For the hundreth time, Luisa silently thanked the designers of the cryo pods for the sound insulation provided.  What wasn't hidden from her was the manner in which the<em>Exodius</em>was literally being torn apart as it entered an atmosphere, something its designers had never anticipated.  Luisa could feel the tortuous vibrations as the hull and bulkheads fought against pressures, gravity and tremendous heat.<br/><br/>Luisa closed her eyes and quietly murmured, "What will be will be."  Knowing that her father would have frowned upon such a fatalistic view, Luisa smiled and then wimpered a little at the thought of her parents being told that she had died in a fiery inferno many light years from Mars...<em>would they ever find out? Who would know what had happed to the Exodius?</em><br/><br/>She sensed as much as felt the initial impact of the spaceship into the surface of the alien world, and impact that implied a slowing of time as the ship literally compacted in on itself...then the vibrations intensified and Lusia watched dumbfounded as several rivets holding her safety harness together stretched and then popped.  The canvas straps dug painfully into her naked flesh, the negative g-forces forcing her body down as if trying to fold her in half.<br/><br/>And then with one final, drawn-out groan the great<em>Exodius</em>, intended saviour of mankind ground to a halt.  The interior continued to be rattled with minor explosions and electrical fires, klaxons still blared and emergency lighting still flashed red.  Luisa felt the tension drain away and collapsed against the cold, hard metal of the cryo pod.  She was surprised to find her heart beating like a trip-hammer, her body covered in sweat and taking great gasping breaths as if she had just run a marathon.<br/><br/>After a long minute of waiting ensuring that ship truly had come to a halt, Luisa freed herself gently from the safety harness, wincing as she flexed her shoulder and arm muscles that had been so abused by the g-forces of the atmospheric entry and negative g-forces.  She held her breath when she pushed the released button for the cryo pod's safety lugs and nearly shouted in relief when they released.  Pushing the door open with weary arms, Luisa stepped quickly out of the pod and took in the scene of utter devestation, her mind struggled with the images of twisted and mangled bodies, the red emergency lighting making everything seem even more ghoulish than it already was.<br/><br/>She paused amongst the wreckage, remembering her training, the multitude of briefings they had been subjected to prior to launch.  Upon defrost as she continued to think of it, they were to make there way to an atrium for each cryopod hall.  There would be a locker for each colonist which would contain everything they would immediately need post arrival.  Luisa quickly spotted the ladders that led to the atrium above.<br/><br/>Moments later she was scrabbling through piles of crates and bags which had spilled from the lockers.  Trying to find something that would fit.  There was only one other person in the atrium, Eric, a member of her team who had obviously gotten here before her as he was dressed already,<br/><br/>"Eric, what the fuck has happened?" Luisa shouted, trying to make sure she could be heard over the klaxons that still blared throughout the ruined ship.  Luisa gave up trying to find a bra and quickly pulled on a jumpsuit over her panties.  She thought she heard a male voice cry out in pain and looked around trying to ascertain where it was coming from.  "Eric, did you hear that?"