Chapter 1: February 3rd, 2349

It was cold and black in the emptiness of space. Like a vast ocean of nothingness, space was the definition of its very self. There was no sound. There was no heat except the sunlight that radiated from the star. Even in the Sol System, it was a long and lonely place. Consisting of a size of almost 290 billion kilometers, the only life that seemed to shine came from the glowing G-type star in the vast distance. The 4.6 billion-year-old star continued to shine as it was in its mid-life. Seemingly it didn’t seem to care about anything else.

Described as a yellow dwarf, the sol system did have its planets, though. Even though there was no sound in space, there was activity going on. If one could hear the sounds of the solar winds and the electromagnetic particles, they could listen to the sounds each of the planets made. Mercury being the closest to the star, often sounded like a buzzing wind of darkness as the planet was being continually scorched by the sun. Venus sounded like someone blowing into a long hollow tube as the dense atmosphere burned and crushed anything that flew into it. Earth sounded like a reverberating wind blowing even if the planet had seen better days. Mars sounded like a calm wind in a desert, even with the human activity that was present there.

It was Jupiter, where the sounds were the most unique. Some would consider the sounds to be beautiful, while others might leave the room. The ambient music of Jupiter was the perfect source of mystery where humanity still had much to discover. Being the largest planet in the solar system, it was like a solar system in itself. Even if it was only 1/10 the size of the sun, the planet was two and ½ times larger than all the planets in the solar system combined. Consisting of mostly hydrogen, the world was very close to becoming a star itself. There was so much gas on Jupiter that it was consumed by it. Consisting of at least two cloud layers and more, the planet was defined by its color alone. Each zone consisted of a mixture of various colors from white, red, orange, yellow, blends of those colors, and more. Of course, the most distinguishing feature was the noticeable Great Red Spot that spun near the southern equator of the planet. Like a giant eye, it seemed to gaze at the other planets as if Jupiter itself was the master of the solar system. Perhaps it was.

It is here that we make our trip closer to Jupiter. As we get close enough, we can see the numerous moons that orbited the gas giant. Being so massive, the planet captured everything around it and held it like it was a father taming his children. There were almost 80 moons and celestial objects that orbited this monstrosity of a planet. Io, Callisto, Ganymede, Himalia, Sinope, Pasiphae, Carme, Leda ... there were too many to list. Each moon seemed to tell its own tale as they all stared at the planet that they called their master. However, it was one particular moon that we focus our attention on.

The moon that we get closer to is the smallest of the four moons discovered by the astronomer Galileo. Its orbit was between Io and Ganymede, and it was slightly smaller than Earth’s moon. It is here that we see Europa. Its orbital distance was about 670,000 kilometers from Jupiter, which was almost twice the distance between Earth and its orbiting moon Luna. Even then, Jupiter took up a sizeable chunk of the horizon when one stood on the surface of that moon. Europa itself was distinguishable for its surface. Consisting of a layer of ice on its surface, there appeared to be signs that it was seemingly assaulted. While there were very little craters on the surface, the moon was almost pasty white at first glance. When one looks closer, we can see what looks like orange lines that break the solid white color. The lines seemingly had no pattern in what direction they went or where they came from.

The year was 2349 AD as we finally see what looks like a small object that is orbiting Europa. While it measured to be about 250 meters in length, the object did not appear to be natural in occurrence. It looked to be artificially constructed.

The starship consisted of a long grayish tube that connected to several modules. On the bow section, it consisted of a large hangar bay. The bow also seemed to carry a series of launchers that connected near a large series of antennas. As you travel down the ship, you can see a series of vectoring thrusters to help the ship maintain orbit and direction. There were a couple of turreted guns that lined up to two doors that lined on both sides of the ship. As we proceed further to the center of the ship, we can see a description plate on the side of the hull. Written in both English and Chinese, the name “UHN Tyson” was written along with the registry number “RS-28” underneath the name.

The center of the ship consisted of an almost internal bridge on both the dorsal and ventral sides. On the dorsal section (top) of the ship was a large radar dish, possibly advanced scanning equipment for the time. On the ventral (the bottom) was another massive sensor array. On the starboard and port sides were four forward-mounted thrusters to help ensure that the vessel could stop or move in reverse. This would connect to more vectoring thrusters to help the ship move around.

As we proceed to near the stern (aft) of the UHN Tyson, you can see two large rotating rings. There were no noticeable windows of any kind, but it seemed to be a place where the crew and staff worked. Both rings spun at the same speed. It almost tripled the height of the ship alone, but it seemed to be a necessity for whoever was living in it. The twin rotating rings seemed to be the highlight of the ship.

When we finally reach the end of the ship, we can see an engine module and a power module that connects to the central structure where the centripetal rings spun. The engine module was really just the rear-mounted thrusters for the science vessel. There were lights throughout the ship that illuminated it. It orbited Europa with ease. Much like Jupiter orbiting the sun, the UHN Tyson orbited Jupiter’s moon.

It is here that we zoom into one of the rotating centripetal force rings of the ship. Inside the spinning ring was a series of interior rooms sheltered from the radiation of space around it. Inside the rotating rings was a series of rooms where humans operated in a comfortable pressurized environment. It is this that we focus on a human being by the name of Ericson that was sitting behind a display computer. One hand was pressed to the terminal while another one was at his chin. On a ship that had no way to generate gravity, it was obvious that the humans had found a way to bend that rule only in the very slightest. Even by this time, the ship had only one way to generate gravity as it orbited Europa, and that was to use centripetal force. By spinning the rings, the occupants like Ericson would feel a continuous force be applied to them. Their bodies would feel a sense of gravity more so than Mars ever did. Failure to generate gravity for ships operating for this long in space would mean that the crew would start to suffer from serious side effects in the long road.

Ericson’s lab consisted of a large square room. Besides the door that led to the hallway, the room had numerous displays on each wall. One display behind him depicted the image of Jupiter and Europa, where his ship orbited. A second display on another wall showed a series of listed subroutines. The computer coding seemed to show that he was busy doing something.

“Hmmm ... if I add these two ... no ... that won’t work,” Ericson said out loud. He sighed deeply. He seemed to be agitated but exhausted. He stopped for a second to look at himself.

Ericson had a pale complexion. He had short brown hair and a stubby beard. He wore a white, almost skintight lab coat. His pants were also white, soft, and partially skintight as well. On his feet were the typical Nisex MC-10 magnetic shoes that he had to wear.

“Nah ... no ... that won’t work either,” he said as he looked at the display in front of him. He turned his attention to the side. His eyes looked at the large display screen beside the other one that displayed Jupiter and Europa.

There were numerous algorithms and subroutines. The coding that he saw was enormous. He walked up to the display, looking at it very carefully. His hands were away from the keyboard that was mounted on the table. He then pressed his right hand to his left wrist. A new display screen appeared from his arm. As a projection, he could see a new keyboard appear that his right hand could interface. It showed what the display screen was showing, and it allowed him to control what was on the large screen itself. The coding was displayed to him as his right hand pulled up one of the subroutines for him to get a closer look.

“Hmmm ... there is another one,” he said as he pressed his finger to the coding in front of him. The subroutine was zoomed in, and he looked at it closely. He then moved his left arm around as the projection moved with him. “So many errors...”

He then went to the keyboard display and tapped the projection to allow him to alter the coding. The words and numbers highlighted, and he began to type in a new series of codings to the original one. He then looked at the large screen, and he nodded. He went and then scratched his beard as he kept his mind at focus.

“Even one of the best can have his challenges,” he said to himself again. “If only humanity truly knew what I was doing. They would flip out.”

He pressed his right finger to his left wrist as the projection from his arm faded. He then crossed his arms and looked at the large display screen. He saw the corrected algorithm, and he simply nodded. It was one of the millions, if not billions that he was working to fix.

“Soon, my friend ... soon,” he said.

Ericson turned his head to look back at the display of Jupiter and Europa. It was his center of peace. The solar system was mostly barren, but looking at the gas giant and its moon where life could exist provided a sense of calm and ease for him. Even if life didn’t exist on Europa, it was like looking at two skyscrapers in a vast desert of nothingness. To him, it was life that he was looking at. Chemical reactions, movements of gas particles, and gravity in action helped keep his mind sane in a quiet environment. It also allowed him to think.

There were no windows to look out from inside a spinning rotational ring that generated gravity for the crew of the UHN Tyson. Your entire world was spinning over and over again. If one peered out the window, they would get sick and throw up. Instead, the camera outside the ship was continually focused on what he wanted to look towards. Only the orbit of Europa would alter the view. For now, it was perfect. Like watching a sunset on Mars or Earth, Jupiter was practically the sun of Europa.

“Fitting that they call this Project Minerva,” he said out loud. “The daughter of Jupiter.”

Ericson was getting tired. He had been doing this consistently for nine hours straight. He sighed as he put his hand to his head.

There was a sound from the entrance to the room he was located. The door had slid open with the calmest and quietest action to reveal a man that was looking at Ericson. Even with the well-placed lighting and artificial lab that he was in, he could hear the footsteps and knew who it was. A familiar person had entered the room, and he turned to look at him.

“I would have guessed that you were in this room,” his friend responded to him in a thick African accent. The man was taller than him, and his skin had a dark complexion from the planet he was born. He wore the same type of uniform as he did but it also had a series of Velcro-type pockets where his various instruments and tools lay. His uniform had a slightly different color, however, as it displayed red coloration to help the others depict his role on the ship.

“How are you, Jabr?” Ericson asked him as he turned his head to look at him.

“Better than you look,” Jabr replied back to him with a smile. “You look like you have been working for three days straight.

Ericson shook his head and sighed. He displayed some annoyance in his face. “You have no idea. I am so close to perfecting it, but the Artificial Intelligence is still not responding to me,” he told him. “Three years of working on this, and now UWA Research is telling me to hurry up.”

Jabr put his hands to his hips as he looked at the display. He walked around the bed in the center of the room. His eyes went to the large black box where it rested on the table that Ericson stood near. The box had a solid black color and was the size of an old computer desktop that Jabr had seen in the Earth museum on Mars. Unlike those old desktops, this one was far more powerful than any of those computers. Three hundred years of advancement in technology were more than enough to show where computers had become. Quantum computers were able to process information instantly, and the amount of data that could be stored inside the hard drives made those desktops utterly obsolete. If anything, what Jabr was looking at was a large and powerful computer that Ericson had. This would hold the databanks necessary to power and operate the project that he was working on.

“Perhaps you need to have a break and get something to eat,” Jabr told him. “You need to clear your mind and come back to this.”

“Ugh...” Ericson replied to him as he put his hands to his face. “I think you are right. I feel like I fix one subroutine and there are thousands more in its place.”

“Making an AI is not easy, my friend. Come and let’s go get something to eat.”

Ericson got the hint. He took a deep breath and nodded to him. “Yeah ... let’s go.”

He went and pressed his hand to his left arm. He activated the projection and keyed in the code to shut off the computer. Instantly the black box shut off, and the large display in the background went dark. He walked up to him as Jabr patted him on the shoulder. The two left the computer lab as the doors closed behind them.

In the hallway, the two men walked side by side. There was another room on the other side of the computer lab. Living on a centripetal rotating ring was a simple and unique experience for those that lived on a planet. Your entire world was designed where if you walk forward, you will eventually find yourself back in the same spot in a matter of minutes. The hallway was slightly curved upward. The spinning motion could not be seen by the crew, but the rotation was what was keeping everyone planted firmly on the ground. If the ring stopped rotating, you would find yourself flying forward and floating in the air. It was this that all the crew required wearing magnetic shoes or magnetic boots. If the artificial gravity had failed, then the shoes would click on and prevent the crew from floating in zero gravity.

“So, when is your wife coming back?” Ericson asked Jabr as they proceeded to walk down the hallway.

“Akari already came back,” Jabr replied. The Gray Whale returned from Europa an hour ago. “I just finished up my shift to check up on how you are doing.”

“Are you happy with the change in shift?”

“Absolutely. Why else do you think I have this big smile?”Jabr said as he showed a broad grin on his face. “They listened to my pleas and they granted it. I wanted to be with my wife more often and the shift in work schedule will allow us to have a lot of recreational time.”

The location that they were heading to was actually straight up above them, but since they were walking in a ring, it would mean that by going straight forward, they would be going to their destination. They continued to walk down the hallway. They would walk past doors that led to the various rooms and labs on the ring. Restrooms, living quarters, recreational areas, labs, tool shops, offices, and more dotted the hallway.

Ericson simply smirked a little bit as they walked. He didn’t share the same sentiment, but he seemed happy for his friend. “I am glad of the news, Jabr,” he told him.

“You need a girlfriend,” Jabr replied back. “You are working yourself too hard, and there are some single people on this ship.”

“You know that I am married to my work. There isn’t anyone out there for me. Nobody shares the same desire in computer engineering like I do. I am the best that the UWA offers. Any woman I meet would just give me a blank stare and walk away.”

“Come on, Ericson,” Jabr practically chuckled at him. “You should meet my wife’s sister. She shares some desires in computer engineering.”

“You mean sisters,” he corrected him. “What is it? Ten? She has a lot of sisters and only one brother. How that mother of hers managed to pop out so many kids amazes me, especially at a time when the human race is still struggling to restore the numbers from long ago.”

They walked past a long ladder and tube. This long passageway tube would lead to the center of the spinning ring and the hallway of the interior of the ship. By exiting the ring, the two would be in zero gravity, but there was more to the vessel beyond the ring. It was not precisely on Ericson’s mind, though, as they were getting close to the cafeteria. The simple journey of walking forward led them to where they needed to be.

They reached their destination. Written in both English and Chinese, the words “Cafeteria CPR C-2” was displayed in the plaque on the door. It slid open for them to reveal the food hall. They walked through the open door as it closed behind them. The room itself was not very big. It consisted of three tables where one crew member was eating and watching the display to the left of her. Ericson already knew this person, but she was just another scientist on the ship. The cushioned seats connected to a mounted frame on the ship. Everything had to be mounted down to ensure that nothing floated away. Even the utensils that the woman was eating from had to be partially magnetic to ensure that they stuck to the table to prevent it from floating away if the ring shut down. In reality, everything had some form of an ability to stick to something to prevent them from floating around.

The cafeteria was simple in design. If anything, it had the same color as Ericson’s lab. It was an artificial construct, after all. The place consisted of a food alcove. Dried foods were placed on enclosed containers for the crew to eat. Drink dispensers with enclosed canteens were available for the crew to drink. Metal trays were available next to it. There was a place to dispose of food in an enclosing bin. The room itself was a pale color, but there were paintings that lined the walls. Each table had a different color to it. One side even had an overhead display.

“Hmm ... I think I will have green beans and tofu,” Ericson said as he walked up to the counter and pulled out the tray. He grabbed the utensils and plate and proceeded to get his food.

“I heard that they are planning on shipping Cevans to the ship in the next shipment to us,” Jabr commented as he grabbed a tray and began to browse what he wanted for dinner.

“Those fish from Cebravis?” Ericson questioned as he gave him a questioning look. “I never had them before.”

“I had them, and they are quite good. I am happy that the ship is finally going to get a chance to eat some more. They are better than most of the fish on Oshun.”

“And that is coming from a person that was born from a watery world,” Ericson said as he placed the tray into the quick heater. He pressed the button, and the lasers inside focused on the food that he wanted to heat up. It was fast as the machine heated his meal and gave a digital ping to let him know it was done. The device deactivated, and he was able to reach in and pull out his tray. Both the green beans and tofu were heated up.