The Bug Test

“Please follow the light with your eyes. Mr. Allen, do you hear me?” The excited doctor asked. “Yes.” Coughed John Allen. Slow and groggy. The light was a little blurry but he was still able to follow the slow movements from the doctor. He placed the light into his white coat pocket and started delivering the status, “Most of your tests have come back and so far everything looks good. We will need to perform the Biometric Unilateral Gradient test tomorrow. The machine is down for some upgrades. Your memory will probably start coming in over the next few days and you should be up and at ‘em, in no time.” John laid still, trying to process what was happening. He made it. He was coming out of Hibernation. “Did they know? Do I have enough time?” He thought to himself. “How many years was my crossing?” He asked the nurse. “A long long time. The onboard Time-Drive had to be re-sequenced and we were told the calculation may take a few more hours. Once we get that back we will know the exact number of years.” The nurse said.

John’s was the final crossing. Because of The Bug, long hibernations required for Earth Crossings, had become too dangerous. After the incident, they were no longer permitted. 

In the hallway Dr. White began ordering the nurse, “Nurse, he’s ready for water and a nutrition tab. Call the lab and let them know we are still waiting on the Hibernation clearance.” Dr. White stared at his Nurse and together knew what he must do next.

The nurse walks in carrying a hard plastic tray with the water and the Nutrition Tab. John sits up. He reaches for the tab first. He remembers how dry these are. It is best to go at them first and use the water to force them down. He grabs the tab from the tray and sees the color is no longer green but brown. “Nurse, why is this nutrition tab brown?” he asked. He stretched his arm out holding the tab to show her. “Mr. Allen, after the incident the Union stopped all trade with us. We could no longer buy the green algae we needed for the tablets. We were so lucky that almost immediately after that, we discovered a brown algae mine right here on our own planet!” John felt a flash of heat begin in his stomach and rise to warm his face. “I am too late!” He said to himself. 

Dr. White sat at his desk thinking about his upcoming arrival. John Allen. He got the call that the last Crossing would be landing in 2 days and he would be the receiving physician. Should be routine, he imagined. The preliminary hibernation report came back relatively normal. The primary Time-Drive malfunctioned, but the auxiliary performed as designed. How long was he in Hibernation?  He wondered. This made him a little anxious. The B.U.G. report would need to be performed immediately. He and everyone in the building feared another incident and were installing the newest upgrades to the tester. The last incident left everyone on Earth 9 devastated. Half the population did not survive the first wave and the other half almost starved to death without Nutrition Tablets. 

John Allen opened his locker. He pulled the wet towel from his waist, dried his hair, then tossed it into the basket a few lockers down. The locker room was empty, after sanitation no one was allowed near him. He had only hours left to get to the Crossing Gate and into Hibernation. The jitters were gone now. Now that there was no turning back he did not have time to think of the consequences. There was no more time to rehearse. There was no more time to try and understand why HE was chosen. No more time to fear The Bug. He grabbed the suit hanging in the locker and pulled it on, bottom to top. He stared long into the mirror. The Hibernation suit was simple. It was a brown coverall with only “Allen, John” sewn across the chest. No other markings were allowed because of The Bug. 

“Crossing will commence in T-Minus 10 minutes.” Over the loudspeaker and into his helmet, mission control began the countdown. As he laid inside the Hibernation chamber and buckled the strap across his chest, his last thoughts were of his wife and kids. They would never see him again, they would never know if he made it safe. He went down the launch checklist and ensured all systems were functional. “Crossing will commence in T-Minus 10 seconds...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...1…”

“Mr. Allen, wake up.” A new nurse was placing another plastic tray over the bed’s table. Maybe it was a dream or maybe it was a memory coming back, but had a feeling he should not eat any more Nutrition tabs. “The doctor asked me to wake you.” The nurse said. “The B.U.G. machine is back online. We can start preparing you for the test.” “Wow, was I really asleep for a whole day?” He asked. “No, just an hour or so.” She replied. “Dr. White said the machines were down until tomorrow, something about upgrades.” He said with an urgent tone. “A new order came this morning, they want to test you on one of the old machines.” She answered. “I am sure everything is fine, your auxiliary Time-Drive is still being re-sequenced but the first results have come back and there is nothing out of the ordinary. I think they are just wanting to get you out of here sooner rather than later. Everyone is ready to go home.” John was beginning to remember. “DO NOT get into the Biometric Unilateral Gradient machine!” His thought screamed into in his head. “Nurse can I please see Dr. White before…” He felt a pinch into his left arm. He looked down. His hand was cuffed to the bed and the nurse was removing a needle from his arm. He was out.

Dr. White was now feeling the weight of this moment. They would not survive another incident. If John failed the test it may already be too late. He opened the envelope with the results of the B.U.G. test...