KAHARI

by Dean Kutzler

  “I said they were to be unharmed!” Ramentutt roared.

  Saren fought to stay calm after hearing the thunder that carried his voice.

  Jaru took a step back, tripping over Ensign Brody on the floor and righting his feet in time before he fell. He gave Ramentutt a look that nearly made Ensign Brody need a change of pants, and said, “As you wish, General.”

  “Come.” Ramentutt waved a hand to the hallway with a nod. “You have my word. No harm will come to you or your—” he said looked down with a pitiful stare, “Ensign.”

  Saren stood from the cot. She knew staging a brute force attack wasn’t going to work. She couldn't believe the strength Jaru displayed, tossing Ensign Brody out into the hallway like a rag-doll. While strength seemed to be Jaru’s best attribute, outsmarting him could work, but the other one—not so much.

  She just needed a distraction to make a run for one of the computer stations in the hallway. It was the only option that came to mind. If luck were on her side, maybe they hadn't locked her out of the ship—yet. There was a terminal just around the corner. It was unfortunate she and Ensign Brody didn't have enough time to discuss a plan. She would just have to hope the Irish bugger followed her lead.

  Saren stepped out into the hallway, bending down and extending a hand to Ensign Brody. As she helped him to his feet, she glanced at her wristcom, then down the corridor. She had her back turned to Ramentutt, so he didn't see the little exchange.

  She wasn't worried about Jaru. The look on his face said he was still steaming from being shoved around by the boss.

  Ensign Brody took her hand, his brow knitting together as Saren pulled him to his feet. A look of realization flashed in his eyes for a brief moment before he gave her a wink.

  “Come on, Mr. Brody—best to do as the man asked.”

  Saren looked up at Jaru as she walked down the hallway. He regarded her with a sneer, blocking the path, and making her shove passed him.

  Ensign Brody watched Saren bravely push by the Scarab which gave him an idea. Hey eyed the tall brute, making sure the fear on his face was apparent as he walked passed Jaru.

  The Scarab looked down, smirking in Ensign Brody’s face and enjoying the fright he saw. When Ensign Brody pushed passed him, Jaru leaned in making it difficult, and that is when the Irishman made his move.

  Ensign Brody drove his shoulder into the Scarab’s midriff with all of his might, barely causing him to budge, but it was all he needed. The unexpected move gave Jaru a slight imbalance, making just enough room for Ensign Brody to squeeze through, grabbing the Scarab’s weapon on the way and whipping around, aiming it directly at his chest.

  Saren spun around to see what happened.

  Jaru’s face went from surprise to anger before he smiled and let out a wicked laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Ensign Brody spat the question, aiming the weapon at Jaru’s face.

  “Pull the trigger, human,” Jaru’s said, his thunderous voice echoing down the hall.

  Ensign Brody’s eyelids lowered, and he squeezed the trigger.

  Nothing happened.

  He gawked at the sleek, gold weapon with his mouth hanging open and desperately searched for a safety switch. There were no buttons or controls of any kind that the ensign could find.

  Saren shook her head.

  No ensign!

  He had no way of knowing the design of the Scarab’s weapon was engineered to activate only for their personal DNA. Fleet Academy was compiling the little information known about the Scarab and designing a course cadets.

  Guess they haven’t finished yet.

  She feared for what was going to happen to ensign Brody, but, nevertheless he provided her with the distraction she needed. If the young man had any chance of living, she needed to act quickly, because she wouldn’t get another opportunity.

  Saren turned and ran toward the computer station.

  “Stop her!” Ramentutt roared, pointing.

  Jaru charged down the hallway.

  Ensign Brody froze at the sight of the giant heading at him. He turned fifty shades of white, holding the weapon like a little child who did something wrong and daddy was coming with the belt.

  Jaru barreled into Irishman, crushing him against the wall and snatching the weapon from his shaking hands. He holstered the gun, remembering Ramentutt’s order as he chased after Saren.

  “It is useless, female! Stop this before you regret your actions!” Jaru shouted.

  Saren ignored the threat and scrambled to the computer interface set into the wall.

  “Computer! Saren Delta One!” she shouted, placing her hand on the reader panel. The interface used a combination of visual, audio and tactile DNA interfaces to identify the user.

  ACCESS DENIED flashed across the screen, lighting her face in bursts of red light.

  “Computer! Override lockout Avenger Saren Delta One!”

  ACCESS DENIED.

  She glanced down the hallway, fear threatening to snake up her spine. She took a deep breath and steadied her nerves. The determination and evil in the Scarab’s black, outlined eyes were enough to make the most hardened fleet commander soil themselves. He was closing in on her faster than she thought physically possible.

  They really are fucking menacing, but so am I.

  She turned back toward the terminal.

  If she knew her ship like she knew her ship—there was one chance left.

  The engineers that created the ship built certain fail-safes into the computer which needed no authorization unless someone with serious know-how overrode them, and she doubted the Scarab were on her ship long enough for that.

  “Computer! Activate Alien Invasion Protocol!”

  The screen froze a moment, processing the command for the very first time since the ship’s assembly. After a second the display turned red and matched the panic beating in her chest after she saw Jaru was drawing closer.

  The ships lighting turned red, and a klaxon sounded out across the entire ship.

  “Intruder alert! All ship personnel, please clear the corridors. If you are unable to clear the corridors, stand against the walls and evacuate as soon as possible.” The ship’s internal voice repeated in between the klaxons.

  Jaru was almost near Saren who was standing up against the wall next to the computer station. The sudden alarm had surprised him but did nothing to slow his incredibly fast stride.

  Come on fucker, kick in!

  She glanced down the hall.

  He was going to reach her before the protocol had time to react and she braced herself for the assault. Her training pulled its way to the surface of her brain as she clenched her fists and softened her knees. She was no match for him but wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  A goddamned good fight at that. Bring it—fuck-face!

  “I am going to rip your limbs—“ Jaru began, before getting cut off.

  The continuous narrow line of lighting embedded in the ceilings of the hallways and rooms throughout the Avenger grew double in size and split into two separate lines. One line of light flashed between the red klaxon alarm and natural illumination throughout the ship, and the other shimmered like galaxy dust.

  The shimmering light broke away from the ceiling and quickly undulated down the hallway.

  Jaru was about to grab Saren when the hull plating on either side of them turned red.

  He stopped to look at the walls, and Saren darted out of the way.

  The red, flashing walls turned to liquid and sprang toward each other, encasing Jaru in liquid metal. The liquid quickly hardened back into solid lonsdaleite, creating a metal statue out of his body.

  The program used a top-secret crystal alloy, known by very few UFWA officials in the case of sabotage. The crystal enabled the program to detect DNA that wasn’t registered in the ships database command, filtering out all non-sentient lifeforms along with low-intelligence mammals. The liquid metal supposedly only reacted to the alien lifeforms and nothing else.

&nb
sp; The alarm should’ve stopped—by now.

  Saren stepped around the metallic statue of Jaru and sprinted down the hallway to check on Ensign Brody. She reached the corner and heard a hissing noise from behind.

  She turned to see what it was.

  An image began glowing in the center of Jaru’s chest, and she squinted. It was the Scarab necklace he was wearing.

  I knew those gaudy fucking things were more than jewelry!

  “Dammit!” she shouted, running for Ensign Brody.

  “Commander!” he shouted from beneath the metal Ramentutt.

  “Hold still! I’m coming!”

  “Don't worry about me—I’m stuck, and ye cannae get me loose! Run! Something is happening inside!” He rapped his knuckles against the metal.

  During the alien protocol, Ensign Brody must’ve been struggling with Ramentutt and fell beneath him when the liquid metal hit. He was stuck beneath the Scarab’s legs, lying flat on the floor. Thankfully, the protocol process didn't involve heat, only a non-lethal reaction with the crystal and metal. It was designed to suffocate the alien life-forms, not burn them.

  Saren had never seen protocol in action before.

  He was right.

  Ensign Brody legs were entangled with Ramentutts. She’d never get them free.

  “I’m sorry!” she said, running for engineering.

  Since she was locked out of the ship’s computer, she needed direct access to the controls, and maybe she could do something.

  She ran passed the corridor with Jaru’s statue, and a buzzing sound drew her attention.

  What the holy-fuck?

  The multicolored Scarab necklace had burned its way out of the encasing and was flying around Jaru’s body, spraying sparkling particles onto the metal. The glittery dust was breaking down the structural integrity of the metal, and bits of the statue were flaking away, falling to the floor.

  When Jaru was uncovered down to his waist, he violently shook his body, letting out a roar, and shaking off the rest of the metal.

  She prayed the ship’s protocol kept repeating the process when she saw the walls hit an invisible barrier surrounding Jaru’s body. The liquid metal splashed to the floor, and he started running after her.

  “You gotta be kidding me,” she groaned, running for the bridge.

  She was almost to the autolift when she heard the familiar buzzing. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the flying, colorful Scarab emit a holographic representation of a bolas—a yard-length string with two heavy balls on each end—hurling through the air.

  She ran faster.

  Just a few more feet.

  She stole another glance over her shoulder, and the holographic bolas had materialized into a solid pair or whirling balls, and she rolled her eyes.

  Technology no one had ever see was an understatement!

  Saren reached the autolift, shoving her hands in front to cushion the impact in case the lift wasn’t on that floor, and the doors remained shut.

  She hit the door and grunted, pushing back and looking up at the red light.

  “Fuck! Come on you piece of shit! Where the fuck are you?”

  It was over, and she knew it.

  She failed her crew.

  She knew she couldn’t outrun him but ran down the adjacent hallway.

  The string of the bolas hit her back, and the balls swung tightly around her body several times before impacting into a soft, powdery explosion.

  PLANET KAHARI

  SAREN awoke for the second time that day, blinking her eyes and trying to clear away the blurriness. Dark and light colored shapes floated around her vision. The strong powder inside the bolas had knocked her out instantly and left her with a groggy hangover. Her senses were slowly returning, and she felt her arms and body being pulled about like a drunken marionette.

  She blinked harder and squinted, but her vision was taking time to clear.

  “The powder in the bolas from the Amulet of Ra will clear quickly, and your vision will return to normal.” A deep voice that right she recognized as Ramentutt.

  “Where are you taking me? Where’s my daughter?” she demanded, realizing they were dragging her through the ship by each arm.

  “We are approaching stairs,” Ramentutt said, ignoring her questions.

  “Where is my daughter?” She repeated.

  She felt her arm hitch slightly as she asked the question, but she still didn't receive any answers.

  “Stairs!” Jaru said, yanking her forward.

  Oh, it’s fuck-face.

  “By the graces ‘o Saint Philomena you Gobshite, I promise—I’ll raze your entire race to the ground if you harm her,” Ensign Brody shouted in the near distance.

  Saren carefully descended the stairs she assumed were the ship's exit ramp.

  They were leading her off her ship.

  Fuck! Why couldn't that damned autolift just open?

  She began counting steps.

  Unfortunately, she was right. No other staircase was that long.

  They were leading her off her own goddamned ship.

  By the time her foot touched the bottom stair, Ramentutt had gently released her right arm. Jaru was not as gracious, tightening his grip on the arm of her body armor, and swinging her so hard she stumbled several feet like a ballerina, before falling on her face and scratching her cheek.

  I had to fall face-first, right?

  A faint line of bright red blood appeared, highlighting the clean slice.

  Ensign Brody was on her in seconds, helping her to her feet.

  Before he had a chance to make good on his promise of razing the Scarab to the ground, Ramentutt and Jaru were already back in the ship. The ramp was nearly closed.

  He started to make a run for the ramp, and Saren pulled him back.

  Her vision had returned as Ramentutt promised.

  “It’s too late,” she said, standing idly by with Ensign Brody.

  The Avenger lifted off the planet’s surface and quickly reached the atmosphere. Another few seconds and the ship was gone.

  “Here ma'am.”

  Ensign Brody gently handed Saren a clean handkerchief from his pocket.

  When she cocked her head at him, he said, “For your cheek, ma’am. You got a scratch when that gutless Gobshite threw you down.”

  She smiled, accepting the hanky and gently patting her cheek. “Thank you. Mr. Brody?”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “What’s a Gobshite?”

  His face blushed. “Ye be a lady, ma’am. I’d rather not say.”

  She smiled again, and said, “Too bad they didn’t leave me the helmet to my body armor. They probably knew I’d have flown after them and disabled the ship.”

  “Ye can do that with that armor, ma’am?” His eyes widened.

  She nodded.

  Without the helmet, she couldn’t interface the armor’s computer system which meant no flying, no force fields—none of its unique tricks. The best it could offer her was the protection of the lonsdaleite shell. That’s when she realized Ensign Brody hadn’t been wearing any, and that worried her. Protocol had always required the crew to gear-up when preparing for a mission.

  There were reasons we follow protocol, Elyria.

  Elyria—she wondered if that was why—I said I’m not going there.

  Not fucking going there—first things first.

  She tapped her wristcom, trying to access the ship with her wristcom. She knew it was futile before the damned beep—beeped. At least the weaponry and shielding would work, now that she was off the ship.

  There’s something positive, she thought, looking around and realizing she had no clue where they were.

  “Where are we Ensign—any clue?”

  The planet was a barren wasteland made of blue clay-like dirt and odd looking rocks in all sizes of different geometric shapes, littering the blue terrain.

  The short, stocky Irishman looked carefully looked around his surroundings. A frown grew under his furrow
ed brow, and he asked, “Do ye notice how everything seems lit up? Yet—I don't see any sun in orbit? Shouldn’t it be dark since I’m seein’ stars over our heads?”

  I must still be groggy from that powder.

  She hadn't noticed that about the light until he’d just said it.

  She waved her hand in the air, flipping it around and looking at both sides. Then looked at him with a look of surprise.

  “How can this be?”

  “See what I be sayin’ ma'am? There be no shadows on this planet, either.”

  He stood still, looking at the ground around his body for a shadow that wasn’t there. “So how is it possible we can see each other?”

  “When we watched Avenger take off—I just thought it was nighttime. Now I realize there’s no atmosphere, just space, and we’re breathing perfectly fine. This is strange. I’ve never come across a planet that didn’t follow the laws of nature.” Saren wrapped her arms around her body even though her body armor maintained a perfect seventy-five degrees even without the helmet.

  “Me either, ma'am.”

  “Look, there’s a small ridge.” She pointed off into the distance. “There’s a small structure. You can barely make it out. It’s in front—not part of the ridge.”

  “Looks to be manmade.”

  “What do you think, Ensign?” She nodded toward the structure. “I’d say it’s only about two miles.”

  “I think it's worth taking a look, ma'am,” he said, grinning. “I been meaning to get me a little more exercise.”

  As much as Saren hated the fact she was stuck on some strange planet, she was glad not to be alone. As an orphan, she learned how to be proficient and fend for herself. She’d fought off other children of much bigger species and won—to keep the few personal possessions she owned. Life had dealt her a fair share of hard-knocks, and this was just one more.

  She wasn’t in the orphanage anymore, and her chances of survival were far greater with an ally. She needed to rescue her daughter and crew. She refused to think what the Scarab would do with them, or—Elyria. If she could get her ship back, there may be hope of salvaging her plan—somehow.