Sunday, April 25, 2021

S - Science Fiction - #AtoZChallenge


Sambor was still groggy from his reawakening. He had been in cryostasis for 73 years and wasn't entirely convinced he hadn't aged during that time. He knew the effects would wear off in the next 24 hours, but it didn't make the present any more pleasant. Coffee didn't seem to be helping.

Sambor was one of about a dozen maintenance engineers aboard the ship. The ship ran on autopilot and the entire crew was in cryostasis for the 639-year voyage. However, general maintenance still needed to be done occasionally. Approximately, every 25 years one of the engineers would be awakened for systems checks and routine maintenance if needed. If there were no problems, it would take ten to twelve days to complete all the tasks required before going back into cryostasis to sleep until your turn came up again in another couple of centuries.

One person awake at a time was protocol unless a problem was detected. The severity of the problem determined how many others should be awakened to address it. This was Sambor's first rotation for this trip and he prayed for a minor complication. Ten days alone was a long time. Having another person or two to talk to would be welcome.

As he poured himself a second cup of coffee, he pulled up the display to go over the ship's diagnostics. Everything seemed to be running smoothly. And the reports from the two engineers in rotation before him showed no problems for either of them. It looked like it was going to be a long and lonely awakening.


 
All this month, I am participating in the A to Z Challenge. A new post will go up every day (except Sundays) using a letter of the alphabet as the starting off point. My theme for the month is literary genres. I am writing in a different genre of flash fiction each day. Today's letter is S for Science Fiction.

4 comments:

  1. Poor lonely guy. Makes me think of Red Dwarf, but just a little.

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  2. Better no problems than some problems. Of course, he doesn't see it that way.

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    Replies
    1. Just a small issue. Bug enough to warrant some company. I'm a bit of an extrovert. So, for me, after a 75 year nap, I would definitely prefer having someone to talk to for those 10 days. Solitude only works for me when I want it. And that's not often.

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