Finding the Professor

Have you ever wondered what a night in Antarctica would feel like? Throw any of that away and instead imagine a...

Night on Europa

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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.

"Is there something wrong, Waltzy?" The Professor quipped, hoping it would brighten the 22-year-old's mood. Walt always looked adorably flustered when she called him a pet name, and this time was no exception. He gripped the steering wheel more tightly and scowled at her. His orange brows were furrowed.

"Uh... I'm not sure," Walt said.

"You can tell me anything," the Professor said. She tried to make her tone of voice sultry. Her hand rested warmly on his thigh.

Walt visibly reddened, which, for the ginger, was an easy feat. "Um... this is the first time I've driven on a frozen ocean... on an alien planet... and there's a cute lady's hand nearing... my crotch... and... and is that a fucking horse?" Walt asked. He was completely flustered, and the Professor was enjoying toying with him.

Meanwhile, all the Professor could think about was giving her companion a handjob and then a blowjob.

Wait, what? Did he say there was a horse?

Her mind was catching up slowly, but it was catching up at least.

😳😳😳

"Impossible," the Professor whispered while her hand rested dangerously close to Walt's cock. "How is there a horse on Europa?"

Walt drove closer to the creature, getting within 20 meters of it. There was a pure white creature with a spiraled horn protruding from the center of its forehead. Its mane of white hair appeared to be braided. The tip of the unicorn's horn had a bright glow.

"Impossible," she whispered again. "A fucking unicorn?"

Its piercing eyes watched them. In all respects, it was a proper unicorn, and it made the Professor start seething. She wasn't entirely sure why she was angry. A creature like this certainly didn't exist, and it most definitely wouldn't be strolling around a frozen moon. It was a great distance from Earth, where, she was sure, the myth originated.

There were many horned beasts on other planets. She had seen quite a few, but none looked like a proper. fucking. unicorn.

To say it shook the Professor to her core would be an understatement, and the

horrible

ethereal horse had interrupted any thoughts of sex, which made her squirm with an extreme vexation. She squeezed Walt's thigh

hard.

"Ow," Walt griped, prompting the Professor to remove her hand entirely.

Walt stopped the vehicle completely, and they matched the unicorn's stare in a stunned silence for a few minutes. The unicorn turned to trot away, giving them one last glance over its shoulder.

"Follow it, Walt," the Professor whispered aggressively. "Why is there a fucking unicorn on Europa?" she angrily grimaced through gritted teeth as she balled up her fists.

They followed the glow on its horn. Perhaps it glowed even more as they followed. Then again, it could have been the Professor's vivid imagination.

Walt gave the Professor odd stares. Most of her attention was on the unicorn, which trotted ahead of them. It was still about 20 meters from the car since Walt was keeping a good distance from the horned horse. The Professor caught his glances more than a few times as they drove.

What is he thinking?

she thought the second time he glanced nervously her way. It was the same kind of nervousness that she had whenever her mother came home.

Damn evil woman. Abusive, evil conniving, manipulative bitch.

Is my reaction wrong? Is that why he's staring?Perhaps he thinks I should be like a giddy school girl at the sight of a unicorn. Ridiculous. If this beast hadn't interrupted our nice night when I had sex planned, then maybe I wouldn't be so furious.

"What, Walt? Why do you keep staring at me? There's a unicorn in front of us, and you are driving on the ice of Europa, yet you stare at me like I did something wrong?" the Professor demanded.

Walt seemed surprised she caught him after his fifth glance over at her. He had concern written on his face and his eyes shifted with uncertainty. He winced, "Why does a unicorn make you angry? Wouldn't a unicorn make you happy? Wouldn't curiosity drive you to try and discover why it's here? There's a beast that breathes oxygen in front of us and your eyes turn sour?"

The Professor said nothing. Walt, of course, was right. She was acting like a child. They followed the beast at its trotting speed, hoping to find out why it was on Jupiter's moon.

Why is it there? Walt's right. They need oxygen, and Europa's atmosphere certainly contains a metric shit ton percentage wise, but it's so thin. So extremely thin, and that's not even the worst of it. No horse would survive here.

"Radiation would be another pressing concern," the Professor finally said. "The air is so thin she wouldn't be able to breathe."

She had to know why this unicorn was here. She had to know if she needed to save this being. She felt in her hearts that this creature was leading them somewhere.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Walt gave her a quick stare and returned his eye back to the road.

"What's that?" he asked.

She was staring sadly at her hands when he asked his question but looked up to see what he saw.

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They had found a wrecked ship which sent Walt's mind racing. His first time on another planet, there was a unicorn, and now there was an alien ship. His day had been extremely interesting.

The only worry Walt had was the welfare of his teaching companion.

"It's been there for a long time. It isn't on fire. It isn't smoking. Anything like flames has been gone long," the Professor said.

Walt didn't reply. Instead, he looked at the remains of a long ship half-covered in ice and snow. At some point, it had become a giant hill, which ruined the flat moon's surface.

"Unicorns can't fly spaceships," Walt half-joked as he watched the unicorn approach the destroyed ship. "Right?"

"And according to you, this unicorn should be suffocating. I guess we're both on the back foot here," the Professor said from the passenger seat. "Neither of us should be making any assumptions at the current moment."

Walt wasn't entirely sure about unicorn biology, but he knew it shouldn't be here. It was an impossible unicorn.

Walt was wary of getting out and looking so they stared at the ship for some time. Many thoughts were running through Walt's head. He wasn't sure about anything, so he sat back and enjoyed the view.

First, there was Jupiter hovering above them. The orange giant loomed over them ominously. To say it was enormous was an understatement. Walt had never thought he had megalophobia, but it felt as if Jupiter was on its way to consume them and the whole moon they were on.

The unicorn also captured his thoughts. He wondered how it had found its way here, if it was somehow magic, then that could explain why it was both here and how it was breathing fine, but Walt knew it wasn't as simple as that. Perhaps, one day, the Professor and he could prove, at least to him, the existence of magic.

That would be a fun day,

Walt thought.

Granted, there wasn't only an alien ship in front of him--he also sat in one. He had been driving one while the humanoid alien who owned the ship sat beside him angry at the fact there was a unicorn on Europa.

God, it's been a weird day.

Walt briefly thought of a nice, warm bed. It had been a long day of hunting vampires and driving on a moon. There was, however, still one more thing Walt considered part of the breathtaking view, and it was the Professor as she sat beside him. She bit her lip in deep concentration. That wasn't something Walt had ever seen her do before, but it was incredibly sexy to behold. He could see her mind churning over thoughts, with her white hair beneath a furry cap.

What is she thinking about now? She's so adorable when she's thinking.

Her light blue eyes were locked onto the scene in front of them. The Professor's face was young, and she looked of European descent, but Walt knew better. Those eyes told a different story and were nowhere near his age. He hoped she didn't hold that against him.

Walt wished he had the courage to break her concentration with a soft kiss on her cheek.

How would she react? Would it make her angry that he ruined her train of thought? Would she be happily surprised?

While she kept biting her lip, he took the opportunity to check the rest of her body out.

The gray coat she had chosen was a perfect mix of reasonable for the weather and still cute; it made her look like a princess. Her collar was a dark blue fur--the same dark blue fur lined a small cape that went over her shoulders, her cuffs, and the bottom of the coat, which rather more resembled a dress. She also had two pockets that stood out with bows.

Her eyes were complemented by the dark blue fur. Her light blue eyes told him about the many years she had seen but also held a determination that he admired.

The unicorn had taken upon itself the duty of circling the crash site. She was going in some elliptical pattern, orbiting the T-bird and alien ship like a planet would orbit twin stars.

"Let's take this slowly," she finally said, no longer biting her bottom lip and tucking a white strand of hair behind her ear. "The ice out there could be thinner there. The ship could slip through at any moment. I'm surprised it hasn't already fallen through. I might have suitable safety equipment inside the Niobe."

She reached over and pressed the button at the base of the gear shift. Before Walt had any chance to reply, they were sent by way of the seat to a small and short slide.

She landed expertly on her cute fur-lined heeled boots. Walt tumbled beside her. In a heap on the floor, he heard heels clacking against the floor. The sound was moving away from him, and Walt slowly got up on his own two feet.

She came back, arms full of different items. The Professor hands were two giant necklace sized rings and two oversized bracelets.

She put the giant ring over his head without saying a word.

Hey look, she's biting her bottom lip again.

He smiled at her, and she quietly and quickly pressed a button on the inside of his new necklace.

A warm spacesuit enveloped him faster than he had a chance to blink. The surprise of the new tech nearly sent him to the floor again, and within another blink of the eye, the Professor had a matching suit on.

"I stole these shortly after I stole my space-time manipulator," she said, her voice coming in through the bubble over his head. "Sorry... for surprising you."

Walt inhaled deeply. He hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath.

"Suits for our short-distance walk and these in case anything bad happens," she said holding up one of the oversized bracelets. She moved to where she could see his face easily and held the item in his field of view. "This button here, the big red one, teleports you here to the center console room. This button here, the small green one. Don't ever touch. It would delete any previous teleport coordinates, and you'd be in space on your own. I wouldn't be able to help you."

She looked exasperated.

"Don't ask me how I know," the Professor said.

Like an overprotective mother, she made him test the teleport at 20 feet and again at 50 feet away from the pink car. She also inspected every inch of his spacesuit.

"This suit will keep you breathing well, prevent radiation from cooking your body, and keep you from freezing faster than Walt Disney's absurd cryogenic experiment," the Professor said as they made their way to the alien wreck. "That's actually a funny story."

She never finished that thought and got lost in her own little world.

They left the safety of the Niobe, venturing out onto the moon's surface. Once inside the vessel, they explored. The corpses of two aliens greeted them. Walt looked at their frozen bodies. They looked like a pair of feline explorers.

One had black fur. Masculine features. Walt concluded masculine because the feline man simply had a long goatee and quite a bushy mustache. He looked well groomed for a space traveler but did not look well apart from that. There was blood oozing down the top of his skull. Of course, it wasn't liquid as it had long been frozen. His mustache and goatee also had sparkling frost, matching most of his black fur. His eyes were shut, so Walt couldn't see if he also had feline cat eyes, but assumed he did from the appearance of his copilot.