His breath caught somewhere between his chest and his mouth, expanding a tightness in his throat he thought would cause his neck to burst, spewing blood all over the interior of the sphere like a Japanese anime cartoon. Robert bit down on his lower lip as sweat began to bead up on his forehead.

A sudden pressure on his knee almost made him gasp. He jerked his head up and came face to face with Connelly, who looked both concerned and amused. "Robert, you stopped breathing."

Robert made a deliberate effort to breath. He closed his eyes as he continued breathing, trying his hardest to ignore the sinking feeling created by the downward motion of the elevator. Of TES, he forced himself to think. Not an elevator.

"Hey…" Connelly's voice was soft, comforting.
Robert looked opened his eyes and met Connelly's. "Keep counting," she said.

Robert nodded.

One hundred thirty-three…one hundred thirty-four…one hundred thirty-five…

*   *   *   *   *

"How's this for privacy?" Connelly said after switching off the com system inside the sphere. "Now what did you want to talk about?" Connelly knew exactly what she wanted to talk about and had resisted the urge to bring up the topic for as long as she could. She wanted to get the unavoidable lecture out of the way before they broke the surface of the water. Not because Robert's words of wisdom would sour the moment, but rather, she knew that after taking a dip in the Europa's ocean, Robert would most likely forget what he wanted to discuss. She'd always valued his opinions, welcome or not, and didn't feel right taking advantage of his forgetfulness.

"Think it's safe to undo the belts?" Robert said as he stretched the safety belt away from his belly.

"Not much a seatbelt will do if we fall, right?" Connelly noticed Robert's expression sour. "Sorry."

Robert undid his seatbelt and let it slide back into the sides of the chair. He looked Connelly in the eyes, his gaze expressing the seriousness of the subject about to be broached. "There are security cameras in all the Surveyor's vital compartments, including the Bio-lab."

Connelly had assumed as much after Robert's initial attempt to speak back in the docking bay.  "Right…" She tried to sound as casual as possible, like she already knew there were security cameras. "I don't suppose you saw anything of interest?" She couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle.

Robert scratched his head as his serious tone diminished slightly and his cheeks turned rosy red. "Ahh, you mean other than the budding romance?"

"Exactly." It was Connelly's turn to sound serious.

"I'm not your father," Robert said.

"What are you then? My brother?"

"Brother? No, I, ahh… Hey, that's not even what I wanted to talk about."