Star-Crossed by Melissa Pollard (book recommendations for teens .TXT) 📖

The ship lurched. It shouldn't be lurching. We're in the middle of space for crying out loud.
"Somebody blow them up before I start having Novians for dinner," I threatened.
Jastrow ran to his station, "Captain, their shields are still up," he replied.
"Well then, fire the torpedoes! Bring them down! I won't be on an American plate for dinner today!" I looked at the screen; three white flares emitting from the bottom of it and heading straight for the American vessel. They exploded before hitting the ship. Their shields.
A small beeping came from my seat. They're calling us. I went to my seat and turned on my screen. A middle aged man appeared on it. He had a white goatee, and a bald spot on the top of his head. His brown eyes found mine, narrowing just a bit at our mutual relationship.
"Greetings, may I speak to the captain of this ship?" he questioned.
I paused. What, is he blind? "If you're referring to the captain of the ship you're standing on, I have no authority there. I'm assuming you're the captain, so if you want to talk to yourself, be my guest," I teased, "however, if you're referring to the ship I'm standing on, then you're talking to the captain."
He raised an eyebrow. "I would have assumed the captain to be older, and well, a male," he replied. Figures. Earthlings and their gender roles.
"Do you need something?" I asked.
He looked off the screen, "Stop firing on my ship... we didn't come here looking for a fight. All we want is to pass through on personal business."
Stop firing on his ship. Ha. Well, if he stops killing my people, I'll stop 'firing on his ship'. A young boy in the background shifted, catching my eye. He was looking over the captain's shoulder directly at me. When he noticed I was looking at him, he quickly turned away, but only for a split second, meeting my eye again. He had dark eyes, from what I could tell, and something about them look familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it at the moment. I turned my attention back to the captain, "Just this once," I stated, "The next time you come even within a light-year of my ship, I'll blow you to bits."
"Much appreciated," he replied, nodding.
I turned off the screen, displaying a large American vessel. The Jefferson

was painted on the side in large, red print; a needle inserted itself into my heart. Dad was not going to be happy. I turned towards Jastrow, "Come with me, I have a blaster I need to get out of my quarters."
He nodded, following me out of the command deck. We rode the elevator down to the 5th floor in silence. A faint 'ding' announced our arrival and the doors slid open. Jastrow and I paced down the hallway when Jastrow turned to go down Galvan Hall. I froze and watched him make his way down. He paused and looked behind him. His face was contorted with a melange of sorrow and guilt. Slowly he made his way back to me, stuttering, "S-sorry ma'am." His eyes were downcast, he refused to meet my eye.
A lump formed in my throat, "Oh Jastrow, no, no, no, you're fine," I lifted his chin, "look at me, look at me," his solemn eyes met mine, glistening just a bit, "you've done nothing wrong. Come, let's go." I patted him on the back, pulling him away from Galvan Hall. I looked back down the hallway, while it was brightly lit, the erie essence it gave crawled up my spine. The lump in my throat expanded, like a sponge that's absorbing water. I swallowed it down, and led Jastrow to my quarters.
We walked in silence for a few minutes before Jastrow spoke up, "Ma'am?"
"Yes Jastrow?"
"Do you think when we reach General Perry's ship, you can request him to allow Arria to transfer onto this ship?" he asked timidly.
Arria was Jastrow's girlfriend. The two worked together on my father's ship before I took command of the Lilium

and needed crew members. Jastrow was assigned to the Lilium

as first mate. Arria stayed on my fathers ship, The Phantom

. The two went to the same space academy and managed to get assigned on the same ship, but when I got involved in the war, we didn't need another medical officer. However, Arria was promoted to the commanding medical officer of The Phantom

. But this was six years ago. Now, they're hoping my father has found someone to replace Arria. "I'll ask," I told Jastrow. He smiled his goofy, lovesick smile.
When we arrived at my quarters, I punched in the room's code. A light clicking sounded and the doors pulled open.
"Mommy!" Siobhan came running up to me, her arms wide open.
I crouched down and opened my arms, scooping up Siobhan. She squeeled. "How's my favorite little space trooper?"
She giggled, "I don't wanna be a space trooper no more!"
I feigned a gasp, "Really? Well, what do you want to be?"
She wore a big grin on her face, "I wanna be like Mista Jastrow! I wanna be a first matey, and control the Lilium

when you're gone!"
I looked at Jastrow. He was chuckling. I put Siobhan down, "Well, I think he'd be proud if you were the one to take his job when he's done!" I whispered, "now, excuse me, I have a job for him." I stood up and went over to one of my cabinets and pulled out a small blaster. I handed it to Jastrow, "With all the spottings of Earthlings recently, I want you to have this, in case anything happens."
He nodded and left the room. I spun around to face Siobhan, "Mommy, can we go see daddy today?" she asked.
I hesitated, a small pang struck my heart, "Sure thing, sweetie."
Siobhan ran over to the materializer, "Two red rosies please!" she commanded.
Three beeps filled the air, "Commencing two red roses," spoke a feminized computer voice. The compartment next to the speaker began glowing, a low hum emitting from it. "Two red roses, complete," the computer addressed. Siobhan opened the compartment and pulled out the roses. She sniffed them, slowly rising to her tippy toes at the same time.
She ran over to me, one of the roses in her outstretched hand. "One for mommy to give to daddy too?"
I plucked it from her fingers, "Why thank you! Don't mind if I do!" She grabbed my other hand and led me out of my quarters. We walked in silence for a bit, before I asked, "So how's school?"
She beamed up, "Super coolio!" I giggled at her word choice, "today Aven asked the teacher why the ship was shaking."
Curiousity struck me, "What did the teacher say?"
"That the bloody Earthlings were being attacked by a giant space gorilla and they wanted in our ship, but you wouldn't let them because we are at a war with them!" I chuckled, that would be Mr. Bowie. "Then Saeran asked why we are at war with them."
My ears perked up, "Now what happened?"
Siobhan pouted, "He didn't say much. All he said was the Earthlings were controlling and people didn't like it so they left, but I wanna know more!"
"The first thing you should know then is that Earthlings weren't controlling, but the American government was," I stated, "Way back in the 21st century, the American government tried to pass an act called the SOPA act, which stood for Stop Online Piracy Act. This act would limit all of the world's use of the internet. Both the American and non-American people grew furious over this. The Americans were upset because 200 years before that they went to war with the British to fight for individual freedoms, and this included freedom of press. The SOPA act would take that freedom away in the internet, and the Americans didn't like that. The rest of the world was furious as well, because this act wouldn't limit just the Americans internet, but theirs too! Thankfully for them, the act didn't pass, but that didn't stop the American government from trying to limit the people's freedom.
"As other nations became aware of this, they tried to find ways around it. A few scientists found a planet that could substain life and nations began researching ways to get there and live there. They got scientists to develop what was needed to live there, like types of food or a stable oxygen supply. They also got historians to research the roots of what made a colony successful, such as should they focus more on getting an abundant supply of food, or should they begin amassing an army.
"The first people to reach this new planet were the Portuguese, so they named it Novan, which came from 'nova', meaning 'new' in English. Next came the Russians with many advanced forms of research. The British came shortly after that, but when they came, the American government was fully aware of what was going on, because the worlds population was dwindling. They knew people were leaving, but they didn't realize they weren't coming back!
"Well, earlier in history, the American government had closed down America's space station, known as National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, so they had to open that up again. But this took them a while, giving Novan plenty of time to expand. When the American government could finally reach Novan, they sent a diplomat and requested peace. The Novans accepted this, and the two opened trade with each other. The American government proceeded to take over Earth, and when they took control of it all, they wanted more. That's when they slowly began taking control of Novan, but having seen this already, Novan fought back, thus beginning the Novian Revolution."
Siobhan continued walking. She had a blank expression across her face. When she realized I was done, she looked up at me, her dark brown eyes meeting mine. I don't know where she got them, both mine and her fathers were blue. "Sweetness!" she chirped. I was surprised she followed all that. "Look, daddy!"
My heart jumped. We were in Galvan Hall. Siobhan ran up to him, her eyes gleaming. She held up her rose to his face, "look daddy, we got you rosies!" His eyes just stared, unblinking; his face unchanging, not smiling or frowning. I walked up behind Siobhan, resting my hand on her shoulder. My eyes met her fathers. "Mommy, give daddy your rosie!" I held up my rose to his face, letting him smell it, before I placed it down on the floor in front of him. Siobhan did the same thing. I looked him in the eye, his eyes were a light blue with golden slivers.
My eyes wandered down to his sternum, finding a gold plaque that read:
"Hanaya Telphor: 2,356 - 2,378"
The lump came back, this time as a solid boulder. I was seeing his face again, but it was motionless, not even an inch of life in it. "Mommy, don't cry," Siobhan commanded, "You'll see daddy again!"
I crouched down to Siobhan's level, "Yes, I will, and you'll meet him one day!" She smiled shyly. I picked her up and raised her up to Hanaya's face. She brushed his nose gingerly, dust coming off. I frowned. "Looks like I need to get the janitors to this hall don't I?"
"Daddy needs a clean face," she agreed.
"Let's go, we're on our way to go see Grandpa!" Siobhan's eyes enlarged to an abnormal size, her goofy smile