"Hold on, Sam! The line is giving way!" Elena yelled, her voice filled with panic. Before Sam could secure his footing, a loud, sickening crack echoed through the cliff face. The last major ice pillar holding the object snapped, and the massive three-ton metal sphere sheared straight through the anchor strap. "Sam! Jump!" Elena screamed at the top of her lungs.
Sam threw himself backward into the snow as the massive metal sphere slammed into the ledge where he had been standing seconds before, gouging a deep trench into the ice. It rolled heavily down the slope, coming to a dead stop in a deep snowdrift at the base of the cliff. Sam lay panting in the snow, his heart threatening to burst from his chest as he stared at the narrow gap where he had nearly been crushed.
Elena scrambled down the rope, dropping to her knees beside him. "Are you okay? Sam, look at me!" He nodded numbly, pushing himself up and immediately stumbling toward the fallen sphere. The violent drop had dislodged the heavy frost covering the exterior, exposing a reinforced, circular hatch with a manual locking wheel set into the top.