Resurrection

The deafening silence hung over me like a poison fog. Enveloping me in a shroud of suffocation. The silence was absolute, not even the sound of my own heartbeat could be heard. Opening my eyes didn’t help either, as it only displayed the sheer level of my direly hopeless situation. Suspended in the fluid of the recovery chamber with countless probes monitoring my vital signs, i looked out through glass wall in front of me as tiny bubbles fizzled in front of my eyes, percolating from the gap between my face and the respirator mask. Being suspended like an experimental lab rat, this was the only way to keep me alive, as all other methods had gone south on me.
We were the first crew of settlers to inhabit the small satellite orb of Datunis in the Fryggs star system. Shouldering the responsiblity of terraforming Datunis for the second crew of settlers, we had a timeline of 250 earth days before reinforcements arrived. The presence subterranean bioradioactive ore proved to be a valuable mineral for power generation and other ancillary utilities. Handling it was risky, as the ore was a symbiotic infusion between a fungal growth and a rocky crystal. Gaianyx, as we christened it, required a very powerful “magnetic cauldron” to achieve hyperthermic fusion reactions, very much like a hydrogen fusion reaction. I spearheaded the r&d team, for harnessing the raw power of the crystal. The Nyx reactor can well be termed my brainchild. To think that it would be the cause of my near demise.
We had been working 10 days straight when the Nyx reactor started complicating. The bio sludge removal system was corroding under the effect of the bioradioactivity, affecting the structural integrity of the reactor. Until that night, which victimised two engineers and myself. Despite our best efforts, the cauldron was overheating, leading to cacophonic vibrations and multiple leaks venting superheated gas. Before long it gave way, and i was caught dead centre in the blast wave. Superheated plasma coupled with magnetic energy. All i could feel was the scorching of my skin and the shrill whistle in my ears rising to a deafening crescendo, before i blacked out.
When i came to, i was suspended in the glowing blue fluid. Extensive charring coupled with shattered eardrums, i was immobilised in terms of movement, hearing and balance. After the initial panic stemming from claustrophobia and suffocation, i calmed down, resigned to my helpless fate. Even the rest of the crew were handicapped, and we all realised that only the next shipment of crewmen and supplies could determine my bleak future.

© Auro_03012016