The Europa Effect (The Vega Chronicles)

by A. L. Mengel

  “How will they breathe?” she asked.

  “Well,” Winston said. “They may have sectioned off a small portion of the ship. Sealed it off. They do have a small amount of emergency power that they can use to create a finite amount of atmosphere and breathable air.”

  “But it wouldn’t last for long,” Jeremiah added. “And the ship is drifting closer to Jupiter. The gravitational pull of that planet is forceful. I’m afraid they don’t have much time.”

  *****

  They stood at the edge of the ravine.

  Counselor Abagail stood on top of a massive cliff; the other side appeared to be at least a mile across. No possible way it could have been scaled. But Copernicus had been right, and they had been heading in the right direction. For they were standing on the edge of the massive crack; there was a way across towards her left. Just a simple walk across.

  She scanned the opposite side. There was something ahead, moving, in the distance.

  “Are those the cryobots?” she asked. There was a small dark shadow in the distance. Some dark, shadowy, vertical movement. Jeremiah activated his vision enhancement filter and nodded. “Yes, that’s them,” he said. “I can see the cylinder moving up and down.” She activated her own vision enhancement filter on her visor. The pink aura of Jupiter reflected on the ice ahead. She saw the regulation melting cylinder lower itself and disappear into the ice. “That’s them,” she said. “We’re not far.” And then she looked up at Vega One. The enhancement zoomed her vision. “I think I saw a pod leave the ship!”

  Jeremiah looked up at the ship. “We don’t have much time,” he said. Counselor Abagail scanned the ship. It was much closer to Jupiter’s orbit. “They may be heading to the surface,” Winston said. “But are you sure? I don’t see any pods.”

  “Let’s go,” Counselor Abagail said. They picked up the pace and headed across the massive ravine. She peered over the side as they journeyed across the edge, moving from one side of the crack towards the other; she saw the orange tint – cosmic dust from Jupiter. And outwards, towards the black palette and a field of tiny, white stars.

  The sun was out there; the muted light filtered across the ice moon from the extreme distance, giving it a shine. A luster.

  And Earth was back there, too.

  Earth.

  Once it had been her home, all of their homes. Now, many millions of miles away, in a land which felt so foreign, the mission, on a team of two clone droids which somewhat resembled her friends, was more personal; what would home become?

  *****

  There was a rumble in the ice as they approached the drill site. The cryobots – lengthy cylinders which resembled long, thick poles – were ice melting machines. The pod sat several yards away, and mechanical arms held the cryobot as it disappeared into the ice. The ground shook again. “It’s the ice melting,” Winston said. “Large chunks must be falling. That means they’re further along than I thought.” Counselor Abagail and Jeremiah dropped the tow line and peered down into the hole.

  It was a deep trench. She could see flashing blue lights on the end of the cryobot as it disappeared into the darkness below. The blue reflected on the edges of the ice as it disappeared from site. She turned around and saw the line connected on the edge of the pod. She turned to Jeremiah who was moving supplies from AMPHIBIA and spreading them out on the surface ice.

  “How deep is the ice?” she asked. Jeremiah got up and joined her at the edge.

  He peered down, and she looked as well. It was complete blackness again. “We’re going to test it when we lower AMPHIBIA. I’d be willing to bet a mile or two at this location. Saved research data from Vega One put this location where the ice thins out – at least somewhat.”

  Winston was examining the pod connections and called out to the others. “She’s hit bottom. I have a visual! There is water below! She’s stationary on an ice ledge in a cavern of some sort. Heater’s off.”

  They rushed to Winston’s side who had opened a panel on the edge of the pod revealing video and audio contact. Counselor Abagail moved close and saw the screen. “The cam ROVER has detached?”

  Winston nodded as Jeremiah moved closer as well.

  The cryobot was resting in a soaring cavern tinted with the blue lights from the side of the ice melting cylinder. The soaring ceiling reached up and over – but what made Counselor Abagail gasp was the lap of the water – which reached the edge of the ice, lapping, flowing across its edge, and flowing deeper into the darkness.

  She shook her head, her eyes wide, studying the picture. “It’s…a beach of ice…”

  “And the cavern is huge!” Jeremiah said.

  Winston nodded. “One point two miles, straight down.”

  “How do we know the portal is down there?” Jeremiah asked.

  Counselor Abagail watched as monitors confirmed the chemical composition of the water. “We don’t,” she said. “But if this cavern is there, there might be more. And the signal – Copernicus said it was originating from this area.”

  Winston laughed and clapped his hands. “Unbelievable!”

  They both looked at his data. “It’s seawater!” he exclaimed. Through his visor, he beamed with a smile. “This is unbelievable! I had studied this planet for years. There were always rumors of an under ice ocean. And then Maximillian confirmed it, but that was just before the shift back on Earth. So the data just sat there. And the research stopped. But now…”

  “Maximillian?” she asked.

  “You don’t remember them?” Winston asked. “They were huge in astrobiology before the shift. Then they went under with the rest of the world.”

  She nodded. “Ah, yes. I remember now. Those pressure bubbles were their project. Could have used those here. Now it’s time to go down there and complete our mission,” Counselor Abagail said.

  “Well the Vegan technology is far more advanced,” Winston said. “And AMPHIBIA is brilliant.”

  Jeremiah didn’t waste any time and hoisted AMPHIBIA up and carried it towards the shaft. “She’ll power up once she hits the water. But we’ll have to go down and give her the final push, or she’ll just sit on the edge of the ice like an idiot. We don’t want to risk going any deeper. She’ll train on the beacon once she powers up.”

  Counselor Abagail nodded as Winston closed the panel on the edge of the pod when the ground shook violently, knocking each of them off their feet. There was a bright orange reflection on the surface ice as Counselor Abagail looked up, and screamed.

  “Abby! Winston!” Jeremiah called. “Are you okay?!”

  Their vision was clouded with a black vapor.

  The ground continued to shake as she turned on her stomach. She struggled to lift herself up on the shaking, slippery ice, and turned her head towards the sky.

  A series of bright flashes emanated from the sky closer towards Jupiter.

  “Where is the ship!? Where is Vega One?!”

  She felt Jeremiah’s strong arm grab hers as the blackness cleared. “Winston! Winston come in!”

  She looked up towards Jupiter. It was confirmed.

  Vega One was gone.

  She screamed. “No!”

  She instantly thought of Copernicus. And Inikia. And Moses. She propped herself up on her elbows and hung her head down until the edge of her helmet tapped the ice. Had they escaped? And what about the others?

  “Winston!” Jeremiah said. “Winston come in!” The shaking subsided and Jeremiah rose to his feet. He ran towards the pod. Counselor Abagail turned around as Jeremiah retreated around the far end of the pod. “Don’t come back here, Abby!”

  She hoisted herself up. “What is it Jeremiah?”

  “Don’t come back here Abby! Just wait there!”

  She shuffled her feet along the ice and kept her focus on Jeremiah. He was on his knees. She could make out Winston’s boots. Was he injured? But how could he be injured if he was a clone droid?

  As she rounded the corner, she gasped.

  Jeremiah wa
s kneeling, his head hung low. And Winston was lying, flat on his back, with a massive piece of metal which had split his abdomen. She shook her head and ran towards Winston and fell to her knees. Jeremiah grabbed her arms and started to pull her away. She fought and pried his hands off her arm.

  “I told you to stay put!” he said.

  She shook her head. “No!”

  There had been no blood, only the severing of wires and cables. The metal cut a jagged edge just above the waist.

  “We can’t just leave him here,” she said, looking down and shaking her head. Jeremiah got up and started punching the code for the pod interior access panel. “We can put him inside. We have no means to bury him.”

  She sighed and scanned the surface area. The orbit near Jupiter had calmed and the surface ice once against reflected the pink and orange pastels of the gas giant. “I don’t see any signs of their pod anywhere,” she said.

  “Well there are three things that could have happened,” Jeremiah said as the door slid open with a hiss. He climbed inside the darkness and started checking panels for power. “One. They didn’t make it off Vega One and were vaporized in the explosion.”

  “Let’s try to think more positively,” she said, getting to her feet and looking down at Winston. The metal that sliced him in half was at least twice her height and at least several feet across. She looked up towards the sharp peak of metal. A cosmic cloud levitated above.

  “Two,” he said. “They managed to escape in a pod but didn’t clear the explosion and were vaporized in the blast.”

  “Jeremiah…”

  “I’m just being a realist,” he said. “And three. They made it to the surface, and the force of the explosion could have knocked them severely off track, and they could be on the other side of the moon. Or even on another moon altogether. Jupiter has twenty one moons. I’m working on leaving them a message in case they made it.”

  She bent down and dragged Winston’s legs around the side of the pod. Several multicolored wires hung haphazardly with shredded tubing. As she approached the exterior entry panel, she looked up and saw Jeremiah sitting at the command console. His helmet was off, sitting on the floor beside him. He was typing. He paused, looked over and her, and stepped out onto the ice. He bent over and picked up Winston’s leg apparatus. “There is a sleeping area in the back,” he said. “We will lay him out on one of the beds and cover him up.”

  “So what do you feel? Do you think they made it? Or not?”

  Jeremiah hoisted Winston’s legs into the pod and turned back towards the sleeping chamber. Counselor Abagail saw him shaking his head as he ventured further towards the rear of the pod. “I don’t know Abby,” he called. “I’m imprinted with Jeremiah’s thoughts and feelings, but she hardly heard him through her helmet. His voice was faint and muffled again. She climbed inside and followed him. “I can hardly hear you!”

  He gingerly laid the legs at the foot of the bed. He looked up and made eye contact with her, “Don’t worry,” he called out. “I will put my helmet back on soon so you can hear me better.”

  He went to the command console and grabbed his helmet, snapping it back into place. She could hear him much more clearly now. “If they made it, then it’s quite possible they could locate the cryobots with the power of their escape pod. We don’t know if the pod is fully operational. And if they truly are on the other side of the moon, it could take weeks to get here. Even longer without any mapping capabilities.”

  She nodded and jumped outside. She walked around to the other side of the pod to pick up Winston’s upper body and head as Jeremiah remained inside and started typing a message for the others.

  “Do you think they can survive that long out here?”

  “I don’t know, Abby. We are merely speculating.”

  “Try contacting the other pod. Can you?”

  She pried Winston from the massive metal sheet. The other half of the multicolored wires and severed tubing dragged along the ice as she pulled Winston towards the pod, her hands wrapped around his forearms, dragging him from behind. She stopped when she reached the outer door. She peered inside and saw that Jeremiah had powered on the command console. Bright, colorful lights traveled across the darkness of the dash. He hovered over the controls and was pecking at a small keyboard.

  “Hey, can you give me a hand here?”

  Jeremiah looked over at Abby and jumped up. He leaned over the side ladder as Counselor Abagail lifted Winston’s arms. Jeremiah grabbed Winston’s forearms and lifted his upper body into the pod. He carried it back and placed it on the bed with the other half as Counselor Abagail sat at the command console.

  The digital screen mapping the area was empty. Jeremiah returned and took the seat next to her. “Nothing on the command controls. According to MACA 2, the only thing out there is MACA 1 – which is our pod – approximately 22 kilometers that way.” Jeremiah pointed across the ravine.

  “Let’s try anyway,” she said.

  Jeremiah shrugged his shoulders and pressed the communication command button. “This is MACA 2. Does anyone read me? MACA 2 over.”

  Dead silence.

  She looked up at the sky. A clouds of cosmic dust still hovered close to Jupiter – the remnants of Vega One, no doubt, but where had the pieces of metal, the massive, cylindrical hull gone?

  *****

  Jeremiah finished typing the message. He read it to Counselor Abagail:

  EUROPA 1 MISSION TEAM REPORTING. LANDED 22 KILOMETERS FROM CRYOBOT MELTING SITE. EN ROUTE TO PORTAL. MAPPED LOCATION VIA VEGA ONE AND TRAVELED ON FOOT. LOST ELI DUE TO WATER PLUME OUTBURST. WENT OFFLINE AND ABSORBED INTO JUPITER’S ORBIT. VEGA ONE EXPLOSION CAUSED METAL TO SEVER AND SHUT DOWN WINSTON. LEFT MACHINE APPARATUS IN MACA 2 REAR. JEREMIAH WALTER AND JANINE ABAGAIL CURRENTLY ON MISSION. FOLLOW TOW LINE TO LOCATE.

  She nodded. “I guess that’s all we can do.”

  A searing, high pitched whistle sounded just above them as a giant section of the hull crashed into the ice just yards away from MACA 2. Counselor Abagail gasped as she watched the smoking metal through the viewfinder. The ground shook knocking them both off their feet.

  “Another icequake! Come on, let’s get down there!” Jeremiah said. “It’s the only safe place right now!”

  Jeremiah flashed through the controls, shutting down power as Counselor Abagail huddled by the rear entry.

  Jagged pieces of the metal hull for Vega One started raining down at ferocious speeds – some still burning, others charred. Some were as small as the communication screens on their suit arms; another which crashed into the nearby ravine was massive and jutting upwards above the threshold of the cliff.

  “Come on, Abby, hurry!”

  They ran to the cavern opening as Jeremiah dragged AMPHIBIA and tossed her down the hole. He turned and assisted Abby with her silver, shiny picks and he lifted her, turning her around and positioning her on the edge of the wall. She dug them into the edge of the ice.

  “Climb down as fast as you can! I’ll send your light rods!” She nodded and moved her right hand down, digging the pick back into the ice. She followed with her left hand. There was far less gravity on this planet than she was used to, and as she looked downwards into the darkness, she thought of the mile-plus that she had to navigate down into the cavern. She looked up one more time and Jeremiah gave her a thumbs up. He threw down several blue glowing light sticks and she reached and grabbed one. The blue light reflected against the wall of ice. She looked up and Jeremiah was gone.

  “Jeremiah, come in?”

  The connected was filled with static. “Thumbs up, Abby. I’m getting the power pa –”

  Dead silence.

  “Jeremiah, come in!”

  She connected to the tow line and automatically started lowering as another ice quake started. She stopped the lowering and held tight to the line as she rocked back and forth against the ice walls.

  “Jeremiah do you read me?!”

  As the icequake subsided, she started lo
wering again. She kept looking up towards the opening, as it grew smaller and smaller. And as she made repeated attempts to contact Jeremiah, the line filled with static, until her visor projected the message right in front of her eyes:

  SIGNAL LOST.

  The ice chute grew darker and quieter the lower she traveled down the tow line. The only light was her single, solitary blue rod, which she had nestled in the side of her suit arm. She looked up again.

  Just darkness.

  Sight of the opening had been lost a while back.

  The sounds were gone.

  No feelings of icequakes, or the screams of metal charging to the surface.

  Would Jeremiah follow her?

  **************

  She touched down into darkness and silence. The blue light rods that Jeremiah had tossed down earlier lay on the ice floor, each giving a pale glow. She saw the cryobot sitting just a few yards away. It oddly looked like it could be a tree trunk in this strange, cosmic cavern.

  Water lapped at the ice a mere few yards away. The cavern was soaring; rounded ice walls leading inwards and deeper into the Europa ice.

  Had she been destined for this all along?

  Was there some sort of cosmic connection? Her destiny…her same self…there was something about the ice caverns. The solitude and the silence, the blue light and the darkness. Something reassuring, something inviting.

  Had Jeremiah, this close, never been destined to journey to this point? To see this beauty? This deep secrets of the ice moon?

  And what of the cavern?

  The mystical, mysterious cavern which had remained hidden for millennia – neither humans nor Vegans knew of the caverns. But somehow, in some way, Copernicus had known of a portal. But the portal was not in this cavern. The water which lapped at the ice – the edge of the ice beach – held no clues when she glanced at it.

  She sat on the ice at the edge of the water and closed her eyes. There had been so much. So much sensory overload. So much information in her mind to download and decompress from.