Cosmic Callisto Caprica & the Missing Rings of Saturn

by Sophia Chester

  Poking out of the back of the wall were the ship’s escape pods; there were far too many of them to count and they were in much better condition than the flimsy ones I had seen in the Martian employee section. Pan shoved the end of her ray gun into my back. “Open the door, head inside, and don’t move until I get in!”

  I easily pulled the door open to the escape pod; a calm, soothing voice came from out of the speakers in the escape pod. “Welcome. Please enter in an orderly fashion and take your seats.”

  Pan let out a soft whistle as she came through the door. “Oh, this is really fancy. Heck, this is better than that disgusting shack I was living in underneath this ship!” I rubbed my fingers across the padding that was on the chair next to me; it was made out of velvet. I felt like I was touching a cloud. Pan shoved me toward the front of the escape pod. “You get the honor of driving us over there. Just know that I have this gun pointed at the back of your chair. So don’t try anything.”

  With my stomach tied in three knots, I sat down in the driver’s seat. Two soft velvet seat belts emerged from the side of my chair. They crisscrossed over my chest and then snapped into place above my shoulders. Just like the escape pod I used earlier, the keys were sitting in the glove compartment next to the steering wheel. In the back of my mind, I said a little prayer for my own safety as I turned the key in the ignition and drove toward Princess Rhea’s ship with Pan sitting behind me, a gun pointed at my back.

  Princess Rhea’s ship immediately picked up on the escape pod’s signal. Thankfully, this time around, I faced no hostilities and my call was sent straight to Pallene. I told her that I had some important information to give the princess about the missing Rings of Saturn and that it was so important that I needed to talk to her personally. Pallene told me the princess’s guards would meet me at the bottom of the ship and escort me to the princess’s banquet room. I didn’t like this at all. Pan was too unpredictable, and I had no idea what she wanted to do. I parked the escape pod underneath Princess Rhea’s ship. With my hands clasped onto the steering wheel, I waited for the hatch underneath the ship to open up.

  “You’re not going to get away with this,” I whispered.

  “Says the little girl who played detective and is now in over her head.” She laughed.

  “Ya know, it took me a few seconds to figure out that you were the culprit. Do you know what gave you away? Your hair. You used too much Stick and Stay hairspray on your hair. That’s what caused your hair to stick to the inside of Josuke’s bike.” I let out a little chuckle. “Pan the trickster. You were able to trick everyone but me.”

  Pan took off her seat belt and dashed toward me with her ray gun pointed at me. “Shut up! And when we get off of this thing, I’m going to do all of the talking.” The hatch underneath the ship opened up. I guided the escape pod through the entrance. After the hatch closed under the ship, Pallene and two of the princess’s assistants made their way toward the escape pod. I wished there were some way that I could warn them about Pan without putting my own life in danger.

  The door to the escape pod swung open. “Cosmo, it’s good to…” Pallene’s voiced trailed off into a tiny whisper the moment she laid eyes on Pan and me.

  Pan pulled me up from out of my chair and pressed the end of her ray gun against my cheek. “Oh, come now, ladies, don’t frown. We have to put on our best smiles since we’re going to see the princess!”

  Pan, pressing her ray gun to my cheek, made the walk from the ship’s belly to the dining hall where the princess was waiting for us one of the tensest moments of my life. As we passed the ship’s guards, I could feel their desire to protect the princess from Pan radiating out of their pores. I knew that they wanted to do something, but if they did, chances were that Pan would shoot my jaw off. As the four of us walked into the dining hall together, Princess Rhea greeted us with a smile; she was so poised and relaxed. You would have thought that she had invited us over for an afternoon of tea and macaroons.

  “Oh, Your Majesty, it’s so good to finally meet you!” Pan said jokingly while giving a curtsy.

  “It’s good to meet you as well, my dear. Please, why don’t you have a seat? I can have one of my ladies bring you some black wine, if you’d like.”

  Pan placed her hand over her chest and she tossed her head to the side. “Oh, Your Majesty, you’re just too kind!”

  Princess Rhea pulled out a seat for Pan right next to her; one of the princess’s assistants placed a golden goblet in front of Pan and she poured some black wine into it. Pan brought the goblet to her lips; she threw her head back and, after taking three large gulps, she sat the goblet back down on the table.

  “Can you tell me your name please?” Princess Rhea asked.

  “Well, it’s funny you should ask that. When I turned eighteen, I changed my name to Pan. I loved my first name until I heard about my great-grandmother’s tragic backstory. My real name is Janus. Janus Pikoros, Your Excellency.” This was insane! Pan wasn’t even her real name! This couldn’t be real! “My mother named me after my great-grandmother Pikiria Janus Pikoros. Maybe you’ve heard of her. She had the opportunity to become the queen of Planet X stolen from her by your lying, manipulative grandmother!”

  Pallene stepped forward. “Watch your tongue!” she hissed. Janus tossed the heavy goblet at Pallene; what little bit of wine that was left in the goblet landed on her ivory-colored dress.

  Princess Rhea gently placed her hand on Janus’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry she said that. Would you like another cup of wine?”

  Janus dragged her fingernails over her cheek; little green flakes fell from the right side of her face. God, this was scary. Who was this woman with two names?

  “What I want is the life that I should have had! The life that I could have had if my grandmother had the chance to become queen.” Janus pulled a long string of green crust off of her face; a patch of red skin appeared where her flaky skin used to be. “It was your grandmother who spread those lies about my grandmother. She convinced everyone that my grandmother was saying all sorts of things about the prince, which caused her to be thrown out of court and her engagement to the prince abruptly ended.” Janus scratched off more of her flaky skin; the entire right side of her face was a fearsome sight to behold. Patches of dried green skin dangled off of her cheekbone and red bloody blotches peeked through to the surface. “Every morning, I get up and I mix together this expensive concealer with green eyeshadow to help cover up the scars on my face.” Janus traced her finger along the edge of a dry patch of skin on her cheek. “When I was a little girl, I had no choice but to let people see the scars that I was born with. Sometimes, I used to think about the story of my great-grandmother and I used to imagine the type of life I could have had if she were queen. If she were queen, I could have servants paint my face every morning and no one would ever laugh at me. So when I heard that you were coming to the Titan, this idea came to me. How wonderful would it be for me, Janus Pikoros, to steal The Rings of Saturn from you, Her Royal Highness and third in line to the throne.” As Janus laughed to herself, the dangling pieces of dry skin on her face shook from side to side.

  “You’ve ruined everything that the princess has tried to accomplish with your selfish desires!” Pallene yelled with tears running down her face.

  “I ruined what she was trying to accomplish! Ha!” Janus turned toward me and a few flakes of skin dropped to the floor. “We’ve shared everything with them! When they were hungry and dying by the hundreds when they were fighting over the Moon, who showed them how to survive? Who showed them how to grow their food and build their colonies! We did!” Janus slammed her fist down on the table. “We shared our culture and knowledge and what did we get in return? They pushed us away from our homes all the way to the edge of space. Now we can’t even sit in the same restaurants that they do. There’s nothing you can do to help them understand. Just what can you share with those who already have so much power and can take anything from those who are powerless? Nothing.�
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  The princess continued to hold on to her composure. She placed her hand on top of Janus’s. “I’m so sorry about everything. Tell me, as your princess, what can I do for you?”

  Janus pushed the princess’s hand away. She leaned in close with the right side of her face toward the princess. “What can you do for me? I want you to remember me. Give me the fastest rocket you have on this ship. I want you to leave me and my little friend here alone. If you try to follow us or send anyone after us, I will shoot her. That’s what you can do for me.”

  There was no way I was going to let Janus take me off of this ship. Who knew what she might do to me? For all I knew, she might shoot me the moment we took off. I had to do something right now or else. I started to run a million different scenarios through my mind on how I could escape, but none of them would work unless I could get her loosen her grip on that ray gun of hers, which she still had pressed into my arm. I was standing to the left of her. A few crusty sprinkles from her dried skin were lying on the table in front of me. As I looked down at the tiny fragments of dried skin, an idea came to me; it was very simple, yet I would be totally dependent upon Janus agreeing with me in order for the plan to be set in motion. I took all of my energy and channeled it into my legs. I quietly shifted over to Janus’s left side, and she began to poke me in the arm with the end of her ray gun. “No one told you to move!” So far, so good. I was standing right next to her.

  “Your Highness, don’t you think you should give your guest some warm water to wash her face with?”

  Janus ran her fingers across her right cheek. “Some warm water and a wash rag would be nice.”

  Princess Rhea snapped her fingers. “Pallene, bring our guest a bowl with some warm water and a clean towel to wash her face with.” Pallene scurried out of the room with the other two attendants tailing behind her. Good, Janus agreed to have her face washed. I thought my plan was going to work.

  “Tell me, Janus, what do you plan to do with The Rings of Saturn?” the princess asked in a very casual manner. She spoke to her as if she and Janus were the best of friends.

  “Oh, I’ll sell them, of course, and with the money I earn from selling them, I can restore my family’s name. Once again, the name Pikoros will be known all through the high courts and among all of the distinguished dignitaries.”

  Pallene came back into the dining hall alone; she was carrying a wide golden bowl that had two handles on the side and a white cloth was hanging from the side of the bowl. Long white wisps of steam danced around Pallene’s face. Good, the water she was carrying was boiling hot. I clenched and unclenched my right hand. This was it; this was probably going to be the only chance I had to escape from Janus. I had to do this.

  “Put the bowl down here on the table and make it snappy!” Janus barked. Pallene’s hands shook like a leaf as she placed herself between the princess and Janus; some of the warm water fell onto the floor. I kept my eyes on the steamy hot bubbly water and I tried to keep my right hand still so I wouldn’t give my intentions away. Finally, Pallene stretched her arms out so she could place the hot bowl onto the table. Right as Pallene’s arms crossed Janus’s face, I swung my right hand up against the bottom of the golden bowl. The scalding hot water crashed down on Janus’s face. She let out a high-pitched scream as the boiling hot water pushed the rest of her dried skin down toward her neck. Janus’s fingertips curled toward the palm of her hand and I quickly slipped her silver ray gun from out of her loose grasp and into my own hands.

  “Guards, guards, seize her!” Pallene cried out. About a dozen or so guards busted through the door and into the dining hall. Two burly looking guards grabbed Janus up by her arms; she was still crying out in agony with her hands pressed to her face before she disappeared behind the door.

  Chapter 24

  Princess Rhea swept me into her arms, the silky floor-length sleeves from her blue dress covering my entire body. The corset and matching shoulder pads she had on were made entirely out of golden leaves and complemented the rest of her dress. “By the Goddess, child, I don’t know if you’re brave or just incredibly reckless!” My hands were still shaking a little bit and I could still feel a bit of warmth from the bottom of the bowl.

  “It was a huge risk, but I had to take it. I knew that she wasn’t going to shoot me if I moved closer to her. She needed me to be alive and well so we could get onto the rocket together. Plus, I knew that she was feeling very relaxed because everything was going her way. I felt like there was a slight chance that she might take a small suggestion, like having a bowl of hot water brought over to her to wash her face, without even thinking that someone standing next to her might splash the water in her face. I also doubt that she thought the very person who made this suggestion, her helpless captor who has done everything she has told her to do, would even think of turning on her.”

  The princess laughed. “You’re a very resourceful young lady, Miss Cosmic Callisto.” I couldn’t stop myself from blushing; receiving such a compliment from the princess was a great honor.

  “Are you going to press charges against Janus and Josuke?” I asked.

  “No, I’m not going to press any charges against Josuke. I have the rings back in my possession and that’s all that matters to me. Janus, on the other hand—I can’t let her go free. She held a member of the royal family hostage and there’s no way I can persuade everyone on the ship to let this go. She’s going to have to suffer the consequences for her actions. However, I’m going to ask my father to have mercy upon her. To be honest, I feel sorry for her.” Princess Rhea traced her fingers across the edge of the lockbox that The Rings of Saturn were in.

  “Your Highness, is what Janus was saying about her grandmother and your grandmother true?” I was probably totally out of line for asking such a sensitive question, but after everything I’d been through, I had to know.

  “Yes, all of it’s true. In fact, they were friends, from what I’ve heard. When my grandfather, King Torran the First, started to show more interest in Janus’s grandmother, my grandmother started all of these nasty rumors about her behind her back in an effort to get her kicked out of court and to end her engagement to my grandfather. My grandmother was a very two-faced woman. She treated everyone that way.” The princess picked her golden leaf crown from out of her orange hair. “If it weren’t for my grandmother and her two-faced actions, I wouldn’t have the life that I have now and neither would Janus. It’s amazing how something so small had such a profound effect on both of our destinies.”

  I wondered if both Janus and Josuke knew how lucky they were. They were basically getting a slap on the wrist for robbing the princess of Planet X. It sounded like Janus was going to get a royal pardon from the very person she had stolen from. How lucky they were!

  “Cosmo, you have to tell us everything that happened before you boarded our ship! How did you figure everything out?” Pallene asked. The three of us sat down at the table together. In about thirty minutes, I was able to catch up the princess and Pallene on everything that had transpired before Janus and I came on board.

  “Cole and Phoebe are engaged and she didn’t want to talk about it because she was afraid her lover would get in trouble. Oh, how beautiful!” Pallene blew her nose on a napkin. “Their story sounds like it came straight from out of a romance novel!” Pallene pushed away the tears that were in her eyes.

  The princess was sitting with her arms crossed tightly; no doubt she was pondering everything that I had said and was thinking about what her next move would be. “I want to have a press conference on the Titan immediately. The people need to know about everything that’s gone on over the past few days. But I want to hold this conference right in the middle of the Martian living quarters. Maybe by seeing the conditions that the workers on the ship live in, that will start a real dialogue about Martian and human relations.” The princess turned toward me. “Cosmo, I want to meet your nanny, Wendy, along with all of the other Martian women you told me about. Especially Mimas a
nd her daughter. Also, I want you to stand next to me during my press conference.”

  Just thinking about standing next to the princess during her press conference made my heart leap for joy. I started to imagine all of the wonderful opportunities that could come my way with this kind of exposure. I wondered if it was possible that people would come to me personally and ask me to solve mysteries for them. I mean, that was something that could happen. I wondered what the girls would think when they saw me on television. I wondered what my parents would think when they saw me and when they heard about their one and only daughter placing herself in harm’s way to solve a case on her own. Maybe I could get the princess to grant a pardon on my behalf so they wouldn’t be so angry at me!

  Princess Rhea’s chief of security wasn’t all too pleased with the idea of her traveling to the Titan to do an unscheduled press conference, especially after everything that had happened today with Janus. But she managed to convince him to let her go and speak to the people on a ship that was filled with both those who loved her and those who hated her for no other reason than because she had green skin, in an area on the ship that was dimly lit and where anyone could hide behind any corner with some sort of weapon. Honestly, the more I started to think about it, the more I found myself siding with the princess’s chief of security.