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Loonz Morrow Project Pages Monday, October 18, 1999 |
Lights out Gracy Sylvie was actually surprised when she came back from Medical training and
the barracks was dark. "Martin playing with the breakers again" she thought
as she felt for the emergency flashlight that usually hung from the wall
right there by the door. "Damn it yall" she barked tripping over Chets
weight set.
"SURPRISE!" they all yelled. "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to
you." "Oh my goodness" she choked back. She realized this was the first
party she'd had since the Post-Op nurses through that bash back in An Khe a
hundred years ago and she couldn't believe it but the singing was actually
worse.
Congratulations were uttered along with a few ribbings about how she had
put off this long enough or how she had postponed a Birthday "a woman's
dream". Gifts were basically what could be scrounged, except for the
Tex-Mex spice rack they all chipped in for. Festivities went well into the
night as long as Alec's "herbal tea" held out. A fun time was had by all,
even Benny who presented Sylvie with a pack of what she called "mood stone
thermometers strips" and the mood stone he had fabricated in the lab made
into a necklace. A startling sentiment considering the year they just had
with him. "Ole' boy is loosening up" she thought. Eventually the drinking
and dancing ended with the dawn and a routine developed once again as the
entered their last week. This last week came and went quickly as refresher bolthole and wakeup scenarios were run repeatedly until "the fasting day". The day before
shipping out to "cryo" members weren't allowed to eat or drink so no
activities are scheduled. It became a quiet time of reflection. As all
knew that if all goes as planned the next time they see each other the world
would be gone as they know it. All hoped that Bruce would be wrong.
Finally the day came that John walked in more than a little sentimental,
"If I didn't care I wouldn't be here. I hope to God we won't need you, but
I think we all know now we will. Thank you all. I am very proud to know
all of you . Gods speed and do good deeds." A few good-byes with an
equally emotional Paul Dutton. Then on the Helo to be transported to "Cryo"
.
Once there, they were instructed they would be split up, as it was briefed.
They were all ready for their good nights, hugs and handshakes jokes and
well wishes exchanged they were led to separate prep rooms where they were
all anesthetized to protect them from the uncomfortable prep process that
would take longer than a day. All drifted into a quiet restful sleep
thinking what would have become of their lives if not for "The Morrow
Project".
~
The pain, "OH MY GOODNESS! THE PAIN" Sylvie thought as she heard her tube machinery prepare to pop the hatch. "This ain't right, Oh shit this ain't
right! Aghhhhh!" Fumbling for the quick release to expedite her egress, she
popped the handle and heard the hydraulics release and felt the rush of
equalized air enter the tube. Stepping out of the tube on to legs that
would not respond she hit hard as she met the concrete floor. The work mat
offering no relief from the fall.
Doubled over in pain with terrible gastronomic crisis she looked for the
wake up kits. She spied them at the end of the isle formed by her tube and
the one next to her, which should belong to Ray. Sylvie crawled over the
table pulling the boxed labeled "DRINK ME" down on top of her. Knowing the
mixture contained a mild sedative the fluid was all that was available to
relieve her of the crippling pain. 10 tubes, box of 20 bottles. Sylvie had
her second as another wave of cramps gripped her this time though less
severe. The cloud of pain slowly, ever so slowly lifted. Now with her eye finally able to focus, from her vantage point she could see the indicator lights on the remaining tubes.
"OH SHIT!" she choked out loud. Blinking, they were all blinking, there was no steady yellow indicating normal wakeup, all blinking yellow indicating an emergency
"crash" wakeup. Except for the one on the end which she thought was either
Benny's or DJ's tube, she couldn't remember which, was purple indicating
decomposition and Su's was blinking red indicating crisis the two on this
end she couldn't see because of her position on their opposite side.
"Oh Shit" she continually muttered as she willed her pain to become bearable
and swallowed hard as she set about her work.
Staggering upward, Sylvie reached the limit of the wires and electrodes stuck to her body and just kept going, letting them peel off with a ripping that was nothing compared to the pain she was already having. The flimsy cryo clothe tangled in the wires giving way.
A few snapped, leaving the round white pads clinging to her with
dangling wires. Her joints stabbed as she forced them into motion, and
her eyelids felt like sandpaper on her eyeballs; her mouth tasted like a
monkey had cralwed into it and died. A few feet along she collapsed again, dry-heaving and gagging on the cement floor. With a deep breath she steadied herself again, reaching up and trying to move once more. Pulling herself along by the edge of the tube, Sylvie managed to reach Su Lin's unit.
The indicator kept blinking -- the stupid fucking thing was supposed to refreeze in crisis, she thought, what was wrong? She focussed through her terror and anger at
the machine and read the indicators. The panel gave her the data:
Instrument integrity? Unit pressure stability? Temperature regulator?
Power? "What's going on?!" She yelled out loud, the sound being lost in the
rumble and hiss of the cryo units madly pumping fluids, jolting hearts,
and blazing away with pinpoint microwave heaters to thaw their occupants
in the fastest manner possible. Her efforts to force the tube into
refreeze mode were being stubbornly ignored by the computer and another
look at the console showed her why -- the light flashed from the panel
"NON-VIABLE ENVIRONMENT" So, whether Su could survive on her own or not, the computer considered the tube to incabable of keeping her alive any longer. Blood-fluid
exchange and warming was complete, but the heart-stimulation routine
wasn't running for some reason. "Fine you goddam contraption! Give her
up then!" With a fist she slammed down the emergency release studs and
grabbed the manual release lever.
KA-CHUNK! PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS...
Heaving up on the canister lid, it swung upwards on its counterbalance,
revealing Su Lin's pale corpse-like body, wired up to the now-useless
life-support computer. Putting her head down to the woman's breast, she
listened for a heartbeat -- nothing. With a Herculean effort of will and
stamina, Sylvie climbed up into the tube and straddled Su Lin's thighs. "One, two, three, four, five," she counted out, starting chest compressions. Leaning down, she pulled Su Lin's chin up and tilted her head back to clear the airway. Her lips pressed down against the other young woman's, and Sylvie nearly pulled back at the coldness that met her, but blew a steady breath into the lungs beneath her. The cartilage
of the chest made a sick popping and crunching sound as it expanded for
the first time in God-knew-how-long, but it fell down obligingly,
pressing the air back out. Sylvie blew another breath and gave five more
compressions.
KA-CHUNK! PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS...
Someone else had just pulled the interior manual release on their tube.
Out of the corner of her eye Sylvie could see another tube lid swinging
upward, but she couldn't spare the attention to see who it was -- she
was needed right where she was. "Get me a goddam Med-Kit!" she shouted/screamed to whoever it was...
~
Raymond wakes up in pain, dreadfull pain. "This is not
suppose to happen" Raymond thought as he grab the
emergency release.
KA-CHUNK! PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS... as the tube opens.
"Get me a goddam Med-Kit!" a female voice shouted to his left.
"Good idea" Raymond thought as he is thinking about the
painkillers in it. wobbling out of the tube Raymond
head towards the nearest emergency locker where the
kits are store. Only when Raymond opened did the implication of the siren penetrated his brain. Still feeling intense pain. Raymond toss the med-kit to
the woman yelling. It was Slyvia doing CPR on Su Lin.
KA-CHUNK ! PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
More emergency popoffs. The lids open as Martin, DJ, Rich, Chet struggle out of their
tubes. Wait, somethings wrong, looking down the tubes
Ray finally saw it. Benny's tube is flashing purple! In the pain, Ray yells
"Grab the Emergency pain-relivers DJ!"
"Martin, go check and see if Chet, Alec, and whoever is
in that last tube if they are still alive, if they are
wake them up or override to get them out!"
Sylvie yells "Don't yall open that tube unless it's green only!"
Ray now noticing Martin has joined Sylvie in reviving Su Lin.
Martin without looking up from his CPR with Sylvie says " Sorry boss, reds come first
you have greens on the hoof that can get the yellows out. If we stop Su is
Dead! If any others have trouble the nurse and I will split up and others can help. Don't take pain relivers drink the solution." All the while making chest compresions and breathing his words coming as though he were in a dead run. Sylies efforts continuing as she pushes the drugs and hooks up monitors.
"Andy! You ok?" Seeing a halucinary figure from years past. "I hope this is not another drill..." Ray mumbles his cognitive owers returning.
Finally reaching Benny's tube. He looks in and
sees a still hand lying on the other side of the protective glass. The
tubes power is off for how long Ray can only guess.
~
DJ groans as he awakes from the stabbing pain all over his body. His mind
slowly starts to grasp things other than the pain. There's sounds around
him that he faintly hears. "...damn medkit.",
Several pnumatic pressure releases and a number of soft groans. Suddenly DJ's mind grasps where he is and and instant later realizes that
something is wrong.
DJ's eyes open slowly, his mind racing. Suddenly his mind grasps a memory of a procedure he was taught and his hands start to take over. He fights the pain stabbing up his arm as he moves towards the emergency release. He reaches for the release and is suddenly dizzy from the pain. His stomach starts to roll and he relaxes his head until the dizziness stops then, a moment later he tries to focus harder on the release
and tries to empty his mind of the pain.
He grabs the release and his heart soars, and then pain racks his body,
but he angrily holds on. He pulls with all the effort that he can muster,
and hears the angelic hiss of the tubes release and the flow of stale but
new air.
He immediatly is confronted by the frantic movement and sounds that are
happening around him. His slowly functioning brains grasps the fact that
things are very wrong, and that he must move in order to help himself and
others. His legs fight him with every muscle that he moves, but this time
he's ready for the pain and clamps down his teeth as his neck muscle grow
taunt. DJ bends his knees slightly and pushes with what strength he's aquired
and flops out of the tube barely keeping from passing out, and groans loudly
as he hits the cold floor and sprawls out on the ground. DJ fights the
slowly quieting protests of his body once more and gets to his knees and
hands, trying to slow his panting breath and fighting the dizziness that's
attempting start a series of dry heaves. "What can I do... and what the FUCK happened?"
DJ blurts out as his heart and breathing slow.
DJ waits, leaning against the tube for either a command from a superior or his body before he makes any additonal move.
~
Martin Charles wakes to a dreadfull pain, Throws himself up hitting
the inside of the tube.
"Damb, I know where I am now." He feels and finds the realess lever.
Hiiisssssth The seal breaks while Martin tries not to dry heave. He
closes his eyes and concentrated, " Pain is in the mind, it is not
relevent." He mutters through clenched teeth as he rools out of the tube
to the floor. Martian rises to his knees and looks at the lights. Toward
Benny's tube one black tag, to the open ones green tag, to the closed
ones yellow tags, to the on in which CPR is being conducted. Red tag.
Martian rises and stagers/ stumbles toward Sylvie, "hello nurse." He
says as he tries to smile. "Hello Engineer," Sylvie replied in their usual exchange, the familiarity taking some of the sting out of the terror of the situation. She leaned
down and breathes for Su lin again. Upon reaching the tube Martian will take over CPR so that Sylvie can admin the drugs.
"I can take over," Martin offered. "Okay..." said Sylvie, breathless with exhaustion. She started to get down and almost came tumbling off the tube, but Martin caught her and steadied her. Their eyes met for a moment, reassuring each other. "Easy does it..." Martin breathed. "Thanks, engineer." Martin heaved himself up into the tube to continue CPR while Sylvie cracked open the med kit and glanced around. DJ was mobile, Ray was mobile, the other tubes were cracking open now. She forced herself
not to think about the purple indicator and what it meant. Punching the
controls on the electronic injector, she held it against Su Lin's neck -
POP the drugs went in just like clockwork.
"Okay hold on," she said, touching Martin's arm. He leaned back to let
Sylvie put the sensor against Su lin's chest. "Come on, honey" she
whispered to the unconscious woman, "be there..."
"DJ” Martin yells without looking up “tend to any tube that is yellow help them out and yell if any start to go red." and continuse his compressions.
DJ takes a deep sigh and then rises as he lets out his breath through clenched teeth. He goes over the emergency check list of what to do to
release occupants out of the cryo tubes in case of emergency as he starts to
head towards the rest of the tubes. Trying to walk quickly, but still
having trouble with his left knee, he ends up limping to the rest of the
tubes. He quickly attempts to determine if there's any other tubes with any
problems and then starts to open up the tubes one and a time helping the
occupant towards the emergency rehydrator equipment. As DJ limps towards the first series of tubes as he hears Ray yell, "Grab the Emergency pain-relivers DJ!". DJ tries to quicken he's step and heads towards the rehydrator liquids and grabs a small medkit as well. He's knee is starting to loosen up so he quickens his pace but decides not to run, worried that if something gave out or if he overdid it, him being
unable to move would do nobody any good. "Here Ray, here's some of the pain killers, I also broght over some of the rehydrating fluids for you all." DJ sets down the medicine next to Ray and glances on Su Lin hoping that she'll pull through. He quickly pushes those emotions aside and starts to head towards the unopened cyro tubes, and helping any that have already opened theirs and need assistance getting to
their feet.
Martin looks up from CPR, " Good man." He mumbles watching DJ limp along.
~
Rich suddenly awoke to the flashing light, his hands instictively opening the
manual release, he hazily tore at the instrument connections to his body.
"What the hell.........wasn't like this in class" He thought as he bolted
upright. Quickly pushing himself out of the tube, his knees buckles as he
leans out. A wave of pain rolls over his body, every part of him goes into
cryo induced pain. He is unable to even get his arms out to take the fall.
His head glances off of the tube next to him and he falls into a heap on the
floor. Stirring slightly he begins to crawl towards the wall. His vision
unable to fix on any specific object. He attempts and fails to push himself to
his knees, as he hears yelling in the background. Rich pushes himself up unsteadily to his knees feeling the sharp pain on his head,
his hand finds a small trickle of blood from a cut to his forehead. His hearing and vision clears as he sees DJ limp past with a medkit in hand. "Got to get moving" he thinks as he pulls himselfup the side of the tube. Once gaining his feet, he is alerted to Su Lin's predicarment. Seeing Martin doing CPR with Sylvie, Rich stumbles over to them using the tubes for support. In one last lunge toward Su Lin's tube, Rich looks at Martin as he executes chest compressions on Su Lin. As clear as he can, Rich says "keep up the compressions, I'll take over breathing!" With that he awaits Martin to finish
the fifth compression, and tilts Su Lin's head back and breathes two breaths into her, turning to listen as Martin continues CPR.
Alec looking up from the floor, lying in a pool of his own and Project inserted fluids, to weak to move and crying, “This aint happening man This aint Fucking happening!”
Chet barks out from further down., while still on all fours, “Shut up ya woose, your gonna scare the woman!”
The Morrow Project is Copyrighted (1980) and Owned by Timeline Ltd.
Psi World is copyright by Fantasy Games Unlimited, Del Carr and Cheron.
