an oversight. The relay that operated the backup valve was not getting the required voltage.” The screen showed the woman clad only in a bikini. She seemed to be smiling directly at Charlie.
Charlie ran his fingers through his long hair and leered at the TV. “Why don’t you wake up and help me? We could have a two week vacation and then both go back to our deep cooling units. How does that sound?”
The woman looked around as if someone could overhear. She leaned forward and whispered, “It sounds like a good idea, Charlie. But I’m afraid the ship would disapprove of the excessive waste of energy required to keep two people completely awake for two weeks.”
“How about one week?” Charlie gave her his best smile. “I may need some help in the shower.”
“Very tempting, Charlie. However, I want to sleep undisturbed for the whole trip. Why don’t you come see me a hundred years from now?” She disappeared and Mary Martin was still singing.
“I’d like to wake her up for a few days.” He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. The lights were gradually getting brighter. Something touched his cheek. He jumped back three feet before he realized it was a moderate blast of warm air coming from a vent beside the TV. He stayed in the lounge for thirty minutes savoring the warm air and bright lights. Reluctant to leave, he walked slowly to the exit.
The same female voice came from a loudspeaker over the sliding door. “Go through the exit quickly so as not to waste energy. Only rooms you stay in will be heated.”
He moved forward and then jumped through as the door opened. The door was closed when he turned around to look. “Damn, that was fast. I’d hate to be caught in that thing.”
He trotted down the frigid hallway to his cooling unit room. His unit still had its lid open. “Looks like a damn casket.” He strolled by the other nine units, looking in briefly as he had done a hundred times before. He closed and opened the clear plastic lid three times making sure it was not catching on anything. The TV came on with Mary Martin still singing. “I wish she’d finish that damn song.”
“It’s time for a shower,” the TV said. A different woman was on the TV. This time it was a short older woman. “Get your clothes off and scrub yourself good. You’re not going to have another shower for a 100 years.”
Charlie thought he detected a smirk behind her comments. “Why is it an old woman this time? Maybe the ship wouldn’t let the young thing see me naked.” He removed his clothes and hung them up in his locker with the other clothes he had for his new home. “Hot water! My God, what is this ship coming to? It must be 130 degrees.”
Ten minutes later he was drying himself in front of the TV watching Shirley Jones look out a window and sing to the stars. “What in the hell happened to Mary Martin? I was just getting to like her.” Snow and static appeared briefly followed by the head of the older woman.
“Aren’t you ready yet?” Her voice came out loud and harsh. “You’re wasting valuable energy.” She frowned at Charlie for five seconds. “I see you haven’t even begun to put the ointment on your skin. Hurry up. The ship is going to turn the heat off soon.”
Charlie was thinking for a smart reply when Shirley Jones reappeared. He opened his locker and got the jar of ointment. He stood in the corner near his locker and began lathering his body with a thick layer of dark cream.
“Get out here and stand on that black tile in front of the TV. I want to give you an inspection.”
Charlie flinched at her harsh tone. “What’s your hurry, dammit? I’ve got a hundred years.” He laid his towel out flat on the floor. Ten seconds were wasted as he took his time getting to the black tile, stopping next to a yellow tile. A blue light came on over the TV aimed directly at him and the black tile.
“Turn around slowly. I want to see all of you.” She was quiet for the few seconds it took Charlie to turn completely around. “Bend your head toward the TV. I want to give you the once over.” A few seconds went by. “OK. You’ve passed the inspections. Any last words you want recorded for prosperity. Your grandchildren might want to hear your voice from interstellar space.”
Charlie thought about what he should say. Something noble and uplifting that would sound good. Nothing dumb or stupid that would cause his crewmates to laugh. Five seconds later, he had his comments organized and ready to be recorded.
“Time’s up.”
He shivered from the combination of her sudden grating voice and a blast of cold air from an unseen vent. “I want to say something to my grandchildren. You didn’t give me enough time.”
“Charlie, what are you talking about?” The young dark-haired woman in the bikini was on the screen talking in a smooth seductive voice. “You don’t have any grandchildren.” She smiled with her perfect teeth. “Did you urinate and have a final bowel movement? You can’t get up in the middle of the trip.”
Charlie grinned at the screen and scratched himself. “Yep, I’m completely empty.”
The woman pointed to her left. “OK, you’re ready. Get in your unit.”
Charlie took a long look around the room for the last time. “I won’t see this for another 100 years.” He tiptoed across the cold floor to his unit and climbed in.
“Stretch out flat, close the lid and get as comfortable as possible.” The TV woman waited until the lid was nearly closed. “Sweet dreams. See you in a 100 years.”
Charlie managed a weak grin as he latched the lid tight in its gasket. This going to sleep in a cooling unit was not without its risks. The rumor going around when they were preparing for the trip was that one in ten would not be alive at the destination. He remembered the woman in the second unit, a dry shriveled up bag of bones. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. If not sleep, then just to relax and calm his strongly beating heart.
A period of time had gone by when Charlie opened his eyes in the total darkness. “Damn, it’s freezing in here. I should be in deep cooling by now. What in the hell is going on?”
He lay still for what he thought was two minutes. “Something’s wrong. I’ve got to get out of here before I freeze to death.” He unlatched the lid and pushed up. The lid didn’t move. He lay still for 30 seconds thinking why the lid wasn’t opening and keeping his panic under control. He reached up and felt of the lid. A heavy layer of frost from his breath had formed. He moved his hand to the latch, closing and opening and then pushing. The icy lid didn’t budge. He beat on the lid with both hands for ten seconds.
“This unit hasn’t been fixed. The ship is trying to freeze me to death.” He turned over on his stomach and brought his knees up under his body. He pushed upward with all his strength. “The damn thing moved.” Charlie brought up a hidden reserve of strength and increased the pressure on the lid. The lid flew open fully, bounced back and rested on his back. He pushed it back and climb out of the unit.
“It’s cold. It must be 10 degrees below zero and falling.” He walked across the floor in the direction of his clothes and the nearby light switch. He extended his hands and eased forward until he touched his clothing. He ran his hand up the wall to the light switch. The lights came on with their usual degree of dimness. He had his shorts, tee shirt and one sock on when the TV screen lit up.
“Charlie. What are you doing?”
He ignored the voice in his hurry to dress and escape the freezing temperature. He put on all the clothing available and was tying his shoes before he finally paid attention to the woman in the bikini’s voice.
“Charlie, move out in front of screen to the yellow tile so I can see you better. Why are you out of your cooling unit?”
Charlie moved in front of the TV close enough to lean against it. “I’m out of the cooling unit because you tried to kill me. I would have frozen to death in another 15 minutes.” His breath was all frozen vapor. “Turn on the damn lights and some heat.”
The bikini clad woman leaned back in the screen. “Charlie, you’re too close. I can’t see you clearly. Please move back to the yellow tile.” She spoke in a clear soft voice.
?
??Turn up the heat, dammit. You were trying to kill me. My deep cooling unit wasn’t fixed. You lied to me.”
“It wasn’t me, Charlie.” Her voice was low and soothing. “It must have been that other woman. Move to the yellow tile so I can see you better. I’m sure we can straighten this misunderstanding out in no time.”
Charlie scratched at his bearded chin as the lighting in the room increased to normal. Warm air swirled around his head. “Just how are you going to straighten this out?” He walked around the yellow tile to the second deep cooling unit. “This woman is dead. When did she die? What happened to her?”
“I can’t hear you very well, Charlie. Please stand on the yellow tile. The room is set up acoustically around that point. I can see and hear you best from that point.”
Charlie applied a small amount of pressure to lift the lid. He heard a faint click, the lid easily came up and he pushed the lid so that it looked like a casket in a funeral home, only this one opened from end to end. He stepped back expecting the putrid smell of decayed flesh. He leaned forward again sniffing at the same stale air. “Who was she? She looks like a short blonde-haired woman.”
Snow appeared for a split second. “Her name was Barbara Johnson from Detroit.”
“You didn’t answer my other questions. When did she die and what happened to her?” He reached in and touched her cheek,