The cryogenics bay was only small but otherwise looked the same as the one still attached to the rocket, currently orbiting the planet. I estimated that this place had the capacity to hold a crew of two hundred people or so. My theory was that I was in another colonisation rocket, perhaps it crash landed here. I looked at the control terminal and as expected, it had no power. I knew that I should keep moving but curiosity got the better of me. I swiped my hand through the thick layer of dust that had formed over the nearest stasis pod. There was someone inside. Peering through the still filthy stasis pod lid, I could see that the occupants flesh was almost completely preserved. His pale flesh had a waxy texture to it. One by one I looked inside the next few stasis pods and found more preserved bodies. I wondered how long it had been since the power had gone out. There was no real way of knowing, none of the occupants were alive and a time of death would be impossible to calculate thanks to the science of cryogenics. My footsteps echoed as I strode through the cryogenics bay. I knew there would be an exit somewhere nearby, most cryo bays were built close to the spacecraft's emergency exit. At the far end of cryogenics, there was a half open bulkhead door. I managed to squeeze through, into the dark room beyond. Inside, I found a ladder, its chrome finish had long since bronzed from innumerable years of deterioration. With one hand, I tested the strength of the rung at my shoulder height. It seemed sturdy enough so I started to climb.
With every creak and groan of the ladder, I froze and looked around. I constantly expected to see more smooth black limbs like the one that had emerged from the vent. The muscles in my arms and legs ached; it felt like this day had gone on for years. At one point I looked downwards and saw nothing but a sheet of blackness concealing the floor below. I continued to climb higher and higher. I almost slipped when the sound of static entered my helmet. I listened for a moment and it happened again. With renewed energy, I continued to climb. The higher I went, the more the static seemed to make familiar sounds, like a voice. Eventually, the static started to clear up and a familiar voice emanated from the exosuit comm system, "...lo….any…..th….hello."
It was Scarlett; I kept on climbing until I reached the top of the ladder. There were no more corridors or rooms, just a single steel hatch above my head. With one hand still gripping the ladder, I grasped the circular handle and strained to rotate it. The handle was covered with corrosion and left an orange stain on the palm of my exosuit. With every ounce of strength I could muster, I pushed on the hatch. It was incredibly heavy, the metal structure creaked and groaned each time I pushed.
Scarlett's voice continued to cut in and out; I needed to get past this solid steel hatch to make contact.
I mustered up everything I could for one last push on the old hatch. It worked, the metal squealed as I interrupted its position. Dark soil poured into the shaft, I couldn't move out of the way or the hatch would close again and I refused to fail now. I managed to move one foot onto a higher rung and pushed the hatch another few inches, then I moved the next foot. The weight of the hatch was extremely painful. As I pushed, a small red light blinked in the HUD of my exosuit helmet. I ignored it and pushed on. Sunlight shone through the still pouring dirt. Finally, the hatch swung fully open. The layer of dirt that covered the hatch was only a few centimetres but spread over the surface of the hatch, it was very heavy. I almost didn't have enough energy to clamber out of the shaft and onto the soft fur-like grass. For a few moments, I just lay there, staring into the blue sky.
"...anyone there, god damn it. Hello…"
I was so exhausted that I had almost forgotten that Scarlett was still calling out through the comm.
"Scarlett, hello. It's Jacob," I rose uneasily to my feet.
"Jacob? I lost you guys for a bit, where is everyone else?"
"I don't know. We got separated."
"What? What happened?"
"It's a long story. Listen, I need you to help me find them," as much as I loathed the thought of going back into that nightmare of a place, I was not about to abandon the others.
"Sure," Scarlett's voice sounded as shaky as my legs felt. "But first, you need to look after yourself. There's a warning here that your suit has a breach."
Fear struck me as I looked down and saw a small split in the composite plating that adorned my chest.
"What-, what do I do?" my voice trembled like Scarlett's now.
"Can you plug it with something?"
"Like what? I don't have anything; I'm on top of a grassy mountain. There's nothing here."
"Okay, well maybe we could go with your idea for finding the others and hopefully you come across something useful," I was surprised at how calmly Scarlett suggested that, but then again she had no idea what was living inside the caves or the downed rocket.
"Good idea, Scar. Well, is there any way you could track my position from operations?"
"Yes, but only while you're on the surface. Once you go back inside, you will disappear again."
That's fine, lock onto my location please, and is there a way to transmit some sort of high frequency noise from my suit? And if so, can you map the structure with it?"
"Sure, the problem is you will have to remove your helmet. The only way would be to emit the tone from your comms speakers. You would also have no contact with me whilst your helmet is removed."
"Well," I made my decision. "I've already been exposed to the air, may as well remove the helmet. Once you've finished mapping the structure, transmit an audible tone so I know when to put my helmet back on."
There was no usual hiss from the helmet when I removed it. Thanks to the split in my exosuit, the pressure was already equalised. Sweat immediately formed on my forehead and started to drip down my face. The air was stifling; it was like being inside a sauna. I remember thinking that this planet was going to take a long time to adjust to. After a few minutes of pointing the neck opening of my helmet at the trapdoor shaft, which felt like ages breathing the humid air, a long, solid tone sounded from within my helmet. I refitted the headgear and heard Scarlett's voice again.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Like I was just in a sauna."
"Well at least you're alive. I found the others; it seems that they are still down near the tunnel you entered from. The tone mapped out their shapes and movement, when you re-enter wherever you came from, keep the passageway unblocked to allow the signal to reach you further."
With that, I climbed back onto the ladder that stretched all the way to the bottom of the immensely dark shaft, back to the cryogenics bay.