Kaiju Apocalypse by Eric S. Brown, Jason Cordova Page B

to snuff for any sort of screaming. The pain slowly became manageable as the moments passed, and finally went away fully. He cracked open his eyes and slowly went through his mental checklist.
     
    “Relax, Captain,” Medea tried to soothe him as his fingers began to twitch and respond to his commands. “The cryo-juice is almost completely out of your system. In eight seconds, you should have full control over your motor skills once more. How are you feeling?”
     
    Nathan didn’t answer, focusing instead on his left big toe. It was a trick he had learned when he had come out of cryo for the very first time during the trial runs. If he could focus on something small and typically ignored, the rest of the pain would drift away.
     
    “How long has it been, Medea?” Nathan asked as the last wave of pain went away. His tongue felt thick and his jaw was sore, but that was to be expected. He had not used it in a very long time.
     
    “You have been in cryo-sleep for one year, five months, two days–”
     
    “Thanks,” Nathan said, cutting the AI off. “That’s good enough. Give me a SITREP, starting with structural integrity of the Argo .”
     
    “Structural integrity of the hull is at satisfactory levels,” Medea began, her voice still cheerful as Nathan swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood up. The room spun slightly as blood rushed to his head. He grabbed one of the overhead handles and waited for the sudden bout of dizziness to pass. Meanwhile, Medea continued to drone on. “Environmental levels in occupied sections are nominal. Oxygen levels are coming up to hospitable levels at primary duty stations throughout the Argo . Engineering is showing green on all four engines, and both the primary and secondary bridges are fully powered. All stations, save one, report green beds. There was one catastrophic failure of a cryo-sleep bed, Portside Section, Subsection D, resulting in a singular fatality due to irreparable damage to the vagus nerve, and thus causing a complete nervous system failure. Resuscitation was not possible. Notification of the death has been passed on to the Medical Board.”
     
    “Damn,” Nathan grunted as he grabbed his uniform from the storage closet. He quickly pulled on his trousers and buttoned up his blouse. “Medea, who was the individual that died?”
     
    “Engineering Apprentice Bahwoh Buhtan Woods, Captain.”
     
    Nathan shook his head. “Never heard of her.”
     
    “Him, actually, Captain,” Medea corrected in a gentle tone. “Single, nineteen years of age. Family origins were from Liberia, a member of the ruling National Humanist Movement before he emigrated to Lemura Base after the fall of Abidjan. Completed his first apprenticeship just before the Argo left Earth, though he was not one of the engineers who were wakened upon our arrival at Alpha Centauri. He left no dependents.”
     
    “Thank God for small favors,” Nathan muttered as he rubbed his scalp. “All right, let’s get up to speed.”
     
    “We are currently in a heliosynchronous orbit of Earth,” Medea began. “The Argo is currently stationed at four hundred kilometers above the Earth’s surface and is maintaining a constant speed of 11,973 kilometers per hour. The Argo is currently above Pacifica Base, and soon shall be moving into position above Lemura Base, then crossing paths with Atlantica Base. I am currently running diagnostics on our communications system due to unknown anomalies, which are interfering with connectivity of any relay on Earth, or to any of the satellites which are still in orbit.”
     
    “Wait,” Nathan paused while lacing up his boots. “Is it an issue on our end or Earth’s?”
     
    “Unknown at this time,” Medea replied.
     
    “Well, that’s great,” Nathan grunted and finished putting his boots on. He bloused his trousers and stood up. “Okay, run an internal diagnostics and wake up a sensor team to run a diagnostics on our own relay in case this is