D'mok Revival: The Nukari Invasion Anthology

by Michael Zummo

  “Is there any way we could get passage on the ferry to the central hub?” Mencari asked.

  “No one’s going anywhere on this thing until we can get it fixed and clear debris from the launching channel,” a lanky man in a yellow vest said.

  Osuto stepped forward. “If we help you, will you take us over?”

  “We don’t know what’s over there, but we’ll have room to get you there. No guarantees on having room to bring you back.”

  “We understand,” Osuto said.

  “I think I have the parts back at my workshop,” one of the women said. “I could use some help getting them.”

  “I’ll go,” Nikko said.

  “I’ll help, Nikko,” Daleron said.

  Mencari nodded in approval. “Speru, Katen, Osuto, and I will help clear the debris from the launching area then.”

  “Please hurry,” Bale said, looking at the boy.

  “Let me see what I can do for the boy in the meantime,” the lanky man said.

  Much later, the group returned to the dock with parts and handed them to the lanky man, who hurried them to another to install.

  “We ran into some thugs looking for easy pickings,” Nikko said about the delay. “They weren’t much of a threat, but managed to slow us down.”

  Mencari looked to the boy. A woman in a yellow vest had just finished packing and dressing the wound with thick white bandages. “The boy should be safer to move now.”

  The grumble of an engine followed the choking sound of splattering water. “All set,” the man installing the parts said, as the ferry’s engines came to life.

  * * * * *

  “So many creatures!” Nikko said. “It’s like the water’s boiling!”

  At last, they were crossing the lake. In the water, big or small, drab or colorful, amphibian and aquatic animals of all kinds appeared to be fleeing. What disturbed Mencari more was that the creatures were moving away from the very direction their boat was headed.

  “Everything seems out of balance right now,” the lanky man said. Katen grinned a roguish smile.

  “What’s that?” Nikko yelled.

  Before anyone could react, two tentacles rose next to the ferry and stabbed into a yellow-vested woman. Her shrieks turned into a garbled noise as she was dragged into the water.

  “Ikara!” one of the other yellow-vested men yelled.

  Thicker tentacles burst from the water and wrapped around the guardrail. The boat groaned when a massive tube-like body lifted from the water. Bloodied jaws were covered in bits of flesh and yellow cloth.

  “It ate her!” another of the vested women shrieked.

  “Stay away from the edges,” Mencari yelled, charging his hand phaser. “Bale, move the boy to the center of the ferry.”

  Mencari noticed the boat moving slower, he guessed from the drag created by the beast.

  “Have to get it off the ship,” the lanky man yelled.

  Mencari took aim and fired. Despite direct hits the tentacles attached to the craft, it held its viselike grip.

  A high-pitched whir was followed by an arc of electricity that shot from Bale’s weapon. Scoring a direct hit to the tentacles around metal railing, the creature shook violently and let out a screech before unwinding its grip. Its tentacles groped angrily as it sank back into the swirling wake of their craft.

  Mencari crept up to the edge and looked over cautiously. “Smaller versions of those things, right under us!”

  Katen struck his staff on the ship’s deck, gripping it tightly. From the top, a gentle light radiated from the crystal sphere. Speru then pulled the two hilts from his belt. A crackle of energy, and the firelight blades appeared.

  “Ikara!” a woman cried louder. “What are we going to do about Ikara?”

  An unnaturally warm and calming peace came over Mencari. He’d felt that before, back on Argosy. He looked over at Nikko and saw her hips gyrating subtly. His own anxieties melted as she continued her dance. Looking to the others, he saw a similar pacification. Her empathic abilities were a blessing.

  Smaller tentacles reached up from the water, grappling the side rails. The mini-beasts quickly pulled themselves up, then flopped down on the deck. Rows of teeth gnashed as their plump, pear-shaped bodies sloshed toward their would-be victims.

  “Clear the decks!” Mencari yelled, unloading his phaser.

  * * * * *

  Katen’s mind reached to the life along the lake’s floor. Do my bidding.

  He could feel vine-like growth extend upward, snaring the small creatures trying to approach the ship. Blooms of algae exploded across the water’s surface, coating exposed creatures. He could feel the beasts writhe in pain from the toxins injected into their skin.

  Despite his efforts, larger tentacles covered in tattered vines flailed over the deck. His teeth gnashed and he commanded his powers again. The crystal atop his staff beamed with a brilliant light, as thick and thorny stems ruptured the water. He watched in a twisted ecstasy while the beast was captured and ground to bits. In seconds, the only thing left of the beast was bits of flesh floating in their wake.

  * * * * *

  “Watch the tentacles!” Speru yelled, dodging two more that rose from the water. With a volley of blasts, Daleron drew the beast’s attention. Speru dashed in and cleaved through a thick tentacle with the firelight blades. Mencari had just begun to yell something when a brutal force smashed into the boy’s back, flinging him across the deck.

  Everything went black for a moment. When Speru could see again, a throbbing in his head accompanied a loud ringing. His back seared in pain. His hand groped his back, checking for blood or other damage. His suit was still intact, no blood. That was good. It meant the blow only did blunt damage, and didn’t actually tear through any skin. Nothing he could feel anyway. He momentarily reflected on D’abar’s gift of his suit, thankful for the protections it continued to provide.

  With a glance back at the tentacles, Speru saw Daleron and Mencari unloading their weapons on the beast.

  The natives cheered as the beast gurgled angrily and sank beneath the water.

  “Everyone okay?” Mencari asked.

  “Yeah,” Speru responded embarrassed. He wondered how many other beasts were waiting for them like that. He’d always wanted to be a Defender, but never imagined anything quite like this.

  His eyes were drawn to the unusual pink-orange sky on the smoke-smeared horizon. The land ahead looked out-of-focus, as if in a dust storm. One of the yellow-vested men gasped and pointed unsteadily ahead. Speru made out hazy outlines of buildings, or what used to be buildings. “Where are the towers? They’re gone!” the man said.

  A seething panic spread. “The whole skyline is gone!” a woman shrieked.

  “Calm down. Calm down!” a second woman said, the shaking of her body belying her own fears. “We’re—we’re trained to not react to this. We know it’s not going to be good—”

  Ash and dust began to rain down on them. The air became clogged with the stench of burning buildings, and of spreading death. Speru’s nostrils burned.

  They approached the broken docks as he took stock of the great ruins. Licks of flames danced before his eyes. Twisting pillars of fire lapped like wild tongues at the sky. A heat radiated from the city, something he could feel even on the far outskirts of town. Queasiness gripped his stomach, and he choked back fear for his friends.

  “I’m going to bank us off that rock-face there,” Deret said as the ferry headed toward the breakwater.

  “Daleron, Katen, grab those ropes, lash them to the big boulders,” Mencari said, jumping onto the artificial barrier.

  “Let’s get these supplies unloaded,” Deret grunted, lifting a crate. “We got it from here. Thanks for your help. Be careful here.”

  “You too.”

  CHAPTER 5:

  An Unlikely Hero

  “I’m getting a breadcrumb reading directly west of us,” Mini-T said.

  Mencari’s growing sense of panic briefly r
eceded. Mini-T’s detection of Toriko’s digital tracking units meant the trail to their fellow teammates was still intact. From atop a ruined lakeshore tower, he looked into the distance and saw crumbled buildings: and the source of the great black chimney of smoke. A massive crater had opened, and glowed with an angry light. Billowing smoke churned skyward. The only thing in that direction was an inferno: that, and the skeletal remains of buildings that groaned and buckled from within roaring flames. Hot air blew as if in pain, the moaning wind gusting in waves of screams and wails. He counted his blessings the direction Mini-T pointed was the direct opposite.

  “My guess is where the tram station would have dumped out,” she said, reviewing scans of the area. “It doesn’t appear too far. Just far enough for me not to be able to transfer any of the data.”

  With a quick motion to the others, Mencari followed behind Mini-T. The devastation was far worse close up. Debris of wood, metal, and glass covered the ground like a blanket among the remnants of buildings and walls. As they continued, his mind began to play tricks, the scattered debris taking him to another place and time.

  In place of the cluttered ground, he saw the last vestiges of the great Coalition space station, his assigned base of operations at the climax of the original Nukari attack. The mighty base had been reduced to ruin, half of it orbiting its own carcass as debris. The Coalition was helpless to stop the invaders. Phasing out of empty space, the Humans quickly found themselves outgunned. When the Nukaris’ sleek black ships turned on the escape pods, obliterating the one with his wife and son, his abilities emerged with his shriek of fear and fury. His dormant power, which had never manifested before, turned the battle in their favor.

  “Rhysus, are you listening?” Mini-T called out.

  “What?”

  “I’ve been calling your name for a while.”

  “Oh sorry,” he said. “What is it?”

  “We’re here, see?” She pointed down the hill.

  It did appear to be the tram station, or what was left of it. Like the many other buildings it was in ruin, a shell barely standing, walls leaning, the ceiling caved in like a cracked-open shell.

  Where are all the people? From the size of the city, there would be hundreds of thousands displaced. Yet the streets were mostly devoid of life: of any kind. Did they all find shelter, or flee? Worse yet, perhaps most had not made it out of the buildings, or an unseen toxin had poisoned survivors. He squelched the troublesome thoughts and refocused on the task before him.

  “Downloading data from the breadcrumbs now,” Mini-T said while a swirling disc of energy appeared before her. “Oh, I don’t like this at all.”

  “What?”

  “It’s failing checksums all over the place, like it’s corrupted. But I’ll keep downloading it. In the meantime, I’ll look for the next breadcrumb.”

  The ground shifted, and the low rumble filled the air. Mencari froze, waiting to see if it would develop further. Even as the sound dissipated, tension remained in his neck and shoulders.

  Bob’s projection flanked Mencari. “Eyani reports aid ships will be arriving over the next few hours.”

  “I wonder how many will have more Nukari on them?” Nikko said.

  “Rhysus,” Osuto said in hushed tones. “This isn’t looking good.”

  “They’re okay,” Mencari snapped.

  “I’m not saying we should stop. It just—”

  “I know.”

  “I was able to salvage a recording. Here, watch this while I keep working on the rest,” Mini-T said, casting a projection before the group. Mencari recognized the inside of Ujaku’s ship. In fact, their red-haired catman sat behind the helm. Behind him the musclebound warrior Naijen fidgeted. Seigie’s crystalline skin glittered from the light pouring through the port windows. In the rear, the Amazon-like warrior queen Cerna sat quietly.

  “We almost there yet?” Naijen said, fidgeting harder.

  “Almost there, big guy,” Ujaku said, looking over from the controls. “Tori, what do you see?”

  “There’s fresh ion trails to the surface, but nothing in orbit,” Toriko said, her voice filling the cabin.

  Ujaku smiled, his gaze out the front window at Toriko’s sleek pink craft. Mencari wondered what the modern-day blacksmith was thinking. From the smile, he assumed it was a thought about Toriko. The grin abruptly melted, the expression replaced by a furrowed brow. “They’re running out of time.”

  “We’re nearly there. In the meantime, we should go over the plan again,” Seigie said, worry lines carved across her stony forehead. “Everyone needs to know their part.”

  “Oh, you ain’t lookin’ at me, stone lady! I know my part,” Naijen spat. “‘Look at me, I’m Mencari.’ Now ‘Go do this,’ ‘Go do that.’ See? How hard is that?”

  “Hopefully not too hard for you,” she snipped.

  Naijen’s nose wrinkled in disgust as he picked at the two-tone jumper. “And how does he move in this? Feels like some kinda drape.”

  “Guys,” Ujaku said in growing frustration. “Palo and Maro’s lives depend on us. Let’s pull it together.”

  “She started it,” Naijen said, with a flip of his hand.

  “Tori, start us off,” Ujaku said.

  “We’re closing in on the drop-off coordinate. Our stuff will stay safe inside the ships, which will break for orbit after dropping us off.”

  “I ain’t leavin’ the Skar,” Naijen growled.

  “If you don’t leave it, Jencho and the Nukari will confiscate it the moment they have us,” Seigie said. The warrior huffed. “You rather just hand it to them? Besides, Mencari doesn’t use the Skar does he?”

  “They’ve asked for Mencari, so we’re going to give him Mencari,” Toriko said, trying to continue. This drew a snort from Naijen.

  “The hairpiece suits you,” Seigie chided.

  “Guys,” Ujaku said, with growing annoyance.

  “Then we head to the coordinates given from Jencho—the guy we ousted from Tericn,” Toriko continued. “No one knows the extent of our abilities, so even with the physical-size change Naijen could pass as Rhysus. He’ll keep his D’mok field active to keep the Nukari on edge and distracted. Mini-T will monitor our movements through digital breadcrumbs I’ll drop along the way.”

  “What if they search your body?” a gentle voice floated from the back.

  Even sitting, Cerna’s bony, crown-like protrusions from her head towered over the others. While mild in appearance, her daunting size intimidated, Mencari recalled thinking the first time they met.

  Toriko’s digital projection raised her hand and pointed to the palm. “It’s tiny, and the material of both the breadcrumbs and dispenser won’t show up on any scanners. Hopefully they keep us in a group, and put us with Maro and Palo.”

  “They’ll probably take Naijen to a different place for interrogation,” Seigie said.

  “I’m looking forward to that,” he said with a malicious grin.

  “Once we’ve located Maro and Palo, Cerna will send out the signal to break out,” Toriko said, throwing a fist in the air.

  “What’s it like playing in a mind of a beast?” Naijen asked Cerna with a sneer.

  “Probably no different than having to talk to one,” Seigie quipped.

  “Working with him was very easy. After a little practice, mind-speaking returned easily,” Cerna said. “We all should learn it.”

  “I ain’t lettin’ him touch my brain,” Naijen said with a dismissive wave.

  Ujaku saw Seigie bite her own stony lip. “We should expect troops, lots of them.”

  “When do we get our gear back?” Naijen said while he made the blades sling out from the Skar’s hilt.

  “When we get back to the ships,” Toriko said. “We’ll have to rely on our abilities while we’re in there.”

  “And what are you going to use? Without your metal mutt, what’chu got?”

  “I’ve been practicing. Besides, I can still hack anything around me. I’m sure ther
e’ll be things I can use there.”

  “We should expect troops. Lots of them,” Seigie repeated.

  “And what’ta you gonna use?” the warrior challenged her.

  With a grip of her stony fist, her expression grew dark. “Want another sample?”

  “What if there’s more of those beasts with abilities like ours?” Cerna said.

  Distracted, with a gleam in his eye, Naijen said, “We get a replay of the last time we slaughtered ’em.”

  Ujaku grinned. Cerna had a way of dealing with Naijen that no one else seemed to have mastered.

  “You have to wait for Cerna’s signal, Naijen. No matter what they’re doing, hold out,” Seigie said.

  “We use our abilities to free ourselves, then work together to break Maro and Palo out. Then we run for it,” Toriko said.

  “Exactly,” Ujaku said. “I hope you’re hearing that, Naijen. The goal isn’t to fight, it’s to free our allies. That time will come.”

  “Final approach to Ruul,” Toriko said.

  Ujaku cocked his head and looked out the window. White neon flashed across the side of Toriko’s ship. It rolled forward as sections jutted out and distended. Before his eyes, legs and arms emerged, and a robotic cat-like head rose from the chest cavity. He shook his head, grinning in awe.

  Toriko said, “I’ll take point during entry—”

  The image abruptly scrambled, followed by a groan from Mini-T. “That’s all I could reconstruct.”

  Mencari sighed. “Looks like that was right before they arrived. Doesn’t help us find them.”

  “But we know more of their approach,” Osuto said. “Using Naijen as your stand-in? Not something I would have considered.”

  “I recovered coordinates and a location name,” Mini-T said as a map of the city appeared before them. A red dot glowed on the outskirts. “There, that’s where they went.”

  “Let’s move,” Mencari said.