Europa

April 12, 2054

First Edmonds and now Adams. How many more of our crew will lose their lives for this mission. This morning the communications went back online, and we had to inform the rest of the crew. As you could expect they are distraught.

The cruel part is we had him halfway out before everything went to shit. When me and Miller went out with the pulley system she'd tied from hoses, we'd first struggled to get Adams to fasten his chest into the loop. After being down there so long he was beginning to feel a bit weak. Still, we were able to coach him though it with some trial and error.

Once he was through however the first issue became apparent. One of my biggest concerns when we were leaving him overnight was that he would slip out and fall down the chasm. It turns out there was nothing to worry about there. He was logged in that chasm tighter than I could have possibly imagined. No wonder why Adam's had been struggling a bit to breathe.

Me and Miller pulled for a while, but we could not lodge him from the ice. No matter how hard we pulled he did not move at all. After every few minutes we tried to take a break before pulling again to give him a breather. I can only imagine how comfortable he felt being lodged in the ice while we pulled him from the pulley fastened to his torso.

Finally, the ice gave way and we felt him begin to lift up. At that moment I felt incredibly excited. We were beginning to hoist him up and it seemed like we were going to get out. Adam even gave us a little cheer as he tightly held the rope to the pulley wrapped around their chest.

We were ignorant to celebrate when the ice we were lodged in gave way. Adams was just a few feet away from the opening of the chasm when the ground below me began to crackle. If I hadn't balanced myself, I would have fallen face first into the chasm myself.

"Pull him up," I remember hearing Miller scream.

What happened next kept replaying over and over in my mind. I jumped back as the section ice I stood on collapsed crashing down into the chasm and falling directly onto Adams. With the added weight of the icy ledge me and Miller had to drop the pulley before it dragged us down with it. Adam's didn't make a sound. I'd like to think he was knocked unconscious the second the ledge broke, and that he was not conscious from that seemingly endless fall.

Miller was calling out though the coms, desperately clinging to the idea that Adams was gone. Looking down that dark blue seemingly endless chasm that could have quite possibly led all the way down to the ocean of Europa I knew Adams was gone.

It was difficult to talk Miller away from the ledge and back into the camp. Later on, when we finally unsuited and gathered back in the camp Miller was dazed. I sat down to talk with her, but I couldn't even pull her attention from the wall. Lee also looked incredibly shaken up. Even in the week I'd spent with him where we really didn't have much to do, he'd always been tinkering with something. After the death of Adams however he just slouched on his chair staring at the phone. Those two had developed a bit of a bromance over our time together.

You never want to lose a member of your team, but I fear the loss of Adams will be devastating on our group's morale. From training camp, he has constantly been a lighthearted figure that knew exactly what to say at the right time. With the first drill seemingly in shambles his death also comes at a low point in the mission. At a time like this he would typically be the one to share a quick joke or story to boost everyone's moods. Now he was dead, potentially a mile below the surface.

I've sent the letter Adam's wrote to his family. I was wishing I would not have to. I hope this is the final family I need to message about a lost teammate.