Iris didn’t like mealtimes. She had never liked them. Not once in her life had she enjoyed sitting in a room with a bunch of people chewing, often much louder than was necessary. Iris would sit and try not to say too much. If she began to speak, she would probably start yelling at someone for eating. It wasn’t the best look. If it wasn’t impolite, she would have eaten every meal in the safety of her room with both earbuds blasting her music and continuing her work.
Iris tried her hardest to just listen to Alex and Penny’s trivial conversation. It was some stupid thing about an artist they both liked. Penny enjoyed Alex’s company, but he was also an idiot. A lovable idiot, but still an idiot.
Since they lived on the same planet, they would often see each other outside of missions. Iris was always careful to avoid dinner invitations. Alex’s husband, Levi, chewed like an animal. It made Iris want to rip his tongue out and tape his lips together, but that would be seen as rude for some mysterious reason.
Instead of dinner, she would go over for coffee or drinks. They would often go to their favourite bar just down the street from Iris’s house. It was where all the hottest women went, and Alex and Levi liked it because it had pretty good drink prices and all the people there were generally nice, except that one time someone, who was clearly drunk, pointed a loaded chida at Levi. Iris was never fully sure why that had happened, but it was funny looking back on it.
Iris finished eating her nachos. They had been mediocre at best. The food that was on this mission had been a significant decrease from other missions. That was probably due to its smaller crew and more remote location.
Iris stood up from the table and took her plate into the kitchen. Newt was in there having a silent battle to get the jar of tea open. It was a sorry sight.
Iris put her plate down, then asked, “would you like some help with that?”
Newt sighed and passed the jar to Iris. “That would be great. Thanks, Iris.”
Iris opened the jar with ease. She put her muscles down to the primal medical training she had had to do before going on every mission. The justification was always something about what if you lose power or the AI goes down. Iris was pretty sure she would never have to use chest compressions, but it was part of the required training before each exoplanet mission. All the scientists on missions were trained in both modern medical procedures and primal ones, as well as a plethora of other things that would probably be useless. She didn’t understand why anyone else on the base had to be trained on how to use the medical equipment. The only reason they would ever have to know how to use it was if both Newt and Iris managed to die or get injured at the same time. But Iris didn’t make the rules; she just followed them, so now she knew how to do chest compressions as well as a lot of snow survival skills. Maybe she could understand why she would need to know those things as the base doctor, but the other scientists? No, she saw no need for them to know these things. They were scientists, not doctors.
Once Iris finished opening the not very difficult to open jar. She said good night to Newt and headed to her room.
Iris’s room was bare except for a wall hanging above her bed that allowed her to feel like she was sleeping in a cave. It was the only thing she had in her room at home, so it was the only thing she would have in her room and an exoplanet millions of kilometres away.
Iris’s room was always perfectly organised. It was easy for her to keep it organised because there was nothing to mess it up with, unlike Phoenix. He had too much stuff for his own good.
Iris had a quick shower then changed into her comfortable clothes. While she had told the others she was going to bed, in reality her social time was just up. Now it was time for Iris to be alone and do the things she enjoys, like reading.
Iris would read about a book a week, sometimes two if they were good. She loved to be able to escape into a different world for a while. Watch someone else’s suffering instead of having to face her own.
Iris sat down at her desk and pulled up the book she was reading. It was a dystopian novel about if people stopped respecting the rules around personal AI’s. It was an interesting read but not Iris’s favourite. It was too philosophical for her taste, Iris liked literal things. She was a scientist after all.
Once the clock hit one am, Iris decided to go to sleep. Iris counted herself lucky she didn’t need much sleep to function because she couldn’t find a way to put down a good book.
***
Iris was not a morning person, but her course of work forced her to get up early. When Iris forced herself out of the comfort of bed, she then immediately had to move to decision-making.
Iris hated choosing what to wear, so mostly she would just wear the same thing each day, just in different colours. It greatly simplified the getting-ready process. Today, Iris chose a white shirt and blue pants combination. It was a loose-fitting shirt with a vest that covered the top half of her torso. The pants were flowy and loose.
With a hairpin, Iris twisted her hair back into a bun. It was the most practical hairstyle she could do that didn’t leave her feeling as though all her hair was being ripped out.
Iris sat quietly through breakfast. Newt’s excessively loud chewing drove her insane, but out of politeness, she didn’t rip his tongue out.
The moment Iris finished eating, she escaped from the sound of chewing and headed to the lab. Iris and Lark had planned some tests to run on ground water, sea water, and melted snow. The sea water was going to be the hardest to get to because covering the sea was a kilometre of ice they were going to have to dig through.
They were planning on getting snow samples that morning, then getting Newt and Penny to help them collect the seawater and groundwater samples. For the snow samples, they could just get the drones to get them, but Lark decided that they wanted to have a look outside with their own eyes.
Iris didn’t mind the fact that Lark had decided to go outside to get the samples. She was ready to get some fresh air for a while. Iris liked the smell of Volta air. It had a slight tangy smell that came from the high acidity of the soil and water.
Iris sat down at her workbench in the lab, booting up her display. She looked over the places they were planning to take samples from. It should only take them about half an hour to get all the snow samples. The groundwater and seawater samples would take much longer even with the help of Newt and Penny.
A had appeared on Iris shoulder, making her jump. “Sorry!” Lark cried. “I was just going to ask you if you were ready to get ready to go outside to get the samples.”
Iris took a few deep breaths to slow her heart rate before replying. “I’m ready. Should we go get geared up?”
Lark nodded. “Could you get the gear from the lab, and I’ll get our packs and skis ready?”
“On it.” Iris stood and gave Lark a nod.
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“Thanks. See you in a minute.”
Iris went to the large cabinet in the corner of the lab and got out the bag labelled: Water sample kit. It was a small waterproof bag with all the supplies necessary to take most types of water samples.
Once the kit was clutched safely in Iris’s arms, she headed to meet Lark in the room with all the outdoor gear they mostly called the prep room.
Lark was pushing all the snow survival gear into the small packs. Iris hated having to carry all the snow survival gear. It was a lot of weight, and she couldn’t imagine a time they would ever need any of it. Despite Iris’s personal opinions, regulation instructed them to take all the gear no matter how close or short the expedition was. Iris supposed they didn’t want anyone dying. It wouldn’t have looked good on the exoplanet reports the government did each month.
Iris wondered what they had written about their situation. Iris wondered how they were going to write their neglect of a while planet off as an accident. She was sure they would find a way. They always did. The government had some very good writers and half-truth tellers.
Iris held up the water sample kit. “Who’s getting stuck with this?”
Lark grabbed the bag from Iris. “I’ll take it. I have less of the other gear. You should get dressed into your outdoor gear.”
Iris nodded, then grabbed her snowsuit from its hook. The snow suits were thin, well-insulated, and heat-regulated full-body suits. Iris’s was dark blue. Her ski boots were flexible around the toe with some motion in the ankle.
Lark had finished packing both their bags, so Iris shouldered hers. Next, Iris collected her skis from the rack. They had on ombre from purple to blue with a galaxy pattern.
The crew of the Volta Science Expedition had had to spend a good chunk of their training to telemark ski. It had been easy for Iris to pick up, as she had done a lot of downhill skiing. She had found out she quite enjoyed telemark turns. The lung position was fast but with a good amount of control.
Lark grabbed their skis from the rack as well after shouldering their pack.
“You ready to go?” Lark asked Iris.
“Locked and loaded.” Iris replied.
“Well then, let’s do it.”
Lark pushed the button to open the door. Lark and Iris stepped out into the Volta landscape. The purple trees surrounded the base. Their large leaves create large shadows across the snow. The sky of Volta was also more purple than other planets, just due to the way the atmosphere scattered the light waves.
Iris liked all the purple on Volta. Purple was one of her favourite colours.
Iris and Lark secured their feet into the skis. He skis were so light weight it felt almost as though Iris wasn’t wearing anything extra.
“Let’s go to first sight.” Lark said as they began to move off.
Iris followed behind Lark. Iris pushed off from the snow using the grips on the underside of her skis, then glided on the other ski. It was a fluid and easy motion for Iris, unlike Phoenix, who never quite got the hang of skiing no matter how much practice he had.
It took them ten minutes to get to the first sample spot. It was in an open area. The snow was pristinely white. Lark and Iris took off their skis and got out the sample supplies.
With a small spoon, Lark scooped snow into an airtight container. Once the container lid was one and secure, Lark placed the sample back into the bag and slung their pack back onto their back. Iris took a photo of the area and marked it on a map.
Lark and Iris continued to the next sample spot, about five minutes away from the first. Iris collected the sample and then took the photos of the area. This sample area was densely forested, with very little sunlight reaching them. The snow was only slightly less thick than the areas around it. The temperature in Volta rarely got high enough to even start melting the snow.
The third sample area was on the other side of the base, nearer the ocean. Oceans were difficult to discern on Volta due to them all being frozen with layers of snow on top. It is mostly safe to walk over the ice, but there are patches that are thinner due to small volcanoes heating up the water, so can break, plunging you into freezing waters.
To keep the scientists on Volta from walking onto the oceans by accident, they had a small tracker in their outdoor suits that would cause a vibration if they got too close to the ice-covered ocean.
Lark and Iris arrived at the third sample sight. It had a few short plants but few large trees. The snow was thick and densely packed. The sun was shining directly onto it but not providing enough heat to begin to melt it.
Lark collected the sample, and Iris took the photos of the area.
Lark put their pack back on, then turned to Iris. “Could you call Newt and Penny to see if they are ready to do the ocean water sample?”
“On it,” Iris replied. Iris clicked a button on her earpiece, turning on the microphone. “Tataid, open a line to Newt and Penny.”
“Open a line? Why don’t you say call?” Lark asked as Iris waited for Newt and Penny to accept the call.
“It’s what we say at the hospital. During my residency, I was told off for saying call. I’m not entirely sure why we do it like that, but we do.”
Lark nodded. The next second, Newt and Penny accepted the call. “Hey Iris. You ready for me?”
“Yes. We are at 0.2233° S, 78.5141° W.” Iris read from the map shown on her arm display.
“Iris, we’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. Could you two start to set up the sample area?” Penny said.
“On it. See you in a bit.” Iris ended the call.
Lark turned to Iris. “We should prep the area for the equipment.”
“I’ll mark the area. You get the shovels.”
Looking down at her map, Iris found the exact spot they were taking the sample from. She carefully traced a circle around the area they would cut the ice. They had checked before that it was a safe place to stand and place the equipment, but also not where the ice was a kilometre thick. The ice in the area they had chosen was about ten meters thick.
Once the circle was marked out, Lark passed Iris a shovel, and they began to clear the area of snow. The ice was incredibly clear on Volta. This was due to high amounts of volcanic activity that boiled parts of the ocean before it got incredibly cold again, forming almost completely clear ice. This part of the ocean was shallow enough that Iris could see the seabed. It was a rocky floor with very few water plant species. They were yet to find any animals in the ocean, but due to the thick ice and deep oceans, that was expected. It would take special trips with specific equipment to even have a chance of spotting any life in the ocean, if it even exists.
Lark and Iris finished clearing the area of snow. They only had to wait five minutes for Newt and Penny to arrive.
Penny and Newt took off their skis. Penny swung the bag from her back and began to pull out the pieces of the ice cutting machine. She handed the stand pieces to Newt. He assembled it quickly, setting on the area of ice to be cut.
Penny assembled the drill part. With Newt's help, she put it on the pyramid-shaped stand. It always amazed Iris that such a powerful and deep-cutting machine could be carried just in two bags.
“Everyone step at least five meters from the cutter.” Penny commanded as she walked away from the fully assembled machine.
Penny pressed a small button on her arm display, and the dill began to spin. The drill was humming slightly, then began to vibrate as it made contact with the ice. Small pieces of ice flew in all directions as the drill went deeper and deeper.
It took ten minutes for the drill to cut through all the ice. When it finished, Iris noticed that a small red light danced on Penny's display. Penny pressed another button, and the drill spun in the opposite direction, freeing it from the ice.
When the drill was back in its resting position, Penny and Newt took it apart in just a few minutes. Finally, Lark and Iris approached the hole. Iris peered down the deep hole. She could only see blackness. They would have to get some lights and sensors down there to see anything, but they had only prepared for water sampling, so it would have to be a project for another day.
Lark opened her bag and produced the sampling device. It was a small vacuum with a long tube attached to it on a coil. It was nothing special, but it worked.
Lark handed the vacuum to Iris. “You set up the correct measurements, then we’ll get the sample, and then head back to the base. I think we should do the groundwater sampling another day or see if we can do it remotely.”
Iris nodded then began to set up the correct measurements on the vacuum. It was a simple task of just imputing the liquid being collected and how much was needed. The vacuum would measure it out perfectly, saving them sometime later.
Iris gave Lark the thumbs up, and then, together, they fed the tube down the hole. When the tube was sitting in the water, Lark gave Iris the thumbs up. Iris powered up the vacuum and watched as the water came through the clear tube and into the collection container.
The vacuum automatically stopped when there was exactly one litre of sea water sitting in the collection container.
Iris unscrewed the collection container from the vacuum and placed it with the other samples after clearly labelling it with where the water came from. Iris closed her bag, then slung it onto her shoulders. Finally, she marked the spot where they had drilled the hole on her map. They would use this same hole for other experiments, such as the sea life experiments Penny was planning on conducting.
Once all four of the scientists had packed up their things, they put their skis on and headed back to the base. It had been a successful mission for Lark and Iris. Now they would just have to test the water. It was going to be a fun afternoon.