Ice

Yesterday, we reviewed Rei's plan to punch a hole through the atmosphere of Deucado at the beginning of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution. His idea was to open up a PPT tunnel with the exit point exactly the height of the Ark II so that as it made it through, it would touch down on the planet's surface as softly as possible. One thing Rei did not count on was that the Ark was sitting at the temperature of space and any moisture in the atmosphere would freeze instantly upon contact. As if there weren't enough anxiety to be had, this jumped the stress-o-meter up even higher:

     “You can’t…” Rei stopped speaking. Their nose was entering the tunnel and they were looking straight down into the trees. Rocks and branches were banging off them right and left. The powerful wind buffeted their ship and the tinted windshield was starting to ice up.
     “What is that? Rome, what’s going on? What’s happening?” Rei asked. “Are we dead?”
     Rome looked at the instrument panel. “The tug is sitting at minus 80 degrees Celsius, the temperature of space this close to the star Tau Ceti. That must be atmospheric moisture condensing on the ship,” Rome called out.
     As soon as their tail was clear of the tunnel, Rome pulled back savagely on both sticks and they could feel the nose beginning to rotate as the trim-jets fired and tug struggled to right itself. The windshield was now covered with frost so thick that they could not make out anything. Rome slammed the throttle forward to force the repulsor field to push them away from the rapidly approaching canopy of trees and try and get level. She fired the plasma thrusters briefly, jolting them back in their seats then cut them out. Even though they could not see, it felt like they were level to Rei but his pilot’s instincts told him not to trust his senses.
     Rei leaned forward and wiped at the windshield in front him, ineffectively, because the ice was on the outside.
     “Can you see where the Ark is coming down?” Rei shouted.
     “No. I must move off a safe distance then we will come back around when we can see again,” Rome replied in a level voice. “Can you activate the MIDAR?”
     “I don’t know,” Rei said. He leaned forward to press a few icons but had to stop as Rome pulled back on both sticks and the tug lurched ahead, gaining altitude. They could hear branches and other debris striking the underside of their craft but they could feel themselves going up. Soon, the scraping noises subsided and though they were flying blind, Rei knew they were in clear air. Rome studied the displays, trying to get herself oriented. Just then they heard a tremendous crash.

Sadly, MINIMCOM had already made up his mind to sacrifice himself. More on that tomorrow.