If he'd been holding a cup of coffee in his hand, it would've dropped to the ground and shattered.
There surrounding the entire perimeter of the cave from floor to ceiling were a series of niches in the walls. Shining his light in, he saw that each niche held over a dozen flat plates.
“Muobo! It's got the same writing as the plaque! This is the mother lodde!”
“You said it Yolanda! It's the greatest discover...”
Neither of them knew quite what happened next. Her best guess was that Muobo had tripped over something on the floor. The next thing she saw was a crack in his faceplate and the clear sound of air whistling over the mic.
“Muobo!! Muobo are you alright? Can you speak?!” Terror grabbed her heart as she raced the few meters to his side. There was no answer but the continued sound of air whistling out.
She almost threw him over onto his back and checked the vitals readout on his suit. She hadn't realized that she'd been holding her breath till the pinging alarm of her own suit warned her that she wasn't taking in any air. She let out a ragged breath when she saw that his heartbeat and breathing were still showing on the suit's readout. She activated the emergency balloon that sealed the suit.
He wouldn't be able to see anymore, but at least he'd have an hour or so of air reserve.
“Damn! Of all the places to have an accident. Now she only had half an hour or so to get them out of the cave and onto the EIV, or he'd....” She let the thought trail off, in the hopes of staving off panic. She checked the vital readout again. Breathing was slow, heartbeat was slightly erratic, but still going. She lifted his suit, but somehow he was caught on something and she was too scared to move him any further and risk more damage to the only thing keeping him alive.