Proxima Adventure

Chapter 1 The Awakening

Chapter 1 The Awaking.

Space exploration is dangerous. It's full of things that can kill you. However, space is the ultimate last frontier, and humans are destined to go out into it no matter how difficult and dangerous it is. Finding a new Earth is paramount for the future survival of the human species, and one of the nearest possible Earth-like planets is Proxima B, a planet that's four light years away. Getting there would be a real challenge. That's what this story is about, but it also examines the problem of humans getting along on a long voyage. Would they survive the rigors of being confined for a long time. What sort of science would allow this voyage? That's questions that must be answered, but it's not going to be easy, especially if something that disrupts the whole process happens when least expected.
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Charles Westin's eyes felt as if they were glued shut when he awoke from a long sleep. He finally managed to open them to see a blurry light above his head. A transparent cover slowly swung to the side, allowing him to see well enough to begin the painful process of disconnecting a breathing mask, tubes and wired devices that were connected and shoved onto and into his body cavities. Some of these removals hurt, but it was necessary in order to be free of his technological prison.

At first, he had trouble moving his body, but with a few grunts, he was able to sit up in the hibernation module filled with a viscous fluid he had been immersed in for over five years. He rejoiced that he had survived the ordeal, but his good feeling was short lived.

He felt like shit, but that didn't stop him from doing what was necessary to free himself from the module. He pulled a bottle of a red liquid from a pouch in the side of the module, unscrewed the lid and took a swig of the concoction that was designed to restore his proper blood Ph and the electrolytes he needed to function.

Fortunately, he had been in free fall for the entire journey once the vessel had obtained near light speed, a process that required continuous acceleration using nuclear ion drive engines, followed by deceleration using the same engines but in reverse mode.

Once the deceleration process had been completed, the vessel was put into a normal gravity situation using a simulated gravity device, better known as Graviton.

He looked around at the other habitation modules and saw that they were all still closed. He realized that he was the first to be awakened, which didn't make sense. He was not the commander or his assistant. He was only one of two second-class engineers. There were two first class engineers in the crew that should have been revived before him. However, he could only assume that the AI quantum computer system decided that he was the first to be revived in order to be the guinea pig. No one had ever experienced this radical space travel process for nearly five years.

Getting out of the hibernation module was painful. His muscles were stiff and rubbery. He had to hold on to handles installed on his module to swing his legs out and then plant his feet on the floor. He paused to use a towel to remove the remaining fluid that had covered his body.

There was no way he was going to stand or move around without using a walker, which was conveniently within his reach.

He slowly, but painfully, pulled himself up so that he could begin his awkward walk out of the hibernation chamber. As he slowly moved to the entrance of the hibernation chamber, he took one last look at the other modules and noted that no one else was freeing themselves from their prison.

Charles slowly moved down a corridor that had multiple metal arches embedded in the walls of the hallway that contained the crew quarters. He stopped to look at the display on the door of the suite closest to the hibernation chamber, assuming that it would be his, but its display was dark. He continued his slow walk down the corridor past several doors before he saw one with a display that was activated.