Calypso by S. G. Ricketts (ebook reader 7 inch .txt) 📕

Silence. The first sound she heard was silence, a silence more still than she’d ever known. Then she felt the cold. Kira opened her eyes slowly. Ice clung to her lashes, leaving damp kisses against her cheek. Dazed, she blinked twice. Intricate patterns of frost curled across the cryotank glass before her. She inhaled sharply. So they had arrived, and she was alive. The glass shifted with a slight hiss, lifting up and out.

“Miss, are you awake?” The nurse shined a flashlight in her eyes and she cringed, the light making her head throb. “Good. Reflexes are responding appropriately.” He checked something on his pad and leaned back, looking at someone beyond the pods. “Pod 379 is awake and active, ma’am.” He appeared again and smiled. “Welcome to your new home, honey. Follow the others and you’ll be given directions.” He pressed a flashing button and moved on to the next pod. Her arm and leg braces released with another hiss.

“Y-yes sir.” Carefully Kira stepped down, rubbing the grooves the clamps had left. The nurse nodded absently. Kira stepped into line behind the other newly-awakened colonists. The room hummed with the sounds of the tanks, row upon row of massive frozen caskets. Kira hugged herself tightly, fighting the rising fear. “It’s just an adventure,” she murmured, fingers digging into her shoulders. She paused at the exit of the room, trying to merge with the lines in the corridor. There were so many people! Her world narrowed to the few inches she had before and behind her as she was jostled out into the hallway.

“Women and children to the right! Men to the left!”

Obediently, she turned right, grateful for the smaller crowd. “This is just an adventure,” she said again, her voice shaking. The crowd inched forward. Lights glowed brightly in the ceiling and walls, alternating blue and white. Memories of her days in the Academy rose to the surface. Blue and white meant the sanitation room. Kira eyed the doors before her. The smells of soap and astringent leaked out, burning her nose. “I’m on an adventure.”

* * * * *


Her skin stung, the new clothes rough against her skin. She stared at the plain fabric in disgust, then turned her attention to the crowd around her. No one looked to be over 45, and most were in their middle years. Kira bit her lip, scratching the back of her neck. The shirts were awful. She sighed and dropped her hand, instead focusing on the other children. There were younger children, some toddlers, and one or two girls her age, but none she knew. She felt her stomach drop. Had she been cast away again? Tears rose unbidden and she bit her lip, hard. If this really was an adventure, there had to be a reason why she was here. A tear slipped down her cheek, and her hand drifted to the locket around her neck. Daddy had said that life was one great long adventure. What adventure could there be in being unwanted?

“Ladies, ladies, please settle down.” Kira hastily dropped the locket back into her shirt and looked up for the source of the voice. One of the Brothers of Science stood before them, his deep blue robes rippling with his movements. Kira inched closer. “Please give your name and age to the Brothers at the ramp. They will give you your pack to take to camp.” He pointed to three sour-faced Brothers, then raised his hands. “From here on, we are free from the entanglements of Earth and its politics. We are not American, English, Spanish, or Korean. We are all one body, colonists for the Earth Trade Association, colonists in our own right. This planet is ours, and it is our duty to supply the other colonies in our galaxy with food. You have been chosen for a most glorious task: to be the lifeblood for our corner of the universe. Take pride in this new life and the path chosen for you. Beyond that door lies paradise as we’ve never known it. Will you join the Brethren of Science to conquer and tame this world?” The women cheered. Kira remained silent. Daddy had said no world should ever be tamed, or Earth would happen all over again. She hugged herself again, staring at the Brother. “Today, we create a new world. Join us!” He stepped back with an overly-dramatic flip of his robe.

The women rushed forward, carrying Kira along with them. Names and ages were given, packs were handed out. “Name?” Kira started. The man puckered his lips and frowned. “Name, child. What’s your name?”

“K-Kira Roberts, sir.”

“Age?”

“10.”

He nodded sharply. “Alright. You have lot 12. Follow those with green packs like yours. They’ll take you to Landing.”

“Landing?” The man ignored her question and continued on his way. Kira licked dry lips, all thoughts of adventure disappearing in the wake of reality. She heaved the pack onto her shoulders and waited. Gradually, quiet fell over the room as each colonist received her bag.

Finally, the Brother emerged again. He smiled slowly, the smile never reaching his eyes. “Ladies and children, welcome to your new home. Welcome to Calypso.”

Book One

Chapter One

The ocean spread out beneath her like a giant blue-black blanket, the waves tinged blood-red in the setting sun. She rested her chin in her hand and felt the hammock rock gently with the movement. Time seemed frozen, hovering in place like the sun. The whole of the planet held its breath. It was a world apart, the scene beyond her mountain perch. On the western horizon, a huge orange planet hung like overripe fruit, heavy with the weight of the evening to come. Wispy clouds scuttled in the higher atmosphere, but it was strangely clear for Calypso. Pterybirds swooped just over the rocks below, snapping at fish flung up by waves and daring death to catch them. Their horseshoe bodies shimmered yellow-gold in the fading light. They looked like flashes of lightning against the surf. The air was thick with the smell of summer and fruit and wonder, but Kira’s eyes were distant. She fiddled with the slender arrow in her hand, thinking. End over end, the arrow flipped around her fingers. Amber eyes watched the world prepare for the night, but the mind behind them was miles away. Her thoughts refused to release their hold on her. The end of the arrow bobbed against her arm, almost friendly, and she slowly came out of her reverie.

Kira gave a small sigh and rolled her head back and forth. Hours of sitting had left her stiff and sore. The hammock swung lazily as she pushed herself up, long legs stretching for the floor. She glanced outside the cave at the setting sun. It was just about time to hunt. Kira paused, arrow held between two fingers, to watch as the sun touched the sea and flattened along the horizon. It seemed to pop, leaking light across the sea. As if on cue, the sky began to blush with hints of night. She stepped to the edge of the cave and let her bare toes grip the edge. Nothing stood between her and the sea below but the wind. The adrenaline rushed through her. Hundreds of feet below, the surf roared for her. A blast of salty sea air caught her off-guard and she gasped. It felt good, the mist from the waves below. It was cold and bitter and refreshing. Kira stepped back and grinned, running her hands through short hair. Night was coming and she was still alive. For the moment, that was all that mattered. A pterybird shrieked below her and her eyes narrowed. It swept away from the surf and headed for the vast greenery that edged the ocean. Something caught her eye and Kira pursed her lips. A distant shadow hovered on the far horizon, a smudge of darkness over the forest. Shadowy wings slowly turned to face the sea. Distant eyes watched night overcome the water. She stifled a shiver. There was no place for fear, she reminded herself. Fear would only make her careless, and there was no room for error. Not now.

She knelt next to her quiver and slid the bare arrows out. In the rapidly vanishing light, they looked like slender bones haphazardly thrown together. Gently, she picked the first up, balancing it in her palm. This was the best time of day, the moment when Calypso became hers. It took her moments to tip the arrows. Slender fingers went through mechanical motions, tying, twisting, slipping the bundles into the rough-cut slot. The tip rarely broke the calloused skin on her hands anymore. Any nicks left her unfazed after so many years with the poison. She had long since overcome the tendency to pass out from one thorn. Survival depended on it. She slid the last bundle of five needles into her hand and neatly tipped the arrow. The creatures here were a little more immune than her frail human body. She dropped the finished arrow into the quiver and stood. Her bow sat against the wall, the white wood a stark contrast to the pock-marked lava walls. In the fading light it looked like polished bone. The thought sent chills down her spine and she smiled again. During the day, she hit. At night, she refused to play the coward. Kira slipped the quiver and bow over her should and headed into the darkness.

The mountain was a mass of tunnels, its lava tubes hopelessly intertwined. Sulfur clung to the rocks and perfumed the air. The smell hinted to the activity below, a reminder of its more violent nature. Kira wasn’t fool enough to pretend it was entirely safe, but her life had been forfeit long ago. Any danger the mountain posed now was minor compared to what lay outside. The volcano would explode out the side again, anyway, through the destroyed wall that spilled into the sea. It was a lopsided giant, majestic on one front and crippled on the other. She worked her way down through the tunnels, fingers slipping along the walls. The faint sulfurous smell steadily grew as she worked he way lower. It was comforting, the smell. This was home, or as close to home as she’d ever had. Carefully, she skirted a hole in the tunnel floor and headed west.

Gradually a dim light filled the tunnel, the tunnel lit faintly orange from the light outside. Kira gripped her bow tighter. The night was magic to her, how it could be both orange and purple. The twin planet reflected light like a moon and tinted everything with its color. This place was completely different from the one she had left. It was a drug, terrifying and addicting. She stood