“NASA has been working on this program for the last 19 months,” exclaims Alex, now walking even faster down the hallway, trying to keep up with a beautiful blond head, he then continues, “I don’t think they’d be asking for volunteers unless they felt it was ready.”
“Ya well maybe you think they got their act together but I think one 6 week long test on some mice is not good enough for a man, or as in my case a woman,” replies Sara, walking along side Alex.
Alex an average height and looking young man replies, “You know that this isn’t the only test, they’ve been testing these machines now for the past two years.”
Sara, “Yeah, all on mice and such,” nothing exciting she says disinterested. She walks even faster with a little anger in her step now.
Alex says, “They tested it on some monkeys.”
Sara says,” Yes and they never woke up.”
Alex reaches in front of himself to get ready to open the doors, that were coming up fast,
“Those were the only ones. All the other tests came out fine.”
Sara stops and turns then looks him square in the eyes and says, “I’m not going to do it, no matter what they say.”
Alex freezes, not knowing how to respond, still standing trying to think of something to say, when she brushes past him and opens the doors on her own. When she walks into the room, she hears a large number of people talking.
He knows he has to shake off her response because it will drive him crazy. Then continues in before the doors close in on him and he will be on the outside not wanting to be looking in. He sees Sara sitting herself in the front row, just in front of the stage. He rushes over and sits down beside her to listen to the rest of the speech.
The speaker announces, “And further more I feel that we are almost ready for this launch. All our tests so far have come out positive, now we’re approaching our final stage of the program. By suspending two subjects, a man and a woman, in the Hyper Chambers it will assure the astronauts that at the end of their 20 year journey they will awaken and be able to complete the tasks at hand,” he pauses for the clapping and then continues, “As you all have heard the journey will take 20 years to get to 31019PEP, our second Earth. Upon reaching said planet they will set up a colony there and begin studying the planet and its resources.”
“Yes but 20 years and how do you know for sure the planet is habitable?” come from the crowd of reporters.
He continues, “How do we know that it is habitable, we don’t. This is the only planet close enough, with a breathable atmosphere, we hope. All other planets have shown us that they either have no atmosphere or it is un-breathable for humans, inhospitable and the list goes on. We estimate that we have enough resources to last us for little more than 50 years, and then we’ll run out. So yes, we hope this will work.”
“So they get there, what’ll that do for us here?”
“As you all know we built a working worm hole. What the crew is going to do once they get there, one of their first tasks is to build the other end of the worm hole we are currently building here.”
“Just how many people do you plan on sending?” comes from another area in the crowd.
“I believe the number is 12 at this time. But we are trying to make it more like 20.”
“How long before they launch?”
“In next 32 months we’ll know more,” he pauses and then looks down toward Sara and Alex and motions them to come up onto the stage.
They both stand and walk over to the far right and walk up the stairs provided.
“Now, I would like to introduce the young lady and young man who have graciously volunteered for the Hyper Chambers and will be the first people to be suspended. Everyone give a big hand to Sara Waters and Alex Dorothy.”
The crowd gives them a thundering ovation.
Alex steps forward to receive the mic, “I would like to thank you Doctor Peterson for that grand introduction, furthermore I would like to say that we, Sara and I feel privileged to be the first people ever to be suspended in time.”
Sara looks at Alex with a look that would knock out a bull elephant in the middle of a stampede. She steps up to Alex and steps on his foot as she grabs the microphone from him.
“I would like to say,” she pauses and looks at the crowd then, “thank you for this chance to be the first woman to be suspended. I would also like to thank Alex here for volunteering me for this. Thank you Alex.” She turns and gives him a look that only those on stage and Alex could see, and then hands him back the mic. Then she walks to the back of the stage and sits down.
Alex doing his best not to show his pain, continues, “I would like to now give the mic back to Doctor Peterson. Thank you.” He hands over the microphone and limps back to where Sara is sitting.
“Thank you Alex. Now if there are any questions, please feel free to ask and we’ll do our best to answer them,” Doctor Peterson said sternly.
“And just how much energy is this going to take from us?”
Doctor Peterson, “Yes, sorry, forgive me please, here is the person best suited to answer those kinds of questions.”
After question period was over, General Stewart along with Doctor Peterson walk over to the two of them.
Doctor Peterson, “What the hell was that?” with anger and shock in his voice.
Alex starts to say something, “Well… uh...uh…”
Doctor Peterson, “Not you, you!” He says looking at Sara.
“I wasn’t told about this until this morning sir.” She replies with disgust.
Doctor Peterson, “What do you mean you weren’t told about this?”
Sara, “Sir, Alex hadn’t told me anything until we arrived just a few minutes ago.”
Doctor Peterson, “Is what she saying true, son?”
Alex goes to swallow but he finds his throat to be bone dry, “Well sir, she was off in …”
Doctor Peterson, “So she knew nothing of this, is what you are trying to say?”
Alex with his head down = speaks with a squeaky voice, “Yes”.
“Speak up son and look at me when you talk!!” demands Doctor Peterson.
Alex looking up repeats his answer nervously, “Yes sir, I mean no sir she didn’t know, sir.”
Doctor Peterson just looks at him for a minute and then turns to Sara, “I’m sorry we put you on the spot like that young lady, when you clearly have no interest in doing this. You may go, we’ll find someone else. Thank you Ms. Waters.” He turns to the General standing next to him and starts to talk with him when he hears …
“I’ll do it,” squeaks a voice.
The Doctor turns and looks at Sara.
Sara, “I’ll do it.” she answers him coldly.
Doctor Peterson, “Are you sure? You know you don’t have to!”
Sara, “Well after you guys saying I was going to do it and all that, I think I can muster up enough strength and gumption to do this.”
General Stewart, “That’s all nice and dandy, but we need a little more then that.”
Sara, “Sorry sir, I know I can do this. Alex and I … we’ve done almost everything together, ever since we were kids, so I guess that’s why he just assumed I’d go along with this. I can’t blame him.” We are a good team, we work well together.
Doctor Peterson, “You know you don’t have to?”
“I know,” she answers as she looks the Doctor straight in the eyes.
Doctor Peterson, “Welcome aboard. I look forward to meeting you Saturday.”
“Saturday,” she says a little surprised, “I’ll be there, sir.”
The Doctor and General turn and walk away from the two of them, then Sara turns and looks at Alex, looking like a lost puppy.
“Sara, I did try to get in contact with you,” whimpers Alex.
“I know,” replies Sara.
Alex, “You know? You didn’t answer me, or call me back?”
Sara, “I was having so much fun; I didn’t want it to stop.”
Alex looks at her, “What’s his name?” with a jealous tone...
Sara, “It doesn’t matter now, he dumped me once he found out I wasn’t rich.”
Alex places his arm around her and pats her head with his hand to try and comfort her as she begins to cry. “Sara, it’s his loss. You’ll find the right guy, you just got to stop looking for him, in all the wrong places.”
Sara, “I’m such a loser. Nothing seems to go right.”
Alex pats her on the head and says, “That’s true, but you’re a cute loser.” Smirking and giggling.
Sara pulls away with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face and slaps Alex on the shoulder, and then says “It takes one to know one.”
Alex smiles and hugs her and says in her ear, “You’ve always got me to come back to. Your one and only bestest friend in the whole wide world.” You know we are right for each other.”
She laughs and slaps him lightly on the shoulder and says, “I know, friends for life.” glowing from the inside out.
Alex, “I still remember the day we first met back in third grade I thought you were the cutest and you thought I was too.” He says with a smile.
Sara, “There you go thinking I liked you again. I thought of you were some dumb ass, who thought he knew everything. You were always joking around, never serious.”
Alex, “I did know everything, everything an eight year old needed to know, at the time.”
Sara laughs at him and then says, “So what about this going to sleep thing?”
Alex, “Well it’ll give you a lot of time to forget Romeo.” Hoping that her thoughts move back to him.
Sara, “And how long is a lot?”
“Six months.”
She looks at him and said nothing, but her expression says it all, ‘are you nuts!’
The next day Alex goes to find Sara at her apartment. He walks up to her door and knocks.
“Who is it?”Comes, from behind the door.
“Sara, I’m here to take you to the facility and let you meet some of the scientists working on this project.”
Sara opens the door keeping it between her and Alex. “I don’t know if I can go through with this.”
Alex, “I thought you might be thinking this way. So all we’re going to be doing today is meeting with the group that’ll be taking care of us while we sleep.”
Sara thinks for a second and then says, “Okay, I guess I can do that.” She then opens the door and lets Alex in.
Alex walks in and notices that she hasn’t even gotten ready for the day, she’s still in her housecoat.
Sara, “I’ll get ready and you wait here.”
Alex, “You got anything to drink?”
Sara, “I may have some diet cokes in the fridge. Grab me one too.”
Alex goes to the fridge, grabs a diet coke and closes the fridge. After about 30 minutes they’re in Alex’s car driving to the laboratory.
Sara, “How much longer till we’re there?”
Alex, “We’re about ten to fifteen minutes away.”
Sara, “I’m still not sure about this, if I’ll be able to go through with this or not.”
Alex, “Let’s just wait and see the team and let them explain to you what it is they are going to be doing. I know that once I talked to them I felt a lot better about doing this. I wasn’t all that sure to start either.”
It seems to take forever to drive the last few miles.
No words were spoken until they come to the main gates and guard house.
“Is this the place?” asks Sara as they drive up to the gates.
Alex, “We’re almost there.” He rolls down his window and gives a card to the guard who then hands it back and then walks into the small building next to the gate, the gate opens.
Once it is clear enough for the car to run through Alex steps down on the accelerator and drives through.
Sara doesn’t see anything, as far as the eye can see. Nothing but dirt, a few dead trees and a mountain side. That Alex seems to be accelerating toward.
Alex smiles and steps on the accelerator harder, the car lunges forward. He then turns the car so it heads directly for the side of the mountain.
“Alex!” exclaims Sara.
As the car continues to speed up and goes faster they get closer and closer.
“Alex, STOP!”
She screams just as they are about to hit the rock face, then suddenly all goes black and Sara thinks she is dead.
Then just as suddenly it is light again.
Alex slows the car down to a crawl as they come to where there are a number of other vehicles parked. He then parks in one of the empty parking stalls.
Sara notices that she is now under the mountain in a very large cavern. It was like being in the upper half of a bubble that had formed under the mountain, millions of years ago.
She looks up and can just make out the cave walls and ceiling. Down lower she sees a wall, manmade, not quite reaching the ceiling, in fact it only went about half way.
Sara, still not knowing how to react to what just happened, reaches over and slaps Alex as hard as she can on the back of his head.
Alex, “Okay, I guess that was a little too much. I am sorry and must say I deserved that.” He reaches down and opens his door, now out of the car, he walks around to her side and opens the door.
Sara looks up and gets out of the car, she looks around then back at Alex, “What the hell was that?”
Alex, “It’s the latest in holomatrics. I had to speed the car up to go through.”
“Why?”
“Well you see if you just walk up to it, the wall feels hard, like it’s really there. In order to get through it, one has to drive extremely fast,” answers Alex. He motions her to come with him and then continues, “This way. Did I forget to tell you how much they are willing to pay us for this?”
Sara looks at him and says, “I hope it’s a lot.”
They both walk through an opening in the wall and then head toward another guard station.
Alex smiles and says, “On top of paying off all your bills, half a million.”
Sara, “Is that all, they think your life is worth?”
“Sara, just give them a chance. They’ve made every precaution and they have the latest in medical equipment,” explains Alex.
Walking past the station Alex shows his card and continues walking. They reach the elevator doors and just then Alex reaches into his pocket and pulls out another card, one that slides through a card slot next to the elevator doors. Then a panel opens revealing a numbered panel. Alex enters in a code and then presses the enter button at the bottom of the panel.
The elevator doors open and Alex walks in then turns and looks at Sara and asks. “You coming?”
She looks at him and then steps onto the elevator. The doors close behind her and they start their descent.
“How far down do we go?” asks Sara.
“We’re about four stories underground. They wanted to have a completely isolated place to do this,” answers Alex.
“What happens if the power goes out, how do we get out?,” she asks with a panic tone in her voice.
“For one thing this place has its own nuclear power plant, so power outages are not to likely, for another there is a staircase that leads up from below, just in case the elevators are out.”
Sara, “What about the chambers?”
Alex, “Oh, those. They have their own nuclear power source.”
“Are you sure they are only going to explain things to me not just assume …” she hesitantly asks?
Alex, “I phoned the doctor last night and told him that you were having second thoughts.”
Sara, “So they know?”
Alex, “Yes, they know. They don’t want someone who isn’t of sound mind entering a deep sleep. It could affect the outcome.”
Sara, “You mean in a negative way, like me dying.”
Alex reaches over and presses the stop button. The elevator halts. “I see now that I’m asking too much of you. I’m going to take you back home.” He reaches over and presses the button up.
The elevator starts back up.
Sara softly says, “I’m sorry. I’ve heard rumors about this and they were all bad.”
“They did have some problems at first, but that was with different equipment and scientists. They’ve rebuilt the whole thing from the ground floor. It’s all new, with new people too.” Alex answered.
The elevator doors open, Alex steps out and goes to say something when he realizes she hasn’t stepped out with him.
“Sara,” Alex asks, “are we going or staying?”
Sara looks at him and in a quiet voice says, “staying?”
“Are you sure?”
“No.” she pauses and then continues, “I did say I’d do it though, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but only after I trapped you. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“I’ll stay.” Sara insists.
“Okay, let’s not keep them waiting any longer.” Alex walks back into the elevator, and presses the down button. The doors close and don’t open again until they reach the bottom. Sara didn’t open her month or utter a sound until the doors opened, again.
Standing there were two other people, whom Sara had never seen before.
Alex, “This is Doctor Martha Sheppard and Doctor Mark Holt.”
Martha, in a European accent says. “You must be Sara. We’ve heard all about you, so much so I feel I know you already.”
Mark says, “We also heard you’re having second thoughts about this. Well I can assure you it is completely safe.”
Sara inquires, “If it’s so safe, why don’t the two of you do it?”
They both look baffled and unsure at how to answer that.
Martha sounding stern, “We offered, but they said no. Who would wake us, if something was to goes wrong? We are the only two, who can fix it.”
Sara still wasn’t totally re-assured by her answer but left it alone, for now.
They spent what seemed to be hours explaining the ins and outs of the operation not making any sense to Sara. Then they brought her over to where the Hyper Chambers were being held.
“This room is a special kind of room. It floats in another room,” Says Martha, then looks at Sara and sees a puzzled look on her face. “Let me explain. This room is suspended on what some might consider to be springs and hydraulics. Yet they are a lot more complex then that. They hold the room up more like, floating on a cloud. This is to help to simulate some of the effects of space. There are a number of cables and pulleys along with air being removed …”
Alex, “I think she gets the picture.”
“Oh, yes sorry about that. I sometimes just ramble on.” Martha, Says smiling.
Sara, “Okay, now that you’ve got me more confused, then when I first came here. What does this do for the beds and to me?”
Martha, “It helps to give us a better understanding of what the effects of weightlessness will have on you both, while you are in a hyper state.”
Sara, “Yeah I got that. But what will it do to me while I’m sleeping?”
Martha, “Well it’s not going to really make any difference to you. It’ll just give us much more accurate readings rather than to just have you in some regular building. Gravity shouldn’t be as noticeable, thus creating a more realistic affect on your bodies.”
Alex, “They want to see if it’ll have any long lasting effects on our muscles.”
“Oh.” Sara sounding worried.
“I don’t think this is doing her any good. I’ll just take her home and we’ll have to get someone else.”
“No, I’ll be fine,” Sara says looking at Alex and then turns to Martha and says, “I’ll be ready. This Saturday, right?”
Martha, “That is right and I must say we are so looking forward to having you as our guests for the next six months.”
Sara looks at her and says nothing. She then looks at Alex and asks, “You’ll be picking me up at my apartment?”
“Yes, of course.” Alex pauses, “Is eight a.m. OK?”
Sara, “That’ll be fine.”
Alex, “Okay, Martha and Mark we’ll be here with bells on at eight o’clock Saturday.”
Martha and Mark both smile and wave the two of them off.
They are both about to step off of the elevator when Alex turns and asks, “What is wrong?”
Sara, “What do you mean?”
“Well, not more then two hours ago, you were about to leave this place screaming and now …?”
Sara, “I figured what the hell. I’ll make half a mill. Doing nothing but sleeping and I sure can use the money.”
Alex, “You sure that’s all it is?”
Sara, “I need the money and you’re my friend. Your going to basically be gone for six months and right now I don’t know that I could handle being without my best friend for that long. So why not go with you and sleep and make a bunch of money at the same time.”
Alex wasn’t sure how to respond to what she had just said and was trying to think of something when he notices her staring at the guard at the front desk.
“Mike, is that you Mike Walker from St Francis High?”
The guard, a dark skinned man looks at her and then squints his eyes to get a better look and then he too says, “Sara, Sara Waters? Is that you girl?”
Sara, “What the hell are you doing here?”
Mike, “I work here girl, what’s your excuse?”
Sara is now standing next to Mike’s desk and says, “I’m going to be one of their guinea pigs in that sleep thing.”
Mike, “Are you nuts girl? They couldn’t pay me enough to take a chance like that.”
Alex, “Well they didn’t ask you now did they?”
Mike looks at Alex for a second and then turns his attentions back to Sara, “So tell me girl what you’ve been doing with your life?”
“I just got back from Europe and now I’m going to make a bunch of money sleeping,” answers Sara.
Mike, “No, no that isn’t what I want to know. How are you doing, have you found mister right, did you stay in school and finish your doctorate?”
Sara, “No, I didn’t stay in school, I found it to be boring. As for a boyfriend, well not yet, the rest of my life has been pretty uneventful.”
Mike, “Now that’s hard to believe, a hot chick like you. And girl I was really hoping you had finished your schooling.”
Sara, changing the subject asks, “What about you?”
“Well not long after I left to go to the police academy I met the most beautiful girl in the world and married her,” answered Mike.
Sara’s eyes open wide and a big smile comes across her face, “I am sooo happy for you. I have got to meet this fine lady. Do you have any little ones, yet?”
Mike smiles and reaches for his wallet and then opens it and takes a couple of pictures out and hands them to Sara.
Sara again a big smile, “Oh they’re so cute! They sure didn’t get their good looks from you.”
Mike, “You got that right. Their mother is a bomb shell, even after bringing those two little hellions into this world. She’s a great mom and an even hotter wife.”
Sara looks at the pictures again and then hands them back to Mike who places them back into his wallet.
“Well Mike it is good seeing you. Will you be here this Saturday?” asks Sara.
“I’ll be here all day,” says Mike.
“I’ll see you then. It sure is good seeing you and I’m so happy for you and your family. I’m sure you’re a great father. See you later,” she says as she starts for the car.
Alex waits until they are out of hearing distance of the guard and then says, “Sara, he isn’t supposed to know classified stuff, like the time we are going under. You’re not to tell anyone.”
Sara looks at Alex and says, “Don’t be ridiculous. That meeting yesterday with those reporters…”
“They have all been instructed not to publish anything until after we are under,” interrupts Alex.
“Oh, sorry. I just thought that since Mike works here …”
“I’m sure that’ll be alright, but you can’t say anything to anyone else.”
“What about my mother?” she asks.
“Sorry, she’ll be informed after we are under. You can write her a letter and they’ll be sure that she gets it, or you can make a recording, that she’ll see later,” explains Alex.
“I understand, it’s just hard not being able to tell someone.”
“Well you’ve told all the people you are going to be able to, until we wake up in six months, no one else must know.”