16

"Evgeniy is a valued member of the colony, I don't think he'd endanger it," you say.

Evgeniy looks relieved, but Virginia is not pleased by this. "I don't think you're making the right call, President," she says.

"We'll close off the engine room and look for signs of tampering, of course," you reassure her.

After arranging for the engine room to be cordoned off, you dismiss everyone and head in for the night.

Next

Morning arrives late and you wake in your cabin. You feel the effects of the night before and quickly gulp down an organic-plastic cup of water. Now that the initial euphoria has passed, the real work begins. The Asterion has enough room and supplies to live for years, but the conditions are cramped and there's little room to work.

Outside the doors of the spaceship, the heat-drill has been deployed to cut out the first room of the colony. It's a small antechamber between the ice-tunnels-to-be and the Asterion. The ice is melted away and the water pumped back into the ship. The procedure was tested at the North Pole years before launch and everyone is relieved it works on the ice of Europa.

"The readings say it's breathable and air-tight. Do you want to do the honors, President? First to step out onto the ice?" Rheita Petavius asks as the crew gathers around the airlock within the Asterion.

Sungura Kikwete, the Habitus representative, is less convinced. "Let us be professional about this. There is no need to be showy."

I will be first out onto the ice.

Safety first: let's line and insulate the ice before stepping out of the ship.

Someone else can be the first person out while I'll keep an eye on things inside.

Next

There are several volunteers for the first person out onto the ice. In the end, it comes down between two candidates. Ned Skarby, a general technician brought along mainly due to being married to one of the scientists of the expedition, a favorite among the colonists; and Lev Zimmer, a scientist specializing in celestial mechanics.

After some discussion and negotiation, Lev is chosen. He steps out into the airlock and when the door shuts, you stand with everyone else, looking at the live footage. Tendrils of cold air curl around Lev as the external door comes open. Everyone on the ship sees the brilliant blue-white of the ice beyond. Your sharp eyes are on the temperature dial and you notice it sink rapidly as the heating struggles to cope.

"Lev, don't go in!" you call out through the intercom. He pauses and on the screen everyone sees the frost spread into the airlock from beyond. Lev is brought back in.

"You might've saved my life there," he says.

Next

Next, you turn to the investigation into Evgeniy. You enter the engine room, which has been cordoned off. If Evgeniy had been tampering with the engine, anyone else might be working with him, so you're forced to investigate the matter on your own.

The engine room is a narrow semi-circular corridor squeezed around the spontanium core drive that takes up the center of the ship. Space is at a premium on the Asterion, and so even here the walls are lined with vertical plant beds. Sunlight-grade lighting beams brightly from the ceiling panels, and the ground is padded with soft rubber, as tripping is common for Earth natives in the low gravity of the ship.

A window looks into the complex machinery of the drive itself. Beside it is a dedicated console, as well as a non-digital set of override toggles. You had some leads already from the sabotages that took place before you left Earth. You send some double-encrypted messages back to Earth to your private agents there who are still looking into the matter. Perhaps they'll turn up some connection with Evgeniy.

Florence interrupts you as you're copying the recent readings from the engine. You turn and look at her as she comes towards you wearing a pair of light gardening gloves.

"You don't mind if I pop in and adjust the watering, do you?" she asks, pointing to the asparagus patch along one wall. Not waiting for a response, she pops in and out, quickly and competently adjusting the auto-feed systems and checking the state of the plants.

After sealing the engine room back up, you retire to your desk to go over the readings. The output of the spontanium core is all normal and there are no obvious signs of tampering. You're left to decide whether to send the results to the interested parties of the G81 bureaucracy. Your finger hovers over the send button.

I should send it to the team back on Earth…

I should deal with this in house…

Maybe Iza would have some advice here?

Next

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