Beyond the Event Horizon by Scott McElhaney

I approached the gray chamber nearest to me and thumped the thing with the base of my fist. It seemed to be coming from all of the CWCs in the room and I noticed that the audible tones coincided with the flashing of miniature red diodes embedded near the heads of those chambers. My thoughts returned to that relentless beeping.

I was one of the latter, having chosen to spend my substantial inheritance on a ride out of town – forever. Some of this frozen crew were scientists while others were simply the billionaires who fronted the money necessary for such a bold endeavor. In all, there were twenty of us who had won the bid to be the first in over a hundred years to migrate to Inglenook in the Tau Ceti system. Elsewhere in this ship was another identical room with ten CWCs in it as well. That meant that I shared this room with nine other CWCs or Cryogenic Wet Chambers. This room had been dedicated to the cryogenic storage of half the entire crew of the Frontier. That was the moment when I realized the uncomfortable truth that my cryogenic chamber was the only one in the entire room that was open. I grabbed one of the complementary bathrobes from the towel closet and wrapped it around me, tying it at the waist. It took a few minutes until I had completely chased the chill away, at which time I began washing away the remains of the waxy substance that had once served to protect my flesh during the deep freeze.Īfter several minutes, I stepped out of the shower and toweled off while I finally paid heed to that incessant beeping which seemed to rise from all around me. A moment later, the water reached an acceptable temperature, so I stepped into the stall and soaked every inch of my body in that exceptionally warm deluge. I didn’t recognize that hand as my own due to the deathly bluish hue as well as the cool numbness in those fingers. Then that alien hand proceeded to twist those shower knobs. I watched as a pale shivering hand reached out before me to slide the shower door open. I was far too cold to concern myself with those annoying sounds, so instead I made my way quickly to the trio of shower stalls to the right of my cryo-chamber. With little difficulty, I managed to climb out of that gray metal coffin while I suddenly became aware of a symphony of monotonous digital beeps emanating from all around me. I felt an immediate need to be as far away from that human-shaped freezer as I could get. It was in that moment, as I glanced down at the circular drain near the foot of the CWC, that I finally remembered where I was. I sat up quickly, my arms wrapped around myself as I tried to bring warmth to this cold, damp body. I’d forgotten where I was, which at the time was understandable considering that I’d just slept a total of twenty-seven years inside a state-of-the-art Cryogenic Wet Chamber. My first morning on the Frontier was spent naked, shivering, and beyond all else, confused.

Beyond the Event Horizon by Scott McElhaney