“But—”
“Hold him tight and fly!” D’abar shouted with desperation.
No sooner had he done as told, Mencari felt his power magnify multiple times over. Suddenly everything made sense. The power he felt before when he fought O’ahdar in the High Dome, and again in the coliseum—it was the cadet!
D’abar gazed at the cadet with loving eyes. “My son … be the Defender you have always wanted to be!”
D’gorra shouted again as Mencari flew in the direction of his marooned ship. A trail of prismatic light streaked behind him as they moved at seemingly unbounded speed. The milky white of the field began to solidify as they approached. He felt the tingle of the field’s energy as they passed through a quickly closing passage.
Mencari’s ship floated just ahead, and any worry about whether the ship could get him and the boy away evaporated. The ship’s lights were already restored. He could see the catgirl avatar of the ship’s AI, Mini-T, waving manically through the window. Behind him the way back to Alo gleamed, then disappeared.
“My home …”
Mencari stared in disbelief.
“What happened back there?” Speru asked, still stunned.
“I’m not sure,” Mencari said. “But D’abar wanted us to go. To be safe.”
Speru pulled the lavender gem from his pocket and stared at it. After a moment, he looked at the light radiating from his body. “And this? What’s this?”
“I think I understand this part,” Mencari said. “How I felt in battle when you were near, the way the Skill Tree showed every node …”
It all became so clear. Why didn’t he realize the signs sooner?
“It’s not supposed to do that,” the cadet said.
“You don’t understand, you don’t have a power, you have them all. You’re a booster! You make us stronger!”
Speru’s face filled with doubt. “What? There’s no skill like that.”
“D’abar seemed to know what he was doing.” Mencari looked at the cadet’s crystal. “We should check out the sphere he gave you. Let’s head to the ship.”
“Ship?”
“Our way to my home,” he said, pointing.
CHAPTER 4:
Ruul
“Thank Eudora!” Mini-T purred as Mencari entered through the airlock.
No matter how many times he saw the holographic catgirl, he still smiled. She had a remarkably Human face, and short black hair, though the large feline ears and short whiskers showed her Terconian origins. Mini-T was the spitting image of her great geek creator, Toriko, sporting her signature bright pink, high-tech suit striped with white neon, and equipped with an augmented-reality eye panel.
He fondly recalled Toriko’s original “XoXo” outfit, complete with faux fox ears and XoXo-branded t-shirt. Why a catgirl would dress up like a fox had dumbfounded him, until he discovered XoXo was a popular cartoon character on her world. Toriko had matured a lot since joining his team, but sometimes he missed the eccentricities of his lead tech, and her AI.
Mini-T’s whiskers twitched in panic. “You have no idea how worried I was when I came back online and you were literally nowhere. The rift was gone, you were gone….”
Mencari noted that, for an AI, she sounded remarkably stressed out.
“Then I detected system damage—the tunnel drive was dead. And when I finally contacted Osuto—” she stopped mid-phrase, staring at the boy climbing in through the airlock after Mencari.
“Ano … who’s that?”
Mencari smiled. “Mini-T, meet Speru. Speru, Mini-T.”
“Hi,” Speru said, shrinking behind Mencari.
“And … um … where did he come from?”
“You can ask him directly,” Mencari said, motioning to the boy.
She looked dumbfounded, then laughed nervously, her digital cheeks turning a light pink. “Sorry. Where are you from?”
He looked on, equally stupefied. “Is she real, Rhysus?”
Her face scrunched, indignant. “I guess that depends on your definition of real. But you can talk directly to me too.”
“Easy now,” Mencari said. “Speru’s from a very different place, Mini-T.”
“I’ll say.” She looked the boy over. “Wait, he’s from the world we saw through the rift?”
Mencari nodded.
“You went through the rift! That’s why I couldn’t find you. And probably why the power came back on. The rift was closed!”
“He’s with us now. We won’t be going back—we can’t.” Mencari spoke while looking out the side window, out where the rift once glowed. “We’ll keep going to the Coalition.”
“Oh!” Mini-T yelled, startling the men. “No, we need to go back now.”
“Why?” Mencari said, instantly worried.
“I was just about to tell you when Speru boarded. Before, when I contacted Osuto about you missing? Well, he said he was just about to contact us, to bring us home.”
“Why? He supported me going in the first place.”
“That was before Toriko and the others got in trouble.”
What type of trouble could they have gotten into? He had just left. “What happened?”
A light flashed on the console.
“Right on cue. Here,” Mini-T said, opening a channel. “He’ll tell you.”
A holographic projection of Osuto appeared, looking haggard. In fact, the deep bags under his eyes, sickly pale skin, and disheveled hair made him look ill. It seemed like his mentor had yet to recover from the battle against the Nukari’s beast warriors. The old man nearly did himself in when he pushed too hard and unloaded a massive attack. But, in the end, they had rescued a Human captive named Anrik, destroyed the Nukari facility, and gotten everyone home alive. All things considered, they fared well in the largest battle against the Nukari to date, much less against enemies with abilities like their own.
“Rhysus,” he said, a combination of exhaustion and relief in his voice. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. What’s going on?”
“Una just arrived. I’ll explain when we get there.”
Una? That meant Eden had sent their Metallic pilot in their fastest ship to Osuto’s asteroid base.
“Get where?”
“We’re coming to you, then heading to Ruul—where the others are. Mini-T will take your ship back to base.”
* * * * *
“Spatial distortion detected,” Mini-T said, moments before a flash in space erupted in front of them.
Mencari watched the sleek black Eden ship emerge from a swirling vortex of energy. Tunnel travel, as it was referred to, never ceased to amaze him. It was like opening up a personal wormhole, drilling between two vastly distant points in the universe. It was similar to the Coalition’s space-folding technology, but tunnel travel seemed much more widely adopted, and used on smaller ships, not just the Dreadnaught Destroyers of the Coalition.
He loaded into the vessel, and watched as Mini-T waved through the window. The thrusters of his ship engaged, taking it toward the spaceways. Without tunnel travel, she’d use the slower gravitational bands that less sophisticated ships used to get around.
Inside Una’s ship, he and Speru were greeted by unexpected but friendly faces. The nearest was a tall, gray-furred catman sporting a long trench coat. Furry wrinkles of worry creased his forehead.
“Daleron,” Mencari said, surprised.
The last time he saw the old catman, they had just ousted a Nukari mole named Jencho from the nefarious Bansa Corporation. Daleron, along with a younger high-tech catman named Palo, and Toriko’s sister Maro, had stayed behind on their homeworld, Tericn, to continue expunging the alien infestation.
“Why are you here?” he added.
“They have Maro, and Palo,” the catman said, his deep, commanding voice filled with angst even as he nodded in greeting to Speru.
“Who has Maro and Palo?”
“Jencho—the Nukari.” Daleron’s fangs bared. “The whole thing was a trap.
He captured them, and then demanded you turn yourself in.”
Mencari looked toward Osuto’s image, confused. “Then how did the others get involved?”
“Jencho set a deadline,” a mop of long pink dreadlocks said, turning his way.
“Nikko,” Mencari said as the svelte woman with mint-tinted skin and deep black eyeliner met his gaze.
She continued. “We didn’t know where you were. Everyone thought we had to save them.”
“They headed to a world called Ruul,” Osuto said. “I didn’t want the entire team going, in case this very thing happened.”
Mencari went numb. It seemed no matter what he tried, when he was needed by those he loved, he wasn’t there. “Who went?” he said, looking about the cabin.
“Cogi is still guarding that Nukari beast we captured,” Nikko said.
Mencari nodded in approval. Her mate and heir to the religious power seat on their homeworld Argosy, Cogeni had demonstrated his ability to contain others with D’mok abilities when he’d been forced to use them against his own hostile mother. Keeping him with the Nukari beast with their abilities made sense.
A bitter-toned voice snarled through the cabin. “Since Cogeni was free from restraining us, Fia’ra, Fio’tro, and I decided we’d assist with this mission. Fia’ra says, unlike us, the Nukari beast cannot be trusted.”
Katen’s dark amber, lizard-like eyes jittered and glared. The beast-man’s frenzied shrub of orange and blond hair, coupled with his serrated teeth and meaty lips, reminded Mencari of a demonic fireball. A unique frenemy, Katen was a first-generation Nukari beast warrior, one of a triumvirate that hunted D’mar. After taking note of the travesties done by his kind, the trio now sought the destruction of their creators. Whether real or imaginary, Katen claimed Fio’tro and Fia’ra were the two former teammates that, upon their physical deaths, lived on as inhabitants inside his mind. His frequent references to them were always unsettling.
“Seigie, Naijen, Ujaku, Cerna, and Allia, and Ichini, they all went with Toriko,” Osuto added.
“Allia and Ichini went?” Mencari was grateful for the distraction from Katen, but concerned at this. Their youngest member and only child warrior, Allia, and her morphing-animal companion Ichini, were prone to accidents, especially during battle. He didn’t understand the logic of sending her into an obvious trap.
“We tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted on going,” Osuto said, sensing the reason for Mencari’s pause. “We can’t protect her forever, Rhysus.”
“Activating tunnel to the Ruul system in five,” Una said, looking back. Light from the holographic display gleamed off her shiny metallic skin. Despite being a “semi-organic” as she’d call it, she looked mostly Human, at least a flamboyant one. Her bowl-cut, light-blue hair and gentle amber eyes contrasted against the black-and-tan Eden uniform. So far, Una was the only one of her kind he’d met. Though she claimed to be part of an ancient race of sentient semi-organic robots known as Metallics, built and later entombed on Toriko’s world of Tericn. She’d escaped the fate of anti-Metallic sentiment via a family who took her with when they migrated centuries ago. Now she worked for Eden. He’d seen Una in action, and marveled at the thought of what an entire race of those like her could do.
She focused forward and continued the count. “Four … three … two … one … tunneling.”
Through the cockpit window, Mencari saw a beam of light shoot out ahead of the ship and then open a swirling vortex of energy in space. In moments, they were shooting through it, entering a tunnel of spiraling light.
“What do we know about Ruul?” Mencari asked.
Osuto pulled up a projection of a dark world dotted with multiple continents separated by a vast purple ocean. Patches of brown and black splashed across land and water. Thick rings of debris orbited the planet.
Osuto said, “Ruul is in the center of the Nexus. It—”
“Wait, I’ve never heard of the Nexus,” Mencari said.
“It’s a crossroads of gravitational pathways through space,” Osuto said, pulling up another diagram of the phenomenon. “Nearly every spaceway in this area has some connection to this hub. Whether it be fortune or misfortune, due to the gravitation intersections, all the junk from the spaceway collects here. Ruul itself might have been a roaming body that became trapped in the well of the Nexus. Some debris falls to the surface of Ruul. The rest gets stuck in orbit around it.”
“Are all those marks from debris?” Mencari pointed to the dark patches on land and sea. Osuto nodded. Studying the projection further Mencari asked, “Do people live there?”
“Yes. In fact, a whole salvaging industry has grown up on Ruul. Many worlds pay the governing party of Ruul to scavenge the wreckage.”
Mencari felt his brow furrow. “With all the debris, wouldn’t there be hazards from the materials coming down?”
“Yes. Entire sections of Ruul are quarantined due to chemicals or radiation. Ruul has also erected a planetary defense system, to destroy any debris that could cause widespread destruction if it fell on their world. It’s a complicated place to be. Regardless, governments are more than happy to risk it for the valuable finds among the wreckage.”
“Including the Nukari,” Mencari said. Questions wracked his brain. Why take Maro and Palo to Ruul? There had to be a good reason his nemesis was there. What kind of ties did they have to the ruling party on Ruul? Perhaps the Nukari also had a salvaging operation?
“Incoming transmission from Eyani,” Una said.
Mencari glanced toward her. “Put it through.”
In a bloom of light, Eden’s commander appeared in a projection. The first thing he noticed were her piercing violet eyes, followed by the tiny lavender scales that covered her delicately featured face. She spoke with her usual sophisticated accent while she skipped niceties and went straight to business. “Mini-T reports you’re en route.”
“We are,” Osuto said, sounding wearier by the minute. “We just picked up Rhysus.”
“Good,” she said. “Ruul has just issued a planet-wide distress beacon. They’re asking for assistance.”
“What for?” Osuto asked.
“There’s been a cataclysmic explosion at the central processing hub in Ruul’s southern hemisphere.” A projection of the world appeared next to her hologram. “It appears to have destabilized the tectonic plates, causing sporadic but devastating quakes.”
The projection of a beetle-like robot appeared next to Eyani. “A combination of seismomagnetic and seismoelectric effects is creating an impenetrable dome of interference around the planet,” the robot’s perky voice said. “Mini-T and I can no longer track or communicate with Toriko’s team.”
“What’s that?” Speru whispered to Mencari.
“That’s Bob, he’s a supercomputer system that works with Eyani—the woman in the projection.”
“Are they both like Mini-T?”
That made Mencari smile. “Eyani’s like us, Bob’s like Mini-T.”
Speru nodded, understanding.
“Hello! Did someone mention me?” Mini-T appeared in a fountain of light.
“The ship back already?” Mencari asked.
“Nope, but I can do multiple things at one time: like, I’ve been running the entire asteroid base, and conducting duties at Eden, this whole time.” She summoned a small holographic terminal before her. “Toriko had me take her ship and Ujaku’s into orbit after they were dropped off. Spark could have assisted, but she planned to take him along to the surface.”
“Who’s Spark?” Speru asked in a hushed tone.
“Toriko’s robotic dog,” Mencari said. “Kind of like Mini-T, but with a metal body to run around in.”
“We need to get you to Ruul fast, and investigate what’s going on,” Eyani said, her beautiful violet eyes anxious. “I’m concerned the Nukari could have something to do with the quakes.”
“Do we know where Toriko and the others are?” Mencari said.
“The short answer
is: not exactly,” Mini-T said.
“We’ve engineered a new approach where Toriko can send regular bursts of data to our central server,” Eyani said. “Her latest upload was unable to transmit due to the interference.”
“Wait, isn’t that a security risk? Couldn’t the Nukari trace the transmission?” Mencari asked, puzzled.
“Right-oh, if she attempted to send it directly, but she didn’t,” Bob explained.
Mini-T cut in. “She dropped digital breadcrumbs as they went. Each node captures information about the moment and location when dropped. It also extends the data relay chain for secure transmissions. Unfortunately, the tech can only move a few quadrabytes a second. Looks like it buffered and backlogged the transfer. We can’t get at the information—not at this range. But, if we can reach the main relay node, the first one she put down, I can follow the chain directly to her and download information from each node as we reach it—”
“Coordinates confirmed! Updating the map now,” Bob said as a glowing white dot appeared in on the projection of Ruul’s southern hemisphere.
“We’ll be in orbit within five minutes,” Una said.
“What about their ships?” Mencari said. “Can’t we lock in on them?”
“Both Toriko and Ujaku’s ships are somewhere in orbit around Ruul. Not knowing what the Nukari had planned, or what risks the world posed, they had the ships retreat offworld until needed,” Mini-T explained.
As the world grew larger in the cockpit window Mencari could see the types of debris orbiting the planet. Hunks of ships, decrepit satellites, and meteorites were among the larger things that floated within the debris around the world.
“What are those?” he asked, pointing to a ring of silver polyhedrons in orbit.
“Planetary defense pods,” Una said. “I wouldn’t want one locking in on us.”
“Can you get us through that safely?”
“I’ve plotted the way through. I’ve also taken into account variable rates of drift, and numerous emergency scenarios,” Una said with confidence.
“Scanning for the team’s ships,” Mini-T said. Two new markers appeared, floating in the rings toward the northern pole. “Yata! That’s where they are!” The map zoomed in and turned the markers into the outline of a ship and a large floating robot. “Toriko’s ship is still in mech mode.”
D'mok Revival: The Nukari Invasion Anthology Page 71