No, you can't. It's beautiful. Maybe just needs a little trim and styling" Heather proposed.

"No thank you" I quickly shut down that idea.

Soon Cillian and John were both awake, neither failing to comment about my appearance. It didn't help that all my clothes were in this weird style.

"Welcome back Captain, now that the entire crew is awake, you should know that we are approximately 18 hours away from the wormhole" Pola's voice rang throughout the med bay's speakers.

"Alright team, let's get to the bridge"

=^..^=

The first thing that I noticed when I got to the bridge was Jupiter far off to the right. Although no bigger than a soccer ball at this distance, I could immediately tell that was it due to the numerous pictures I'd seen of it.

Morbidly, I thought about how even if I died here, I'd still be satisfied because of all the things I was able to see.

"You have a new message" Pola announced.

"Play it" Will responded.

It was Caitlyn again. She looked different. Was it just the hair that was different? Or did she looked thinner somehow? Or was it the bags under her eyes.

"Pathfinder crew, this is the last time you'll see my face or hear my voice until we meet again on Gaia. I have to admit, things on earth are getting bad.

Mission control has moved to orbit which is where I am now. The ground isn't safe anymore. I don't want to alarm you so I won't go into the details but I want you to understand how crucial your success is.

The president hopes to announce the viability of Gaia on Independence Day to help calm the people and buy some more time.

Your beacon lighting up before then is all we can hope for now.

We believe in you. Caitlyn Alcove signing off".

Silence filled the bridge.

Earth was falling apart and humanity with it.

"Pola, what day is it on Earth?" Will asked.

"It is May 16th 2045, captain".

"Show me the wormhole" he then instructed.

We then watched the viewport switch screens and display empty space. To Pola's credit she even added a marker on screen to show us exactly where it was but still nothing.

Following a long zoom in, I was able to make out some distortions on screen but very faint. The stars in a certain portion of space seemed to bend in a circular pattern, a phenomenon that wasn't present elsewhere.

In any case, it was time to prepare for it. After running all the systems checks and ensuring everything was still in order, Will told us to go get some sleep and prepare to enter the special stasis capsules. Back to back stasis without any actual sleep was a very bad idea.

=^..^=

"Daniel, you are needed in the med bay" I heard Pola's voice which dragged me out of sleep. What kept me awake though was that the whole ship seemed to be shaking. Softly but I could definitely feel it.

I put on my clothes and rushed to the med bay to find the rest of the team already there.

"Good, you're here" John said to me. "We're going under early"

"Can you believe it? Six hours away and the readings are already this massive" Will asked excitedly.

"This is crazy, how are we going to make it through?" Robert asked.

I could feel the Pathfinder groan and shake slightly beneath my feet.

"We press on" Will made it clear that we weren't turning back. "John, put her under... uh him sorry"

I didn't have time to worry about that. We were still 6 hours away and it was already this bad?

With no objections though, I let him put me under. The special capsules didn't use a mask. We were put into a rectangular box made out of ballistic glass and latched closed. This capsule was then supplied with oxygen as well as the gas that enabled stasis.

If I died here, I would still die happy.

=^..^=

I woke up with a panic. A loud alarm was blaring wildly all over the room and it seemed all over the station. The pleasant white lights of the medbay had been replaced with a red color that screamed danger.

I looked up above me and John was floating. He pushed off my capsule and floated to Heather's capsule opening that one too. One after the other, he opened all the capsules.

"What's happening?!" I screamed trying to get my voice over the alarms.

"I don't know, Pola's not responding" he yelled back.

I noticed I was floating as well. I turned to Heather who was floating out of her container but still seemed to be asleep.

John propelled himself to her again and pushed the stasis release button. Nothing. He pushed it again. Nothing.

"Something's wrong" He told Will.

"Stay with her" Will replied. "Dany with me".

I followed his lead as he pushed himself off the walls and any surface and made his way out the med bay. I followed suit. We'd done Zero-G training as well so we were equipped for this.

We navigated the winding corridors as we pushed forward toward the bridge. Thankfully the backup generator had kicked in so we had essential power to doors although this included the alarm and lights which were still red and blaring retriggering my headache.

"Pola!" He called out.

Nothing.

"Start reboot sequence" He told me.

I pushed my way to the Centre console, followed the instructions and waited. Surely enough , all lights went off for five seconds and came on again, this time their usual color. The alarm had also stopped in the bridge but I could still hear it coming from distant parts of the pathfinder.

"Hello captain" I heard and in that moment it was the most beautiful sound. My relief didn't last long however because the next, I was falling chest first to the floor. A thud to my left told me Will had fallen too.

I groaned from the pain.

"Pola what happened?" Will asked her.

"I... I don't remember" That was the first time I'd ever seen an AI stutter. "My final records are from 16 minutes to the wormhole"

The wormhole.

"Did we make it through?" I asked.

"My navigation systems are still rebooting. I will have a full report in 4 minutes"

I heard the bridge door slide open to reveal Robert.

"She's not waking up" He said.

Will scratched his head before bolting out the door and back to the med bay.

I followed.

=^..^=

Both John and Cillian were standing over Heather who seemed to be sleeping soundly in her opened stasis capsule.

When he saw us, John began "She won't wake up. I've tried multiple times. I think something is damaged"

"Well can't we repair it?" Will asked.

"I don't know how, she's the mechanic" he responded.

"Pola, what's wrong with her?" Will asked.

There was a slight pause. "Her capsule seems to be malfunctioning. Pinging its computer is not returning a response"

"Can you fix it?" he asked.

"It seems to be a hardware issue. You can access the capsule's internal components on the bottom right corner and I can try to guide you through the steps"

"Okay" Will agreed.

"Captain, if we short it for even a second, she's braindead" John warned.

"Well can't we move her into one of the other capsules?" Robert asked.

"If we unplug her, she's braindead" John repeated.

"So what, we just leave her there?" I asked.

"We can't do that, we need her" Will replied agitated. That was very unlike him.

"Yeah we do need a engineer" Robert agreed.

"No, you don't understand" Will reiterated. Where had the calm and collected guy gone?

"Then help us understand" I reached out and touched him arm.

He took a breath almost like he was preparing himself.

"Heather had a separate crucial mission. When we determined the planet's viability, she was to get pregnant and give birth. Even if we could survive, we needed to know if babies could too with the different atmosphere and gravity. Otherwise, we'd still go extinct if we couldn't reproduce."

I shook my head. What was he talking about?

"How was she supposed to get pregnant?" Cillian asked.

"There are vials of sperm from healthy males in storage" Will answered.

"And she agreed to this?" Cillian asked.

"Yes of course she did. You think I was going to get here and then force her?" His reactions had gotten worse. He wasn't having a good day.

I looked at her. Still sleeping peacefully. I guess she had her secrets.

"How would they even know if she was successful?" Robert asked.

"There's multiple beacons. There's even one for hostile wildlife" he answered.

Secrets. There was so much I didn't even know.

"We need to find a way to wake her up." Will decided.

"No" I stepped up and in front of him. "I won't let you get her killed over this. No, we find out if we even fucking made it, then if the planet is viable, we light the beacon and wait for the next team to show up. They'll have a engineer right?"

"We can't abandon the mission" He argued "We have to try atleast... and I'm still the captain"

"Captain" Pola's voice rang out. "I may have a solution".

=^..^=

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Hey again, what did you think about this chapter? I'm sure you all already know where this is headed. I felt confident letting this spoiler go early because the main meat of the story doesn't happen till much later.

I'd love to hear what you think though. Leave a comment. Thanks. Stay tuned for more.