I’d been playing a lot of space exploration video games when I wrote this. I may revisit this and expand on it at some point. I’ll either write about the events leading to this or maybe come up with a ‘what happened next’ scenario.
‘He was almost certain that he was waking up, but opening his eyes was almost more effort than he could manage. Success! He had one eye halfway open, but everything was blurred to an extent that he couldn’t even make out shapes.
“Take it slowly, Doctor Gannon.” a female voice spoke. At least his ears were working. “You’ve been in hibernation for quite some time.” Gannon tried to reply, but a dry unintelligible rasp was all that emerged.
“Your eyesight and other bodily functions should start returning to relative normality in a few minutes.” She spoke again. “Once you feel strong enough to sit up, you’ll find a water canteen on your left-hand side. That will help your voice to recover.”
The female voice was neutral, clinical in its delivery, but also very familiar. A voice that Gannon felt he could trust. Further success. He felt both his eyes fully open and shapes starting to coalesce in his vision. He reached and felt a metallic bar to each side of where he lay. He gripped them and slowly pulled himself upright.
A wave of nausea assaulted Gannon along with an equally intense wave of returning memories. Dr Ardal Gannon. Forty-five years old and one of the world’s top Astrophysicists. One of nine specialists chosen for the ‘Big Sleep’ project. An experiment to test the latest cryogenic technology.
The project was designed to see if the technology was viable for long distance space travel and to record the effects on the human body. One lap of the solar system and home in time for tea.
Gannon fumbled to his left and found the canteen. He felt so parched that downing its entire contents seemed the only way to go, but he knew small sips would be best for him.
Colours began to return to his sight and the shapes were sharper. To avoid any further nausea, Gannon stood very slowly and made his way gingerly to the main port window. It was dark. No. It was blacked out. Nothing was showing from outside.
“AVA? Mission status please.” Gannon croaked.
“Aside from one or two minor complications, the mission has been successful.” replied AVA, the ship’s AI. “We are currently in a high orbit around Earth.”
“Minor complications? Elaborate please.”
“A small deviation in our flight plan created a need for power distribution adjustments in order to maximise the potential for survival and return.”
“Okay. How small? What are we looking at here?” Despite AVA’s use of the word ‘small’, Gannon was feeling a growing sense of dread that things might be much worse. A thought occurred.
“Why haven’t you woken the others? I’m not the senior specialist here.”
“In order to ensure maximum survival potential. Based on age, health and immune system strength, the power was redistributed from the pods of Doctors Schell, Nakamura, Walcott, Johannsen, Tsu, Braun, Nielsen and Kowalski’s cryopods in order to keep you alive.”
Gannon suddenly found himself on the floor. His legs didn’t seem to be cooperating. “Dead!?!” he said incredulously. “Exactly how ‘small’ was this deviation?”
AVA’s response hit him right in the soul. “An unexpected meteor shower as we passed Neptune struck this vessel with enough force that our course sent us into deep space. I spent the subsequent time attempting to correct our course and return us to Earth.”
“And that required such extreme power adjustments that the rest of the crew are now dead?” Gannon couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Correct.” came AVA’s cold, clinical response.
Gannon began to panic at the horror that was unfolding. They were all dead. Colleagues, friends he had worked with for years on this project. All gone. How long had it taken for AVA to bring the ship home that it had needed those kinds of power requirements?
“How long…?” mumbled Gannon as he pushed himself back to his feet.
“Nine thousand, seven hundred and twenty two years.” That cold response again.
“Why are the windows blacked out? We’re orbiting Earth, right? Show me.”
“Doctor Gannon. You’ve suffered severe trauma from the hibernation recovery and from being informed of your colleagues’ death. Maybe we should take some…”
“Show. Me.”
The port window cleared and the view was both beautiful and terrible. A ball of blue so light it was almost white, but no green. A giant blue ball shone in the distance. It couldn’t be.
“The Sun went supernova approximately three hundred and seventeen years after our departure. Cause unknown. These figures are estimates based on the change in gravitational forces when I was attempting to correct our course outside of the solar system. It is a part of the reason for our delayed return to Earth.”
Gannon continued to stare at the ball of ice that used to be his home. Not just his colleagues. Everybody. All gone. Humanity. Gone. His family. His friends. Everyone he knew and loved.
He felt surprisingly calm. Maybe it was shock. He walked to the rear of the ship and opened the inner airlock.
“Doctor Gannon? What are you doing?” said AVA.
“Well AVA. At least we know the cryopods work.”
Gannon opened the outer airlock and left it all behind…’