Europa Contagion

by Nicholas Thorp

  Bailey and Dimitri had just entered the lander and had taken off their spacesuits when Li contacted them.

  “You guys will want to hear this,” Li said. He played the message from the others that he had received from Europa. Although there were routine reports in the communication, Li had taken the most recent report which told the story of the earthquake that nearly killed Alice and Kato.

  “I’ve already forwarded the message to Earth,” Li said.

  “Wow,” Dimitri said. “That’s pretty serious. Let’s hope nothing else happens to them.”

  FOUR

  Unusual Activity

  Days passed as the crew returned to their normal activities.

  Felix worked on repairing the Nomad with Kato’s occasional help. The damage to the exterior was largely cosmetic, but there were some integral components damaged. Most noticeably, the cameras and antennae were in complete disarray. A closer inspection revealed the rear suspension was damaged as well, but not as severely as it could have been.

  On Earth, Felix never needed to worry about fixing a flat tire or replacing a wheel. If something like a tire went flat, it was as easy as running down to the nearest store that sold tires and buying a new one. On Europa, it was a completely different story. Creating wheels and tires for use for extended periods of time on an extraterrestrial world is quite a challenging problem. Using rubber and air for a tire doesn’t work well in an environment with no atmosphere and no way to replace or fix something when it wears down. Instead, most objects constructed for space travel were designed for the long-term and were supposed to be completely self-reliant.

  The wheels on the Nomad were no different. They were not shaped like a regular cylinder-like wheel but were more spherical. Twelve triangular parts combined to make the wheel, each part having thousands of interconnected coiled steel wires. Together they supported the weight of the Nomad while also conforming to the terrain.

  On Europa, a place where most common materials humans would want were non-existent, it made sense to make everything as reliable as possible. That didn’t mean the crew couldn’t replace something if it broke, but it did mean that they had to be careful with the tools they had and the resources they used since their materials were limited.

  Felix was average in almost every way. He was of average height and average build. His hands and face always seemed dirty because of the grease and other liquids he often ran into when working around the Habitat. One thing about Felix, however, was most definitely not average: his mechanical mind. He was perfect for a mission like this as far as machinery was concerned. Simply put, Felix was the most creative and talented engineer the mission planners had ever tested and they were eager to get their hands on him for this mission.

  Felix knew, for example, that he could get the cameras up and running most easily by replacing them with a few spare cameras that came with the Nomad. He also knew, however, that it would be better if he could take his time to physically repair the damage done to each one, sparing the replacements in case they truly would need to use them.

  Between regular maintenance of the Habitat and other activities, he was making good progress on fixing the Nomad.

  Before any human set foot on Europa, it had been established that the Habitat couldn’t be on the surface. It was made abundantly clear that there was too much dangerous radiation. Thus, the habitat was built below the icy crust, where the ice-water ended up being the perfect natural shield to protect the puny humans who happened to be there.

  Creating a habitat on Europa had been an arduous process. Since humans couldn’t spend any length of time on the surface without serious worry of radiation, probes were sent in advance that carried materials and construction bots. Over many years, the construction bots assembled the materials into a nearly self-sufficient, sustainable, livable space. When the habitat was first being built by the construction bots on the ice, the probes made a discovery: there were hot spots near the crust. It wasn’t exactly clear why this was the case, but it was initially theorized that the tidal forces of Jupiter could have been helping to create warmer than anticipated areas. However, the amount of heat they discovered ended up being far more than could be explained by the tidal forces.

  One of the pieces of machinery Felix regularly checked on was the electric thermal generator. The generator had been placed in the crust, near such a hot spot. At the time it was placed there, it wasn’t fully understood why the area was so hot.

  Obtaining sufficient energy, such as electricity, was always a problem, no matter where you were in space. Closer to the sun, solar panels were an excellent source of electricity. Further out, however, the amount of sunlight decreased by the square of the distance. By the time sunlight reaches Europa, 485 million miles away, its photons have traveled so far, and dispersed so much that the remaining energy is not sufficient for any practical application. Instead, nuclear power was the preferred method.

  The hot spots on Europa, though, allowed for electricity generation without worry about potentially dangerous nuclear reactors. Advanced Sterling Turbine Generators that operated on the principle of harnessing even small temperature differences had been deployed by the construction bots and provided copious electricity. Thereafter, the combination of electricity and liquid water allowed for the creation of another critical component of being in a livable habitat: oxygen.

  ----------

  Kato wasn’t nearly as interested in the minutiae of fixing every kind of mechanical object as Felix was, but it was in his nature to know the status of any vehicle he was going to pilot. Kato had shaggy, jet black hair and was shorter than the average man. He had flown many different jets and helicopters in his time. This, in combination with his pristine military record, had helped make him an ideal candidate for a space mission. Kato’s instinct to know the inner workings of his vehicles coupled with his decisiveness made him an excellent pilot. He could hardly recount the number of times something peculiar happened while piloting a vehicle. In many cases, his deep knowledge of the inner workings of the vehicle allowed him to troubleshoot a problem ‘on the fly’ and prevent things from getting worse while continuing to pilot the aircraft.

  One of the many things he kept a close eye on was the Habitat itself. He knew that it was vital to maintain the facility, and thus made sure he understood as much as he could about it. All the crew knew a basic amount of information about everything, but Kato took it upon himself to make sure he understood far more than the others to prepare for any situation. After all, anything could go wrong at any time with any machine.

  For instance, he knew it was important that he constantly check the hydrogen tanks and release valves. Using electrolysis to break up the molecule water (H20) into its elements of oxygen and hydrogen, the humans could use and breathe the oxygen while the hydrogen could be stored elsewhere for other purposes. Hydrogen was a useful commodity and was even used to power their exploration vehicle: the Nomad.

  Oxygen was constantly being created and consumed, which meant that hydrogen was also being created frequently. When a water molecule is broken up, one gets twice as much hydrogen as oxygen. Thus, they had to carefully store the hydrogen and vent any excess. With the flammability of hydrogen well known, it was stored in tanks far away from the Habitat where oxygen was not present.

  Kato checked and performed maintenance on the hydrogen valves regularly. Some parts were bound to break, no matter how well designed. When this would happen, Kato could use the 3D printer to create a new part to replace the old one. At first, Kato knew only the basics of 3D printing since Felix was in charge of the machine. Having spent lengthy sessions with Felix and many hours fixing basic parts, however, Kato had gotten an excellent feel for how to program the printer and create the exact parts he needed.

  ----------

  “Navya, could you hand me that slide please?” Alice held her right hand out as she peered into her microscope.

  Navya grabbed the slide and moved it next to Alice’s hand. Alic
e waited but Navya didn’t let go.

  “Um, Navya? Do you mind?” Alice asked as she took her eyes off the microscope to look at Navya.

  “Yeah, sorry. My hand isn’t working so well,” Navya responded.

  Finally Navya dropped the slide into Alice’s hand and she pressed the slide into the stage plates until it suddenly snapped perfectly into place.

  “That’s alright. That unit has been having some trouble recently. We’ll have to try to recalibrate it once we’re done here,” Alice said.

  “Hey, Alice,” Navya said. “I wanted to ask how you’re doing. You nearly died out there in the Nomad and we’ve barely talked about it.”

  Alice paused for a moment and pulled up, away from the microscope to look more directly at Navya.

  “You know, right now, I don’t really want to talk ab-” Alice couldn’t finish her sentence as an alarm sounded in the room.

  *Warning. Code Blue in Hangar*

  The warning kept repeating every few seconds.

  “Already?” Alice asked. “We barely got started with this.”

  “You never know when it’ll happen,” Navya responded and pushed a button on the wall silencing the alarm. “Let’s go get suited up.”

  Both Navya and Alice donned their orange MK V EMUs and grabbed several supplies before making their way to the hangar. Both of them stopped at the airlock between the two rooms and looked through the small viewing glass.

  “I know that this seems annoying, but I do need to make sure that you’re alright,” Navya said. “It’s not just that I make sure everyone is fine physically, I have a responsibility to make sure everyone is fine mentally as well.”

  “I don’t see the problem from here,” Alice said.

  “Alright, we’ll talk about it another time,” Navya said. “Do you want to fix it?”

  “Yeah, sure. You fixed it last time.”

  “Remember the procedure?”

  “Yes, I do,” Alice replied. “Alright give it here.” Alice held out her hand.

  Navya reached down and unclipped a can of expanding foam, a bottle of liquid sealant, a heat gun, a flexible carbon fiber plate and a small glass dome with various tubes sticking out of it. Navya handed off each piece and Alice took each one and hooked them to her suit.

  “Your hand seems to be working fine now,” Alice said.

  “Yeah, for now,” Navya answered. “Okay. Step one: make sure that both entrances are closed and sealed.”

  “Right, I’ll check this door, you check the elevator,” Alice said as she began to check the door before her. The hangar was a unique room. Being the largest room it had an elevator to help move large objects from outside into the Habitat if necessary. Navya made her way around the facility to the elevator. A few minutes later, Navya was at the elevator. Just as she began to test to see if there were any leaks, her microphone chirped and Alice’s voice spoke.

  “This airlock on this side is good,” Alice said. “What about your side?”

  “I’m checking that right now,” Navya answered. “The seal to the elevator looks good. No leaks detected.”

  “Okay, on to step two. I’m going into the room to see if I can find the cause of the depressurization. See you soon,” Alice replied and stepped into the airlock. She stood in the airlock listening as the air hissed away and escaped from the confined space. Once the area was devoid of air, the inner door opened and she stepped into the hangar.

  She began to look around the room. The walls, ceiling and floor seemed fine with no obvious holes or cracks. The Nomad sat in its parking spot on one side of the room. Alice walked over toward and around the Nomad and was surprised at what she saw. There was a large crack in the wall. As she approached the wall she could see the outline of the crack. Once she was at the wall she could see the full extent of the damage. There was one large hole in the center surrounded by linear-looking cracks radiating outward from the center. The hole was about 4 inches in diameter. The surrounding cracks were about one inch at their widest.

  “Yeah, this has to be the spot. This is one big hole,” Alice spoke mostly to herself. “What could cause something this big? Well, onto step three.” Alice grabbed the expanding foam from her waistband and aimed it at the crack. Depressing the button, a thin film sprayed from the bottle. Alice carefully aimed the can at the base of the bottom crack and slowly moved the can following the interior outline of the crack and hole. When she had gone around the entire perimeter she released the button and watched as the foam expanded, filling up the cracks and hole entirely.

  “How is it going over there? This elevator is definitely sealed, but I can’t get it to operate. I think if I can access the panel from inside the hangar I might be able to fix it. I’ll be coming around the other way in a minute.”

  “Okay,” Alice responded. “I just started fixing the crack.”

  Alice put the can of expanding foam back on her waistband and grabbed the liquid sealant. Then, she opened the liquid and began to ‘paint’ the crack where the foam had expanded. After covering the entirety of the crack she pulled out the heat gun. Powered by a small portable hydrogen tank, she turned the heat gun on and began to slowly pass it over the sealant. Only moments after the heat hit the sealant, the initially clear liquid turned red, indicating that the chemical reactions had worked and the area now had an extra layer of protection.

  Step four, Alice thought to herself as she reached for the plate. Built into the perimeter of the plate was a special chemical that, when activated, would fuse to any metal surface when activated. Alice placed the flexible plate over the hole and crack and pushed the edges inward. Then she took the pull-pin built into the plate and yanked it out as fast as she could. The chemical began to burn and immediately fused with the wall. When it was done Alice stepped back to look at her work. It looked like a picture from a textbook.

  “Test time,” Alice said as she grabbed the large glass dome that was hooked to her suit. She brought the dome up vertically to the wall and pushed it onto the wall around the crack. Like a suction cup, the glass dome stuck to the wall. Alice then connected the tubes from the glass tubes to her suit.

  Alice’s speaker suddenly spoke with Navya’s voice, “Already at the pressure test?”

  “Yeah, just a minute here and I can help with the elevator,” Alice responded. The glass dome began to fill up with the excess air from Alice’s suit and pressurized the area around the crack. After several minutes the device measured that there was no detected loss of pressure.

  Alice said, “This is good over here. The crack is taken care of. Let’s get this room back under pressure. I don’t know what caused the problem yet though.” Alice reached over to a nearby control panel, pressed a few buttons, then began to release the glass dome from the wall. “I’ve got the room repressurising. It’ll take a while to get back to normal.”

  As Alice turned around, her eye caught the side of the Nomad. There was a large black and burned-looking spot from one of the rear wheels.

  “Hey, Alice. I can't figure out the problem with the elevator. Look at this,” Navya pointed at the panel on the inside of the elevator.

  Alice looked away from the Nomad, set the pressure testing device down, walked over to the elevator and looked closely at the panel Navya was looking at. At first glance everything seemed fine.

  “I see what you mean,” Alice said. “Where is the electronic diagnostic tool?”

  Navya looked down at her suit, patted herself and said, “Must have been my hand again. I thought it snapped to my suit but I must have left it on the other side of the elevator.”

  “I’ll go and grab it,” Alice said. She walked back to the airlock and pressed the button to close the doors and let the air repressurize. As the door closed, Alice heard a loud thud. The door seemed to latch and close normally, but she had never heard the latch make such a loud sound before. Despite her initial worry, the airlock pressurized and the outer door opened. She made her way to the other side of the elevator and sa
w the diagnostic tool sitting on the floor next to another open panel. She bent down and grabbed the diagnostic tool.

  As she stood up, she heard a loud bang and felt a small tremor.

  “I didn’t expect this,” Navya said.

  The lights in the hallway and the hangar began to flash red. Another alarm sounded.

  *Warning. Code Red Hangar*

  “What? Navya, what’s going on in there?”

  Navya had heard the same loud bang Alice had heard but felt a much larger tremor. She turned around and saw one of the rear wheels of the Nomad was a mangled mess of metals. Several open flames had erupted from the side of the vehicle.

  Navya answered Alice, “The Nomad, something is wrong with it. One of the engines has exploded I think.” Alice thought about the burn marks she saw on one of the wheels when she had fixed the crack. That must have been the cause of the crack in the wall to begin with.

  “I’ve got a warning for low pressure in my suit,” Navya said.

  “Get back to the airlock, I’ll come around as fast as I can,” Alice said.

  Alice turned around and moved as quickly as she could to the airlock. Meanwhile Navya was already making her way to the airlock. Navya hopped into the airlock and pressed the button to start the procedure to let her out of the hangar. A loud thud sounded the moment she pressed the button and an orange warning light flashed above the door. She pressed the button one more time but nothing happened.

  “Now this door isn’t working!” Navya said. “How far are you from the airlock?”