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’phones kick in my ear as I stepped into the rain. By the end of the
day, I knew each drop would be like a hammer on the Raincoat. The headphones
cancelled the worst of the noise but we still felt it under the suit.
    I
took a deep breath and could smell the decay of rotting plant mulch. These
weren’t spacesuits we were wearing; the air was safe to breathe. Iris handed me
my case again and I pulled the strap over my shoulder and we hiked up the hill.
Thankfully, some durathene steps had been put in at this point because water
just poured down that hill making any cleared path swim in water.
    Our
final destination was a small dome, a single habitation unit set up for our
experiments. George got us inside the airlock. White brightness made me wince in
contrast to the dull greenness under the jungle canopy. We took turns standing
under the dryer before stepping out of our Raincoats and into rubber soled
shoes. I was grateful to get the headphones out my ears and hear properly. They
told us the noise-cancellation didn’t damage our ears, but how could it not? We
opened the cases in the airlock and took out our tablet computers and brought
them with us into the dome. We didn’t speak at all.
    With
routine efficiency we docked our tablets and set up. I had brought my coffee
flask, George brought some food, and Iris only ever brought fruit. It would be
a long shift and I needed the caffeine. I punched up the main screen and logged
into the orbiting platform server. Far above us, our colleagues in the dryness of
space were readying themselves for today’s experiment.
    I
leaned over towards my tablet. “Platform One, this is Dome Two. Do you copy?”
    There
was a pause, a time delay, then the slightly muffled transmission back. “Copy
Dome Two. This is Platform One. We are at altitude and go for launch.”
    “Copy
Platform One.” I looked over at Iris and George. They sat poised over their
tablets and each gave me quick indication they were ready. “Dome Two is go for
launch.”
    “Stand
by Dome Two.”
    We
waited. Iris relaxed her shoulders and let her head fall back and her mouth
open. “I hate this bit. Launch already.”
    George
chuckled and I couldn’t help but smile. We went through this exact routine
every day.
    The
tablet speaker crackled. “Dome Two. This is Platform One. Launching in three,
two, one, mark.”
    “Let’s
do this,” said George baring his teeth. I poured a coffee.
    From
four-hundred kilometres up, Platform One dropped the package. As it hit the
atmosphere, we began to receive the data packets, both from the probe itself
and via Platform One. On the main screen a computerised image of the jungle
bowl appeared; transmission from the orbiter. Overlays of blue, green and white
showed the greatest concentrations of precipitation. I spoke into my tablet.
“Signal acquired, Platform One. We are green on all channels.”
    “Roger,
Dome One. Mesosphere in three, two, one, mark.”
    I
looked up at Iris. “Verified,” she said, meaning her data also showed the
package reaching that slice of this world’s atmosphere. “ELVES sighted.”
    I
glanced at the screen but didn’t see any red-hued flashes of the kind of aurora
Iris had mentioned. ELVES: Emissions of light at very low frequency. I smile
all the same; glad she had seen something like that. I still haven’t. “You okay
George?” I asked him, thinking him quiet. I took another sip of my coffee which
was already cooling.
    “Affirmative,”
said George. “Device arming.” He swept his screen and a small read-out tile
appeared on the main screen. It counted down to detonation.
    “We
on target, Iris?” I asked.
    “Roger,
Team Leader,” she replied. “Troposphere on target.”
    “Platform
One, this is Dome Two. We are go for detonation.”
    A
slight pause. “Roger, Dome Two. Standing by. All systems green.”
    We
waited. I watched my team, quiet concentration on their young faces. Iris
glanced at me and smiled at her screen. George put