—In 12 hours, we'll land on Europa. Prepare your gear for the landing—. Hearing this, I ran with the rest of the troop to one of the shuttle windows to observe the planet. Most of us were excited since none of us had ever seen another planet from orbit, aside from Earth. The moment we looked through the windows, a heavy silence settled, with only those further back making any noise. Unlike what we had seen in the reports and photos from our training, the planet looked much different. The first thing we noticed was that Europa was much whiter than we had imagined, and the orbit was filled with remnants of old landing ships. From orbit, we could occasionally see light sources coming from the moon.
—O-12 bombs, what's left of the army uses them in mass to stop our advance—, said a high-ranking officer who was with us, watching the planet.
Upon hearing this, the shuttle windows began to close, and we were ordered to prepare for the landing. Without saying a word, we got ready.
—Why?!—, my mother said. —Hasn't Europa shed enough blood that now you also want to die on the other side of the solar system?— I tried to respond, but she broke down crying. My father was in the garden, staring at the sky.
—Dad…—, I tried to speak to him. —When I was a kid—, my father responded—, I used to look at the sky with curiosity and joy, thinking about how Earth would look from up there and all there was to discover.
—Dad, I…—. He interrupted me again. —Do you know why I look at the sky since then? Not for the views, not to see the stars or the planets, but to look at the graves of my friends who died on Europa—. My father looked me in the eyes and grabbed my shirt tightly. —Do you want to know why I don't visit them in the cemetery? Huh? BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT THERE, THEIR BODIES ARE ON EUROPA, AND THEY'LL NEVER COME BACK, IN THEIR PLACE, ONLY A FLAG—. I barely resisted. —I DON'T WANT TO LOOK AT THE SKY JUST TO SEE MY SON'S GRAVE… Please…—. His grip slowly turned into an embrace, and soon I felt my chest getting wet.
But I couldn't stay. Javier had been missing for a year since he was forcibly recruited to Europa. I had to know what happened to my friend. The last I heard, he was assigned as a mole, and since then, nothing more had been heard of him. A week ago, he was reported as missing in action. I had to find out what happened to my friend or I would never be able to rest in peace.