Unknown Entity - An Original Short Story by K H Simmons

Photo by Nathan Duck on Unsplash

A rush of nausea and vertigo hit me as my conscious dragged itself out the depths of cryo sleep. Out of reflex I tried to lunge forward as my stomach attempted to empty itself of its liquid contents. The restraints held me in place and for a terrifying moment I thought I was going to drown before my body remembered how to cough. I choked and spluttered, trying to free my airway. I gasped for breath.

After a few moments of taking deep breaths and attempting to slow my heart, I opened my eyes. Tears blurred my vision, but I could see enough to know that my cryo pod was open. I groaned. I was supposed to have received a beautiful cocktail of anti-sickness and other drugs to make my transition to the waking world a smooth one. For some reason my drug cocktail hadn't been administered.

‘Release,’ I croaked.

The restraints retracted and I slumped forwards onto the cold metal floor. I would have expected there to be a doctor here to help. No one helped me to my feet. My muscles ached with the pain of moving again. There was only so much the stimulants could do while we slept.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position, attempting to overcome another wave of nausea. It was then that I realised that all of the other cryo pods were all firmly sealed. My fellow passengers were still soundly asleep. Which begged the question, why wasn't I? I swallowed a tight knot of panic.

As a paediatric doctor I was meant to be one of the last awake. I wasn't needed until the colony was well and truly established and we were ready to begin the population of a new world. I certainly shouldn't have been the only one awake.

I struggled to my knees. Turning back to face my pod, I brought up the monitor to assess what had happened. Sure enough, there was an error on screen. Someone had forced my pod to wake me up. That explained why my cocktail had been lacking in substance. I attempted to reset the pod. The computer rebuked me. This wasn't the great start to colonising a new world that I had imagined.

Shakily I climbed to my feet and began shuffling through the stasis deck towards the bridge. From there I should be able to convince the computer to put me back to sleep. I had no idea how far from our destination we were. Considering not even the crew seemed to be awake, I guessed that we were still some way off.

The ark was eerily quiet. The last time I'd seen it, it had been a hive of activity with people coming and going, doing final checks and doing them again. There had been people saying their goodbyes before being put into stasis and enthusiastic chatter about the new world. The whole ship had been abuzz with excitement and anticipation. A long sleep awaited us. At the end though, a dream world, a paradise, would be there waiting for us when we opened our eyes.

All I saw when I reached the bridge was the vast emptiness of space. According to the navigation controls, we were still over three hundred years away from our destination. I had only been asleep for one hundred and twelve years.
It was hard not to think about the what ifs. Like what if the computer couldn't put me back to sleep? What then? I wasn't going to live for another three hundred years out of stasis. I'd never get to see the golden world. I'd never get to see another human that wasn't sleeping.

Pushing those thoughts aside I woke up the AI which controlled the ship while we slept.

‘Annie,’ I said.

‘Talia Henrose, good morning,’ the female computer voice said back.

‘There was an error with my cryo pod, and I was woken up ahead of schedule. Please can you reset my pod so I can go back to sleep?’ I asked.

It felt strange talking to the empty bridge. I hadn't spent much time working with AIs. My life had been spent working with real life. Still, they had their uses and right now I needed this one to put me back to sleep.

‘It was not an error,’ Annie stated.

‘It was an error, it said so on the screen. I'm not meant to be awake yet. Check the systems.’

‘The system states that you should be awoken when the colony reaches stage 3 of establishment,’ Annie reeled off the information.

‘Yes, that's right. Tell me Annie - does this look like the colony has reached stage 3 of establishment?’ I asked, gesturing at the dark space ahead of us.

‘No Talia, it is still three hundred and forty-three years until we reach our destination.’

‘Right, so do you see what I'm getting at? There was an error with my pod - I need to go back to sleep,’ I failed to keep the irritation out of my voice. Apparently one hundred and twelve years of sleep and I'm still a grouch first thing after waking up.

‘It was not an error,’ Annie stated again.

I resisted the urge to punch something, took a deep breath and questioned, ‘Why not?’

‘An unknown entity woke you prior to your stasis date.’

A chill made its way down my spine.

‘What do you mean an unknown entity? Someone woke me up, who?’

‘Unknown.’

I suddenly felt like I was trapped in a bad dream. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't meant to happen.

‘Put me back to sleep,’ I ordered.

Annie made no response.

‘I said-’

She cut me off before I had chance to repeat myself.

‘An unknown entity requires you.’

‘What unknown entity? Is someone else awake?’

‘Yes,’ she answered.

Good, we were getting somewhere finally.

‘Who?’

‘Unknown entity is not registered on the ships records,’ Annie explained.

Great, a stowaway. I thought we had security to prevent this kind of thing from happening. It was only then that I realised that wasn't possible. We had left Earth over one hundred years ago. A stowaway would either be ancient or dead.

‘What species is it?’ I asked with a feeling of dread in my stomach.

‘Unknown.’

‘When did it board the ark?’ my muscles felt frozen and it had nothing to do with coming out of cryo.

‘Three hours ago,’ Annie said.

I stared out at the void of deep space that surrounded us. How could something possibly have boarded the ship out here?

‘Where is it now?’ I whispered.

‘Unknown entity is on the bridge.’

I don’t think I’d ever been afraid before, not truly. The ice-cold gnawing sensation of dread that filled me as the AI spoke those words was unlike anything I’d ever felt. It was like a thousand spiders skittering down my back.

As slowly as I could, I turned to face the door. It stood beside it. It must have been seven – maybe eight – foot from the silver dome of its head to the tip of its talons. It took a step towards me on all fours. Pearlescent eyes examined me as I stood frozen to the spot. Two long projections uncurled from either side of its feline-like head, they wriggled through the air towards me. They reminded me of tentacles, only they were smooth.

Forgetting my exhaustion and cryo-sickness, I ducked beneath the tendrils and sprinted for the door. The thing didn’t grab for me, it merely watched as I ran from it. I didn’t stop running until I reached the medical labs. I didn’t have a particular destination in mind, perhaps my subconscious thought of this as the safest place. Checking behind me, there was no sign of the entity. I sealed the door to the medical bay and began searching through the cupboards. Eventually I came up with a concoction which should keep my tired muscles going for longer as well as ridding me of my nausea.

‘Annie,’ I waited.

‘Yes, Talia?’ she replied.

‘What the hell was that thing?’ I gasped.

‘Unknown,’ the AI answered.

I slammed my palm against the examination bed in frustration. I forced myself to focus.

‘It’s real though, I’m not dreaming this,’ I said.

‘Analysing,’ she paused. ‘Confirmed.’

At least I knew this was real and not some messed up cryo dream. Not that that helped me much.

‘How did it get here? Does it have a ship?’ I asked.

‘No.’

‘Answer the first question then,’ I said, struggling to contain my panic.

‘Airlock 3B.’

‘How is that possible?’ I asked.

‘Unknown.’

‘Of course,’ I sighed. ‘What does it want?’

‘You.’

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. I crossed to the door and peered out into the corridor beyond. My heart throbbed painfully as I saw it appear at the top of the corridor. It was making its way towards me, pacing like a cat cornering its prey.

‘Why? Why does it want me?’ I asked, although I feared I knew what Annie’s answer would be.

‘Unknown,’ she replied.

I doubt anyone pictured first contact to happen this way, with a doctor trapped in a medical bay alone apart from an AI who was no use at all. The entity reached the door. I stared through the glass at it and it stared back. It didn’t slam the door or try to break it, it simply stood and watched.

Despite the hammering of my heart, I couldn’t help thinking that it was strangely beautiful. Its smooth silvery skin glimmered in the artificial light like it had been polished to perfection. The pearl-like eyes followed me without malice. It had curled its tendrils back up into position around its long neck. After a moment it turned away and started to walk slowly down the corridor towards Airlock 3B.

Cursing myself and my curiosity, I opened the door. Prepared at any moment to dart back inside, I took a step out of the medical bay. The entity turned its head slightly but carried on walking away from me. I knew this could be a trap, but what did I have to lose? I was stuck awake with no hope of ever seeing our new home. I followed it at a careful distance. It occasionally checked back on me, never stopping walking though. When we reached 3B it paused and unfurled its tendrils again.

I took a step closer. If it was going to kill me, surely it would have done so already? At least that’s what I hoped as I approached it.

The inner airlock door was open, it lingered just inside. I glanced at the controls. If it tried anything, I could always blast it out into space. I took another step closer. A faint smell of something metallic came from it. It didn’t move as I came closer. When I was almost within touching distance, I glanced past it into the airlock. Inside the small room a clutch of eight pearl-like orbs were stuck to the floor. The entity moved into the airlock and stood over the orbs. No, not orbs, they were eggs.

I frowned. Annie had said it had wanted me. Why me not anyone else? It had somehow overridden the computer system to bring me out of stasis early which implied that it was an intelligent creature. Was it so intelligent that it knew I helped children? Did it want me to help its children? I shuffled into the airlock doorway. The entity delicately trailed its tendrils over the eggs and then reached out to me.

I won’t lie, I was still so scared it was hard to stop myself from shaking. This time though, I didn’t run. I stood as still as my trembling knees would allow as it brushed its tendrils over my skin. It was surprisingly cool to the touch.
Without warning a series of images flickered through my mind. It happened so quickly I barely had chance to process them. I saw the entity awaken me from cryo. I saw her out in space, I realised it was indeed a her. I saw a comet laden with eggs and little larvae which were feeding upon the comet’s minerals. The tendrils retracted and I was left gasping for breath.

‘You weren’t meant to lay them here,’ I whispered.

The pearlescent eyes stared back at me. It needed what was in the comets. I nodded to myself before turning and jogging back to the medical bay. It stayed in the airlock. I couldn’t explain how it had told me or how I understood, all I knew was that the unknown entity needed my help.

With the help of a trolley it didn’t take me long to move the supplies from the medical bay to the airlock. I looked at the entity wondering what would happen next. This was the first intelligent life we had come across and it was beyond anything we had ever imagined. There were people fast asleep in cryo who would kill to be standing where I was.
‘What are you?’ I whispered as I laid out the last of the supplies.

It bowed its head, giving no other answer. It reached out a tendril towards me. I accepted its touch willingly, hoping it was going to tell me more. The room was spinning. Darkness consumed me.

My eyes snapped open.

‘Easy now Talia, you’ve had one hell of a lie in,’ a smiling face was looking in at me. ‘Don’t say you slept so long you’ve forgotten me?’

‘Doctor Anz’ah?’ I asked gazing around me.

My cryo pod was open, from what I could see, so were all the others.

‘How did I get here?’ I said.

‘Same way we all did, a really long trip,’ he replied with a laugh.

I frowned as my restraints retracted. No nausea struck me this time. The cocktail of medication was coursing through my veins.

‘What? But I woke up, I was awake early,’ I muttered as I stepped out of the chamber. All of the other cryo pods were open.

‘It’s definitely not early, trust me, this is later than expected. Nothing ever goes quite to plan, does it? Just a moment Talia, we’ll get you something to help with your confusion,’ Doctor Anz’ah nodded to a nurse who went to fetch a syringe.

‘Sorry, I think I’m just a bit sleepy,’ I said, trailing off.

‘Hah, amazing how tired you feel after being asleep for hundreds of years. Why don’t you go and get yourself some food and when you’re ready someone will show you around the colony.’

He waved the nurse away again and began checking details in my computer.

‘Can I have a look at that?’ I asked.

Doctor Anz’ah hesitated before shrugging and stepping aside.

I brought up the cryo logs, there was no sign of any error. There was certainly no sign of me being awake. I smiled to the doctor and hurried out of the cryo hall. I made my way to airlock 3B. It was empty. There was no sign of the entity, the supplies or her eggs. It can’t have just been a dream. I followed the corridor to the medical bay, it was empty now, everything seemed to have been moved down to the colony. I brought up the cargo logs for the medical bay and checked the numbers registered upon departure and those logged when we unloaded. Sure, enough there were some items missing, the exact amount that I had taken. The crew had put it down to miscounting.

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I wasn’t going crazy. She must have somehow put me back in my cryo pod. I had no idea what she was, but she had saved me as I had saved her. She hadn’t abandoned me to a lonely fate. I wondered where she was now, had she stayed with the ship or had she left with her children? I wondered if we would ever see her or her kind again? She was beyond anything we had ever imagined. Perhaps we weren’t ready to meet her kind yet. This world was offering us a new start, I hoped we could all prove ourselves worthy of meeting them again.

‘Annie,’ I said.

‘Yes Talia, how can I help?’ she replied.

‘What happened to the entity?’ I asked.

‘Unknown.’

About Me

I'm Katy, but go by K H Simmons officially. I write a lot of sci-fi, dark fantasy and dystopian fiction. If you're here for sparkly vampires, you're in the wrong place ;)

I frequently post short stories on my Facebook page, as well as work on full length novels. If you want more short stories like the above - check out my anthology Death, Demons & Dystopia available on Amazon/Kindle. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YN5DY98

When I'm not writing, I can usually be found cuddling dogs, reading, at the gym or playing video games.