The October Music: Fourth Verse - Day 11

Of Jupiter and Moons

            Imagine, if you will, the following scenario. Sometime in the future, we as humans are able to come together to build a spaceship capable of bringing us to further distances that we have ever imagined. The most brilliant minds are connected and form a ship that lances through space beyond the speed of light. The bravest and heartiest of astronauts are selected and placed in into the most comfortable seats we can build until they reach their destination.

            Jupiter, the largest and most daunting planet in our solar system.

            The launch goes off without a hitch and the world cheers as we spear into the unknown of unknowns. Our ship hurtles through the inky, total blackness surrounding our tiny blue marble and streaks past our neighbor Mars. It holds no curiosity for us now, aside from the so-named robot living on its surface. After mastering the speed of light, we yearn for bigger, greater, and more mysterious things.

            An hour passes and we hear nothing, for sound cannot travel in the middle of this travel. We wait anxiously for word of the safe arrival of our most precious assets. The cost involved is astronomical, if one would pardon the pun - the human lives worth even more. So we wait, a world with breath held in anticipation.

            The first crackle of the radio creates an eruption of celebratory sound. Where have they landed? Io? Europa? Ganymede? Callisto? We must trust the pilots, of course. They know what is best. Over the speaker, we hear the crew cheering as well. They have reached their destination. Not a moon, but Jupiter itself. They have plunged through the thick magnetic field into the swirling clouds in the atmosphere. They know they cannot land. They do not care. We must trust them and their judgment.

            They speak of winds whipping past the ship. Of the walls being buffeted. Yet, their excitement remains. If there is a solid surface, they will find it. If there is something we can use, they will unearth it. This trip, these brave astronauts…they may save the human race from our self-imposed destruction.

            The cheering stops. Concern seeps through the speaker. They expected no solid ground, yet there appears to be something in the middle of the churning winds. Something large. Something dark. Something that moves.

            We ask for an update, only to be met with whispered pleas for silence. All that can be heard is heavy breathing, fear in such tight quarters. Then, the sound of something tears through the speaker with such force that those listening are pushed back a foot. The crew begins to scream. High-pitched, desperate screams. The speaker emits one last ripping sound, like metal being shredded, and then goes silent. Nobody speaks. Nobody moves. One collective thought races across the entire world: we should not return to Jupiter.

            Thus, the question in it all remains:
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            Is it better for us to find out that we are alone in the universe…or that we are not?