I swear I thought that my stomach had become entangled with my rib cage because of how hard the escape pod was moving. The thrust was a lot stronger than what I thought it would be. A couple of times, I was truly afraid that this old escape pod was going to leave me stranded in the middle of space. This thing came to a screeching halt three times, only to continue its mission of getting me farther from the ship seconds later. Every time the escape pod stopped, my body was tossed against my seat belt. I nearly slipped out of it a few times. I really wasn’t sure if this nauseating trip into space was going to come to an end until the escape pod started to slow down. A faint hissing noise came from the escape pod’s thrusters and a countdown similar to the one that went off when I left the ship started.
At the end of the countdown, the voice coming from the speakers said that the escape pod was approximately sixteen point nine thirty-four kilometers away from the ship. I immediately unbuckled myself from out of my seat. Once I did that, a high-pitched warning signal came from the speakers, telling me to buckle myself back into my seat. I ignored the warning and continued to float above my seat in a semifetal position. I really needed to take a quick breather so I could allow my insides to fall back into place after being tossed around like a little rag doll.
Once I felt like all of my organs were back in place, I pulled myself back down into my seat. With one hand on the steering wheel, I used the other to punch command codes onto the portscreen. When I brought up the escape pod’s ship scanner, it was only able to pick up one ship and that was the Titan. I turned the escape pod; I had a perfect view of both Princess Rhea’s ship and the Titan. I could still see both ships from this viewpoint. If they were within eyesight, then this scanner should have been able to pick up both of them. I looked over at Princess Rhea’s ship; it was a radiant shade of silver and it was shaped like a long stretched-out bullet. There were no windows on her ship; attached to the end of her ship were three thrusters that looked like a bird’s wing. If I were to compare the size of this ship to the Titan, I would say that it was not as big as the Titan, but it was of course larger than an average flying saucer. This was so amazing; I could actually see the princess’s ship up close! But that was enough fangirling and gushing; I had to get back to the task at hand.
Now that the escape pod was pointed directly toward both ships, I started to scan the area again and, unfortunately, I received the same result as the last one. The princess’s crew must have been cloaking their ship’s signal. I doubted that they wanted everyone out in space to pick up on where they were. They probably only shared their ship’s signal with people who they wanted to share it with. If I couldn’t even pick up the ship’s signal, chances were that I wouldn’t be able to send them a message, to let them know that I wanted to come aboard. This was not going to be as easy as I thought it would be. There was really only one thing I could do. I was going to have to force them to bring me aboard the ship. A small lump jumped up through my throat. God, this was so dangerous. But everything else I’d done up to now had been pretty dangerous, so why should I have stopped here? I grabbed hold of the steering wheel and slowly drove toward the princess’s ship. A tiny droplet of sweat fell off my chin and into the bottom of my helmet. Who knew what sort of security detail the princess had? Oh God, what if they shoot me down for getting too close to the ship!?! No, they wouldn’t do that. Would they? It didn’t make any sense to automatically shoot someone down for getting too close; if anything, it would make more sense for them to send out a signal and try to reason with whoever was getting too close. A small smile spread across my face. Maybe this won’t be so hard after all.
The closer I got to the ship, the more nervous I became, simply because nothing was happening. At this point, I was close enough where I could see more of the fine details of the ship, like how incredibly glossy the ship’s exterior was and how smooth the ship looked. As far as I could tell, there were no doors or windows on this ship. At least not on the side that I was looking at. Maybe if I circled around the ship, I’d find a window on the other side or near the front of the ship. I traveled to the other side of the ship; same thing—no windows and, once again, nothing happened. Maybe they just didn’t care that I was out there? I started tapping my fingers on the portscreen, hoping that maybe since I was much closer, I could actually pick up on this ship’s signal and I could send them a message. I took my eyes off of the escape pod’s portscreen for half a moment and glanced back at the princess’s ship. Something was coming from underneath the ship’s belly. In a matter of seconds, what looked like a miniature replica of Princess Rhea’s ship appeared before me. The tiny replica was no bigger than the escape pod that I was in, and just like the princess’s ship, this ship also had no windows and a glossy silver shine to it.
I froze for a moment because I wasn’t sure what I should do. I stayed in my seat with my hands tightly grasped around the steering wheel as the miniature silver ship moved around me. It was just coming around to the front of my escape pod when a ringing noise came from the speakers next to my portscreen. The words “incoming call” flashed across the screen. I immediately tapped my fingers on the words “accept call” that were on the portscreen. A deep-sounding voice came from the speakers next to the portscreen. “State your purpose,” the voice commanded.
“My purpose?” I quietly whispered into the phone. My throat started to tighten just a bit near the edges. I had to choose my words wisely. The last thing I wanted do was to give off the impression that I was there to harm the princess. This person on the other line had to know that I was there to help; otherwise, everything that I’d done up until now would be for nothing.
“My name is Cosmic Callisto Caprica. I’m vacationing here on the Titan. I know that The Rings of Saturn have been stolen and I’ve done some investigating and I have evidence that proves that an innocent Martian woman is being accused of stealing the rings, even though she hasn’t. I just want to talk to someone of authority on the ship about this because an innocent Martian woman is probably going to go to jail for something that she didn’t do. Please, I just want to help her and make sure that she doesn’t go to jail, even though there are other suspects in this robbery.”
I pressed the phone to my ear. It was so quiet on the other end of the line and I thought maybe the person on the other end had said something and I just didn’t hear it. “Hello?” My voiced echoed through the phone. I pressed my lips together and silently prayed that the person on the other line was able to understand me and what I was trying to achieve. For a split second, I thought that maybe the guy on the other end was going to say something, but he didn’t. There was a small clicking noise that was immediately followed by the drawn-out hum of the phone’s dial tone. He had hung up on me. I looked down at the phone, hoping that maybe he would call me back. This has to be a mistake, right? I was sure he heard me. I was completely one hundred percent clear when I talked to him that I was able to get my message across without sounding too confusing. I was sure that he was probably thinking it over and when he was done, he would call me back. I looked down at the phone in my hand and then back at the ship that was hovering in front of me. Sadly, the little silver ship began to back away from my escape pod.
“No, don’t go,” I whispered. As the ship continued to back away from me, my feelings of disappointment started to transform into feelings of fear. Once the silver ship had finished backing away from me, a strange white-colored mist emerged from the pointy edge at the end of the ship. To my surprise, the point at the end of the silver ship flipped open and a black, oval-shaped pole with three rings on it appeared from out of the strange white mist. Oh my God, it looked like a photon blaster! He’s going to shoot me! He couldn’t shoot me; I didn’t do anything wrong! Why was I given no warning at all? I tried my best not to panic, but I couldn’t help myself. Just like before, my heavy breathing created a patch of fog that covered the entire bottom half of my helmet. My trembling hands floated over the top of the steering wheel. I tried to stop them from trembling so I could grab hold of the steering wheel, but I couldn’t. Is this it? Am I going to die out here in the middle of space inside of this escape pod? My life couldn’t end like this; I wouldn’t let it end like this.
Somewhere deep down inside, this primal rage, the desire to live and to not die took control of every inch of my body. It wrapped around the bones in my fingers and it stopped my hands from shaking. I grabbed hold of the steering wheel, then I looked back at the silver ship. It was still holding the same position, but now a high-pitched humming noise was coming from it. I kept my eyes on the black photon blaster; the bottom half of the blaster had changed from black to white. I had no idea what that meant, but I had to figure out what I was going to do. Maybe if I got away from her ship, this guy would leave me alone.
I drove the escape pod away from the princess’s ship. For a moment, I thought that I was safe, but as soon as I heard that high-pitched humming noise, I knew that I was still being followed by the silver ship. Okay, this guy isn’t going to leave me alone. What should I do? I had no way to fight back. I bit down on my lower lip, then I made a hard right turn. I glanced back at the silver ship; the middle part of the blaster was now white just like the bottom. Why hadn’t this guy shot me down yet anyway? I was right in front of him earlier and even now I had my back to him, yet he hadn’t taken the shot yet. I wondered if it had something to do with his photon blaster and the color it was changing to. Did he have to wait until it was completely white? I had to see this for myself.
I turned the escape pod around so that I was facing the silver ship. My abrupt stop took the ship by surprise. We almost collided, but the silver ship managed to dodge to the far right at the last moment. While the silver ship was still turning, I glanced at the photon blaster. It was completely white now. Sweat fell from my forehead as I waited for the silver ship to make its next move. A thin neon green beam came from out of the photon blaster. Everything was happening so fast that I didn’t have any time at all to react. The green beam struck the top edge of the escape pod. I held my breath as the beam tore through the escape pod’s hard metal and pieces of burned metal fell on the floor behind me. The speakers near the portscreen let out a high-pitched warning signal about the fire and the bright white lights inside of the ship turned red. I unbuckled myself from my seat.
A can of Flame Be Gone was tucked under one of the seats in the escape pod. After giving the can a good shake, I sprayed the white cream all over the burning pieces of metal and over the top of the gaping hole near the ceiling that was still on fire. A small trail of smoke came from out of the patch of white cream that was over top of the hole on the ceiling. There must have been an even bigger fire somewhere inside of this ship that I clearly couldn’t get to. I wondered if I was going to have to evacuate. The thought of leaving this burning escape pod and going out into space all alone sent shivers through my entire body. I grabbed hold of my shoulders to help keep myself calm. I felt myself losing control; my thoughts were all over the place and I couldn’t concentrate. The thin trail of smoke above me twirled around my space helmet. Even though I couldn’t breathe the smoke in, I literally felt like I was suffocating because of it.
I looked back at the window in front of the driver’s seat. The silver ship was directly in front of me again. The photon blaster had reverted back to its original color and that same high-pitched humming noise was coming from the silver ship. This guy is not going to leave me alone. I couldn’t stay there. If I stayed there, I was going to die. I rushed back to my seat. I had to do something before his blaster recharged again. Think, Cosmo, think; what can you do to protect yourself? I couldn’t go back to the Titan. I had no weapons and this thing was on fire. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel, then I glanced back at the princess’s ship. Whoever was in this silver ship was shooting at me because he saw me as some sort of threat and I was sure he wanted me to get as far away from the princess’s ship as possible. I had to wonder if this guy would be as aggressive if I were closer to the ship. If he had no other choice than to stop shooting at me, then maybe he would listen to me. I doubted he would try and shoot me down if I were close to the princess’s ship. But could I reach the ship in time enough?
I glanced back at the damaged ceiling. Smoke was still pouring out of it and the red warning lights were still flashing. This was one heck of a gamble, but I thought I was going to try it. If all else failed, I could just eject myself out of this thing before it got too bad. I let out a heavy sigh and then I turned the escape pod toward Princess Rhea’s ship. I pushed the escape pod’s thrusters to their limit; the burned-up little pod shook a bit as I made my speedy dash toward the princess’s ship. I could still hear the humming noise from the silver ship; he was still trailing behind me. When I last looked at the ship’s blaster, it was still black, but I knew that at any moment, it would turn white and the driver would take aim and shoot at me from behind. As long as I was going in a straight line, I was a very easy target, so I started to pull the escape pod from the right and then to the left. I somehow managed to dodge the first two shots from the ship’s blaster. After both of the green photon blasts whizzed past the escape pod, I felt like my heart was going to stop. As I got closer to the princess’s ship, more adrenaline started to pump through my veins. I ignored the smoke coming from the ceiling and that was now circling around the bottom of my seat. I only had to dodge one more blast from this guy and then I would be okay. I was actually close enough to the princess’s ship where I could use it as a shield. If he were to shoot at me, now he would risk hitting the very ship that he was trying to protect.
I decided to turn around and face the silver ship. Right as my hands were turning the escape pod around, that was when I saw, right above me, the final green photon blast shot through the back of the escape pod, which left a hole in the window in front of me. I let out a loud panic-filled shriek right before I lifted my arms up above my face to protect myself from the blast. The sheer force from the vacuum of space pulled me toward the crack in the window. This seatbelt wasn’t strong enough to withstand all of this pulling and all of the weight I was placing on it. It was only a matter of time before my seat belt would most likely be ripped from out of the chair and I would go crashing into the window in front of me. If one single piece of glass were to puncture my space suit, there was no way I would be able to survive. I was sure I would be dead as a doorknob in a matter of seconds. A floating decompressed human icicle; that was exactly what I would turn into. The speakers near the portscreen kept screaming the same message over and over again: how I needed to evacuate immediately and that I should use the seat ejection button. The emergency eject button was located on the end of the right armrest. The button was covered by a plastic protective case; all I had to do was flip the case up so I could press it. But the pull coming from the crack in the window was so strong that I couldn’t get my hand onto the case. It felt like my arm was encased in a pool of cement; the harder I tried to push against the vacuum, the more it pulled my arm forward.
I watched in complete horror as the crack in the window grew even larger. A thin line appeared at the end of it and danced in several different directions and finally came to a stop at the end of the window. This was it; the window was at its breaking point. I channeled every ounce of energy I had into my right arm; it shook violently as I pushed against the vacuum. I was able to make slow, snail-like progress. Eventually, one lonesome finger managed to graze against the top of the box. I pressed down onto the top of the box with my one finger until it was underneath the plastic box. Directly behind me, I heard a loud metallic creaking noise; it was as if someone were ripping the inside of the escape pod apart. Tiny pieces of metal, probably the screws, were jumping off of the walls like kernels of popcorn. I kept my head down and prayed that none of the screws would come in contact with my helmet.
I turned my direction back to the one finger that I had on the plastic case; it was right below the bottom of the case. After I flipped the case open, my finger slithered like a snake toward the red eject button. I pressed down on the eject button; an opening big enough for me to pass through appeared above me. A tremendous blast of energy pushed the bottom of my seat through the opening and out into the great depths of space. It was like I had just been shot out of a cannon; my limbs were stuck to my side and I was only able to take short, rapid breaths of air. I had no idea what direction I was going in; my vision was filled with black swirling stars, and I was far too dizzy to think about anything else other than when I would stop moving. Suddenly, my spiraling trip through the darkness of space came to a stop. With my limp body hung over my seat belt and my tired limbs carelessly floating on their own, I watched as a mysterious-looking black cord started to wrap around my body. My mind sent several signals to my body, that I should try to do something to get these cords off of me, but my body rejected those signals. I was too tired and too disorientated to even try. What I could only describe as lobster claws were attached to the end of the black cords.
The black claws clamped down onto the sides of the cords that were wrapped tightly around my midsection. Having something tightly coiled around your body that prevents you from moving, all while having a heightened sense of danger, made me wonder if this was how a snake’s prey felt just before it was eaten. I let the black lobster coils pull me backward; where I was going, I had no clue. A heavy weight pressed down on the edge of my eyelids, making it hard for me to keep them open. The last thing I saw before my eyes closed were a few twinkling stars that were far off in the distance.
* * *
I felt like my entire body were sinking deep into what felt like a soft cloud. I unclenched my fingers and tried to grab a piece of the cloud, but I couldn’t. Instead, I ran my fingers over the cloud; no wait, there was no way that this was a cloud. I pinched a bit of whatever my body was surrounded by…what is this? It kind of felt like silk to me. Why was I lying on top of silk? Also, who put me here? A thick white haze was still covering my eyes and it made everything around me look distorted. I was also having a hard time hearing; everything sounded muffled or very far away. Wherever I was at, I couldn’t stay there. I had to get up. I had to find Wendy. She needed to know that I was here and that I was okay. I started to push myself up from the silk cloud, but something held me in place. They were hands, warm hands on my shoulders; they started to push me back down onto the silk cloud. Another set of warm hands grabbed hold of one of my arms. I felt some sort of cool liquid being placed on my arm followed by a tiny little prick into my skin. I let out a little cry; maybe someone would hear me and they would come to my aid. Instantly, the white haze that was cast over my eyes became thicker than before, and my body felt heavy as if lead was traveling through my veins instead of blood. I felt so completely helpless. I tried to fight it, this strong desire to simply close my eyes, but I couldn’t.
I let out a short breath of air right as my eyes popped open. I was actually able to see what was in front of me. This time, there was no thick haze covering my eyes. Gray. There were gray tiles with thin lines going through them over me. There was something pressing down on my face. I could feel cool puffs of air hitting my nose and my lips. My eyes left the ceiling and they traveled down toward my nose; a white breathing mask was attached to my face. I took my right hand and I started to pull the breathing mask off; a split second later, a persistent beeping noise went off near me.
“Doctor! Doctor, she’s awake!” someone said in a frantic tone. I glanced over to where the voice was coming from. There was a young Martian girl. Her orange hair was pulled back into a braided bun; she had on a creamy white dress with a black rope belt on that floated above her ankles. Another Martian girl came in; she had a similar hairstyle and dress, but she had a thick piece of silk draped across the back of her neck and over her arms. She grabbed hold of my hand and pulled it off the breathing mask.
“Ahh, so you’re awake! Let me check your oxygen levels. If they’re high enough, maybe you can take your mask off.” She glanced at something behind me. I rolled my head back; above me were a few monitors. I watched as the doctor’s green fingers danced across them. She muttered a few things to herself while she shook her head. She looked down at me and smiled. “Everything looks good; your oxygen levels are normal and so is your heart rate.” She reached down toward the breathing mask and pulled it off of my face.
I dragged my tongue across the top of my dry lips. “Where am I?” I asked in a low husky voice. The doctor took her fingers and pushed the skin near my eyes up. She plucked a tiny flashlight from out of her dress pocket. She shoved the flashlight a mere two inches away from my eyes. I flinched.
“You’re a very special guest here on the Cybele.” She moved the flashlight over to my other eye. “Can you tell me where you were before you came here?” She moved the flashlight over to my right ear.
“I was in an escape pod.”
She nodded. “And before that?”
“I was on the Titan.”
“What were you doing on the Titan?”
“I’m staying there because I want to see the princess’s jewelry showcase.” The doctor moved down to the end of my bed and flipped the silk sheet back. My right foot was wrapped up tightly in a white bandage. She took her finger and she stroked the bottom of my foot; automatically, my toes curled up toward the ceiling.
She smiled. “Good, good. I was little worried when I removed those bandages on your ankle and I saw that awful gash you had.” She gently placed the covers back over my foot. “Well, your memories are intact and I don’t see any signs of space decompression. I think you’re going to be just fine.” The doctor patted me on my leg and left before I even had the chance to spit out a question.
The young Martian woman who told the doctor that I woke up walked over to the right side of my bed. She tucked the silk blanket under my arm. “My name is Pallene. It’s my job to make sure that you’re comfortable while you’re here on the Cybele. If you need anything or if you have any questions, just ask.”
I pushed myself up from off of the bed; the room started to spin for a bit, but after I shook my head, everything fell back into place. “Whose ship is this and why am I here? Last thing I remember, I was trying to escape from some guy in a silver ship that was trying to shoot me down.”
Pallene pushed me back down on the bed. “The Cybele belongs to her Royal Highness Princess Rhea of Planet X.” My jaw flew open. I repeated her words over and over again in my head because what she said literally made no sense to me. She was lying right now. That couldn’t be right, could it? This is a joke; she’s definitely joking with me. “We picked up your escape pod’s distress signal and we sent one of our soldiers out to pick you up. Unfortunately, he didn’t follow orders. He perceived you as a threat to her Majesty and attacked your escape pod. When you ejected from your escape pod, that same solider saved you. Of course, this was after receiving a direct order from the princess herself. You were unconscious when you were brought aboard. Our medical team did a complete body scan to make sure you weren’t suffering from space decompression. They found the bullet in your ankle and removed it.”
I brought my hands up to my lips. “I’m so sorry for all of the trouble that I’ve caused. I don’t want to be a burden. If you could just—”
Pallene threw one of her hands up. “Nonsense; you’re not a burden at all. The princess considers you to be a very important guest here on the Cybele. In fact, she wants to have lunch with you.”
My hands started to tremble. She wants to have lunch with me, her Royal Highness, the second princess of Planet X, wants to have lunch with tiny little insignificant me. “I—I can’t,” I murmured through my shaky hands.
Pallene grabbed me by my shoulders. “Yes, you can! You must! Her Highness will be beyond disappointed if you don’t show up!” I knew that talking to the princess was a part of my plan, but honestly, I was kind of scared. When I was thinking about having a talk with the princess herself, it sounded really simple and easy, but now, not so much. I couldn’t babble on to her about my plans and what I’d discovered. She would probably think I was a complete loon. Most of all, who was I? I was just a nobody girl from a colony on the Moon. I couldn’t sit down and have lunch with royalty like her. Also, what would we talk about? Diplomatic affairs, lipstick, the weather? I couldn’t think of anything right now.
“What’s wrong with you? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dine with the princess. You can’t let this moment pass you by!” Pallene pleaded.
She was right. I couldn’t let this pass me by. If I did, I’d probably regret it for the rest of my life. “Okay. I’ll have lunch with her.”
Pallene let go of my shoulders, placed her hand over her chest, and let out a tiny sigh of relief. “Thank the Goddess.” Pallene walked over to a video phone that was attached to the wall next to the entrance. After she pressed three buttons, a Martian with thick orange braids appeared on the screen. “She’s ready,” Pallene spat out before quickly ending the call.
Before I could ask what was going on and who she had called, a fleet of young Martian women marched through the doorway and into the room. One of them came in with a wheelchair. They all looked like they were around Pallene’s age; most likely in their early twenties, with their bright orange hair swept up into neat updos with golden leaf pins holding them together. Pallene turned toward me. “Ladies, this is Cosmic Callisto Caprica and I need you all to prep her for her lunch date with the princess.” Pallene clapped her hands twice; two Martian women pulled me up from out of my bed, then they placed me into the wheelchair that the other Martian woman had brought into the room. The young Martian women looked down at me and smiled. One of them said. “Don’t worry; we’re going to take good care of you.”
The treatment I received from Pallene’s team of caretakers was something I’d never forget
for the rest of my days. After we traveled down a lengthy corridor and through the blue sliding doors, I was dropped off at the bathroom. I mean, this was a literal bathroom; a large bath with steaming hot water took up a vast majority of the space in this room. Several large blue columns with shimmering golden vines wrapped around them were on the edge of the bath itself.
Carvings of Martian women holding onto vases were attached to the sides of the columns and more steaming hot water was pouring from out of the marble vases. I had the entire bath to myself. After I had scrubbed down every inch of myself, I climbed out of the large bath, and one of my caretakers handed me a light blue silk bathrobe. Then I was escorted down yet another long corridor and into a dressing room. Inside of the dressing room were three gigantic wall-sized mirrors; one on each side and one directly in front of me. Directly in the center of the room was a runway with bright lights attached to the edge of it. At the end of the runway was a golden chair and a matching table with what had to be every single shade of eye shadow, lipstick, and blush that there was, along with an assortment of perfumes and hair care products.
I glanced over my shoulder. The runway stopped in front of the wall behind me, which had a golden curtain in the center of it. Several of the young women who were taking care of me disappeared and then reappeared from behind the curtain with traditional Martian-style dresses draped across their arms. Dresses with four-foot-long creamy capes, dresses beaded with tiny jewels that sparkled like stars; one even had a cluster of jagged-looking crystals on top of the shoulder pads. Each dress was more glamorous than the last and all I could do was shake my head and say no to each one. These dresses were way too fancy for me. I didn’t want to sound like I was being ungrateful or anything, but I felt like I wasn’t good enough to wear such dresses. After I said no to a white mermaid-style dress that also had a shimmering veil, I noticed the look on one of the girls’ faces. Her lips were tightly pressed together, helping to form this incredibly forced smile; her fingernails were digging into the fabric of the dress. She was sick of me and my indecisiveness. I was sure everyone else was probably ready for me to make some sort of a decision so they could stop parading back and forth with these dresses. I sucked my bottom lip in; that was it, the next dress that they brought, that was what I’d wear.
I didn’t care if it had a fifty-foot-long train with eight clusters of jewels on it! I was going to wear it. “I think I have something you may like!” I looked up. It was the young lady who promised me that I would be well taken care of. She had her hands tucked behind her back. “Close your eyes.” I did exactly what she said; all the while a bundle of butterflies were swarming around in my stomach because I had no clue what she had for me. “Okay, open your eyes.”
A tiny gasp escaped from out of my mouth. Directly in front of me was an opal-colored dress with a tiny gold braided belt. The dress looked like it would fall right above my feet and the fabric at the bottom was dipped in the same gold color as the belt. A cluster of fabric was neatly gathered together on the left shoulder of the dress. I pinched a piece of the dress between my fingers.
“It’s perfect,” I whispered. After I changed into the opal-colored dress, my team of caretakers proceeded to fix the finger waves that were in my hair and they applied makeup to my face. Once my transformation was complete, I twirled down the runway several times. I couldn’t stop smiling at myself; I’d never felt more gorgeous before in my life.
“Should I tell the princess that you’re ready?” one of my caretakers asked.
I nervously rubbed my hand over my knuckles. “Yes, yes, I’m ready.”
I graciously thanked the ladies who had taken care of me before they left me alone in the banquet hall. I sat by myself at the head of a long table that looked like it could seat at least thirty people. Stationed next to a door that wasn’t far from the table were two guards. Every once in a while, their eyes would drift toward me, then back to end of the room. There were ten other tables just like the one I was sitting at. But my table, which was in the center, was the only table that was fully decorated with sparking gold plates, heavy gold goblets filled with black wine, and an assortment of fine dishes. I tried to look down all the way to the other end of the table, but from what I could see, there was a mixture of both human cuisine and Martian cuisine. Over to my left, next to a plate of deep fried mealworms and beans, was a brown cornucopia packed with gray figs, spiked pink melon, and some speckled grapes. I picked one of the speckled yellow grapes from off of the vine; Wendy loved yellow speckled grapes. Whenever we went over to the Martian section of the grocery store, she always picked up a bag of them for herself. I tried to toss the grape into my mouth, but my hand was shaking far too badly, so I just dropped the grape back into the cornucopia. God, I was so nervous right now. On one hand, I wished the princess would hurry up, but on the other hand, I hoped she would never walk through that door. I glanced over at the door. To my dismay, the door slid open. Immediately, I felt the palm of my hand become slick with warm beads of sweat.
Pallene daintily stepped through the door; she tilted her head back and, in loud voice, said, “Announcing her Royal Highness, the second daughter of King Torran the Second and Queen Dione… Princess Rhea of Planet X.”
I jumped up from out of my seat; it nearly fell over onto the floor. Pallene gracefully stepped over to the right. She bowed her head and placed her hand on top of her heart. The two guards did the same. My anxiety was getting the best of me; I couldn’t think, so I decided that I would bow my head and put my hand over my chest as well. I decided to keep my eyes fixed on the floor; if I kept my eyes off of her, I was sure my anxiety levels would go back to normal. But sadly, my plan backfired the moment I heard the tap from Princess Rhea’s heels echo through the room. Without thinking, I looked up at the princess. The TV interview I watched at Uncle Sal’s was nothing compared to seeing the princess in real life. She was much taller than what I thought she was; she had to be at least six feet and a few inches. Her gorgeous orange hair was neatly braided on the edge of her head into two chunky braids; both braids collided at the back of her neck and were twisted into a perfect bun. A sparkling crown made out of golden leaves, pine needles, and berries was tucked inside of her braids. Her dress was made out of this dark blue see-through material and the same type of leaves that were on her crown were tastefully tacked onto her dress, covering up the areas of her body that people probably wished they could see for themselves. To both my horror and surprise, the princess’s eyes met mine from across the room.
“Oh, I’m so glad that you’re okay.” Her voice sounded smooth like fine silk. Everyone else in the room still had their heads bowed; I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to say anything at all. I was so preoccupied with my own thoughts that I didn’t notice that the princess was standing right in front of me. She gently cupped the bottom of my chin with her hand and brought my face up toward hers. “Please, you’re my guest. Have a seat.” The princess from Planet X touched my face. I think I’m going to faint right now. As soon as her hand left my chin, I rubbed the very spot her fingers touched, then I took my seat back at the table. The princess started to tap her fingers on the table. I sat in my chair, motionless, with my eyes on the big goblet filled with black wine. “So tell me, Miss Callisto, how are you feeling?”
“Good.” That was the only word I was able to get out of my mouth.
The princess continued to tap her fingers on the table. “I had my chefs prepare as many dishes as possible. I wasn’t sure what you would like.” She waved her hand across the table. “Eat as much as you want. I put this entire lunch together just for you. If you don’t see something that you like, I can have one of my cooks prepare something for else you.”
I looked down at the huge feast before me. I’d better put something down on my plate; if I didn’t, I might offend her Highness. I selected a few speckled grapes and a glazed slice of warm porcus. I couldn’t believe that they roasted an entire porcus pig; they only sliced its midsection, but they left its behind and head with its thick curled ivory tusks untouched. I cut a piece of porcus, then I shoved it into my mouth. “So Pallene told me that you are a guest on the Titan.” She picked up the goblet that was next to her plate and took a sip from it. “I’m so sorry that the event had to be canceled.”
I bit down on my lower lip, then I slowly shook my head. Oh my God, I have to say something. I’m sure the princess probably thinks I’m the rudest girl in the entire galaxy right now. I just didn’t know what to do. “While you’re eating, if you like, I could tell you the story behind The Rings of Saturn. Where the name came from. I feel like it’s the least I could do since the event was canceled.” The princess snapped her fingers, and Pallene disappeared through the door that the princess had come through. She reappeared with a large black book tucked under her arm. She handed the book over to Princess Rhea. She started flipping through the book’s pages. “I was going to read from this book during the ceremony.” I took a tiny sip of the black wine that was in my goblet. “I borrowed this from our library back home. The royal historians have recorded as much information as they could about every piece of jewelry that’s a part of the showcase.”
Her fingers rested on the edge of the book, and a smile flashed across her face, then she turned the book toward me. “Look at this passage; it’s about The Rings of Saturn.” The passage was split in two; on one side were several paragraphs written in Martian language that I couldn’t read, and on the other was a gorgeous watercolor painting. In the center of the painting was a rainbow-colored sphere; the sphere was the size of a baseball, its thin, multicolored lines crisscrossed each other. There were so many that I couldn’t count them. The rainbow sphere was surrounded by seven golden rings; each ring was covered with small rainbow-colored gems that were carved in the shapes of teardrops.
I ran my fingers across the page. “That’s so beautiful. It actually looks like the planet Saturn.” Oh thank God, I was finally able to push some words out of my mouth.
“Before he was crowned king, my grandfather, Torran the First, was madly in love with a woman named Pikria Pikoros. My grandfather loved her so much that he went on a quest into the vast mountains of Planet X to find the largest rainbow rock he could find just for her. He was going to carve out a wedding ring for her. It took my grandfather a long time to find the perfect rainbow rock for her. When he returned back to the palace, all of his friends told him how badly Pikria had been talking about him. So he called their engagement off.”
“That sounds so awful, to be in love with someone only to find out that they have been dragging your name through the mud behind your back,” I said.
The princess continued. “Thankfully, my grandfather met my grandmother Hemera the following year. As a gift for their first anniversary, he carved the rainbow rock into the shape of her favorite planet, Saturn.”
“That’s so romantic,” I said. The princess was about to say something else, but she was interrupted by Pallene. I was so captivated by the story the princess was telling me that I didn’t even see Pallene until she was crouched down next to the princess with her hand cupped over the princess’s right ear. She was whispering something into the princess’s ear. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but whatever it was, she didn’t want me to know because she was saying it in the Martian language. I watched as the princess tried to hold on to her calm demeanor while Pallene continued to whisper into her ear. Princess Rhea slammed the black book shut, then she handed the book back over to Pallene. She quickly got up from out of her chair and headed straight for the door near the table. Pallene was right on her heels with the book tucked under her arms. My heart sank into my belly. I wondered where they were going in such a hurry and I wondered if they were going to come back. As I watched both Pallene and Princess Rhea head toward the door, the words Pallene said to me earlier that helped convince me to attend this luncheon with the princess echoed through my mind, that this was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” I might not get the chance to see the princess ever again. I couldn’t let this opportunity slip by me.
“Your Highness, please wait!”