Playing Marbles for the Big Blue

09 Becoming Natalie

By Jo Dora Webster

Will Amaza's escape reveal an even greater danger?

09 Becoming Natalie

The thunder of helicopter blades faded into the distance, swallowed by the dense green of the Rocky Mountain National Forest. Amaza crouched in the shadow of a ponderosa pine, her breath steady, her senses alert—not with fear, but with the calm clarity of someone who had survived far worse than Terran search teams.

Sela’s voice was a gentle hum in her mind. “No immediate danger, Amaza. Your energy matrix remains stable. The Van Allen contamination is dissipating as expected. You’ll be able to resume your true form soon.”

Amaza allowed herself a small, wry smile. “So I’m just… waiting to be myself again?”

“Precisely. Your current human state is a temporary adaptation. You are in no danger from teleportation or further transformation. The only risk is impatience.”

A twig snapped behind her. Linthan Athos—still in his Earth guise—emerged from the brush, grinning. “You know, for someone who claims to be a legendary Alban, you hide pretty well for a human.”

Amaza rolled her eyes. “For the last time, Linthan, I’m not stuck like this. I’m just… detoxing.”

He leaned against a tree, folding his arms. “Sure, sure. Detoxing. I’ll believe it when you start glowing again. Until then, you’re just another Terran to me.”

Sela’s bracelet pulsed, catching the sunlight. “Amaza’s energy readings are already returning to baseline. She’ll be herself soon enough.”

Linthan grinned. “Good. Because the last thing this planet needs is more confused humans. Speaking of which, those helicopters are circling back. Time to move?”

Amaza nodded, stretching her limbs. She felt stronger already, the last traces of alien radiation ebbing from her system. “Let’s not give them a second chance to spot us.”

Sela’s tone was brisk. “Teleport destination locked. Ready when you are.”

Amaza glanced at Linthan. “You coming?”

He gave a mock salute. “I’ll catch up. I have my own escape route. Try not to get kidnapped before I see you again.”

With a shimmer of light, Amaza and Sela vanished from the forest, leaving only the whisper of wind in the pines and the faintest afterglow of energy—proof that, for now, she was safe, and soon, she would be whole again.

Amaza gritted her teeth, her Alban senses muted but still sharper than any human’s. This frail body—this prison of flesh and bone. She’d been Princess Amaza, an energy being of royal lineage. Now she was trapped in a Terran woman’s form, purging the Van Allen radiation that had nearly destroyed her during the battle with Makelan.

A twig snapped behind them.

“Don’t shoot!” A lanky figure emerged from the shadows, hands raised. Linthan Athos—or Leo Sands, as he insisted on being called—grinned beneath his illusion band, his Ceti Alphan ears twitching mischievously. “Heard you could use a teleportation expert. Also, I brought snacks.” He tossed Amaza a protein bar labeled Earth’s Finest Trail Mix.

Sela’s light flickered skeptically. “Your assistance is… unexpected.”

“Unexpected? Sis, I’ve been tracking you since your teleport to Terra. You think Makelan’s the only one with a cloaking shield?” He tapped his wrist, where a Golram device shimmered.

Amaza’s expression sobered. “Linthan, I need to know—what’s the latest on Makelan? I need the truth, not rumors.”

Linthan’s grin faded. “Makelan? Last I heard, he’s still a ghost story among the stranded. Some say he’s hunting for a way off this rock, others say he’s just hunting. Why?”

Sela interjected, "The last we saw Makelan was after we sent the broken dreadnaught he captained through a time tear to Terra fifty years ago. Makelan started a space battle with us and declared Amaza a sworn enemy."

Amaza's face had a satisfied grin, "But we finished it and we thought him as well. Is there anything more you can find out, Sela?"

"Captain Makelan established an earth identity of Mark Wellington. I also find that Makelan married an Terran woman, Natalie Oakley.ten years ago. With cloaking technology Makelan appeared to her as Mark, a twenty eight year old human when she met him at age twenty five."

Amaza's face grew concerned, "Linthan, do you know of a place that is out of the open that we can stay to figure out things?"

"Well," Linthan said with a grin that suggested he was enjoying himself, "I have just the place."

A searchlight speared the ground beside them. Amaza grabbed Linthan’s arm. “Teleport. Now.”

“Hold on to your atoms!” Linthan activated his device. Reality warped—

—and they rematerialized inside a dusty Colorado cabin, the scent of pine resin and mothballs thick in the air.

“Safehouse #12,” Linthan announced, flopping onto a moth-eaten couch. “Abandoned by a paranoid survivalist in 2020. Fully stocked with canned peaches and…checks notes…X-Files VHS tapes. Classic.”

Amaza ignored him, studying a faded photograph on the wall—a woman with sharp Golram features standing beside a younger Makelan. Natalie. The name surfaced in Sela’s files, along with classified Alban intel: Captain Makelan’s Terran wife.

“Sela,” Amaza whispered, “cross-reference Natalie’s biometrics with my current form.”

“Match: 97.3%,” Sela confirmed. “Conclusion: Your human physiology was patterned after Makelan’s spouse. Coincidence is statistically improbable.”

Linthan whistled. “So the big bad Golram captain left here with his wife here five years ago, and now you’re wearing her face? That’s not awkward at all.”

​Amaza’s borrowed heart clenched. A living ghost, a weapon waiting to be wielded.

Sela projecting holographic data into the air:

NATALIE OAKLEY WELLINGTON
AGE: 34 (chronological)
STATUS: MISSING (OFFICIAL)
LAST KNOWN LOCATION: AURORA, CO

“Facial recognition algorithms confirm your identity will hold,” Sela said. “Recommendation: Assume Natalie’s persona to access local resources."

Linthan’s eyes widened, skepticism turning to wary curiosity. “Wait. You’re saying you’re… Natalie? Makelan’s Terran wife?”

Amaza nodded. “That’s what the records say. Sela, what’s the original Natalie’s history?”

Sela’s voice softened. “The original Natalie’s recorded history begins on her wedding night. Mark—Makelan—inserted Golram implants before their marriage was consummated. He revealed himself as Golram, not human, and transformed Natalie to appear as a Golram female, Nayika, whenever they were alone. He claimed it was her inner beauty that drew him, not her appearance. He’d been marooned here after his ship was destroyed in the Van Allen Belt, surviving only by escape pod.”

Linthan listened, brows furrowed. “So she became a Golram for him? That’s… twisted.”

Sela continued, “They consummated their marriage, never suspecting their species were biologically incompatible. Year after year, Natalie remained childless. Makelan’s love turned to bitterness—eventually, to hatred. ”

Amaza’s jaw tightened. “ Linthan. now, somehow, I’m wearing her face.”

Linthan shook his head, incredulous. “So Makelan’s out there, and you—Amaza, Rasctan, Natalie, whatever you are—are walking around as her? That’s either cosmic irony or a sick joke.”

Amaza’s voice was low. “He declared himself my enemy. I need to know if he’s still a threat.”

Linthan considered, then nodded. “He’s a threat to anyone he thinks crossed him. But if he sees you as Natalie, that’s a whole other level of danger. He won’t rest until he finds out the truth—or until he destroys what’s left of it.”

Sela interjected, “Golram operatives speak Confed, but Makelan learned English to blend in. He believed Earth’s resources could buy him a seat in the Confed Autocracy. But he found too many nations, too much war. Giving Earth Confed tech would have doomed the planet. His plan failed, and he took it out on Natalie.”

Amaza closed her eyes, letting the wind cool her face. “He tried to build a family, even if it was just a shadow.”

Linthan’s voice was unexpectedly gentle. “You’re not her, Amaza. But you’re carrying her story now. Just… be careful. If Makelan’s still out there, he’ll come for you.”

Amaza nodded. “Thank you, Linthan. I’ll remember.”

Amaza and Linthan left the cabin and were about two miles away in the proximity of a highway but hidden by the forrest from them. Amaza sat cross-legged on a mossy rock, watching the sunlight flicker through the pines. Linthan, sprawled nearby, was busy tuning a battered radio receiver he’d “borrowed” from a nearby ranger station. Sela’s bracelet glimmered as she spoke.

“Amaza, I still have an active link to the SETI radio telescope in Ecuador.”

Linthan perked up, eyes glinting. “You’re still hijacking the telescope? That’s classic. What are they picking up—alien disco?”

Amaza smiled faintly. “Sela, are they still transmitting toward our ship?”

“Not only are they transmitting, but the team is so intrigued by the anomalous data they keep the antenna pointed right where our ship can receive it. As long as they broadcast, we have a secure line to the Quantum Dancer.”

Linthan gave a low whistle. “You Albans and your backdoors. So, what’s next for you, Amaza? You planning to blend in with the locals forever?”

Amaza nodded slowly. “That's the plan, We can't get to the Quantum Dancer but it can travel to Alban Kai and give them all the data we've gathered. Maybe they'll send a rescue mission for all the Limoxians stranded on Terra. Sela, keep monitoring and let me know when the SETI transmitter is active.”

“It’s transmitting now,” Sela replied. “We can send commands to the Quantum Dancer.”

Amaza straightened, her voice clear. “Sela, transmit the following: Cloak and proceed on photon drive to the edge of the solar system. Then set course for Alban Kai orbit, outside the planetary cloak, and engage Tessaract drive. While in transit, use Confed standard communication to retransmit all collected data. Upon arrival, maintain position.”

“Commands sent. The Quantum Dancer has acknowledged and begun its journey home.”

Linthan stretched, tossing a pinecone in the air. “So, there goes your ride. Looks like you’re stuck with us Terrans for a while.”

Amaza let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “I thought I’d have time to mourn losing Alban Kai. But now, I’m not sure I even want to go back. Maybe it’s time to make a home here.”

Sela’s bracelet pulsed warmly. “You’re not alone, Amaza. And you never know—on Earth, the unexpected is always just around the corner.”

Linthan grinned. “With you two around? I’d say the universe is about to get a lot more interesting.”

Alerted by Sela’s voice, Amaza and Linthan paused at the edge of their forest hideout. “A car on the road at the boundary of our home area has ejected a human female and has left the area at high speed.”

Linthan frowned, already moving. “That’s not good. Could be a setup, or just Terran cruelty.”

“Sela, let’s go find the woman and render aid if we can. Please teleport me to the exact location that she is now,” Amaza ordered.

“Compliance,” Sela replied.

A shimmer, and the world reassembled around them at the roadside. The scene was grim: a woman’s body, battered and lifeless, sprawled in the brush as if tossed aside like refuse. Linthan knelt beside her, his face set in a rare moment of seriousness.

“Looks like she never stood a chance,” he muttered.

Amaza crouched, feeling the weight of the moment. “Sela, surround us with a cloaking shield.”

“Compliance. The human is identified as Natalie Oakley Wellington. She is an ordinary human with an extraordinary set of Limoxian-manufactured implants in her forearms. Unlike standard illusion implants, these are heavily modified for espionage—specialty functions, hidden recorders, and a hologram emitter for solid-form projection.”

Linthan whistled softly. “Spy tech. Someone really wanted to keep her hidden—or keep tabs on her.”

Amaza nodded grimly. “Sela, if I’m to take Natalie’s place, copy everything from the secret recorder. Once you have it, erase all data and the recorder itself from the devices. I’ll need to access her memories to convincingly assume her identity.”

“Compliance,” Sela said. “Copying now.”

Amaza steeled herself. “Sela, make a backup of my current self and store it within you. If I’m discovered or examined by Terran medical authorities, you may need to render me a complete amnesiac. Implant the devices in my forearms, and use magic to give me evidence of a single, nonlethal head injury—enough to explain any memory loss.”

Linthan glanced at her, concern flickering in his eyes. “You’re really going through with this? Taking her place?”

“It’s the only way to create a legal Terran identity that will hold up to scrutiny. I’ll be found, rescued, and accepted as Natalie. It’s the best chance I have.”

Sela’s bracelet pulsed. “Implants transferred. Physical evidence of accidental head trauma created. You are ready.”

Amaza took a deep breath, feeling the unfamiliar weight of the implants and the subtle shift in her physiology. “We need to dispose of the body. Sela, augment your functions: emit a disintegration beam for the body, and a stunning beam if needed. Once I’m in position, render me unconscious, maintain telepathic contact, and drop the cloaking shield so I’ll be found.”

Linthan stood, brushing dirt from his hands. “Guess this is goodbye for now. I’ll keep my ears open. If you need another quick exit, you know how to find me.”

Amaza managed a faint smile. “Thank you, Linthan. Stay safe.”

He melted away into the trees, leaving her with Sela.

“Sela, can you tell what happened to Natalie?” Amaza asked quietly, settling herself where the woman had fallen.

“Yes. Years of being a ‘knockoff’ and not bearing children turned Makelan’s love to hatred. His anger became so uncontrolled that he attacked her. Fortunately, the first blow rendered her unconscious, sparing her the pain of her death.”

Amaza closed her eyes. “I’m ready.”

“Compliance. Stunning beam engaged. Disintegration complete. Assume position.”

Amaza lay down, adjusting herself to match the original position of the body. A gentle pulse from Sela, and darkness claimed her.

~Amaza, you are now unconscious, and I am speaking to you telepathically. I am watching over you.~

~Sela, please give me telepathic updates on all visual and audible senses.~

~Compliance.~

As the cloaking shield faded, the world waited to discover “Natalie”—a woman with a mysterious past, a hidden future, and the fate of two worlds resting on her new identity.