They looked at their internal chronograph even though their first thought was to vomit. Thankfully they were able to hold that sensation as it would have been messy inside a pressure suit. The readout stated they had been unconscious for fifteen minutes.
Gingerly they opened their eyes and looked around. There was a light smear of blood on the inside of the suit plexiglass, they had a vague memory of the suit buckling towards their face. They ran a diagnostic on the suit and a quick rundown of medical status via vital signs. The suit was damaged and had lost twenty percent integrity but was otherwise fine. A visit to a repair shop for seals and pressure checks would be needed. The medical stats said that they were within standard levels based on their history, though suffering from mild concussion. There was no significant damage or blood loss.
They checked the status of the emergency bubble. Despite being blown downwards by the incredible pressure of the blast it was still intact. The outside temperature was well above two hundred degrees centigrade but was rapidly cooling. That had been a significantly larger missile strike than they had been expecting. They had thought this plan with its heavy reliance on a secure shelter was over-compensating, that was wrong.
They quickly connected to the uplink they had hidden in the desert one hundred metres away. The device took a short time to connect as there was tremendous static. That was again to be expected considering the size of the blast. Once they had a secure link they ran a full connection status including pulling the views from the stealth drones that had been circling the plateau high above.
They watched as the video showed the strike from a multitude of angels. Whomever wanted them dead was willing to make damned sure that there was nothing left. Oh well that was another small bet that they had lost. But at least they were alive to pay it.
They checked the status of the other drones and a slow smile spread across their features. The first smile for a few days. The drones had been able to follow their visitor back to their vehicle. Even better than that they had been able to follow it as it moved away, they were still tracking it.
The figure unpacked the air shovel and set to work on digging themselves out of their pit.
