As the liquid metal of the chair oozed up over Connelly's eyes, the last thing she saw was a blue tinged view of her quarters.

Her vision turned from blue to black as she fell asleep.

*   *   *   *   *

Three months later, Connelly woke. A nightmare of constriction held her in place. Recalling the events that brought her to this point was difficult…almost impossible. She remembered Europa and the Europhids. She remembered their near death escape. Worst of all, she remembered her body being controlled by an outside force, while all she could do was watch.

But the darkness that consumed her was all enveloping, physically pressing on her on all sides. It reminded her of the time she spent within the wall of blue Europhids, how they had swallowed her whole and entered her mind. A pang of concern swept through her as she thought she might still be in the wall, that the last events she remembered were all an illusion created by the Europhids.

The pressure loosened around her. She had room to move, and instinctively pushed forward. A thickness slid off her body and she pulled herself from the viscous womb. The outer skin popped and Connelly slid out, falling on to a cold, hard surface. She opened her eyes, of her own volition, and took in her surroundings.

She was in her quarters still on board Surveyor. The last minutes of her time spent in orbit around Jupiter returned, fresh in her mind. The Europhids had erased all physical evidence that they or any life existed on Europa, and they'd used the crew to do it.

Rather than focus on past events, Connelly turned her thoughts to the future. A pulse of hope beat harder and harder inside her chest as she realized how desperately she missed Earth—the blue oceans, the golden deserts, the abundant life that only occasionally posed a threat to people.

Connelly climbed to her feet, shivering and dripping gel. Her body cried out for a warm shower, but she had to make sure her high hopes were justified. She found the remote control and pushed the single button that rendered the out wall clear. The skin of the wall turned milky white and slowly, steadily became as transparent as water. Glowing brightly below was Earth, hanging in space like a dazzling oasis.

They were home.

Connelly placed her hands on the clear wall. It shimmered under her touch. Tears filled her eyes for just a moment…until she realized she was standing stark naked in front of a very large window on a spacecraft that every space enthusiast with a telescope was probably watching like a horde of hawks. She covered herself and ducked back away from the window. Rather than return the wall to its opaque state, she headed into the bathroom and ran the shower.