The Rains of Titan

No one can hear you scream in space, or so they say. It goes beyond the simple fact that sound does not travel in vacuum. It is the utter desolation, the cold, dark emptiness that is constantly trying to devour you… Your mere existence is a treat to the simplicity of this void. Life, with its complexity defiantly intrudes into this otherwise peaceful realm. It disturbs the natural nonchalance of the deep. It is an abomination in the face of order. It brings this high level of entropy and nervousness into the quiet and still stage where events unfold on an unfathomable time scale. Life is but an annoying flicker in the darkness. There is no point to scream. The emptiness will soon consume you and your trespassing will be forgotten.

General discomfort seeped into Alex’s body as he began to regain consciousness. His senses slowly came into focus with a disorienting lag. It took a few moments for them to synchronize together as the reanimation protocol executed the final steps. Muscle aches intensified and were the predominant sensation at first, followed by the feeling of intense cold. Alex had never experienced suspended animation, and although he was familiar with the process, he was not prepared for its unpleasantness. He was at the mercy of the pod computer, relinquishing all control of life to the complex algorithm, trusting the program would be executed flawlessly. Even then, there was a 5% chance that he would not survive the process. Despite all of that, this was a true miracle of modern medicine! He could hear the electric pumps driving blood into his barely alive body, replacing the glycoprotein antifreeze that had allowed his tissues to be cryogenically preserved. This process had started hours ago, long before his heart received a wake-up jolt, and before his swollen brain could orchestrate some rudimentary consciousness.

Coming back from the dead was not an easy task, and certainly not one to be attempted more than once. The fluid shifts from leaky blood vessels, electrolyte imbalance, the loss of cell membrane potentials all made the experience less desirable than dying. Complex medical solutions had to be administered in precise intervals to prep the body for coming back to life. The cryogenic pod was basically a small Intensive Care Unit. This delicate and tedious process proved to be extremely painful as muscle fibers were locked in place, not unlike the stiff “rigor mortis” that happens after death. Alex had never felt this bad. It was a good thing he couldn’t move, or he might have aborted the process… The crew was purposefully not told how unbearable this would be for fear that no one would ever volunteer.

It was difficult to tell time because of general disorientation complicated by a massive pounding headache. After some time, Alex began regaining control of his mental faculties. As he slowly emerged from his slumber, he noticed deviations from the standard re-animation protocol. For starters, his pod lid remained closed. The moisture from his breath deposited a thin layer of frost on the glass, making it difficult to see outside. The soft glow of the pod’s internal lights reflected off the ice crystals, amplifying its luminosity. His body temperature had been raised to nearly normal, however the external pod structure was still very much a frigid ice box.

Something was wrong, but he was too tired to panic. Clumsily, he wiped some of the frost with his hand only to see darkness outside. The pod itself afforded very little internal space. He could barely turn from side to side, but enough to catch a glimpse of the various small displays on the side. The pods were designed to sustain atmospheric pressure for a short amount of time only, enough to allow for the pressurization of the ship’s haul. They were never meant for extended life-support. Why wasn’t anyone else coming to help him? Where was everybody? Why were the lights in the cryogenic bay off?

Questions started flooding his brain as he grappled with the realization that something was definitely wrong. Oxygen reserves were down to 32% and the carbon dioxide scrubbers were becoming saturated, leaving him with only 20 minutes of life support. There was obviously some sort of malfunction. The irony was hard to escape. He had just come back from the dead, only to die again! With time running out, he tried pulling on the manual release lever for the lid, but nothing happened. The fail-safe system prevented the lid from opening if the outside pressure was off by half an atmosphere. Why was the bay not pressurized? His eyes were still having trouble focusing, but he could make out the small controls next to the touch screen on his left side. He switched from internal power to auxiliary external ship supply. This also allowed him to interface with the ship’s computer. It confirmed the lack of pressure outside the pod. Fortunately, he could initiate the pressurization from the inside. Lights began to flicker as the ship came back to life. Soon after, the lid cracked open, his ears popped, and he took a breath of stale cold air that smelled a bit like burnt rubber and industrial lubricant. To his surprise, he was not in the cryogenic bay. Instead, he found himself alone in the small chamber of an evacuation shuttle. It was designed to serve as an escape pod, in the event of a catastrophic ship failure. Something must have triggered the emergency escape protocol in the main supercomputer.

Alex released the securing anchors of his cryo suit, as well as the numerous electrodes and intravenous tubes and was now floating in the zero gravity. Just as he managed to right himself up, he heard the fuel pumps spool up. He pushed off towards the space suit that was connected to its charging station on the wall. His body, still weak from its frozen slumber could barely manage the strength to move in the zero gravity. He was starting to shiver and desperately needed the climate control of his space suit to get warm. Before he could reach it, he was thrown back violently against the wall by the engines firing. The shuttle was making a course correction. Like a beetle on his back, he was pinned against the wall, helpless. Unable to move, he surrendered to the force of inertia. Literally born again, Alex had to learn to use his body once more. For the time being, however, he had no choice but to wait for the shuttle maneuver to complete. Once he was released from its grip, he donned the space suit and made his way towards the pilot’s chair. He pulled up the computer log and saw a few more engine burns scheduled. The next one would be in less than an hour.

Time is such a precious commodity when life is threatened. Its feeble spark is in constant battle to exist. It can so easily be vanquished by the dark void that its mere existence challenges logic. Clinging to life, Alex did not have the luxury of rest. There was too much to be done and his future depended on his prompt actions and extraordinary luck.

He flipped the switches for the external window shutters. The gears clicked as the massive metal plates retracted offering a first glimpse of the outside. Straight ahead, in the distance loomed the recognizable pale orange disc of the planet Saturn with its cloud bands and majestic rings. It was an awe-inspiring sight, instilling both elation and terror. Earth, aside, it was the most beautiful planet in the solar system. Suspended around the planet were the silver rings with numerous gaps, like the grooves of a vinyl record. Tears filled his eyes as he forgot to blink, and without gravity, they welled up into his eyes, blurring the glorious view. Alex wiped his eyes in disbelief. His attention was so drawn to the giant Saturn that he didn’t notice the large moon below the shuttle. It only came into view as he leaned forward. It had to be Titan! It was absolutely massive, and it filled the view from all the windows on both sides. It had a misleading warm orange glow with a slightly pinkish haze. He was close enough to see some of its surface features, mountain ranges, dark lakes, whispy white clouds and white patches on the ground. For a moment he forgot his plight, however he was rudely reminded when the short-range docking radar gave a proximity alert. It made no sense as this system was used by the autopilot for the final stages of docking to the main spaceship. Something outside had to be close to him. Alex leaned forward again and scanned the vicinity. The proximity radar was designed to line up the docking ports and did not have the means to give precise location of nearby objects. It only alerted when there was movement within a quarter of a mile or so. If something was on a collision course, it would be impossible to know the direction of approach.

Streaking across his field of view was another emergency evacuation shuttle. Its engines fired in retrograde direction to slow its descent towards Titan. Alex strapped into the pilot’s chair in preparation for the de-orbiting maneuver. The countdown to the next engine burn was fast approaching. The proximity radar sounded the alarm a few more times, but he did not see any other shuttles. It wasn’t long before the attitude adjustment thrusters came alive and rotated his lifeboat 180 degrees. The main engines followed. With the weight of a thousand pounds, he was pushed into the seat, dangerously close to passing out. The trip to the surface was a bit shaky, but much less dramatic than he expected. The landing however extracted a much heavier toll on him and his ship. With only minutes of fuel to spare, the computer had to calculate the shortest distance to the surface, disregarding terrain. The main engines shut off as soon as the sensors on the landing legs made contact. This unfortunately did not mean that he had landed. The shuttle came down on a steep slope and only two of the four landing legs had touched the ground. It quickly toppled over and tumbled down the hill. Alex had forgotten to close the window shutters and watched the tempered glass apprehensively, as it scraped the ground. Metal screeched, pushed to its structural limits as the ship came to a rest on its side. He took a hurried survey of the life-support systems and the overall integrity of the shuttle. Surprisingly, most of the systems remained operational.

Alex collected his thoughts, reigning them back from drifting. Even though he had slept for months, the recent unfolding of events had left him physically and mentally exhausted. The seductive prospect of rest lulled his mind and beckoned him to surrender to the fatigue. He resisted this call for respite and forced his brain into a crisis mode. Many items needed his immediate attention. Those essential for survival he triaged first. He had enough air in the shuttle for about 3-4 days and enough water and food for almost a week, if rationed appropriately. The forgiving gravity on Titan made his physical efforts much easier, but still not easy enough. He organized essential items and scavenged what he could from the cryogenic pod, including the large capacity batteries and the nearly empty oxygen tank. The rest of the inventory was very modest as the shuttle had a small interior strategically used for only essentials. The size of the vessel was similar to a cargo truck, however most of the space was taken up by the large engines, fuel tanks, and life support systems. The main cabin offered a little more room than a king size bed.

Some of the internal lighting got damaged in the landing, and some of the panels had fallen off, but for the most part the ship held together very well. Alex made his way to the flight computer and began reviewing the log history. He was desperate for information on what had happened. Information was limited, but a few details became clear. Approximately 5 days ago a catastrophic event on the main ship triggered the evacuation protocol. As it was customary for long voyages, the entire human crew was placed in cryostasis to minimize the need for food, water, climate control and life support. All this allowed for larger payload as well as psychological protection for the crew. Spending a long time in a confined space had undesirable effects on the human psyche. The ship’s mainframe computer calculated course corrections and monitored for system failures. It was designed to activate the evacuation protocol if the ship suffered unrepairable damage deemed to be an immediate threat to life. Each of the cryogenic pods were moved to the escape shuttles and course was set for the nearest solid planetary body. He knew the rest.

Alex turned off all auxiliary functions including climate control and lights. His suit would keep him warm much more efficiently, requiring much less energy to do so than warming the entire shuttle bay. As the last of the lights flickered off, the dusky orange glow coming through the scratched window remained the only source of illumination. It wasn’t much, but it was still preferable to the darkness of space. It is amazing how even a small light can break up the solitude and give hope, and courage. This soft, dim glow was a welcome companion. Alex sat next to the window and allowed his gaze and thoughts to drift freely. The light reminded him of embers in a fireplace. The shuttle was listing to the side in such a way that allowed an oblique view of the ground. He indulged in a blissful meditation for a few moments, watching fine grains of sand swirl and dance in the wind outside. He could hear the wind outside now that the cabin noise was to a minimum. The shuttle gently rocked back and forth, swaying lullingly into the breeze. His thoughts gravitated towards his family, friends, and crewmates. There were 25 souls aboard his ship, the “Galileo”. Their fate was uncertain, but so was his own.

His shuttle lacked long-range communication ability, but it had a short-range CB radio and a distress beacon. He tried broadcasting on all frequencies, only to receive static in response. Soon his weary mind slipped into a shallow sleep. When he woke up, he decided it was time to explore outside for anything useful. Perhaps he could find other shuttles or at least some wreckage that could be salvaged for air, food, and water.

The shuttle had a small airlock that led to the outside hatch. Fortunately, it was on the side of the shuttle facing up. Alex depressurized the small chamber and tried to open the external hatch. It wouldn’t budge despite of his maximal efforts. The mechanism could be jammed, or the outside pressure was higher than the inside. He decided to gamble with his air supply and began over pressurizing the airlock at which point he was able to open the hatch. It swung open violently in the strong wind. Despite of Titan’s low gravity, the atmosphere was quite dense with an atmospheric pressure of 150% that of Earth’s. It felt like he was in a river stream, a lot more powerful than a simple wind. He got tossed around the airlock and with only 14% of Earth’s gravity, he felt like a feather in hurricane. Still, he wanted to see this world, never seen by human eyes before. Alex braced himself against the hatch frame and stuck his helmet out of the opening. The landscape was alien and yet somehow familiar. It looked like an overcast day back home, shortly after sunset. There was a soft, dim orange hue in the atmosphere, slightly bluish at the zenith with wispy whitish and pinkish clouds above. The shuttle had come to rest at the foot of a steep hill, on a relatively flat plateau. A gentler incline led further down to a dark blue, almost black methane lake. A few steep rocky islands jutted from the lake. It was a beautiful sight! Large broad swells swept the lake. Alex could only see about a mile or so through the hazy atmosphere. Near the horizon loomed the giant silhouette of the mighty Saturn, obscured by rapidly moving clouds. The sun was also occasionally visible, high in the sky, although barely recognizable. It was small and dim. It must have been high noon on Titan and the heat from the sun was driving the violent winds. Alex would have to sit tight until sundown as it would be impossible to walk in the current conditions. He would be blown off into a lake, or a cliff.

It took a monumental effort to close the hatch. He was again a prisoner in his shuttle, at least for the time being. Without any idea of the length of the day on Titan, he had to wait and see if his meteorological predictions would hold. He used this time wisely, consuming food and water. He also managed to link the shuttle radio to his helmet coms, so that he could listen to any transmissions. As the sun set below the horizon, the winds abated. They had slowly pushed the ship against a rock face, wedging it securely in place. It was now safe to go outside for a basic reconnaissance. Alex jumped down from the hatch on terra firma.

“A small step for man…”, he snickered out loud as he thought of Neill Armstrong’s landing on the moon.

The winds had died down to a gentle breeze. It was dusky, but the skies had cleared, permitting the light from Saturn to shine on the surface, providing roughly the same luminosity as a full moon on Earth. The light was too weak to allow for color vision, but soon his eyes adapted, and he could safely navigate the terrain. In the absence of the sun’s rays, the methane vapor, no longer driven up from the lakes, condensed into rain. The rains of Titan were a magical thing to see! Like tiny crystals falling from the sky, the drops glistened in the pale light from Saturn. It was a stunning sight. The extraordinary large raindrops fell slowly to the ground, making a faint tapping sound. Precipitation cleared the vapors from the atmosphere and Alex could see much further into the distance. The dark sky was filled with twinkling raindrops, like silver snowflakes. It was a spectacular light show, the likes of which he had never seen before! Saturn was directly overhead and its gravitational pull caused massive tidal waves in the lake. Alex estimated them to be at least 120 ft tall! The rumble they produced travelled through the dense air, reaching his helmet, causing it to vibrate ever so slightly. The sound of the falling rain and waves was truly unexpected. It was a wonderful stark contrast to the deafening silence of outer space! He proceeded cautiously along the base of the hill, to his right, vigilantly taking notice of the nearby landmarks for his return. The hill next to him gradually increased in steepness and height. To his left, a gentle slope led to the lake shore, some three hundred yards or more. Alex continued following the plateau until it tapered off leading to a large, dark opening in the rock face. It seemed a bit strange how this flat plateau led to the cave, as if by design. It was the most logical and natural path to take in this relatively hostile terrain. It was like a game trail through the wilderness, inviting to be followed. He pressed on with some hesitation, shaking off the feeling that he might be the game in this alien habitat. The even surface was akin to a road on Earth. He reached the cave opening, which was oddly symmetrical, strongly resembling a cathedral entrance. As he approached the entrance, the radio crackled in his helmet. It was probably electromagnetic interference from Saturn, or perhaps he was getting too far away from the shuttle and was losing connection. He switched on his helmet lights and entered the cave with a high degree of apprehension. The ground was covered with coarse sand grains and pebbles, but it was surprisingly flat. The path was about 20 feet wide, and it remained the same width as it made a turn to the right, disappearing in the darkness. There was something very unnatural about this. His helmet lights pierced the space ahead, but there was a foreboding unease about the darkness and the unknown. His irresistible curiosity surpassed his fear and he ventured deeper into the cave. A few turns later, he noticed less debris on the ground, which appeared to be artificially cut to a perfectly flat surface. The lumpy irregularities in the walls also morphed into an architectural design of perfect symmetry. A wave of adrenaline washed over his body. He could feel his heart jumping in his chest! Alex kicked the dirt on the ground, brushing it away with his boot and to his utmost surprise, he found a repeating pattern of intersecting lines on the floor! Was he hallucinating? Maybe he was dreaming, or maybe he suffered some brain trauma when he crash-landed? This was unbelievable and flat-out impossible! Breathing heavily, he was fogging up his visor. This could not be real! The massive implication of his discovery was overwhelming! Alex braced himself against the wall, trying to regain composure. The intense emotions he was feeling made him light-headed and dizzy. He took a minute to clam down, approaching this discovery with logic. First off, he needed to slow down his breathing as he was consuming oxygen at an alarming rate. Next, he had to suspend all assumptions and survey the cave as a scientist.

He touched the wall of this hallway in disbelief and brushed away the sand and dust. A different repeating pattern of lines was cut into the smooth surface of the rock. It was the unmistakable work of intelligent design! He followed the hallway deeper into the cave, eventually reaching a large elliptical chamber with tall, vaulted ceiling. Supporting columns ran along the walls at regular intervals. In the center of the chamber was an elevated podium with engraved inscriptions. The engravings were quite deep and despite the dust were easily seen. There was so much to explore, but Alex had a limited reserves in his suit and the batteries needed charging. He was most definitely coming back!

Alex pondered the origins of the inscriptions as he made his way back to the shuttle. Their significance would hit him hard later that night. For now, he was content with getting back to his lifeboat alive with the knowledge that mankind was not alone. This discovery was the most important one in human history and it came with a responsibility and a burden to be conveyed to the world. There was a purpose and a determination that was more powerful than the will to live. He was now on a mission as an ambassador of Earth. He had to survive, not only for his own sake but for that of all mankind! He was the only human in the history of the world to know this secret and the answer to the oldest question: “Are we alone?” Alex stood still for a minute outside before he entered the airlock and took one more look at the bizarre and wonderful world of Titan. Its rugged beauty, bathing in Saturn’s pale light, with mesmerizing sparkling rains descending like a swarm of fireflies.