Cosmic Callisto Caprica & the Missing Rings of Saturn

by Sophia Chester

  Oh, he was so proud of himself; he just so happened to find me in this house, almost like a needle in a haystack. But I doubted he knew why I was masquerading as a security officer. If he did, then maybe I would actually have been impressed. “Look, I won’t hurt you or anything. Just come with me and turn yourself in.” He stretched his hand out toward me; he still had that silly little smirk on his face. My eyes darted over toward the door to my right. “Hey, don’t do anything crazy now. Look; just turn yourself in and everything will be okay.”

  I took my hands off of the kitchen counter and shifted my right foot in the direction toward the door that was beside me. The tall security guard leapt forward, but it was already too late for him to catch me. I darted toward the door, pulled it open, and locked myself inside before he could get his hands on me. It turned out this door actually led to the bathroom. I chuckled a little bit. From the other side, the tall officer was pounding onto the door with one fist and jiggling the door handle with the other. I ignored all of the racket he was making and I had a seat on the toilet. I’d accepted the fact that I couldn’t get out of this house and away from either of these security officers. I was most likely going to be taken in for questioning, which would also lead to some sort of search and confiscation of my things. I couldn’t let them have the evidence that I’d gathered so far for my investigation.

  “Come out of there right now or else I’ll kick the door down!” Sounded like I didn’t have much time left. I folded the paper I’d pulled from out of the trash can in half and stuffed it down into my bra. “I’m coming in.” An incredibly loud thud came from the door. When I looked up at it, near its center was a crack; several jagged splinters were pointing toward me. I had to hurry before this door shattered into a million pieces and he pulled me out of the bathroom. I took my camera from out of my purse, flipped it over on its side, pressed the little red button at the top, and took the mini data disc out of it. I nestled the mini data disc, which had all of my pictures on it in, between the pieces of paper that were down in my bra. I made a few adjustments so I could feel comfortable. I also wanted to make sure that nothing was poking from out of my sides. I really didn’t want to give away that I was stashing anything in the cup of my bra. Finally, I got up and unlocked the bathroom door.

  The tall guard was about to plant his foot back into the door, but he stopped and firmly planted his foot back onto the ground. I lifted my hands into the air and said, “I’m ready to turn myself in.” With an even bigger smirk on his face, the tall guard grabbed me by the arm and dragged me through the house and out the front door.

  I remembered earlier when I was looking over the map to the security room floor that there was an extension to the floor in the middle of the hallway that was just beyond the first door at the front of the hall. At that time, I thought that it was probably leading to more offices, most likely ones that were private for people who made more money and had supervisor-type positions. Turned out that I was one hundred percent wrong. Beyond that door was a row of holding cells—eight holding cells, to be exact—and I was sitting all alone in cell number five with a pair of tight plastic handcuffs on my wrists.

  The moment I was brought upstairs, my personal possessions were confiscated. When they asked me about my mini data disc and where it was, I told them that I didn’t know where it was. When they asked me what I was doing downstairs in Mimas’s house, I told them that I was just curious and I felt like doing some exploring, which made them frustrated, but at the same time, what I said wasn’t a complete lie. I was curious about why Mimas was being charged with stealing the rings. I closed my eyes and stretched out on the long piece of thick ivory-colored metal that stretched around the border of my cell. If I were to guess, it was probably big enough to seat twenty people. There was nothing I could do except wait for the supervisor of the day to come take a look at me and decide what my punishment would be, but who knew how long that would take since finding the rings was more of a priority than dealing with me and my shenanigans. The best part of this whole situation was that the same tubby, smart mouth, jerk-faced guard who took Wendy away was in charge of watching over me while I waited for my sentence to come. His name was Jeb. What was even better was that he hadn’t stopped talking to me since the moment I sat down in my cell.

  “So tell me, little missy, did you have fun playing dress up?” Jeb asked while running his black baton over the bars of my cell. I thought this was the fifth time this jerk had asked me this question and I was really sick of it. I didn’t even bother to get up. Instead, I tried my best to ignore the throbbing pain in my ankle. Making that mad dash from the tall guard and straight to the bathroom, then making the long journey from the bottom of the ship and up to this floor made my injury even worse.

  “I really need to see a doctor about my ankle,” I said.

  Jeb lightly tapped his baton on a cell bar that was directly in front of me. “No can do, little missy. My job is to make sure you stay in your little cell until the officer of the day gets here.” He pressed his face against the cell bars. “And, from the looks of it, you’re not bleeding all over the place and your foot’s not falling off, so you’re okay.” Jeb turned around and headed back to his desk, which was near the entrance. No, I wasn’t bleeding all over the place with my injury, but I needed to see a doctor because half of my foot was starting to feel numb. I told them the moment that I was brought up there that I had been shot in the ankle, but they brushed me off and threw me in the cell. My back ached so badly. I kept trying to make myself feel comfortable while I was lying down, but I couldn’t. I kind of wished I were back in my bed in my hotel room.

  My hotel room! I shot up from off the metal seat I was lying down on. Poor Anthe. What was going to happen to her now that I was down here? What if they decided to search my room and they found her? Had I managed to make things worse for me and her as well because I wanted to play detective? Huh, playing detective; that was exactly what I’d been doing this entire time. I hadn’t accomplished a single thing. The only thing I’d managed to do was to get myself into a heap of trouble. The corners of my eyes were burning hot like fire. I tried to push my tears back, but they managed to claw their way out and fall down both sides of my face. Maybe this was some sort of sign. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this whole detective investigation thing. When I got home, I was heading straight to the school’s guidance counselor and letting them know that I was switching majors. I mean, how great was it that I found out that I was really not cut out for this while I was still young and I could still change my mind. Maybe I’d do what every other girl in my class was doing and just major in communications. Yeah, that was it; I’d major in communications and learn how to operate a ship’s switchboard, how to type on a keyboard without looking down, and how to answer incoming calls from other ships. What was even better was that Dad could get me a job anywhere in the senate and Mommy could get me a communications-type job on her ship or on a ship that she was familiar with. Yeah, that was what I’d do. I lay back down on the cool slab of metal, then I closed my eyes and tried to come to grips with the epiphany that I’d just had.

  I was jolted out of my not-so-comfortable sleepy-like state by the sound of laughter. Who in their right mind would be back here laughing? It must be that big fool, Jeb. I closed my eyes and lay back down. But once again, I was awoken from out of my sleep, but this time, it wasn’t because I heard someone laughing. This time, someone was calling out for help. I jumped up and ran toward the bars on my cell. The calls for help were coming from a cell that was all the way at the end of the hall. The cries for help sounded like they were coming from a woman. I wondered if they had brought someone in while I was sleeping.

  Jeb was standing near the entrance of the cell door. He had his back turned to me so I couldn’t see what was going on, but I could still hear the steady cries for help. I turned my head toward the entrance; the door was slammed shut. I figured that at any moment, someone was going to come inside and see what all this
commotion was about. But the woman kept hollering and screaming and, to my dismay, no one came. What was going on in here?

  “Hey, I’m trying to get some shut-eye. What’s happening down there?” I yelled.

  Jeb turned his head in my direction. “Nothin’. Just shut up and go back to sleep.”

  I didn’t like this; a woman calling out for help in a closed-off area like this and she was all alone. This whole situation reeked of foul play. I especially didn’t like how Jeb was just standing there and not doing anything at all to help stop this woman from screaming. It was almost like he was enjoying a good show or something.

  A loud yelp came from the end of the hallway. Moments later, a body came flying from out of the cell. It was hard for me to get a good look at whoever was tossed out of that cell, but I could hear them talking with Jeb. “She’s a lot stronger than what I thought.”

  Jeb laughed. “Oh, yeah. She put up one heck of a fight when we brought her here earlier this afternoon.”

  The other guy remarked, “Doesn’t matter to me. I love green girls that have a little bit of spunk in them.” Oh God, I really didn’t like this. I was stuck in this cell and I couldn’t do anything to help this lady who was being attacked. What could I do? If only I could distract them or bring their attention to me so she could be left alone. When I sat back down, I started patting my hands on my leg. I could feel something small and round down in my pockets. Thankfully, even though my hands were restrained, they were cuffed in front of me and not behind me, so I was able to reach into my pocket. I remembered that I still had those two pieces of white chocolate coconut cream candies in my pocket that Kari had given me earlier. Fortunately, they hadn’t searched my pockets earlier because this was just what I needed to help get their attention.

  Chapter 12

  Earlier, when I complained about wanting to see a doctor, Jeb really had given off the impression that my injury wasn’t bad enough for me to be seen by anybody. So it was possible that the only reason I would be taken out of my cell were if I were knocking on death’s door. I bet if I acted like I was really sick, he would rush into my cell to see what was wrong with me.

  When I had eaten this candy earlier, it had coated my entire tongue white. I could bite down on one piece of candy and allow it to turn my tongue white; maybe I could line the edges of my mouth with some. With the other piece of candy, I could mix it up with some saliva in my mouth and just keep in the sides of my cheeks. Now, if I were to do all this while convulsing on the floor, he would have to come in to check up on me. I was sure the last thing he would want to go down on his record as a security guard was that someone died while he was on shift. That was part one of my plan. Part two was going to be far more difficult, because getting him in the cell was not going to be that hard, but getting myself out and somehow getting him to stay inside and stealing his swipe card key from off of him was going to take a lot of work. My ankle was still killing me and I couldn’t apply a lot of pressure on it. So I’d have to get creative. I looked up at the wall in front of me. There was a small space in between the cell bars and where the metal seat that wrapped around the room began. There was nothing there but the blank, empty wall. My eyes flew open and the smile that was on my face grew even wider. This blank wall was perfect. I could definitely use this to my advantage.

  The woman at the end of the hallway let out another cry for help. I needed to hurry. I placed my hands on the outside of my pocket, then I pushed the two pieces of candy up from out of my pocket and onto the floor. Removing the pieces of candy from their tiny plastic wrappers was difficult because my hands were cuffed. It took me a few seconds longer than normal, but I got them off. I tossed the first piece of candy into my mouth and made sure not to swallow any of it. I rolled the mixture of crushed candy and spit over and under my tongue until I felt like it was properly coated. Just to make things look all the more convincing, I dabbed both corners of my mouth with some of what was resting on my tongue. I tossed the second piece of candy into my mouth, clenched down on it, and kept it between my teeth. I made sure that I didn’t crack it open yet. I’d do that when Jeb got over here. Finally, I lay down with my back toward the empty wall. I took in three deep breaths to help steady my nerves. Once I felt like I was ready, I curled up into a fetal position and let out a loud deep bellow from out of my stomach.

  “Hey, shut up down there.” I recognized that voice; it was Jeb. Good; I got his attention. I let out another long bellow and tried to make this one sound more agonizing than the first one. “Hey, if you don’t cut it out down there, I’m going to give you something to really be upset about!” I tried my best not to laugh at his little threat. Jeb was a balding, extra-large-sized man with a belly that looked like if he unzipped his pants, it might touch his toes. How did someone that out of shape get a job as a security officer? Whatever; I shouldn’t be concentrating on that right now. I went back to my bellowing and moaning. For a minute, I felt like what I was doing wasn’t working and that Jeb was just going to ignore me until I stopped. But just when I was about to give up hope, I heard them; the sweet sound of Jeb’s loud footsteps. It was showtime. Immediately, I started shaking my entire body. I kept my fingers close to my chest and clenched and unclenched them. I stopped moaning and instead I started to make this husky, dry-sounding noise that gave off the impression that I couldn’t catch my breath.

  “Oh my God! Something’s wrong with this girl!” Jeb screamed out in a state of panic. From out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Jeb swiped the key card across the lock in front of the cell door. At that moment, I bit down on the piece of candy that I was holding in between my teeth. I quickly mixed the broken pieces of candy with my spit and I pushed a little bit of it out of the middle of my mouth. Jeb rushed to my side, knelt down behind me, and picked my face up with his sweaty, clammy hands. Just for a dramatic effect, I started to roll my eyes up as far as they would go. Jeb pinched my cheeks with his fingers and he shook my face from side to side.

  “Come on, kid. Get it together! What’s wrong with you?” This was it; Jeb was finally close enough, and it was now or never. When he let go of my cheeks, I cocked my head back, collected up every bit of moisture that was in my mouth, and shot it out of my mouth and directly into Jeb’s eyes. Jeb immediately let go of me after my spit came in contact with his eyes. While his hands were up and he was wiping the spit away, I got up and I threw myself at him. I grabbed hold of his uniform and pushed Jeb with all of my might toward the empty wall that was behind us. Jeb was caught by surprise and tried to get a better hold on his footing, but there was no stopping what was happening. He continued to shuffle backward until I pushed him as hard as I could onto the wall. Jeb gasped for air after his back hit the wall. I pinned him against the wall using all of my strength, which was no easy task because Jeb was pushing me back at full force. If he had been a much stronger man and not a man that was made completely out of jelly, this fight would have been over in three seconds.

  I started to push my hands up toward his face. I needed to do something; otherwise, we would be stuck in this stalemate forever. My fingers were climbing up Jeb’s round checks when I felt a strong blow to the side of my stomach. I cried out in pain as Jeb continued to push me off of him with one hand and punch me repeatedly in the side with the other. After taking several hard punches to the side, I took a deep breath and I dug my fingernails into Jeb’s face. Once I felt like I had a good enough grip, I pulled his head forward, then I slammed it against the wall behind him. Immediately, Jeb’s body became limp and he slid over onto the floor. He let out a few low-sounding moans before he finally slid down the wall and passed out in front of the cell bars.

  I didn’t have any time to waste, so I ignored the throbbing pain in my side and ankle as I got up from the floor. First things first; I had to get these plastic cuffs off. I patted Jeb’s pocket. Thankfully, the keys were right there, so I dug them out. It took a couple of tries, but I managed to unlock the cuffs. It felt really great to take
them off. Jeb was still out of it, so I took the plastic cuffs and placed them on his wrists. With my hands free, I was able to take Jeb’s swipe card, which he kept draped around his wide neck, stick my hands through the bar doors, and swipe the key card through the door slot so I could get out. I hobbled my way down to the cell at the end of the hallway.

  “Hey, are you okay down there?” I called out. I heard nothing except for some deep, heavy breathing. I hoped that lady was okay. To be honest, I was in no condition to fight. My sides were so sore after that beating Jeb gave me. When I reached the cell at the end of the hallway, I cautiously peeked inside of the cell. Standing up with her back to the wall was a Martian woman with disheveled orange hair. She had on a blue, long-sleeve dress on with white polka dots. A few of the buttons at the top of her dress had been ripped off. She was using one of her hands to keep the ripped part of her dress together. When I passed the other cells I didn’t see anyone else. Now why in the world would they keep a Martian woman up here away from everyone else? Behind bars where no one can see her. I thought I knew who this woman might be.

  Chapter 13

  “Are you Mimas?” I asked hesitantly while standing in the doorway.

  “What do you want?” she asked in between heavy breaths. I carefully stepped into Mimas’s cellblock. I didn’t want to scare her or anything, so I decided to take things slow with her. I looked the room over really quickly. The guard who had been giving Mimas a hard time was slumped over in the far left-hand corner with a fresh black eye. Mimas kept switching between keeping her eyes on him and then me. I needed to let her know that she could trust me before we started talking.