D'Mok Revival 1: Awakening (25 page)

“I’ll use my ship to distract the scouts,” the man said as he fired. “We’ll need to use your ship to get us out of here.”

Mencari said, “Is anyone on your vessel?”

The man shook his head. “Autopilot. Cover me a sec, I’ll call it up.”

Determined to break their attacker, Mencari fired numerous blasts from his phaser. The large guardian robot struggled, but remained in a defensive posture against the increased attacks. Smaller robots appeared from down the corridor.

He needed something more, and fast. Glancing at the stranger, Mencari could see his attention was on his ship.

He was about to try manifesting one of his own energy attacks, when the robot began to twitch. Mencari looked down, puzzled. The ground beneath his feet began to tremble.

“The virus activated,” Toriko yelled. “Oh Eudora! The mining bots. I forgot!”

The stranger looked at her. “What virus?”

“To make the robots run amuck! They’re gonna tear this place up! When I planted the bug, I thought we’d be gone by now!”

Another bleep caught her attention. “Rhysus, Spark reports that the scout ships are chasing a new ship that just showed up.”

The man nodded. “Mine.”

She nodded back and relayed instructions to Spark, then pointed down the corridor. “I’m calling Spark in! Let’s head to the bay!”

Mencari and the stranger fired their weapons at the guardian robot’s head, temporarily blinding it. They all followed Toriko’s yelled directions that led them to the docking bay. They entered in time to see their craft whoosh into the docking channel. The guardian robot’s heavy feet clanged behind them.

Mencari looked anxiously up at the ship, waiting for it to touch down.

“Come on, come
on
!” the stranger said, watching.

The guardian robot entered the bay and came toward them at a fast lumber.

A high-pitched squeal and a shockwave shattered the air around them. Cracking like thunder, a blast hit the guardian robot. The lights of its eyes faded as a back panel blew off in a shower of sparks. Carried by its momentum, the robot flopped forward, screeching a few feet before stopping. The motionless hulk smoked as the harsh scent of crisping wires clogged the air.

Toriko turned toward the ship to see Spark barking happily through the main window. “He fired the EM pulse! Good boy!”

As the ship touched down, the side hatch opened. The others dashed en board and strapped in while Toriko took control of the ship.

“So
you’re
the one that left that footprint,” Allia said.

The man looked over at Allia. “What footprint?”

Mencari swiveled his head around.

“When we first climbed down into here, I saw a faint footprint in the dust,” she said. “I knew we weren’t the first ones to go in that way.”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Mencari said in equal parts annoyance and concern.

As their ship left the bay, they saw a ship explode in the distance, finished off by the scout ships.

The man moaned, “Goodbye, baby. You were good to me!”

Toriko stiffened in her seat. “Uh . . . it was a good decoy, but it looks like those ships are coming back this way!”

She plotted a course to maneuver through the asteroids and put maximum distance between them and their pursuers.

Leaving their escape to Toriko, Mencari turned to the man. “Who are you? And what were you doing in there?”

“You’re Rhysus Mencari, right?”

“How did—?”

The man grinned. “Your combat style. Of course, your friends calling out your name helped confirm it.”

“How do you know about me?” Mencari pressed.

“Connections. . . ”

The deliberately aloof answer alarmed Mencari. “You say you know me. You haven’t said who
you
are.”

“I’m Liren. And thanks for that rescue back there. If you hadn’t—”

“We seem to be on the same side. I’d like to know a hell of a lot more about what you know.”

“I . . . thought I was being careful,” Liren said.

“We found robot parts,” Allia said shaking her head. “In a service tunnel between the main floor and the mine.”

Toriko looked up from her console. “And there was a report of a robot found deeper in the mine, destroyed.”

Liren’s head bobbed. “Yeah, that’s where I got in trouble. That big bot found me.”

An alarm rang out as their craft banked hard to port and their harnesses pulled tight. Toriko waved away her holographic interface and grabbed the manual controls. “Evasive maneuvers. Sorry, I got it now!”

“What were you doing there?” Mencari said to Liren.

“I could ask you that myself.”

“Fair enough. We have a friend that was attacked when coming through this area.”

Liren’s eyes narrowed. “A friend?”

Liren hadn’t been forthcoming about his friends’ names, so Mencari saw no reason to reveal Ujaku’s name. He said, “We wanted to find out what those scouts were guarding here.”

“You must be mercenaries. Whom do you work for?”

Mencari laughed. “Ourselves. We’re tracking a race of aliens—”

“Nukari. Yeah. I know all about them.”

Mencari looked Liren over. Perhaps his task would be easier than he thought. “Maybe they’re not the secret we thought they were?”

“No, they do a good job at hiding. I just have some . . . experience dealing with them, that’s all.”

“Like?”

“That mine used to be ours. My world has mined these asteroids for millennia.”

Allia said, “They took it from you?”

“They start out nice enough. Their ambassador to our world asked to see our facility. To help better their techniques, he said. Once they found what was in the mine, their goon squad took it over.”

Mencari pulled out a few of the rocks taken from the mined pile. “We took samples to see what they’re taking from the asteroid.”

“No need to analyze it. That’s tritium.”

Toriko turned her head slightly, never breaking eye contact with the navigating monitor. “The alloy used in ship hulls?”

Liren nodded. “We used it for our space fleet. But that’s just what was mined on the upper layers. Down deepest, at the core of the mine . . .” He reached into his ammunition sash and pulled out a few crystals that shone a brilliant blue. “Triset crystals.
The
energy source. Our homes, personal devices, vehicles, even our space fleet uses it for power. Even some of our weapons.”

He looked down at Mencari’s hand-phaser. “What powers your phaser?”

Mencari popped open a small slot to reveal a dull-yellow crystal.

“Muihtilid. Common.” From his sash, Liren selected a crystal the size of the muihtilid and handed it to Mencari. “Pop this triset in. Keep your feet planted and brace your wrist with the other hand next time you fire. And here’s a spare if you need it.”

Mencari took the crystal, gazing into it. “You think this is what they wanted? To use it in their weapons?”

“Weapons, sure, and more—if they find it. I was here to try to determine if they’d reached that part of the mine.” He sighed. “Once they do, fighting them will be a whole lot harder.”

“Didn’t they see that crystal when they were taken through by your people?” Allia said.

Liren looked out the porthole. “Not something we advertised on tours.”

Mencari said, “So . . . have they?”

“Found the triset, you mean? The tunnels into that part of the mine
looked
pretty dusty. Don’t think they’ve made it there. Yet.”

Toriko said, “Uh, just in case it matters. . . their system said they were at fifty percent operational.”

Liren nodded. “Might or might not mean anything. Likely, they replaced our system with their own. Who knows what that means?”

Another alarm rang out.

“It’s okay,” she said, “we’re way ahead of the scout ships. They haven’t gained on us at all.”

Mencari smiled at Toriko. “I forgot to thank you. A little quick on the draw with the virus, but . . . nice work.”

She smiled as her cheeks turned red. “Thanks. And it looks like the scout ships have given up their pursuit. They just turned back towards the mine.”

The ship neared the entrance to the spaceway.

“Sorry about your mine,” she said to Liren. “I’m sure the robots are tearing the place up right now.”

Liren laughed. “That’s one less for those Nukari to plunder. I say great job. Keeps the triset hidden too.”

“Thanks for using your ship as bait for those scouts,” Mencari said.

Liren shrugged. “If I’d been more careful, I wouldn’t have needed to.”

“You know, we could use your help against the Nukari. We don’t know that much about them yet and—”

“I’d like to.”

“Will you come back with us then?” Mencari said.

“Can’t. Not now. Have to get back and let my people know what I found.”

“Ah . . . where should we take you, then?” Toriko asked briefly looking over her shoulder.

He looked down at his wrist and read a small display. “Actually, follow the ship next to you.”

“Um. What ship?” She checked her display. “I don’t see anything on the scanners.”

Liren smiled and pointed out the side window. “That one.”

A ship pulled into their view range. Stunned, she checked her scanner again. “I— It’s not showing anything! Nothing at all!”

“You’re not supposed to see it. And it isn’t my ship. These are . . . compatriots.”

“How did they know how to—?”

“When I got into trouble in the mine, I called for help. Didn’t think they’d get there in time, but I didn’t know about you guys. So you could say they were coming this way anyway.”

The other ship sent over a small transport pod to fetch Liren. Before he left, he thanked everyone again.

“How can we find you?” Mencari asked.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find you when it’s time...” he added as he stepped into the pod.

A concerned Osuto greeted them when they returned to the asteroid base. “What happened to checking in?”

Mencari winced. “We ran into trouble. Lots of it.”

“I gathered that,” Osuto grumbled.

“Let’s go to the conference room. And get Seigie. We have something she’ll be interested in.”

“I’ll get her!” Allia said, and she and Ichini raced for Seigie’s crystal lab.

“We may have made a new ally too,” Mencari added.

* * * * *

“I can’t wait to use these in my . . . research,” she said, her ruby eyes gazing into the triset crystal.

It took little for the ever-skeptical Seigie to agree that Liren had given them a genuinely powerful gift: the crystals proved that to her.

They gathered around and watched Seigie’s face from under her hood. The sound of crystal grinding on crystal rang through the air as she sat, cringing, as she examined the small gemstone. More and more, the ancient woman’s face showed traces of chronic pain.

Allia blurted out, “Seigie, on my planet, I know a lot of people who work with crystals and rocks. Maybe they can find a way to reverse what was done to you when you went through the infusion. Living with all those embedded crystals can’t be very comfortable.”

Seigie’s expression remained cool. “Now isn’t the time. With the Nukari around, I don’t want to jeopardize my abilities.”

Her brave words were belied by the longing in her eyes, but Allia let the matter drop.

* * * * *

“You can’t afford another stunt like that, Rhysus. What if one of you had been killed?” Osuto’s face showed unaccustomed disapproval.

“We were just going in for a little recon. I didn’t expect—”

“Expect what, Rhysus? You didn’t expect that they might be powerful enemies in the vicinity of where Ujaku was attacked? This is why I wanted us to
plan
our moves.”

His mentor’s bark echoed off the sheer walls of the control room. At least the briefing was done. “Before we engage the Nukari again, we need more like us,” Mencari said. “I realize that now—”

“Um . . .” Toriko’s voice gently drifted to them as she came around the corner. “I just need to get some of my tools and—”

“It’s okay, Toriko.” Mencari motioned her into the control room, embarrassed that a teammate was witness to his scolding. He and Osuto waited, uncomfortably, while she skittered to an open panel and dug a number of tools from it. As she stood, she hesitated, staring at one of the displays.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop and all, but, maybe if I tap the trading post’s APIs through the inter-core network and get to the central servers . . . I’d have to work out the proper queries, compare some foreign keys . . .” She hesitated, and shook off a frustrated look. “I’m sure I could search the public News Core systems for useful information for us. Maybe help us find better leads on the Nukari. Or maybe locate others who could help us. Others like us.”

“How long do you think it would take?” Osuto said, his annoyance gone.

She simply grinned and disappeared.

* * * * *

Ichini playfully circled Allia before entering the hatch, followed by Rhysus and Seigie. The craft’s com came to life as they strapped in, and Toriko's image appeared.

“Out of all the names returned from my database search, this is the one that looked most promising,” Toriko said. “Jerin Odoli is who you’ll be looking for. The News Core posts say he’s a warrior of the ‘Okiru haven,’ whatever a haven is.”

“From what it says he’s capable of, it sounds like he could well have D’mok abilities,” Mencari said with eagerness. “I just hope he’s willing to help.”

“I’m sending you the map the Trading Post had on record,” Toriko said as her hands blurred over her keyboard. “Don’t know how updated it is, though.”

“Terrestrial map of Abunai received,” the computer intoned.

“I’ve added a few markers to show the location of the Okiru haven,” Toriko added. “This Jerin fella sounds pretty powerful. Says he led a team of warriors in some world battle competition.”

Her face grew concerned. “But I also wanted to warn you that there’s
tons
of News Core postings about increased mercenary activity. If
they
are working with the Nukari, like the ones who attacked Ujaku, it could be a sign of something bigger underway.”

“Good to know,” Mencari said.

The computer chimed as Seigie’s hands moved over the controls. She grit her stony teeth in frustration. “I still don’t get why
I
have to do the piloting.”

“I’ll be with you all the way,” the holographic image of Toriko assured her. “But I’m sure you’ll do just fine. The way that baby runs, it’s simple to pilot. And I need to stay here this time. I need to realign a few receivers, and promised Osuto I’d get those new consoles built.”

“And the more of us that can pilot, the better,” Mencari explained. “Think of the triset mine and Spark’s assistance. . . ”

The docking clamps retracted as the ship floated away from the moorings.

“Great,” muttered Seigie. “Me or a mechanical dog. You sure you wouldn’t prefer the dog?”

“Sorry, Seigie,” Toriko chirped. “I need Spark to help me with a few things.”

Seigie looked ready to say something, but Mencari chimed in quickly. “Don’t forget to keep checking News Core for more leads, Toriko. Great work on that so far. You did good.”

Allia gazed out the window, mesmerized by the view. Mencari watched Seigie fumble with the controls before recalling the proper sequences.

“Ready, Seigie?” he said.

“We’ll find out fast enough. But if I go down this time, you all go down with me.”

“And by the way,” Toriko added. “I did a quick upgrade the ship’s computer. It
should be
more effective now.”

Both Seigie and Mencari’s heads jerked toward the image. “What kind of upgrade?” Seigie blurted.

* * * * *

Muttering, “
Should be
more effective, my hind end. It
better
be,” Seigie guided the ship to the spaceway and carefully slipped through the on-ramp. In a ship much smaller than the huge transports the spaceway was designed for, it was harder for her to align with the proper entry window for the gravitational vortex.

But Toriko’s upgrades seemed to help. The ship jostled only slightly as it punched through the gravity barrier and accelerated speed to match other crafts in the spaceway. The old craft groaned as they traveled across a number of wake trails, but still gave a smooth ride.

“Toriko was right,” Mencari said, leaning his head against the headrest.

“About what?” Seigie said.

“They really
don’t
make ’em like they used to. This thing rides smoother than any ship I’ve ever been in.”

Seigie gave him a scoffing laugh and returned her attention to the controls. A few adjustments later, she was able to activate the autopilot and relax a bit.

When they neared the off-ramp, the ship automatically slowed and took them out of the spaceway. As they exited, the navigation system plotted the course to Abunai.

* * * * *

After a relaxing ride, they all came to full alert when the computer chirped, “Disengaging autopilot. We’re here!”

Seigie watched the dingy-looking planet draw closer, then noticed Mencari’s brow furrowed.

“Is there dirt on the windows, maybe? It’s so . . .
dark
down there,” Allia said confused.

As the ship entered the outer atmosphere, a brilliant white energy gradually increased around the hull. As it grew in intensity, the craft began to shake. Seigie struggled to compensate.

“Now what should I do?” she muttered with growing annoyance. The shaking turned to jostling, and warnings began to pop up across the navigational displays.

A hologram of Mini-Toriko appeared in a flash of light, startling her.

“I’ve detected an abnormal amount of turbulence,” Mini-Toriko said. “But readings indicate structural integrity is not at risk. High levels of unidentified particles are creating unusual amounts of drag on the fuselage. I will reduce our speed.”

Within seconds, the sharp jarring reduced to gentle bumps. With the crisis averted, Mini-Toriko disappeared in a fountain of light.

“She didn’t even say goodbye!” Allia said.

“Maybe that was part of the upgrade?” Mencari said. “More professional sounding, at least.”

Toriko’s voice suddenly came through the speakers. “Proximity alert. A domestic ship appears to be on an intercept course.”

“Now what?” Seigie moaned.

Mencari located and scanned the vessel.

“Coalition worlds do this all the time, Seigie. I’m sure they just want to check us out. Let me handle it.”

“Analysis complete,” Mini-Toriko said. “Approaching ship’s energy levels are nominal. No beam weapons active at this time. Alert: ‘Inbound priority transmission: audio only.’ Opening communication channel.”

A cool but commanding voice boomed. “Attention, unknown vessel. Identify yourself.”

Mencari nodded to Seigie as he replied, “Greeting. We’re traveling to the Okiru haven.”

“State your business.”

“We’re here on personal business. Just a brief stop to visit a friend. He’s a competitive warrior. High up in the Olympics. We’re . . . long-time fans.”

There was a pause, then the channel boomed to life. “Well, well, well, the boys have been taking bets on when you’d arrive. Greetings from the Anto’liea city-state. We’d be honored to escort you to the Okiru borders. Please follow us.”

The grooves in Seigie’s face deepened, but Mencari forced a grin. “Thank you. We will follow. . . ”

When the com channel closed, Seigie blurted. “And who the hell are
they
?”

“Who do they think we are?” Allia asked.

“Someone they’re expecting,” Mencari said as he shook his head. “Does it matter? Let’s just play along. We just need to get where we need to go.”

“Hey, what are those big bubble things?” Allia said, pointing out the side window.

Expecting to see structures similar to Murai Dome back on Toriko’s home planet, Mencari looked out the side window to a very different sight. Massive pylons, anchored on the ground far below, reached for miles into the sky. Thick walls of a clear material connected the massive structures, sectioning off the land below. Energy arcs wildly discharged across the tops of the pylons. Even with the fastest of crafts, it would be risky to penetrate the field.

“
Now
I’m glad we’ve got an escort,” Seigie said.

“But what
are
they?” Allia repeated.

“Something to protect the people below?” Mencari questioned.

“Or to divide them,” Seigie muttered.

Allia hopped from her chair and stared out the window. “I still don’t get why everything looks so dark. You’d think we could see everything with all those light-flashes.”

Following the escort vessel, they approached two large spires that jutted from the massive supporting pylons. Energy arced back and forth, blocking the entrance to a tunnel beyond. The computer detected a narrow-band signal emitted from the alien craft, and the energy arcs rapidly dissipated.

The alien ship’s pilot relayed, “You’re on your own. They’ve been instructed to cooperate with you. Give those Okiru what they deserve! Anto’liea honors you!”

“Thank you for the escort,” Mencari said.

Seigie gave him a curious look as the com channel closed again. “
Give those Okiru what they deserve?
”

They had no time to speculate. Their escort peeled away and landing directions appeared on a display before them. Seigie guided the ship down to an outdoor landing area.

Allia and Ichini peered out the windows. The youth warned, “There’s people headed this way.”

Out her window were five men in tattered uniforms approaching in formation. “They don’t look armed,” she added.

“Be on guard, and ready for anything,” Mencari added.

“Great plan,” Seigie muttered. “Osuto would be proud.”

* * * * *

“Welcome, visitors to the Anto’liea city-state,” the man who appeared to be lead officer said. “I am Dalbrth, chief administrator of this port. How can I help you?”

As they exited their craft, the welcome party formed a line in front of them. Ichini moved to Allia’s side and postured threateningly.

“We’re looking for someone,” Mencari said. “His name is Odoli.”

Dalbrth’s gaze fell to the ground, his pondering eyes searching for something there. After a moment he looked up with a forced smile. “He is well known to us. In fact, he is training at this moment.”

“We would like to talk with him.”

“Of course. You can find him in the town of Gisie. It’s not far. Follow the path due east from here along the edge of the Gisen Swamp.”