Chapter Text
The woman is surrounded in darkness. Normally this would be a terrifying experience, but in the back of her mind she knows this darkness is necessary and important. It seems like it's been dark forever and that it will continue that way forever.
Something tells her that the darkness staying forever is a bad thing.
That thought comes at the same time a warmth does.It starts in her chest and moves through her body, pin pointing in her head, right in the middle of her forehead. The sensation turned from a pleasant feeling to a dull pain, and then a searing one. The onset so sudden who would have time to react to it?
If she was screaming she could not tell. She was gripping her head with her hands, begging someone, anyone, for relief. And just as quickly as it starts, the pain stops.
Like a switch turned off, and then bliss. She's floating now. Her body becomes weightless as it travels through the void. Her breathing relaxes as she starts to go to sleep. She can't sleep though.
Olesya Ilyukhina opens her eyes and looks around, immediately she recognises her surroundings. The white walls, the stacked beds, the robot arms protruding from the ceiling, all of it familiar, but why? Her memory comes back quickly, fragmented but still there.
Space…space ship…crew…save Earth…Hail Mary.
Olesya clumsily unzips the plastic bag over her face. Gasping for breath and coughing she sits up and looks over the edge of her bunk. She can feel the effects of the induced coma on her body and she is surprised to find that even after 11.9 light years and 4.5 experienced years that she is not remotely as stiff and lethargic as she expected she was going to be. Her mind however was very foggy. She was having a hard time keeping her thoughts clear.
“Are we at TauCetti? It does not feel like it has been that long, but they said it was not going to be that long, or at least not as long as it should have been. The ship is still moving so maybe we are not as close as we should be.” Rubbing her eyes she tries to focus her thoughts. The control room will have answers, the navigation computer can tell her where they are.
Gripping the ladder next to her bunk she gently lowers herself to the floor.The room is still dim, illuminated only by the emergency lights running the pathways to the ladder and hatch that go to the lab. The room is quiet save the soft hum of electronics and the hiss of medical equipment.
She is level with the bed on the lowest bunk. It is being taken up by Ryland Grace. The vitals monitor on his bed is green and shows good life signs. She nods to herself, “At least you are hanging in there for us Dr. Grace.”
He still sits in the plastic life sack that they put him in when they loaded him onto the Hail Mary.
She has the same thoughts of him right now as she did that day. Through some unfortunate circumstances and the worst string of bad luck known to man,aside from the astrophage threat, the tertiary backup science officer had become the primary. There could be a lot said about how sad that is, but to his credit he did step up the challenge. Even if he had to be put into his coma early for his fear of the takeoff.
He is unlucky, but he is brave.
Stepping back from the bed, she looked up at Commander Yao, squinting to see if in the dim light she could make out the vitals monitor light. His bed was closer to the ceiling making it harder to see. She could make out his form laying there though, undisturbed in the plastic bag. She rubbed her eyes again, a sudden lack of energy sweeping over her. She was half tempted to climb right back into bed. She resisted, noting that she would be back soon.
Turning her attention back to the latter and the rest of the ship. She easily unlocks the hatch to the lab and crawls through, noting that the lights did not turn on when she entered the room. All the lab equipment was as it should be, with maybe some slight shifting in transit. She blinked and suddenly she was hanging from the rungs of the ladder leading to the control room, the fog she had woke up with was pressing into her vision. “How did I get here?” she wondered to herself, looking at the nearly 15 feet she had covered in what was an instant. She shook her head again as she opened the sliding hatch to the control room.
She had woken up and Grace and Yao had not yet, so either they had reached TauCeti and she was just an early riser, or there was a malfunction that caused her to wake up from her coma first. If the latter were true it would be nice to see how long she would have to be awake alone.
She blinked again and she was standing in the control room, the various buttons and screens that adorned the walls blinking in synchronized chaos as the screens all flashed different status messages, all was quiet. Starlight peered into the small cabin and landed on the pilot’s chair.
And it was occupied.
Commander Yao faced her with a look that could only be described as horrified confusion. He looked the same as the day they took off, except with maybe a little more stubble on his chin. He was in the same orange jumpsuit she wore, their names embroidered on patches sewn to their chests, the mission crest for the Hail Mary also attached.
“Good morning Commander Yao.” he stared back in silence.
“I do not think I like that look on your face. Please stop making it.” Instead of giving an apology, or offering an explanation, he just put his head in his hands and sighs deeply.
“Sorry to disappoint you with my presence, I can go back to bed. I am still pretty tired.” shoulders popping as she stretched her arms over her head with an exaggerated yawn.
Yao met her gaze. “No I am not disappointed to have you here , I am however disheartened. Because if you are here and you are speaking to me that can only mean one thing.” he paused, taking a breath. “ It means you have died, Ilyukhina.”