In a Mirror, Darkly: The Reflected, #1

By K.M. Carroll

When an interstellar object known as the Mirror lands on Mars, a team is sent to investigate. The lead scientist, Kai Stellan, at first thinks the Mirror is an inert object, despite being made of theoretical materials–until it seems to sample his bioenergy. Two of the marines accompanying him have the same experience. 

 

While being taken back to base under quarantine, they are attacked by an unknown alien ship: the Coldwight, who have pursued the Mirror across the galaxy. But the Mirror didn't just draw energy off the human team–it made them immortal. Despite being shot down, they manage to hijack the alien ship. Knowing that Command has questionable intent for their future, they flee Mars, only to wind up as prisoners on the alien mothership.

 

Now they must escape the Coldwight, steal a ship, and get back to Earth, all while avoiding recapture by their own side–assuming they don't start a war between Earth and the Coldwight along the way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.M. Carroll
• Release date: Apr 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224828784

Book preview

In 2017, NASA tracked a fast-moving object entering our solar system. Cigar-shaped and shining brightly in the sunlight, it left behind no comet tail. It also appeared to accelerate on its own, and there were fears that it was an alien spaceship. They dubbed the object Oumuamua, or Stranger in Hawaiian. It left our solar system at 70,000 mph.

But what if it didn’t?

Chapter 1: First Contact: Mirror

Kai Stellan gazed out the lander's tiny window and gripped his safety restraints. The lander was dropping toward the surface of Mars with great bursts of its repulsion rockets. Each burst snapped his head forward. But the ache in his neck couldn't quell his curiosity—or his fear. The reddish Martian landscape spread out below them, the sandy hills carpeted with boulders. They were hundreds of miles from the colonies—no roads, no wells, no oxygen outposts.

The Mirror had come to rest nearby, and Kai Stellan was part of a team sent to study it. He made out the extreme edge of it from his window—a smooth curve of silver that reflected the pink sky. His breath caught in his chest. After so much time spent watching the object, he would be part of the first team to make contact.

The Mirror had entered the solar system a decade earlier. It had orbited Saturn like a piece of space junk, then suddenly escaped its orbit and went to Jupiter, which it circled for many months. Then it roamed the asteroid belt, flicking here and there like a fish in a tide pool, then settled on Mars. Scientists speculated and the public was enthralled. It had to be an alien space ship, despite sending and receiving no signals. Satellites had been sent to orbit it and take pictures. Russia had taken some amazing photos of their own satellites' reflections in the Mirror. But the Mirror made no sign of intelligence. It simply moved. Ten kilometers long and shaped like a flattened oval, it slid through space with no apparent propulsion system. Space compression, scientists said. It was theorized that it moved by dilating space in front of it and contracting it behind. But nobody knew for sure.

Kai Stellan glanced at his companions in their seats. He accompanied a squad of space marines, their enviro-suits layered with heavy armor. They seemed huge to Kai, metal giants with carbon-fiber muscles. Their reflective helmets made them seem inhuman. Yet even over the roar of the rockets their voices carried over the radio, laughing about rougher landings.

You should have been on the drop pod to Europa! Seems nobody ever noticed the high altitude winds. Threw us into a spin, and you talk about puke!

I was on a Mercury mission one time, and the heat shield peeled off halfway down. We bailed out before the ship disintegrated, and we were coming in hot!

The stories continued, and Kai held his peace. This was his first excursion off Earth—he'd only just graduated from the University of International Sciences—and was chosen for this mission due to his exceptional grades and good physical ability. He had also won awards for learning new languages fluently within short amounts of time. He knew all the Latin-based languages, as well as Russian and various dialects of Chinese and Indian. Despite the breadth of his education, he knew his ability with language was why he'd been chosen.

Someone had to learn to speak with the Mirror—or whatever inhabited it.

His space suit was light and unarmored, equipped instead with many pockets full of tools. He had three separate computers, all attached to different scanners—spectral, radiation, and quantum. He was a walking sensor package for the International Space Cooperative, and took his role seriously.

The lander slowed as the horizon rose around them. Kai Stellan held on to the strap above his seat and closed his eyes, glad that his helmet hid his face from the marines. Once he felt solid ground beneath his boots, his stomach would stop performing flips. He'd always hated carnival rides, and this drop onto Mars was the most terrifying of them all. The lander struck the ground, bounced once, then settled on its wide feet. The marines cheered. Kai didn't.

They waited for what seemed like a long time as the pilot deployed stabilizers. Finally the pilot said, The airlock is open. Please proceed to disembark, team.

The marines unstrapped from their seats and filed toward the airlock, which cycled them through two at a time. Kai Stellan shuffled into the rear of the line between the narrow seats. He couldn't see the Mirror at all now. Every fiber of his being ached with curiosity—and a shuddering fear of the unknown.

The marine beside him slapped him on the back. Hey there, civilian. You're awfully lucky to be here, aren't you?

Kai nodded. He couldn't see the man's face through the silver helmet visor, but he sounded friendly enough.

I'm Ian Murdock, the marine said. You're Stellan, right?

Right, Kai replied. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Murdock.

Pleased to make your acquaintance, Murdock laughed. You talk like a book. Don't try to impress us with big words. We're all in this together. So if this Mirror eats us, or sends us to a hell dimension, or attacks us with lasers, we go out as buddies, right?

Kai had been trying not to think about those exact possibilities. It seemed that they were in the back of everyone's minds—after all, those were the most popular theories about what the Mirror could do.

Buddies, Kai agreed, slapping Murdock's proffered hand.

They reached the airlock and cycled through, the atmosphere depressurizing with a loud hiss. Then they descended a short ramp to the Martian surface, a rocky desert of red sand and scattered boulders. The chilly atmosphere enveloped them, cooling them off after the stuffy warmth of the lander.

All here? called Sergeant Reynolds. Team Recon, follow me. Remember protocol—do not touch, do not engage, observe only.

Kai's stomach settled as he began to stride along the solid, dusty ground. The freedom to move and adjust to the lower gravity was a welcome change from the rough, cramped lander.

The sergeant led them in a zig-zag path between boulders, picking out the smoothest route possible. The marines followed in near-silence. Now that they were moving toward the Mirror, the awe and dread of Earth's first alien encounter was taking hold. The Mirror might open and divulge any number of Eldritch horrors. The marines all carried rifles and submachine guns, but nobody knew if that would be enough. Only Kai was unarmed, because he carried as much weight in instruments and tools as the marines did in weapons.

They walked for an hour, leaving the first footprints in this region's dusty Martian soil. While the settled parts of Mars had roads and biodomes, some areas remained unexplored, and this was one of them. Why had the Mirror settled so far away? Did it fear humanity? Was it watching from a distance? Or was it simply unaware that they existed? So many questions and assumptions, and no answers.

The Mirror came into sight as they walked. It had come to rest on its belly on the Martian surface. Ten kilometers long, its further end faded into the distance, a flying saucer stretched into an oval and made entirely of reflective silver. No seams or windows broke that polished expanse. They could see their own reflections in it as they drew nearer. Beside Kai, Murdock checked his rifle, the familiar movements seeming to comfort him. Kai glanced at his own instruments strapped to his forearms. Their lights glowed steadily, showing full battery. Observe and learn, his senior scientist had told him. You are our eyes and ears on this mission. We all wish we were in your place.

As they drew closer to the Mirror, Kai wondered if he really would trade places with the other scientists on his team. They were back on Earth, brimming with curiosity, but in no immediate danger. Kai might be horribly dead before sunset if the Mirror proved hostile. Yet the thrill and terror of this kept him moving toward the object. If he was doomed to die upon first contact, he would be an instant hero. With luck, his instruments would record the whole encounter and produce information to save future lives. It was a trade he was willing to make.

The Mirror floated a few feet from the rocky desert floor, not touching a single boulder. It had no landing gear, no lights, nothing but smooth silver as far as they could see.

Sergeant Reynolds motioned with one arm. South. We circle it first. Make note of any variations.

Hiking around the Mirror seemed exciting at first. But the novelty soon wore off. The Mirror was the same for miles—no marks, no seams, nothing but featureless silver. Kai watched their reflections as they hiked along, wondering if it would distort their images in some way, maybe show them as tentacle monsters. But there was no distortion other than the ordinary kind, where the Mirror's oval edge bent the light and made the humans look short and fat.

At the southern end, where the Mirror tapered to a smooth curve, they at last found a variation. The silver was darkened and blasted, as if someone had held the Mirror in a fire. The squad halted, and Kai snapped dozens of pictures with his chest camera. The narrow end of the Mirror was barely half a kilometer wide and it was easy to see the damage.

Looks like battle scars, Murdock said in a low voice. See the patterns, there? That's a scorch mark from a weapon. I've seen that same pattern on our field equipment.

Who would attack the Mirror, and why? Kai muttered back. Maybe it's more dangerous than we think. But that also shows that there's more alien life out there.

Unless the Mirror had a run-in with a comet, Murdock pointed out. But ... it looks like blast marks to me.

This revelation was unsettling, but posed no immediate threat. The team circled the short end of the Mirror and hiked along the far side. Again, no blemishes or seams all the way to its northern end.

The northern end had no blast marks. Only the southern end.

A blue sunset colored the sky as they headed back to the lander for the night. They had more tests to run, but since the Mirror had not threatened them or provided any information of interest, beyond the blast scars, their instructions were to camp through the night and resume investigations the next day.

While the contact team had spent the day hiking, the pilot and copilot had set up two hab tents in a clear space near the lander. These looked like huge cotton balls attached to portable airlocks with flexible tunnels. The tents were already filled with oxygen like balloons, ready to accommodate the tired men. Kai's legs ached at the sight, as if the thought of rest had given his body permission to complain.

The team split into two groups and carried their gear into the hab tents. Between them, their thermal sleeping bags, and their hardware, the tents soon became messy and crowded. The men stretched out on their beds and opened MREs. It was a relief to be able to pull off their helmets and see one another's faces.

Kai was Middle Eastern with medium brown skin and curly black hair. He fought a constant battle with his facial hair, which thought he should wear a beard like those of his ancestors. Unlike the marines, he didn't have to shave his head, because he wasn't military.

The cold of Mars slowly seeped through Kai's thermal suit and the hot food in his MRE tasted heavenly. He ate with one hand and wrote notes in a tiny notebook with the other.

Ian Murdock had rolled out his bed next to Kai's. His complexion was a few shades lighter than Kai's, his hair shaved to regulation length—probably blond. His eyes were bright blue. He was the youngest of the marines there—everyone else had the grizzled look of space veterans.

Murdock glanced up from his own meal and grinned. Writing down science things?

My observations, Kai replied. It helps me think. Right now, I don't know what to think. The Mirror has no outward features except some scarring at one end. Those are the facts. Anything else is guesswork.

Murdock nodded. Since we're guessing, I'm guessing that this Mirror ran away from something. And that something is headed here, too.

I hope you're wrong, Kai said with a shiver. Our system has enough problems without that.

Hey, you could talk to them, Murdock said. Aren't you supposed to be some language prodigy?

Yes, Kai said slowly, drawing the word out. With Earth languages. As long as I have a teacher. Not sure how I'd fare with an alien language with no known alphabet or translations.

He knew very well that the genetic engineering performed on his brain would let him learn any language as long as he could listen to it for a while. But such modifications had been outlawed a decade ago among the various Earth governments, and he kept it dead secret.

Murdock took a few bites of his food. Then he said, The Mirror didn't say much.

No, Kai agreed. I'm afraid I've been pretty useless so far.

You're doing science, Murdock pointed out, gesturing to the notebook. Besides, the thing might come to life and eat us in the dark. The scorch marks might have been made by some alien race defending itself.

Kai looked at the tent wall in the direction of the Mirror, goosebumps rising beneath his thermal suit. He suddenly wished to be home on Earth, where his biggest worries were his parents pressuring him to advance his schooling and leave the International Space Cooperative. But he wanted to see the other planets and moons—accomplish something big for humanity before his brain expired. Lately, studying the Mirror had been his driving passion. But now that he had seen it, its sheer strangeness had shaken him. Maybe he should have let others examine it first. Everything he observed would be subjected to the closest scrutiny by his peers and superiors.

Feeling small and pointless, he pulled out a tablet and connected it to the instruments on his suit. The best way to deal with negative thoughts was to stay busy. He downloaded the day’s collected data, then transmitted it to the lander's computers. His files would be sent to mission control in the morning with the early dispatch.

Then Kai bundled himself in his sleeping bag and tried to rest. It took a long time to get warm, and still longer for exhaustion to overcome his worries about what the Mirror might do once he was asleep.

Chapter 2: Spheres

Kai awoke at dawn from a dream where a friend was calling his name. Kai! Kai! Come back, Kai! It's time! It was a cheerful, pleasant voice, a friend he had either never met or didn't remember. He awoke with a sense of anticipation, as he had as a child when looking forward to a