Megalohydrothalassophobia

“Shit....shit...” Hesta cursed under her breath, by her chronometer it had only been a three and a half minutes since..whatever it was... had hit them. It may as well have been like a lifetime in her mind. It had taken Colt and Nazeem first. Their suit lights visible scant meters ahead of her when they suddenly winked out, their screams sudden but the abrupt silence that followed forever staying with her. Khrost had immediately closed the distance between the two of them, using the bulky mass of her own mechanized environment suit to shield Hesta. All that could be seen was the inky black of Europa’s depths, their lights stabbing at the darkness.

“Anything?!”

“I can’t see shit”

“What happened to them?!”

“I Don’t know, but we need to stay with the guide chord - did you see what took them?”

Panicking, Hesta replied “No I didn’t! They were just gone! I didn’t -“

Suddenly, a shadow on shadow, a flash of serrated blue and Khrost was sent flying out of the small pool of light their suits were making, it’s own illumination swallowed by the void surrounding them. Hesta was thrown aside by the impact, her

Visor cracking against the jagged bedrock. It had taken Colt and Nazeem first. Their suit lights visible scant meters ahead of her when they suddenly winked out, their screams sudden but the abrupt silence that followed forever staying with her.

Hesta may have considered herself lucky, seeing as she was still alive and not concussed - but her suit had taken damage nonetheless; the most worrying of which was to her air supply. One tank lost its entire capacity and the other now leaked a continuous stream of precious oxygen into the water. It was as if the abyss was determined to take her, even if it was bubble by bubble. At the current rate it would only take about five minutes before she suffocated. This realization of her do or die situation cut through the panic and gave her clarity. Hesta needed to find the guide chord, it and it’s emergency oxygen supply were her only chance. She swung around, trying to cover all possible angles of attack in an almost omnidirectional environment. The chronometer now read four minutes had passed - she didn’t have the time. The GPS mounted on her wrist said the cable was 30 metres ahead of her, she had to move now. Moving as quickly as she could, Hesta made towards the coordinate. She WAS going to make it - she COULD beat the odds stacked against her. She WOULD see her Julia again..