100 Words a Day 940

Everyone turned when they heard the scream, grabbing their rope and digging in. There was only a hole in the ice where James should have been. Scott yanked furiously on his rope, finding that it ended in a rough cut rather than his friend’s safety harness. Heedless of the danger, he rushed to the hole and looked down. It was dark.

“James!” he shouted.

No response.

He felt a strange sensation beneath him. Looking up, he saw the solid ice appeared to shift and change, the hole slowly closing. Scott grabbed his ice ax and began chipping at the ice.

100 Words a Day 939

They stood in the airlock and waited for the giant locks to disengage, allowing them to enter the station. The mechanisms must have been damaged in the explosion; a tremendous grinding accompanied the normally smooth operation of the door.  Once the door had shut behind them, Natalie checked the environmental sensors on her wrist.

“All clear,” she said, removing her helmet.

The crew did likewise, attaching their helmets to the backs of their suits and looking around the immediate area. The section they were in was largely intact, only the lack of people and disheveled appearance indicated something was amiss.

100 Words a Day 938

When they orbited to the other side of the planet they were able to see the devastation caused by the reactor failure. The damage was visible as a great, black splotch on the verdant greens and blues that covered the planet. Since the failure, the black blight of radiation had been spreading slowly across the planet’s largest continent. The inhabitants had left for other landmasses or new star systems. The rest of the planet was simply holding its breath, hoping the large oceans will protect them from the spreading poison. A vocal faction insisted that something needed to be done.