On the Shores of Titan's Farthest Sea
Page 1
Science and Fiction
Series Editors
Mark Alpert, Philip Ball, Gregory Benford, Michael Brotherton, Victor Callaghan, Amnon H Eden, Nick Kanas, Geoffrey Landis, Rudi Rucker, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Rüdiger Vaas, Ulrich Walter and Stephen Webb
Science and Fiction – A Springer Series
This collection of entertaining and thought-provoking books will appeal equally to science buffs, scientists and science-fiction fans. It was born out of the recognition that scientific discovery and the creation of plausible fictional scenarios are often two sides of the same coin. Each relies on an understanding of the way the world works, coupled with the imaginative ability to invent new or alternative explanations —and even other worlds. Authored by practicing scientists as well as writers of hard science fiction, these books explore and exploit the borderlands between accepted science and its fictional counterpart. Uncovering mutual influences, promoting fruitful interaction, narrating and analyzing fictional scenarios, together they serve as a reaction vessel for inspired new ideas in science, technology, and beyond.
Whether fiction, fact, or forever undecidable: the Springer Series “Science and Fiction” intends to go where no one has gone before!
Its largely non-technical books take several different approaches. Journey with their authors as they Indulge in science speculation – describing intriguing, plausible yet unproven ideas;
Exploit science fiction for educational purposes and as a means of promoting critical thinking;
Explore the interplay of science and science fiction – throughout the history of the genre and looking ahead;
Delve into related topics including, but not limited to: science as a creative process, the limits of science, interplay of literature and knowledge;
Tell fictional short stories built around well-defined scientific ideas, with a supplement summarizing the science underlying the plot.
Readers can look forward to a broad range of topics, as intriguing as they are important. Here just a few by way of illustration: Time travel, superluminal travel, wormholes, teleportation
Extraterrestrial intelligence and alien civilizations
Artificial intelligence, planetary brains, the universe as a computer, simulated worlds
Non-anthropocentric viewpoints
Synthetic biology, genetic engineering, developing nanotechnologies
Eco/infrastructure/meteorite-impact disaster scenarios
Future scenarios, transhumanism, posthumanism, intelligence explosion
Virtual worlds, cyberspace dramas
Consciousness and mind manipulation
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11657
Michael Carroll
On the Shores of Titan’s Farthest Sea
A Scientific Novel
Michael CarrollLittleton, CO, USA
ISSN 2197-1188e-ISSN 2197-1196
ISBN 978-3-319-17758-8e-ISBN 978-3-319-17759-5
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-17759-5
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015940883
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Cover illustration © 2015 by Michael Carroll
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Quotation Page
It is the dark thread that runs through every sea-faring culture. The Homeric poetry of the Archaic period of Greek history [is] the first to speak specifically of the practice, but even the Minoans, whose sea-going fleet was unmatched in the ancient world, suffered at the hands of coastal marauders. Wherever the elements of humanity, travel and commerce combine, there has always been—and will always be—piracy.
—Alexander T. Grouthe, Of Seas and Men , Volume II
Acknowledgements
I’m grateful to Jani Radebaugh, Chris McKay, and Rosaly Lopes for their technical Titan expertise on this and many other projects. Ralph Lorenz helped me breathe life into my Brit hero, and guided me through the technical “waters” of Titan’s seas. Thanks to Carolyn Porco for a lunchtime inspiration about Saturn’s rings. To Marilyn Flynn for being my trusted critical reader from afar, and for creating the finest painting of Titan I have ever seen. Ever. Randy Ingermanson is the power behind my research station. Thanks for your years of encouragement! Special thanks to Edie Carroll and Alexandra Carroll for being my trusted critical readers from anear (thanks, Mother and Daughter!), and Bruce Morrison, extraordinary artist in many ways. Rebecca Rowe saved my characters, not an easy thing to do. My thanks to Nick Kanas for clarifying mental issues, both those of my characters and my own. Chad Glass contributed thoughts on Titan landscapes. My critique group, Bonnie Doran and Carol Eaton, have been ruthless and, therefore, priceless. The same goes for Maury Solomon, editor extraordinaire, who forced my nose to the grindstone that one more vital time. Thanks also to Michelle at my local King Soopers store for advice on roses. Finally, and foremost, my thanks to Caroline, whose patience, love, and literary expertise have always made my words sing, even when I’m not writing.
A nod goes to “My Little Ponies” for monstrous inspiration.
Contents
Part I The Novel 1
1 Encounter
2 Abigail Marco
3 Baffled and Bewildered
4 Demian Sable
5 Break-in
6 Crash
7 Tanya and Abby
8 Vesta Valentines
9 Titanic Invitation
10 Skyward
11 The Villa
12 Talking Trash
13 Submersible
14 Partly Cloudy
15 Encounter II
16 Lose/Lose
17 Cover-Up
18 Breakthrough!
19 New Lead
20 Taking Her Out
21 Crazy
22 Florence
23 Power Play
24 A Present Absence
25 Disappearances and Appearances
26 Reunion
27 The Lair
28 Slithering Things
29 A Ping of a Different Frequency
30 Conspiracy Theory
31 Lost in a Lost World
32 Serpents’ Swim
33 A Little Trip
34 Somebody Told Me
35 Sticks and Stones
36 The Morning After
37 Serpents in the Morning
38 Shifting Allies
39 The Hunchback of Mayda Insula
40 Silenc
e of the Grave
41 The Long and Winding Road
42 Remembering Old Times
43 Unwelcoming Committee
44 A Bridge Too Far
45 The Evening News
46 Visitations
47 Delayed Gratification
48 The Creeps
49 Chivalry Is Not Dead
50 Lost Ticket Home
51 Unsettling Revelations
52 Retribution
53 Bon Voyage
54 Return to Sender
55 Sequins and Saline
56 What the Doctor Ordered
57 The Dancer
58 Boarding Parties
59 Imminent Departures
60 The Note
Part II The Science Behind the Fiction 245
61 The Science Behind the Fiction
Vesta and Asteroid Mining
The Lay of the Land on Titan
Strange Seas on the Surface and Beneath
Dunes
Living on Ice
Finding Life
Shared Hallucinations
A Note about Terraforming
About the Author
Michael Carroll Award-winning space artist and science writer Michael Carroll has written 26 books, ranging from children’s devotionals to titles that include Drifting on Alien Winds: Exploring the Skies and Weather of Other Worlds and Alien Seas: Oceans in Space, both published by Springer. He has done art for NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and dozens of book and magazine publishers internationally. Mike is a Fellow and founding member of the International Association for the Astronomical Arts. One of his paintings is resting at the north pole of Mars—in digital form—aboard the Phoenix lander. He is recipient of the Lucien Rudaux Award for lifetime achievement in the astronomical arts, and the American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Sciences Jonathan Eberhart Award for the year’s best planetary science feature article.
Part I
The Novel
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Michael CarrollOn the Shores of Titan's Farthest SeaScience and Fiction10.1007/978-3-319-17759-5_1
1. Encounter
Michael Carroll1
(1)Littleton, CO, USA
The dawn struggled to claw its way through the orange gloom, with little success. Even on the brightest of Titan’s days, dawn hung on tenaciously until mid-morning. Sometimes you could see a faint glow from Saturn, beyond the mist and always amorphous. But not today. Not in this soup. It was all so ironic. It had only been a few years since Kevin Nordsmitt had taken the job in San Diego to get away from those lousy Washington, D. C., winters with all that ice. Now he was living on an ice ball. And cold? The nation’s capital had nothin’ to compare. Just my luck, ending up in a place like this, he thought, as the sweat trickled from his forehead into his left eye.
Nordsmitt had been slogging his way across methane bogs all morning, taking care to miss the subtle hollows filled with quicksand. The hike to the cave was not an easy one, and the methane drizzle only added to the challenge. But he had to get up there. He had suspected that he wasn’t alone, and now that he knew it, the cave might be his only chance. A dark entrance stood at the top of a steep hill, gaping like a monster’s maw. Scrambling up the loose scree, Nordsmitt tried to concentrate on where he was going, not on what he knew he shouldn’t have seen.
He lunged into what he hoped was the safety of the cave, but as he turned around, he saw that they were out there, on the plain below, and they’d seen where he was headed. He twisted back into the darkness, beaming his flashlight only sporadically, still hoping to lose them in the cavern. The walls were smooth. If he didn’t know better, he could convince himself that the place was made of stone. But the ground and mountains and boulders of Titan were water ice, frozen to the consistency of granite.
The path looked flat and straight for another 10 meters. He shut off his light and made his way, slowly, through the darkness. Suddenly light flooded his surroundings, casting wild spikes of surreal shadows, the walls glistening like diamonds. He turned around. Three hulking figures loomed behind him, wearing pressure suits very different from his own. One of them held up three fingers. He switched his receiver to the frequency indicated.
“…Look, pal. We know our way around this place better than anybody, including a rock hound like you.”
“I’m here for Colorado/Arizona University’s field research,” Nordsmitt stammered. “I’m a river guy.”
“Rivers, huh?”
“Whether it rains methane or water, you still get rivers.” He looked from the behemoth in front of him to the ones in back, searching for some sympathy behind their faceless visors. His faceplate was fogging up. “I don’t know what you guys think is going on, but I’m just doing my job.”
The large man in front held some sort of sharp tool in his hand. He handled it like a dagger. “Me, too, my unfortunate friend. Just doin’ my job.”
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Michael CarrollOn the Shores of Titan's Farthest SeaScience and Fiction10.1007/978-3-319-17759-5_2
2. Abigail Marco
Michael Carroll1
(1)Littleton, CO, USA
When the light caught her just right, Abigail Marco could see her reflection in the wall-mounted monitor. She shifted and let it fade away. The screen’s glowing numbers told her the air was warmer than it felt: 70°F interior temperature. It always felt colder to her.
She kept her distance from the reflection. That face had come a long way from the innocent little kid who loved to play among the ancient ruins of Mars. She supposed it was only natural. Her parents had pioneered the field of interplanetary archaeology with their study and preservation of the first Martian settlements. She had spotted, in that fleeting reflection, her father’s heritage—both the rich dark hair of the Italian and the heavier build of her terrestrial roots. Both aspects intrigued her. As she looked out into the cold desolation, she wished she had made it to Earth more than just that once, perhaps to Europe. She had traveled off-world a little, to the moons of Mars and to the port city of Dardanus on Ganymede. She liked Ganymede. She liked the oddness of it, the black sky and the strange customs of the people, and the elegant parallel mountains. But Mars was home, and she had tried not to stray too far. Until now.
These days, Abby found herself about as far from home as a human could be. Her life had not taken the same path as her parents. History didn’t charm her in the least. But the sky did. She loved the clear Martian firmament, loved how the heavens turned from that metallic blue-gray in the daylight to that midnight blue just after sunset. The glowing clouds entranced her, along with the sundogs and haloes that crowned the bright Sun. When she realized that she could actually make a living by researching the sky of this and other worlds, her course was set. And exotic Titan was any meteorologist’s dream.
Saturn’s largest moon had far more atmosphere than Mars. It even held more atmosphere than the genesis world, Earth. The sky was dark, a lot like tomato soup with Worcestershire sauce mixed in. Within the brooding fog, bizarre chemical effects played across the sky, casting a drizzle of methane, ethane and propane into the frigid lakes and rivers below. That chemistry, that weird and wonderful mix that led to complex organics, brought her across the void to this faraway world.
Abby made her way down a succession of corridors, each bracketed on either end by an open hatch. Living at Mayda Research Station felt like living on a train, moving from one car to another. As she headed toward the station’s galley, she glanced out another window, at another mirror image. For a brief moment, she saw her sister looking back at her. Janice. So far away. So long since they had talked. So unlike herself in her talents, but so much alike in other ways. And beyond that reflection, that ghost face, the weather was the same as it had been the day before, the week and month before—foggy with scattered methane showers.
“Were you hoping for a nice day?”
&
nbsp; Abby pivoted to see a burly, rugged man with close-cropped auburn hair and a wayward soul-patch. Troy Fels served as comic relief for Mayda Research Station. Beneath the comedic façade, though, he was a darned good scientist, not to mention easy on the eyes. “I’ve given up on nice days,” she told him.
“Nonsense, Apps! This is nice, for Titan.”
She smiled weakly. “It is monsoon season. And I do love the rain. It’s the best chemistry an atmosphere geek could want. But the dark gets to me after a while. And the fact that everything smells like turpentine.”
“What do you expect? It’s a regular backyard grill out there, with all that ethane and butane and all that other stuff. And then you’ve got all these people contributing to the methane. I heard a rumor that when they served that three-bean casserole last week it set off the atmosphere alarms, but I don’t know if I believe it.” He feigned concern. She could tell he was trying to be funny, but there always seemed to be an uncomfortable edge to the guy.