Pushing Ice

by Alastair Reynolds

As Bella well knew, incident pits were underwater situations that turned bad in little increments. Each small step—almost inconsequential in themselves—took one ever deeper into a pit with ever-steepening sides. Near the top, there was still time to reverse the situation and get out. Deeper in, options thinned out fast.

Cowards were exactly the kind of people you wanted around nuclear technology.