Dark Metamorphosis

by John Coon

  “Good riddance,” the merchant said.

  Zatoriah clicked the trigger on her sidearm. A small spark formed at the barrel. Nothing else happened.

  The laser bolt did not discharge.

  A relieved sigh escaped Calandra’s lips. She opened the aerorover door and dived inside the vehicle. Zatoriah smacked the barrel against her open palm and cursed at the weapon. Calandra tossed her own eliminator on the passenger seat, strapped herself in, and got the aerorover airborne.

  The merchant fired her weapon a second time. Same result. It had malfunctioned completely. Calandra threw the control knob forward. The aerorover zipped away from Zatoriah and her shop.

  Her heart kept pounding with a relentless beat. Talan laid a trap for her. Zatoriah planned to shoot Calandra dead once she crossed the street.

  What if he did the same with Alayna?

  NO!

  Calandra needed to rescue Alayna before it grew too late. Her life faced equal danger.

  She made a sharp turn and sped toward Alayna’s apartment overlooking the Nectura River’s northern bank. Calandra licked her lips and pushed the aerorover speed past her normal comfort levels. Her thoughts drifted back to her inability to connect with Alayna’s arca vox earlier. Did it reveal an omen Calandra overlooked? Was her friend safe?

  Please be safe. Ahm, please protect her.

  She repeated this desperate thought while making a sharp descent toward Alayna’s apartment. Calandra parked along the street a short distance from the building’s main doors. She grabbed the eliminator and scrambled out of the aerorover.

  Calandra wrenched her arca vox out of her chest pouch after she entered the building. She sprinted toward the elevator while punching in Alayna’s contact code. A holoscreen appeared, displaying the same message as earlier. Calandra punched in the code a second time after entering the elevator. No image replaced the message. Two words suspended on the holoscreen mocked her.

  Not Available.

  She raced out of the elevator before the door fully opened. Panicked, heavy breaths escaped through her lips as Calandra sprinted down the hall toward the apartment. Why did Alayna not answer her arca vox? This was so unlike her. She never repeatedly skipped an opportunity to chat like this.

  An open door greeted Calandra.

  No sign of forced entry.

  She slowed her pace as she reached the doorway. Calandra peeked her head inside and surveyed the outer edge of the living room, searching for any sign of Alayna.

  “Alayna? Where are you?”

  Calandra stepped through the open doorway as she called out to her friend. No answer. Not so much as a voice, or footsteps, or any other discernable sound signaling human activity.

  “We need to flee from here. Someone tried to kill me, and I think they might also be after you.”

  She rounded the corner, her eyes darting in multiple directions. When Calandra approached the kitchen, she froze. Her arca vox and eliminator simultaneously dropped from her hands to the floor. Calandra cried out and pressed her natural hand to her mouth. Tears sprang forth from her eyes.

  Alayna lay crumpled on the floor.

  A hole from a laser bolt was in her neck.

  26

  Calandra sank to her knees and shook with sobs. Tears coursed down both cheeks. Her breaths devolved into quavering bursts. This was not real. It had to be a dark twisted fantasy. She wanted to wake from this nightmare.

  Alayna’s eyes were cold and empty. Her face forever frozen with an expression of pained shock. Blood had pooled around her gaping mouth.

  Executed like a dangerous traitor.

  Calandra was powerless to do anything to stop it from happening. What if she had stopped here earlier? Would she have made a difference if she checked on Alayna earlier in the day?

  She pinched her eyelids shut and grabbed a handful of the carpet woven from ebutoka hair.

  “You didn’t deserve this.” Calandra barely forced the words out between sobs. “I’m so sorry.”

  She blamed herself for what happened. Calandra dropped Alayna’s name in her conversation with Talan before learning his true intentions later. Did he pull the trigger? Was that ruthless pile of Ebutoka droppings responsible for ending Alayna’s life?

  Calandra’s eyes popped open again. She snatched up her eliminator and arca vox from the floor and pulled herself to her feet. She drew deep breaths and stuffed both objects inside her chest pouch.

  “Talan won’t get away with this,” Calandra seethed. “He’ll face justice. I’ll see to it.”

  She wiped away tears moistening her cheeks. Her eyes darted from wall to wall in both the kitchen and living room. Calandra studied both rooms, searching for any clues implicating Talan as Alayna’s assassin. Her narrow escape from Zatoriah convinced Calandra that he, or someone in league with him, planned to kill both her and Alayna that evening.

  Footsteps.

  Calandra stiffened upon hearing other sets of feet enter the apartment. Her heart pounded anew. Someone either tracked her to Alayna’s place or they were already waiting for her here and came out of their hiding place.

  “Stay right where you are.”

  Her breaths sped up into shallow fevered bursts. She turned her head incrementally toward her shoulder, trying to identify who owned the gruff voice behind her.

  “Don’t move a muscle or we will blast you.”

  Two men wearing combat armor, helmets, and wielding melters soon flanked each side of Calandra. City guards. One guard on her left cast his eyes down at Alayna’s body. A fierce scowl crawled across the guard’s lips when he looked back at Calandra.

  “You did this. You murdered this woman.”

  She shook her head with vigor.

  “No. She’s … she’s my friend,” Calandra’s voice cracked as she denied the accusation. “I found her here. What did they do to her? If only I …”

  Calandra trailed off. Tears brimmed in her eyes anew and she broke down sobbing a second time. The guard on her right seized her chest pouch and unlatched it at her shoulder.

  “Wait! What are you doing?”

  She instinctively extended her hand to grab the pouch. The city guard on her left quickly clamped a hand down on her forearm and jammed his melter up against her ribs.

  “I told you not to move. Are you deaf?”

  Calandra pinched her lips together and watched helplessly as the other guard hunted through her chest pouch. He drew out the eliminator and scowled at her.

  “Found the weapon. She’s our culprit.”

  She froze and stared at the two city guards with wide eyes and raised brows. They were convinced she murdered Alayna. Fear crawled up her spine. Her face contorted and her lips trembled.

  Calandra walked right into a trap.

  “No! I didn’t do this. Alayna is my best friend. I found her like this.”

  Both guards shook their heads and glared at her.

  “Your ‘friend’ was killed by a laser bolt. Fired from an eliminator.” The guard holding her eliminator thrust the weapon in her face. “You have an eliminator in your possession. No one else is here.”

  He unhooked magnetic restraints from his belt and slapped them across Calandra’s arms. The other guard produced a cloth pouch. Her eyes widened as he placed it atop her head and started pushing it down over her hair.

  This was not normal procedure for city guards in restraining a suspected criminal.

  “What are you doing to me?”

  Calandra struggled against the restraints. The guard stretched the cloth bag over her eyes and nose. An overwhelming sickly-sweet aroma greeted her nostrils.

  Maidron root extract.

  A powerful sedative.

  Liquified Maidron root soaked the cloth, and the pungent aroma filled her lungs. Calandra’s eyes grew heavy. Voices of both guards faded
from her ears as she slipped into oblivion.

  ***

  Calandra pressed her hands to her face and let out a heavy sigh. Dizziness from prolonged exposure to Maidron root still gripped her, even as numbness in her extremities began wearing off. She blinked rapidly and tried to rise to her feet.

  After several tries, Calandra kept her balance. Her eyes drifted from wall to wall as she carefully assessed unfamiliar surroundings. She found herself standing inside a sterile windowless cell. Horizontal lights hung from each wall, casting a pale white glow over the cramped room. Besides Calandra and a narrow metallic bench, nothing else occupied the cell.

  A loud whoosh from a sliding door greeted her ears. Calandra turned toward the source of the sound. Both city guards who imprisoned her entered the room. Then, a third visitor entered through the doorway behind the guards. A short gasp escaped her lips before Calandra pressed her real hand to her mouth to stifle it.

  Delcor stood in the cell with her.

  He shot a disapproving frown at her and shook his head like a weary parent disciplining an unruly child. Calandra did not take her eyes off him for a second. Since when did he make personal visits to prisoners? Drawing an unexpected audience with the chief sovereign counted as a bad omen with all she uncovered about him.

  “I expected better things from the granddaughter of my former first minister.” His accusatory tone matched his expression perfectly. “Tell me, Calandra, what would Janthore say if he saw the mess you created for yourself?”

  Calandra pinched her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them into a stony stare.

  “I did not murder my best friend.”

  “Compelling evidence tells me a different story. You were carrying an eliminator. The same weapon, according to the city guards, used to kill Alayna Bocane.”

  “I found her already dead inside her apartment. You can check my eliminator yourself. I never fired it once.”

  Delcor clucked his tongue.

  “I want to believe you. I want what you say to be true. But I also cannot ignore how you involved yourselves in nefarious activities before her untimely demise.”

  She raised her eyebrows at his accusation. How much did he know? Playing ignorant was her only hope.

  “Nefarious activities? What are you insinuating here, my sovereign?”

  He scoffed at her question.

  “Stop pretending to be so innocent and naïve.” Delcor started pacing in front of her and the bench. “It will not help your case. You and your friend accessed restricted records within the Central Archives. Did you think our image sensors would not capture you inside that room?”

  A lump formed in her throat. Calandra sat on the bench and rubbed her natural hand across her chin. He knew everything she and Alayna did to uncover his crimes. Did his agents also monitor her and Bo’un when they paid a visit to Ominade? Were Bo’un and Ominade also in danger now?

  “I just want to bring my husband home.” Her voice cracked a little when she said these words. “I want to see Xttra again. I will not leave a single stone unturned in my search for him.”

  Delcor’s eyes softened as he studied her. Calandra wondered if she reached him and cracked through his shell. It turned out to be nothing more than a mirage. Those same eyes hardened again as a twisted half-smirk formed on his lips.

  “Your excuse does not sway me. No information related to Xttra Oogan’s abduction is stored among those restricted records. You already know as much. Those are confidential records of the government of Ra’ahm.”

  His penetrating gaze pressed down on Calandra like an unyielding blinding light. She wanted to close her eyes, turn away, and transport herself to the other side of Lathos far from his reach. Calandra forced herself to hold her ground and keep eye contact.

  She refused to let Delcor intimidate her any longer.

  “Do you know how many months have passed since I have seen his face or heard his voice outside my own memories?” Calandra rose to her feet a second time. “Do you understand the pain, emptiness, and loneliness I feel? Can you grasp the desperation fueling me to find my soulmate and bring him home?”

  Both city guards started toward her as Calandra’s voice climbed in strength and pitch. Delcor turned to each approaching guard and abruptly waved them off.

  “I understand pain. I understand loss. On a scale you cannot imagine. And it can come to your door.”

  He edged closer to her and quickly stabbed an index finger in Calandra’s face. She flinched and backpedaled until her legs pressed against the bench.

  “You should know better than to chase after seditious lies and rumors conjured by Confederation leadership. They never cease working to destroy me. They never stop opposing our freedom from their tyranny.”

  Calandra bowed her head and gazed at the floor. So many words rested on her tongue. Bold words. Harsh words. Passionate arguments designed to cut to their chief sovereign’s soul and open his eyes. Such words would pierce like sharp blades. They would cut her down in the end. Not him. Calandra understood this much. Delcor made a determined effort to bury evidence of past crimes. Confirming her knowledge of those same crimes while in his presence would not end well for her.

  She chose a different tactic.

  “Why did my grandfather step down from being your first minister?”

  Silence greeted her question. Calandra lifted her head and fixed her eyes on Delcor. A resolute frown washed over her face.

  “Why did he leave Lathos? What drove him to leave behind family and friends, never to return?”

  The chief sovereign shook his finger like a club at her.

  “Janthore was a wise and pragmatic leader. He understood and embraced his role in aiding me with governing Ra’ahm. You should learn from his example.”

  “Why did he leave?” Calandra’s lips trembled as she repeated the question. “Why?”

  Delcor leaned closer and did his best to make himself tower over her.

  “He understood compromises for the greater good needed to be made. The prime oracle’s tragic fate crushed so many of us. Janthore was no exception. His desire to serve fled from him. We both knew he could not continue in his office. For his sake and his family’s sake.”

  A tremor raced along her spine. Calandra swallowed hard and gazed upon the chief sovereign in stunned silence. The true implication behind his words became perfectly clear. He gave her grandfather a simple choice—self-imposed exile or die along with his entire family.

  “I do wonder, Calandra, what choice you would make,” Delcor continued. “What would you do if you faced the dilemma Janthore once faced? Would you share his pragmatic viewpoint?”

  Calandra averted her eyes from his piercing gaze. She stared past Delcor’s shoulder and noted satisfied smiles splashed on the faces of both city guards. Their reaction to his words mocked her internal despair. The path before her seemed too rugged to traverse. Ahm required a burden too heavy to bear.

  The chief sovereign made her fate clear. Calandra had no other choice. She needed to do whatever was necessary to survive. For Xttra. For her family. Her life, like Ominade said, was precious. Too precious to let him snuff it out like a weakening candle flame.

  Delcor claimed victory in this battle. She could not afford to let him win the war.

  “I understand.” Her voice grew quiet and defeated. “I understand my grandfather’s decision now.”

  The chief sovereign answered her with an approving nod. He laid a hand on her shoulder. Calandra gave the hand a cursory glance but said nothing.

  “You can have your old life again,” Delcor said. “This incident tonight can disappear. You can go back to the observatory. Who knows? Ahm may smile on you and even bring Xttra back to you.”

  His words mocked her pain. The way he spoke told her he believed Xttra would never return to Lathos alive. Kevin was right. Her life had cha
nged forever. Nothing she did, or Delcor said, would turn back time and chart a new and better path.

  “Go back to the observatory,” Delcor said. “Live a safe life quietly studying distant stars and planets. It will be better for you and the ones you love if you do.”

  Fresh unbidden tears splashed down Calandra’s tear-stained cheeks. She answered him with a pained nod.

  “Good. I hoped a little reasoning would sway you. I owed it to your grandfather to try.”

  Delcor paused and stared at her. She knew what she was supposed to say at this point. Words programmed into her reaching back into her childhood. Calandra wished her eardrums would shatter, so she did not have to listen to herself say these awful words. They tore her soul into pieces.

  “May Ahm preserve you and lengthen your rule to match your days, my sovereign.”

  Calandra refused to look him directly in the face while she recited this expression. She had no clue how she would handle seeing Delcor wearing a satisfied condescending smile at her total humiliation.

  “The evidence tying young Calandra here to her friend’s murder is circumstantial at best,” he said, turning to the city guards. “Return her possessions and release her from your custody at once.”

  Both guards bowed and opened the door leading out of the windowless cell. Delcor turned and peered at Calandra one more time with renewed sternness when he reached the doorway.

  “I hope our next chat will be under much better circumstances,” he said. “That, of course, hinges on you.”

  Calandra did not want to envision what a future chat with the chief sovereign would bring. She counted on not leaving his presence a second time with either her freedom or her life still intact.

  27

  Xttra stared at the lifeless hybrid while Xander and Kyra loaded its corpse back inside the hibernation pod. Questions clawed their way to the surface in his mind. He wished he could bury each one again and continue living in blissful ignorance about the past.