Galactic Satori Chronicles: Kron

by Nick Braker

  “I brought you here to discuss an unofficial alliance,” Katerra said. “The Aliri are blind to everything that happens in my solar system. Our discussions were derailed.”

  “We’ve talked the entire time... well, except when you were unable to resist my-”

  “Enough of that,” Katerra said, raising her voice. “Let’s not speak of it. You are mistaken, Magnus. At least fifteen of your Earth hours have passed since you walked through my door.”

  “No... fucking... way,” Magnus said.

  “Computer, how much time in Earth hours-”

  “Stop,” Magnus said.

  Katerra’s hand twitched. She put her hands behind her, clenching her fists, smiling at him. No one interrupted her, especially a human. She suppressed the thought of having him executed, reminding herself of his usefulness.

  “Like I’m going to believe anything your damn computer says,” he continued. “I never sleep more than four hours anymore. Look, I know I woke up on the floor but I feel like shit which means I’ve only been asleep for at most an hour. It’s more likely I passed out for an hour, maybe two-”

  “You’ve been trying to kill me all night,” Katerra said.

  Magnus stared at her. She could tell he was searching, trying to assess her comments. It appeared he didn’t believe her.

  “Bullshit.”

  “Your fondness for cursing is another interesting custom-”

  He interrupted her again. She continued to smile.

  “I can do a whole hell of a lot worse than that but let’s get back to debunking your lie. I told you, no more than a few hours ago. There is no point in talking if you’re going to lie to me. Roughly four hours have passed at best.”

  “Would video suffice?” Katerra asked.

  He turned his head, eying her sideways.

  “It might, though with your technology...,” he said, letting his point trail off.

  Katerra knew that he couldn’t remember the fury that Ryikoda could bring. His memories of last night did not exist while his blind, animal-like thoughts took control. He would only believe someone he trusted. She returned to the raised floor, standing in front of the star field. The effort to establish trust would help her immensely with the diplomatic side of her plan. He didn’t believe her so she needed to prove he could.

  “Computer, connect me to the cell that currently holds the one named Ruth.”

  She turned her head, looking at Magnus.

  “Join me,” she said, pausing intentionally, “please?”

  Magnus moved to stand next to her again. A picture of Ruth formed on the screen. Katerra would let Magnus speak with the only people he truly trusted, for now.

  Chapter 17

  ALLIANCE?

  Kron - Capital City of Citron

  Wednesday, October 28, 1987 - 08:30am

  Magnus

  The wall-sized screen in front of Magnus changed and Ruth’s image appeared within another prison cell. This one looked smaller than the one he awoke in after arriving on Kron.

  They must have her in another location.

  “Can she hear me?” Magnus asked.

  Ruth’s head snapped around, scanning the room. “Magnus? Is that you? You’re alive? Oh, my god.”

  Magnus looked down at himself, uselessly smoothing down his clothes. If she saw him like this...

  “Can she see-” Magnus whispered, leaning close to Katerra.

  Katerra shook her head, pointing to her ear.

  “Yes, Ruth,” Magnus said. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” Ruth said. We gave ‘em hell but there were too many of them. Are we secure?”

  He wished he could talk with her privately. He needed honest answers and that wasn’t going to be easy.

  “Ruth, assume we’re being monitored.”

  Ruth’s shoulders relaxed and she brought her hand up, covering her mouth. Tears of relief threatened to escape from her eyes.

  “You sound like shit, Magnus,” Ruth said, recovering. She wiped her nose on the back of her hand.

  “I feel worse,” he said, grinning.

  She knew him better than almost anyone. Magnus sent her clues in voice and words. His comment told her he was injured.

  “Are you getting enough exercise?” he asked.

  He wanted her to move around the room, hoping he could give her the location of the camera. It might help.

  “Funny,” she replied sarcastically. “The massages they give us help, though.”

  He chuckled. Ruth was telling him she was hurt, too.

  “Did everyone make it?” he asked.

  “I think so,” she said, as she started walking around the room. She had picked up his clue. “They were alive when we were captured.”

  Her path around the room took her to the far side near her cell door. Ruth casually worked her way back along the wall, toward the camera.

  “You look tired,” he said, as she walked closest to the camera.

  She scratched her nose. She understood his clue.

  “Let’s cut to the chase,” Ruth said. “They want me to tell you something or you needed to know if we were all alive in order to make some kind of deal?”

  Magnus wanted to tell her everything. Well, almost everything. His time with Kron’s queen wouldn’t go over well. In fact, if anyone like Ruth or Alexandria found out, they would have to consider him compromised. He wasn’t, but they would never believe it. Katerra still had a lot to explain, but if she was right about the Aliri, both of them would have to walk a very tight rope from this point forward. No one else could know. What did Katerra hope to gain though? Why have sex with him? His ego wasn’t that big. The woman was ruthless and she could have other plans in motion like using Earth to help her kill the Aliri. If she succeeded, who would stop her from destroying Earth?

  If Katerra lied, he needed to work with the Aliri to destroy her and all of Kron, but if Katerra was telling the truth, he had to help Kron destroy the Aliri, regardless of what the Kron had done. Were the Aliri really behind all of this? It made sense. Their moral compass was fucked up. At least he understood Kron’s motivations. Destroying a species before they became a threat made sense though his emotions warred with him on the morality of it.

  Here he was standing next to one of the most powerful women in the galaxy. She was a queen and she was capable of killing all five of them, if he counted Carena. Why hadn’t she? He needed to know what Katerra was really up to so killing her outright was not possible. She was asking him to join her in a fight against possibly the most insidious species in the universe. Both of these alien species could see potential events in the future, though neither species knew the future. Clearly their systems were not foolproof.

  Ruth was alive and so was his team. He had to get them back to Earth and to safety. He also needed to confirm how much time had passed.

  “Ruth, after we separated, I must have passed out. The bacterial infection nearly killed me but I,” he glanced at Katerra, “get the feeling a lot of time has passed. How long has it been?”

  “Roughly half a day. Perhaps more, I would guess,” Ruth answered.

  Holy hell, she was telling the truth.

  What happened during those hours? Several brief images of Katerra, looking him in the face, came to mind. She was speaking to him in a language he didn’t understand. Why would she do that? It had to be a dream. What if Katerra was telling the truth and he had really tried to kill her?

  “You and your team are alive,” Katerra said, answering Ruth’s question from earlier. “We will speak again, Ruth.”

  “Wait,” Ruth said. “Who-”

  Katerra waved her hand. The screen blackened and then returned to the view of the star field.

  “What game are you playing?” Magnus asked.

  “As I have alluded to already, we are being manipulated into destroying one another. The Aliri tried this once before and nearly succeeded. It was their best attempt and perhaps they feel a second try would be more successful. Alestr
on plays-”

  “Wait, Alestron? Is that their leader’s name?” Magnus asked.

  Katerra nodded. Finally, he had a name. A name Alara had refused to give them from the beginning. She worked as an ambassador between the Aliri and Earth and currently worked for Alexandria at WSO. Magnus felt he could trust Alara but his superiors, rightfully so, could not.

  “You didn’t know?” Katerra asked.

  “For some reason, Alara-”

  “Alara... the human ambassador between your species,” Katerra said, emphasizing her role. “Do you trust her?”

  Magnus’ reaction was to say ‘yes’, but he knew Katerra would not accept that answer. The Aliri were their enemy and anyone aligned with the Aliri were aligned against the Kron in her eyes.

  “No, but like any ambassador, we accept her for her role but remain cautious.”

  Katerra nodded, apparently satisfied with his response. “Wise. I gather you have questions. I will indulge you in hopes it will bring us closer together... as allies.”

  Magnus kept his poker face on. Her subtle pause was intentional. Such a simple statement with many meanings and the innuendo that she wanted their physical relationship to continue threatened to spark the fire within him. Katerra’s perfection intoxicated Magnus. He found the pallor of her skin and its unmarred state breathtaking. He marveled at her rich, black, lustrous hair, even as disheveled as it was from last night. Was it her mind control? What was going on here? Clearly the women here on Kron were not all slaves to their emotions. Each of them that he had encountered seemed highly intelligent and logical, though the ones he met on Earth were literally insane. Did they breed their Omarii like rabid dogs to do their bidding? Was Katerra doing something to him directly to make him feel this way? He rubbed the back of his neck, massaging the muscles there. His head ached. He needed to focus on the people that were depending on him. Whatever happened to him last night wasn’t going to affect his mission. If Katerra didn’t convince him that the Kron were duped, Magnus still planned to kill her. He reminded himself that if he attempted it now, he and his team would all be dead. She wasn’t exposing herself. Katerra controlled this meeting and he would have to wait and plan how he would kill her.

  Magnus shifted his massage to the back of his head and then his temples. What of Carena? If Carena could be taken at face value, she had been willing to help him. Why? Was it really that their union meant her death and she chose the lesser of two evils? Wait, what about Katerra? She had done the same. Shouldn’t she die, too? His stomach growled.

  “I need to eat and drink,” Magnus said, ignoring her comment.

  “As do I. We both need to clean up.”

  Katerra hesitated, looking around the room. Magnus followed her eyes with his. It was a complete mess. What had they done last night? He remembered kissing her and everything that followed, but nothing about trying to kill Katerra. If her words were true, why didn’t she have him executed for trying?

  “What happened to me last night?” Magnus asked.

  Magnus moved to stand near her as she tapped several commands into the table’s surface monitor. The symbols and lettering displayed meant nothing. She continued typing as she spoke.

  “You transformed into Ryikoda,” she said.

  “And that means?”

  “Do you remember your tryst with Carena?” Katerra asked.

  Magnus brought his hand up to scratch his nose, hoping to hide his surprise. How did Katerra know? Carena said there were no monitors. Obviously, Carena had been mistaken. Katerra had watched the entire scene. It made sense. She had probably monitored their conversation and their escape and did everything she could to lead him here for their talk. If he were a king, he would leave nothing to chance either. Katerra controlled Kron.

  “Carena infected you by accident,” Katerra said, continuing. “Genetic research was necessary to keep our species alive. Our historians tell us that Kron was in desperate times. We developed a viral strain that enhanced our species. Follow me.”

  Katerra crossed the room, standing in front of a blank wall. The frame of a door began to form, starting at the top middle and ending at the bottom middle, Kron’s version of a secret doorway. Magnus noticed it but didn’t move. He stood there, looking down at the floor lost in thought. Infected? Another alien species had changed him? What did they do this time? A virus? His face flushed. He looked up, glaring. Katerra stood at the now open doorway, watching him.

  “We need to reach my quarters. I have cleared the corridors and have instructed my servant, Varuuk, to clean this room. We have food and drink waiting for us. You must rest at some point. I-”

  She paused as Magnus started toward her. Everything in his life seemed controlled by aliens. They augmented him or they infected him. All of it to manipulate him. His anger rose as each step toward her reminded him of his fatigue, thirst and hunger. Katerra was right about that. By the time he stood in front of her, the last of his reserves dissolved.

  “Release my team and Carena,” he ordered.

  “No,” Katerra said, turning to leave. “Follow me.”

  Magnus’ jaw clenched and the muscles in his neck corded. He wanted to kill her but, if Katerra spoke the truth, the danger lay with the Aliri. Earth might need the Kron. Magnus decided to follow her. He pacified himself thinking about strangling her over and over and watching the light fade from her eyes.

  Kron - Capital City of Citron - Katerra’s Private Quarters

  Wednesday, October 28, 1987 - 08:50am

  Magnus

  Magnus staggered, his eyes drooping as he walked. His body and mind wanted sleep. The hall differed from the others in her city; narrower, as if for one person. Embedded lighting at regular intervals along the hallway reminded Magnus of the Kron spaceship. He did a mental double take. Embedded? No, not embedded, the wall generated the light. It resembled white phosphorescent paint in rectangular patterns as bright as florescent lighting. The light simply existed on the surface of the wall. He shrugged, his curiosity waning.

  “What does Ryikoda do? What’s it for?” he asked, yawning.

  They entered another room. Katerra smirked, pouring him a glass of water from a container on a small table near the door. Cheese, bread and some type of meat lay on the table. The red meat smelled like curry. He didn’t care if it was dangerous. She obviously didn’t want him dead. Hunger and thirst overrode his sense of caution, so he bit off a chunk of meat. The salty-sweet bite melted in his mouth. Katerra joined him, sitting together at the table.

  Magnus looked up from his food, finally examining the room. He paused and a piece of food threatened to fall from his lips. Was this her bedroom? The walls were metallic blue and the floor a shade of gray. Now that he thought about it, the floor had yielded to their steps like spongy rubber, but it appeared solid like the hallways. The entire ceiling glowed dimly with light from every direction, encasing the room.

  “Seems kind of small for a queen,” Magnus said, continuing to chew.

  Katerra ignored him. “Ryikoda is the name of our ability to change form... to shape-shift. In Kron’s language, the word is formed from the origins of two other words. ‘Ryit’ which means ‘forced or involuntary’ and ‘Koduh’ which means ‘reproduction’.”

  “Holy shit,” Magnus exclaimed, “I don’t need another modification to...”

  Magnus stopped himself. The Aliri had changed him. They had augmented an already healthy young-adult libido for control purposes and now, the Kron had accidentally exposed him to a virus giving him an uncontrollable desire to mate.

  What the hell?

  “Understand, your exposure was accidental. All of Kron, for hundreds of years, possessed this virus. It’s as common as the black ash surrounding the planet. Which brings me to a matter you must be made aware of.”

  His heavy eyes drifted shut. The food and water had satiated the only desire greater than the one that wanted to rest. Exhaustion permeated every part of him. He didn’t care what she had to say.

>   “You will change again,” Katerra said, “usually when your emotions are the strongest. You must continue training to control Ryikoda. If not, you will lose conscious thought and kill anything or anyone... even those you love. You experienced it for the first time last night and you tried unsuccessfully to kill me... several times.”

  “I still want to kill you. Nothing new,” he said.

  Katerra’s right hand twitched. Magnus pretended not to notice her reaction. She didn’t like his comment. Why though? Did he make her angry or was there another reason? He needed to pursue this but, right now, he didn’t care. His head drooped forward.

  “Magnus, sleep there,” she said, pointing to her bed. “I have matters that demand my attention.”

  “Yes, your majesty,” he said, heading to the bed.

  I hope she understands sarcasm.

  Magnus collapsed forward onto it, his eyes already closed.

  “Your sarcasm is not lost on me, human.”

  The bed drew him in, promising respite. His body had nothing left to continue consciousness. Magnus had to rest.

  “Release my team. Carena, too,” he mumbled.

  “I’ll get right on it,” Katerra said.

  He smiled.

  Sarcasm noted.

  Chapter 18

  KATERRA’S RUSE

  Kron - Capital City of Citron

  Wednesday, October 28, 1987 - 01:30pm

  Magnus

  Katerra returned to wake him, wanting to talk. Several thin, silver lines adorned the edges of both her red shirt and gray pants, simple but elegant. They sat together at the same small table in her room.

  Varuuk placed another set of trays on the table and left. Magnus woke hungry and, apparently, Katerra had anticipated his need. Fresh juice, cooked meats and the same kinds of fruit he had last night were on the trays. Last night? No, it was earlier this morning. Magnus got at least two hours of sleep which was all he required. Time felt wrong because his internal clock still ticked in sync with Earth’s rotation.