Mining Deuterium

Once all hands had been awakened and debriefed work began inside the strange crystal cave found near the crash site where the crew would have more protection from cosmic radiation. It was unanimous, everyone was in agreement, the risk of mining as much deuterium as the hold could carry before getting their crippled ship back to port was their best chance of claiming the embarrassment of riches that this strangely stealth planet of heavy ice had to offer to them and their future generations. How many days awake mining and cycles of torpor could the crew endure drinking nothing but heavy water and will they have enough fuel to get them to safety once the ship is loaded to the gills?With mounting impatience and anxiety Anastasia blankly stares into the crews progress displays when the radio suddenly cackles with a terrified “we have found a body!”