Astrogator Tori Varr had images of the mysterious moon pinned up all over any available space in her cabin, spending the long hours between activity poring over the data. Now it was time to put that information to good use, as the vast ship approached the enigmatic moon and the course she had plotted was put into action. She and Nascha had argued about the most promising landing site, as the surface was largely clouded and the only available maps were based on sensor data. Nascha had suggested that the best place would be near the shoreline of one of the titanic seas or mare, the largest being at the northern pole, Kraken Mare.
The large sea had an island land mass at its northern end and although the liquid the sea contained would not be water, the greatest possibility for finding signs of life might be in these areas. As it turned out, the deciding vote was cast by Skarvalds wife and mission Exobiologist, Inga Skarvald, the only woman who knew more about the moons climate and makeup than anyone else. Inga had quietly pointed out that the shorelines of Kraken Mare may be too soft to venture onto using the rovers or Molab, but the island itself had a more solid outline and should permit close observations of the ethane seas.
The initial landing was to take place using the Gungnir, while the second shuttle Bifrost would rendezvous with one of the cargo rockets to transfer fuel and supplies to the Heimdall. The two secondary shuttles would perform mapping operations of Titan, while the cloud cover was at its thinnest, so that further excursions could be planned. The Heimdall had arrived during Titans seven year summer season, so the heavy clouds of hydrocarbons were slightly less dense and there was less chance of severe flash floods of methane during their stay on the surface.
Tom piloted the Gungnir into the upper reaches of the atmosphere as Nascha, Inga and Tori carefully watched the readouts on the sensor arrays. Tori made slight amendments to the trajectory as the shuttle hit the cloud layer, the thick atmosphere buffeting the ship as they slid through the gloom. Inga readied the atmospheric probes she had prepared, instrument capsules attached to gas filled balloons that would inflate and drift in the cloud layers sending back information to the Heimdall.
Suddenly, the Gungnir dropped abruptly as it hit a layer of lighter air. "sorry." grunted Tom as he hunched over the controls, levelling out their descent. Just then, the viewport bloomed with yellowish light as the shuttle emerged from the lowering cloud above a landscape of low mountains and gleaming lakes. "wow, look at that.." whispered Tori, but the two other scientists were still restrained to their couches and unable to see directly through the main port. Tom grunted his appreciation and hauled back on the controls, bringing the Gungnir into a circling pattern over the proposed landing site. "landing in six minutes! Sing out !" This was Toms instruction to Nascha and Tori for confirmation of the landing sites suitability. Already they were checking the sensor readouts and Nascha quickly confirmed the practicality of a soft landing. The retros cut in and as the lowered gravity made it easier to handle the ship, the actual touchdown on the surface was delicate and smooth. Once more Nascha was the first to unseat herself and was heading for the cargo bay. Tom and Inga would follow on in the Molab, but Tori and Nascha were to be first to set foot on the surface.
Tori joined her companion at the airlock and stepped in. As she cycled the lock, Tor Skarvalds voice crackled in their ears across the intercom: "now remember," he rumbled "no sightseeing!" Nascha looked across at Tori and smiled. Then the lock cracked open and the bay was bathed in eerie, buttery light. Flakes of waxy snow fluttered in, turning into oily puddles immediately. They stepped out onto a rocky plain, the light from the sun washed away by the glow from Saturn, bathing everything in rich golden light, petering down through the clouds. Before them, the land tumbled away, scarred by craters and rilles, vast patches of ice spread across their view and just beyond sat a long gleaming expanse of liquid - ethane, colourless and torpid stretching away towards the horizon.
Tori joined her companion at the airlock and stepped in. As she cycled the lock, Tor Skarvalds voice crackled in their ears across the intercom: "now remember," he rumbled "no sightseeing!" Nascha looked across at Tori and smiled. Then the lock cracked open and the bay was bathed in eerie, buttery light. Flakes of waxy snow fluttered in, turning into oily puddles immediately. They stepped out onto a rocky plain, the light from the sun washed away by the glow from Saturn, bathing everything in rich golden light, petering down through the clouds. Before them, the land tumbled away, scarred by craters and rilles, vast patches of ice spread across their view and just beyond sat a long gleaming expanse of liquid - ethane, colourless and torpid stretching away towards the horizon.
The flakes drifting around them turned to sleet, heavy drops replacing the large flakes as the heat radiating from the ship warmed the frigid air around them. The drops streaked their suits with greyish fluid, particles contained in the fluid leaving trails on the heavy woven material. "look!" said Tori breathless " a rainbow.." and they both watched as a golden arc of light lifted silently from the far edge of the sea, its colours alien and ethereal in the strange light.
The first few days on Titan were quite difficult for the Heimdall team. The initial impressions of beauty and strange alien landscapes had been replaced with feelings of stress and to a certain degree, depression. Nascha and Tori especially found the dark cloudy days quite eerie and during the frequent excursions around the little island, more than a little treacherous. Titans atmosphere was rich in hydrocarbons and the sea around the island was largely composed of ethane and liquid methane. The slick colourless fluid behaved differently to water, being slightly thinner and the reduced gravity made it especially tricky underfoot on the loose shale beaches. Every now and then an especially dark cloud would skid by, unleashing a downpour of waxy flakes or sleeting rain. The rain was a particular problem as it penetrated deep into the shuttles engine systems and was a major hazard during lift off. However it wasn't all doom and gloom as Titans ecosystem was incredibly complex and threw up new discoveries daily. By the middle of the second day, Inga Skarvald was ready to explore the seas around the island and had gone over the Remote Observation Vehicle several times with Tom. The ROV was a small remotely piloted submarine vehicle, that would be used to explore the seas of Kraken Mare more closely, able to reach into the crevasses and caves beneath the shining waves.
The first few days on Titan were quite difficult for the Heimdall team. The initial impressions of beauty and strange alien landscapes had been replaced with feelings of stress and to a certain degree, depression. Nascha and Tori especially found the dark cloudy days quite eerie and during the frequent excursions around the little island, more than a little treacherous. Titans atmosphere was rich in hydrocarbons and the sea around the island was largely composed of ethane and liquid methane. The slick colourless fluid behaved differently to water, being slightly thinner and the reduced gravity made it especially tricky underfoot on the loose shale beaches. Every now and then an especially dark cloud would skid by, unleashing a downpour of waxy flakes or sleeting rain. The rain was a particular problem as it penetrated deep into the shuttles engine systems and was a major hazard during lift off. However it wasn't all doom and gloom as Titans ecosystem was incredibly complex and threw up new discoveries daily. By the middle of the second day, Inga Skarvald was ready to explore the seas around the island and had gone over the Remote Observation Vehicle several times with Tom. The ROV was a small remotely piloted submarine vehicle, that would be used to explore the seas of Kraken Mare more closely, able to reach into the crevasses and caves beneath the shining waves.
Now Tom was at the edge of the icy beach and had placed the ROV in the shallows as he made a final test of the systems. Back on the mobile laboratory, Inga sat at the sensor bay controls, manipulating the on board cameras. "ready?" called Tom over the com. "let her go, in three." replied Inga. "1, 2,3 go!" and the little craft edged off the ledge with a spurt of jets, disappearing into the dark sea. Tom trudged back to the Molab and was soon seated next to Inga at the controls. "she's performing well so far - take over." Inga moved across to the second seat and allowed Tom to take the remote controls for manoeuvring the ROV, while she switched on the onboard floods and sensor array. The screen lit up with an eerie yellowish green light, particles drifted past the camera in the 'head' of the ROV and the lidar and sonar on board, pinged back its position. For several hours, Tom piloted the ROV at Ingas' direction, following a shallow slope, deeper into the mare. For the most part, the view was unremarkable, particulate matter and floes of ice drifted by, but little else. As the ROV got deeper, the sonar note changed and indicated a large impact crater, deep below the sea, directly ahead. "this could be interesting.." mused Inga and directed Tom to follow the lip of the crater down into the basin. The colour of the ice and rock had begun to change, the dirty ice that they had seen earlier, was now streaked with colour, bright yellows and reds and metallic coppers. As the ROV neared the bottom, Inga suddenly told Tom to wait. "there - just at the edge of the light, go left a few degrees.." she breathed. Tom gently turned the ROV and Inga panned the camera around. A solid object bobbed in the current from the ROVs jetwash, larger than the drifting ice crystals and much different in colour. "look at that..." she cried and pulled in the focus to reveal the object on the screen. Floating in the dark fluid ahead was a strange, hexagon shaped lozenge of translucent material, darker than the surrounding ice, greenish gold in colour with a network of fine tendrils extending from its outer edges.
As the ROV moved closer, a central dark spot or nucleus could be seen and the veined, corrugated body of the lozenge showed that it was indeed organic. "looks like we found the natives!" said Tom, smiling broadly. "see if you can bring it in" said Inga, barely able to control her excitement. A sample arm extended from the ROV, with a transparent vessel on the end, designed to collect material from the sea. The edge of the container came close to the object, but as it neared one of the outstretched tendrils, there was a sharp 'click' over the intercom and a brief flurry on screen. The object had disappeared and the lights on the ROV abruptly faded. "what? i've lost power to the ROV!" exclaimed Tom as he frantically flipped switches and wrestled with the waldo controls for the vehicle. Then, as quickly as they had gone, the lights and power came back to the ROV and the picture onscreen, bobbed as the motors cut in and it righted itself. "wow..." breathed Inga. "its got an electrical defense mechanism!" Panning around again with the camera showed empty expanses of coloured ice. The Titanese creature had disappeared as mysteriously as it had come. Inga slumped in her chair with a mixture of disbelief and wonder. Mans first encounter with extraterrestial life had been brief, but very memorable!
Nascha walked alone along the shale beach of Mayda Insula, the large island in the centre of the titanic methane sea. It was almost time to leave Titan and journey on to the next part of the mission to explore Saturns inner system and the other three crew were busy making final preparations on the shuttle. She felt very reluctant to leave this strange and majestic world, especially after seeing the first evidence for extraterrestrial life on the playback from the ROVs cameras. The brief appearance of what appeared to be a Titan native organism had excited the crew, but after it abruptly vanished, neither Tom nor Inga could find any trace of it in the murky darkness of the crater. Tom had volunteered to dive in the Extreme Environment Suit and look for further indications of life, but after Tor Skarvald had seen the data from the ROV and the way the little creature had completely disabled the vehicle in order to make its escape, the mission commander forbade any direct interventions. It was too risky, even in the heavily armoured suit, to go anywhere near such a potentially dangerous organism, so the crew would have to make do with the brief segment of video and the sensor data collected by the ROV. As she wandered along the shore, the sky darkened and one of Titans strange weatherfronts gathered overhead. Nascha debated running back to the shuttle for cover, looking across the frosty beach towards it, but the large oily drops had already begun to fall. Rain on Titan was always a spectacular affair, especially when a rent in the clouds allowed Saturns cold light to shine down. The lighter gravity mean the drops were larger and fell slower than on Earth, but the simple hydrocarbons contained within them were a nightmare to clean from the joints in her suit and she resigned herself to several hours patiently scrubbing the filters and seals when she made ship again. As she gazed out across the Kraken Mare, the huge inland sea, the saturnine light caught the falling drops and a lambent rainbow spread across the waves before her. She smiled, wondering how lucky she was to find herself here on this alien beach, annointed by starlight and visited by spectral arcs. As quickly as it appeared, the shower passed away to the West.
Nascha walked alone along the shale beach of Mayda Insula, the large island in the centre of the titanic methane sea. It was almost time to leave Titan and journey on to the next part of the mission to explore Saturns inner system and the other three crew were busy making final preparations on the shuttle. She felt very reluctant to leave this strange and majestic world, especially after seeing the first evidence for extraterrestrial life on the playback from the ROVs cameras. The brief appearance of what appeared to be a Titan native organism had excited the crew, but after it abruptly vanished, neither Tom nor Inga could find any trace of it in the murky darkness of the crater. Tom had volunteered to dive in the Extreme Environment Suit and look for further indications of life, but after Tor Skarvald had seen the data from the ROV and the way the little creature had completely disabled the vehicle in order to make its escape, the mission commander forbade any direct interventions. It was too risky, even in the heavily armoured suit, to go anywhere near such a potentially dangerous organism, so the crew would have to make do with the brief segment of video and the sensor data collected by the ROV. As she wandered along the shore, the sky darkened and one of Titans strange weatherfronts gathered overhead. Nascha debated running back to the shuttle for cover, looking across the frosty beach towards it, but the large oily drops had already begun to fall. Rain on Titan was always a spectacular affair, especially when a rent in the clouds allowed Saturns cold light to shine down. The lighter gravity mean the drops were larger and fell slower than on Earth, but the simple hydrocarbons contained within them were a nightmare to clean from the joints in her suit and she resigned herself to several hours patiently scrubbing the filters and seals when she made ship again. As she gazed out across the Kraken Mare, the huge inland sea, the saturnine light caught the falling drops and a lambent rainbow spread across the waves before her. She smiled, wondering how lucky she was to find herself here on this alien beach, annointed by starlight and visited by spectral arcs. As quickly as it appeared, the shower passed away to the West.
Nascha turned on her heel to walk back to the ship, but realised that she had wandered into the shallows and her boots were splashing in the liquid methane sea. She cursed in her native tongue, realising her cleaning and decontam chores had just trebled. As she moved to go, something bumped against the toe of her boot. She bent and picked up what she at first mistook for a chunk of stray ice, a small lozenge of greenish glass.
Lifting it up to her helmet light, she saw fluid drain from tiny fissures around its hexagonal sides and realised that this must be the shell of one of the mysterious creatures disturbed by the ROV. The delicate silicate shell looked like it had been blown from dirty glass, the surface, pocked with dents and ridges was full of streaks and dots. Holding it close, she could see tiny striations running through it and minute bubbles or pockets inside the shell itself. She gasped, realising that her boot had almost crushed this delicate treasure and that this transparent shell must be all that was left of one of the titanese creatures. Perhaps it had died and the soft, vulnerable body inside had dissolved away leaving this empty vessel. Or maybe it had cast off the shell as crabs did and was still drifting somewhere beneath the silvery waves, in a newly formed glassine armour. This was what she had joined the mission for, this was what she had wanted ever since she was a little girl, to know if we were alone in the universe or whether life did exist on the far flung worlds that shone down on her from the night sky. Carefully, she dropped the shell into a sample bag and and strode purposefully back in the direction of the lights from the shuttle, her heart pounding in her chest.
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