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“Hi everyone! It’s me Jessie! We’re starting a new thing on our site because we like having new stuff. So we’re going to do something called the ‘Chapter of the Week’ from all our best stories. This week is Chapter 15 from The Palace in the Sky which is the second book in our series.”

“The chapter is called ‘The Solar System Reconstruction Committee.’ It’s about the time we helped Cici build a new model of the solar system ’cause some mean kids at her school broke the first one.”

“And the best part is you can read it for free just like all our books! We’re gonna have a new chapter every week, so be sure to check back soon for more stories!”

LadyStar is the story of a group of girls who each have a powerful weapon they wear disguised as a priceless jeweled treasure. With their magical weapons, Jessica Hoshi and her friends can transform into the Ajan Warriors, champion defenders of the enchanted realm of Aventar!

“Hi! I’m Jessica Hoshi! If you like stories about action and adventure and discovering magical treasures and fighting evil monsters, you’ll like our books a lot! Me and my friends have lots of fun adventures together! You can read LadyStar: The Palace in the Sky for free! The whole book! Right in your browser! So tell all your friends and come visit us as much as you want! There’s always something fun happening on our site!”

“I’m Cici and I get to say what the Chapter of the Day is today because it was in the Venom Deeps and I helped lots because I’m the Warrior of the Rocks and I know all about stone and caves and metal!

We found a cave that had purple fire in it and there were these shadow monsters that we almost had to fight! I helped my friend Talitha ’cause my lantern makes a shield that nothing can get through! The Chapter of the Day today is Chapter Five of the Palace in the Sky and it’s called Cavern of Shadows!”

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

“Ladies!” Ranko Yorozu exclaimed as she walked through the park gate entrance to the Tree Shores Community Center plaza.

Jessica, Shannon, Cici, Alanna and Talitha were all sitting around one of the large parasol tables near the outdoor food court. The plaza that contained the food court and the outdoor tables was just one of several large open areas that surrounded the Lakeshore Art and Natural History Museums, which in turn was part of the larger Tree Shores Community Center. The Community Center was designed very much like an amusement park, with extraordinarily large open-air pavilions separating the major facilities which included the two museums, aquarium, the indoor sports complex and swimming pool, the auditorium and performing arts center, and the main branch of the city public library. All five of the major buildings were at least three stories in height, and constructed with a modern architectural style which inlcluded a large number of reflective glass surfaces.

The main buildings were all at least a hundred yards from the Shoreline Promenade, which extended the entire length of the complex grounds along the shore of the lake. The promenade was home to at least fifty different indoor and outdoor shops, vendors, small restaurants, fishing suppliers, cafes, souvenir stands and a miniature series of year-round carnival games which surrounded an open-air arboretum. It also included a dozen or more rental shops for every kind of recreation on the lake: day boats, scuba and snorkel gear, fishing charters and equipment, and so on.

The undisputed centerpiece of the Community Center, however, was an historical exhibit under the auspices of the Lakeshore Natural History Museum: a 150-foot, three-masted wooden sailing ship docked along the length of the wide raised platform which all the shops faced. The museum tour included a half-hour trip through the meticulously well-maintained vessel’s holds and decks.

Between the Promenade and the Center Complex was an enormous open grassy area dotted with shady trees perfect for picnics, kite-flying or impromptu games of catch. A line had already formed for the first museum tour of the day.

“Hiiiii Ranko-chan!” Jessica jumped up and waved. Unlike most of the other people that had begun to gather for the day’s recreation, all of the girls were dressed in clothes they might wear hiking: jeans, t-shirts, heavy walking shoes. Talitha was wearing her favorite brown overalls and green t-shirt, and Ranko was wearing an old bright yellow half-sleeve practice volleyball jersey instead of a t-shirt. Cici had a little baseball hat on and Alanna had her sunglasses on a bright orange cord around her neck.

“I see the Ajan Warriors are ready for action,” Ranko winked, pointing at Cici’s Timepiece on her wrist and Talitha’s Barette in her hair. “Ready for our glorious return to the Venom Deeps? Or would you rather all go on the museum tour?”

“Museum tour!” Jessica exclaimed, smiling and raising her hand.

“She was kidding, you goofball,” Shannon sighed, folding her arms. Jessica giggled.

“You can have four people on the day boats, right? Do they have bigger boats?” Alanna asked, putting her hand over her eyes and looking towards the shore line where the rental shop was.

“Just four, I think,” Jessica said. “I think it’s two on each side. It’s a good thing the island isn’t very far from the community center, ’cause those boats are really slow.”

“Let’s get in line before it gets too crowded,” Alanna said. “It’s still early and there’s going to be a lot more people here later.”

The girls walked over to the wide steps that led down to the grassy slope next to the shore. The steps were a short walk from the dock and rental shop complex where the day boats were available. Numerous people were milling around in the late morning sun. Some were watching the boats out on the water. Others were preparing an early lunch on the large grassy area. One group of boys were crowded around a large model aircraft. As the girls reached the rental shop, they saw that only a few people were in line for day boats, so they took their place in line.

“Look at the line already. The museum’s going to be crowded today,” Ranko said. “Must be a lot of out-of-town folks this weekend.”

“When is the first tour of the ship?” Alanna asked. The girls all looked over at the tall wooden ship docked between the rental shop and the community center dock. Talitha had always been fascinated by ships, and she once again tried to understand all the intricate patterns of ladders and sails and rope lines that shrouded the large wooden masts and deck of the ship. To someone unfamiliar with sailing ships it must all appear a hopeless tangle, she thought. She quietly took an inventory of all the various parts she knew the terminology for and could see from the level of the platform in front of the rental shop.

The highest mast always seemed so much taller than was practical, Talitha thought. She wondered if it must be difficult to balance all of those dozens of heavy sails on something so tall. It always looked to Talitha as if such a tall ship might topple over if the wind were too strong, although she knew from her studies such ships were built that way so they might catch as much of the wind at sea as they possibly could.

She glanced at the stern of the ship for a moment, since it was facing them. She could just see the upper mechanism of the rudder, and the shiny brass lanterns fixed along the trailing edge of the highest deck. She squinted and could just see the upper edge of the huge wheel that steered the ship, with the large round wooden handles all along its edge. The decorations around the windows were so vividly painted, she thought. The color of the metal was always so…

Suddenly, Talitha froze and her eyes widened in shock. She reached out and grabbed the sleeve of Jessica’s shirt and tugged on it several times.

“What is it, Talitha-chan?” Jessica asked. The other girls were distracted with the noise of the crowds and didn’t notice. Talitha didn’t say anything at first. She just pointed at the huge ship for a moment and then looked at Jessica. Her face was pale and her eyes were still wide.

“Huh?” Jessica replied. “What do you…” Jessica was interrupted by Talitha pushing her shoulder and turning her to face the ship. By now the other girls had noticed Talitha and Jessica talking. Jessica was facing the ship but didn’t notice anything unusual at first. After a moment, however, she saw it too.

There were four words written on the stern of the wooden ship docked at the community center. Jessica could tell the last three were “in the sky.” Her eyes widened.

“Palace in the Sky..” Jessica whispered, then looked at Talitha. The two girls just stared wide eyed at each other for a moment. “It’s not a place!” Jessica said slowly. “It’s a ship!”

“What?” Ranko asked. “What’s going on?”

“It’s a ship! It’s a ship! It’s a ship!” Jessica grabbed Talitha’s arms and started jumping up and down. Talitha’s face never changed expression, even as she was buffeted around by Jessica’s excitedness. Teko spread his wings in surprise, trying to keep his balance on Jessica’s shoulder.

“What’s a ship?” Shannon asked.

“Minna-san!” Jessica exclaimed, running out of line and down the platform alongside the other shops. “Looky! Look at the ship! Look at the ship!” The other girls followed, looking back and forth at each other. All of them were confused except for Talitha, whose face was still frozen in an expression of recognition, surprise and shock.

“What about the ship, Hoshi?” Shannon asked as she started running after Jessica, looking at the historical exhibit for a moment. “Hoshi! Wait!”

By now Jessica had run far ahead of the other girls. Teko allowed his wings to catch the wind and he floated off Jessica’s shoulder. He flew past her down the promenade, banking around slowly and circling the area where Jessica was running.

Jessica turned around, still jumping up and down and pointing at the ship, but neither Shannon nor the other girls could hear what she was saying. As the girls ran towards Jessica, Teko glided by them before banking back around and climbing in a graceful sweep towards Jessica again. By now they were close enough to hear Jessica shouting.

“That ship! It’s the Palace in the Sky!”

The girls just stopped and stared. Even as the shoppers and tourists passed by on the promenade laughing and talking, the six girls stood in the shadows of the ship’s masts and just stared at it.

“It can’t be,” Ranko said. “It can’t.”

“Why?” Shannon asked, turning around to look at the other girls. “Why would that guy in Cici’s lantern want us to find our own historical exhibit? It doesn’t make any sense!” Just then Jessica ran up with Teko.

“See? Talitha-chan was right!” Jessica exclaimed.

“But it doesn’t make sense!” Shannon said. “What does this ship have to do with anything? It’s just a historical tour. It doesn’t have anything to do with those caves or the treasures. It’s just an old ship!”

“But those words are written in Isian,” Alanna said. Talitha nodded. Shannon stopped and looked again.

“But it still doesn’t make any sense!” Shannon insisted. “Maybe it’s another trick! Maybe that Sorcerer did it!” Shannon pointed at the ship for emphasis. The girls all paused for a moment.

“That’s a good point,” Ranko said, holding her hand over her eyes to shield them from the glare as she looked up at the ship again. “Still, we’ve got to at least check it out.”

“What do we do?” Jessica asked.

“We’re taking the next tour,” Alanna replied as she started walking towards the ticket window.

An hour later, the girls were standing together with two dozen other people in a roped-off line on the promenade next to the great wooden starboard hull of the ship. The lake was very calm, but the vessel still creaked and groaned every few moments as it very slowly rolled back and forth in the water. Cici was fascinated at how something so huge could move at all. She noticed her timepiece was glowing. She tapped Alanna’s shoulder excitedly.

“Alanna! Look!” Cici whispered loudly. Alanna looked and saw Cici pointing at her timepiece. All of the tiny gemstones in its face were glowing.

“Enchanted?” Alanna asked. Cici nodded. Alanna tapped all of the girls on their shoulders.

“Conference,” she whispered. All of the girls gathered around Alanna with serious expressions.

“Cici says there’s something enchanted around here,” Alanna said. “That means we’ve got to be ready for anything. Keep your eyes open and Hayashi and Cici be ready to transform. We might have to fight.”

The girls all nodded: Shannon and Ranko with especially determined expressions.

“Got it, boss,” Ranko said as the girls all took their regular places in line again. A tour guide walked a few steps down the boarding gangway and announced over the microphone that the tour would start in five minutes.

“This is so weird,” Alanna said. “I went on a tour of this ship when I was in seventh grade.”

“Here we go again,” Shannon said.

“Here we go again what?” Ranko asked.

“Well, we found the Palace in the Sky, and now we’ve got a hundred more questions!” Shannon said, gesturing to either side with her hands.

A few minutes later, the tour began on the main deck. The tour guide wore a sharp dark blue blazer and skirt with a white bow tie and blouse. She began with a detailed explanation of the riggings and masts and how sails were set and gathered by use of the intricate system of ropes that seemed to surround the entire ship.

Talitha was enthralled with the tour from the moment the guide began to talk, and managed to find her way to the front at each stop around the main deck. Her first question involved the bowsprit and foremast differences between fore-and-aft rigged and square-rigged ships. The tour guide was astounded at the complexity of Talitha’s question, and did her best to answer while the other girls tried to keep from laughing. Talitha was visibly unsatisfied with the guide’s answer, but the tour continued nonetheless.

“This is the quarterdeck,” the tour guide announced as the group climbed the wooden stairs to an upper-level deck towards the stern of the ship. “This large wheel you see here is the helm, which is used to steer the ship using the wooden rudder attached to the back of the hull.” The tour group all gathered around the wheel as the guide explained how the helm actually operated the rudder.

“Alanna!” Cici whispered. “Here! This is where it’s enchanted!” Alanna nodded slightly and put her hand on Cici’s shoulder as if to say “wait.”

“Unfortunately, the helm is the only part of this old ship that we haven’t been able to restore. It is quite stuck and we haven’t been able to move it at all,” the guide said as Jessica noticed Cici’s timepiece. Sure enough, the yellow jewel on the watch face was glowing steadily.

“The wheel?” Ranko said very quietly as the tour group followed the guide back down the steps. Alanna nodded.

“Has to be,” she said. “We’re coming back here tonight to make sure.”

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

One by one the girls took seats at the outdoor table on Talitha’s patio, continuing to discuss planets and stars while Ranko continued to work with Talitha’s telescope. Slowly the conversation waned, replaced with quiet stargazing.

As Ranko walked back over to the table, she looked over at Cici, who was sitting on one of the patio chairs, leaning over to one side with her head on her arms, fast asleep. She tapped Talitha on the shoulder and she looked up.

“Hey, Professor. I just wanted to say thanks for all this. Little bit really needed the encouragement after what happened this morning. You really made her day, you know?” Talitha smiled and nodded.

“I’m glad,” Talitha said.

Shannon looked over and noticed the moon was just starting to become visible over Talitha’s backyard fence.

“Everything feels different now,” Shannon said.

“It’s not just that everything feels different,” Alanna said. “It is different.”

“I felt alone when I couldn’t see the moon.” Shannon said. Jessica and the other girls watched as she stood up and walked towards the fence a few steps.

“Last night my mom was really worried. I did my homework and then the next thing I knew my mom was shaking me and trying to get my attention. She said I had been standing in the front yard staring at the moon for like half an hour or something.”

“It isn’t those nightmares again, I hope,” Alanna said. “If that starts up again I’m going to go crazy.”

“Nope, those stopped right after we got back from that island,” Jessica announced. “I haven’t had one bad dream since.”

“I did notice something about that scroll we found that was peculiar,” Talitha said, straightening her glasses. “It mentions something about a ’shadow stone’ but it doesn’t explain exactly what that might be.”

“‘Shadow Stone’ doesn’t sound too good to me,” Shannon muttered.

“I want to know why she can read it now. None of us could read the book or the scroll, and now the Professor can. Why?” Ranko asked.

“That’s a good question,” Shannon said. “Maybe it has something to do with us going to the Venom Deeps?”

“But we didn’t take the book with us.” Alanna shook her head.

“Maybe it’s Cici-chan’s lantern?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah, but we had the lantern when we first tried to read the book and we couldn’t then,” Ranko said, noticing Talitha examining her barette.

“What is it?!” Shannon growled, looking straight up and clenching her fists. “This is driving me nuts! Every time we figure something out we end up with five more questions!” Shannon gestured with both hands, exasperated.

“Maybe the words in the book are different,” Alanna said. “Did you notice that, Hayashi? Are they different words?” Talitha didn’t answer.

Ranko gestured to Shannon and pointed at Talitha’s barette. Shannon looked where Ranko was pointing. She saw Talitha examining her barette quietly.

Then her face brightened in an expression of recognition.

“It’s Hayashi’s Barette…” she whispered. The girls all watched Talitha as she turned the emerald treasure over and over in her hands.

“Has to be,” Ranko said quietly. Shannon and Jessica both nodded. Talitha spoke very quietly without looking up.

“It’s the only thing that’s different from the first time we tried to read the Tome of Chronicles,” she said.

“Ooh, I wish we really knew how all this stuff is supposed to work,” Shannon said. “Hoshi doesn’t need the treasure to read that language. How come Hayashi does?”

“Wait here a minute,” Talitha said, then hurried back into the house. Ranko leaned back in her chair and grinned.

“I think she loves this stuff,” Ranko said. “If you could put her in a room full of books about everything anyone knows about science and history and math and space and keep sending her food I don’t think she’d ever leave.” Shannon and Jessica both smiled.

“I’ve never met anyone like her,” Alanna said. “She’s the most serious student I’ve ever seen at Tree Shores. Most of the other kids don’t even care if they learn anything. But I don’t think that girl would last one day without something new to learn.”

After a few moments, Talitha opened the glass door and walked back out on the patio, turning the light on. As she passed the doorway, she turned and closed the glass door again. She was carrying a thick sheaf of notebook paper in one arm. She hurried back over to the table and set the papers on it, then sat down and started sorting through them: at least 50 pieces of paper in all.

“I’ve been making some notes…” Talitha said as she continued looking through the papers.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Ranko said, putting her hand on her own forehead. Jessica giggled. Talitha found the page she was looking for.

“Here. I’ve been keeping a list of all the places we’ve found names for so far,” Talitha said. “And I compared this list with the map in the Tome of Chronicles. According to the map, Isia, Rotensha, Gacenar and Varcarel are all the names of provinces in a larger realm called Aventar. Aventar was ruled by a King named Nolem when the map in the Tome of Chronicles was drawn.”

“What about the rest of the book?” Alanna asked. “Can you read it too now that you can understand that language?”

“I’ve compared the writing in a number of different parts of the book, and I’m almost sure by now that the Tome of Chronicles is written in at least four languages, but I haven’t found any other parts written in Isian except the map,” Talitha said.

“So all we know for sure is what’s in the map and what’s in the scrolls we found,” Alanna said. Talitha nodded.

“And none of it mentions the Palace in the Sky?” Shannon asked. Talitha shook her head. Shannon slumped in her chair.

“We could go back to the Venom Deeps,” Ranko said. “Maybe if we keep looking around there we’ll find something. Maybe another clue.”

“I guess,” Shannon said. “This is double-impossible,” Shannon said. “We don’t even know what the Palace in the Sky is supposed to be and the only map we can read doesn’t even say where it is.”

“Let’s give it a try at least,” Ranko said. “This weekend we’ll go to the community center and get us one of those day boats and go back to Van Horn Island and see if the portal is still there.”

Shannon nodded.

“But first we gotta get our new solar system project to class for little bit,” Ranko said.

“You were really mad this morning, huh, Yorozu?” Shannon asked. Ranko sighed.

“I can’t handle it when strong people use their strength to hurt weaker people,” Ranko replied. “I’ve hated it ever since my first volleyball league and I still hate it.”

“What happened in your volleyball league, Ranko-chan?” Jessica asked. Ranko took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, looking down as she started to tell the story.

“It was the first year Lock and I got the same team. There was this one group of all-star type players. Nobody knows for sure how they all got the same team because they joined the league late,” Ranko said. “Anyway, they were in a game before us and they were playing this one team that had two players out on vacation or something, and the players that were there were kinda new and didn’t know much yet. They didn’t have any substitutes either.” Jessica nodded while the other girls listened.

“Anyway these all-stars were up 4-0 and kept setting to the strikers. They just kept blasting one kill after another, even though they knew the other side had no chance and couldn’t return. They didn’t even get a side out the whole game. Finally it was 12-0 and everyone who wasn’t rooting for the all-stars was yelling at them to stop running it up.” Ranko paused for a moment and looked down. Jessica’s face changed to a look of concern. She could tell it was painful for Ranko to tell this story.

“Then there was this really new girl near the net and one of their strikers just blasted this spike right at her. The ball hit her in the face and broke her glasses. They had to stop the game to take her to the hospital because her mouth was bleeding.”

“Oh, my goodness…” Talitha said. The other girls expressions were all mixtures of surprise and shock.

“And that’s when I lost it, man. I ran out on the floor and shoved that striker for the all-star team, and we almost got into a fight right there on the court.” Ranko looked up and raised her voice slightly. “Because she didn’t have any right, you know?!” Ranko’s expression and voice were both insistent and tense. Shannon nodded. Ranko looked back down at the table and fiddled with a small leaf.

“It just wasn’t right. All the refs and people were standing between us and Lock was trying to pull me away.” Ranko looked up again sharply. “But I told her you try that in our game and I’ll send it right BACK!” Ranko hit the table with one fist and stood up, turned around and walked a couple of steps. All the girls watched her with concerned looks.

“Ranko-chan…” Jessica said very quietly. She could feel Ranko’s anguish. All of the girls could. Ranko stood facing the opposite fence for a number of moments without saying anything. Finally she turned around and came back to the table and sat down again. She paused a few moments. Then Ranko sighed heavily before continuing.

“She did it on purpose. I knew it right after it happened and I still believe that,” Ranko said in a dejected tone. “They knew they were stronger and more experienced players. They didn’t have to hurt that other player on purpose to prove it,” Ranko said, then sighed. “And then they forfeited the new team because after that girl got hurt they didn’t have enough players.”

“That’s so unfair!” Shannon said suddenly. Jessica could tell Shannon was almost as upset as Ranko.

“No kidding,” Ranko said, nodding. “My mom was there and she was on the warpath after they forfeited that game. She was like all the way into the face of this guy at the scorer’s table and all he kept saying was ‘it’s the rules, it’s the rules.’ Everyone in the stands was booing as loud as they could. It was way intense.”

“That’s a sad story, Ranko-chan,” Jessica said in a sympathetic tone.

“Every time I see a bunch of kids picking on someone I think of that girl that got hurt. When you’re stronger you should help people, not make fun of them and pick on them because they haven’t learned as much yet, or because they don’t have any friends at school like that one kid said about Cici. Little bit just needs a chance, you know?” Ranko said, glancing over at Cici, who was still asleep. The other girls all nodded in agreement.

“We went to see that girl and her team at their practice. She was okay, and she said she wasn’t hurt bad and she still wanted to play. It was her first sport, too. Lock and me practiced with them some and helped them learn some stuff. They worked really hard too. They were trying to learn. They just needed a chance.”

“What happened to that all-star team?” Shannon asked. Ranko shrugged.

“I don’t know. They probably all ran off and had a party because they beat up on a weaker team,” Ranko looked back down and flicked a leaf off the table with her fingers. “It just isn’t right, man.”

“I think it’s really nice of you that you went to their practice and helped them learn more, Ranko-chan. You and Tara-san both should be really happy about that,” Jessica said.

“Thanks, Goofy Bird,” Ranko said, glancing up with just her eyes at Jessica. Ranko grinned and looked back down.

Jessica was glad that Ranko felt better.

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Several hours later, Jessica, Shannon, Ranko, Alanna, Talitha and Cici gathered once again at the end of the promenade. It was dark except for the exterior lights of the community center and the walkway lanterns along the promenade. All of the girls were wearing coats since by now the autumn air was quite chilly especially right next to the water. Alanna was wearing her green and gold band scarf as well.

“It’s so quiet here when everything is closed,” Jessica said, scratching the top of Teko’s head.

“Good thing they don’t pull that little bridge at night. Otherwise we’d have to bring a ladder,” Ranko smiled.

“I think there’s just a little rope at the top and a sign,” Alanna said.

“We can just climb over it then,” Shannon said. “Hope they don’t mind our unscheduled repeat tour of the ship.”

“Our unscheduled repeat tour of the enchanted ship that might be from another world called Aventar, you mean,” Alanna said. Shannon smiled. “Let’s go,” Alanna put her hands in her pockets and began to walk down the promenade. The other girls followed. Jessica tried to look nonchalant, but being the only people on the entire promenade made it a little difficult to look ordinary.

“Little bit,” Ranko said as they walked. “Better transmute your Lantern. We’re going to need the light when we get up there. There’s no light on the ship after they close the tour.” Cici nodded and a moment later the sharp colorful light of the Chronicler’s Lantern appeared across the wooden platform of the promenade. A few moments later, the girls reached the base of the boarding plank next to the small ticket booth. The sign above the window read “Historical Tall Ship Tour” with “Lakeshore Historical Society” written beneath it.

“Okay, this is just like the Venom deeps guys,” Alanna said. “We’ve got no idea what’s in here or if it is dangerous or not.” The other girls all nodded. Talitha took her Emerald Barette out of her hair and Cici tightened her grip on the Chronicler’s Lantern slightly.

Jessica suddenly felt nervous as the girls slowly began to climb the walkway towards the deck. She looked up towards the tops of the huge masts of the sailing ship. The sails were all gathered, and in the dark the ropes and rigging of the ship slightly resembled a huge spiderweb.

“It looks even taller in the dark,” Shannon said, looking up at the center mast of the ship. “It’s kind of spooky around here when all the people are gone.”

“Yeah,” Jessica half-whispered, looking towards the majestic bow of the vessel. The light from the nearby museum complex was just bright enough to see the sides of the ship were painted in a bright shade of maroon with gold trim around the decorations and the edges of the ports. Jessica looked down at the water. She could see the reflections of light from the water swirling around the lower half of the ship’s hull. Teko even peered over the edge of the walkway to see what Jessica was looking at. It’s so quiet, Jessica thought.

“I don’t see much up here,” Ranko said, looking over the edge of the deck. “Well except for all these poles and ropes and metal hooks and whatever all this stuff is. It must take like ten people to get this thing to sail anywhere.”

“Dozens,” Talitha replied very quietly. “A ship like this could have nearly a hundred crewmembers.” Ranko whistled in a low tone and looked up at the ropes and masts.

The girls all climbed over the rope gate at the top of the plank and stepped on to the main deck of the ship. It was completely dark except for the light of Cici’s Lantern.

“Whoa,” Ranko said, noticing the ship’s deck roll very slightly to one side. “Ground is a little unsteady.” Ranko put her hands out to either side pretending to try and keep her balance.

“Which way again?” Alanna asked.

“The quarterdeck is this way,” Talitha pointed and started walking quickly along the edge of the wooden deck towards the stern of the ship. “There’s the helm.” Talitha pointed at the large wooden wheel that was just visible in the dark.

“And that’s what was enchanted?” Shannon asked. Cici nodded.

“See? It’s glowing again,” Cici said. The Chronicler’s Lantern was cycling between it’s normal light color and a yellowish glow as the girls all gathered around the helm.

“So what do we do now?” Ranko asked, taking the wheel in her hands. It didn’t budge even a tiny bit. “Wow,” Ranko said, pulling against the wheel to one side, then the other. “This thing is like cement!”

Talitha straightened her glasses. “That’s very unusual,” she said.

“Maybe the enchantment is what’s stopping it from moving,” Shannon pointed out. “Do we have any way of unenchanting something?” The other girls all shook their heads.

“Suppose there’s any plants around to help us?” Ranko asked, half-joking.

“Only the plants at the arboretum,” Talitha replied. “And they are all very young. They have never known a day without this ship here.”

“I was kidding there, Professor,” Ranko grinned. “Wow, you really are dialed in to the plants and trees network!”

“That might be useful information, though,” Alanna said.

While the girls stood thinking of what to do next, Jessica absently reached out and put her hand on one of the wooden handles of the wheel. There was a sudden, silent flash of light. Teko flapped his wings once in surprise as the wheel creaked and turned ever so slightly in Jessica’s direction.

“It moved!” Ranko said. “Goofy Bird moved it!” Jessica and Teko both looked up at Ranko with expressions of surprise. Jessica looked back at the wheel, as if astonished at her own strength.

“How did I do that?” Jessica asked, putting her hand under the handle and moving it back in the other direction. The heavy wheel turned slightly back to where it was.

“It’s just like the lock on the trunk!” Shannon said. “Hoshi just touches it and it works!”

“A zap wheel?” Ranko asked. The girls all stood and looked at the wheel for a moment before anyone spoke.

“This ship must be from the same place as the trunk and the Tome of Chronicles,” Talitha said. “This can’t be coincidence.”

“This really is the Palace in the Sky,” Alanna said.

“We did it!” Shannon said, putting her hands out to the sides. “We found it!”

“Yeah!” Ranko said, smiling.

Jessica put both her hands on the wheel, one on each side, to see if she could turn it any further. The instant her other hand touched the wheel, the entire wheel began to brighten. First it was a pale gray color, but as it became brighter, the light began to shift to various shades of gold and white.

“Whoa!” Ranko said as the light from the helm bathed the entire quarterdeck of the Palace in the Sky in a warm orange glow. Tiny flames flickered to life in the lanterns all around the railings of the ship, from stern to bow, and the entire deck of the huge ship began to brighten. Ranko turned and ran to the back of the ship and looked over the railing and out into the water. She could see the reflection of light from inside the great cabin streaming through the framework of the aft windows and cast across the rippling water. She could even see the ship’s nameplate and the words she now knew read ‘Palace in the Sky’ reflected in the water too.

“It’s lighting up from inside too!” Ranko said, turning around and pointing back over the edge of the railing. “The whole ship is lit up!”

“What did she do?” Shannon exclaimed, looking around. “What’s happening?!”

Snowy white sails began to fall from the sky one by one making a great clattering racket. Each one momentarily fluttered before catching the breeze with a deep rustling sound followed by a hollow thump. Each had an enormous painting of a crimson shield with a gold sword device at its center. The huge main sail unrolled almost to the deck of the ship before falling into place against the huge beams across the mainmast. It also caught the wind and the deck of the ship lurched forward, causing all the girls to stumble, except for Jessica, who was still holding the helm.

“Find something to hold on to!” Alanna said. “Quick!” Cici and Shannon both ran to the opposite side of the quarterdeck and steadied themselves on the railing. Alanna walked back a few steps and braced herself against the back railing near where Ranko was standing.

“We’re making sail,” Talitha said, staring up at the topsails some 50 feet above where she was standing. “This is wonderful,” she whispered.

The ship lurched forward again and Ranko looked down at the promenade. She blinked, confused. The promenade was moving! Then she realized what was happening. It wasn’t the promenade that was moving. It was the ship!

“We’re moving! We’re moving!” Ranko shouted. The other girls all looked at her in total shock. Talitha looked up at the sails, confused. They were all full, but there was no wind.

“Jessie! You made the boat go!” Cici shouted.

“Hoshi! Let go of that wheel! We have to stop!” Shannon shouted.

“No!” Ranko said. “Whatever you do, make sure you steer this thing! Another few yards and we’re going to hit the arboretum! Go left! Left!” Talitha looked over at Ranko from where she was holding on to the railing.

“Port,” she said.

“Port!” Ranko shouted, pointing. “What the Professor said! Port! Left! Over there! That way!”

“Where is the wind coming from?” Alanna shouted.

“But I don’t know how to drive yet!” Jessica shouted as she began to pull and tug at the wheel, slowly turning it to her left. The ship was beginning to pick up speed, and all the girls looked towards the bow. It seemed so far away. They could see the exterior lights of the arboretum ahead. Then they heard a crashing sound! Shannon shrieked.

“Oh no! We hit it! We hit the arboretum!” Shannon shouted.

“Nope,” Ranko said, looking down at the promenade platform. “But we just made a mess of that walkway!” Then Ranko glanced back towards the bow. The lights of the arboretum’s main building were starting to move to their right, meaning the ship was turning ever so slowly to the left.

“This thing is too big and slow!” Ranko said. “We’ll never turn in time!”

“The faster we go, the faster we’ll turn,” Talitha pointed out.

“Then go faster!” Ranko shouted.

“How do I go faster?” Jessica shouted back. “I don’t know how to go faster!”

Ranko was busy watching the lights ahead. Talitha was right. The ship was gliding a little faster now, and the lights of the building seemed to be moving to the right of the ship’s bow a little faster too. Just then, the ship rolled a little to one side.

“Whoa!” Ranko said, grabbing the railing again. “Hold on!” The bow lifted a little and then settled back into the water, and all the girls could hear the water of the lake splash as the mighty bow of the Palace in the Sky guided out to open water.

“We’re actually sailing!” Alanna shouted. “Where are we going?”

“It’s turning by itself!” Jessica said. “It’s turning again!” The helm leaned to port once more and the bow of the majestic ship turned gracefully towards the open water of the lake. The girls began to feel the breeze against their faces drifting in the opposite direction. They were moving much faster now.

“I don’t believe this,” Ranko said. “We just stole our historical exhibit!”

“We did not!” Cici shouted.

“It’s enchanted!” Jessica exclaimed.

“Yeah, I’m sure the museum people will love that story!” Ranko said sarcastically, pretending to imitate someone. “Oh it’s no problem! It’s a magical ship! We just turned on the lights and it sailed away!”

“It stole itself!” Shannon shouted. “How were we supposed to know Hoshi could make the wheel light up like that?”

“Hey, does anyone know where we’re going?” Alanna shouted.

“I can’t see anything Alanna-sama!” Jessica said, now holding on to the wheel more for balance than to steer. The deck rolled slowly from one side to the other as the unexplainable invisible wind buffeted the emblazoned sails of the great ship.

“There!” Ranko said, pointing ahead. “Look!”

It was inky dark in every direction around the ship except for the now distant lights of the community center and the stars above them. But there was something ahead. In the distance, a large circular wall of pale white swirling light was visible. It was getting larger as the ship sailed towards it.

“No way! It’s the portal!” Shannon shouted. “I’m sure of it!”

“It can’t be!” Jessica shouted. “We can’t have sailed all the way to the island yet! We haven’t gone far enough!”

“You mean that island?” Ranko said, pointing to their right. Sure enough, the dark shapes of the trees of Van Horn Island were visible a few hundred feet away, obscuring the stars that were lowest in the sky. Jessica just stared.

“Sugoi! This ship is so fast!” she said. “My dad’s fishing boat takes an hour to get all the way out here!”

“Your dad’s fishing boat doesn’t have 500 sails, Goofy Bird,” Ranko smiled. “Looks like we’re going back to the Venom Deeps folks! Hold on!”

All six of the girls held fast to the railings and helm of the Palace in the Sky as it glided gracefully towards the portal. As the bow passed into the wall of energy, it vanished from view, and the portal began to work its way towards the back of the ship. Bright flashes of light sparkled around each part of the ship as it passed the swirling barrier. Finally the portal reached Jessica and her friends…

…and they reappeared aboard the ship. It was a bright sunny day, and the first of several large breakers crashed into the side of the ship’s hull.

“Wait!” Ranko shouted. “This isn’t the Venom Deeps! Where are we?!” The girls all looked around. It seemed they were out to sea, except there was a very large beach ahead of them. It wasn’t far away.

Shannon and Alanna both yelped as a blast of chilly sea water crashed into the side of the ship and sprayed white into the air then rained down lightly on the deck.

“We’re going to get drenched!” Shannon shouted, holding one hand over her head.

Jessica was holding on to the wheel of the Palace in the Sky with all her might, and Teko was holding on to her shoulder with all of his might. Jessica was worried. She had no idea where she was going. She looked out over the deck and bow of the ship. The ocean was a beautiful shade of sapphire blue, with swirls of white where the rolling waves broke one after the other. The ship’s deck rolled and pitched gently as its hull cut through the waves towards the shore in the distance.

“We’re headed for that beach I think,” Alanna said. The ship leaned to port as one particularly large wave shoved against it’s heavy wooden hull. The girls looked ahead and saw a gentle shaded beach only a few hundred yards away. A group of people were gathered along the shore, watching the huge ship as it approached them.

“Oh my goodness,” Talitha exclaimed. “Jessica,” she said, trying to get Jessica’s attention. “Jessica! You must spill the wind from the sails. If we don’t stop we’ll beach the ship. We could really damage it and it might sink.”

“But how do we stop?” Jessica asked.

“Just let go of the wheel,” Shannon said. “Try that!”

Jessica let go of the helm of the ship, and the wind nearly instantly disappeared from the huge sails one by one. Gradually, the ship slowed in the water, until its forward momentum stopped altogether. Then another great clattering sound made the decks of the ship rattle and tremble.

“What on Earth was that?” Shannon shouted.

“The anchor,” Talitha said quietly. “We’re stopped.”

“Professor’s right,” Ranko said, looking back down at the water. “I don’t think we’re moving any more.” The sails of the ship were all virtually motionless, hanging from their masts with only the occasional weak flutter from a gust of wind.

“Hello!” a voice shouted from somewhere to their right. The girls all stared at each other in surprise. Who could it be?

“Hello!” the voice called again.

Very slowly, the girls all walked over to the starboard railing and peered down. There, rolling in the swells some 35 feet below was a small launch containing three men. One was standing as the other two each manned a single oar.

“Careful,” Alanna said. “We don’t know any of these people. Be ready for anything.” The other girls nodded slightly.

“What is your business here?” the man shouted. All of the girls hesitated.

“We’re uhhh..” Shannon started. “We’re travelers from a distant land!”

“Explorers?” the man asked, putting his hand up to his forehead to shield his eyes.

“Yeah!” Jessica said. “We’re looking for uhh… we’re looking for stuff!”

“Then great fortune be yours, maiden travelers from a distant land! Welcome to the shores of Gacenar!” the man shouted, gesturing grandly with his hand. “Are you to make landfall?”

Jessica and Shannon looked at each other.

“He means do we want to go to the beach,” Talitha said.

“Yeah!” Jessica shouted. “But we’re not really sure where to go!”

“There is a small fishing village along this shore north a half-day’s ride,” the man shouted. “There you may find provisions and guides for your travels. What are you called?” the man asked.

“I’m Jessica Hoshi, but you can call me Jessie!”

The man smiled. “Then from this time, we shall call this fair shore by the name of its explorers. From this time, let this place be known as Jessica’s Hope!”

Leila Hakumei awoke from a dreamless sleep. She sat up and looked around. To her right was a familiar massive columned structure with a wide semi-circular staircase leading up to its main stone platform at least fifty feet above the ground.

Same as before, Leila thought; always the same. She stood up and the wind caught her heavy dark cloak. It fluttered around her heavy boots and tunic. She reached up to her shoulders and found the familiar cool grips: hilts of sleek twin swords sheathed across her back. She breathed a slight sigh of relief. It was strangely comforting to have weapons, even though she did not wish to fight.

Leila looked around apprehensively, expecting at any moment to be confronted with any number of potential opponents. She listened carefully, standing there in the deserted grounds of the huge structure that Leila supposed might be a monument of some kind. She heard little except the impatient groan of a weak breeze. The sky was a pale shade of blue and a thick slow mist obscured the ground.

A sound tore through the sky and Leila looked up. It was a war cry: the cry of the falcon that had followed her through every dream, though she had only seen it from a distance. Leila frowned, then closed her eyes and sighed heavily. At least it was one of the three sounds she expected.

“The falcon’s call is a voice of hope in a world of despair, and it is that voice which you must follow, whither the destinies of the Ajan Treasures.”

Leila looked over her shoulder and saw a shrouded figure standing nearly fifty feet away. She could not see his face, only that he was wearing robes and a cowl in dark colors similar to her own outfit.

“On this, all depends.”

“So it begins?” Leila asked as she turned to face the man. “Yet again? What is the purpose of this repetition?”

“Here stands the first sign of hope. The falcon is simply your harbinger. There is much preparation at hand.”

“I do not understand,” Leila said as another gust caught her cloak and she pulled her lavender hair from her eyes gently.

“Conflict such as this world has never known approaches, and many shall be called to deeds of great valor, but their path is not your path. Their battles are not your battles. Whatever the fortunes of the Ajan Warriors, you must be victorious…”

The man turned and began to walk away, pausing for only a moment.

“…even if your only choice is to destroy them.”

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

The girls all nodded: Shannon and Ranko with especially determined expressions.

“Got it, boss,” Ranko said as the girls all took their regular places in line again. A tour guide walked a few steps down the boarding gangway and announced over the microphone that the tour would start in five minutes.

“This is so weird,” Alanna said. “I went on a tour of this ship when I was in seventh grade.”

“Here we go again,” Shannon said.

“Here we go again what?” Ranko asked.

“Well, we found the Palace in the Sky, and now we’ve got a hundred more questions!” Shannon said, gesturing to either side with her hands.

A few minutes later, the tour began on the main deck. The tour guide wore a sharp dark blue blazer and skirt with a white bow tie and blouse. She began with a detailed explanation of the riggings and masts and how sails were set and gathered by use of the intricate system of ropes that seemed to surround the entire ship.

Talitha was enthralled with the tour from the moment the guide began to talk, and managed to find her way to the front at each stop around the main deck. Her first question involved the bowsprit and foremast differences between fore-and-aft rigged and square-rigged ships. The tour guide was astounded at the complexity of Talitha’s question, and did her best to answer while the other girls tried to keep from laughing. Talitha was visibly unsatisfied with the guide’s answer, but the tour continued nonetheless.

“This is the quarterdeck,” the tour guide announced as the group climbed the wooden stairs to an upper-level deck towards the stern of the ship. “This large wheel you see here is the helm, which is used to steer the ship using the wooden rudder attached to the back of the hull.” The tour group all gathered around the wheel as the guide explained how the helm actually operated the rudder.

“Alanna!” Cici whispered. “Here! This is where it’s enchanted!” Alanna nodded slightly and put her hand on Cici’s shoulder as if to say “wait.”

“Unfortunately, the helm is the only part of this old ship that we haven’t been able to restore. It is quite stuck and we haven’t been able to move it at all,” the guide said as Jessica noticed Cici’s timepiece. Sure enough, the yellow jewel on the watch face was glowing steadily.

“The wheel?” Ranko said very quietly as the tour group followed the guide back down the steps. Alanna nodded.

“Has to be,” she said. “We’re coming back here tonight to make sure.”

To be continued in the eighteenth and concluding chapter of The Palace in the Sky…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

The girls just stopped and stared. Even as the shoppers and tourists passed by on the promenade laughing and talking, the six girls stood in the shadows of the ship’s masts and just stared at it.

“It can’t be,” Ranko said. “It can’t.”

“Why?” Shannon asked, turning around to look at the other girls. “Why would that guy in Cici’s lantern want us to find our own historical exhibit? It doesn’t make any sense!” Just then Jessica ran up with Teko.

“See? Talitha-chan was right!” Jessica exclaimed.

“But it doesn’t make sense!” Shannon said. “What does this ship have to do with anything? It’s just a historical tour. It doesn’t have anything to do with those caves or the treasures. It’s just an old ship!”

“But those words are written in Isian,” Alanna said. Talitha nodded. Shannon stopped and looked again.

“But it still doesn’t make any sense!” Shannon insisted. “Maybe it’s another trick! Maybe that Sorcerer did it!” Shannon pointed at the ship for emphasis. The girls all paused for a moment.

“That’s a good point,” Ranko said, holding her hand over her eyes to shield them from the glare as she looked up at the ship again. “Still, we’ve got to at least check it out.”

“What do we do?” Jessica asked.

“We’re taking the next tour,” Alanna replied as she started walking towards the ticket window.

An hour later, the girls were standing together with two dozen other people in a roped-off line on the promenade next to the great wooden starboard hull of the ship. The lake was very calm, but the vessel still creaked and groaned every few moments as it very slowly rolled back and forth in the water. Cici was fascinated at how something so huge could move at all. She noticed her timepiece was glowing. She tapped Alanna’s shoulder excitedly.

“Alanna! Look!” Cici whispered loudly. Alanna looked and saw Cici pointing at her timepiece. All of the tiny gemstones in its face were glowing.

“Enchanted?” Alanna asked. Cici nodded. Alanna tapped all of the girls on their shoulders.

“Conference,” she whispered. All of the girls gathered around Alanna with serious expressions.

“Cici says there’s something enchanted around here,” Alanna said. “That means we’ve got to be ready for anything. Keep your eyes open and Hayashi and Cici be ready to transform. We might have to fight.”

To be continued…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

The girls walked over to the wide steps that led down to the grassy slope next to the shore. The steps were a short walk from the dock and rental shop complex where the day boats were available. Numerous people were milling around in the late morning sun. Some were watching the boats out on the water. Others were preparing an early lunch on the large grassy area. One group of boys were crowded around a large model aircraft. As the girls reached the rental shop, they saw that only a few people were in line for day boats, so they took their place in line.

“Look at the line already. The museum’s going to be crowded today,” Ranko said. “Must be a lot of out-of-town folks this weekend.”

“When is the first tour of the ship?” Alanna asked. The girls all looked over at the tall wooden ship docked between the rental shop and the community center dock. Talitha had always been fascinated by ships, and she once again tried to understand all the intricate patterns of ladders and sails and rope lines that shrouded the large wooden masts and deck of the ship. To someone unfamiliar with sailing ships it must all appear a hopeless tangle, she thought. She quietly took an inventory of all the various parts she knew the terminology for and could see from the level of the platform in front of the rental shop.

The highest mast always seemed so much taller than was practical, Talitha thought. She wondered if it must be difficult to balance all of those dozens of heavy sails on something so tall. It always looked to Talitha as if such a tall ship might topple over if the wind were too strong, although she knew from her studies such ships were built that way so they might catch as much of the wind at sea as they possibly could.

She glanced at the stern of the ship for a moment, since it was facing them. She could just see the upper mechanism of the rudder, and the shiny brass lanterns fixed along the trailing edge of the highest deck. She squinted and could just see the upper edge of the huge wheel that steered the ship, with the large round wooden handles all along its edge. The decorations around the windows were so vividly painted, she thought. The color of the metal was always so…

Suddenly, Talitha froze and her eyes widened in shock. She reached out and grabbed the sleeve of Jessica’s shirt and tugged on it several times.

“What is it, Talitha-chan?” Jessica asked. The other girls were distracted with the noise of the crowds and didn’t notice. Talitha didn’t say anything at first. She just pointed at the huge ship for a moment and then looked at Jessica. Her face was pale and her eyes were still wide.

“Huh?” Jessica replied. “What do you…” Jessica was interrupted by Talitha pushing her shoulder and turning her to face the ship. By now the other girls had noticed Talitha and Jessica talking. Jessica was facing the ship but didn’t notice anything unusual at first. After a moment, however, she saw it too.

There were four words written on the stern of the wooden ship docked at the community center. Jessica could tell the last three were “in the sky.” Her eyes widened.

“Palace in the Sky..” Jessica whispered, then looked at Talitha. The two girls just stared wide eyed at each other for a moment. “It’s not a place!” Jessica said slowly. “It’s a ship!”

“What?” Ranko asked. “What’s going on?”

“It’s a ship! It’s a ship! It’s a ship!” Jessica grabbed Talitha’s arms and started jumping up and down. Talitha’s face never changed expression, even as she was buffeted around by Jessica’s excitedness. Teko spread his wings in surprise, trying to keep his balance on Jessica’s shoulder.

“What’s a ship?” Shannon asked.

“Minna-san!” Jessica exclaimed, running out of line and down the platform alongside the other shops. “Looky! Look at the ship! Look at the ship!” The other girls followed, looking back and forth at each other. All of them were confused except for Talitha, whose face was still frozen in an expression of recognition, surprise and shock.

“What about the ship, Hoshi?” Shannon asked as she started running after Jessica, looking at the historical exhibit for a moment. “Hoshi! Wait!”

By now Jessica had run far ahead of the other girls. Teko allowed his wings to catch the wind and he floated off Jessica’s shoulder. He flew past her down the promenade, banking around slowly and circling the area where Jessica was running.

Jessica turned around, still jumping up and down and pointing at the ship, but neither Shannon nor the other girls could hear what she was saying. As the girls ran towards Jessica, Teko glided by them before banking back around and climbing in a graceful sweep towards Jessica again. By now they were close enough to hear Jessica shouting.

“That ship! It’s the Palace in the Sky!”

To be continued…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

“Ladies!” Ranko Yorozu exclaimed as she walked through the park gate entrance to the Tree Shores Community Center plaza.

Jessica, Shannon, Cici, Alanna and Talitha were all sitting around one of the large parasol tables near the outdoor food court. The plaza that contained the food court and the outdoor tables was just one of several large open areas that surrounded the Lakeshore Art and Natural History Museums, which in turn was part of the larger Tree Shores Community Center. The Community Center was designed very much like an amusement park, with extraordinarily large open-air pavilions separating the major facilities which included the two museums, aquarium, the indoor sports complex and swimming pool, the auditorium and performing arts center, and the main branch of the city public library. All five of the major buildings were at least three stories in height, and constructed with a modern architectural style which inlcluded a large number of reflective glass surfaces.

The main buildings were all at least a hundred yards from the Shoreline Promenade, which extended the entire length of the complex grounds along the shore of the lake. The promenade was home to at least fifty different indoor and outdoor shops, vendors, small restaurants, fishing suppliers, cafes, souvenir stands and a miniature series of year-round carnival games which surrounded an open-air arboretum. It also included a dozen or more rental shops for every kind of recreation on the lake: day boats, scuba and snorkel gear, fishing charters and equipment, and so on.

The undisputed centerpiece of the Community Center, however, was an historical exhibit under the auspices of the Lakeshore Natural History Museum: a 150-foot, three-masted wooden sailing ship docked along the length of the wide raised platform which all the shops faced. The museum tour included a half-hour trip through the meticulously well-maintained vessel’s holds and decks.

Between the Promenade and the Center Complex was an enormous open grassy area dotted with shady trees perfect for picnics, kite-flying or impromptu games of catch. A line had already formed for the first museum tour of the day.

“Hiiiii Ranko-chan!” Jessica jumped up and waved. Unlike most of the other people that had begun to gather for the day’s recreation, all of the girls were dressed in clothes they might wear hiking: jeans, t-shirts, heavy walking shoes. Talitha was wearing her favorite brown overalls and green t-shirt, and Ranko was wearing an old bright yellow half-sleeve practice volleyball jersey instead of a t-shirt. Cici had a little baseball hat on and Alanna had her sunglasses on a bright orange cord around her neck.

“I see the Ajan Warriors are ready for action,” Ranko winked, pointing at Cici’s Timepiece on her wrist and Talitha’s Barette in her hair. “Ready for our glorious return to the Venom Deeps? Or would you rather all go on the museum tour?”

“Museum tour!” Jessica exclaimed, smiling and raising her hand.

“She was kidding, you goofball,” Shannon sighed, folding her arms. Jessica giggled.

“You can have four people on the day boats, right? Do they have bigger boats?” Alanna asked, putting her hand over her eyes and looking towards the shore line where the rental shop was.

“Just four, I think,” Jessica said. “I think it’s two on each side. It’s a good thing the island isn’t very far from the community center, ’cause those boats are really slow.”

“Let’s get in line before it gets too crowded,” Alanna said. “It’s still early and there’s going to be a lot more people here later.”

To be continued…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

“What about the rest of the book?” Alanna asked. “Can you read it too now that you can understand that language?”

“I’ve compared the writing in a number of different parts of the book, and I’m almost sure by now that the Tome of Chronicles is written in at least four languages, but I haven’t found any other parts written in Isian except the map,” Talitha said.

“So all we know for sure is what’s in the map and what’s in the scrolls we found,” Alanna said. Talitha nodded.

“And none of it mentions the Palace in the Sky?” Shannon asked. Talitha shook her head. Shannon slumped in her chair.

“We could go back to the Venom Deeps,” Ranko said. “Maybe if we keep looking around there we’ll find something. Maybe another clue.”

“I guess,” Shannon said. “This is double-impossible,” Shannon said. “We don’t even know what the Palace in the Sky is supposed to be and the only map we can read doesn’t even say where it is.”

“Let’s give it a try at least,” Ranko said. “This weekend we’ll go to the community center and get us one of those day boats and go back to Van Horn Island and see if the portal is still there.”

Shannon nodded.

“But first we gotta get our new solar system project to class for little bit,” Ranko said.

“You were really mad this morning, huh, Yorozu?” Shannon asked. Ranko sighed.

“I can’t handle it when strong people use their strength to hurt weaker people,” Ranko replied. “I’ve hated it ever since my first volleyball league and I still hate it.”

“What happened in your volleyball league, Ranko-chan?” Jessica asked. Ranko took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, looking down as she started to tell the story.

“It was the first year Lock and I got the same team. There was this one group of all-star type players. Nobody knows for sure how they all got the same team because they joined the league late,” Ranko said. “Anyway, they were in a game before us and they were playing this one team that had two players out on vacation or something, and the players that were there were kinda new and didn’t know much yet. They didn’t have any substitutes either.” Jessica nodded while the other girls listened.

“Anyway these all-stars were up 4-0 and kept setting to the strikers. They just kept blasting one kill after another, even though they knew the other side had no chance and couldn’t return. They didn’t even get a side out the whole game. Finally it was 12-0 and everyone who wasn’t rooting for the all-stars was yelling at them to stop running it up.” Ranko paused for a moment and looked down. Jessica’s face changed to a look of concern. She could tell it was painful for Ranko to tell this story.

“Then there was this really new girl near the net and one of their strikers just blasted this spike right at her. The ball hit her in the face and broke her glasses. They had to stop the game to take her to the hospital because her mouth was bleeding.”

“Oh, my goodness…” Talitha said. The other girls expressions were all mixtures of surprise and shock.

“And that’s when I lost it, man. I ran out on the floor and shoved that striker for the all-star team, and we almost got into a fight right there on the court.” Ranko looked up and raised her voice slightly. “Because she didn’t have any right, you know?!” Ranko’s expression and voice were both insistent and tense. Shannon nodded. Ranko looked back down at the table and fiddled with a small leaf.

“It just wasn’t right. All the refs and people were standing between us and Lock was trying to pull me away.” Ranko looked up again sharply. “But I told her you try that in our game and I’ll send it right BACK!” Ranko hit the table with one fist and stood up, turned around and walked a couple of steps. All the girls watched her with concerned looks.

“Ranko-chan…” Jessica said very quietly. She could feel Ranko’s anguish. All of the girls could. Ranko stood facing the opposite fence for a number of moments without saying anything. Finally she turned around and came back to the table and sat down again. She paused a few moments. Then Ranko sighed heavily before continuing.

“She did it on purpose. I knew it right after it happened and I still believe that,” Ranko said in a dejected tone. “They knew they were stronger and more experienced players. They didn’t have to hurt that other player on purpose to prove it,” Ranko said, then sighed. “And then they forfeited the new team because after that girl got hurt they didn’t have enough players.”

“That’s so unfair!” Shannon said suddenly. Jessica could tell Shannon was almost as upset as Ranko.

“No kidding,” Ranko said, nodding. “My mom was there and she was on the warpath after they forfeited that game. She was like all the way into the face of this guy at the scorer’s table and all he kept saying was ‘it’s the rules, it’s the rules.’ Everyone in the stands was booing as loud as they could. It was way intense.”

“That’s a sad story, Ranko-chan,” Jessica said in a sympathetic tone.

“Every time I see a bunch of kids picking on someone I think of that girl that got hurt. When you’re stronger you should help people, not make fun of them and pick on them because they haven’t learned as much yet, or because they don’t have any friends at school like that one kid said about Cici. Little bit just needs a chance, you know?” Ranko said, glancing over at Cici, who was still asleep. The other girls all nodded in agreement.

“We went to see that girl and her team at their practice. She was okay, and she said she wasn’t hurt bad and she still wanted to play. It was her first sport, too. Lock and me practiced with them some and helped them learn some stuff. They worked really hard too. They were trying to learn. They just needed a chance.”

“What happened to that all-star team?” Shannon asked. Ranko shrugged.

“I don’t know. They probably all ran off and had a party because they beat up on a weaker team,” Ranko looked back down and flicked a leaf off the table with her fingers. “It just isn’t right, man.”

“I think it’s really nice of you that you went to their practice and helped them learn more, Ranko-chan. You and Tara-san both should be really happy about that,” Jessica said.

“Thanks, Goofy Bird,” Ranko said, glancing up with just her eyes at Jessica. Ranko grinned and looked back down.

Jessica was glad that Ranko felt better.

Chapter Seventeen begins Saturday…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

“No no no, we need some serious brainpower for this. We’ve only got two days to get that project ready, and I know the perfect person for the job,” Ranko Yorozu said as she walked quickly through the double entrance doors to one of the larger campus buildings. Ranko was wearing her rollerblading protective gear, jeans and a bright orange oversized football jersey with a huge white number 98 on it. She was carrying the helmet and her rollerblades. Jessica and Shannon hurried to keep up. Ranko turned left and burst through the doors marked “Library.”

“Professor!” Ranko Yorozu shouted across the peaceful expanse of the main room at the Tree Shores High School Library. Talitha Hayashi very nearly threw her papers in the air from shock.

“Shhhh!” the librarian hissed almost as loud as Ranko’s shout, and Ranko recoiled at the unexpected sound, pulling her arms up to her chin and lifting one foot in a pretend defensive kung-fu kick. Shannon and Jessica both stifled laughs at Ranko’s over-dramatic reaction and Ranko grinned. All three girls climbed over the benches at Talitha’s table where she was surrounded by papers and books.

“So what are we doing today, Copernicus?” Ranko said quietly, leaning across the table and trying to cover as much area as she could with her arms as if she were trying to maintain a low profile. Ranko sat across from Talitha, who was still trying to recover from Ranko’s bombastic arrival. Shannon and Jessica sat on either side of the shy girl.

“I’m… oh, my…” Talitha held a hand just under her neck to calm herself. “I’m working on my Geology homework.”

“Great,” Ranko said, looking back and forth at the papers with another silly over-dramatic confused look. “Don’t understand a word of it. Know anything about the solar system?” Ranko said as she looked back up. Talitha nodded.

“She’s got a huge map of the solar system on the wall in her room,” Jessica said with a smile. “And a telescope too!”

“Perfect, you’re hired,” Ranko said. “Let’s go. Time’s wasting.” Ranko got up from the table and started walking towards the exit, making sure to keep her distance from the librarian, who followed Ranko with a disapproving glare all the way to the door.

Talitha looked back and forth between Jessica and Shannon with a confused look. Jessica just smiled. Shannon explained.

“Ranko’s trying to help Cici fix her solar system project for school because some kids broke the first one. We’re going to stop by Checker’s and that one hobby shop on the way home and get some stuff to build it with. It’s a crafts project.”

Talitha looked at Jessica with a ‘why me?’ expression.

“Talitha-chan, you know everything about the solar system! You can help us make Cici-chan’s project the best in the whoooole school!” Jessica put her hands out to both sides for emphasis. “Alanna-sama’s even gonna to bring pizza from Doubler’s! It’ll be like a party!”

Talitha looked back at Shannon as the two girls began gathering her papers and books. “But, but what about my Geology homework?” she asked.

“Oh you can do that later, Talitha-chan. This will be fun! Come on!” Jessica said. “We can go to your house, right?” Jessica asked. Shannon handed her the stack of textbooks.

“Come on!” Jessica said.

Talitha was still confused as they left the library.

An hour later, Ranko greeted Alanna Kawa at the front curb of Talitha’s house.

“The Solar System Reconstruction Committee Secretary of Refreshments has arrived!” Ranko said, pushing both fists into the air. Alanna leaned over from the driver’s seat of her car to talk out the passenger window.

“Two pizzas. One a masterpiece. One a double-masterpiece.”

“So did you get one with peppers?” Ranko asked. Alanna nodded. “Mushrooms?” Alanna nodded again. “Onions?” Alanna’s expression soured.

“Of course not! How could you possibly think of ruining a pizza by putting onions on it?!?!”

“Okay, okay,” Ranko said. “Just checking there, boss.”

“Got drinks too, but I need help carrying both.”

“I’m on the job,” Ranko said as Alanna unlocked the door for her. The two girls carried the pizza and soda up the front walk of Talitha’s large two-story house.

When they arrived at Talitha’s room, Ranko stopped in the doorway. Talitha’s room was rectangular-shaped, and covering the entire length of the room on one side was a ten-foot-tall wall mural depicting the solar system with the sun at the far end behind Talitha’s desk and computer, and the tiny violet colored Pluto near the ceiling behind the door. The mural covered at least two hundred square feet.

Ranko whistled in a low tone. “That is the slickest wall decoration I have ever seen, Professor,” she said. “Goofy Bird wasn’t kidding when she said you had a map of the solar system. I thought she meant a poster or something, not the whole room!”

Talitha looked up from her desk and straightened her glasses, looking over the map once again. “Thank you very much, Ranko,” Talitha said graciously.

“Talitha-chan says her map makes her think about flying through space,” Jessica said, picking two bags up and putting them on the card tables Talitha had set up in the center of the room. Ranko and Alanna placed the pizzas on the tables next to the bags. Chairs were arranged all around the tables, one for each of the girls.

Later, after Talitha had shown all of the girls her reference books, computer, telescope and her sailing ship model from the Sports and Crafts Fair, Jessica and Ranko began pulling various items out of the bags from Parker’s Hobby Shop and Checker’s Fabric Store. Cici was giving Shannon a tour of the solar system by indicating each planet on Talitha’s wall map.

“Okay,” Shannon said. “Which one is Mercury again?” Cici ran to the small red planet near Talitha’s desk and pointed.

“That one!” she said proudly. “It’s the closest one to the sun and it’s the hottest too!”

“Okay,” Shannon smiled, folding her arms. “I’ll bet you can’t find… Neptune!” Cici smiled and ran along the wall a few steps and pointed at a much larger bluish colored planet near the door.

“That’s Neptune! That’s Neptune! It’s got like a million moons too, but it doesn’t have rings like Saturn does!” Shannon tried to keep from laughing.

“What about Jupiter?” Shannon said. Cici jumped and landed with both feet in front of the largest planet and pointed.

“That one!”

Shannon shook her head. “Are you sure it isn’t the little red planet next to Earth?”

Cici closed her eyes and shook her head. “Uh uh. It’s this one!” Cici pointed at the large planet several more times. “The biggest planet is Jupiter. The little red planet is Mars!” Cici’s expression was very serious as she pointed again.

“She’s too good at this, Miss Shannon. Little bit’s got the solar system down cold,” Ranko said, sipping her drink. “Pizza time, ladies. Get your favorite before it’s gone.”

As the six girls sat around the table eating and passing soda around, Ranko told Jessica and Talitha what had happened with Cici’s first project.

“That’s terrible what they did to your project!” Jessica exclaimed. “They should get in trouble for that.”

“Never going to happen with that crazy principal lady they have over there,” Ranko said, shaking her head. “She’s a real work of art, man. She came all the way out there to yell at us, and didn’t even believe what we told her. I’ll bet those three kids never heard a word about breaking little bit’s project.”

“I’m just worried there’s other kids at school those three are picking on,” Shannon said. “What about them? I wonder if they’ve hurt anyone else with their foolishness?”

“Well, anyway, we’ve got the committee together and we’re going to win first place for little bit. That’s a lock,” Ranko said, holding up her hand as Cici gave her a high-five and smiled.

“So, how exactly do you guys want to build this?” Alanna said. “I liked Cici’s idea of using styrofoam planets on stands.”

“I say we go all out. All the planets and their moons. Build it just like the Professor’s wall map here. Put all those meteors next to the big planet in there too. Add a comet or two.” Ranko pointed at the different parts of Talitha’s map as she spoke. Talitha’s eyes widened with each of Ranko’s suggestions.

“Oh, my goodness…” Talitha said quietly.

“What?” Ranko said. “We’ve got six people here! We can’t build the whole thing?” Ranko’s face was an expression of genuine concern.

“Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune each have dozens of moons,” Talitha said without looking up. “We would need about a hundred styrofoam pieces to start.”

Ranko just stared, then tried to recover some of her momentum as Shannon and Jessica both smiled in amusement. “Okay, then… we, err… we fudge on some of the moons and wing it on the meteors and we’re gold, right?” Ranko said. Talitha just shook her head.

“There aren’t any meteors…” Talitha said even quieter.

“No meteors?? What about comets?” Ranko asked. Talitha just kept shaking her head.

“Come on, Professor! You’re making me work too hard at this!” Ranko said, smiling as Shannon laughed. Alanna just watched them talk as she enjoyed her favorite pizza. No onions.

“I say we start with the planets and the sun, and add the Earth’s moon, and make a special piece of styrofoam that’s shaped like a rock for the asteroids,” Jessica said. “We could even draw some asteroids on the rock piece just like Talitha’s map.”

“That’s what I thought too, Hoshi,” Shannon said. “You know when I first saw Cici’s model I thought what would be neat would be if the base were labeled. Watch..” Shannon said, taking a piece of paper and drawing a quick picture of Cici’s first project.

“Shannon-sama draws the best, huh?” Jessica said. Cici nodded enthusiastically. Shannon completed her drawing, but she had added labels to the base of the model, underneath each planet, and next to where each was attached to the base.

“We could draw stars on the labels too. No wait!” Ranko said, picking up a marker and another piece of paper. “Make the paper black and draw white stars on it so it looks like space. Then put the labels in the planet’s color underneath each one. That would be awesome-looking.” Ranko drew a quick picture of a starry sky with the marker as she talked.

“I like Ranko-chan’s idea! We can make that on Talitha-chan’s computer!” Jessica said. “Maybe we can even use a real picture of space!”

“Did Cici’s model have orbits like that too?” Talitha asked, pointing at Shannon’s drawing.

“It was very accurate,” Alanna replied, nodding. “They were pieces of wire. We got some flexible wire from Parker’s too so we could make orbits.”

Talitha got up and walked over to her shelf of reference books.

“Uh oh,” Ranko said. “Professor’s getting out the books. Look out!” Jessica and Shannon both laughed as Talitha gathered four books on the solar system from her collection and carried them back to the table.

“Perhaps we could make a miniature orbit for Earth’s moon and attach it to the Earth piece.” Talitha said, pointing at the orbits Shannon had drawn.

“Sweet idea, Professor,” Ranko said, turning back to Shannon’s drawing as Jessica picked up one of the books with a color photograph of the planet Saturn on the cover. The five older girls continued discussing their various designs for the model.

Cici watched them all as they talked. They were all so serious about her project! Talitha was looking through her books and comparing them to Shannon’s drawing. Shannon and Alanna were both pointing at different parts of the drawing and discussing ways to improve it. Jessica was sorting through the parts they had bought at the crafts store and holding them up as they discussed each different part of the model. Ranko walked back to the table after examining Talitha’s wall map.

As the other girls talked, Ranko leaned over and bumped Cici with her arm.

“Kind of like having five big sisters, huh?” Ranko said with a wink. Cici giggled.

“Yeah!” she said. Cici felt so happy. She felt like she could accomplish anything as long as her big sisters were there to help.

An hour later, the girls were sitting around two empty pizza boxes and a brand new model of the solar system. It was easily twice the size of Cici’s previous model. Each planet was painted accurately based on Talitha’s book of recent astronomical photographs, and the wooden base of the model was a black starfield with each planet labeled in its own color. There was even a styrofoam piece for the asteroid belt, and Halley’s Comet had been added by Ranko at the last minute. Underneath each planet label was a second label with its distance from the sun and its diameter. The Earth was painted blue and white with detailed cloud patterns and the moon had its own orbit around the Earth.

In one corner the model was labeled:

“The Solar System
by Cecilia Daichi
Fourth Grade”

“Now that is awesome,” Ranko said as all the girls looked over their work. “You know what would be even cooler?”

Jessica looked up. “What, Ranko-chan?”

“What if there was like, a warrior from every planet? You know, one that represented every planet in the solar system and they had super powers and fought evil and stuff. Now that would be cool.”

“Yeah!” Jessica nodded and smiled. “That would be super neat, Ranko-chan!”

“Wow, it’s getting dark a lot earlier now, isn’t it?” Shannon said, looking out the window. Sure enough, it was long past sunset. Talitha got up and walked over to the window and looked outside as Alanna gathered up the pizza boxes and tried to get some of the trash on the table under control. Ranko got up from the table and reached up, stretching her arms.

“Need to go for a run,” Ranko said. “Sitting for this long makes my arms and shoulders stiff.”

“I wish it didn’t get dark early like this,” Jessica said. “If it wasn’t dark we could go over to North Shore Gardens and get one of those boats they have and go out on the lake.” Shannon looked over at the window. Talitha was looking up at the sky with a pair of binoculars.

“What are you looking for, Hayashi?” Shannon asked.

“Jupiter,” Talitha replied quietly, putting the binoculars back up to her eyes.

“Huh?” Shannon asked. “You can really see Jupiter from here? Like, the real planet?”

Talitha turned around and smiled. “We all can. Jupiter-rise was 40 minutes ago.” Then she turned back to the window and raised the binoculars again. “The last of twilight will be gone in about ten minutes and then I can point my telescope at it.”

Cici’s face brightened up as she looked at Jessica. Jessica returned her surprised smile.

“Talitha can see other planets right here from her room! She’s the neatest, Jessie!” Cici ran over to stand next to Talitha.

“Hey, Hayashi,” Alanna said. “Let’s take the telescope outside where there’s more room.” Talitha turned around and nodded.

“In the backyard we have a deck that is a good surface for the tripod,” Talitha said. “I go out there all the time.” Talitha handed the binoculars to Cici and spoke very gently. “You can carry these, but be very very careful with them and don’t drop them. These are very fragile.” Cici handled the binoculars like she had been handed a priceless treasure from the nearby art museum.

Shannon and Alanna helped Talitha carry her telescope down the stairs and out the back door to the patio deck of their house. Just as Talitha said, the smooth wood surface of the deck was almost perfectly level and the ideal platform for her telescope. Moments later, Talitha was making delicate adjustments to the instrument and looking through the viewfinder.

“You know,” Ranko said, looking up at the millions of stars overhead. “Most people at school make fun of geeks because they think people who know stuff are uncool, but I’ll bet none of those kids are looking at other planets right now.”

“How do you know where to look, Talitha-chan?” Jessica asked. “I mean there’s about a million billion stars up there.” Jessica pointed up as she spoke. Talitha looked up from the telescope at Jessica then looked up where she was pointing. Talitha found Jupiter instantly.

“That’s Jupiter,” she pointed as all the girls looked. “It’s the steady bright light right there. Once you know what to look for, it’s easy to find the planets because they all follow their orbits. It’s just like reading a map.”

“Wow, Talitha. You know everything about space,” Shannon said.

“She’s the Professor!” Ranko said. “In addition to being Forest Girl now we can call her Planet Girl.” Talitha was still looking up at Jupiter.

“I love space,” Talitha said without breaking her gaze. “I’ve read stories about astronauts and space walks. My favorite is the first time they saw the sunrise from orbit. I’ve read those stories a hundred times and I still read them again. I wish I could be an astronaut and fly. Just fly away to space, just to see what’s there.”

The other girls listened quietly. That was the most Talitha’s ever said at once, Jessica thought.

“Wow…” Alanna said.

“Yeah, me too,” Shannon added. “Hayashi, that’s like the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard anyone say.”

Talitha looked back down and adjusted her glasses, then returned to adjusting her telescope, looking through the viewfinder. Ranko leaned over to Shannon.

“She’s going to be an astronaut someday. No doubt about it,” Ranko said very quietly.

Shannon smiled and nodded. “I think so too.”

“I’ve never looked at other planets with a telescope before,” Alanna said. “I was sick the day our school class went to the observatory. That was the year I had chicken pox.”

“What about other planets like Mars and Neptune and Pluto?” Cici said. “Can we see those too?” Talitha nodded.

“Mars is very easy to find because its so close,” Talitha said as she turned around. “There’s Mars.” She pointed in another direction and all the girls turned to look. “You can just see it’s a little bit red compared to Jupiter. Planets look different from stars. Their light doesn’t flicker as much. Jupiter is the easiest to find because it’s so much bigger and reflects far more light than a smaller planet like Mars, but it’s also much further away.”

“Wow!” Cici said, pointing at the steady point of slightly reddish light in the sky. “Look, Shannon! I can see Mars!”

Shannon smiled. “Me too, Cici.”

“We can’t see Neptune for another few hours, Cici,” Talitha said. “And it will be very difficult to find Pluto, even though it’s visible from here right now. Pluto is very very far away and very faint and it would take quite a bit of time to find it.”

“Awwww,” Cici said. “What about the moon! We can see the moon with the telescope can’t we?” Talitha nodded.

“Moonrise is in about 15 minutes, over the lake on that side of the house.” Talitha pointed over the side fence of their yard towards the closer bank of the lake across the street. “It’s only half-moon right now, but we’ll be able to see it very clearly.”

“What about Mercury and Venus?” Cici asked very seriously. “We can see them too, can’t we?” Talitha smiled and Jessica giggled quietly.

“The best time to see Mercury is really early in the morning, Cici, but you can see it if you try. Go out really early in the morning and look in the direction of the sunrise. Just about 20 minutes before the sun comes up or sometimes right after the sun sets you’ll see a very faint but steady point of light in the sky just over the horizon. That’s the planet Mercury. Just be very careful to never look directly at the sun itself. You could really damage your eyes.”

“Wow! I wanna see it tomorrow!” Cici said, her eyes full of wonder. “I can really see Mercury? Just like from my solar system project?”

Talitha nodded and smiled.

“I’m going to try that too,” Shannon said.

“Me too, Shannon-sama!” Jessica said. “I’m going to tell my dad to look for it too when he goes out with the nets tomorrow. He’s always halfway to the west docks even before the sun comes up. He’ll see it easy.”

“Venus is the same way, but it’s about twice as bright as Mercury is. That’s why Venus is called the ‘Morning Star.’” Talitha said, making a few more adjustments to her telescope. “I’ve got Jupiter on the telescope now, who wants to see it first?” Cici was so excited she was about to run in every direction at once.

“Are you kidding, Professor? We don’t let little bit go first and she’s going to fly to Jupiter!” Ranko said as Cici hopped up and down next to the telescope.

“Okay Cici, you can look through the eyepiece here, but be very careful and don’t bump the telescope or we’ll have to adjust it again,” Talitha said, showing Cici where to stand. Cici’s hands were clasped together under her chin as she listened. Finally she stepped over to where Talitha had pointed and gently looked through the eyepiece. Sure enough, she was looking at a pale light brown, gold and beige-colored surface. It was striped horizontally and there was an enormous oblong deep red patch in the lower left portion of the lens.

“It’s Jupiter! It’s really Jupiter, Jessie! Just like in Talitha’s picture books!” Cici shouted, still looking into the eyepiece. One by one, the other girls took turns looking through the eyepiece of the telescope while Cici excitedly asked them each if they could see Jupiter too.

After all the girls had taken their turns, they were all pointing towards the sky in different directions with suggestions on what they should look at next. Talitha was already busy re-adjusting the viewfinder. A few moments later she made an announcement.

“Okay, I have another planet–” Talitha said. Cici appeared next to the eyepiece with her hands clasped under her chin. “–on the telescope.” Talitha looked at Cici’s wide eyes and huge smile, then laughed quietly. “And Cici goes first.”

Once again, Cici gently looked into the eyepiece. She could see a light pale orange-colored surface, but then she was confused. In front were several thin lines of various colors, all running parallel to each other. Then she realized what she was seeing and she jumped and clapped her hands.

“It’s Saturn! You can see the rings and everything! It’s really Saturn!” Cici exclaimed, then looked back into the telescope. “It’s so beautiful! It’s the prettiest planet of all!”

“It’s the only planet Cici didn’t ask about,” Talitha said to Jessica, who smiled. “And it’s almost easier to find than Jupiter.”

After the other girls all had an opportunity to look at the planet Saturn through the telescope, they all sat down around Talitha’s patio table while Ranko randomly pointed the telescope at various stars just to see if she could see them. About all she saw was empty space, but she kept trying anyway.

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

“Hey ladies!” Ranko Yorozu said as she climbed between two rusted sections of chain-link fence near the sidewalk. Shannon and Alanna were waiting at one corner of the intersection between their high school and the elementary school. The early morning was slightly chilly. All three girls were dressed in heavy coats. Shannon and Alanna were wearing their uniforms, while Ranko was wearing jeans and a pair of heavy athletic shoes. Shannon stood with her hands in the pockets of her coat. Alanna wore a long green and gold scarf emblazoned with “Tree Shores Lions.” It was a common accessory for upper-class band members.

“Wow, isn’t that field hard to walk through?” Shannon asked as Ranko jumped free of the makeshift gate between the two sections of fence and trotted towards the sidewalk. Ranko had crossed an overgrown vacant lot to get to the corner.

“Nah. That’s the best shortcut ever discovered. Walking all the way around this block without my blades or music is way too boring.”

“Blades?” Alanna asked.

“My rollerblades,” Ranko said. “I’ll have them again tomorrow when I get my other locker in the team room. I need one for my uniform too. No room in the regular locker with all those huge books!” Ranko slapped the shoulder of Shannon’s midnight blue coat. “Looking pretty stylish there, Miss Shannon!” Shannon smiled. “Hey, where’s my scarf?” Ranko asked, putting her hands on her hips, looking at Alanna and trying to look exasperated.

“It’s a low brass perk,” Alanna said, smiling and readjusting the scarf proudly.

“So help me out here, boss!” Ranko replied, putting her hands out to either side in a gesture of neediness.

Alanna leaned over and whispered. “I know where they keep the free band stuff. I can get you a hat too.”

“That’s why you’re the boss!” Ranko grinned.

“There’s Cici,” Shannon said, pointing up the sidewalk in the direction of the elementary school. Cici was running quickly towards the three girls carrying something in front of her with both hands. Ranko and Alanna turned to look just before Cici ran up to them.

“Hi Ranko!” Cici said, her face bright and cheery. She wore a white coat over her uniform. She was proudly carrying a wooden model consisting of small painted spheres held up with thin cylindrical pieces of wood. Attached to each of the spheres was an oval-shaped piece of dull silver wire. The pieces of wire formed a series of crude concentric ovals.

“What’cha got there, little bit?” Ranko said, indicating the model.

“This is my solar system project,” Cici announced. “It’s got all of the planets and the sun too!” Ranko knelt down and examined the little model.

“That’s awesome. Did you make that yourself?”

“Uh huh,” Cici said, obviously very pleased with herself. Ranko smiled. “I used glue and the planets are all styrofoam.”

“You’re gonna win first place now, right?” Ranko said, pulling at Cici’s hat and making her giggle. Cici straightened the hat on her head, smiling.

“I know all about the solar system too!” Cici said, and went on to name all nine planets as she pointed at them. Ranko stood up and looked at the other two girls, putting her hands in her coat pockets and pretending to be surprised.

“Whoa,” Ranko said. “I didn’t even know all those names!” Alanna and Shannon smiled. “So, what’s the plan today?”

Cici’s happiness vanished instantly and she looked down. She hesitated and turned to one side, staring at her model. Ranko knelt down again.

“Hey,” Ranko said quietly, reaching for Cici’s shoulder with her hand. Cici turned back to her and looked at Ranko with a dejected and sad expression. “Don’t worry, now. We’ve got our plan from yesterday, okay?” Ranko said. Cici looked back down.

“They’re going to pick on me again,” Cici said so quietly that Ranko could scarcely hear her.

“Who?” Ranko said.

“Dwayne, Bernard and Bridget,” Cici said, looking back down at her model. “They said if I brought my model today they’d take it away.”

Ranko looked back at Shannon and Alanna, then turned back to Cici. “Well, I’ll tell you what. We’ll walk you to school and make sure they don’t, okay?”

Cici looked up at Ranko. “Okay,” she said very quietly.

“Come on,” Ranko said as she stood up. Cici turned towards the school. She had an awful feeling in her stomach. She hated having to face those three mean kids. Cici started to walk towards the school. Ranko, Alanna and Shannon followed.

As the four girls approached Tree Shores Elementary School, the normal routine of students disembarking from buses and cars continued at the front curb. The school was constructed with one very large central pathway leading to the main breezeway and into the complex of classrooms. A few trees dotted the large grassy area that bordered the main sidewalk and front curb.

“Do you see them?” Shannon asked as they all looked back and forth across the front area of the school. Only a couple dozen students were walking up the entry path at any given time. Cici shook her head no.

“I think they were just trying to bug you, little bit,” Ranko said. Cici turned and looked up at Ranko hopefully. Ranko looked down at Cici. “They’re not going to bother you today.” Cici smiled. “Better get to class!”

Cici nodded and started walking towards the breezeway, still carefully carrying her little model. Ranko, Shannon and Alanna turned back in the other direction and started walking towards the high school. A few seconds later, Ranko turned around to make sure Cici had made it to the breezeway. She stopped.

“Oh, man,” Ranko said. Shannon and Alanna turned around and looked. Cici was standing next to the tree closest to the entry way. Between Cici and the school were three other kids, together forming a barrier and not letting her pass.

“Come on,” Ranko said. All three girls hurried to Cici’s aid. As they jogged up the sidewalk, they saw the dark haired boy grab the model with both hands. Cici and the boy struggled over it for a few moments. Cici lost her grip as the boy heaved it away from her. She stumbled backwards and the boy lost his grip on the model. It clattered to the sidewalk and broke into a dozen pieces. The other two kids, a heavy-set boy and a red-haired girl both started to laugh at Cici, who was sitting on the grass where she had stumbled and fallen. Just then, Ranko, Shannon and Alanna ran up.

Ranko walked past Cici and up to the other kids. Just as he started to laugh, the dark-haired boy stopped at the sight of the older girls.

“Hey! Why are you picking on our friend?” Ranko snapped. The other boy and the red-haired girl froze. Both had ashen looks on their faces. “Well?” Ranko asked again. Dwayne, the dark-haired boy, gulped once then tried to muster just a little bravado.

“She’s not your friend. She doesn’t have any friends.” Dwayne saw Alanna and Shannon standing next to Cici with their arms folded, staring at him with serious looks. Both older girls seemed to be at least twice the height of any of the other students at the elementary school.

“Is that why you pick on her? Because you think she doesn’t have any friends?” Ranko’s eyes flashed as she tried to control her anger. The dark-haired boy didn’t answer.

“Well guess what? We’re Cici’s friends, so here’s the way it’s going to be.” Ranko pointed at Dwayne. “Next time you pick on Cici, we’re going to pick on you. Got it, you little rodent?” Dwayne backed away from Ranko as she clenched her teeth and took a step forward.

“Now why don’t you run to class I think I hear yer teacher callin’” the tone of Ranko’s voice left no room for misinterpretation.

Dwayne turned and ran towards the school a few steps, then turned back to look at Ranko. The other boy and the red-haired girl followed and also turned to look. Ranko stood glaring at the three of them until they ran into the school.

Cici had knelt down next to the scattered pieces of her solar system model and was picking them up very slowly. Ranko walked over as Shannon and Alanna started to help pick the pieces of the model up. A few of the other students looked curiously at the tiny wreckage as they walked past the group to class. Ranko knelt down next to Cici.

“They broke it,” Cici said quietly, tears already visible on her face. “They broke my model.” Cici looked up at Ranko and dropped the few pieces of the model she had picked up. Tears were streaming down her face by now. Ranko’s heart sank. She knew how important Cici’s little model was to her. Ranko reached for Cici and hugged her.

“Awww, come on now, little bit,” Ranko said quietly, patting Cici’s shoulder a few times to encourage her. “We’re not going to let them mess up your project like that.”

Cici looked down at the ground as Ranko held her by the shoulders at arm’s-length. Ranko smiled jauntily and shook Cici once.

“Huh?” Ranko said with enthusiasm. Cici sniffled and rubbed her own nose without looking up. Ranko shook her again once and smiled broadly. “Huh?” Cici smiled a little and giggled. “That’s what I’m talking about. Come on,” Ranko said, standing up and helping Cici to her feet.

Just then a lady came bustling out the entrance to the school. By the reactions of some of the students who watched her pass it was apparent she was a person of some importance. She wore a pair of cat’s-eye-shaped glasses on a heavy metal chain around her neck, and her gray hair was done up in a garish style that distantly resembled a slightly off-center beehive. The clip-clop of her shoes was audible on the next block.

“Just what is going on here?” she asked huffily, placing her hands on her hips, and obviously directing the question at Ranko. Cici looked up and stared. It was Mrs. Wheelman, the assistant principal. Shannon and Alanna stood up to face her.

“We’re helping clean up this mess,” Ranko said nonchalantly. Mrs. Wheelman squinted at the three older girls, holding her glasses with one hand.

“And what mess would that be?” Mrs. Wheelman asked officiously. “I’m told you were causing a disturbance and picking a fight with one of our students.”

“Nobody was picking fights,” Alanna said calmly. “Except the three kids that broke Cici’s project.”

“We saw the whole thing,” Shannon said. “We just came over here to help.”

“Well several students told me you threatened them and that all three of you were trying to start a fight on school grounds. We don’t allow delinquents to disrupt our school!” Mrs. Wheelman announced. Ranko bristled at the suggestion she was a delinquent.

“Hey! Back it down a few notches, your majesty. You’re not talking to a bunch of little kids here.” Mrs. Wheelman turned to face Ranko squarely, her eyes widening at the unexpectedly confrontational tone of Ranko’s reply.

“The only delinquents around here are the little monsters you allow to pick on good kids like Cici. Maybe if you people would get up from your papers and out of your offices once in a while we wouldn’t have to be over here doing your job,” Ranko’s eyes were intense and unblinking. Mrs. Wheelman stood gaping at Ranko’s remark, then managed a bitter expression.

“I’m going to call your parents,” the assistant principal said.

“Fine,” Ranko replied. “Our diner is right around the corner. Miss Shannon, you got your phone right?” Shannon started looking through her purse, found what she was looking for and put the open phone into Ranko’s hand.

“I can have my mom here in five minutes,” Ranko said as she dialed. “You want to wait?” She held the phone to her ear, looking directly at Mrs. Wheelman.

Mrs. Wheelman looked at each of the three girls. They all stared right back at her with serious looks. Cici just watched in abject awe as the three older girls fought on her side.

“I’ll let you go with a warning this time,” she said, trying to salvage some authority. “There’s no fighting allowed on school property!” Mrs. Wheelman announced, turned and walked back towards the school entrance.

The four girls watched Mrs. Wheelman bustle her way back through the breezeway towards the office. Ranko snapped Shannon’s phone shut.

“Did you really call your mom?” Alanna asked.

“Nah. I shouldn’t have hung up on Doubler’s though. I could go for a small pepperoni and mushroom right about now,” Ranko said, bumping Cici with her elbow. Cici giggled.

“You should call your mom. That principal should have asked before she started yelling at everybody,” Shannon muttered.

“If I called my mom I wouldn’t be able to stop her from coming down here. The last thing that principal lady wants is to have to deal with Darci Yorozu,” Ranko said, tossing the phone back to Shannon. “Right, little bit?” Ranko said, looking at Cici and grinning. Cici smiled back happily.

“Right!” Cici said enthusiastically. Cici felt so much better now that there was finally somebody on her side. Shannon looked down at the broken pieces of the model she had collected.

“But now what do we do?” she asked. “When is this project due, Cici?” Cici looked up at Shannon.

“It has to be done by this week and I already spent almost the whole weekend and last night on it.”

“Wednesday morning, so we’ve got two evenings,” Alanna said. Ranko nodded.

“We’re going to put this project back on track,” Ranko said. “Right ladies?” Shannon and Alanna looked at each other, then smiled.

“Sure, why not?” Shannon said. “It’s been a while since I did a crafts project for school.” Ranko knelt down.

“Alright, little bit. You head to class and by this afternoon we’ll have the solar system reconstruction team ready to go, okay?”

Cici smiled and nodded, then ran towards the school entrance. She felt like the most important person in the school. Nobody was going to bother her today. It was going to be the best day of school ever.

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

“Maybe the words in the book are different,” Alanna said. “Did you notice that, Hayashi? Are they different words?” Talitha didn’t answer.

Ranko gestured to Shannon and pointed at Talitha’s barette. Shannon looked where Ranko was pointing. She saw Talitha examining her barette quietly.

Then her face brightened in an expression of recognition.

“It’s Hayashi’s Barette…” she whispered. The girls all watched Talitha as she turned the emerald treasure over and over in her hands.

“Has to be,” Ranko said quietly. Shannon and Jessica both nodded. Talitha spoke very quietly without looking up.

“It’s the only thing that’s different from the first time we tried to read the Tome of Chronicles,” she said.

“Ooh, I wish we really knew how all this stuff is supposed to work,” Shannon said. “Hoshi doesn’t need the treasure to read that language. How come Hayashi does?”

“Wait here a minute,” Talitha said, then hurried back into the house. Ranko leaned back in her chair and grinned.

“I think she loves this stuff,” Ranko said. “If you could put her in a room full of books about everything anyone knows about science and history and math and space and keep sending her food I don’t think she’d ever leave.” Shannon and Jessica both smiled.

“I’ve never met anyone like her,” Alanna said. “She’s the most serious student I’ve ever seen at Tree Shores. Most of the other kids don’t even care if they learn anything. But I don’t think that girl would last one day without something new to learn.”

After a few moments, Talitha opened the glass door and walked back out on the patio, turning the light on. As she passed the doorway, she turned and closed the glass door again. She was carrying a thick sheaf of notebook paper in one arm. She hurried back over to the table and set the papers on it, then sat down and started sorting through them: at least 50 pieces of paper in all.

“I’ve been making some notes…” Talitha said as she continued looking through the papers.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Ranko said, putting her hand on her own forehead. Jessica giggled. Talitha found the page she was looking for.

“Here. I’ve been keeping a list of all the places we’ve found names for so far,” Talitha said. “And I compared this list with the map in the Tome of Chronicles. According to the map, Isia, Rotensha, Gacenar and Varcarel are all the names of provinces in a larger realm called Aventar. Aventar was ruled by a King named Nolem when the map in the Tome of Chronicles was drawn.”

To be continued…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

One by one the girls took seats at the outdoor table on Talitha’s patio, continuing to discuss planets and stars while Ranko continued to work with Talitha’s telescope. Slowly the conversation waned, replaced with quiet stargazing.

As Ranko walked back over to the table, she looked over at Cici, who was sitting on one of the patio chairs, leaning over to one side with her head on her arms, fast asleep. She tapped Talitha on the shoulder and she looked up.

“Hey, Professor. I just wanted to say thanks for all this. Little bit really needed the encouragement after what happened this morning. You really made her day, you know?” Talitha smiled and nodded.

“I’m glad,” Talitha said.

Shannon looked over and noticed the moon was just starting to become visible over Talitha’s backyard fence.

“Everything feels different now,” Shannon said.

“It’s not just that everything feels different,” Alanna said. “It is different.”

“I felt alone when I couldn’t see the moon.” Shannon said. Jessica and the other girls watched as she stood up and walked towards the fence a few steps.

“Last night my mom was really worried. I did my homework and then the next thing I knew my mom was shaking me and trying to get my attention. She said I had been standing in the front yard staring at the moon for like half an hour or something.”

“It isn’t those nightmares again, I hope,” Alanna said. “If that starts up again I’m going to go crazy.”

“Nope, those stopped right after we got back from that island,” Jessica announced. “I haven’t had one bad dream since.”

“I did notice something about that scroll we found that was peculiar,” Talitha said, straightening her glasses. “It mentions something about a ’shadow stone’ but it doesn’t explain exactly what that might be.”

“‘Shadow Stone’ doesn’t sound too good to me,” Shannon muttered.

“I want to know why she can read it now. None of us could read the book or the scroll, and now the Professor can. Why?” Ranko asked.

“That’s a good question,” Shannon said. “Maybe it has something to do with us going to the Venom Deeps?”

“But we didn’t take the book with us.” Alanna shook her head.

“Maybe it’s Cici-chan’s lantern?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah, but we had the lantern when we first tried to read the book and we couldn’t then,” Ranko said, noticing Talitha examining her barette.

“What is it?!” Shannon growled, looking straight up and clenching her fists. “This is driving me nuts! Every time we figure something out we end up with five more questions!” Shannon gestured with both hands, exasperated.

To be continued…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

“Venus is the same way, but it’s about twice as bright as Mercury is. That’s why Venus is called the ‘Morning Star.’” Talitha said, making a few more adjustments to her telescope. “I’ve got Jupiter on the telescope now, who wants to see it first?” Cici was so excited she was about to run in every direction at once.

“Are you kidding, Professor? We don’t let little bit go first and she’s going to fly to Jupiter!” Ranko said as Cici hopped up and down next to the telescope.

“Okay Cici, you can look through the eyepiece here, but be very careful and don’t bump the telescope or we’ll have to adjust it again,” Talitha said, showing Cici where to stand. Cici’s hands were clasped together under her chin as she listened. Finally she stepped over to where Talitha had pointed and gently looked through the eyepiece. Sure enough, she was looking at a pale light brown, gold and beige-colored surface. It was striped horizontally and there was an enormous oblong deep red patch in the lower left portion of the lens.

“It’s Jupiter! It’s really Jupiter, Jessie! Just like in Talitha’s picture books!” Cici shouted, still looking into the eyepiece. One by one, the other girls took turns looking through the eyepiece of the telescope while Cici excitedly asked them each if they could see Jupiter too.

After all the girls had taken their turns, they were all pointing towards the sky in different directions with suggestions on what they should look at next. Talitha was already busy re-adjusting the viewfinder. A few moments later she made an announcement.

“Okay, I have another planet–” Talitha said. Cici appeared next to the eyepiece with her hands clasped under her chin. “–on the telescope.” Talitha looked at Cici’s wide eyes and huge smile, then laughed quietly. “And Cici goes first.”

Once again, Cici gently looked into the eyepiece. She could see a light pale orange-colored surface, but then she was confused. In front were several thin lines of various colors, all running parallel to each other. Then she realized what she was seeing and she jumped and clapped her hands.

“It’s Saturn! You can see the rings and everything! It’s really Saturn!” Cici exclaimed, then looked back into the telescope. “It’s so beautiful! It’s the prettiest planet of all!”

“It’s the only planet Cici didn’t ask about,” Talitha said to Jessica, who smiled. “And it’s almost easier to find than Jupiter.”

After the other girls all had an opportunity to look at the planet Saturn through the telescope, they all sat down around Talitha’s patio table while Ranko randomly pointed the telescope at various stars just to see if she could see them. About all she saw was empty space, but she kept trying anyway.

Chapter Sixteen begins tomorrow…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

An hour later, the girls were sitting around two empty pizza boxes and a brand new model of the solar system. It was easily twice the size of Cici’s previous model. Each planet was painted accurately based on Talitha’s book of recent astronomical photographs, and the wooden base of the model was a black starfield with each planet labeled in its own color. There was even a styrofoam piece for the asteroid belt, and Halley’s Comet had been added by Ranko at the last minute. Underneath each planet label was a second label with its distance from the sun and its diameter. The Earth was painted blue and white with detailed cloud patterns and the moon had its own orbit around the Earth.

In one corner the model was labeled:

“The Solar System
by Cecilia Daichi
Fourth Grade”

“Now that is awesome,” Ranko said as all the girls looked over their work. “You know what would be even cooler?”

Jessica looked up. “What, Ranko-chan?”

“What if there was like, a warrior from every planet? You know, one that represented every planet in the solar system and they had super powers and fought evil and stuff. Now that would be cool.”

“Yeah!” Jessica nodded and smiled. “That would be super neat, Ranko-chan!”

“Wow, it’s getting dark a lot earlier now, isn’t it?” Shannon said, looking out the window. Sure enough, it was long past sunset. Talitha got up and walked over to the window and looked outside as Alanna gathered up the pizza boxes and tried to get some of the trash on the table under control. Ranko got up from the table and reached up, stretching her arms.

“Need to go for a run,” Ranko said. “Sitting for this long makes my arms and shoulders stiff.”

“I wish it didn’t get dark early like this,” Jessica said. “If it wasn’t dark we could go over to North Shore Gardens and get one of those boats they have and go out on the lake.” Shannon looked over at the window. Talitha was looking up at the sky with a pair of binoculars.

“What are you looking for, Talitha?” Shannon asked.

“Jupiter,” Talitha replied quietly, putting the binoculars back up to her eyes.

“Huh?” Shannon asked. “You can really see Jupiter from here? Like, the real planet?”

Talitha turned around and smiled. “We all can. Jupiter-rise was 40 minutes ago.” Then she turned back to the window and raised the binoculars again. “The last of twilight will be gone in about ten minutes and then I can point my telescope at it.”

Cici’s face brightened up as she looked at Jessica. Jessica returned her surprised smile.

“Talitha can see other planets right here from her room! She’s the neatest, Jessie!” Cici ran over to stand next to Talitha.

“Hey, Talitha,” Alanna said. “Let’s take the telescope outside where there’s more room.” Talitha turned around and nodded.

“In the backyard we have a deck that is a good surface for the tripod,” Talitha said. “I go out there all the time.” Talitha handed the binoculars to Cici and spoke very gently. “You can carry these, but be very very careful with them and don’t drop them. These are very fragile.” Cici handled the binoculars like she had been handed a priceless treasure from the nearby art museum.

Shannon and Alanna helped Talitha carry her telescope down the stairs and out the back door to the patio deck of their house. Just as Talitha said, the smooth wood surface of the deck was almost perfectly level and the ideal platform for her telescope. Moments later, Talitha was making delicate adjustments to the instrument and looking through the viewfinder.

To be continued…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

“So, how exactly do you guys want to build this?” Alanna said. “I liked Cici’s idea of using styrofoam planets on stands.”

“I say we go all out. All the planets and their moons. Build it just like the Professor’s wall map here. Put all those meteors next to the big planet in there too. Add a comet or two.” Ranko pointed at the different parts of Talitha’s map as she spoke. Talitha’s eyes widened with each of Ranko’s suggestions.

“Oh, my goodness…” Talitha said quietly.

“What?” Ranko said. “We’ve got six people here! We can’t build the whole thing?” Ranko’s face was an expression of genuine concern.

“Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune each have dozens of moons,” Talitha said without looking up. “We would need about a hundred styrofoam pieces to start.”

Ranko just stared, then tried to recover some of her momentum as Shannon and Jessica both smiled in amusement. “Okay, then… we, err… we fudge on some of the moons and wing it on the meteors and we’re gold, right?” Ranko said. Talitha just shook her head.

“There aren’t any meteors…” Talitha said even quieter.

“No meteors?? What about comets?” Ranko asked. Talitha just kept shaking her head.

“Come on, Professor! You’re making me work too hard at this!” Ranko said, smiling as Shannon laughed. Alanna just watched them talk as she enjoyed her favorite pizza. No onions.

“I say we start with the planets and the sun, and add the Earth’s moon, and make a special piece of styrofoam that’s shaped like a rock for the asteroids,” Jessica said. “We could even draw some asteroids on the rock piece just like Talitha’s map.”

“That’s what I thought too, Hoshi,” Shannon said. “You know when I first saw Cici’s model I thought what would be neat would be if the base were labeled. Watch..” Shannon said, taking a piece of paper and drawing a quick picture of Cici’s first project.

“Shannon-sama draws the best, huh?” Jessica said. Cici nodded enthusiastically. Shannon completed her drawing, but she had added labels to the base of the model, underneath each planet, and next to where each was attached to the base.

“We could draw stars on the labels too. No wait!” Ranko said, picking up a marker and another piece of paper. “Make the paper black and draw white stars on it so it looks like space. Then put the labels in the planet’s color underneath each one. That would be awesome-looking.” Ranko drew a quick picture of a starry sky with the marker as she talked.

“I like Ranko-chan’s idea! We can make that on Talitha-chan’s computer!” Jessica said. “Maybe we can even use a real picture of space!”

“Did Cici’s model have orbits like that too?” Talitha asked, pointing at Shannon’s drawing.

“It was very accurate,” Alanna replied, nodding. “They were pieces of wire. We got some flexible wire from Parker’s too so we could make orbits.”

Talitha got up and walked over to her shelf of reference books.

“Uh oh,” Ranko said. “Professor’s getting out the books. Look out!” Jessica and Shannon both laughed as Talitha gathered four books on the solar system from her collection and carried them back to the table.

“Perhaps we could make a miniature orbit for Earth’s moon and attach it to the Earth piece.” Talitha said, pointing at the orbits Shannon had drawn.

“Sweet idea, Professor,” Ranko said, turning back to Shannon’s drawing as Jessica picked up one of the books with a color photograph of the planet Saturn on the cover. The five older girls continued discussing their various designs for the model.

Cici watched them all as they talked. They were all so serious about her project! Talitha was looking through her books and comparing them to Shannon’s drawing. Shannon and Alanna were both pointing at different parts of the drawing and discussing ways to improve it. Jessica was sorting through the parts they had bought at the crafts store and holding them up as they discussed each different part of the model. Ranko walked back to the table after examining Talitha’s wall map.

As the other girls talked, Ranko leaned over and bumped Cici with her arm.

“Kind of like having five big sisters, huh?” Ranko said with a wink. Cici giggled.

“Yeah!” she said. Cici felt so happy. She felt like she could accomplish anything as long as her big sisters were there to help.

To be continued…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

An hour later, Ranko greeted Alanna Kawa at the front curb of Talitha’s house.

“The Solar System Reconstruction Committee Secretary of Refreshments has arrived!” Ranko said, pushing both fists into the air. Alanna leaned over from the driver’s seat of her car to talk out the passenger window.

“Two pizzas. One a masterpiece. One a double-masterpiece.”

“So did you get one with peppers?” Ranko asked. Alanna nodded. “Mushrooms?” Alanna nodded again. “Onions?” Alanna’s expression soured.

“Of course not! How could you possibly think of ruining a pizza by putting onions on it?!?!”

“Okay, okay,” Ranko said. “Just checking there, boss.”

“Got drinks too, but I need help carrying both.”

“I’m on the job,” Ranko said as Alanna unlocked the door for her. The two girls carried the pizza and soda up the front walk of Talitha’s large two-story house.

When they arrived at Talitha’s room, Ranko stopped in the doorway. Talitha’s room was rectangular-shaped, and covering the entire length of the room on one side was a ten-foot-tall wall mural depicting the solar system with the sun at the far end behind Talitha’s desk and computer, and the tiny violet colored Pluto near the ceiling behind the door. The mural covered at least two hundred square feet.

Ranko whistled in a low tone. “That is the slickest wall decoration I have ever seen, Professor,” she said. “Goofy Bird wasn’t kidding when she said you had a map of the solar system. I thought she meant a poster or something, not the whole room!”

Talitha looked up from her desk and straightened her glasses, looking over the map once again. “Thank you very much, Ranko,” Talitha said graciously.

“Talitha-chan says her map makes her think about flying through space,” Jessica said, picking two bags up and putting them on the card tables Talitha had set up in the center of the room. Ranko and Alanna placed the pizzas on the tables next to the bags. Chairs were arranged all around the tables, one for each of the girls.

Later, after Talitha had shown all of the girls her reference books, computer, telescope and her sailing ship model from the Sports and Crafts Fair, Jessica and Ranko began pulling various items out of the bags from Parker’s Hobby Shop and Checker’s Fabric Store. Cici was giving Shannon a tour of the solar system by indicating each planet on Talitha’s wall map.

“Okay,” Shannon said. “Which one is Mercury again?” Cici ran to the small red planet near Talitha’s desk and pointed.

“That one!” she said proudly. “It’s the closest one to the sun and it’s the hottest too!”

“Okay,” Shannon smiled, folding her arms. “I’ll bet you can’t find… Neptune!” Cici smiled and ran along the wall a few steps and pointed at a much larger bluish colored planet near the door.

“That’s Neptune! That’s Neptune! It’s got like a million moons too, but it doesn’t have rings like Saturn does!” Shannon tried to keep from laughing.

“What about Jupiter?” Shannon said. Cici jumped and landed with both feet in front of the largest planet and pointed.

“That one!”

Shannon shook her head. “Are you sure it isn’t the little red planet next to Earth?”

Cici closed her eyes and shook her head. “Uh uh. It’s this one!” Cici pointed at the large planet several more times. “The biggest planet is Jupiter. The little red planet is Mars!” Cici’s expression was very serious as she pointed again.

“She’s too good at this, Miss Shannon. Little bit’s got the solar system down cold,” Ranko said, sipping her drink. “Pizza time, ladies. Get your favorite before it’s gone.”

As the six girls sat around the table eating and passing soda around, Ranko told Jessica and Talitha what had happened with Cici’s first project.

“That’s terrible what they did to your project!” Jessica exclaimed. “They should get in trouble for that.”

“Never going to happen with that crazy principal lady they have over there,” Ranko said, shaking her head. “She’s a real work of art, man. She came all the way out there to yell at us, and didn’t even believe what we told her. I’ll bet those three kids never heard a word about breaking little bit’s project.”

“I’m just worried there’s other kids at school those three are picking on,” Shannon said. “What about them? I wonder if they’ve hurt anyone else with their foolishness?”

“Well, anyway, we’ve got the committee together and we’re going to win first place for little bit. That’s a lock,” Ranko said, holding up her hand as Cici gave her a high-five and smiled.

To be continued…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved

“No no no, we need some serious brainpower for this. We’ve only got two days to get that project ready, and I know the perfect person for the job,” Ranko Yorozu said as she walked quickly through the double entrance doors to one of the larger campus buildings. Ranko was wearing her rollerblading protective gear, jeans and a bright orange oversized football jersey with a huge white number 98 on it. She was carrying the helmet and her rollerblades. Jessica and Shannon hurried to keep up. Ranko turned left and burst through the doors marked “Library.”

“Professor!” Ranko Yorozu shouted across the peaceful expanse of the main room at the Tree Shores High School Library. Talitha Hayashi very nearly threw her papers in the air from shock.

“Shhhh!” the librarian hissed almost as loud as Ranko’s shout, and Ranko recoiled at the unexpected sound, pulling her arms up to her chin and lifting one foot in a pretend defensive kung-fu kick. Shannon and Jessica both stifled laughs at Ranko’s over-dramatic reaction and Ranko grinned. All three girls climbed over the benches at Talitha’s table where she was surrounded by papers and books.

“So what are we doing today, Copernicus?” Ranko said quietly, leaning across the table and trying to cover as much area as she could with her arms as if she were trying to maintain a low profile. Ranko sat across from Talitha, who was still trying to recover from Ranko’s bombastic arrival. Shannon and Jessica sat on either side of the shy girl.

“I’m… oh, my…” Talitha held a hand just under her neck to calm herself. “I’m working on my Geology homework.”

“Great,” Ranko said, looking back and forth at the papers with another silly over-dramatic confused look. “Don’t understand a word of it. Know anything about the solar system?” Ranko said as she looked back up. Talitha nodded.

“She’s got a huge map of the solar system on the wall in her room,” Jessica said with a smile. “And a telescope too!”

“Perfect, you’re hired,” Ranko said. “Let’s go. Time’s wasting.” Ranko got up from the table and started walking towards the exit, making sure to keep her distance from the librarian, who followed Ranko with a disapproving glare all the way to the door.

Talitha looked back and forth between Jessica and Shannon with a confused look. Jessica just smiled. Shannon explained.

“Ranko’s trying to help Cici fix her solar system project for school because some kids broke the first one. We’re going to stop by Checker’s and that one hobby shop on the way home and get some stuff to build it with. It’s a crafts project.”

Talitha looked at Jessica with a ‘why me?’ expression.

“Talitha-chan, you know everything about the solar system! You can help us make Cici-chan’s project the best in the whoooole school!” Jessica put her hands out to both sides for emphasis. “Alanna-sama’s even gonna to bring pizza from Doubler’s! It’ll be like a party!”

Talitha looked back at Shannon as the two girls began gathering her papers and books. “But, but what about my Geology homework?” she asked.

“Oh you can do that later, Talitha-chan. This will be fun! Come on!” Jessica said. “We can go to your house, right?” Jessica asked. Shannon handed her the stack of textbooks.

“Come on!” Jessica said.

Talitha was still confused as they left the library.

To be continued…

LadyStar™ The Palace in the Sky is Copyright © 2006 Heavy Cat Multimedia Ltd. All Rights Reserved