Nessa could hear thuds and groans from the building, from things flying out of place and falling. She found herself on the floor and moved out of the way of anything heavy, her entire world unstable. People were shouting and swearing in the shop up front as their cups broke and everything rattled to the floor. She’d always known this was possible on Europa, the destruction as an ice plate shifted, but the occurrence was rare and she hadn’t expected to live through one.
“Ness?” she could hear Chantal calling from her transmitter. “Nessa?” The volume faded in and out, and Nessa didn’t know if the reason Chantal’s voice disappeared abruptly was because the transmitter was broken or if Chantal herself could no longer connect. She tried to call back but couldn’t hear her own voice in the chaos
