Stephen Baxter - Proxima

PROXIMA

STEPHEN BAXTER

GOLLANCZ

LONDON

In the hearts of a hundred billion worlds

Across a trillion dying realities in a lethal multiverse

In the chthonic silence

Minds diffuse and antique dreamed the Dream of the End Time.

2166

I m back on Earth.

That was Yuris very first thought, on waking in a bed: a hard bed, stiff mattress and lightweight sheets and blankets, but a bed nonetheless, not a barrack bunk stacked four high in a dome on Mars.

He opened his eyes to bright light, from fluorescent bars on the walls. A clean-looking ceiling. People moving around him wearing green shirts and hygiene caps and masks, a low murmur of competent voices, machines that bleeped and chimed. Other beds, other patients. A classic hospital set-up. He saw all this in his peripheral vision; he hadnt turned his head yet, he felt so heavy.

The last thing he remembered was the needle jabbed into his neck by that arsehole Peacekeeper Tollemache. He had no idea how long hed been out months, if hed been shipped back to Earth and he remembered from his recovery after his decades in the cryo that it paid to take care on waking.

But he knew he was on Earth. He could feel it in his bones. Yuri had been born on Earth in the year 2067, nearly a hundred years ago, and, dozing in a cryo tank, had missed mankinds heroic expansion out into the solar system. He had woken up in a colony on what he had learned, gradually, was Mars. But now, after another compulsory sleep, this was different again. He risked lifting his hand. The muscles in his arm ached, just doing that, and he felt tubes dragging at him as he moved, and the hand fell back with a satisfyingly heavy thump. Beautiful Earth gravity, not that neither-one-thing-nor-the-other floaty stuff on Mars. It could only be Earth, home.

He had a million questions. Such as, where on Earth? Why had he been sent back instead of being left to rot on Mars? And what kind of institution was he in now, what kind of prison this time? But not having answers didnt bother him. Hed had very few answers about anything since waking up on Mars, and besides he hadnt cared enough to ask. The worst kind of cage on Earth, and no matter how much the place had changed since hed gone into the cryo tank, was better than the finest luxury you could find on Mars. Because on Earth you could always just open the door and breathe the air, even if it was an overheated polluted soup, and just keep on walking, for ever...

He closed his eyes.

Rise and shine, sleepy head.

There was a face looming over him, a woman, black, wearing a green shirt with a name tag he couldnt read, her hair tucked into a green cloth cap. She wasnt wearing a mask, and she smiled at him. She looked tired.

He tried to speak. His mouth was dry, and his tongue stuck painfully to the roof of his mouth. I... I...

Here. Have a sip of water. She held a nippled bottle, like a babys, for him. The water was warm and stale. She seemed to be having trouble holding up the bottle, like she was weak herself. Do you know your name? She glanced at the foot of the bed. Yuri Eden. Thats all we have for you. No recorded next of kin. Is that right?

He just shrugged, a tentative movement, flat on his back.

She looked him over, peered into his eyes, checked some kind of monitor beside the bed. My name is Dr Poinar. Im ISF, I have a crew rank but you can call me Doctor. Youve taken your time coming out of the induced coma the Peacekeepers put you into. Still, it was easier to ship you through the launch that way. More than half the crew dreamed it all away, in fact. Im going to see if I can sit you up. OK? She pressed a button.

With a whir of servos the back of his bed began to tip up, lifting him, bending him at the waist. He felt weak, and his head was like a tub of sloshing liquid. The ward greyed around him. He felt a crawling sensation in his right arm, some kind of fluid being pumped into him.

Dr Poinar watched him carefully. You OK? All right. Heres the five-second briefing youll be put through a proper induction process later, everybodys going through that in stages, classroom stuff and data access first while you get your strength back, then physical work later, including your share of maintenance chores. She glanced at his notes. More of that if you end up on a punishment detail, and looking at your record that seems more than likely. But the priority for you is reconditioning. Your body needs to relearn how to handle full gravity. The nerve receptors that handle your posture, positioning and movement are all baffled right now. Your inner ear doesnt know what the hells going on. Your fluid balance is all wrong, and youre going to have low blood pressure symptoms for a while. Here, drink this.

She handed him another flask, and this time he took it for himself. It was a briny fluid that made him splutter.

Youll get courses of injections to rectify your bone calcium loss, and such. And physio to build up your muscle strength and bone mass. Do not skip those. Oh, and your immune system will be hit. Every virus everybody brought into this hull has been running around like crazy; youll have a few weeks of fun with that. Later on there will be further medical programmes, pre-adaptation for Prox, preventive surgery of various kinds. She grinned, faintly cruelly. How are your teeth? But that wont be for another year or more.

Prox?

A baby started to cry, not far away.

Dr Poinar asked, Any questions? Oh, Im sure there are masses. Just use your common sense. For now just sit there and let the dizziness pass. Dont lie down again. Ill come by later and see if you can take some solid food. And watch out for the catheter, the nurse will remove that later. Take it easy, Yuri Eden. She walked out of his view.

Still that baby cried, not far to his left.

Very cautiously he turned his head that way; the greying returned, and a ringing in his ears, but he waited until it passed. He saw more beds crowded into a room that couldnt have been more than seven, eight metres across, smaller than he had expected. Some of the beds had cloth partitions around them. More medical types and a couple of servo robots glided through the narrow spaces between the beds. Equipment dangled from the ceiling, including what looked like a teleoperated surgical kit, all manipulator arms and laser nozzles and knives.

In the bed closest to Yuri, to his left, lay a young woman, a girl really, pale, blonde hair, fragile-looking. Intensely beautiful. She cradled a baby, a bundle of blankets; as she rocked it, the crying slowly subsided. She saw Yuri looking. He turned his head away, making his vision spin again. At Eden hed developed the habit of avoiding eye contact, of giving people their own bubbles of privacy.

Its OK. Her accent was soft, maybe eastern European.

He looked back. Didnt mean to stare. His voice was a husk.

Well, little Cole was crying, disturbing everybody. She smiled. Sorry if he woke you up.

That puzzled him. Then he realised she was joking. He tried to smile, but he had no idea what kind of grimace his numb face was pulling.

My name is Anna Vigil.

Im Yuri.

Yuri Eden. I heard the doctor say. Little Cole wriggled and gurgled softly. Hes fine. Im the one who had to come in here, a cold virus laid me out, Im still weak from nursing. Of course we shouldnt be here at all. I was heavily pregnant when the sweep came. There was a mix-up. Coles the only child in here.

Cole, huh. Nice name.

She seemed to think that over, as if his responses were a little off. I named him for Dexter Cole, of course. The first guy to Proxima.

Of course. Who? Where? He backed away from the puzzling little conversation, retreated into himself.