The Callisto Group and the Big, Bad Wolf: The Callisto Series

By Michael Westheim

The Callisto Group has finally made it back home. Alicia finds that a lot has changed while they were away, and they begin work right away to fix these problems. A big surprise is finding kids from Earth living on Callisto Station. An even bigger surprise was to find that they aren't alone.

Ryne and his sister Falen find themselves on Callisto Station much against their wishes. They dream of returning to Earth but it may take a while. With the return of the Callisto Group, they find themselves no longer in charge. Can they find a way to get along?

It has long been rumored, but will the discovery of the wolf ruin all their plans? Will the kids find a way to work together to deal with the new intruder?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quantum Resonance
• Release date: May 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201705541

Book preview

1. Arrival at Callisto Station

Alicia Morgan couldn’t remember it looking more beautiful. Callisto Station slowly rotated on the screen in front of her. The crescent moon of Callisto stood watchful while the god of planets, Jupiter, dominated the sky.

They were home. Alicia didn’t know exactly how long she had been away from Callisto Station, but that didn’t matter. Their long journey was over. Her few months on Earth and the many months on board the Vasco da Gama were all behind her now.

Once they had left the wheel station, L4, their sleep cycle was slowly altered until it mirrored that of Callisto Station. It was nighttime for Callisto Station and Alicia herself, but there wasn’t going to be any sleep for her this cycle. She was going to watch their approach throughout the night. At least that was her plan. She knew she was being overly sentimental, but she didn’t care.

She was mesmerized by the rotating station that she knew as home. She had never gazed at the station from space. When she had left for Earth, she couldn’t bring herself to look back. She had lived her whole life there, but she hadn’t seen it. She had her monitor zoom in on the living area. There wasn’t much to see. Just a sliver and under magnification, the white cubic homes drifted by. She zoomed out. She hadn’t remembered there being so many receivers, and telescopes. These were on the non-rotating central axis of the station. One large telescope was aimed at Jupiter. Then something caught her eye. She zoomed back out and focused on the outside of the rotating section. It looked like scratches on the outer surface. She zoomed in again. They weren’t scratches, since they were too regular. It had reminded her of lettering, but nothing she had ever seen before. Strange that no one had mentioned it. She recorded a video since the lettering extended around the station.

Alicia closed her eyes and envisioned the strange script. That was all she remembered. She woke as the ship’s lights came on.

She was afraid it was too late to shower if she was going to meet the others for breakfast. She could hear the commotion outside her cabin. The whole ship was abuzz. This she understood. After one hundred and ninety-three days, or cycles, aboard a ship full of people she knew better than she ever wanted to, the idea of getting off seemed like a good one.

Have you been there the whole night? Alicia’s mother’s voice was groggy, but she managed to flavor it with a dash of sarcasm.

Well, yes. But I did sleep. Alicia felt her cheeks flush. She didn’t know why it embarrassed her.

Her mother laughed, one of her loud, hearty laughs. Her father, who had been asleep, jerked awake. What . . ., what’s happened? He always woke up that way, as if it took a major catastrophe to wake him from his slumber.

Nothing, dear, Alicia’s been keeping an eye on things for us.

Ah, good.

But once awake, Mr. Morgan had no thought of going back to sleep.  He slipped out of his sock, and into his traveling costume, a jump suit and slippers. His first thought in the morning, however, was his first cup of coffee. Although he complained about its bitterness, he couldn’t seem to function without it.

Alicia and her mother stayed out of his way as he went through his morning routine in the tiny cabin. It no longer amazed Alicia that he could still do this with his eyes half-closed.

Once he was gone, her mother asked, Shouldn’t we go clean up? It will be a long day for you. As I understand it, there is a party planned for us. And, as you know, parties on Callisto can go on for a day or two.

Alicia wanted to, but she could imagine the line at the showers. Maybe later, I don’t want to fight the crowds right now. What she wanted to do was meet her friends.

It probably isn’t that bad. I imagine most are taking in the view or talking in the cafeteria.  Let’s give it a try.

Afterward, Alicia and her mother stopped by the ship’s cafeteria for breakfast. They did this as part of their social schedule aboard ship. After the second day of the ship’s pasty food, there was no longer any appetite. They went there to socialize, and while socializing it was natural to eat something. Without the need to catch up on any news from Earth, many people would have withered away during the long trip.

The place was packed, as Ms. Morgan had guessed. Most of the travelers were on the observation deck; the cafeteria held the spillover. They saw Mr. Morgan in an animated discussion with a small group of horticulturists. They stayed well clear of them.

The cafeteria was the largest space and spun to produce artificial gravity. The spin was slowly decreased over the length of the voyage. This allowed the travelers to gradually adjust to the gravity on Callisto Station. For Alicia, the beginning of the trip had been quite uncomfortable, and she remained in the free-fall sections of the ship most of the time.

They grabbed a couple of trays and then tried to find a place to sit. It was difficult to see since most people were standing and talking in small groups. As they moved about the cafeteria, they saw that there were few available seats. Then Alicia noticed Gayle waving to her. She was across the cafeteria with her parents. When they arrived, Gayle’s father got up to make room. Gayle slid over closer to her mother to give Alicia some space. Ms. Morgan took Mr. Artois’ place.

Gayle’s mother hadn’t wanted to return to Callisto and still looked unhappy about her decision. Gayle and her father had decided to return and hoped Ms. Artois would join them. She had agreed to return, but only to keep the family together. In the end, Gayle’s desire to go back had outweighed Ms. Artois’ desire to remain on Earth. Now that they were on their way home black bags had developed under Ms. Artois’ eyes, and she had cut her long, blond hair off into a crew cut. Gayle had told Alicia about the many arguments taking place in their small cabin. Mr. Artois was convinced that Callisto Station was the best place for Gayle. He liked the way Gayle was growing up to be independent, without the fears, problems, and prejudices they had found on Earth. She had even lost her ravenous curiosity back on Earth. Ms. Artois couldn’t argue with these points. She did say that she might later return to Earth herself, once Gayle was old enough to be on her own.

Alicia knew how lucky she was. Her parents were both enthusiastic about returning to Callisto Station.

Alicia’s mother talked quietly with Gayle’s mother, but nothing worked to cheer her up. It was unfortunate that Gayle’s enthusiasm wasn’t more contagious. Gayle was eleven and had grown quite a bit over the last two years. Her blond hair was braided to keep it under control in the ship’s weightless environment. Only in the cafeteria did the braids fall past her shoulders.

Gayle talked while Alicia ate her breakfast. They still had almost four hours before docking. Alicia told Gayle she had to go back and pack the few things she had with her.

I’ve been packed for a week, Gayle said. If I need anything I just pull it out and return it when I’m done with it.

Alicia laughed. Nothing Gayle did ever surprised her anymore. Alicia was still taller than her friend. Her chestnut hair was pulled tightly back into a ponytail. If anything, her dimples had grown larger since they left Callisto Station, but Alicia didn’t care. She loved to smile, even though her big, brown eyes could do the smiling for her.

Gayle continued, Dad said that there is going to be a party for us when we get there. I do hope Ms. Agen will be there. I truly missed her.

Everyone will be there. Remember? Don’t worry; you know how these parties are.

Ms. Agen had been their instructor, nanny, and mentor before they had left Callisto.

I’m sure Ms. Agen will have others to look after and won’t have that much time for us, Alicia reminded her.

This didn’t bother Gayle. Of course, she will, because we will be helping her. We had learned so much from each other and now the new kids will learn from us.

But we are the new kids.

Gayle thought about it for a moment, then smiled. You are absolutely right. Still, they are quite young, and we can help Ms. Agen with their lessons.

We won’t have that much time.  Not with our chores and our studies.

Gayle wasn’t convinced. Don’t worry. Remember when we thought we had too much to do and then Ms. Agen gave us another project? We managed.

Yeah. We’ve managed before, and we’ll manage again. Alicia knew that it was only a matter of organization and teamwork. Just then her mother got up and Ms. Artois went with her. Alicia looked over at the chronometer. There were still three hours before they docked with the station. She resumed work on her breakfast without having any real desire to eat, as Gayle talked about all she was going to do once they got there. She didn’t have to listen, as she had heard it all before.

The first thing Gayle was going to do was find her cat, Flame. She had had to leave him on the station two years ago and had been haunted ever since by a bad dream.

Alicia didn’t know what she wanted to do. Just being back on Callisto was all she ever wanted. She was arriving home after a long, difficult journey, which had taken her to what she considered a wild and oppressive Earth. But what distressed Alicia the most was Earth’s gravity. Fighting against it every day drained her. Even as she slept, it tugged at her. If only she could have gotten used to it, she might have adjusted to life on Earth.

All that was history. She was nearly home. The two years away and life on Earth had taught Alicia and her friends how important it was to work together, and how much they meant to each other.

She thought about Callisto, and she didn’t expect much to have changed, but she knew enough to know that all things change.

Yes, Alicia said as she picked up her tray, we’ll probably find that you’ve wasted a lot of time worrying about nothing. I bet we’ll find Flame sitting just where you had left him, curled up on Ms. Brandeis’ lap.

You think so?

Oh, yeah.

Gayle looked happy.

Come, Alicia said. Let’s go find the others.

Gayle suggested they check the meeting room, the place they used for classes. There was a holo-projector built into one of the walls. It didn’t take much imagination to figure out what was being projected. The Callisto Station dominated the volume above the projector. Its large torus, or wheel as the adults called it, rotated slowly to provide their home a gravity.

They found Jerome Jimenez, who most people called JJ, over in a corner with Boris. JJ was nine, tall and thin, and he still refused to let his curly black hair grow longer than a micrometer. He still wore his data glasses, and Alicia couldn’t remember what he looked like without them. He was arguing with Boris Schubert, a ten-year-old who had grown broader rather than taller over the last two years.

Hey guys, Gayle said, floating over to them. Where are the others?

JJ smiled, Boris attempted to smile, but it came out flat. Well, if it isn’t the other twins, JJ said. JJ had been calling Gayle and Alicia the other twins. Probably because they did everything together. They both even wore teal jumpsuits, but there was little selection available when it came to fashion.

Stow it, JJ, Alicia said, but not harshly.

Don’t know, Boris said, answering the first question. They haven’t shown up yet.

They decided to wait. The others would eventually float in. In the meantime, they watched Callisto Station slowly grow before them. The chronometer ticked down the time until they docked with the station.

The first to arrive was Kotari Chowdhury. Kotari was the youngest, but very intense. He never said much, but when he did, the others knew it was important.

With twenty minutes to docking, Uma Talbot and Fernanda Vante arrived. Uma was ten years old and braided her short reddish-brown hair up in the back. Fernanda was a nine-year-old, tall and lanky with long brunette hair. The twins, Christina and Mark-Albert Fenech were a few seconds ahead of Yuana Hsu.

The last to arrive was Gustov Gusty van Leer. He was angry, but the only way they could tell was by his red cheeks. What’s with you, Gusty? Gayle asked.

Mother wouldn’t let me leave until my things were packed, he said. The others laughed. They had had the same problem, so they were unsympathetic.

JJ said, I didn’t know you had so much.

Gusty’s cheeks only grew redder as the others laughed harder. I don’t, but she kept making me repack until I did it the way she wanted it done.

They could have continued picking on Gusty, but just then the intercom came to life. They had to go back to their cabins and prepare for docking.

2. The Party

When Alicia arrived back at the cabin, she found her parents there. They were strapped in, and ready for contact with Callisto Station. Together they watched the docking procedure on the monitor. After a brief smile, they exchanged glances with each other. She could always tell when her parents didn’t want to discuss something in front of her.

She watched the monitor anticipating the moment of contact. It only became real when the arms connected to the ship. They reached out and she felt them latch onto the ship. The umbilical stretched out and fastened to the airlock. They were home. The monitor went blank. Alicia looked back at her parents. Her mother shrugged. She didn’t know either why the screen went blank.

The silence was broken by a few bars of music. Alicia cringed. What the heck was that?

The music didn’t last long. It was a small price to pay for being home.

Then someone whom she didn’t recognize came on the monitor. He was not old, but his hair was graying around the temples. He was also a large man, his cheeks as puffy as a newborn baby’s. He had brown, tired eyes, and a warm smile.

My name is Hector Davidsen, the mayor of Callisto Station. Let me, on behalf of the citizens of Callisto, be the first to welcome you to your new residence.

Mayor Davidsen smiled again, but Alicia changed her mind, it didn’t look quite right this time. Alicia didn’t understand why they needed a mayor on Callisto in the first place They had always gotten along before without one. JJ’s mother had been the coordinator until the day they left, and there had been others before her, who took turns to see to the day-to-day operations of Callisto for a year at a time.

Mayor Davidsen continued: "As I understand it, we are honored to welcome back several families for a second tour of duty. I hope you find the changes around here to your liking."

Alicia also knew that change wasn’t always for the better.

I was just informed that the hatches are now open. We will see you in a few moments on this side. Again, welcome. The monitor blinked out.

Mr. Morgan grabbed a pack and helped her mother with another. Well, aren’t you coming? her mother asked.

"Yes, but who was