Europa (moon)

Europa is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet of all its 79 known moons. It is also the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System. Europa was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and was named after Europa, a Phoenician lover of Zeus (aka Jupiter).

Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and has a water-ice crust and probably an iron–nickel core. It has a very thin atmosphere, composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is striated by cracks and streaks, but craters are relatively few. In addition to Earth-bound telescope observations, Europa has been examined by a succession of space-probe flybys, the first occurring in the early 1970s.

The apparent youth and smoothness of the surface have led to the hypothesis that a water ocean exists beneath the surface, which could conceivably harbor extraterrestrial life. Numerous science fiction works have been based on this premise.

Europa in "Manuscript Tradition"

The odd oceanic creatures under Europa's icy crust were one of the first two known examples of extraterrestrial life, the other being the microbes of Mars. It was quite some time before any further alien life was discovered.

Europa in "Through the Roof of the World"

Europa was the home of several species of aquatic life. These lifeforms resided in an ocean covered by a layer of ice. As sunlight did not penetrate this ice, all Europan species evolved without eyes, and relied on touch, smell, sound, and electrical impulses to navigate their world. Further, Europans also evolved for varied depths and pressures. Those that lived closer to the surface of the ice could not survive the pressure of the depths. However, they could communicate with those Europans that did live near the ocean floor, and vice versa. From the perspective of the Europans, the ice layer above them was the "Roof of the World".

Quorn

The Quorn were a sentient species, physically akin to the nautilus of Earth, except that the Quorn lacked eyes.

The Quorn were a social species, and had subdivided into clans. They were also predators, and had trained and bred networms to form themselves into a food-catching "net" to help catch prey. They could also make use of stone tools. However, the Quorn were not the top of the food chain; they had to be wary of other animals such as sneakers. From the Quorn perspective, the ice layer above was the "Roof of the World", the water in which the lived was "Space", which had four or five zones. The lower depths were the "Bottom". Quorn could only descend so far down before the tremendous pressure would crush them in their shells. Conversely, inhabitants of the lower zones would explode if they came up to high. The Quorn believed in a single deity called the Quorn Who Made the Roof, Space, and the Bottom.

When Earth-probe Sarpedon began to drill through the ice (or "Roof of the World), all of the inhabitants of the area were disrupted. When the drill finally broke through, several Quorn made contact with the drill in order to determine what it was; they were disturbed by a part of the unknown item that rotated. Scog, a Quorn female, had come to think of the item as a radula. Ib, another female Quorn, attempted to stab the probe with her stone knife, but the knife broke. Lund, a male from their clan, sent networms to attempt to penetrate the probe's exterior, but they could not. Finally, Scog seized a part of the radula she believed to be a tentacle, and bit through it. She received a shock, but she stopped it from moving.

In truth, Scog had disabled the camera feed, but the probe continued to pick up subsonic and hypersonic sounds. The video recordings were sent to Earth.

Other creatures

Bugelklitzen were small creatures that swam slowly but were capable of generating an electric shock that could stun at a distance or kill up close. Even Quorn could be left so addled that they were vulnerable to bugelklitzen pre

Jetters were small animals that could move with abrupt bursts of speed. While they weren't as fast as other animals, the burst of speed did provide a valuable escaped mechanism to avoid predators, or for the catching of unwary prey. Quorn were a type of jetter.

Networms were a type of animal that the Quorn had trained and bred to form themselves into a food-catching net when they got the proper sound and scent commands.

Sneakers were a type of creature that could prey upon the Quorn. Their skins could absorb pulses that Quorn sent into the water, and did not allow them to return to the Quorn. Sneakers also created pulses that made them appear small and harmless, and thus lured unwary prey, including Quorn, into their beaks.

Swimmers were small animals that could generally swim very fast. Quorn and other species native to Europa preyed upon swimmers.

Talkers were the inhabitants of the lower zones of space and the Bottom. The Quorn had more interaction with the talkers in the lower parts of Space. The Quorn called them the Longshells, as they had long shells rather than round ones. The Quorn didn't know much about Talking Worms at the Bottom. Contact between these creatures and the Quorn was done through several intermediaries, and so were inconsistent as a result. Both groups of talker had access to stone, among other things.