Martian Republic: The Fateful Secret

Chapter 2: One Small Step

Location: Enceladus

Time: 8am, +2 GMT

The sleek black spacecraft deccelerated, pushing itself into orbit around the icy moon of Enceladus, Saturn's sixth largest moon. Thrusters located around the body of the arrow shaped spacecraft began to guide it towards the surface. The spacecraft, Explorer, was the most advanced spacecraft ever created, powered by Titan-3 direct fusion drives capable of Isp's of up to 20,000 seconds and could commute from Earth to Mars in just two weeks. Hydroponic technology and 3D printing allowed the spacecraft to be kept in space indefinitely as long as a supply of fuel and raw materials were provided. It could even print replacement parts for eighty percent of the Explorer's components.

From his vantage point in the Explorer's cockpit, Captain Mike watched the glistening white orb move closer. He let his eyes rove over the intricate holograms and touchscreen controls on the dashboard. An impressive piece of tech, meant only to discover things greater than itself.

"Initiating landing sequence now," came a cool voice from the navigation computer.

The Explorer triangulated the safest possible landing site and extended its fist-like appendages. It then slowed down to a crawl, hovered around and gently set itself down. There was a crunch as the landing appendages at the belly of the craft extended their tendrils into the ice.

Captain Mike turned to his crewmates, five people handpicked from nations around Earth.

"Are you all ready?" he asked.

"Yes," they answered in unison.

"Now let's don our EVA suits, get out there and scout a thirty metre radius around the Explorer. This will be remembered as the first steps on Enceladus."

The crew walked down into the sterile white docking bay of the Explorer, where the rovers and the suits were kept. A door slid open, revealing six black and white EVA spacesuits and five rows of equipment.

The men and women slid into their EVA spacesuits, clipped on their utility belts and did a top-to-bottom check of the others' attire. The EVA spacesuits being utilised were of the new variety which was tight fitting in order to compensate for the lack of atmospheric pressure on Enceladus. The breathing equipment was only the size of small paperback book and it had a helmet fixed with holographic glass.

"Ready?" asked Captain Mike.

"We're ready," answered a man standing at the back. His name was Zijing.

The other four astronauts nodded in agreement.

Staving off the rush of emotion that always tended to overwhelm anyone setting foot on an unexplored planet or moon for the first time, he pressed the button that lowered the rear ramp.

The door lowered with a hum. The astronauts were awed at the dark sky and the gleaming ice. The image of Saturn was plastered on the dark, hazy sky.

Mike lifted his right foot and set it down on the icy surface of Enceladus.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Those words had been echoed by men and women who had set foot on unexplored planets, moons or asteroids since 1969. Normally, they would have waited for the response from Martian or Terrestrial bases but given the great distance from Earth or Mars to Enceladus, they didn't have that luxury.

The six explorers split up into pairs and began scouting a sector of 120 degrees around their spacecraft.

Suddenly, Aarav's topographical sensor began beeping. The screen of the sensor showed a massive cavity below the ice. However, instead of being jagged, the sides appeared smooth, with tiny round niches arranged with mathematical precision.

"Hey, I think I found something intriguing," he said into his comm. "There's a crevice under the ice that looks artificial."

"Summon the rover and use the IFD," answered Mike.

Aarav pressed a button on his wrist-mounted control panel. A shimmering blue hologram popped up. He selected the rover icon.

In the docking bay of the Explorer, the rover's wheels pivoted 90 degrees upwards. Propellers began to spin and the rover rose into the air, answering the call of its master. In just a twenty seconds it had reached Aarav, lowering itself and angling its wheels vertically to land safely on the ground.

"Utilise the IFD to rupture the ice above a crevice one metre ahead," he commanded.

He took a step back as the rover extended a black appendage from its front facade and lowered the metal disc at its end face-first on the ice. With a loud whirr, a piston pushed the disc into the ice, cracking it. 200oC water was sprayed onto the cracked ice, melting away a rough-looking mass of ice.

Aarav stepped to the edge of the ice and looked down. What he saw knocked the breath out of him.

"This is ..." he was lost for words. "unexplainable. You have to see this!"