by Brian Kayser
“So… I hear that the boys back home have placed some bets on whose probe is going to break through the ice first,” Glover informs the two EVA teams. “I hear that even General Navox pledged some credits to the pot,” he says with a slight laugh.
“Well I hope that Navox and any smart ones put their money on EVA Team 1,” Hicks announces proudly with a boom in his voice as usual. “We do have about an hour jump on you guys,” he continues, looking at Turk and Doctor Evans with a confident smirk.
“Yeah… well, you may have gotten a little jump putting in, but we took our time to find the prime location! We found a spot that is probably 750 to 1000 meters thinner, than where you guys put in, so I think that more than negates your little head start,” counters Turk with a smile.
“It seems, that you should place your credits vhere your mouth is,” Doctor Fedoseev says with his Russian accent. He is always up for a little gambling.
“Oh?? What are you thinking, comrade?” Turk asks, knowing exactly what he was thinking.
“Vell, I vould advise fifty credits should make due – Yes?” Fedoseev says, while twirling the end of his mustache.
“Jeez - Fifty? Did you say fifty credits?” confirms Evans, a little shocked as that is about a week’s pay.
“Da... er, I mean yes, fifty all,” Fedoseev acknowledges.
Turk responds, “Okay, so fifty credits each, for whichever probe reaches liquid water first. That doesn’t really seem fair though… for you two that-is, but if you want to give away your credits, that is fine with me!” Fedoseev and Hicks nod in agreement, sporting confident smiles.
“So, fifty – credits – each,” Turk says slowly, looking at Juliana. “You in Evans?”
“Oh yeah! Count me in!” She responds, trying to sound more confident and cocky than before.
“Okay – it’s on boys! Just make sure that you have enough credits in your accounts when we get home.” Turk teases.
Hicks looks at Lieutenant Glover, “How about you Erick? Who are you siding with?”
“Oh no… Count me out of this… I’m not taking sides,” he says, shaking his head no and holding up his hands as if surrendering. Then he takes a big bite of his food bar and starts chewing.
“Okay then, fifty each between us four,” Hicks booms out to finalize their bet. Then they start talking about the spectacular views each of them experienced while driving around on the surface with the rovers. Glover wishes that he could go out to explore also, but knows that isn’t his job. All five of them chomp down on their meal bars and dried fruit, washing it down with vitamin water.
Juliana really wanted some more private time with Turk to finish their talk, but there was too much going on. All they could really muster, was a few longing glances back and forth. Later that night, she thought that they may be able to sneak away privately, to the sleeping quarters to talk, but with all of the gambling talk, Fedoseev wanted to play poker. He was able to rope everyone into playing. Juliana wasn’t much for poker and was out of credits in under an hour; Glover was out not long after. Turk, Fedoseev, and Hicks however battled it out for many hours longer. By the time the game was over, Juliana was long asleep.
Chapter 9: Communication Loss
It was now the following morning. They got to sleepin until 8:30am Earth Standard Time, as the estimated time the probes are supposed to hit liquid water, was still around 20 hours away and there wasn’t too much they could do at the drill sites yet. The scheduled plan, is to get back out there in their bio-suits by 11:00am, to personally check the progress; plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast.
Fedoseev didn’t want breakfast and Commander Hicks and Glover ate early. Turk and Juliana, finally get a little alone time, while just the two of them munch on a not very appetizing GSO breakfast bar and a shake.
“So tomorow is the day,” Turk starts off, making conversation. “Do you think we’ll find any swimming dinosaurs?”
“DINOSAURS? Hardly!” Evans laughs and rolls her eyes, “Jeez, I’d be happy with a simple macrobiotic organism. That would be huge to me.”
“Well… that doesn’t sound quite as cool, but whatever makes you happy,” Turk says giving her a wink.
“Yeah, well, what’s cool and what’s realistic, are two different things. Even if we find tons of hydrothermal vents down there, I don’t think it would support anything more than very simple life forms,” Evans explains.
“Well, who knows… we could be surprised. Prior to 1977, no scientists on Earth would have guessed that life existed in the deepest depths of the ocean, way beyond where sunlight could reach. Yet that’s exactly what they found!” Turk says, as if Evans didn’t already know this.
“Yes, yes, I know. This is my area of expertise after all,” She says as she finishes off her breakfast shake then wipes her mouth. “I’ve been down there on expeditions, at least a dozen of them in Earth’s oceans. I’ve seen all the life thriving around those vent areas – it’s amazing. It really changed the way scientists viewed life. It is the whole reason why we are out here. Maybe deep down, I do believe that we will find complex life forms, maybe even intelligent life, but I just don’t want to get my hopes up.”
“I don’t really think that is, ‘getting your hopes up.’ I think that is being afraid of stating that you hope to find intelligent life and then being proven wrong.” Turk states as an observation. He takes the last bite of his breakfast bar and tosses the wrapper into the trash receptacle.
“Well, maybe. I guess I don’t see much difference,” she says back.
“Let me ask you this… do you want to find a simple macrobiotic organism, or intelligent life?” Turk asks.
“Well, jeez, there’s quite a range there. I guess I would love to find intelligent life down there – but honestly, I don’t think we will. Not here anyhow. Maybe someplace else in the cosmos. My Professor Scott and I would talk about that for hours; him quizzing me, pushing me for my opinions, kind of like what you are doing now.” She says with a playfully annoyed look on her face.
“Ah, so, it isn’t just me that finds you are holding back your true feelings sometimes!” Turk says with a look of discovery on his face.
“Ha-ha, well… I guess not,” she responds, giving up on arguing any further. Just then, they feel the ship shake a little bit and hear some loose items rattling. It is very subdued, but they can definitely detect some movement.
“Well then, there’s your shaking ground again, huh?” Turk says, as he sees Juliana’s eyes widen and look around.
“Yes, I guess so. Here…” She slides some wrappers and water cups to the side, and gestures some commands into a display screen, that is built into the table where they have been eating.
“Glover compiled the data, from the seismometer for the past 24 hours, take a look at this,” she says, pointing to some data she pulled up on the display. “There is basically constant seismic activity going on, but at low enough levels, where we usually can’t feel it. However, there are spikes from time-to-time, and some of these correspond to when I felt them. What we just felt, was probably one of these spikes.”
“So… then, is this bad… or normal?” Turk questions slowly, no longer feeling the ship shaking.
“Well, the surface probably rises up and down by a few tens of meters every day due to tides, and that is causing the seismic activity. It is normal and it is actually what’s keeping Europa warm inside, from the friction. I ran some simulations on the computer, to see if there could potentially ever be bigger quakes that may cause cracks. Basically it alleged that it is possible, but very unlikely. Actually, Thera Macula has already ruptured, so it is unlikely to happen again here.”
Turk responds, “Well, that’s good news I suppose. Plus, what are the odds of something like that happening at the exact time we are here?”
“Jeez, pretty low I imagine, but hey, don’t discount the curse!” Juliana responds, emphasizing the word curse, saying it with a spooky inflection.
“Oh yeah, that
’s true!” he responds with a smile. “Just don’t say that too loud, you don’t want to freak out Glover!” They both laugh softly and look around to make sure Lt. Glover isn’t within ear shot.
“Yes, true, I think he is really freaked out about all of that mumbo jumbo,” Evans responds and then pauses. Her facial expression changes to a cute inquisitive smirk and then she moves onto a yet another subject, a subject she has been waiting for a long time to get back onto.
“So… the other night,” she leans closer to Turk and is now talking in a low whisper. “Were you being serious? Because you’ve got me a little freaked out right now.”
He squints his eyes, as if thinking for a second, and then he gets a look on his face that says he just realized what she was talking about. He responds, “Oh… Yes, I was serious! Absolutely! That was an awesome doughnut! -- Ouch!!”
Juliana kicks his leg, “NOT THAT! Jeeeeez!” she says in a loud whisper. “Come on now, you know what I’m talking about!” She locks her eyes to his and gives him an expression that says, ‘if you make another joke I’m going to kick you where it really hurts.’
“Oh… that…” he wispers with a big smile. He grabs her ice cold hands in his and squeezes. His hands are warm and they feel good around hers. He leans even closer, gazing deep into her blue eyes and whispers, “I have never been more serious in my life!”
“COMMANDER!”
They both jump a bit, as they hear Lieutenant Glover calling for Commander Hicks. “Commander, we’ve lost communication with torpedo probe two. We started receiving some major seismic activity readings from the instruments a few minutes ago, and now then they just stopped sending data. We haven’t received a heartbeat signal for over two minutes now, from any of the instruments, or the torpedo probe.”
“Does that mean it’s stopped drilling?” Hicks asks, not sure he really wants to hear the answer. He makes his way from the commode up to the command deck as quickly as he can.
“Hard to say. Not necessarily. It could just be the radio link, or… the entire probe may have malfunctioned. It just went dark, so we’re not getting any data at all.”
Turk climbs up to the command deck, to join the two of them to look at the readings. Glover swipes his finger on the small display screen that he is sitting at, which instantly moves the data from his small screen, onto a much larger display screen on the wall. Data graphs show a big spike in seismic activity in that area just a few minutes ago. An alarm display is glaring out the words 'Signal lost > 2 min' in bright red letters.
“Shit!” Hicks yells, striking his hand on the console. “Well, let’s hope it is just a communication glitch.”
“Yeah, Juliana and I have 100 credits riding on this,” Turk jokes, trying to lighten the mood.
Hicks just gives him a nasty glare, not thinking it was funny at all, and then booms, “well, you two better get your bio-suits on, you’re going out a little early today! Fedoseev, you and I will suit up right after and head out to ours; I don’t trust some of these damn remote sensors.”
Turk looks down to the deck below, down to where Juliana is still sitting and raises his eyebrows, as if to say so much for a leisurely breakfast and a private talk.
Chapter 10: Seismic Activity
The rover driven by Turk flies over the lip of the groove where their torpedo probe is located; the low gravity allows it to go airborne for a few seconds. Juliana grabs Turks arm and says, “Jeez, take it easy there cowboy.” Turk just lets out a soft devilish laugh and gives her a childish look.
Juliana rolls her eyes while shaking her head and then asks, “so… do boys ever grow up?”
“Only the boring ones!” Turk retorts.
As the rover approaches the drilling site they can see that something isn't right. They should be able to see the support rig for the torpedo probe, sticking up into the air, but they can't. The area is also very shiny, much more so than it was yesterday.
Turk comments to Juliana, “what the hell… this whole area seems very shiny… and smooth. Was it like this yesterday? Is it just a difference in the angle of the Sun?”
Before Juliana has a chance to answer she simply points and screams: "PATRICK, WATCH OUT!!"
Turk was looking way up ahead, failing to notice a problem directly in front of them. What was a flat approach yesterday now had a large drop-off where apparently the icy surface has cracked and became uneven. Turk hits the brakes hard, locking up all four wheels on what is now a smooth glassy surface, like a skating rink. The rover tops out at only 15Kph, but on this smooth surface, and with the low gravity, the tires are just sliding like skis. Sensing the rover starting to spin clockwise, he releases the brakes to regain control.
“There’s no stopping her now,” Turk yells frantically into the com so Evans is prepared. “We are going over that drop off! Better to go over straight-on than flipping over sideways! Brace yourself!”
He hits the accelerator again to actually pick up some speed, and then they go airborne again. Evans gasps and grabs tightly ahold of a handle. The drop off is nearly two meters down, and even with the lower gravity the rover hits hard. The front end hits first, jolting Turk and Evans violently forward, but their restraints help keep them in place, then the back end hits with a smack. The rover now slides sideways for a few seconds, before it hits a rough patch that stops them almost instantly, nearly tipping the rover onto its side. It tips up on two wheels and hangs for a few seconds, before falling back down onto all four.
“Wow… holy crap, are you okay?” Turk asks Juliana, placing his hand on her leg.
“Yes, I’m fine… YOU?” She responds, a little in shock of what just happened.
“Well… I’m glad these suits have built-in bio-waste compartments, otherwise I’d have pissed my pants,” Turk jokes with a forced laugh and then says, “It was kind of fun actually!”
“FUN! JEEZ! I can’t say I thought that was fun, not in the least!” She exclaims back. Turk isn’t sure if she is being jokingly dramatic, or if she is really upset, so he decides to leave it at that and presses the accelerator of the rover to get moving again.
Instantly, Turk can tell the steering mechanism is screwed up. He can only turn the steering wheel slightly each way making the rover turn only ever so slightly in the respective direction.
“Oh crap, I don’t think the rover fared as well though, I can hardly turn the wheels. But the drilling spot is right up ahead, I think we can make it,” he says as he fights with the steering wheel.
As they approach the drilling location, they can see some of the remote sensor equipment, but they still can’t see the torpedo probe support rig at all. That is the tallest piece of equipment that they set up, and it should be the first thing they see. But it’s not.
“What the hell?” Turk blurts out, as he stops the rover near one of the remote sensor devices. “Look at that, half of it is frozen into the ice. How the hell is that possible? Did it melt into the ice?”
Juliana stares at the device and shakes her head in disbelief. “I don’t see how that would be possible, plus it is still level. If it somehow sank into the ice it would most likely be lopsided. Plus, look how shiny and smooth everything is here also. It’s as if a new layer of ice has formed in the whole area!”
“Wait, I’m not the scientist here, but the only way that would be possible is if fresh (unfrozen) water made its way up to the surface… right?” Turk says with concern in his voice.
“Pretty much…” Juliana responds; still just looking around in disbelief. Then she says to Turk, “Almost the entire surface of this groove is now a flat shinny surface. So, yes, subsurface water must have flooded this whole area since the last time we were here; and then refroze.”
“How long ago would you guess that happened?” Turk asks.
“Jeez, I don’t know. The water would freeze pretty fast out here though. It could have ruptured only an hour or so ago and be completely frozen like we see here. It may have been from the termer we felt in the shi
p right before we lost communication with all the equipment.” She responds with her best guess, digging the cleats of her boot into the ice to see how hard it is. It is very solid.
Turk moves the rover forward to where the drill tower should be, pin-pointing the exact spot with the global positioning equipment on the rover. The tower is not there. There is no hole. It is completely flat and shiny.
“Look at this,” Turk says pointing to the display screen on the rover. “The depth measuring equipment is all over the board today. Sometimes it says the ice is 3 kilometers deep, and then sometimes it says it is only 6 meters deep. This is crazy!”
Juliana dismounts from the rover to look around. She is peering into the clear ice to see if she can see anything. Turk drives forward slowly about 60 meters, looking all around, still nothing but shiny new ice.
Turk jumps up on the seat to get an elevated look around, still nothing but freshly frozen ice in the groove. He looks around at some of the ice mountains that are surrounding them; they all look just the same as they did the day before. Then suddenly his eyes widen and he grabs for the roll bar of the rover as he feels woozy and starts to lose his balance. His hand misses, then thud, he finds himself flat on his face on the icy surface. Had it not been for the low gravity he may have been hurt badly, but besides some pain in his knees and neck, he is fine. His helmet seems to be okay and there are no alarms from his bio-suit sensors.
“Jeez, Patrick, did you feel that?” he hears Juliana on the com.
He sits up and can feel the ground shaking, rumbling actually. He realized he didn’t fall because he was woozy, he fell due to more seismic activity.
He responds to Juliana through the com, “Yeah, believe me, I felt that. And I’ve got a bad feeling about all of this; I think we need to get out of here right now!” Turk pulls himself back up to a standing position then looks over to find Juliana. He sees her trying to stand-up, holding her arms out to her side to balance herself as the ground shakes.