Our journey began as Valles Marineris shrunk in the distance. As the rocket flew further up, we were getting closer and closer to the edge of Mars's thin atmosphere. From such an altitude, human activity was completely invisible.
As we eventually made it into outer space, the scale of things truly caught up to me. Even though Mars is far from being the largest planet (it is actually the second smallest one), it was still enormous, something that can only be seen clearly from above. Most things in space are so gargantuan compared to what we witness in our daily lives that humans look like ants from this perspective.
I knew that this feeling of being such a small piece of the grand universal puzzle will be amplified as our flight continues, because we were headed for the largest planet in the Solar System: Jupiter. We'll make a solid flyby before touching down on Europa.
Flying further into the cosmic void, a metallic shape caught my eye. This shape was none other than the Martian Orbital Station. In comparison to Mars, it wasn't too large. Still, the fact that humanity is capable of building such intricate structures is impressive.
The Premiums were extremely happy when they learned that they don't need to spend a night in their "bunghole" beds. I was honestly surprised that they've been given sleeping space when they weren't going to even take a nap in the rocket.
- Finally, we're leaving this floating tin can! - Jane Premium was pretty outspoken about her joy. I knew that a rocket is far more complex than a tin can, but I didn't make any comments.
Our rocket slowly approached the space station. Einstein and Anthony carefully rotated the spacecraft to start the docking procedure. Support boosters helped the two pilots align our rocket to the dock. I watched as we moved upwards and connected our craft to the station. John and Jane joyfully proceeded to fly into the airlock, freed from the clutches of our "floating tin can". Little did they know that the conditions on the Martian Orbital Station aren't much better.
Oh, their sheer dissapointment upon learning that they've been given new space beds that didn't meet their expectations. John crashed out when he realised that he was going to sleep in a "bunghole". We could still hear him yelling at an innocent astronaut when we made our way into the station.
Claudius, with some assistance from the adults, got the fuel flowing into our rocket's fuselage. It was going to take a while until it's full. I opted to stay in the rocket and monitor the fuesalge as opposed to listening to John's endless complaints. If it wasn't enough, Jane Premium was quick to join his husband in calling out the astronauts who did nothing to the pair. Determined to reach silence, I drifted into the rocket and watched as the fuselage was filling with fuel.
Arika chose the same option as I, equally tired of John and Jane's moaning.
- Those two will never stop - she commented the pointless argument.
- Yeah. Good thing we don't have to bring them with us. I'd rather eject myself into the void than listen to the Premiums 24/7 - I replied.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6mpXXpF0b
- Roby's still there to worry about - Arika added.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOzpwtdbln
- Oh, you finally remembered about me? - Roby suddenly spoke up, flying closer to the metal bars keeping him in place - It's quite a shame that you can fly freely while I'm stuck in this cage.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7e8S1YbdE
- You're in there for a reason - Dawn joined us, appearing out of the blue.
- You're in here for a reason too. Your foolish attempts at foiling my plan made you the number one target of the entire government...! - Roby chuckled before I interrupted him:
- Our attempts weren't foolish, because they worked out. You're behind bars, after all.
- Indeed, but now you've been forced to flee to the forgotten crevice of the Solar System just to run from those who employed you... It's quite pathetic how you've managed to ruin your position... I may be behind bars, but at least I can be there in peace. Nobody's hunting me down, unlike you... - Roby continued his monologue.
- I'd like to remind you that I wasn't employed by the Agency, at least not now. I switched sides because you disgustingly left me to die after I stopped being useful to you - Dawn responded.
Roby didn't respond, as Dawn managed to shut him up. I gazed upon the monitor that showed the state of the fuselage. It was almost full, meaning that we'll soon leave the inner Solar System and John's complaints behind.
The others made their way into the rocket and we closed the hatch. As the adults sat down in the cockpit, they decoupled the Hope from the Martian Orbital Station. They allowed our rocket to drift away from the station for a bit before starting the engines. We started moving away from Mars.
- Time Skip (yet again) -23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8xtl821FK
It's been a few months and we've reached the Asteroid Belt, an important point of our journey. Here, leftover material from the Solar System's formation drifts freely. Asteroids, dust, dwarf planets... you name it!
For both manned and unmanned missions, this is typically a stressful part of the flight, especially if your spacecraft is large. Ours definitely is.
To make matters worse, aside from the larger chunks of rock and metal floating around, you also have to worry about micrometeorites penetrating your shields and damaging the vessel. The Hope's shields are pretty thick, especially after the colonists added another layer of protective foil during the renovation.
As far as I'm concerned, I spent a while observing the objects which we passed by. I might have seen Ceres, the largest object in the belt, but I wasn't entirely certain. It's possible that I just noticed a large asteroid, mistaking it for the famous dwarf planet.
Luckily for us, Roby wasn't much of a problem, compared to John Premium and his wife. The former Martian leader only tried (and failed) to break out twice before realising that we won't let our guard down. Not to mention that he has nowhere to run, since jumping out of the rocket means leaping into the cosmos and probably never returning as you either freeze, suffocate or smash into one of the many celestial bodies drifting in the belt.
Roby wasn't very talkative either, which seemed weird at first, as he initially liked to tease us by comparing his predicament to ours, but it seems like he eventually got bored as we stopped reacting. Now, he was almost silent, only thanking us for giving him food and water, sometimes remarking about his cell not being very spacious.
- Another Time Skip -23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrApJcqOurj
A few more months passed and we finally made it into the Jovian System, which includes every moon of Jupiter, which there are 97 of. There's also a lot of junk that got caught up in Jupiter's gravity.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvfsHFsWFE
As predicted at the beginning of our great excursion, Jupiter's size was immense. The planet's equatorial diameter is about 143 thousand kilometers, which is just insane. From our perspective though, Jupiter seemed to be even larger. We even saw the famous red spot, a giant superstorm that could fit the entire Earth. Speaking of stuffing planets into other planets, mathematically at least, you could cram every other planet in the Solar System into Jupiter.
As we focused on the giant, Einstein, Anthony and Justine turned their attention towards Europa, which was tiny, compared to Jupiter. As I got bored of staring at the gigantic planet in the centre of the Jovian System, I also started observing Europa. It's an icy moon, with a mostly white crust covered in darker, brownish streaks made of non-ice materials, mainly various salts.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6KTOKFEhq
One of the most interesting things about Europa is that beneath the layer of ice, a subsurface ocean is hidden. This ocean has twice as much water as all the oceans on Earth. I myself was always fascinated by the underground waters of Europa, especially with the possibilities of finding extraterrestrial life hiding beneath the surface.
To my knowledge, the Science and Containment Centre was founded for this exact reason: search for alien life in the subsurface ocean. The containment part was added when there was a need for a place to which very evil people could be exiled to. Someone suggested turning the prisoners into scientists as a form of social work and this concept was soon became reality. Thus, the Science and Containment Centre was born.
I was hungry for more knowledge about this interesting moon and I was hoping to get some questions answered once we reach the surface.
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