3Degrees Celsius

Kiss from the Black Rose

Antaries Freighter, Mess

The new crew had been together for three days now, and Ravi had been accepted much faster than the new Nigel. The young girl had a fast wit and mouth and could keep up with most of the jests by the rest of the crew. She was certainly no slacker, throwing herself into the role of engineer with a ferocity that was unmatched by previous technicians. She had something to prove.

Now, just hours from the Void Line they were all in the mess hall having a last meal together, filling their stomach with carbohydrates that their sleeping bodies would burn during hibernation. Today it was a noodle meal, specially packed with a variety of artificial vitamins and chemicals that did nothing for the taste. Fortunately, smothering it in sauce helped. Pity you couldn't do anything about the smell. It hung in the kitchen to greet them again when they woke.

They sat in a semicircle on the bench that surrounded three quarters of the mess table. Each person had their regular spot, but more from habit than any rigidly adhered to policy. The mood was quiet, but a light banter passed between people. Nigel sat to one side. Unlike the others it ingested its required nutrient base from a white powder solution similar in look and consistency to milk.

Andrew finished a mouthful and pushed the bowl away with a satisfied sigh.

"All right. Void Line in two hours. From there, we sleep most of the way. Ian will manage the sign off with Engate."

Ian nodded, his mouth full.

"Ravi," Andrew turned to the new engineer, "I want you to do one last check of the engines."

Ravi bolted the last of her meal, giving a thumbs up.

"Dave, Cargo and I will get an early night. Nigel, once you have Ravi and Ian safely in cryogenic sleep as well, you can put yourself down for an early wake up," Andrew conclude, standing up.

"I am familiar with the protocol, Andrew Harrow," Nigel reminded him.

"Course you are," the captain agreed, "but Ravi isn't, so it is worth saying aloud for her benefit. Let's go."

The crew began to slide out of their bench spaces and move to the door. Nigel reached for the plates, but Cargo stopped her and then turned to Ravi with a malicious smile.

"You're on dishes duty, young lady."

Cargo threw her a tea towel, which Ravi caught easily.

"No, I'm not," she protested. "I did them yesterday. And the first day!"

Cargo looked to the security officer, "David? Back me up."

David nodded with a smile, "Last person on the crew gets dishes duty for the first trip."

Ian was already at the door but called back with a smile, "You've got to catch up on the rest of us."

Ravi stood fuming as the rest of the crew moved out. She knew she was going to get something like this, some rite of passage. It could have been much worse.

She pulled her headphones up from the resting place around her neck and turned on a play list streamed from the station. Once they passed the Void she would have to rely on her own library, but for now there were options. And it made doing the dishes a little less unpalatable.

Antaries Freighter, Cryogenic room

Behind the medical bay was the Cryogenics room; the reason interstellar travel was possible at all. Cryogenics was a misnomer, carried over from the late twentieth century. Instead of reducing the bodies metabolic processes with liquid nitrogen, a series of very complicated chemicals and electrical devices was used to reduce cellular activity to a level marginally above death. The incumbent sleeper enters a dissociative state where their neural activity is impaired, and time is not perceived.

Even so the room was cold. Once the whole crew were asleep the heating and air filtrations systems would be turned off and the room would settle to an operating temperature of only 3 degrees Kelvin. The floor in here was already uncomfortably cold on bare feet.

The computational power required to manage this process is enormous, and many ships carry auxiliary computer systems to ensure no interruption of service. No crew would dream of cutting corners on the Cryogenic systems. They are the only thing that sustains life for extended journeys. Shorter hops can be done without any time in Cryo, but the cost in fuel and space to feed and oxygenate even a small crew for more than a week is prohibitive.

In simple terms, the crew sleep for the three-month journey so they don't need to pay for food and oxygen.

Six tubes stood at a slight angle to the vertical. The front of them had a frosted glass screen, to allow a quick visual inspection of the occupants. Two were already sealed, with Dave and Cargo inside. Andrew climbed into his while Nigel attached the vital monitors and tubes that would ensure his safety for the duration.

He'd been using cryo-sleep for nearly 40 years now, on and off. That means he was nearly 500 years old, or at least was born nearly 500 years ago. Some experts would talk about how extensive use of Cryogenics was having a detrimental effect on society; that long-time users found it hard to re-integrate. Maybe that was true. Or maybe after everyone you grew up with had been dead for 400 years it was hard to want to go back.

He adjusted his position with a sigh as Nigel stepped back. "See you in three months."

Nigel activated a control on the main console. The automated systems of the Antaries main computer intoned the standard alert.

- Warning. Cryogenic Chamber two closing. Cryogenic Chamber two closing. Cryogenic Chamber two sequence commencing. -

There was a soft hiss of hydraulics as the chamber door lowered and sealed, followed by the sound of gasses entering the chamber.

Andrew blinked twice and then knew nothing.

Antaries Freighter, Bridge

On the last sign off, Ian made sure not to bring any food or drinks into the bridge. No one wanted to wake up to three-month-old coffee residue in their workspace.

He sat in the pilot's chair, running over the tertiary checks. The automated course corrections were all accounted for. He spun in the chair and rolled across to the comms.

"Antaries freighter, registration 2002016, to Engate station. Please respond. Over."

He released the key, and a quiet background static filled the speaker. They were 9 million kilometres away from Engate now. The sun Eroca colony orbited was barely distinguishable from the sea of stars behind them. It took all message 30 seconds to travel back and forth. Ian began to shut down power to the abandoned rooms; Cargo hold, mess, sleeping quarters.

"Engate Station to Antaries. Reading you at three of five. Over."

Three of five was a pretty good signal strength this far out. Ian pushed the talk key, "Roger that Engate. We are switching to low power. Crossing the Void Line now. Over."

Only medbay, cryoroom, the bridge, and engineering to go. He flicked the channel to internal comms, "Ravi, are you out of engineering yet?"

"Not yet", came the reply. "The dishes held me up. I'm giving the Algae tanks a last stir. I'm not waking up to brown air."

"I'm not hanging around. You can turn the lights off when you come out?"

"Roger that," the young girls voice came back.

Ian switched the channel back to Engate frequency just in time to get their reply, "Happy trails, Antaries. Over."

"Thanks, Engate. See you all in six months. Over and out."

He switched of the comms, and began to power down the monitors, the last was the navigation control, which he swapped to automatic and the reached behind to turn of the monitor.

This brought him nose to nose with the small dinosaur toy Peter had left him and subjected him to the full force of the concussion explosive planted inside. There was a wave of light and noise which threw Ian's limp body across the bridge to the back wall, where he slumped unmoving.

A red light began to flash on the navigation system. When no one responded to it in the allotted time the computer's voice kicked in across ship's comms.

- WARNING! Proximity Alert. Proximity Alert. -