Excerpt

A soothing voice said, "Good morning, Alethia. Stay calm and take your time to awaken. You have had a long sleep."

Who is that? Where am I? Alethia's leaden limbs refused to move. She breathed in again and tried to open her eyes. Nothing.

"You will be able to move soon. Just relax. Remember? You are on the Kolonia II, and you are safe."

The fog lifted from her brain. Oh, yes, she was on the mission to colonize New Earth. A second fact hit her. If I'm being awakened, then the journey's over. We must be nearing the planet. And I'm alive! Her heart pounded with joy.

"Breathe deeply. Do not excite yourself. Remain calm."

…

A scream jolted her. Then Hedda's voice, shouting and weeping.

What's going on? Alethia couldn't understand Hedda's words through the thick shell of her pod, but she remembered that the pilot and copilot were supposed to be awakened before the rest of the crew.

Bevan. I must see him. She pushed against the pod lid. The top didn't budge. The pod wouldn't release her until her biosigns showed she was ready.

Urgent scratches and tapping began on the outside of her pod. The top sprang open. She squinted against the bright light.

"Dear Alethia. You, too?"

At the sound of Bevan's voice, hoarser than she remembered, her eyelids fluttered open. But the face before her wasn't his. A gray-haired old man looked down at her, tears leaking from the wrinkled corners of his eyes--hazel eyes. Bevan's eyes.

"What?" Her voice came out as a croak.

The old man with Bevan's eyes reached into the pod and eased her to a sitting position. Gently, he brushed hair from her face, hair that had changed color.

She lifted strands of gray mingled with the familiar chestnut and let them trickle through her fingers as the awful realization hit her.

"We're all old, aren't we?"