Martian Republic: The Fateful Secret

Chapter 10: Exposition

Location: Enceladus

Timestamp: 3:30pm +8 GMT

"Prepare for takeoff," said Mike.

Behind him, the other members of his exploration team were strapped tightly into the flight chairs. They had been given instructions to explore a specific area of Enceladus where a thriving alien city was believed to be located, at least according to data from orbital observatories.

"Are the disguises ready?" asked Aarav.

"Yes," answered Lauren. "They're currently kept next to the EVA suits in the main hold."

Using the onboard high-grade 3D printer, they had managed to print a realistic costume that resembled the exterior skin of the aliens. It could be worn over their EVA suits and had compartments to keep extra batteries, allowing them to stay submerged in water for up to three hours while providing enough power to constantly run holographic sensors and chemical sensors.

Mike flipped a few switches on the dashboard and gripped the control column. The Explorer slowly rose from the icy Enceladan ground. The landing claws retracted back into their compartments and the panels smoothly slid shut.

The dark, sleekly built spacecraft began accelerating, heading southward. Mike stared out of the lightly tinted cockpit windows. Before him lay the harsh, icy Enceladan landscape. He began to feel a sense of admiration for the alien species.

The aliens had not only survived on the harsh, lifeless moon. In fact, they were thriving. They had managed to build underwater cities and found incredible uses for ice; such a simple thing. Moreover, it is a known fact that metal is not readily available on Enceladus. Yet it appeared that the aliens had managed to construct massive metal structures. Where had they gotten the metal from? Was it possible that the aliens were a spacefaring species that originated from another planet and settled on Enceladus, building infrastructure out of metal mined from the asteroid belt or other planets?

"You know, I've been thinking about something," said Mike."You remember the huge metal structures in that city we found? Enceladus is relatively poor in metallic ores."

"So you're suggesting that the aliens are either spacefaring or have come here from somewhere else?" interjected Aarav.

"Definitely not from Enceladus," came Lauren's voice.

Mike jumped, not expecting her to be listening.

"They need metal to build spacecrafts to get out of Enceladus and mine metal. No or little indigenous metal, no spacefaring capabilities."

"That actually makes a lot of sense," said Mike. "But we have no evidence of any kind of sentient life-forms other than ours in the Sol System. We would definitely have been able to detect traces of the propulsive energy of their spacecraft."

"So what you're trying to say is that they probably come from another system," said Aarav.

"If that's true, all bets are off," said Lauren. "In order for them to settle on a moon like Enceladus and procure the metal to build cities of such magnitude, they would need access to technology beyond our imagination. Hell, I'm not surprised if they know how to build hyperdrive."

"That pretty much explains everything," said Aarav. "Why were we instructed to go to some random alien city when we haven't even explored the one we just found? Terrestrial governments probably already know of the aliens' existence. They just want us to find out about it first to throw off suspicion. Then they will probably instruct us to steal whatever technology they want us to and transmit it back to them. There's a nine in ten chance that technological advantages will be used to prevent the Martian Republic from leapfrogging Earth's superpowers technologically."