Wayward Earth (Wayward Galaxy Book 7) by Jason Anspach & J.N. Chaney

Author:Jason Anspach & J.N. Chaney [Anspach, Jason & Chaney, J.N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2024-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

22

The prickly sensation flared across Jack’s fingertips first, like pins-and-needles in a sleepy limb. His toes got them next, tracing up his leg and into the thighs where he vaguely became aware of a sensation like he was going to the bathroom.

Only Jack knew it wasn’t that. He opened his eyes and looked through the cryo-pod’s canopy glass to a shadow-filled chamber where the only light was shining down on top him. Nothing stirred outside, and he heard no commotion or alarms. There’d been a brief orientation video—part of the in-flight entertainment—but for the life of him, Jack couldn’t remember what he was supposed to do next.

“Hello, Jack. Can you hear me?” Brody said, sounding as if he were all around him.

“Too loud,” Jack said, hearing his own voice seem to die away inside the now empty cryo-chamber.

At a softer volume, the AI said, “My apologies. You are only the third person I have spoken to through the new interface.”

“Something wrong?” Jack could think of a whole lot of people who should naturally be ahead of him in the pecking order.

“Per my protocols, Miguel Donovan was awakened first. He ordered I wake his sister Rose and then you. Are you well? Are you feeling any deleterious effects?”

Jack stretched his arms and legs as best he could. Everything was still numb, but the throbbing he recalled as well as the general beat-up fatigue he’d been feeling while in Africa hadn’t shown up—yet. “Won’t know for sure until I’m out of bed and on my feet. That’s usually when I feel like an arthritic old man.”

The pod canopy hissed open, with the outer casing lifting above his head and the lower rotating toward his feet. The pod swiveled upward forty-five degrees, creating an easy step from the pod for the patients. Trace gasses vented into the room, but Jack felt the temperature to be more comfortable than the cold he expected. All that “cryo” talk, not to mention the way the display screens had frosted over, had him picturing waking up in a giant ice box. While not Nairobi-hot, his surroundings were comfortable, and the floor was warm to his bare feet.

“Heated floor,” Jack mumbled. “Like rich people.”

“Rather than the entire floor, the plates around your specific pod have been activated to make it more comfortable,” Brody answered. “The footlocker at the base of the pod has a uniform provided for you.”

“Just so long as I don’t find a red shirt,” Jack said, stretching his back and then settling in to look around the pod, then upward from the ceiling. “Hey, where are you broadcasting from? You sounded super clear in the pod and now that I’m out, I’m not getting a difference.”

“Specialized speakers. But we can talk about that when you meet up with the mission leaders. They’ll fill you in on everything.”

Jack dressed quickly, working himself into what seemed to be the next generation of battle dress pants and combat shirt. He barely felt the embedded knee and elbow pads, but was surprised when he stretched the fabric and the area around his knee went rigid.

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