“Twice a day? Doesn’t that leave you with a lot of down time?”
Dr. Taylor shut off her terminal, navigated over to Cal, and turned his terminal off as well. “You find things to keep yourself entertained. My next stop is the gym. It’s extremely important for the crew to exercise while they are awake.”
Cal stretched, causing himself to slowly pitch backwards. He steadied himself on a sleeper berth, and then rubbed his hair.
“Why is that?”
“Microgravity. There are all kinds of problems that can arise due to prolonged exposure to low gravity, and trust me Calvin, you don’t want to experience them if you don’t have to.”
“Wait, don’t the passengers have this problem too?”
She tapped at the gray hair around her temple, and then pointed at Calvin’s forehead. “Remember how your cut didn’t heal even though five years had passed?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, as it turns out, biostasis seems to have the same effect on these microgravity issues. Our guests may well be asleep for forty or so years, but they will only have experienced the equivalent of a month’s exposure,” she explained. “Sure, they won’t be as strong as the day they went to sleep, but they should still be able to function and contribute.”
The thought of hundreds of people coming out of stasis all at once did not sit well with Cal. The idea that they might also be weaker coming out was even worse.
What if they can’t function and contribute? Who is going to take care of all of them?
He followed Dr. Taylor as she departed the sleeper pod. They made their way down into the lower level of the ship and forward to a door at the end of the lower gallery. Dr. Taylor keyed her access code into a small pad next to the door and the magnetic lock released. She opened the door and turned on the light inside, revealing a small compartment that contained several sets of exercise equipment.
Cal noticed that all of the equipment seemed to be based on resistance bands rather than the usual weight plates. He moved his way in and touched the cold steel of one of the machines. Upon inspection, he determined it to be something designed to work various leg muscle groups.
“Pick your torture device,” Dr. Taylor said.
“I guess this is as good as any to start with.” He pulled himself into position and secured his body to the apparatus. “How do I adjust this thing?”
“The knob by your right hip. Forward for more resistance, back for less,” she said as she maneuvered into another machine.
He twisted the knob forward and pumped his legs. The motion was too easy, so he went through a series of dialing up the equipment and testing it before he found a reasonable setting. Cal proceeded to slowly work his leg muscles while Dr. Taylor positioned her machine for lateral pulls. After a short time, he found himself straining against the equipment and short of breath. The doctor didn’t seem to be affected, and she reconfigured her device for curls.
Either she’s buff, or I’m getting soft. I don’t get it, I used the weight room back in school a bit and it was never this hard. He recalled the earlier conversation in the pod. I hope I’m just out of shape. If this is how quickly we get weak, I don’t know if these passengers will even be able to stand when we get there.
Cal and Dr. Taylor worked their muscles in silence, rotating every few minutes between the machines. After completing a full rotation, Dr. Taylor retrieved a pair of neatly folded towels from a locker and handed one to Cal.
“Ready for another set, Cal?”
Cal rubbed his face and neck with the towel to mop up the sweat clinging to his skin. His muscles burned and he breathed heavily. “No thank you.”
“Alright. Will I see you at dinner? Hunter wants to join us; he’s pretty fascinated with hearing the experience of others while in hibernation.”
Cal considered her offer. It would probably do me good to spend time with the crew.
“Yeah, that sounds fine.” He smiled at Dr. Taylor and took his leave.
A rush of cold air hit him as he left the gym for the lower gallery. He shivered and goose bumps quickly rose on his skin. Cal grimaced as the body heat from his workout quickly dissipated. He worked his way aft to where Lieutenant Ceretti had told him the library storage pod was. He typed his code in the pad next to the door and could hear the click of the lock release.
The door of the pod slid open and Cal took a whiff of the cold, stale air within. Cal brought up the light level so he could see the neatly stacked containers in perfect rows. These looked odd to Cal, as they were built more like cupboards than boxes. He drifted inside and was hit with an even colder wall of air. His shivering became nearly uncontrollable and spasms wracked his arms.
Jesus, the colonel wasn’t kidding about bundling up.
Cal opened the nearest storage unit and tried to read the titles. Between the cold and the low light, he couldn’t concentrate on making a selection and ended up grabbing three random books before exiting the pod like a rabbit flushed from its burrow. He slammed the metal door behind him and made his way for pod twelve above.
Once Cal reached his quarters he looked at the books he had grabbed. He found one to be a guide on furniture making and another to be about carpentry. He frowned as he looked at the covers, and then placed them inside his berth. The third was very plainly bound, and bore the simple title of Practical Chemistry. Cal opened this one and paged to the table of contents. He scanned the chapters and decided to read on.
After a moment he realized that he was upside down and slowly somersaulting as he was reading. Cal flailed and managed to right himself. He growled and looked around for a way to stay still but found none. Cal began to search through the pod. He came back to the door at the front of the pod marked “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY”.
Hmm. I wonder…
Cal punched his security code into the pad and the door unlocked. Inside he saw two seats and computer terminals, as well as countless switches and buttons that were black and devoid of life. There were several windows, and he could faintly make out the form of another ship section in front of him.
I’m not sure Ceretti meant to give me this access. Oh well.
He pulled himself into a seat, let the book float freely, and buckled in. As he grabbed for the book again, he looked up and saw thousands of twinkling stars through the canopy windows. His jaw dropped and he sat motionless for several minutes.
This may actually be better than the bridge. Same view, but more private.
As Cal continued his wondrous stargazing, the book slowly made its way to the cockpit wall and out of his attention altogether. His mind was filled with a peace he had not felt in years.
Thank you, Dad. I wish you could see this with me. His thoughts wandered back to the pod. I wish… I don’t need to wish, I CAN.
Calvin McLaughlin
26 September 2019, 08:30
Michael
“Having you help sure makes quick work of this.” Dr. Taylor turned off her screen and stretched.
Cal nodded and cycled to his final pair of vital signs. He gave a satisfied grin and turned off his own terminal. His neck was stiff from staring at the screen, and his muscles were tired from working out the previous day. “Anything I can do to help, Doc.”
“It’s time for the gym. Are you coming with me?”
“Nah, not this time. I’ve got to study up on something that Hunter showed me,” he replied. Well, half true, anyway.
“Alright. But don’t forget lunch, Cal. Hunter and I want to hear more about your experiences when you were in stasis.”
“Sure thing.”
Dr. Taylor gently spun around and pulled her way through the hatch. Cal waited for a minute to make sure she was gone and then turned on his terminal once more. His heart began to race as he searched for a specific berth. As he narrowed in, butterflies rose in his stomach. He looked nervously over his shoulder. A voice inside him told him to stop, but he suppressed it and called up the passenger’s vitals. His finger hovered over the
emergency button.
Her discomfort will be momentary. She’ll forgive you for that.
Cal pressed the emergency button and then executed the revival sequence. A loud alarm chirp rang out, but he quickly shut it off and powered down the computer before racing out of the pod. His heart pounded furiously in his chest, and he felt as if it might explode. His legs complained as he kicked off of a cart and shot into the darkness toward pod twelve.
He misjudged his course and careened shoulder first into the airlock wall. Cal tried to muffle his yelp of pain as best he could as he used his other arm to pull himself into the corridor. The pain was forgotten in moments as he closed in on section delta and laid eyes on the silver hatch and deeply tinted window of her sleeper berth. There was a slight hiss coming from within. Cal knew this was part of the revival process.
Minutes passed and the hissing slowly subsided. Cal retrieved a small plastic bag he had hidden inside his flight suit. His anxiety grew as he waited. He had a sudden thought.
What if she doesn’t want to see me? Uhh… crap, I can’t go back on this now. Oh well.
He heard a faint scratching noise and a rattle, followed by a click as the lock disengaged. The berth door nearly hit Cal as it burst open. Cal could hear Alexis gagging as he moved in front of the berth and ducked just under the open hatch. He unfurled the plastic bag and gently placed one hand on her back as he moved the sack towards her lips.
“Easy, here… here you go.”
Her neck hurtled forward and her hands shot up to grasp the bag as a violent spasm shook her body. With a great heave, she vomited into the bag. The force sent chunks flying back into her face, making a vile ring around her mouth. She gagged and hurled again. Alexis gasped for air as her body was wracked by another fit of coughing. Cal rubbed her back and tried to soothe her with his voice.
Alexis coughed and spat up several more times before she was able to catch her breath. Cal withdrew the bag, twisted it several times at the top, and sealed it with a knot, then pushed the bag away from the berth. Alexis looked up at him, her hair a tangled mess, half sobbing through her watery eyes.
“C-Calvin?” Her voice was weak and hoarse.
He smiled at her and rubbed his hand on her shoulder. Even though she was a mess, Cal thought that she was as beautiful as she had been in his dreams. He reached into his flight suit and pulled out a napkin and a mint package that he had saved from his last dinner. He reached towards her with the napkin and she recoiled slightly.
“Shh, it’s ok. Let me help you.” Alexis froze as Cal wiped around her mouth. He discarded the towel and offered her the mint, which she eyed with suspicion. “Here, take it. Grandma always used to say peppermint helps with nausea.”
“T-Thanks,” she said as she took the mint in her hand as a timid dog would take a treat. Alexis flipped it over in her hand, inspected it, and then put it in her mouth. She closed her eyes and rolled her body back into the berth. Cal’s palm brushed across her stomach as she withdrew. A euphoric calm began to spread through Cal’s body.
She’s here. I can touch her.
Cal drew his hands to her side. He clasped her hand between his and slowly stroked her skin. He watched as her breasts rose and fell with each breath. His eyes traced her lines until they fell upon her sweet face. Cal was aware that he was gawking, but because she couldn’t see him he didn’t care.
“There’s no gravity. How long until we land?” Her lips were mesmerizing. Cal made no effort to answer, he just watched her. Alexis turned her head towards him and opened her green eyes. “Calvin?”
His smile waned and he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He squeezed her hand and withdrew his own. Great job, Cal. Way to think things through.
“There’s something wrong, isn’t there?” Her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened, and a slight frown came to her lips. She tried to move upright but winced as she jammed her body against her restraints.
“No, no. Everything is fine. I… I just…” As Alexis unbuckled her restraints she gave Cal the look of a deer in the headlights. He sighed and hung his head. “I wanted to show you something.”
“Wait,” she said as she drew herself from the berth and steadied herself with her hands. “You woke me up? I thought you were a refugee? Where are we? How long until we land?”
The speed of the questions almost made Cal’s head spin.
“Ah… eh…” he stumbled, “Look, let me just show you first and then I’ll answer all of your questions. One at a time.”
Cal extended his hand to her, palm up. She floated next to her berth and gawked at him.
Please, he silently begged of her, just come with me.
Time ticked away as the weight of her stare and the near silence of Michael wore on his nerves. Slowly, and with the same manner of caution as she took the mint, she reached for Cal’s hand. Her warm, soft skin almost tickled as she gingerly gripped his hand. With a smile, he turned for the front of the pod, tugging at her to follow.
Cal led her to the pod’s cockpit and opened the door. He smiled again and said, “Go ahead, strap in.”
Alexis paused at the door and looked at the control panels and the seats in front of her. She drifted her way to the left seat and maneuvered into the restraints. Cal entered and buckled in to the other station.
“What is this? Do you fly this or something?”
“Nah, I just come here when I want to read. Or to see this.”
He jabbed his finger straight up at the canopy. Alexis turned her attention to the windows and her jaw dropped wide open. Her body froze completely and for a moment Cal could have sworn she wasn’t breathing. Cal leaned his head back and gazed at the endless backdrop of stars. As he drew in a deep breath, he fixated on one particularly bright white star just above Alexis’s head.
He cleared his throat. “They tell me that you can’t see the North Star. It’s behind the ship or something. But I like to imagine that one over there is.” He pointed past her head and out of the canopy. “It helps me make sense of things, since north has always been up to me.”
Alexis did not break her stare. Her voice was almost a whisper. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
“I saw a lot of stars back in Texas when I went camping with my friends. But I think I see more stars out these two windows than in the whole sky back home.”
A slight smile formed on her lips. “I think I could say the same. I remember going home over Mount Hood really late at night this one time a few years back. Dad had this car where the whole roof was made of glass. He and Mom were in the front seat, and my brother Derek was asleep in the seat next to me. I was asleep most of the time too, but I woke up as we came over the mountain. The stars were amazing then, but nothing compared to now.”
Cal raised his brows. “Oh, you have a brother?”
Alexis bit her lower lip. “Had. He was deployed to Iraq just after the trip. We got the call a month later…”
Cal’s heart dropped as he knew he had accidentally hit a nerve. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”
She shook her head and waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “No, you had no way of knowing. Besides, we were proud of him serving his country. We knew that if he was to die, he wanted it to be for us, for the US.” Alexis paused and looked at Cal. Her eyes seemed full of sadness. “That doesn’t mean I miss him any less.”
He placed his hand on hers and squeezed lightly. It seemed to Cal that her sadness entered his own body through her touch. He began to think of his father. It dawned on Cal that he may have made his own sacrifices in the end for Cal, and he felt his eyes begin to water.
“Are you thinking of your dad?”
He nodded and turned his head back towards the canopy windows. He squeezed Alexis’s fingers again. “I’m still trying to make sense of it all. Dad and I had our troubles, but now they all seem so stupid. At first I was angry when he sent me to be here, then I was scared.” Cal let out a nervous laugh and looked down at the lifeles
s control panel. “To be honest, I’m still scared.”
He felt her fingers curl against his own. “Look at me, Calvin.” He turned his head and looked straight into her bright green eyes. “I’m scared too. And at least until I met you, very much alone. You have no idea how glad I am that you are here.”
I could say the same. Cal was lost in her eyes. He felt sudden butterflies in his stomach and his throat tightened a little. He could see her eyes watering even more, and a great pout formed on her face.
“No, no, don’t cry, Alexis.”
It was too late, she burst out sobbing and tears pooled up and floated away from her face. Cal took his free hand and wiped a tear from her right eye. Her face was contorted, and snot bubbles formed in her nostrils as her wailing became louder.
“Shhh, it’s ok. Shhh.”
Cal searched the compartments of the cockpit for a tissue or towel of some sort. He found an unused paper napkin from one of his previous meals and offered it to her. Alexis snatched it from his hand. She withdrew her other hand from his grasp, raised the napkin to her nose, and blew for a long time.
“You don’t get it. I’m all alone. My whole family is dead, not just my brother.”
Cal’s heart sank. “I’m so sorry, Alexis.”
“Oh God, Mom… Dad,” she broke down and sobbed again, then unleashed a scream of anguish. Cal could do nothing but look at her and rub her arm. Tears welled in her eyes again. “I was in Yellowstone on a trip when the Chinese invaded. I didn’t know it at the time. I tried calling my parents, but I couldn’t get through. Not by phone, not by email. Then the rangers rounded up all of the tourists and took us to Colorado.”
Her voice went cold and she wavered, “It was only after I landed myself in that refugee camp in Denver that I found out what happened. About how those bastards murdered innocent civilians in the street to provoke a counterattack by the National Guard. My parents were used as bait.”
Alexis cried for ten minutes as Cal sat next to her, attempting to comfort her. He felt a twinge of guilt. I shouldn’t have awakened her. This was a mistake, I didn’t want to hurt her. He rubbed his hand down the back of her head as she cried into his shoulder. Her chestnut hair was soft and tickled at his hand as it slithered like a snake in the weightlessness.
Project Columbus: Omnibus Page 12