22 Cryo-Emergence

Six billion miles from Earth, racing to the edge of the solar system, Ying-Tai and the entire crew prepare for the long voyage to Altair, 17 light-years away, by submitting to the latest technological marvel—Cryogenic Hibernation. However, when they awake years later, Boog discovers a horrifying fact. They aren’t “when” they thought they should be.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_03 0:00

The author of the Exodus series is intentional about avoiding profanity and explicit sexual content. However, this episode does contain scenes of violence that some listeners may find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. Six billion miles from Earth. Okay, Dex, you can take off everything but underwear. Boog said as he studied the cradle's various connections. When you're done, just step up into the cradle. Ying Tai looked out over the cryovats. A blue fluid filled what looked like an enormous swimming pool covering each of the many honeycomb cells submerged in its icy depths. She looked at a particularly large cell where Otis slept, submerged in the blue fluid. Icy cold radiated up from below, and she shivered. It had required the removal of multiple cell partitions in order to make room for his body. Everyone else floated in a single cell. With only his underwear on, Dex stepped up onto the cradle's framework. Doc bent next to him and began strapping his legs to the cradle, while Boog started at the top, securing his head, neck, and arms. Doc then stuck a small device on Dex's left temple and a green light began flashing. Boog, is that right? The Doc asked. Boog glanced at the device. Looks good, Doc. When Dex was all strapped in, Doc attached some sensors to his chest and then checked to see if the readout was working on the cradle's display screen. Well, ladies and gents, Dex smiled, trying to hide anxiety. See you on the other side. Boog stepped away and went to the main control console and tapped at the display. As he did so, the cradle with Dex rose off the floor and swung out over the cry bats. At a program place over the bats, the cradle stopped and hovered. Hey Dex, Boog called over to him. Are you ready? Bring it on! Boob turned back to the display and tapped a button, which turned from orange to blue. He turned back to Dex. You should start feeling sleepy. There was no response from him. Dex, you still with us? Boog smiled at Ying Tai. It's really fast. He tapped another key on the display and she watched the cradle lower into the blue syrupy fluid until Dex was submerged. She looked up at Boog. You're sure everyone else is down? She asked. Boog nodded his head. Everyone but us. Doc came up to Ying Tai and touched her arm gently. You're next. He pointed over his shoulder to a screened-off space. You can disrobe over there. Ying Tai looked down into the cold vat again. Boo, you've got the computer programmed to our destination? Yes. YT. I've taken care of everything. The only thing that remains is for us to go to sleep. Is Morston? She turned and looked at Boog with a furrowed brow. Is he alive and well? Boog turned around and looked up at a large display and pointed to one of the symbols representing a person in the back. That's Morston. His life readings are normal for cryosleep. I've checked, double checked, everyone. We will arrive at Altair in approximately eighteen years. And then the computer will awaken all of us. And it will seem like we had been asleep for just a little while, theoretically speaking. She reminded him. This is all new research now. You're stalling. Boo folded his arms across his chest. Ying Tai cast her gaze out over the vat of hibernating bodies. How will the last person be put in the vat? She asked, stalling the inevitable. Doc bent down and gently lifted her to a standing position. The ship's computer will put me down last. I could put most of the straps on myself. He looked up at Boog. They're really only a precaution, anyway. Doc turned her around and looked into her eyes. I didn't think you were afraid of anything. She turned her head and looked down at the deck. I don't know why I'm worried about this. It just seems so unnatural. Boog burst out laughing and stepped forward, tapping at her cybernetic arm. You consider this natural? He continued to chuckle. Ying Tai smiled and walked toward the screen. She disrobed down to her underwear and walked back out as the dog busied himself lowering another cradle down from overhead. Boog turned around to watch the cradle lower into position. Jing Tai walked toward them, their gaze dropped from the cradle and roamed up and down her body. Gentlemen, better put your eyeballs back in your head. She patted Boog's cheek. What would your girlfriend Ming say? She smiled at him and stepped into the cradle. Doc cleared his throat, his cheeks turned red, and then proceeded to strap her into the cradle and connect the sensors. Boog tore his eyes away and focused on the control display. She soon felt the cradle swing out over the icy blue vat and cold air radiate from below. Okay, Doc. Make it quick. Here it comes. You should start feeling it. Blackness swept over her. She opened her eyes, but it seemed the black abyss of the dream continued. Her stomach tightened and she retched. Thick fluid darkness inhibited her convulsions. She panicked and gasped for air and inhaled cold thickness. Ying Tai tipped her head back, opened her eyes, and looked up in fear. A dim blue light throbbed. She sensed the cold thickness sliding past her skin. The light changed into a pale blue orb, and then it became a bright white glare, and she shut her eyes to escape the increasing brilliance. A sting of cold, thin air hit her, and she continued to feel movement and heard splashing liquid. The stinging icy air traveled down her body until she shivered in the thinness. She tried to open her eyes again, but the light remained too bright. Another wave of nausea exploded, and thick fluid poured from her mouth as her body heaved against restraints? Air movement whisked across her skin and she opened her eyes. A brief second of dazzling blue sparkled beneath her, and another gush of fluid exploded from her mouth. She heard it splash into the dazzling blue below, echoing in the cold air. Machinery humming captured her attention and icy air grazed across her skin. There was more gagging and then several moments of painful coughing. She inhaled the thinness burned dry down her throat and roared into a cold fire in her chest. A racking spasm of coughing gripped her, and she wished to return to unconsciousness. A vaguely familiar voice from somewhere below seemed to caress her skin. Distant and dark memories were awakened by the voice when she coughed more thick fluid. She heard coughing, not unlike her own. The voice said. A primitive instinct told her she could also talk, and she tried. She coughed in despair.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

Give it time. Voice return.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

When body reaches homeostasis.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

Conscious thought returned.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Homeostasis? A strange sound. What does it mean?

SPEAKER_03 9:37

Her body jerked and the humming ceased. She felt air movement against the city.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

Is the air moving or am I?

SPEAKER_03 9:44

As if in response to her thought, the voice said Gravity is low until strength returns. Don't worry. Until barfing stops. The voice coughed again. The word popped into her head. And she knew the voice speaking. She coughed and felt trickling fluid on her lips.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Yeah. It's me. Where? On a starship. Coming out of hibernation.

SPEAKER_03 10:29

Hibernation. A flood of memories filled her mind. Starship Battle Chinyao Mars. Me Morston. Shower. Red. Earth. Moon mites. Mining. Cold. Darkness. Ark. Wildwire. I'll tear. Disjointed and confusing, the memory streamed through her conscious, and she wondered what it all meant. Overloaded with information, her mind slowed and seemed to dim. Before she succumbed to the welcoming dark, she heard the voice speak one last time. I'll start awakening the rest. The light began. The rest of the light. Her last thought completed, the blissful darkness returned. Fu struggled to stand. His legs felt like rubber and he leaned against a rail as his knees trembled uncontrollably. As he stood waiting for the spasm to subside, he admired the near-naked form of Ying Tai still secured in the cradle. Droplets of blue fluid trickled down her sides, dripping into the vat below the deck's grating. The soft plops of drops striking the surface stirred pleasant memories of another time and place involving fluid. The thought plopped into his head, followed by a flood of good memories. He glanced at the hibernation control display and searched its glowing surface. Two flashing red icons indicated his and Ying Tai's empty cryo cells. A few icons flashed yellow, but the remaining lights on the surface glowed blue. Below each blue icon, three green digital readouts indicated heart rate, respiration, and brain activity. Above the icon was the name of the occupant. His gaze returned to the flashing yellows, and another thought rolled over in his mind. He scanned each one of the four yellow icons. There were no life signs. His first thought turned to Ming, and he checked the names of each cell. Relief filled him when he realized that Ming was not one of the unfortunate occupants. He didn't recognize any of the names, but wasn't sure that was because he'd never met them or his mind was still processing memories. He scanned the blue icons and found the one he was most interested in.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Ming. She's in that one.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

He double-checked the life signs and found them all normal. Should waken her. His left knee quit trembling, but the right hadn't. He tested his weight on the left and moved toward the display. With weight bearing on the right, he found he could control the tremble and move forward. Even in the low gravity, it took exhausting effort to make his way to the controls, where he leaned against the display as more thoughts took shape in his head. Should we make sure we're safe at proper location? Keep others in cryo until sure things are okay. He scanned the cryo display's glowing features. Red numbers below life signs showed the cryo fluid's temperature in each individual cell. Two red cells showed 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Below the temperature was another red number. It read 800.38 cycles. Boog's brow felt funny as he stared at the number. He raised his hand, which seemed extremely heavy, and rubbed his forehead. All of the other blue icons' numbers also read 800.38. He checked the icon next to it. The number was the same. His stomach flipped, and this time it had nothing to do with the hibernation sickness.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

His thoughts were fuzzy, muddled. He carefully read the word after the number. Cycles. Years. Looked at the number again. 800.38. Both knees trembled, and the realization struck him. We overslept. Low gravity pulled his body to the deck, and he leaned against the console. Where are we? 800 light years of travel. Where are we? What happened? Maybe the system made a mistake.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Computer glitch.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

He looked at Ying Tai's still formed.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Oh man. She'll kill me.

SPEAKER_03 15:39

And then his gaze traveled out over the cells of the cryo vat.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

They'll all kill me.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

He reached overhead and felt the rail, grasped it with his hand, and pulled himself to his feet. Hand over hand, he pulled himself along the rail to the cryo room's exit. Sensing his presence, the door slid open. He grabbed the side of the corridor rail and pulled himself to the lift. The door shooshed open. He stumbled inside and took a moment of mental effort before he recognized the key that would take him to the command deck. The lift accelerated horizontally and he leaned against the side, gathering his strength. When the door opened, he walked, rather, floated, into the corridor and pulled himself to the door of the command deck. It sensed him, opened, and intense bright light blasted into the corridor. He slammed his eyelids shut.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

What the?

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Spook shaded his eyes with one hand and squinted between two fingers. Across the command deck, a wall of intense light blazed through the viewport. Sensing a presence on the command deck, the viewport's filters activated. The bright light diminished, and he cautiously opened his eyes and walked into the space. The air was warm but smelled stale. As he entered, the various control display consoles glowed to life. Using one side of the room, he pulled himself toward the large viewport in front of the command deck control consoles. Even with the filters, the hot bluish-white star was difficult to look at, despite still being very far away. It hung in the cold velvet sky, its light blocking out the rest of the glittering stars. Fug stared at the star, studied it. It was far too bright to be like the sun he was familiar with. The star seemed to pulse. He sat at the navigation controls and began tapping. A whole screen rose up in front of him and he gazed at the information. It seemed to make no sense as he struggled to decode the data. He shook his head and tried to focus on the screen again and gave up. He tapped the word audio on the key display and asked, SHIP, where are we? A disembodied voice spoke. 1.5 billion miles from the main sequence white dwarf star named Altair. In the constellation known on Earth as the Eagle. The ship's male voice answered. Boo grabbed his mouth and felt the roughness of his beard. His throat was dry and still getting used to speech. He spoke slow and delirious. Is there an error in cycle readout on Cryo Life Support System? The reassuring, benign voice answered, Oh, all ship systems, including Cryo Life Support, functioning normal. Ship. Please magnify main view. The star grew in size and filled a quarter of the window. He scratched at his head and blinked his eyes at the glaring bright ellipsoidal star. Star? No, it's your son. His mind told him. Would you like me to bring all systems online? The ship asked. Yeah. Hoog leaned back and stared at the bright ellipsoidal sun swimming in the black void. Duration, correct? Location? Eltair.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

What happened?

SPEAKER_03 19:11

He continued to mull over the problem until longer than 17 years traveled to this level. He lowered his head and looked at the display. What speed have you traveled over the past 800 years? One percent light speed. 1%? He grabbed his chin and recalled the memory when he activated the ship's drive. Eight hundred years ago, did I set the drive to travel at maximum speed? Affirmative. Then why have we traveled so slow? Soon after the speed was set, I received another command to reduce speed to 1% light. Who slammed his fist on the console? Who gave this command? He leaned forward. Source of command unknown. He leaned back with his arms folded, thinking furiously. 817 years old. Ship. Run a complete diagnostic on the drive system. Would you prefer a deep comprehensive scan? Yeah. Please. Scan and run diagnostics on the main and all link systems and report. Boog squinted at the bright star in the blackness. He lost track of time and just sat there, thinking everyone will blame me. He realized after thinking for some time.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

How will I tell them?

SPEAKER_03 20:43

He whispered aloud. Tell who what? A voice spoke from behind him. Boog jerked, startled, and felt the low gravity pull him back onto the seat cushion. He turned his head. His thumping heart relaxed. Oh Whitey, scared the crap out of me. How will you tell who or what? She asked, leaning against the back of the next chair to his right. Her raven black hair hung in twisted strands, still wet, but the underwear she still wore appeared dry. Boog averted his eyes from her bare skin to her drawn and tired face. He turned his gaze back out to Altair. Boog. Now you're scaring me. What's wrong? Without looking at her, he spoke to the new sun. We're in the right location at the wrong time. What? He pointed at the bright sun in the viewport. Sure enough, uh that's Altair shining out there. He looked back at her face. We're exactly where I programmed the ship to go. We we just got here a little later than we planned on. He shrugged his shoulders. We have been hibernating uh for uh eight hundred years. Eh?

SPEAKER_00 22:06

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 22:07

Her voice faded and she grabbed a chair, uh, twisted around as to flop down into the sea, uh, and stared with wide eyes at Boo. A hundred Boo slowly nodded his head. Why? He jerked his stomach at display. Uh said uh someone changed the speed uh shortly after we left the solar system. Ying Tai shook her head back and forth. Who who would? Why doesn't uh make any sense. I know. More sense. Why? What would he gain? You look back at Ying Tai. It was the old farts idea anyway. Ying Tai raised her prosthetic arm, studied it for a moment in the light from the start.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

We're gonna have to wait everyone tell them what has happened.

SPEAKER_03 23:03

He placed his head in his hands and spoke in a muffled voice.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Oh no.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Minutes passed in silence as they both considered the implications. Ying Tai's voice was soft and comforting when she broke the still silence. We're starting all over. Uh it's uh year one. It's year one again. Uh uh uh rebirth. He heard her rise and say two hundred seventeen years old. She started to laugh and then cough. When she finished, she said No boo. You're still seventeen. He heard her begin walking to the door. We need to wake them. I'll do it. Don't tell them how long we've slept until we're all together. You'll tell them? He looked hopefully at her. Yeah. I'll tell everybody. She turned and reached the door. It shooted open, and then she said Wake the dog first. He needs to start figuring out a cure for the mic. There was a pause. Wait for Morrison last. Right. I'm gonna go get a shower. I'll meet you in the cryo chamber and uh the door shooted closed, and he gazed out at the star. He sat for some time thinking about what Ying Tai had said. A smile spread on his face as he thought of the possibilities. I can ask Ming to marry me. I'm old enough now. Moonbound is a pulse-pounding sci-fi thriller from the Exodus series by Warson T. Badger. If you crave rebellion, high stakes heists, and lunar warfare, this science fiction audio drama will leave you breathless. Read the entire Exodus five book series, available wherever digital and physical books are sold.