Andromeda Reborn Sample

ANDROMEDA REBORN™

CHAPTER ONE: SPACE ORPHANS

The boy in the blue pajamas dashed through the narrow, metallic hallway of the starship Tranquility. Having just left the dimly lit bridge, he was determined to reach the elevator ahead. As the doors slid shut, the controls blinked, signaling his descent to the stasis bay. As the elevator doors parted, he charged into the hallway with every ounce of his strength.

The ship was like something out of a space adventure movie. The narrow hallway the boy raced through was all shiny metal and blinking lights, like a futuristic tunnel. Overhead, small bulbs dotted the ceiling, casting cool, blue shadows on the floor. The air carried the unmistakable scent of scorched toast—a sure sign to the boy that wires somewhere had overheated and burned. It was a bit spooky, with red emergency beacons blinking slowly, making the walls look like they were changing colors.

He raced towards the sleeping pods, a powerful surge throbbing in his chest. The smooth, cold floor almost betrayed him, making him skid and narrowly miss crashing into the wall. As he paused to catch his breath, he lifted his gaze to the flashing red emergency lights, which cast the corridor in an unsettling hue. The electric hum of the alarm system pulsed from the walls. Suddenly, a male android emerged from its glass enclosure, lurching towards the sleeping pods.

“Hey,” the boy shouted over the noise, his voice cracking. “I need help! My sister is still sleeping! My friends, too! What’s going on?”

Just then, the alarm started wailing, a piercing sound that stabbed the boy’s ears and raised goosebumps on his damp skin. He ran out of the hallway into one of the stasis chambers. This is where all the kids were supposed to be sleeping, on their way from Earth across the stars to a new home after the planet’s destruction. The pods were arranged in a flower-like pattern, with six to each pod cluster. Inside frosty windows, young faces slumbered, their eyes closed, peacefully unaware that something very wrong had happened to their ship.

The boy dashed over to the android, dressed in a white uniform, who was now trying to open the door to the medical bay. The whirring of his mechanical limbs mixed with the howling alarms.

“Come on,” said the boy, “listen to me, will you?”

As he dashed over to the android, he caught a fleeting glimpse of himself in the polished metal of a nearby panel. For a moment, his reflection halted him—a boy of thirteen, of average height and build, looking back at him. With a warm, olive-toned tan, his skin exuded a natural radiance. His brown hair, styled into long, wavy bangs, framed his face, slightly tousled from his hurried movements. His eyes, a deep chestnut brown, were wide with urgency and reflected the red emergency lights flickering around him.

The android paused and turned. “Ah, yes, Calvin Wallace, is it?”

“Yeah,” said the boy. “I’m Cal Wallace, and I need some help. I can’t wake up my sister or my friends. Are any of the adults awake? Can you call them? Can you help?”

“I’m sorry, young Mr. Wallace, but my programming does not allow me to assist you.”

The boy, Cal, took a deep breath, his fingers curling into a fist as frustration washed over him. He slammed his fist against the titanium-reinforced wall near the android. He recoiled back, wincing with pain. “You’re going to have to help me, okay?” he pleaded.

But the humanoid robot simply shook its smooth, emotionless head and turned back to the medical bay door. It seemed stuck, and the android tried to pry it open with strong, metal fingers.

Cal growled, turning back to the stasis bay. His image flashed back at him again, now reflected off the surface of a window. His dark hair clung to his forehead, damp from sweat. He was still wearing the soft blue pajamas he’d worn when he hugged his mom and sister Sophie goodbye. Both were supposed to be asleep here in the Tranquility—Sophie in the children’s stasis chamber and their mother on the other side of the ship with the adults.

“Blast it,” Cal grumbled. He ran back to the stasis chamber, passing familiar faces. Stacy Peterson. Will Brown. Jamal Watkins. All classmates in the Tranquility Program back in San Diego on Earth after the calamity. After the meteorites had made most of the planet uninhabitable.

Sliding to a halt, he peered into more of the stasis pods. Finn Harper. Donny Riggs. Mateo… Mateo!

One of his best friends, Mateo, lay in blue pajamas. Mateo, a handsome Black boy with long, curly black bangs similar to Cal’s, slept undisturbed by the chaos. The alarm was growing louder now, like countless sirens shrieking in unison. And just then, there was a massive jolt, and the ship shook, sending Cal flying across the room. He crashed into another pod, the impact stealing his breath. Bruised but still alive, he pushed himself up. Then he saw another familiar face: Anusha, his very best friend. She looked so peaceful, with her beautiful brown skin and matching eyes, her ebony locks flowing down her shoulders. And right next to her was his sister! “Sophie,” gasped Cal.

She had dark, curly hair and a cherubic, round face. Her youthful innocence was evident even in sleep. Though she was a few years younger than Cal, Sophie possessed a kind of brilliance all her own. She’d zoomed ahead, entering high school at the tender age of nine. Now, she lay in her aquamarine pajamas, the greenish color soft against her dark hair (like their mother’s), pulled back in a ponytail. She, too, looked at peace under the thin blanket of frost that clung to the outside of her pod.

“We might need to eject from Tranquility,“ Cal said. “I need to wake you up!”

He turned back to the android, who had finally opened the medical bay door. He was walking inside. Cal figured he’d try again, and hopefully, the robot would listen to him this time.

He dashed back, and again, there was another jolt to the ship. Cal tumbled, sliding across the slick room and smashing into the wall.

Pain radiated through Cal’s body, but he knew he had little time. He had to get Sophie, Mateo, and Anusha out of their stasis pods. Pushing himself up, he stumbled over to the android, who was taking medical supplies from a cabinet.

“Please,” Cal panted, holding onto his bruised ribs. “I don’t know how much time we have left. At least tell me how to release them from their pods.”

The android hesitated momentarily before replying, “There is a manual release lever hidden in the panel under each pod.”

Cal nodded. “Thank you,” he muttered before rushing back to the stasis chamber.

He quickly found the hidden panel beneath Mateo’s pod and yanked it open. The lever was cold to the touch, but he pulled it downward with a grunt. The stasis pod hissed, and the frost melted away from the glass, revealing Mateo’s stirring face inside. Cal did the same for Anusha and Sophie, who were waking up with groggy confusion. He helped his little sister out of her pod, and before she left, she grabbed a blue stuffed bear she’d been sleeping with.

“Cal? What’s going on?” Mateo asked, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

“No time to explain,” Cal responded urgently, his voice barely audible over the blaring alarms. “We need to get to the escape pods. The ship’s in big trouble!”

Sophie darted over to him. She pushed her curly hair out of her face. “We need to find Mom and the other grownups!” she shouted.

The ship shook violently again, causing the metal floor beneath their feet to tremble. The children struggled to maintain their balance. Mateo shook his head and said, “There’s no time. We have to evacuate now!”

“He’s right, Cal,” Anusha agreed, gripping his arm. “We have to go!”

“We’re losing life support,” Mateo shouted. “And it looks like we’re being boarded!”

The disoriented group stumbled after Cal, who led them down the chaotic hallway. The sirens blared around them, and the ship shuddered again, nearly knocking them off their feet. But with determination, they pushed forward, making their way towards the escape pods.

Finally, they reached the escape pod bay, where all the pods were still in place. Each one was pearly white with silver trim and equipped with small laser cannons. Cal hurriedly guided them to the nearest pod and started the launch sequence. Cal took one last glance at the starship as the doors began to close and loud rumblings echoed from within.

Cal felt a sudden rush of relief mixed with fear as the escape pod blasted away from the Tranquility. At least he had managed to save his friends and sister. They huddled together in the small pod, watching in shock as a colossal explosion of red light erupted near their ship, its intensity magnifying against the backdrop of space.

The force of the explosion rocked the escape pod, jolting Cal’s already bruised body. The pain, exhaustion, and adrenaline caught up to him all at once, and the world started to blur at the edges of his vision.

“I’m sorry, everyone,” Cal whispered just before losing consciousness. “I did my best.”

***

Suddenly, Cal found himself surrounded by darkness, thick and mysterious like a winter’s night. He wondered if he was caught in a magical dream, but the pounding headache reminded him that it was all too real.

Slowly, Cal saw a shimmering sky full of twinkling stars appear before him. They seemed to dance playfully, daring him to reach out and catch one. He stretched out his hand, laughing at the impossibility of holding onto a star—it was like trying to keep a snowflake from melting!

As he reached, a spark of curiosity lit up inside him when he noticed his arm was covered in a striking red suit. The suit was dotted with buttons, switches, and tubes, making him look like a space explorer. Suddenly, he heard a crackling sound in his ears, which turned into a voice. Among the noise, one word stood out: his name.

“Calvin.”

He felt as if he were floating through an ethereal sea of cotton candy. In this strange kaleidoscope, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye—Blue Belle.

Upon recognizing the blue plush bear with one eye, he felt a shiver course through his body. With every ounce of effort he could muster, Cal managed to lift his arm, fingers reaching out and wrapping around the soft fabric. Drawing Blue Belle closer, her remaining black plastic eye struck his visor, producing a hollow clink that resonated through his helmet; the glare of the lights outside refracted across the glass, momentarily blinding him.

As his vision adjusted, his name echoed once more through the cavernous expanse within his helmet: “Calvin!”

Finally, once everything came into focus, he saw someone drifting in front of him. This person, too, wore a red spacesuit with the same dials, knobs, and tubes sticking out of it. But this person had dark strands of hair floating inside their helmet, dancing like seaweed in a gentle current.

“Sophie!” said Cal, recognizing his little sister. He leaned forward and began to wave his arms out instinctively like he was swimming, but unlike being in the water, he wasn’t getting far.

“Cal, you have to turn on your mini-thrusters,” his sister’s squeaky voice ping-ponged through his head.

“Right,” he replied, hearing his voice echoing. “I... uh, how do I do that again?”

He didn’t hear a response but saw Sophie tapping her chest and pointing to one of the dials. She was turning it slowly. “My thrusters are down,” she said, “but you should have some power left. Try it!”

Cal reached for the dial on his chest and began to turn it when suddenly he felt himself being propelled towards Sophie. She was getting closer to him until finally, he could almost reach out and touch her. But that didn’t happen; instead, he zoomed right past her like a runaway rocket.

“The other dial, Cal!”

He felt for another on his chest, found it, and began turning.

“You need to slow down,” Sophie cried. “Adjust your thrusters with the first dial!”

Cal did as she instructed, gradually coming to a stop, and then he began to turn around. As he did, a bright light filled his helmet. It glared against the glass, and for a moment, everything in front of him appeared like one giant rainbow. But then the colorful light began to disappear, replaced by a vast blue and white cloud stretching across the darkness. The blue cloud looked like a seven-headed dragon scouring interstellar space with its long necks and jaws. The beast was gobbling up stars and...

“Calvin!”

Sophie waved at him, a little red figure against a massive backdrop of darkness, stars, and a gigantic blue nebula. Cal felt his chest and neck tighten. Moments earlier, hardly a thought passed through his head. There was no time to think about things, but now his feelings of awe and surprise were replaced by… fear. He was floating in space!

“It’s okay, Cal,” Sophie said gently, “come to me. That’s it. You’re doing well. Keep turning the dial on the left side of your chest.” And then she was there, and they were holding hands, smiling, and laughing together in the vastness of space.

“What happened?” asked Cal. He looked at his sister’s round face. Her dark eyes reflected stars and the haunting gas cloud. He couldn’t remember how old she was for a moment, but then it came to him. She’d just celebrated her ninth birthday. “I don’t know,” she said. “I fell asleep, and then we were here.”

The last thing he remembered was saying goodnight to Sophie, Mateo, and Anusha. They were together in one pod. “Where’s our ship? Where’s the Tranquility?”

Sophie looked off into the distance, lost in thought for a moment. “I don’t know.”

“What about Anusha?” asked Cal. “And Mateo? And... oh gosh, Sophie, what about everyone else?”

But Sophie didn’t answer, and her lower lip began to tremble like wiggly Jell-O. She was a courageous little kid, Cal knew. He’d begrudgingly admitted it when they’d been aboard their ship, getting ready for deep-space stasis with the other children. Now, though, it was different. She’d been brave for him, helping him wake up and come to his senses, but now he had to be there for her. So, he squeezed her hands. “Don’t worry, Soph. It’ll be okay.”

Her eyes flashed and met his own. “Cal, we only have enough oxygen for another forty-five minutes tops!”

As Cal gripped her hands, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was their final adventure together, his chest filled with a nervous energy.

***

They didn’t have long to themselves when they heard something crackling in their helmets’ headphones.

“Mayday, mayday... this is Anusha Singh.”

“Anusha!”

Cal turned, still holding Sophie’s hands, and saw someone in a green spacesuit floating towards him. The person’s helmet was dark and reflected the glowing blue nebula, casting shimmering patterns around them.

“Don’t let go, Cal,” Sophie said, her voice trembling.

“Here,” he replied, reaching down to his waist and pulling out a small cord with a metal clip, a carabiner, on its end. He brought it up to Sophie’s waist and snapped it, linking the rope to her. “That should do it.”

“Calvin?” said a voice over the open link, its tone wavering as if on the verge of tears.

“Yeah, Anusha, it’s me. It’s us. Sophie’s here. Keep coming towards us, and we’ll catch you!”

The figure in the green suit slowly somersaulted through space, head over heels. It felt like forever, but finally, she was within reaching distance, and both Cal and Sophie reached out to her, grabbing her belt. Just as he did to Sophie, Cal pulled out another cord and linked himself with Anusha.

“There,” he said, “you’re safe. Are you all right?”

The dark glass of the girl’s helmet slowly began to fade from entirely black to shaded like a pair of sunglasses, and then finally, it became clear. And there, staring at Cal, was his best friend from back on Earth. The familiar dark eyes, friendly and thoughtful, stared back at him.

“Anusha?”

Staring at him coldly, the eyes suddenly flashed and came to life. Anusha blinked and smiled, her breath fogging the inside of the helmet for an instant.

“Yes, oh my gosh, Cal... Sophie... I’m so glad to see you, I thought...”

“We all thought, Anusha,” said Sophie. “I thought I was alone in space until I saw Cal.”

“Where is everyone? How’d we get out here? My memory is hazy.”

“I don’t know,” said Cal. “I just woke up to Sophie calling my name. I last remember laying down in our pods on the Tranquility. Seems like it happened only a few minutes ago.“ The words hung heavy, like the stillness before a storm.

Cal watched as Anusha’s brow furrowed. “Calvin,” she said, trembling. “I can see my internal chronometer readings.”

Cal blinked a few times, trying to activate his Heads-Up-Display (HUD), which would’ve shown him his vitals and other information, but it wasn’t working. The absence of the familiar display left him feeling disoriented and vulnerable.

“Is your HUD operating?” asked Sophie. “Mine isn’t.”

“Neither is mine,” Cal said.

“Mine is,” said Anusha, “but I don’t think it’s right. It can’t be.”

“What do you mean?”

Cal felt his stomach doing flips, but then again, maybe he was flipping. It was hard to tell when you were floating in space, immersed in the inky blackness dotted with glittering stars. “Anusha, what is it?”

But before she could answer, there was a bright flash of golden light, as if a fiery sun had burst into existence just for them. It was too blinding to see anything else, but Cal tried to open his eyes to see what was in front of them. As the light dimmed, flickering like a dying candle flame, it took on the long, narrow shape of a cat’s pupil. In the middle of this golden light was the form of a human, floating. It, too, had a helmet and appeared like Cal, his sister, and his friend, Anusha. This person was wearing a blue suit, the fabric shimmering like a tranquil ocean. Their arms were held out in front of them, motionless. The person began to float towards them as the golden light disappeared.

“What was that?” asked Sophie, her voice trembling.

“It was like some sort of... opening,” said Cal, his words echoing softly in the void, “some sort of gate.”

Cal and the others held out their hands, waiting for the person in the blue suit to reach them. Their gloved fingers brushed against each other. Slowly, mirroring his earlier action with Anusha, Cal managed to grasp hold of the new person. He signaled to Anusha, who swiftly uncoiled a short cord from her waist, its carabiner glinting at one end. With a deft motion, she secured it firmly onto the person’s belt.

Leaning in, Cal examined the person’s helmet. Unlike Anusha’s, this one was transparent, allowing him to see clearly. “It’s Mateo!” he said. He gently rapped on the helmet’s glass to get Mateo’s attention. “Hey, Mateo, it’s me, Cal. Come on, wake up.”

“Mateo!” shouted Sophie, her voice ringing like a bell.

Anusha held out her hand. “Guys, stop. He’s not waking up anytime soon. I’m getting a reading that his suit is on life support. He’s unconscious.”

Cal and Sophie stared at the handsome Black boy in the blue suit. He had dark hair and sharp features, his brown skin looked smooth, almost frozen. Cal thought he looked peaceful, and part of him was jealous. “What were you going to tell us before Mateo came?”

Anusha turned to Cal. She thought momentarily and then said, “I don’t know. I think my chronometer is off. These readings can’t be right.” The sense of anxiety and fear felt like a heavy, invisible fog.

Sophie frowned. “Tell us, Anusha!”

“It says here that we fell asleep forty-seven minutes ago,” Anusha said. She paused for a moment, closing her eyes and grimacing as if tasting a sour fruit. “But the internal chronometer of my suit doesn’t agree with the computer.”

“Spit it out, Anusha,” Sophie growled.

“It says...” Anusha swallowed hard. “It says that seven hundred twenty-two years and four days have passed since we left Earth!”

The universe seemed to hold its breath, and even the distant stars appeared to quiver with anticipation. The enormity of time stretched before them, cold and unyielding.

Cal’s heart raced, thudding against his chest. “That can’t be right,” he whispered, the words catching in his throat like shards of ice.

Sophie, her eyes wide with fear, searched for something to say and hold onto in the vast emptiness surrounding them. “Anusha, is there any way to double-check those readings? Can we confirm this?”

Anusha hesitated, her eyes flicking back and forth between the chronometer and her friends. “I’ll run a diagnostic,” she said, her voice quivering. “But if this is true... we’re a long, long way from home.”

And for a moment, everything faded away. The vastness of space around Cal, the haunting blue gas cloud—the nebula—that could’ve held thousands of planet Earths, swirled with ethereal grace, its cold hues casting an otherworldly glow on their faces. Even the cacophony of stars that whispered ancient secrets began to dim. Anusha’s words and her eyes, those eyes that never lied to him or held any bitterness or unkindness, shone with sincerity. They told him that she believed what she was reading on her HUD.

Seven hundred years and change, Cal thought. How could it be? And yet, there it was. They’d been on a spaceship after most of Earth had succumbed to a new ice age after meteorites slammed into the planet, their violent impacts sounding like the Earth itself was shattering. They’d been ready to sleep, but only for a couple years, until they found a new home thanks to their ultramodern ship, the Tranquility.

Sophie’s face was red, the rage burning like a solar flare. “No way, it’s wrong!” Her voice reverberated through their helmets.

Cal blinked. “What?”

“It’s gotta be wrong, Cal,” she said, her breaths quick and shallow. “Seven hundred and twenty-two years?”

“I think it’s wrong, too,” Anusha said, “but Sophie, my dad helped design these suits. Our chronometers are supposed to be so resilient as to withstand major fluctuations in space-time.” Her fingers tapped nervously against the fabric of her suit.

Cal thought of what this meant as the four floated in silence for a moment. But there was something even more pressing than the knowledge they’d traveled seven-hundred years into the future.

“We’re going to run out of air in less than an hour,” he said, his voice cracking with desperation. “And I don’t see anything around us.”

Anusha nodded, her expression solemn. “My HUD is showing some life nearby. There’s a planet, but it’s over fifty thousand kilometers away.”

“You mean that one?” Sophie said, pointing.

Cal and Anusha turned to see a green planet behind them, its lush verdant forests and vast purple oceans calling out like a siren’s song. The taste of sweet, fresh air seemed to linger on Cal’s tongue, just out of reach.

“It looks like Saturn,” Anusha said as they took in the breathtaking view of the celestial body. “With that ring.”

“There are two rings,” said Sophie, her voice filled with wonder. “One small one orbiting the big one. How weird!”

“Well, there’s no way we’re getting there before our air runs out.” Cal swallowed hard, his throat suddenly parched. “Any ideas?”

“Yeah,” said Sophie, “I have one.”

Cal turned, and it didn’t even surprise him, with everything that was happening, to see a silver ship with a massive red sail floating towards them.

“What are you doing?” asked Cal, turning to Sophie.

Sophie held out her hand, waving. “Catching a ride, big brother!”

Cal pulled her hand down swiftly, his grip firm and protective. “Wait, that’s not a good idea!”

“Well, do you have any?”

“Yes, I think I just might.”

But before Cal could do anything, there was a bright white flash, and Sophie’s voice crackled and disappeared.

Dear Reader,

Get ready to launch into the unexplored universe with Cal's thrilling adventures in Andromeda Reborn™! The galaxies are vast, filled with secrets, superpowers, and races beyond your wildest dreams. But the exploration has only just begun!

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