We didn't waste any time looking around, instead making our way right to Icebreaker-5. By the time we reached the wreckage, we only had three minutes and forty seconds.
- Split up, we don't have enough time to explore every corner together! - Leonid ordered us. When Nebula and I tried going in the direction opposite to his, he called us over - You're coming with me.
It was at this point that I remembered about my lie. I made up a reactor that could power wormholes, but only we know how to activate it.
Leonid, along with Alia and Rill, led us to the cockpit, or what remained of it. Arika followed us, hoping to finally understand the situation. She didn't witness us lying in Leonid's face and escaping captivity, so she was perplexed by the current turn of events.
Upon reaching the remains of the cockpit, we only had three minutes and nineteen seconds. The pressure of time was very stressful to me, but Agent Nebula didn't mind it. I tried my best to focus on my surroundings and pick out any interesting details. I froze in my tracks when I found one. It was a massive detail: a tan, goopy substance.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAJevI6nvr
I wasn't sure what it was. If we were on Earth, I would have said that someone spilled mud in the cockpit and boiled it, explaining the bubbly structure. However, we were on Europa, where soil and mud aren't present outdoors. Moreover, tendrils emerging out of the blob lied dormant on the floor. I thought that the goo was spilled and some streaks were frozen further away from the leak's source, but that theory was disproven when the tendrils moved.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yP5yxmFWx
The movement started subtly and I wouldn't have noticed it, but the tendrils suddenly sped up. The goo expanded and started bubbling as it did. It clearly grew in our direction.
- It's alive! - I exclaimed, instictively jumping away from the blob.
Unfortunately, I flew all the way to the back of the vessel due to the lowest gravity I've encountered so far: slightly more than a seventh of Earth's gravitational pull.
I landed in the engine room in Icebreaker-5's back, startling Dawn, who was exploring the spacecraft's backside with Sebastian, Amber and Claudius. Unexpectedly, I landed next to another pile of goo.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdW5qOBHLH
It too started expanding, but it reacted not only to my sudden landing, but also to Dawn getting close to the blob.
As I heard the squelching noise of expansion, I got up in an instant, my action violent enough to briefly launch me into the air. I bumped into a remaining piece of the ceiling and landed next to Sebastian.
- What is this stuff? - Dawn hopped away from the goo.
- Aliens, it seems - I explained.
- But how? The temperatures are brutally cold and the radiation should fry any lifeforms up here within minutes! - Sebastian was unconvinced.
The word minutes made my check my stopwatch. Only two minutes were left until we're cooked by radiation. However, I wouldn't be surprised if we perished earlier, because the goop seemingly saw us as a succulent meal.
We slowly walked away fro the alien goo and encountered the Perseids, who were doing the same thing. The goo seemed dormant or asleep, if it can sleep, prior to our arrival. Our presence awakened the blobs.
- Is this your interdimensional reactor? - Leonid was confused, blankly staring at the alien lifeforms.
- No, but I don't think it's accessible in this... compromised state... If I can get my hands on a control panel of some kind, I may be able to reactivate it... - Agent Nebula replied before I could.
We looked around in search of a control panel. Amber noticed one, but it was partially covered by the alien pulp. More importantly, it was behind the blob in the cockpit.
If Leonid figured out that we lied, he'd probably leave us to be killed either by the goo or the radiation, so we had to do everything we could to keep our cover.
- Someone needs to throw me over the goo, so that I can get to the control panel - Agent Nebula demanded.
Rill, being the strongest person in our group, volunteered to toss Nebula over the goop. We all watched with concern as Rill grabbed Nebula (but kept her braid in peace) and threw her with full force. This time, the extremely low gravity was on our side, helping Nebula reached the panel.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGetRMe76Ep
She yanked a collapsed piece of the wall which obstructed the panel. Because of the goo, not everything was visible. However, there was an interesting detail: the remaining radiation shields were still active, which is why the goo was still alive. Fortunately, this gave us slightly more time; not much, but it was better than nothing.
Nebula couldn't do much with the panel, as the blob noticed her and started growing. I was afraid that this was the end for her, but she jumped onto the wall and bounced off it, gracefully flying over the expanding pulp. She was sweating upon landing and it seemed like the goo noticed this, as it expanded towards her faster than it grew towards the rest of our team.
- The blobs are attracted to heat! - I realized.
- That's why they grew towards the engines! They still had some heat left inside after the crash! - Claudius added.
I started connecting the dots and quickly figured out how the goo ended up here.
- I know why the blobs are here - I started and the others looked in my direction. I noticed that Leonid was clearly unhappy with the lack of exotic matter reactors, but I didn't focus on him - The surface is incredibly inhospitable, so the blobs must have originated from the ocean below. One of the most promising habitats on Europa are geothermal vents and geysers, which generate a lot of heat, explaining why the goo likes hot stuff. Sometimes, geysers can blast plumes of water vapor out of the ocean, through cracks in the icy crust. It's possible that some microbes hitched a ride with the vapor and stuck onto Icebreaker-5 as it flew over a plume, growing because of the heat generated by the craft - I presented my theory.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3J6boex9gA
- Why microbes? This doesn't look microscopic to me - Sebastian pointed at the still growing goo.
- While I don't have concrete evidence, it's plausible that the goo is a biofilm of some kind - I responded with another theory. Biofilms are made of colonies of microbes that stick to each other or a surface. In this case, the surface is Icebreaker-5.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5d6Q2gfgAm
- What about the reactor? You promised something... - Leonid interfered.
- I don't think I can activate it, unfortunately. Whatever's left of the machine is covered by the goo, which probably expanded into the reactor's insides, shutting it down. Not to mention that a large part of the control panel is inaccsessible because of said pulp... - Agent Nebula responded.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevUYozysnj
Leonid huffed, but didn't say anything. He was angry, no doubt.
- I think we should leave. This goo is making me very nervous - Alia distracted him from us.
- Not to mention that we've probably been here for too long... I hope I won't get cancer from this... - Einstein worried.
- Come over here! - Arika found an oval-shaped opening in the vessel's left wall.
We made it through the opening right before the two piles of goo met in the middle of the spacecraft. It started pouring out of Icebreaker-5, but stopped as it touched the ice.
- That ice is cold even for the aliens. Wow - Sebastian commented.
- Hold on - Amber started - Where is the crew?
- Inside of the goo? - Claudius proposed a pretty grim scenario.
- That opening looks like a dock for an escape pod. It's not out of the question that the crew fled before Icebreaker-5 crashed - I speculated.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlU6QVkyOB5
- I think this is likely. The goo probably grew into the engines, which is why Icebreaker-5 started descending. The crew must have noticed the alien lifeform destroying the spacecraft's propulsion, so it's likely that they escaped before the vessel crashed - Agent Nebula connected the dots.
At the corner of my eye, I saw Claudius staring at something above us. He seemed to be very concerned.
- Guys... and gals... - he started nervously - I think we're in trouble...
- What kind of trouble? - Anthony asked.
- That kind of trouble - Justine looked up.
A rocket was landing right next to our batyscaphe. I noticed a familiar logo on the rocket's fuselage. It was the logo of the Agency of Cosmic Espionage.
- They found us... - Anthony gasped.
ns216.73.216.133da2
and then Add to home screen.