Europa Report Page #3

off course from the original target zone

was a reconfirmation

of what we had hoped for.

If such heat-plume eruptions were

escaping through the cracks in the ice,

it suggested strong underwater thermal

activity and the potential for life.

If they had landed

on the target area

which was ripe

for surface analysis,

the mission would have begun

with extensive surface tests

using the ship's

robotic arm

followed by a few hours

of drilling through the ice

to deploy

a remote underwater probe.

So how will that affect procedure?

What it means is we won't get

the data we want very easily.

That's why I want to move

back Daniel's surface test

and start the drill

immediately.

Our best hopes of success

lies under the ice.

Daniel,

what do you think?

- I wanna argue...

- I'm sure you would.

...But with our

current position in the ice,

we won't get key data.

Let's go for a swim.

Drill head is locked and prepped.

Beginning extension.

Thermal is live.

Entering ice layer now.

- Do you hear that?

- Uh-huh.

- Are you getting it?

- Yeah.

I think that's

just the ice shifting.

We can expect more of

that as the temperature drops.

That was stronger

than our data projected it.

- Are we stable?

- Re-working the analysis now.

Katya, let's try the

frequency of these quakes.

Increased

tidal activity means

there could be more heat than

we thought beneath the surface.

- You're recording this?

- Yeah.

Okay, let's run

some diagnostics here,

because it seems to be

escalating a little bit.

Might be some subsurface aftershocks...

You saw it.

You got to check

out this activity.

- It's incredible.

- Everything's fine here.

What about the E.C.S.?

- How about the hull and landing gear?

- You see this?

- Check out the activity. Incredible.

- Yeah, no deflection.

- E.C.S.?

- E.C.S. Okay.

No problems here.

Guys, I saw something.

What do you mean?

Uh, umm...

I saw something

outside the ship.

From up there,

through the porthole.

Maybe 100 meters out.

I tried to get a video,

but I missed it.

It was a light

down the linea.

I was working one of the

servers when the ice shook.

And... it was there.

- A light source outside the ship?

- I know that I saw it.

- It was flickering.

- How strong was the light?

Well...

It was like an I.E.D.,

but dull from refraction.

But the...

oh, it happened so fast.

It was there

and then it was gone.

You mean it moved?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, it moved.

I can check

the heat signatures.

Do you see anything?

I've checked this

footage three times.

- There's nothing to see.

- Yeah,

but that doesn't mean

there was nothing there.

If it was too dim, these cameras

wouldn't have caught it.

That's true. A weak

chemiluminescence maybe?

Triggered by shifts

in the ice?

A chemical iridescence

doesn't fit this description.

Maybe. When we prepare

the surface test, we'll know.

I find the idea of bacteria clinging to

the underside of the ice more likely.

Something that has a luminescent

response to radioactivity.

Yeah, but do you think

it actually moved?

Scientifically I doubt it.

Wait, did you notice that?

What?

Radiation interference.

It's on all the cameras.

I think there's another version

of this that we have to consider.

It's entirely possible Andrei

didn't see anything at all.

It's very dark out there and his

mind could be filling in the blanks.

But it could also be

our first indication

of exactly what

we came out here to find.

- Is Andrei sleeping yet?

- No.

In those days

there was a raw...

a raw mix of emotions.

We'd come so far,

weathered so much.

I think we were

all in a place

where excitement

blended with awe...

And fear.

Okay, so Daniel is my witness.

You find a single microbe

up there and I win.

If you find a still-living

microbe, you win.

What? Evidence of extinction

doesn't win me the bet?

You always find a technicality like that

- for winning.

- No no no. It's not a technicality.

It means that at some point

in time we were not alone.

It is a technicality.

- Daniel.

- What?

What are you doing, buddy?

What's happening?

- You lost something?

- I lost my toothbrush.

- What?

- He's unpacking his entire bunk.

- We have to return to earth.

- We better call housekeeping.

You should get some rest.

Not until I know

what I saw out there.

We're working on it.

We'll figure it out.

What if I can't believe

or trust my own eyes?

You need to sleep.

We need you

to sleep.

There's pills,

sedatives.

No pills.

I need to stay alert.

I need to stay focused.

How are you holding up?

Good.

We've broken through.

Water.

Probe microphone live.

Wow. This is a completely

untouched environment.

Just waiting.

Hmm.

We're so far

from home, but...

It's like looking

at lake vostok right now.

Radiation levels

down here are minimal.

And there's definitely a heat source

somewhere in our target zone.

122 meters

to heat-plume area.

There's 100 kilometers

of water down there.

It puts the trench zones

back on earth to shame.

I think we're seeing

some tectonic plates here.

The sulfur concentration

is showing

that the thermal vents

are closer than expected.

Creepy.

That's your scientific

assessment, is it?

- Yep.

- "Creepy"?

Is that the weathering of the ice?

Maybe.

Could be a bacteria.

Grabbing samples

and... moving on.

20 meters

to target zone.

Look at how the sunlight

penetrates the ice here.

It must be much thinner

than we thought.

You hear that?

It could be coming

from reverberations,

deeper caverns

caught in currents.

It's almost

like a male whale sound.

Hey, a little presumptuous,

don't you think?

- Maybe.

- Oh yeah.

I've got some irregularities

in our data here.

I'm getting

a radiation spike.

Rosa, are you

picking up on this?

There's something

in the video feed too.

It's similar to what we saw

after the last ice shift.

That doesn't

make any sense.

The ice should be shielding

the probe from radiation.

It's not coming from above.

It's coming from deeper

into the target zone.

Yeah.

Let's adjust course

and depth to investigate.

Bringing us down.

What was that?

What's our

temperature down here?

Get ready to expand

the probe arm

to get samples.

What was that? Oh sh*t.

Cycle power.

All right, let's run some tests.

There was an abnormal shift

in the velocity

of the current.

- It's not reacting.

- Is it a remote issue?

- I've lost control of it.

- Sh*t.

Can you play

back the video?

Did something hit the probe?

- What data do we have?

- It'll take time to process,

but I'll tell you right now, not much.

It seemed like it was

right under the probe.

What was the

last bits of data it saved?

The heat surged 50,

but that couldn't have

caused a critical...

Sh*t!

A surface walk

was always heavily debated

at all stages

of our mission planning.

And our main concern then

was the radiation from Jupiter.

I will walk

to the target zone

and I'll get the body

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