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 BeringiaTierra Cox CopyrightC opyright © 2023 by Tierra CoxAll rights reserved.No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identifcation with actual persons living or deceased, places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.Cover and all art designed by Gabbiemok (Instagram: Gabbiemok )Want to have Gabbiemok design something for you? Visit Fiverr Contents1. Chapter 1Maksim Volkov2. Chapter 23. Chapter 34. Chapter 45. Chapter 56. Chapter 67. Chapter 78. Chapter 89. Chapter 910. Chapter 1011. Chapter 1112. Chapter 1213. Chapter 1314. Chapter 1415. Chapter 1516. Chapter 1617. Chapter 1718. Chapter 1819. Chapter 1920. Chapter 20EpilogueRome & MaksimAfterword and AcknowledgementsAbout the AuthorAlso By Tierra Cox Chapter oneDr. Rome Tipper"D ay 730. The date is Friday, September 17, 2134 and the time is-" Damn, I forgot what time it is. Pushing myself off a wall, I'm free floating in my space capsule, on my way back to Earth. The clock set into the wall near the computer shines in small blue numbers. "3:34 a.m. in Houston, Texas. There is no proper time keeping in space, yet."Sighing, I crane my neck back and forth and look through the small portside window at nothing. Inky blackness, and small pinpoints of white, yellow or orange mark distant stars. Galaxies that we have not yet discovered the secrets of."I'll be expecting a call from Houston in about twenty minutes. Eager to hear about my progression back to home base, especially since my fellow officers are ahead of me."If you ask me, they didn't have the important job that I do. Securing the alien organism from Enceladus, one of Saturn's 83 moons. Enceladus is an icy moon, spraying its water deposits into space for astronauts, like myself, to collect. From that we have learned, Enceladus has many of the chemical ingredients needed for life. The icy moon hides secrets beneath its surface. Secrets that we have discovered on our long trek in space.Six scientists were dispatched. Cole, Rogers, Pixley, Vasquez, Achebe and myself. Each with a specific duty to secure certain payloads.My job? Collecting specimens of life. It's 2134 and Earth is no longer the climate change affected rock floating through space, infected by a virus called humanity. We've changed our ways, mended our planet, but that doesn't mean that resources aren't a prized commodity.Many are looking to space, to these worlds beyond what we know. What we can see. While others think the ocean may be our salvation, we came from it and to it we should return. Some are thinking that we should once again turn our faces to the stars.The space programs were halted in 2050. Simple observation and nothing more while we got Earth back on track. Now? It's been all rockets go, technology pioneering us into the simple one-man crafts that I am currently riding in. They come together like that centuries old Voltron cartoon to form a larger ship. My crewmates have left, their jobs hunting for mineral deposits and gas chambers finished. I have found something else, something that may change the way we view space and life entirely.I call them Ice Puppies. Officially their name is Parum Glaciem Canis. The tiny organisms that I found living in the water vents on Enceladus sort of resemble puppies with their fat, round bodies and two little appendage like ears sprouting from their heads. They're fascinating to me, surviving in such harsh conditions. They were happy to float and eat the tendrils of smaller organisms resembling krill. The Ice Puppies can be seen with the naked eye when they group up. They form black-brownish swirls in the water. They are my discovery. They're my little darlings. Some of them even have spots or stripes across their bodies. Others have folded appendages, while some stick out straight. Just like a dogs ears.What makes the Ice Puppies so fascinating is their ability to replicate themselves. They are a female dominated society. I've found some males, they are smaller than the females and choose to scurry along in small groups until they find a mate. The males attach themselves to a female, who can either open her belly slit to let him in or kill him. Such easy choices! Then the female uses his genetic material to toss up her own genes and create a new Ice Puppy.This action feels unneeded, or so it seems, as the females can replicate themselves. I'm very eager to discover the genetic differences between each female. It's this capability and their ability to self heal in record time that is captivating. Living in such a harsh environment takes a strain on their systems, and it seems their bodies are constantly shedding old material and gaining new ones.However, and this is just a speculation, I believe these creatures might be incredibly long-lived. We will learn much about my new little friends. For now, they are housed outside of my ship in a protective bubble. We'll come back to earth where they can be properly looked at and analyzed."Dr. Tipper?" I recognize the voice of Sasha, a mission control specialist, as her grainy voice comes through over my speakers. "Hello, Dr.?""I'm here." I call, tapping a comm on my jacket. "Nice to hear from you Sasha, how'd you sleep?"She groans. "I keep having nightmares about them telling me I'm going into space."I can't help but laugh, Sasha is keen on the fact that some large, alien creature is eager to devour her. It's very sci-fi of her, but realistic? No. At least I haven't encountered it. "You are an on-ground communications specialist , Sasha. No worries.""You can laugh about it. I saw Signs once and never again." She groans. It's an old movie about aliens invading Earth and apparently they did it through crop circles. I've watched it with her. Good movie, nice scare effects."How are we looking Sasha?"