by John Coon
DARK METAMORPHOSIS
Copyright © 2021 by John Coon.
Samak Press
ISBN: 978-1-7324871-6-1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons or aliens, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design: 100Covers
Interior Design: FormattedBooks
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Seeing so many readers from around the world embrace Alien People after I published it in September 2020 filled me with joy. I had so many more places to go and stories to tell with these characters. Now the door has flown open for me to take a deeper journey inside that universe.
Dark Metamorphosis chronicles another stop in the journey of Calandra and Xttra. This new chapter in their story places them in much a darker spot than ever before, challenging everything they embraced as truth. But what they experience also offers hope that dawn will soon arrive, and shadows will flee as light breaks forth to signal a new day. I felt extensive joy and had so much fun diving deeper into the universe I introduced in Under a Fallen Sun and expanded on in Alien People. I hope you all will enjoy the ride as well.
I am indebted, as always, to others who contributed to helping me to develop and polish the story you will soon read. Jeff Keyes, Joshua Coon, and Sandra Coon deserve special mention for offering valuable feedback on plot, characters, and setting while beta reading. I am also indebted to 100 Covers for creating an excellent eye-catching cover that fits thematically with my novel. And I appreciate Formatted Books for putting together a clean, appealing interior design for my latest novel. —JC
CONTENTS
AUTHOR’S NOTE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
ALIEN WORDS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
1
Nothing about this situation promised a path toward a happy resolution.
Xttra knew it once he laid eyes on the holoscreen. The unmarked vessel refused to respond to his repeated attempts to open a channel to communicate. Silence only confirmed what he suspected when the vessel first appeared on his scout ship’s sensors.
This was indeed the saboteur whom Xttra and his crew were supposed to intercept.
“Plasma cannons are at full capacity.”
Xttra snapped his head toward his weapons officer. Bo’un simultaneously glanced up from a holoscreen at his designated station on the bridge. Xttra answered him with a brisk nod.
“Good to hear.” The master pilot turned back and faced the holoscreen above the helm console again. “Let’s see if we can convince these people to stick around for a while longer.”
Xttra scrutinized the holoscreen data and pinched his lips together into a frown. Fengar loomed on the horizon beyond Lathos. Impact scars pock-marked the silver-gray moon and dulled the natural luster of its icy crust. Colonies dotting that scarred surface harbored enough ports where this vessel could make a safe landing. From there, the saboteur had a clear path to exit their spacecraft, blend in with dissidents living inside a protected colony, and disappear forever.
Xttra refused to let this scenario unfold without a fight. Letting this traitor escape his grasp would only add another major blemish to his Stellar Guard service record. After the debacle on Earth, Xttra did not think his master pilot rank would survive another failed mission.
“We better head that vessel off before it lands on Fengar,” Xttra said, glancing over at the navigator station again. “Give me an intercept course.”
His navigator punched several buttons in a sequence. A moment later, a blue line charting a new flight path appeared on the helm holoscreen.
“Nice work, Talan,” Xttra said, while keeping his eyes glued on the holoscreen. “Let’s fly.”
Their new flight path took his scout ship over the far side of Fengar. An enormous perpetual shadow blanketed the surface. That same side of the diminutive moon appeared forever tidal locked away from their sun’s rays when Fengar journeyed across the Lathoan sky at night. Xttra guessed the unmarked vessel planned to use Fengar’s dark half as a natural cloak masking its approach from visual sensors. A desperate rookie mistake from a pilot without enough experience or common sense to know better.
On cue, the unmarked vessel appeared dead ahead cloaked in shadow. The vessel’s triangular nose pointed downward, and it rolled over on its left side as it approached the moon. This maneuver caused one rear triangular wing to protrude upward and the other to protrude downward.
“Looks like a Cassian dart.” Bo’un echoed the perplexed feelings stirring inside Xttra. “How’s that possible? I thought the Confederation discontinued the whole series.”
Xttra shrugged.
“Still popular on the black market. Older models are harder to track on sensors, I suppose.”
A flashing light lit up on the navigation station, accompanied by a short series of beeps.
“We’re approaching orbital range,” Talan said. He spun his chair around to face the helm. “What’s your plan? What’s hidden inside your armored sleeve?”
Xttra glanced over his shoulder and cracked a grin.
“I can’t spoil the surprise. Where would be the fun in doing that?”
Talan scrunched up his pointed nose and green eyes and shook his head at Xttra’s coy response. He turned his chair toward the medical officer’s station.
“Is he always like this?”
Sarianna brushed back a short black bang and answered the navigator with a bemused expression.
“This is quite typical. Unfortunately.”
Xttra laughed off her sarcastic remark. Sarianna knew what to expect. He always told new crew members this is what they signed up for when they joined his crew. Talan heard those same words on his first day.
As did Ohnro.
Xttra shot a quick glance at his new assistant pilot. Ohnro sat rigid in his seat, his eyes fixed in an unbroken stare on the other vessel looming in the distance. He let out a gruff sigh.
“Relax.” Xttra shook his head. He refocused his attention on the unmarked Cassian dart ahead. “I’ll let you know when it’s time to worry.”
Ohnro finally cocked his head toward the master pilot’s chair and narrowed his gray eyes.
“I wonder what your last assistant pilot has to say about your bravado.”
Bo’un and Sarianna both let out audible gasps. Xttra went from grin to hardened stare in a few seconds. He held up an index finger.
“You better shut your mouth before I shut it for yo
u.”
An uncomfortable silence permeated the bridge. Ohnro’s remark reopened wounds Xttra spent the better part of a year trying to heal since he and Calandra returned from Earth. The sting of what they endured on that nightmarish expedition had not dulled with time.
Xttra still witnessed Lance making a grim death march to their aerorover if he allowed his mind to wander. A distinct image of the airborne vehicle exploding into a ball of flame, with his dying friend inside, haunted him with the tenacity of a vengeful spirit. Calandra also carried physical and emotional scars from their journey. Those scars weighed down her body and soul. No one—especially a novice assistant pilot—had a right to treat what they both endured with scorn.
He pressed his lips together for a moment and exhaled deeply. Xttra zigzagged the scout ship over Fengar’s northern pole, hoping to conceal his approach from the other vessel.
His ploy did not work.
The unmarked vessel pulled out from starting descent maneuvers and leveled out. It executed a sharp turn and pointed toward the scout ship. Xttra’s eyes widened, and he brushed a hand back through his light brown hair.
“The dart moved into an attack position.” A surprised tone gripped his words. “Has that pilot lost their mind?”
“Desperate people end up doing desperate things,” Bo’un replied.
Xttra nodded while continuing to stare straight ahead at the other vessel.
“I hope they’re ready to learn a lesson. My scout ship can make a meal out of Cassian darts.”
He pressed a small white button on the helm console. Two slots opened in the floor and cylindrical steering columns popped up through each opening. These stout metallic columns flanked each side of the pilot’s chair. Xttra placed his hands into molded grooves on spheres topping each column and angled both spheres downward.
With shadow-like precision, the scout ship executed the same motion as the spheres. Tracking sensors on the holoscreen marked the vessel’s position relative to Xttra’s ship. Once red lines lined up with the back end of the vessel, he snapped his head toward Ohnro.
“Disable their weapons and secondary thrusters. Don’t squeeze too much juice from our plasma cannons. We only want to cripple their vessel.”
Ohnro nodded. A stoic frown graced his lips.
“I’ll approach it like threading a needle.”
The assistant pilot narrowed his eyes and squeezed a trigger stick below his console. Plasma bolts discharged from a pair of cannons embedded in the belly of the ship. A sudden flash followed.
Sparks burst forth from both secondary thrusters on the Cassian dart. Smoke mingled with flame billowed from brand new holes in each thruster.
Ohnro squeezed the trigger stick a second time. Two more plasma bolts slammed into the dart’s short-range blasters. Protruding barrels from both weapons exploded in another cloud of smoke and flames on the underside of the vessel.
A wave of silent satisfaction swept over Xttra while watching the entire scene unfold.
“Perfect. This traitor is right where we want them.”
Multiple rapid beeps greeted Xttra’s ears. He flashed a smug grin at Ohnro.
“They want to talk now. Open a channel.”
A hooded pilot materialized on the main holoscreen connected to an arca vox embedded within the helm console. They sat alone in the dart’s cockpit. Dim lighting chased shadows across the pilot’s face, obscuring their eyes and forehead from Xttra’s vision.
Xttra leaned forward in his chair. His eyes locked into an unbroken hardened stare at the holoscreen.
“The Stellar Guard does not take technological sabotage lightly. We have nothing to discuss except the terms of your surrender.”
The dart pilot visibly stiffened in their chair upon seeing Xttra and hearing his voice.
“Xttra?”
Silence permeated the bridge. Xttra’s throat tightened, and his eyes widened. The pilot’s voice sounded so familiar. Too familiar. He sensed all eyes on the bridge now focused on him and the main holoscreen.
“Whatever they told you, Xttra, is a lie.” The dart pilot pierced a tense silence gathering on the bridge. “You need to listen to me.”
“How does this person know you? Are you—”
Xttra turned, looked at Sarianna, and thrust a finger to his lips. The medical officer stopped mid-question. She tossed her hands up and sighed. Xttra refocused his attention on the hooded pilot and leaned forward again.
“Who are you? How do you know my name?”
At once, the dart pilot threw back their hood revealing their entire face to Xttra for the first time. His mouth fell open. Behind him, Bo’un gasped a second time.
“Kevin?”
A numbness gripped Xttra upon learning the pilot’s identity. What drove Kevin to betray his trust in this manner? How could he turn against Ra’ahm and isolate himself from the only friends he had on Lathos?
The Earthian popped up as Xttra’s first choice to replace Lance as his assistant pilot. Kevin sacrificed so much to help him and Calandra escape from the clutches of the Earth Defense Bureau and return home. Xttra should have known something was amiss when he turned down a chance to serve on his crew. A natural-born soldier like Kevin fit right at home in the Stellar Guard.
Xttra scolded himself internally for not seeing obvious warning signs.
“Who’s Kevin?”
Ohnro’s question drew an immediate sharp stare from Xttra. The assistant pilot frowned and answered with a defensive shrug.
“You’re putting me in a difficult spot here.” Xttra turned back and faced Kevin once again. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t turn you over to face a Stellar Guard tribunal.”
Kevin rolled his eyes.
“I’ll give you two reasons: I saved Calandra’s life and your life back on Earth. And I didn’t steal what old Delcor claims I stole.”
Talan gasped and shook his finger at him.
“You should not refer to our chief sovereign in such flippant terms.”
Kevin glared at the navigator. His image flickered on the holoscreen for a moment.
“Not my chief sovereign!” The Earthian’s voice descended to a near growl. His eyes shifted to Xttra again. “Who’s that jackass working for you?”
Xttra sighed.
“I disabled your secondary thrusters. You can’t outrun my scout ship. But I can still help you if you’ll let me.”
“Really? How?
“Turn over the Caeco shield emitter prototype and we’ll sort out the details.
Kevin let out a brief derisive laugh and shook his head. A slight tremor rippled through the holoscreen on his end while an alarm sounded behind him. He mashed down on a button near his steering controls.
The alarm ceased.
“You don’t have a clue why they sent you after me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“You stole top secret technology. Doesn’t require a genius to solve that equation.”
“No. I didn’t.” Kevin leaned forward as though preparing to whisper to Xttra in a crowded room. “I don’t have any sort of prototype on me. But I did uncover intelligence threatening old Delcor’s rule.”
Xttra cocked an eyebrow at him.
“What intelligence?”
“The prime oracle lives.”
“Of course, he does. In the heart of Luma.”
Kevin shook his head.
“Not that one. The prime oracle named Valadius is alive and well.”
Xttra bolted upright in his chair. His body stiffened from head to toe. A shudder raced through his spine.
“You lie.” Bo’un’s voice quavered as he spat out his accusation. “How dare you spread such seditious rumors, Earthian!”
“I’ll never let you bring me back to the planet’s surface alive, Xttra,” Kevin replied, not even botheri
ng to glance over at the weapons officer. “That tyrant Delcor wants me dead. You and Calandra are also stuck in his crosshairs. Soon, he’ll go after you as well.”
Xttra stared unblinking at the holoscreen. He could not find the right words to react to Kevin’s revelation. If Valadius were truly alive, that changed everything he thought he knew about Ra’ahm. And the nature of the Order of Ahm itself.
“What makes you think you can escape?” Ohnro said. His hand hovered over the trigger stick like an agitated russakin, waiting for an order to strike.
“I’m not worried.”
Kevin’s image vanished from the main holoscreen right after he said those words. Multiple beeps greeted Xttra’s ears. His eyes darted to a secondary holoscreen. Sensors tracked three new vessels. Each one was a Cassian dart. These vessels were closing in on the scout ship’s position above the far side of Fengar.
Xttra liked his odds going up against a single dart. Tangling with four darts simultaneously produced no similar feelings.
“Hold your fire.” Xttra signaled for Ohnro to pull his hand away from the trigger stick. “We’re not on a suicide mission out here.”
Ohnro scrunched up his eyes and nose and flung his left hand toward the windshield.
“You can’t let him get away!”
“We don’t exactly have a choice.” An abrupt iciness tinged Xttra’s words. “We’re outnumbered here. Also, I have important questions that need answers.”
The other darts took up safe positions around Kevin’s vessel. All three ships bore no exterior markings like the first dart. Xttra could do nothing except watch as all four ships shot down toward a landing site inside a protected Fengar colony.
2
A shudder raced through Calandra from head to toe. Few things in this world produced this sensation within her body. Now she faced one of those awful triggers. Every word falling from Xttra’s lips as he explained the entire situation only filled Calandra’s soul with dread.
“You must tell them no.” Desperation permeated her plea. “Please tell them no.”
Xttra smashed his lips together and lowered his head. The fresh pain attacking Calandra deep inside washed over his face at the same time. He brushed back tears with his left hand and focused his deep blue eyes on her piercing green ones.
