All Julian can think of right now is the searing headache he has. He wouldn’t tell anyone else this, especially his parents, but he has been to his share of parties at school and woke up the next morning dehydrated with a lingering pain in his head. The pain he was feeling at the moment though, was unlike anything he had felt before, even how he felt those mornings. He lets out a groan and shifts around, rubbing his palms against his forehead. “I think I need some pain meds or something. My head is killing me.”
He opens his eyes and finds himself in an unfamiliar room. All of a sudden, he remembers everything: the aliens, being in the liquid-filled tube, and getting strapped onto the bed. Julian can feel himself going into shock. His eyes dart around the room until he focuses on a man asleep in a chair on his side.
“Where am I now?” he thinks to himself feeling somewhat better with the knowledge that he is with another human rather than some… being. As if being prompted by his scrutinizing gaze, the man shifts in the chair and opens his eyes. Julian finds himself staring at a pair of piercing blue eyes.
“It’s good to see you’re awake,” the man said gruffly, having yet to clear the sleep from his voice. “You’ve been asleep for a few days now in our ship’s infirmary since we rescued you from that Mursk station.”
“Is this some kind of prank? That must have been one hell of a drug you roofied me with to make me hallucinate all of that. I mean, jeez, those robo-hands and the three-eyed alien thing was a nice touch. Though, I better have not missed too many lectures because of you. I need to get a good grade in my Biology class.”
“I’m sorry, what? I don’t... know what you’re talking about. I think you’ve been out for some time now. We found you in a cryochamber on an abandoned Mursk space station.”
“Space station? I must still be hallucinating,” Julian said, not bothering to stifle his laughter. “I mean, come on. Aliens and space stations are definitely not real, at least last I checked. I guess they could be real, but we don’t know for sure yet. Unless the government was hiding them from us.”
“Oh boy. Whatever sedative they used must have done a number to you. How about - what’s your name?”
“Julian.”
“Julian, how about I leave you for a bit? I’ll go clean myself up and let you process things for a bit. I think, with a bit of time, we can all calm down and get our minds situated. How does that sound?”
All Julian can think about is how dedicated these people seem to be to keep this charade up for so long. Nevertheless, he decides to play along. “Sure, that sounds good. I’ll see you in a bit.”
With that, the man gets up from his chair and leaves the room leaving Julian alone with his thoughts.
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Dylan can’t help but grow more worried with each step he takes from the infirmary. He is so deep in thought that he doesn’t even realize he’s made his way all the way up to the lounge where the rest of the crew is relaxing.
Julia, the medic, looked up at him from her seat on the couch. “Why the long face, Matthews?” she asked.
“The kid woke up. I mean, that should be good news but I can’t shake this feeling I have about him. I know the station was only abandoned fifty or so years ago, but I think the kid might have been there longer than that. He was saying all sorts of weird things like how ‘aliens and space stations aren’t real.’”
Julia furrows her brow in confusion. “Well that sure is odd. I’m sure it’s nothing. I would imagine being in a cryochamber for fifty years would do a number to anyone.”
Dylan stares off at nothing in particular. “Yeah, I suppose so.” He grabs a small snack of some mixed nuts and plops himself down onto the couch, exhausted after being in that uncomfortable chair for so long.
Fletcher decides this is the perfect moment to interject his own thoughts to the ending to their conversation. “You know, there was this one time. A buddy of mine got so high he actually lost a bunch of his memories, and, hang on for a second.” He momentarily stops his story to steal a few almonds from Dylan’s hand. “Anyways, he forgot a lot. Naturally, we all freaked the fuck out, as any sensible teenager would. But, it turns out that was all a part of his hallucination, and he remembered everything a few hours later.”
Fletcher slouches back into the couch, and Julia can’t help but shake her head and sigh. “I think, my good Fletcher, you need a girlfriend. Just a little something to… How should I say it? Smooth out the rough edges. How is that story relevant to our situation, if you wouldn’t mind enlightening us.”
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“Maybe our guest is suffering the same dilemma as my buddy?”
Dylan looks over at Fletcher, only mildly upset at the theft of his prized almonds and stands up with a quick arm stretch. “I guess it’s plausible. There’s only one way to see though. Speaking of which, I should probably head back down. I said I would only be gone for a bit. I’m sure our guest - Julian - has some questions.”
Julia stands up too. “Do you mind if I join you? I should check on his vitals considering he’s awake now.”
“I don’t see why not. After all, you are the doctor on board.”
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“This is all fake, right? We don’t have anything like this in 2021,” Julian said to himself, not having moved since he woke up and spoke with the strange man. His thoughts are interrupted when the door to his room opens with a quiet swoosh.
“Hi Julian. I’m Julia, the one who has been keeping an eye on you since we picked you up. How are you feeling?” she said, walking over to Julian’s bed to check on what he assumes are his vitals.
“Hi, I’m doing... alright. Are you in on this whole prank-thing too? I don’t know why I’d ask that. Of course you are. You are here after all.” Julian said. If he was being perfectly honest, the whole situation was just making him more and more angry. He doesn’t have time to play these games. He has an election to win and homework to do.
Julia, as if unaware of his plight, or simply trying to mock him, lets out a giggle. “I’m sorry Julian, but a prank? No, I’m afraid not. Those Mursk must have had you deep under if you’re acting like this.”
“Who are the Mursk?” he said, not even bothering to hide the growing heat in his voice. “What is going on here! I don’t have time for this shit right now. Please, just let me go back home.”
Dylan takes this moment as the perfect time to interrupt. “We’re doing that Julian. As of this very moment, we are four days out from Earth. So please, calm down. I don’t know how long the Mursk had you, and I’m sorry that you were taken from your home, but you need to relax. You’re safe now.”
“Four days from Earth! What are you talking about? The way you’re casually saying these things is making me worried that this isn’t some sort of hallucination.”
“This isn’t a hallucination Julian. Even if this were, would me saying otherwise mean anything?”
Julian pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers as his headache is coming back. “If this isn’t a hallucination like you claim, then what year is it?” he asked jokingly, figuring fighting against whatever this is would only make his head hurt more.
“It’s the year 2318.”
Julian freezes mid-nose stroke. Everything around him becomes muted. His mind goes blank. The last thing he remembers before passing out is the doctor shouting as his vision goes dark.
“I don’t think it’s good for my brain to pass out so much,” Julian said to himself in his slumber.
Just as soon as he had passed out, Julian unceremoniously woke up.
“I told you… too early for bombshells like that,” a voice said.
“I didn’t think… that shocking,” another voice said.
Julian feels himself slip in and out of consciousness for what felt like the next few minutes. When he does finally manage to bring himself out of the semi-conscious state he had found himself in, he finds himself in the same room as before, but with nine other people surrounding him.
“It’s alive!” exclaimed a voice in a goofy manner.
“Shut up Fletcher. Let Julian breathe. Give him some space,” the doctor - Julia, if he could remember correctly - said.
A familiar voice speaks up. “Sorry about that Julian. The crew was curious about you.”
“It’s okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch your name. What was it?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m Dylan Matthews. I’m a Sergeant in the United Nations Space Corps, and you’re on my ship with the rest of my crew.”
“Huh. Space Corps. That has a nice ring to it, definitely better than Space Force.”
“Space Force? Isn’t that some really out-dated term, Matthews?” the man, Fletcher, asked.
Dylan takes a moment to think. “Yeah, I think so. If I’m not mistaken, that’s a term used by the United States in the early 21st century. Julian, exactly what year are you from?”
“Um, 2021. Why?” It takes a moment for it to click in Julian’s mind. “Oh wait, you’re claiming to be from 2318. That’s right. Sorry, I forgot.”
The crew looked at each other, ultimately landing on Dylan’s face. It’s clear they are uncomfortable at the turn the conversation took.
“Should we show him the flight deck, boss?” Fletcher asked.
“That might be for the best. We need some way to prove to him we are telling the truth. Julian, are you able to walk yet?”
Julian moves his legs around in his bed. “I think so, why?”
“We are going to go take a look outside.”
Julian swings his legs over the edge of the bed, and stands up. “Okay then. Let’s go take a look.”
Walking through the halls, Julian can’t help but think about how real the whole thing looks. The details on the walls were exactly like how he had always imagined space ships would look. However, it definitely is a bit more cramped than he would have liked with the whole crew clumped together, and the colors were all in grays rather than anything bright. Maybe they aren’t lying about the date.
Making their way up to the flight deck of the supposed ship, Julian stops in his tracks. His jaw drops, and he doesn’t even notice the slightest little drop of saliva falling from his open mouth.
“Is that space?”
The crew behind him lets out a small chuckle. This view is obviously something they’re used to.
Julian shakes his head, and tears start to fall from his eyes. “It’s all real, isn’t it?”
Dylan walks up behind him and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, it is.”
“My family and friends. They’re all gone. They don’t even know what happened to me. They didn’t know I was alive the whole time. Everything I knew is gone, left to be relics of the past. I’ve been gone for three hundred years.”
The rest of the crew stops and stares at Julian, unsure of what they should do. Thankfully, Julia walks up to him and gives him a much needed hug.
“It’s going to be okay Julian,” Julia said. She leads him toward a seat close to the window. “Here, why don’t you take a seat and look out into space. Personally, I find the vast black views to be quite relaxing.”
Julian accepts the advice and looks out. He realizes just how insignificant everything in his life has been. He stares out, noting just how empty space is and how massive the blank view is.
“I guess this is my life now.”