Apex Girl #1:
Family Reunion
The Crystal Lair feels colder than usual. Starla hasn’t been there in almost a year, not since she retrieved her husband from there after Omega’s defeat. There has simply been too much for her to do to venture up to the North Pole to relax.
Not only has Starla been busy helping to rebuild the world, she and Billy have been starting their new life as a married couple. They’ve never gotten much of a real honeymoon, but they’ve made things work. Sometimes she wonders if it’s because they hardly see each other except when they’re at work at the Atomic City Star, something Starla’s done far less frequently since there’s so much for Apex Girl to do.
Today, a full year after Omega’s defeat, Starla has finally come back to the Crystal Lair. The place looks the way she left it thanks to the robots who maintain the Lair in her absence. One of these robots glides up to her to ask for input. She ignores it to sit on the chair of orange crystal in the main room.
A man who looks like an older, bearded version of Starla as a man appears in front of her. “Greetings, my daughter. It has been some time since you last visited.”
“I’ve been busy,” she says.
“How goes your marriage to the human?”
“Billy and I are fine.” It’s always a little surprising how the hologram composed of algorithms from records of her father can appear so much like a real parent. Sometimes she has to remind herself he isn’t really here with her in the Lair; he has been dead for over three decades, almost her whole life.
“What troubles you, my daughter?”
“It’s something that happened a year ago. When Omega nearly destroyed the planet.”
“What is Omega?”
“A world-devouring moon. Before I destroyed him, he told me the truth about what happened to Kor-Gan. Our people didn’t destroy themselves. He destroyed them.”
“And you believe him?”
“I verified it with the Galactic Peacekeepers. Why did you lie to me?”
The hologram tries to speak but all that comes out is static. An error message pops up in Starla’s native language. There are a lot of complicated phrases that boil down to the information doesn’t exist in the computer’s files. It has no idea why it lied to her; it probably wasn’t aware it was doing so.
She does a manual search for anything on Omega. There’s nothing in the computer’s files. Maybe there hadn’t been time to include that information before her father sent her away. But then how had it known the lie to tell her? Maybe it was extrapolating from the information in its database. By all accounts the Kor-Gans had been a peaceful, advanced people with no enemies; the computer might have assumed their only enemy was themselves.
Starla almost jumps out of the chair when she hears a woman’s voice say, “Hello, Starla. Your mate indicated you were here.”
Dressed in a thick purple sweater and black pants, the woman before her could have passed as human if not for her light purple skin and pointed ears. The ears were currently hidden by her long silver hair but there was nothing they could do to hide the purple skin without a mask or a lot of makeup. Lieutenant Kila of the Galactic Peacekeepers adds, “Did I frighten you?”
“A little. You have to learn to knock first.”
“Knock? Oh, yes, a human custom before entering someone’s abode.”
“Right.” Starla gets to her feet. She and the Peacekeeper are the same height but Kila is much thinner owing to that she doesn’t get superpowers from the sun. “Is something wrong?”
“I thought to ask you the same question. Your mate—”
“Billy.”
“Yes, Billy, indicated you have been aloof of late. I thought perhaps you needed to talk with one of your own gender.”
“That’s very sweet, but everything’s fine.”
Kila indicates the hologram of her father. “That is Kal-Bul, is it not?”
“Yes. A hologram of him.”
“He bears a remarkable similarity to you.”
“I suppose so.”
Starla collapses onto the chair again. She lets out a sigh and then says, “I came here because of what Omega said about my people. I wanted to see if the computer here knew anything. Apparently it didn’t.”
“I am sorry, Starla. I should not have intruded—”
“No, it’s all right. You’re right: I could use to talk to someone.”
Starla commands one of the robots to bring in a chair for Kila to sit on. The Peacekeeper sits on it tentatively, as if it might attack her. With another sigh, Starla says, “I never really knew my people, but I used to think I at least knew some facts about them. Now it turns out what I knew was wrong. Your records say my people weren’t evil, that they were good and dedicated to pursuing knowledge, but I still feel like they’re strangers to me. Does that make any sense?”
“You feel disconnected because you lack any true interaction with them.”
“That sounds about right. I guess there’s nothing I can do about it either. They’re all dead except for me.”
“That is true, but there might be another way.”
“Do you have a time machine so I can go visit them?”
“No. If you desire, I can take you to the remains of Kor-Gan. The Elders have kept it quarantined since Omega attacked it, but they should let us in now that their deception has been uncovered.”
“You mean I could go there and see the ruins?”
“Yes. It would not be the same as if they were alive, but perhaps it would provide you with more information—and what your psychologists describe as ‘closure.’”
“That seems like a good idea. And it would give me a chance to test out the solar suit Tonya and Alan made for me. How long would we be gone?”
“The journey would take several days each way.”
Starla frowns. She doesn’t want to leave Earth for weeks. She especially doesn’t want to leave Billy that long. But this is a chance of a lifetime, a chance to see where she came from. “I’ll talk it over with my mate.”
“As you wish.”
“While you’re here, how about I give you the grand tour?”
“I would like that.”
***
It takes six days of travel before they reach the Kor-Gan system. Over her Apex Girl costume, Starla wears a suit made of black metal. This is the “solar suit” created by Tonya Kinney and Alan Bass. The suit is covered with miniature solar panels that collect yellow sunlight and then store it for when Starla needs it so she won’t become so frail in red sunlight like Kor-Gan’s sun. So far the suit appears to be working as her muscles haven’t shriveled up; she hopes she’ll have enough to last until she gets back to the Solar System.
To make the trip easier they ride in Midnight Spectre’s Doomsday vehicle, an enormous armored personnel carrier that could in theory survive even a nuclear attack. The vehicle has its own bunks and bathroom, which makes the trip far easier for Starla and Kila. The latter’s magic allows the APC to fly through space by encasing it in a magic bubble. The vehicle should also come in handy when they get to Kor-Gan so they have a base of operations.
“The planet is the fourth in the system,” Kila says. “There does not appear to be anyone else in the vicinity.”
“That’s good news.”
“Are you feeling anxiety?”
“I’m a little nervous. What if there’s nothing here? What if it’s all destroyed? What if I find something terrible down there? What if your Elders were right?”
“That is very unlikely. They would not have altered the records if they were already correct.”
“I suppose not. I’m worrying about nothing.”
“A trait not limited to humans.”
“Are you worried too?”
“I am concerned this enterprise will prove futile. That might do more damage to your psyche than never coming here at all.”
“That’s not true. No matter what, I’m glad we’re doing this. I need to know one way o
r the other.”
“Then I hope we are successful.”
Starla nods. Even after a year Kila has trouble relating to humans—or a Kor-Gan raised as a human. To use the Earth parlance, Kila is shy. It’s not surprising considering she has spent most of her life away from her people as a Galactic Peacekeeper. Since Omega’s defeat she has been assigned to Earth as a “liaison,” essentially abandoned by the Peacekeepers for blowing the whistle on the Elders’s collusion with Omega. Like Starla she’s an alien on an alien world, only she doesn’t have the benefit of adopted parents who raised her as a human.
They don’t say anything for a few minutes as the bubble-encased APC cruises along. Then Starla sees a brown planet in front of them. From the readings the planet is about twice as big as Earth, but its atmosphere and gravity are very similar. She leans closer to the APC’s windows to try to get a better look, not that it does any good.
When they do get closer, she notes how desolate it looks. Did the surface always have that mottled brown-and-gray look or was that because of what Omega had done? It’s one of many questions she has that maybe she can finally get an answer to.
They orbit the planet two full times to make sure there’s nothing dangerous on the surface. At least there’s nothing they can detect with their limited equipment. She should have asked Robin or Tonya or Alan to come along, someone who’s better with machinery than her. “Do you think it’s safe to go down now?”
“I think we’ve determined all we can from up here.”
Starla nods. The bubble drops straight down, Starla’s stomach rising up into her throat. Since the bubble is magic there’s none of the friction and heat of a normal atmospheric entry. It’s more like the longest elevator ride Starla has ever been on.
They drop through a band of thick gray clouds and then Starla can see the blasted remains of a city. Even these ruins are beautiful, the shattered buildings made of various colors of crystals to give the surface the look of a stained glass window that has been broken and scattered across the ground.
“This is where the capital city used to be.”
“Is that where my parents lived?”
“Yes. We should be able to locate the science academy where your father worked.”
“That would be wonderful.”
The bubble slows its descent, gliding like a soap bubble towards the surface. They skim over the shards of buildings; Starla tries to imagine what it must have looked like when her parents still walked the streets. It must have been so beautiful, the sunlight making the crystal buildings glow.
“Are you in distress?” Kila asks.
Starla realizes she’s crying. “I’m not sad. I’m happy. It’s so much more beautiful than I ever imagined.”
They finally stop by a pile of red crystal that from the Galactic Peacekeeper records is the science academy where her father worked. She has to resist the urge to run from the APC before it has landed and Kila has dissolved the bubble. She’s as anxious as a kid on Christmas morning as she bounds down the steps to the surface, the first living person to walk on Kor-Gan in over thirty years.
There’s no doorway left, so Starla has to climb over some of the rubble. When she drops to the floor, her foot lands in something sticky. It’s dark blue but from the smell she has a bad feeling about what it is. “What is this?”
Kila bends down to study the pile on the ground. She runs her silver quarterstaff over the pile. “These would be droppings.”
“Of what?”
“Rhtues. A primitive scavenger.”
“Like a rat?”
“In some ways, but Rhtues are bipedal and about a meter tall.”
“What are they doing here?”
“Scavenging, most likely.”
“Are they dangerous?”
“Not unless provoked.”
Even as Kila says this, Starla hears a hiss off to her left. Kila’s description of the Rhtues isn’t far off the mark. The creatures are bipedal and about two feet tall, with dark gray fur and black eyes that make them look like rabid koalas. They would be cute if not for the bared teeth and claws. “They look provoked.”
“It is possible we are on their home territory.”
Ordinarily Starla would retreat to respect their territory. Not this time. This is the only chance she has to learn more about her parents; she won’t let it slip away because of mutant koalas. “They’ll have to find a new home.”
Thanks to the solar suit she’s able to let out a stream of flame. The Rhtues back away from the fire, but don’t run. This gives more credence to Kila’s theory that they might be on the home territory of the creatures.
But now that they’ve seen what she can do, the Rhtues keep back a safe distance as Starla makes her way through the ruins of the building. She’s not sure what exactly she’s looking for: something her father owned like a notebook or computer, something that might tell her more about the real him.
All she finds is a bunch of junk—and Rhtue droppings. After hours of searching in vain, Starla sags onto a pile of smashed equipment. “You are disappointed,” Kila says.
“A little. It was pretty stupid to think after thirty years there would still be something here of them.”
“It is a big planet. We can’t give up yet.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
They walk along what must have been a street at one time. It takes longer than it usually would with all the rubble strewn around. The solar suit is equipped with cameras to take pictures of all this for analysis back on Earth. Maybe one of her friends can create a reproduction of what the city used to look like.
As they near a building of turquoise crystal, a pack of Rhtues bars their path. She lets out a stream of flame to warn them away, but this time they stand their ground. “What should we do now?”
“Let me try,” Kila says. She levels her staff. A stream of purple lightning lashes out towards the Rhtues. They shriek more out of fear than pain. Starla watches them rush into the turquoise building.
She follows after them. “This does not seem wise,” Kila says.
“I know. They’re protecting something. I’m curious to see what.”
“Most likely a nest of younglings.”
“Most likely.”
Starla hurries after the Rhtues, into the building. The stink of more feces gives her pause, but then she forces herself to go on. The building has been largely remodeled by the scavengers, with makeshift tunnels carved through the wreckage. This really must be a nest.
Something tells her to push on. She doesn’t know how to describe it, just a feeling that there’s something here for her to find. It’s the closest to a religious vision she has ever experienced.
Starla has to get down on her hands and knees to crawl through a tunnel carved through a crystal wall. As she nears the end of it, she hears the Rhtues again. They’re not hissing so much as chanting. The rhythmic pattern of their hisses can only be something deliberate, like a language. Since it doesn’t seem likely for them to see her, they must be speaking to someone else.
She crawls closer and then stops at the edge. Above the chanting, she hears a woman’s voice, this one speaking in Kor-Gan. As Starla listens, a smile comes to her face. It’s a lesson on ancient Kor-Gan history. From the woman’s tone and simple vocabulary it must be intended for young children.
Starla slips out of the tunnel to land on a pile of machine parts. From this vantage she can see where the voice is coming from. There’s a hologram in the center of an amphitheater. Like obedient students the Rhtues have occupied the seats, though they squat on them rather than sitting. The scavengers continue their chant.
Starla leans closer to get a better look at the hologram. She realizes then why she was prodded to find this place: the hologram is her mother! There’s no denying it, not in her mind. The woman looks almost identical to how Starla first did when she became a woman with long black hair, blue eyes, and a very womanly physique beneath her flowing blue gown. This physique
is thinner than Starla’s, like what she would look like as a normal woman.
“It appears they think this hologram is a religious icon,” Kila says from behind her.
“It looks that way.” Starla turns to the Peacekeeper. “That woman. I think she’s my mother.”
“How can you be sure?”
“She looks exactly like me. Or how I used to look.”
“It is possible.”
“There’s got to be some way to be sure.”
“The hologram emitter should have a disk or some other memory storage unit. If we can examine this, we might learn the truth.”
“I don’t think they’ll let us in that close.”
“That is very true.” Kila says nothing for a moment. Then she says, “I can create a distraction to lure them away. Then you can go down to the emitter.”
“Good idea. Just be careful.”
“I will meet you back at the vehicle.”
“All right.”
Kila slips off to the left. Starla braces herself to run. She drains some of the solar charge from the suit to pump up her muscles. She stares at the hologram as it continues its lesson, seemingly oblivious to the fact her students are alien scavengers who view her as a god.
When she hears the aliens scream, she gets to her feet. Kila lets go another burst of lightning over their heads. As expected, the aliens charge towards her to defend their god. Kila makes sure she has as many lured away as possible before she zips away in her magic bubble.
Now that she’s in the clear, Starla bolts from her hiding place. As she streaks towards the hologram, she notices it flicker. The woman’s image changes. Her face looks older, with deeper lines around her eyes and forehead. From the bags under her eyes, she looks as if she hasn’t slept in days. Despite this, her hair is pulled back neatly and her shimmering blue gown is immaculate.
“All students and faculty are to report to the basement immediately. There is no need to be alarmed. This emergency is only temporary. Proceed at once in an orderly fashion.”
Starla thinks this must be a recorded message until the woman turns to face her. “Young lady, you are to go to the basement immediately. If you do not go now, you will be disciplined.”
Girl Power Omnibus (Gender Swap Superhero Fiction) Page 79