Choi swore she could hear an ancient tribe pounding on drums in preparation for a battle. But she was the only warrior around and the drumming pulse was her rapidly beating heart. She clung to the ATV, steering through the maze of ice spires, cracks and divots. Moving fast, each turn and obstacle threatened to throw her from the vehicle. But she didn't let up. She couldn't let up.
She'd been barreling across Europa's surface since she'd seen Peterson approaching TES. Rounding a large chunk of ice, she entered a clearing and could clearly see Peterson, silhouetted by the TES flood lights. She set the ATV on a ruler straight course, heading for Peterson.
She covered the distance in a minute flat and was approaching the vehicle's top speed. As she closed in, she could see that Peterson had yet to begin tampering with the equipment, but he was moving towards the control panel. Then he stopped and turned, as though he could sense her silent approach. Maybe he felt vibrations in the ice? Choi wondered. Figuring out how her surprise attack had failed would have to wait.
It was time for plan B.
Plan A had been to run Peterson down. It was a brutal tactic that was sure to kill her crewmate, but there was also no doubt it would work. She'd felt Peterson's enhanced strength first hand and knew she couldn't face him in hand-to-hand combat and win. Plan B would be slightly less effective and much more painful.
Choi pushed down on the foot rests and rose up in to the air. She planted her feet on the ATV's seat and rode it like a daredevil. She was only feet from Peterson. He was dodging to the side, moving slowly in the low gravity, but fast enough to avoid the straight shot ATV. Taking careful aim, Choi tightened her muscles and then launched herself off the ATV.
Choi curled into a tight ball, hoping to put all of the energy created by the impact into a smaller area, boosting the amount of damage done. As she flew forward, she couldn't see where she was going and prayed her aim was true. If it wasn't…if she missed, she'd plunge straight into the hole melted by TES.
A shot of pain burst in her legs as her feet connected solidly with Peterson's back. Her feet remained in contact with Peterson's arched back even after the blow. She pushed her legs out straight and sent Peterson tumbling forward. The action also slowed her own motion enough for her to make a smooth landing. Choi watched as Peterson toppled over and slammed his facemask into the corner of the solid control panel. He slumped to the metal floor of TES. When Peterson turned to face Choi his eyes were wide with panic and he was gasping for air.
Her attack had gouged a huge hole in the facemask. But she could already see the self healing materials kicking in. She couldn't reach him to press the attack before the mask was healed, so she stood her ground and prepared for the worst. Peterson held onto the side of the control panel and pulled himself up. His face was covered in dense sweat that trickled over his skin. He was suffering from more than the blow Choi had just given him. She was sure of it.
"We felt what you did to the others," Peterson said, his voice wavering slightly. "Twenty thousand three hundred and five of our kind. Destroyed by your plague." Peterson began a steady advance toward Choi. "Their deaths and sacrifice will pale in comparison to the suffering you will experience before you are decontaminated."
Choi clenched her fists. "You brought me to them. It was you who passed the plague on. You broke quarantine. You are to blame for their deaths."
Peterson snarled and lunged forward. Choi attempted to dive away, but one of his hands caught hold of her boot. He pulled her to the ground. In the next instant, Choi was pulled up by her legs and tossed toward the TES pit.
He's trying to throw me in! she thought.
She landed just short.
Choi regained her footing as Peterson reached her. She swung at his head and connected solidly, but the pain in her hand far outweighed the jolt Peterson received. Not conceding defeat, Choi ducked low and swung three left hooks into Peterson's side. Her punches had no effect. Peterson brought his arm up and caught Choi under her chin with his forearm. She sprawled backwards, closer still to the hole melted in the ice.
Peterson reached her before she made it to her feet.
"Time to feel real pain," Choi said through her blood soaked mouth. Balanced on one knee, she took careful aim and snapped her fist out like a striking snake. She connected dead on with Peterson's crotch. It was a blow that would have sent even the most disciplined man to the floor.
Peterson reacted like a castrated man. He smiled.
"I have disconnected the pain sensors in this mind," Peterson said. "You cannot stop what I am about to do."
Peterson swung his leg out and punted her into the TES hole. She descended ten feet before bouncing off the frozen wall. The impact knocked her unconscious. She didn't even feel the water envelop her body as she entered the Europian ocean and sunk into the frigid depths.
* * * * *
Robert and Willard had left the cave a full minute ago, moving quickly after learning Connelly's suicidal plans. Robert had put up a momentary fuss, but she squelched it quickly. Their feelings might be out in the open, but she was in charge and ultimately, he respected her decision. They'd retracted the fins and sailed easily out of the watery cave and into the open ocean.
They should be half way to the surface by now, Connelly thought. Far enough.
Connelly shined her headlamp into the cave entrance and saw dancing shadows rushing towards her like flood water. That was her cue. Connelly raised the wrench over her head and brought it down on the oxygen tank's cap. The metal on metal impact shook her arm, but the cap remained solid. Connelly repeated the action several times and began wondering if she lacked the physical strength to break the top off. Just as she began losing track of the number of strikes the top blew off with an explosion of air and launched the oxygen tank in the tunnel.
The first of the creeps had just reached the cave's entrance and were shattered by the projectile. Limbs were still scattering across the cave floor when the first of the creeps dove into the cave and hopped madly toward Connelly.
The air tank rocketed through the cave system, straight for the central cavern. It pummeled past every creep in its path. But the desired effect—a spark—never occurred, the stone walls were coated with advancing creeps and their bodies served as a buffer, metal and stone never connected.
Connelly swatted away the first creep to lunge at her, but the second was too quick. It launched onto her face mask and began scratching at it, using its forelimbs like jig saws. She felt a pressure grow around her legs as more of the creatures latched on and began probing for chinks in the PMS armor. Oddly, she felt cool and collected.
She reached up and yanked the creep from her face mask and quickly snapped its relatively fragile limbs. The creature writhed and let go its hold on her facemask. She could now see that five creeps were busy at work, gnawing at her legs, while a constant stream of the creatures poured out of the entrance. Connelly's fear wasn't of the creeps. Her own self made bomb, which was still careening through the cave system was much more of a threat to her life than the army of creeps.
The idea of tearing through hordes of attacking enemies appealed to some primal instinct deep within her, but there wasn't even time to remove the creatures from her legs. She hopped twice and then dove into the water.
Instantly, the creeps attached to her legs let go and flailed as they sank to the bottom and drowned. Connelly took aim at the mouth of the cave and kicked the propulsion pack into overdrive. With a snap of her neck, Connelly launched forward, out of the cave and into the brightly decorated open ocean. She squinted back at the luminous colors of the bioluminescent world. She'd forgotten how beautiful it all was.
For the first time since her encounter with the blue Europhids, Connelly felt a twang of sadness. She knew it got through whatever emotion filter the Europhids had given her because it was an authentic and appropriate. Live or die, she would never see the Europian ocean or its rare beauty again. Connelly turned up and headed for the surface.
Back in the cave system, the oxygen tank rounded the last of several turns, crushing a swath of creeps as it slid at breakneck speeds. With a burst of creep bodies, it entered the massive cavern housing the creep colony and patches of red Europhids. Understanding the metal projectile's intention, a flurry of tendrils shot up like fans doing the wave at a baseball game. They reached out for the tank, but all that connected met the same limbless fate as the creeps.
After sailing fifty feet, the tank fell to the floor and smashed through a patch of Europhids. The impact knocked the tank up and over a second patch. Spindly red limbs stretched out for the tank, but missed. When it landed again, its jagged metal top, which Connelly had severed with the wrench, struck the stone at twenty miles per hour, creating a shower of sparks.
In the methane filled atmosphere, it was enough.
As though God had just created a new star within the confines of the cavern, every particle of methane trapped inside combusted. The outpouring flames incinerated every living thing in the cavern and quickly expanded through the only exit, frying the army of creeps in its wake. When the expanding explosion reached the outer edges of the cave system, it did the only thing it could, pushed up and through the mantle and burst into the open ocean. The caverns flooded in seconds. A shockwave and chaotic stream of bubbles raced towards the surface.
Towards Connelly.
* * * * *
"Can't we go any faster?" Willard said
Robert wished he could say yes, but going faster was not an option. The sound of a massive explosion had roared past them as they ascended through the Europian ocean. After the sound had passed, Robert felt as though his mind had been scrambled with a wire whisk, but he also knew the worst was yet to come. The devastating effects of an underwater explosion rose up through the depths like a leviathan. The TES sphere would be shaken apart and swallowed into the depths.
"We're approaching the cable," Robert said as he worked the controls. "We have to slow down to attach."
"Well, don't miss."
Robert shot Willard an annoyed glance. "I'll do my best." The cable appeared above, encircled by the large melted hole. "Choi must have stalled Peterson. The hole isn't frozen over."
The sphere approached the cable. Robert held his breath as he delicately maneuvered the sphere into position. A loud clunk echoed through the sphere as it was jolted by contact. Three loud clicks sounded out, one at a time, as the locking mechanism engaged. A green light flashed on the console.
"We're locked in!" Robert shouted. He quickly popped open a panel, which revealed a red switch and the label, EMERGENCY RETRACT. "Hold on." Robert flipped the switch.
Like an amusement park ride, they launched up through the hole, passing strata of ice so fast that the ten foot layers became a blur of color. Robert let the air in his lungs slowly seep out, allowing himself the slightest reprieve. He knew they would safely outrun the shockwave now that they were headed topside, but Connelly...
Robert looked up to say a silent prayer. He didn't know if there was a God, but he believed in covering all his bases, and with Connelly's life on the line, he didn't have anything to lose. But as he looked up, he saw a dark shape approaching from above. "What's that?" he said.
Willard looked up. "Don't know…but we're going to hit it." Willard looked at Robert. "Will the sphere hold against an impact at this speed?"
Robert paused. "I have no idea."
As they grew closer to the object the shape became distinctly human. "Oh no…" Robert said. "Who is it?"
Willard shook his head. "Better brace for impact. If this egg cracks, we might be able to swim to the surface."
"Doubtful," Robert said, gripping the arm rests of his chair. "We lack the buoyancy."
"Thank you for the optimism," Willard said.
As the sphere came within ten feet of the body, a pressure wave of water, pushed up by the ascending sphere, saved their lives. The body was pushed up and around the outside of the sphere. As they passed it, Robert clearly saw Choi's face, alert and panicked. She was reaching out for the sphere, but the pass was so quick, she didn't have a chance.
"That was close," Willard said.
"That was Choi."
Willard looked into Robert's eyes.
"She was alive," Robert said.
Willard remained silent for a moment, his face becoming gravely serious. "Then he's still up there."
Robert nodded. Peterson had sent Choi to a death no person deserved. If she wasn't killed by the shockwave, she'd asphyxiate on the ocean floor…or perhaps be eaten by an alien predator. Either way, her death would be solitary and very uncomfortable. The Europhids had to be stopped. That meant Peterson had to be stopped…by whatever means necessary…if they reached the top.
Robert's only hope was that the control panel would confuse whatever intelligence had consumed Peterson. Even if the Europhids had absorbed every bit of Peterson's mind, they still wouldn't know how to operate TES. He had never been trained. And the command to disengage the sphere was buried under so much protective protocol, he was sure it wouldn't be found in a short span of time. As long as Peterson didn't think to stop the ascent—that could be done with the push of a button.