The Zahkx Alliance: A Sci-Fi Dystopian Adventure (Dominion Rising Book 2)

by Katherine Bogle

  Selene looked at Eria, confusion flashing through her. What was that supposed to mean?

  “Much less stoic,” Eria explained. “Then again, a woman always brought that out in him.” She smirked, and Selene’s fists clenched.

  What the hell was this woman’s problem? Why did she have to push herself into their lives, and constantly try to get under Selene’s skin? Wasn’t it enough that she threw herself at Rikkard? It was clear he wasn’t interested in her, and yet, she continued to throw her arms around him every chance she got.

  “Well, you’ve been gone a long time,” Selene said.

  “I have,” Eria agreed. “But not that long.”

  Selene rolled her eyes. She tried to battle off her jealousy for this woman who’d known Rikkard for so long, who’d probably known him in very intimate ways from the way she grabbed at him. Her stomach flipped with uncertainty.

  Boots slapped against the metal hall, and slid to a stop just outside the door. It whooshed open, and Rem leaned inside, his forehead coated with sweat, and his eyes almost bug-like.

  “Selene!” he panted. His fingers danced along the frame of the door. He’d had way too much caffeine. “I found—” He cut himself off, glancing between Selene and Eria, having realized she wasn’t alone. “I need to speak with you and Rikkard… alone.”

  Selene glanced at Eria before standing. “I’m coming. Rikkard should be back any minute.” She walked to the door as Rem nodded and fled back down the hall. Pausing by the door, she looked back at Eria, whose dark eyes narrowed at Selene. “You might have known Rikkard once, but just remember one thing… You don’t know him anymore.” Selene stepped into the hall, leaving Eria in silence as she followed Rem to the cargo hold.

  “Rem, please slow down.” Selene followed close behind Rem, her chest tight as they emerged in the cargo hold.

  “I can’t, this is important!” Rem sat back at his worktable, his hands shaking as he typed. The small man quivered like a leaf, obviously overhyped on caffeine boosters. Though they were safe to use, prolonged use could make him very ill.

  “Maybe you should get some rest.” Selene laid a gentle hand on his back, and took his bicep, trying to pull him up and usher him to bed.

  “No!” Rem ripped his arm away. “This can’t wait!”

  Images flew across his screen, followed by jumbles of alien text on one screen, and English on another.

  “Rem, please. Just take a breather. Let me get you some water at least.” Selene took a step back toward the kitchen, but Rem grabbed her wrist.

  “Just wait a second!” he snapped.

  Selene sighed, and shook her head. Whatever Rem had found, maybe it was important. She hadn’t seen him so jazzed up since he and Lanny had found out where the Dominion were keeping Sav. Her heart ached at the memory of Lanny’s excited face, one she’d never see again.

  “What’s going on?” Rikkard walked up the metal ramp with his arms full.

  “Not sure yet,” Selene said. She looked between them before helping Rikkard with the gear he’d brought.

  He had two boxes stacked on top of one another, and a backpack slung over his shoulder, along with two high-powered laser rifles and a belt of ion grenades. Her eyes widened as she gently set the grenades down on Rem’s worktable before hiking the rifles up into the mesh on one wall.

  Rikkard set the two boxes down next to the table. Though Selene couldn’t exactly tell what was inside, she assumed it was a bunch of scrap parts for Rem, since only pieces of metal stuck out of the top box.

  Shaking her head, Selene took a seat beside Rem. His face was reddening and his eyes were wide and bloodshot. As soon as he got whatever this was out of his system, she was going to force him into bed whether he liked it or not.

  “Is the door closed?” Rem glanced up at the door to the rest of the cruiser.

  Selene and Rikkard exchanged a worried look. Whatever this was, Rem clearly didn’t want the rest of the crew knowing.

  “Yeah, it’s closed,” Selene said.

  “Okay. Here.” Rem sat back and motioned at the screen as a window popped up, a bunch of alien symbols next to a military-esque photo of Flik.

  “Okay…” Selene raised a brow. “What is this?”

  Rem sighed and brought up another window. He typed in a line of code, and the previous window switched to English text.

  Her eyebrows shot up as she read the line on top of the page: Commander Flik Dae’Rys of Earth Mission One.

  Her heart sped as she glanced over the stats beside the image; Flik’s exact height, weight, military rank, family, history, and more. “Some kind of alien database?” Selene asked, but she knew better. Flik was part of the Alliance, a rebellion that’d never keep records like this.

  “Yes, but keep reading.” Rem rolled his eyes and motioned at the paragraph of text at the bottom of the screen.

  “Shit,” Rikkard whispered.

  Selene read on, her heart pounding:

  Commander Flik, Captain of the Saegon IG-TR2 of Earth Mission One by the Zahkx Alliance and Aldar Dominion coalition. The primary directive of this mission: observe and document the status of Earth’s life forms, primarily the ‘humans’. Secondary directive: create a transmission beacon to relay all information back to planet Aldar. Commander Flik retains full authorization on this mission, and will proceed to communicate with humans if and when he deems the time suitable. He is to be awakened from cryostasis upon arrival with the rest of the main crew. Further directives will be up to his discretion.

  “Commander Flik?” It suddenly felt like there was no air in the room. Her lungs ached as she sucked in tiny, panicked breaths. What did this mean? Who was Flik, and what was this manifest?

  “This is from the original Earth Mission by the Aldar?” Rikkard asked.

  “The Zahkx,” Rem corrected. “The Aldar Dominion was just a co-collaborator on the mission. Basically the corporation funded the mission, and from what we know of history, they took over the Zahkx mission.”

  “What?” Selene’s heart pounded in her ears. They knew parts of this from The Alliance, but to have it confirmed by the Dominion’s own files was a whole new ballgame.

  “It’s all here.” Rem motioned at the screen.

  “But that’d make Flik more than three-hundred years old,” she reasoned.

  “Aliens don’t live that long,” Rikkard agreed.

  Rem shrugged. “Something must have gone wrong with his cryostasis chamber. There’s no record of him or any of the main crewmembers in the Dominion database, except for when it comes to the original Earth Mission. I don’t know what happened to them, but I don’t think it’s good.”

  “But… how?” Selene couldn’t comprehend it. Not only had Flik lied to them, but also did Sav know? Had Lanny known? Were the three of them hiding this from the smugglers? Her mind raced as she sat back in her seat.

  “We need to talk to Flik.” Rikkard worked his jaw. His eyes were shadowed with distrust. Even if she was afraid of what Rikkard might do, she had to agree.

  “I think he’s still sleeping,” Selene said.

  “Then we’ll wake him up.” Rikkard moved toward the door, but Selene grabbed his arm.

  Rikkard paused to look over his shoulder, and Selene stared wordlessly, her mind racing and her heart a mess of emotions. She didn’t want to see Flik hurt, and with the look in Rikkard’s eyes, he wasn’t about to treat the man gently.

  “Let’s just take a breath first,” Selene said. “Flik is still our friend.”

  Rikkard narrowed his eyes, giving her a look that said Flik might be her friend, but Rikkard wouldn’t stand for liars in his crew.

  “Just… stay calm. There might be a logical explanation for this.” Not that she could come up with anything at the moment.

  He pulled his arm away. “There is. Flik is a Dominion operative planted to keep an eye on you.” He turned and stormed down the hall, much to Selene’s dismay.

  “Rik!” Selene leapt to her feet and followe
d, Rem close on her heels.

  The door to the living quarters whooshed open, and the scuffle of feet told her Rikkard wasn’t listening. Selene leapt through the door in time to see Flik slammed up against the wall, Rikkard holding his shirt in his fists.

  “Who the hell are you?” Rikkard snapped.

  Sav jumped to his feet, wiping the sleep from his eyes, and looking between them as if he might still be dreaming. “What’s going on?”

  Selene didn’t know how to answer. She still didn’t comprehend what was happening. Was Flik a traitor?

  Flik’s eyes widened as he glanced between all of them. Her eyebrows furrowed as understanding blossomed on his face. A stab of pain shot through her chest. Flik knew exactly what they were talking about. So it was true.

  “Who are you?” Rikkard slammed Flik against the wall again.

  Sav shot forward, a hand on Rikkard’s shoulder. “Hey!”

  Selene grabbed his bicep and yanked him back. She shook her head at his questioning look. “Let him answer.” Cold swelled inside her at the look of hurt and confusion on Sav’s face.

  “You know who I am,” Flik said. His jaw was set, and his gaze hard.

  “Do we?” Rikkard growled.

  “We saw your file, Commander Flik Dae’Rys.” Rem crossed his arms over his chest.

  Flik twisted in Rikkard’s grip, but Rikkard didn’t give him an inch. After a long moment where the two men glared at each other, Flik finally sighed and waved his hands away. “Let go. I’ll explain.”

  Rikkard assessed his face before releasing him, and stepping back, planting himself firmly in the doorway, giving Flik no place to go.

  “Flik, what’s going on?” Sav asked, voice higher than normal.

  Flik’s eyes widened. So Sav didn’t know. “It’s true. I’m the former Commander of the Saegon IG-TR2. I was supposed to lead Earth Mission One, but the Aldar Dominion had other plans.”

  Selene exchanged a look with Rikkard. There it was, the truth. Flik wasn’t one of them. He was something else.

  Sav took a step back as if Flik had slapped him. “But how?”

  “When we landed on Earth, there was an error with the landing protocol in place, and we crashed. Whatever damage was done caused the bridge, where myself and my crew were in cryostasis, to malfunction, and the doors remained locked so no one could wake us.” Flik’s jaw hardened and his eyes looked far away. “No one left from the crash had clearance to open the bridge doors, so there we stayed until the last of the power cells were drained, and we finally woke from cryo five years ago.”

  Selene’s eyes widened. So he’d been asleep this entire time. “But what about the Dominion? Wouldn’t they be keeping an eye on your ship, afraid something like this would happen?”

  Flik shrugged. “Of course, but we had weapons on the bridge, and a few of us shot our way out.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “So there are more of you?”

  “Only three others. The rest were killed in our escape.”

  “So, what, you woke up five years ago on a planet that looked nothing like the one you were sent to protect, and you what? Joined the resistance?” Sav crossed his arms. Hurt was evident on his face, though he tried to mask it with a tough exterior.

  “Not quite.” Flik sighed. “We quickly realized something had gone wrong, and looked up as many details about the past as we could. When that didn’t give us the answers we wanted, we returned to Saegon and extracted security footage from the last few hundred years. It wasn’t hard to find the crash, and watch what happened.” His fists clenched at his sides. “My crew was systematically killed, one by one, on their knees like dogs.” His nostrils flared, and angry red flushed his orange skin. “We listened in on their conversations to figure out what was happening, and once we realize the Aldar Dominion had placed some of their operatives on my ship, it was clear they’d planned this take over from the beginning.”

  “What do you mean?” Selene asked.

  “It always felt strange to me that the Dominion would fund this exploration trip. We would have no way to contact planet Aldar, no way to communicate with our people until we created a beacon, but they funded almost everything.” Flik’s eyes twisted with darkness and rage. “They came with us, only to slaughter us. I don’t know what exactly they’re planning, but if they want control of Earth, it has to be for a reason.”

  Selene shifted from foot to foot. She didn’t like the sound of that.

  “So knowing all of that, you joined the Alliance?” Sav asked. Some of the betrayal had faded from his eyes.

  Flik nodded. “Back on Aldar, the government was called the Zahkx Alliance.”

  Selene nodded along. They knew this.

  “I figured since they named the rebellion that, that there were more generations of aliens who still remembered the truth, and formed a group to stop the Aldar Dominion.” He paused and shook his head. “But clearly I was wrong.”

  Selene’s heart pounded as she took it all in. It was far more than she could process in one morning, but one thing stuck out. “Do you know what happened during our mission in Election Square?” Maybe Flik had a piece of the missing puzzle, how the Dominion had gotten a hold of their ship, and found the Alliance headquarters.

  Flik shrugged. “I have no idea. No one but my remaining crewmembers would know who I am.”

  “Unless someone saw those files,” Rem said.

  “Well, yes.”

  “But that doesn’t explain who gave up the Alliance,” Selene argued.

  “No, it doesn’t,” Rikkard agreed.

  They all stood in silence, staring at one another for several long minutes. It was a lot of information—information Selene had no idea what to do with. If Flik still had the recordings of the crash, they could expose the Dominion and upheave their entire government, but if he didn’t, they’d have to find some other way to expose them. Exposing Pate had been a start, but the Dominion was the real problem.

  “Do you still have the security footage?” Rikkard asked.

  She smiled. They were thinking the same thing.

  “Yes,” Flik said. “It’s hidden somewhere safe.”

  Rikkard regarded him with suspicion, but Selene nodded in understanding. If something were to happen to Flik, they’d need that information, but he couldn’t exactly leave it lying around either.

  “We should use it to expose the Dominion,” Sav said. His fists shook with anger. He knew as well as she what the Dominion was capable of, and apparently they had done much worse than she could have ever imagined.

  “We will,” Flik agreed. “But at the right time.”

  Rikkard nodded, much to Selene’s surprise. She couldn’t believe he was ready to be a crusader for justice. “We will, but our priority needs to be getting Selene’s body back before this one expires.” He shot her a dirty look, still not over the fact she’d given herself a ticking clock.

  Selene grinned sheepishly as the others ruefully agreed.

  Rem stepped out of the doorway, his eyes alight. “I’ve got an idea.”

  The entire crew huddled in the cargo hold of the cruiser, inspecting Rem’s holoscreen as he scrolled through Zelena Stein’s webpage on the United Americas website. It seemed unbelievable that such a public figure would disclose her schedule of appearances, but as the interim president was sort of a celebrity, it also made sense.

  Rem scrolled through Zelena’s online schedule detailing her every move over the next few days, from an interview on the New Manhattan newscast, to a speech in Election Square, a podcast interview, a meet and greet, and more.

  Selene’s eyes widened as they looked over the times of each event, when the interim president would be arriving, when she’d depart. It was almost too easy. She couldn’t believe no one had thought of it before.

  “This interview.” Rikkard pointed at an appearance Zelena was making the following evening. “It’s her next appearance and will give us twenty-four hours to prepare.” He looked at Selene, worry clouding
his cold gaze. He knew Selene didn’t have much time left. If they didn’t hurry, her body would begin to decay, and there was no telling how long she’d last when it did.

  The others nodded in agreement.

  “Do we have any way of assessing her security team?” Sav asked. His eyes narrowed at the screen as Rem brought up images from Zelena’s last appearance.

  The woman had a dozen guards clad in black suits standing in a loose circle behind her. They weren’t exactly conspicuous, but Selene couldn’t imagine they’d follow Zelena right on stage during an interview. Would there be time to abduct her before she got on stage? Or maybe during the interview?

  “Can you bring up a schematic of the holostation?” Flik asked.

  Rem’s fingers flew across the holokeys, and up popped a blue and white three-dimensional schematic of the entire ten-story building.

  “Perfect.” Flik’s gaze roamed the screen.

  “Do we have any video from a similar interview she’s given?” Selene asked. Maybe if they found something close, they could figure out where her guards usually stayed during her interviews.

  Again, Rem typed like the wind, and up popped several feeds from Zelena’s past interviews in local and international holostations. They searched all the footage, looking specifically for anything that showed the audience, or the sides of the stage. After an hour or two of watching boring holocasts with the loathsome woman, they finally found what they were looking for, and it wasn’t good.

  “Shit,” Selene said.

  “Damn, that’s rough,” Darius agreed.

  At the edge of the stage stood two guards on either side with several more in the background behind those. Surrounding the stage in the front row were at least a dozen more agents; though some were dressed in civilian clothes, it was obvious from the bulge of guns beneath their clothes that they were protecting the interim president.

  “So inside the station is a no-go,” Rem said. “I can find out where Zelena lives, and maybe we can ambush her between the station and her home.” Before anyone gave him the go ahead, he was already looking.