8 - Virtual Reality - RT Shoressuspense

I rode with a group of military vets, and our service dogs, to the institute. We were going to try mini exposure to our trigger events without our dogs.

We were all reluctant, but it was just virtual reality so nothing to physically hurt us.

Being a civilian, they wanted me to try it first. I was game and told Hope, my Pit mix to rest. She looked at me and  I nodded and followed the technician.

They put me inside a little gazebo-like area and then positioned the device on my head. I saw a field of flowers and relaxed.

The tech spoke. "Your triggers are men yelling at you and threatening you, right?"

I smiled. "Good place to start." 

"I am going to lower the lights and I won't leave the room. Give me a safe word and I will stop it immediately, okay?"

I nodded. "Orange is my word."

It began. I was suddenly in a convenience store with a Coke in my hand. I was in the check-out line and there was a large man in front of me.

He turned abruptly and looked down at me. "Lady. You got any extra cash there?" I could hear a dog barking as I looked for money.

"How much do you need?" I asked. I saw two fives in my purse. I pulled out one of the fives and held it out to him.

"That's it?" He yelled and grabbed my purse. He shook it out on the floor, looked up at me and then stood again. He slapped me on the left side of my face and I stumbled. I could taste blood.

"Orange!" I yelled. Barking was intense now and I heard pounding on the door.

I lifted off the device and grew very dizzy. The tech gasped when she saw me. 

"Are we recording all of this, control?"

After a pause, a disjointed voice said, "Yes. We got it all."

The tech let in Hope and I sank to the floor with her and held onto her for dear life.

"Get a doctor, control."

"On the way."

I saw my friends in the doorway staring at me. One pushed the tech aside, while another took pics on his phone.

"What's going on?" I asked. Hope nudged closer to me and weighted me down. 

A doctor entered and asked my friends to leave. They declined.

He sat on a rolling stool and took my face in his hands. "How ya doin'?" 

"That was very realistic! My face even hurts." I touched it and saw the blood. "Did I fall?" Hope was whining and was fully in my lap now. 

"I will review the recording now and see what happened, okay?" He helped me up and sat me in a chair with an ice pack, but not before all my friends took phone pics of me.

The tech came out and said we were through for the day, but to wait for the doctor. I nodded, feeling strange. Hope held me down.

Our counselor arrived suddenly and pasted her calming look on her face. She sat next me. Hope looked up at her and whined.

"What's going on, May?"

"There was some kind of accident during the test. They are checking it now."

" Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah and glad we had a safe word, cause that felt real." She nodded.

She led us out, everyone nervous and dogs close to each of us. 

"If you don't mind, I withdraw from that program." I said bluntly.

"We all do." Said the ranking officer of the group. 

I took a deep breath and Hope looked up  at me. "Good dog." 

~~

The institute reviewed the footage from every angle and saw my head jerk, blood flow from my mouth and a large handprint appear on my face.

"What the hell happened?" Asked the head of the program.

They all shrugged. "Unknown, but we need student volunteers still and not folks with PTSD. She believes it was some kind of accident, but it happened in VA and manifested in real life. 

~~

Back at the warehouse we all sat for a post outing discussion. Our counselor asked me to go to the medic before we began. I left with Hope.

"Okay guys. I know you all have pics, but will it help her to see them?"

"No. These aren't to show her, but to protect her, and us, from stupid experiments." Said the chief.

"Good, good. I think it could destroy her if she saw them." They all nodded.

I stopped in the bathroom and glanced at my face. Wow! It reminded me of a time before...I shrugged and washed my hands, splashing water on my sore face too. I rinsed my mouth and spit out blood. I took Hope to her food and water bowls.

The group was quiet and the dogs were whining.

"Listen. It was an accident and it's all over now." I sat and saw them nod.

"All over now..." One said. "All over."  

7- A Lucky Mistake - RT Shores

The planet grew closer on the view screen and more alarms sounded. I silenced them, ready to die in silence rather than screeching noises.

My shipmates were in cryosleep and I saw no reason to awaken them to die.

The computer chirped, "Impact in two minutes."

"But where are we, Kla2?" It had been named after Klatu from an old sci-fi movie.

"Unknown, Captain. Readings coming in now."

I waited. 

"Desert terrain. Temperature 107. Liveable. Beings nearby."

I came to full alert now. Oh great! "Kla2, if we survive, trigger cryosleep chambers to awaken. They may have a chance."

"Impact in one minute, Captain." I triggered everything that could slow down the impact and thought I saw movement below us in the dunes.

I deployed the parachutes and and locked myself down.

We hit and bounced and I could feel the ship break up around me. 

We had stopped, upright. We might survive.

Cryochambers were opening and I checked myself for injuries. Nothing seemed unrepairable.

"Beings in conveyances moving this way rapidly, Captain." 

"I see that and they look familiar, oddly." I heard my shipmates begin to stir.

I cued the ship speaker. "We crash landed somewhere and creatures are headed towards us." 

All of my mates came to the view screen and watched as vehicles drew near.

"Are those trucks?" My co-pilot asked.

"Looks that way." Had we crashed back on Earth? 

"How the hell did we get back?" The engineer asked?

We heard tapping and banging on the hull and turned on the hatch screen.

"Hey! You okay in there?" Yelled a male voice.

"Yes. Where are we?" I asked.

"Planet Earth in the Sahara Desert. Need some help." He asked.

"Stand back so I can blow the hatch." The group cleared away. The hatch exploded upward and thudded in the distance. 

I was the only one dressed, so went to the hatch, thrown back by the heat.

I looked at the assembly of people. "Captain Thea O'hara."

"You guys have been missing for awhile!" Yelled one man.

She saw them use things near their ears and then talk.

"What year is it?" I had no idea.

"2014. You've been lost for almost thirty years. Call NASA or somebody, you guys." He ordered and People nodded.

My team dressed and the heat being too oppressive and the gravity too strong, a few strangers came aboard.

The temporary hatch engaged; we all stared at each other.

"What are you doing in the desert?" I asked.

"Making a movie." The leader said. 

I sat hard in my command seat and shook my head, watching the strangers unwrap sandy coverings and talk into boxes at their ears again.

"Help is on the way; the Air Force is coming." I nodded.

It wasn't long before they arrived and got rid of the movie folks.

"Captain? Where have you been?" Asked one suspicious pilot.

"It's a long story and right now we all need a hospital bed." They carried us off and flew us away. I hoped the movie people had recorded the landing, but knew to hide it. I wanted to see it one day.

"What movie were they shooting?"

"Mad Max." Said a medic.

"I thought we already had that movie." I said, beginning to doze.

"It's a remake, and you have a lot to learn since you've been gone; good and bad. One thing is for sure, you are mighty lucky to land where you did." 

I nodded and then passed out with a wry smile on my face thinking about what Earth had to learn from us.