Astronomicon: Icarus

8 - Recovery

The three-man team on the asteroid were huddled behind the stack of metre-wide ore bags. It would not offer much protection, but it felt much better than just being out in the open. The Icarus had pulled back to a distance of four kilometres from the asteroid, unable to do more now than just wait for the rogue asteroids to arrive.

Felix had rotated the Icarus to face the mining team and was now focused on the radar screen. Its detailed display of the asteroids around them was augmented with information from the hazard detection system. The two rogue asteroids were not only highlighted in strobing red, but their projected paths were drawn out as dotted amber lines.

There were mere seconds left before the smaller rogue reached the asteroid. Felix looked out through the clear canopy, searching for the larger rogue. If the hazard detection system was accurate, the asteroid should pass approximately three kilometres in front of the Icarus, crossing harmlessly between the ship and the asteroid.

The faint pipping sound of the tracking system got steadily louder as the two rogues approached. Felix spotted the larger rogue moments before it sailed silently past, rolling slowly end-over-end as it did so. Distances were deceptive in space. The hazard detection system confirmed that its closest approach to the Icarus was 2,977 metres, but without the blurring haze of an atmosphere, objects just looked smaller rather than further away. The jagged, sausage-shaped asteroid looked just like a much smaller object passing within a few metres of the nose of the ship.

Seconds later the second, smaller rogue, also flew into view and smashed straight into the near side of the mining asteroid. The collision point was thankfully hundreds of metres away from the sheltering miners, leaving them completely untouched but shaken by the tremor which rocked the whole asteroid. The rogue asteroid shattered into several jagged fragments, each spinning off in different directions, scattering small shards and rock dust.

Felix did not realise he had been holding his breath until he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the mining team were safe. The fragments of the smashed asteroid bounced away in no danger of passing near the miners. The hazard detection system took a moment to reassess the new smaller hazards and then set about plotting their predicted courses. Several of the resulting paths passed close to Icarus' current position, but no collisions were expected. He was about to relax when the radio crackled into life again.

"Icarus. Icarus. We've got problems here," said Iolo, sounding out of breath.

Felix grabbed the microphone again, "What's the problem, guys?"

"That impact has altered the rotation of this asteroid. We've felt several tremors afterwards. We're going to start packing up the rig. I think we need a pick up as soon as possible."

"Roger. I'll get us over to you as fast as I can, but I've got a lot of small debris between us right now."

"We're retracting the drill now. Should have it packed away within six or seven minutes."

"Okay," replied Felix. "I'll see what I can do."

He studied the radar display, trying to work out what path he could take to avoid hitting any of the major debris left by the impact. It was a few moments before he realised that the hazard detection system was quite capable of doing that task for him. Reaching for the hazard detection system's screen, he pressed on the asteroid where the mining team were with his fingertip and a blue highlight immediately appeared around it. Almost immediately a range of possible paths through the moving debris was displayed, the safest in green, the most tricky in amber.

The radio crackled again, and a different voice spoke this time, "We've got serious cracks! Icarus, this rock is coming apart. We need a pick-up right NOW!"