“Where is he now?” Amy asked as she started punching commands into the computer keyboard.

“I've got him trapped in the engineering hall. All the doors are locked. He won't answer the intercom, but I can hear him moving around.”

“What about Fitzpatrick?”

“Dead in his capsule. Looks like he fought to get out, but there was some kind of door failure,” RJ explained.

“As freaked out as he was when we put him in there, if he was trapped he probably had a heart attack,” Amy surmised.

“I wouldn't be surprised.”

“What's our next step?”

“As soon as you're feeling up to it, we need to wake a few more people so we can get started. Do you have any ideas about anything that will help ease the effects of the wake-up?” RJ inquired.

“Yeah, I’m going to change the global settings in all the sleep chambers for fluid administration. Gradually over the next twenty-four hours, all sleepers will get an extra liter of fluid, except for those on the command center staff. They're getting theirs much quicker, they should be rehydrated in an hour, and the medication doses for the wake-up sequence have been modified to hopefully keep everyone from feeling as poorly as we did,” Amy said, as she continued her work at the keyboard.

“Good, I want Brad and the command center staff awake first, followed by a few people from security and our final reactor engineer. We need to find out what Carter has been doing for thirty years.”

“Okay RJ, but I'll be waking one of the physicians next. I don't want to be bringing anyone out and running into problems I can't handle. Is that okay with you?” Amy asked.

RJ thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, but I want to get moving on this. I'll get you some food. That made me feel better quickly, and as soon as you're up to it, we'll wake up your doctor.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Two hours later RJ and Amy had successfully awakened Doctor Frank Cross, and while Amy was helping him get functional, RJ returned to the command center where she started testing and retesting electronic and mechanical systems. While there, she also reviewed computer logs.

As she was reading a maintenance report, the doors opened and Brad Warren stumbled in.

“Good morning, Brad. You look like crap,” RJ said with a smile.

“That's exactly how I feel, but at least I wasn't passed out face first in my own puke,” he responded with a wink.

“I can't believe Amy told you that! What else has she told you?” RJ asked.

“Let's see, forty-two years, seven deaths, Fitzpatrick trapped, good chance there will be no one alive, and Carter is an old man locked in a hallway,” Brad said with a smile.