The Ocean Within

Finally, the sun emerged from behind the gas giant planet Titania, and Lysa adjusted her filter mask tighter. The summer solstice had officially arrived on Titania’s moon, Faerrus, and back at the colony they would be celebrating. Celebrating for her meant testing out a new theory about this moon’s ocean. She pulled her brown hair back into a short ponytail, then shoved her boat off the mineral encrusted shore into the bay with a final crunch.

Faerrus’s orbit around Titania meant the sun only shined here for 12 days every year, and the density of minerals in the water and atmosphere required them to use filter masks, but otherwise it was habitable.

Lysa’s role was to analyze the chemical composition of the water, which was unlike anything found on Earth. The ocean was rich in minerals like copper, manganese, cobalt, and at least a dozen other unknown chemicals that together were nearly superconductive in their ability to transfer energy. She believed with the arrival of the summer solstice, the additional solar energy provided by the sun would stimulate the superconductive minerals to energize the neural pathways and “wake up” the ocean.

Lysa activated the sensors on her boat, sending out pulses of sound and light into the water. The data began streaming back almost immediately, and she watched as small ripples formed, colors converging, diverging, and shooting off into the distance as if in response to her actions. Suddenly, a large ripple moved towards her boat, causing it to sway gently. Lysa's heart raced as she watched the sensors light up with activity.

Her comm beeped, startling her. She glanced at the screen to see Dr. Mabik, the head of the colony's scientific division, his white hair a fuzzy halo around his head. He looked at her with a mix of curiosity and concern.

"Lysa, are you seeing this?" Mabik's voice crackled through the speaker. "The whole colony's sensors are going wild. What did you do?"

"I think I found something, Mabik. Something incredible. I need more time to analyze the data, but it looks like the ocean is...reacting to us."

"Reacting? Lysa. The dam is scheduled to finish construction next week, and our corporate sponsors won’t wait. If we can control the water flow, we can harvest the priceless mineral resources more efficiently."

"I know, but what if the ocean is even more than we think it is?” She explained the chemical superconductive properties of the ocean, the anomalies she had observed, and the signals she had exchanged. She played the recordings through the comm, showing the patterns and responses.

When she finished, there was a heavy silence. Mabik was the first to speak.

"Lysa, this is...extraordinary. But it's not enough. We need something that unequivocally proves the ocean is possibly alive. Otherwise, we can't justify delaying the dam project."

Lysa felt a wave of frustration. "But Mabik, this could be a living entity we're talking about.”

"I understand your scientific curiosity, Lysa, but we have a responsibility to the colony. Without the support of our corporate sponsor, our resources will be depleted within a month."

Desperation churned her stomach. "Give me one more week. Let me try to establish more direct evidence of potential sentience."

Mabik sighed, running a hand through what remained of his hair. "Look, Lysa, I'll give you 24 hours to come up with something concrete that will convince corporate.”

#

She spent the next day in a feverish state of analysis, barely resting or eating. The evidence pointed to one conclusion: the ocean was indeed alive. It was an entity of unimaginable scale, with processing reactions that formed and sped instantly across the entire body of water as far as she could measure. But how could she prove it.

She turned back to her equipment, maxing out the frequency settings, hammering the water with frequencies, trying to obtain something undeniable. Hunched over her equipment, she didn’t see the wave slam into her boat. She fell over the edge and spun into the water, immediately sinking below the surface. The turbulent mineral-rich water was impossible to see through, but there was a glow to her right that had to be the surface. She tried to swim toward it, then realized she was making no progress, like something was holding her below the surface. Then water began streaming into her ears, nose, and all her bodily openings. She ripped off her filter mask to scream and liquid forced its way down her throat as she lost consciousness.

Awareness slowly returned and she felt at peace, like floating in embryonic fluid, somehow cradled by an ancient, wise grandmother, comforting her in soothing tones. She realized a bubble of air surrounded her head and she was breathing normally, but her life was flashing before her eyes like she was dying. Terrified, she passed out again.

She woke with a jerk as she thumped back into her boat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a prehensile arm of water retreat back into the ocean. Then it returned, dropping her filter mask into her lap, then with a little wave at her, it retracted into the surface of the water. She looked down at her wet, mineral-encrusted clothing in wonder, then quickly put on her filter mask. She sat up and looked around, noting that her boat was exactly where she left it, and the recorded data indicated she had only been gone for five minutes. This proof was undeniable!

#

“Denied,” said Dr. Mabik, hunched over his desk in the sterile office. “No delays, the dam project will move forward on schedule.”

“What!” shouted Lysa. “After all I told you, you’re still completing the dam, effectively chopping the entity in half!”

“Well,” said Dr. Mabik, looking down to study his fingernails. “Obviously you fell overboard, hit your head, and had a hysterical episode. You’re lucky you didn’t drown. You should check yourself into the health lab to be safe.”

Lysa waved her hand dismissively. “But what about the data from my boat and from the colony’s sensors?” she pleaded. “That evidence will support my claims.”

Dr. Mabik looked away, “The data from your boat was corrupted and could not be recovered. I personally checked the colony’s sensors, and they recorded…nothing.”

Lysa stared at him aghast for a moment, then tersely stated, “I can collect more data.”

Dr. Mabik sadly returned her gaze, “Our corporate sponsor will tolerate no more delays in finishing the dam, and beginning the harvesting of the unique natural resources you yourself have helped identify. Otherwise they said there will be a change in our leadership. Do you understand why it has to be this way?” he said through gritted teeth.

“I do.” She said with a sigh, then stood and left his office.

#

She stopped by the canteen to get a cup of coffee, then left the administration building, wandering down to the bay. Walking along the shoreline, she watched the beautiful swirling water until she saw a particularly colorful spot and leaned over to get a closer look. She abruptly twisted her head to the right and water streamed out of her left ear into the colorful spot in the water. The color fluctuated a few times, then multiple colors shot off in all directions under the surface. She knelt, touched her lips to the water, and sucked in a mouthful, swallowing and savoring it. Somehow she knew that after dark, just out of range of the dam sensors she had helped install, solid projections of water would start to grind away at the foundations of the dam. They would target the areas that needed repairs, according to a briefing she saw last week. The partial dam would probably collapse sometime tomorrow afternoon. Which would resolve the immediate problem, but it could be rebuilt soon enough, unless…

She pulled from her backpack the pitcher she had borrowed from the canteen and leaned over the water. A bubble of concentrated colors formed in the water, and she scooped it up in the pitcher. She would help pour the drinks tonight celebrating that they were moving forward with the dam. And when the corporate sponsors showed up in a month with new leadership personnel, she was sure by then that all the colony staff would happily pour them welcoming drinks.

The future of the colony and the ocean were now intertwined in ways she had yet to fully grasp, but the ocean entity would teach them. Who knows, Lysa thought with a sly smile as she felt a confirming warm buzz in her head from the ocean water. When her rotation was over here, she might bring home a few liters of concentrated Faerrus ocean water for study. It would be interesting to see how fast it could spread in an ocean that received daily sunlight, like on Earth.