Kepler62 #1: The Invitation E-Book

Bjørn Sortland

• Herausgeber: Arctis US
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: Kepler62
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 56

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Overpopulation has caused Earth's natural resources to diminish, and people are struggling to survive. Thirteen-year-old Ari is looking after his little brother, Joni, who has fallen ill with a mysterious virus. The boys manage to get hold of a copy of Kepler62, the newest computer game that everyone's talking about and which is supposed to be almost impossible to complete. Working together, the brothers manage the impossible and they soon discover that Kepler62 is more than just a game. It's an invitation—for an adventure, to the outer reaches of our solar system.

Leseprobe

Timo Parvela / Bjørn Sortland

Kepler62: THE INVITATION

Translated by Owen F. Witesman

Illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen

This work has been published with the financial support of FILI – Finnish Literature Exchange.

The authors would like to thank the WSOY Literature Foundation.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are from the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously.

W1-Media Inc.

Arctis Books USA

Stamford, CT, USA

Copyright © 2023 by W1-Media Inc. for this edition

Text © Bjørn Sortland, Timo Parvela 2015

Illustrations © Pasi Pitkänen 2015

Complete Work © Bjørn Sortland, Timo Parvela, Pasi Pitkänen, and WSOY, 2015

Layout Design: Pasi Pitkänen

First published in 2015 simultaneously in Finnish by Werner Söderström Ltd with the original title Kepler62—Kirja 1: Kutsu, and in Norwegian by Piggsvin with the original title Kepler62—Invitasjonen.

This English-language edition has been published by arrangement with Bonnier Rights Finland.

First English edition published by W1-Media Inc./Arctis Books USA2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022951142

English translation copyright © Owen F. Witesman, 2023, chapters 1–9 based on an earlier translation by Ruth Urbom.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

ISBN978-1-64690-630-7

www.arctis-books.com

BOOK ONE: THE INVITATION

1.

The boy picked up an apple. In the control room, the old security guard let out a deep sigh. The thief, who looked about thirteen years old, stared defiantly into the camera. The guard got up, adjusted his blue uniform pants, and ambled off to have a word with this would-be thief. The boy was big for his age, dressed in baggy pants and a coat that was too big. He had messy blond hair that looked like it’d been hit by a Category 3 hurricane.

His frown and wary posture reminded the guard of a wild animal. Maybe a fox or a ferret. An animal that lurked along the borders of light and shadow. Even so, there was something about the kid that inspired respect. The icy gray eyes were part of it. Honest and open, and somehow disturbingly piercing.

The boy was still standing in the produce section with the apple in his hand. He wasn’t trying to escape. When the guard arrived, his grumpy expression faded, turning mischievous, almost pleased, as if he’d bumped into an old friend.

“Have you ever heard of the Tree of Knowledge?” the guard asked.

“Huh?”

“If you eat fruit from it, you gain knowledge of good and evil.”

The boy stared at him, unblinking. The guard sighed.

“Which isn’t necessarily a good thing. It’s not good to know too much. Especially for kids.”

Still staring at the security guard, the boy slowly raised the apple to his mouth and took a bite. Shutting his eyes, he chewed, savoring the sweetness.

He’s nuts, the guard thought. A lot of kids were defiant, but the boldness and insolence in this one were unique. There was something more to this situation.

“Don’t make me do anything I don’t want to do,” the guard said, a note of pleading in his voice.

The boy took another bite of the apple and then carefully placed it, half-eaten, back on the pile. Then he smiled and held his hands out, as if waiting to be handcuffed.

“All right. If that’s the way you want it.” The guard walked over to the boy, took him by the shoulder and wrist, and steered him past the full shelves toward the registers and on to the security gate, where the alarm started shrieking. The guard turned the boy around to face him.

“Empty your pockets.”

The boy grimaced under the tightness of the guard’s grip. When he didn’t move, the guard thrust his other hand into the enormous pocket of the boy’s hoodie and pulled out a video game wrapped in tinfoil. The new one all the kids wanted to play. The boy appeared not to know that the alarm system had been changed. The old tinfoil trick didn’t work anymore.

“I just don’t get what you kids think is so great about this game. Did you actually think you’d get away with this? Now scram! We don’t want your kind here. I never want to see you in my store again.”

The security guard shoved the boy so hard in the back that he nearly lost his balance. His grimace turned even more defiant, and a cloud fell over his gray eyes. The guard shook his head and let out a laugh like grating metal.

The boy, Ari, lowered his head and left, walking into the wind.

He looked up and sighed. He’d been so close. The game had almost been his.

The sun peeked through a break in an otherwise cloudy sky, and a ray of light struck a newspaper rack. A headline screamed: LATEST EXPEDITION NEWS!

Ari ignored it. The security guard’s words still echoed in his mind. Ari knew exactly what “your kind” meant.

2.

The apartment was silent. Of course it was. Dad had never lived here, and Mom was out looking for work again. They needed food, a better life, opportunity—any sort of change, really.

She’d been away for longer and longer lately, but they weren’t the only ones who were poor, not by a long shot.

Fewer people could afford to shop in stores like the one Ari had just been in. Fruit was a luxury, as were new clothes, fresh milk, and even bread. For ordinary people, food was concentrates, canned goods, and corn. Always just sweet corn, but at least there was enough for everybody.

Ari wasn’t thinking about food now, though. He’d held the game in his hands! He’d touched its shiny case and briefly sensed victory, until that stupid security guard ruined everything. The game. The world’s greatest—and most difficult—game ever. Kepler62. Everybody was talking about it, but it was hard to get ahold of. You couldn’t download it online. You had to buy it, or someone had to give it to you.