Under Ice: Depth (15)

Story by TyrKangaroo on SoFurry

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The crew of the Nova was faced with uncertainty. They may be stuck in outer space for longer than they planned. This wasn't going to stop them from continuing their mission.


27 January 2083

“I have good news and bad news," Diego said in his video that he sent back to the ISA, “I'll start with the good news. I've attached a video feed that Magnus captured on his suit." The video of the creature the crew interacted with popped up, “We're certain this is a sentient lifeform. It reacted in a cautious manner and was trying to learn what our drone was. As you can see at the end here, he didn't care much for its presence."

“Fuck," Tucker uttered out.

“Shhh," Allen held a finger up to his lips.

“Whatever he is, he ate our first drone. Rasul was able to pinpoint the creature's location on Europa as the drone is still sending a signal. We've centralized an area where he hangs out. It's a deep cave below the ice about two miles down. I've tasked Magnus and his team to reinforce the drill on the Spider. We're assuming that once we reach the area the creature is in, we may find more. We'll be providing a full report on all our findings on this next expedition."

“Now the bad news. The entire crew has been infected with the H. Bac. Doctor Thorn created a concoction of custard and the bacteria to spread it among those in the ship. He has been relieved of duty and is currently sitting in the airlock. We are under quarantine and have come to terms that we cannot return home. We have decided that we need to finish this mission and gather what data we can, and maybe have face to face first contact. At this point, the crew is ready for anything. I would like to be informed on who allowed him to pass his psych eval."

“Furthermore, we have been made aware of Project Ter-Venusia. You can let the investors know they will not be able to carry it out. Sorry to them and the future, I guess. Harvey was their insider here on the ship. I hope to get more from him later about Project Ter-Venusia, but Doctor Thorn losing his mind has taken our attention. We await your response. Captain Lopez out."

“Lock the room down," Bruce told Tucker.

“Sir?" Tucker looked up at him.

“Lock it down."

Tucker complied. The command center let out an alarm sound as the doors locked and red flashing lights came on. The gorilla took to the center of the floor.

“Everyone, what we just witnessed does not leave this room," Bruce sighed, “The doors will not be unlocked until the investors show up. Anything on you that is electronic will be discarded. You will be subjected to a full body search."

“Bruce, what are you doing?" Allen stood toe to toe with him.

“We have protocols Perky," Bruce looked down at him.

“I know that," said Allen, “But to what end? Look around the room. Everyone is now frightened. Just like the military to box people in when they're scared, right?"

“The balls on you," Bruce retorted, “We can't let this out. The whole mission is in jeopardy now. Don't let the crew of the Nova be sacrificed for histeria."

“What histeria?" Allen crossed his arms, “We can't even leave the whole facility without eyes on us."

“We wait here until the investors tell us what our next move is," said Bruce.

“I'm not going to step on your toes, but you and I both know this will get out," said Allen.

“Hacker, get away from your computer," Bruce moved the rabbit's chair back, “I know Perky is right. However, Allen, we need to follow protocol. You still want to be a part of this, right?"

“They better get here soon," Allen frowned, “We have the right…"

Bruce cut him off, “You relinquish your rights the second you step through that door every morning. And don't you forget it."

Allen hung his head, “This is going to be Mars all over again, isn't it?"

“We'll see," Bruce frowned.

*****

Diego had gathered the crew in the galley. No one had slept at all. The tension on the ship was high. Hyperion had his muzzle hung into Diego's coffee mug. The fennec needed to keep himself juiced up. He wasn't going to sleep until everyone assured him they would be ok.

“What's the word captain?" he asked.

“I've sent command a video on the situation," the bat pressed his face into his hands and let out a sigh as he dragged them down, “I sent them the video that you guys caught."

“We'll see how they take that," said Ken.

“And Harvey, I'm sorry, but I did let them know about Project Ter-Venusia," he looked over at the dingo.

Harvey nodded, “It's ok, Captain. I knew the risks when I came onboard."

“Do they have a backup plan?" Diego asked him.

Harvey sighed and nodded, “They do. The next step is deep space mining in the Kuiper Belt. There's plenty of ice out there."

“That's a helluva plan when we haven't gotten that far," Hyperion said from within the mug, “Who's even heading that kind of project?"

“My team," said Magnus, “Another piece of my engineering prowess has been in testing for several years. I've been close to cracking the code for an FTL drive that wouldn't liquify biological lifeforms."

Hyperion's ears perked up, “Do you need a pilot?"

Magnus laughed, “They are wanting to do robotic testing first. The primary tests have been near successful, but they've not discussed any mining projects with me. I just build what they want. My team has been working on several projects over the years. Many are in use."

“Including the Nova," said Diego.

“Of course," Magnus nodded, “I never question what they want. I guess I'm in the same boat as Harvey. Without them, I won't get to work on my projects."

“I have a higher chance of losing what I've built unfortunately," said Harvey.

“I'll fight for you to keep your position," said Diego.

“Thank you, captain," Harvey nodded.

“And our other problem," Diego sighed, “Have you guys found anything from his research yet?"

“I'm pretty sure he's officially a mad scientist," said Kuga, the otter had papers spread across the entire table in the galley, “There's so much here."

“We're educated," said Harvey, “But this is on another level. He's broken the whole protein down to bare minimum and built it back up. Probably where he got the idea to use us as his experiments."

“Speaking of," Diego massaged his forehead, “Have you all been adapting to the changes?"

“I have to admit," said Hyperion, “I'm curious to see how far I can grow."

Diego chuckled and ruffled the fennec's headfur, “Don't overdo it, huh? We don't know the long term effects if you let it take over too long."

“Don't make us milk you," Rasul pointed at him.

Hyperion blushed, “You wouldn't…"

Diego smirked, “Do you think if we send the notes back to Earth, someone can help us work on it?"

“We might have to," said Ken, “We can barely make heads or tails of his notes. We have the full study of the protein on file that we can give the ISA. I imagine they have someone on hand that can find a way to reverse the process."

“Hopefully ena way thet won' kill us," said Marc.

The kangaroo had spent the day angry. He had demolished his room from how pissed off he was at Julio. He'd never felt such hurt and betrayal from someone he thought he could love. Ken managed to talk him down to acceptance which led to Marc sobbing uncontrollably for about an hour. Diego even gave him one of the ship's whiskey bottles to help bring him back down.

Now fairly snockered and with coffee in hand, he was ready to work again. His determination was renewed with saving the crew, finding the lifeform, and getting back home. Everyone just had to make sure he stayed away from the airlock. He'd already told them he probably won't hold back from hitting the release button to dispose of Julio. It was a shared sentiment no one would actually do, but Ken knew Marc would actually do it.

“We'll compile a list of files to send back," said Ken.

“In the meantime, the rest of us will make sure the Spider is ready for the next trip down," said Diego, “I know we're in a wave of mystery right now. But once we finish up, I think we all need to get some sleep."

28 January 2083

Diego cracked the entrance to the airlock open and dropped some food packets in. The hyena brushed them away from him. Julio's genitals had become massively engorged. He hadn't bothered emptying himself out since he was thrown down below. Diego sat down next to the door.

“Why'd you do it?" Diego asked him.

“We're expendable," said Julio, “We were sent on a mission of death and you know it."

“We were doing fine," Diego looked down at him, “What happened?"

“We were not doing fine!" Julio stood up as he yelled at Diego, “Once Rasul got infected, everything went out the window! I couldn't find a cure. Nothing I did could stop the process. I figured I'd have a little fun with the end of our days!"

“You barely spent any time coming up with a solution!" Diego was up on his feet as he glared down at the hyena, “You decided to infect yourself, and then the rest of the crew! You took the situation into your own hands and made it into a bigger problem!"

“Fuck you!" Julio held up his middle finger, “Us going on this mission was already a problem. They sent us on the most dangerous mission possible. No one back home expects us to come back. The headlines will read 'The Crew of the Nova Lost in a Horrific Accident'. They've covered every failed project that way. Even during the war they lied about what was happening."

“We're not a failed project!" Diego shot back at him, “We're going to have a successful mission without you, and when we get home, you'll be spending the rest of your miserable life in a prison cell."

“You are home!" Julio shot at him, “End of the line, captain."

Diego shook his head and left. He went into his room and collapsed into his bed. Now wasn't the time for it, but he had to masturbate. He pulled his swollen dick from his uniform and slid a condom over it. He furiously worked himself over to get this session over with quickly. He needed to rendezvous with the rest of the crew to coordinate their trip down. Diego left his room to be greeted by a shaky legged fennec.

“You alright?" Diego chuckled as he picked the fennec up.

“I've never came so hard in my life," said Hyperion as Diego carried him up the ship.

“You good to fly?" Diego smirked.

“Yes, sir," Hyperion saluted.

“Good boy," Diego sighed, “I'm sorry this has happened to you guys."

“It's ok sir," Hyperion said as Diego set him down, “We're in this together. You'll take care of us. And if we get stuck out here for the rest of our lives, so be it. I couldn't imagine spending my time with anyone else."

“Thanks Lightning," Diego gave him a smooch.

Hyperion blushed, “You got it, Papa Grande."

Magnus, Ken, Marc, and Harvey were suited up and waiting on the both of them. Hyperion set up the coordinates shared by Rasul and had them down to the moon in no time. Magnus was eager to find their lifeform again. He coordinated with Diego to get drilled down to their destination.

“Has he moved at all Rasul?" Diego asked.

“No sir," Rasul called back, “He only moved around this morning for a little bit. I assume only to hunt. But he's gone back to where he came from."

“I guess we've found his home," said Magnus, “Do you think it's right of us to invade like this?"

Diego frowned, “Not really, no. But it's part of our job."

“A job fer id'ots," said Marc as he monitored the drill's depth.

“Yeah," Diego nodded.

Magnus slowed the decent as they approached the area Rasul directed him to. The drill slid down and the raccoon hit the brakes. He started to bring the drill back in.

“We're through, captain," he said.

The drill was nearly back. When the head came into view they were all in for a surprise. The drone the creature had destroyed was jammed into the drill head. Magnus peeled it off and handed it over to Diego.

“Do you think he's trying to tell us to leave?" Magnus asked.

“Maybe," Diego sighed as he chucked the broken drone aside, “We have to try and communicate though. We may never get another chance."

“Alright, then let's go," Magnus went and prepared a drone.

The raccoon had to lower it by hand. They were unable to repair the spool. Once he hit the water, he dropped the slack on the ground and moved away from it. He didn't want to risk getting it wrapped up around his feet. He started to guide the drone down into the depths.

Diego and Ken watched from his sides. Marc and Harvey stayed back. The both of them weren't feeling too enthusiastic. In fact, they were more nervous than the others about the outcome. Magnus' screen went white when he dove in further and then cleared up.

The three of them gasped. This drove Marc and Harvey to join them. The sight they saw on the screen was incredible. There were hundreds of the lifeforms swimming around. A few of them were waiting for them it seemed. At least six of them went up to the drone. All of them were sniffing at it. One was pointing at the drone and then at himself.

“That must be our friend," said Ken.

The group of them swam away and disappeared from sight. Magnus drove in further. There were deep grooves and patterns cut into the ice. They weren't too dissimilar to cave drawings on Earth. They continued to explore until Rasul's voice hit them.

“Captain, I think you guys should get out of there," he said.

“Are we getting a shift?" Diego asked.

“There's a large mass of something coming up to your location, and fast," said Rasul.

“Wrap it up," Diego shot at them.

Magnus bunched up the tether into his arms and lifted the drone. He fell back as several lifeforms came shooting up out of the hole. The shark-like creatures were much smaller than the one they had encountered, but were of the same species. They spread out their tentacles and had them aimed down at Magnus. He froze in place.

Diego went to help him but stopped when one of them turned to face him with tentacles raised. Much larger bodies were coming up over the ridge and were sliding across the surface of the moon at incredible speeds. They were using their tentacles to move them along.

“Captain?" came Hyperions panicked voice, “What do we do?"

“Standby," Diego said shakily.

The larger of the lifeforms slid to a stop and stood up. The creature was at least three times Diego's size. The bat was shaking in his suit. Maybe Julio was right. This was a mission of death.

*****

“Guys? Why haven't you taken off?" Rasul called.

Only static responded to him.

“Shit," Rasul stood up and ran to the back of the ship, “Hugo, Bruno!"

“What's up?" Hugo called up from down below.

“We have an emergency!" Rasul jumped down the stairs, “The Spider hasn't left the surface and the team isn't responding."

“We can try and boost the signal," said Bruno.

“Please," Rasul begged.

Bruno and Hugo set to work and Rasul ran back up to the front of the ship. He started flipping through channels as the coyote and tiger did their best to amplify the signal. Rasul felt the panic rise in him as he couldn't cut through.

“Commander," Errol stepped down from the pilot's seat, “Stop."

Rasul looked up from his panel, “I lost them."

“You lost the signal," Errol put a hand on him, “Don't panic. Remember."

Rasul nodded, “I'm sorry. I've been so stressed out."

“Deep breath," said Errol, “We'll find them."

Rasul nodded and did his best to calm down. He kept flipping through the channels. He picked up their voices. It was faint, but it was enough to hear what was happening. He tried his best to call them but no response came back.

*****

“No one move," said Diego.

The large creature leaned down and sniffed down at them. He emitted a deep noise which the rest of them responded to him. The crew of the nova could feel the noise resonate in their suits. Diego gulped as the creature slowly prodded at the bat's suit with its tentacles. He let out another noise.

Diego closed his eyes as the creature picked him up. It sniffed along his suit and paused at the bat's crotch. It looked to the others and let out a high pitched sound. The group surrounding Magnus picked him up and placed him back on his feet. The raccoon staggered backwards. The group in front of him let out excited hums.

“Captain?" Magnus was confused.

Diego was placed back down on the ground. The eyes on the lifeforms showed caution but they had lowered their tentacles. They proceeded to sniff around at the ship and all of them. Ken could feel his cheeks turn red when a few of them started sniffing between his legs.

“Spitballing a theory here," said Ken, “I think they can smell the H. Bac inside of us. We're different from them, but we have a familiar scent."

Magnus was gathering the tether back up and slowly made his way back over to the ship. The group that had stood over him followed. He shakily lifted the tether and drone back into the ship and closed the compartment. They let out more excited hums when he turned back towards them.

“Uh, captain, should we try and leave?" Magnus asked.

“I'm a little too scared to move right now," said Diego.

Magnus went over and grabbed Diego's arm, “Come on. I don't think they're going to harm us."

The larger of the lifeforms tilted his head and let out the deepest hum. Magnus could feel the goosebumps rise under his fur. He took in a deep breath and got Diego to budge. The creatures were greatly interested in them and followed them to the ship. Marc, Ken, and Harvey were waiting by the hatch.

“Hyperion, lower the hatch," said Ken.

The group of the creatures all jumped back when the hatch started to open. Magnus held up his hands in an attempt to let them know it was ok. The apparent leader of them hesitantly stepped forward and started sniffing at them again. He trilled at the others and they all took a few steps back. All of them froze when the giant came over to the ship.

It snorted at them as it stuck it's head into the loading dock. It sniffed around. The creature started to lick around the bay. It let out a rumble of satisfaction that made the crew shake in their boots. They all realized the creature was starting to stroke on it's two massive dongs. They were as big as half of the spider.

“Wat do ye spose he's lickin?" Marc asked.

“Well, I did help Rasul get some relief there," said Diego, “Didn't necessarily get all of it into the condoms."

“They do seem driven by the scent of the protein," said Ken, “And apparently it's enough to turn them on."

They watched as the rest of the creatures lined up in front of the larger being's shafts. They started to help him jerk himself off. They all noticed that the creature's enormous cocks had three urethral openings. A lot of pre was spilling forth from him as the rest of his group were licking greedily at him.

The shark-like beast slid away from the ship and onto his back as his shafts throbbed wildly. They were growing more and more. The group of the smaller ones started grinding against him as he stroked over his gargantuan twins. They all started humming in unison as the monster started blasting his thick, creamy seed all over the surface of the moon.

“Get on the ship," Magnus pushed them up onto the drool-covered ramp, “Lightning, take off now!"

The fennec didn't need to be told twice. He fired up and lifted off. The ramp closed just in time as a wave of cum splattered across the Spider. Hyperion couldn't see anything as they ascended into the sky. Once he got several miles above Europa, he hit the brakes. The rest of the crew came out of the decontamination room and pulled themselves down onto the floor.

“Wat the fuck di' we jus' witness!?" Marc shouted out.

“Finally!" Rasul's voice came through, “What happened!?"

“We'll talk about it later," Diego called back to him, “Right now, we need a moment."

The six of them sat there in silence for a while. Hyperion was trying to look out his window and couldn't see anything through the alien sharks cum. The fennec unbuckled himself and floated over to decontamination to get out of the ship.

“Where you going?" Diego asked.

“We're covered in what I assume to be cum," said Hyperion, “We need a sample and I need to see where I'm driving."

“I'll help," Ken floated over to the hatch with him.

“I g'ess while we clean and collec', we kin start makin' sense of wat we just saw," Marc went with them.

Diego, Magnus, and Harvey nodded and joined in too. An unusual mystery came to the surface and put on a show for them. The crew of the Nova was in it deep. Cum deep.