The shuttle engines roared to life and we were on our way back up to the ship. Fortunately, it was still where we parked it.

“Mission Control is going to think that we’re crazy,” Marie said.

“Why?”

“No one is going to believe that an intelligent species lives in Europa’s ocean. It’s improbable.”

“But, evidently not impossible,” I said. “Let them decide what to call it.”

The shuttle slowly moved into orbit to rendezvous with Delta-1. I sent a signal to the ship to make the shuttle bay door open and slowly maneuvered the shuttle in using the thrusters. After the shuttle bay door closed, the bay filled up with air, which meant that we could finally remove our suits. In fact, we had to remove everything and be subjected to a powerful mist and air shower to remove any traces of Europa from our bodies.

The trip back through the tunnel to the crew compartment was more interesting than the first time. After living in close proximity for months, both Marie and I had abandoned any attempts to preserve modesty but it felt weird to be floating in zero gravity while completely naked, and like the teens that we were, we giggled.

After climbing down the ladder from the forward tunnel hatch, we took turns taking another mist shower and then after we got into more comfortable outfits that consisted of a tee, shorts and flip-flops, we went to the command station.

I typed a command: COMA, INITIATE THE RETURN SEQUENCE AT THE FIRST POSSIBLE TIME.

COMA replied: RETURN SEQUENCE ALPHA-2 HAS BEEN INITIATED AND WILL COMMENCE AT 0820.

I typed: COMA, ORIENT THE MAIN ANTENNA FOR COMMUNICATION WITH MISSION CONTROL.

COMA replied: COM WILL BE POSSIBLE IN FIVE MINUTES.

“We won’t get an answer back for a couple of hours at this distance,” I said.

“We don’t have a heavy date,” she said, grinning.

“We have a perpetual date,” I said, returning her grin.

“Are you going to give them the news?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’ll do it because they won’t expect me to know what I’m talking about.”

She chuckled.

The red COM light lit indicating that communications was possible. I sat up straight and tried not to snicker or smile. “This is Delta-1 reporting. Everything is functioning within normal parameters and we are both in good health. We completed the mission to explore Europa’s hidden ocean and have initiated the return sequence. We did not find anything alive until we descended to a depth of two miles and then we found all sorts of living creatures. At a depth of three miles, we discovered a larger aquatic animal that we think is intelligent. We will send the raw data from the submersible excursion on Europa now.”

I typed: COMA, SEND THE RAW RECORDING DATA FROM THE SUBMERSIBLE.

COMA replied: DATA TRANSMISSION HAS COMMENCED.

I leaned back. “That should give them something to talk about.”

“They’ll be talking about it for a long time,” she said. “Discovery of life in Europa’s ocean will change everything. You and I have discovered alien life and that means that life is probably everywhere.”

“I’m just glad that we got out of there alive. What we did was extremely dangerous.”

“Yes, but we made it. Now we have to endure a boring trip back.”

“The good news is that we have each other,” I said. “I couldn’t imagine what this would be like alone. I would go stir crazy.”

“There’s no way that this mission could have been done alone. In fact, I’m surprised that they didn’t include more people on this mission.”

“More people would have consumed more supplies and required a larger ship,” I said. “Just providing oxygen for breathing is a major problem. If they ever hope to send explorers to other star systems, they’ll have to come up with a better ecological system.”

“Do you think that they’ll ever go to other star systems?”

“I think they will, but it’ll cost a fortune. Getting the funding will be harder than actually doing it.”

She climbed on my lap, facing me while straddling me with her legs. “I wouldn’t mind going to the stars with you, Ryan Taylor.”

I chuckled. “I could go for that, but where would we go?”

“The first stop for any interstellar flight will be a planet orbiting Alpha Centaur A,” she said. “That’s a planet there that’s only thirteen percent larger than Earth and could be in the habitable zone of that star.”

“Or not,” I said. “No one really knows.”

“Maybe they’ll send us there to find out,” she said.

“You never know,” I said. “They might not send us if we’re married.

She stared at me for several moments before leaning closer. Our lips merged and she cradled my face in her hands for the start of a long breath-sucking kiss.

“I hope they’re not recording this,” I said after she came up for air.

“It’s too late,” she said. “I can no longer resist.”

That only resulted in more of the same.

We finally broke and went to get something to eat. We hadn’t eaten anything for more than a day so we were both hungry.

“I’m surprised that they haven’t replied to our transmission,” she said.

“They’re probably entranced in studying our data recordings. We no longer count.”

“We’re alone out here,” she said. “They’ll already have opinions about our data long before we get back.”

I shrugged. “It won’t matter. We’ll never be assigned to go back there.”

She sighed. “You’re probably right. I think we were sent because we were expendable.”

I raised a glass of juice. “We fooled them, you and I.”

She smiled. “Yes, we sure did.”

We heard the COM signal. After we got back to the command station, I activated the screen. This time it was Adam Kensington, the mission director staring into the camera.

“We received you data recordings and have begun a thorough analysis,” he said without emotion. “Needless to say that what you’ve found in Europa’s ocean has caused a stir. At this juncture, all I can say is that we are grateful for what you have accomplished and wish you all the luck on your return.”

“That was it?” I cried after the transmission ended. “They’re grateful. We risked our lives to get that data, and if I hadn’t noted the low battery level in time, we wouldn’t be having this COM session.”

“At least they recognized that we did something significant,” she said. “You were right. We don’t count.”

“I could use a couple of beers right now,” I said, sounding down.

She smiled. “I think that there is beer in the storage vault.”

I shook my head. “Oh, don’t tell me that. After all this time, and I didn’t know. That sucks.”

“I’ll get you some,” she said, standing up and flashing me with a teasing smile.

I watched her trot off, with her flip-flops making the very sound they were named for. After a few minutes she returned with a drinking pod with a straw and handed it to me.

I took a sip and smiled. “Oh, you are the one.” I tilted me head. “Aren’t you going to have one?”

“I get sick when I drink beer,” she said after she plopped down in her chair.

I took another longer sip. “I think that the return trip is going to go much smoother.”

She laughed.