The cold fills her body. Darkness encompasses her, as her mind sluggishly awakens. Her skin feels rigid, hard and unmoving. The world is blurred and fractured before her as she breathes in, coughing heavily as fluid fills her lungs.

“Here we go. Careful now.” Huntmaster Merriam takes her hand as the glass casing lowers away. “Take your time.” He murmurs, his voice muffled as her body flinches from the sudden warmth.

She steps forward, collapsing as she vomits the fluid from within her, her body quaking and screaming in pain as it awakens.

Chief Science Officer Jennifer Santos steps forwards, writing something on the databoard that she always has on hand. She looks over Holly, making an annoyed ‘tsk’ as she motions once for Merrium to assist her in standing.

“Good recovery, but not good enough.” Jennifer comments, clipping the board to her belt as she twists a finger, a light shining in Holly’s face. “Dilated pupils….hrm...fluid in the lungs. Apparent cold shock.”

She takes the databoard from her side, nodding as she waves to Merriam.

“Are you alright?” she finally asks, Holly nodding her head roughly as she wipes her mouth, blinking several times to clear her head. “Good. Soon as you’ve recovered, we’ll go over procedure, to make sure there’s no neural damage, then we can try again when you’re ready.”

Holly nods once more, coughing a few times as Merriam leads her away to fully come out of stasis. He brings her to the ready room, sitting her down and looking her over. As she clears her lungs, he sighs and rubs his face.

“Holly, look. I understand why you’re doing all this.” He stops as she raises a hand, shaking her head.

“Merriam, I won’t let you go through this. I know you want me to stay here, and be the next huntmaster, but I can’t. Humanity needs our teachings, or we’ll only throw ourselves at anything we see, hoping it will be friendly.”

Merriam nods slowly, sighing as he gives her another nod.

“I understand. But all of this seems so….extreme. Jennifer said she has others who could do this-” Once more, holly shakes her head.

“It is better that I do it. If anything goes wrong, then I can handle it. Don’t worry so much. It’ll make you age faster.” She smirks at him, rubbing her face as she does so.

“Ugh. why does it always taste like lemons and nickel?” She sticks her tongue out, Merriam laughing lightly as he offers her mantle up. “Thanks.” She pulls it over her body, adjusting it lightly and wandering over to her locker to dress properly.

“Alright….we’ll start with the questions, then.” Merriam begins, Holly sitting before him as she types on the cold, hard surface of the datatable. The warm smell of coffee, the steam that wafts from her cup. The pleasant company of her fellow Huntmaster, Merriam.

If she could have it her way, she would never change a thing. She’d spend her days on Traxis IX, hunting the great clefthoof wildebeests for game, or perhaps on Tartos XII, soaring among the raven folk and hunting the cloudrunner Illiek.

But with the decline of humanity, from war, strife, sickness, and conflict among the resident species of their home universe, things were looking grim.

“Alright. Everything appears to be in order. I’ll let Jennifer know.” Merriam stands, walking past Holly as she looks down at the databoard before her. Her and the other hunters were no strangers to technology, but they often avoided it for more practical methods of hunting.

Surely one could shoot an animal from a great distance, but there was no sport in it. At least, that was the teachings that the huntsman knew. And not always would they kill. Only when their prey was truly wild, truly feral would they kill. And only if it was safe for the species to do so.

She closes her eyes, letting the warmth of her mug fill the palms of her hands as she rests before her next test.

The cold envelops her once more. Her mind dreamed in fractured memories, of her days spent training among the hunters. Her time spent in the underbrush of countless worlds, hunting among the natives, or high in the sky as she tracked some great beast of burden.

“Why are we…?” She tried to speak, only to find herself collapsed forwards, her whole body screaming in agony as her chest heaves and retches. Her lungs felt like they were on fire with each breath, taking in the air of the starship Apollo 44.

The ship had been named after one of the first multi-solar system starships, as a reminder of who they are, and where they came from. But they had been flung into the great dark that lies at the edge of everything, thrown from their home in an attempt to find a place for humanity to thrive, far away from their dying universe.

Holly stands, taking a moment to collect herself as the soft sound of beeping fills the air. “Are you okay, ma’am?” One of the QUILs approaches, inquiring as she presses a hand against the side of her stasis-chamber.

“What….where…?” She asks, panic slowly filling her mind as she tries to collect herself. The QUIL drone injects her arm with a substance, her body flinching instinctively, albeit sluggishly as the sedative enters her bloodstream.

She leans against the side of her stasis chamber, rubbing her face as she blinks the visions from her sight. Her mind is a jumbled mess, her thoughts scattered.

“How long has it been?” She questions, shaking her head to properly clear her mind.

“Approximately four eons, ma’am.” She groans heavily, looking up as she looks into the chamber beside her own.

“Why was I woken?” She questions, looking at the stasis chamber of Gerald Renfield Illiard Maxson. “What…?” She questions once more as she looks at the deceased body of Gerald, his lifesigns monitor showing a flatline.

“We awoke you due to an emergency malfunction of your neighbor. There was a power fluctuation, and we wished to ensure your survival, ma’am.” QUIL remarks, walking away as another drone approaches.

“If you would please follow me, so that we may ensure your health and wellness, before returning you to stasis.” holly nods shortly as she pushes away from the stasis chambers.

The ship feels cold, a low draft running along the ground and sending a shiver up her spine. The smell of sterile metal and machine oils lingering in the air as the cold slowly creeps away from her body, though the hair on her skin stands on end.

For nearly two hours, the drones inspect and question her, to which she answers each and every one. They lay her on a cold mat, running her through a scanner in the medical bay to ensure no tissue damage, brain damage, or bodily harm.

“You appear to be in ship shape, ma’am.” The QUIL nearest to her remarks, stepping around the bed to assist her in standing.

“Good.” She says quietly, her body still yelling at her as she tries not to wake up more than is needed. “Let me see the outside, before I go back to sleep?”

“Certainly. This way.”

Holly walks through the lifeless halls, QUIL drones stepping or rolling past her as she follows along behind one. Within a few moments, she enters the bridge, the darkness of the room filling her with a sense of dread, even as she gazes out at a sight she never thought she’d see.

“That’s a planet, isn’t it?” She remarks, pointing to the lifeless sphere before the Apollo, even as it carefully drifts on through the endless dark.

“Most certainly, ma’am.”

“Then why aren’t we awakening the captain?” She looks to the commander module, where the commanders and leaders of the remnants of humanity slumber in their chambers. The light within the room is nearly drowned out by the ambient darkness that surrounds them.

“It is a dead world, ma’am. Captain’s orders are to only awaken him if a planet with life on it is found.” She lets out a low noise, nodding slowly as she rubs her eyes. “If you would please, follow me so that you may return to your rest, ma’am.”

“Right….right.” She remarks, looking out in the endless dark for a time. She can see things moving in the dark, but she can’t make out what they are. If they’ve survived in this endless abyss for so long, then perhaps they are just harmless denizens of the abyss.

As she walks back through the corridors of the ship, she shivers from the draft that runs along the floor, her bare feet wiggling lightly on the cold metal as she stands in front of the now empty chamber that once housed Gerald.

“Well….back into the dark I go.” She mutters as she turns and lowers herself into the chamber. She waves to the QUIL drone, watching it wave back at her. It may just be programing, but it’s still a comfort to see some semblance of life, artificial or otherwise.

She breathes deeply, closing her eyes and letting her breathe out slowly as the chamber thrums softly, the cold clinging to her skin once more. Once more, she delves into the endless dream, unknowing of when she would awaken again, if ever.