Trip to the city

   The smell of books was overwhelming but soothing at the same time. The rows and rows of books stacked to the ceiling, stood there still forever, as the sunlight came in through the big windows and caressed different parts of them. It was a beautiful place that seemed to be miles away fro many sound that could be caused in the world. Only a very low-pitch murmur could be heard, caused by people flipping pages or gently breathing as they immersed themselves into the worlds described in their books.

 Martina walked towards the center of the gigantic room and tried to appreciate the beauty of the place from there. Sadly, it could not be done. It was way too big and with many hallways and corners to see it all at once. So she walked to a metal staircase instead and ascended to the second level, which had been built all around the edge, enabling views over the first floor were people were granted access to the library and the books. The view from there was much better but there was still a lot to explore.

 However, Martina was not there to explore the place. She was there to look for a specific book. She had the name of it in a small piece of paper she had in her pocket, given to her by her father. He needed it in order to complete a paper he was writing for the university he worked on. It was only to check some facts and maybe give a bit more of information to the reader. He had sent his daughter to this mission because she wasn’t doing much at home, as the summer holidays had recently begun.

 At first, she thought it would be very boring to go to a library. After all, they were not known to be the best places to have any kind of fun. Besides, she had to walk to the metro station and then take the train to downtown and then walk once more, this time towards the library building. It was quite a trip from her home. Such a long trip it was that, her father, had given her some money to pay herself some lunch after she had grabbed the book. However, he had asked for her to come home “as soon as possible”.

 That was all before she had seen the beauty of the place, of its main room at least. Because, according to a sign outside of the main door, there were lots of different rooms, further divided in sections. She had entered the largest one but the truth was that she had no idea if the book she was looking for was there. Martina had just been pushed inside by a feeling that she had the moment she saw the very tall windows and the sun entering in the most beautiful way. It took her a while to realize that she had a mission to accomplish and that her father was waiting for him back at home.

 She descended the metal staircase and almost ran towards the main counter. It was obviously not a thing people should do because a couple of people raise their heads only to look at her disapprovingly. Martina slowed down and almost tiptoed the rest of the way. When she got to the counter, she waited for one of the ladies that worked there to notice her. As she did, she saw a weird looking kid come into the room and walk straight into a dark corridor to the left. He was wearing strange clothes and what looked like makeup.

 One of the ladies interrupted the moment and Martina just passed her the piece of paper her father had written on. The woman moved her glasses a bit, as if she needed to make out what she was reading. The woman did not say a word and Martina had no idea what to say. There was a very uncomfortable silence, and that’s was in a place were silence is pretty much the norm. The woman then turned around and started using a computer, probably looking for the book’s location in the massive collection of the library.

 Again, Martina had time to turn around and look at the rows and rows of tables, where people were reading and trying to study. It was kind of amazing how some of them were reading only one book, in some cases one of the most popular novels in existence, and how others had a huge stack of them next to their main read or a laptop. Martina smiled because places like those were almost extinct at it was nice to see that they kept going on, no matter what happened with life and technology in the world.

 The woman came back from her computer and told Martina that book was a very unique exemplary and that a special permit had to be granted. Martina started getting worried but the woman asked her if it was possible for her to call her father, who they would talk to in order to make the permit that morning. Martina grabbed her cellphone and called him, passing him on to the lady. They talked for a long time, which wasn’t very nice for Martina, as she was already getting hungry and her cellphone battery was not eternal.

 When the woman finished, she told Martina that her father would have to talk to the manager of the library too. They were kind of doing that right then, so she would have to wait for a while until the permit was approved. When Martina was about to ask how much time that would take, the lady only said “In an hour” and started talking to another person. Martina was a bit surprised by that attitude but decided to make the best of it and have something to eat before coming back for the damn book. She was already thinking of a big subway sandwich when she noticed the kid she had seen before.

 He was coming out of the dark corner he had entered. Martina now noticed he was wearing something resembling a cape. He apparently felt her eyes on him because he stared for a bit, until she decided to move on and walk out of the building. The kid passed her on the stairs outside and almost ran down the street. Martina stayed there for a bit, both because she was thinking about where the subs place was located but also wondering what that kid’s deal was. He looked very suspicious and way too young to be that.

 She remembered the place was only one block away, so she walked slowly and enjoyed the sun hitting her head. She noticed then that the library was a bit colder than the outside, probably because of all the marble and other stones that had been used for the construction of the building. As she got near the restaurant, Martina tried to remember if she had ever been inside the library before, but she somehow could not remember. It was as if accessing those files in its head was not possible.

 Inside the restaurant, Martina bought one of the biggest subs, with everything on it. She asked for the spicy sauce and potato chips with tomato flavor as a side. Instead of soda, she asked for an iced tea. After paying, she took her tray to a small table by the window and sat down there to have a view of the people passing by and the sun moving along the front parts of the building and over the sidewalk. The city could be very nice sometimes, even if she didn’t get very excited to be there often. Maybe that could change.

 As she bit her sub for the first time, and then cleaned the sides of her mouth with a napkin, Martina saw the kid with a cape walking on the other side of the street. He had just come out of a small store. In the front it said “Mystical treats” and it was adorned with many candles and painted all in black. It looked like a very spooky place for a kid that age (maybe ten or twelve). The fun part was, Martina thought as she took another bite, that no one else seemed to be noticing the kid with the cape. As if he was invisible or something.

 It was then when Martina realized something. The same thing had happened in the library. She had been the only one looking at the kid there too and he looked quite surprised and even angry when Martina stared at him. It was as if he was not very used to that happening to him.

 As she sipped some iced tea, Martina stopped and left her food on the tray. The kid was still on the other side of the sidewalk, in front of another store: “Mirror Wonderland”. But that was not the most surprising part. The fact that the kid had no reflection on any of the mirrors in the storefront was.

Anne Cheevers and the mystery at Caltot

   The sound of the train passing over the tracks had been enough for her to fall asleep. But now that she was waking up, the sound seemed to be louder, much less calming. Anne had decided to visit her aunt Sylvia once in the spring, as her mother had asked her so many years ago, way before she had died in that horrible accident with her father. It was a tragedy the family didn’t discuss openly but that had carved deep scars between all of them. The deepest one had to do with the Cheever girls, Anne and her sister Marissa, having to run the business her father had owned. Her aunt and uncles had wanted that for themselves but her father had been very clear now in his will.

As Anne watched the trees pass by her the window beside her, she felt suddenly annoyed. Even with the shiny sun outside and the beautiful scenery of the region, she couldn’t forget the reason she was there: her sister Marissa, who was older and supposedly wiser, had realized running a store such as her fathers was a very difficult task that needed the hand of a strong man. After all, the times they lived in weren’t precisely easy for young women like them and not one or the other had chosen a bachelor yet. The fact that they were orphans made the deal even harder to achieve, as most parents would be quite disturbed to have to arrange everything with the bride instead that with her parents. Traditions were not something people threw away often in that corner of the world.

 Aunt Sylvia had married Octavius Potter, a businessman who owned a very well known chain of new restaurants called Norma’s. Those places were supposed to bring the charm of country cuisine into the big cities and towns of the country and, by whatever rumors Marissa had been listening to, apparently Potter was hitting the jackpot with such an invention. People hadn’t heard about anything like that in this side of the ocean and, naturally, they were all eager to try out something new and exciting that everyone just wanted to experience. Even Anne had been to a Norma’s restaurant with Marissa but their experience had left a lot to be desired.

 As she contemplated a small town of beautiful small red houses, Anne remembered the dreadful deserts and sour tea she had tasted with her sister in that restaurant. And the comments from their friends who had visited were not much better. Maybe it was that branch in particular that wasn’t really working up to Mr. Potter’s expectations but Marissa soon forgot all about that when she heard about the money. It was what they needed. The small convenience store managed by the Cheevers was going through a very rough season and, if they couldn’t find a solution, they would have to close down the store that their father had inherited from their grandpa, who had established it himself at a very young age. It would be the disgrace of their name and the final nail in the marriage coffins.

 As the train started to hit the brakes, Anne felt she was sweating. Of course, she was very nervous about seeing her aunt again. They hadn’t talked since her parent’s funeral and after that not even a letter had been exchanged. She knew everything was going to be tense and Marissa had had the stupid idea to make her stay there for a whole week. As she stood up to grab her suitcase from the upper compartment, Anne realized that she was there and there was no turning back. She owed it to her parents to try to make the best sales pitch ever to her aunt and her husband in order for their lives not to be ruined for good.

 However, as she stepped on the platform of the station, she couldn’t see her aunt Sylvia or Octavius Potter anywhere in the vicinity. Many people descended along with her, so the platform got very crowded and she decided it was better to stand outside and wait for them to arrive there. But nothing happened either. Everyone who had come for a passenger, or had been a passenger themselves, had already left. There was no one else there except an old man who appeared to manage schedules and helped people in need although it wasn’t very clear who would need any help in such a small station. It had to be said that Mr. Potter, although managing a successful business, had decided to leave rather away from the spotlight, in a small town called Caltot. So Anne was not very surprised to not see a single soul near her for the following hour.

 Yes, Anne had to wait for up to an hour in the shade, trying to keep her hair from curling further and her skin from being exposed to the damaging sunlight. She was about to lose it when a young man, about her age, appeared on a bicycle. He stopped in front of her and talked as if they had been acquainted for quite some time. The truth was that Anne was so shocked at this behavior that she didn’t even acknowledge what the man was saying. Out of nowhere, she turned around, grabbed her suitcase from the floor and entered the station again. She had decided to go back home.

 The young man rapidly crossed her path and talked to her again, slowly and looking straight into her eyes to make sure she was listening this time. He didn’t grab her, yelled or did anything inappropriate. He just said he had been sent by Mr. Potter to pick her up at the station, as they knew she would be arriving momentarily. They apologized for not being able to pick her up themselves, but apparently everyone was too busy in their house and couldn’t be bothered to just go to the station and pick their relative. Anne calmed down and the man waited until she seemed less furious. Then he suggested she jumped onto the bike and rode with him but that made Anne even more furious so the boy realized he should stop talking and just decided to walk back to the house.

 As they walked over the narrow streets of the town, he told Anne he was Mr. Potter’s assistant. He was in charge of getting everything his boss needed in order to be comfortable in any given day. Normally, he would only do things related to work but often Mr. Potter had other demands that had nothing to do with work. Out of nowhere, Anne said that was appalling. As she lived in the city, she knew how horrible it could be to work without a proper pay. Granted, she was a woman and there was no real way she could know anything for a fact, but she assured the young man she wouldn’t rest until she got a fair pay.

 Then she stopped and went all red. Not only because she talked so candidly to that man but also because she hadn’t been a proper lady. She did not know her name. He said his name with a big smile on his face, as he was proud of something he hadn’t chosen for himself. Frederick March. He was called March by Mr. Potter but everyone else in town called him Fred. They shook hands, as Anne presented herself to him in a manner that made him smile even further. She stopped short when she realized she was being mocked. As headstrong as she was, Anne decided not to talk anymore with Fred, instead leading him into the town and towards the Potter’s house but that ended shortly because, of course, she had no idea where to go. Fred was kind enough not to laugh anymore although Anne felt he smiled behind her back.

 Once they arrived at the house, Anne realized all the rumors were true: the house was enormous and occupied a large portion of the side of the main square of town. The church was directly across it and the city hall was just on the side. It was beautifully decorated. So magnificent were the paintings on the wood on the outside, that Anne had to step away from the building to appreciate it better. Fred told her that the house had been restored completely by Mr. Potter, just a couple of months after him moving here with Anne’s aunt. Fred also said the lady of the house could be very strong in character but she made her voice be heard and her opinion be respected.

 Anne wanted to know more about Fred’s perception of her aunt as he said this, because the hard truth was that she didn’t know anything about her own relative. They had been apart for so long that the girl even doubted she actually knew what her aunt looked like. Two seconds afterwards, the front door of the house burst open: her aunt was there, breathing heavily, her hands and face covered in blood. She was hysterical, crying and yelling and saying something. Both Fred and Anne ran to help but the scene they saw through the threshold of the house was enough to freeze them solid: Octavius Potter had his intestines out and about, leaning against a piece of furniture.

 As Anne tried not to keep watching the horrible scene, she heard her aunt say: “I didn’t do it!” She sobbed so hard everyone in town was attracted to the square and, in no time, Anne saw herself submerged in a mystery she could have never seen coming, or the people of Caltot, which she would be able to get to know very well in the upcoming days.

Far & Below

* This is a recording made on January 1st, 2237.

My name is Amelia Granger. My ID number is 208341295. I am the medical officer on space station Hawking, currently stationed near Jupiter's moon, Europa.

For me, this is day 53 in the spaceship. Today we celebrate new year's although we're really celebrating our achievements in the last days.

Scientific officers Namadi Gutembe and Ali Ro released their heated missile yesterday. The device successfully penetrated the surface of Europa and in around five hours, got to the inner ocean of the moon. They released the probe resting inside the missile and have already discovered over ten new species in the liquid environment.

However, no creature shows any degree of intelligence. They are all botanic life, showing no reaction to the tests done by the probe. The officers decided to let ir roam around the ocean for the night, as we had a party on board.

Captain Michaud and first officer Ramirez joined us too. We are currently over 20 people inhabiting the station so the celebrations went on for several hours. Having no alcohol, we all ate a lot of cake and dried fruits and many other things we have in the galley. Our cook is worried we may not have enough until the next ship comes in with food. We're a month away from that.

I ran tests the last week of December to every single person in the ship. I'm glad to say only one individual appears to be affected by the gravity issues and the sun's radiation. It might be nothing but I want to be sure as one patient with cancer would have to immediately leave for Earth to receive proper treatment.

Engineer Kaamat has been specially kind, showing me every single machine they make and finish here before it's used. It's thrilling to see everyone work in what they love. Sometimes I would love to have more to do around here. Keeping the diets in order and giving check ups every so often gets boring really fast. But I guess it's better for everyone if I don't have a lot to deal with.

Nothing more to day. Granger out.

* January 9th, 2237

This is Amelia Granger. ID number 208341295. Medical officer on space station Hawking, now near Europa.

Things have drastically changed this past week. First, I'm sorry to announce scientist Griselda Coon has cancer. We have already sent word to Earth for them to pick her up. She's not well, at all. She has started fainting, vomiting and is now quarantined in her room. It's not contagious but its better if she keeps away from others.

It isn't cruelty. It is because everyone has been too busy looking at the recent findings. The Europa probe has discovered many more species but we are looking at two in particular. The first one appears to be a whale, or so I understand. It seems it's not as intelligent as the ones we have on Earth but its pretty big.

What concerns all of us is the other one. We have had no sight of it but there are traces of the species all over. It appears it is a marine creature that is able to walk overground. Scientists are still not sure if the creature has ever pierced through the snow but it is possible.

What makes it possible is the fact that a rover we had seen prior to the missile lunch, has been destroyed. We have no idea how or by what. The site of the destruction has been scouted with instruments but there are no major traces of the rover or of the creature.

I have to be honest. I am scared and I think many of the others are too. Not only because the rover was destroyed but because the creature appears to elude us on purpose. Everyone says it must be smart because the instruments and the probe are too advanced for primitive live to hide from them.

Oh, I almost forgot. There is something else. We have received word from Space Station Africa, over Earth, that our next shipment of food has been delayed. Apparently there are shortages on Mars and they need our supplies to help the communities there. We understand but this makes our cook go even more crazy. Now I have no issues controlling diets.

We hope they come for Coon as soon as possible. I hear they might take her to Titan, to the new hospital orbiting around it. I hope that is true. She needs help.

Granger out.

* January 12th, 2237

Amelia Granger here. This entry is rather hard, in so many different ways.

I have always loved what I do, helping others and trying to make everything better for everyone. I came here because I thought it would be a challenge, a field of lessons to make me a better professional and a better person too.

Mrs. Coon has died. It happened yesterday. We never received word from Titan and no ship departed Earth to pick her up. Apparently Mars has been hit by solar wind and the situation is critical so every space station is now on its own. We have her in a secure bag, here on medical bay. It makes me shiver, the thought she's dead and close to me. I never thought anyone would die.

It's not stopping, either. First officer Ramirez and Science officer Ro are both down here, in the infirmary. Apparently the sun is also affecting us. The station has changed its position and all windows had been blocked by metal, to protect us. I am certain that if we don't receive help, these two new patients may face the same fate as Mrs. Coon.

What also has the crew in critical state is the fact that the communications with Earth having been down for the last few hours. Many were expecting to tell their families what was going on in here but that is not possible at the time. I haven't spoken to my father since I came here, but that's for different reasons. Lack of communications don't affect me much, except for the wellbeing of my patients.

There' something else, of course. As the chores in the station are limited, I have been helping around and I was in the lab when the alarm went off. I twas another attack on the surface. Some equipment left there by a flying probe was destroyed. The strange thing is we now know what it is.

Pictures were taken by cameras and a probe was sent after it happened. I am not a biologist but the creatures looks like... Well, like a monster I once saw on a movie. I think it was one of those old monster movies from the museum. The creature has a three legs, no real feet. Its like a tree that way. But its upper body resembles the one of a human. It even appears to have a chest.

It has no arms. Nothing like that. Biology head Yu told me they believe it uses it's legs as arms. The most impressive part is "the head". Not really a head but a promontory on his shoulders, as if it all was the same section of the body. No eyes but rather a black line that appears to turn on and off. Some reading say heat emanates form that slid. No mouth either.

We are all scared now, not even the biologists are eager for their discovery. At least three have been sighted above ground and the marine probe has detected one. They swim fast, really fast.

I think we will have a lot of time to investigate them, that is if they...

...

Sorry. It was the speakers. The captain wants us all in his chambers. He says the probes have been destroyed and that he got another warning from Earth.

To be honest, I'm not leaving the planet ever again.

Granger out.