{"id":330,"date":"2023-05-19T08:44:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T08:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/ajh\/?page_id=330"},"modified":"2025-12-12T08:36:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T08:36:35","slug":"crisis-at-calista-station","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/?page_id=330","title":{"rendered":"Crisis at Calista Station: #2 in The Portal Adventures"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; margin: 5px 5px 5px 5px;\">\n<table style=\"border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid; background-color: #ffffff;\" width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td style=\"border-color: #ffffff #cccc99 #ffffff #ffffff; border-style: solid;\" width=\"30%\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-246\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/CrisisAtCalistaStation.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/CrisisAtCalistaStation.jpg 400w, https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/CrisisAtCalistaStation-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-245\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h3>\u00a0 <a class=\"maxbutton-1 maxbutton maxbutton-clemhorn-nightfall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/books2read.com\/u\/3GNpw8\"><span class='mb-text'>Order from Your Favourite Store<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<p>or order direct from your local bookstore<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/peasantrypress.com\/index.html\">Published by Peasantry Press<\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"border-color: #ffffff #ffffff #ffffff #ffffff; border-style: solid;\">\n<h1><i>Crisis at Calista Station<\/i><\/h1>\n<h2>by<\/h2>\n<h3>Andrew J Harvey<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"center\">Book 2 of<br \/>\nThe Portal Adventures<\/h3>\n<p class=\"centerindent\">Tania was getting tired of not having any friends because, every time her mom changed her job, they had to move. But this time Mom had really gone too far and dragged Tania away with her to a temporary posting as senior security officer on Calista Station.<\/p>\n<p class=\"centerindent\">Things start to look up for Tania when she meets Mark and his friends Windracer and Shr\u2019un. Windracer is an apprentice mediator, there to observe trade talks, while Shr\u2019un\u2019s father is a technician for Malachi Mining, the same company where Tania\u2019s mom works . But all is not well. star-stones, gems forged in the heart of a dying sun, are being stolen and smuggled from the Station. When Shr\u2019un\u2019s father disappears, it appears that he may have been involved with the smugglers , but then things go from bad to worse \u2013 Tania\u2019s mom disappears as well! Now it is up to Tania, Mark, Windracer, and Shr\u2019un, with a little help from Shr\u2019un\u2019s highly illegal AI, to solve the mystery and rescue the missing parents.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9nQuv6OtuwA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Praise for <i>Crisis at Calista Station<\/i> book 2 in the series<\/h2>\n<p class=\"centerindent\">&#8220;Intriguing, filled with fast paced, exciting adventure for the youngsters, a mystery to solve, some space travel \u2013 what\u2019s not to love! Highly recommended for the young, and young at heart ?&#8221; &#8211; <i> Brenda, GoodReads&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<h2>Praise for <i>The Portal Adventures<\/i><\/h2>\n<p class=\"centerindent\">&#8220;An unforgettable, fast-paced intergalactic adventure &#8230; An outstanding innovation on a well-loved theme. The Portal Adventures is well-told and yes, thoroughly believable.&#8221; &#8211; <i>Shelley Davidow, internationally acclaimed author of Shadow Sisters<\/i><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td style=\"border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;\" colspan=\"2\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Chapter One<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cTania!\u201d her teacher said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cSorry Miss.\u201d Tania tore her attention from the flies buzzing at the window.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ms. Denfry sighed. \u201cI asked if you knew the name of the system where we find the Millennium Planet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cEpsilon Eridani,\u201d Tania guessed off the top of her head.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ms. Denfry shook her head, looking around her small class of thirteen-year-olds. \u201cAnyone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">As Tania expected, Charles raised his hand. Charles was such a nerd!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cYes, Charles,\u201d Ms. Denfry said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cTau Bootes, Miss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cCorrect,\u201d Ms. Denfry said, turning back to the holographic projection of the planet gently spinning above her desk. \u201cNow, everyone turn their readers to page 45.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Tania stuck her tongue out at Charles, but he had already buried his nose in his tablet and failed to notice. With a sigh, Tania bought up the screen on Tau Bootes \u2013 school was so boring! Luckily, she only had to put up with Ms. Denfry droning on for another ten minutes before the bell sounded and school was out for the weekend.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cTania,\u201d Ms. Denfry called, as she headed for the door.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Tania looked back.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cCan I see you for a moment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">What now, Tania thought with a sigh.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ms. Denfry waited until the rest of the class left. \u201cIs everything all right?\u201d she asked, seating herself behind her desk. \u201cIt\u2019s just you haven\u2019t been paying attention in class, and it\u2019s been getting worse over the past couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Tania shrugged. It wasn\u2019t worth making the effort because she probably wasn\u2019t going to be there next term, but try explaining that to a teacher.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ms. Denfry studied her, wondering just what she was going to do with her. Tania scowled, and obviously uncomfortable with the scrutiny started to fidget with the strands of hair that had escaped from its ponytail. Her sun-bleached blond hair, coupled with her mother\u2019s deep-olive skin, short, snubbed nose, and slightly pointed ears sometimes gave Tania the appearance of a mischie vous pixie. Now though, Ms. Denfry thought Tania looked more like an imp on the edge of outright rebellion.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It wasn\u2019t even as if she was bad, Ms. Denfry thought with a sigh, as Tania continued to avoid her eyes; she just didn\u2019t engage. Hiding another sigh, she reached into the top drawer of her desk and pulled out the envelope she\u2019d addressed to Tania\u2019s mother. \u201cI\u2019d like your mother to come in and talk to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cSure,\u201d Tania said, taking the envelope.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">As though her mother needed the grief!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ms. Denfry watched Tania put the envelope in her bag. \u201cI\u2019ll phone her if I don\u2019t hear anything by Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">And now she didn\u2019t trust Tania to deliver her stupid letter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cIs that all?\u201d Tania said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ms. Denfry looked at her levelly for a moment and then nodded. \u201cI\u2019ll see you Monday,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Tania shrugged. Whatever, she thought.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Outside, the schoolyard was already deserted. Not that Tania expected anyone to be waiting for her, but it might have been nice if someone had. Who was she fooling though? She didn\u2019t have any friends. Every time she had made some, her mother got a new job and they had to move.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Dragging her feet on the bitumen, she started the long walk home. She just wished they could stay somewhere for more than six months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"center\" style=\"text-align: left;\">***<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">When she got home the frontdoor was open and her mother\u2019s car was in the garage. \u201cMom,\u201d she called, wondering if anything was wrong. Her mother wasn\u2019t normally home this early. She let the screen door slam behind her as she dropped her bag on the floor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cIn here,\u201d her mother called from the main bedroom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Tania followed her voice to find the suitcase open on the bed and her mother busy sortingn&gt;clothesn&gt;inton&gt;piles.n&gt;Mrs.n&gt;Martin\u2019sn&gt;shoulder-length blond hair was pulled back into an untidy ponytail, in an unconscious echo of her daughter\u2019s. A smudge of dirt marked the side of her nose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cHi,sweetheart,\u201d her mothern said, holding her cheek up to be kissed. \u201cI\u2019m packing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cDuh, I can see that.\u201d Sometimes her mother was so dense. Maybe it was the blond. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cI\u2019ve been asked to relieve as head of security at Calista Station for seven weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cOut-system?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Her mother nodded.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cTomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">At least her mother had the grace to look guilty.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cWhat about our vacation? You promised we\u2019d go to Disney on the Gold Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cI\u2019m sorry sweetheart, I don\u2019t have any choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cYeah, right. There\u2019s always a choice.\u201d She\u2019d been really looking forward to the vacation. She\u2019d even boasted about it at school.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cNot this time, I\u2019m afraid. Bill made it quite clear if I didn\u2019t take the job Malachi Mining would rescind my contract.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cThat\u2019s so unfair.\u201d Maybe her mother wasn\u2019t perfect, but that stank!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cTo be fair sweetheart, Bill didn\u2019t really have a choice. There\u2019s no one else they can send, and the other security officer on the Station has only been working for us for a couple of weeks. Besides, we won\u2019t be going for that long. I made it quite clear we needed to be back before the start of next term.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cWe? Me as well?\u201d Tania said, shocked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cYou too. Aunt Sarah is away and I can\u2019t contact her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cWhat about school? There\u2019s still three weeks left till the end of term.\u201d Not that she really cared about school, but she wasn\u2019t going to let her mother know that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cI\u2019ve already spoken to your principal. He said it was all right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">At least she wouldn\u2019t have to give her mother Ms. Denfrey\u2019s letter. And out-system, maybe that wouldn\u2019t be too bad. She didn\u2019t know anyone who\u2019d been out-system before.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cI\u2019m sorry, sweetheart. I know things have been difficult since your father died, but we just have to soldier on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cYeah, sure.\u201d Tania sniffed, indicating what she thought of how her mother had been soldiering on. Maybe burying herself in her work was her mother\u2019s way of soldiering on, but Tania thought it sucked. Four countries in two years; no wonder she\u2019d given up trying to make friends.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cAre we taking the Space Elevator?\u201d she asked hopefully, referring to the four gigantic structures placed around the Earth\u2019s equator that reached all the way into space. The closest to Sydney was Nauru\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Mrs. Martin shook her head. \u201cWe don\u2019t have time. The Elevator takes a week for the trip up to the transfer point, so we\u2019re taking the shuttle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cCool.\u201d She remembered seeing the shuttle and its lifter at Sydney Airport, the last time they\u2019d been there. The lifter was enormous, easily twice the size of a normal jumbo.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cThe taxi will be here to pick us up at five tomorrow morning. The shuttle doesn\u2019t leave until five pm, but we\u2019ve got to get to the airport six hours before take-off to have our pressure suits fitted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cI\u2019ll go and pack then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cIt\u2019s all right, I\u2019ve already done it. We\u2019re only going for two months, and to tell the truth, we haven\u2019t got much left have we?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Tania looked at the small pile of clothes and the single suitcase lying on the bed, remembering when her mother would have needed at least five suitcases for a trip. That was before her father died.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cWe\u2019ve got a pretty tight weight restriction,\u201d her mother said. \u201cBut you might want to check I\u2019ve packed everything you\u2019ll need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cNo, that\u2019s fine.\u201d Tania sighed; it was obvious her mother had everything under control. \u201cDo you want me to start tea?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cIf you could. I thought we\u2019d have pasta tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Tania headed off to the kitchen, unaware of how her mother\u2019s sad, tired eyes followed her out of the room.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>About The Author<\/h2>\n<p>ANDREW spent his high-school years in the school&#8217;s library lost in the worlds of Andre Norten, Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov. Reading in turn led to writing, with the first draft of the Garden Adventures originally completed to read to his two sons at night. Now his children have left home he lives in Perth with his wife, one dog, and sixty four gold fish.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew&#8217;s first published short story (A Messenger to the Dragon) appeared in Aurealis &#8211; Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1992. In 2016 he signed a three book deal with Canada&#8217;s Peasantry Press for a series of three young adult (middle grade), action Science Fiction adventures. The open ended series is a combination of Caroline Lawrence&#8217;s Roman Mysteries and Andre Norton&#8217;s juvenile speculative fiction.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4 class=\"center\">CRISIS AT CALISTA STATION<\/h4>\n<p class=\"center\">Book 2 of the <i>Portal Adventures<\/i><br \/>\nThe moral rights of Andrew J Harvey to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted.<\/p>\n<p>All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author or publisher.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2020 Peasantry Press<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 or order direct from your local bookstore Published by Peasantry Press Crisis at Calista Station by Andrew J Harvey Book 2 of The Portal Adventures Tania was getting tired of not having any friends because, every time her mom changed her job, they had to move. But this time Mom had really gone too &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/?page_id=330\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Crisis at Calista Station: #2 in The Portal Adventures<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-330","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":721,"href":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions\/721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewjharvey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}