The Beaded Tapestry

Slowly sensations begin to creep into my realm of reality. Strangely these start in my left regenerated arm and travel toward the core of my body, then radiate out to my remaining limbs. The final areas to awaken are my eyes, and I slowly test their function. Opening both eyes a mere slit, anticipating the bright lights of the stasis bay onboard the Infinity. Total darkness greets my opening lids and a moment of panic engulfs my waking mind. Have I lost my sight due to the stasis? Is this one of the side effects that we were warned about in orientation? Are all my senses affected? As these questions flit through my thoughts, I reach out with the rest of my system, grasping at any sensation I can get a hold of. A horrible taste screams out from my taste buds and I attempt to suppress the gag reflex as my throat swallows for the first time in over two years. A strange odor also is present, so that part of my system at least is intact. I still my breathing after the initial panic and listen to my surroundings, hoping to catch the sounds of the medical staff that are always present during these moments of revival. Complete silence greets my ears, except for a distant hum seeming to emanate through the very surface I lay on. A slight tap as of metal hitting metal shocks me almost into a sitting position although the sound is faint and I realize the restraints of my stasis cube are still on. I struggle slightly to test them, wondering why I am still restrained if the waking process has been initiated. I twist to the side and with a pop the strap across my upper torso releases, falling away to the side of the surface I am laying on. As I rise, the cold air of the space around me hits my skin and sends goose bumps traveling up one leg and down the other. I have a sense of a vast chamber around me and not the small confined medical cubical of the Infinity. Small red lights now appear to my adjusting eyes far above on the domed ceiling. The echoed sound of dripping moisture joins the metallic tap that startled me earlier as I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and slowly and cautiously sit up. I am surrounded by a dim hall packed with prone forms arrayed in rows across the floor. They are all attached to the crude stasis systems used by industrial freighters and not at all like the equipment used on the Infinity. In the far distance a bright square of light appears for only a second, ruining my newly adjusted night vision. The sound of footsteps approach across the chamber and I realize how vast the hall is as it takes the person some time to make their way to my location. Half way across the chamber they flick on a torch and a small pool of light bobs its way toward me. I cannot get a good look at the person holding the light, since their approach is obscured by the rows of equipment and the light is kept low to the floor. Not until they are standing at the foot of my bed do I make out their features. At first I do not recognize them, but then it all comes flooding back to me. Here is my captor. The person who snatched me from my stasis cubical on the Infinity, just before the final stage of my hibernation was reached. Helpless to resist, I had been removed from my chamber and whisked off to who knows where. A vague memory of the event still echoes in the back of my mind. The feeling of helplessness as I lay paralyzed from the hypo drugs, watching the scene above as the technician assign to me was brutally attacked and lay incapacitated as I was removed from the stasis equipment.

A final thought passes through my mind as the unfriendly woman from the Infinity jabs a syringe into my arm and shoots me full of sedatives. ‘What has become of my fellow passengers; specifically my special charges? I have failed Simona and also you my dear sister Victoria.’ My eyes close and darkness overtakes me once more.

Dear Victoria,

The time is quickly approaching when we will both be out of communication. First there was our enjoyable correspondence as you departed our solar system, then there was my one sided conversation with you as you slumbered on your journey to New London. Now I am nearing the time where my voice will be silent and the universe will hear nothing from us until you reach the end of your long journey. I hope once you arrive you will begin your own one sided conversation with me as I have done with you. It has given me comfort to know you will one day read my thoughts to you and find solace there. I look forward to reading what has occurred during my stasis and hope you will follow suit. For now reality will cease to exist for each of us as I step into the next phase of my journey. Tomorrow I will transfer to the medical bay to start the stasis process. Due to the reconstruction of my arm so near to our departure date, I will be one of the first travelers to enter the facility. They will need to monitor the entire process and not just the final twenty hours as the remaining passengers are required to do. I am sure there are others in my predicament, but since my voluntary isolation I have not sought any of them out to find assurance in our mutual conditions. I am now preparing myself for three of the idlest and boring days of my existence, but it cannot be avoided. I only hope they supply some type of distraction tactics as they did with you.

I have checked on my precious cargo one last time to ensure the creatures are secure and ready to transfer once we reach the location near the Phycodurus where we will move from the Infinity to the space station shuttle. The stasis technique for my secret companions is surprisingly similar to my own. The technician, who is preparing my own sleep, is also responsible for my charges. The stasis technician for my covert companions is the same man that will be assisting with my process. Since we will both be exiting the ship at the Phycodurus, we have been assigned the same stasis wing, so that is logical. He has been very knowledgeable about the medical process and what I can expect at the end of the jump. I will report directly to him in the early morning hours tomorrow so I may not be able to compose another message to you before the process starts. I realize this is not as emotional a message as the one you composed before we lost contact, but somehow I do not feel the loss as strongly as you did. I guess because I know when I awake you will be on New London waiting for me to make contact. I can immediately reach out to you and make know a response is imminent. For you it will be another year before I arrive when you regain consciousness. I expect great thing from you during that lonely year and I cannot wait to hear what you have been up to. There is also the vast amount of data available when I arrive that you will so kindly have gathered for me. These things are all I can think of during these last days awake aboard the ship. Even the dire warnings of the medical team cannot dampen my spirit at this point. The Anomaly is calling to me and there is only one more sleep before I make its acquaintance. That is hard to believe. Although I have tried for the last week to study some of my observation on the dark Anomaly, I find myself returning to our main research subject in anticipation of this meeting. Being in the presence of the creature is all I have dreamed about for the last fifteen years. Ever since that dark night under the gaze of the seven sisters when we took our oath; An oath to better the world through our joint knowledge of Science and human nature. Even then I knew the Anomaly was the path to fulfilling that dream. Now that dream is close to being realized and no amount of strange data from another sector of space is going to deviate me from my original plan. I just need to get past this last uncontrollable hurdle. The stasis process!! The rest is under my control.

Let us hope I have the strength and the fate of the universe enough to survive.

See you on the other side.

Love your sister forever

Annalis

Started and finished this hummingbird bracelet for my mom this week. I tried to use subtle color so the bird looks more natural.

The armband is complete! I am still rethinking the clasp, but it is now wearable.

Completed the body of the armband in just over a week. Now for the finish. I will need to search through my findings for the perfect final touches.

The piece is about half way. Starting to think about how to finish it.

Starting a new project I downloaded from Etsy. Kiki’s bead art has some nice designs!! I hope I am not being too ambitious!

I am using a new loom called a jewel loom. It is not as heavy as my last loom so I will have to get used to it.