The Technician

Kyle Rye was the next to awaken, groaning softly as he sat up in his pod. He eventually started to stretch his arms, loosening up his upper joints before doing the same with his legs as he swung them off of the side of the pod.

"Goddamn... never can get used to that..."

When he did manage to make his way to the galley after getting dressed, it was clear he looked like death warmed over. Grabbing his cup of coffee, he looked over to the Captain.

"Hey, Miller. Any word on how soon we're docking?"

He had already assumed that they were about to be home, utterly oblivious to what's in store for them all.

Captain Miller looked up from her cup of coffee, her hand still trembling slightly from the aftereffects of cryosleep. She rubbed her temples, trying to push away the last remnants of the headache that clung stubbornly to her.

"Haven’t checked yet," she replied, her voice rougher than she intended. "If MU/TH/UR woke us up, we’re close, say…five-six hours out from Sutter’s? We’ll know more once we get up to the bridge and check the nav data. You’re welcome to do the honors once we shake off this hypersleep hangover."

She needed something to ease the dryness in her throat and it should’ve probably been just straight water, but the company charged for it; hell, even more for the purified bottled kind. At least coffee was free and masked the metallic taste of the cloudy, recycled, cheap water they had to ration. She took another sip of the earth-grown Guatemalan bean-juice, savoring the warm relief as it eased the dryness in her throat. It was well known that Weyland-Yutani coffee was the highest rated in the territories, and the fact that coffee was free was considered one of the perks of W-Y employment.

Looking at Kyle Rye, she could see the toll cryosleep had taken on him, the same as it did every time. They all looked like they’d been dragged through hell and back, but that was just part of the job. Just like that, four months of your life goes by in a dream.

“I want you to run a quick systems check after you’ve eaten. Make sure everything’s in order before we start loading Daisy. Let’s hope it’s a routine finish this time.”

Miller forced a small smile, knowing that in their line of work, the word “routine” rarely held true. She glanced over to the hallway, the sound of shuffling feet grew louder as other crew members made their way like zombies to the galley.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get right on it."

He said, clearly not going to get up any time soon. He sighed into his cup of coffee, enjoying the heat it radiated into his hands that then blossomed through his chest and stomach as he drank it.