Phantasm 1: For the Light of the Stars (one)

The Chosen are powerful operatives within the Commonwealth of Races who possess the ability to touch minds, to see memories, to steal identities. Little is known about them and their methods by the public, only that they are the main weapons in the war against the Shurukian Star Empire, a fierce warrior race threatening galactic stability.

After surviving a personal trauma, Laura Wilcox is recruited into training to become one of these Chosen. On the training facility, Laura befriends a mysterious alien called Willow who has no past — and apparently no soul.

As Laura learns more about the Chosen and her own abilities, as her powers begin to develop beyond anything previously encountered, doubts begin to form in her mind of the righteousness of their cause. Are the Chosen really defenders or oppressors? And does Willow really exist, for does a creature who does not possess a soul truly live?

For the Light of the Stars is a journey into the heart and mind of a young woman as she faces her coming of age amongst the stars and discovers beauty, friendship and love… and betrayal.

This is a work of fiction. All features are a product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this work may be reproduced without consent first being given.

For the Light of the Stars Christopher J. Levinson Part 1 (chapters one through four of eighteen)

I have no romantic feelings about age. Either you are interesting at any age or you are not. There is nothing particularly interesting about being old — or being young, for that matter.

It was early morning and already there were many signs of life. Distributed across Capital’s great utopia were the golden twinkles of light shining in homes, early-morning dwellers preparing for work or school, or simply those who could not sleep the night before.

Laura was not one of those awake, not yet. She was drifting in-between awareness. She didn’t know there were forms looming over her while she slept. She wouldn’t have seen them even if she had been awake, anyway. They were beings of energy from another realm, creatures that could not easily be comprehended by the human eye.

She seems so weak, said one of the phantasms in its own language. How can she be the one to free us? She is but a child.

Her mind has yet to form, said the second. She still cares for life.

Yes, but will she care for us? Or will being freed by her simply become another form of captivity? said the first.

That is what none of us can be sure of, said the second. We must wait and watch and guide… and hope. We can do no more. We are meant to do no more.

Enough, said the first. She begins to wake.

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Laura Wilcox stirred in her bed, her eyes adjusting to the warm light that spread across her face. She blinked to relieve the last haze of sleep and rolled the sheets off her body, relishing the caressing breeze from an open window. She felt the ache of fatigue deep inside her, a companion she was becoming more accustomed to. No illness plagued her, she was simply ageing, going through the last changes that accompanied the metamorphosis of adolescence to adulthood. Her mind had advanced years before and she’d wilfully accepted the increased responsibilities which came with that development. She had almost achieved the combined maturity that had eluded her for so long. Still, sometimes she was left wondering whether that was to be desired.