Here's a sneak peek of...

Star Trek

Odyssey

Episode 2: In the Palace of Calypso

Lucy took a deep breath, savoring the fresh, salt-scented air. She drifted on the surface of the ocean, the gentle waves rocking her side to side, bearing her along on their relentless march to the shore. She heard only the soothing white noise of the waves caressing the sandy beach, the gentle splash of her hands paddling lightly against the water, and the occasional warble of a Risan gull.

Lucy opened her eyes, and crystal-blue skies filled her sight. A single, wispy cloud, gold on its westward face and lavender on its shadowed side, drifted high overhead.

She would have been happy to float this way forever, just soaking up the peacefulness of this moment, but it wasn't long before the waves became choppy and her heel struck against the soft, red-gold sand of the beach. Lucy lowered her feet to the bottom and rose to her feet. Between the waves, the water didn't quite reach her knees.

The evening breeze stirred against Lucy's damp skin, her black spaghetti-strap bikini doing little to ward off the chill. She decided she was ready to leave the water for the day. There wasn't much sunlight left, and her skin was starting to prune.

Her eyes scanned the beach for her towel as she marched through the shallow water to the shoreline. She supposed she must have drifted a little ways down the beach on her trip back to shore, but she wasn't sure in which direction, or how far. So, she looked to the line of Risan starburst palms that towered over the dunes beyond the tidal zone, looking for the outline of her small cabana in amidst the trees. The Risan sun hung low at her back, casting a honeyed glow on the open beach and dappling everything beyond the treeline in deep shadows.

Lucy was surprised by the presence of someone behind her, draping her sun-warmed towel over her shoulders. She looked up over her shoulder at Owen's smiling face. He wrapped the towel around her and pulled her close, and Lucy let her weight settle against his warm body as he ran his hands up and down her sides, drying her off with her own towel.

"How did you manage to sneak up behind me?" said Lucy. She was suddenly smiling like mad.

Owen let out a single soft, breathy chuckle. "I saw you wash in on the tide, like so much driftwood."

"Excuse me?" said Lucy, feigning offense. Her irrepressible grin betrayed her. "Did you just call me driftwood?"

"Sorry," said Owen, "I meant to say… I saw you rise from the seafoam, like Aphrodite would."

Lucy quirked an eyebrow, and her eyes darted over his lips. "Better."

"And… I thought you might be cold, so I found your towel."

Lucy's lips twisted in consideration. "Still doesn't explain how you snuck up on me, though."

"Sure it does," said Owen, and he smirked. "You're not very observant, you know."

Lucy scoffed. "I am so," she said, and she pushed herself free of Owen's arms and turned around to face him directly. She sized him up with a critical eye, his broad shoulders and lean physique on display in his white swimming trunks, his wet, tousled blonde hair, his slanted grin, his honest hazel eyes, drinking her in like she was the only thing in the galaxy that could sustain him.

She pressed her finger against his heart. "I see you, Owen Vance," she said.

His smile grew brighter. "And I see you, Lucy Kang." He stepped closer and dipped his head, and Lucy stood on her toes, bringing her lips to his for a soft, ponderous kiss. She let her hands trail across his warm, damp shoulders and down the sculpted contours of his back.

After a moment, Owen took a step back. "But you don't see yourself too well these days, do you?" His eyes were suddenly serious, even a little concerned.

Her brow crinkled in confusion, and she shook her head. "What do you mean?"

In response, he just looked down at the beach, and Lucy followed his gaze to the wet sand. A few centimeters of water surged up around their feet, and as the wave receded, the thin sheen of water that lingered on the sand rendered a vivid reflection. Lucy saw herself, her black hair falling to her shoulders in thick, wet tangles, framing her wide, dark eyes, her full lips, and the delicate angles of her heart-shaped face. The colorful towel draped over her shoulders hung down to her svelte waist, concealing her buxom figure but not the gentle swell of her hips or her shapely legs.

Then another surge of water dashed the image away, and as the wave receded, the reflection that emerged was subtly different.

Her wet hair was matted flat to her scalp. Her eyes weren't quite so wide, and her features weren't quite so delicate. Her legs were about as shapely as twigs, and her bony hips didn't swell so much as jut.

The image of the way her body used to be left Lucy conflicted and confused. It was her real body, and Lucy missed the sense of living in her own skin. At the same time, she'd begun to take the more classically beautiful body that had been hoisted on her for granted. It was a relief, not agonizing over her appearance, having the effortless confidence that comes from feeling beautiful. Still, the sense of her body's artificiality gnawed at her.

But why was she seeing this image in the sand? Lucy looked down at her real body and opened her towel. She'd never filled out a bikini this perfectly in her old skin. The image was just an illusion, then; a trick of the light. Lucy looked back to Owen, wondering what he was playing at. Only now, the sun was sinking behind him, setting the horizon alight. All she could see of him was his silhouette, crowned in liquid fire.

root: system :: reboot/

More is coming very soon! Keep an eye out for Star Trek Odyssey - In the Palace of Calypso to find out what fate has in store for Lucy Kang. Things are about to get weird.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone who gave this story a chance, and especially the people who stuck with it from beginning to end, added it to their following and/or favorite lists, and offered valuable feedback. You made me want to keep writing, and that is a gift.