Waken Report
Overview
Waken is the seventh and outmost planet of the Bivron system, layered in nitrogen-ice at the poles, water-ice neared the equator, and with a thin band of liquid water at the equator. Because of the stability of the liquid water, kept in liquid form by a combination of sunlight and geothermal vents from an active core, Waken was chosen as a primary site to review for potential life.
The mission was carried out by the Por-Guwlen vessel Latent Quarry, and was generally considered a success. The expedition collected 331 ice-core samples with potential indicators of bacterial and algae-like life. Despite the success, and plans for future expeditions to the same co-ordinates, further missions were indefinitely delayed.
Report Details
Site Selection
Nineteen sites were nominated for testing, including the Lansing Ice Shelf and the Centre III Canyon, both of which exhibited excessive carbon dioxide spikes the crew had associated with life. However, Captain Natassa Fondancken ultimately chose a less conspicuous site based upon the geographical resemblance to a human hand outstretched.
It seemed incredible to me to find such a vision. Obviously, the universe is a vast and varied place and we can expect coincidences to arise almost all the time, but it seemed like a denial of humanity to search elsewhere. Here, I thought, if another human were to pass by, they would see what I had seen and think what I had thought - not the empirical reasoning of spectrographic gas analysis but, "Hey, that's an outstretched hand." I felt it would be a denial of humanity to go somewhere else.
The collection site was deemed a success, leading Fordancken to say:
Exploration is not about being guided by science, or data, or raw emotion or desire. It's guided by interest. I learnt what it was like to be in the palm of a giant hand, and while it was not amazing, it was worth the try.
Landing
Disembarkment occurred during the Waken morning, which meant the crew spent 16 hours in the lander after touching down, primarily sleeping and playing cards. Fordancken reported:
When we exited the sun was throwing this pink-orange light over everything, catching all the edges and creases in the ice. I'd been expecting a pale world, but it was fiery and blushing. There were tall pillars of ice, lined up almost like a structure, so much so that I had [the geologist] Wanstewn tell me if they looked possible - she confirmed that the wind and ice-movement here created them over thousands of years. As we went into the shade of a crevasse the ice shone dull blue, and it was filled with a green sheen. It was, primarily, just discolouration from sediment, but I had the sense of walking through something old, like a temple framed with moss.
Sample Collection
Sample collection lasted six days, mostly without incident, though on three occasions there was a suit breach, and, in returning the breached suit-wearer to the lander, an omission of quarantine procedures. The crew reported that none of the ice-core samples were compromised. The crewmember, glacier technician Easflew, recalls:
We have such robust procedures, and so many failsafes, and years of training - of course nothing like this should happen. But it's so easy to make a slip, especially out on ice. The ice there, on Waken, is more slippery than ice at home - just the touch of a boot is enough to make the surface underneath you liquid, though it freezes again when you lift your foot. Nothing felt dangerous, and all I let in the was the cold, but it was a cold more than I've ever felt, and I had to be carried back. I think I dropped my lucky knife out there, too - that's some 740 million kilometres away now. And I suspect it will stay just where I left it, for a couple of hundred years at least, if I ever want to go back.
Aftermath
Due to the omitted quarantine procedures, the Latent Quarry had to spend a month in Waken's orbit, with daily testing, to ensure that no contaminents were returned. The crew spent the extra time studying the ice samples, and filming a low-budget action-horror film1. Data transmission of the test samples was sent via NoLoRN back to the relay base, and spent 5 more years travelling to Landfall.
Fondancken kept a diary throughout the quarantine period, in which she noted
It was tough on everyone. Everyone had a different way of coping, and we are trained for boredom - really trained, like you wouldn't believe - but an unexpected delay really hits hard. No one slept well. And then we started having dreams, dreams of going home, and I would wake up sweaty with this pinching anxiety in my heart, one that rummaged around in there and plucked bits of it about, and I would see that cold, quiet planet circling as though it had found peace. We all dream of going home, but in my dreams home was a different place, a long corridor in a complex of dark triangles, as heavy as a planet, but smaller, and someone inside was waiting for me, someone I knew but had never met, and who was ready to hear the story I had to tell. And I would go inside... and it was so dissatisfying to wake up and not be there.