The Odyssey - In Space | Teen Ink

The Odyssey - In Space

March 22, 2012
By ChristKid, Woodbury, Minnesota
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ChristKid, Woodbury, Minnesota
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Author's note: Actually, this book started out as an assignment for English. Now I want more people to read it, especially those who love action stories, but also have a need for science fiction.

The author's comments:
Atmosphere Designated Ships - small planes that hover over a planet’s crust, not meant for outer space use. small fleet - Odysseus’ small fleet was one large space ship, with many smaller ships to guard it. lethal aliens - One example would be the Ignamacle, a large beast with three types of poison in its fangs. reward - On Circe’s planet, the dead spirits considered a reward to be any human contact, so Odysseus didn’t have to bring anything except himself. objects - Charybdis may have sucked in all of Odysseus’ fleet. She also attracted things like satellites or certain metal-eating aliens.

Words were lost on Hermes the navigator. He started up his sleek, gold-colored, star ship that would flow over the shining dust. His tools were at his side, ready for any mission. His ship left the planet of Pierialoa to fly through the great expanse of blue, white, and black. His only other company was a stray passenger vessel, searching for a planet to refuel on.

Ahead was his goal, the planet ruled by Calypso, who was residing there now. The great mass she called her home was a beautiful one, the leafy green trees were brightened by the sun passing through them. The water bubbled softly in a brook as the sun glistened off each individual drop. The grass even swayed to the soft, warm breeze in peaceful harmony. Even for a Great Being such as himself, this could be a spectacular home.


The familiar radio patterns of her palace caught on his antennae, revealing that this was indeed his destination. He touched down and made his way towards her palace. Where was Odysseus, the cause for his journey?

Now Hermes tells Calypso that Odysseus must be allowed to leave her planet, to return to his family and home planet of Ithacastus.

Odysseus looked into the jet black sky and longed for Ithacastus. Calypso said,

“Oh Odysseus, calm yourself, I will let you go back to Ithacastus.”
Calypso promises food, fuel, and water for his journey back to Ithacastus.


They returned back to the palace and she gave him food and drink for the long space trek.

“Son of Laertes, do you still wish to return to that planet of Ithacastus?” she sighed, “Still, have a good journey, though you will face trouble in the void of space. Why do you want to go back? Is it because of your wife? I am more beautiful and intelligent than her, the lowly human, aren’t I?”

Odysseus was a strategist, so he answered:

“Great Being, there isn’t any trouble, Penelope is only a Low Being and is pale in comparison to you; I want to go back home though, to Ithacastus where I was born and raised. Let me leave.”
So Odysseus takes a ship and goes off into space, but a Great Being notices his leaving. Poseidon controls the gravity currents of the universe, so he forces Odysseus to land. He crash lands on Scheriacasaunt where he hides under some wreckage of his ship and rests.

Odysseus if found by the daughter of Alcinous, King of the Phericians. A performer starts singing a song about Odysseus’ blockade on Troyadicus. He remembers all of the friends he left during that ten year war and starts sobbing uncontrollably. Alcinous asks him to reveal his identity. Now Odysseus starts his story…



“I am the son of Laertes, Odysseus. I lived on Ithacastus, it was a very surface, but that made it all the better two train and grow up on. I love it more than anything, even the Great Being Circe, who kept me on her planet. Even more than Calypso who detained me in her palace. It is even greater than a planet made of gold.”


“The Great Being Zeus pushed us across the void to the planet of Ismarostella. We stayed there, enslaving the females and wiping out the planetary defense system. I told my fleet to return, but they were mutinous. The planet’s bounty tempted them to stay.”


“After a while, the small are of the planet we occupied regained use of the planetary defense system. Sixty men were lost on each ship.”


“Zeus roused furious solar waves from a the galaxy’s sun against us. Our force fields were almost useless, so we hid our fleet in the shadow of a large moon. After a full revolution the waves had gone and we moved off. But the gravitational currents of outer space hurtled us around Malean and past Cytherapolah. For 216 standard hours we were caught in the gravity of surrounding planets.”


“We finally broke off and flew for shelter to restock and refuel. The planet we went to was inhabited by aliens who lived on only plant matter. Each ship’s ground force gathered. I sent out a small scout party to gather information concerning this odd planet. After a while of them not returning, we checked out the last transmission they had sent. It mentioned a plant called the lotus. We researched it and found that the lotus is beautiful to look at and even better to eat. It has special pleasure pheromones that cause the human brain to forget about all complicated thoughts. They never came back because they had eaten the lotus. I had to force them back to the ship, locking them in the lower decks. I sent word that we were off and that no one should eat the lotus, else they will never return home.”

The fleet lands on a barren planet and takes shelter in a massive cavern that covers a small fraction of the planet. The set up camp and ate.



“A massive giant with only one eye entered, dropping the planet’s plant life on his primitive fireplace. When we heard the crash we all scattered into hiding places. He let in his pack animals to milk and sealed the cavern’s gate. Twenty-four Troyadicirian plasma cannons couldn’t have destroyed the doors. He gathered the food these animals produced and ate it for his evening meal. Then he saw us.”


“‘Who are you? Where do you come from?’ he asked”


“I replied, we are from Troyadicus, we tumbled here off of the gravitational currents of the surrounding planets, and we wiped out the inhabitants of Troyadicus and destroyed its defenses, soon after we departed. You should give us gifts or Zeus will punish you.”


“He said to us, ‘Ha ha! Who do you think you are? The might of Zeus and all the other Great Beings doesn’t scare me enough to give you anything! But wait, where did you say you landed your large ships?’”


“I was ready for something like this, so lied to him, ‘The Being Poseidon destroyed our ships as we came above this planet, and we were the only survivors to escape.”


“He didn’t even flinch; he swept up many of our small scout ships and ate them. A beast who consumed metal was a new threat to me, so I was taken aback. We all retreated to our camps and waited till morning. What could I do though, kill him? If I did we would all be trapped here. We would have to wait until morning.”


“The sensors showed that it was morning on this awful planet. The beast woke up many hours after we did though. He harvested the milk from his odd livestock then ate two more scout #atmosphere designated ships. Then he took his animals out for them to graze and shut the gate so that we couldn’t escape. We were trapped.”


“So we waited.”


“So we thought.”


“Now I knew what to do. We found a massive tree in the cave and laser-sharpened it. We used our carbon-fiber cables to fasten it to most of the ships and waited for the beast to return.”


“The monster herded in his livestock again and milked them. He ate two more ships. I offered him some of our fuel, thinking that if he liked metal, he might also like oil. We sneaked in some chemicals to make him “woozy”. It worked, he was as drunk as a giant monster that eats metal and milks aliens could be.”


“He said, ‘Ah. For this I will eat your ship last. But what is your name good man?’”


“‘My name is Nobody,’ I told him. Then I gave the command for the ships holding the spike to drive it into his eye. It was thrust in with a huge squelching sound. He roared, he yelled, ‘Argh! My eye! Help, help!’”


“His brothers were passing by and asked, ‘Polyphemus, is someone murdering you?’ He replied, ‘Nobody is hurting me, Nobody is ruining me!’ The whole scouting party roared with laughter.”


“Now the animals were almost as large as the ships we had. So I thought up an escape plan. Now that Polyphemus couldn’t see we put our ships under the animals. The next morning, he let out his livestock along with us, though he didn’t know it. Right when the last ship was clear, we jetted off for the main ships. I couldn’t help but send down a transmission to him saying, ‘IF ANYONE ASKS WHO DEFEATED YOU, TELL THEM IT WAS ODYSSEUS OF ITHICASTUS!’ The monster roared and fired his largest cannon blindly. The charge exploded near us and sent a shockwave that pushed our ships out to the void.”

After their narrow escape, the fleet rests on another planet, AeoliaRentar, where the gravity Being, Aeolus, gives Odysseus a gravity-control box as a favor. Odysseus hides it on a ship. His crew thinks it has treasure in it so they play with it; it causes the ships to fall back to AeoliaRentar. Aeolus pushes them away.
They land on the planet of the Laestrygonians, every fleet except Odysseus’ is destroyed The #small fleet lands on Aeaeanirvana, where Circe, the sorceress lives. Twenty-three ships venture out and explore the planet.



“They all flew past the usually #lethal aliens, but they were not harmed. Circe invited them all in except for the leader Eurylochus. She prepared provisions for them, but poisoned them so that they all lost hope of returning home. Then she attacked them and used odd magic to turn them into animals used for meat. Eurylochus ran back and told us the bad news, that our companions were lost.”

Odysseus rushes to Circe’s palace, but is stopped by Hermes, who gives him the antidote to her poison. Odysseus persuades her to let the men go and stays with her for a while. After years of staying, they want to leave, but Circe tells them they have to go to the land of the dead. This is on the other side of the planet and they are to talk to the blind prophet Teiresias.



“Then I promised #reward to the man if he prophesied for me; many other dead people were drawn to the promise of reward and I was scared. He came through the crowd and said, ‘Odysseus, you will be the only survivor of your journey home, but there you will find many evil life-forms wanting to marry your wife. You must kill them to return to your former stature.’”

Odysseus returns to Circe’s side of the planet and she tells him that he will meet many trials. He will come upon the Sirens who send out wonderful signals that repair all problems a ship might have, but it would not let that ship go. She told him how he would come upon space monsters and he would lose six of his guard-ships. She says he will come to an island with many animals to eat. They are not to be consumed because a Great Being lives there and will punish his fleet if he loses even one beast.
Odysseus tells the men everything he heard from Circe except for the fact that he will be the only survivor and they set off.



“So we set off. I told my men that they needed to block all incoming transmissions when we passed the asteroid field, because Sirens (a people who had constructed the enticing transmitters) would seduce the ships into staying there. I however attached myself to one of the ships and kept my transmitter receiver on so that my personal vessle would be healed.”


“We made it past the Sirens and moved on to go in between two planets that were gravitationally locked very closely. On one was the monster Scylla who had six space craft-sized heads. The other had Charybdis, an alien that magnetically attracted and ejected many #objects. We had to stay on the side of Scylla because she was not as dangerous. She took off six of my guard ships and we mourned for them because they were our friends.”

Odysseus commands the remaining fleet to go to Thrilankain but tells them to not touch any of the livestock there.



“After a while on the planet, our rations ran low and space was dangerous due to the system’s sun giving off too much solar wind. I went off to plead with the Great Beings for help. Unfortunately, I fell asleep and when I returned, the men were feasting on the livestock. The owner of these “sun cattle” found out and asked Zeus to punish us. When we finally left the planet, Zeus sent a solar wave to destroy our ship, I was the only one to escape with an escape pod.”

The author's comments:
Athena - Athena is the Great Being of knowledge in the universe. Since Odysseus is so wise, she loves to help him out. She also loves the suspense of mortals in danger. The kiss - A symbol of respect from eons ago. No one is sure why it is still used, but it is still a respectful way to greet others. kaninite - almost an Earth dog, a kaninite is able to mimic many mating calls of animals, making it useful for hunting. Odysseus' blaster - This particular blaster was custom-made for Odysseus. The settings are like a password, and the gun doesn’t fire without the correct one. His foreign drink - Similar to the Lotus. The drink he is consuming increases pleasure, and some planets consider it a drug. Athena's Forcefiedl - Athena has an ugly engraving on her force field. Only a special laser can cut a force field artistically. Flattree - A tree that grows about a foot up off the ground then fans out slowly. It is only found on Ithicastus.

The king of the Phericians gives Odysseus gifts and sends him back to Ithacastus on a Pherician ship. Odysseus dons the disguise of a humanoid robot, and finds his loyal servant Emaeus who gives him rest and fuel.
The Great Being #Athena (Odysseus’ helper) appears to Telemechus. Telemechus had traveled to Spartarion and Pylosantia to find news of his father’s state of life. Athena tells him to return to Ithacastus because the suitors are spending Telemechus’ inheritence money. She says that the suitors are going to kill Telemechus when he gets home so he
secretly returns. Father and son are growing closer together.

Odysseus heard the crunch of footsteps outside. Who could it be? The person gets closer and walks in the door. At first the blinding light shines through and blinds Odysseus, but the man moves his head to block the light of this planet’s sun. It is Telemechus! His son from years ago! Joy courses through Odysseus as he almost bounces in his seat, but he must not reveal his identity.

The servant Emaeus rushes up and #kisses Telemechus on the forehead.

“What did you find out about Odysseus Telemecus? Is he alive?” asked the servant.

“I found nothing concerning my father Uncle. But I have a question for you, has my mother chosen a suitor, or does she wait for my true father?” the second asked.

“No one has filled the hole in her heart, for I hear her weeping every night in her surveillance dome, wishing for Odysseus to return and comfort her again,” replied Emaeus. The humble servant prepared a meal for the guests and they ate in silence.

Telemechus warns Odysseus of the men in his home. He tells him that if he stays there the suitors will drunkenly abuse him.
Emaus travels to the palace to tell Penelope that her dear son has returned with no news. Athena can’t even stand the suspense so she turns Odysseus back to his normal self, but now he is younger and stronger. He is in his prime again.


“Are you a Great Being stranger? I thought you were a machine, but now you are human with no beard and youth in plenty!” cried Telemechus, “Who are you?”

“Ha ha! I am not a Great Being my boy. I am your dear father who left so long ago!” replied Odysseus, full of glee.

“Father!” exclaimed his son. Odysseus ran and hugged Telemechus with twenty years of built up love. Telemechus hasn’t seen him for years and returns with equal enthusiasim. “But how did you turn into a man?” asked Telemechus, “Only a Great Being could do such a thing!”

“Athena is the one responsible for this miracle my son! Now, we must talk,” Odysseus replied.

Telemechus returns to the palace. A prophet has told Penelope that Odysseus has traveled the galaxy alive and has returned to Ithacastus. Telemechus doesn’t tell her that he has seen his father. Odysseus travels to the castle in his droid disguise. Only his old hunting dog-like alien recognizes him.

Argos the #kaninite senses an old presence nearby. Is it his old master? Yes it is the master! He must wag his tail and get over there, but ouch! His old bones can’t even shudder from the cold anymore. Maybe his master will understand.


“Oh, there is my puppy from years ago. Now he is old and worn out and I never got to hunt with him. Look at him now, all sad and beaten up. Those suitors will pay for this!” thought Odysseus. He told Emaeus how good of a kaninite the animal looks like. Emaeus tells him that an old master of his used to own him but now the master is dead. But now not even the maids take care of him. Odysseus is quite saddened. They moved into the hall of Odysseus.

Now when they arrive, the suitors start teasing the droid Odysseus and abuse him. Penelope appears and reproaches them all for showing hatred toward a guest. She sings sons of Odysseus and warms his hear.
Telemechus and Odysseus discuss their plan. Odysseus tests the maids who have been unfaithful to their husband and been “involved” with the suitors.
Odysseus tells lies about his birthplace and life story. He tells Penelope that he has heard that Odysseus is returning home as they speak. As the old nurse-droid washes Odysseus’ feet, she recognizes him and is sworn to secrecy. Athena uses a gadget to wipe the scene from Penelope’s memory. Athena tells Odysseus that the servants and suitors will die.
Penelope creates a test for the suitors, they must load and set Odysseus’ #blaster, he is the only one who knows the correct combination, and they must fire it accurately without any computer guidance. Again, only Odysseus is capable of this.


Penelope fetched the massive weapon from her vault, it has been there since the days of her husband’s departure. She tried not to burst out with weeping while she wheeled it to the firing range. She said, “Lords and suitors, you may marry me if you are the one who can set this weapon to aim and destroy a target one mile away. You cannot use computer aiming systems, you must use your eye. I haven’t seen any other quality in any of you that would make me want to marry you, so prove yourself this time to me. I will be wed to the victor.
No suitors can even set the correct settings.

As the snuck out, Odysseus asks the servant Emaeus if he would follow his old mast should he appear back at the palace. Emaeus of course answers yes and Odysseus is filled with joy at the loyalty of his slave.

“Good, because I am that man. Look, I have the wound of a Terisii Boar’s horn on my leg,” said Odysseus, revealing the cut. Emaeus cries out with happiness and Odysseus orders them to follow him slowly and when he gives the signal, to attack the suitors. The men had already stolen the suitors’ weapons while they were partying.

Odysseus returns to the firing range and asks to try. At first the suitors laugh at him, but he eventually gets a try, he sets the weapon to the correct program, aims the cannon and fires. After several seconds the target bursts into flames and the whole field is silent.


Almost in slow motion, Odysseus lifts the barrel of the gun on his shoulder, aims at the main suitor who is drinking some #foreign drink, and incinerates the whole of him. A beat of silence follows, and Emaeus and Telemechus jump out from behind the pillars and begin to mow down the suitors. A few of them find some weapons and try to fight back but Athena gives Odysseus a famous sign of her #intricate force field and he is filled with fury and energy. In a few more minutes, nothing is left of the suitors, but their half filled, greasy goblets.

The new husband of Penelope orders the maids associated with the suitors to clean up the field and then goes to kill them outside. Odysseus goes to Penelope and reveals his true identity.

“How can I believe you are my husband?” asked Penelope, “I want you to be him more than anything, but you look younger that when you left! What could have caused that? A Great Being? I doubt it.”

“Penelope!” cried Odysseus, “Can’t you see it is me? Oh after all these years you are stubborn, but really who can blame you? I’ve been gone for a decade or two, I understand, but you must have faith wife!”

“Fine, but first you must have a bed made up for you. ‘Maid, come here!’ Go and take my Odysseus’ bed out of our chamber and place it in the hallway,” ordered Penelope.

“What?” yelled Odyesseus, “No one can move that bed. It is a #flattree that grows out of the ground only a foot or two. I encased it in rare metals and soft fabrics and then constructed our home around it. No one can ever move that bed! How dare you woman!”

Her eyes flooded with the joy and love from so long ago, “Oh Odysseus, forgive me for not recognizing you! You are the only one who would know that come back and welcome home, we have missed you many years and I am filled up with happiness! I love you Odysseus, so much!”

So Odysseus lived for the rest of his days on Ithicastus, with his wife, son, and servants. He never left home again.



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