Maelstrom

The Captain was furious. She had allowed her pilot to be maimed. The planet seemed normal enough. Normal meaning a rare atmosphere suitable for humans. They landed in a meadow surrounded by forest and disembarked. A mammal reminiscent of a rabbit approached. Delphi removed her glove to pet it. Then she screamed. The crew witnessed what looked like black opals sprout on her hand. Closer inspection revealed them to be eyes. The mammal was also affected; human fingers grew in perfusion from its face as it hopped about blindly. They left immediately.

Delphi put the Khonsu 0 into orbit mostly one-handed, and in tears. Every time she checked her hand, another eye had grown and now stared back at her. The Captain told Simon to take over the helm and rushed her pilot to the infirmary.

When they arrived, they found a complete stranger bent over the microscope. Delphi screamed again and sobbed harder. The stranger looked up and stood. She was tall, spare and exhibited albinism. Her pink eyes danced back and forth. Don’t be afraid, said the woman. Delphi pulled away from the Captain’s grasp and walked up to her without hesitation, mutated hand outstretched. The woman took the pilot’s hand in hers and kissed it. Delphi gasped. The eyes were gone. Well, sunk beneath the skin. Her hand was smooth again but with a constellation of pineal eyes.

Am I still human, Delphi asked the woman. Mostly. The Captain said, What is wrong with that place? The woman pondered the question. There once was a potter and an apprentice, said she, The apprentice was enthralled by the potter’s creations and begged to be taught. The potter was happy to teach. Her apprentice proved skillful, a genius. But the apprentice became obsessed with the wheel, spinning it ceaselessly, molding one creation only to immediately shape it into something else entirely. The potter urged her to let the creations take form, take on life beyond her hands. But the apprentice only scoffed at her and said, Fired clay merely cracks and is dead. Only in my hands are life and beauty. The potter saw her apprentice’s heart was set, and left her to spinning.