Dark Metamorphosis

by John Coon

  How would their chief sovereign receive her plea? Would he react with anger or show indifference? Calandra wondered how much an individual master pilot’s abduction truly mattered to him when compared to a larger picture.

  Stone pillars flanked each main door leading into the chambers. Statues depicting a solitary mokai bird with raised wings sat atop each pillar. She glanced up at the nearest statue. Hardened stone eyes probed her, reaching deep into her soul. Their inanimate gaze unnerved Calandra further. No kindness dwelt in the eyes towering above her, only a fierce wildness. She squeezed her fingers around her thumb, suppressing tremors that threatened to break free.

  A narrow line of blue light passed over her face while a guard at the doors scanned Calandra from head to toe. The light blinked red when it reached her arms.

  “You’re carrying a metallic object.”

  The guard shot a stern frown at her. A hand scanner wrapped around his palm hovered above Calandra’s left arm. She returned a pained glare toward him.

  “It’s only my artificial hand. Nothing to worry about.”

  “Let’s see it.”

  “I promise you I bear no weapons.”

  “Let’s see the hand.”

  Calandra bent her elbow upward and peeled off the glove covering her hand and forearm. She shook the fabric at the guard.

  “Here you go!” she snapped. “Happy now?”

  The guard studied each exposed metallic bone, wire, and rubber pad for a moment. His expression finally softened, and he shook his head.

  “Apologies. You’re free to enter.”

  The guard opened one of the doors. Choice words Calandra wanted to say to him bubbled up in her mind. The way he gawked at her arm tore at her. Pity blanketed the guard’s face. She wanted none of it. She deserved better than drawing morbidly fascinated stares followed by averted eyes whenever she caught gawkers looking at her. Calandra jammed the glove back over her artificial hand and stretched the fabric across her forearm to reduce unwanted attention.

  Clacking from multiple shoes echoed through a broad main hall leading to the assembly floor. Marble columns lined both sides of the hall. Busts of famous Ra’ahmian political and spiritual leaders topped each column. A larger-than-life-sized portrait of Delcor, their chief sovereign, loomed over doors leading directly to the assembly floor. The painting depicted him dressed in his regal official uniform. His right hand displayed a ring bearing a symbol identifying the House of Cirkoy—their chief sovereign’s ancestral clan.

  Calandra veered off before she reached the assembly floor doors and climbed a winding staircase leading to a second-level balcony. Assembly protocols did not permit Ra’ahm citizens to enter the floor itself without an invitation from an assembly member, their chief sovereign, or one of his designated representatives. The balcony overlooked the assembly chamber, and offered a spot where Calandra hoped she could draw their chief sovereign’s attention as he addressed the assembly.

  A glass door slid open before her with a whoosh. Calandra stepped out on the balcony. She leaned against the edge and rested her arm on a smooth stone railing.

  Their chief sovereign sat in an ornate chair mounted atop a small platform occupying the north end of the chamber. Staggered rows of chairs perched behind half-oval tables formed a half-circle facing his platform. Each matching table and chair had been hand-carved and molded from the finest senosa wood. Soft sapinoa hair covered cushioned backs and seats on the chairs. Calandra counted 73 chairs while her eyes drifted across the chamber. 72 members drawn from 12 districts in the northern province and 12 districts in the southern province formed the National Assembly. District governors, appointed to that office by their chief sovereign, selected three assembly representatives in each district. A polished white stone platform occupied a central position inside the chamber. The round platform filled floor space between the assembly members’ seats and the chief sovereign’s seat. An engraving of a giant flying mokai bird—the national symbol of Ra’ahm—adorned the platform floor.

  A small bell emitted sequential chimes. At once, Delcor arose from his chair and approached the central platform. He climbed a set of narrow stone steps and planted himself in the center of the platform. Their chief sovereign thrust his arms skyward. His eyes hardened into a determined stare.

  “What we do today shapes what tomorrow brings.”

  Several heads bobbed up and down throughout the chamber. Delcor paused and answered with a satisfied nod of his own.

  “We cannot stand idle against any threat to our great nation,” he continued. “The Confederation mocks our values and freedom. Their agents seek to destroy what the servants of Ahm decreed must exist forever.”

  His words struck a chord with Calandra, dredging up a once-forgotten memory. Xttra once told her how a Confederation vessel attacked his scout ship near an Ice Belt planetoid when he first retrieved the Earthian probe she discovered. Did agents from the Confederation of Northern Tribes orchestrate his abduction from Fengar? Such a scenario seemed more plausible the longer she mulled over it.

  The rest of the chief sovereign’s speech to Ra’ahm’s legislative body coalesced into a blur while Calandra bowed her head and pondered her options. A full-scale rescue operation must be launched before Xttra vanished forever. How could she convince their chief sovereign to sign off on this plan of action and throw the necessary resources behind bringing it to pass?

  At once, the chamber grew silent. Calandra lifted her chin and cast her eyes down at the central platform. Delcor paused and had turned to face the balcony where she stood. An unbroken stare fell upon her. Calandra swallowed hard and said nothing.

  “The cost of doing nothing is too great,” their chief sovereign finally said, resuming his speech. “We must secure our borders and eradicate threats to our internal security. If you support these measures I propose, the rising generation can know peace where our generation endured war.”

  Thunderous applause reverberated through the chamber. A customary call for votes on his proposed border strengthening measures followed. Not a single assembly member raised their voice in opposition. Delcor gave an approving nod once all votes were cast and stepped off the platform. An entourage of ministers and guards followed him toward a side door leading outside the chamber. Calandra took their departure as her cue to exit from the balcony. She conquered the winding stairs at a brisk pace. If she hurried, Calandra counted on catching their chief sovereign before his guards ferried him back to his palace.

  “Calandra Menankar? I thought it was you. I must say I’m surprised to find you here.”

  She paused on the bottom stair and turned to face the voice greeting her. Delcor approached the staircase, still flanked by his guards. Calandra froze. Now that she had her desired audience with their chief sovereign, her heart thumped at an increasing pace and her tongue choked out the words she wanted to say earlier.

  “Never met an astronomer who also took a deep interest in politics,” he said. “Their eyes focused down here instead of out there.”

  Calandra’s eyes darted between Delcor and his guards. He snapped his head toward them and waved them back. The guards withdrew a few steps from him.

  “I suppose you did not come to this place simply to listen to my speech,” Delcor said. “What compels you to seek me out?”

  She cast her head down and focused her gaze on his feet. He wore shoes made from fine ebutoka leather.

  “My husband is missing.”

  “Xttra Oogan?”

  “I received word he was taken prisoner on Fengar. He vanished from a Thetian trade colony without a trace.”

  Silence greeted Calandra upon her revelation. She pinched her eyes shut and sucked in her lower lip. Calandra exhaled slowly and lifted her chin. Her eyes popped open again.

  “I need your help, my sovereign. I need to find him and bring him back home.”

  De
lcor answered her with an unblinking stare and stony expression. His gray eyes drilled down into her as though probing for some hidden object. Calandra silently scolded herself for even bringing her plight to his attention. Their chief sovereign ruled a nation of millions. She was so naïve to assume one master pilot’s tragic abduction merited his undivided attention.

  “Our chief sovereign cannot concern himself with such matters. You should take your request to the proper Stellar Guard channels where it belongs.”

  Calandra snapped her head toward a minister standing behind the guards. She narrowed her eyes, and a deep frown grew on her lips once those dismissive words left his mouth. Not one of these people cared about Xttra. Still, she refused to let their indifference sway their chief sovereign against her.

  He would care.

  Calandra promised to make such an outcome certain.

  “What if agents from the Confederation abducted him?” She took a stab at the most plausible scenario in her mind, one calculated to rouse action from their chief sovereign. “Can we allow Xttra to fall in their hands so easily and give them free access to interrogate him?”

  “Why would the Confederation care about a single master pilot?” Once again, the same minister interjected his opinion unbidden, and unwanted. “Your hubris is shocking. Our chief sovereign has greater priorities—”

  Delcor turned and raised a hand without saying a word. The minister fell silent. Calandra felt a measure of relief at not hearing more of his equally disagreeable voice and words.

  “This is indeed a grave matter if what you say is true,” their chief sovereign said. He turned and faced her again. “What makes you convinced that Confederation agents have abducted him?”

  “Because Xttra led our mission to Earth,” Calandra said. She tugged at a cuff on her white silk shirt as she talked. “A Confederation deep-space vessel tried to steal the Earthian probe I originally discovered before we retrieved it from the Ice Belt. Since they couldn’t obtain the probe, it makes sense for them to target the highest-ranking surviving member of our expedition to Earth and glean information from him.”

  Delcor closed his eyes and rubbed his chin while he pondered her words. The minister he silenced earlier fixed an annoyed glare on Calandra. She returned his glare with one of her own. Her eyes and expression softened as soon as she noticed their chief sovereign’s eyes crack open again.

  “We cannot allow the Confederation to succeed in their design,” Delcor said. “I will send my best agents out to Fengar to track him down. We will go straight to the Confederation Emperor himself if necessary. Xttra Oogan will return to Lathos.”

  Calandra bowed.

  “Thank you, my sovereign. I am again in your debt.”

  He flashed a brief smile and answered her with a briefer nod. Delcor resumed his walk past the staircase as his guards and ministers caught up to him. The group soon vanished down a nearby hallway. Calandra stood on the bottom stair and rested her right arm on the handrail as she watched him leave.

  A small smile finally sprouted on her lips. Now wheels were in motion. Soon enough, Xttra would be back home and safe with her once again.

  8

  Everything about the red planet fit the definition of ordinary with exactness.

  Sam wished for a fresh sense of wonder and excitement to wash over him. Instead, a bland numbness seeped into his bones. He quietly shook his head while gazing out of a small, tight window on the Orion spacecraft. Up close, Mars hardly merited exploration.

  Or colonization for that matter.

  “Have you ever seen such an incredible sight?”

  An enthusiastic voice tinged with a Louisiana drawl cut through Sam’s thoughts. He glanced over at his pilot. A wide grin plastered her face. The same expression also crossed the commander’s lips. Both Norah and Cliff reminded him of kids tearing off wrapping paper on Christmas morning and beaming upon discovering the exact presents they begged to receive from Santa.

  Sam shrugged.

  “I’ve seen much more incredible sights.” He paused and gazed at the far side of Mars again. “Back on Earth.”

  Norah pursed her lips. Sam glimpsed at the pilot a second time. Her smile had melted into a slight frown.

  “Don’t be a wet blanket,” she said. “We’re making actual history out here. Nothing could be more exciting.”

  Every time he heard those words, Sam couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. Making history. Yeah, right.

  Many years spent working for NASA, and now the Earth Defense Bureau, trained him to approach hype with skepticism. Every new mission would change the world until nothing changed. Sending small probes and manned missions to tinker around in the safer parts of the solar system held no joy for him.

  Sam knew what lay beyond their own neighborhood. It ate at him, chipping away his soul with the persistence of water droplets escaping from a leaky pipe. Their chance to uncover answers to life’s most persistent questions had already arrived. Earth opened a door to a much wider universe not so long ago.

  Then the bureau slammed that door shut.

  We blew it, he thought. Our first contact with a peaceful, intelligent race and we blew it.

  His eyes drifted back to the red planet growing larger on the horizon. How could building a colony on Mars ever seem relevant or important when compared with the opportunity to build a friendship with beings from a world orbiting a distant star? Earth would not get a second chance to do it right and Sam refused to forgive himself for contributing to his planet’s failure.

  “Entering low orbit around Phobos. Only a stone’s throw away now.”

  A joyful fervor dripped from Cliff’s words. The Orion’s engines incorporated technology reverse engineered from salvaged alien vehicles. This meant no longer blocking out anywhere from six to eight months to reach Mars. Still, those advancements only reduced their journey down to 60 days. Spending two months stuck inside a cramped spacecraft with three other people indeed felt as painfully long as it sounded.

  “How much longer till we can dock with the space station?” Sam asked.

  Cliff glanced at him with a weary expression mirroring a patient parent enduring their noisy child asking the same irritating questions again and again during a long road trip.

  “Trust me, we’re closer than you think.”

  Sam flashed a bemused smile at him.

  “I’m not trying to get under your skin. I’m just dying to step out and stretch my legs.”

  “We all want to stretch our legs,” Norah replied. “I’m personally counting down the minutes until I can step out of the space elevator and get back to the colony.”

  Sam leaned back in his chair, nodded, and released a deep breath. Going down to the surface also topped his list. Mars had not shaken off the boring and lifeless vibe from when he first laid eyes on the planet. Still, visiting the colony’s base camp sure beat the hell out of riding in a cramped spacecraft for two months.

  Images from conceptual 3-D models flooded into Sam’s mind when he finally laid eyes on the Phobos Space Station. None of these design phase models did justice to the finished product. The station offered a breathtaking sight while circling an otherwise drab Martian moon.

  Two dual horizontal cylinder modules made up the heart of the Phobos Station. One module rotated at one-half G and the other at one-tenth G, combining to create enough artificial gravity to offset a natural microgravity environment. Two shorter vertical cylinders bisected the midsection of each horizontal module. Two modules functioned as laboratories. A third acted as a service module. The fourth and largest module functioned as a residential module for the station’s occupants.

  Multiple flat arms housing solar arrays jutted out from each end of a steel and aluminum truss. The long vertical truss ran across the top of the pressurized modules. A single thick cable stretched from a counterweight only a short distance from the s
pace station and plunged down through the Martian atmosphere to the planet’s surface. Carbon nanotubes formed the cable, which served as a space elevator designed to transport raw materials from the station to the nascent colony.

  “I’ve already claimed my acre of land on Mars.” Norah cracked a broad grin when she said those words. “That Groupon deal I bought in grad school a few years ago is finally paying for itself.”

  Sam cocked his head at her.

  “You seriously bought an acre of Martian land? On Groupon of all places?”

  “Sounded like a fun idea at the time,” Norah replied. She snapped her head toward him and winked. “And it turned out to be a shrewd investment.”

  Sam cracked a smile and chuckled. Scooping up a bunch of land on Mars never popped into his mind when pondering real estate investments to pursue.

  Norah maneuvered the Orion spacecraft into a docking position with the airlock leading into the service module. Sam tugged on his helmet to test its fit. All the training he went through to prepare for this trip to Mars did nothing to reduce his nervousness about potential mishaps with his spacesuit. If anything, he grew more nervous when he started thinking about all the potential dangers lurking outside their spacecraft.

  Sam’s legs were a bit rubbery upon standing up for the first time in ages. He thrust out his hand and steadied himself against the back of his chair. Cliff and Norah led him through the airlock and into the space station. Once the hatch sealed behind the group, Sam popped his helmet off and drew in a deep breath.

  He flashed a relieved smile.

  “You don’t know how good it feels to finally see new surroundings for the first time in two months.”

  “I understand. Better than you think.”

  Sam cocked his head toward the other end of the service module. A man sporting a thin reddish-brown mustache and tightly cropped hair approached the small group. He extended his hand.