It was very cramped yet at the same time very cold for Kyle in the newly constructed housing unit. He shared it with George, his old pal from university, and four others. The only bed in the room was a single bunk-bed meaning three of them had to sleep on the ground. They took turns on the beds and one of them slept in the bathtub. There was no running water, the pipelines had all froze due to power issues, so no need to worry about getting wet sleeping in there. On the desk by the window, they had placed a hastily constructed iron brazier filled with coal that they would burn for heat. The window was kept open a crack to let the smoke out. This was actually quite important, there had been reports of a few people who had died from suffocation at night because they hadn’t done so.
Morning shift started at 0730. Kyle slept in his work clothes for both convenience and warmth. At around 0700 their alarms went off and they got ready. Upon opening the door to their small housing unit, he was blasted in the face with icy winds.
He exclaimed and shivered as he pushed his way forward onto the fresh snow that had collected overnight. Technically there was no real “night” as they were in one of the 6 months where the sun was shining all day. But they still followed a conventional clock and followed a schedule when sleeping.
“You never get used to it do ya,"said George behind him, voice trembling. A few of the others grunted in response.
Kyle merely nodded as he scanned the skies. Dark foreboding clouds had gathered around the direction of 110°E. It had pretty much snowed non-stop since they started their journey at McMurdo station. Even now as they slowly made their way to the thin trail of smoke marking the kitchen area near the omni-generator, flurries sprinkled down upon them. To the left, he could see their neighbors exiting their abode to follow in the trail their bootsteps had forged.
As they got to the dining area, a line had already begun to form. The place was a bare roof over a number of benched tables. There were no walls, but they had affixed transparent plastic flaps to the sides to stave off the wind. He opened the flap and stepped into the area, he was confronted with the delicious aroma of chicken broth potato and vegetable stew.
“Get some hot stew in ya, lads! While supplies last,"a slight woman bundled up in an overly large heavy coat was manning the soup vat. She gave him a wink. “How’s the day going for ye, Kyle?”
“It ain’t hardly started yet,"Kyle grunted, “But it’s going alright so far.” He gave her a crooked smile. “How about yourself?”
“Eh, same old”, she responded as she ladled stew into his proffered thermos. “Can’t complain too much, least I ain’t freezing my ass off like you fellows.”
“Well, it was good seeing ye, Lydia,"he responded. He took the thermos from her and trudged over to find a table to sit at.
“Oh look who’s suddenly a ladies’ man!” said George, nudging him as they sat down at black plastic bench. “Ain’t heard a peep from you all morning and now looks like we got ourselves a Romeo here.”
“Well y’know me,"said Kyle with a grin, “I’ve got me ways.”
As they tucked into their stew, they were suddenly interrupted by the approaching sound of a soft hymn. The chorus grew louder as a large group of fifteen workers approached, humming together a heavenly tune.
“Oh fuck me not these guys again,"Kyle scowled. “Let's get out of here before they start.”
One of their other roommates, a rather skinny man by the name of Paul, chastised him. “Hey, don't be so contemptuous. We’re at the end of the world here, Lord knows we need all the help we can get.”
“Oh rubbish! Any work we do here, we do by our own two hands. The Lord ain’t got nothing to do with it,"replied Kyle disdainfully.
“All I’m sayin’ is you should be more open minded,"said Paul, “The Lord punished us for our hubris, but at the same time he has blessed us with the Gifted to help be the light in our time of need.” Kyle gave George a sideways glance. The man continued, “Just hear them out, you’ll see.”
“I hear them out every goddamn morning, always making a damn ruckus,"Kyle screwed the top of his half empty thermos shut as he got up. He and George made for the rear entrance of the large tented area, pushing aside the plastic flap just as a loud voice began proclaiming about the power of the lord and how his messengers, the Gifted, were sent to bless them. A few onlookers murmured in assent as they stepped into the freezing cold once more.
Kyle checked his watch: 0723. Might as well get a head start on the day. He trudged toward the supply tent as George shuffled after him. As they approached, they could see stacks upon stacks of darksteel rods piled under gray tarps. Darksteel was a relatively new material invented at the beginning of the century. It was lighter and more durable, less likely to rust. A massive curved piece had been planted upright in the snow to partially shield the rest from the elements. This had most likely been from one of the ice-crawler outer hulls that they had deconstructed for material, it would most likely later be used for one of the omni-generator protector shells or perhaps a segment of a greenhouse base.
A voice called out to them. “Morning lads!”
They both turned to look at a red faced man with glittering eyes and a white overgrown mustache stomping toward them.
“Eyyy! Taskmaster Jones,"George replied, reaching out to give him a one-armed hug, clapping him on the back. “Ain’t seen ya since McMurdo!”
“When didja both arrive? How am I only just seeing you now?”
“Well, I’d say round two days ago? We’ve been on fast track training,"replied Kyle. “Only been a coupla hauling shifts so far.”
“Well I hopes your training’s up to snuff. We need some welders today for a special task. Governess’s orders,"Jones said. Behind them there was a sudden rushing noise and a loud FWOOM. Smoke began billowing from the direction of the omni-generator. “There she goes, looks like the work day’s started.”
Bells began ringing at different locations shepherding people to the work stations. Heat began emanating from the various thermal channels at the worksites while the living quarters began frosting up as power was diverted.
“What's this about welders?” George asked.
“Well in preparation for the upcoming storm, the Governess wants us to set up two storm shields around the generators along with enclosed walkways leading from them to the living quarters,"The taskmaster explained, “Worst comes to worst, we need the generators to be working.”
They met up with their team leader, a rather young looking fellow with glasses by the name of Keith, and the rest of their crew and began loading up an electric load hauler with darksteel. A construction crane and an automaton were also brought along to help with the generator barrier.
“It don’t have to be pretty, we’ll most likely tear it down after the storm,"explained their team leader as the ten of them followed him and the load hauler truck to the work site. The two generators were located at separate locations each with a circle of habitats around them. The nuclear reactor had more buildings as it could support more, but the omni-generator was where they were now headed.
They were the first to arrive. They stomped around a bit and prepared the area as Keith pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and pulled out a tablet. He began tapping on it, studying the blueprints sent to himself, muttering to himself. He nodded and looked up. Then, he began pointing and barking out orders. The work had begun.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
***
Kyle found himself suspended around 60 meters above the ground. He had a laser welder in hand and a welding mask on. With his free hand he was holding steady against a large metal plate being held in place by a large spidery construction automaton. For the most part, the wall skeleton frame had been put together at remarkable speeds by the construction automatons. Now all he had to do was stick surface plates onto it to make it more or less airtight. The blizzard barrier wasn’t tall enough to cover the whole generator, but it kept most of the winds off it. Their major concern was if the winds were strong enough, they could blow something loose that might collide with the generator.
At this height, Kyle could feel the grasp of the oncoming storm. Snow pelted his face as he struggled to maintain his grasp on the laser and avoid lasering his own hand. The tether attached to his harness and the crane behind him whipped about, creaking and groaning but he paid it no mind. He didn’t bother worrying about it snapping because should that happen, well, he wouldn’t have concern himself with much of anything else anymore. Now if he accidentally welded his hand to the wall, he would be a cripple for most likely the rest of his life. Especially now that there were no nanomachines to regrow it; that would be a huge pain.
His clothes tore against him as he waited for the brunt of the wind to subside for just long enough for him to weld the metal panel into position. Then he poked at the controls for the construction crane causing it to move him a few meters to the right. The automaton followed from below, jerking along with a pile of darksteel panels balanced precariously on its flat body. It grinded to a loud halt before raising another piece onto the framework structure for him to weld on. It had been this same routine for the past 6 hours or so. Every 45 min there would be a shift change so the person hanging from the rope wouldn’t freeze to death.
“Bit nippy today innit?” hollered George as he swung in from the right. He was dangling from a tether of his own. “Least we're almost done, we’ve done the panels from that other direction we just gotta get this last piece in.”
“Ain’t we working doubles today though?” asked Kyle, giving the snow that had collected on his mask a quick brush.
“Aye, hopefully we’ll probably be sent down to excavations. Gov’ness wants us to get a head start on coal extraction. Let the other teams finish up the walkways”
“Eh… that’d be pretty decent, least we’ll be out of this damn cold. I think I may be out another toe at this rate,"he wiggled his toes a bit, or tried to. He couldn’t really tell what was going on down there; there was pretty much no sensation at all.
“Alright, I think that’s it," George said as they secured the last piece onto the storm barrier. “You guys need us for anything or can we come down now?” he hollered to Keith who was peering up at them with a furrowed brow.
Keith looked down at his tablet and back up at them a few times, then nodded slowly. “Nope, yup! I think we’re all set here lads. Good work.”
Kyle tapped on his wrist pad for a moment, telling the automaton to put the rest of the darksteel onto the ground and enter rest mode. He relinquished remote control of it to Keith. However just as he was about to lower himself to the ground, he heard a loud whirring grinding sound. He was then struck by the pungent fumes of burning rotten eggs. He spun around on the tether just in time to see the automaton overheat, its flat core was on fire while balancing precariously on its spindly legs. Cries went out as people down below shouted panicked warnings. It sputtered and sparked before igniting entirely. Then it exploded.
Kyle could feel himself thrown backward flopping about helplessly on the tether. A jagged metal fragment flew straight at his face then inexplicably curved away, just narrowly nicking his cheek.
He swung back like a pendulum as the automaton toppled to the ground. He suddenly felt like his head was splitting. The world grew dark.
***
The world was black…Then, a flash of light.
BOOM!
The thunder crashed against Becca’s eardrums as she wrestled with a sandbag. The storm had been far more intense than they had expected. Sheets of rain poured down upon them. The sheer violence of the darkness struck her to the core. Waves exploded upon the massive pillars of the drilling rig. The man-made structure, which had seemed so solid before, now felt like nothing more than a brittle leaf in a harsh autumn breeze.
The few lanterns they had strung up to illuminate the paths floundered in the night, their beams visible only from a few feet away. It was almost as if the light itself was being drowned out by the darkness pouring from the heavens.
They had to sandbag up a barrier to keep the water out of the farm plots on the lower levels. Another flash from the skies, their only source of illumination. She could see other dark forms twisting in the night alongside her. She checked her safety harness for the umpteenth time to make sure she wasn’t washed overboard into the unrelenting sea.
Another wave swept onto the platform, waist high knocking her against the sandbag barrier they were building. Someone near her lost their footing. She reached out to grab them before the waves could drag them away. It was a slender young man with messy pale blonde hair.
“Thanks Miss!” He took her hands into his, looking into her eyes gratefully. “For a sec I thought I was going for a swim.”
“Where’s your safety–?” she began before she was interrupted by another flash and blast from the heavens. “Where’s your safety harness??” she yelled.
“Oh that?” he looked around in a rather airheaded manner, “I’m not too sure to be honest.”
“Wait really? In this storm? Aren’t you worried you’ll get thrown off by a wave??” Becca yelled over the wind.
“Haha yeaah…” He laughed, “Huh… Guess I probably would’ve died if you hadn’t grabbed me.”
“Go inside and get one! Before you die or something!” She replied with concern. “Here, grab my tether and trace it back to the station!” Just then, another wave crashed into them knocking them off their feet. The man was still holding onto her safety-line causing her to be pulled with him.
The world spun around her as she tried to get her bearings. Her breath had gotten knocked out of her and she struggled to figure out which way was up. Suddenly she felt a strong arm scoop her up from behind, stabilizing her.
“What the hell are you two doing?” came a commanding tone in her ear. It was James. “Eric why the hell don’t you have a safety harness on?”
Eric coughed and sputtered, still holding onto Becca’s safety-tether. “Uh well they told me to come put sandbags on so I just sort of came.” He shook his head trying to clear the water out of his matted blonde hair.
“Get the harness before you try to drown another crew member please,"James said, pointing to a building on their far left.
“On it, boss,"Eric stumbled away, but not before giving Becca a quick grin and a thank-you wave.
Becca squirmed a bit in James’s grasp. “I can stand on my own now, thanks.”
“And you!” James looked down at her eyes blazing, “Look I get that you want to help others, but think of yourself first!”
Becca pried herself out of his grip, “Look, a tether can hold at least 600 pounds. That’s more than enough!”
Another massive rolling wave approached them sweeping onto the platform. James planted himself in the way and put his arms on either side of her, taking the brunt of its force. “Look just…! I don’t know what I would do if you…Just stay safe ok?” His eyes met hers, even in the darkness she could tell he was concerned for her. She was surprised. He looked away. “We’ve gotta finish this barrier or the soil’s going to get washed away. We can’t really replace that in the middle of the sea.”
“Y-yeah otherwise we’re going to have to eat algae for the rest of eternity”, she replied, suddenly feeling rather self-conscious for some reason. But there was no time to feel the emotions, she sloshed over to the supply station and grabbed another sandbag.
Normally the waves wouldn’t even reach their platform. It was originally 20 meters above sea level; a height at which waves shouldn’t even touch the platform. However, due to climate change, the waters had slowly risen since the rig was built. With this massive hurricane, the waves became monstrous. They had tried to tie down as much as they could, but things kept getting swept loose. Becca had to pull James aside as a steel crate full of metal parts swept loose flying past them and colliding into a building.
Finally, they managed to finish building the sandbag barrier on their side, keeping most of the waves from reaching the crops in the middle. James pulled out a whistle and blew it at short intervals, signaling everyone to meet back at the mess hall.
“After you”, he gestured to Becca with his arm. She splashed after the others as he came up from behind, doing a quick head count. They all made it, at least those in their group. Pretty lucky, all circumstances considered.
The twelve members of their group all plodded into the large eating area, dripping water as they went. Eric was already there at one of the tables with hot drinks ready. She gratefully took one of them and plopped down next to him as James sat down on the other side of her. She saw her roommate Lizzie sitting at the other end of the table. They had all survived, somehow. She breathed a sigh of relief. They would have to assess the damages tomorrow, but at least the group was all here.
At least for tonight.