Author’s note: Welcome back to my Early Chapters Series, where I post chapters drawn from my published novels that form the Amazon free sample for each novel.
Dark Metamorphosis turns five years old in July. I originally published this second book in the Alien People Chronicles series back in 2021 through Samak Press. To celebrate, I’m sharing the first four chapters of this suspenseful science fiction adventure over four weeks.
Chapter 3
Xttra drew in a deep breath and pressed his eyes shut. His heart thumped a few beats faster as he stood before the door to the simulation arena. Coming here already seemed like a futile gesture, but he had to do it anyway.
For Calandra’s sake.
Xttra promised her he would appeal for reassignment to a different role within the Stellar Guard. One that kept him on Lathos. With her.
A horizontal beam of blue light fell on his face and crossed over his eyes. Once it passed his chin, a small sensor above the door emitted a pair of beeps.
“Welcome, Ttra Oogan.”
A half-frown sprang onto his lips as his eyelids popped open again. It made no difference how many times he heard the automated greeting, Xttra never grew accustomed to how the artificial voice mispronounced his name. The same thing happened at every Stellar Guard training facility. Always dropping the first letter on his first name without fail.
He plodded down a corridor toward an instructional chamber. Dull yellow light reflected off his skin from the low ceiling. It cast a grainy glow on the polished volcanic stone floor. Similar dark stones covered the walls and ceiling. The whole corridor reminded Xttra of a tunnel winding downward into a narrow mine.
He approached a second broader door at the end of the corridor. Another beam of blue light fell upon him, and the door parted. When Xttra stepped inside, a spray of sand smacked him in the jaw and mouth. He instinctively raised his arm to cover his eyes and spit out sand residue coating his teeth and tongue.
Two junior officers hunkered down behind a smoldering aerorover ahead. One drew an eliminator. She peppered blue laser bolts across the hull of another crashed vessel resembling a Confederation short-range fighter. The junior officer used a detached aerorover door as a makeshift body shield. The other officer crawled around the rear of the vehicle and raised an armored sleeve. He intended to fire razor discs once he obtained a clear shot at an unseen target concealed behind the wrecked enemy vessel. Stray bolts blasted sandy terrain around both vehicles, throwing up more plumes like the one that first greeted Xttra.
“Halt simulation! Cease fire!”
Both junior officers lowered their weapons and sprang to their feet. The detached aerorover door clattered to the ground. They snapped their heads toward the instructional chamber entry door and fixed their eyes on Xttra. He ignored both junior officers and gazed up at an observation room window overlooking the chamber.
“What warrants interrupting this training session, Master Pilot Oogan?” The same voice spoke again, sounding gruffer this time around.
“I must speak with Commander Mikkah. It’s urgent.”
“Commander Mikkah cannot be disturbed. I’ll tell him you stopped by, and he’ll get back to you once —”
“I’m not leaving,” Xttra said, cutting the voice off. “So, you’ll have to continue your training session around me.”
He folded his arms and raised his chin. His blue eyes hardened into a stony glare, never moving for a second from the window. Commander Mikkah never bothered to answer his arca vox all morning. Xttra refused to let an obstinate underling put him off now.
A heavy sigh and a muffled curse greeted his declaration. Another door, leading from the observation room down to the chamber, slid open a minute later. A bald man with broad shoulders stepped into the chamber and approached Xttra. His Stellar Guard uniform matched Xttra’s apart from displaying a commander’s insignia on front instead of a master pilot’s insignia.
Mikkah narrowed his eyes and scowled.
“This isn’t the best time, Xttra. Make it quick.”
“I’m here to request a reassignment.”
He raised an eyebrow and cast a skeptical glance at Xttra. Mikkah shook his head.
“We’ve already debated this more than once. Resuming space missions is mandatory.”
“I haven’t forgotten what you said.”
“Have you forgotten the consequences of turning down assigned missions? Are you determined to get stripped of your rank and scout ship?”
Xttra rolled his eyes and sighed. He kicked at a patch of sand near his feet. Mikkah spoke to him as though he were a child. He understood the sacrifice awaiting him by going down this path. The commander did not need to hammer it into his skull.
“I’m well aware of the path that lies before me.” His tone with Mikkah grew rougher. “Things change. I’m willing to step down as a master pilot.”
“You’re willing to throw away your career?”
Xttra cocked his head at Mikkah and scrunched his face. He harbored no intention of resigning from the Stellar Guard. Hearing the commander draw that exact conclusion without a second thought only stirred up annoyed feelings inside his mind.
“I want to shift gears and become an instructor at the academy. I’m certain you can find a spot for me there.”
“No.”
Mikkah turned away as though he intended to start walking back to the observation room. Xttra circled around him and cut off his path. He folded his arms a second time.
“What do you mean no?”
“I can’t toss aside one of the best master pilots in the entire fleet just because his wife got inside his head.”
Xttra felt heat rising under his collar. His muscles tensed and he grew as rigid as a statue.
“Do you understand what Calandra endured on Earth?” he snapped. “Do you understand what I endured? You haven’t walked the same path we walked. I pray to Ahm you never walk it.”
Mikkah’s frown deepened. He stared down both gawking junior officers standing near the smoldering aerorover. Each officer averted their eyes. The commander refocused his attention on Xttra and pointed at the observation room.
“Inside. Now.”
Xttra swallowed hard and followed Mikkah inside. The door sealed behind them with a whoosh. They stepped inside a glass elevator and Mikkah pressed a button for the top floor.
When the elevator door closed again, a fire enveloped his deep brown eyes.
“Do you understand what I’ve done on your behalf?” he asked. “I put my career on the line to save yours after what happened on that alien planet.”
Xttra pinched his lips together and scowled. He did not crave a reminder of those long hours he spent inside the tribunal chamber. Waves of frustration washed over him while judicial officers debated his fate. They dismissed Xttra’s account of attacks from hostile Earthians and Doni’s treachery. Rather than consider evidence he shared with an open mind, the judicial officers seemed eager to blame Xttra for everything that went wrong, impose a stern punishment, and never speak of the whole episode again. He could do nothing beyond watch helplessly.
To his credit, Mikkah intervened and vouched for Xttra’s record in the Stellar Guard and his character. He saved each survivor of the expedition to Earth from whatever dark fate brewed within the minds of the judicial officers. Now, it seemed as though Mikkah took personal offense at Xttra’s decision to change course.
“Look, I’m not trying to be confrontational about this.” Xttra’s tone softened a bit. “I’ve done some soul searching and decided I need to consider what’s best for me and Calandra together. This is the way forward.”
The elevator door opened. Both men stepped out. Mikkah stopped in his tracks, turned, and faced Xttra. His eyelids snapped shut and a curt nod followed.
“Instructor, huh?” His eyes popped open again. “I hate to lose you in the field. On the other hand, I can’t think of a master pilot more qualified to train other pilots. Your experience is invaluable.”
A relieved smile crept across Xttra’s lips.
“Calandra will be thrilled to hear this news.”
“We’ll make the switch right after you’ve completed your upcoming mission.”
His smile vanished as fast as it appeared.
“No. Wait a minute.” Xttra threw out his hands as he made his plea. “I want to make this change now. Today. Not after ‘one final mission.’”
Mikkah shook his head.
“It’s out of my hands. I’m sorry, Xttra. Your crew will meet with the Thetian delegation on Fengar as ordered.”
“What do you mean it’s out of your hands?”
Mikkah extracted a trique from his pocket. A small holoscreen popped up from the middle of the triangular gadget when he pressed a green-lit button to activate it. Lines of text appeared on the screen. Xttra recognized the Stellar Guard insignia at the top. The commander pulled up a report, but he had trouble deciphering all the words while only seeing the report from the backside.
“I have direct orders from the Minister of Space Exploration and Defense himself. The chief sovereign wants you specifically to take on this mission.”
Xttra knitted his brows together and drew in a sharp breath. This qualified as an unexpected revelation. An unwelcome one as well.
“Why me?” he asked, voicing the first question that popped into his mind.
Mikkah shrugged.
“I just follow orders. I don’t analyze them.”
Xttra could not allow himself to embrace a similar attitude. Experience taught him to keep his eyes open when a situation seemed amiss.
This was one of those times.
***
Bo’un crumpled his lips into a puzzled frown. His reaction only reinforced to Xttra that his own suspicions concerning what Mikkah said earlier were warranted.
“Do you suppose the Earthian is right? It feels like much more is at stake here than tracking down a stolen shield emitter.”
Xttra did not know what to think as he stared at a holoscreen tracking a life support system diagnostic. Nothing about this situation made sense in his mind. He could not imagine their chief sovereign insisting on him personally taking the lead on resolving a matter of such minor importance.
Xttra glanced over at his longtime weapons officer and simply shrugged.
“All I know, Bo’un, is Commander Mikkah ignored my request for reassignment until this mission is over.”
Bo’un’s eyes widened. His fingers traced over jagged scars covering the right side of his jaw and he brushed back his deep brown hair.
“Wait, what? You asked for reassignment?”
“I did.” Xttra refocused his attention on the holoscreen. “The Stellar Guard granted my request. This upcoming mission will be our last one together.”
A heavy silence permeated the scout ship’s bridge. Bo’un drew closer to the station where Xttra sat and knelt by his chair. He made no effort to hide a disappointed frown overtaking his face. Xttra gnawed on his lower lip while he searched for the right words to justify a decision that not only altered his life, but the lives of his crew.
“When did you plan on telling the rest of us?” the weapons officer finally asked. “How long have you been planning to do this?”
Xttra turned away from the holoscreen and faced Bo’un a second time.
“It’s a decision I’ve been agonizing over since we escaped from Earth,” he said. “Calandra is struggling to heal from the trauma she endured there. I need to be with her. Help her. I can’t do that if I’m always in space and she’s alone on Lathos.”
Bo’un nervously rubbed the same jagged scars again and his light gray eyes locked on a distant invisible point. If anyone understood Calandra’s pain, Xttra knew he did. Bo’un’s own survival bordered on being a miracle. No one aboard their scout ship genuinely believed he would ever come out of medical hibernation. A massive wild Earthian animal — which Kevin called a bear — inflicted so much critical damage while mauling him.
“That place changed all of us,” Bo’un said, his eyes settling back on Xttra. “And not for the better.”
Xttra answered him with an abrupt nod. He did not suffer any life-altering injuries like Calandra. Yet scars covered his mind and soul. Every moment from when their ship touched down amid the Earthian mountains until it blasted away from that wretched planet festered inside him like an open wound. Bleeding and oozing. Slowly infecting every part of him.
Two sequential beeps signaling the diagnostic’s completion interrupted Xttra’s thoughts. Life support systems still operated within acceptable functional parameters. Xttra hoped the diagnostic would uncover a hidden problem, giving him a credible excuse to delay the mission. He had checked every scout ship system now.
All functioned normally.
“Why us? Why are we the ones designated to pursue our Earthian ally at all costs?”
Xttra answered Bo’un with a blank stare. He had no clear answers. His official report did not include a mention of Kevin by name. Nor did he recount what Kevin told him concerning the former prime oracle.
None of it added up in his mind.
“We better dig a little deeper before we meet up with the Thetians,” Xttra finally said. “If there’s actual substance to Kevin’s claims, we need to know before we get ourselves mired in a dire situation.”
He rose to his feet and walked over to the main helm console. Xttra snatched up his trique lying loosely atop the console. He pressed a button lit with blue light in a bottom corner on the triangular device. The trique holoscreen showed a detailed Stellar Guard report on the shield emitter prototype. Xttra pressed the blue button again to scroll past the report. A new holoscreen replaced the earlier one. This screen showed blank space apart from a long, empty horizontal box.
Xttra pressed down on a second blue-lit trique button in the opposite corner.
“Search for ‘Prime Oracle Valadius accident.’”
A beep followed. Two words popped up on the holoscreen a few seconds later.
Restricted access.
Xttra scrunched up his face and shot a questioning look at Bo’un. Why would information related to a former prime oracle’s demise aboard a spaceship merit restricted access? If Kevin’s earlier revelation was indeed rooted in facts, such a turn of events only troubled him.
Xttra was not alone in feeling that way. A stoic frown now graced Bo’un’s lips.
“Is this some sort of trap?” he said. “Something about all of this isn’t connecting together for me.”
Xttra nodded while continuing to stare at the holoscreen. He licked his lips and his heart raced behind his ribs. Bo’un’s suspicions made sense. A nagging feeling washed over him. Someone intended to set a trap for the surviving members of the expedition to Earth.
Who was their next target?
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