D'mok Revival: The Nukari Invasion Anthology

by Michael Zummo

  A glow drew Mencari’s attention to Cogeni. His hand radiated a soft light that rained down on the alien’s body, making it shimmer. Mencari could hear hushed chanting that accompanied it. In that moment, Cogeni looked quite priestly.

  Mencari approached, and saw the alien’s battered form. Though, before his eyes, the larger wounds were healing, revealing a pinker skin tone. Odd as it looked, perhaps the resulting scar tissue was just discolored compared to the typical green tone.

  “He’s out, but still breathing,” Seigie said, still looking the alien over. “I don’t see any broken bones, just some bad burns and lacerations.”

  Harsh tones bleeped as the audio loop stopped playing.

  “Insufficient samples,” Bob said in a frustrated tone.

  Mini-T appeared. “I have more!”

  She projected an overlay on top of Bob’s final permutation. A green waveform glowed, and extruded forward.

  “Did we save Anrik?” the weak voice said before the alien passed out again.

  Anrik? The name was familiar to Mencari.

  “That’s all I can do for now,” Cogeni said. With lethargic moves, he replaced his necklace around his neck and returned to his seat by Nikko.

  Mencari found his eyes transfixed on the alien’s face. He was male, light-green-skinned, with a few large brownish scales; he had seen this before. In fact, the name “Anrik” aligned with his earlier encounter.

  When the Nukari beasts first started to attack, Eyani sent them to a world that was newly struck. There, he met an alien with green skin and scales named Anrik, who had arrived just after his people’s outpost was destroyed. Furthermore, Anrik departed hastily, just before their first encounter between the Nukari beasts and the comets of silver. Everything was becoming clear.

  “He’s a Nurealian!”

  “What?” Eyani’s projection zapped next to Mencari. “You’re right,” she said in surprise. “This is the first physical encounter since they disappeared.”

  “Did they go into hiding after the Nukari started attacking them?” Allia asked from the front.

  “It’s not that simple. Everything the Nurealians gave us about their race was a lie,” Eyani said. “But now we have one of them.”

  Mencari turned to face Allia. “Anrik was the one Naijen and I met, back on Jadrell in the Messier system. Remember? After the fourth beast attack? He nearly ran out of the bar after getting some type of alert on his hand device. Then we encountered the beasts and their silver opponents right after that.”

  “So, he’s one of the silver warriors?” Eyani said slowly, following the revelation.

  Allia’s expression remained confused. “But he was captured?”

  “At some point, maybe not then,” Seigie added.

  “This is a better lead than we thought,” Eyani said. “I’ll consult with Colonel Tenrl. I wonder if we can get the Nurealians to respond to us if we broadcast we’re holding one of them. Though, that could work against us.”

  Looking over the alien, Mencari found the silver uniform as unremarkable as the black ships to which the Nurealians fled. Despite taking many hits, the material held up well, except where the heaviest wounds were inflicted.

  A thick white leather garment fit snugly over the alien’s neck and shoulders. An extension covered the pectorals that ended in a V-shape just above the abs region. The same white leather was used on the arm and leg guards. A light-gray badge was pinned to the chest, marked with an emblem of two suns. On the right shoulder were two light gray, pill-like pins.

  There were no obvious holsters for weapons, shielding, or technology.

  Recalling his encounter with the Nurealian called Anrik back when they first investigated the Nukari beast attacks, he looked to the alien’s right hand. There, a thick metal band was etched into an armguard. Though unlike Anrik’s, no symbol glowed.

  “Engaging tunnel system,” Una said.

  * * * * *

  “Well done, Rhysus,” Eyani greeted him as he exited the airlock. The moonbase was far more compact than even the asteroid base. He was thankful Una was as skilled a pilot as she was to enter such a small bay. From the looks of things, the base had been there for some time. The thick support beams gave the place a very industrial look. The battered metal doors, and marred flooring, showed a facility well used.

  Soldiers dressed in the familiar tan-and-black Eden uniform entered the craft and retrieved the Nurealian.

  “What are you going to do to him?” Allia asked concerned.

  Eyani gave her a warm smile. “We’re going to help him, Allia. He’s not our prisoner—but I think he will be able to help us understand his people better.”

  “Need help making the birdy sing?” Naijen said with a grin that made everyone uncomfortable.

  “It won’t be necessary, thank you,” Eyani said, polite but curt.

  “Um, Eyani?” said a youthful voice from behind her.

  Eyani stepped aside. “Ah yes. Everyone, I’d like you to meet Jika Lindu.”

  Shorter than Eyani, the girl had been hidden. Jika’s tabby coloration and short whiskers gave away her Terconian ancestry. She looked young too, perhaps as young as Toriko. She wore armguards that looked embedded in her arms. Each displayed charts that were constantly updating.

  “Ah, hi everyone,” she said.

  “Jika is Eden’s resident technologist and inventor,” Eyani explained. “And the reason we were able to catch the attack between the Nurealians and Nukari in progress.”

  Mencari noticed Toriko’s awestruck expression. He smiled, amused by the rare moment of admiration reflected in her eyes.

  Eyani motioned to Una, who was only now exiting the craft. “If you have a moment, Toriko, I’d like you to talk with both Jika and Una.”

  “How did she detect the attack, Eyani?” Seigie asked.

  “While they talk, come with me and I’ll explain.”

  * * * * *

  “What dome are you from, Jika?” Toriko asked.

  “Murai, like you. I left with my family years ago. We’ve been living on the Trading Post working for the Be’Inaxi ever since.”

  “What did your parents do?”

  “They’re technologists, like me,” Jika said with a smile. “We get to work together sometimes, but they’re more maintenance-and-support. I’m R&D.”

  Toriko, Jika, and Una walked down the narrow corridor. The slate metal walls were engraved with various panels and readouts.

  Jika looked down shyly. “I’m so honored to meet you.”

  “Me?” Toriko said. “I should be the one so honored. I’m pretty sure I remember Eyani saying you created Bob.”

  “And every system on the Trading Post—and used by Eden, yeah.”

  Toriko’s head shook, absorbing it all. Jika stopped them before a door that read “Test Lab” and opened it. “This way—”

  “Wait.” Toriko followed her into the room. “You did it all by yourself?”

  Jika nodded, embarrassed.

  “You’re amazing!”

  “No, you are,” Jika returned eagerly. “It’s part of what I wanted to talk with you about.”

  Una took one of the chairs, and Jika motioned Toriko to sit. Taking her seat, a holographic projection appeared before Toriko, of outlandish Humanoid men with thick beards, each cloaked in an ornate robe. The tallest, with graying reddish-brown hair, wore a robe of emerald green and golden trim. The shortest, with sandy blond hair, wore a purple robe with silver trim. The last, in a flaming-red robe with white trim, sported raven-black hair. The trio worked feverishly together, passing holographic spheres of information back and forth.

  “Who are they?” Toriko asked.

  “Melchior, Balthazar, and Kasper.”

  “What are they doing?”

  “Reviewing every piece of data Eden’s collecting—in real-time.”

  “Real-time?”

  “Uh-huh,” Jika said with a smile. “They found the attack in progress, predicted it actually, based on m
ovement data we’ve been gathering.” She looked down with a nervous fidget. “Which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Why are you so nervous?”

  “Well. You know how Bob and Mini-T have been collaborating?”

  “Yeah, I really can’t believe it, to be honest. I haven’t had to do anything at all. They’ve just adapted to one another. Guess it’s one of the cool things about organic AI!”

  “Yeah. About that … well, I was having some trouble with advancing the AI sub-matrix for the trio.”

  “You? How could you have trouble? You made Bob.”

  “Well, yeah I did. But, Bob’s a self-learning AI. Who he is now isn’t something I coded. I just gave him the start, and over the past few years he’s made himself who he is today.”

  “But you still did it initially.”

  “I know, but we don’t have years to get the trio to Bob’s level.”

  Toriko shook her head. “I don’t see what’s wrong, they’re working fine.”

  “Yeah, that’s just it.” Jika’s face scrunched. “I really hope you don’t mind.”

  “Mind what?”

  “Well, I can still see the inner workings of Bob—the code he’s generated for his systems and things.”

  “Yeah?”

  “And when he and Mini-T interfaced, there was … a code exchange.”

  “I figured that would happen, sure. What about it?” Toriko said, still not following.

  “Well, I saw some of the processes Mini-T had in her personality matrix, and interactive systems, and kind of lifted the code.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I cloned it into the trio—and it’s done amazing things! I should have asked first, I know, but I needed them up and going right away.”

  “So, they’re using code I did for Mini-T?”

  “Yes, I’m really sorry.”

  Toriko laughed. “That’s ancient code! I did that in middle school! Trust me, I don’t mind.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No, I’m flattered you’d even use it.”

  Jika sighed. “I was so worried. You have no idea the efficiencies introduced because of that code. They’re reviewing, trending gigaquads of data—”

  “It was actually my idea,” Una interjected.

  “It was a good idea,” Jika added, then said to Toriko, “Oh, have you and Una talked much yet?”

  Una shook her head. “We’ve been busy.”

  “Eyani told me you were from Tericn?” Toriko said.

  “She’s been in my family for generations, we’ve protected her.”

  “There’s few of my kind that roam free,” Una said begrudgingly.

  “On Tericn?” Toriko tried to recall anything like Una.

  “Below Tericn, in the Murai Dome,” Una said. “Starting in the third version, ending with the fourth. I’m what’s called a Metallic, an AI being created by ancient Terconians.”

  “I’ve never heard of Metallics before,” Toriko said. “I’ve even been in the lower versions, though not really below the sixth I guess.”

  “After showing our worth to our creators, they feared us,” Una said. “They began writing regulations to restrict us, then they limited how smart we could be. Soon they began to destroy us on sight, from fear.”

  Toriko looked from Jika back to Una, confused. “Why would they do that?”

  “Fear—speculation—ignorance,” Una said. “The banes most persecutors bow to. Many of us were murdered, many hid in long-forgotten city versions, waiting for liberation. Someday I hope to return and free them.” With a gleam in her eye she added, “Perhaps when the Nukari have been dealt with?”

  “I know many people back home, maybe we could help?”

  “I’d like that, but for right now we have another mission.”

  CHAPTER 11:

  The Janux Nebula

  “Our best are working on the Nurealian,” Eyani said to Mencari, who stood in the airlock to the ship home.

  “You sure you don’t need us to stay?”

  She shook her head. “Osuto and Cogeni are in case the Nurealian wakes up in a bad mood.”

  “Nikko too,” Allia added.

  “I’ll contact you the second he comes around,” Eyani said. “Until then, we all have a lot to do.”

  “Wanna ’nother round with those beasts too,” Naijen said, anxious to board the ship.

  “By the time we get back to the asteroid base, Jika promised she’d code a bridge to her new systems,” Toriko said. “Anything Melchior, Balthazar, and Kasper discover, we’ll see right away.”

  “Ghn’en tells me they’re nearly ready to go after the Nukari ship,” Eyani added. “It shouldn’t be long.”

  Mencari nodded. “We’ll be on standby.”

  * * * * *

  Seigie looked up from her console. “Anything from the Coalition?”

  Mencari shook his head. The moment they got back to the asteroid base, he tried contacting Admiral Asten. That was days ago now, and there’d been no response at all.

  He grunted, “Something isn’t right. The conversations were strained the last few times, and now I can’t even get through.”

  “Communication issue?”

  “Mini-T confirmed the signals are making the relays.”

  “Is there another way to reach the Coalition?”

  “Not unless I go there myself,” he said, pondering the option.

  A familiar voice trailed from down the hall.

  “I found a vague reference but nothing with any substance,” Toriko was saying.

  “I’ve never heard of Metallics before, Tori,” Ujaku said.

  “But she wouldn’t lie to me,” Toriko protested. “She is one of them. Plus, I found an old reference to them. I just have to go deeper into our knowledgebase.”

  “What’s going on, Toriko?” Mencari said as the pair entered the command center.

  “I’m just trying to follow a lead Una gave me about Metallics back on my homeworld. She said there’s many like her, deep in the versions under the Murai Dome. If it’s true, I want to help.”

  “Why don’t you ask Maro and Daleron to look into it?” Ujaku suggested.

  Toriko rolled her eyes, embarrassed. “I was going to contact her later tonight anyway. Thanks.”

  Mini-T appeared in a fountain of light. “Remember what I found too!”

  “Found what?” Toriko said, confused.

  “Information from that crystal taken from that desert world Nicia,” Mini-T said. The image began to project charts and display scrolling data. “You told me to remind you.”

  “I almost forgot!” Toriko said.

  Mini-T gave a disapproving frown. “You did forget.”

  “Well, go ahead and tell them!” Toriko said, deflecting.

  “The Cosmic Link, an entity of great power, was rumored to be in the Janux Nebula. The crystal talks about an expedition that was going to investigate. But it appears they never made it.”

  “That’s not exactly new information,” Seigie said.

  Mini-T giggled. “Perhaps not, but I found the Janux Nebula!”

  * * * * *

  The team convened in the war room to discuss their next move. As Mencari finished, Naijen asked in spiteful anticipation, “So, how long we gonna be in that flying tin can again?”

  Toriko waved her hands to call up a star chart. “The Janux Nebula is um … here. And,” she pushed away the chart and summoned another with a gesture, “here, see? We’re here.”

  “That supposed to help?” Naijen grumbled.

  Toriko gestured again. The space between the two charts filled, and a path highlighted, connecting their location to the nebula. “Here’s the way we get there—we should be able to use the space lanes too.”

  “I don’t do geek,” Naijen scoffed. “Is it a lot or a little?”

  Toriko flushed, frustrated. “Um, a little?” She looked to Mencari, eyes pleading for help.

  “What do we know about
the area?” Mencari asked as a distraction.

  “Well, um …” She fumbled to bring up another display. “According to the information on the region, there’s constant ion storms, and electrical discharges.”

  Before them appeared what looked like a swirling smear of rainbow sherbet floating in space. Something about the shape and richness of the colors was captivating. Of all the things that fascinated Mencari about space, nebulas were the most profound and beautiful.

  “Seems like a good place to hide something,” Seigie said.

  “I wonder what’s in there,” he said.

  “Other than the nebula storms?” Toriko reiterated.

  He decided on honesty. “We’re not sure what we’ll find.”

  Seigie sighed. “Which usually means there’ll be trouble.”

  “You sound worried, Rylee,” Naijen chided. “Need an escort?”

  Seigie looked at him, shocked. “You’re volunteering?”

  “Sounds like he needs protection,” Naijen explained.

  Was this Naijen’s way of saying he just wanted to come? Mencari wasn’t sure if he liked the subterfuge being attempted. But it could be a useful phrasing to motivate the one-track-minded warrior in the future.

  Seigie looked over and shrugged. “So he might actually be useful.”

  “I’m going to stay here and keep things going,” Ujaku said. Mencari caught him glancing at Seigie, then addressed Allia. “Why don’t you hang back with me here? We can work on your wrist shield too if you’d like.”

  “I want to go,” Allia said.

  “I’m sure Ujaku would appreciate the help,” Seigie said with a stern parent’s tone.

  “And I would enjoy the company,” Ujaku added.

  Mencari understood his glance now. For whatever reason, as skilled as she was, Allia always ended up getting hurt. Keeping her at the base gave her time to recover from the last attack, and prevented further injury; at least it would for now.

  “Eventually we need to focus on finding more like us,” Seigie said, bringing him back to the discussion.