Free The Curse of Europa by Brian Kayser Page B

everything is okay.” Hicks responds.
“There you are… Patrick, can you hear me?” they all hear Evans plead on the com.
“Doctor Evans, do you copy?” Hicks asks again, but again does not get a reply from her for some reason. They do hear her say, “Oh my God, Patrick, did you see that? Well… there’s our water!”
Hicks just drives on, over the bumpy terrain, anxious to get over there to see what happened and to make sure they are both all right. Glover continues with his play-by-play as he watches Turk try to reach Evans. They cannot see the whirlpool through Evans’ camera though as she is not looking in that direction.
     
“Oh crap!!” yells Glover into the com. “They both just fell down and seem to be slipping. Oh crap… what just happened? Oh Jesus! I think Evans just fell into the drill hole; holy crap!! She did! It looks like Turk has a hold of her hand though… trying to pull her up.”
Hicks presses down on the accelerator even harder as if that will make the rover go faster, which it doesn’t. “Crap, crap, crap! What’s going on now?” Hicks pleads.
“I don’t know, she is just dangling there I believe, looking up at Turk who has a hold of her. You guys better hurry!” Glover begs.
“I’m driving this damn thing as fast as it will go,” Hicks responds, bouncing around on the bumpy ruts they are now driving through.
They hear Evans, “Eagle-2, Eagle-2, do you copy?”
Hicks responds before Glover has a chance. “Doctor Evans, this is Hicks, I’ve been trying to contact you, we are aware of your situation and are on our way. We should be there in about five minutes. We are traveling as fast as we can!”
“Okay… acknowledged… please hurry!” she responds back.
     
They are about 90 seconds away when they hear Evans say: “PATRICK! OH MY GOD…… PATRICK… Oh God, Oh my God I’m falling … it’s dark... it’s very dark… Ahhh…. Oh God, I’m in water… I’m floating… {ssssst} I can’t see anything… {sssssst} turning on {ssssst} {ssssst} {ssssst} {ssssst}imming towa{ssssst} can you hea{ssssst} {ssssst} copy {ssssst},” then nothing.
“Holy… Jesus!” Glover cries into the com. “Evans… Evans… He lost her! She went down the hole… oh shit… oh shit…” he stutters. “She’s gone… she has two kids! She’s dead! I’ve lost her com-link!”
When Hicks pulls the rover into the deep groove he instantly slams on the brakes as he sees the nearly 2 meter drop off, then veers to the right. He has to drive about 90 meters along the ridge to find a spot where the drop-off is only a few centimeters down and can safely cross; then speeds over to the drill site, but adding another minute to their arrival time.
Turk is still straddled over the hole, looking down. He is now slowly loosening his grip on the support rig, ready to voluntarily join Juliana in the abyss that he just watched her fall into; like a lady bug down a drain…
     

Chapter 14: Avalanche
J ust as Hicks bends over to grab Turk’s free arm, Turk lets go of the support rig and starts to head down the hole head first. A startled Hicks slips and almost goes down the hole himself but manages to pull back. Fedoseev, who was reaching for Turk’s feet, desperately lunges to catch them and grabs hold; with his own feet now dangerously straddling the hole. Hicks regains his balance and then grabs Fedoseev from behind, pulling on his bio-suit’s air-tank. Together they both pull Turk up out of the hole and slide him away from the opening. Turk’s suit is covered in ice, then they notice… he is missing one of his gloves; his right hand has swollen significantly in the thin Europa atmosphere and is a mixture of colors from purple to red.
“Oh shit, his glove came off!” exclaims Hicks with a look of despair on his face. He shakes him and yells into the com, “Turk! Turk!” He doesn’t respond but his eyes open for a quick second, however he doesn’t seem to focus on anything.
“His face