The Curse of Europa by Brian Kayser Page A

amounts of water are now seeping out of the cracks, rushing towards Hicks and the rover in waves.
Hicks grabs a bar on the back of the rover and screams, “I’ve got hold! Gun it! Get us out of here… NOW!”
Fedoseev slams his boot down on the accelerator; unfortunately he still had it in reverse.
Hicks screams more from surprise than pain as he ends up under the rover, “Ahhh… Dammit! You idiot!” Hicks moved his legs just in time not to get run over by the tires.
Fedoseev also yells some Russian expletives followed by “SORRY!” as he hits the brake. Water is now gushing all around them and a light fog fills the thin Europian air. Massive chunks of ice break off the side of a nearby ice glacier due to the seismic activity, sliding down towards them in an avalanche.
“GOOOOO!!!” Hicks yells.
Fedoseev slams it into the forward gear and slowly pulls ahead to make sure Hicks emerges okay from underneath. Once he sees that he is, he stomps his boot down once again on the pedal as the water is continuing to rush over Hicks and around the tires. The wheels spin wildly, kicking up slushy water, but they grab hold enough to move the rover forward. The icy avalanche seemingly moving much faster than they are moving however.
Hicks is hanging onto the bar for dear life sliding on his back creating a wake in the water. He is thinking 15Kph seems much faster being dragged on the ground than it does in the rover’s seat. He is unable to see anything now due to his visor being plastered by slush and water from the tires. That is perhaps a good thing as the rolling pile of ice chunks is closing in on them. The hissing sound is also twice as loud now, ever since Fedoseev ran him over; and now he can feel the absence of pressure on his ears as you do when ascending in an air-transport.
     
Fedoseev remembers to drive back the same way they came in, to avoid the two-meter drop off, which would actually be a two-meter wall of ice in this direction. The rover finally reaches the top of the groove and leaps brutally over the lip, lurching Fedoseev forward and sending Hicks flying in the air; losing his grip on the bar. He once again lands on his back (“Ugh!”) and then spins around about ten times before hitting a rough patch that flips him onto his stomach (“Aaah… damn!”) He looks up but can’t see anything but shadows through his visor.
The ice avalanche rolls to a stop just below the lip of the groove, completely filling it in, spitting out just one big wave of wet slush over Fedoseev, Turk and the rover. Any slim chance there ever-was of pulling Evans out of the ocean below just disappeared below a massive amount of ice chunks.
Fedoseev shakes off the slush as best as he can, like a dog, and then runs over to Hicks. “Commander, you okay - yes?” he yells in the com.
“Yeah, I think so, but my helmet has ruptured and I can’t see shit - out of the - visor!” Hicks remarks back, wincing in some pain as he feels his ears popping. He feels Fedoseev grab his arm and torso to help him to his feet and guides him blindly to the rover’s ice covered passenger seat; the ground still shaking.
Fedoseev jumps into the driver’s seat and guns the accelerator once again… but nothing… nothing but a minor lurch forward!
     

Chapter 15: Time Bomb
F edoseev can feel the electric motor vibrate but the wheels are not moving, not even spinning. He looks at the wheels, which have now started to freeze to the icy surface of Europa, thanks to the slushy splash from the avalanche. He jumps out of the rover and nearly falls backwards, as his boots slip on the slick surface. He steadies himself and then kicks at the wire-frame tires as best as he can without falling down, knocking ice off of them. He kicks all four, then climbs back in and guns it. No-go, but it did lurch a little more it seemed. He gets out and kicks the tires again, and then pushes the rover back and forth, back and forth, and then he feels something give.
The