Saturn as seen from Titan, painting by Chesley Bonestell

Saturn as seen from Titan, painting by Chesley Bonestell
Favorite astronomical painting

Monday, June 14, 2010

Fifth segment of my SF story

The snow puffed from under his boot soles as he landed with each long stride. Cramer’s mind link overrode safety protocols but couldn’t block the impending suit failure messages when his time dipped below five minutes. His legs, like lead, surprised him since he expected a sudden failure of heating in his suit. The lithium batteries, when depleted, would lose their power quickly, but under freezing conditions the voltage would plunge to zero like a switch had turned them off. Perhaps his mind played tricks on him, the way sympathy pains hit when listening to somebody describe in graphic detail their medical procedures or ailments. Maybe his mind also fed him images he wanted to see, such as Mona and her approach with the rover. He held onto that image because it was the last one he had as his suit became very cold. He toppled forward into the snow.

I know it was short but you'll have to wait until next Monday for another segment. Thanks for reading. Laurie, I left you a comment on the last segment, a brief answer to your question. Larry

1 comment:

Laurean Brooks said...

Arggghhh! A cliff-hanger ending! How could you? LOL

I love this story!