possibilities, and Holland barely had
enough strength to stand, let alone fight off an intruder or
invasion. A stowaway she could handle. A hallucination,
well...
“ As long as you’re here,”
Holland began, raising an eyebrow, “and since you seem to be
relatively harmless for the moment, I’m going to put you to
work.”
“ Of course!” Hazel nodded.
“Anything I can do, just let me know. But eventually, I just want
to go home.”
“ I can’t help you do that
until I get my ship under control. The first order of business is
to wake up the rest of the crew.”
“ How do we do that?” Hazel
asked.
“ Follow me.”
The trek to the coffin room was painful.
Every step felt like a massive spike was being driven up her legs,
and the feeling of pins and needles was so intense that she
imagined small stinging insects crawling all over her skin. In
addition, her breathing became short and difficult – she hoped
something wasn’t wrong with her respiratory system.
She reached out to open the door to the
coffin room.
“ This is a creepy room,”
said the girl in monotone robot voice.
Holland looked over her should to see Hazel
gazing at the coffins that lined the walls, each with tubes and
wires reaching out of one end. Holland nodded in agreement. She
also felt – and had since long before she had left on this trip –
that aside from the coffins, the room had a discomfiting feel, as
if the walls were a little too short and the ceiling a little too
wide, like they were standing in a three dimensional trapezoid.
“ I need you to help me wake
up my crew,” Holland said. “Each coffin contains one person, and
each person in this room is crucial to the managing the ship. We
will be arriving at our destination in less than three weeks, so I
need my crew awake and ready to work.
“ I’ve never seen anything
like it.” Hazel wandered over to a coffin and touched it gently
with one hand. Holland had the strong feeling that she was
reenacting a weird dream from her own period of stasis.
“ It’s so strange, so
unreal,” Hazel continued. “I mean, real live sleeping people...
waking from the dead? It’s like a combination of a post-apocalyptic
dystopia and a fairy tale. What if they’ve been infected by an
alien virus and are zombies when they wake up? Or what if they’ve
all had an overdose of whatever you inject them with and are
suddenly super smart or something?”
Holland ignored the speculating and began to
explain the process. “To open the coffins, you begin by turning the
wheel at the end.” Holland pointed to the nearest coffin, and Hazel
obediently walked over to it. The wheel squealed and creaked as it
turned, and the lid began to rise slowly. “The computers have
already started the process of waking them. It takes care of their
med packs and injects them with the necessary chemicals and
nutrients for successful waking. Some people may already be awake
when you open the coffin.
“ Each coffin has the name
of its resident,” Holland continued, “so you will know who they are
when they awake. The first person you wake can help you read them.
After the coffin is open, you will need to switch the med-feed from
the stasis pack to the waking pack. Since, as I said, the computer
has already started the revival process, they should all be waking
up as you open the lids. Few should still be asleep, and those
Nurse Sammy will attend to as soon as she is able.”
“ What is the name of the
person in this box?” Hazel asked.
“ His plaque reads, ‘Pilgrim
Overwall,’“ Holland replied. “He is a good friend of mine, and
after he can walk, he can help you with the others. I am going to
go back to the bridge, to get a few other things done.”
A groan came from the coffin.
Holland hobbled over. “Hello, Pilgrim,” she
said smiling. The skin on her face felt stiff; it had been a long
time since she had smiled.
“ Hey there, Admiral.” His
voice cracked. “Has it been six hundred
enough strength to stand, let alone fight off an intruder or
invasion. A stowaway she could handle. A hallucination,
well...
“ As long as you’re here,”
Holland began, raising an eyebrow, “and since you seem to be
relatively harmless for the moment, I’m going to put you to
work.”
“ Of course!” Hazel nodded.
“Anything I can do, just let me know. But eventually, I just want
to go home.”
“ I can’t help you do that
until I get my ship under control. The first order of business is
to wake up the rest of the crew.”
“ How do we do that?” Hazel
asked.
“ Follow me.”
The trek to the coffin room was painful.
Every step felt like a massive spike was being driven up her legs,
and the feeling of pins and needles was so intense that she
imagined small stinging insects crawling all over her skin. In
addition, her breathing became short and difficult – she hoped
something wasn’t wrong with her respiratory system.
She reached out to open the door to the
coffin room.
“ This is a creepy room,”
said the girl in monotone robot voice.
Holland looked over her should to see Hazel
gazing at the coffins that lined the walls, each with tubes and
wires reaching out of one end. Holland nodded in agreement. She
also felt – and had since long before she had left on this trip –
that aside from the coffins, the room had a discomfiting feel, as
if the walls were a little too short and the ceiling a little too
wide, like they were standing in a three dimensional trapezoid.
“ I need you to help me wake
up my crew,” Holland said. “Each coffin contains one person, and
each person in this room is crucial to the managing the ship. We
will be arriving at our destination in less than three weeks, so I
need my crew awake and ready to work.
“ I’ve never seen anything
like it.” Hazel wandered over to a coffin and touched it gently
with one hand. Holland had the strong feeling that she was
reenacting a weird dream from her own period of stasis.
“ It’s so strange, so
unreal,” Hazel continued. “I mean, real live sleeping people...
waking from the dead? It’s like a combination of a post-apocalyptic
dystopia and a fairy tale. What if they’ve been infected by an
alien virus and are zombies when they wake up? Or what if they’ve
all had an overdose of whatever you inject them with and are
suddenly super smart or something?”
Holland ignored the speculating and began to
explain the process. “To open the coffins, you begin by turning the
wheel at the end.” Holland pointed to the nearest coffin, and Hazel
obediently walked over to it. The wheel squealed and creaked as it
turned, and the lid began to rise slowly. “The computers have
already started the process of waking them. It takes care of their
med packs and injects them with the necessary chemicals and
nutrients for successful waking. Some people may already be awake
when you open the coffin.
“ Each coffin has the name
of its resident,” Holland continued, “so you will know who they are
when they awake. The first person you wake can help you read them.
After the coffin is open, you will need to switch the med-feed from
the stasis pack to the waking pack. Since, as I said, the computer
has already started the revival process, they should all be waking
up as you open the lids. Few should still be asleep, and those
Nurse Sammy will attend to as soon as she is able.”
“ What is the name of the
person in this box?” Hazel asked.
“ His plaque reads, ‘Pilgrim
Overwall,’“ Holland replied. “He is a good friend of mine, and
after he can walk, he can help you with the others. I am going to
go back to the bridge, to get a few other things done.”
A groan came from the coffin.
Holland hobbled over. “Hello, Pilgrim,” she
said smiling. The skin on her face felt stiff; it had been a long
time since she had smiled.
“ Hey there, Admiral.” His
voice cracked. “Has it been six hundred
Similar Books
