2010 Odyssey Two

THE TRIAL Chapter 2: TSIEN Chapter 6 Awakening
And they told us we wouldn't dream, thought Heywood Floyd, more with surprise than annoyance. The glorious pink glow that surrounded him was very soothing; it reminded him of barbecues and the crackling logs of Christmas fire. But there was no warmth; indeed, he felt a distinct though not uncomfortable coldness.

Voices were murmuring, just too softly for him to understand the words. They became louder  -  but still he could not understand.

'Surely,' he said in sudden amazement, 'I can't be dreaming in Russian!'

'No, Heywood,' answered a woman's voice. 'You're not dreaming. It's time to get out of bed.'

The lovely glow faded; he opened his eyes, and had a blurred glimpse of a flashlight being withdrawn from his face. He was lying on a couch, held against it by elastic webbing; figures were standing around him, but they were too out of focus to identify.

Gentle fingers closed his eyelids and massaged his forehead.

'Don't exert yourself. Breathe deeply... again... that's right... now how do you feel?'

'I don't know... strange... light-headed... and hungry.'

'That's a good sign. Do you know where you are? You can open your eyes now.'

The figures came into focus  -  first Dr Rudenko, then Captain Orlova. But something had happened to Tanya since he had seen her, only an hour ago. When Floyd identified the cause, it was almost a physical shock.

'You've grown your hair back!'

'I hope you think it's an improvement. I can't say the same about your beard.'

Floyd lifted his hand to his face, finding that he had to make a conscious effort to plan every stage of the movement. His chin was covered with short stubble  -  a two or three days' growth. In hibernation, hair grew at only a hundredth of its normal rate.

'So I made it,' he said. 'We've arrived at Jupiter.'

Tanya looked at him sombrely, then glanced at the doctor, who gave a barely perceptible nod.

'No, Heywood,' she said. 'We're still a month away. Don't be alarmed  -  the ship's fine, and everything's running normally. But your friends in Washington have asked us to wake you up ahead of time. Something very unexpected has happened. We're in a race to reach Discovery  -  and I'm afraid we're going to lose.'