Connelly looked flabbergasted. The chances of them finding life in such an inhospitable environment was a statistical improbability. Yet she couldn't deny that the strange organisms spread out before her on the lab tables of the Surveyor's level 5 lab, did not come from Earth.

"We now believe," Choi said, "that all of Europa's streaks are covered with these organisms."

Connelly shook her head, trying to imagine how it was possible.

Willard leaned down close to one of the containers. "They look like they came from cucumber-shaped Jell-O molds. Can we call them Jell-Os?"

Robert flitted Willard aside as he rounded the table, wielding a computer tablet and pen. He made a flurry of notes while moving swiftly from one sample to the next. "How can you even think of Jell-O in the midst of a discovery of this…ah, this magnitude."

Willard crossed his arms and took a step back. "All I'm saying is that they should have a name."

Connelly nodded and looked at Peterson. "You found them."

Peterson stared at the blood-red organisms. "Europhids… Not the technical name of course. I'll let you biology types figure that out. But for now, Europhids."

Harris entered the lab with a bright smile on his face. "Already naming our new friends?"

Connelly hadn't seen Captain Harris since they arrived back on the Surveyor. She felt a new calm fall over the excited crew. "Good to see you, Timothy."

Harris nodded and proceeded to take a closer look at the Europhid samples. "Has the discovery been documented?"

"We took digital stills and video," Choi said. "Each of the…Europhids has been weighed, measured and tagged for future reference."

Connelly stepped forward. "We were hoping to begin taking samples for analysis. We'd like to run the gamut of tests. Cultures, DNA, genetic sequencing. I can't even begin to imagine what these will look like under the electron microscope."

Harris stood up straight, diverting his eyes from the Europhids to Connelly. "All of that is going to have to wait."

Robert stopped his note taking. "What? Why?"

A flurry of anxious questions flooded Connelly's mind and threatened to spill out. She clenched her mouth shut and forced the questions out of her mind. She trusted Harris and if he had come to some sort of conclusion without them, she would abide by it. She couldn't help but fear he was about to order the samples jettisoned. It was true, that having alien biology on board was an immense risk, but Choi seemed certain that as long as the Europhids were contained, risk of contamination was at a minimum. Connelly felt a building fear as Harris opened his mouth to speak again.