I awakened from my slumber, my vision blurry, my body in sudden disarray. It’s as if I was run over by a truck going 60 miles-per-hour, courtesy of a lousy driver who probably had too much to drink. The last thing I remembered was being asked to test the U.S. Air Force’s newest shuttle strike fighter, the G-01 Star Warrior, since I was supposedly the right Astronaut for the job. Allegedly, from what I was allowed to hear, it would allow the United States to gain a significant advantage in aerospace defense with its ability to launch a combat-capable craft from a launch base up above the Earth’s exosphere.

Now I wasn’t a combat pilot, so my job wasn’t to test its weapon systems. My job was to ensure that the G-01 worked as intended and to return it safe and sound since I had the proper flight training required for the task. For the most part, it was going well, but as luck would have it, there was too much heat buildup in the G-01’s hull due to a malfunction in the shuttle’s cooling system. To make matters worse, the ejector seat was inoperable, and before I knew it, I was free falling in what I considered to be a weaponized metal coffin, minus the authority to use said weapon of course.

I remember desperately shouting over the radio for help, fearing that my life was about to come to a dramatic conclusion. Then again, I knew the risks associated with my occupation. Before I knew it, I, along with the G-01 plunged headfirst into the great blue Ocean. All communication with the launch base was immediately cut off, and I was descending into the abyss of darkness that the ocean was known for. The entire hull continued to gradually freeze up, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that this was probably the end.

_____

I take one last look at the image of my family I kept with me, knowing that I will probably never see them again, but I can only hope that I can see them again in the afterlife. I closed my eyes and accepted the inevitable with the courage of a decorated hero, or at least that’s how I’ll probably be remembered. All I could do now was feel the cold chilling frostbite begin to engulf my entire body in its grasp, I guess this is what death is like, the feeling of your soul being carried out of your body as you enter your final resting place.

_____

However, I guess life had other plans for me, because now I currently lay on a large, sleek and… rather unnecessarily shiny table.

No one was around; the room I was in resembled what I can only describe as a rather luxurious emergency room, there were lights that appeared as they were traced along the walls , and the air smelled as if someone had mopped the place with electricity. Suddenly, I heard a voice emanating from within the room, “Defrosting cycle completed, vitals nominal, welcome subject designated G-01, formally known as Nate Ryder.” The voice sounded like an elevator trying to be polite, but what it said left me in a state of confusion, ‘G-01? Defrosting cycle? And how did it know my name?’ I thought to myself.

I knew I had to find out what was going on, so I lifted my sleepy legs off the table and tried to remember how to stand and walk. I felt like a newborn baby, constantly stumbling and falling until I finally found my balance again. As I approached the door to leave the room, it suddenly opened when I reached my hand out to it. I breathed a sigh of relief,, feeling I was back in a familiar territory, not too dissimilar to what I am accustomed to. As I turned the corner into the hallway, two heavily armed and armored soldiers noticed me, “Hey! Stop right there!” they shouted. Upon taking a brief examination of the rifles they were pointing at me, I decided to make like an Olympic athlete and run for it, hoping to ensure that death does not claim my life for good this time.

An alarm was ringing; its noise signaling the relentless torrent of soldiers to try to contain an innocent and confused individual just looking for some answers to his questions. Two other soldiers attempted to cut me off at the other end of the hallway, so I ran to the left hallway and kept moving forward, running and trampling into what I assumed to be some of the friendlier staff that this complex had to offer. On the wall at the end of the hallway, I noticed a sign that said “Aircraft Hangar” on it. Its appearance was very unusual to me, as if a neon sign had achieved sentience. As curious as I was about it, I was much more curious about where it would lead me, hoping that I could escape and get the answers that I sought. I could see a light at the end of the hallway as well as the hangar. Fortunately, it was open, but it was very bright from where I was standing, so I made my way down the stairs leading outside. What I saw, I couldn’t believe as I gazed in awe at the metropolis in front of the hangar. It was beautiful and unlike any city I have ever seen before.

There were sky-lanes of silent traffic threading between the tallest building, bridges stitching from building to building, and a ring of turbines turning on the horizon. However, I had to cease my moment of memorization for I was now surrounded by the very same soldiers who were chasing after me, “You are surrounded, Surrender now!” One of them said. In that moment, I held my hands up to be arrested until suddenly, a loud authoritative voice emerged from the crowd of soldiers who seemed eager to kill me.

“Stand down! He is not a threat!” the voice spoke. The person who told them to stand down moved out from the crowd of soldiers. He wore a fancy-looking uniform that looked like dress-blues designed by a mirror. Silver piping traced his collar, and a badge with a font similar to the aircraft sign placed over his heart that read, Director Kade. He gave me the kind of smile you reserve for the family dog or old friends before beginning to speak, “Mr. Ryder,” he said calmly, “Welcome back to the land of the living. You have been asleep for at least 200 years thanks to the G-01 preserving you in suspended animation”. I kept my hands up, “Neat Trick, any chance that welcome includes an explanation?” “In time,” Kade said. He flicked his two fingers, telling the soldiers to lower their rifles in a synchronized exhale. “First, we will make sure you don’t collapse again. Second, we talk, and third…” He glanced past me at the hanger, where a sleek shuttle wore a familiar silhouette like a ghost, “Hope that you are willing to fly again.” Truth be told I didn’t know if I was ready after the last time I flew a shuttle, but if the answers I needed were in that cockpit, then I would be too.