30 Days of Undead Summer

June 10 -- #ScifiSaturday

June 10 -- Zombies! in! space!

When Mac woke up, he was surprised how weak he felt. He had been warned about the long term effects of travelling in stasis, and he'd even done test runs back on earth, but it seemed like nobody could have prepared him for the way he would feel after six years of forced hibernation. The automated stasis chamber withdrew the IV from his arm that had provided his body with nourishment over the years.

"Hello, Captain MacGillvary. The current earth date is October 2, 2432."

"What?" Mac shook his head but it was hard. His muscles had atrophied more than they expected, that was something worth noting in his report. "No, that's too soon. We still have another year and a half left."

"Stasis was terminated early."

"Obviously, but why?"

"There is an emergency in crew stasis pod 2."

"What kind of emergency?"

"Scanners indicate that there are no life signs."

"But that's not possible, there are six crewmen in that pod."

"Scanners indicate that there are no life signs."

"Okay, okay, I'll go check it out. Have you woken the doctor?"

"Doctor Greene is currently consuming her restorative portions."

"Put me through to her." The screen in his pod flashed and an image of the doctor's face appeared. She looked just as drained as Mac felt. "Heather, any idea what's going on here?"

"No, sir. I'm heading down now. Don't forget your restorative portions, they really do help."

"I'll meet you there in five minutes." The computer screen flickered off and Mac reached into a drawer by his feet. He took out a vacuum sealed aluminum package and ripped open the seal. The gray substance inside had very little flavor and it was so dry Mac had trouble swallowing it but he was pleased to see that the doctor was right. He was already starting to feel better. He was just getting out of his pod and stretching his legs when the computer beeped. An image of the doctor's face appeared on the screen on the wall, she looked frightened.

"Captain," she said, "you gotta get down here, and open a direct channel back to earth."

"At this distance, it's gonna take a lot of power. I don't know if we can risk it."

"We have to." The screen shifted and Mac saw the stasis pod that six of his crewmen had been sleeping for the last four and a half years. The window on the front of it was splattered with blood and as Mac tried to gather his thoughts a dead looking face crashed up against the window and sent a shock through him.

"What is it? What happened?"

"I'm not sure, sir, the computer is analyzing DNA samples. Four of them are still moving but they aren't showing any signs of life."

"Don't open that door, Heather, you got that?"

"You know you didn't have to tell me that."

Mac terminated the signal from Heather and said, "Computer, open a channel to earth."

"I cannot do that without proper--"

"Captain override Mac-2376."

"Voice recognition verified. Opening a channel to earth."

Mac walked as quickly as he could towards Heather and the morbid scene that waited for him. As he walked he listened to the computer attempting to initiate communications but their call went unheeded.

"Unable to connect with mission control."

"Why not?"

"Running diagnostics... Problem unknown."

"Well try again!" He reached the bloody stasis pod as the computer attempted to open a channel again but it failed. He shook his head at the doctor and said, "I can't get through, not sure why."

Heather somehow looked even more grim than the last time he saw her. She was inspecting the results of the DNA tests she had the computer run and she looked at him with a grim expression. "I think I have a guess."

"What is it?"

"It looks like one of the crewmen died when his IV became dislodged. He was carrying some sort of virus that changed him and then one by one he started eating his pod mates."

There were several loud and angry sounding crashes from inside the pod. The undead crewmen were banging against the door and crying out with hungry voices. "Where did this virus come from?"

"I can't tell for sure but I think it came from earth. It must have been in his system before we left."

"What?" Mac's mind was spinning. "From earth? We left years ago."

"If it came from earth and it's been there this whole time..."

"Are you saying I can't get through to mission control because..." He couldn't say it, it seemed so unreal.

"We probably shouldn't stop trying, sir, but judging by the way the virus operated in the enclosed environment of the stasis pod, there may not be anyone left back home to answer us."

"No, if this were happening on earth they'd catch it, they'd find a cure."

Mac felt Heather staring at him for a long time. She didn't say anything but he could see that she didn't look very hopeful. "I'm sure they would, Captain," she said, "I'm sure they would."