Europa Report Page #5

I vote no.

Absolutely.

So that's a tie then.

Rosa?

Katya made our complete

cosmic insignificance

seem like a call to arms.

What can I say?

She was right.

She's still right.

Two hours of E.V.A.

210 meters out.

Search the top layer of ice

while Daniel runs

analysis back here.

Copy that.

Be careful.

Compared to the breadth

of knowledge yet to be known,

what does your life actually matter?

30 minutes

for depressurization.

Batteries live.

Switching to battery power.

Pressure's at 30 kpa.

How's your prep?

30 seconds to egress.

Good luck.

I'm ready.

I can't believe I'm here.

We're here.

This is incredible.

Radiation is

holding steady.

We're at 50 millisieverts

per hour...

- within acceptable limits.

- I'll check

if I can see her

from upstairs.

It's so still out here.

It's so...

I don't know what the word is.

Creepy?

I was going to go

with "cosmically outstanding."

I wish I could take one of these

gloves off and touch the ice.

- Really feel it.

- Please don't.

I have visual

of her from here.

I'm heading towards

the target zone now.

We've got your back.

Life support systems

look good.

Okay, Katya,

you are crossing

into the target zone.

You see that?

Where the ice

is less deteriorated?

Just set up

in the middle of that.

- Here?

- Exactly.

She must have been

out there for an hour.

But it... it felt

like an eternity.

Each minute seemed to

divide and divide again

into endless moments.

First sample

ready for scan.

Sending data

back to you now.

Are you reading?

Running

analysis, stand by.

We're negative for trace

carbon and chemotropic processes.

Can you try ice

with more trace rust?

You could feel...

Every minute is

somehow longer

than it had

ever been before.

- Let's give it another shot.

- Why don't you take

the equipment down

the linea to zone three?

Radiation is

trending upwards, Katya.

You've been out there

70 minutes.

We're so close.

How much time can

you give me, William?

You've only got time

for a few more sample sets.

All right, Katya,

it's time to come back.

Okay.

I'm digging out

a sub-surface sample

that isn't

radiation blasted.

Are you guys

seeing this?

Here.

I'm getting imaging... now.

It's a unicellular organism,

something akin

to an algae.

I knew it.

- What is it?

- I don't know for sure, but...

I mean, it's not like

it has a name.

It looks like something

precambrian to me.

That's my first guess

on an earth-based analogue.

I don't believe it.

We did it.

Okay, Katya, let's

get you back into the ship

- and sort out this data.

- Packing up.

I hope

the champagne's ready.

Look at that.

Do you guys read

that light in the distance?

We're not reading anything.

It looks like some kind

of chemical iridescence.

I'm going to get closer

to investigate.

Reserve oxygen will

give her another 90 minutes.

Okay, Katya.

Proceed with caution.

I can't see her.

She's moving farther out.

It's beautiful.

Andrei.

This looks like

it could be the light

you were describing.

I can see it again.

Can you check

on my readouts?

It's... it's... it's...

it's hard to say.

I mean maybe there's

other microbial organisms

out there that eat

through the ice.

This is a much more

complex ecosystem

than we'd previously

thought.

I wanna see if it's

reacting to my lights.

I'm going

to turn them off.

I'm going

to get closer.

Hold that action, Katya.

Katya, do you read me?

We have severe

electromagnetic interference.

Did you see that?

She has to come back.

...have visual.

I'm going to try

to get it back.

I'm seeing it

through the ice.

I think it's some sort

of bioluminescence.

We've got the data, Katya.

Heat radiation levels

are moving with it.

I can't wrap

my head around this.

Okay, the ice is thin here,

but it seems stable.

If I get close,

- I should be able to get a better look.

- Keep your line open.

I want to know what's

happening out there.

The ground is not stable!

The ice is breaking.

Katya, can you hear me?

Come back to the ship now!

It's cracking the ice!

My foot is...

- Katya, do you read me? Come in!

- Get her back in!

- Get her back in!

- Katya, come in. Do you read me?

- She's not listening.

- Rosa, do you see her out there?

Nothing. Just the ice.

- She's under the ice.

- What?

Under the water.

We've still got

her helmet cam.

Whatever it was,

it was reacting

to the light on her helmet.

That's the behavior

of a complex organism.

The logs, the data...

they don't show

any proof of complex life.

We can't leave

until we have that.

We don't know how

long we'll be stable here.

And we've

lost two of our crew.

If we never leave,

no one on earth will ever

know what we discovered.

I agree.

We need

to leave now.

When the next launch

window opens, we take off.

Mmm.

I want all the data

secured and double-checked...

Especially everything Katya found.

T- minus 32 seconds to liftoff.

Prepping

for ascent ignition.

Orbital sync

is established.

Docking operation

in t-minus eight minutes.

- Give me a systems check.

- Engine temperature's rising.

Andrei?

Booster 3

is stuck at 30%.

We've got to launch now.

Launch in three, two, one.

What the hell?

I can't keep it steady.

Our trajectory is

way off course.

Injectors are melting!

We've got engine

mixture ratio errors

in engines two and three.

- We're nowhere near orbital transfer!

- Hey!

I can try to correct

course at apogee.

- The vernier thrusters might do it!

- We need to shut

- the valves down!

- Get us back down on the surface.

- What?

- Don't engage the second burn.

You mean crash us?

What's

happening up there?

Valves dow...

2,000 meters.

I can't

keep it steady.

- ...still dropping!

- ...Coming in too fast!

What are you doing?

William!

- William!

- I'm going to slow us down.

I'm going to blow the water shielding.

It'll create... thrust!

- Brace for impact!

- 200 meters!

Andrei? Andrei?

- Huh?

- Wake up, wake up!

William?

Okay.

He's dead.

He saved us.

Europa wasn't

ready to let us go yet.

It quickly

became apparent that

we crashed into

the original landing zone.

Ironic, I suppose.

This zone was much warmer,

much more active than any

previous data had suggested.

Underwater vents had

rendered the ice brittle

and unstable

and constantly shifting

and then you add onto that

William had jettisoned

the water shielding

on descent

and that had saved them,

but it also left them

dangerously exposed

to radiation.

We're leaking oxygen.

And we're also

losing heat...

three degrees since

I started checking.

If I would bet, we'd freeze

before we suffocate.

The exterior light

should be working.

Daniel,

can you check?

- Daniel?

- I am.

It's not good.

The ice is cracking

under the ship.

You can almost see

the ice/water interface.

We're gonna be under the ice

in a matter of hours.

Our last shot is

docking with the orbiter...

And using its back-up

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