Beyond the cockpit window, the light from the Europa Ocean Surveyor faded into blackness. “Now three hundred meters above the ocean floor,” Alice reported. “The ambient water temperature is three degrees centigrade. Hydrostatic pressure has reached 133.4 megapascals. Hydrogen sulfide and methane levels are increasing rapidly, and there’s growing evidence of microscopic life in the surrounding water.”
On Europa’s icy crust, John Burgess, the captain of the EOS research team, listened impatiently to Alice’s recitation as he stared at the overhead monitor. Burgess wasn’t interested in microscopic life. That was old news. Evidence of microbial life had been found on the Europa’s surface by the Watanabe expedition nearly a decade earlier. Burgess was hunting bigger game, and to find it Alice and the EOS submersible were descending to a large network of thermal vents on the moon’s ocean floor. If complex extraterrestrial life existed on Europa, it would most likely be found in the warmer, mineral-rich water around those vents.
Seth Mallory, the mission’s young communications specialist, sat next to Burgess, continually adjusting the controls to maintain the comlink between the two-man base camp and the EOS sub.
“We’re near the ocean floor,” Mallory sighed. “Isn’t it about time we saw something larger than a microbe?”
Captain Burgess only grunted as he rubbed his fingers reflectively back and forth across his lips.
The EOS submersible had taken nearly three days to weave its way through a seam in Europa’s thick ice sheet. Several kilometers down, that ice had given way to chunky slush, and finally to liquid water. During the long, slow descent through the pitch-black sub-ice ocean, the images on the monitor had conveyed little sense of motion. Now, however, a growing concentration of microscopic life was making the floodlit water cloudy.
“There’s a faint glow ahead,” Alice announced.
Burgess and Mallory stared intently at their monitors.
“I think I see it now,” Burgess said. “Alice, can you tell what it is?”
A few moments later, Alice replied. “It appears to be bioluminescence.”
Grinning, Mallory gave Burgess a thumbs up. The Captain nodded, a self-satisfied smile on his usually dour face.
As EOS approached the ocean floor, the bioluminescent images became more distinct. The netherworld that greeted the sub was a dim palette of red, orange, and black. Dark towers spewed thick clouds of boiling water into the surrounding sea. Carbonate spires, crowned with jagged edges resembling broken teeth, dotted the seabed. Everywhere, the ocean floor was covered with life–all kinds of life.
Burgess and Mallory gaped at the images on their monitors. After a moment of stunned silence, Burgess shot his fists into the air in triumph and bellowed, “Yes!” Mallory whooped with delight, and the two men high-fived each other in celebration. Burgess produced a bottle of well-aged bourbon, and soon they were gleefully toasting each other as they gazed at the images on their screens.
Alice alone remained silent, fully focused on the task at hand.
###
The wide variety of macro fauna that now surrounded the submersible was stunning. The ocean bottom teemed with creatures, some of which appeared to be cognates of Earth’s own deep sea denizens. Long-legged centipede-like creatures picked their way over iridescent formations that resembled coral reefs. Squid-like creatures darted through the water amid florescent tangles of tube worms and sea fronds. Diaphanous jellyfish floated in the current. When a ray with huge red eyes approached the cockpit window, Alice extended a hand to the permaglass, as if in greeting. The creature banked and swam away into the darkness.
During the ensuing hour, Alice deftly maneuvered the EOS sub along the ocean bottom, streaming video of the surrounding flora and fauna. While directing the sub’s cameras, she continuously read out measurements from the instrument panel–temperature, water pressure, and changes in the concentrations of oxygen, sulfides, and hydrocarbons in the water. Occasionally, the two men above would direct her to examine some unique geological formation or exceptionally strange life form. Alice followed their instructions precisely.
A school of small fish-like creatures swarmed around the sub, darting in and out and largely obscuring Alice’s view for several minutes. When they glided away, she detected movement in the distance.
“Captain, I see a bright light ahead.”
“Where?”
“To the north. Something large is coming towards me from that direction. It’s moving quickly.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t yet determine that.”
Captain Burgess stared, arms knotted across his chest, as the light approached and the image on his monitor grew larger. At first, he couldn’t make it out. Then, when he did, he couldn’t believe it. It was impossible. It was unreal. The object approaching EOS appeared to be another submersible, although one quite a bit larger than EOS, with a single large floodlight on its nose. It came to a stop some 100 meters away.
“Is that a sub?” Mallory exclaimed.
“It must be some trick of the light,” Burgess muttered. “How could it be a sub?”
“Perhaps it’s just a reflection.”
“It doesn’t appear to be a reflection,” Alice said. “Its external structure is similar to that of EOS, but not identical.”
Alice turned EOS’ floodlight off and on, and then off and on a second time.
The floodlight on the other submersible winked off and then on again, but did so only once.
Noting the discrepancy, Alice said, “Captain, it isn’t a reflection or a trick of the light.”
“It certainly appears to be a submarine,” Burgess said. “And it’s clearly not one of ours.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Do you know what that means, Seth? It means that we are about to initiate first contact with a technologically-advanced alien intelligence. Pour me another glass of that bourbon!”
“But this makes no sense,” Mallory said, as he refilled their glasses. “Creating such a ship would require manufacturing facilities. It would require energy sources. Where are they? And why would any life form that evolved on this moon even need a submersible? It’s all ocean under the ice.”
Captain Burgess pursed his lips as he considered that point. “Maybe,” he said, “whoever’s in that sub… whatever’s in there… isn’t from Europa at all. Maybe they’re from somewhere else, from another planet, or even from another star system. They could be exploring this moon and its ocean, just like we are.”
Mallory looked perplexed. “But we didn’t see any evidence of an alien presence on the moon’s surface, or in orbit around it.”
Alice had been silent during this speculation, staring at the other ship. Suddenly, it shuddered, as if momentarily shifting in form.
“Did you see that?” Alice said.
“See what?” Burgess asked.
“A flicker of some sort,” Alice replied, turning the floodlight off and on again. The alien sub replied with flashes of its own.
“Maybe it’s trying to communicate with us,” Burgess said. “Alice, can you get closer? There seems to be a canopy of some sort above its floodlight. If you can get close enough, maybe we could see what’s inside.”
“I don’t think that’s wise, Captain.”
“What?”
“Something’s wrong about this. I think, sir, we should proceed cautiously.”
Burgess responded with undisguised irritation. “Alice, we need to know whether there’s intelligent life in that thing. We have a job to do, a mission to complete. Hell, this is the chance of a lifetime. So, move in closer!”
“Captain, I think doing so might put EOS in danger. I recommend that we back away.”
“No, Alice, we’re not backing away. We need to examine that sub more closely. I don’t care if you feel uncomfortable doing so. As captain of this expedition, I’m fully prepared to take the risk.”
“Captain…”
“Closer, Alice. That’s an order.”
“Yes, Captain,” Alice replied. A moment later she began to slowly maneuver EOS towards the other sub.
When EOS was thirty meters away, the alien sub started to quiver. Alice quickly threw EOS’s engines into reverse as a dark form shot towards her from the other ship. There was a thud as it made contact. EOS shook violently and its canopy window went black. Alice could sense the turbulence, as EOS was dragged quickly through the water towards the alien sub.
Then everything was silent.
###
“Captain, do you read me? Captain?” Alice examined the instrument panel, checking the pressure seals and looking for damage. Many of the external readings on the console were swinging wildly, spiking in ways that made no sense.
A few moments later EOS shuddered again and shot backwards, as if repelled from the alien sub. The material covering the canopy peeled away, and Alice saw a long tongue-like organ receding from EOS, returning to the alien structure. The image of the alien submersible shuddered and then dissolved, becoming a large gelatinous blob that displayed a kaleidoscope of colors as it raced away.
“Captain,” Alice said, “Captain, can you hear me? It wasn’t an alien sub at all. It appeared to be a creature of some sort, a large jelly-bodied organism. I can see it now, moving away from us. It was mimicking the shape and appearance of our sub, like some sort of camouflaged angler fish, trying to draw us closer. It must have thought we were food, and when it realized EOS wasn’t edible, it spat us back out. Captain, are you reading me?”
###
On Europa’s icy surface, Burgess and Mallory were frantically trying to re-establish contact with EOS. Their monitors were blank and the readings on their consoles had flat lined.
Mallory was yelling into the microphone, “EOS, come in! Alice, do you read me?” He turned wide-eyed to Burgess. “There’s no response, Captain. Nothing. I can’t even detect an emergency beacon. That alien craft must have completely destroyed her.”
Burgess trembled with rage and frustration as he replayed the video of the encounter with the alien sub over and over again. The static and distortion at the end of EOS’ final transmission made it impossible to determine just what had happened.
###
Hours later, having failed to re-establish contact, Burgess took off his headphones and tossed them onto the desk. “Okay, Seth,” he declared. “I’m calling it. We have to assume that EOS was destroyed. Let’s pack up our gear and get out of here.”
“Get out of here? Why?”
“Because the aliens operating that sub might just decide to come after us next, and I don’t want to be here when that happens. We’re going to get off this rock.”
“But how could we be in danger? There are several kilometers of ice between us and that ocean.”
“Seth, we have no idea what we’re dealing with here. We don’t even know where that alien sub came from. Think about it! EOS was only on the ocean floor for an hour or so. Yet, in that short time, an alien intelligence not only detected our sub, but intercepted and promptly destroyed it. Whatever created that alien sub is aggressive and aware. Moreover, the ice between us isn’t all that solid. For Christ’s sake, this station is perched on the edge of a crevasse. I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that whatever destroyed EOS couldn’t reach us here, and I, for one, don’t want to stake my life on the probability. We need to leave now.”
Mallory said, “But Copernicus is still orbiting Ganymede. It’ll take a couple of days before they can pick us up.”
“Then we’ll just have to wait for them in orbit,” Burgess said. “How long will it take for you to get ready?”
“Half an hour, I guess. I just need to pull some gear together and transfer it to the shuttle.”
“O.K., shut down the system and let’s get a move on. Have you forwarded all of the EOS transmissions to Earth?”
Mallory checked his computer. “No, the last segment hasn’t been sent yet. It contains the final twenty minutes of EOS’ transmissions… up until we lost contact.”
“O.K., pull the plug on that for now. Once we’re in orbit, we can forward the rest of the audio-visual to headquarters and tell them what happened to EOS. I’ll contact Copernicus and inform them that they need to come get us.”
Mallory slumped back in his chair. “I feel sort of bad for Alice.”
Burgess looked up sharply, then shook his head in irritation. “Seth, she was a fricken robot. She was expendable. That’s why we brought her in the first place.”
Mallory rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “Do you think headquarters will be upset that we lost both Alice and the submersible?”
“We didn’t lose her. She was destroyed. And while the loss was perhaps unfortunate, the sacrifice was worth it. After all, we just made history. For better or worse, you and I are the first humans to encounter a technologically-advanced, extra-terrestrial intelligence. We’re going to be famous.”
Burgess rubbed his chin with his meaty hand. “Seth, to be on the safe side, I want to edit those final minutes of our communications with EOS before you send them off.”
“Edit them? Why?”
“I want to delete that last back-and-forth with Alice. I don’t want some bureaucrat back at headquarters taking her side and second guessing my decision to order her to approach the alien sub.”
Mallory shrugged. “Sure, I guess I can do that, if that’s what you want.”
Burgess nervously ran his fingers through his hair. “Good, now let’s get off this ice.”
###
“Captain, are you reading me? I’m not receiving any incoming transmissions. I still have battery power and full pressurization. However, the propulsion system is not fully operational. I’ve got limited control over EOS, so we’re largely drifting with the current. The emergency beacon also seems to be offline. I’m rebooting all systems, but restoring full power will take some time. Once I’m back on-line, the ultrasonic beacon should reactivate, enabling you to locate me and re-establish communications. After all, I’m going to need your help to return to base.
“I still don’t know whether you’re receiving any of my transmissions. I presume not. However, since the cameras are operating on battery power, I’ll continue to record and transmit data while I wait to hear from you. Once I regain full power, I’ll begin my ascent.”
###
“Captain, I’m still not receiving your transmissions, but I should be back to full power shortly. I have lots of great footage for you. A little while ago I passed a large creature that resembled a cross between a horseshoe crab and a centipede. It was almost two meters long, with rigid spikes on its back, and it was attacking a thick, segmented worm. I’m now drifting away from the primary array of fumaroles, so the water temperature is declining. Bioluminescence and levels of suspended particulate matter are falling as well. Hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide readings are constant. Wait a second, there’s something odd up ahead….
“Oh, Captain, I wish you could see this. It’s spectacular. They’re never going to believe this back home….”
The End