Harris leaned forward, tapped a few keys on his keyboard, and leaned back with a smile. The screen in front of him blinked to life, displaying a white landscape. The sky was dark and covered with stars, the ground was gleaming and in the distance, a patch of red color could be seen. Connelly leaned in close and the rest of the crew gathered around.

Connelly looked back at Robert, who had his hand to his mouth and was chuckling. She looked back at Harris. "Is this?"

Harris cracked his knuckles and let out a slight laugh. "One small step."

Peterson placed his hand on Connelly's shoulder and squeezed. "You did it. Welcome to Europa."

CHAPTER 10 -- GOING DOWN

Willard stepped forward, hearing only the swishing sounds his freshly donned PMS suit made when he moved. He looked at the door in front of him marked, "Decon," and wondered how the process would feel. Decontamination, other than a steaming hot shower, was not part of his daily routine. Not that he minded. Contamination was one of his primary concerns. He'd taken Choi aside after the last debriefing and grilled her about the possible dangers that would be involved with the crew coming into contact with alien biology.

Standing in the doorway of the conference room, Choi appeared to be hesitant at first, but assured him that the true danger of biological contamination was human to alien. If life exists outside of Earth, and we step into that ecosystem, we are the invaders—we are the invasive species. It occurred on Earth in the 1800 and 1900's when germs, disease and various sycophants brought to the New World wreaked havoc on ecosystems that had no defense. Only the ecosystems that had highly adaptive defense systems survived.

"That is the danger of humankind," Choi said. "In the past we've sought to protect only ourselves from new environments. Not the other way around. The result was the loss of eighty-five percent of the world's plant and animal species."

Willard felt himself relax around Choi for the first time. She spoke passionately and he could swear a genuine smile was seeping onto her face.

It seems our second in command has a soft side after all, Willard thought, for germs.

"But what about the dangers to the crew? If we can infect other species with our germs, what about the other way around?" Willard asked.

"As I mentioned, the human race always protects itself first." Choi leaned against the door frame. "And we're no different. Unlike your typical unintelligent life-form, which develops defenses through millions of years of natural selection, we can prepare for the worst in advance."

Willard nodded.

"The electromagnetic shielding, the PMS suits, decontamination procedures… We're prepared to defend against microbial invaders."

"But how do we know it will work against something new?"

"In theory, we don't."

Willard opened his mouth to speak, but the protest he nearly raised was cut short.