Only when Mencari and Speru were asked to stand before massive blocks of crystal did he become nervous.
“Don’t worry, they won’t put us in them,” Speru said, and snickered. “They’ll only display these until next week.” The boy’s face contorted at a sudden realization. “Where we’ll have to fight again, to defend our title.”
Women in ornate and shimmering pearlescent dresses stood before each victor and bowed. They glowed a gentle teal light. The crystal took on the same radiance as sections extruded or collapsed into perfect, life-sized replicas of the victors.
As the ceremony concluded, a new flood of patrons came in, ready to watch the one-on-one competition.
If Speru’s plan worked, they’d get the attention of the council and hopefully open Mencari’s path home.
* * * * *
“Amazing performance!” R’oden said, throwing his arms around Speru, who had barely exited the contender-holding area. D’abar stood proudly to the side. “Simply amazing!”
R’oden pulled a satchel from around his waist and handed it to Mencari, saying, “I want you to take this. D’abar informed me of your—additional training needs. These will at least help you understand the abilities found in each pillar, and how to bring them about.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“You learn fast! Though, your attacks—” R’oden stopped and looked with disbelief at Mencari. “Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised since you’re a cosmic and all, but they were far more powerful than I would have expected, given your levels.”
Mencari noticed the odd look D’abar was giving the cadet. The old man’s expression was filled with a strange combination of pride and angst.
“Regardless, this is a great day for me!” R’oden bellowed. “Three of my pupils have made it to finals! I must go and watch how he fares against last year’s winner!” R’oden waved as he hurried back to the stands.
Finally getting his chance to speak, D’abar said, “Well done my boy.”
The cadet blushed. “Er … thank you very much! Rhysus protected me mostly.”
“Not true, you slashed a number of them but good,” Mencari said with a pat on the boy’s shoulder.
“Solid improvising, using Rhysus as the shield to block blows,” D’abar continued. “That type of strategy has always been—”
D’abar stopped in midsentence. His eyes became hollow and lifeless.
“D’abar?” Mencari asked.
Speru motioned not to bother him. “Give him a second.”
“We’ve been summoned by the council,” D’abar said gravely.
“Now?” the cadet said.
“Yes. Apparently, your participation and subsequent victory got their attention. They’ve been deliberating since before the ceremony. I find it interesting I was excluded.”
Speru’s eyes grew wide, unnerved. “The games aren’t even done yet. What does it mean?”
With a grin, D’abar said, “It means your plan worked very well, young one.”
“Maybe too well,” Speru said with a worried expression.
The three headed toward High Dome as a familiar voice rang out.
“Hey—wait!” Jeyla yelled.
They turned, and saw Raitr, Siana, and Jeyla flying at incredible speed toward them.
“I tried to tell them, but they wouldn’t believe me!” Raitr said proudly.
“You were competing?” Jeyla shrieked happily. “And you won!”
“No one will ever call you the freak of Alo again,” Raitr added.
The boy’s eyes instantly teared. Jeyla glared at Raitr.
“No, I mean, this is great!” Raitr said, back-peddling.
“It’s okay,” Speru said.
“You look like you’ve been training for months,” Siana said.
“No! That’s what I was telling you, they just trained today!” Raitr said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You were both awesome!” Jeyla said. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I was—”
“On official business,” D’abar said, with a stern warning look at the cadet.
Her expression deflated as mortification covered her face. “Yes, I—I’m sorry.”
D’abar held up his hand. “We’ve been summoned by the council.”
“Your cadet promotion’s in the bag,” Raitr said, fist clenched in triumph.
Jeyla waved him off saying, “We understand. We’ll catch up again later! Come find me later tonight, we’ll celebrate!”
* * * * *
“I will do the talking,” D’abar said quietly but harshly. “Do not worry: no matter what they say.” He led them through the corridors back to the two massive slabs of crystal with an emblem of a sun in mid-eclipse.
When the doors opened before them, Mencari saw the familiar circle of light at the center of a black void. They entered, and stepped into it. A crotchety, elderly voice echoed from the darkness.
“For an elder councilmember your level of adherence to our laws is contemptible. We placed the alien in your charge, under your ward, and the very spectacle we wanted to avoid has now taken place. Is your objective to cause widespread panic amongst our people—to usurp the very will of this governing council?”
Smiling warmly, D’abar held up his hand, silencing his dissenter, and said, “Councilor D’gorra, esteemed council, fellow representatives … friends. You have seen—twice—with your own eyes how this man embraces our most sacred traditions. Can you not recognize the essence of an Aloan heart beating in his chest in the way he rises to every challenge? This son of D’mar has not only found a world of brethren, but has already fought as one of us and, against great odds, has triumphed!”
Mencari looked into the cold darkness, unnerved. He didn’t trust the absolute silence around him. Perhaps they were conversing directly between their minds?
D’abar continued, “He’s been accepted—celebrated—by our people as one of them, without any hint or suspicion as to who, or what, he is.”
“And when the truth is revealed?” D’gorra contested.
“The truth is: he is one of us.”
“Something you have been unable to prove. You have created an untenable situation, D’abar. Worse yet, you make a mockery of this council! You favor your own rule above the greater good.”
D’abar gasped. “A baseless accusation. I have done no such thing! Not now, and not ever. My record of service shows exactly where I stand—an immutable fact that weak opinions cannot change. Nay, this council, like myself, has always stood for the greater good of all people—a responsibility, a mission, an honor that I have always held as a sacred tenet to my core.”
“Our people, D’abar,” D’gorra sneered. “We must focus on the wellbeing of our people, and not outsiders.”
“Ah,” D’abar said, taking the yellow and orange crystals from his pocket. “We agree, wholeheartedly, with that assertion. Without question, our people should be our focus … and our people are our focus.”
The crystals softly illuminated moments before rays of light gushed from them like a fountain, projections filling the darkness above. Mencari recognized the scenes as the ones he and the cadet saw in the museum.
“You wished for evidence?” D’abar continued. “See it from story crystals taken from our own museum. Our ancestors forged the shield around our world to protect us from the very same Nukari our brother Rhysus Mencari mentioned.”
Scenes rapidly changed above them, dazzling Mencari’s eyes.
“Do you see?” D’abar said, warmer now. “Our people—before we were Aloans, we were D’mar. If we do not turn our back on our own, then we have an obligation to Rhysus Mencari. It’s not his fault others try to make us forget who we truly are. No pretense, no amount of grandstanding, no amount of stalling, can change history: can change facts. Simply pretending something isn’t so, doesn’t make it untrue.”
A flurry of whispers echoed in waves in the darkness around them.
“Regar
dless,” D’abar said, “let us not forget, his mere presence signifies a problem with the great barrier—one that threatens every man, woman, and child, our very way of life.”
Tension hung in the air as the silence grew deafening. One thing was certain, Mencari decided: D’abar had a talent for persuasion. But what was the old man going after? He’d spoken of Mencari’s needs, yet outside of running around on errands, they hadn’t discussed what Mencari needed. He suddenly felt like he was back on the asteroid base, in the early days with Osuto. Just as now, back then he felt in the dark about what was happening.
“What is it you are proposing?” the booming voice asked.
Mencari listened in anticipation.
“The proposal is quite simple. It came from Mencari himself.” D’abar nodded to him.
Despite the panic welling inside, Mencari held a stoic stare.
“He has generously offered assistance to restore control of the shield to us,” D’abar said dryly. “After that has been done, I propose we send a contingent from Alo to assist against the Nukari threat. Not only will we be helping our extended brethren, but we will also gain necessary insight into a universe that has changed since we departed from it.”
“What you suggest will rend our very system of belief!” D’gorra spat.
“We can embrace the truth and grow from it—or hide from it and be destroyed,” D’abar retorted.
“Regain control of the shield, and we will talk further,” the booming voice commanded.
* * * * *
“You are to wait outside,” D’abar said to their escort of guards while Mencari, the cadet, and D’abar entered a dim-lit control room.
“I wasn’t far from this entrance when they first found me,” Mencari said, thinking back to his approach to the largest moon floating around Alo.
“Which explains why you were found so quickly,” D’abar added. “This is a very sensitive area. Most Aloans don’t even understand the significance of this place.”
The old man approached a console and waved his hand over a green crystal. Holographic displays began to project before them, and a small egg-holder-like device emerged from the panel. Taking the yellow and orange crystals from his pocket, he set them gently into the device.
“I still don’t understand,” Mencari said. “How am I supposed to help you?”
“They needed to understand your purpose, and that you were willing to help your fellow D’mar,” D’abar said. “The extent you actually help is irrelevant.”
He began to work through the displays created from the crystals. “I hope these contain what I need to work the shield systems.”
His movements frenetic, he began to work through a series of interactive screens. Diagrams and panels flashed up before them, each splattered with information and diagrams. He groaned in frustration. “Always the same. The moon’s the center.”
A projection appeared showing power radiating through channels to the glowing symbols along the moon. From there, energy distributed to the other moon, before going out to the distortion field.
“I could shut the entire operation down by removing the energy, but controlling it—there’s nothing about controls.”
Mencari watched while D’abar worked through the interface multiple times, backtracking to the top of the interactions and working through each option. He’d watched Toriko work with a number of advanced holographic interfaces. There were a few things he thought were obvious but that D’abar continually missed.
“What about those?” Mencari asked.
“I’ve been through this a thousand times,” the old man said, dismissive.
“No, over here, try this.” He reached out toward an image of a sun in mid-eclipse. No sooner had he touched it, a series of new projections extruded forward. Readouts of power fluctuations and diagrams of equipment within the moon appeared.
D’abar paused, awestruck. “This … this is it!” he said in disbelief. “How did you do that?”
“This is just like stuff we use,” Mencari said.
* * * * *
“The power guild’s new resources have the fourth conduit back up to full,” the cadet reported.
“Good, I can see that in the display,” D’abar said, nodding to the information before him.
“The stability matrix has been realigned,” Mencari added. “It took a bit of work, but it matches the diagram.”
“The console confirms that as well,” the old man said, his expression growing weary. “Looks like we have one more step to do. I have to reset the entire grid to get the new settings to engage. Then we’ll have control over the field—it will let us in and out when we want.”
“And now you are relieved,” a crotchety old voice boomed across the chamber.
At the entrance stood a man slightly younger than D’abar, wearing a red version of the ornate elder councilmember’s garb. On either side stood five members of the High Guard.
The crotchety man said, “Your secrets have now undone you—old fool!”
“I don’t have time for your babble, D’gorra,” D’abar choked out, reaching to activate the reset button on the panel before him.
“Did you think you successfully deceived us?” D’gorra crooned. “Your attempt to gain power, to manipulate our policies, to corrupt our youth, have not gone unnoticed. I’ll admit your success in controlling this great barrier is impressive. And unexpected.”
“What I do, I do for all of Alo,” D’abar bellowed, hitting the reset switch.
The sound came of gears slowing to a stop, and the high-pitched hum of energy diminished around them.
“You have been charged with treason against the Aloan people,” D’gorra said. D’abar stiffened, ready to retort, when a blast from a guard blew D’abar off his feet and sent him tumbling across the floor.
“D’abar!” Speru yelled, running to his side.
The other guards radiated brilliantly as they powered up for an attack.
“I’ve also been given orders to clean up your other mess!” D’gorra said. “The cadet’s capacities have not gone unnoticed. The final proof was how an untrained fledgling would best our most capable warriors in the arena. I will not make the same mistake you did. This time he will be eliminated—before damage can befall our entire world.”
Mencari’s mind spun. Why were they so afraid of Speru?
“Leave the boy out of this!” D’abar said.
“You took that option from our world long ago, now someone else has to deal with it!”
Mencari’s frustration grew, sensing some type of internal power struggle. With the shield down, perhaps his best course of action was to fly away as fast as he could. That was, assuming he’d be able to get to the moon’s surface, then out of the shield’s range before it completed the reset process.
His other option was more immediate, more possible. He knew what D’abar was about. But this D’gorra person, he knew nothing about, just that he was a direct rival to the man with which he was currently aligned. It seemed the only smart thing to do was protect the ones he could trust. Mencari took up a defensive position before the old man and boy. His body illuminated with the radiant golden light, then extended forward into a dome around the three.
“Playing Defender, my alien friend?” D’gorra said. “How long will you last against my most deadly warriors?”
“Rhysus,” D’abar called out. “You can’t win.” The old man looked to the cadet and added, “At least, not alone.”
The boy reached for the firelight sabers, but was stopped by a gesture from D’abar. “That’s not what I mean,” D’abar said, regret painted across his tired face.
The moon began to tremble as the high-pitched whine of electricity began to fill the air. Ancient gears began to turn around them once more.
“Oh, no, it’s reactivating,” D’abar said, pushing to his feet. “Stay near,” he told Mencari and Speru as his own white aura radiated.
“Oh, you’re not going to run are you, D’abar?
” D’gorra chided.
A radiant glow poured from D’abar’s hands, followed by a thunderous clap and a blast of energy that struck the ancient ceiling. The rock melted like butter, and the three flew up into the hole the blast created. As they burst through the surface, a beautiful spectacle glowed before them.
The moons of Alo had aligned with the planet. Patterns of energy rippled from them in awe-inspiring, fractal-like patterns.
“What’s happening?” Speru said to D’abar.
“You’re not safe here anymore, my boy,” the old man said, choking with emotion at the admission. He turned to Mencari. “You need to take him away from here, as fast as you can.”
The milky-white haze began to rebuild around the planet. Mencari saw the pained look in the old man’s eyes as he gazed at the cadet and pulled a tiny lavender crystal from his pocket, and handed it to the boy saying, “Take this and go—now!”
“What is going on?” Speru said. “None of this makes sense.”
“It will.” The old man lifted his trembling hand to the boy’s forehead. “Forgive me….”
The diamond pattern on the boy’s head burst into a spectrum of color as the old man’s fingers touched it.
“No!” D’gorra shrieked as he emerged from D’abar’s escape tunnel.
The crystal on the boy’s forehead cracked, then exploded, releasing a river of raging light. Speru shrieked as ripples of power pulsed from his body.
A sudden brilliance enveloped Mencari, yet didn’t harm him. Instead he felt wrapped in a warm, protective blanket of energy.
As the light faded, he saw an angelic form before him. The boy’s eyes were a fierce amber light; his newly silvered hair shimmered, as did the radiant white light that still rippled in waves from his body. He floated before them, seeming as stunned as Mencari. The moon below appeared soaked in his power, so much that it looked star-like.
“What did you do to him?” Mencari asked in awe.
“I set him free,” D’abar cried. “Now take him from here. Quickly! His power will hasten you.”
D'mok Revival: The Nukari Invasion Anthology Page 70
