The year and century was 2253 AD, as a singularly sizable interplanetary transport ship, called ICE SHIP ALPHA, sailed through the enveloping void and deepest dark at a top speed of 150 million kilometers-per-day. Largely due to the nuclear-pods attached to the underside of dense metallic plate, designed solely to allow for regularly exploded nuclear energy meant to cut down the travel time from Earth to Jupiter's ice moon: Europa.

In point of fact, with Jupiter and her moons at their closest orbital path from Earth-space, 740,573,600 kilometers from earth, such meant it will take the ICE SHIP ALPHA would take the ship's truckers and four-man crew compliment some 4-to-5 days prior to settling into orbit about Europa.

On board, those ice moon truckers, paid to set down on Europa with specially-designed heavy-duty, radiation-proofed semis, spent their days getting to know one another, as well as the interplanetary flight officers.

"Say, Chuck", Hugh "Polar Bear" Rowland Six, every bit the same, genetically-speaking, as was the five previous versions, said to Captain Charles Howards, "how much longer until we get into sight of Europa, in orbit about Jupiter. I'm ready to start clocking in some heavy hauls before my competitors shift out of fist gear."

"For the last time today, Hugh", replied Captain Howards amidst a heavy sigh of exasperation, "we should reach the Jovian system in another couple of days. Just keep yourself busy playing the holographic games in the rear gaming cubes. I think a couple of your fellow truckers are each in one now. Playing a completely self-contained one on one battles against monsters and enemy fighters in various level-by-level conquests."

Having made his way past a handful of other truckers, who were not genetic replicas of Earthbound truckers, as was the case with a total of three...

There were also direct descents from a few other globally-known ice road truckers on Earth in the Canadian ice roads, as well as Alaskan ice roads: Alex Debogorski Five; Jack Jessee Seven; and Lisa Kelly Nine, amongst another ten or twelve ice moon truckers of whom this was their first physical incarnations, as was the case with these four.

"Playin' holo-games", snorted Hugh Six, under his breath, as he got up, nanotube plastic cup of still-steaming coffee in one hand, black with two teaspoons of artificially produced "real" sugar, and strode lazily toward the rearmost section of the rather large ship's whereupon the holographic cubes could be found. Hugh Six's exterior seemed calm and collected, although, deep within himself, he was actually animated resulting in somewhat rapid breathing, to the point of hyperventilating, and with his rapidly racing heart.

But none of it was fear, as was the documented cases of all six previous versions of Hugh "Polar Bear" Rowlands. He wondered what his three competitors, at least the three out of all the new guys and gals selected to drive big rigs across the most dangerous ice terrain in over seven-hundred million kilometers of space, were thinking and feeling.

Even now, one of the sliding open doors, to just one of the holographic entertainment cubes, revealed the only man to truly give Hugh Six any sort of real competition. Even including all the previous versions of Hugh and the tall man, with a protruding, just not as much as was the case with Hugh Six, potbelly...

"Well, hell", began Hugh Six with a broad toothy smile, as both men simultaneously extended right hands in order to shake each others hands with a palpable amount of emotions ranging from an excitement to get started, combined with the irritation caused by nervousness, along with an eagerness to win, at the end of a week or two of constant hauling across the snow-white, for the most part, surface of Europa. "If it ain't Alex. How ya been?"

Alex Debogorski Five was loudly laughing, one or two teeth missing from his otherwise toothy response to his three century's old nemesis upon any ice road back on Earth. This would, of course, be their first time hauling across the face of what had proven to be between ten to thirty kilometers thick of incredibly hard ice...

"If it ain't the Polar Bear himself", laughingly said Alex Five to Hugh Six. "Guess we both have something to prove as former ice road truckers, eh?"

"Nah", halfway-lied Hugh Six to Alex Five. "Ice roads are ice roads, even one all the way out in space orbiting the largest planet in the solar system."

"Hang onto your wide ass, Polar Bear", Alex Five, still grinning and looking every bit as much as looked all the other Alexs, stretching back over three centuries of perfect copies. "I intend on out-hauling you on this, the greatest, and most dangerous, over-ice hauling either of us, and our previous selves, have ever even imagined."

"We'll see, my old friend and competitor", responded a still smiling, and laughing, Hugh Six, just as they released the vice-like handshake in order for Hugh Six to make his way into the holographic cube just vacated by Alex Five. "We'll see."