Billie and the Great Red Spot

Billie's birthday happened to fall on a very special holiday for the residents of her city. A Jovian New Year only happens once every 11.9 Earth years, after all.

The research station where Billie and her family live, New Alexandria, orbits Jupiter every 400 days and is home to 10,000 people.

Billie came home from school the day before her birthday at a dead sprint, banging the door to her family's living quarters open already halfway through a conversation she’d been waiting to have all day, as if she'd been barely holding it in the entire run home.

Her words fought to all get out of her mouth at the same time, "PARENTS, have you decided yet? Can we go tomorrow? It's all I want and I only turn twelve once…and…and my birthday is on the New Year and it would be the best day of my life and…and…it could be our new holiday tradition!" She had to stop and catch her breath as her moms started laughing.

Perry shook her head and put a hand on Billie’s wild, short hair, clearly they’d had this conversation before, "Kiddo, I’m still not sure it's a good idea. We don’t know if the atmospheric pressure messes with growing brains and if anything happened to you we'd never forgive ourselves."

Billie danced around in an excited circle, unable to have this conversation while standing still.

Marlowe shook her head a little while Perry spoke and said, “Short trips seem to be okay though and it would be so good for B, like–that was the moment I decided to become a scientist–good.” 

Billie barely restrained herself from talking over her moms. That certainly wouldn't help her case any. She forced herself to take a deep breath and list out all the arguments she'd been working on for the past month. 

"Okay but the scientists have shown that less than 24 hours in Jupiter’s atmosphere doesn't hurt kid brains because of the new ship designs and I've already taken three trips to the upper atmosphere and flying to Jupiter's great red spot would be the absolute coolest way to celebrate the New Year and my birthday, ever! Also, I’ve already decided I want to be a scientist like you guys." She finished the sentence nearly yelling and with a big nod as if she'd clearly won this argument.

Her moms looked at each other and smiled. Marlowe raised her eyebrows, "Well…we actually talked to your doctor today and they said it was okay to go for a short trip, no messing around. Momma P isn’t totally convinced but if you still want to go, we agreed it’s okay. We leave first thing in the morning!" 

The sound of Billie's excited yelling echoed wildly around the living room as she ran to the viewing window and looked at Jupiter's giant red spot, eyes shining with joy.

.....

"Mom, mom, can you hear me on comms?" No response. "Marlowe?"

"Hold on sweetie, I'm doing pre-flight checks and then I'll help you."

"I don't need help, I'm strapped in."

Marlowe carefully navigated the crowded cockpit and checked Billie's safety harness.

"Way to go kiddo, you did it perfectly."

"Thanks Mom, I wish Momma P was with us."

"I know, but some people aren't built for living on the edge like we are." She said with a big grin.

"Okay B, you ready to rock and roll?"

Billie took a deep breath, "Let's go."

Marlowe radioed into flight control and got permission to start their journey, moving their ship away from the New Alexandria dock.

The acceleration pushed them both back into their seats, the sound of the engines loud in the small space.

Marlowe and Billie’s eyes were glued to the cockpit window, watching Jupiter’s features become clearer.

"Damn" Marlowe whispered to herself, "That never gets old."

They sat in companionable silence for a while, the swirling cloud belts and churning vortices getting closer.

"Alright B, tell me what you see."

Billie's face got serious as she focused on remembering everything she'd read about Jupiter. New Alexandria published research findings on an almost weekly basis, often alongside simplified explanations for the station's kids and few non-scientist residents.

Billie had read them all. She lived and breathed Jupiter.

"Well, those swirling red and white cloud belts are made of ammonia crystals, ammonium ice, and umm..water ice, all in layers like a cake, from top to bottom."

"Mom, don’t they look like someone painted them in watercolors?"

"They do, actually. How big of a painter do you think it would take to do that?"

"Hmm, probably one the size of a star, or maybe even a whole solar system, right?"

Marlowe chuckled, "I like your imagination kiddo. What else do you know about Jupiter's atmosphere? What are all of the swirly things?"

"Oh my god Mom those aren't swirly things. They’re storm vortices and clusters of them form around the poles."

"Whoa with the level ten sass. Just keeping you on your toes. What about our destination? Tell me about the great red spot."

"Well, it's a storm larger than the entire planet Earth, where Momma P was born, it's the largest storm in the solar system, and the winds blow up to 430 kilometers per hour, right?"

"Excellent, that's right. I'm proud of you for all the research you’ve done and for being so determined to do this. Not many kids are that brave."

"Oh come on Mom, I've wanted to do this since I was 5. I think we should start doing this every holiday! Birthdays, new years, let's always do this together!"

Marlowe smiled at Billie's enthusiasm, she really had been asking to visit the great red spot since she was five. It was actually rather impressive considering her normal short attention span. She'd never waivered about wanting to make this trip.

They continued to accelerate closer and closer, soon, Jupiter filled the entire cockpit window.

"Mom, why is Jupiter so much bigger than any of the other planets?"

"Well, some researchers think it was almost a star but never actually ignited. Kind of a failed star, I guess."

Billie looked thoughtful, "Kind of like how you never ended up running your own lab but you're still a really important researcher?"

Marlowe laughed deeply, slapping her thigh and wiping her eyes. "Thank you for that B. There are definitely some similarities. But if I was running my own lab I probably wouldn't have time to go on spontaneous trips to planet size storms, would I?"

"That's true. I can't believe we’re finally doing this. I’ve dreamed of this forever, like, my whole life. I’m pretty sure I dreamed about this while I was in Momma P’s womb." She nodded very seriously as she spoke.

“I wouldn’t be surprised kiddo.”

They sat in silence for a time, taking in the majesty of Jupiter. As they descended into the upper atmosphere over the great red spot, the ride began to get a bit bumpy.

"Billie, check your harness and make sure everything is nominal, just like we've practiced."

"Check. All good, this is normal, right?"

"It's normal and it's going to get worse as we go further into the atmosphere. But these ships were built to survive Jupiter."

"Are we actually going to fly through the storm?"

"No, we'll make our way around it, even this ship can't tolerate those kinds of forces."

Billie pointed toward the cockpit window and yelled, "Wow Mom, look at the cloud belts up close! The way the sun shines through them is so cool! Momma P would love this!"

"I think Momma P would probably be puking her guts up at this point" Marlowe said with a laugh.

"Do you think alien astronauts will ever swoop down into the great red spot and sail around the giant storm vortex using the wind? Cuz they'd probably have better technology and be able to do cool stuff like that."

"I dunno B but that's pretty fun to think about isn't it?"

The ship shuddered hard as it made its way inward, the pressure getting higher with every meter traveled.

Billie quickly looked at her mom "Umm, that's still normal, right?"

"Yup, we're okay, all sensors are reading normal. Are you doing alright?”

"Yeah I'm fine" she said, voice a little shaky.

"Wow" she yelled, seconds later, her voice loud in the small space, "Look at the ammonium crystals, we must be in the second layer of the atmosphere!"

Marlowe nodded her head in agreement, “The way the sun shines through those is incredible. I think our star sized painter may have created them as well.”

"Can I ask you something?" Marlowe said, as she continued flipping through information screens, carefully noting their progress.

"Yeah, but I'm going to keep watching the clouds in case we run into aliens or something cool. What if we discover Jovian cloud creatures? Then we could write a paper and become famous! Maybe you’d even get your own lab!"

"Fair enough. Keep a close eye out. We wouldn’t want to miss that.” Marlowe couldn’t help but smile a lot around this kid. She never knew what might come out of B’s mouth.

“You've been determined to make this trip for years, even though we wanted you to wait until you're older. It's kind of a scary thing to do, even for adults. Why are you so determined?"

Billie made her thinking face as her thoughts turned inward, even as she kept her eyes glued to the cockpit window.

"Well, mostly I just want to know what it looks like and also what if there’s aliens or other things living there. That would be so cool."

"B, I have a feeling that curiosity is going to be one of the main things that drives you in life. You should always follow that feeling and see where it takes you. Which is why I convinced Momma P to let us do this."

Suddenly the ship shook violently, causing Billie and Marlowe’s harnesses to tighten, leaving H shaped bruises on both of them.

“Shit” Marlowe said as an alarm began blaring. The ship continued to shake and Billie cried out in fear. 

“Remember your training B. Close your visor and check your suit seals.”

Billie continued to whimper, hanging onto her harness and frozen in terror.

Marlowe reached over and grabbed Billie’s arm, “Billie, listen to my voice. Take a deep breath, close your visor, and check your suit, now. We’re okay, but we have to remember our training.”

“O-okay Mom, I’ve got this.” Billie took another deep breath and then started doing her checks.

The ship finally stopped shaking but the alarm continued to blare. They were no longer moving and outside the cockpit window, they were surrounded by clouds of shimmering ammonia ice, bright with reflected sunlight. 

“We must have hit a patch of really dense atmosphere at high speed and the turbulence damaged something.” Marlowe was half talking to herself as she unbuckled her harness and squatted in front of Billie.

“Listen B, we’re okay. I’m going to check out the engine. I need you to keep an eye on the status screens and notice if anything changes. Can you do that for me?”

“I got it Mom. I’m okay. I can do this.” Billie’s voice sounded stronger. Part of training involved regulating emotions during stressful situations and she was twelve today, not some little baby.

“Okay kiddo, I’ll be right back. You know the ancient Earth saying, it probably just needs to be reset.” Marlowe left the cockpit and clunked down the hall.

Billie kept taking deep breaths and talked to herself, “I’m going to watch this screen and see if the status changes. I can do that.”

After a few minutes the glimmering clouds visible in the cockpit window caught Billie’s attention and she stared, wondering what atmospheres on other planets in other solar systems looked like and whether she’d ever get to see any.

Sudden movement in the clouds caught Billie’s eye and she jerked her head, yelling “Mom I saw something” into her comm just as the engine came to life. 

Marlowe came running back into the room as fast as her suit would allow.

“What’s wrong B??”

“I-I saw something outside! I’m not sure what it was but I think it was alive! It was moving through the clouds like the pictures I’ve seen of jellyfish on Earth!”

“Whoa, really kiddo? It might have been the sun reflecting off the clouds?”

“No, no, this was something else. I know it!”

Marlowe nodded her head thoughtfully, “I believe you. When we get back home we’ll check the vid log. Until then, maybe you should start thinking about what to title the paper we’re going to publish about discovering life in the Jovian atmosphere.” 

“Mom, I can't believe it. That was the weirdest, coolest thing I’ve ever seen! After we publish our paper I’m going to come back and learn everything there is to know about Jovian beings! And then, I’m going to visit exoplanets in other star systems and find life there too!”

“You know B, that wouldn’t surprise me. For now, it looks like our engines are okay. You want to keep going to the great red spot or head back home? That was pretty scary.”

“Are you kidding me? What if we find aliens in the great red spot whose home is lightyears away? I’ll be the first human ever to discover new life in our solar system AND aliens on the same day. Let’s go.”

“Well how can I argue with that?”

The ship accelerated, the ride still rough, but tolerable. They flew in silence for a time, both rather exhausted from the massive adrenaline rush of nearly dying in the lower atmosphere of a gas giant.

“You know” Marlowe said, “I’m really proud of you for how you handled that. I’ve been on research missions with lots of people and you never know how someone’s going to handle that kind of fear until they’re actually in that situation. You were a champ B.”

Billie barely restrained herself from interrupting the moment of parental cheerleading.

"Look Mom! There it is! It's...huge...a huge wall of red winds. It looks like the biggest tornado ever. A tornado as big as two Earths!"

Billie's mouth hung open as she took it all in. Her mind raced to comprehend it.

She looked over at Marlowe, mouth still open, awe written all over her young face, speechless, for once.

Marlowe met her eyes, awe mirrored on her own face,"Let's just look at this for a while B, it’s majestic."

Mother and daughter drifted around the raging red cyclone, two small beings in a small ship, quietly looking, taking in the wild beauty of the universe.

"Happy Birthday B, and happy New Year! Let's make a deal that no matter what planet you’re exploring, we’ll meet up and celebrate New Years together at the great red spot.”

“That’s a deal! This has been the best birthday ever, but next time, we have to fly into the actual storm. The aliens might be hiding from us!”

“I don’t think Momma P is going to agree to that, even when you’re 70 years old.”

“That’s okay, we’ve got plenty of time until the next New Year to convince her.”

The End