Chapter 2: Jupiter

Stargazer took a slow, steadying breath as the horizon beneath the cloud-cap came into focus on the solarsuit helmet. With a mind desperately seeking to describe the awesome beauty that rolled before them, only one small utterance made it through the radio, “We found… um … utopia?”

But what did that even mean? Could such a word begin to encapsulate the powerfully tall violet mountains that peaked, in jagged shattered tips, just under the dangerous storm clouds that had torn the shuttle asunder? In the unshattered calm beneath that dome of disaster, rolling hills lay at the foot of the mountains, plush with lively sparking, sparkling orange flora that thrived in an as-yet unimagined symbiotic relationship. In another direction, a flowing glowing teal river that giggled and babbled it’s way around freshly lain rock, and twisted metal. The other bank sung a very different tune, descending in the distance into lifeless, seemingly airless darkness, even the stone bereft of sand, or texture. Black as the belly of space — and that was their destination.

In the direction that the team had gathered, the odd lushness of this entirely alien landscape continued through a swirling red mist. Tiny perfectly round trees which sprung from spindly and underdeveloped stumps that were entirely unfit to support the bulky top, erupted ludicrously from a crisp fuzzy layer of orange inexplicably soft stone. Not a plant, it didn’t grow, or change except to crumble under pressure, but beneath a boot, it gave a satisfying crunch reminiscent of an experience none of the solarnauts would have yet had in their lives: autumn leaves.


“Coralie?” Stargazer mumbled into their radio. “Have we heard anything from the Station yet?” They’d all heard it. One moment before they’d been surrounded in the pods, the radio had crackled a “Alpha Team? Alpha, please respond!”

Waiting for that answer was torture. Was it ten seconds, or a thousand?

“No. And there’s some kind of geometerological anomaly, so keep your helmet on.” Cora let more concern through her voice in this moment than she might’ve otherwise, judging that Alpha Team would thrive better with knowing they all felt the same anxiety at the lack of contact.

“No matter what, every hour on the hour. There’s absolutely no reason that radio contact with Jupiter Station won’t work and it is *essential* that you stay in contact, **do you understand**?”

The Directors voice had been quivering with the importance of this, hands drumming the desk with bunched fingers in an attempt to maintain control.

“We will do everything we can, Sir, but if *you* don’t know what’s on the other side of that layer, I certainly can’t make promises.” Of course, that had been Cora. Stargazer had admired her from the moment they met, she was beautiful, with a kind smile, and rather than the customary warm grasp to the forearm that was a universal greeting, Cora had greeted the young pup with a tight hug and a “You are *so* welcomed into Alpha Team, we are a safe place. I promise.”

The radio crackled. “Come on back. Polathy says zir readings aren’t conclusive that it’s safe and free from terrestrial life down here and we don’t wanna find out the hard way.”

As Stargazer began the journey towards the team once more, pup’s mind sorted lazily through their thoughts, mulling over one, chewing on it for a while, and then letting it go for the next one when it had depleted any continued interest. In some cases, they were silly, contemporary observations such as an emerald green burst of gas from one stunted mountain peak just happened to look exactly like a man bent over in a case of aggressive flatulence, Which sent Stargazer into peels of laughter, lifting the airwaves that reached Alpha Team. Other thoughts seemed to linger with the heaviness of silence, or were more complex, such as the world they had all come from. Or ones that still induced panic, such as the shuttle crash.

The tremendous trembling of the descending shuttle had been terrible, rattling through their teeth and interrupting any conversation that might’ve been attempted with unpredictable shudders and creaking metal. Even tardigradium had to be held together by parts and pieces, bolts or nuts, which despite the best intentions, failed at their task. Before the ship truly came apart, each person aboard was wrapped in a small, personal sized escape pod that surrounded their seat and gear-mount, and shot them through the dense liquid storms that gripped Jupiter’s sky as a living ocean.

Pup forced their thoughts away from that moment, instead reminded of their feelings when first meeting Coralie.

The two of them had a few features in common, cheerful smiles and thicker waists but otherwise, they couldn’t have been more apart. Stargazer’s height put them squarely in the middle of Cora’s chest, while pup’s larger feet and tall, gradimech ears seemed to add to the playful, yet thoughtful expression to their resting face. Cora always looked like she was daydreaming when she wasn’t thinking of how her face might look in someone else’s eyes. Her arms were thick, strong branches with graceful corded muscle that shouldered both the literal and the metaphysical weights of the Alpha Team leadership. Meanwhile, Stargazer was a bit of a petite person, with a beautiful curved belly that suited pup’s solarsuit shape perfectly, and small, agile, deft hands, suited to the art they loved or the complex language of hand sign they spoke when choosing to let pup’s ears rest, or as often as they found someone else who knew it. It was pup’s favorite way of speaking.

These ears were a fascinating piece of biometry, as Stargazer could choose, whenever pup wished,to disengage the assistive hearing device that helped them process and understand the muddy noises that were their natural hearing. In a glowing neon green, they were fuzzy, warm to the touch, and as responsive as a body part that one might’ve been born with. With those ears and pup’s tail, Stargazer could face any future. They even had adaptations for the solarsuit.

Stargazer, who had introduced themself as using both they, and pup/pupself pronouns, had experienced some of the rarer, but not unheard of, intolerance that was more common to the outer Core Planets, including their home, Neptune. The knowledge of this had not slipped past Coralie, her hug a little tighter to convey exactly how much this tugged at the bold Leader’s heart.

Stargazer art’s was famous across the galaxy and highly sought after, but of course, with fame had come unfair, and often needlessly cruel, criticisms of their artform. Humanity might have survived the end of the universe but they couldn’t perfectly eradicate the meanness that seemed endemic to their personality pool.

In reaction, the strong and proud young pup had decided to simply, remove themselves from the place that had decided to be ungrateful for the art pup provided. Without fanfare, without a flounce or tantrum, they quietly packed their things, and moved to Jupiter Station, which had been a twinkling, sparkling temptation since their earliest days — Stargazer was younger than Jupiter Station.

(( with special thanks to Mordekai, Mirsi, Michelle, and my beloved fanbase who have been patient with me ))