The Io Encounter: Hard Science Fiction (Ice Moon Book 3)

by Brandon Q Morris

  The lander module was connected to the CELSS and could be reached by going through an airlock. Martin grabbed the toolbox with his left hand, surprised at how light it felt. Still, he could sense its mass of metal—he needed strength to begin to move it, and also to slow it down again. Up until now he had not had problems adapting to the conditions of zero gravity, but now he found himself forced to think twice before many actions. I must be getting old, or maybe the cosmic radiation is impeding my mental faculties.

  He opened the bulkhead door leading to the rotational axis of the habitat ring. It was always windy here due to the pressure difference caused by the rotation. Martin’s hair—what remained of it—was blown about, and there was no gravity to make it settle down again. When this used to happen before, Jiaying would caress his head to smooth his hair and smile at him. Now the thought of it was painful.

  Jiaying should be working her shift right now, and according to the schedule she was supposed to be in the garden. He had not thought about having to encounter her. The garden module began a bit behind the habitat ring. He carefully slid the bulkhead door sideways. If she was in the right-hand corridor right now, he might be able to sneak past her without being noticed. While working, Jiaying liked to listen to music through her earphones.

  Martin first peeked into the left corridor, then the right. No one was in sight. He was relieved that he would not have to say anything to Jiaying this time. Maybe she had missed her shift, or had she switched it?

  He looked for a while to see if everything was okay in the garden. Right now, the balance of nature seemed to be working, and it did not stink too badly. It appeared they would soon be able to eat fresh lettuce, carrots, and potatoes again. Martin walked through the right-hand corridor and looked at all the plants. Whoever worked the previous shift had done a decent job. He did not find any brown stains, or any spots of nutrient solutions splattered around like Francesca sometimes left behind.

  He approached the entrance of the lander module. The door was open! This wasn’t ever supposed to be the case. Right now, it shouldn’t even be filled with air. Maybe Hayato was already in the cabin of the module, looking for a solution to the landing-strut issue. Was he trying to get some inspiration? Martin could understand that, and for the same reason he decided to check on the interior of the capsule first. He cautiously peeked around the corner and flinched, frozen in shock.

  Somebody was kneeling on the floor, facing away from him and apparently doing something underneath it. The floor consisted of metal plates that could be unscrewed. Below it was space for smaller devices—parts of the life-support system, sensors and so on. Martin would have to study the technical documentation to list everything. The person he saw was definitely not Hayato. Martin stood still, trying to breathe softly and think quickly. What was Jiaying doing here? Should he confront her? Or should he leave her alone and then talk to the others? He was undecided. Would he really mess up everything if he showed his distrust? Perhaps Jiaying had been assigned a task he had not been told about. How would he even know? While she was more of a biologist and chemist than a technician, they had all learned how to repair vital systems during their training.

  He slowly walked backward. He was not going to make a scene now. Surely everything must be aboveboard. He went to the toilet and planned to return, making enough noise that Jiaying would have a chance to explain herself. That seemed like a good plan to him.

  Ten minutes later he was back. After entering, he loudly shut the bulkhead door at the entrance of the garden. Jiaying was working in the left corridor, and she looked up out of curiosity in his direction. When she realized who it was, she lowered her gaze toward her work.

  “Hello, Jiaying,” he said.

  “Hello.”

  “Anything special going on? You’ve got the gardening shift?”

  “As you can see. I am almost done.”

  “Well, good night then.”

  “Same to you,” she said, and for a moment he had the impression of hearing more warmth in her voice than she wanted to allow. He walked toward the lander module and did not turn around. He would only be disappointed, since she definitely was not following him with her eyes.

  The airlock was closed. The instrumentation showed him the air pressure behind it was normal. Obviously Jiaying had not attempted to hide her tracks by venting the pressure. The bulkhead door moved sideways with a squeak and Martin entered the lander. He looked around, observing three chairs. One was missing, just as the crew was missing a member. In this very place, four of them had been feverishly awaiting the first landing on an extraterrestrial moon in a long time. Francesca had brought them down safely to the surface of Enceladus, and also down to Titan when there had been just three of them on board. They would never again be able to land somewhere as a four-person team, except for on Earth, the eventual destination of their journey, where they would be picked up by the proven Russian or Chinese space capsules. The lander module was not suitable for a dense atmosphere like that of Earth’s.

  Martin, stop daydreaming, you’ve got things to do, he told himself. He went over the checklist and discovered he could never do all of this in one shift. But what had Jiaying been doing here? He visualized the scene and tried to find the spot where she had been working. Five steps in this direction, as he remembered. He turned around—the distance was correct. Martin squatted. The thick floor plates were attached with countersunk bolts. He looked through the toolbox for a wrench of the suitable size and found one right away. No wonder, as the toolbox had been arranged so neatly. Jiaying had tightened the bolts quite firmly he noted as he loosened one of them. She must have really hurried, or perhaps she had been almost finished when he came upon her. Martin continued until he had removed the last bolt and was able to take off the floor plate. He took care not to let it float away.

  At this spot the cavity was surprisingly large. Almost nowhere else did the subfloor provide so much space. He took the flashlight from the toolbox and aimed the light into the square opening. A few cables right below the surface blocked the view to... well, what was it? Martin was surprised. The device he had just discovered was definitely out of place here. Either Jiaying installed one of the two spare devices here, or she had unscrewed one in use somewhere, without Watson noticing. The first option was more likely. He illuminated it from all sides with the flashlight. It was not connected to its surroundings but simply attached with two cable loops, so it could not float around. Martin Neumaier generally liked technical puzzles, but not when his ex-girlfriend designed them. The thought puzzled him. Why would Jiaying install an oxygen generator in the lander?

  Eight hours later Martin had finished about a third of his assigned tasks. Of course Hayato arrived right on time. The two of them sat in the chairs where they had experienced previous landings.

  “So, how are you doing?” asked Hayato.

  “Fine. And you?”

  “I am fine, too,” Hayato said, and then he started to laugh.

  Martin gave him a puzzled look.

  “If only Amy was to listen in on our conversation...”

  Martin nodded. He knew exactly what his friend was referring to. Only a man could understand these kinds of minimalist conversations. He is a friend, he thought, and I haven’t considered him a mere colleague for a long time. This is what it’s all about.

  “I have been thinking about the landing struts,” Hayato said.

  “Just a moment. First, I’ve got to tell you something really strange.” Martin reported about watching Jiaying and what she had installed below the subfloor of the lander.

  “Back there,” he said, pointing to the spot.

  Hayato seemed to ponder the news. “An oxygen generator. Well, first of all, it is not a bomb or anything. She is not trying to kill us with it. And if there is enough space there, why not? It will not hurt to have one on board.”

  “Maybe,” Martin said. “But why was she doing it in secret? Why didn’t she say anything?”

  “
A birthday present? A surprise? Did you ever tell her you really liked oxygen generators?”

  “Ha-ha.”

  “I would not put it past you.”

  “No, Hayato, I’m sorry, but the oxygen generator is definitely not a present for me.”

  “I really do not see a problem here. We should not make it into one. I mean, she is not feeling well.”

  “So we just ignore it? We could let Marchenko in on it.”

  “And he would tell Francesca, and she would inform Amy, and then we might as well have a group meeting about it.”

  “Sure. Okay Hayato, let’s talk about more important things.”

  March 5, 2047, ILSE

  Jiaying sweated profusely while she hurriedly pedaled as if having to win a race. She remembered her high school years and visualized the physical education teacher giving the signal for the start of the 400-meter race. She not only failed in getting a perfect start, but her main competitor, whose name she could no longer recall, was two steps ahead of her. Jiaying was gasping heavily. She had to catch up with the girl. In the previous school year she had managed to beat her without any problem, but since then her rival’s legs had grown by a few centimeters. Jiaying, on the other hand, was still waiting for her growth spurt. How unfair!

  She tried to compensate for the disadvantage by added effort, but she only fell further behind. This race was crucial, since the Phys. Ed. teacher would use it to decide who would participate in the school’s championship competition. Jiaying pushed herself extra hard and reduced the distance between them during the last meters, but she still ended up in second place. Luckily, her father was waiting for her behind the finish line. Instead of slowing down, she threw herself into his arms, gasping and crying. “Shhh, shhh,” he comforted, trying to calm her down, and he held her until she had stopped quivering. Then he placed his expensive jacket, which he normally only wore to political education sessions, over her shoulders.

  The sweat on Jiaying’s face mixed with tears. The salty liquid ran over her breathing mask, and she was glad no one was watching her. She was breathing pure oxygen before an EVA and was also removing nitrogen from her blood through strenuous physical exertion. She was a bit disgusted with being drenched in sweat and would have liked to briefly jump into the shower, but she was already wearing the MAG, or Maximum Absorbency Garment, which the astronauts had nicknamed ‘the diaper,’ and soon she would put on the Spandex underwear called the LCVG, or Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment.

  She was scheduled to perform an EVA together with Martin, though she had asked beforehand to be allowed, as much as possible, to make her preparations alone. She told the commander she felt awkward standing half-naked in front of her ex-boyfriend. Amy obviously did not believe her, but still permitted her solitary training. Her fitness was better than Martin’s, so he would do his exercise after her, while she waited for him in the airlock where her spacesuit, the EMU, was already waiting for her. Before the EVA she had volunteered for three days of cleaning the existing EMUs, in order to at least reduce the inevitable odor that developed after multiple uses.

  Trailing the oxygen tank behind her, she floated through the spaceship until arriving at the airlock in the rear part. Hayato awaited her there, ready to help her into the Lower Torso Assembly, or LTA, the soft lower part of the space suit. The fiberglass Hard Upper Torso, or HUT, was inside the airlock. As soon as the upper part was closed she could lower the air pressure. During exit, the pressure would be only half as high as in the rest of the ship.

  She was busy making some adjustments to the control computer on her wrist when Martin arrived. Did I really take that much time preparing for the EVA? I seriously have to get better at this because in an emergency, seconds might count, she thought. With the aid of Hayato it took Martin just eight minutes to get ready to exit. Hayato closed the hatch of the airlock. He gave a last hand signal, the two red lights started blinking, and the air was pumped out. Hayato contacted them via helmet radio.

  “Everything ready, EVA team?”

  “Ready for EVA,” Jiaying answered. Martin mumbled something that did not sound like an objection. Hayato then ordered Watson to open the hatch to the outside. It’s almost like a chicken coop being opened toward the chicken run, she thought. As a child she had liked to open the door of the coop in her family’s little garden. When the chickens came out they briefly stopped in the bright light of the sun. Martin, who left the spaceship first, hesitated as well, so she instantly bumped into him.

  “Not so fast, young lady,” he said with fake cheerfulness. He turned around and checked to ensure that she had attached her safety line.

  “What is going on—why are you not moving?” she asked.

  “Let’s just briefly enjoy the view.”

  Jiaying remembered that he was prone to vertigo. Martin stepped aside and she saw the incredible panorama for herself. Up and down, left and right, to the front—Jiaying saw only nothingness, everywhere. Directions lost their meaning. It was both terrifying and splendid. Jiaying imagined what it was like to suffer from vertigo—it must be horrible. On Earth, there was only one downward direction, here ‘down’ was everywhere. If they acted carelessly they would soon become celestial bodies themselves, bound only by the sun’s gravitation.

  “Everything okay with you?” asked Jiaying.

  “Yes, thanks,” Martin answered. She was glad he did not ask how she was doing. She was trying to locate Jupiter. It must be back there. She turned. The gas giant looked less impressive than she had expected.

  “Why did we have to do the EVA right now? In a few weeks we would have a much better view of Jupiter,” she said.

  Hayato answered via the radio. “By then we would already be decelerating. It would be a harder climb for us, struggling against the force of inertia.”

  Their task was to provide the lander with new landing gear. Hayato and Martin had briefly explained their plan—they would repurpose one of the freight containers attached amidships on the outside of the hull. It would be strapped below the lander module in such a way that they could easily detach it before their take-off from Io. The metal container would then stay on the moon forever. According to Watson’s calculations, it was sturdy enough for the gravity there.

  Watson, of all things, Jiaying thought. If the others only knew how little they can trust the AI. She sighed. If they only knew how little they can trust me.

  Martin pulled on her line. He was right, their work would not wait. They had to empty the container. Whatever was needed on board they would transfer to the airlock, while the rest had to be attached somehow to the hull. Marchenko came up with the idea of using the spiders that were designed to plug small meteorite holes with their rapidly hardening glue. The glue could be used to attach objects they might need later. Jiaying suggested moving as much as possible into the spaceship and storing it in the garden module. That might save them from having to perform another dangerous EVA. Occasionally, they might need spare parts that had been stored in the outer containers.

  I shouldn’t daydream so much, especially after rushing him when he paused at the hatch, she thought when she realized Martin was already five meters ahead. He pointed toward the container, which resembled an oversized lunch box.

  “The added ribs on the side increase stability,” he explained, without her having to ask. Then Martin opened a panel on the front end. “Let’s get all this stuff out of here.”

  The large box contained a surprising number of smaller boxes. Watson could use the barcodes to tell them what was inside each of them. Then the AI would suggest whether each box was needed on board or whether it should be glued to the outside. Whenever possible, and if items seemed useful to her in spite of Watson’s input, Jiaying chose to move supplies into the airlock. After about two hours the container was empty.

  “Now we have to move it halfway around the ship,” Martin explained to her, even though she still recalled the briefing details clearly. He is such a know-it-all, Jiaying sneered
.

  Even in zero gravity the container was unwieldy. Following Watson’s directions, Martin opened the docking clamps. Then they maneuvered the huge box to its destination. Moving Firm Li and Neumaier, Jiaying thought. Surprisingly, she enjoyed the work. For once she was not just sitting around, which was nice. However, that was not the reason she had asked to participate in this EVA.

  She reserved her true motive for the end—the end, the conclusion—that would come soon enough, once Martin had closed the fasteners to hold the box in place on the lander module. Now the lander could do its duty again and the job was finished. They were ready to reenter the spaceship—or maybe not. Jiaying had thought about this for a long time. She had not reattached her safety line. Instead of entering the airlock, she was going to jump toward the sun. No one would ever find her again. Her parents would survive, since they could no longer be used against her—at least she hoped they would be okay. She would also not have to betray her friends. So far she had been unable to come to a firm decision. Even without her the crew would not be safe. She knew that Watson was being manipulated. Would Marchenko be able to control the corrupted AI? Would it help her friends more if she stayed on board?

  She did not know, yet she knew one thing. It was very hard to keep herself apart from the rest of the crew. She thought breaking up with Martin would make her farewell easier, but it was just the opposite. She felt the warmth shared among her colleagues who by now were friends, and the growing coldness between herself and the others actually placed her under an increasing emotional strain. The coldness of space could not be much worse, and she could reach it with just a tiny jump.