2024-2120

by Russell Fine

  Once Robert had been made aware of the silver deposits in Argentina and confirmed the information with the mining engineers who were on site, he arranged for another worldwide broadcast.

  Smiling broadly, he began, “Good evening. Four weeks ago, I spoke to you about our plans to bring substantial amounts of silver back from Ganymede, but I also told you that we were searching on Earth for additional silver resources as well. I’m very happy to tell you the search has found what may prove to be the largest silver deposit ever discovered on Earth. The deposit was found in western Argentina, twenty-five miles west of the city of Mendoza. The initial estimates indicate that when this mine is put into full production, which will happen in the next sixty days, we’ll have enough silver to meet ninety percent of the demand. That means there will probably still be a wait for a power module, but it will be a matter of days rather than months. We expect within five months all the currently pending orders will be filled, and we’re going to try our best to reduce that time as well.”

  Robert paused for a few seconds, and looking serious now, he continued. “Please understand this silver deposit won’t eliminate the need for bringing silver back from Ganymede.” Smiling again he said. “However, there’s every indication it will largely eliminate the problem until that happens. “I’m also happy to announce the launch of the initial trip to Ganymede has been moved up and we expect that launch to occur in sixty days. One additional positive thing has happened regarding the engine design for the cargo ships that will carry the silver ore from Ganymede back to Earth. Computer models indicate the design will work and next week we’ll begin construction on the first prototype engine.

  “In my last announcement, I stated we’ll keep you informed and that’s exactly what we did tonight. You may rest assured as progress is made, we’ll make that information available to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your time this evening. Goodnight.”

  This time the public reaction was much more positive. For the most part the demonstrations stopped, but there were still some minor outbreaks of violence. Those outbreaks were eventually tied to professional rabble-rousers hired by people who simply hated all forms of government and sought to cause chaos for whatever reason they could find.

  The mine in Argentina began to produce massive amounts of silver thirty-five days after Robert’s speech. In less than two weeks the additional silver began to make a difference in the backorder status for many people. It was anticipated that by the time the ship to Ganymede launched in December, the backorders would be gone.

  DECEMBER 2069

  The Captain of the ship, Terry Simpson, looked a lot like his father. He was tall, thin, had brown hair and matching eyes. He also had his father’s intelligence. He graduated at the top of his class in high school, at seventeen. He attended MIT where he received a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering. Immediately after graduation, he went to work for NASA where he was trained as a pilot. After he completed his pilot training he was assigned to work on the missions to Mars. He started out as a copilot, but after two years he was given a ship of his own. He had completed 13 Mars missions as captain when he was given the job of Captain of the ship going Ganymede.

  The ship for the mission to Ganymede was ready by December 1, but it would be twenty-two days before the Earth would be in the best position to launch the ship. All of the crew members had spent time in the habitat on Mars, so they were familiar with the rigors of space travel. The crew included a geologist whose job was to evaluate the silver deposits on Ganymede. There was also a medical doctor, Ross Daniels, whose job, aside from taking care of the crew, was to work with Sheila Nelson, an exobiologist, to check for any living organisms on Ganymede. They were not expected to find any, but they would have sixty days to look. The other seven members of the crew were there to make sure the ship functioned normally, and to make sure they arrived at the intended spot on time and left for Earth on schedule.

  NASA received constant messages from the probe on Ganymede, although there was little new information. It was expected the probe would continue transmitting for decades since it used a power module as a power source.

  On December 20 the crew went to the space station to prepare for the launch. All members of the crew were given extensive physical exams and the ship’s operation was checked by the crew. On December 23 everything was ready and the ship, now named Ganymede I, was launched at 3:00 PM eastern time.

  Several hours later, they passed the orbit of the moon. By the end of the second day, Earth was just a large bright dot in space. The flight was uneventful until the morning of December 31. They received a message from NASA telling them the Ganymede probe had stopped transmitting a few hours earlier. There was no indication of any malfunction, although all of the data had not been analyzed yet. The crew was given the additional task of trying to determine the cause of the failure of the probe, but by New Year’s Day, it had already been forgotten.

  GANYMEDE

  November 2070 to February 2071

  The trip to Ganymede was, for the most part, unremarkable. All of the crew members had been on trips to and from Mars and had spent at least a year there. They were used to living in cramped spaces and had long ago lost any need they had for privacy. There were a few minor disagreements between the crew members, but these problems were quickly resolved.

  In order to pass the time, they all read books and played games. Additionally, the ship had an advanced communication system which enabled them to receive copies of the latest movies and television programs. They also sent and received messages to and from friends and family. The delay between the time a message was sent from the ship and the time it was received on Earth was thirty-five minutes, so real-time communication was nearly impossible, but they were used to that.

  On November 23, the ship’s computer put the ship into a low orbit around Ganymede that would take them over the area of the probe. Terry Simpson, the ship’s captain, spoke to the navigator, “Lieutenant Parker, we know the coordinates of the probe, so let’s find it and then we can look for a nice smooth place to land nearby.”

  “Yes sir, we should be at the probe’s location in forty minutes,” Lieutenant Parker replied.

  After fifty minutes had passed Terry asked, “Shouldn’t we have seen the probe by now?”

  “Yes sir, I expected to see it ten minutes ago. I just finished double checking the coordinates and they’re correct. It would be much easier to find it if the transmitter was still working but obviously, that’s not an option. That area will be in visual and in computer scan range again in ninety minutes. I’m going to program the computer to look for any metallic object on the surface. That should be ready to begin processing in ten minutes, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t find the probe on the next pass.”

  All of the crew members waited patiently for the next pass over the area, but neither the computer nor any of the crew could find the probe. Terry was confused. “Lieutenant Parker, I don’t understand. Are we looking in the correct area?”

  “Yes sir, we’re absolutely looking in the correct area. I don’t understand this either. The probe isn’t there,” Mark replied, with obvious confusion in his voice.

  Terry asked Lieutenant Cohen, the geologist onboard, “Is the surface geologically active? Could the probe have been buried in a landslide or something?”

  “There’s no evidence of any recent seismic activity sir,” she replied.

  “Okay, Lieutenant Parker, before we pass over that area again double check the scan program. Also, I want everybody to man a monitor and visually check every square inch of that area for the probe. It has to be there.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  On the third pass over the area where the probe should have been nothing was found. Terry said, “They’ll never believe this back at NASA headquarters. They’re going to think we’re all nuts, or incompetent, or perhaps both. Lieutenant Parker, on the next pass, look for a landing site. We’re going to land the ship and then
do our own ground search.”

  Four hours later the ship touched down on Ganymede. An hour later Terry and Lieutenant Cohen, left the ship to search for the probe. Before they left they studied pictures the probe had taken of the area around it. There were some unique rock formations that would help confirm they were looking in the right place. After forty-five minutes of searching, they were certain they had found the location where the probe landed. The surface was slightly indented and it was obvious the probe had been there, but nobody had any idea what had happened to it. They went back to the ship more confused than ever.

  “Okay, we aren’t crazy. The probe was there and now it’s not. Does anybody have any ideas?” Terry asked.

  Lieutenant Parker said acidly, “Isn’t it obvious? The Ganymedeians took it inside their underground lair.”

  “Do you want to send that report back to Earth with your name on it?” Terry retorted.

  “No, I really don’t think that would be a good idea. But somebody, or something, had to have taken it. It didn’t vanish on its own.”

  Terry recorded the following message: “Sir, we now know why the Ganymede probe stopped transmitting, and I’m certain you’ll think we’re all insane, or incompetent when I tell you what we found. Actually, I have to tell you what we didn’t find. The probe’s gone. We made three passes over the area where it was supposed to be. The first one was visual, and the probe is large enough that it should’ve been easy to spot, but we didn’t see it. For the second pass, we programmed the computer to search for any metallic object on the surface. The computer didn’t find anything. We made a third pass with both computer and visual scans. Again, nothing was found. We landed at the probe’s last known location and two of us went out to search for it. We found indications it had been there. There are pictures attached to this message. We are, of course, open to any suggestions regarding our next course of action regarding the probe. We’ll begin our evaluation of the silver deposits within the next twenty-four hours. By the way, after eleven months without gravity, we’re all enjoying being on the surface of Ganymede. I’m waiting for your response.”

  The response from Earth was short: “Captain Whitestone, that is an interesting and completely unexpected development. We’ll need some time to complete our analysis of the situation. We will get back to you as soon as our analysis is complete.”

  The NASA scientists’ first thought was that the ship was looking in the wrong location, but the ship’s location was pinpointed by the transmission they had sent. The probe was saucer-shaped and about seven feet in diameter. It was five feet high and made of polished aluminum. It would have been very easy to see against the gray, almost flat surface of Ganymede. The obvious conclusion was that there was finally proof we weren’t the only intelligent life forms in the universe and these lifeforms had taken the probe.

  NASA sent the following message back to Ganymede: “We verified the location of the ship and you’re within three hundred yards of the probe’s location. We’re forced to believe another intelligent lifeform took the probe in order to study us. Since there is a possibility that you are not alone on Ganymede we’re concerned for your safety. Please complete your research as quickly as possible and return to Earth. Additionally, please consider the information regarding the disappearance of the probe as secret. It is not to divulge to anyone. We’ll inform President Townsend and let him make the decision on when and how to make the information public.”

  Terry hadn’t given any thought about the safety of the crew until he received the message from Earth. He got the crew together and read the message. There was a unanimous decision among the crew to continue the mission as planned. They all felt that any beings intelligent enough to take the probe were not likely to be violent. Terry, realizing that he was responsible for the safety of his crew. decided on a compromise. But because it took them eight months to get to Ganymede, he did not want to return to Earth empty-handed. He ordered that a member of the bridge crew would monitor the scanners for any indication they were not alone, and they would abort the mission and return to Earth immediately if anything was found.

  Terry sent a message back to Earth informing them of his decision.

  The response was short again: “Acknowledged.”

  The entire crew of the ship couldn’t stop thinking about the possible presence of an alien ship nearby, but little was said about it. They spent the next five days prospecting for silver and they weren’t disappointed. There appeared to be massive silver deposits a few feet below the surface. The geologists also found there were veins of water ice less than ten feet below the surface and there was probably liquid water deeper, where it was substantially warmer than on the surface. The search for water would have to wait for the next mission, however, since the equipment on the ship wouldn’t allow them to scan more than a few hundred feet below the surface.

  The next couple of months passed quickly. During that time, the crew accumulated a substantial amount of silver ore to bring back to Earth for analysis. The geologist also spent time gathering information regarding the size of the silver deposit and it appeared to be larger than any silver deposits found on Earth. They began to wonder if there were other large silver deposits, so two weeks before they were scheduled to begin the return trip to Earth, they put the ship back into orbit and searched for a similar site. During the passes over the planet, they found two sites that looked promising. They selected the larger of the two sites and landed again.

  The Daryl Cohen, geologist and Sheila Nelson, the ship’s exobiologist, left the ship to explore the surface. The Lieutenant Cohen was pleased to find what appeared to be another substantial silver deposit. They also found a small amount water ice a few inches below the surface. Lieutenant Nelson took a sample of it back to the ship for analysis.

  Upon returning to the ship, the geologist prepared her report for NASA and Sheila began to prepare the ice sample for analysis. The ice sample was placed in an airtight container and allowed to melt. Then Sheila put the sample into an electronic microscope to begin to look at it. The sample looked perfectly clear, but microscopic examination revealed something she had never expected to see. She found what appeared to be something with a cell-like structure. It was definitely something that had been alive at one time. Sheila spent the next several minutes looking at other areas of the sample and everywhere she looked she found more of these cell structures. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She called Terry and, trying to contain he excitement, asked him to come to the lab. When Terry came in, Sheila she said nervously, “Sir, please look at the display.”

  Terry stared at the display and after several seconds, stammering, he asked, “Is this for real or is it some kind of joke?”

  “I can assure you it’s not a joke and the image isn’t the result of any contamination. There are hundreds of those cells in the water sample.”

  “Please prepare a report for NASA and I’ll send it with the geology report later. I think it would be a good idea to get another sample and verify those cells are really there. I want to be sure before I send this information to Earth.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll go get another sample now.”

  “Please take Lieutenant Parker with you and have him verify everything you’re doing.”

  “I’ll go talk to him now and then I’ll create another sample tube using the bio-system.”

  “Great, please let me know what you find immediately.” A few seconds later Terry asked, “Did you ever find anything similar on Mars?”

  “No, we never found anything that would definitely prove life ever existed on Mars. We did find what appeared to be the fossil remains of some very small organisms, but it was impossible to prove.”

  “Okay, I want to see the results from the next sample as soon as possible.”

  The news about Sheila’s discovery spread quickly around the ship and within a few minutes, everybody stopped by the lab to look at the sample.

  Forty-five minutes later Mark and Shei
la left the ship to get another sample. When they returned Sheila prepared the sample for viewing as the entire crew of the ship watching. A few seconds later the image of a cell appeared on the monitor.

  “I guess that verifies your discovery. Get your report ready as soon as possible,” Terry said.

  “I’ll have it ready in two hours.”

  When Terry had the reports from the Sheila and Daryl, he sent the following verbal message to Earth: “This is Captain Simpson. As I reported to you, we left our original landing site and from orbit found two promising areas for potential silver deposits. When we landed, Lieutenant Cohen and Lieutenant Nelson left the ship to explore the landing area. I’m pleased to tell you we found another large silver deposit. Lieutenant Nelson found something possibly just as important and definitely more amazing. While examining the silver deposit, they found some water ice a few inches below the surface. Lieutenant Nelson took a sample of it back to the ship for analysis. The sample showed evidence of what was, at one time, living organisms. Their reports are attached to this message.”

  When the reply from Earth was received, Terry read it to the entire crew.

  “Congratulations are obviously in order. The Ganymede mission was far more successful than we ever dreamed possible. Not only did you confirm the presence of substantial silver deposits but you proved, beyond question, that life exists elsewhere in the universe. If life could have developed in the harsh environment on Ganymede, it could probably have developed almost anywhere. Additionally, although we can’t be positive, we feel fairly certain some of that life is intelligent and possibly capable of interstellar travel. Our people here are anxiously awaiting your return. They want to analyze the single cell organisms you found as soon as possible. Until we’ve had a chance to complete our analysis of the cells, we must ask you to keep the information regarding this discovery secret. We’re all very proud of the job you and your crew have done.”