Martian Republic: The Fateful Secret

Chapter 8: Civitas

Location: Enceladus

Timestamp: 930am, +8 GMT

Aarav and Mike were transfixed as they stared into the glowing ocean. There were cube-like chunks of ice arranged in a randomised manner on a stone platform. Colonies of bioluminiscent moss were grown in circular patterns on the icy structures.

But what totally amazed the two men were the scaly, fishlike animals that effortlessly swam in and out of the icy structures. With their reddish bodies and large angular heads, they brought to Mike's mind the image of Admiral Ackbar, a character in a film about a galaxy teeming with sentient life. A galaxy that ...

May actually be possible, he thought.

"What do we do?" asked Aarav, snapping out of his daze. "We can't approach them like this, out in the open."

"We can try a stealth approach for now," said Mike. "We have to find out more about their civilisation. Only then can we figure out a proper way to initiate contact."

"We can try going right through that dense foliage of kelp-like plants," said Aarav.

The two men activated their hydro-thrusters and leaped into the water. They quickly ducked into the thick foliage, trying as much as they could to prevent their prescence from being known.

Mike unclipped the topographical scanner from his belt and performed a topographical scan of his surroundings.

"This kelp foliage only persists about three hundred metres forward. Beyond that are blocky structures, possibly an alien city."

"Alien," murmured Aarav. "I can't believe we're even using that word. For years aliens have been constrained to the realm of sci-fi. In front of our eyes today they have been freed into the realm of reality."

Mike selected a few icons on his wrist-mounted controls.

"Okay we have to get going. I've switched the camera mounted on my helmet on. Everything will be recorded as evidence of our expedition and data to be researched later."

They slowly swam through the kelp foliage, occasionally deviating to its fringes to get a glimpse of the alien-built structures.

At first sight, they appeared low-tech, even archaic. However, the metal platforms on which the ice structures were mounted on all but suggested an advanced civilisation. Colonies of glowing fungus were planted on walls of structures, providing eternal lighting.

"According to my scanner, the kelp foliage ends in about ten metres," said Mike. "From here we should try using our binocular visions to take a look at the so-called alien city and learn as much as we can."

A red rim flared on the camera mounted on Mike's helmet. On his helmet's holographic panel, he could see with amazing detail the metal and ice structures ahead.

There were a multitude of tall metal structures built on a platform that jutted over a jagged mass of rocks. It appeared to be a bustling city, with fishlike aliens swimming in and out of buildings and streamlined oblong vehicles fitted with hydro-thrusters moving in and out of large structures that vaguely resembled factories.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" asked Aarav in awe.

"Yes," answered Mike. "Civilisation. It appears so foreign, yet shares many similarities with terrestrial civilisation. Vehicles. Squarish buildings. I can almost imagine one of those aliens working in a greenhouse farming kelp or undersea food or maybe in an office somewhere ... schools ..."

A shrill beep that came from Mike's comm system cut him out of his reverie.

"My suit's running out of power," he said. "We should nip back to the spacecraft, spend the rest of the day going through the data we recorded in this expedition and come back tomorrow."