~ Hush a Bye Earth Standard date: 3/10/2305 - ETA Colony 2355
The naked troops stood along the wall at parade rest, waiting for the injections which would send them into oblivion for the next twenty-five years, half of journey. Couches and tables that had been scattered around the room were safely stowed. The bare room echoed with the medical team’s footsteps. The sleeping cubes looked even more like crypts in the stark light of the barren space. Doctors moved efficiently down the line, asking questions, examining eyes, and running scanners over the silent cohort.
Each soldier took an injection. Nods to compatriots, preceded a final check by a tech, and the climb to their bunks. They slid in, the outer doors sealed, and the light went out. They were on their way to a long sleep, followed by a few months awake and twenty-five more years in the dark. The doctors said no one had dreams in cold sleep. Belle certainly hoped so.
She cut a glance at her brother. He seemed indifferent to the proceedings. His eyelids sagged as if he were dozing already. His jaw moved in an involuntary yawn, which he accomplished without opening his mouth. Even the sigh of his breath force through his nose was subdued. Since they’d volunteered to go to the Colony, he’d been in a perpetual state of ennui. Belle didn’t know what to do for him or even if she should try to help.
Her own heart rate increased. She wanted to jitter and bounce on her toes, but training suppressed the impulses coursing through her. People died in cold sleep. Dying in battle she could accept. The idea of passively fading away in a box like a forgotten bon-bon made her nervous. She didn’t want a wasted death.
The civilian doctor moving down the line toward Belle wore the obligatory white coat over his royal blue unitard. The coat ameliorated the unappealing bulges of his belly and groin beneath the skin tight fabric. Some people shouldn’t succumb to fashion trends.
His diagnostic wand whirred over her and beeped approval. He slammed the shot into her abdomen and moved on to her brother.
She took a deep breath. Ignoring the burning sensation spreading through her, she strode across the floor to the ladder. Turning to look at her brother one last time, she saw the doctor hand him a note. Glancing down, Beau tensed. He turned and violently slammed his fist into the wall. She started back to him, but the nearby medic grabbed her arm.
“Soldier, you’ve got less than a minute.”
Belle caught an anguished look from her brother. The portly doctor had a hand on his shoulder and was speaking urgently into his ear. She could see blood on Beau’s hand.
The medic prodded her “Get your ass in your bunk.” She slapped his hand away, but he persisted. “If I have to carry you up that ladder, I’m going to leave a stick up your slot. Move, Soldier!”
Beau flapped his good hand at her. She reluctantly climbed the ladder and slid into her cubicle. She caught sight of her brother, being duck-marched out of the line. “Shit,” she whispered. Her eyelids were sagging. She settled into the indentation fitted to her body and was barely able to latch the freefall webbing before her fingers went slack, the lights went out, and the cubicle began to fill with cryo-gas.
#
The bright lights of the infirmary seared Beau’s eyes. He sat rigidly on the edge of the white medical lounge, wrists resting on his thighs. Blood fell from his mangled knuckles drip, drip, drip to a bucket on the floor. His mind whirred like a nest of bees. The note. He leaned over and vomited into the bucket.
A blue garbed med tech came in. His narrow chin and wide set eyes gave him a praying mantis visage. His badge read CAMDEN. “Well, you picked a fine time to fuck up, Jest.” He rolled a narrow table over to the med lounge. “Put your hand up here. The Docs are busy with the cold sleep draw down, so you’re going to have to wait till they’re done.” He filled an old fashioned basin with water and dipped Beau’s hand in it. Beau didn’t flinch. His jaw clenched. His eyes held no expression.
“You definitely broke it. You won’t be going to sleep for a while. This’ll have to heal before they freeze you. They’re going to want to have you ready to train when you wake up.” Camden cleaned Beau’s bloodied knuckles. The click of grating bone made Beau stiffen. He made no sound. He deserved the pain.
The piece of paper the doctor had given him was folded in his good hand. It seemed to burn his skin as much as the words on it burned his mind. “It’s a boy, due in March. Congratulations, you’re a father.… E” Beau last saw Eleanor in the end of June, the night they decided to part forever. She’d sobbed in his arms and he’d…they’d given in to what they had been denying for years. The next day he’d volunteered for Colony duty. He assumed he was only leaving the planet.
Now, there was no going back. Beau swore silently in the name of the God he never believed in.
The naked troops stood along the wall at parade rest, waiting for the injections which would send them into oblivion for the next twenty-five years, half of journey. Couches and tables that had been scattered around the room were safely stowed. The bare room echoed with the medical team’s footsteps. The sleeping cubes looked even more like crypts in the stark light of the barren space. Doctors moved efficiently down the line, asking questions, examining eyes, and running scanners over the silent cohort.
Each soldier took an injection. Nods to compatriots, preceded a final check by a tech, and the climb to their bunks. They slid in, the outer doors sealed, and the light went out. They were on their way to a long sleep, followed by a few months awake and twenty-five more years in the dark. The doctors said no one had dreams in cold sleep. Belle certainly hoped so.
She cut a glance at her brother. He seemed indifferent to the proceedings. His eyelids sagged as if he were dozing already. His jaw moved in an involuntary yawn, which he accomplished without opening his mouth. Even the sigh of his breath force through his nose was subdued. Since they’d volunteered to go to the Colony, he’d been in a perpetual state of ennui. Belle didn’t know what to do for him or even if she should try to help.
Her own heart rate increased. She wanted to jitter and bounce on her toes, but training suppressed the impulses coursing through her. People died in cold sleep. Dying in battle she could accept. The idea of passively fading away in a box like a forgotten bon-bon made her nervous. She didn’t want a wasted death.
The civilian doctor moving down the line toward Belle wore the obligatory white coat over his royal blue unitard. The coat ameliorated the unappealing bulges of his belly and groin beneath the skin tight fabric. Some people shouldn’t succumb to fashion trends.
His diagnostic wand whirred over her and beeped approval. He slammed the shot into her abdomen and moved on to her brother.
She took a deep breath. Ignoring the burning sensation spreading through her, she strode across the floor to the ladder. Turning to look at her brother one last time, she saw the doctor hand him a note. Glancing down, Beau tensed. He turned and violently slammed his fist into the wall. She started back to him, but the nearby medic grabbed her arm.
“Soldier, you’ve got less than a minute.”
Belle caught an anguished look from her brother. The portly doctor had a hand on his shoulder and was speaking urgently into his ear. She could see blood on Beau’s hand.
The medic prodded her “Get your ass in your bunk.” She slapped his hand away, but he persisted. “If I have to carry you up that ladder, I’m going to leave a stick up your slot. Move, Soldier!”
Beau flapped his good hand at her. She reluctantly climbed the ladder and slid into her cubicle. She caught sight of her brother, being duck-marched out of the line. “Shit,” she whispered. Her eyelids were sagging. She settled into the indentation fitted to her body and was barely able to latch the freefall webbing before her fingers went slack, the lights went out, and the cubicle began to fill with cryo-gas.
#
The bright lights of the infirmary seared Beau’s eyes. He sat rigidly on the edge of the white medical lounge, wrists resting on his thighs. Blood fell from his mangled knuckles drip, drip, drip to a bucket on the floor. His mind whirred like a nest of bees. The note. He leaned over and vomited into the bucket.
A blue garbed med tech came in. His narrow chin and wide set eyes gave him a praying mantis visage. His badge read CAMDEN. “Well, you picked a fine time to fuck up, Jest.” He rolled a narrow table over to the med lounge. “Put your hand up here. The Docs are busy with the cold sleep draw down, so you’re going to have to wait till they’re done.” He filled an old fashioned basin with water and dipped Beau’s hand in it. Beau didn’t flinch. His jaw clenched. His eyes held no expression.
“You definitely broke it. You won’t be going to sleep for a while. This’ll have to heal before they freeze you. They’re going to want to have you ready to train when you wake up.” Camden cleaned Beau’s bloodied knuckles. The click of grating bone made Beau stiffen. He made no sound. He deserved the pain.
The piece of paper the doctor had given him was folded in his good hand. It seemed to burn his skin as much as the words on it burned his mind. “It’s a boy, due in March. Congratulations, you’re a father.… E” Beau last saw Eleanor in the end of June, the night they decided to part forever. She’d sobbed in his arms and he’d…they’d given in to what they had been denying for years. The next day he’d volunteered for Colony duty. He assumed he was only leaving the planet.
Now, there was no going back. Beau swore silently in the name of the God he never believed in.