Forever Silence

Wisps of blues, teal, and pink dappled the obsidian canvas, flecks of white accented the background, amplifying the smoky allure of the scenery before her.

She could look at this for days, well, she had been. She was on a week-long voyage back to Saturn. Well, its largest moon to be specific. Titan. It seemed like forever since she went back. A piece of dried strawberry drifted into the girl’s waiting mouth and she thoughtfully chewed, she then took a swig of lemonade from her pouch. 

A giddy smile crept on her features as her spaceship traversed through the cosmos. In a matter of hours, she’ll be able to see the gas giant again!

“And one, and two, and..” Cadet hopped on one foot before switching to the other. “Three!” She squealed as she slowly somersaulted and ended up on her feet once more, playfully kicking up some sand from the dune below her. The dark-haired girl twiddled her fingers as she got an idea. A Cheshire smile crept on her face before allowing herself to slowly drift back onto the solid hydrocarbon. She vigorously started spreading her arms and legs against the moon’s sandy surface. Once deeming it appropriate to stop, the young astronaut stood up and admired her handiwork.

“Leaving my mark on the moon, check!” A satisfied smile rested on her lips.

Cadet then hurriedly retrieved her hoverboard from her ship and embarked on her journey to the Northern hemisphere. She lazily swerved through landforms and admired the terrain. The girl was shrouded in a brown haze of ethane, not exactly light but not too thick that she couldn’t see what was in front of her. 

Rocks, rocks, and more rocks, oh! There it is! Just what she was looking for! Cadet zoomed forward and stopped before a large lake. “Kraken Mare.” She breathed in disbelief. She was really here. “Largest methane sea that’s known to mankind!” She hooted.

Cadet’s knees gave out, succumbing to the landscape that beheld her, admiring the body of liquid. The photochemical smog gave Kraken Mare a reddish hue, gentle waves lapped at the shore. 

The astronaut bounced to a nearby rock and settled herself. If only she had a cup of hot cocoa, it would have been the perfect touch to accompany her viewing. 

An extremely gentle breeze passed but Cadet could still feel it. Thanks to the dense atmosphere of Titan, she didn’t have to wear a bulky pressure suit. The girl absentmindedly fiddled with the gold material of her garment at the fleeting thought. 

The light sloshing of the methane had piqued her interest. The girl extended her arm to place a hand into the liquid methane before she pulled herself backwards with great force. ”Haha! Oh my gosh! How could I forget! Nice one, Space Cadet!” She chided herself with a smack to her forehead. “Liquid methane boils at a temperature of minus one-sixty four to minus one-sixty degrees celsius.” She shook her head at her carelessness. “I was one dip away from losing my best hand.” She flexed her fingers.

“But good on me for catching myself.” Cadet patted herself on the back with a light giggle. The astronaut shrugged off her backpack and retrieved a camera from its pocket. She hit the record button and captured a panoramic view of the topography. 

“November 8th. Kraken Mare is blanketed in a rusty mist, oh, but don’t be tricked by the illusion of a warm looking environment. An unsuspecting person may be eager to hop into the auburn ‘waters’ but they would be in for a rude awakening once submerged.” Cadet allowed the liquid to lightly lap at her boot.

“One, methane is less dense than air, so you won’t feel much viscosity and if you don’t get out fast enough you may freeze and die, that is if you aren’t heavily protected with a fluffy suit at least! But don’t let that take away from the fact that the Kraken provides the most arresting view!” She lightly crouched and jumped into the air and zoomed the camera into the distance, catching footage of mountainous structures on the horizon before floating back down.

“And finally,” Cadet inspected the ground around her and spotted a decent sized rock. “You can skip stones!” The young astronaut threw the stone as hard as she could and watched as it slowly whizzed through the air and sunk into the lake. “Okay, no stone skipping.” Maybe she needed to use a little more force.

Cadet secured her camera in her bag once more and mounted her hoverboard. She continued North, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. There it was! What she travelled so far to see!

Click.

The girl was snapped out of her daydream by the light hum of the equipment ceasing and all lights aboard the ship powering off.

Cadet’s eyes widened in a panic while she frantically twisted her body to survey her surroundings. Everything was dark. Okay, stay calm. The battery probably failed. The backup should kick in any moment now.

Seconds passed and nothing. Her heartbeat started to pick up. Shoot! She was breathing in a cloud of her carbon dioxide. Cadet got up from her chair and stumbled around the ship, blindly feeling the walls until she came into contact with a cabinet. Eureka! She pulled open one of the drawers and her fingers came into contact with the familiar texture of a manila folder. It wasn’t perfect but she had to be resourceful. She started fanning the area around her as she tried to make it to her work desk. Once she located it, she quickly pulled open one of its compartments and retrieved her torchlight.

Finally being able to see, she gathered her toolbox and ventured into the engine room.

Cadet shined her light in a room shrouded in darkness before drifting over to a panel box, opening the metal door.

The girl took a moment to stop and fan herself with the folder before retrieving a screwdriver from her box.

“The breaker tripped,” Cadet mumbled to herself. “Most likely due to low voltage.” She would have to investigate which piece of equipment caused this later.

Blinding white light revealed a wire that was burned. 

Cadet wouldn’t be able to fan the air while repairing the circuit so she placed the torch between her mouth, held her breath and got to work. At least it was convenient that she didn’t have to isolate the circuit since power was down.

She quickly unscrewed the screw and removed the decimated copper and retrieved a new wire. But before she could have done anything else, she started coughing.

Shoot. She wheezed trying to get as air into her lungs as possible while moving away from the panel box. 

Her vision was getting blurry. She hadn’t anticipated she’d be on the verge of getting hypoxia so quickly.

Cadet got as much air into her lungs as possible while fanning the area. Come on. She could do this. She was almost done. 

Another deep breath was taken and Cadet busied herself with twisting the wire and attaching it to the panel.

The girl closed the metal box just when the power came back online. She gave a grateful sigh of relief, taking her tools and moving towards her control room again.

Cadet heavily sat in her chair while lightly fanning her face. In a few moments oxygen would start following freely again.

The ship touched down thirty minutes later and Cadet excitedly suited up and grabbed her hoverboard. She ran out of her ship and did a somersault in excitement. She was back! Yahoo! 

The astronaut zipped through the terrain of the Northern hemisphere and witnessed the orange skies of Titan fade into chocolate-covered sunset. 

The haze of the ethane smog cleared up as she zipped up a precipice. Cadet alighted, a tender smile ornamented her features. 

There it was. Saturn. He was gorgeous. The girl took a seat and crossed her legs, clasping her hands together, beholding the spectacle the planet made. His transparent rings were like a barrier of rock and ice, protecting him from harm via gravitational pull.

It was a shame she couldn’t touch down on the planet’s surface. Or explore his rings.

But Cadet was content with observing from afar. It was just her, Saturn and the space between them.

“Panemorfos.”