The Case of the Crumbling Crystals

By Pat Morrissey and Havlin

A science fiction, mystery adventure for the young adult

Trina Trianna considered herself a pretty normal 13-year-old. She loved her parents (most of the time), loved her friends (most of the time), studied hard (some of the time) and dreamed about being an astrologer (absolutely all of the time)!

In her hometown of Alexandria, Egypt, in the Year 2433, life went on pretty much as it had for centuries. Sure, Trina used a hologram projection of herself to “try on” her clothes to find just the right outfit. And she had her very own robot to tutor her in astrology. But, over all, her life was quite unexciting. That is, until Tony, a ghost from Jupiter, came to visit.

Once Tony arrived, things started happening. They discovered a place where the earth seemed to be disintegrating. While trying to uncover the reason, Trina found that she too seemed to be disintegrating. When her mom took her to the doctor, she learned that a very cute — but notoriously stuck up — young aristocrat named Ethan had the same problem she did.

While following the trail of the mystery, Trina, Tony and Ethan met a gigantic crystal that talked, flew a jet helicopter into restricted air space, and got tied up in a cave and left for dead. By using astrology to search for clues, they managed to solve the mystery and earn the gratitude of the entire solar system.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 14, 2007
• ISBN: 9781453518427

Pat Morrissey

Pat Morrissey/Havlin has been writing since high school in Flint, Michigan. Her interest in science fiction started even earlier when she would sneak into the adult section of Flint’s public library to read such masters as Andre Norton and Robert Heinlein. Pat’s love of astrology began in 1968 when she was given a newspaper assignment to “debunk astrology.” After taking one class, she became the avid student she is today. It seemed natural to combine these three loves of writing, science fiction and astrology into a futuristic adventure. Pat and her husband, Buddy, have three cats and a Rottweiler.

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Copyright © 2007 by Pat Morrissey/Havlin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Cover Illustration by Kathaleen M. Giurtino

Rev. date: 01/06/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 The Sapphire Planet

Chapter 2 Desolation Valley

Chapter 3 Diamonds Are A Teen’s Best Friend

Chapter 4 Astrology Points The Way

Chapter 5 Help From An Unexpected Source

Chapter 6 A Fly-By Of The Laser City

Chapter 7 Over, Under, Around And Through

Chapter 8 Greed Is An Ugly Word

Chapter 9 To Trap A Shadow

Chapter 10 The Emperor’s Gratitude

My Gratitude

and Thanks to You All

This book would still be a fantasy of mine if it were not for my husband, Earl R.

Buddy Havlin, whose ongoing support and encouragement made the difference between dreaming and manifesting.

The magical cover art, which brought Trina to life in a way that I had not imagined, was the visionary gift of graphic artist Kathaleen M. Giurtino.

Lea Singer Leibovitch and Andrea Cascardi Maher graciously shared their editorial expertise, and Elaine Goncalves’ graphic wizardry kept the book in focus and on deadline.

You all are most appreciated. Thank you.

CHAPTER 1

THE SAPPHIRE PLANET

Boy, am I really hating this! thought 13-year-old Trina Trianna as she idly watched the Earth pass under her feet through the transparent body of the SuperSeer 25 tourist helicopter. The chopper trip is great, of course, but why do I have to be saddled with a tag-along ghost for the next two weeks?

If you look ahead and to the left, you can see we are approaching the capital city of Earth, New York, said the pilot, who was also Trina’s dark-haired mother. In addition to being a professional astrological counselor, Maritza was a licensed pilot, so they had rented the SuperSeer for the weekend.

I thought New York would be the best place to start our tour since Tony’s never been to Earth, added her father, Edan, who was acting as a tour guide for their houseguests.

I cannot tell you how much we appreciate your hospitality, said Jastar, the ambassador from Jupiter. Since my son has not been to your beautiful planet in all of his 12 years, I knew he should not miss this opportunity to experience Earth. But your offer to let us stay in your home is most generous.

Just what I need, grumbled Trina to herself. He’d better not embarrass me in front of my friends.

It was very seldom that the vivacious, blond, curly-haired teen was unkind to anyone, particularly a guest of her parents, but Tony’s arrival did not fit in with Trina’s plans. Having turned 13 the previous spring, she was just starting her first year in the new Challenger Memorial Middle School. She knew it would take all her time and energy to make new friends and get involved. Dragging him with her to class and social gatherings did not make her happy.

Trina certainly would’ve been surprised if she could have read the tag-along’s mind.

Thank Jupiter, this will only last two weeks! Tony thought. I wanted to stay at a hotel during dad’s conference. I could get around by myself and have adventures while he was in session! Now I have to hang out with some girl and be bored to death. What will I tell the guys when I get home?

As Tony complained to himself, his face and the outline of his body became fuzzy and started to disappear.

Snap out of it, son, said his father, "This is no time to dissolve.

I guess I’d better warn you, the ambassador apologized to his startled companions. "Sometimes Tony gets lost in thought and forgets to keep his molecules together.

As you know, he continued, all inhabitants of Jupiter can expand their body’s atoms into the air and, in essence, turn into what you would call ghosts. This is because Jupiter is a gaseous planet, and the gaseous state is natural to all who live there. When visiting another planet with a different gravitational field, we form our bodies to look like the natives.

You mean you don’t really look like this?! Trina burst out. Catching frowns from both of her parents, she quickly apologized. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve never seen a ghost before.

The ambassador laughed. So you two will both experience something new during our visit. That makes it even better!

To answer your question, added Tony. We don’t look like anything; we disappear.

How do you build your houses, asked Trina, trying to be friendly, if the planet is all gas?

That’s easy, said Tony smugly. We simply build a platform and then build the house and gardens on top of it. They look a lot like your homes, only they’re floating.

At that moment, Maritza landed the SuperSeer 25 at a small airport outside New York City that was just for tourist aircraft. Since the two families wanted to see Earth from a tourist’s perspective, they had decided to take an old-fashioned method of transportation, the jet helicopter.

New York is such an exciting town, said Edan enthusiastically. I really don’t visit it enough to suit me. But with all our modern communication devices, a person really doesn’t need to ever leave his hometown.

And such an exceptional hometown you have, added the ambassador. Alexandria’s earliest-known history shows that people came from all parts of Earth to study and learn there.

You certainly know our history, chuckled Edan. But then, in our business of charting the solar system’s future, history is always important.

Oh my, thought Trina. I was so annoyed I forgot why the ambassador is on Earth. The yearly conference of future planners and government officials throughout the solar system is being held here, and Dad is one of the hosts. What an exciting time this is, and here I am pouting!

Trina made a secret vow to herself to start having fun. As a Pisces, she knew she could easily become moody, so had to shake herself into being optimistic.

Let’s take the transporter straight to The Plaza, suggested Maritza as the ground crew motioned them out of the helicopter. That way we can unpack before we have lunch and start touring.

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Tony and his father shared a room that had been specially designed for Jovian comfort with sleep tanks that allowed them to return to their normal gaseous state for a total rest.

Trina’s parents had seen this trip as a mini-vacation for themselves, so they registered Trina into her own room. Both their suites featured sleep chambers where gravity was lessened to allow a person to float while sleeping. This was supposed to give the body a rest from the pull of normal Earth gravity and, therefore, allow people to live longer.

But Trina wasn’t interested in sleeping. She was already feeling the electricity that was New York.

Let’s eat! she hollered as she bounded into her parents’ room. Let’s take them to the Automat™ and eat Coney Island hot dogs from the 1940s!

I certainly don’t want to eat food that’s hundreds of years old, objected Tony as he and his father followed her into the room.

Before Trina could reply, the ambassador answered his son. The Automat™ is this incredible place where you can order anything that was ever cooked on Earth, and it will be made fresh just for you.

That’s right, Edan chimed in. My favorite is a snack of bratwurst and beer that the Germans used to eat at baseball games in Milwaukee.

And mine is an eight-course meal served in the French courts of the 1700s, said Maritza. Of course, we don’t have time for that one right now. I’ll settle for some paella, which is a rice and seafood dish favored by my Spanish ancestors.

So, with mouths watering, the group headed for lunch at the Automat™.

Even though she finally was relaxing and having fun, Trina felt uneasy. It was a feeling she had experienced a few times before, and something awful always happened. Pisces was the most sensitive of all 12 astrological birth signs. Trina was intuitive about events in her life, almost like she had an early warning system in her brain. Something was going to happen, but what?

Whatever the future holds, she noted to herself, I know Tony’s a key player. Other than that, I’ll just have to wait and see.

After a whirlwind afternoon, the group fell into their sleep chambers. Tomorrow they would visit the United Nations, the central government of the planet Earth.

The next day, they arrived at the UN just at the beginning of a session. Observing the General Assembly was always an awe-inspiring sight for Trina. Representatives from every nation and tribe on Earth gathered to govern the planet as a whole. No longer were individual nations fighting one another