The Doctor sighed.

What Cera Foley had failed to mention below was that the helicopter was covered entirely with a thick tarp staked into the ground. One day after they had settled in she must have come back up to stake it out as protection from the sandstorms. The Doctor groaned: Cera was assuredly strong enough to take care of this, but he would be lucky to make it out of this without breaking something. At this very moment she was likely sitting at her stool with a great big smirk on her face.

She just couldn’t help herself…

Everything hurt. The sensation was not surreal this time, but much too real. Her entire physical body, every limb and every muscle and bone hurt. A cold tingling dampened this steady discomfort, but it was lessening, and soon it would be gone. Other senses began to grow, the sound of small machinery whining close by, the feeling of a soft pillowy gel pressed into the back of her frame, the scent of sterilizing chemicals a little too strong in her nostrils. Sapphira Lindsey was waking up.

Hello, can you hear me…

A woman’s voice echoed, muffled. Sapphira opened her eyes and expected to be met with the same intense pain of the light around her as before but was pleasantly surprised by… nothing. She was in some sort of tube, laying on her back and able to look out only through a small windowed port that let in a gentle glow. A second later the voice was matched to a face as the woman peeked through above her, her features somewhat fuzzy as Sapphira’s eyes slowly adjusted but she could tell the woman had a half-smile as she watched Sapphira awaken.

Good, take it easy, Lindsey. We still have a few moments to spare.

A few moments later the cold had worn off and she felt unusually warm, the pain in her body growing beyond discomfort. The strange woman must have noticed somehow because she tapped the window and spoke.

Don’t worry, it will wear off soon. I had to reduce the anesthesia. That pain is your body reacting to its new muscle growth after they atrophied rapidly post-stasis. This machine made your body stronger than you ever were.

She wasn’t lying. Eventually the pain began to subside and when it had Sapphira found herself in a quiet repose. For another few moments, all was well.

There was a hissing sound as the woman unlocked the lid of the EMS tube, two clicks and the sight of steam swirling away, and then Sapphira had a view—whole and fresh—of the new world around her.

“How are you feeling?”

That voice again, this time clear. It matched to a surprisingly short and muscular lady. She had thick, amber hair cut to her shoulders and piercing hazel eyes. For some reason, as though delirious, Sapphira imagined wings would sprout from her back. She imagined a great big smile spreading across her face and a golden warmth radiating from her bosom.

“Better…” Sapphira croaked. She winced at the sound of her voice, no greater was it now than when she was first surprised by the Doctor.

“You can speak; that’s good.” The woman leaned in close. “That’s very good, Sapphira.” She picked up a menacing looking needle from a nearby tray. “From the clinical trials that came before I was told I might have to use this, a bit of epinephrine. Can’t have a multi-billion-dollar project clocking out on us for cardiac arrest, hmm?”

Sapphira nodded silently. That would indeed have been a miserable ending.

“So…” the woman shrugged. “You’re fit for action, it seems, just as Milroy requested. Only thing keeping you in that tube is a hot meal and at least one good REM cycle.”