Star Rider

Alcon's Journal #17 - Europa

After thinking about it, Ami nodded and agreed, "Okay."

The journey from Galileo#1 to Europa was swift, spanning only the distance between two of Jupiter's moons. Europa had undergone a remarkable transformation, featuring multiple expansive mega-domes designed for human habitation. Utilizing the available oxygen and water on Europa, as well as advanced controlled fusion technology for energy generation, these biospheres were meticulously crafted to replicate Earth's environment. They served as idyllic vacation destinations, making Europa a prominent tourist attraction in the vicinity of Jupiter.

As we landed at the Europa port and unbuckled our seatbelts, a large prompt appeared on the welcome screen of terminal, saying, "Do not attempt to walk, jumping is the best way to move around." Ami hooked her arm around mine and asked, "Should we bunny hop or zombie jump?" I thought for a moment and remembered that the gravity here was about 1/7th of Earth's, while the moon's gravity was 1/6th. Astronauts on the moon were known to jump like zombies, so I replied, "I think we should zombie jump..." Before I could finish, Ami lifted her hand and began to jump. I couldn't help but burst out laughing and said, "Only zombies on Earth need to raise their hands. I have no idea what raising your hand does here..."

Ami laughed and turned back to jump to my side. I reached out and grabbed her arm, and together we slowly hopped over to catch a ride.

After checking into the hotel, with the help of centrifugal force and the low gravity of Europa, we restored the appropriate vertical centrifugal force. Ami turned to me and playfully said, "Alcon, our generation rarely returns to our home planet. Why do we still yearn for the gravity of our home planet and create artificial gravity everywhere?"

I pondered for a moment and replied, "In a way, we have already adapted to low gravity. As exploration astronauts, we have acclimated to the completely zero-gravity environment of space. Even in an artificial centrifugal environment, we only need about 0.7-0.8 times the gravity of our home planet to move freely. In the future, as more and more people immigrate to interstellar space habitats and adapt to a low-gravity environment, we may eventually reach a point where centrifugal force is no longer necessary, don't you think?"

Ami grinned and replied, "So if many people come to space, they won't need to worry about losing weight anymore, right?"

I chuckled and responded, "Gravity might differ, but mass remains the same, and the amount of propellant consumed remains the same."

"So losing weight won't really save propellant, and it's not environmentally friendly either," Ami remarked.

"But don't you feel a sense of comfort in a place where the centrifugal force mimics the gravity of our home planet?" I smiled, posing a somewhat serious question.

"Yes, that's why I asked if we create gravity because we miss our home planet or for convenience," Ami replied.

This question had a philosophical undertone, and I found myself momentarily stumped for an answer.

"The ultimate convenience might be that in the future, humans in space will resemble fish, gracefully swimming around in zero gravity," Ami added.

I imagined the scene and couldn't help bursting into laughter.

Our days on Europa were very relaxed, basically watching movies, listening to music, playing games, viewing the stars and listening to music at the surface observation deck, or riding sightseeing submarines to explore the ocean below the crust. In this world where a thick layer of ice covered the surface and the sun couldn't reach, there was a warm and wonderful underwater ecosystem formed by the slow release of heat from the mantle, combined with tidal forces. Using the infrared night vision devices on the sightseeing submarine, we watched various jellyfish-like creatures swimming in the ocean. The warm underground ocean formed a sharp contrast with the environment on the surface, which was more than one hundred degrees below zero...

I often woke up a little earlier than Ami, and she would stay in bed a while longer, so I started trying to make breakfast before Ami woke up, and then woke her up to eat together. After doing this a few times, there was a cycle where I woke up and found Ami in my shirt, busy in the kitchen with bare legs.

I got up and walked behind her, hugging her. "What are you doing, Ami?"

"Oh... I can't stand your monotonous food anymore, so I'm trying to make something different..." Ami replied as she continued to prepare the food in her hands.

"Huh?" I felt a bit embarrassed.

"Haha, Alcon, you're really a super boring person. You can keep making the same canned food and eat it for a long time... But it's no problem for me, I just want to make something different for you..." Ami laughed in my arms and continued to prepare.

"I'm good at cooking, so just wait for me to make something delicious for you..." Ami added.

The food I usually made came from cans sent from space habitat or supply station, along with protein drinks and algae, which were simply heated up after being opened, always the same. However, that day, Ami made a main dish with an ocean worm from Europa that tasted like Earth fish. The worm was harvested from the ocean floor under Europa's crust and was rich in protein. Ami mixed it with starch and fried it into a pancake shape. She paired it with red wine, and moss and fungi grown from the artificial nuclear fusion sunlight cultivation in the vacation area's biosphere, along with some condiments. She made a different meal for us.

Those days were the most wonderful days I had after my father's death.