The Oceanus Preservation Society

Josephine Foster looked across the water and sand of Oceanus through her binoculars, deciding once and for all that this astronaut thing was for the birds. Of course, this epiphany came much too late, and she had been stuck on the youngest and most boring planet in the solar system for six months.

She wasn’t an astronaut anyway; she was a botanist sent to take samples and study the plant life of this previously unexplored planet. This was a futile mission, however, as there was no plant life to speak of anywhere. The exception being the tall, soft, uninteresting brown grass splattered here and there on the banks of the water that wound like snakes. The rivers themselves were dazzling blue, perfectly still, and as clear as if looking through a window into nothing.

“Damn, Monday really can’t come soon enough.” Duke’s southern drawl broke through her thoughts. “I can’t wait to get outta here.”

“Yeah, first thing I’m doing is hugging a tree.”

Josie put her binoculars down and started packing up her things. Once Duke started complaining, there was no use in staying out here. The marine biologist’s Mississippi accent and brown curly hair had charmed her once. Still, now his voice sounded like metal through a cheese grater, and his hair could have used some grooming.

“I figure,” Duke spoke between grunts as he lifted his pack, “This weekend we just chill out and party. No sense in comin’ out here fer nothin.”

“Oh? And how’s that different than other weekends?”

“Hey now, Josie, that’s not fair!” Duke feigned hurt feelings. “We have worked hard searching every inch of this floating sandbox.

Josie and Duke had very different ideas of what “working hard” meant. The crew ran on the buddy system, and her buddy happened to be the laziest son-of-a-bitch she had ever met, not that the rest of them were much better. However, when you put twelve specialized people, top of their fields, on a planet with nothing to study, it’s no wonder they were all feeling useless. Josie had been fighting these feelings of ineffectiveness herself; the difference was that she hadn’t given up yet.

When they got back to headquarters, lovingly named “the dugout”, there was sand everywhere, in every nook and cranny. Add this to the list of things I won’t miss, Josie thought as she shook out her boots and observed the small mounds already scattered at the entrance. If she was counting correctly, they were the last two to return, as per usual. Josie always made Duke stay out for the full 10-hour shift.

The dugout itself was shaped like a caterpillar. All of the common areas were located in the middle of the long structure, including the galley, rec room, various labs, and workspaces. The crews’ living quarters branched off from the main areas like 12 legs.

As soon as Josie and Duke got out of the sanitation zone and through the entrance to the dugout, there were beers in both of their hands.

“Drink up, guys! We are 3 days away from blowing this popsicle stand, so we pulled out the reserve beers.”

Josie didn’t need to look up to know it was Ham behind the ambush. Hamilton was easily the most miserable crew member here as the pilot. He had the least to do and nothing but time on his hands since they pulled the plug on flyover missions 3 months in. He never did figure out what to do with the free time, and it was starting to show.

The next day, Josie walked into the galley, fully dressed, to find everyone else hungover, wearing their off-duty uniforms from the night before. Ham seemed to be having the toughest time. He was slouched in front of a bowl of cereal with his head on the table, the ends of his straight, blond hair dipped into the milk.

Even Captain Brand herself looked ragged, not the norm for the perfectly polished officer. Her hair, worn slicked back in a bun so shiny you could see yourself in it, had pieces standing on end as if she had been electrocuted.

“Good morning, everyone,” Josie called out too cheerfully, met only by a chorus of grunts.

“Why are you so happy this mornin’?” Duke spat at her. If he hadn’t spoken up, Josie would have mistaken him for a pile of clothes in a chair.

“Well, we only have today left for research, so I figured we could make the most of it while we can. We are still technically on the clock.” She knew just what to say to get Duke going, and sometimes she couldn’t resist.

“What the hell are you ta—” Duke shot up and out of his seat so forcefully that he made himself dizzy and quickly had to sit back down.

“Foster, I have relieved everyone of their duties for the remainder of the mission.” Captain Brand waved at her with one hand and held her head in the other. “Besides, your partner does not seem up to it,” gesturing to the shape of Duke in the corner.

“I can go by myself,” Josie suggested.

“No, you can’t.” Brand started massaging her temples.

“You let Duke go out by himself,” Josie argued. “When I was off doing flyovers with Ham!”

“Okay, and that was a special case. Plus, we both know he stayed very close.”

“Come on! There are no predators here, no danger, no nothing,” Josie threw up her arms, exasperated, “Why can’t I go out alone? I’d like to go home knowing I put everything I could into this?”

Brand let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, go. I don’t want you to go home feeling like you didn’t put your everything into this. But stay close.”

The sarcastic emphasis on her own words didn’t bother Josie one bit. She was used to being the hardest worker in a group, and this crew didn’t even make it a competition. Without Duke holding her back, she might be able to get somewhere today.

#

Josie found herself further away from the dugout than she had ever been on foot. She decided to take a break next to one of the rivers and have lunch. Except for at night in her cabin, she hadn’t had many moments to herself, and she intended to enjoy the solitude.

As she polished off the last cracker, she felt something she had not felt since being on Oceanus. A breeze. It was only when she felt the tickle of air against her skin that she remembered how very still it was there.

Before she could hypothesize about what could be causing the sudden change in weather, the wind started to pick up. The sand blowing in her face made her feel as though she was choking. Josie picked up her comms to check in with the dugout when something caught the corner of her eye: a brown wall growing larger by the second. Josie had spent time in West Texas studying Yucca, and she knew a sandstorm when she saw one.

She quickly converted her suit into scuba mode. With the final piece in place, she dragged her belongings as close to the riverbank as she could and flipped on her red-light beacon, hoping she would be able to find it when the sand had settled. With the storm now hurtling towards her, she jumped into the water to wait it out.

The water, typically a brilliant shade of turquoise, had become a murky orange that unsettled Josie, making her feel trapped. Sit tight, Josie; it won’t be long. The ones in Texas passed in seconds. She was trying to make herself feel better, but this wasn’t Texas, and she felt more aware of that fact than ever before.

After about 15 minutes that felt much longer, Josie stuck her head above the surface for a few seconds, only to have it whipped back and forth like a rag doll. She quickly descended back under the water and fiddled with her built-in light.

When she turned on the beam, she saw what she expected to see: nothing. But along with the nothing was something. Not noteworthy for anyone who hadn’t spent the last half of a year desperately looking for signs of life. But for Josie, it was something indeed.

A silver fleck in the vast nothingness. As soon as Josie’s eyes focused on one, she started to see tens, hundreds of these silver flecks. A couple of centimeters long and half of that wide. Josie quickly reached for her small sample kit attached to the suit and tentatively approached the mysterious objects.

Working slowly and carefully, she scooped one or two into the test tube. As she did, she noticed that they seemed to be moving in one direction. She followed the flecks along for several yards until it registered what they were all swimming towards. A hole.

How have we missed this? Josie’s heart was now thumping in her ears.

Then she remembered that Samson, the crew cartographer, had been in and out of the infirmary for the entire mission. The Scot’s constitution did not pair well with the dry climate, and his body had broken out in a rash just hours after they landed. He hadn’t been much use to the crew after that. They had used computerized readings, but those were proving unreliable.

About 5 feet in diameter, it was easy to see how the hole could have been missed, even if they had accurate mapping and a healthy crew. She positioned herself directly above the opening to try to get a better look at what was lying beneath, but the flurry of little silver fish made it impossible.

What am I doing, completely alone? I have no idea what’s down here.

Josie started to swim up towards the riverbank to check on the status of the weather, but stopped herself. None of them even cares like I do. They haven’t worked for it. They would have probably ignored the signs if they had even seen them to begin with. Josie could feel the pride swelling in her chest. Maybe they would, but I won’t. I can’t. Josie took as deep a breath as her breathing apparatus would allow and slowly descended headfirst into the hole.

As her eyes adjusted to what she was seeing, they grew wide, and a gasp sent bubbles shooting from her mouthpiece. She reached to her chest and switched off the light; she didn’t need it. All around her was glowing life. Anemones, coral, fish, and dozens of other creatures she couldn’t even begin to identify.

It was shallow down there; the rivers themselves were only about 20 feet deep. Down here, she could put both feet on the ground, and her head would graze what was the bottom of the riverbed above her. Looking to her right and left, she could see that this underwater world went on for miles. For all she knew, it was living beneath every river on this planet.

A purple fish with a snout swam towards her, doing figure eights around her ankles. To her right, coral the color of lapis lazuli, was situated right next to a large magenta mushroom-like animal. It swayed in the water, glowing like it was lit up from the inside.

A white squid approached Josie’s facemask, but diverted right before it came in contact with her. As it glided away, she estimated it had at least one hundred tentacles propelling it forward. Another creature, this one crawling on the ground, was shaped like a crab but with two humongous green eyes looking up at her. Everywhere she looked, there was life. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Josie was reeling, taking it all in, when her suit vibrated. She only had about 15 minutes left in her oxygen reserve. Grasping for a couple more vials, she took small samples of the fluorescent yellow kelp that was plentiful, some coral, and the sand itself. With one more glance around, she made sure to take mental snapshots, knowing she would probably never see this place again.

#

When she returned to the dugout, everyone was passed out already from a long day of drinking. Luckily, the storms hadn’t messed with the comms, and she was able to let them know she was alright. She quietly made her way through the sanitation zone and the rec room to the lab located at the very back.

She started with the kelp. She had only taken a tiny piece so as not to disturb the environment too much. Focusing on the specimen, she observed something incredible beginning to happen. Cells were regenerating, and the sample was growing; Slowly, but faster than anything on earth could do. Then, something else drew her focus: someone was behind her.

She whipped around to see Duke in his pajamas. Bleary-eyed and scratching the top of his head. Josie turned to face him, fully obstructing his view of her microscope. They don’t deserve it, she reminded herself. They didn’t work for it. This is your find.

“Sorry if I scared ya. I can’t sleep.” He punctuated this declaration with a long, loud yawn.

“Oh—um – it’s okay. I was just doing some last-minute studies on the reeds. Making sure I have everything in order, you know?’

“Yeah, sure, didn’t get enough of that damn grass in the past six mon—” Duke stopped. He saw something. One of her test tubes was out on the table next to her bag. The one with the silver fish.

“Where did you find this?” Duke had never spoken to her this way before, so seriously.

“Oh, it was just, um—”

To Josie’s surprise, Duke let out a soft chuckle.

“I should’ve known you were gonna be the one to find it.”

“I’m sorry?” Josie blinked at him.

“Remember those solo missions I did when you were on flyovers with Ham?”

“Yes.”

“Welp, I found these same little silver critters, and they were all swimmin’ towards a hole. Now, you wouldn’t have happened to see that hole? ‘Bout yea big?” He stretched his hands to indicate the diameter of the opening.

“Yes, there was a hole. About that big.”

“Hmm.” Duke faked pondering, cupping his chin with his hand. “And tell me, Josie, did you swim into this hole?”

“Wait, did you swim into the hole? Why the hell wouldn’t you tell me? Or anyone for that matter?”

“I could say the same for you! Look at you in here, sneakin’ past everyone after that storm, we’re fine by the way. Looks like you weren’t gonna tell anyone either.”

“I was.” Josie looked down at her hands, “I just wanted to look for myself first.”

“And what are you seeing?” Duke’s tone got serious again.

“It’s extraordinary.” Josie let her guard down, moving to the side, no longer hiding the specimen still under her microscope.

“Most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen some incredible things.”

“I’ll never forget it, Duke. It was so beautiful. So... untouched.”

Duke took a couple of steps towards Josie across the lab.

“Josie, that’s exactly why I didn’t tell anyone. Why we can’t tell anyone.”

“What?” Josie was incredulous, “We have to bring this back home! We don’t even know what these plants are capable of. What if it could help?”

Duke shook his head. “But at what cost? I’ve seen what we’ve done to our oceans and rivers. We will destroy this place.” He was looking squarely at her now. “You know I’m right.”

“But even so, eventually they will send another crew up here, maybe even a competent one this time, and someone else is going to find it.” Josie countered, “Think about it, Duke, they would name entire species after us.”

“That’s probably true. But do you want to be responsible for the absolute destruction you will bring to that beautiful place? I don’t. I can’t.”

Duke took one more step towards her, now so close he brought his voice down to just above a whisper. “If they find out about what we’ve found, you know they won’t just take a piece,” he pointed at Josie’s minuscule sample, “They’ll take the whole damn thing.”

And with that, Duke turned and went back to bed, leaving Josie with the kelp and a growing headache.

#

“So,” Captain Brand looked up from stirring her oatmeal and fixed her red, squinting eyes on Josie entering the Galley, “Please tell us, did you find something out there that we didn’t find in six months?”

Someone let out a scoff, though Josie couldn’t tell where it came from, as almost everyone had their heads down. She did notice Duke, who had come in through the entryway to her right just moments before.

Josie wasn’t entirely sure what she was going to say, even up until that moment. She could feel Duke’s eyes on the side of her face.

“Nope,” she said, “didn’t find shit out there.”

“What a surprise.” Brand rolled her eyes, pouring her oatmeal into a bowl. “Let’s make sure we’re good and packed today, crew. I want to get off this rock yesterday.”

“That’s what I’ve been sayin’ this whole damn time,” Duke’s charm came back into his body like an electric volt. “Let’s get home and hug some trees.”

Josie sank onto a bench in the corner, far away from the rest of the crew, who were now laughing and joking about their antics of the night before. Her head started to pound due to her lack of sleep. She was also beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake.

“Hey,” Duke’s voice once again broke through her thoughts, “I’d like to officially welcome you into T.O.P.S.”

“Tops?”

“The Oceanus Preservation Society.” Flashing a playful but grateful grin, Duke turned and crossed the room to join the others.