I came up with this story a while ago. It is mostly true.
I need an MRI of my torso. No big deal, so I schedule it and arrive at the hospital. I go in and meet the tech who will do the procedure. He seems nice. I have to wear a gown. The tech chats with me explaining that I will have to lie still under an arch/half-tube which will be really really close to my chest…for thirty minutes. I ask how far in the tube I will have to be. He shows me while lining me up for the procedure. It turns out most of my middle is in this tiny tube. Right up to my nose. With my eyes I can see the ceiling, or an inch away the rim of the tube. The tech gives me earplugs. It is also going to be loud. I am apprehensive about being stuck in the claustrophobic little tube. But I think I can make it. As we get started I try to imagine somewhere else to be…
I am traveling through space in a stasis tube housed in a slightly larger ship. I am thrilled to be the first traveler this far away from the earth. I am heading towards a planet we call ‘Solon’. That’s not the official name of course, its just a nickname my flight team and I came up with. The rest of the team is on earth monitoring my progress. The launch stage is ending, I can still hear the mechanisms of the ship noisily adjusting themselves to coast mode. Once safely in coast, my stasis tube will activate and I will sleep. It is already getting quieter.
The tech says, “Are you doing ok?”
“Yes.” I answer.
Now that the noise has stopped I wait for my stasis tube to turn on so I can relax. A loud banging assaults my ears. With my index finger I activate the communication relay to earth. “Is this noise I’m hearing coming through to you?” I say to my team.
“Yes. We are checking on it. Hold tight.”
I hear the noise stop and start several times more. The radio informs me, “That’s one of the valves in your air circulation system sticking. Do not leave your stasis tube. We are going to try to adjust it remotely.”
I purse my lips impatiently. The banging changes somewhat then drops off.
“Still fine in there?” Asks the tech.
“Fine,” I say.
I am just starting to feel the stasis drugs begin when another loud banging starts.
“Uh, guys. That noise is back.” I say.
“We’re checking on it.” They tell me , “Don’t go into stasis until we get this sorted out.”
A few more minutes go by. They radio again. “Several more of the valves are sticking. It’s probably due to the temperature shift after blastoff.”
“Well can you fix it??” I say slowly.
“Just a sec.”
The banging continues while my team assesses the situation. I am starting to get frustrated.
“I can’t ride all the way to Solon listening to this.” I say.
Finally they reply. “Ok, we are going to have to reset and restart the entire circulation system. It will be noisy, but none of the valves should stick after this.”
They are right. It is loud. I can hear the valves realigning and being oiled and the computer clicking. Finally it is done.
Then it happens again, another noise.
“What is this!” I say. “Are you hearing this down there?”
“Yes. Hold on.”
As if I could do anything else.
“I want to leave the tube.” I say. “Let me find the problem myself.”
“Tracey, don’t leave the tube.” The voice belongs to Radney McCoy, the head of my team. “I don’t want you to leave the tube just yet. If the air system goes we may have to put you on the emergency air tank. That can’t be done if you are in the body of the ship.”
‘This is insane,’ I say to myself. “When will I be allowed to sleep?” I say aloud.
“Soon, Tracey. We just need to check this out first.”
I try to relax but it is difficult. It’s only been a few minutes and I know when I reach Solon I may face bigger challenges than this, but it’s still hard to have to sit still while my craft is examined remotely.
“How are you doing?” The tech asks me.
“I’m ok.” I say.
Radney’s voice comes again on the radio,”Tracey?”
“Yeah?” I say.
“We’ve determined what the noise is. There is- there’s something on the hull.”
“Ok,” I say, “that’s a little vague.”
“I’m sorry. We don’t know what it is yet. We’re working on it. One of the noises you are hearing is the trembler.”
The trembler is our name for the alarm put in to waken one from stasis. It sounds like a huge metallic rattle. When someone is in stasis it comes through more as a sensation than a noise. The trembler is usually not a good sign but a sign of trouble.
Radney’s voice comes over again, “We think the stuff on the hull may be space debris.”
“And it’s setting off the alarm?”
“Yes.”
“Good God, Radney, do you expect me to listen to the trembler for my entire journey? Turn it off.”
“If we turn it off we won’t be able to detect any new problems that arise. And we may not be able to wake you in a hurry.”
“Radney,” I say, “I want you to TURN THE TREMBLER OFF.”
“I’m sorry,” Radney says sounding helpless. “I can’t do that.”
A minute or two later the sound changes again.
“I thought you guys said the trembler needs to stay on. What’s happening?” I demand.
“I, I don’t know- It turned off on its own.” Radney stammers.
I sit through a few more minutes of disconcerting sounds. Radney’s voice comes back on the radio, “Tracey, listen to me now. Are you still inside the stasis tube?”
“Yes, you told me not to leave and I didn’t.”
“Good. Listen carefully. The readings on the hull indicate life. Something alive is on the hull. And it’s moving. In order to protect you and the ship I am engaging an energy field at hull level. I am also going to turn on the field around the tube itself. I have set it up so that in case of hull breach the hull energy field will move to the inside of the room. This should give you a higher supply of oxygen in case anything stops your ship and we have to come and bring you the rest of the way home.”
I breath in and out slowly. “So I’m coming home?”
“Yes. We are turning the ship around now. The two force fields should protect you until we get you back here.”
I start to argue with Radney, “You can’t send me home yet, I have to make this to make this trip! I need this!” As I speak I realize how much this trip means to me. To me the trip epitomizes everything I want to be able to do. Turning around now is like giving up on all the things I intend for my life. I don’t know if I can admit defeat.
As Radney is trying to convince me that my coming home is necessary, another series of noises interrupts him.
“Tracey, are you ok?! What’s happening up there? Tracey come in!”
I shout back, “Everything is fine. What are you reading?”
“The hull has been breached. I’m pulling back the second force field to the inside of the room.” Radney tells me.
“The hull has been breached?” I say with some amount of horror. “That’s bad isn’t it?”
“The second force field will protect you. And I’ll put up a third and a fourth one if I have to. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Just hang in there, Tracey.”
“Hang in there, Tracey.” says my tech.
“Ok.” I say.
I look up slightly towards the ceiling. I can see the creature! Panic grips me for just a moment before a calm seizes me. My body tingles all over as I observe it slowly advancing. I get the feeling it does not want to hurt me. It’s weird how I seem to know this and that I’m not freaking out.
Radney’s voice comes through to me. He sounds nervous.
“Tracey, I’m just going to pull the force field closer around you.”
I see the field shift away from the creature and closer to me.
“Radney, I see the creature.”
“Tracey, don’t panic. I’m going to come up with a way to kill it.”
“No,” I say “-it doesn’t mean to harm me. I can feel it.”
“You cannot know that.” Radney says exasperatedly.
He doesn’t speak again and I assume they are frantically trying to adjust the energy levels to kill it while not killing me. I glance up again and see it near me. It’s just a dark shape. Because of the way I’m restricted by the tube I can’t crane my head to see it well. It extends some kind of limb and touches the force field around me. It glows and seems to spark with electricity. I feel slightly warmer and somehow comforted. I hear the creature speak, only there’s no sound. It’s like I’m talking to myself. Part of me hears Radney speaking but I ignore the sound. I am engrossed. It tells me things which I can no longer remember. It’s brain is different than mine. It will not harm me. It will leave the ship. I ask if it will repair the damage. It says that although it triggered the hull breach detectors, it did not injure the hull. Then it’s gone.
Finally I hear Radney’s voice and it registers that he is talking to me.
“Tracey, come in!”
“Radney?”
“Thank God, what’s happening up there? We can’t get any readings on you.”
“I’m fine,” I say. “Everything’s just fine.”
“That’s it. We’re done,” my tech says. “How are you doing?”
“Just fine,” I say.
“Did you fall asleep?”
“No I was just writing a story.”
“Really? A story?”
“Yes,” I say.
I tell him thank you and goodbye and I head home.