After staring into the dark abyss for a while, I chose to leave the cannon, since no enemy vessels were showing up.
Upon reaching the crossroad, I noticed that our team was currently scattered around the whole submarine. Sebastian, Dawn and Arika were looking for a cloakroom, because after flooding the dry dock, our clothes were completely damp and we left our stuff in the guest room in the Science and Containment Centre.
I joined them, as the soggy clothes were also bugging me, even though I tried to ignore it. Amber didn't join us, as she wasn't bothered by her wet clothing, having, apparently, "learned to live with it".
The Perseids, along with the adults, were in the cockpit. Interestingly, Agent Nebula wasn't with them. She must have left the cockpit while Arika and I were operating the cannons, but I have no idea where she went.
Passing by the cockpit, I heard Leonid saying something to Rill Gomana.
- Find me Agent Nebula, I need to talk to her. Now - Leonid ordered him.
- I'll do my best to find her - Rill got up from his seat in the cockpit.
- Be quick - Leonid glared at him. Rill swiftly left the cockpit.
When Rill passed by us, an instict woke up in me, telling me to run away. I guess my brain has hardcoded responses to enemies. I had to quench this instict, since we're on the same side, at least for now. I hope that Agent Nebula will come up with a way to ditch those criminals and put them back behind bars.
- There it is! - Sebastian found a cloakroom meant for the crew. Since the actual crew was left far behind in the dry dock, we entered the room without any issues.
Like any cloakroom, it was split in two: a section for boys and a section for girls. I made my way to the boys section and looked around.
There were gray lockers on the walls; we didn't have the keys. Some of the lockers were left open, but they were gutted of any contents by the fleeing crew. We ended up calling Claudius to pick the locks.
- Easy enough. Give me a second - Claudius kept some tools in his pockets, which may seem weird, but it was very useful in situations like the current one.
He got the lockers open in no time. Since we don't have a female mechanic in the team, he also dealt with the lockers in the girls section. Claudius chose to leave afterwards.
- You don't want to change? - Sebastian was surprised.
- I'm gonna forget about some tool along the way. Plus, I don't feel the need to change - Claudius left.
The submarine's crew members had special teal and black suits, but, unfortunately for us, none of the lockers had a full suit inside. Instead, we only found singular clothes. The locker which I picked only contained a shirt. The girls didn't fair much better.
In the end, we ended up partially changing, salvaging what could be found within the lockers. Upon leaving, we looked like broken toys poorly stitched together with the wrong color of fabric.
Not to mention that the clothes were adult-sized and we're teenagers, which meant that the suits were oversized for us. We looked pretty silly, but it was better than nothing.
We made our way to the cockpit to see what Leonid has planned next. Coincidentally, Rill found Agent Nebula. Leonid left the cockpit to talk with her in person.
- Oh, you look silly - Anthony muttered upon seeing me.
- I know. Is everything okay? - I asked him.
- Yes, there's nothing on the radar. The warden and his drones were left far behind - Anthony reassured me.
In the meantime, Leonid and Agent Nebula made it back to the cockpit. We all looked at them, expecting an announcement.
- Now that we've broken free from the Science and Containment Centre, we can focus on the next stage: finding your precious Icebreaker-5. To make everything clear to our pilots, I got your new ally to explain where we need to go - Leonid announced.
- Can I get a map of Europa, please? A map would make it easier for me to explain - Agent Nebula asked.
- Find a map for her - Leonid ordered us.
I ended up finding one underneath the dashboard. Much like whoever designed the submarine, the crew had a habit of placing things in hardly visible crevices.
- I got one! - I got up and passed the map over to Nebula.
- From years of deduction and hiding from a certain grumpy man I've come to the conclusion that there are three possible locations in which Icebreaker-5 ended up. The first one is Conamara Chaos, a region of chaotic terrain in the northern hemisphere. Icebreaker-5 flew over the region and even gave us some photos some time before crashing, so it's, in my opinion, likely that it crash landed in Conamara Chaos or somewhere nearby - Agent Nebula started explaining.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8f3m2QRZy
Chaotic terrain is a type of terrain on celestial bodies that is characterised by geological features that are enmeshed within each other or jumbled, without a clear shape or pattern. A wrecked spacecraft would fit perfectly with the chaos.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFY31WzgJNL
- Are those the photos you hung on the wall in your secret room? - I connected the dots.
- Yes - Agent Nebula confirmed.
- What are the other options? - Alia asked.
- The second possible location is somewhere around the equator, probably on the eastern hemisphere of Europa, which we're currently in. Icebreaker-5 flew over the equator for quite a while and one of the vessel's last signals comes from the eastern hemisphere - Nebula revealed the second location.
She drew a line over the equator on the map and added a dot over Conamara Chaos for perspective. The two suspected crash sites were pretty close to each other, so it made sense that the missing spacecraft ended up somewhere in that area.
- Let's sail there with our submarine and see - Alia interrupted.
- I'm not making any decisions until I hear about all the possibilities - Leonid cut her off.
- The third location is the worst case scenario, which is that Icebreaker-5 lived up to its name and smashed through the ice. In this case, it could be deep underground or maybe even underwater, which would mean that we'd likely never find it, seeing how vast and deep the subsurface ocean is. We're talking about a depth of 60 to 150 kilometers! - Nebula finished.
- But how would it break through, like, twenty kilometers of ice? - Arika found the third possibility unconvincing.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yMqRf7Mt8
- Maybe whatever is hidden aboard the vessel helped it make it so deep... - Agent Nebula suspected.
- I said this before and I'll say it again: there is nothing special aboard Icebreaker-5. It's just a normal spacecraft that crashed. Period - Captain Nigel commented - This whole ordeal is pointless.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mzubf4X64
- You think so? We can come back to drop you off in the Science and Containment Centre if you don't want to participate - Agent Nebula hissed.
- We cannot and besides, I'm the one calling the shots, remember? - Leonid interrupted - Nobody's leaving this submarine before our job is done.
Captain Nigel didn't even respond, neither did Agent Nebula. Leonid's voice alone is chilling enough to silence people.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9PwaaBXjV
- We'll make our way to the equator and visit Conamara Chaos along the way. You, - Leonid pointed at Einstein - keep watch over the radar to see if there's anything manmade in our vicinity.
- Of course - Einstein twitched. Leonid is really fearsome.
With that, the meeting was over. Leonid left and Agent Nebula did the same thing shortly after.
With Leonid being so creepy and menacing, I really wanted to know if there's a way out of here. I hoped that Agent Nebula has a plan and I now got a chance to see if she does. When no one was watching, I sneaked out the cockpit and followed Agent Nebula.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vmt9RyO4Q
and then Add to home screen.