ESS Lore Volume 1: Eternal Winter
Lore Links Tree
The story so far: 500 years after the civilisation on Pollux is destroyed, the Droo Alliance ship New Frontiers is on a mission to investigate the outer Juno system. Crew member Xanadu encounters Lethe at the Cylero One base and he joins the crew after saving Hodiyah and Mitra’s lives. A party at the Captain’s quarters reveals further information about the purpose and background of the mission, and Lethe delivers a surprising story which confirms Xanadu’s suspicion that he is hiding something from the crew...
Chapter 5, Juno Date 055.2167:
The crew of the New Frontiers were filled with anticipation. The previous day, Pollux had become visible to the crew through the bridge windows and now it was increasing in size rapidly as the ship neared its destination. Phoebe could now be seen, and the pair made an impressive sight as smaller details became apparent on their surfaces. Dr Ogmaz remarked that their unaided-eye view was ten times more detailed than any observations made to date, and his excitement only added to the crew’s keenness as they stared at the mysterious bodies. It appeared that the larger of the pair, Pollux, had a thin atmosphere and large variations in its terrain. Much of the planet was covered with slightly mountainous red highlands, dotted with craters and several huge volcanos. A row of deep canyons intersected these highlands in one place, their shadowy depths partly obscured by mist.
“The deep red colouration is caused by compounds called tholins,” Dr Ogmaz explained to Lethe, who was spending the morning observing the planet with Kalfr’s telescope. “They are produced by starlight breaking down organic molecules, and they are rarely found in quantities such as these.”
The rest of Pollux’s surface showed vast variations in colour and topography. Prominent on one side of the planet were two circular structures with broken ridgelines dividing the surface into strange, jigsaw puzzle shapes. The doctor believed that these were caused by large impacts in the body’s recent history, and that these shapes were convection cells of ice with different density rising and falling with the remaining heat energy.
Most of the remaining surface area was covered in lighter, broken terrain with chaotic and jagged formations. “I have yet to reach any conclusion as to these lowland areas.” The doctor told Lethe. “In some places they look like frozen oceans, yet at other points there are strange ridges and hills which are not consistent with a frozen mass of water.”
“Could these formations be frozen waves?” Lethe suggested. “The mountain ranges and ridges almost look like some huge tempest, frozen in time.”
“That could go a long way to explain this phenomenon!” Dr Ogmaz responded, “although I don’t know of any other cases where a process like this has been observed. Hopefully more research may explain the origins of our mystery terrain.”
Phoebe, the smaller of the two bodies, was altogether different to its parent planet. Colour variations across its surface were much more subtle, although one hemisphere was partly cloaked in a patch of red tholins similar to those seen on Pollux. Large, jagged lines crossed the entire surface, pockmarked by hundreds of craters. The doctor explained that these were grabens, valleys formed by tectonic stresses. The grabens were many kilometres wide, with near-vertical cliffs on each side and smaller wrinkle lines surrounding them. Dominating the northern part of the moon was an enormous impact basin, with circular ridges surrounding it and gleaming white material at the centre. This crater captivated Dr Ogmaz, and he was determined to explore it before any other parts of the surface. He would soon have his chance to propose this, for the captain announced that an officer’s briefing would take place in her quarters that afternoon.
“Visiting this crater first will provide us with the first clues to piece together the mystery of Pollux’s orbital changes.” Dr Ogmaz told Hodiyah, Deimos and Xanadu. “If we can determine how long ago this impact occurred and the mass of the impactor, we can then compare this to the orbital records.”
“Exploring the crater first does seem most logical,” the captain agreed. “How do you intend to proceed?”
“I should like to fly a shuttle down to the surface by the edge of the white deposits.” the doctor proposed. “I want to take measurements and get some regolith samples from different parts of the crater walls. These tasks only require two persons, so I would suggest that myself and Kalfr go.”
The captain nodded. “That sounds like a sensible plan. I would like to keep the second shuttle on board the ship as a standby if anything unexpected happens on the surface.”
“One point I am concerned about,” Deimos announced, “is the radiation level on the surface. Our preliminary scans show that dosage is greater than background throughout this system, but it appears to be highest throughout Phoebe’s northern hemisphere. From the readings we have, it wouldn’t be advisable to remain in the proximity of the crater for more than an hour.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem!” Dr Ogmaz reassured him. “I can make sure that we remain on the surface for less than that, the experiments I wish to conduct should take no longer than fifteen minutes.”
Each of the officers discussed their role in the operation, and it was decided that the rest of the crew would remain on the New Frontiers and run scans of Phoebe’s surface from low orbit. Of particular interest were the tholin patches and grabens, which the doctor hoped to visit over the next few days.
Hodiyah stood up to indicate the meeting was over. “We will make several low passes over these regions to gather accurate data about the conditions on the surface. Closest approach to the crater is in approximately thirty minutes. Doctor, could you please establish communication between the bridge and Shuttle A when all your equipment is loaded.”
The officers headed to their stations, and Dr Ogmaz went with Kalfr to the shuttle bays, stopping at the labs on the way to pick up a rock sampling machine and several surveying instruments. Assisted by Columba, they loaded all their kit into the shuttle and pressurized their EVA suits ready for departure.
As the shuttle descended over Phoebe, Kalfr was amazed by the view of the moon. Dominating the horizon were a series of tall mountain ranges, each in a circular shape surrounding the crater itself. The ground around was cut up in a strange way, bearing silent witness to the violent forces caused by the unknown impactor. As the shuttle descended further, he noticed a faint hint of an atmosphere clinging to the lowest ground--a tenuous mist from which the mountain peaks stood clear. Dr Ogmaz was piloting the shuttle, and as he pushed the thruster lever forwards the g forces began to increase. Gradually the craft decelerated until it was cruising at low altitude over the shattered plains and hills beneath. Suddenly the huge vista of the central basin opened out before them, its centre gleaming in the weak sunshine and a pale fog rising from its centre. For a moment both the doctor and Kalfr were frozen in amazement at this incredible spectacle, but they swiftly recovered and set to work planning the landing.
“These deposits look like a lake of cryo-lava!” the doctor exclaimed. “This should be very interesting!” Ogmaz slowly turned the shuttle around and orbited the side of the crater, looking for a suitable landing spot. Eventually Kalfr spotted a small flat area at the top of a ridgeline, just a few hundred metres from the edge of the lake. Dr Ogmaz brought them in low over the landing spot, checking for any boulders or obstacles that could cause an accident.
“It looks clear to me.” Kalfr confirmed, and the shuttle hovered lower until it touched down on the icy rocks with a gentle bump. Excitedly the two crewmates gathered their equipment packs and climbed down from the craft. The doctor led the way towards the ridgeline, and despite the incredible view on their descent the prospect which awaited them still took their breath away. Previously just a white blur, the dazzling cryo-lava in the centre of the crater could now be seen clearly. It was moving in a strange way, with the centre bubbling up and the edges flowing in an agitated way back and forth over the sloping shoreline. Leading down to this beach was a natural ramp of rubble and broken ice.
“Let’s get down there and start taking some readings!” Dr Ogmaz eventually said. Kalfr had never seen him this excited, and it seemed that the opportunity to explore such an alien environment had put the serious doctor in his element.
Together they started down the slope of scree towards the beach. It was a tough scramble, as the unstable rubble kept shifting under their feet. At one point a small landslide started, and they paused to watch the shining dust kicked up by the avalanche of rocks. For a time, it seemed like they might have underestimated the difficulty of accessing the beach, but after a few minutes the path became easier. They gradually levelled off into the smoother shoreline directly bordering the lava.
The doctor immediately began to unpack the tools from his backpack. “Kalfr, would you be so kind as to take the sampler down to the edge of the lava and take a sample of the shore material and the lava itself?” he requested. “I shall remain here and get the surveying equipment out; I want to set up a remote sensor station.”
Kalfr readily agreed and trudged off down the gently sloping beach towards the stirring white lava. As he got closer to it, he realised it was a strange mix of liquid and ice, something like the ice slush which was served in the café at Novoneyra Base. Occasionally a large bubble would surface and spray out a cloud of vapour, and he supposed that it was these gaseous outbursts which produced Phoebe’s tenuous atmosphere. The crew hand had almost reached the shoreline when his foot struck something. Bending down to check his boot was undamaged he noticed that the obstacle looked quite out of place. It appeared to have a metallic shine, although most of it was obscured by a thin layer of ice. He brushed the ice off and looked closely at the strange object. It seemed to be a shard of metal, with a geometric pattern inscribed onto its surface. He felt a new surge of excitement—no ship from Droo had ever travelled this far, so this artifact must be of extra-Jun origins! ‘Could I be holding the first evidence for life beyond?’ he thought.
Turning quickly, he jogged back to the doctor and held out the object. As he did so, the instrument Ogmaz was holding started to flash. The doctor took a step back in alarm.
“Throw it away!” he called loudly. “It is highly radioactive!”
Kalfr obediently threw the metal shard away and turned back to the doctor. “You are lucky I had this instrument out.” Ogmaz told him. “If I hadn’t been setting up the radiation detector array you might have received a lethal dose! I shall need to check you over when we get back to the ship to ensure that it was within safe limits.”
Sobered by this experience, Kalfr once again returned to the shoreline and started the sample collection. As he did so, Xanadu’s voice crackled in his earpiece. “Stand by for close approach.” She announced. Kalfr turned to watch the dazzling star that was the New Frontiers pass overhead at unbelievable speed. The ship was sweeping across the entire moon mapping its surface to high accuracy for the next stage of the exploration. But it hardly disappeared behind the mountains on the other side of the crater before Xanadu spoke again, this time with concern in her voice.
“We’re detecting higher levels of radiation than expected over this part of the surface.” She warned. “I’ve never seen planetary readings this high; it seems that the crater is a hotspot of some sort. I’m afraid you will need to limit your time on the ground even further, we need you out in the next 20 minutes!”
“Affirmative” came the doctor’s voice. “We have almost completed the experiments; I will update you when we get back to the shuttle landing site.”
The crewmates returned to the tasks with a new sense of urgency, but when Pollux began to rise over the opposite side of the crater, they had to pause to admire the awesome sight. It was at this point that Dr Ogmaz first noticed the pattern in the ridges on the shoreline. There were several white lines running along the beach, in places climbing up the slopes above them. They looked just like the tide marks left on beaches by the oceans on Droo, and at that moment the doctor realised they were in danger.
“We need to leave” he told Kalfr. “The deposits on the crater walls indicate that this pool is tidal, and Pollux’s position would be ideal for causing a sudden increase in the lava level!”
Together they collected the instruments and tools into their packs and began the trek back up the beach to the scree slope. Kalfr noticed that his burden seemed very heavy, and his footsteps began to drag slightly. He was vaguely aware of a slight headache and blurring in his vision but didn’t want to add to the doctors’ concerns. By now the pair had reached the bottom of the rubble-strewn ramp to the landing spot, and it was at this point that the first real problem became apparent. The broken rock and ice which had been difficult to climb down was impossible to scale without ropes and climbing equipment. Every time they struggled upwards a few paces, the scree gave way and they slid backwards just as far. Dr Ogmaz felt himself tiring and realised they had only made a few metres progress up the slope. The ground felt like it was shaking slightly, which he decided must be a symptom of exhaustion. He turned to check on Kalfr and realised that the crew hand was kneeling in the rubble panting. Checking his watch again, the doctor saw that there were only 10 minutes remaining before they must leave the surface. He glanced back up at the slope above them in agitation and was almost thrown off his feet by a sudden sharp tremor. Looking back at the lake he realised that the shakes were not his imagination—the vast lake was moving about in an irregular, sudden way.
“Pollux…the tide…it’s rising!” Kalfr gasped, on his hands and knees. “We must get to higher ground!”
The seriousness of the situation began to dawn on the doctor. They were trapped against an unscalable slope, with a lake of lava surging up the beach in waves behind them. To add to the danger, the 20 minutes were almost up, and their radiation doses were reaching dangerous levels.
“New Frontiers, we need assistance!” he called to Xanadu. “We need an immediate evacuation!”
@JastroOne1 It would definitely be a life saver, plus that means they could bring back radioactive samples and be just fine.