can’t. It’s… odd, Ben,” Charles’ voice regained its composure. “It’s almost as if it was blocking technology. I know that doesn’t make sense, but look.”
Charles gave an order, and one of the drone soldiers, number 7, reached down and pushed onto the hull. It remained completely solid, not giving any at all. Ben and the crew in command watched intently as the drone stood up and Charles reached down at the same spot and pushed. His hand vanished into the hull as easy as pressing on water.
“How is that possible?” Ben asked out loud.
Geoff almost laughed. “We’re on Europa, millions of miles from Earth, watching a video of someone on the surface of an alien spacecraft. At least, we think that’s what it is. Do we even have enough time here to find out what possible is?”
“Dammit, Charles. What about Glorin?”
“It would be stupid to go in now, even if I could take all the drones in with me. But, just me? Well, Ben, if you want me to, you know I will.”
Ben sat back in his chair, suddenly exhausted. He had expected many things to go wrong. This was not one of them. No one liked Glorin. They could barely tolerate with him. But they certainly couldn’t leave him down there to die, or whatever it was that would happen to him. They had to do something, and quickly.
“Charles,” Ben said into the mic, “Get back up here. We are going to work on something from this end.”
The mission commander could see Charles nodding in the video stream and begin walking back towards the entry shaft in the ice.
“Jenna, have you been following?” Ben brought her communication link online with the rest.
“I’m…, I’m here boss. I’m getting the winch ready.” Jenna’s usually upbeat voice sounded rattled.
“Just get him out of there.”
When all the soldiers, Charles and Glorin had free fallen down the shaft, Jenna had then lowered down a carbon silicate chain to serve as an elevator for them. It had just reached the bottom. Ben watched as Charles walked over to the robe, locked a cable onto his belt, and gave a thumbs up to the EUA watching everything.
“Go ahead, Jenna.”
In the video stream, Charles started rising up in the ice chamber, like a story out of the Bible. The EUAs followed his ascension up and into the shaft, then shifted their cameras back onto the top of the alien vessel. The drone soldiers were being left behind, just in case.
- Charles -
At the edge of the shaft, Charles took hold of the ice and easily shot himself out of the hole in the ice. He floated a bit in the air until a gust of vented gas pushed him back down into the ice. They were built into every suit to keep anyone who went outside grounded. It was highly unlikely anyone could literally jump off the moon, but there was a good chance of jumping very high, landing very far, and hurting themselves. Charles had been outside enough times to know how to land well after the gust. He stood up and began bouncing over towards Jenna.
The engineer tapped the side of her helmet, and they both changed to the one-on-one frequency.
“Captain? Are you OK?” her voice chirped over the helmet speakers.
If anything, he was disgusted. “Yeah, I’m fine. Not a thing wrong with me.”
He bounced past Jenna and up to the lone standing drone soldier. Looking down at his tablet, Charles brought up the specs for the drone and brought up the voice commands.
“Stay here with the winch. Report any movement or anomalies. Keep me informed with O2 supplies every ten minutes through the tablet.”
Charles looked up, half expecting the drone to respond. They weren’t programmed to. Instead, he looked down at the tablet and saw the confirmation the drone had received and understood his orders.
The captain continued on towards the moon rover and got in on the passenger side and waited. Jenna had been standing near the winch the entire time.
“Well?” Charles chimed in over the comm.
Jenna snapped up, nearly stumbling over. She
Charles gave an order, and one of the drone soldiers, number 7, reached down and pushed onto the hull. It remained completely solid, not giving any at all. Ben and the crew in command watched intently as the drone stood up and Charles reached down at the same spot and pushed. His hand vanished into the hull as easy as pressing on water.
“How is that possible?” Ben asked out loud.
Geoff almost laughed. “We’re on Europa, millions of miles from Earth, watching a video of someone on the surface of an alien spacecraft. At least, we think that’s what it is. Do we even have enough time here to find out what possible is?”
“Dammit, Charles. What about Glorin?”
“It would be stupid to go in now, even if I could take all the drones in with me. But, just me? Well, Ben, if you want me to, you know I will.”
Ben sat back in his chair, suddenly exhausted. He had expected many things to go wrong. This was not one of them. No one liked Glorin. They could barely tolerate with him. But they certainly couldn’t leave him down there to die, or whatever it was that would happen to him. They had to do something, and quickly.
“Charles,” Ben said into the mic, “Get back up here. We are going to work on something from this end.”
The mission commander could see Charles nodding in the video stream and begin walking back towards the entry shaft in the ice.
“Jenna, have you been following?” Ben brought her communication link online with the rest.
“I’m…, I’m here boss. I’m getting the winch ready.” Jenna’s usually upbeat voice sounded rattled.
“Just get him out of there.”
When all the soldiers, Charles and Glorin had free fallen down the shaft, Jenna had then lowered down a carbon silicate chain to serve as an elevator for them. It had just reached the bottom. Ben watched as Charles walked over to the robe, locked a cable onto his belt, and gave a thumbs up to the EUA watching everything.
“Go ahead, Jenna.”
In the video stream, Charles started rising up in the ice chamber, like a story out of the Bible. The EUAs followed his ascension up and into the shaft, then shifted their cameras back onto the top of the alien vessel. The drone soldiers were being left behind, just in case.
- Charles -
At the edge of the shaft, Charles took hold of the ice and easily shot himself out of the hole in the ice. He floated a bit in the air until a gust of vented gas pushed him back down into the ice. They were built into every suit to keep anyone who went outside grounded. It was highly unlikely anyone could literally jump off the moon, but there was a good chance of jumping very high, landing very far, and hurting themselves. Charles had been outside enough times to know how to land well after the gust. He stood up and began bouncing over towards Jenna.
The engineer tapped the side of her helmet, and they both changed to the one-on-one frequency.
“Captain? Are you OK?” her voice chirped over the helmet speakers.
If anything, he was disgusted. “Yeah, I’m fine. Not a thing wrong with me.”
He bounced past Jenna and up to the lone standing drone soldier. Looking down at his tablet, Charles brought up the specs for the drone and brought up the voice commands.
“Stay here with the winch. Report any movement or anomalies. Keep me informed with O2 supplies every ten minutes through the tablet.”
Charles looked up, half expecting the drone to respond. They weren’t programmed to. Instead, he looked down at the tablet and saw the confirmation the drone had received and understood his orders.
The captain continued on towards the moon rover and got in on the passenger side and waited. Jenna had been standing near the winch the entire time.
“Well?” Charles chimed in over the comm.
Jenna snapped up, nearly stumbling over. She
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