Callisto 2.0, Susan English [i love reading .TXT] 📗

secretive? Was she hiding something? I rolled my eyes, feeling ridiculous. She probably just didn’t enjoy talking about herself. I settled onto one of the chairs, then immediately pushed myself out of it, so fidgety it was impossible to sit still.

Needing to burn off my excess energy, I headed to the gym. There were shorts and T-shirts in the cubbies, arranged by size, as well as fresh towels and stacks of clean jumpsuits. I changed clothes and did an abbreviated, one-hour micro-g routine, then 47

went back to the dressing room to clean up.

The shower was unlike anything I had ever seen before. In my experience, keeping clean while on a space station entailed using waterless shampoo and moist towelettes, but this was something else entirely. The stall was completely enclosed, with a horizontal bar at the bottom to use for stability. I stripped off my clothes and stepped inside, not knowing what to expect, and pushed a button on the side of the stall. Tiny globules of water sprayed out from various showerheads, a light airflow pulling the drops downward in a subtle simulation of gravity. The sensation of the water droplets hitting my body was like hundreds of tiny caresses. Pressing down on the pump head of the liquid-soap dispenser, I caught the shimmering glob in my hand, then rubbed it all over my body and in my hair. The floral scent was delicate and fresh. After a thorough rinse, I turned off the spray, and the warm, gentle breeze dried my body and hair. I had never felt so clean in space.

I chose a jumpsuit from the stack, running my fingers over the soft, breathable fabric.

After getting dressed, I dropped my used jumpsuit, shorts, T-shirt, and towel into a bin marked “laundry”. The bottom of the bin opened and the contents were sucked through a tube, I assumed to a laundry facility, probably staffed by bots. If the Foundation had enough funds for industrial 3D printers, not to mention this gigantic orbital lab, they definitely had sufficient resources for housekeeping bots—an extravagance only the wealthy could afford on Earth.

With nothing better to do, I decided to go to the observation deck, and settled into one of the many chairs scattered around the room, near the window. The view of the Moon below us was breathtaking. Hard to imagine that there was so much life and activity below the dead-looking surface. I stared out the window, lost in thought.

◆◆◆

An hour, maybe two, had gone by when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Diana behind me. My heart skipped a beat, and a wave of happiness washed over me.

“Diana, you’re here, I was hoping to see you—” My hands felt clammy, my body hot.

“Calli, glad I found you. I want you to meet someone.”

I was so focused on Diana, I hadn’t noticed the petite, stunningly beautiful Japanese woman beside her.

“Callisto, I’ve heard so much about you.”

My eyes flicked to her, almost resentful at her intrusion. I wanted another opportunity to be with Diana, alone.

“This is my wife, Izumi,” said Diana. “She just arrived on the station.”

Suddenly my entire body was tingling, as if I had put my finger in an electrical socket.

Diana was speaking, I heard her words, but my mind was struggling to process the 48

information. Wife? Diana was married?

Diana looked down at Izumi, her eyes softening. Izumi met her gaze and smiled. I stared at them in disbelief. How can she be married? No, this can’t be happening.

Diana turned back to me. “Izumi’s an evolutionary anthropologist, and the founder of Portal al Porvenir.”

“I’ve been busy with some Foundation business on Earth.” Izumi’s expression clouded, and she and Diana exchanged an uneasy look. “I’m glad to finally be home.”

“Calli, you’re very pale. Are you okay?” asked Diana, studying my face with alarm.

I nodded weakly.

“It’s the microgravity,” said Izumi. “Perhaps you should go lie down.”

Finally, my brain caught up. “No, I’m fine, I felt dizzy for a second, that’s all.

Probably spent too much time in the gym.” My stomach was doing somersaults.

Izumi peered at me with obvious concern. “If you’re certain you’re okay, it would be lovely if you could join us for dinner.”

No, I couldn’t, I just couldn’t. “Maybe I’ll take your advice and go lie down for a half hour or so but thank you for the invitation.”

“There will be other times. It was so nice to meet you.”

My smile was feeble.

Diana and Izumi left the observation deck, hand in hand, and my heart sank.

Thankfully I hadn’t told Diana what I was feeling! At least I had avoided that humiliation.

I exited the observation deck in a haze, with no conscious destination, but somehow, I ended up in front of Naomi’s lab again.

Naomi looked up at me as the door slid open, a smile on her face, then she saw my expression and her smile faded. “Oh, Calli.” She came over and put her arms around me. “I presume you’ve met Izumi? I heard she arrived this midday.”

I could only nod. With the lump in my throat, and the weight in my heart, there was no room for speech.

Naomi released me, then led me to a couch, where we sat down, facing each other, pulling the straps attached to the cushions over our thighs. “She’s a darling, isn’t she?

Like Diana.”

“Yes, she seems amazing.” I picked imaginary lint off my sleeve. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Naomi reached over and gave me another hug. “Like I’ve told you before, it happens to all of us. My apologies I couldn’t find time to tell you about Izumi.”

“It’s okay, you tried to warn me.”

“Want to hold Aster?” she asked, her expression soft.

“Okay,” I said, my voice subdued.

Naomi got up and went over to the mouse condo, reached in, and took out a mouse.

“How can you tell them apart?” I asked.

She gave a little laugh. “That’s like asking a mother how she can tell her identical 49

twins apart. I simply can.”

She handed Aster to me, and I held the little creature to my chest, her whiskers tickling my neck.

“Would you like to have dinner?” Naomi asked, her voice gentle.

My body stiffened. “No, not now, not yet. Diana and Izumi are probably still in the dining room.”

“I’ll bring you something, then.”

“Thanks.” I looked up at her. “I’ll be okay. I just got lost there for a minute.” Aster snuggled against me, and my heart felt a little bit lighter.

“Easy to do, my friend. But you shall find your way.”

I sat with the little mouse, my mind a blank, until Naomi returned with two bowls of food in her hands.

“Here, eat.” She held out a bowl.

Getting up, I put Aster back in the condo, wiping my hands on my jumpsuit, more out of habit than necessity—the mice were scrupulously clean. Taking the bowl and set of chopsticks from Naomi’s outstretched hand, we sat together on the couch.

“Listen, Calli, regarding Diana … well, she’s Diana. She’s a brilliant leader, and a good mate to all of us. But she’s got a huge blind spot. She’s absolutely clueless of how others respond to her. Like I said, we all fall for her.”

“I don’t know what came over me. I’m usually not like that, I swear ….” I stopped, feeling the tears well up in my eyes.

“I get it, I do. With the emotion and excitement of the new job, being in space, everything happening so fast. And Diana is a wonderful human being. She makes us all feel like we are special. When she talks to you, she is completely present. I’ve known her for years, and she’s that way with everyone.” Naomi paused, looking toward the mouse condo, her eyes unfocused. “I’ve never met anyone so genuinely kind and loving

… well, besides Izumi.”

I followed Naomi’s gaze, and watched the mice scurrying through the tubes, perfectly comfortable in micro-g.

She turned back to me. “Hey, you’re not fated to follow in the footsteps of your namesake, I’m fairly certain.”

“Huh?” My brow furrowed.

“Oh, I keep forgetting, you’re not up on Greek mythology.”

“I do know a little. Callisto was a huntress, friends with Artemis.”

“Yeah, among other things. But all the companions of Artemis took a vow of chastity.”

I felt myself redden. “As of right now that’s the last thing I want to think about.”

Naomi placed her index finger on her chin. “Now I recall, she was the one who broke her vow. Zeus disguised himself as Artemis and took advantage of Callisto, who was in love with Artemis. Poor thing, he got her pregnant.”

“Oh, so that’s how she ended up with a son.”

50

“Yeah, then someone, possibly Zeus, turned her into a bear.”

“That part I knew, about the bear.” I shook my head. “So much drama! I don’t envy the Greek gods, that’s for sure. Seems like Zeus was nothing but trouble! Anyway, right now I just want to focus on my work.”

“I understand. This is a brilliant opportunity.”

I popped a ball of food in my mouth. The food really was surprisingly good. Looking up at the ceiling, I chewed slowly, my mind deep in thought.

I’d been in relationships before, but, other than Olivia, nothing that lasted more than a few months. I was “too involved with my studies,” or at least, that was the most common criticism.

Before Olivia, my longest relationship had been with Juliana. We met at a party, one of the very few I attended as an undergrad. Juliana and I were immediately drawn to each other. She was my height, with long golden-brown hair, dancing eyes, and a