Rain
There was a light bump that brought him to, a sort of ping through the hull. His first reaction was that a meteorite had made it through the force field. But then Lieutenant Keathley realized he was in the dark and totally disoriented and for some reason he was not able to move. He was restricted from moving and he felt he couldn’t breathe. For a moment he was beginning to panic, the helplessness of claustrophobia washing over his nervous system. Things were pressing against him from all directions, but he took a deep breath and was relieved that he was able to actually do it.
He didn’t know what to do but finally called out, “Help!” thinking
to himself that it was pretty silly thing to do, as there was no one to hear
him. But the effect was almost immediate. The computer recognized his voice.
It must have decided that it there was no additional chance of continued impact
and deactivated the crash protection system. The pressure against him started
to abate and glimmers of light started to appear in the corners of his vision.
It was only a few seconds but it seemed to take forever for the large air filled
cushions to deflate and leave him unencumbered. Even after centuries of technology,
science still had not found a more effective way of cushioning a crash landing
then the use of large balloons. They had been used for planetary landings since
the early Mars probes and later expeditions several centuries earlier. No water
to land on? Make your own bubbles.