“Ron,” Allen chirped, “It has been five hours and fifty minutes since the solar flare began!”

  “Oh, thank god.” Ron sighed and put down his book, then looked out the window to his left. The moon itself was mostly unchanged--maybe a little less white, and now covered in small spikes reaching up towards the flare, but still icy and bright. Everything else, on the other hand, was wildly different. The sky was awash with light, glowing every color of the rainbow, and reflecting off the vapor sprays in the atmosphere. Auroras and plumes were visible everywhere, even through the shielded glass of the somnibay. They were so strong that Ron couldn’t even see the stars behind them. If he were to step outside and look at the ice, he knew it would be like staring straight into the headlights of his rover. “Estimates?”

  “I expect the large flare to fully pass in under thirty minutes, but communication with the drills will likely take more than four hours, and communication with the habitats more than seven. It seems my previous estimates were optimistic.”

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  Ron watched the trees and grass sway in the minor wind the others had introduced. Most of the plants drooped and wilted, turning gray and black in places once white. Whole portions of previously healthy trees were bare of leaves, and huge swathes of grass fell dead. The energy was far too much for them to withstand, even with their modifications. He suspected that even after the first flare passed, little vegetation would survive the coming days of constant radiation.

  Suddenly, a line of light cut through the rest of the sky, streaking into view above the moon. The light grew brighter and brighter, while the glowing trail behind it widened. Ron barely had time to blink before it was gone, and then he was blasted off his feet.

  [5] hours and [53] minutes