The cargo rover threw a spray of ice crystals behind itself as it sped across the ice. Some of it hit the cockpit window of the rover behind it, which in turn threw more of the gravelly ice at the next rover in line. Andrew, sitting in the pilot's seat of his rover which was currently fourth in line, imagined he could hear it despite the vacuum insulation between the three layers of transparent material. A rustling hiss, like rainfall in the old movies. He wondered whether anyone would ever hear that sound again for real. No matter what the future had in store for the human race, it seemed unlikely.
It was the third day of their crossing of the fracture zone and he was daring to hope that the worst was behind them. They had had to use the bridge three more times, once having to use five segments to cross the wide crevasse. That bad been a bad time for Andrew. The longer the bridge was, the less weight it could carry, and although a bridge six segments long could theoretically carry the weight of a rover with ease, he still fretted and worried until the last rover was across and they were stowing the bridge segments back onto the sides of the rovers.
Another hairy moment had been crossing the join between two tilted slabs of ice, each over five kilometres across. They had been tilting down towards each other, forming a wide but thankfully shallow vee shaped valley. The slopes were gentle enough that the wheels cleats should have been able to carry them down one slope and up the other with ease, but there had been an ice storm not too long in the past and all the gravelly ice had slipped down the slope to collect at the bottom, where the two slabs came together. They estimated that it may have been as much as fifty metres thick there, but fortunately the sharp, irregularly shaped grains of water ice locked firmly together, providing them with a firm surface to drive over.
At the other end of the same slab, the tilt created a hundred metre drop down to the next slab. Undaunted, they had deployed all ten bridge segments and used them to create a ramp down the side of the cliff, with the anchor poles going sideways into the ice. The sheer drop beside them as they descended had Andrew's heart hammering with anxiety, and it was with some relief that they gathered at the base of the cliff and packed the bridge away before continuing on with their journey.
As the distant sun was setting with most of the fracture zone behind them, Andrew was feeling a very welcome sense of relief when the ice-quake hit. They were passing over a stretch of ice that was largely unbroken, with only a few small crevasses that they were able to drive over without needing a bridge, when without warning the ground lurched violently under them. Andrew was in the cockpit at the time, drinking a cup of coffee. The sudden upward thrust threw his arm downward, snatching the cup out of his hand to shatter on the floor and smashing his hand against the armrest. Gee forces kept him pinned in his seat for nearly two full seconds and then he was momentarily weightless as the upward motion of the ice suddenly ceased and the rover's momentum carried it up above the ground. Andrew, who knew what must be happening, waited in terror for the rover to come down again, wondering whether the wheels and the suspension would take the impact. It had survived the fall in Augsburg with only minor damage, of course, but even so...
The rover hit the ice with a shuddering thump and then Andrew reached out for the intercom button. The movement caused a sharp pain to shoot through his hand and he spared a moment to look at it, seeing a gash in the skin across the knuckles. Possibly a couple of broken bones in there. No time to worry about that now. He reached out for the button with his other hand. "Everyone okay?" he asked. "Susy? David?"
"Mum's hurt," came Jasmine's voice. "She hurt..."
The ground lurched again. Not as violently as the first time but Andrew forced himself to wait patiently in his seat, knowing he'd be of no help to his family if he was injured himself. Through the window, he saw Lungelo's rover thrown sideways across the ice, the cleats scratching deep furrows as it went until one of the wheels jammed in a new fissure that opened up under it.
"Ice-quake in progress," said the autopilot. No kidding, Andrew thought. "Please remain seated until the ice-quake is over. Please fasten your seat belt."
Cries of shock and alarm came over the intercom. He heard a gasp of pain coming from Jasmine and the sound of something breaking. The rover jumped and bumped as it was thrown around like a dog's toy and red lights appeared on the status panel telling him that various parts of the vehicle were suffering stress violations. He gritted his teeth and waited for it to be over.
As soon as calm returned he jumped out of his seat and ran back to the living room to find David and James looking stunned as they picked themselves up from the floor. "Dad!" gasped James. "You okay?"
Andrew ignored the question. "Where's Susan?" he asked.
He and David both glanced back towards the kitchen area and Andrew ran towards it, the two boys falling in behind. Susan was lying on the tiled floor, blood trickling from a cut to her head. Jasmine was grabbing a kitchen towel to press against it, her hand shaking. Andrew dropped to his knees beside his wife, but she was moving, raising a hand towards her head. "Susy!" he cried in relief. "You okay?"
"She was unconscious for a moment," said Jasmine, her face white. "Just for a moment."
"You okay?" asked Andrew, glancing up at his daughter.
"I'm fine," she said, but one hand went to her shoulder. Andrew guessed it would be bruised under the coverall. "It's mum..."
"I'm fine, dear," said Susan, trying to rise from the ground. Andrew put a hand to her shoulder to keep her down but before he could say anything the intercom came alive with a desperate voice.
"Help us!" said Valentina. Their rover had been at the rear of the caravan, behind the Birch rover. "We're falling into the ice! A crevasse opened under us and we fell in. Help us, please!"
Andrew looked up at the intercom speaker on the wall, then back at his wife, on the floor, torn between them. Another voice came from the intercom. "We have injuries," said Lungelo, sounding distraught. "My daughter... I can't leave her."
"I think we're okay," said Philip Badger. "A few bumps and scratches. We're suiting up. What's your situation?"
"We're inside the crevasse," said Valentina, struggling to keep her voice calm despite her fear. "Jammed above a deep drop. I don't know where Li is. The rover's vertical, he's above me somewhere. I can't climb up and he won't answer me. I don't know if he's still alive..." Her voice broke up with emotion, then steadied as she gained control of herself with what was clearly a great effort.
"Don't move," Philip told her. "Me and Joe're on our way."
"So am I," said Andrew, reaching a decision. "Look after her," he said to his children, pointing at Susan. "And look after yourselves."
"I'm coming with you," said James with determination.
Andrew started to say no, then changed his mind and nodded. He looked down at his wife one last time, reassuring himself that she was recovering full consciousness, then stood and ran to the outfitting room, followed by James.
☆☆☆
The Yang rover wasn't visible at first. They had to walk across the ice to see the wide crevasse that had opened up in what had previously been a flat, unbroken surface. The ground thrummed and trembled under their feet as gigantic stresses continued to relieve themselves somewhere deep below the surface. Andrew desperately prayed that another ice-quake wouldn't hit while they were outside.
