Epilogue

Sylvia woke to find herself lying on her back, still wearing the space suit.

She was alive! The relief was all encompassing for a few moments. Then her brain kicked in and she started to wonder why she was still wearing the space suit. Why hadn't they taken it off her when she arrived, surely they had air inside the dome? She was certain she had read that, somewhere. Europa had its own microcosm, plants, air, all allowing the colony to become self sufficient.

She opened her eyes and sat up.

She blinked. What the-! She was sitting out under the open sky! Why wasn't she inside the dome? Had she served her purpose and now been discarded like a piece of rubbish, thrown out here to die?

Just before she descended into total panic, her brain received the message her eyes had being trying to send her. There were two suns in the sky above, one large and red, the other much smaller and white-gold. The sky had a faint lavender tinge, and on the horizon, she was almost certain she could make out the tall spires of a city. Either the drugs they had given her were much stronger than a sedative or ... this wasn't Europa.

She felt as if she was dreaming. She shook her head, trying to get a grip on herself. She remembered wishing for a second chance, but she had been thinking more along the lines of waking up from the nightmare, safe and sound in her own bed in Utrecht, ready to make a fresh start with her life. Not being teleported to another world.

Her brain struggled to grasp the situation. She pinched herself hard, through the suit. Ow! Not dreaming then. In a daze, she stood up and began walking towards the city. She knew without hesitation there was no way she could could survive out here by herself.

Evidently the portal worked a bit differently than its makers had intended. She remembered thinking that she didn't want to die, but she didn't want to go to Europa either, just before she blacked out and ... here she was. Maybe if you were unconscious, you went where they sent you. Maybe if you weren't, you went ... somewhere else.

If only she could go back, and tell Cas. Cas! Cas had been with her when the cyborg zapped her. She stopped in her tracks and turned to look back at the spot she had landed on. If they used the same sedative on Cas, and it didn't work on him either, would he be coming through too? She waited anxiously for about half an hour before she decided it was pointless. Too many variables.

She patted down her suit, trying to find something she could leave behind as a signal, just in case. Nothing detachable, at least nothing she was willing to spare, she wasn't going to leave her helmet! In the end, she drew a large arrow in the red dirt with the toe of her boot, pointing in the direction of the city. Then she started walking again.

She had absolutely no idea what she would find there, but she was a survivor. Whatever happened, she would deal with it.

For the first time, she wondered if maybe Eric hadn't died after all. Maybe he was ahead of her, in the city.

(Author's Note - the is the end of Portal.  Next story, Metropolitan commences on the next page)