The surface of Europa was stunning. Ron could honestly say it was one of the most amazing things he'd ever laid eyes on. Even in its marred and frayed state after the radiation, Europa held beauty beyond anything that could be achieved on earth. As he ran past blackened grass and spikes of ice reaching for the sky, Ron forced himself to take in its wonders.
As much as he tried to keep his focus on breathing and running, it felt like something new distracted him ever other step. It was almost always the metal in his ribs, but sometimes it was avoiding a hazard or ridding himself of the thoughts plaguing his mind.
He took a step forward, but faltered as his foot hit the ground. He’d started hemorrhaging his momentum, and he knew it would soon be all he could do just to keep pace. When he tried to concentrate on his breath, the pain in his side took over his focus and magnified until it was unbearable. At that point, he would break concentration and take his mind off the pain.
“They’re going to have to re seed the entire moon, at this rate,” Ron said as he ran past a tree that’d lost more than half its leaves.
“Did the radiation affect the vegetation that badly?” Allan asked. “Outer cameras on the habitat had too much interference to see any details even before the flames destroyed them.”
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The emergency suit Ron had in the somnibay wasn’t like his normal suit. It didn’t have cameras, microphones, or any special sensors Allan could access for extra information. It wasn’t meant to do anything other than facilitate someone’s basic survival for as long as it took another researcher to rescue its user. This was another reason Allan's predictions were slowly losing accuracy--if he’d had access to cameras, the AI would’ve been able to gauge relative speed based on landmarks and then calculate the distance Ron had traveled from that information.
As it stood, however, Ron had to provide Allan with any information he needed manually. “Yeah,” Ron answered through a grimace, “Every tree I’ve seen is missing at least half its leaves, and almost all the grass has wilted. And, considering we haven’t made contact yet, I’m pretty sure the smaller flares are still going. I don’t know if any plant life will survive.”
“At least the bioengineers will probably get some good data from this,” Allan chirped. “Maybe they’ll even be able to improve on their previous designs!”
“Well, if I survive, that’ll be something to look forward to,” Ron said. Allan knew he didn’t really believe that, but elected to remain silent. He knew Ron was falling apart, and saying something would only tear the man further.
[10] hours and [9] minutes
[70] kilometers
