“Ahhh, star charts.”
“Pretty!” Allia squealed, and pointed to the luminous yellow marks that dotted the various charts. “I bet those markings show areas they investigated.”
Toriko closed the charts and reviewed the other spheres. “This one says ‘logs.’” She opened it to reveal smaller spheres with date labels. “I was right. The last one was done around forty years ago.”
She opened it up, revealing the image of Aiken’s son again.
“Father passed away this past weekend,” he said, his voice heavy. “While we were going through his things, I found this. I thought I’d put in one final entry: for him. We gave up the search long ago for the Cosmic Link. We always thought finding it was just around the next corner, or in the next star cluster. We searched so many! We thought we had a pattern once, but nothing panned out. This was his dream. Even after starting the relic store, he talked about the Cosmic Link, about using the community to figure it out.” He sighed. “Maybe someday, someone will.”
The image faded, returning Toriko to the globe interface.
“How sad,” Allia said, looking at Toriko, noticing a hollow expression. Allia went to her side and waved her hand in front of Toriko’s face. “Hello?”
“He said there was some type of pattern to the charts,” Toriko muttered. “Maybe I can extract the charts and information they have on this crystal . . .”
“But why?” Allia said.
“Maybe I can correlate the maps and find what they were looking for.” She looked down at Allia and smiled. “And hey, I’m awake anyway.”
“Then there’s the matter of whatever the cosmic link is anyway,” Seigie added. “Maybe it could be of use to us too?”
She worked with Seigie to upload her program and export the data from the crystal. “Hopefully we’ll have more by morning,” she said. “That’s a lot of data to review.”
“Why don’t you both go to sleep?” Seigie suggested. “I’m not done yet. And I don’t require sleep anyway. Besides, I was hoping to use your upgraded scanners to check something out. Have a good night.”
As the two left quietly, Seigie returned to the displays, an unaccustomed spark in her glowing eyes.
* * * * *
By the time Allia and Toriko strolled into the command center, accompanied by Ichini and Spark, Seigie was talking with Osuto and Mencari. Osuto greeted them as they entered.
“Sounds like you had an interesting night.”
Toriko forced a bleary smile, then scratched the back of her head. Seigie motioned them over.
“I found some things with the scanners after you went to bed. Look at this.”
Toriko glanced at the display, and her tired eyes bugged out. “This means . . .”
Seigie nodded, and Osuto said, “We have Nukari on the move.”
“It really works!”
Mencari shook his head and grinned. “Think your program could just get rid of ’em too?”
She laughed saying, “I wish.”
“We have a high number of smaller trails leading to a world called Argosy,” Seigie said. “Then there’s this one.” She called up the secondary readings, plotting the course and path of emissions.
Toriko locked her eyes on the display. “Look at the size of that trail. Must be huge. Or a small ship with a really, really bad emissions system.”
Osuto said, “I’ve also figured out the location of the coordinates from Seigie’s crystal—”
A new message appeared on Toriko’s armguard. As she read it, she took a quick breath. “The program from last night . . . it’s already narrowed the search for the Cosmic Link to three areas.” She did a little victory dance before noticing another message.
“Oh, but it needs more map data for the three before it can continue.”
Mencari patted her on the back. “I’m sure we can hit the Trading Post and…”
As if on cue, the communicator Eyani had given Mencari beeped.
He checked it. “Maybe sooner than later. Eyani wants us to meet her there as fast as we can.”
Osuto nodded. “I’ll stay here. I’d like more time with that training crystal from Allia’s world, see what we can learn from it.”
Toriko gave the reader a longing look. “I can keep working with Ujaku here on the base expansions.”
Mencari nodded. “I’ll take Allia, Ichini and Naijen. Toriko, send Eyani a message we’re coming—and ask about the star chart information you need.”
“I’m on it!” she said, her hands already flying over a virtual keyboard.
“I don’t think taking Allia is wise,” Seigie protested.
“I’m fine!” Allia insisted. “I’m going.”
CHAPTER 16:
The Favor
"Greetings and salutations, Coalition visitor, Rhysus Mencari." Bob's familiar greeting rang through the air.
Before he could even step from the ship’s airlock, Mencari heard Bob blurt, “Please follow me.”
Was that urgency in Bob’s digital voice? Mencari was not sure. However, it wasn’t the only thing out of place. Usually Eyani would have contacted him directly by now. Instead, she’d been strangely silent since their last communication at Osuto’s asteroid base.
“Where are we going?” Mencari asked.
Bob responded by simply accelerating forward. Mencari, Naijen, Allia, and Ichini quickly dodged between the other post inhabitants, trying to keep pace.
“Wait up!” Allia cried.
Is he trying to lose us, or is Eyani’s need so grave? Mencari wondered.
Bob disappeared around a corner. Following, the others found themselves heading into a lightly trafficked area, eventually reaching an industrial-looking and almost abandoned section of the trading post.
“Our destination is just ahead,” Bob informed with the same odd urgency, still skittering forward at high speed.
Mencari felt a growing discomfort. Perhaps it was his imagination, or his own anxieties, but with each step the corridor appeared to narrow and grow darker.
Then, a familiar robed figure stood before a massive metal gateway that sealed the way ahead.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Eyani said.
With the wave of her hand, followed by the thunking sound of heavy levers and grinding gears, the door opened. She motioned them to enter.
The space beyond was cavernous, yet filled with holographic projections of star charts, continuously updating diagrams, panels of scrolling data, and a hoard of aliens working feverishly. Despite the diversity in physical appearance, each wore a distinct tan uniform with a thick black stripe across the chest.
Mencari looked about stunned with the enormity of the operation.
Eyani directed them to a glassed-in room with a large table surrounded by no-frill metal chairs.
Naijen looked at Mencari with a fierce gaze, like a beast ready to kill.
“Lemme guess. We gonna have a ‘nice’ chat,” Naijen chided.
Sitting, Eyani called up a hologram of a space station. At first glance it appeared to be the trading post they were on, but Mencari quickly saw the additional station modules and inhabitance pods.
“That is a . . . science and research facility,” Eyani said. “It is a sister station to this one.”
In moments, additional projections appeared. “These are the last logs we received before totally losing communications with them more than two days ago. We need someone to go there, to check things out.”
Naijen asked petulantly, “Why don’t’cha go check yerself?”
Eyani said, “We— I can’t do anything for another sixty hours.”
Mencari said, “Why?”
“Complicated agreements and regulations.” She shook her head. “Some believe it prevents needless alarm. Regardless, resources are stretched thin, and I have my responsibilities here. I can’t simply leave. Even if I wanted to, I’m closely monitored. I can’t risk breaking protocol.”
“But…” The lavender scales pulled t
autly as her face tensed. “There are people in that station I’m in constant communication with. At least I was. And now, nothing. Something’s wrong. If you could just go, it won’t be… a violation of protocol.”
Whose protocol? Mencari glanced back at the beehive of activity beyond the window. This looked like a lot more than a simple data-collection agency for unusual beasts of the universe. In fact, it reminded him more of a military war room. Mencari tried to recall what Bob had said to him when he had first arrived on the station.
The Commerce Federation of the Be’Inaxi, that’s who Bob had said owned the station. So did they also control this part? he wondered.
Allia poked Naijen’s arm. “Eyani’s done a lot for us. Especially for me. Besides, it doesn’t sound like it’s a big deal. Just check things out, right?”
Naijen huffed.
Eyani’s purple eyes deepened. “Please. I will make this worth your time. And the research station isn’t cosmically far away.”
Mencari quickly pondered her request. Helping her seemed the right thing to do. But more importantly, there was a greater opportunity here, he could feel it. Something was developing that he didn’t fully understand, but if this mission was successful, he was sure that it would open doors to . . . something. At the very least he assumed he’d learn the purpose of whatever this place was really about, and maybe even something useful against the Nukari.
“We’ll do it.”
“Thank you.” She reached out as if she was going to hug him, but instead asked, “Can I have the device I gave you?”
He reached up and unpinned it from his chest and handed it to her. She took a small, black disc already in hand and snapped it into place. The disc briefly glowed with a green hue, resulting in an approving nod from Eyani.
She handed it back. “This will add a few features that might come in handy. Bob will relay the coordinates of the station to your ship. Please contact me when you find anything out. Oh, and the information Toriko requested is on this memory stick.”
Mencari took the items from her, and repinned the device while glancing at the aliens working busily beyond the glass walls. “Looks like you have quite an operation here.”
Eyani hesitated. “The trading post is a very important place.” This was followed by a long and slightly awkward silence.
Mencari looked at her, as Naijen fidgeted and Allia wiggled in her seat, impatient to get going.
Eyani said nothing more, just held Mencari’s gaze without expression, without flinching.
“I’ll escort you to your ship,” she said urgently.
After nearly leaping from her seat, Eyani quickly led them back the way they came, Bob closely in tow. Again she fell strangely silent. Her whole demeanor felt off, and so incredibly tense. Mencari waited for her to finish her explanation about the station, but she didn’t.
As they arrived at their dock, she took Mencari’s hand, her voice warm, “Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help.”
Mencari stood in the door, keeping the automated hatch open. “We’ll contact you as soon as we arrive.”
Eyani looked down to Allia. “I’m glad to see you so well.”
Beaming, Allia leapt into the ship. Ichini bounded in right behind her.
“Good luck,” Eyani said, and turned and headed down the corridor.
“Big action, huh?” Naijen grumbled as he sat with a harrumph. “Research station? Swap in the geek-girl. Ain’t nothin’ goin’ on worth needin’ a real warrior for.”
Mencari sighed. “It shouldn’t take long,” he said. “And what if it isn’t as simple as you think? We’d need your help then. So . . . no. You’ll stay with us.”
Naijen slumped into his seat and kicked a side panel, denting it slightly. Ignoring the tantrum, Mencari accessed the coordinates from the memory stick Eyani gave him and plotted their course. As he did, he added, “Besides, we’ll use the spaceway most of the way there.”
Naijen rolled his eyes. “Yay, speed us to another floatin’ pile’a scrap metal. Hurrah!”
* * * * *
With the craft underway, Mencari updated Osuto and transmitted the information Toriko requested. It seemed her program would need some time to process the new data.
They passed two safety ports before reaching their exit. Shortly after entering regular space, a series of light vibrations alerted Mencari. He reviewed the propulsion display.
“Humm,” he mused. “Some type of particles are interfering with the ram scoop.”
“The geek ain’t here,” Naijen said flippantly.
Allia translated for him, “Something’s gumming up the thing that makes us move.”
The warrior crossed his burly arms, turning his attention back to the window.
“We should be getting close to the research station,” Mencari said, running a few scans of communication frequencies and proximity detection for ships. “Nothing. No activity at all. For a station this big, there should be plenty of outbound signals, or at least some ship activity.”
He tried to raise the station, but didn’t receive a response. Allia uncoupled herself and looked out the side window with Ichini. “Hey, what are those—?”
A loud thump resonated off the hull, and there was suddenly a splattered mess smeared across a side window.
Naijen seemed oddly cheered by the sight.
“What was that?” Mencari said, calling up a more detailed scan of the area. The display showed a large mass in constant movement just ahead.
Naijen looked out his window with growing interest. “A swarm of fun.”
Mencari called up a zoomed-in view of the beasts. They had thick skin that resembled a deep reddish-brown clay, and large flap extensions similar to a stingray’s, complete with long protruded snout and barbed tail. An eerie glow from their undersides cycled colors as they glided with ease, seemingly on solar winds. Mencari stared momentarily, in awe of beasts that could live so easily in the cold void of space.
He slowed the ship, navigating with care around the organic matter. The station didn’t appear abandoned, and he didn’t see anything that indicated damage. Docking lights were blinking, thrusters actively corrected the station’s stability, and based on the lighted portholes, there was illumination inside.
“Everything looks fine from the outside.”
“Fine?” Allia called from the porthole. “Are all those creatures floating around normal?”
“Well . . . no.” He activated the scanners. A chime drew his attention to the console, and he grunted as he reviewed the results, then zoomed in on a section of the station. “Neither is that. . . ”
Naijen perked up and uncrossed his arms while Allia went to Mencari’s side.
Mencari pointed to a massive hole in the lower bulkhead. “It looks like something blasted through.”
He tapped the communication device on his chest and called Eyani. In moments a small holographic projection of her appeared.
“Mencari,” she greeted flatly, angst filling her otherwise beautiful eyes.
“You were right. No activity here. No ships, no communications, no nothing. And . . . there’s a blast hole in the side of the station.”
“What?” Eyani said, bristling.
Allia tugged on his sleeve. “Don’t forget about the creatures.”
Nodding, Mencari added, “There’s a swarm of creatures moving around the outside of the station. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He saw Eyani pull up a display panel showing a visual feed of the space directly before him.
“I see,” she said, pondering. “Are you in a position to go inside?” she said.
Naijen bounded from his seat. “Ya!”
Mencari looked unnerved by his yell.
Naijen shrugged. “Hey, someone jacked that place. Maybe they’re still there! We’ll jack ’em back!”
Mencari looked back at Eyani. “Through the hole?”
“No. Wait.” She fiddled with something outside her projection. The dev
ice on Mencari’s chest bleeped, then radiated with a green aura like before. Suddenly light ran down the side of the station.
Allia gasped and backed toward her seat as massive panels on the station began to open, revealing a large bay.
Mencari said, “How did—?”
“I’ll explain later,” Eyani said. “Please, for now, just see if anyone’s alive in there. You need to trust me. I work with these people. They’re my friends. I have to find out what happened there!”
And you can open their station by remote? Who are you, Eyani? Mencari thought, taking the ship closer. As they entered the bay, they saw a number of ships docked and powered down.
Following Eyani’s prompts, Mencari headed for an open docking ring. An indicator appeared, reporting the successful tethering to the station.
They undid their harness and headed to the airlock. As it opened, a faint yellow glow appeared around Naijen and Mencari, while a greenish tint radiated around Allia and Ichini. Mencari looked with concern at Allia. She looked at her own body in surprise.
“Something must be wrong with the communicator,” Eyani said. “I see halos around you all.”
Mencari ignored her comment, still focused on Allia. “You okay?”
“I feel fine,” she shrugged.
“Let me know if that changes. The second it does. Let’s move.”
They stepped into the bay, which looked just like the trading post they’d just left. All appeared well in order. Ships looked prepped for departure, fueling systems were connected and working away. The sleek steel bay was clean, even sterile-looking. Everything seemed normal, except for the lack of personnel.
A holographic map of the station appeared before them. “There should be an exit to your right,” Eyani said. She fiddled with her control, and a new marker appeared on their map. This one moved when Mencari shifted his weight.
“Sensitive,” he muttered.
“That shows your current position very precisely,” she said. “It’ll help you stay oriented.”
They followed the map to the bay’s exit. As they entered a brightly lit corridor, a pungent smell greeted them. Allia plugged her nose. “Ugh! What is that?”
D'mok Revival: The Nukari Invasion Anthology Page 29
