(The Sequel to Black Diamonds)
‘God it is cold out here’ Brian thought. He would have shouted it out if his teeth not been chattering so much. He paused for a moment and cast his eyes around; snow at least a foot deep covered everything in every direction. What passed for trees on this frozen rock added shadows to the already dark night, the small moon that hung in the sky was casting a very pale light that seemed to fail to reflect the snow upon which he stood.
He looked down at his flight suit and wished, not for the first or last time, that the Earth Defence Force had sprung the money up for heated ones. “‘You know that they thought pilots would never need to be walking around on frozen alien planets” he cursed and stamped his frozen feet. “Must get moving” he told himself, and after stamping his feet again, he set off.
His goal apart from the obvious was to get off this rock and back to the warmth of civilisation, and then to find the escape craft of the hauler he had been escorting.
“All in all it hasn’t been a good day” he complained through chattering teeth, as once more he plodded onwards.