Choi's body shook with a violent chill. If the Europhids experienced emotions like people, they were going to be pissed.

CHAPTER 26 -- ANXIETY

Choi's muscles twanged with pain, but the malicious flu-like symptoms caused by radiation exposure had all faded. This didn't mean her body wasn't being irradiated, just that she was so far gone already that her nerves were no longer transmitting her internal discomfort.

Desperate for security, Choi crawled through the Europhid field, crushing a number of them as she did. On her hands and knees, her view was just over the top of the tallest Europhids. She was headed for what looked like clear ice.

Pushing and shoving her way through the red forest, the hopelessness she felt while cruising over Europa's surface returned. She knew what dying from radiation exposure would be like. Six minutes was the time you had to escape radiation…not because you'd die in six minutes, but because you'd pass the point of no return. You wouldn't be dead, you'd be dying…and short of a bullet in the head, there was nothing anyone could do to stop it, or ease your suffering.

Choi charged, head down, casting Europhids aside like a bull running the streets of Pamplona. With her eyes cast downward, Choi didn't see the field clear and tumbled forward over the empty ice. She lay still for a moment, gasping for air. Four minutes. The number ran through her head, telling how long she had been exposed to the radiation. Two minutes to go…two minutes until the real torture began. She hadn't realized she'd been keeping track.

The countdown spurred her on. She pushed up on her arms and rose from the ice. Her muscles protested the motion, but in the low gravity, it wasn't too hard. She got to her feet and looked out over the Europhid field. A perfectly round patch of darkness revealed where she'd unleashed her toxic potential. Extending straight toward her was a smooth, crushed line in the field where she'd slid to a stop. From there, a mash of crushed and fallen Europhids lay askew, revealing her mad crawl to the edge of the field.

With all the changes to the field, Choi never realized how familiar the view was…not until she turned around.

Not ten feet from where she emerged sat the ATV, lights out, but still emitting its protective electromagnetic shield. She was safe…and had been for at least the past minute. Choi ran to the ATV, plugged her com system in to the onboard transmitter, hoping to boost her signal.