Have you ever wondered what a night in Antarctica would feel like? Throw any of that away and instead imagine a...
Night on Europa
βοΈβοΈβοΈ
The Thunderbird parked itself on a moon of Jupiter. The Professor checked the monitor for a few seconds to make sure she didn't accidentally park under the sea. A slight chuckle escaped her lips at a distant memory--they weren't under the sea. She looked at the surface through the monitor, extremely proud of herself.
"Well, Walt, out there is one of Jupiter's moons. You ready to go see?" the Professor asked him with a giant smile. She was trying not to show too much pride.
"Uh... which moon?" Walt said, staring at the monitor, which showed one of Jupiter's many moons. Jupiter took up a large portion of the sky, and the surface was covered in snow.
"I was so tired of the snow at your university in Wyoming that I wanted to see the snow of Europa," the Professor said. Somewhere in there was a joke, and the Professor giggled a little bit. It was more a giggle of excitement. "Europa is out there, Walt, and we get to explore her. You'll be the first human ever on Europa. First, let's get you equipped."
The Professor threw Walt an old leather jacket she pulled out of some back room in her Niobe. Walt looked down at it, while the Professor smiled. She remembered the time she received the coat from a happy old poet who had been her first introduction to Earth's poetry and inspired her to be a professor. The memory was enough to keep her warm on any freezing planet. She also found him an Irish newsboy cap and chucked it at him like a frisbee. She then found herself a cute pink peacoat a noble looking coat that would make Belle do a double take from the book she was currently invested in.
"Why do you want me to look like I just returned home from World War II?" Walt asked as he looked down at the coat. The only thing the Professor longed for was for Walt to have a scruffy short beard.
They put on their coats and hopped out of the ship. Walt probably expected them to walk the ice of Europa, so the Professor kept keen eyes on the man, both because he looked dashing in the old leather jacket and because she wanted to see his reactions to the moon. His eyes sparkled with young wonder. Walt stared up at Jupiter and at the sky full of stars. He was speechless, which had been her goal.
The Professor pointed to where Earth would be. "That way is your home planet, 2.9 billion kilometers away, 1.8 billion miles away, or 5.5 years away, if you hitched a ride on the Clipper. Clipper is moving at 22 miles per second, it would take you... sorry. I'm not that great at math," she said and softly bit her lip, staring at the distracted man as he stared in the direction she pointed.
Walt said nothing. He stared at space for a few minutes while she watched him.
It was all things she had seen before, a different sky full of intriguing stars with so many names, but Walt's reaction was once in a lifetime. His mouth was slack hanging open. "Careful, a bug might fly in," she said.
He closed his mouth and stared hard at her, lost in thought. His gears turned and started coming up with questions, "Why don't I feel cold? Shouldn't we be frozen?"
The Professor took a few steps out, looked at the ice and the sky, looked at the terrain, and then turned to head towards her car. Then she hopped in. "Get in," the Professor said as she got in her old sports car.
"Why am I dressed like this on a freezing cold planet?" Walt asked as he climbed into the vehicle.
"It gets around -140 kelvin. That's -210 degrees Fahrenheit for you, Waltzy. Just any other cold day in Wyoming," the Professor said. "You're not cold, and you can breathe because of this old girl. Isn't that right, sweetie?" she asked while caressing the steering wheel.
"And why am I dressed this way?" Walt asked, pulling off his Gatsby hat and throwing it onto the dash. The hat fell off, and Walt leaned down to grab it again. He then placed it onto the dashboard.
"Because I thought you would look cute, and I was right," she told him. He did look very cute, and the Professor really wanted him to have a tobacco pipe to complete the ensemble. The black leather coat complemented his orange hair and hugged his lean body. She stared off at the wide empty horizon. "I'm trying to decide which way to go. I want to test her speed. What better place than a sea of ice with a view of Jupiter?"
"But what if we fall in? Can your ship still protect us?" Walt asked. The Professor sensed a fear of deep waters flooding him.
"Did you know that Europa is the smoothest object in your Solar System?" the Professor asked, trying to change the subject. "The Solar System. You humans are full of yourself," she scoffed. Her thoughts were distracting her and she forgot Walt had been fearful. "As if you're the only solar system."
Walt looked her way from the passenger seat. His innocent green eyes narrowed. The Professor again saw fear in his eyes, and she remembered his question.
"My Niobe can fly if needed. She can keep an airtight seal around us, and I can operate some features directly from here. Also, if I press this button here..." she pointed to a button at the base of the gear shift, "it will open the seats up as if she were going to eat us, and we'll fall directly into the center console room."
Walt eyed her suspiciously but was content with her reply.
"Virtually no danger," the Professor said and raised her eyebrows in a playful manner. "Now, let's see how fast she can go. Put the hat back on, cutie."
The Professor put it in drive and off they went. She got the vehicle up to a terrifyingly fast speed, and they zoomed over the thick ice of Europa, speeding around on the smoothest surface in the Solar System. The sports car did its best to keep traction.
A few times, Walt grasped onto whatever was nearby out of excited fear, and a few times, his hand landed on her lap as she drove.
"Would you like to know what lurks beneath us?" She teased him with her question, knowing he was still fearful of the deep sea below them.
"Not really," Walt said, looking a bit green. She chuckled,
Walt Green is kinda getting green.
"Most people want to think giant life forms exist under this ice, but they forget how hostile this environment is," the Professor said as she spun the car out to a complete stop. Inertia sent Walt sliding right into her, and she was tempted to kiss him on his red freckled cheek. She put it in park, stared up at Jupiter, and continued her thought, "Did you know there are creatures as big as whales on a moon orbiting a gas giant in a galaxy that way?"
Walt didn't answer. He looked at her with fearful curiosity.
"The peoples indigenous to the moon cut giant holes in the ice and fish the creatures out with complicated pulley systems," the Professor said. "I can't tell you what's under these seas because your future might include fishing on Europa. Then again it might not. Either way, can't give too much away." She felt like being coy.
Walt said nothing.
"It's your turn to drive. Drive us somewhere nice," the Professor said half joking. A plan was forming in her head, and she licked her lips in anticipation.
They quietly switched seats. She swatted his butt as he hopped out the car and slid her rear over to the passenger side while Walt went around the front of the car. The soft glow of Jupiter lighted their way, and ice reflected enough of it to see by.
It wasn't the darkest night she'd driven on, nor was it the brightest day. There was just a soft romantic glow that reminded her of bathing in a dark room with only candlelight.
Walt put the T-bird in drive and drove about 35 miles per hour.