10. Failure To Communicate -

Elias reached for the override anyway, his mind racing. If he pulled it, they might stabilize. If he didn't, they were definitely dead.

He shook his head, pressing his face against the glass. He pointed to the stabilizer readout鈥攁 flashing red 'Critical'鈥攁nd then to the manual override lever across the room. He needed to know if the exterior bolts were locked before he pulled it, or the whole module would shear off the cliffside.

The floor groaned. The last bolt gave way. As the module tilted toward the abyss, Elias realized her frantic gestures hadn't been technical reports at all. She had been waving goodbye. 10. Failure to Communicate

He checked the external monitors. Sarah was out there. She was supposed to be securing the perimeter sensors, but her tether was frayed, whipped by winds that could strip paint off a hull. She was gesturing wildly, her gloved hands slicing through the orange haze.

Sarah stopped moving. She looked at him, her posture sagging with a sudden, heavy exhaustion. She held up a small, jagged piece of metal鈥攖he locking pin. It had snapped. Elias reached for the override anyway, his mind racing

Elias keyed the internal comms. "Sarah, your suit radio is down. Use the hand signals we practiced. Are the stabilizers holding?"

The intercom gave one final, clear chirp鈥攁 system error鈥攁nd then the world went quiet. He shook his head, pressing his face against the glass

The intercom crackled, but only static came through. Elias stared at the console, his thumb hovering over the transmit button. Outside the reinforced glass of the observation deck, the storm on Kepler-186f was a swirling wall of iron-rich dust, turning the sky the color of a fresh bruise.