figured he’d throw down the rope and help him climb up, he never in his wildest dreams figure he’d be lassoing him out of white water rapids.
Hicks digs in his cleats and pulls back on the rope, playing tug-o-war with Fedoseev and the rushing water. In the low gravity, Fedoseev probably only weighs about 16 kilos with his bio-suit on, but his full mass is still the same and it is putting up a good fight, along with the force of the rushing stream of water. However after a minute or two of just holding-on, the fast current of the water starts to subside. Hicks starts to pull back, and back, as Fedoseev is slowly pulled up the bank of the ravine and finally over the lip to the top.
Fedoseev is just lying on his back, looking up at the black sky of Europa; in disbelief of what just happened and wondering… by what grace of God allowed him to be snatched from deaths grip. Now he sees Hicks looking down on him.
“Fedoseev! Are you okay? What’s the integrity of your bio-suit?” Hicks asks.
Still a bit in a daze, he looks at all the indicators in his visor and sees that all the functions of his bio-suit are in full working order.
“Everyting looks good – yes!” Then he says “spasibo… spasibo!” which means thank-you.
“No problem!” Hicks responds, but then thinks more about it, “well, actually… it really is a problem, I’m not sure what the hell you were thinking. You almost got yourself killed!”
Hicks eyes widen as he sees a thick fog rolling up and out of the ravine. He walks over to the edge and looks down. The steamy water isn’t rushing so fast anymore… but it is still rising, and fairly quickly. It is only about 2 meters from the top of the ravine.
“GET UP! We need to get the hell out of here. This water is going to flood this whole area. We have about 350 meters to run to make it to Eagel-2!”
He helps Fedoseev to his feet and they start running, as best as they can in 15% gravity, wearing bio-suits. They see Eagle-2 sitting there, waiting… It is only about 70 meters from the edge of where the ravine travels, surly in the potential flood plain.
“Glover! Please tell me that the air-lock is ready to go!” Hicks pleads into the com.
“Yes sir! Ready and waiting!”
Water is just starting to slosh over the lip of the ravine, like an overflowing bathtub, when they reach Eagle-2. They climb into the air-lock and quickly close and seal the hatch. It takes about 90 seconds for the chamber to re-pressurize and for the door to the inside to open. While waiting, Hicks tells Fedoseev, “When we get inside leave your bio-suit on, just remove the air tank and your helmet; then strap yourself into your chair. I’ll get us airborne as quick as I can.”
The interior door opens and Hicks hops out first, he removes his helmet and air tank, and then in a flash shoots up the ladder to the command deck. He looks out a window to see that in fact; the whole area is now flooded, and rising. Another small tremor can be felt and a few small ice chunks, from the ice mountain they are near, go splashing into the foggy water.
“Okay guys, we’re not exactly doing this by the book and I’m skipping about half of the pre-flight check, but we need to get out of here now! Turk is strapped in I know; how long will that sedative hold?”
Glover responds, “No problem there, he should be out for a few more hours.”
“Fedoseev, are you strapped in?” Hicks asks
“Da, I ready to go. Sooner is better!”
“Eagle-2 to White-Bull-2, we are commencing with takeoff in 60 seconds”
“Copy that Eagle-2,” Lieutenant Tucker responds, “Everything looks good to me for takeoff. We’ll have to re-compute our rendezvous calculations again, but we can worry about that once you reach orbit.”
The countdown timer is at 42 seconds and then a huge seismic shock rocks Eagle-2. As they are shaking, Hicks looks out his window to see a huge wave of water rushing their way.
Then he hears Glover yell, “Oh crap! Huge chunks of
Hicks digs in his cleats and pulls back on the rope, playing tug-o-war with Fedoseev and the rushing water. In the low gravity, Fedoseev probably only weighs about 16 kilos with his bio-suit on, but his full mass is still the same and it is putting up a good fight, along with the force of the rushing stream of water. However after a minute or two of just holding-on, the fast current of the water starts to subside. Hicks starts to pull back, and back, as Fedoseev is slowly pulled up the bank of the ravine and finally over the lip to the top.
Fedoseev is just lying on his back, looking up at the black sky of Europa; in disbelief of what just happened and wondering… by what grace of God allowed him to be snatched from deaths grip. Now he sees Hicks looking down on him.
“Fedoseev! Are you okay? What’s the integrity of your bio-suit?” Hicks asks.
Still a bit in a daze, he looks at all the indicators in his visor and sees that all the functions of his bio-suit are in full working order.
“Everyting looks good – yes!” Then he says “spasibo… spasibo!” which means thank-you.
“No problem!” Hicks responds, but then thinks more about it, “well, actually… it really is a problem, I’m not sure what the hell you were thinking. You almost got yourself killed!”
Hicks eyes widen as he sees a thick fog rolling up and out of the ravine. He walks over to the edge and looks down. The steamy water isn’t rushing so fast anymore… but it is still rising, and fairly quickly. It is only about 2 meters from the top of the ravine.
“GET UP! We need to get the hell out of here. This water is going to flood this whole area. We have about 350 meters to run to make it to Eagel-2!”
He helps Fedoseev to his feet and they start running, as best as they can in 15% gravity, wearing bio-suits. They see Eagle-2 sitting there, waiting… It is only about 70 meters from the edge of where the ravine travels, surly in the potential flood plain.
“Glover! Please tell me that the air-lock is ready to go!” Hicks pleads into the com.
“Yes sir! Ready and waiting!”
Water is just starting to slosh over the lip of the ravine, like an overflowing bathtub, when they reach Eagle-2. They climb into the air-lock and quickly close and seal the hatch. It takes about 90 seconds for the chamber to re-pressurize and for the door to the inside to open. While waiting, Hicks tells Fedoseev, “When we get inside leave your bio-suit on, just remove the air tank and your helmet; then strap yourself into your chair. I’ll get us airborne as quick as I can.”
The interior door opens and Hicks hops out first, he removes his helmet and air tank, and then in a flash shoots up the ladder to the command deck. He looks out a window to see that in fact; the whole area is now flooded, and rising. Another small tremor can be felt and a few small ice chunks, from the ice mountain they are near, go splashing into the foggy water.
“Okay guys, we’re not exactly doing this by the book and I’m skipping about half of the pre-flight check, but we need to get out of here now! Turk is strapped in I know; how long will that sedative hold?”
Glover responds, “No problem there, he should be out for a few more hours.”
“Fedoseev, are you strapped in?” Hicks asks
“Da, I ready to go. Sooner is better!”
“Eagle-2 to White-Bull-2, we are commencing with takeoff in 60 seconds”
“Copy that Eagle-2,” Lieutenant Tucker responds, “Everything looks good to me for takeoff. We’ll have to re-compute our rendezvous calculations again, but we can worry about that once you reach orbit.”
The countdown timer is at 42 seconds and then a huge seismic shock rocks Eagle-2. As they are shaking, Hicks looks out his window to see a huge wave of water rushing their way.
Then he hears Glover yell, “Oh crap! Huge chunks of
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