Europa 2049 (English Edition)

By Joel Puga

For years after the discovery of intelligent life on Europa, Jupiter's icy moon, the relationship between humans and natives remained friendly. In fact, a primitive, but profitable, form of trade was established between the two races.

Then, without warning or clear cause, a subgroup of aliens began launching attacks during the trades.

Seeing its profit margins shrink quickly, the Okabe Space Trade, a Japanese company that holds the trade monopoly in Europa, hired Major Denis Vassiliev, a veteran of the GRU during the Second Sino-Russian War, to put an end to the conflict. Will he be able to enter the alien mind and win the war?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joel Puga
• Release date: Mar 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311908940

Joel Puga

Joel Puga nasceu na cidade portuguesa de Viana do Castelo em 1983. Entrou em contacto muito cedo com a fantasia e a ficção científica, principalmente graças a séries e filmes dobrados transmitidos por canais espanhóis. Assim que aprendeu a ler, enveredou pela literatura de género, começando a aventura com os livros de Júlio Verne. Foi nesta altura que produziu as suas primeiras histórias, geralmente passadas nos universos de outros autores, cuja leitura estava reservada a familiares e amigos.Em 2001, mudou-se para Braga para prosseguir os estudos, altura em que decidiu que a sua escrita devia ser mais do que um hobby privado. Isso valeu-lhe a publicação em várias antologias e fanzines portuguesas abordando diversos sub-géneros da ficção especulativa.Vive, hoje, em Braga, onde divide o seu tempo entre o emprego como engenheiro informático, a escrita e a leitura.Joel Puga was born in the Portuguese city of Viana do Castelo in 1983. Since an early age, he has been in contact with fantasy and science fiction, mainly thanks to dubbed films and TV shows transmitted by Spanish channels. As soon as he learned how to read, he got into genre literature; starting his adventure with Julio Verne’s books. It was during this time that he produced his first stories, generally using other author's universes as a backdrop, the reading of which was reserved to family and friends.In 2001, he moved to Braga to follow his studies, a time in which he decided his writings should be more than a private hobby. This granted him several publications in Portuguese anthologies and fanzines of various sub-genres of speculative fiction.Today, he lives in Braga, where he divides his time between his job as a computer engineer, as well as writing and reading.Joel Puga nació en la ciudad portuguesa de Viana do Castelo, en el año 1983. Desde muy temprana edad, mostró interés por la fantasía y la ciencia ficción sobre todo gracias al doblaje de películas y programas de televisión para canales españoles. Tan pronto como aprendió a leer, se sintió atraído por la literatura de género, iniciando esta fascinante aventura gracias a los libros de Julio Verne. Durante ese período, produjo sus primeras historias, las cuales, por lo general, estaban inspiradas en el universo de otros autores. La lectura de sus primeras obras quedaba reservada a familiares y amigos.En 2001, se trasladó a Braga para continuar con sus estudios. En esa época, decidió que sus escritos deberían ser algo más que un pasatiempo privado. Como consecuencia de esta decisión, publicó varias obras en antologías portuguesas y revistas de varios sub-géneros destinadas a fans (fanzines) de la ficción especulativa.En la actualidad reside en Braga, donde divide su tiempo entre su trabajo como ingeniero informático, y su pasión por la escritura y la lectura.

Book preview

Europa 2049

by Joel Puga

Copyright 2023 Joel Puga

Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents

Story

About the Author

Other Works by the Author

Story

I look through one of the shuttle's windows. In the distance, floating in the darkness of space, I see a solitary white sphere. Our destination. Europa. From here, it looks like a distant snowflake on a winter's night, reflecting the pale light of the Moon. If our medieval ancestors saw it now, they would surely think that they had found Paradise.

However, as the shuttle approaches, I realize that its purity is an illusion. Brown spots cover a large part of its surface and still darker lines traverse it in all directions. The latter look like the lines that crisscross a cracked mirror, which is not that strange. After all, the crust of Europa is made of ice.

Gradually, the moon grows. I feel a slight nervousness. After more than two years of training and traveling, my work is about to begin.

Finally, I hear the voice of the commander through the intercom:

Prepare for entry into the atmosphere. I repeat. Prepare for entry into the atmosphere.

With the help of hand-holds welded to the ceiling and walls, I float to my seat and fasten the belt. I can't look through any windows. They are all behind me.

About fifteen minutes later, I feel the shuttle tremble. We have entered the atmosphere. However, it doesn't take long to stabilize.

I'm surprised with the smoothness of the entry. Obviously, I didn't expect it to be as violent as Earth's reentry, since this moon has a thinner atmosphere and a reduced mass that wouldn’t pull us with as much intensity. Still, I thought it was going to be worse.

Slowly, the shuttle descends. I feel the speed decreasing, until a slight jolt announces that we have landed. I hear the hum of the engines fading.

We have arrived, says the commander through the intercom. Prepare for exit.

I unfasten the belt and get up. After almost a year of traveling in zero gravity, it's good to again feel weight on my legs. Of course, in the gravity of this small moon, I weigh a fraction of what I weigh on Earth, but, still, it's comforting after the absolute weightlessness of space.

Through a window, I look outside. We are at the bottom of a deep crater, which was flattened to serve as a runway. Not far off, I see three more shuttles similar to ours. Next to one of them, several men wearing space suits carry metal crates into its hold.

However, my attention is mainly drawn to a semi-spherical structure located at the precise center of the crater. To my layperson's eyes, it seems made of tin foil, because its surface reflects the scarce sun rays that reach this moon. Two openings in the ground, one bigger than the other, flank it. They must be the access tunnels of the underground base.

I can't avoid smiling. For all the complexity of the human psyche, Man, with rare exceptions, only cares about one thing.

For decades, the exploration of Europa was postponed, in spite of the strong possibility that it contained life. More projects and expeditions than I can remember were canceled. Even after the first probe pierced the ice and found intelligent life, about twenty-five years ago, the funding didn't increase much, despite the interest that such a discovery had for the whole of humanity. They sent only four scientists to study a whole new race,