"This planet makes me sick," said Prof. Longtail. We've been together for over six months in the middle of the jelly-like ocean of the Melodia planet. He was complaining for the first time.
I said, “No one's been here this long.”
“There are thousands of people who dream of being here,” said Prof. Serrano.
She had such a lovely tune in her voice that I could declare her my love at any moment. I have not made such an attempt until then because Prof. Serrano was about twenty years older than me, and she seemed to like Prof. Longtail. It was impossible to understand that Prof. Longtail ignored a woman like Aphrodite, who devoted herself to geology instead of being a movie star.
On that strange old planet, our mission was to study the gigantic network of amino acids that spread to the bottom of the ocean. Prof. Longtail, a marine biologist who fell in love with this network, which was referred to as Orko, worked very hard to deal with it. We were the third team sent from Earth to study Orko, and it did not fit in the molds of biology, ocean science, and geology. Orko, which wrapped the entire ocean floor like ivies covering the façade of the old buildings, was alive, according to Prof. Longtail. The marine biologists who had previously served in Melodia claimed otherwise. If the Orko was alive, how it was fed and what waste is produced, why it never grew, and why there was no fluid flow in it. According to the measurements, the age of the Orko was one and a half billion years. Which creature could live this long? According to the other marine biologists, the surveyed structure was the petrified fossil of a once alive plant. In some regions, the roots of Orko were several kilometers below the surface of the planet. Which plant would have gone so deep? Prof. Longtail didn't explain to his colleagues why he thought Orko was alive. Obviously, he had a hypothesis he wanted to prove, and he didn't want to share the honor of his discovery with anyone.
We have taken our place in our diving vehicle, which looks like a huge water drop, to do our daily examinations on Orko. The ocean, covering 54% of the Melodia's surface, has spread to a wider area than the Earth's total surface area. Luckily, Melodia was a pretty flat planet compared to the earth, so the ocean's depth did not exceed 600 meters in any part of the planet. The entire surface of our diving vehicle was made of some transparent plastic, so we had a wide-angle of view during our investigations. On top of our dive vehicle, a carbon nanotube rope was attached, and we were put into the water with the ship's crane. The image of the bubbles in the jelly-like ocean water made me feel like I had switched to another verse. Prof. Longtail and Prof. Serrera started taking notes using the virtual keyboards in front of them as soon as our vehicle dives into the ocean. My job started after the data collection, analyzing the data that our devices measure in a matter of minutes, watching the environment until they entered new parameters, and dreaming. A swarm of Gladius passed by our diving vehicle, blasting bubbles and moving them. Gladius was known for being a thin long fish resembling a swordfish, traveling at jet speed in the ocean and holding his sword to Orko at regular intervals, as if it needed charging. Although it was a larger and older planet than the earth, the number of living species in Melodia did not exceed the fingers of both hands. It was not resolved how few living species formed a sustainable ecosystem. Prof. Longtail enthusiastically jumped to his feet while Orko appeared in all its glory under our vehicle. At several spots on the network, the flashes appeared. Prof. Longtail, who barely balanced the vehicle due to the shaking, cried, "I knew."
Prof. Serrera said, "I think it was an earthquake."
“We have to go upstairs right now,” said Prof. Longtail
I turned back and looked carefully at the Orko, which has now become thoroughly apparent. At the bottom of the ocean, Orko was reaching for eternity like a gigantic ghost. As soon as the quake has stopped, the scavenger fish were in charge; they cleaned up the waste on black braids that looked like mold. It seemed everything turned back to normal.
After returning to the ship, Prof. Longtail withdrew to his quarters without making any statements. He was not supposed to be disturbed under any circumstances because of the urgency of the situation. After dinner, I visited Prof. Serrera and asked her what happened down there. This was the first time an event like this has been seen on Orko. Observing electrical activity simultaneously in hundreds of locations could be due to seismic movements before the earthquake. But maybe not. When it came to Melodia, nothing was sure. I was happy to talk to Prof. Serrera, and I asked if there was an earthquake in Melodia before. It was not the most violent earthquake in Melodia. The importance of the event was due to the electrical activity on Orko. Prof. Serrera said she felt sorry for Melodia. I asked her why she was sorry to take this golden opportunity to prolong the conversation. The company, which brought the first examples from Melodia to the world, followed a successful marketing strategy that allowed them to be perceived as an indicator of exclusivity. These new objects from a distant planet attracted the attention of the science community and the high society. In particular, the wood of the Tokoya trees has been greatly demanded due to its numerous natural colors and the incredible variety of textures. The tissue samples of the Tokoya tree have come to life in fractal forms that repeat themselves in different dimensions. The original patterned marble and the precious stones of various colors from the quarries opened at different points of the planet were, of course,e important, but the focus of trade was on these trees. I was pretending to hear this first time not to break her enthusiasm. Prof. Serrera did not know that I had a secret agenda, like studying the Melodia trade, which began to affect the balance of power in the world alongside my scientific mission. Before leaving Turkey for my trip, the Minister of Commerce accepted me in his office and became a petitioner person. Since we could partner with the scientific studies in Melodia, as Turkey, we could well play a role in the trade of goods brought from this planet. As an academician working at a private university, I could not remain indifferent to the minister's request, even though I had no organic connection with the state. I promised him that I would do my best without interrupting my scientific mission. Prof. Serrera looked at the incident from the perspective of protecting the environment and was uncomfortable with the reckless looting of the planet's natural resources. 10 years ago, a new revolution in rocket technology radically reduced the cost of shipping. In space, the number of imported materials from Melodia increased rapidly. On the way down to the planet, we saw the devastation created in the Tokoya forests of Melodia, and we were horrified by the magnitude of the operation. Unlike Prof. Serrera, I was focusing on the economic side of the situation. Since the physics rules do not allow the electronic circuits to be reduced more, the development of computer technology has come to a halt, and it has become tough to take a competitive advantage over this sector. Arrangements to protect Melody's natural resources were constantly loosened due to the extraordinary rant created by trade. After all, Melodia was far away; a few people listened to the natural music that originated from the tectonic features of the planet. It was not for every individual to appreciate the beauty of the music that gave its name to the planet. Prof. Serrera has linked the disruption of this music to the mining quarries and the cut of Tokoya trees on the planet.
The next day, in the evening, Prof. Longtail came out of his cabin. He was tired, and he looked like he was barely standing. We sat around a table on the deck of our research vessel, which was also a spacecraft. “Orko works very slowly. So far, it has not been understood that it is alive. The entire ecosystem is interconnected, and Orko is in the brain state of the planet,” he said in a breath. “The roots of the Tokoya trees are so deep, and the gladius fish are therefore systematically sinking their swords to Orko. There's another invisible network that connects the land and the sea to the ground. This network creates the tectonic movements and the music of the planet," said Prof. Serrera.
I said, “It's exciting that all this has never been understood by now.”
"The truth has a characteristic that seems natural to people after being discovered. Cutting Tokoya trees, mines, and marble quarries must be hurting the planet", said Prof. Serrera in a sad voice. Prof. Serrera believed that the planet's destruction would be stopped immediately after sharing the information we obtained. With Prof. Longtail, they started to prepare a statement concisely describing the situation. After a sleepless night, we communicated our message to the world and the trade guild operating in Melodia.
Our statement has created a great stir in the world, but the commercial activities on Melodia continue to be the same. The Tokoya trees were already known to be alive, the cut was already controlled, and the trees were planted in place of the cut. Of course, accompanied by this new information, the environmental protection legislation related to Melodia will be revised, but the decision for a sector that employs tens of thousands of people had to be taken carefully. First, it would be appropriate for other independent scientists to confirm the outcome. After the scientific and administrative processes have been run, no one should doubt that what is needed would be done.
We spent time asking new questions in line with Prof. Longtail's invention and investigating the answers to these questions. While I was courting Prof. Serrera during our studies, Prof. Serrera was trying to get into the eye of Prof. Longtail. Prof. Longtail was not aware of all these humanitarian efforts, and he just seemed to be busy with his work. He was the first to realize that the devices that detected seismic vibrations went crazy. When I was trying to figure out if the devices were malfunctioning, I took off because of a giant wave hitting our ship and fell into the ocean. I think there was a big earthquake. The ocean temperature was close to zero degrees Celcius, and the water was poisonous. There were huge waves on the surface of the ocean. I saw someone from the ship jump into the water and swim towards me from the raging waves. When I saw Prof. Serrera swimming towards me, I was shaken by gratitude. Since they followed Prof. Serrera from above, they threw a lifeline into the area where we were. We hugged our legs together, and they pulled us up. As soon as we set foot on the ship's deck, we went in to avoid falling back into the water. I was so glad that I was saved, and Prof. Serrera had risked her life for me. Before I had a chance to think about what this movement of Prof. Serrera meant, our ship was buried in the jelly of the ocean. The large hall we were in was filled with water, and we couldn't know what to do, and there was no mechanism to bring the ship back to the surface of the water.
“I will die on my duty,” Prof. Longtail said.
I didn't care about the mission at the time, and I had no intention of dying; there had to be a way out. First, I tried to open the hall door, but it didn't even move because of the pressure. I felt the ship trembling when I tried to break a window with the chair I had in my hand. Then the ship began to rise towards the surface of the water.
Soon we went back to the surface of the water, “We owe our lives to Gladius," Prof. Serrera said.
The ship's crew worked on the propulsion engines in time, and we ascended above the ocean's surface before being detected by a new wave. Down below, hundreds of Gladius waved their fangs right and left over the water as if they wanted to say goodbye to us. I looked at Prof. Serrera; she was not as beautiful as the movie stars. It would be discussed even if she was beautiful. I think it was the mercy he had in her heart, which made her attractive. The volcanoes that we never knew existed began to explode in the distance. There was a complete apocalypse on Melodia.
“Orko has decided to protect Melodia at the expense of harming her own children,” Prof. Longtail said.
On that judgment day, only our team survived the wrath of Orko. We were grateful to Orko for saving our ship by sending the Gladius, even though we were sorry for the deceased merchant guild employees. Since then, no one has dared to step on Melodia.
Image Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/beach-waves-ocean-mist-splash-2089936/
