Published December 12, 2016
Mission Control, NASA, 2023.
A series of excited murmurs passed through the series of desks which permeated the room. Six years of preparation, 37 Billion dollars. The largest space project that had ever been commissioned in the history of Humanity. The mining and surveying of an icy moon. An icy, barren moon orbiting Jupiter. There had been theories for while, during the brief breaks for lunch that we’d get, but such theories were usually jokes of the conversation. How could it be? How could such a thing be possible? But now it can be. The probe will approach the moon, ion engines passively pulsating as it slowly touches down upon the frozen surface of Europa. The probe will deploy the laser drills, slowly melting a hole through the surface. Not a single soul had any concerns at that moment. After all, it’s simply a project to find the only other ocean in the Solar System, possibly solve our water security issues entirely. What could possibly go wrong, we had so foolishly thought. What could go wrong indeed.
Two months had passed since the initial probe landing when news came that it had come offline a mere hours after drilling into the ocean. The public explanation was “The engineers had simply not anticipated such extreme pressure.” However, as one of the men working on the terribly titled “H-2-GO” project, it was evident that such an explanation was one of the most appalling cover-ups of the truth I had ever witnessed. The survey device was designed to withstand more pressure than the atmosphere of Venus could exert. It was at this moment that, for the first time, I considered the theory. The theory that, mere months ago, seemed so absurd it might as well be a fantasy tale.But every moment, the foreboding sense that such a theory could be true, grew.
For the next 5 years of my life this thought lingered in the back of my mind, similar to the thanatophobic thoughts of a pure nothingness had terrified me when I was a child. Abhorrent fantasy, nightmares that truly terrified me... When I was to attempt to seek someone, anyone who could help me, they simply said, "The chances of such a thing being true are astronomically low. Simply absurd thinking." If only that had been true...
It was a late winter morning in the year of 2031 when my headset was to ring. Immediately, a video emerged. It was a former colleague of mine, with an extremely distressed look occupying her face. She hurridly greeted me "You need to get to the J.P.L now. I'm saying within the next 40 minutes now." After that, she simply ended the call. I rushed to the auto outside, and the fastest route possible was plotted. Soon I arrived at the J.P.L, and virtually every employee was there. When people were actually arriving on time, that screamed to me something was terribly, terribly wrong. As in, the kind of terribly you would associate with a nuclear bomb flying towards you. It was worse.
Within minutes, a presentation was shown, and my worst fears were confirmed. 100 ships of unknown origin, bearing a similar design to our own probes, were floating towards our blue planet. The feelings of pure, undiluted fear that I felt were to much to describe.
The year is now 2032, May 23rd. 4 Days before the estimated arrival time of the probes. One quote floats at the top of my mind, brought into strong clarity by the current situation. 'The fear of the unknown is not of that in itself, but in that what becomes known is even worse.'
Written collaboratively between me and Tenebris, with him doing the majority of this peice.
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139,301 Literary Works • 672,528 Reviews
Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),
Hi! I'm here to leave a quick review!!
Anyway let's get right to it,
Well this is an interesting note to start on. It seems like we've got just a little bit into the future and we're dealing with a little more realistic sci fi than most with things being twisted only ever so slightly. The hint of mystery there is also quite nicely established I think. We're getting a very nice sense of something big about to happen while hinting at it all going wrong.
Okayy....well even though we started out being on the slightly more realistic side we've got some powerful undertones of slightly more sci fi elements sliding into things and I have feeling things are about to start being just that much more epic here. At any rate, you've certainly gotten my attention quite quickly here and I can't wait to see what's about to happen.
Aaand yup we've gone 100% crazy sci fi mode although some sense of that initial grounding in what actually exists in the real world is still there. It certainly makes for a very interesting combination there and on the whole I think you've managed to create a very intriguing short story as a result. The very open ending there also makes things just that bit more powerful here.
Aaaaand that's it for this one.
As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.
Stay Safe
Harry
This is great. Really awesome sci-fi. Liked the twist at the end, about the fact that "something was out there" and the fact that it came from our own solar system. That is something you don't see a lot in science-fiction. It has some great prose and word-play, like the moment when he says "the kind of terrible (one mistake there) you associate with a nuclear bomb flying towards you. I, personally, thought that line in particular was hilarious, as well as the one about "everyone arriving on time". The sense of dread in the last sentence was so clear you could almost feel it, so cudos there. The fact that the ships are similar to our own probe is quite interesting too, meaning that either the aliens mimic our own technology or are so similar to us that even their probes look almost exactly the same. Any one of those possibilities is has some fantastic potential so I am looking forward to a sequel (if one is coming), since the ending is still quite open (to me, at least. Not sure if I am the only one with that opinion.). Like I said before, this is one great example of a story and I am hoping to read more from you in the future.
Hi DamienCyfer,
So, I think this is a very good story, particularly because I don't really find space that interesting or exiting. You have used some great descriptive words such as "Abhorrent." For me, it could have been a little more exiting though for me, but it is still really good. Some of the things have left me in question such as does the MC work for NASA?
Overall though, it is a very good story.
Keep writing,
ElegantEgt.
Some review from a newbie.
Hey! I personally believe it was good. I might be wrong however, because I really love futuristic world-ending type stories. I don't have anything negative to say. I would love read what comes of this story. Sorry, if this doesn't help or isn't true in the slightest but it's my opinion.
AnnMath
Some review from a newbie.
Hey! I personally believe it was good. I might be wrong however, because I really love futuristic world-ending type stories. I don't have anything negative to say. I would love read what comes of this story. Sorry, if this doesn't help or isn't true in the slightest but it's my opinion.
AnnMath
Hey Hey!
How are you? Ready for a review?
ALIENS? DID SOMEONE SAY ALIENS? (yay)
Overall thoughts: I love space. I have loads of Space facts if you ever need help, for example, all the ISS (international space station) pee and sweat (because sweat turns into a bubble when you're exercising) is processed and you drink it again!! I know, ewww and so cool.
Little things:
"There had been theories for while, during the brief breaks for lunch that we’d get, but such theories were usually jokes of the conversation (...) The probe will approach the moon, ion engines passively pulsating as it slowly touches down upon the frozen surface of Europa."
So, this MC works at NASA? But doesn't know about all the missions going on? This isn't a mistake, just a genuine question. I am asking NASA. Maybe just add something here to explain or maybe a joke about the Jupiter moon landing to start it.
As in the last paragraph, when the probes are arriving, maybe describe them? Are they big giant space ships? are they tiny bee ships? Are ants taking over the planet?
Other than those tiny things, I really really really like this! Please tell me when you publish more!
Love,
Lau.
@Europa you should really see this