Runaway World

The Fracture Zone

     "Is it the big switch with the word 'autopilot' over it?"

     Andrew was forced to smile. "That's it," he said. "The tracking system's already on, it'll follow the path left by the others. If, for any reason, it starts to go astray just shut the engine off and holler. You got that?"

     "Got it," the boy replied.

     Susan, meanwhile, had been examining the rest of Andrew's body and applying thermal cream where necessary. "Why don't you go up there and make sure he's okay?" she suggested. "You might as well." There was a determined look on her face that warned him not to even think about putting his surface suit back on. "Just don't sit down. You'll smear the cream."

     "Right," said Andrew, deciding to accept the inevitable. He turned to Jasmine. "Be careful out there," he said. "If you get ice lodged in your armour, get back in right away. Don't be like me. I'm an idiot. You understand?"

     "You're not an idiot, Dad," Jasmine told him. "But I won't take any chances. I promise."

     She went back to the outfitting room. Susan started to follow her and Andrew grabbed her elbow to stop her. "Where are you going?" he asked.

     "I'm not letting my daughter go out there alone," she replied. "I've got just as much surface experience as you have."

     That was true, he had to admit, and so he just nodded unhappily. She reached out to squeeze his hand and smile, then followed Jasmine into the next room.

     "I think mum missed a couple of spots," said James, looking his father's body up and down. "Stand there and I'll do you."

     Andrew nodded silently. James squeezed a small drop of paste onto his finger and applied it gently to a spot near the base of his spine.

☆☆☆

     All the rovers crossed the bridge without incident, and then it took another hour to recover the bridge, separate and fold up the three sections and stow them away on the sides of the rovers. Then they drove on, towards the line of cryo-volcanoes that were still out of sight beyond the horizon.

     "I hope there aren't too many crevasses like that," said Jasmine as James applied thermal cream to the frost nipped spots on her back. She had pulled her hair around to the front of her body to keep it from getting in the way.

     "Well," said Andrew as he performed the same task for Susan. "It's not called the fracture zone for nothing."

     Susan kept looking at Jasmine's body, he noticed. His wife was growing increasingly self conscious of the lines and wrinkles that were starting to appear on her body, especially in the stomach area. Andrew still found her unbelievably beautiful, but that cut little ice with Susan who had her daughter right there in the rover to compare herself to.

     "That looked like a recent fracture," he added, "which I take to be a good sign. It means there was an ice-quake quite recently, which will hopefully have relieved the stress in the ice. It means we might be able to get through the Charlie Gibbs gap without another ice-quake."

     "Who was Charlie Gibbs anyway?" asked Jasmine.

     "No idea," said Andrew. "Probably some scientist from before The Freeze." He gave his wife's body one last looking over. "I think you're done," he said. "You came off quite lightly compared to me and Jim."

     "The ice storm seemed to be lessening," she said. "I think it's ending."

     "Good," said Andrew. "And good riddance."