Free Demeter by Dr. Alan D. Hansen

on the nearest island. The largest island was no more than a mile long, and he guessed, perhaps half a mile wide. He could not discern any people or housing on any of the islands. It looked very much like the mural on Miss Li’s wall at school.
    “Hey, move it up there,” he could hear Randy complaining.
    Ryder came to himself and moved on down the stairway. At the bottom, he turned and looked at the Pegasus and realized why they had lost their windows. The ship had reformed to a circular shape. “A flying saucer?” Ryder commented.
    Cynthia came up and stood next to him. “It sure looks like a flying saucer, like they show on those UFO movies. Maybe this is where they got the idea from.”
    “I wonder how big it is now?” Ryder asked.
    About this time, Debbie came bouncing down the staircase. “It’s three stories high, and in saucer mode it can be as small as sixty feet wide. However, at the moment it is ninety-four feet in diameter to meet the minimum needs of its passengers, luggage, and cargo.”
    “Great, now I have a walking encyclopedia for a sister. We’ll start calling you Debbipedia.”
    “You can’t bother me today. I got to fly the Pegasus,” Debbie gushed. “In fact, Captain White has agreed to give me and Becky flying lessons as soon as we settle in.”
    “Great! There goes our ride home. I hope they have a good body shop here,” Ryder responded.
    As the lights began to flare in Debbie’s eyes, Cynthia interjected, “That’s wonderful news Debbie. I’m sure you’ll make a great pilot.”
    This seemed to defuse the battle before it even began. Cynthia whispered to Ryder, “You could lighten up on her once in a while.”
    “Sure,” Ryder replied. “Debbie, I’m sure you’ll be the best pilot in the class.”
    Just then Rebecca joined them. “Oh, so you think I’ll stink as a pilot?”
    Ryder just turned red and realized he was in a no-win situation. “Look at that,” he exclaimed, pointing beyond the Pegasus. Apparently they were on a much larger landmass than the ones that Ryder had spotted in front of him. The verdant mountain range climbing behind them rose several hundred feet.
    “Any idea how tall those peaks are?” Cynthia asked, bumping into Ryder and knocking them both over. They both stood up turning bright red. She started to apologize, but Debbie interrupted.
    “Those are the Five Sisters.”
    “How do you know that, Dweeb?” Ryder asked, getting irritated.
    “Jonas told me.”
    “Jonas?” Cynthia and Ryder asked simultaneously.
    “You know, Captain White. He was telling me about Arion. This is the main port of entry for civilian ships. It looked cool as we were landing. It’s shaped sort of like the silhouette of a horse. It has five mountains, the tallest was called…Phar Lap. Let’s see….” Debbie pointed to the mountain far to the right. “That’s Northern Dancer, and then Citation. Phar lap is the one in the middle, then Secretariat, and finally Sunday Silence. Jonas says we may get a chance to climb Sunday Silence.”
    “Sunday Silence? That sounds like a great place for you,” Ryder chided, immediately trying to cut himself off as Cynthia scowled at him.
    Debbie ignored him. “That’s not all,” she said. “Watch this.” She concentrated for a moment, then folded into a jumping position and launched. She jumped about twelve feet. “We’re only at forty percent of Earth’s normal gravity. Jonas says we’ll be a little clumsy getting used to this.” She landed smoothly.
    Ryder realized that he had felt a little lighter on his feet, but just assumed that was from getting back on solid ground after being aboard the Pegasus for five days.
    “That was cool.” Cynthia winked at Ryder. “Let me try it.” She jumped and landed awkwardly about eight feet away. “Your turn, Ryder.”
    That was the first time Cynthia had called him by his preferred name, and he started to turn red again. He decided to cover it with some acrobatics. “Watch