by Brian Kayser
“Yes, we are picking you up loud and clear actually, very little drop-out. Glover is accessing your bio-suit computer right now, to download all the video. My God… I just triangulated your position, how did you swim three Kilometers in your bio-suit in just an hour?” Turk asks.
“Well jeez, that’s a long story actually,” Evans responds, “let’s just say I hitched a ride. I guess you’ll have to watch the video to find out. It’s amazing actually! Hey… if my signal is better do you think you can bring up my live video feed?”
Turk looks at Glover, re-asking the question via a rise of his eyebrows. Glover responds, “Yeah… I think so, the signal is pretty good. I’ll keep it at just basic HD so it doesn’t slow down the data transfer of the video files too much.
“Yes,” Turk responds back to Evans, “Glover is working to bring up the feed right now. Why? Did you find your aliens? Or a dinosaur?”
“Well jeez… I’d have to answer YES! and ah… YES! to both of those questions,” Evans retorts with a little cockiness in her voice; looking at Betsy and Bud and then turning her head to glance at the corpse of the monster she had just put down.
Before Turk could question her on her response, Glover announces: “Okay, I’ve got the video feed coming up now, I’m putting it up on a big screen and you can pull it up on your own screens as well if you wish. It is very garbled right now though.”
A black image appears on the screens, then they see a large rock appear but the picture freezes there. The picture then goes to a mosaic of colorful blocks for a few seconds and then switches to a frozen image of Evans’ hand grasping the flashlight, near the sea floor. After a few seconds of that, suddenly they all snap their eyes open and stare in disbelief.
“What the hell are those things?” Hicks quickly asks after seeing a frozen image of Betsy and Bud on the screen.
Evans excitedly responds, “Those are my friends, the bigger one I’ve simply been calling Betsy and on her back is Bud. Bud is the first one I encountered. They have intelligence far greater than a primate, and they communicate with each other.”
“Hold on,” says Turk, “we are not getting a good video feed. Glover, can you fix it?” Glover motions some commands into his computer terminal frantically, then reports, “I think the video feed, combined with the upload of her video recordings, is just eating up too much bandwidth right now. But the recordings will be finished uploading in about 90 seconds, actually quicker if I turn off her video feed for now!”
“Okay do it,” Hicks interjects. Glover cuts off the video feed.
“So what were those things? Some kind of octopus?” Turk asks.
“Well… I don’t know, kind of. They have three tentacles. Two are used like arms and one used as a tail. But the most incredible thing is that they have a structured language. They have a bioluminescent organ on their chests that help them see down here in the dark, but they also use it to communicate. They are able to rapidly communicate, by blinking out patterns of varying lengths and intensities. Similar to Morse code. I sure hope you get my recordings, and I tried to narrate, but I really have no idea what I even said. I was scared to death when I first encountered them. I didn’t know if they wanted to say hello, or eat me!”
“Okay, the video upload is complete and the file integrity is good,” Glover proudly declares, “I got it all! I’ll turn back on the live video feed now.”
Evans continues, “Well they didn’t want to eat me, but… there was something else down here that did. In fact, it ate one of the Europians right in front of me, and was planning on me for dessert, I imagine. But Betsy saved me; pulled me to safety.”
Glover interrupts, “Okay!! I’m getting the video feed now and it looks much better; putting it up on all screens right now.”
They see video of Betsy, with Bud still on her back. They are both just staring at Evans, staring into the camera. They see them moving their tentacle arms in various directions like an elephant moving its trunk. Betsy is still occasionally reaching behind her and stroking Bud’s back. They look closely at the end of the tentacle arms to see the three smaller tentacle fingers, wiggling freely. They look at Betsy’s face; a face that looks like a fish… but yet has human qualities. They just got a glimpse of her teeth, her human looking teeth.
“Holy wow… Doctor Evans. They are amazing,” Hicks mutters in shear amazement, a tingle pulsing down his spine causing goose bumps to sprout like spring tulips.
“Yes… yes – they - are. Hey! Here, let me try something.” She grabs the flashlight and starts to blink out a pattern. “I believe they say hello with three quick blinks, one long blink, and then two more quick blinks.”
Betsy perks up her head and fires back the same pattern. Everyone on the ships is taken back in amazement. Betsy fires back something else. As Evans has no idea what Betsy is trying to say, she simply repeats the pattern. Then they do this a few more times.
“That is so friggen awesome Juliana! Wow,” exclaims Turk. Then he asks, “so… what was the creature that tried to eat you anyhow? Are you okay?”
“Well jeez… sure, I’m okay right now I suppose,” Evans answers slowly; then interjects with a tone of dark sarcasm, “Not considering the fact that I’m about out of oxygen; but let’s not worry about that right now.” She then quickly continues her story, before Turk or anyone can respond with any awkward remarks.
“I actually rode on Betsy’s back to where we are now, to this Europian nest. That’s what I’m calling them I guess, Europians.” Evans looks at the side of the mountain and all the caves. A few other Europians can be seen swimming around and a few can be seen coming out of the caves.
“Just as we got here,” Evans continues, “this huge monstrous creature attacked us. It ate one of the Europians right in front of me and wanted me for dessert. Even though I knew my time was up soon, I really didn’t want to get eaten alive by this thing… by this monster. Plus, I really needed to get this information sent up to you guys. So I thank God that Betsy pulled me to safety. Patrick, you keep joking about dinosaurs, well, take a look at this…” She turns her head so that her in-helmet video camera reveals the lifeless body of the monster.
“Holy crap! What is that thing?” Turk exclaims.
“Well I know it is probably hard to see from here, but I can’t move any closer with my backpack off. It is lying on its back so it is not the best viewing angle, but it sure looked like some sort of dinosaur to me. It must have been at least 15 meters long! Don’t worry, you’ll see it on the video.”
“Did they kill it?” Commander Hicks asks
“Well no… actually I killed it. After Betsy saved me, she got trapped and was about to take my place as dessert. Then I remembered I had the flare gun. I already had it loaded. as I fired off a few flares earlier, simply trying to see my surroundings. It should all be on the video… you’d be proud of me Patrick. I walked up to that thing as it was flapping its jaws at Betsy, aimed the gun right into the mouth and, I think I screamed some stupid obscenity… like it could actually hear me… then pulled the trigger. The flare went in and right down its throat. It didn’t like that very much, let me tell you!” Her heart was beating fast again just thinking about it and she was finding it hard to catch her breath. That’s also when an indicator in her visor screen started blinking: --Oxygen Level Critical: 1.0% remaining--
She instantly stopped talking and now she was breathing even heavier. Her heart felt as if it sank into a pit in her stomach, as the full weight of her situation, a situation that she had been ignoring for the past few hours, was suddenly upon her. Her heart was now making a slow loud thump, thump, thump, as a tear trickled from one of her eyes. She had been suppressing her fear, holding it back like a dam holding back water. But now the dam was bursting. The fear she had been suppressing, so successfully, would not be held back any longer. There was no more need to – there was no more time!
“Guys!” Glover calls out with a loud whisper, calling for Turk’s and Hicks’ attention.
“She’s down to one percent of oxygen; she only has a few minutes left.” He awkwardly looks at Turk, who immediately just looks back at the video feed, with a blank expression. Turk has been thinking about this moment, over and over, for the past 65 minutes. Thinking about her final minutes. Thinking about what he’d say, what she’d say. Would she simply say, “oh… gotta go, see-ya!” Would she cry or would she be strong? Would he cry, or would he be strong; or would he get violent? Suddenly the excitement of her discoveries, of finding life, intelligent life, someplace besides Earth didn’t seem very important at all. Suddenly Turk didn’t give a shit about any of that.
“Well… Jeez…” Evans finally says, breaking an awkward silence. “I can’t ignore it any longer I suppose.” Her voice is slightly higher and it is obvious she is scared. “I’m down to my final few minutes of oxygen and I can already tell my air is getting thinner. I guess it’s time to – sign out – for a final time.” She screeches out a high pitched laughing cry while trying to blink away tears.
“Juliana!” Turk’s voice cracks into the com, as he says her name. “I’m so proud of you. You’ve been so much stronger than me through this!”
“Oh jeez… I don’t know about that,” she says fast with a sniffle, shaking her head in her helmet.
“You have been,” Turk continues. “Look at what you’ve done. You’re stuck down there and yet you don’t abandon your mission; your dream. You are strong! You are not the coward you had once told me you were. And you’ve certainly etched your name in the history books.” Turk is trying to hold back tears, but it isn’t working. He wipes both of his eyes. “We are all proud of you,” he says with a cry in his voice now. “Your children will be so proud of you I’m sure.”
“Yes, I know they will be… but I feel so bad. So bad! So selfish coming out here and now leaving them,” she cries. “I know I’ve said all my goodbyes so I just want to say one last quick one to everyone. GOODBYE… I love you all! Patrick… I love you… and remember… we’ll always have Europa!”
“I love you too Juliana, I will never forget you… KID!” Then Turk breaks down, weeping openly, not knowing what else he can say.
“I’m going to disconnect now,” Juliana slowly whispers.
“WHAT – No, you’ve got a little time left,” Turk fires back.
“I don’t want you guys to hear me die; gasping for air. Jeez! I don’t want that recorded for posterity. Do you want to hear that?” She questions.
“Well, no, okay… I understand,” Turk reluctantly agrees. “I love you! Take care...” Then he throws his head back in disgust at himself and thinks, ‘Take Care… shit, what kind of a stupid response is that to say to someone who is going to die! It’s kind of like saying Take Care to someone strapped into an electric chair waiting for execution. How Stupid!’
“I love you to… Good Bye{sssst}” She simply responds and then lets the antenna drop out of the slot.
Turk gasps and his eyes widen at the finality of the words, which trailed off into static. “Juliana… JULIANA… do you copy?” He frantically calls into the com, as if it would do any good for her to still be in contact. There was no response. He just stares at his display screen in disbelief, at the now frozen image of the Europians. The tears, welling up in his eyes, go shooting out in various directions when he blinks; floating freely in the weightlessness of space.
Doctor Evans, just stares out her visor in a daze, breathing heavier now as the oxygen indicator reads 0.3% remaining. She looks at Betsy and Bud who are still near her, watching her as her mind races, as she is thinking to herself, ‘I wonder how they handle death. How will they handle my death? I don’t expect them to be overly sad for me, we just met less than an hour ago for pities sake, but do they understand death? Jeez, what will they do with me; with my body? Do they know that I’m dying right now; I doubt it? Will Tom take good care of Mary and Sean? He better! He will! He’s a good man! How long before the Europians understand that I am dead? Who will tell Mary and Sean that I am dead? Oh jeez… Mary will be starting high school in a month with a dead mother. We were going back to school shopping when I got home.’ She sobs uncontrollably for a few long moments and thinks about Sean also, at 10, losing his mother.
Through the tears and sobs, her mind is still racing. ‘Are there more of those dinosaur monsters? I hope Patrick is okay – his poor hand. We didn’t really know each other for very long – he shouldn’t mourn me! Well jeez, not for long anyhow. He needs to find a good woman; he needs to find his soul mate! Wait… what if I was his soul mate? Can he live without me? Of course he can, jeez, we only knew each other for a few months; I’m not that vane – am I? Oh jeez… mom and dad… what will they do when they hear of my death? Dad’s been so sick; I hope this doesn’t do him in. Mom told me this wasn’t the kind of trip a mother of two should take, especially with the curse. I told her that was silly. Well, as usual, she was right. Jeez, the curse! Is there really a curse? Well I’m cursed to die right now, that’s for damn sure.’
She glances back over, at the monstrous creature she killed, laying there lifeless; as lifeless as she will soon be. Her mind is still racing out of control, ‘What other life may be down here in the waters of Europa? What about other planets or moons? If there is life here there is certainly life elsewhere as well. What if there are even more intelligent creatures? What if there are beings even more intelligent than humans? Certainly man can’t assume he is the most intelligent form of life that exists. Jeez, that’s what Professor Scott would always say! Oh… I loved that old man; he’d be so proud of me. Damn, he died three months ago! I wish he was still alive to learn of this discovery; he’d be elated! He’s the one who encouraged me to apply for this GSO mission. What if he didn’t push me to join? Well jeez, I wouldn’t be suffocating in an underground ocean on Europa; that’s for sure. Thanks a lot Professor!’
The oxygen indicator now reads 0.1% remaining and she feels numb, except for the loud beat of her heart which is thumping even louder but with longer intervals between beats. She is taking long deep breaths in, with quick exhales. She sniffles and blinks away more tears, as she thinks her final thoughts. ‘Will the kids cry? How long before they recover from losing their mother? Will they grow up to be fine adults? Will they be happy? I really did love Patrick. I wonder how many people will attend my funeral. Good thing I updated my will before this trip… not that I have much. What’s next? Is there an afterlife? Maybe this life is just one of many… a journey. Maybe all my questions will be answered when I… when I pass over. Is there something to pass over to? Or maybe there is nothing! Jeez, maybe this is it. When I die, I am just dead, end of story; nothing more. No… No… I don’t believe that! There is a God! That’s what I was taught since I was a kid. I went to Catholic school for goodness sake. I doubted for a while, as I got more into science, but then… the more I got into science, the more I knew. The more I knew, that this ALL, couldn’t have just happened on its own. The Earth, Europa, these creatures, humans, the stars… the whole universe; this couldn’t have just happened. There must be a higher being. The hand of God must have created all of this! All of science is God’s doing!’
She says a prayer to God, asking for forgiveness of all her sins; apologizing for not being as church-going as she should have been, she hadn’t gone since Easter Sunday. She asks God to watch over her children, so they can grow into happy adults. She asks him to help Patrick. She prays for her parents and close friends. She prays to God that there is a heaven and that he lets her enter! She wonders if the Europians believe in God, or any god or gods. She realizes that her ears really hurt badly now, even though the rest of her is numb.
With her Catholic school-girl upbringing flashing back to her, she makes a sign of the cross, while the Europians watch with much curiosity. She mutters aloud, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death
. Amen.” She repeats it two more times, breathing hard, as if she just ran a marathon. Then she says with much effort, “Glory be to the Father…… and to the….. Son…. and to the….. Holy Spirit…. As it was…… in the….. beginning…. is now…… and ever shall be………… world……… without end…….. Amen.”
She arches her back and tries to draw in another deep breath, but there are no more breaths to take. She clinches her hands and looks wildly at the Europians; her body is still desperately trying to suck in oxygen that just isn’t there with long fast breaths. Her vision starts to fade to a bright white, and then fades to black, as if she was holding her eyes shut really tight and it looks as if she can see stars. Finally, she can see stars again.
Then, amongst the stars, she thinks she sees Professor Scott, he is waving at her; motioning her to join him – she obliges.
Epilogue
The White-Bull-2 command module, finally rendezvous with Eagle-2 and they successfully reconnect. Turk is in a state of shock and is very distant. Hicks and Fedoseev are not sure if it is from the loss of Doctor Evans, or from his hand injury and constant medication, or both. His hand is not doing well and they know they need to return to Earth as soon as possible.
They jettison the now empty Eagle-2, into a trajectory that will send it crashing into Jupiter. It will be crushed, by the massive pressure of Jupiter’s dense atmosphere, before it even reaches the surface. Jettisoning Eagle-2 will reduce their overall mass and shave about 25 hours off of their return trip, since they will be able to push White-Bull-2 even faster without it.
Turk and his hand survive the trip home, however, gangrene sets in and medical doctors on the Cygnus Space Station are forced to amputate his hand, along with the lower portion of his arm, in order to save his life. Turk is saved, but is emotionally devastated by the loss of Juliana.
The news of them finding life on Europa is huge, and drastically changes views of both science and religion worldwide. Some groups of people are ecstatic. Some groups not so much. The paranoid alien fanatics get even more paranoid. The views of science have been progressively overshadowing religion over the years, and now this discovery fuels that fire even hotter. A firestorm of debates go on for years.
