“I'll contact the White House and inform them of our decision; everyone else should clean up and get to your capsules.”

“RJ, do you mind if I talk to Matt? I want to say goodbye,” Amy asked.

“No problem. Let's go.”

They returned to the command center and activated the communications equipment. It took only a few minutes for General Draper to appear on the screen.

“General, we've decided it's time. The last of us are heading for our sleep capsules,” RJ said.

“Good decision. I was going to suggest it the other day, but I figured you'd decide when it was best for yourselves. Good luck RJ, you have a lot of work ahead of you.”

“Thank you, General. Is Matt Fitch there? Amy wants to say goodbye.”

“I'm sorry, Amy. Matt is ill and he's in with the physician. We don't know yet if it's radiation related. The radiation level is up a little in here, which we weren't expecting, but it's still fairly safe for now.”

“I understand General; please tell him I asked for him,” Amy asked, struggling to hide her disappointment.

“Will do, and good luck to all of you,” Draper responded with a weak smile.

“Thank you, Good luck to all of you, too,” RJ said and shut down the transmitter, and activated the recording computers. They would still receive status reports and regular updates, which would all be saved in the database and available when the team woke up.

RJ sat down at the computer terminal and input the command to begin shutting down non-essential systems. When the task was complete, she got to her feet and draped her arm across Amy's shoulders, and the two of them walked to where their capsules waited.

Amy and RJ assisted the others into their capsules and began the sleep process. They then undressed and assisted each other in preparing. They inserted the IV catheters, and the other tubing was hooked up. Each of them then went to their individual capsules, got in, and hooked up the IV, and urinary catheters to the internal systems of the capsule.

RJ hooked her face mask into place. The digital readout in the capsule indicated everything was ready. She glanced at the three buttons on the right. There was a small one that would start the flow of SF016 into her IV, and a larger one that would open and close the lid to the capsule. The largest of the three buttons would administer the drugs needed to help her wake up with fewer side effects. These drugs were supposed to be delivered automatically, but if the automatic delivery system didn't kick in, she could manually administer them herself.