Metamorph: The Outbounder Chronicles

by Chris Reher

  She shook her head. “There’s nothing for me on Earth.” She looked to the door when Tom Calek returned, a question on his face to ask if the Director had concluded his business with his agent.

  “Report in person upon your return,” Mitcher said to Laryn, a directive to avoid transmitting her findings where they may be intercepted. “I look forward to your discoveries.” He nodded to the doctor and left them to their work.

  Calek gestured to her to recline on the lounger and started to initialize the infuser with her profile settings. “It’s a bit of a package, but it’s all we have on that set,” he said. “It might be a bit technical in places, which I don’t think is necessary. That’s what we got data archives for. Still, it might be useful.”

  Watching him work, she tried to formulate a question; some comment about Mitcher and this unusual meeting perhaps, or her apprehension about his blatant orders to spy on the Nefer’s crew. But even a quip about the director’s ill-fitting suit withered before it crossed her lips. As much as she liked him, Tom was another Pendra employee and bound by the same rules and unspoken protocols that kept them all careful with their words aboard the station.

  “Did you do something to annoy the director?” he said with his eyes on the monitoring system. “Your pressure’s up.”

  “No. Let’s do this,” she said, irritated and confused by Mitcher’s orders. She leaned into the small beam he activated to let CogSys scan the KRNL4 application near the hippocampus of her brain. Recognizing her, it sorted through the inventory of data she already possessed, checked for errors, and prepared for an infusion of new information. Incidentally, the chip also served to identify her not just to CogSys, but to other artificial neural networks, the ANN’s subsystems, aboard the station. “I’m in.”

  Lying down, she tilted her head into the padded cradle and tried to relax while he positioned the semi-circle of shielded transmitters. She considered her new role. What did the Office of the Intermediary care about smugglers? Pendra had staff to inspect cargo holds and deal with folks who didn’t pay the appropriate docking fees. But of course Ryle wasn’t about to allow one of them to ride along on the Nefer.

  “Try to relax. Breathe. Nice and slow.” Calek’s tone had dropped into a soothing cadence. “Keep your eyes on that pattern on the wall and give us some nice theta waves.”

  She followed his instructions, listening to the voice and to the soft resonances that now exuded from the speakers near her ears, to allow him to lull her into the state of mind needed for the upload. She closed her eyes and let the thoughts come as the information sent to the small network inside her head began to solidify in her memory.

  But she wasn’t awake. Not really. She drifted into an oddly detached mental state induced by the infuser that allowed her to absorb what it sent, without question, without analysis. Sounds and images passed through her mind, increasing in frequency until the information was little more than a blur of impulses to the waking mind.

  Three ships had been lost in 22-44, the Harla among them. Laryn absorbed the entire crew and passenger lists, the ship’s configuration and inventory, logs and schedules. All that was known about them until the moment they merged into the dark stream leading away from the Hub. At some point after that they had either lost the contact with the filament, or perhaps they had even embarked on the wrong one, and had not emerged at Terrica as planned.

  All of this information was easily stored in databases and would already be part of the Nefer’s inventory. But Laryn learned from the conversations in the logs, from the tone and pitch of the voices that recorded them, from the actual memory profiles and engrams on file of the captain and the senior crew, to create a world in which she once walked, in which she had interacted with the people who were now gone. Beyond mere emotionless facts, the story of the Harla was now her own.

  Then another drift of information moved through her thoughts. The Kalons now became her memory, too, as she remembered the first missions to encounter them. Two ships had not returned from their journey along what was later named the Kalon Filament. Then in 22-10, nearly forty years ago, an outbounder expedition reported an incident near a featureless, oxygen-poor planet where signs of habitation pointed to vast pockets of underground civilizations.

  Before the prospectors had even begun to gather information about the planet and its solar system, a weapon located on a nearby moon had fired on the explorers. The missiles appeared to be photon projectiles, similar to what Humans used for blasting asteroids. Easily avoided, but the message had been clear.

  Earth’s Ministry of the Exterior, in a rare show of authority over the Pendra Consortium, declared the Kalon Filament off-limit and imposed harsh penalties on those who passed the beacon placed near its launch point on the Hub. The incident forced a revision of First Contact protocols and the creation of the Office of the Intermediary.

  But that first, nearly disastrous, encounter had left the Kalons wondering about the intruders into their space. Already at a moment in their own evolution where they had made the first forays out of their thin atmosphere, the Kalons had grasped the significance of the filament that passed by their home. It had taken just nine years before they had adapted their own technology to launch into the dark matter thread and arrive at Bogen’s Hub. Unarmed and friendly, they responded to the Ministry’s ambassadors, eager to begin a cautious relationship with the Humans whose goal, of course, was to find intelligent life among the stars.

  The Pendra Consortium was quick to capitalize. Besides sharing some of their alien technology, the visitors agreed to join an extensive expedition to research and develop Ophet. That planet’s atmosphere challenged Human physiology but the Kalons seemed immune to the hardships. The quest to explore Ophet’s trove of resources multiplied in efficiency once the Kalons had taken on the task, requiring few Humans to visit the location.

  Laryn drifted for hours in this state of passive study until the information selected by the doctor was exhausted and her mind sank into a deep sleep state.

  Chapter Five

  It hadn’t taken much time for Laryn to familiarize herself with the Nefer even before coming aboard. The corvette-class specifications had been easy to obtain and infuse into her memory and, now that she was aboard and Nolan had finally treated her to a welcome-tour, no one among the crew seemed too concerned about keeping its modifications secret.

  The Nefer belonged to an older build, apparently an heirloom passed to Ryle by his father. The younger Tanner had expanded the cargo areas, updated the engines and shielding as they became available, and retrofitted the avionics deck with a new design that allowed closer work with the JX.9 onboard neural network. Able to land on planets where terrain challenged larger vessels, the ship was designed to conserve space and so offered few amenities beyond a half dozen cramped crew quarters and shared spaces for eating, hygiene and entertainment.

  Unlike aboard transports on which Laryn had traveled in the past, few things on the Nefer were left unsecured. Tools, personal items, even the dishes they used were kept in their bins or strapped into place. It hinted at frequent gravity shifts while traveling or even jaunts within a planetary atmosphere. She had not expected this to be so – outbounders took their risky leaps into deep space, recorded what was to be found there, and returned to the Hub. And yet, the Nefer was designed for rougher conditions, from the efficient use of onboard space to the numerous grips along the narrow corridor and in the cabins providing handholds when gravity was unreliable.

  “Damn, not again,” Laryn grumbled when her sleeve caught on a clamp holding some conduits in place. Clearly, the captain had not bothered much with improving the esthetic components of the ship, she thought as she untangled herself. She had exchanged her elegant wardrobe for closer-fitting coveralls in a glorious shade of saffron over a berry-red blouse but the cramped quarters would take some getting used to. She continued along the narrow space forming a corridor through racks of storage bins on both sides and the floor. Above her, color
-coded pipes directed gasses, power and water to where it was needed.

  Bored in her own cabin, Laryn had decided to spend a little more time in the Kalons’ company. This morning, as the crew worked through the pre-launch details of their trip, she had asked Toji about his life and world, but he slipped out of her conversational traps, offering nothing more than idle small talk. Iko, for his part, didn’t bother with pleasantries but met her attempt at conversation with blank stares and monosyllabic replies. Still, she took note of body language, the words they chose, and their interaction with each other. The captain had agreed to let Jex, the ship’s AI, record their movements in the shared spaces of the ship for later study.

  She followed the yellow pipes to the engine chamber at the rear of the Nefer where, according to Jex, Toji was once again in Nolan’s company. Things were quiet back here now that they cruised toward their launch point on the Hub’s horizon. It took little energy to navigate the open space of the Hub, but Nolan kept the engines in top shape for when they did have to breach an atmosphere. Or, she fancied, engage in hostile encounters with pirates who, banned from the station, operated from hidden bases on Terrica and the Pendra mining belt. Or so she had heard.

  Voices drifted out into the corridor when she passed the door to Ryle’s cabin. The low murmur was indistinct but she recognized his voice, if not the words. She slowed, wondering if she ought to listen, maybe to hear some bits of conversation that might offer a clue to whatever it was that interested her supervisor. She heard a low chuckle and it occurred to her that it was probably Azah in that room with Ryle. She continued on her way, embarrassed by her eavesdropping attempt. And no doubt Jex, with eyes everywhere aboard the Nefer, would see and report her loitering by the door.

  She reached the engine room and stopped abruptly at the open door of the main chamber when she saw the display before her.

  A lower panel of the secondary drive hub had been removed and she was treated to the sight of not just Nolan’s backside but also that of one of the Kalons as both of them had squeezed their heads and torsos into the space. A heated conversation was part of the goings-on on but exactly what they were saying was muffled by the sound of something rushing though the conduits. As she watched, the Kalon reached back to fumble for one of the tools on the floor by his knee. Although he again wore a long mantle, she saw that his feet were long and narrow and, like each of his fingers, split in two. Someone had taken care to stitch an intricate pattern into the leather that covered them.

  Laryn crouched beside them and picked up the caliper to slip into the sinewy hand. “I take it we’re not ready for launch?” she said.

  After a startled moment, Nolan pulled back, knocking the back of his head on the upper frame of the opening. The Kalon took a little more care in extricating himself.

  “Hey, Laryn,” Nolan said, rubbing his new bruise. “No, we’re ready to go. Toji was showing me how the Kalons would space the drain manifold to deal with the EMI below the rods. It’s genius.”

  She peered at the length of insulation in Toji’s hand. “You didn’t strip that from the emitters, did you?”

  “No, of course not!” he said at once, looking worried. Or what Laryn assumed to be worry. The body language of this species seemed far more complex than Human expressions and wonderfully lyrical.

  Toji had found his place among the engines with Nolan even before they had left Pendra. The two seemed to share a love of the things that made the Nefer one of the more agile ships among the outbounder fleets. Most Kalon technology did not interface with Human-made equipment but Toji had clearly spent his time on Pendra with his nose in one engine or another. Those who kept an eye on Kalon activities aboard the station took full advantage of their aptitudes and no doubt encouraged his curiosity. Clearly, Ryle also realized the benefit of having Toji aboard and allowed him into the Nefer’s engine rooms. It had not taken long for Nolan and Toji to seem like old friends, joined by their passion for engineering.

  Toji seemed younger than the other Kalon, and far more engaging. As much as Laryn disliked to hear them referred to as ‘mummies’, they did indeed remind her of some desiccated bodies she had once seen on Earth. Judging by what was visible beneath the flowing, bronze-colored mantle, his body, smaller than his companion’s, also seemed entirely made of sinew and bone. He moved more quickly than Iko, spoke with greater animation, and seemed eager to learn more about the Humans while aboard their ship. Iko, in contrast, had retreated to the cabin they shared and didn’t seem to care how his companion spent his time aboard the Nefer.

  The youth demonstrated that his leathery skin was quite capable of stretching by smiling broadly at Nolan, showing the small, blunt nubs serving as teeth. “I am looking forward to seeing us wind up for the transit. When we looked for a ship to take us out, we heard much praise for the Nefer.”

  “Of course!” Nolan said. “She’s the smoothest little bitch of the fleet, thanks to my utter devotion.”

  Laryn watched Nolan replace the access cover to the snarled guts of the cooling system. “I heard your ships are built much like ours. But your operating system uses biologics, right?”

  “Yes. Your binary and quantum systems are intriguing,” Toji said brightly. His smile turned almost mischievous. “If a little slow.” He pointed his caliper upward along the shielded main drive. “But your mechanisms are much more powerful over short distances. We use generation ships for our exploration, designed for very long journeys. Until your people showed us Bogen’s Hub we hadn’t gotten very far.”

  “Toji shared specs for their newer ships,” Nolan said, lowering his voice to hint that Iko would not approve of this. “Even Ryle was impressed. We can’t duplicate their hull material, but there’s got to be a way to emulate their smallcraft propulsion. Reactionless, far more efficient inside an atmosphere. I’m hoping we can come up with a hybrid someday. I’m sure Pendra’s already all over that. Ryle thinks Shelody’d be interested in taking on Kalon ships and crews.”

  “Well, Pendra is—” Laryn began when a clunk in the sound system drew their attention.

  “Let’s get this train rolling,” Ryle’s resonant voice sounded throughout the ship. “We’re approaching the launch point. Jex, can you lift that gravity a bit? I’m glued to the floor.”

  “Maybe you’re just out of shape,” Azah cut into the transmission.

  “I’ll see you in the gym later,” he replied, likely referring to the small exercise space they had made in one of the cargo holds. “Didn’t take much to put your butt down last time, if I recall. All hands prepare for launch. Laryn, you can take the com for departure transmission. Iko, you may join us on the bridge, if you wish. I’m on my way there now.”

  Laryn had already stepped back into the corridor when another voice came online.

  “Captain,” Jex spoke. “I’m detecting a ship on approach.”

  “To this launch?” Ryle said, referring to the point above the horizon where ships could merge safely into this particular filament. It was here that the concentration of dark matter was stable and dense enough to allow the immersion of their ship into the stream. Using dark energy to create a field of null space, they would travel at speeds that no longer had any relationship to the space outside the filaments.

  “To these coordinates,” Jex confirmed.

  “That’s a job for our agent,” Ryle said. “Laryn, tell them to stand by until we get ourselves out of here. I don’t want anyone hitching a ride on this slide.”

  “On my way,” she said.

  Leaving Nolan with his engines and the Kalon, she hurried through the narrow walkway to the heart of the Nefer, the bridge located in her heavily shielded center section. As she passed, the door to the galley opened and Azah emerged, sipping some sort of green, lump-filled concoction. Her unadorned body suit turned her curves into a race track for the eyes, and Laryn wondered if she wore it on purpose to torture her crew mates.

  “This is going to be great,” Azah said. “I can feel it.” />
  “What’s with the gun?”

  “Protocol,” she replied, wiping her lips before she dropped her hand to the holster at her side.

  “Is that a new protocol?” Laryn said.

  “Yep, fresh today. The Kalons are starting to feel a little creepy.” Her broad grin showed all of her teeth and looked ferocious in the dim corridor.

  “What do you mean? I rather like Toji.”

  “That Iko is making me nervous. He never blinks.”

  “I’m not sure they need to blink.”

  The door to the bridge opened when Jex sensed their presence and allowed them to step into the circular space.

  Ryle nodded to Laryn and gestured to one of the task stations. Pleased and excited to be included in the ship’s operations, she took one of six comfortable chairs arranged in a circle in the middle of the bridge. Currently each faced outward at dedicated screens, allowing the crew members to carry out their assigned duties: tactical and data collection for Azah, helm for Ryle, engineering for Nolan when he was on the bridge, and now the com for Laryn. From the console built into their chairs, holographic and manual controls appeared when needed along with restraints to turn their seats into crash couches. The chairs would swivel inward to form a circle around a hologram projector. A few more crash restraints were built into the walls for visitors to the bridge.

  Iko was already here, standing before the concave main array of screens. Mimicking a massive observation window, they presently displayed a compound, panoramic view of the stars and the smudged distortions caused by the Well. An overlay showed the Hub’s horizon as a visual reminder to stay well outside its deadly gravity.

  Laryn picked up the ear piece that allowed her to work unobtrusively with Jex to contact the approaching vessel. She directed him to scan the other ship before speaking, keeping her voice low. “This is Agent Laryn Ash, on outbound SE Nefer from Pendra. Please respond to my hail.”