Deep Black: A Near Earth Second Contact Colonization Odyssey (Infinite Sky Book 2) by Samuel Best

Author:Samuel Best [Best, Samuel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sky City
Published: 2019-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

33

Jeff stepped into a world of white.

As far as he could see, nothing but white. He turned around to look at the lander to make sure it wasn’t his eyesight that had failed. The vessel was battered, resting with its nose slightly in the air against a large boulder of ice, but it was still in one piece. One of the landing sleds had snapped off, and the remaining sled rested at a crooked angle. Several gleaming, dented scrapes marred the pitch-black exterior.

Jeff took a few hesitant steps on the hard ground. It had a texture like sandpaper, and seemed to be covered by a thin layer of white powder. While the ground was made of ice, it wasn’t smooth. Its surface was jagged and sharp, as if someone had chipped away at it with an ice pick.

Jeff knew something was off right away. He tapped Dex’s shoulder and waited for him to turn around.

“The pressure is wrong,” said Jeff loudly, hoping Dex could read his lips. “Should be harder to move.”

Dex didn’t look as if he understood. Jeff shrugged, motioning for him to forget it.

He took another step, then awkwardly flapped his arms as if he were doing jumping jacks as fast as he could. Titan’s surface pressure should have been one-hundred-and-sixty percent of Earth’s, yet Jeff felt no extra weight. With his eyes closed, he wouldn’t be able to tell if he were walking around on Earth or on Titan.

“Gravity's way off,” Jeff added. “It should feel like we're bouncing around on our own moon.” He hopped in place. “This feels like Earth.”

He searched for a horizon line in the distance, staring at one spot in the vast sheet of white, but could see nothing. There was no way to determine where they had landed. Jeff only knew of two landmarks on the surface by which to judge his location: the lake he had fallen into and the alien construction site, and neither of those were visible. He tapped Dex on the shoulder again and motioned that he was going to walk around to the other side of the lander. Dex nodded and followed him.

Jeff stopped to look inside the thrusters. They were filled with ice. He tried to scoop some out with his gloved hands, but it was frozen solid against the interior wall of the boosters.

“Dunno how we’re gonna get this thing off the ground,” he muttered.

He and Dex stopped again after they walked around to the other side. In the distance, a single column of dark gray smoke rose into the sky.

A hand fell on Jeff’s shoulder and he jumped in his suit. He spun around to see Ward bent over, hands on his knees, breathing hard, fogging his face shield. Ward stood upright and said something to Jeff, then grew impatient when he realized Jeff couldn’t hear him and motioned for him to turn around. Still confused, Jeff obeyed, turning back to face the distant column of smoke.

He could feel Ward manipulating something on the back of his oxygen pack.

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