The Cave - Part 1

amart29 (68)in #esteem • 5 years ago (edited)

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The Cave - Part 1

Lionel, descended by the intricate spiral structure, constructed minutes before, to facilitate the access of the equipment, he adjusted the illumination of his helmet and observed the gigantic gallery that surrounded him, enormous bioluminescent mushrooms of two meters of high grew everywhere in floor and walls, the floor was covered by a layer of water of about ten centimeters of high, with a light and fluorescent blue color, because of the microscopic organisms that lived in her.

-This is wonderful, just as I imagined it, -he said after quickly observing everything around him.

-Yes, but you know what we're exposed to if they find out we came in here without authorization from the Division of Biologos, don't you? -asked Emmanuel, who was then descending the structure, guiding a slider with a large orange container over it.

-You don't have to know, this planet has been unattended for several years, only some of its surface life forms were catalogued, and when it came to raiding this cave, the exploration robot broke down halfway to the estimated depth, - replied Lionel.

-Now that you say that, please remind me why are we here, instead of sending exploration robots, -asked Enmanuel sarcastically.

-I told you, I can't afford the robots, and with the equipment to sound the suits and all the sensors, plus the rent for the transport and supplies, my whole budget is over, -he replied -. Besides, it's no fun to see on a screen what a machine transmits, I've been preparing this excursion for ten years, without the support of the faculty and I'm not going to miss the opportunity to be here personally.

-Your budget and mine, remember that, -said Enmanuel.

-Of course, my friend, without you this would not have been possible.

Lionel Gouveia, biologist at the academy of Dione, had discussed multiple times with his colleagues, regarding the morphological similarity of the organisms of LM334, a planet with forbidden access, with those of the Earth.

Lionel had the theory that there must be genetic similarities between the creatures of the planet and those originating on Earth, which would perhaps mean that in the distant past genetic material from Earth somehow reached the planet, perhaps from one of the stray colonizing ships.

One of Lionel's greatest interests was a cave whose study was never possible, due to the repeated failures of the exploration robots that were sent to it.

Today, after one hundred and twenty years of having discovered the planet and thirty-eight years of having been forbidden access to it, Lionel, who was in charge of directing the unit in charge of the exploration and cataloguing of the life forms of LM334, was personally in it, together with his research associate Enmanuel Rivero, also professor at the Academy of Dione.

Text of @amart29 Barcelona, Venezuela, October 2019