Chapter 1: Weeks later.
Callisto: The Satellite of Beauty
Callista yawned and stretched her toned arms over her head. The morning sun streamed into her window, warming her face as she blinked her dark eyes.
"Callista! You're not up yet?" a stern but loving voice asked. Callista groaned as she looked at her timepiece. It was only an hour past dawn. Her eyes regarded her plump caretaker of the past ten years. Betheleen had raised Callista since her parents died in a boating accident. She was strict, and a little too organized at times, but Callista loved her as if she were her birth mother.
Callista yawned again and shrugged, her long dark hair cascading down her back. "This is the only day I get to sleep in!"
"That's no excuse for laziness! Up!" Callista grumbled as she threw her thin legs over the side of her bed. "I didn't raise you to be a loafer!"
Callista sighed and smiled, her eyes twinkling. "I know. And I thank you for it."
"There's no time for buttering me up now, young lady! I thought you and Sophia were going to go to the Hall of Records today to do research.or is that not going to happen since you're tired?"
Callista's eyes grew as she gasped. "That's right!" she rushed to her bureau and quickly threw on a pair of training pants and an old long sleeved button down shirt. "I was supposed to be there five minutes ago!"
Betheleen smirked as Callista hopped around the room, pulling on her boots. "And I thought this was your only day off from your studies?"
"No rest for the wicked, I'm afraid," Callista said as she grabbed her bag. She planted a quick kiss on Betheleen's cherub cheek. "I'll be back before dinner. I promise."
As Callista ran towards the library, she took a quick look around. Callisto has to be the most beautiful celestial body in the universe! Well, maybe next to Jupiter, she thought.
Callisto was covered with fragrant flowers of all colors, and the weather was always pleasant.
Callisto was known as the satellite of beauty. Almost all the greatest artists, poets, dancers and musicians in the Jupiter system came from Callisto. Callista always appreciated her lessons in the arts, but found her talents elsewhere, leading her instructors to nominate her to become a trainee to become a soldier for Jupiter and her home satellite.
At the library's entrance she spied a beautiful young woman, sixteen years old, with shoulder length dark blond hair and blue eyes. She wore a pressed training uniform, a stark contrast to Callista's rumpled outfit.
"You are ten point four minutes late, Callista," Sophia said, tapping her foot. "Not in good form." Sophia's home satellite, Europa, nominated Sophia and 100 others to represent her satellite for the "soldiership" as they had dubbed it.
When Callista first met Sophia during orientation, she thought that all Europans were cold and overly proper. Sophia was a little introverted, and definitely proper, but she quickly became a good friend.
Callista rubbed the back of her neck and smirked. "I overslept."
Sophia grinned, her blue eyes sparkling. She waved her hand. "That's okay. I just got here a minute ago. I overslept too. Training is rough."
"You said it!" Callista grinned as they entered the Hall of Records. "So, what's the count up to now?"
"It should be phrased, 'down to now.' The Headquarters lost twelve more last night." They all trained on Jupiter in the Regent Training Facility. Only four trainees would be selected to become the protectors of Jupiter. Ideally, they were all supposed to come from different satellites. They found a table and sat down.
Callista shook her head. "Didn't we start out with 500? So what does that bring us. down to?"
"Twenty, and we're not even half way through with training yet."
"Hey-hey-hey!" boomed a male voice.
Callista rolled her eyes. Wril Gaaen and Tosh Fulbert sauntered over to the young women. Wril and Tosh were both tall. Wril was known for his beautiful blue eyes, and Tosh for his wavy brown hair. Callista, Wril and Tosh had grown up together, and both boys annoyed Callista more than a mosquito buzzing around her ear.
"I didn't know you ladies would be here today! What a great surprise." Wril smiled, flashing his straight pearly white teeth. Attractiveness in countenance and personality were traits that seemed to be engraved into most, if not all Callistans, although it seemed that Wril and Tosh were missing the personality portion.
Callista shifted in her seat. "Wril, we're here to study, not to chit chat."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Beautiful." Wril said, batting his long lashed blue eyes. "But hey, go out with me after dinner, and I'll chit chat your ear off all night!"
"Is that a promise or a threat?" Sophia mumbled as she opened her book.
"You're studying? Are you going into teaching or something, Callista?" Tosh asked as he scooted next to Sophia. He frowned as he grabbed the Europan's book and turned to its cover. "What this-- 'Battle Tactics and Maneuvers'? Are you both nuts? The RTF is harsh! My brother Marc dropped out last week because he got so beat up."
"Well, we're different, right Sophia?" Callista asked as she produced her own book.
Sophia stared Tosh down. "You said it." She grabbed her book back and opened it to the correct page. "Now. Beat it!"
"Hmph. Well, if you change your mind, you know where I bunk, Callie."
Wril said as he winked. "Later ladies."
"What an annoying male specimen," Sophia grunted as she pulled out a pen and underlined a passage. "Next time, we study at my place, okay?"
"You got it." Callista smiled and nodded. Sophia's a great friend. Although, Callista thought, having a male specimen that wasn't annoying would be nice. but. Callista shook her head. Jupiter comes first.
The Regent Training Facility: Classroom
Gabrielle sighed as she reached the training facility. She straightened her petite body and walked forward. She was one of the last recruits from Io-maybe even THE last. Ioans weren't known for being terrific soldiers. Ioans were politicians, lawyers and judges, not fighters. Many of the citizens voiced this opinion when the King of Jupiter proclaimed that each satellite must send its best and brightest. So, Io only sent 20 recruits, while satellites like Ganymede and Europa sent hundreds. She crossed her brown arms over her chest. At least today is a field exam, she thought. I can test out my skills there.
She found a seat and observed the other candidates in her classroom.
A Europa girl, about 13 years of age looked at her schedule and pointed out a line of text to her Callisto cousin.
"Let's see here. it looks like at the end of this week, we have to shave the numbers down again. We have to go down to 6."
"Wow, they're really getting serious about this!" the Callistan whistled.
An older Ganymede girl laughed as she leaned against one of the smooth marble walls that flanked the hallway. Her short copper red hair flared in the morning sun that streamed from the large picture windows. "Six?" she asked. She crossed her strong arms over her chest and smiled. "Notta problem. I'm in it to win it."
"Don't be so sure!" piped up another Ganymede native. She swung her long black braid over her shoulder. Her light brown eyes narrowed. "I think I'll get our satellite's honors, Najla." She said, sneering the other girl's last name.
"Najla" narrowed her stunning green eyes. "Why ain't WE the know-it- all, Scalza," "Najla" sneered.
"Ladies!" A voice groaned. It was Instructor Byron. He was at least 50 years old, and had a beautiful long mane of silver hair. "I hope you're done with your little spat. It's time to train."
"Yes sir!" the young women chorused.
"Today I am going to break you up into teams. I need Trainees 352, 226, 500 and 005 to form a group with Trainees 414, 190, 090 and 111."
I hate being known as a number! Gabrielle sighed as she found her teammates. But, at least it keeps everything fair.
"So, you're from Io, eh?" the girl named "Scalza" asked.
Gabrielle blinked her mysterious dark eyes and nodded. "Indeed. And you must be from Ganymede."
"Well, aren't we perceptive! Just like an Ioan. I'm Wallis Scalza, the soon-to-be new Satellite Soldier of Ganymede."
"That's a bunch o' bull, Scalza!" the taller red haired "Najla" spat. "It ain't ova 'til it's ova!" She turned to face Gabrielle. The Ioan gasped. She felt a strange jolt when she looked into "Najla"'s eyes. Maybe it was because her eyes were such a startling shade of green. They were probably greener than the spruce trees on Europa. "We've gotta few more weeks left yet, eh, Io?"
Gabrielle frowned. "... The name is Gabrielle."
"Right. Say, ya mind if I call ya Gabby?" Just as Gabrielle opened her mouth to protest, the girl from Ganymede continued. "I'm number 352, Trudy Najla. Are ya number 090?"
"Why ... yes. Yes, I am."
"Say! Ya must be tha brainiac everyone's been talkin' 'bout! Ya posted some impressive scores, although, I have ta say that I beatcha by twenty points in sparrin'. No one's bettern' me in sparrin'! We'll have ta practice together sometime, eh? Maybe if I help ya improve sparrin' wise, ya could give me pointers on tactics? How 'bout it?"
Gabrielle could only nod. This girl talks a lot! She thought.
"Why don't you talk her ear off, Najla?" Wallis huffed, echoing Gabrielle's thoughts. "Besides, we have to get our assignments from Instructor Byron."
Gabrielle watched as a beautiful young girl about her age crossed the room to pick up her assignment. She must be from Callisto, Gabrielle thought. The girl even walked beautifully. The Callisto girl talked her assignment over with her partner, a pretty blond girl from Europa. They looked like good friends. Gabrielle sighed as she approached Instructor Byron. She had hoped that she would at least make some friends while she was training. So far, she always sat by herself at lunch. Maybe with our class being smaller, I can meet some people from the other group.
"Number zero-nine-zero, Instructor," Gabrielle said.
"Ah, our lead student in tactics. I'm paring you up with Number 352."
That talkative girl?!?!?! Gabrielle's mind screamed. "Your mission: Jupiter intelligence has detected a strange hostile alien in the southern region. We want you and the other two recruits to investigate the being, and, if it is indeed hostile, dispose of it."
Gabrielle saluted and nodded. "I understand."
Trainee Mission #1: Discover the hostile alien form and dispose of it.
The other Ganymede recruit, Wallis, and an Europan, Mara, decided to take a different route, while Gabrielle convinced Trudy to take the more logical route to go to the site where the alien was first spotted, and then track it to its next location.
Gabrielle looked up to the taller trainee. Just like a lot of Ganymedeians, Trudy was tall as well as athletic. Many of the sports stars in the Jupiter system came from the satellite of Ganymede. "So, what's life like fer ya on Io, Gabby?" Trudy said, breaking the long silence.
"Well ... it's normal I suppose."
"Save the volcanic eruptions an' earthquakes, eh?"
Gabrielle laughed. "Yeah."
Trudy winked. "See! I knew I could make ya laugh! 'Allo, 'allo! Whut's this now?" Trudy bent down and examined the ground. "Loose soil, an' lots o' it!"
"Yes. A sign that something ... in this case, something large, has been here recently."
"Exactly! I knew I picked a good partner!" Just as Gabrielle began to argue that they were assigned to be partners, a loud scream filled the area. Wallis and her partner charged at them, their faces filled with terror.
"B.Bug! A big.big .bug!" Wallis screamed.
Trudy laughed. "What a whuss, eh, Gabby?" She turned and yelled at Wallis' back as she began to spin her spear around. "Hey, I'll squash your lil' critter fer ya! Heh, I knew she couldn't hack it."
"Um ... Trudy?" Gabrielle mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"BIG BUG!"
Trudy turned around and gasped. "Okay, m' mistake. That's a big bug!!"
The insect stood at least ten feet tall and had to weigh at least 800 pounds. Its pinchers snapped at the air as multiple eyes regarded the two trainees. "This must be the alien we're supposed to exterminate." Gabrielle whispered.
"Any ideas? 'cause I'm fresh outta 'em!"
"Sure, give me a moment..."
The insect lashed a pincher at Trudy. She dove to her right and tumbled safely away. "That we don't have, Gabby!"
"That's it!" she cried. "Attacking head-on is no good. Its eyesight is best that way. But, it has little to no vision on the peripheral."
"Once again, but this time 'n a language I can understand!" Trudy said as she ducked another attack.
"A side or back attack is the best way to go. I'll keep it busy, and you use that spear of yours."
Trudy nodded. "Needn't tell me twice!"
Gabrielle lunged into the insect's field of vision. "Hey!" she said yelled waving her arms. "Come and get it!"
The insect roared, spittle and mucus flying from its jaws. C'mon Trudy! Gabrielle thought as the insect surged towards her.
In a split second, the insect froze, its jaws wide open. After a moment, it fell to the ground, black blood spilling from its mouth. "Nothing to it!"
Trudy laughed as she bounded over a part of the fallen insect. "Yer a great strategist, Kiddo! We make a great team!"
"Yeah!" Gabrielle laughed. Seconds later, the beast turned into ash and blew away.
"Now THAT'S odd..." Trudy said.
Gabrielle gasped and blinked her eyes. "Say ... you have a ... a symbol on your forehead, Trudy!"
"I-I do?" Trudy frowned and attempted to look at her forehead. She patted her temple. "A symbol? Is that normal? 'cause you've got one too. If I remember m' history, that's the symbol o' Io!"
Gabrielle stumbled back and raised a hand to her own forehead. "Symbol? ... of Io? But why ... ?"
"Well, we can stop askin' now ... it disappeared ..." Trudy said, sitting on the ground. She looked at scorch mark on the ground. "Where did this thing come from anyways?"
Gabrielle sat next to Trudy and hugged her knees. "Probably the NegaVerse."
"NegaVerse? I thought that was just a fairy tale that our grandmothers told us t' keep us 'n line. What do ya know about it?"
Gabrielle sighed. "Promise you won't laugh?"
"Why would I laugh at cha, Gabby? Just spit it out already! I 'ate drama!"
"Fine. My parents are diplomats for Io." Trudy turned the information in her mind and shrugged. "Why would I laugh about that?"
"... Everyone else does here. Imagine, a daughter of highly ranked politicians getting THIS far in training. They think that my parents bribed my way here."
Trudy shook her head and placed a hand on Gabrielle's shoulder. "Hey, ya taken yer share o' punches too. I respect ya, Gabrielle. I do. Nothing ya done would make m' think that ya got here by an illegal way. You just proved that now. Especially with that symbol of Io appearin'and all. So, tell me all about it."
Gabrielle smiled, a tear falling from her eye. "Thanks, Trudy ..."
"Hey! Whut's this? No tears! We just defeated a formidable foe!" Trudy said, smiling.
Gabrielle sniffed and shook her head. "N-no ... it's not that. You-you're my only true friend here."
"Well, if it's any consolation, yer m' only friend here too. I just 'ope that the other two candidates that make it will get along with us, 'cause we're definitely gonna be protectors o' Jupiter!"
"Right!" Gabrielle smiled as she wiped her tear away. "Anyway, about the NegaVerse ..."
Callisto: The Satellite of Beauty
Callista yawned and stretched her toned arms over her head. The morning sun streamed into her window, warming her face as she blinked her dark eyes.
"Callista! You're not up yet?" a stern but loving voice asked. Callista groaned as she looked at her timepiece. It was only an hour past dawn. Her eyes regarded her plump caretaker of the past ten years. Betheleen had raised Callista since her parents died in a boating accident. She was strict, and a little too organized at times, but Callista loved her as if she were her birth mother.
Callista yawned again and shrugged, her long dark hair cascading down her back. "This is the only day I get to sleep in!"
"That's no excuse for laziness! Up!" Callista grumbled as she threw her thin legs over the side of her bed. "I didn't raise you to be a loafer!"
Callista sighed and smiled, her eyes twinkling. "I know. And I thank you for it."
"There's no time for buttering me up now, young lady! I thought you and Sophia were going to go to the Hall of Records today to do research.or is that not going to happen since you're tired?"
Callista's eyes grew as she gasped. "That's right!" she rushed to her bureau and quickly threw on a pair of training pants and an old long sleeved button down shirt. "I was supposed to be there five minutes ago!"
Betheleen smirked as Callista hopped around the room, pulling on her boots. "And I thought this was your only day off from your studies?"
"No rest for the wicked, I'm afraid," Callista said as she grabbed her bag. She planted a quick kiss on Betheleen's cherub cheek. "I'll be back before dinner. I promise."
As Callista ran towards the library, she took a quick look around. Callisto has to be the most beautiful celestial body in the universe! Well, maybe next to Jupiter, she thought.
Callisto was covered with fragrant flowers of all colors, and the weather was always pleasant.
Callisto was known as the satellite of beauty. Almost all the greatest artists, poets, dancers and musicians in the Jupiter system came from Callisto. Callista always appreciated her lessons in the arts, but found her talents elsewhere, leading her instructors to nominate her to become a trainee to become a soldier for Jupiter and her home satellite.
At the library's entrance she spied a beautiful young woman, sixteen years old, with shoulder length dark blond hair and blue eyes. She wore a pressed training uniform, a stark contrast to Callista's rumpled outfit.
"You are ten point four minutes late, Callista," Sophia said, tapping her foot. "Not in good form." Sophia's home satellite, Europa, nominated Sophia and 100 others to represent her satellite for the "soldiership" as they had dubbed it.
When Callista first met Sophia during orientation, she thought that all Europans were cold and overly proper. Sophia was a little introverted, and definitely proper, but she quickly became a good friend.
Callista rubbed the back of her neck and smirked. "I overslept."
Sophia grinned, her blue eyes sparkling. She waved her hand. "That's okay. I just got here a minute ago. I overslept too. Training is rough."
"You said it!" Callista grinned as they entered the Hall of Records. "So, what's the count up to now?"
"It should be phrased, 'down to now.' The Headquarters lost twelve more last night." They all trained on Jupiter in the Regent Training Facility. Only four trainees would be selected to become the protectors of Jupiter. Ideally, they were all supposed to come from different satellites. They found a table and sat down.
Callista shook her head. "Didn't we start out with 500? So what does that bring us. down to?"
"Twenty, and we're not even half way through with training yet."
"Hey-hey-hey!" boomed a male voice.
Callista rolled her eyes. Wril Gaaen and Tosh Fulbert sauntered over to the young women. Wril and Tosh were both tall. Wril was known for his beautiful blue eyes, and Tosh for his wavy brown hair. Callista, Wril and Tosh had grown up together, and both boys annoyed Callista more than a mosquito buzzing around her ear.
"I didn't know you ladies would be here today! What a great surprise." Wril smiled, flashing his straight pearly white teeth. Attractiveness in countenance and personality were traits that seemed to be engraved into most, if not all Callistans, although it seemed that Wril and Tosh were missing the personality portion.
Callista shifted in her seat. "Wril, we're here to study, not to chit chat."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Beautiful." Wril said, batting his long lashed blue eyes. "But hey, go out with me after dinner, and I'll chit chat your ear off all night!"
"Is that a promise or a threat?" Sophia mumbled as she opened her book.
"You're studying? Are you going into teaching or something, Callista?" Tosh asked as he scooted next to Sophia. He frowned as he grabbed the Europan's book and turned to its cover. "What this-- 'Battle Tactics and Maneuvers'? Are you both nuts? The RTF is harsh! My brother Marc dropped out last week because he got so beat up."
"Well, we're different, right Sophia?" Callista asked as she produced her own book.
Sophia stared Tosh down. "You said it." She grabbed her book back and opened it to the correct page. "Now. Beat it!"
"Hmph. Well, if you change your mind, you know where I bunk, Callie."
Wril said as he winked. "Later ladies."
"What an annoying male specimen," Sophia grunted as she pulled out a pen and underlined a passage. "Next time, we study at my place, okay?"
"You got it." Callista smiled and nodded. Sophia's a great friend. Although, Callista thought, having a male specimen that wasn't annoying would be nice. but. Callista shook her head. Jupiter comes first.
The Regent Training Facility: Classroom
Gabrielle sighed as she reached the training facility. She straightened her petite body and walked forward. She was one of the last recruits from Io-maybe even THE last. Ioans weren't known for being terrific soldiers. Ioans were politicians, lawyers and judges, not fighters. Many of the citizens voiced this opinion when the King of Jupiter proclaimed that each satellite must send its best and brightest. So, Io only sent 20 recruits, while satellites like Ganymede and Europa sent hundreds. She crossed her brown arms over her chest. At least today is a field exam, she thought. I can test out my skills there.
She found a seat and observed the other candidates in her classroom.
A Europa girl, about 13 years of age looked at her schedule and pointed out a line of text to her Callisto cousin.
"Let's see here. it looks like at the end of this week, we have to shave the numbers down again. We have to go down to 6."
"Wow, they're really getting serious about this!" the Callistan whistled.
An older Ganymede girl laughed as she leaned against one of the smooth marble walls that flanked the hallway. Her short copper red hair flared in the morning sun that streamed from the large picture windows. "Six?" she asked. She crossed her strong arms over her chest and smiled. "Notta problem. I'm in it to win it."
"Don't be so sure!" piped up another Ganymede native. She swung her long black braid over her shoulder. Her light brown eyes narrowed. "I think I'll get our satellite's honors, Najla." She said, sneering the other girl's last name.
"Najla" narrowed her stunning green eyes. "Why ain't WE the know-it- all, Scalza," "Najla" sneered.
"Ladies!" A voice groaned. It was Instructor Byron. He was at least 50 years old, and had a beautiful long mane of silver hair. "I hope you're done with your little spat. It's time to train."
"Yes sir!" the young women chorused.
"Today I am going to break you up into teams. I need Trainees 352, 226, 500 and 005 to form a group with Trainees 414, 190, 090 and 111."
I hate being known as a number! Gabrielle sighed as she found her teammates. But, at least it keeps everything fair.
"So, you're from Io, eh?" the girl named "Scalza" asked.
Gabrielle blinked her mysterious dark eyes and nodded. "Indeed. And you must be from Ganymede."
"Well, aren't we perceptive! Just like an Ioan. I'm Wallis Scalza, the soon-to-be new Satellite Soldier of Ganymede."
"That's a bunch o' bull, Scalza!" the taller red haired "Najla" spat. "It ain't ova 'til it's ova!" She turned to face Gabrielle. The Ioan gasped. She felt a strange jolt when she looked into "Najla"'s eyes. Maybe it was because her eyes were such a startling shade of green. They were probably greener than the spruce trees on Europa. "We've gotta few more weeks left yet, eh, Io?"
Gabrielle frowned. "... The name is Gabrielle."
"Right. Say, ya mind if I call ya Gabby?" Just as Gabrielle opened her mouth to protest, the girl from Ganymede continued. "I'm number 352, Trudy Najla. Are ya number 090?"
"Why ... yes. Yes, I am."
"Say! Ya must be tha brainiac everyone's been talkin' 'bout! Ya posted some impressive scores, although, I have ta say that I beatcha by twenty points in sparrin'. No one's bettern' me in sparrin'! We'll have ta practice together sometime, eh? Maybe if I help ya improve sparrin' wise, ya could give me pointers on tactics? How 'bout it?"
Gabrielle could only nod. This girl talks a lot! She thought.
"Why don't you talk her ear off, Najla?" Wallis huffed, echoing Gabrielle's thoughts. "Besides, we have to get our assignments from Instructor Byron."
Gabrielle watched as a beautiful young girl about her age crossed the room to pick up her assignment. She must be from Callisto, Gabrielle thought. The girl even walked beautifully. The Callisto girl talked her assignment over with her partner, a pretty blond girl from Europa. They looked like good friends. Gabrielle sighed as she approached Instructor Byron. She had hoped that she would at least make some friends while she was training. So far, she always sat by herself at lunch. Maybe with our class being smaller, I can meet some people from the other group.
"Number zero-nine-zero, Instructor," Gabrielle said.
"Ah, our lead student in tactics. I'm paring you up with Number 352."
That talkative girl?!?!?! Gabrielle's mind screamed. "Your mission: Jupiter intelligence has detected a strange hostile alien in the southern region. We want you and the other two recruits to investigate the being, and, if it is indeed hostile, dispose of it."
Gabrielle saluted and nodded. "I understand."
Trainee Mission #1: Discover the hostile alien form and dispose of it.
The other Ganymede recruit, Wallis, and an Europan, Mara, decided to take a different route, while Gabrielle convinced Trudy to take the more logical route to go to the site where the alien was first spotted, and then track it to its next location.
Gabrielle looked up to the taller trainee. Just like a lot of Ganymedeians, Trudy was tall as well as athletic. Many of the sports stars in the Jupiter system came from the satellite of Ganymede. "So, what's life like fer ya on Io, Gabby?" Trudy said, breaking the long silence.
"Well ... it's normal I suppose."
"Save the volcanic eruptions an' earthquakes, eh?"
Gabrielle laughed. "Yeah."
Trudy winked. "See! I knew I could make ya laugh! 'Allo, 'allo! Whut's this now?" Trudy bent down and examined the ground. "Loose soil, an' lots o' it!"
"Yes. A sign that something ... in this case, something large, has been here recently."
"Exactly! I knew I picked a good partner!" Just as Gabrielle began to argue that they were assigned to be partners, a loud scream filled the area. Wallis and her partner charged at them, their faces filled with terror.
"B.Bug! A big.big .bug!" Wallis screamed.
Trudy laughed. "What a whuss, eh, Gabby?" She turned and yelled at Wallis' back as she began to spin her spear around. "Hey, I'll squash your lil' critter fer ya! Heh, I knew she couldn't hack it."
"Um ... Trudy?" Gabrielle mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"BIG BUG!"
Trudy turned around and gasped. "Okay, m' mistake. That's a big bug!!"
The insect stood at least ten feet tall and had to weigh at least 800 pounds. Its pinchers snapped at the air as multiple eyes regarded the two trainees. "This must be the alien we're supposed to exterminate." Gabrielle whispered.
"Any ideas? 'cause I'm fresh outta 'em!"
"Sure, give me a moment..."
The insect lashed a pincher at Trudy. She dove to her right and tumbled safely away. "That we don't have, Gabby!"
"That's it!" she cried. "Attacking head-on is no good. Its eyesight is best that way. But, it has little to no vision on the peripheral."
"Once again, but this time 'n a language I can understand!" Trudy said as she ducked another attack.
"A side or back attack is the best way to go. I'll keep it busy, and you use that spear of yours."
Trudy nodded. "Needn't tell me twice!"
Gabrielle lunged into the insect's field of vision. "Hey!" she said yelled waving her arms. "Come and get it!"
The insect roared, spittle and mucus flying from its jaws. C'mon Trudy! Gabrielle thought as the insect surged towards her.
In a split second, the insect froze, its jaws wide open. After a moment, it fell to the ground, black blood spilling from its mouth. "Nothing to it!"
Trudy laughed as she bounded over a part of the fallen insect. "Yer a great strategist, Kiddo! We make a great team!"
"Yeah!" Gabrielle laughed. Seconds later, the beast turned into ash and blew away.
"Now THAT'S odd..." Trudy said.
Gabrielle gasped and blinked her eyes. "Say ... you have a ... a symbol on your forehead, Trudy!"
"I-I do?" Trudy frowned and attempted to look at her forehead. She patted her temple. "A symbol? Is that normal? 'cause you've got one too. If I remember m' history, that's the symbol o' Io!"
Gabrielle stumbled back and raised a hand to her own forehead. "Symbol? ... of Io? But why ... ?"
"Well, we can stop askin' now ... it disappeared ..." Trudy said, sitting on the ground. She looked at scorch mark on the ground. "Where did this thing come from anyways?"
Gabrielle sat next to Trudy and hugged her knees. "Probably the NegaVerse."
"NegaVerse? I thought that was just a fairy tale that our grandmothers told us t' keep us 'n line. What do ya know about it?"
Gabrielle sighed. "Promise you won't laugh?"
"Why would I laugh at cha, Gabby? Just spit it out already! I 'ate drama!"
"Fine. My parents are diplomats for Io." Trudy turned the information in her mind and shrugged. "Why would I laugh about that?"
"... Everyone else does here. Imagine, a daughter of highly ranked politicians getting THIS far in training. They think that my parents bribed my way here."
Trudy shook her head and placed a hand on Gabrielle's shoulder. "Hey, ya taken yer share o' punches too. I respect ya, Gabrielle. I do. Nothing ya done would make m' think that ya got here by an illegal way. You just proved that now. Especially with that symbol of Io appearin'and all. So, tell me all about it."
Gabrielle smiled, a tear falling from her eye. "Thanks, Trudy ..."
"Hey! Whut's this? No tears! We just defeated a formidable foe!" Trudy said, smiling.
Gabrielle sniffed and shook her head. "N-no ... it's not that. You-you're my only true friend here."
"Well, if it's any consolation, yer m' only friend here too. I just 'ope that the other two candidates that make it will get along with us, 'cause we're definitely gonna be protectors o' Jupiter!"
"Right!" Gabrielle smiled as she wiped her tear away. "Anyway, about the NegaVerse ..."