The lander lifted off the surface of Europa with a relaxing smoothness that made everything feel normal again. The flight was just as easy. If Surveyor were still in orbit, and not lying out on Europa's surface, Connelly would have felt like everything was okay. But a dark foreboding filled her. They had survived the worst this moon had to throw at them. They'd all survived, every one of them. But still, something nagged at the back of Connelly's mind…a slight tickle that whispered: run!

*   *   *   *   *

Communications between the landing team and Harris commenced a minute later. Harris had a head wound that needed tending, but he was otherwise intact. The Surveyor had similar wounds, lots of topical injuries, but all major systems were operational. Harris guided them into the TES cargo bay. The landing bay doors had been fused shut by the charged particle barrage.

Within twenty minutes they had all congregated in Surveyor's med lab for patching up and debriefing. Connelly spoke very quickly about their sub-oceanic adventure and the encounter with the massive predator, the creeps, the blue Europhids and ultimately, their explosive escape.

After Choi related her end of the story, Harris scratched his newly stitched head and winced. "Ugh…So basically," he said, "Europa is like a large living organism?"

Connelly nodded. "Just as a human's made up of several separate parts that function as a whole. The red Europhids are a primal force acting like an immune system for the moon. They repair injuries, purge the weak and defend the body with their lives. They have an amazing ability to adapt to new threats. Just as humanity actively seeks to wipe out disease, the Europhids sought to destroy us. We're the foreign invaders. We're the disease."

Harris stood over Peterson's unconscious body. "And him?"

"They took over his mind…adapted to our species," Robert said. "They, ahh, they're really amazing creatures."

Harris shook his head. "Well, it almost worked."

Willard stood from his seat in the corner, "So what's his story?" he said to Choi as she checked Peterson's vitals.

"Ironic," she said.

"Peterson's vitals are ironic?" Willard asked with a smile. "I don't think that's a medical term."

Choi turned to Willard. "His immune system eventually routed out the Europhid infection. The fever and spasms were the result of the internal battle he was fighting. The Europhid that invaded his body was undergoing the same assaults from Peterson's immune system that we were experiencing from Europa."

"So the human immune system is better, then?" Willard said, standing next to Peterson. "How did he beat them?"

"Eventually, the fever did them in. His body found their weakness and turned up the heat. Used to living in a frozen world, his temperature was too much for them to handle. That's my theory anyway."

"So, he'll be okay then?" Robert asked.

"He's in a deep sleep, no doubt recovering from his battle with the Europhids. I'm going to keep him out until we return to Earth."