Page 7 of Uprooted
“Yes, sir.
As soon as I’m done with Bennet’s hair, I’ll get a trim as well. I want to look good when the humans arrive.
05
Elowen
Coming out of stasis is a lot like waking up from surgery. Sounds happen first. A soft rhythmic beeping wakes me up. I slowly open my eyes. They are dry and scratchy. After a few tries I get both eyes open and can focus on the darkened ceiling. I clear my throat. My mouth feels like it’s full of sand. I’m shivering from the cold room.
Once I've regained all my senses, I notice movement across the room. Medbots quietly putter around me and one other person in the shuttle's recovery room. A small tray extends out with a steel bottle of water and a nutritional gel pack. I push up to a sitting position, squeeze the tasteless gel into my mouth and take a small sip of water to wash it down. I am absolutely starving, but I force myself to go slowly. I want to eat as soon as possible, and that means being patient. I've learned from past experiences to not rush this process. As a kid I would toss back the gel as quickly as possible and wash it down with gulps of water and end up puking for hours.
It's been six years since my last stasis trip. Thankfully they've made some improvements on the gel. It used to be flavored in a poor attempt to imitate actual food. Whoever makes this stuff finally gave up on the pretense. Now it's tasteless and much easier to get down.
The worst part of stasis travel is the dreams. A weird twilight sleep of random images, memories, and hallucinations. Growing up, my stasis dreams were mostly about not being able to find my parents. As I grew, they became more about showing up to class unprepared for finals. I suppose those feelings of constant striving for approval and success haven’t been resolved. This is my mind humbly remindingme of my unresolved issues. When I return to Earth, I’m demanding a refund from my therapist.
A more pressing matter pushes those thoughts away: noodles. It takes me a long time to get down the short hallway. My legs are stiff and sore. The narrow halls of the transport support me as I slightly stumble along. The last door holds the reward I’m desperate to reach. I press my palm to the door’s sensor. It slides away and the smell of warm noodles hits me.
I sit at the first table within staggering distance from the door and swipe my finger across the ordering dashboard that's flush with the table. Two buttons light up, a red one with three squiggly vertical lines for hot, the other blue—a small prism for cold. I tap the red option and moments later a mechanical arm extends up from under the table and drops the steaming bowl in front of me. I grab my chopsticks, scoop an impolite amount of noodles, swirl them around, and shove them into my mouth. Now that’s what I’m talking about.
The door slides open and the other person from the medbay walks through. Her movements are stiff and disjointed. Broth splashes my face and shirt as she sits down across from me. She looks as disheveled as I do, her pink hair tied up in a messy bun. She rubs her green eyes, still trying to wake herself up.
“What’s a girl gotta do to get some food around here?” She nearly growls. I like her already.
"Hot or cold?" I ask as I activate the dashboard on the table.
"Hot, please."
I tap the red button and dive back into my bowl. If I had better manners, I'd wait for her food to arrive, but I'm starving—and that is taking precedence at the moment.
"I'm the worst. I should properly introduce myself before demanding food. I've never been this hungry in my entire life. I'm Brisa, but everyone calls me Bri."
"No worries, I’m Elowen. Stasis messes me up every time. After two more of these, I'll feel human again," I say, nodding at my bowl. "Was this your first stasis?"
"Yep, first stasis, first time off Earth, first whatever the fuck that gel thing was." The robotic arm swings up and delivers Bri her noodles. She digs in with enthusiasm.
"Damn, this is good. Wait, are they actually this good, or am I just super hungry?" she asks, her mouth full.
“Probably just hungry. Soon you’ll be going for a stale protein bar over these bad boys.” I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Our dietary options are extremely bleak for the foreseeable future. Noodles are standard for space travel. They’re the perfect nutritionally modified food. They don’t expire, and they don’t take up much room. But one does get sick of them pretty quickly.
After a few bites, Bri breaks the silence. “I can finally think straight. That was crazy. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t eat during a five-month fever dream. You seem like you know what you’re doing. I take it you’ve been off planet before?”
“Yeah, I grew up all over. I was only really on Earth for the last rotation. And for the record, there is nothing in the universe like that first bowl of noodles after waking up.”
I like Bri. She’s one of those people who draws you in immediately. Her casual confidence puts me at ease. I’m barely awake and I already have a friend. This trip is off to a good start.
“What team are you on?” I ask, hoping we will be working together.
“Genetics.”
“I’m on botany.”
“That’s great! Oh man—I’m not feeling so good.” She clutches at her stomach and the smile fades. She lets out a shaky breath and turns a sickly pale. I know that face. She probably rushed the gel, and it’s catching up with her.
“Let’s get you back to the medbay,” I say as I help her up to walk her back as swiftly as I can. I know what happens next, and I’d rather not be present for it.
06
Elowen
