A Six-Month Nap

Posted on Sat Dec 23rd, 2017 @ 2:38am by

714 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: S0:1: What Is Past, Is Prologue
Location: Deck 10, Cryogenic Stasis Bay 2
Timeline: Two Days Before Mission Start

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"The last couple passengers are coming in, Rena," a nurse said in passing. She was leading someone to one of the pods to prepare them for stasis.

Rena nodded to the nurse, her attention on the pod in front of her. A young Ensign was inside it, and it took a bit of consoling to convince him to enter the pod, yet she could understand his nerves completely. He was going to be frozen for a period of time, essentially a deep sleep for six months. To her, his concerns were completely justified. "You will feel a cool breeze, then you'll wake up in the same position you are now, but in six months. Just relax, and breathe deeply," she instructed, her voice slightly warped by the speaker on the inside of the pod.

The young man nodded. He shivered as the cool breeze brushed over him, and a moment later found himself getting tired. It wasn't long before he drifted unconscious, letting the pod take over to keep him alive.

Rena watched the man before turning and giving a smile to her next patient, the Guardian Trill. Three of the four had arrived, with the fourth allegedly arriving today. "Come, Merzel, let's get you comfortable." To a passing nurse, she asked if they could send a message to their fourth Trill with an update on his arrival.

"Yes'm," the nurse replied before rushing off.

"Of course, Doctor," he replied after the nurse, following with a frown. While he was able, he didn't want to be a potential host for Kal, or a host at all. To think that he was a possibility on this journey did no effort to ease his mind. The Commission wanted him to go with Rena because of what he does: care for symbiotes. He figured they wanted him to be there to help her with her zhina'tara when she was ready for it. "Before I go into the pod, I request that I check on Kal after the jump."

"I think that can be arranged," she said, nodding. She knew he was going to want to tend to Kal frequently, since he was taken from his job on Trill and would want something to do. Perhaps they could work on a holodeck program to allow him to do some work. "And I think that would be wise. This will be the first time a symbiote has experienced something faster than warp, I want to make sure that it doesn't hurt Kal in any way."

Merzel nodded. "Exactly." They came to a stop in front of a pod, and he watched Rena get the device set up. To his right, he craned his neck a little to look inside the viewing window of the adjacent pod, spotting another Trill, the one who introduced himself as Jirin on the transport from their homeworld.

Glancing up, Rena noticed he was taking a look at the pod next to his. "I put those selected by the Symbiosis Commission next to each other, that way in case something happens, we can wake you and one of the candidates without having to search for them in here," she explained.

"If you have a layout of the room, is it necessary?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Probably not, but it is Kal we are talking about," Rena pointed out. While they had technology to keep the symbiote alive for an additional day or two, she didn't want to take any chances on Kal's life.

Merzel nodded as he turned back to the open pod. "Fair enough. So, what do I have to do here?"

Rena gave a smile, "just get comfortable." She helped the Guardian into the pod and made sure he was set before closing the lid, the seal clicking before she started her usual spiel of how the system worked. It was going to essentially freeze his body at a certain temperature, he won't feel anything other than a slight breeze, and after that she mentioned a couple of common symptoms he may experience when he woke up later. When he understood, she activated the pod and watched him drift to sleep, and checked his vitals to make sure he was ok in the pod before moving on to the next patient.

 

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