Dark Metamorphosis Read online

Xttra rose from his chair. He walked over to twin glass doors leading to a small balcony and gazed out across Luma’s skyline. A smattering of lights enveloped the old city, chasing away night-time shadows. Calandra scrambled off her chair and joined him at the balcony door. His eyes remained fixed on those same city lights as she slipped her right hand into his left hand.

  “If Kevin is right, and our former prime oracle lives, you know what this means.”

  Calandra closed her eyes and nodded. She completed in her mind those words Xttra left unspoken.

  If true, this revelation would mean their chief sovereign lied to every man, woman, and child in Ra’ahm. It also would mean a usurper now led the Order of Ahm. If their chief sovereign deceived an entire nation on this matter, what other secrets would he keep hidden? Why did her grandfather resign from his service?

  “They gave me a choice Calandra.” Xttra turned and gazed into her eyes again. “Accept this mission and track down Kevin on Fengar. Or resign from the Stellar Guard.”

  A crease formed in her brow as Calandra’s eyes now drifted over to the Luma skyline. Xttra could not do what they asked of him. Learning the Stellar Guard demanded he track Kevin down and bring him back as a prisoner sickened her. Unlike his fellow Earthians, Kevin had honor. Turning their backs on a friend in his hour of need was not an option.

  “You can’t do it,” she whispered. Calandra lowered her head and cast a pleading glance at Xttra. “I owe my life to him. You have to save Kevin.”

  “I will not harm him. You have my word.”

  Xttra drew her into an embrace and planted a tender kiss on her lips. Calandra soaked in his kiss and tightened her embrace of him. Their lips lingered for a moment until she opened her eyes again and drew back a step.

  “Pray for me,” he said. “Pray this mission does not send us down a path neither of us wants to travel.”

  Fear squeezed Calandra like an invisible hand. Sleep would now elude her until Xttra returned home from Fengar and told her what he found.

  Then, at last, he could stay.

  5

  Fengar never exuded a welcoming vibe during Xttra’s past missions to the large moon. Still, touching down on the lunar surface this time around put him on edge more than usual. He pondered what he should say or do if he and his crew found Kevin inside the Thetian trade colony.

  Calandra was right to be concerned for their Earthian friend’s safety. An unshakable feeling gripped Xttra that someone set a trap for Kevin, and he narrowly avoided springing it. A plume of dust kicked up around the lower section of the hull as his scout ship touched down on a landing pad. Remnants of a recent lunar dust storm.

  A square slot in a protective transparent dome over the pad sealed shut again. Xttra released a deep sigh while shutting down the primary thrusters.

  He glanced over at Ohnro.

  “Where exactly are we supposed to meet with these Thetians again?”

  Ohnro squinted and tapped at a small holoscreen hovering above his console.

  “Our destination is a shipping port west of the landing pad,” he said. “The Thetians claim they have a reliable contact there with information on where the Earthian went and who he’s working with.”

  Xttra nodded. “Let’s gear up and go.”

  Their safety harnesses released, and they rose to their feet. The door leading into the cargo bay opened with a whoosh. Once he rose from the pilot’s chair, Xttra wheeled around and fixed his eyes squarely on his crew.

  “Let me make this clear: If we find Kevin, we bring him back alive. If you shoot or slice him, I’ll personally bring you before a tribunal.”

  Talan shot him a disapproving look. The others simply nodded. Xttra cocked his head over at the navigator and a crease formed in his brow.

  “Do you have a problem with my orders, Talan?”

  Talan scratched his thin brown beard. His green eyes stayed in the same rigid gaze.

  “What if he shoots first? You want us to capture this Earthian traitor while locking us in virtual restraints.”

  Xttra scowled at him.

  “Kevin is no traitor. He saved my wife’s life and helped us escape from the clutches of hostile Earthians. Follow my order.”

  Talan rubbed his hand down his cheek and nodded. He marched over to the weapons locker.

  “Understood. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  His hardened glare told Xttra they did not actually reach a mutual understanding. Xttra joined him at the locker and cracked an annoyed half-smile.

  “I know what I’m doing more than a navigator barely a year out of the academy.”

  Xttra bound armored sleeves to both forearms, cinching the ebutoka leather straps tight under each arm. He filled belt pouches with stun pebbles and Cassian fire shells to reinforce his usual eliminator. In addition to outfitting himself with standard Stellar Guard weaponry, Xttra also grabbed a mounted pulse cannon. This gave him a useful stun weapon for subduing Kevin without causing serious or fatal injuries.

  Other ebutoka leather straps connected the pulse cannon to a metal plate that wrapped around the shoulder. A charging chamber sat atop the plate and a stout barrel protruded from the chamber opening. Xttra plucked a small remote off a locker shelf. Two stationary buttons, a sliding modulator, and a rolling ball functioned as a control panel for pulse cannon operations. One stationary button activated the weapon and the second released an electromagnetic bolt. The modulator determined voltage in each bolt before release. The rolling ball raised or lowered the barrel and aimed it at a specific target. Pulse cannon bolts held enough juice to short out communication equipment and laser-based weaponry on contact.

  Ohnro lowered the ramp leading out from the cargo bay’s lower hatch. Xttra turned and gave a friendly salute.

  “Take care of my ship while we’re gone. Run a diagnostic. Make sure no traces of lunar dust from outside are clogging anything important.”

  Xttra, Talan, and Bo’un walked down the ramp, leaving Ohnro, Sarianna, and Tressek behind to watch the scout ship. The ramp raised again after the trio stepped onto the landing pad.

  “Keep your eyes and ears open,” Xttra said, mostly intending his comments for his inexperienced navigator. “You can purchase instant trouble in a place like this.”

  Entering the shipping port impressed upon Xttra anew the difficulties they faced with limiting distractions in this place. Bright metallic containers of all shapes and sizes occupied tons of space. This expansive storage area soon yielded to an equally sprawling market. Spending enough time inside a Thetian trading colony offered a quick path to experiencing sensory overload. Rows of booths decked out with colorful lights and displays stretched out in all directions. Merchants and traders flocked to this market to sell goods or barter because they drew patrons from the Fengar colonies, Lathos, and many other planets and moons within this sector of the galaxy.

  Xttra’s eyes drifted to a booth displaying handcrafted tools and weapons fashioned by ancient cave dwellers on Thetia. One weapon that drew his eye resembled a smooth stone ax with a spear shaped pointed head.

  Stolen artifacts. A telltale sign of Thetian pirates.

  He turned away and scanned a row of booths on the right end of the market. No sign of Thetian military delegates anywhere.

  “Bo’un, get out your arca vox and have Ohnro double-check the coordinates. I think we’re in the wrong place.”

  Silence greeted Xttra’s order. He glanced over his shoulder and saw no sign of his weapons officer or navigator. Bo’un and Talan had vanished among a stream of patrons examining and purchasing goods.

  Xttra sighed and pulled out his own arca vox. Before he pressed a button to activate the holoscreen, Bo’un let out a distinct shout. Xttra snapped his head toward a booth on the row directly across from him. He saw his weapons officer seize Talan by his shoulder and pull him away from the booth.
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br />   Talan had wandered over to a booth filled with cages housing exotic pets. He wrenched free from Bo’un’s grasp and reached out his hand toward the nearest cage. It housed a long slender animal covered in short coarse brown hair. The animal had spindly arms and legs, a flat elongated head, and small beady eyes.

  Xttra knew a russakin when he saw one. What did Talan think he was doing?”

  Bo’un also thought the navigator had lost his mind.

  “Don’t touch it,” he said. “You’re asking to get bitten.”

  Talan laughed and gave him a dismissive wave with his other hand.

  “I used to own a pet russakin. They’re harmless.”

  “Harmless isn’t how I’d describe one,” Bo’un replied. “Leave it alone.”

  Bo’un reached out to grab his arm again and pull him away from the cage. Talan shook his hand off a second time and stuck his fingers between the slats. The russakin flickered a forked tongue at him and growled. At once, the creature bared its fangs and lunged forward.

  Talan screamed and jerked his hand out of the cage. Two fresh holes in his flesh bore witness to this Russakin’s temper. The punctured skin took on a purplish hue and started to swell.

  “You fool!” Xttra snapped.

  He charged toward the booth holding assorted caged animals. A mixture of growls and frightened cries came from neighboring cages around the russakin. Bo’un and Talan simultaneously turned toward Xttra. He activated his arca vox in mid-sprint and brought Sarianna up on the holoscreen.

  “We’re heading back.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “So soon?”

  “No Thetian delegates are waiting for us at the designated coordinates and Talan offered his fingers to a captured russakin.”

  Sarianna rolled her eyes.

  “You’re kidding me, right?”

  “Afraid not.”

  Xttra glanced up at Talan again. The navigator cradled his injured hand. Sweat already formed on his brow and his breaths started growing heavier.

  “Get the anti-venom ready,” Xttra said, focusing his attention on Sarianna again. “We’re still close enough to get him back to the scout ship before his muscles and nerves go completely numb.”

  She nodded. The medical officer’s image vanished from the holoscreen a few seconds later. Xttra shoved the arca vox back inside his chest pouch. Bo’un grabbed Talan by his uninjured arm and marched him away from the animal cages.

  BOOM!

  A sudden loud blast reverberated through the market. Sparks and shards from shattering overhead lights flew in all directions. Screams from random patrons and merchants followed. Xttra dropped to his knees. He pinched his eyelids shut and pressed both hands tight against his ears. When he opened his eyes again, the entire market had plunged into darkness. Emergency lighting along the market floor activated near Xttra. It cast a darkened azure glow over him.

  “This feels like an ambush.” Xttra scrambled to his feet and faced Bo’un and Talan again. “Let’s fly.”

  The trio sprinted toward a walkway connecting the landing pad and shipping port. At once, laser bolts rained down from a stack of shipping containers on Xttra’s left side. He dove to the ground and crawled between rows of containers directly behind him.

  “Get Talan to the ship.” He motioned toward the landing pad. “I’ll draw their fire.”

  Bo’un and Talan dropped down closer to the ground while Xttra activated his mounted pulse cannon. Three electromagnetic bolts blasted from the barrel in quick bursts. Each one rippled through an elevated metallic gray container and support beam in front of him. His crew members took advantage of the window Xttra opened and made a dash for the landing pad. Laser bolts rained down from amid the shipping containers again. Each one targeted Xttra’s new position among the shipping containers on the opposite side.

  Xttra extracted his thermal tracker from his chest pouch. A heat pattern matching a human or humanoid alien popped up on the screen. They crouched behind a container on the highest row. Xttra adjusted the angle on the pulse cannon’s barrel to match their position and fired a new volley of electromagnetic bolts.

  These ones reached their intended target. A loud groan followed when the second bolt struck. Xttra glanced down at his tracker. It now showed the same heat pattern collapsed on a support beam behind the container. The shooter had not fallen from their position above him.

  They’re alive, Xttra thought. Good. That gives me a chance to interrogate them once I revive them again.

  He retracted the pulse cannon, returned the remote to his chest pouch, and scrambled to his feet. The tracker emitted a beep. Xttra fixed his eyes on the holoscreen again. Three other heat patterns now appeared on the screen. Each one drawing closer to his position.

  This situation just kept growing worse.

  “Surrender now.”

  Xttra followed the sound of the gruff voice and turned to his left. Three people approached him, all clad in Thetian military uniforms. He raised both hands and the thermal tracker.

  “There’s been a misunderstanding,” Xttra said. “I’m here to meet a Thetian delegation. I’m pursuing a Ra’ahm saboteur we suspect is hiding in this trade colony.”

  The nearest Thetian gave him a stern glare.

  “You attacked a trade market and caused mass panic. You’re in our custody until we sort this out.”

  The other Thetians each grabbed an arm and ripped the tracker out of his hand. They restrained his limbs before Xttra could unleash the arm saber hidden inside his right armored sleeve. The remaining Thetian took a cloth strip and blindfolded him.

  Grainy darkness blanketed Xttra’s eyes while his captors prodded him forward. He peppered the Thetians with questions. They refused to say a word. A mechanical hum greeted his ears after a few minutes of walking. His captors pushed him forward up a ramp. Once he cleared the ramp, he heard the same hum as it closed behind him.

  “Sit down,” a gruff voice ordered. The same voice from when the Thetians first made their presence known.

  Both Thetians let go of his arms. One gave Xttra a hard shove in the back. Then a hand seized his blindfold and wrenched the fabric off his eyes.

  “Good work, Xander,” a new higher-pitched voice said. “That didn’t take long at all.”

  Xttra turned and found himself standing face-to-face before a short woman with curly black hair, high cheekbones, and violet eyes. She owned the distinctive brow ridge, throat gills, and webbed fingers of a Thetian.

  “Can we all settle down for a bit, so I can explain what’s going on?” Xttra said. “I’m trying to track down –”

  “You will speak when I’m ready to hear your words.”

  The Thetian woman thrust her arm toward a chair. He followed her order and took a seat. Xttra gave his surroundings a once-over and realized they brought him onto the bridge of a small ship.

  Clear vertical tubes filled with water, each spaced a few steps apart, adorned the walls. Each tube was the width of an average person. Three stations faced an expansive windshield at one end of the bridge. A pair of stations angled between helm and windshield featured small consoles. A vertical glass sheet rose from the middle of each console and a single chair sat behind the console. The remaining station was the helm itself. It featured a longer console with a single chair for the lead pilot. Numerous buttons, switches and panels filled the length of the console and it lit up with blue and red lights.

  The Thetian woman snapped her fingers at Xttra to draw his attention to her. She stood before his chair and rested her hands on her hips.

  “I am Kyra Riso of the Thetian Field Brigade.” Her eyes darted down to the Stellar Guard insignia on his uniform and back to his face. “You can’t stroll in here and disrupt our market without facing consequences.”

  Kyra snapped her head over to the helm. Xander, one of the Thet
ians who marched Xttra onto the ship, had taken a seat at the helm console.

  “Any word from the brigade outpost on the other side of the port?” she asked.

  “We’ve lost contact with ground communications.” Xander stared at his console and tapped a panel lit with red light repeatedly with his index finger. “We might have to reboot the entire system.”

  “Are you certain?”

  Kyra couched her question in a suspicious tone, as though she did not believe what her own eyes told her.

  “As certain as Fengar orbits Lathos.”

  “Fine.” Kyra narrowed her eyes and cast a glance back toward Xttra. “You know what to do, Cavac.”

  Xttra narrowed his eyes in turn. A suspicious frown crossed his lips. Before he said a word or moved a muscle, a series of metallic snaps followed. Bands slapped down across Xttra’s ankles and wrists. All four limbs were now bound to his chair. Xttra jerked at his new restraints with vigor as the horror of his situation hit him full force.

  These Thetians intended to make him their prisoner.

  6

  Xttra refused to take his eyes off his restraints. Those metallic bands had to own an inherent weakness he could exploit to free himself. Xtrra counted only four Thetians. Dispatching each one and escaping to his scout ship did not present unrealistic odds for success. He wore new flex armor and armed himself with enough weaponry earlier to get the job done.

  First, he needed to uncover their agenda. These Thetians did not ambush him for fun. What purpose drove their actions?

  Kyra now stood over at the helm. Xttra knew he needed to draw her attention and trick her into divulging their plans. Figuring out why these Thetians went to the trouble of laying a trap for him on Fengar ate at him.

  “My planetary leaders won’t stand for this,” he said. “Thetia and Lathos are at peace. Imprisoning a Stellar Guard senior officer without cause will be construed as an act of war.”

  Kyra slapped her hand down on the helm console and marched over to his chair again.

  “Don’t act so dramatic. You don’t have an upper hand here, no matter how much you wish you did.”