Cosmic Callisto Caprica & the Missing Rings of Saturn Read online

  Cosmic Callisto Caprica

  &

  The Missing Rings

  Of Saturn

  by

  Sophia Chester

  Copyright © 2016 Sophia Chester

  Cosmic Callisto Caprica

  &

  The Missing Rings of Saturn

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

  distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

  photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are

  the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  For my mom, Lavone. Thank you for always supporting me.

  For my dad, Lemuel. Thank you for passing on your unique gift of writing really long sentences to me, your daughter.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  How fortunate am I to have been born right now during this era. An era of space exploration in which people have the freedom to travel to different planets, an era in which brand-new discoveries are still being made and technology is still evolving at such a rapid pace. I can’t put into words how happy I am that this is the era in which I was born. There are so many mysteries out there beyond the stars and I want to solve every last one of them! But first things first. I should probably uncover the mystery of why I thought it would be a good idea to not write down a single word for my speech, which I had to give in front of my entire class. Graduation night was here and I hadn’t written down a single, solitary word. May God be with me!

  For the twentieth time that night, I took off my bright-red cat eyeglasses and rubbed the lenses with my fingers. I lightly tapped on the side of my finger waves; for a moment, I thought that I had managed to sweat them out because I hadn’t stopped sweating since I stepped onto this ship. This would be a shame, seeing as my lovely nanny, Wendy, spent so much time styling my hair and putting on my makeup. I was madly in love with this eyeshadow Wendy picked up for me. It was called Red Rage and it perfectly matched my cat eyeglasses. It was made by a new expensive line of cosmetics called Invidia. I really liked it a lot. The foundation Wendy used matched my complexion perfectly.

  I just needed to stop worrying so much. If I did, then I wouldn’t sweat and ruin my look for the evening. As much as I wanted to look up at the podium in front of me, I couldn’t. I kept my eyes fixed on the two oversized flags that were hanging over the podium in front of me: the Lunar Federation flag and the flag for this ship, the Echo. The Lunar Federation flag hanging from the podium looked fairly new. Every single yellow stich used to represent the plants in our solar system was in place. There was not a single wild thread hanging from out of it. As I gazed at the crescent yellow moon that was in the center of the white flag, I couldn’t help but to think if our forefathers hadn’t taken over the moon first would some other planet be sitting in the middle of the flag? The other planets in our solar system, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn, all revolve around the moon. On the flag there are these thin black circles connecting the various other planets to each other. But it seems like no matter how hard the other planets try they can never reach the center of the flag.

  I was still in awe over my mother and the fact that she demanded to have my class’ graduation ceremony here on her ship. I honestly didn’t think she was going to pull this off, but she did. Then again, she was the infamous captain, Cally Caprica, the woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer. If she wanted to have her daughter’s graduation ceremony on an A-class warship, then so be it! Mom really went overboard with all of the decorations, though. I would have been happy if she’d just kept things simple or if we’d had the ceremony in the school’s auditorium. That would have been good enough. She also went out of her way to hire a live band to play music for us during the ceremony. Last, but not least, she hired not one but two caterers. One caterer cooked a bunch of fancy delicate dishes, the kind that leave you wanting more because they don’t stick to your ribs. The families of the graduating students each had their own overly decorated table with flowers and lacy place cards. The graduation ceremony was taking place in the Echo’s banquet hall.

  Our graduating class was so small, we could have easily held the ceremony back at the academy and not in this fancy room that was normally used to hold dinners for soldiers and generals. Why was I so worried about all of this stuff? I needed to concentrate on what I was going to say to everyone! While I tried my best to settle the large bundle of nerves that had taken up residence in the depths of my stomach, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It nearly caused me to jump out of my seat.

  “Relax. You can do this.” I glanced over my shoulder. It was my friend Martha. We had become the best of friends this past year after we discovered our undying love for the rock group Lunar Luke and the Moon Boys. I really admired Martha a lot because she was so courageous. Every day, she came to the Lunar Federation Academy despite having to endure an endless amount of harassment before arriving at class, during class, and after class. I could only imagine how hard it must have been, being the only Martian in the entire academy. She was such a good friend.

  I should have known that was her tapping on my shoulder, trying to help me to stay calm. Not only was I nervous about having to give this speech, but I was also nervous about all of the changes that were going to happen in my life after graduation. On one hand, I was beyond excited over the fact that the girls and I were going to leave Moonsville at the end of August and that we were going to be living together on the school’s main campus. But at the same time, I’d spent the past eighteen years on Moonsville, where everybody knew everyone else’s business. As much as I wanted to get away, it was still going to be strange not living there anymore. When my instructors told me I had earned the highest score in my class on the Space Aptitude Test, I almost didn’t believe them. Martha, Vicki, Patti, and I spent the entire year looking over every study guide available and spending every second outside of class studying in order to get a good score on the Space Aptitude Test. The test covered all of the basic subjects, like English, math, science, astrology, and space history. But the second half of the test consisted of a series of questions that would help give a student an idea as to what field he or she should study during their last four years at the academy.

  I was not surprised at all when my test results stated that, with my keen attention to detail and abundant knowledge for space laws, I should be a space detective. Since I scored the highest in my class, my instructors insisted I give a speech of some sort at the end of the ceremony. Two of my fellow classmates, the twins Cam and Phuong, had the second and third highest scores
respectively. They were asked to speak before our class as well.

  For the past few weeks, I’d labored over what I was going to say. In between getting ready for graduation and filling out the necessary paperwork so I could have a place to stay on the school’s main campus, I typed up my graduation speech. The floor to my bedroom became covered in a sea of crumpled-up balls of paper as I typed up the speech, printed it out, read it, balled it up, and tossed it on the floor over and over again. About two days ago, I really thought I had written the most thoughtful speech about youth and having the strength to overcome any sort of obstacle. But after reading it three times, I grew to hate it with a sweet passion, so I threw the speech into the endless sea of paper balls on my bedroom floor. I was on the verge of just giving up and telling my teachers I couldn’t give the speech because everything I was coming up with was complete garbage. Then I sat down and had a little talk with my dad.

  My dad used to run all sorts of missions across space for the Lunar Federation army when he was younger. He was retired now, and he spent his days on the Lunar Federation senate floor helping to pass laws and fight for the people. As a retired solider and a member of the senate he was pretty much an expert at giving speeches. I don’t know how many times he bored me to death with his long drawn-out stories from days gone by. Sometimes, I felt like he added a few chapters to his stories to help make things seem a bit more interesting. Even though his stories were a little exaggerated, the kind words my dad’s fellow comrades have expressed about him over the years have stuck with me. I don’t know how many times people have pulled me aside to tell me, “I didn’t think we were going to win that battle, but your dad was able to rally us together and give us the courage that we needed to win.”

  I asked my dad what he would say to his comrades to help inspire them. He turned to me and said, “Sometimes, the best words come unscripted, straight from the heart.” After I heard that, I knew what I had to do. I was going to walk straight up to the podium and speak from my heart to my fellow classmates. It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but now that the ceremony was here and the podium was right in front of me, I kind of wished I had written down something meaningful. I really didn’t know if I had it in me to just speak from my heart. How I wished I had a pen right then. I could jot down a few words onto the palm of my hand.

  Cam and Phuong Kepler were both still standing at the podium. To be honest, I thought it was a little much to have both Cam and Phuong give a speech tonight. It was not that Cam and Phuong weren’t worthy, it was just that their mother, Mrs. Kepler, had reduced not one but four instructors to tears with her famous verbal assaults. She could cut someone down and then use their body parts as a stepping-stone to get whatever she wanted. So when it turned out that Phuong had the third-highest grade in our class, Mrs. Kepler insisted she should be allowed to give a speech to the class as well because Cam and Phuong were twins and their test scores were nearly identical. I think that after dealing with Mrs. Kepler for over four years, no one cared anymore. They knew that since the girls were graduating, they would no longer have to deal with Mrs. Kepler and her crazy antics. So, to appease her one last time, the girls were allowed to split their speech in half.

  Cam went first and now it was Phuong’s turn. She sounded like she was about to wrap things up and finally take a seat. All around me, people were either yawning or nodding their heads, trying to fight off the urge to sleep. Great—now I had to deal with a crowd of people that could barely keep their eyes open. Then again, maybe they would actually fall asleep and then they wouldn’t have to watch me fidget on stage or attempt to speak from my heart.

  Phuong finally backed up from the podium with her papers tucked underneath her arm. Cam followed right behind her. I could feel my heart desperately trying to claw its way out of my chest. My turn to speak was coming up next. Our principal, Mr. Nova, made his way to the podium. He turned his gaze on me and, with a huge smile on his face, said, “We will now hear from Miss Cosmic Callisto Caprica, who scored the highest on the Space Aptitude Test.” He motioned for me to come onto the stage. I walked as slowly as possible, trying my best to delay the inevitable and maybe give myself a few seconds to think about what I wanted to say. The closer I came to the podium, the dizzier I became. I’m not even sure how I got there, but I was finally at the podium with my hands tightly fisted to the sides. All eyes were fixed on me. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

  “Come on! Say something already, C-squared!” The room erupted into a fit of laughter. No one else but our class clown, Astro Ace, would go out of his way to embarrass me like this by shouting his little pet nickname for me. I regret that I took the time out to explain to him what the term C-squared meant. He honestly thought he was clever in using the term because I have three Cs in my name and the fact that, by his own logic, I’m a square because I’m always studying, but whatever. It didn’t matter. Truly, if looks could kill, he would have been dead right then. He seemed so pleased with himself, leaning back in his chair with his signature cheesy grin on his face. But it was okay; I’d get him for this later.

  Before the laughter in the room settled, I caught my dad’s eyes. He looked up at me, then he placed his hand over his heart. I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and then reached down into the depths of my heart to find the right words.

  “Four years ago, we packed up our belongings and left home for the first time. Each of us was filled with anxiety and uncertainty about passing the many tests we had to take. I’m sure at some time or another, we second-guessed our talents and abilities. Some of us may have thought we weren’t good enough to even be at the academy. Some of us probably thought the best thing we could do would be to give up and just go home. I implore each and every one of you to not start this new journey the same way you did four years ago. You’ve made it through many different tests and trials! There is nothing you can’t do! Be bold and stand firm! Don’t allow anxiety and uncertainty to cloud your heart. You’ve come too far to give up now! We are the future of the Lunar Federation and it is up to us to keep moving forward.”

  There was nothing left for me to say, so I started to back up from the podium. My fingers had barely left the edges of the podium before the crowd was on its feet cheering. I was not sure if they liked my speech because it was short or because what I said came from the heart. It was no matter, the deed was done and I felt as light as a feather. I could have actually floated off the stage right then. Mr. Nova patted me on the back and whispered to me as I walked by, “Great job, Miss Caprica.”

  Once I took my seat and the crowd had settled back down, our special guest for the evening, Mrs. Elara, an elderly woman with bronze skin and neatly trimmed short gray hair, slowly made her way to the stage with her right hand firmly grasped to her silver cane. Mr. Nova helped her up and guided her to the table at the center of the stage. We were very fortunate to have someone like Mrs. Elara. I had read her short bio in the program they handed out for tonight. Her great-great-great-great-grandfather was the captain of the famous battleship Halve Maen, which helped in the battle to secure the Moon for its first settlers during The Great Space War. What a special treat to have someone like her helping to present our certificates and armbands.

  I glanced over at the table next to Mr. Nova and Mrs. Elara. Neatly folded on the table and arranged from darkest to lightest in color were our graduation armbands. The beautiful spectrum of colors was so wide it would take me all night to name all the different areas of study each band represented. But from what I could see from my own seat were the dark blue armbands for people like me, who were studying to go into law enforcement, purple for communications, white for those going to study medicine, yellow for ship maintenance, orange for ship sanitation, and black for undecided/I nearly failed all of my courses this year. No one wanted to walk across the stage with a black armband. It just reeked of embarrassment.

  There were three black armbands on that table. I wondered who they belonged to. I bet whomev
er they belonged to probably wouldn’t show up for the ceremony. They were most likely not going to be there next semester unless they took summer classes. Ninety percent of the time, a black armband is a mark of death. No one came back to the academy if they got a black armband. I could have been wrong, though; they could be at graduation. If they were, kudos to anyone who had the courage to walk across that stage and receive it. Whoever they were, hopefully they would take the summer courses they needed so they would be ready when school started at the end of August. I couldn’t imagine having to take the standardized placement test and personality test and not have an idea of what I would like to do by graduation. I was just thankful I’d never had to rely on those things. I’d always known what I wanted to do!

  Mr. Nova brought the microphone to his lips. “Now is the moment you have all been waiting for. Students, when I call your name, please step forward to receive your certificate and your armband.” A warm, euphoric rush washed over me and I had all I could do to hold myself together. All around me, people were cheering, parents started calling out their children’s names, and a few of my classmates started crying. Someone grabbed hold of my hand. I looked down and saw that Martha’s green fingers were wrapped around my palm. I could hear her quietly sniffing to herself. I squeezed her hand as hard as I could. I wanted to look at her, but I knew if I did, we would both start crying and it wouldn’t be that cute kind of crying where you can clean your face with the back of your hand. It would be that ugly kind of crying where you have to run to the bathroom afterward to reapply your makeup.

  Mr. Nova threw his hands up in the air. “Students, I know you’re excited, but I need you to listen and follow directions so you can get your armbands and certificates! And, parents, if you want to take pictures, please stay in the designated areas for taking pictures!” Not a single person was paying attention to Mr. Nova. The room had erupted into a chaotic mess and there was nothing he could do about it, so he started to call the students forward. Of course, since I earned the highest score on the Space Aptitude Test, I had the honor of being the first student to walk across the stage. Once I was next to Mr. Nova, I stretched out my arm. Mrs. Elara plucked a dark blue armband with a gold badge stitched below the words Lunar Federation Academy from off of the table.