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Rose and Sunshine

Marc Tamargo

    Ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated by the legends of Europa. Like the world I live on Ganymede, Europa is a moon of Jupiter’s and was terraformed centuries ago, and like Ganymede it is a world covered in one vast ocean littered with large artificial floating cities for people to live on. But unlike Ganymede, Europa is said to be a paradise where everyone lives in peace with one another, a world without hatred. What fascinated me the most about it was that no one throughout the entire solar system had been to Europa in over a century.
    My mother used to tell me stories about Europa when I was a child. That is, before she died when I was seven. It was said that, on Europa there was no sickness, no wars, no hostility toward one another and that no one had to ever work. And the oceans of Europa were said to crystal clear and beautiful as opposed to the dark blandness of Ganymede’s ocean. It was said that the ocean of Europa were blessed by beings that had lived there billions of years ago, and that anyone swimming in it experiences a feeling of ecstasy.
    It was said that the peaceful people of Europa feared that the violent chaotic nature of the rest of the human race would infect their perfect paradise, so they erected an impenetrable energy barrier around the entire world, making it impossible for anyone to leave or enter. Many people tried to get through the barrier. Warlike worlds like Io launched massive militaristic assaults on the barrier attempting invasion, while more civilized worlds like Ganymede and Mars attempted to use scientific and technological means to take down the barrier, but no attempts were successful. Eventually after years of failure everyone gave up and accepted Europa as a forbidden place.
    After my mother died, my father’s passing interest in Europa slowly turned into an obsession. Being the brilliant scientist and engineer that he was, he became convinced that he could build a small stealth ship capable of penetrating the energy barrier. I asked him what made him think that he could do what thousands of the system’s greatest minds had failed to do, and he answered that they were looking at it the wrong way, that they had always tried to overpower the barrier instead of trying to send a ship with little power to slip through. He would also say that there had been many technological advances since they last tried and that they would work better, but no one was interested in Europa anymore. He worked all the time on his ship, and even showed me how to operate it in case I went with him.
    I have lived what some might call a sheltered life. My father was pretty good at protecting me from pain and hardship. I had many friends I would talk to at school but no one that I felt close to. I was known for always being in a bright and cheerful mood. That and my long bright blond hair is what earned me the nickname Sunshine. My father often called me that when he was in a good mood.
    One night when I was seventeen, I came downstairs after studying to find my father looking very distraught. I felt alarmed and concerned. I ran to him to ask him what was wrong. “You deserve better than me.” He said.
    “Nonsense.” I told him sincerely, “You’ve always been good to me.”
    “But I haven’t been honest with you.” I started to worry, that didn’t sound like my dad. “Jennifer, you have a sister.” I was in far too much shock at the time to recall exactly what my physical reaction was but I’m fairly certain my mouth hung open and my eyes went wide.
    “Wh-what do you mean?” I managed to say.
    “Before I met your mother she was very briefly married to someone else. They had a daughter named Rose. She never told you because it ended badly with her and her first husband. She didn’t have much contact with Rose either. She planned on telling you when you got older but then she died and I... well I never had the heart to tell you.” I was speechless, I had never experienced anything in my life to prepare me for this moment. I was overwhelmed with many emotions not the least of which was anger, so I simply turned around and went back to my room without a word.
    The next day my father avoided me. I think he felt ashamed and was afraid that I hated him, but my anger had long since subsided. I was never one to hold a grudge. I made sure to hug him and let him know that I still loved him, but I also told him that I wanted to meet my sister. He said he would make some inquiries. The next day he told me where I could find her. She lived in the city of Hawkins which wasn’t too far away, only twenty minutes by air shuttle, but it was quite different than Canterbury, the city I lived in. Canterbury was a relatively small and quiet community where not much happened, whereas Hawkins was a large Metropolis over run with people and from what I’d heard crime. The thought of venturing in anywhere save the city center of Hawkins frightened me a bit, but I decided that I really wanted to meet my sister.
    The house where I was told Rose lived in was a sickly looking thing in a poor neighborhood. I tried to go over in my head what I would say to her but I really had no idea, so I just quickly knocked on the door. A girl slightly older than me answered, she had unnaturally bright pink hair which was cut in an even fringe that looked short around the back and long around the front, and it kind of covered her eyes. She wore clothes more dirty and revealing than anything I would ever wear and had a body that was quite thin. I put on my best smile for her, “Hi, are you Rose?” I knew even as I spoke that I didn’t keep the nervousness out of my voice.
    “Yeah.” She causally said while leaning against the wall with one arm, looking bored.
    “My name is Jennifer, I’m...uh...your sister.” I added my most enthusiastic smile after that statement to emphasize my point.
    “What?” She looked angry, I was starting to get really scared. She turned back to a fat middle aged man who sat on a couch watching the holoveiwer and drinking from a bottle. “Dad, there’s a girl at the door who says she’s my sister.” She yelled at him.
    “Yeah, so?” He said apathetically.
    “So, is she?”
    He leaned over to glance at me, and then said, “Probably.”
    “I have a sister!?”
    “Yeah.”
    She picked up some dirty laundry that was lying around and hurled it at him. “You asshole! Why didn’t you tell me I had a sister?”
    He dodged it without much consideration. “I don’t know. What do you care?” He took a big swig of his beverage, and then turned all of his attention back on the holoviewer.
    Rose turned back to me with a friendly smile, “I’m sorry... Jennifer was it?” I nodded. “Do you wanna come in?”
    “Sure.” I replied with as much enthusiasm I could gather, feeling as uncomfortable as I did.
    She escorted me to a flight of stairs. As we passed her father she extended her middle finger toward him and said to me, “Never mind this asshole, he can go fuck himself.” He flashed her a brief patronizing smile. Rose took me up to her bedroom, which like the rest of her house was a total mess and had a peculiar smell.
    “So how the hell are you my sister?”
    That tone caught me off guard. I started to defend myself, “I’m not lying, I...”
    “Oh, I believe you,” she said in a friendlier manner, “That tub of shit down there wouldn’t have said you were if you weren’t. I take it we share the same mother, since she abandoned me when I was a child.” I nodded, “Where is she now?” She then lit her cigarette.
    “She died when I was seven years old.”
    “Well, at least that explains why she never came to see me. So tell me about yourself, what is my long lost sister like?”
    We made small talk; I did most of the talking. I told her all about my life at my boring school and living with my father. She told me little about her life, but she seemed more interested in what I had to say. She seemed particularly interested when I started talking about the legends of Europa. She seemed impressed that my father was trying to go there.
    “Wouldn’t that be something, if he actually did go there?” She said between puffs of her cigarette. “I mean, I always thought it cool too, you know, the forbidden world, where no one can go. But you can see it right there in the night sky most nights. And it’s supposed to be like some sort of paradise. I wonder if it really is.” She suddenly leaned towards me, “Hey, do you think you’d go with him, if he like, did go?”
    “I don’t know, I never really thought about it.” I lied. I had thought about it a lot, the truth was I didn’t know if I wanted to go or not.
    “I’d go.” She said with enthusiasm.
    “Really?”
    “Hell yeah. I’d feel like a real explorer or some kind of hero or something. Plus any reason to get off this shit hole world. I’ve heard that on Europa everyone has their own personal robot servant who follows you around. And he has some kind of magical power or something and is able to grant you your every wish.” I smiled; I was really impressed with her fearless spirit. I saw in her all the brave qualities I wish I had.
    After another hour or so I realized it was getting late and decided to go home before it got dark. “Well, I should get going. You’re probably sick of hearing me babble on anyway.”
    “No, not at all.” Then she did something that took me by surprise, she gave me a hug. “You should come over more often, we’ll hang out.”
    I smiled a grin of relief. “Sure I’d like that.” I went home a bit stunned. I was certain that she would want nothing to do with a sheltered geek like me, but I was wrong.
    So I started going to see her all the time. Rose and I connected on a level that I’d never experienced before. We were so different from each other; I was sweet, simple, cheerful and complacent where Rose was vulgar, complex, and rebellious. Yet we seemed to connect on a level that was subservient to all those things. Maybe it was because we were both lonely and longed for a companion who understood us.
    She was delighted when she heard my nickname was Sunshine, she thought it really suited me. “I got an idea!” She said with excitement, “We should go out and get tattoos together.” I noticed that she had several tattoos, a crescent Jupiter on her ankle and a dragon on her back, but I never liked the thought of getting a tattoo.
    I scrunched up my nose at the thought. “I don’t know...”
    “Come on, it’ll be great! I’ll get a tattoo of a rose on my left shoulder and you can get a tattoo of a big bright sun on your right shoulder, and when we put them together we’ll be Rose and Sunshine; a great combination. Come on.”
    The way she put it actually made the idea sound appealing to me. It would be symbols of our bond of friendship and I could tell it was really important to her, so I said yes. We went down to the shop and got them done. Mine was a bright yellow sun; it was on my upper shoulder so most of the time it would be covered by my shirt. Rose however preferred to wear sleeveless shirts, so the bright red rose with a green stem that extended down to her elbow would always be showing.
    We would always hang out at my place, sometimes we would get drunk, a habit Rose taught me. After a few months Rose wasn’t satisfied with hanging out by ourselves anymore. She wanted to go out to clubs. I really didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to be disagreeable either, so I went. The nights usually went like this: I would sit by myself in a corner sipping my drink, trying not to get too drunk while Rose would go off dancing or flirting with random guys. Some times she brought people over to talk to me, and if I was drunk enough sometimes I did, but usually I would just sit there quietly. Rose seemed to be oblivious to how obviously uncomfortable I felt in these situations because she started wanting to go out more and more. Eventually I actually started to loosen up and meet some new people, until the night that it happened.
    One night I was sitting alone by myself when I realized that I had no idea where Rose was so I went off in search for her. I found her outside in a near by alley way. She was making out with some random guy. I was a bit tired of her always going off and leaving me by myself so I decided to just go home. But as I was walking away I heard screams and I knew without a doubt they belonged to Rose. I ran back to her as quick as I could. I arrived to see her holding a knife to the guy she had been necking with. I called out to her and she said, “This fucker tried to rape me.” The guy was calling to his friends and before I knew it she was encircled by five vicious looking men. They were yelling stuff at her, mocking her while she kept saying, “Back the fuck away from me or I’ll fucking kill you.”
    One guy got too close to her so she lunged at him with the knife, but while she did that another guy grabbed her from behind and got a good hold of her. After that, they easily knocked the knife out of her hands. Then they pounced on her like a pack of wolves. They clawed and ripped at her clothing while others punched her if she put up too much resistance.
    For a moment I just stood there stunned. I think I was in a state of shock. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to go get help but I didn’t want to leave Rose alone while this was happening to her. And I wouldn’t gain anything by attacking them, I was too weak. So I started crying out for help as loud as I could. We weren’t that far from the club so someone was bound to hear me.
    I walked closer to the club while I continued to scream, but not going too far as I couldn’t still see Rose. In fact my sight was so fixed on her that I didn’t notice the man who had stepped directly in my path. “Hey, do you mind? We kind of like our privacy, so if you know what’s good for you...” the last part he screamed at me, “You’ll shut the fuck up!”
    Fear started to overwhelm all my sensations as I sensed I was about to be attacked. The next thing I knew my attacker suddenly went limp and his body tumbled to the ground. I looked up to see a guy in a dark coat lunging at Rose’s attackers. He too caught them off guard, but he was more prepared to deal with them. I watched as the guy in the dark coat, armed with a lead pipe quickly and effectively knocked all of our attackers to the ground. He then grabbed Rose and helped her run away. I quickly came to Rose’s other side and put my arm around her to help prop her up, she was obviously still weak from her assault.
    “We gotta hurry. Those guys won’t be down for long.” The guy in the dark coat said to me. We were running as fast as we could, but before long I knew he was right. Our attackers were in pursuit of us and it wasn’t long before they were on us. Just when I thought they were going to catch up to us a ratty old car appeared seemingly out of nowhere right in front of us. The doors were already open. “Get in!” The guy in the dark coat yelled, so we quickly hopped in.
    “Go, Dawson, go!” The guy shouted. The car quickly took off in the air leaving our pursuers behind on the ground as we sped off. I looked to our rescuers, the guy in the coat appeared around Rose’s age. He was a somewhat tall fellow, but had an unthreatening face. He had shoulder length dark hair. The boy who was driving the car whose name was apparently Dawson, looked young, slightly younger than me. He was unhealthily thin with pale skin and very shortly cut brown hair.
    I held Rose, most of her clothes had been ripped off, but she still had her undergarments on. It seemed she had managed to fight them off long enough to prevent them from violating her, but she had paid for it. Her body was covered in knife cuts and bruises. The guy handed me his long coat and I quickly wrapped it around her while I held her tight.
    “I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner.” Our rescuer said to us. “I heard you screaming when it first began, but I had to get Dawson here, to plan our getaway.”
    “That’s okay,” I faintly said with what little strength I had. Rose just stared straight ahead, looking into nothingness. Her lips were softly moving, but I couldn’t hear anything. When I listened closely I could faintly make out the words ‘those fuckers’ which she was repeating over and over.
    “Where to, Michael?” Dawson asked the guy, Michael. In response he looked back to us.
    I thought for a moment, and then told them to take us to my house and I gave them the directions. When we got there Michael helped me carry Rose inside. We took her up to my room where I treated her with a first aid kit, and left her to rest.
    “Thank you.” I said to Michael when we had gone back downstairs. “I know Rose will be too proud to admit it but you really saved us back there. I hate to think what would’ve happened...” my voice trailed off as a single tear came to my eye.
    “Don’t give it another thought. I’d like to think anyone else in my position would’ve done the same thing.”
    “Yeah but it wasn’t someone else.”
    “Well, on that note we do have a favor to ask.”
    I turned to stare directly at him in sincerity. “Name it.”
    “We kind of need a place to stay tonight. We don’t really have...”
    “Sure.” I said interrupting him. “There’s a spare room you guys can have. I’ll just stay in my room with Rose. So don’t worry about it. Stay for as long as you need.”
    So they stayed with us for the next couple of months. We learned that their mother had died while giving birth to Dawson. They were raised by their father who was an alcoholic and would often beat them. Sick of the abuse they ran away from home when Michael was sixteen and Dawson was twelve. They’d been wandering ever since.
    Rose was happy staying at home hanging out with them which made me really happy because she didn’t want to go out to clubs anymore. I started to form new bounds of friendship with these two boys. I never really been around many boys before so it was a bit awkward for me at first, but Michael was a very kind man. He had a much more gentle nature than I would have suspected giving the circumstances of our meeting. And Dawson was usually a bit quiet so I didn’t get to know him quite as well but he was fun to have around.
    One day the four of us were hanging out together when I started thinking about my future. So I asked them. “What should I do with my life?”
    Rose and Dawson just smirked and shrugged, but Michael looked to me with a serious look on his face. “Well, the way I see it you have three options, do the bare minimum to get by like Dawson and me have done...”
    “And me!” Rose gleeful interrupted, and then banged her glass of beer against his in a salute.
    “Or,” Michael continued, “You can join the criminal underworld. Or if you want to be involved in legitimate business, leave Ganymede.”
    “What?” I said, “Why would I have to leave Ganymede if I wanted to be legitimate?”
     “Look around you,” Michael replied, “I know you grew up in this small luxurious community, but you can’t be blind to the crime infested shit hole that Ganymede is. This is where most of the pirates from the asteroid belt come to unload the booty they get from raiding passing ships, and some many large criminal originations run everything. They have the fingers in everything, the government, so called ‘legitimate’ businesses, everything.”
    Of course I have heard sentiments like that before, rumors that half the population of Calisto would visit here just to get stolen goods, but I think Michael was being way overly cynical about it. “Come on, it’s not that bad. There are plenty of people who live and work and have nothing to do with outlaws.”
    “Oh yeah? Like who?”
    “Like my dad.”
    “If he hasn’t had dealing with the crime lords in one way or another, he will. Living on Ganymede, it’s inevitable.” I frowned in disagreement.
    A couple days later I went out on the porch to get some fresh air only catch Michael and Rose kissing. Stunned, my first reaction was to go back inside out of embarrassment however I stood my ground. “Michael, can I speak to you for a second?”
    They looked at each other. “Sunshine, what the hell are you doing? You’re not my mother.”
    “I just wanna talk.” I said.
    “It’s alright.” He said to her then came inside with me.
    “You know I’m actually glad to see her with someone like you.” I said to him, “You seem to be an honest, decent guy. I’d just like to know if you plan on just ditching us in a couple of days, because she has had enough of guys coming and going in her life and... I... myself have been getting along really well with you and Dawson so I’d just like to know what your plans are.”
    “C’mon, it’s not like I asked her to marry me or anything.”
    “Don’t evade the question.”
    “I don’t know... I don’t really have any plans. Like I said, me and Dawson are just wanderers, but since we’re being honest here... I’d have to say that we haven’t been this happy in a while. And truthfully I have always felt that the only reason we’d leave is if we got kicked out and you didn’t want to see us anymore. Because I haven’t met anyone like Rose before that seemed to understand me... better than I understand myself. And both Dawson and I are glad to be around someone as bright and cheerful as you, it’s a big change from the shitty way our lives have gone so far.” From the way he kept nervously looking down I could tell he was being sincere.
    “That’s really sweet.” I said. Then escorted back out to the porch where Rose was waiting. “You can have him back now.” I said.
    “Gee, thanks mother.” Rose replied. I stuck my tongue out at her in response.
    But while the four of us were getting along so great I barely saw my dad. His obsession with building the ship was getting out of hand. He spent all of his time working on that thing. He would be up working on it when I went to sleep at night, and he would be awake working on it when I got up in the morning. I was starting to wonder if he ever got any sleep at all. I decided to confront him about it.
    “You’re not happy anymore.” I said, “Dad, what’s going on? Something’s got to be wrong.”
    “Look Sunshine, I...” I gave him a stern look and he sighed in resignation. “You know Landov Inc.?”
    “Sure, that’s the company that’s been funding your work.”
    “Yeah well, they stopped funding my work several months ago.”
    “They did? Well, then how have you been able to continue your work?”
    “I frantically went around trying to find someone else to fund my work, but no one wanted to do it, so I finally found someone who was willing to loan me the money I needed.”
    “Really, who?”
    “Rudolph Spencer.” My eyes went wide with shock. I recognized that name from Michael and Rose’s conversations about the criminal underworld. Rudolph Spencer was the most notorious criminal master mind in all of Ganymede. “I told him I could triple his money in a few months, I lied. I’ll never be able to pay him back.”
    “Dad, he’ll kill you!”
    “I was desperate! I needed to finish the ship and I couldn’t get the money anywhere else. But don’t worry, he won’t kill me because he won’t be able to find me.” He grabbed my shoulders and stared directly into my eyes to reassure me. “I’ll be finished the ship in a couple of days and then I’m going to go to Europa, to paradise. No one will ever be able to find me there. Sunshine, you have to come with me. As my daughter they’ll come after you if they can’t find me. If you stay you’ll life will be in danger, so you’ve got to come with me.”
    “You bastard!” I yelled at him, “How could you do this to me?” I slapped his arms away and ran up to my room. I stayed there for a long time crying into my pillow. I was so distraught, I had finally met my best friend, a kindred spirit who happened to be my long lost sister and together we’d made a couple of good friends and then all of a sudden I was being forced to leave it all behind to go to some mysterious place that no one knew anything about.
    I avoided my dad for the next couple of days. Rose and the others could tell there was something wrong, but I dodged all their questions and eventually they let it go. Then one day when my dad had gone out for supplies and the four of us were upstairs watching the holoviewer when someone rang the door bell. We looked at the monitor to see who it was and it was a pair of police officers. “Oh shit!” Michael said, “Don’t tell ‘em I’m here. They could be after me for beating up those guys at the club.”
    “Don’t worry, I’ll get it.” I said, and then went downstairs to answer the door. I considered the possibility that they could be after my dad; who knew what else he could’ve done.
    “Yes?” I said after I opened the door.
    “Jennifer Maritine?” One of the officers asked.
    They knew my name! “Yes.”
    “I’m Officer Johnson, this is Officer Shepard, we’re with the Hawkins Police Department. You were at the Karton Klub on fifth street in Hawkins on the night of April 20th.”
    That wasn’t a question. “Yes.”
    The other officer spoke, “Can you tell us if you’ve seen this man?” He flipped open a projector and a perfect hologram of Michael appeared in front of me.
    “No I haven’t”
    “This man, Michael Leonard Richardson, is responsible for the murder of an innocent man on the night of April 20th just outside of the Karton Klub.” Officer Johnson said.
    “The night you were there.” Officer Shepard added.
    “He beat him to death with a lead pipe.” Officer Johnson said, “Are you sure you’ve never seen him before?” I could feel them staring at me, I knew police officers were trained to detect lies, some even had special implants that helped them to do so, and I knew that I was a horrible liar.
    “Yes, I’m sure.”
    “What about this man?” Sheppard asked and then changed the holographic image so that it no longer displayed an image of Michael but the image of one of the men who attacked Rose that night. I recognized him instantly as the man who had initially tried to rape her.
    “No, I don’t recognize him either.” I could feel them staring at me. It felt like their stares were giving off heat, I think I might have been sweating.
    “This is the man that Michael Richardson killed.” They stared at me a bit longer. “Well, if you think of anything that might be helpful, anything at all, please contact us.”
    “And we’d appreciate it if you didn’t leave town, we might want to ask you some more questions.” Sheppard said.
    “Sure.” I said putting on my best smile. I let out a huge sigh after I shut the door behind them. I didn’t think it had gone well at all. I quickly ran upstairs to find Michael pacing vigorously, Rose standing still, biting her nails, and Dawson working at the computer.
    “We saw the whole thing.” Rose said. “Dawson’s checking the nets to see what he can discover. He found out that Michael did kill that guy while he was saving me, but the police have no record of us being attacked.”
    “Holy shit!” Dawson shouted out.
    “What!? What is it?” Michael asked anxiously.
    “That cop, Sheppard, he’s on Rudolph Spencer’s payroll, and that guy you killed, he was one of Spencer’s henchmen.”
    “Fuck!” Michael exclaimed. “They don’t want to arrest me, they want to kill me.”
    “Wait a minute,” Dawson said, “those cops just applied for a warrant to search this house. It should only take them a day to get it.”
    “We should’ve went to the cops right after the attack and told them what happened.” I said.
    “No,” Dawson said, “If you’ve done that, then they would’ve just been able to find Michael quicker and he’d be dead by now.”
    “No,” Michael said, “They wouldn’t have cared that those assholes were trying to rape you, Spencer’s men would have made sure an example was made of me. I gotta leave Ganymede. Hell, I gotta leave the Jovian System. No matter where I go they’ll find me!”
    “What about Europa?” I said. There was a sudden thick silence as everyone stared at me in puzzlement. I think Rose was the only one who knew what I might be thinking since she knew about my dad’s plans. I told them about my dad’s ship and his problem with the gangsters, and how he will be leaving soon and that I was going with him.
    “That’s crazy.” Michael said, “No one can get to Europa, everyone’s tried for over a century to get through the barrier. What makes you think you’re dad can do it?”
    “Because he’s a genius,” I said, “and he’s determined. He said the ship is almost ready and I’m sure he’ll let you come along, he said there’s room enough for four people.”
    “Dawson would have to come too,” Michael said, “If they can’t find me, they’ll find him and make an example out of him.”
    “Okay, but there’s only enough room in the ship for four,” I said, “the life support systems can’t handle more than that.” We all looked to Rose.
    “It’s okay, no one knows I’m connected to either of you, I’ll be okay if I stay here.” She said.
    I ran to her and hugged her. “No, I can’t loose you. We just found each other.”
    “I know,” she said, “it sucks, but if that’s the way it’s got to be then that’s the way it’s got to be.”
    When I let go Michael grabbed her hand. “I won’t leave you.” He said.
    “Yes you will,” She replied, “or I’ll kill you myself.”
    As we were packing our things my dad came flying through the door. I’ve never seen him in such a panic in my life. “They’ve been asking questions about me around town. They’re coming for me. They’re probably on their way here right now. We have to leave, now.”
    “Michael and Dawson have to go with us.” I told him about their predicament.
    “That’s fine,” he said, “tell them to get in the ship. We got to go now!”
    “Is it ready? Will it get through the barrier?”
    “Yeah, I just need to make a few last minute adjustments.”
    I gathered my friends up together and we went to the ship to prepare for our incredible journey. We packed very lightly for we had no idea what Europa would be like, only that was supposed to be a paradise. Michael, Dawson and I sat in the ship while my dad stood on the outside making his last minute adjustment. Rose stood beside the ship to bid us farewell. I was crying. I didn’t want to leave her.
    I saw Michael reach out his hand to hers, but before they touched the whole world around us rocked with a violent explosion. I looked ahead to see that the front hanger doors had exploded open. There was fire everywhere; I hadn’t seen anything like it before.
    All of the sudden men with guns started rushing in from the blazing hole. In an instant they opened fire, gunshots exploded all around us. I saw Rose duck behind the ship. I looked down just in time to see my dad get hit with multiple gun shots. I watched helplessly as the life drained from his body.
    “Dad!” I screamed as loud as I could. I started to get up to go to him, but Dawson held me back. In the corner of my eye I could see Michael pulling Rose aboard the ship as gun shots continued to explode all around us.
    “Get us out of here!” Michael shouted to me.
    I was sitting at the controls but I was panicking. Tears blinded my vision and my hands were shaking. I felt Rose sit beside me. She gently touched my arm and whispered into my ear, “I know you can do this.”
    Her serenity gave me the calmness and determination that I needed. I remembered what my dad taught me about flying the ship and we launched. The men with guns looked like little dots as we sped up into the atmosphere. Rose held my hand all the way until we were floating in space above Ganymede.
    All of us were in awe; we had never been in space before. The tears started to subside, the magnificence of Jupiter looming over us made me forget my worries. I moved the ship around Jupiter until we saw a blue world covered in swirled clouds appear around Jupiter’s horizon. It looked like Ganymede, only smaller.
    Rose gave me a half hug. “I’m glad I’m here with you guys. I can’t imagine my life without you. I wouldn’t want to go back to that.”
    I knew the ship would make it though the barrier, my dad was a genius. Then it was right in front of us, the legend, the forbidden world, our future. We were about to be the first ones in over a century to see it. “Next stop: paradise.”

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This appears in a pre-2010 issue of cc&d magazine. Saddle-stitched issues are no longer printed, but you can requesting it “re-released” through amazon sale as a 6" x 9" ISBN# book! Email us for re-release to order.

This appears in a pre-2010 issue
of cc&d magazine.
Saddle-stitched issues are no longer
printed, but you can requesting it
“re-released” through amazon sale
as a 6" x 9" ISBN# book!
Email us for re-release to order.