Undazzled

by Chance Maree

  “This is Pilot Pots. In ten standard minutes, an urgent transmission from Earth will be streamed to all public consoles. We don’t know the contents of the message, but you should assume it will be unsuitable for children. Afterward, there will be a public meeting in the forward observation deck, at 0600 hours.”

  Wu switched off the mic. “Now they’re all running to get kangered.”

  A queasy sense of dis-ease welled inside Pots’s stomach. Obligations of a leadership variety sent a legendary blizzard loose in her skull, so she shooed them away. “What people do isn’t our responsibility. If not now, then when do we start acting like adults?”

  Wu shrugged, and Pots sensed the engineer didn’t agree, but was too tired to argue.

  Pots and Wu stayed to watch the transmission from the command center. The com system was buzzing with speculation, but those recently arrived from Earth expressed little hope the news would be none other than dismal.

  The video began with a man dressed in a high general's military uniform. The man's face was that of a gray wolf. Pots and Wu exchanged puzzled glances.

  “Transmission coded 00925476.” A wolf faced man in a general’s uniform appeared to be reading the code from a screen. He straightened and looked directly into the camera. The wolf’s almond shaped eyes narrowed, and the corners of his lips clenched into a snarl. “Comrades, Earth has been attacked and is being occupied. This will be our final transmission. The evacuation mission has ended. Do not approach Earth. All worm-mole ships are to return to their planet. I repeat, do not approach Earth. The enemy has overwhelmed us. There is nothing you can do.” The general paused. Time seemed to thicken like the freezing of a shallow stream. All com channels aboard Alpha Horizon dropped to dead silence.

  The general continued, “I don’t know the right words, ones to explain what happened here. Instead, I've attached this morning’s public newscast. It'll tell you what you need to know.” The wolf looked old, shriveled, suddenly. His hair lay flat and the triangles of his ears relaxed, riding lower on his head. He cleared his throat and looked into the camera. “It has been a great honor to have served with you, gentlemen. Treasure your new homes, and keep its population safe. You are what remains of us.” The general reached down, and the screen went dark.

  A clip from the Channel Zow news station appeared. The host—a chirpy female blue-headed parrot—sat between what could only be described as two man-sized dung beetles.

  “This is Kandi Malone,” the woman said. “In the studio with me are the Itou brothers, Jun and Ren.”

  Pots gasped. “Gyuufun. What the hell are we looking at?”

  Wu mumbled, “Fuck if I know.”

  The Itou brothers waved to the camera. One of the brothers said, “Hello viewers!” The other added, “It is a pleasure for us to be cam'ed yet again.” They looked at one another and laughed.

  Kandi shifted in her seat. “I'll be frank with you guys. The world praised you for being humanity’s saviors. If it weren't for your worm-moles, the evacuation to Tau Ceti would not have been possible.”

  “You are most welcome,” Jun or Ren said, bowing his flat, black, scarab head.

  “Why is it, then, that you are aiding those…those…bugs invading our planet?” Kandi appeared genuinely angry.

  “Those Scarabaeoidea, as you might call them, are our—how would you say?”

  The other brother answered, “They are of our kind.”

  “Yes,” the first brother agreed. “The invading species is of our kind.”

  Kandi looked confused. She managed a weak giggle. “No, you’re not. You’re humans.”

  The Itou brothers laughed. One said, “You stupid. You don't see the reality.” The other nodded and snickered. “You think you are human, too.”

  Kandi demanded, “If those bugs are your kind, then you should be able to explain why we have been invaded.”

  “You prepared Earth for us. We thank you very much.”

  The other Itou brother added shyly, “First, we eat. Then we breed.”

  At this point, Kandi appeared ready to cry. “Then why did you help the evacuation? Why help us escape if you planned on infesting our planet?”

  “Why?” The scarab tilted his head. “So you can prepare the other planets for us. We carry you to three. What more do you want?”

  The other brother interrupted. “You kleptoparasites...always wanting more.”

  “No, Jun,” the first brother interrupted. “I've told you a million times, they are brood parasites.”

  “Sorry, Ren, but I disagree. ‘Kleptoparasite’ is a better description.”

  Jun waved his fossorial front leg. “They are evolutionarily successful because they are chameleon-type brood parasites.”

  “Oh, come on!” Ren laughed. “Now you're going too far. They are—”

  Kandi's scream brought the argument to an end. “Stop it! We can't breathe the air, or drink the water, or grow food anymore. It doesn't matter what you call us—everyone is dying here!”

  “Don’t knock it, lady.” Jun may have smiled. “I'm a scarab. Earth is the perfect world for me.”

  “But…but…couldn't you wait until we finish with our evacuation?” Kandi turned her angry, avian eyes glared at Ren. For a moment, the host appeared as though she was going to punch him.

  “Oops. Close enough,” Ren said, before lopping off Kandi's head with the saw-like notch of his front leg.

  Jun slapped his tarsus over his mouth parts. “I can't believe you just did that on world cam.”

  The camera man must have fled, because a hurried scraping and thumping sound was heard before the screen went blank, Ren or Jun's voice sounded loud over the commotion of the set. “Oh, who cares? Those filthy parasites are disgusting.”

  The transmission ended. “Okay,” Pots said stiffly, trying not to faint. “Maybe we shouldn't have broadcast that.”

  Wu stood and began to frantically pace. “What was that? What did we just see?”

  “More hallucinations.”

  Casey wasn’t buying it. “Pots, what if we're not human? Before we left, we all looked the same—human—but there were always differences. The crew members I felt close to—they’re almost all feline. Others, like you, well, I always thought you weren't that bright, kind of dull, plodding.”

  Pots sniffed. That hurt. “And I wasn't surprised when you showed up pregnant.”

  Casey whirled on her heel. She stood in front of Pots with both hands clenched. “Even if we are just some sort of space alien chameleon-type brood parasites, I don't want to be exterminated. We need to defend ourselves. I demand that you release Commander Dovmont.”

  “Hold on,” Pots said, standing up because Casey was starting to make her nervous. “Let's think this through first.”

  “What's there to think about?” Wu resumed pacing. Her hands twitched and she suddenly developed a tic in her right eye. “We can't go back to Earth, and we need an experienced leader right away. The universe is a dangerous place. First we find Canyon People and now these Dung Beetle people—who knows what’s next. Maybe the Canyon People are Dung Beetles. And they have worm-moles, so they can go anywhere!”

  Pots tried to make her voice calm. “I saw the Canyon People when I was in the canyon with Ata and Tyr. They had human forms.”

  “They may only look human; how can you be certain? What is reality?”

  Casey's right. But Pots wasn't ready to admit it. “The general and the news host might not have looked human to us because we've been infected, or something. Kandi said the Itou brothers looked human to her. There’s a logic to all of this, but we won’t be able to see it unless we stop panicking.”

  Wu dropped heavily on a chair and took a couple deep breaths. “The higher ups had some clue that something was up. While orbiting Earth, the crew wasn't allowed off the ship. We were kept in visual blackout. No newscasts. No videos. No photos.” Wu's voice dropped to a whisper. Her eyes were wide and glassy. “I watched the new people as they boarded the
ship. I wanted to see human faces again, you know? But everyone was feline, canine, rudiment, avian, or reptile. Not a single human face among them. Not even a human child. I stopped a woman and asked what I looked like to her. She said ‘a cute little china doll.’” Wu rubbed her feline eyes. “To her, everyone looked human, including me. That changed, of course. She accused me of giving her a disease.”

  Pots jumped from her seat. “Question is, why do the Ostarian natives look human to us? Jacob found differences in DNA.” Pots immediately regretted ruminating aloud.

  “Maybe the Ostarians are human, and we’re space alien, chameleon-type brood parasites.”

  Wu's eyes were wild, her pupils so dilated that the entire eye appeared black. Pots feared the engineer had slipped into a sort of madness.

  “Who wouldn’t hate us? We need protection! We need the commander! He'll know what to do!”

  Pots placed her hands on Wu's shoulders. “You need to stay calm, Casey. We are in no immediate danger. Let's discuss our options at the meeting.”

  After a couple tranquilizers, Wu agreed.

  ⁂

  An hour later, the forward observation deck was packed with frightened people. Those who could not fit on the deck watched through the public monitors.

  Initial buzz from the crowd favored releasing Gunner from captivity, begging his forgiveness, and giving unconditional allegiance to his command. Other waves of suggestions included electing a new leader—someone aboard the ship, or flying Alpha Horizon to join settlements on one of the other two planets. Pots had another idea, but she waited until the initial chatter died down before raising her hand.

  “What is it, Pots?” The two surviving shuttle pilots had agreed to facilitate the meeting. Pots didn't remember the name of the one who acknowledged her.

  “We have an option that hasn't been discussed yet,” Pots said. Her voice trembled. “Why not go back to Ostara? According to the rescue crews, the Canyon People and the natives have left, so we don't need a military leader. We can form a tribe, with a council of elders, like the natives had. As long as we’re careful, there's no reason to think we would be in danger of invasion by those scarabs, or further retaliation from the Canyon People. Why not live on that beautiful planet, in peace?”

  Murmurs among the crowd were hesitant, but encouraging.

  Of all people, Dr. Byrd raised his voice. “That’s a very interesting suggestion. I've studied a good bit of anthropology. Councils of elders worked well for tribes on Earth, but we number two thousand, which is too large for that kind of social structure. If we’re serious about it, we should break into groups of two hundred. Two hundred and fifty at most.”

  A man with a face like a black panther waved his hand in the air. “I'm a biologist. Even with two thousand people, we don't have a sufficient gene pool to produce healthy generations.”

  A discussion followed, shouts heard from around the room:

  “We could ask the other planets for immigrants.”

  “They'd just send us their criminals.”

  “But criminals weren't included in the evacuation.”

  “Spade Kahn is here, isn't he?”

  “Shut up, Victor,” Pots said.

  The discussion gained momentum. A list of 54 people over the age of 40 was compiled from the roster data and broadcast over the coms. Those on the list were designated as elders of one of the ten newly formed tribes. Tribes themselves were formed by lottery. Families stayed together, but everyone was free to negotiate an exchange of membership. Once the tribes were formed, the pilots planned scheduled drops in areas near existing cities, where supplies would available, however, each tribes’ highest priority was to become self-sustaining.

  A group of 78 people asked to be excluded from any of the tribes, Celine Amore included.

  “Your plan sounds grand,” she told her fans, “and tribes are wonderful, but large audiences and big cities lights are what I crave.” She and the 77 other people in that group opted to join settlements on one of the other planets.

  Casey Wu sent requests for population donation and/or exchanges to Gaia and Atlas. While both planets were recovering from the shock of Earth's invasion, each commander welcomed immigrants from Ostara. Anyone on Gaia or Atlas willing to participate in a tribal social structure would be relocated to Ostara. Neither of the commanders promised supplies, technology, or medical professionals. Before leaving Ostara, Alpha Horizon was mined for items that might be used for trade.

  All that remained was to decide what was to become of Ex-Commander Gunner Dovmont. He’d been allowed to watch the final transmission from Earth.

  “You captured him, so you deal with him.” Victor wasn’t the only one of that opinion. Pots could accept that, but then the collective council of elders vetoed Pots's idea of launching the ex-commander into space. Tribal living wasn’t going to be easy.

  And so, Pots approached Gunner's detention cell. The inner padded door was open. The room was dimly lit. Pots could see the reflection off Gunner's eyes, but his profile was in shadow. She stood and stared, finally managing to stammer, “I've come to discuss your future.”

  A hiss from the room sent a chill down Pots’s neck.

  “And what have you decided?”

  To eject you out the garbage chute, she thought, and wished were true.

  “You are a criminal and your position as Commander has been terminated.”

  “Everyone on Earth is dead. By whose authority have I been tried and convicted?”

  “We have a council of elders now.”

  “They will come in handy when the planet is invaded by dung beetles. The slow ones will be eaten first.”

  “Scarabs follow death and decay. Ostara is pristine, and we intend to keep her that way.”

  “The Canyon People may return to complete their revenge.”

  “In that case, you will be extradited. We won't give them reason to harm us.”

  Gunner gave a deep, belly laugh. “That arrogance will be your undoing.” He leaned forward. “Suppose they don’t return. What are you going to do now that you have a tiger by the tail?”

  Pots eyed Gunner up and down. “Looks to me like what I have is a croc in a box.”

  Dovmont smirked and settled himself in a sitting position against a wall. The change in his demeanor caused Pots to relax. She was suddenly curious.

  “Now I get to ask you a question.”

  Gunner nodded, as though interested.

  “If you were still in command, what do we do with a criminal as dangerous and ambitious as yourself?”

  “I was never ambitious!” Gunner stood. He appeared genuinely insulted.

  “My mission was to protect you. To protect our civilization. You haven't realized it yet, but Ostara needs me.”

  “No they don't,” Pots replied. “People are tired of fear mongering. We want life without war.”

  “Dream on, lady.” Gunner grabbed on to the bars. Never had he appeared so thin and desperate. “Go ahead and try your experiment,” he wailed. “You’re asking what you should do with me. I was given a command which I performed to the best of my ability. For that, you want to punish me. So be it. Exile me if you must. Deliver me and my son to one of the other planets. Perhaps they’ll find me useful as a laborer. Julius is my biological son. Without the burden of a command, I’d use my time to be a father. Maybe teach Julius how to hunt or fish. Banish me from Ostara, but let me live to know my son.”

  Pots stepped back. She wasn’t prepared to see Gunner as a father. “Which planet should I take you to?”

  The ex-commander didn't hesitate. “Take me to Gaia.”

  Pots remembered, this was Gunner she was talking to. Whatever Gunner wants, the best course is to choose the opposite.

  “Fine,” Pots said. “Atlas, it is.” The pilot turned on her heel to leave. A clear path for the future had been chosen, and it was one that nurtured both strength and mercy.

  People were smiling again. They looked one another in the e
yes. They had come a long way. Their journey had begun with Commander Dovmont in the ship’s command center. Now the primitive croc’s control had been stripped away and he sat powerless in the bowels of the ship. The atmosphere felt clear, well-sighted, like a home free of weapons and poison—safe enough for children to play. How could anyone not feel euphoric under those conditions? Yet, something nagged at Pots’s mind. She looked over her shoulder at the ex-commander.

  Memory of his smile would haunt her for years.

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Chance Maree was born in the mid-western part of the US. She has had many homesteads since then, experiencing a world rich with diversity in seasons, landscapes, religions, philosophies, and cultures. Chance writes with particular interest in metaphysics, possibilities, and mental functions, believing that good fiction enriches the mind—or at least pokes fun at it every once in awhile.

  Novels by Chance Maree

  Alexios, Before Dying (2012)

  Undazzled (2013)

  Curses Me (2014)