Chapter 1 The Awaking.

Space exploration is dangerous. It's full of things that can kill you. However, space is the ultimate last frontier, and humans are destined to go out into it no matter how difficult and dangerous it is. Finding a new Earth is paramount for the future survival of the human species, and one of the nearest possible Earth-like planets is Proxima B, a planet that's four light years away. Getting there would be a real challenge. That's what this story is about, but it also examines the problem of humans getting along on a long voyage. Would they survive the rigors of being confined for a long time. What sort of science would allow this voyage? That's questions that must be answered, but it's not going to be easy, especially if something that disrupts the whole process happens when least expected.
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Charles Westin's eyes felt as if they were glued shut when he awoke from a long sleep. He finally managed to open them to see a blurry light above his head. A transparent cover slowly swung to the side, allowing him to see well enough to begin the painful process of disconnecting a breathing mask, tubes and wired devices that were connected and shoved onto and into his body cavities. Some of these removals hurt, but it was necessary in order to be free of his technological prison.

At first, he had trouble moving his body, but with a few grunts, he was able to sit up in the hibernation module filled with a viscous fluid he had been immersed in for over five years. He rejoiced that he had survived the ordeal, but his good feeling was short lived.

He felt like shit, but that didn't stop him from doing what was necessary to free himself from the module. He pulled a bottle of a red liquid from a pouch in the side of the module, unscrewed the lid and took a swig of the concoction that was designed to restore his proper blood Ph and the electrolytes he needed to function.

Fortunately, he had been in free fall for the entire journey once the vessel had obtained near light speed, a process that required continuous acceleration using nuclear ion drive engines, followed by deceleration using the same engines but in reverse mode.

Once the deceleration process had been completed, the vessel was put into a normal gravity situation using a simulated gravity device, better known as Graviton.

He looked around at the other habitation modules and saw that they were all still closed. He realized that he was the first to be awakened, which didn't make sense. He was not the commander or his assistant. He was only one of two second-class engineers. There were two first class engineers in the crew that should have been revived before him. However, he could only assume that the AI quantum computer system decided that he was the first to be revived in order to be the guinea pig. No one had ever experienced this radical space travel process for nearly five years.

Getting out of the hibernation module was painful. His muscles were stiff and rubbery. He had to hold on to handles installed on his module to swing his legs out and then plant his feet on the floor. He paused to use a towel to remove the remaining fluid that had covered his body.

There was no way he was going to stand or move around without using a walker, which was conveniently within his reach.

He slowly, but painfully, pulled himself up so that he could begin his awkward walk out of the hibernation chamber. As he slowly moved to the entrance of the hibernation chamber, he took one last look at the other modules and noted that no one else was freeing themselves from their prison.

Charles slowly moved down a corridor that had multiple metal arches embedded in the walls of the hallway that contained the crew quarters. He stopped to look at the display on the door of the suite closest to the hibernation chamber, assuming that it would be his, but its display was dark. He continued his slow walk down the corridor past several doors before he saw one with a display that was activated.

However, it wasn't his.

He passed several more doors before he found his name on a display. What astounded him was the fact that it was the first quarters near the elevator which should have been assigned to the commander. He thought he was hallucinating, but the door swished open, an action that would only happen if it were his assigned quarters.

Charles was greeted by two mechanical assistants. They were essentially metallic humanoids designed to act as body attendants. Their android-like bodies consisted of a computer brain and various electric motors connected to gears, rods and levers inside bodies that sported hands and heads fashioned to look human with unisex appearance.

One of them gestured to an adjustable metal rack. He sat down on a flat metal rectangular plate with his back against a thinner one and his thighs and calves resting on similar plates. He watched as one of the humanoids constrained his wrists and his ankles in metal bracelets, essentially locking his body in place before they adjusted the device to stretch him out.

One of the humanoids used multi-functional devices to shave his beard and cut his hair. Another used a smaller device to trim his finger and toenails, removing five years of stunted growth.

When he was released, the humanoids escorted him to the bathroom where he was able to take a shower, washing away residues of the chemicals that were applied to his flesh to prevent any infections while in hibernation. The shower was followed by a brief time in an air drier. After these necessary purification procedures were completed, he looked more human. A handsome young man with dark hair and blue eyes, he was in relatively good shape despite his ordeal.

He explored his quarters, surprised to find how spacious it was. The living area contained two large couches and four easy chairs. His bedroom had a king-sized bed and a walk-in closet filled with several changes of clothing, shoes and underwear which he was happy to dress in after being naked for the long journey.

After consuming some hastily prepared toast and fruit with a glass of orange juice that a robot offered to him in his kitchen, he decided to head to the command deck. The elevator was next to his quarters, and it was just a swift trip to what could be considered the bridge.

Alice Wilson, a young blond with a classically sculptured face, had a slightly different experience when she awoke. She felt as if she were unable to move at first, but after a few minutes, she begin pulling the breathing mask, sensors and tubes from her body before she attempted to sit up in her module.

She looked around to see if other crew members were awakening, but the hibernation chamber was quiet, except for a low frequency hum. She noted that one of the modules was open, but there was no sign of the former occupant.

Alice managed to move her legs so that she could get out of her module and then stand up with the help of a walker. After wiping what remained of the immersion fluid from her body, she wasted no time in getting out of the hibernation chamber and making her way down the main quarters' corridor. She kept looking around to see if she was being observed, but she saw no one.

She finally made it to a door with her name on it but was amazed that it was the fourth quarters from the elevator, an apartment that should have been reserved for a command person. However, being nude, she was happy to get out of way of possible male prying eyes.

As soon as she entered her quarters, she was greeted by humanoid robots that ushered her to her bathroom to clean her up, applying chemical cleaning fluids to remove chemicals protective agents from her body before bathing her.

After the bathing process, she was ushered to a grooming rig. She sat down on it so that the robots could lock her body down to allow them to orient her body so that they could begin the grooming process, which was somewhat different for a female subject.

Meanwhile, on the command deck where a dozen workstations were arranged around a circular shelf each supplied with a keyboard and virtual screen, Charles chose the pilot's station where he could have access to the spacecraft's operational controls and the AI quantum computer system that could help him to do a job that he was not trained to do. He was also able to see a large display of what was out there in the direction that the galactic-class space craft, the Proxima B, was headed. The display displayed a bright red star in a plethora of similar but brighter stars.

His first step was to determine the ship's current status and how far away it was from the destination. The display ran through a long list of system status reports, all of which were within specifications. A computer estimate told him that he was three days out from the primary destination, Proxima B, a possibly habitable planet in orbit around Centauri Proxima A, a star that is four light years from Earth.

His next step was to determine the crew's status. What the computer displayed made him sigh. He turned to watch his fellow second-class engineer approach. Carl Stenson was a young fool like him who volunteered to go on an outrageously dangerous voyage because he thought it would advance his goal of becoming a top space science engineer despite his younger more virile appearance that included blond hair and blue eyes.

"How are we doing?" he said as he plopped down in the chair next to his. His bright eyes reflected his young impulsive demeanor.

"We're screwed," Charles told him without turning to look at him. "Half of the crew died, and the bad news is that it was the top half of the crew."

"What!" Carl screeched. "How?"

Before Charles answered, he turned to watch four young women approach. Alice Wilson, Judy Howard, Vicky Nelson and Hilary Dans were essentially apprentice astrophysicists. They were wearing standard blue uniforms with their name pins on the right collar of their jackets.

The two senior female astrophysicists didn't make it through hibernation. The four women who survived the journey were typically good-looking young women bright eyed and eager. They were not what Charles expected.

Alice and Judy had more impressive figures than Vicky and Hilary, but even the two lesser females were well endowed, a physical attribute not required for Space Command's female physical requirements.

Alice and Judy were blonds, while Vicky was a red head, and Hilary was raven haired, adding to the young women's contrasting appearances.

Charles had no contact with them before he was assigned to the mission. In fact, he had no contact with any of the crew before being put into hibernation. It was odd that Space Command didn't present the crew to the public, a practice that allowed the institution to show off their technical acumen.

He turned to them with a stern expression. "The commander, his assistant, the top astrophysicist and her assistant, the senior engineer and his assistant are dead. We're what's left."

"What happened to them?" Alice squeaked, her expressive blue eyes blinking rapidly as if she were going to bawl.

"They died while in hibernation," Charles replied while trying not to sound apocalyptic. "Space Command tested the hibernation system, but only for six months, not the five years that we were subjected to. Even worse, those who died were at least five years or more older than we were at the beginning of this journey. The idiot technical staff didn't allow for the fact that age could be a compromising factor."

"What are we going to do now?" Vicky asked, her green eyes glistening with a hint of tears.

Charles sighed. "Well, I don't know about any of you, but I'm not about to get back in one of those coffins."

"I'm with you on that," Carl blurted. "We're almost six years older than we were when we joined this ship of fools."

"You mean we'll have to be bored to death on the five-year return trip!" Hilary quipped.

"I'd rather die on good old planet Earth than out here in the space boonies," Carl retorted.

"They didn't train us to carry out an astronomical project of this level," Alice said. "I think we were added to the crew to amuse the commander and his cronies."

"Yeah," Hilary added. "We were assigned to this journey to entertain them."

Charles sighed again. He didn't want to deal with that nonsense, "Well, be that as it may, you can get to the technical level that we need by spending the next three days boning up on planetary science. One of the things we're going to need is more water, and hopefully Proxima B has that water."

"Didn't they include all the water we needed?" Judy asked.

"Yes, but they assumed that we would return in the hibernation modules. I'm not getting back into one of those death boxes, and I'm sure you don't want that either. If you don't feel convinced, go back to the hibernation chamber and look at those who didn't make it."

Judy shuddered. "Yuck! I don't think so."

"This ship is equipped with some very powerful telescopic equipment capable of observing across the full spectrum. You should be able to determine if Proxima B has water. Carl and I are going to determine if this vessel can return to Earth."

After watching the two men depart, the women sat down at the astronomical stations and began the process of activating the telescopic equipment.

"I don't know about you gals," Alice said with an ornery grin. "But I'm happy that those two survived."

Judy chuckled. "Yeah, they're delicious hunks!"

They giggled.

The two alleged hunks stepped out of the elevator at the level below the quarters deck which contained the agricultural processes where food crops like wheat, corn and rice are grown along with many other food stocks, all planted and attended to by robots. The gangling AI machines hobble around on flat metal feet and do their work using mechanical arms and hands. Their heads looked more like upside down buckets with camera eyes that rotate in sockets.

"Wow!" Carl said. "Looks like we'll have plenty of food!"

Charles smiled. "Yeah, this looks like it was recently planted. I assume that the robotics waited until we were almost at our destination before they did."

"We'll need to account for the water used by this," Carl said.

"Yes, you're right. However, all sources of water are preserved. Nothing is wasted."

Carl winced. "I'm not sure that I want to dwell on that."

Charles chuckled. "It looks like the robots are fully functional. Let's go down to the engineering deck and see if we can determine just how much water we'll need."

After another elevator trip, Charles and Carl were in the bottom section of the vessel where all the powerful machines and storage tanks are located. The temperature and humidity are high down here because of the heat generated by fusion reactors even though the engineering station itself is isolated from the engines and machines that operate the ship. It's just another computer station, but it's still exposed to the heat and humidity that those machines produced when operating.

Charles headed to the engineering computer and keyed in. He was surprised that he could get into the system that was reserved for only top engineers. He assumed that the system realized that he and Carl were the only engineers still alive after the long journey.

After some inquires, Charles had a full report on what the large tanks held. "The oxygen supplies are near the top. However, we need more water."

"Hopefully, Proxima B has what we need," Carl said. "Do you think we have enough oxygen to make it back?"

"I'm going to try a VOX calculation," Charles said. "I'll assume a twelve milliliters per kilogram per minute of oxygen intake per person and see how much of what we can store will serve us."

"I would think that's a bit high," Carl argued. "Unless we decide to do a lot of heavy exercising."

"Yeah, but I want to make sure we have a safety margin just in case."

Carl smiled. "I was referring to the gals getting the hots for us."

Charles chuckled, but he realized that the situation they found themselves in could easily get out of control. "This is not a love boat. They need to take cold showers."

Carl laughed. "Maybe we'll be the ones needing a cool down."

Charles gave him a brief smile. He didn't like what was happening, but he was in no position to do anything about it.

In the command deck, the situation was a bit more tense.

"How in the hell are we going to get a good look at the planet!" Alice blurted. "The star is too bright."

"I think there's a way to artificially block out the star's light," Judy told her.

After some searching, Alice had a reply. "You're right. I can see the surface of the planet now. I'll put it on the main display.

The planet looked surreal, an ugly yellow rough surface with dirty clouds encasing it in ill fitted packets of tangled smoke with lightning strikes flailing around like angry spiders.

"I don't think we want to go down on that mess," Judy said, sounding disgusted.

Hilary pointed at the screen. "What's that shiny stuff?"

Alice smirked. "I think it might be the water that the guys wanted us to find."

"That looks like it's raining under the clouds," Judy said.

Alice sighed. "We had better figure out how fast this planet is orbiting the star so that the guys can orbit it."

"How do we do that?" Judy asked, blinking her eyes rapidly.

"First, we get a measure of the star and the planet's diameters and use them to calculate how fast the planet is moving."

"Let's get cracking before the guys get back," Vicky told them with an ornery grin. "We don't want to have them think we're air heads."

"I doubt that they're concerned about our heads," Judy retorted.

They laughed.

The guys returned to the command center and saw that the women had managed to activate the telescopic equipment.

"Any luck?" Charles asked.

"Yeah," Alice replied with a smirk. "We think we've found water on the planet. Proxima B is slightly larger than Earth and orbits the star in 11.2 days. It's obviously tidally locked to the star, but there seems to be a swath of land between the front and the back of the planet that has an atmosphere and water that's perpetually in a twilight zone."

Charles and Carl gawked at the recordings they had made. "I guess we got lucky," Charles said while still staring at the planet's image." He turned to the gals with a grin. "Good job."

"How are you going to get water from there?" Judy asked. "That planet is a hell hole."

"We're not going down there. We'll use the shuttles to suck up water and bring it back to the ship."

No one objected to that idea.