Chapter Thirteen: Transmutation — Part 4

Charles fought angrily against the disease that consumed his essence. He wouldn’t let it kill him, but he didn’t like the idea of becoming something else. His inner alliances were being changed at the most basic level, and yet his purpose, his sense of duty, remained the same. Her face burned in his mind. It was not love but devotion he felt from this woman, and he hated her and admired her for it all the same. The woman, whose name he couldn’t remember seemed one he could easily fight and die for, though he did not and could not love her as he did Seva. At times, his mind felt linked with a thousand others, even with the planet itself, at other times he felt so isolated that the universe itself seemed to have simply gone away. Seva was with him, and then gone, and then with him again, always caring for him, giving him water, helping him fight off the fever. Each time he saw her, she was changed a little more. Each time she saw him, she seemed less worried.

“Another Class One pulled through.” It was the woman whom he felt devotion for, the one who’s name he could not remember. She spoke quietly. “It totally blows my statistics.”

“How many lived?” Charles asked, wondering if she had been talking to him, herself, or another. Suddenly, he knew her name. “Susan, how many of them lived?”

Susan turned to him, answering. “Of the one hundred and four thousand Combatants that survived the long journey across space, twenty-seven thousand of them survived transition. Your friend the Commander was not one of them.”

“He was no friend of mine.” Charles sat up, looking for Seva. “Where is she?”

“Seva’s out getting you water. She wanted to make sure that you had some after you woke up.”

“I thought I’d lost her.” His hand ran through his hair, which had thickened almost to a mane.

“How many Class One Combatants survived?”

“All one hundred of them. Like I said, when you and myself and Laura would normally be the exception, all these Blues survive when there should be no hope for them. All the other statistics fit keenly. Only one person in all twenty five thousand was over the age of twenty-four, that being you. Even Satrap Johnson, whom Laura swears is an impostor, survived.”

“Satrap Johnson was a class two guard with a strong sense of honor, and the one hundred Combatants weren’t Blues when I first got hold of them. They were Greens and Reds who had potential. They were strained out from the masses through a rigorous selection process involving psychological and physical determination. The best of the best – the most disciplined and as a group, creatures of unsurpassed integrity.”

“Then I can still use my statistics with some accuracy.” Susan sounded suddenly relieved. “How do you feel?”

“You own my soul, how do you think I feel? How long could it possibly take to get water on a world covered in it?” Charles made no attempt to hide his grumpy nature

“She’ll be back when I call for her. Seva is a good girl, after all. Who owned your soul before me?”

Charles thought about it. “The Authority.”

“Were you afraid then?”

“I was a servant, always afraid.”

Susan’s look was somewhere between pity and empathy. “Yet you acted with keen discipline and with integrity far beyond that required by your supervisors. Don’t be so surprised. I could read every thought in your mind if I had to, but I didn’t. Seva’s a talker. Her love for you is positively divine.”

“The world wasn’t getting any better, and I for one didn’t want to be known for making things worse.” Charles rubbed his sore hands, working circulation into them.

“I find this a fascinating philosophy. So what do you think The Authority will do now that you and your troops have disappeared?”

“They’ll declare war, of course.”

“War? You disappeared from the universe without a trace. The only evidence of your demise was a nuclear explosion that happened near planet Johnson’s sun two weeks before you got here.”

“We’re a combat team, not a colony vessel, and Johnson’s Sun is well mapped. There’s no way The Authority is going to believe that we accidentally flew ourselves into our own sun. The Authority is looking for a war, and now they have one.”

“Yeah, and it’ll be a race war the likes of which you’ve never seen if we can’t find a way to convince them that this planet should be off their target list.” Susan said.

“Race war? Is there alien life on this planet? Sentient alien life?”

“Yes.” Susan said, seating herself on her pillow bed.

Charles’ eyes widened. “This is not good.”

“We’ve established a peaceful coexistence with them.”

“Great, just great. Not only am I mutant, I’m allied with aliens. This is going to look terrible on my service record.” He laughed a little, and Susan laughed with him.

“You know what’s really funny? Your service records went down with the ships.”

“I know, I know, my life out there is dead.”

“We’re not mutations, technically. We’re in symbiosis with a sentient microorganism whose primary self-interest is to maintain the ecology of this world. There’s absolute freedom here: Freedom worth fighting for, freedom worth sharing with others. Every soul on this planet, every creature, whether it eats us or we eat it, every element, harsh or soft, will rise against anything that threatens the land we stand on. This world is alive, after a fashion.”

Susan turned, looking out her window. “Seva’s on her way with the water. When you feel ready to travel, you’re free to do so. Go and have a look at your new home. You and Seva are part of my family. I think also you and your precious Seva will be part of the Council. It’s a small group, there are currently only seven.”

“How can we expect to win this war?” Charles asked.

“Worry later. Come back in a month or so. It’ll be five years before Earth can muster up a response – so we have time. Seva will be here in a minute, and she’s worried enough without having your worries compounding her own.”

Seva stepped through the door, her young, limber frame enhanced and idealized by the disease. He took the water from her and drank it slowly, then drew her close and kissed her gently.

“Am I still yours?”

“Always.” Seva smiled. “Can I show him around?”

“Of course.” Susan said.

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