Europa Escape

Europa Escape Part 2

Cautiously, she feels her waist for her utilities. Luckily, all her canisters and tools are still in place. She grabs a small water canister and takes a water sample before she makes her way down the narrowing cliff. The walkway narrows further as she works around, until her toes are about an inch over the edge. Bubbling water rushes past her with muffled gurgles. Alex finds herself holding her breath again and looking straight, trying to distract herself from the situation.

"What is this suit's function?" Alex asks faintly through clenched teeth.

"For underwater, space, and aerodynamic ventures of course. It was created about 5 years ago..."

"Shut up," Alex blurts, gasping as one of her feet falls free from the crumbling stone. She shifts her weight and looks upward, ready to start praying to end all of this. But, she is still here, and not that desperate. "I don't think I'm going to make this... I need to try something else. Is this suit installed with gliding capabilities?"

"Why of course it is, Miss Alex, may I ask what you have in mind?"

Stones crumble down from the footing, threatening to drop her.

"Prepare the wingsuit function. Deploy." The suit clicks under her arms and between her legs, releasing heavy duty nylon from its compartments. Her legs become restricted as the fin extends. She pulls her right foot in, moving it over to another mildly stable part of the ledge.

Rocks crumble.

Her footing slips. Water bubbles rush up around Alex to engulf her as the extra weight of the tools pull her down. She screames and flails, her arms and legs shaking as much as the suit can allow. The feeling of pressure builds around her. The dropping feeling in her gut subsides. She opens her eyes, and for a moment she looks into a shiny, clear crystal glimmering in the rock face. Staring back at her, she can see her confused reflection on the surface. She reaches out with awe.

It drops away as suddenly as it appears, and she soars. Screaming turns to adrenaline fueled amazement as the feeling of lifting overcomes her. The bubbles under her arms fill with the boiling hot gas which lifts her upwards. She looks up for a moment to see the ceiling rushing at her. More bubbles shoot in from a large crack above. As soon as she gets close, the current shifts to shove her into another cavern. Everything blacks out—nothing exists but the red temperature reading flashing in her visor among the other blurry icons. Muffled bursting of bubbles is all she can hear among her staggered breathing. The push under her body shoves harder as the diameter of the passage grows narrower. It soon becomes too tight; her metal-tipped gloves clank against the edge until they catch. Her arm is shoved down, losing all gas in that flap. She screeches as her body tilts down and hits the wall again. The icon of her suit's upper back turns orange like the lower half. She pushes off, losing altitude rapidly before the bubbles finally equalize and push back against her.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screams while up and up and up she goes.

"Connection restored."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh" she continues, losing steam. "Ahhhhhaaaaaaa..." She stops, finding herself waiting for the next impact. Her body remains tight with anxiety until suddenly she is thrown the wrong direction from the current. She slams down onto her face in a tunnel, while the bubbles flow past into narrow cracks above.

"Damn it, where is she?" a fuzzy male voice demands.

"I got her! She is on the map again. Directly north from us. Wow, look at her suit's readings. I'm bringing the shuttle in."

"I got her too. Damn, how did she get that far?"

The radio chatter is a relief to her. She happily groans as she starts to move her body again.