Today we finally laid Richard Edmonds to rest. Lee and Horvat dug the grave in the rocky ice, and we marked it with a boulder that Commander Hunt found. Richard would have been happy to know his final resting place had the perfect view of Jupiter on the horizon.
Through all the excitement of being here on Europa I had almost forgotten the loss that had sent me to a dark place in the first place. It made me feel a little guilty, but I know Richard would have wanted me to feel the way I had when I laid my eyes upon this world. If only he had taken that first step with me.
During our team's little ceremony for Richard, I talked about how he had taken me in on my first day and inspired me to be the person he was today. I talked about his quiet sense of humor and how we'd spent countless late hours talking about what it would be like to be here on this very icy moon. Back then we had no idea those dreams of exploring this beautiful place would be a reality.
It was Richard's dream to finally uncover the mystery of what hid in the oceans beneath this icy planet's surface. Now that he was gone, we'd have to carry out that dream for him.
While I thought what I said about Richard was good, Second Lieutenant Adams had such an incredible way with words. As he spoke about Richard, a man he'd known for a much shorter time than I had, I did not know if I wanted to laugh or cry. The appropriate reaction was probably at the same time.
In the tribute video his family sent us there were pictures of what Richard looked like as a child. In what must have been three separate years he'd been an astronaut for Halloween. There was also a picture of him smiling with his telescope on one of his birthdays. Boy was he a nerd. It was adorable.
His father read a poem he made when he was eleven about a boy who lived on the moon. It made me shed a tear.
At the end of the ceremony, I took a photo of the grave so that his family could have it and sent it to Earth. His sister thanked me, saying he would have loved it. I know he would have.
YOU ARE READING
Europa
Science FictionIn order to embark on a mission to discover alien life on the icy moon of Jupiter Maria must leave her life on Earth behind, including her father and her seven-year-old son Diego. She thought the hardest part of the mission would be saying goodbye...
