Chapter 1: Two Against the Horde
Captain Keith paused in the middle of his nightly 5,000 push-up routine. He threw his legs into the air and flipped to his feet, his hyper-keen ears searching for the noise that had roused him from his fitness trance.
He walked to the window and pulled aside the curtain to look out the window of the space-inn where he was staying and out onto the street that ran through the center of the village of Kosar, the only inhabited town on planet Tryzub. The sight that greeted him was startling.
He saw a mass of villagers, some carrying Venusian electro-torches, some brandishing laser rifles. He heard angry cries and voices raised in hate. At the front of the crowd, two men held a young woman between them, her tear-strewn face a mask of fear. Captain Keith reached for his ZX9 Laser Gun and headed out to investigate.
When he emerged onto the street, he heard someone shout, "Hang it!"
Another man yelled a reply, "Hang it, hell! It might grow wings and fly away. Burn it!"
"Nooo!" the young woman yelled in terror.
Captain Keith called out. "Excuse me!" The crowd parted automatically at the sound of Captain Keith's commanding voice. He made his way to the front of the mob.
One of the men holding the young woman addressed him. "Just who in the Seven Hells of Neptune do you think you are?"
Captain Keith flashed his badge. Several of the men in the crowd gasped. "I'm Captain Keith of the Space Explorers. What seems to be going on here?"
The leader of the crowd spit a wad of phlegm on the ground. "We found this here creature up to no good and now we're gonna show it what happens when something threatens us."
"Please help me!" the young woman cried. "I was just refueling my ship on my way to Majriti. I was using the restroom when these men grabbed me. You must believe me: I've done nothing wrong!"
Captain Keith raised an eyebrow. "Is what this young woman says true?"
The leader barked an ugly, guffaw. "'Young woman'!?! This ain't no young woman. It's a monster that was using this disguise to prey on our ladyfolk!"
One of Captain Keith's most defining characteristics was his instant grasp of the truth of almost any situation. But for once in his incredible life, he was well and truly confused. "Disguise? What are you talking about?"
A short, squat man in a dirty jumpsuit screeched, "It's a Magooooorian!"
And there was the problem. The people of Magor were shape-shifters. They had no set body or gender. This caused fear among people of lesser intellect. Captain Keith addressed the leader.
"By what authority are you threatening this woman's life?"
The man released the young lady's arm and marched toward Captain Keith, his tall, shiny white boots squelching in the Tryzubbian mud. "I done told you, 'Space Explorer,' that ain't no woman. An' as for who I am, my name's Rondo Santeez and I'm the goddamn governor of this outpost, so people round here tend to listen to me. We don't allow nobody here who ain't wearing the body they was born in and the sentence for anyone who breaks that law is death!"
Captain Keith tried not to recoil in disgust at the man's smell. He cracked his knuckles, causing one man on the edge of the crowd to run away. "I guess we have a problem, then, Governor. Because if you even try to harm that woman, I will break every bone in your body and I will not find it the least bit difficult."
After a momentary flash of fear flashed across Santeez's face, he sneered, "Well, I hope you had a good breakfast this morning. 'Cause you got a whole bunch of my friends to get through before you touch me."
"I had what I always have: a half cup of Plutonian yogurt and a Cosmic Crisp apple. Let's do this."
