Acid Rain

For some reason, he had always thought that waking up from cryosleep would be no more difficult than getting up with an alarm clock three hours before dawn after a wild party. In reality, it turned out to be the most excruciating process one could imagine. His lungs struggled to inhale the air, its particles felt abrasive. His numb hands tried to push against the lid of the cryocapsule, but they only twitched spasmodically, caught by soft straps. His brain had forgotten how to control his body. It would take time to stir up the neural connections. Alright, don’t panic and try to get your brain in order. Phil… His name is Philip Moreau. He’s a life support systems engineer on a ship flying to planet N-1597. It’s been two years since the expedition began. He was woken up by Katherine Anderson, the senior pilot and project leader. He’ll chat with her a bit, take a report, and then send her off to rest in the cryocapsule. The next two years will be spent fighting boredom on a ship carrying twenty thousand sleeping colonists to their new home. His main duties: monitoring the green indicator of all systems' operability, reading analytical reports about N-1597, and textbooks on agronomy. In two years, he’ll wake up… the name of his replacement officer slipped past his consciousness. Having figured out where he was, Phil tried to steady his breathing. The straps holding his hands clicked quietly. He opened his eyes and looked around. Katherine was sitting nearby with a tablet, making some notes. Just one look at her sent a wave of panic rising in Phil. Something had clearly gone wrong. She had changed. He remembered a tall woman, about thirty years old. With perfect posture, stern, swift. She was always busy with work, and there were jokes about her lack of a smile. “Her electronic synapses are incapable of processing humor.” She was often noticed sitting under a tree near the base, at dawn. Anderson would drink coffee from an enameled mug with a child’s drawing on it and talk. There was no one visible nearby. No one was surprised — the dead had become terribly talkative these recent years. Her hair was now snow-white. The tablet trembled slightly in her gnarled fingers. She seemed to have shrunk and no longer held her back so straight. People don’t change that fast! “Wh… what year is it?” — Phil decided to start with the least paranormal hypothesis. She looked up at him with faded eyes. “Mmm… awake. Good job.” Katherine stood up, leaning on a cane, and walked over to the capsule. She looked at the monitor and nodded briefly. “The journey was long and not exactly thrilling. The ship is in perfect condition, don’t worry,” she said, pulling a blanket from somewhere below and placing it on the edge of the capsule. “Sorry I can’t help you get up. Take your time. I’ll see you on the bridge.” Only when the door closed with a soft hiss did Phil sit up, holding his head. It seems no immediate catastrophe is happening. He could take a shower, and then figure out what the hell is going on here. On the bridge, Katherine stood in front of the observation screen. Phil approached, and the view that opened up took his breath away. Down below was a planet, huge, covered with forests and oceans, wrapped in the blue glow of its atmosphere. “We’ve been in orbit for just over a week. I did some scanning, refined some data. Information from the probes is still coming in, but I’ve identified a couple of the most promising areas for landing.” Katherine took off her command bracelet and handed it to Phil along with the tablet. “Study it and decide which one suits you best.” As Phil took the tablet, his hands trembled with excitement and the realization of responsibility. They had arrived. More than sixty years had passed. This would be their new home. And he was the one to build it. The very old woman hugged him and gently patted him on the shoulder. “This is an excellent planet. Take care of it.” Perhaps he should have said something in response, but Phil just watched her go. In his hands, the tablet’s screen displayed the last entry. March 14, 62nd year. I hereby hand over command to the life support systems engineer, Philip Moreau.