D'mok Revival: The Nukari Invasion Anthology

by Michael Zummo

  Osuto cleared his throat, prodding.

  With resolve, her voice called out commandingly. “Naijen, Speru, Cogeni, Seigie, and Cerna.”

  Osuto nodded approvingly, then activated a communication beacon to those in the mines.

  Allia said, “Don’t forget about Ujaku, Katen, and Decreta.”

  Kiyanna caught Nikko’s longing look toward Cogeni, who forced a supportive smile in return. “I’ll cover the command center while Seigie’s gone,” Nikko said.

  Mencari said, “Good.”

  Allia sprang to Seigie’s side and said, “I’ll check your crystal cultures while you’re gone too!”

  Amused, Seigie thanked her.

  Osuto said, “Those here will also train with me.”

  Quick footsteps clopped down the corridor. A dusty Naijen and Speru entered.

  “That was fast,” Seigie said.

  “We were already coming out when we got the signal. What’s going on?” Speru asked.

  “We’re heading out. Get your stuff and meet us in the bay,” Kiyanna said.

  “Who is?” Naijen said, confused.

  “Both of you.”

  “For what?” He sneered.

  “A mission,” Kiyanna flipped out, tiring of the need to state the obvious.

  “‘A mission?’ Not interested. I’ll be in the mines.”

  He turned and started to head out when Kiyanna’s voice thundered from behind him. “I said, get your crap and meet me at the bay. That’s an order!”

  Naijen scoffed, looking over his shoulder. “Says who?”

  She saw Mencari about to say something when Osuto motioned for him not to interfere. Emboldened, she pressed the issue.

  “What exactly are you training for when you don’t do anything?” she said chiding.

  Naijen kept walking. A wicked smirk crossed her face as the perfect dig entered her mind.

  “For all I know, your fancy light show could’ve been from your boy. I’ve yet to see you do anything useful.”

  He stopped dead. Ah, yes, that did it.

  “Wha’d you say?” His tone held a growing rage.

  “Wanna hunt Nukari?” she said.

  “I’ve heard that before—right Rylee?”

  Kiyanna was amused by Mencari’s term of endearment. “We’re on a hot lead—and we’re acting before it goes cold.”

  “Naijen, Kiyanna’s leading this one,” Osuto added.

  Naijen turned with a sneer and said, “Wass amatta Rylee, lost your nerve or somethin’?”

  “The Nukari are on to him—and Toriko,” Allia said.

  Naijen smirked then taunted, “Oh you gotta hide, then.”

  “Kiyanna’s capable to lead, so she’s taking this one,” Mencari said.

  “Coward,” Naijen said. “Maybe you should retire to the grotto.”

  “Says the man who went running back on Ruul,” Kiyanna quipped. “I heard all about it.”

  Naijen glared at her.

  “You did run, right?” She leaned in. “You’ve got some proving to do yourself.”

  He huffed. “I don’t need to prove nothin’.”

  “Of course not. Talking big here shows everyone exactly what you’re about.”

  “I’ve proved plen—”

  “So has Mencari,” Kiyanna said. “So, you going to come and kick some Nukari butt, or just sit here and say how good you are at doing it?”

  Naijen looked at the others, his face twisted.

  There was plenty of risk in her tactics. Naijen would either attack her, or he’d give in. She wasn’t sure which one he’d do. It was a gamble. She was more than ready if he was dumb enough to come at her. But thugs like Naijen needed to be managed: and carefully. An unchallenged bully could undermine a critical order during a mission. Dissension in the ranks could lead to death, and worse, mission failure. Appealing to his ego and honor seemed like the best move to bring him inline.

  “Better be worth my time.”

  “Be worth the cargo load,” she said. “I’m not opposed to spacing deadweight.”

  * * * * *

  “What do you mean you can’t take us?” Kiyanna said, teeth gritted.

  Una shook her head. “I can’t take you to Keros with Eden’s scout ship.”

  “I thought you were at our disposal.”

  “Yes, but we have to protect our technology too. This is one of our latest stealth ships. I won’t just fly it into a general spaceport. It’s intended for high-risk missions.”

  “Nukari equals risk. This is a high-risk mission.”

  “Kiyanna, take my ship,” Osuto said. “It won’t be as fast as Una’s, but it will go unnoticed.”

  “Nothin’ top secret about that pile of scrap,” Naijen said.

  Seigie said, “I can pilot it. Osuto’s ship isn’t equipped with tunnel hardware either, which is fine by me.”

  Mencari smirked despite the reference being lost to the others. The first time they used tunnel travel with a more advanced ship, one Toriko had refit, an accident tore part of it off. Seigie had the unfortunate experience of being in the section that was flung into the atmosphere of a planet. The experience left her skittish of the technology.

  “Fine,” Kiyanna relented with a huff. “We’ll make do.”

  * * * * *

  Seigie piloted the ship out of the bay, and headed to the spaceway. Eyani’s projection appeared along with Bob and Mini-T’s. “We should go over the mission plans,” Eyani said. “I have an additional mission parameter for you.”

  Before Bob’s image appeared a world surrounded by multiple space stations and satellites.

  “Keros is a world in great political turmoil. The central leader, called the Oledant, is a controversial figure who’s increased the presence of what he calls Homeworld Security throughout his planet. With the increased monitoring has been persecution of various groups, and a dramatic change in xenorelations.”

  A man with delicate lavender scales for skin and deep black eyes appeared before Mini-T. “Your contact on-world is Xion. He will meet you on the landing pad of Kratn, their capital city. He will provide the details of a strike against, what we believe, is a force of influential Nukari within the Kerosan government.”

  “I have a new secondary objective for your mission,” Eyani said as a plump Velren replaced Xion’s image. Along with the common orange-tinted skin splattered with thick brown moles, this one had long gray hair, with a chinstrap beard along the edges of his rounded jaw. “This is Yulanis Tnel,” Eyani said. “He’s an Eden agent with a standing assignment in Kerosan relations. He operates from his shop on the Omegar security station around Keros. You’ll have to pass through it as you enter and exit Kerosan space. As you depart, he has a package for you to bring back to Eden. Bob and Mini-T will signal him when you prepare to take off from Kratn. He’ll meet you in the docking ring with materials to transport.”

  * * * * *

  They were more than three hours into the flight when Mini-T alerted, “Toriko is hailing us. Opening the channel.”

  Toriko’s usually cheerful expression was replaced by a confused stare.

  “What is it, Toriko?” Kiyanna said.

  Toriko’s hesitated, then said, “Where’s Rhysus?”

  “Back at base. I’m leading this mission.”

  “Oh …”

  “What do you need?”

  “Oh … yeah … we detected you were in the spaceway.”

  “And?” Kiyanna said, growing impatient.

  “Oh, um … we’re tracking a large unregistered mass in the spaceway near you.”

  “What of it?”

  “Eyani said more of these anomalies have been showing up lately and …”

  Kiyanna looked to Seigie, who said, “What are the coordinates, Toriko?”

  “Oh … thanks. Here …” With a bleep, a small display projected before Seigie.

  Seigie nodded. “You’re right, it’s not far. Just ahead of us, in fact.”

  The navigational displ
ay expanded, showing greater detail within the spaceway. Within moments the large mass appeared on the fringe.

  “Looks like a small moon,” Kiyanna said.

  Toriko bobbed her head. “Yeah, something that size has like a one trillion-to-one chance of getting pulled into the spaceways. Regardless, anything that size in the spaceway is dangerous.”

  As they drew closer the display revealed tightly packed objects.

  “Wait, that’s no moon,” Toriko said, alarmed.

  “If that’s not one big thing, how large are all those pieces?” Speru asked.

  Kiyanna reviewed the scans. “Mountain sized—each of them.” The console bleeped, drawing her attention.

  “I’m going to run a few quick scans, okay?” Toriko said.

  “Anything we need to be concerned about?” Kiyanna asked her.

  “Eyani wants me to get more information. It should only take a second.”

  Kiyanna watched more detail fill the screen as the scans initiated. Her eyes drew narrow in disbelief.

  “Ships?” Kiyanna said. “Those are ships, Toriko?”

  She didn’t respond. Kiyanna could see her focused on reviewing the readings back at Eden. Eyani appeared in the projection, reviewing the scan results over Toriko’s shoulder. The two appeared to be talking but there was no audio. Did they mute the channel? Why would they do that? Shouldn’t she and her team hear what they were talking about?

  “How do I get more detail?” Kiyanna said.

  Mini-T activated a tactical display next to Kiyanna’s.

  “If that’s right, that fleet would dwarf even what we had around K’pec!” Kiyanna said.

  A strange burning filled her, and drew her curiosity. Was it fear or excitement? Perhaps some of both? A mighty force was before her, one she didn’t have the luxury of being a part of. The very premise was thrilling as much as intimidating. She initiated additional scans.

  “Should we be going closer if that’s a fleet?” Speru said with concern.

  Kiyanna looked at Toriko’s projection and saw her and Eyani talking with people outside the viewing area. Their lips were moving but no sound was coming through. What’s going on over there?

  The display before Kiyanna streamed to life as a new battery of scans kicked off. Kiyanna felt a tinge of anxiety. Are those scans going to draw their attention to us?

  More details were streaming through. The results worried Kiyanna. “Ion trail positive? Those Nukari vessels, Toriko?”

  Again no response. Toriko and Eyani were still talking to people beyond the projection’s view.

  “Toriko!” Kiyanna said, growing frustrated.

  Still nothing.

  “We need an answer, Toriko.”

  “I don’t like this. I don’t think we should get closer,” Seigie said, adjusting the navigation.

  At last, the audio crackled to life. “Yes, sorry. Disengage. Don’t get any closer.”

  “Already did that,” Seigie said gruffly.

  “Is that a Nukari fleet?” Kiyanna asked.

  “We’ve not seen their actual fleet since the attack on the Coalition. It could be,” Eyani said.

  “Or mercenaries, or others that are using the same Nukari technology,” Toriko added. “Either way, the ships are too large and the formation too tight. We think they’re trying to pass themselves off as natural phenomena to avoid attention. Stay clear of them. Ghn’en is dispatching a scout to investigate further.”

  “Next time don’t take so long to respond—or better yet, don’t mute the channel,” Kiyanna said. “We’re all on the same side remember?”

  Toriko blushed. “I’m sorry, people usually don’t want to hear my chatter. I’m trying to relay only what matters.”

  “No assumptions—ask.”

  “Sorry.”

  Kiyanna waved it off.

  “There’s an alternative route to Keros that would take us away from the mass of ships,” Mini-T said.

  “Update my navigational coordinates then,” Seigie said.

  * * * * *

  “Attention please! I’ve detected numerous ships attempting to enter the spaceway from our spaceway off-ramp. Navigate with care,” Bob warned.

  Seigie checked the navigation display and saw plentiful blips appearing. “It’s like a small fleet coming at us!”

  “Do you think that fleet called reinforcements?” Cerna said.

  “No Nukari ion signatures are detected,” Mini-T clarified.

  “So it’s a stampede of ships? I don’t know if I can safely get us through that,” Seigie said.

  “Do you want me to assist?” Mini-T asked.

  “By all means,” Seigie said.

  Numerous ships began blasting into the spaceway. The unexpected inflow caused Mini-T to take evasive maneuvers. Seigie grabbed onto the seat as the other passengers were tossed about. “Hold on!” she yelled.

  Their ship darted precariously through a jumble of dissimilar ships. Big, small, transports, carriers, none of them looked like they belonged together. Seigie said, “What is going on?”

  “Nearly through!” Mini-T said.

  A massive ship abruptly entered the spaceway, advancing rapidly toward them.

  “It’s gonna hit us!” Naijen yelled, his golden aura washing over him.

  The ship pitched hard, and rolled, missing some low-hanging nacelles hanging off the large ship. Narrowly entering the off-ramp, they punched out of the spaceway, into normal space. Their relief turned to awe, as an endless line of ships appeared queued to enter the spaceway.

  “So many ships,” Cerna said.

  “Mini-T, can you trace where these ships are coming from?” Seigie said.

  When no response came, Naijen chastised, “More of the geek’s handiwork. It’s always something.”

  “Mini-T?” Seigie said again.

  “See,” Naijen chided.

  An annoyed Mini-T finally said, “There’s so many, it took a minute. The engine emissions and ionic displacement trails all trace back to Kerosan space: the Omegar station.”

  * * * * *

  What is that feeling? Cerna shifted uncomfortably as she gazed across the many ships. Something called to her from inside most of them. It was faint, but she was compelled to enter each one and find the source. The sensation grew to a warm tingle when a dingy gray cargo vessel shaped like a panfish approached. She connected with something inside, a powerful source, a person. But whom?

  “What?” Speru said, breaking her focus.

  Cerna looked at Speru, confused.

  “Just the way you were looking at those ships, is something wrong?”

  She looked back out the window, watching the panfish-shaped cargo vessel pass by. “I don’t know, to be honest. I … it’s nothing.”

  * * * * *

  “Is this ship queue the usual? If we need to get away quickly will we be able to?” Seigie said.

  “Negativo! Tracing metrics from the on-ramp indicate this is an unusual condition,” Bob said. “Mini-T and I will work on alternatives if needed.”

  Unlike the line to leave, there was no line going into the Omegar station.

  “Something is not right here. What’s going on that we don’t know about?” Kiyanna said.

  “Scanning news networks,” Bob said.

  “I just got clearance to dock,” Seigie said, confused. “I thought this was a pass-through checkpoint then down to the surface? Why do we need to dock? We aren’t supposed to dock here until we’re done on the planet.”

  Kiyanna glanced back at the scanner showing the diminishing line of ships waiting to enter the spaceway.

  “Nothing on the official channels,” Bob said.

  “Bob, inform Eyani of what we’re finding here. Do we abort?” Kiyanna said.

  “Acknowledged! I’ll find out!” Bob chirped.

  Tense silence filled the cabin.

  “Anything?” Kiyanna said, impatient.

  “Negative.”

  “Mini-T, contact Osuto and tell him
what’s happening,” Kiyanna said.

  “We’re moments from the autopilot engaging and following the approach vectors given to us,” Seigie said. “Should I take us out of the flight path?”

  Silence. Of all the things Kiyanna hated most it was silence. Weren’t Osuto or Eyani paying attention? Something like this should get their priority, no matter what they’re doing.

  In unison, Mini-T and Bob said, “We’re clear to proceed. Assess the situation once you’re inside Omegar Station and self-determine next steps for the mission.”

  “It’s good they said that, autopilot just engaged,” Seigie added.

  Self-determine? That was either sloppy leadership, or trust in Kiyanna’s abilities. She hoped it was the latter.

  The ship glided in and connected with an umbilical. There was a noticeable lack of activity anywhere else in the bay. Given the size of the structure, she expected to see more. Two other ships were docked and dark. One other, smaller ship was slipping out the far bay exit.

  “Keep a low profile while we’re here,” she said, as they prepared to disembark. “Bob and Mini-T, I don’t know what their tolerance is for AIs here. I want you both on audio communications only. The rest of you stay together, and watch what you say. We know their surveillance here is infamous.”

  The airlock opened, and they made their way through the umbilical. While the station hatch opened, they were greeted with a blaring clamor. Corridors were packed with panicked and confused aliens. Chaos.

  Some moved en mass, following illuminated arrows on the walls. Others, clearly irritated, read display boards or squawked loudly. An unsettling shifting of the floor was accompanied by a low and constant rumbling. Through the bayside windows behind them, Kiyanna saw massive doors sealing the way for ships to get in or out.