Depths of Ganymede

By Tomasz Biedrzycki

Ocean of the biggest Jupiter moon - Ganimedes - is being colonized. It's the time when young pilot of the next-gen submarines - Van Hansen - arrives to this new world and gets the well payed job. What he doesn't know, is that soon money will not count for much and he will have to fight for his life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tomasz Biedrzycki
• Release date: Jan 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9788393432974

Tomasz Biedrzycki

Urodzony 02 stycznia 1978 roku w Olsztynie. Od najmłodszych lat zafascynowany astronomią i książką, z którą zaprzyjaźnił się już na początku szkoły podstawowej. Pierwsze próby literackie podejmowane w wieku lat-nastu, lądowały w szufladzie. Któregoś dnia, próbki trafiają w ręce kobiety... i tak się zaczyna literacka przygoda, trwająca do tej pory.

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DEPTHS OF GANYMEDE

Tomasz Biedrzycki

PUBLISHED BY TOMASZ BIEDRZYCKI AT SMASHWORDS

Copyright © by Tomasz Biedrzycki, Jelenia Góra 2013

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4 April 2082

Ganymede, the third moon of Jupiter. The underwater base of the International Peace Organization (IPO)

In the darkness of the unplumbed depths of the ocean a strong directional light flashed, indicating the way towards the main hangar of the colony. As one got closer, more details could be made out. The huge metal ball floated loosely in the darkness of oceanic night and only a forty-meter-thick stabilizing pillar, plunging into the water, got lost somewhere in the abyssal depths. A swarm of small vehicles was hanging around the base, like hundreds of ants bustling about their ant-hill. At the base of the stabilizing knot there were electric discharges from underwater welding, emitting a loud whirring noise through the air. A part of the ball opened out, and a dim blue light coming out of a small hangar lightened up dark waters. In the glow of light two spindle-shaped silhouettes appeared, causing almost no disturbance to the sea surface. Their plating grew much darker, as they began to take in the color of the surroundings. Neither of them had their navigation lights on. Leaving the wake of slightly warmer water, they headed in the direction of a massive brightly lit cargo ship that was sailing towards the colony. Until recently, it was one of these huge ancient general cargo carriers transformed into a passenger liner and destined to transport the poorest: immigrants running away from the hell of acid rains and radioactive fallout on Earth. Thousands of people's faces could be seen in the small portholes along the deck. All of them could count themselves fortunate to be able to set aside eighty two thousand zeniths to buy one way ticket Earth – Jupiter.

One of the immigrants turned his head away from a wide thick porthole. He had an oval, slender face, partly hidden under a bushy beard. Using his strong shoulders, he forced his way through the growing crowd to find himself under an inner frame, hovering over like an arch of a temple. Immediately, he caught the sight of others flowing in behind him to take his place: people like him, deprived of of everything and looking for their chance. With a sigh of relief, the man leaned over the cold metallic construction and closed his eyes. He tried not to listen to the shouts and screams coming from the newcomers, who commented on the scenery unwinding outside.

How different this world was from Earth left far away behind. Water apparently the same, and yet different. A huge 100-kilometer layer of ice formed a perfect shield against the meteor shower. Even now it was somehow visible above. And no longer exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation, which on Earth, where the ozone layer had been completely destroyed, posed a deadly danger.

Martin glanced through half-closed eyes at Ress, who was sitting next to him. The old man with white hair had perched on a temporarily empty, steel chair. His face was terribly disfigured by ultraviolet radiation. Leucoma, spread over his terrifying eyes, made him blind. And yet he has come here. Ganymede as well as Europa, the second moon of Jupiter, was the place where a new world opened up to people. The world of new life, new opportunities and unaffected by this spirit of hopelessness that had settled over Earth. Martin had the luck not to fall into the category of the extremely poor as most of his traveling companions. He traveled in such conditions because just now the rest of his family was half-way to Jupiter. He hoped that when they joined him in two years' time, he would be able to offer them a place to stay. He turned to the pocket on his breast where he stored his ticket to a decent life on Ganymede: his CV and the license of a submarine pilot. From the loudspeaker placed in the middle of the big hall emerged the voice of the captain of the Stradivarius.

- 'Attention passengers: we are about to reach the docking station in the IPO colony Revival. You are requested to make sure your cabins are secured. In five minutes at the latest passengers must take seats in their assigned shock-proof chairs. Thank you for your attention.'- Martin opened his eyes and started off like a bullet to overtake an avalanche of crowd that was leaving the observation terrace. He jumped into the Pressurized Section in the last moment and found a tiny cabin shaped like a litter bin, where he had spent last two months. Lettering on the display screen, which read: Martin van Hansen, left no doubt who occupied this foul-smelling hole. He grabbed his small luggage inside, slammed the pressure door and hurried off towards the passenger cabin. His military training habits stood him in good stead - it turned out that he was among the first to sit down in an uncomfortable chair.

The maneuvering room was filling up quickly and as the whirr of fans grew louder, more and more passengers were taking seats