Plenty O’ Nothing 1

Choking! Drowning!

Her eyes wouldn’t open and she was drowning! She thrashed and bucked against the straps that held her down. Icy cold liquid was in her nose and throat and she was drowning in it! She was able to get her right hand free and she grasped at her face. The cold liquid moved like jello.

Her hand grasped at the face mask and the tube that ran down her throat. She stopped for a second. Thoughts hit her. Her shivering body broke her will and gasped a breath. The frigid liquid flowed into her lungs. She did not die. Her thoughts came to her again. The liquid was a life gel. She was in a cryo pod. She forced herself to take another breath. The liquid was a deep chill and thick, but she could breathe. But, if she was in a cryo pod; why was she awake?

She steadied herself. She took another heavy breath. She still could not see. A blood red light was all she could manage.
Cryo blindness. Temporary.

People had been traveling by cryo pod for decades. Sound came to her, thick through the life gel. It was a wavering insistent tone. It wailed.

The alarm klaxon. Something has gone wrong! The pod will shut down! She had to get out!

Her hands tore at the straps that held her. She soon had her upper body loose but could not bend to get to her legs. There was also some device around her groin that was giving her a disturbing discomfort. She gave up on that bit and reached to her face. Her hands ripped the mask from her face. The tube that ran into her throat made a hard dull ache as she pulled it out. She gagged on the last bit as it lodged in her throat. She tried to remember if they had told her how long the life gel would last if the pod shut down. All she could remember was the location of the emergency communication device. The device had been put in for the peace of mind of cryo-phobes. On the right side near her hand was the key pad. She hit the panic button.

A deep rumbling voice came thickly to her ears.

“Remain calm.” The voice intoned. “ Your cryo pod has enough power to last until you are found. Remain calm. The emergency beacon has been activated. Rescuers are on the way.”

She tried to wail but the liquid in her lungs didn’t allow her to make any sound. The emergency response device was nothing more than a pacifier! She thrashed some more trying to find some way to open the hatch. The Voice continued.

“Remain calm. Rescuers are on the way. Do not attempt to open the pod. You may damage the functionality of the pod. You may endanger your life. Remain calm.”

Her eyes were regaining some vision. There was more of a blur now instead of just red light. She took a deep ragged breath of the chill liquid. It didn’t seem as cold as when she had awoke. And still the deep voice droned on.

“Remain calm. Rescuers are on their way. Do not attempt to open the pod. There may be hard vacuum on the out side of the pod. You may endanger your life.”

She stopped her thrashing for a second. If there was hard vacuum outside then leaving the pod would mean death, absolute certain death. Remain calm.

“Remain calm.” The voice continued. “Remain calm.”