A Cold Black Wave Read Online Free PDF

perilous road into the deepest unknown mankind could ever imagine.
     
    The shuttle computed a trajectory that would allow it to descend through the atmosphere without turning into a giant fireball.  Gravity reached out its irresistible grip and pulled their shuttle towards destruction.  Instead of being torn apart and bursting into flames, the shuttle angled its nose properly, and a white trail streaked across the sky as moisture from the engines crystallized in the freezing mesosphere.
     
    Josh and Leah were in the process of reanimation as their shuttle tore through the sky.  The port side wing had been compromised long ago by space debris; minute rocks spewed forth from an exploding star, having punched holes in it through and through.  The shuttle couldn’t correct its course properly due to the extra drag being induced from the holes and peeled layers of metal, and the console lit up with warnings.  The projected landing sight was now impossible to achieve as proper adjustments could not be made.  The onboard computer processed a new course based on its inability to adjust for the drag tha t pulled the shuttle to the right .
     
    The shuttle roared in low over a desert of evergreen trees, the blazing engine engulfing the tops with fiery orange flame that consumed dozens of trees per second.  The shuttle desperately maneuvered above the pinetops to keep from crashing at such a speed as to turn the entire thing into pieces spread about the land.
     
    The damage on the port side wing succumbed to airborne stress and sheered off at the tip.  The shuttle careened to the right as it favored the remaining intact wing, dipping and brushing the canopy below with the right wing shearing off the crowns.  The computer rebalanced the engines to give the shuttle more tilt to the left but there was little the computer could do to compensate for the structural damage.  Just as it passed over a clearing, the shuttle nosed up as the belly landed hard in the soft, loamy soil of a clover field.
     
    It ground through the green matted landscape and left a blackened furrow three hundred yards behind it as it ripped apart everything in its path, sending dirt and roots and small trees aside.
     
    Once it came to a rest, t he engines smoldered and smoked under the afterglow of an evening sun.  Steam mixed with the black smoke and wafted into the still sky with the engine giving off staccato pops as it cooled against the frigid air.  The sudden cacophony of the crash was immediately followed by a tombly silence.  Inside, Josh and Leah remained unaware of their predicament and miraculously intact.
     
    Warm blood flowed through their veins as the dying computer diverted the last vestiges of the shuttles energy to resuscitate them.
     
    Two days passed as Josh and Leah slowly returned to consciousness.  Josh was the first to awaken.  All he could see were blurry outlines and his body felt stiff, slow, as if he were underwater.  Josh instinctively reached out with both hands, his mind so slushy and disoriented that it couldn’t piece together a single cohesive thought.  When his hands clumsily pressed against the glass, he couldn’t figure out what it was or why he was touching it.
     
    Leah came to in the same way, and they both fumbled about in their chambers for nearly another day.  When Josh’s mental faculties returned, he was able to locate the release valve and open the glass chamber.  He righted himself straight and his momentum nearly toppled him over the other way.  The air inside was cold and crisp, the shuttle now allowing outside air to flow in.  Josh violently coughed and hacked as the air hit his lungs and pain flayed every nerve ending in his body.
     
    He focused on Leah who was trying gently to figure out how to get out of the glass chamber.  He almost collapsed to the floor when he stood, but caught himself and found some strength in his legs to stand up next to her.  He reached over and pulled the