Third

birth

I can't move.

My entire body is numb, but my chest clenches as if a vise is embracing my heart. I can't move, can't breathe and my lungs squeeze with panic, trying to fill with oxygen that isn't there. A grinding sensation vibrates through my heavy limbs, agonizing painnotpain, and the world shifts under me. The overwhelming weight in my ribcage melts, and my reflexes return, sending me into a coughing fit. My stomach clenches, sending waves of malaise through my system, and I retch, liquid streaming from my nose and mouth. I gasp as the awful fit passes, the air sweet yet harsh on my raw throat. Warmth seeps into my frozen body, giving me the strength to lift my eyelids. Shades of beige swim in my vision, brightness stabbing at my skull. Blurs become fuzzysharpangles, and the edges of my body begin to tingle. Bitter saltiness coats my mouth, my tongue and lips moistbutdry. I swallow reflexively, suddenly feeling the sensation of coldwet on my face, my torso, my legs.

I can feel.

My neck regains movement and ever so slowly, I tilt my head downwards, fighting a rush of dizzyupdown. I look down and see a body encased in a shimmer, a silver prison.

It's my body.

A scream rises in the back of my throat and I close my eyes, force it down. My mind is a blank, empty of memory save for one instinctual thought.

You must remain calm.

One breath.

Another.

Another.

Faint chiming reaches my ears, speedy, matching the pounding in my chest.

I take another deep inhale, and it slows.

In.

Out.

In.

My eyelids creep open again, avoiding the crystal entrapment beneath and instead roaming my surroundings. The space is underwhelming, and it puts a damper on my controlled fear. Soft tones encapsulate me.

can't remember the names

they have names

they are

colors.

The colors remind me of a familiarity, an itch at the front of my skull that whispers, known.

There are other prisons in the room, a small number.

Four, my mind whispers.

Two are vacant, void of residence.

Two are filled.

I am the center.

The chime of my heartbeat becomes louder, more persistent, and heat brushes my skin. The room brightens fractionally, somehow becoming warmer without changing the temperature. The chimes stop, and I am left alone with the solitude of my breath, each rise and fall of my lungs creating sound. Another chime echoes, heavier and commanding in sound. Another itch of familiar claws at my skull, but I barely begin to rectify it when a soft flash assaults my eyes.

"Subject conscious," a voice says. It's genderless, gentle, almost natural. "Initiating phase one of promotion protocol."

"Five. Nineteen. Forty-one. Sixty-one. Eighty-three."

"Gamma."

My vision blurs again, my lungs contract, and my mind sparks awake.

I remember.

"Hermes," I croak, throat dry.

"Protocol confirmation required to proceed," the voice says.

Attempting to coax moisture to my mouth, I lick my lips and taste salt.

"Nineteen. Apollo. Ninety-six. Lorraine." My voice is a stranger to my ears, raspy and weak.

"Confirmation accepted. Phase one successful," Hermes states. "Welcome back, Gamma."

"Thanks," I breathe, my mind reeling from its reinstallation.

I'm on the Endurance, light years from Earth Prime, headed to Ross 128, headed for Neo Earth. There are five thousand passengers onboard, all in cryogenic stasis. There is no crew to manage the ship, no captain to guide her. Hermes is Endurance's brain, the guardian angel of a new population. There is one emergency protocol, reserved for dire circumstances, that initiates human support. Hermes is only able to initiate it when the survival of 60 percent or more passengers is endangered. Protocol Prometheus came into effect five years before the launch of Endurance, collecting humanity's best commanders through a filter of logic, perceptivity, and skill.

Prometheus is a graveyard crew, a last resort for the survival of humankind's hope.

There were five of us at departure.

The first two are gone.

I am Third.

*********************************************************

Thanks for taking the time to read Third! Please leave a comment if the action so far has piqued your interest...

Updates will be every Wednesday! (I hope)

Happy reading,

Lex