Shielding his eyes with his hand Hank turned as far as his suit allowed him to look A glowing arc of molten material spewed out of the sun like a tentacle Solar flare Hank whispered in awe He raised his voice Hey it’s a solar flare They’d expected that the sun would be quiet for the duration of their mission but the sun was unpredictable Now a solar flare sprayed cosmic rays and radiation everywhere which was extremely dangerous for the astronauts I see it Steve said grimly What does it mean Terri demanded Is She broke off as the solar flare thickened and looped It glowed even brighter now nearly doubling in size Hank gasped
A solar explosion of that magnitude could fry communication satellites and disrupt the electrical grid Earth’s ionosphere would protect the world from the radiation but Hank and the Excalibur had just entered the magnetic field that shielded the planet They were still at the weak outer edge The flare could fry the shuttle along with the astronauts inside Roll starboard Steve ordered Commander Jim replied if we raise our tiles we’ll get too hot Hank gripped his chair’s hand rests The tiles on the bottom of the shuttle were a special ceramic that prevented the craft from burning up on reentry Steve obviously thought the tiles might protect them from the solar radiation too We have time for reentry Steve said But that radiation will cook us from the inside out Roll
Suddenly the window blazed with bright orange light Steve screamed Hank cried out too As did Terri and Jim The radiation from the solar flare hit them head-on Hotter than fire Hank thought as his body was wracked with agony Scorching light filled the cockpit The light was so bright that Hank felt it warming his eyes through his eyelids The radiation sank into his skin making him itch like crazy Jim rolled the Excalibur enough to put the cockpit in the shadow of the tilted wing protecting them from the worst of the solar flare They barely avoided being burned alive inside their spacesuits Although Hank wasn’t sure they’d survive the radiation they had already suffered Where’s Superman when you need him Hank thought Hank Terri moaned I feel strange
