D'Mok Revival 1: Awakening (12 page)

Spark gazed at the transport. Symbols flashed across its visor, moments before the craft came to life, and returned the way it came. Looking at Mencari, it barked and moved forward through the opening. He hesitated, wondering if this was a good idea. After peering into the darkness and seeing little, he stepped into it.

* * * * *

“I’ll be ready in just a bit,” Toriko said working feverishly with the holographic interface before her.

“This node should be pretty secure,” a rotund, tiger-like man said, pawing at his whiskers, reviewing his own holographic interface. “I know we’re pretty deep into retro-tech here, but Version 6 had awful tracking and location beacons. Which is great for us now!”

“Seriously, Palo, this was brilliant--and so much easier,” she said gratefully.

He tapped the bulky device fused into his arm. “Trust me, I personally attempted a trace here. They’ll get as far as the seventh version’s firewall, then lose the trail.”

“Big black hole?”

“Dev null, baby,” he joked. “Those little packets won't even get a chance to ping. Waaah! Never to be seen again.”

The two laughed as a tall, graying cat-man sporting a trench coat entered. Despite his age, he had a commanding presence that was undeniable.

“What’s so funny?” he asked with a purr.

“Hey, Daleron,” Toriko said, still amused. Her eyes fell on the black tech gloves he wore. Even from the little she could see, she knew heavy tech when she saw it. Those were the latest in cyber implants, something fitting for the leader of the resistance against the alien invasion. While she had yet to see them in action, its capabilities were legendary. Still their leader was fallible. His cybernetic eye, the replacement for the one he lost during a conflict with a droid scouting party, was proof. But even that just made him look tougher.

She could only guess at what other implants the trench coat hid.

“Just good geek humor,” Palo added.

“And I’m almost done,” she said, anticipating his next question.

Daleron nodded, then suddenly looked puzzled. “Where’s Spark?” he asked. “He’s usually prancing about.”

“Oh he’s waiting for . . . ” she stopped mid-sentence, starting in horror at a display.

“What’s wrong,” Palo asked concerned.

“He’s moving, and he’s not alone,” she said quickly, calling up more details. “Oh My Gosh!” she cried.

“O M G, what?” Daleron said.

“Mencari’s with Spark.”

“The guy you were going to work for?” Palo asked.

She nodded as the others flanked her, gazing at the display.

“Where are they now?” Daleron said.

“They’re in the air ducts, Version 9,” she said flatly.

“Why are they . . . ” Palo began.

“They’re coming here!” she said panicking. “It’s the last directive in Spark’s command queue!”

“Here?” Daleron said confused. “Why would Spark be leading him here?”

“Spark’s just following orders,” she explained. “Hmmm. I guess I should have mapped the obedience methods to only recognize my commands.”

“You have to stop him!” Daleron said. “For all we know he could be an agent for the aliens. Besides, there’s all kinds of dangers between here and there--droid patrols, creatures in the various versions.”

She closed her eyes, and focused. As her collar illuminated, she transmitted an embedded command directly to Spark.

“I have an idea,” Daleron said forebodingly.

* * * * *

“What’s wrong, boy?” Mencari said staring down at the now motionless robotic dog. It cocked its head as if listening for a sound. He saw Spark’s visor glow, and suddenly a hologram of a cloaked figure appeared.

“Rhysus Mencari?” the figure said.

“Yes.”

“What are you doing?”

It was a man’s voice, but was this really Toriko? Why all the dog-and-pony shows?

“I want to help,” Mencari said. “I have connections, and I know a few things about alien invaders. Maybe I can help.”

“How do we know you’re not one of them?”

“Toriko contacted me, remember?” he said, mildly annoyed. “And Spark here was leading me, I didn’t force it to take me here.”

“He’s got a point there,” Toriko said quietly in the background.

“Toriko, is that you?” Mencari said.

He heard a surprised squeal before she went silent again.

“She’s safe here with us,” the figure said. “Continue to follow Spark. I will meet you.”

Before he could answer, the projection dissolved into tiny balls of light. Spark looked back curiously at Mencari, as if waiting for a command.

“Let’s go, Spark,” he said. After a quick wag of its tail, Spark continued on down the tunnel.

How much farther did they have to go? Mencari wondered. It felt like they were traveling down to the center of the planet. He knew that wasn’t the case, but at times the ancient corridors and tunnels felt like underground caverns. It appeared some sections were still well maintained, while others were grown over with moss, or crumbled all together.

“Version 7: Ventilation Station” proclaimed a sign on the wall. Version 7? It almost sounded like software to him. Thinking about it more as he followed the mechanical dog, the higher levels they had passed through all seemed better maintained. Perhaps that referred to the various incarnations of the city? Were the Terconians building up their city, layer upon layer, like an ancient archeological site?

Breaking his thoughts, a projection appeared from Spark.

“I’m nearby. Wait right there for me.”

Daleron was gone before Mencari could even respond.

Spark stopped instantly and sat quietly waiting. Mencari looked around, wondering what was going on. This whole thing was so odd. Maybe trying to meet Toriko wasn’t a good idea. Mencari didn’t know anything about this world, much less expect to go on a trek deep into who knows where. But he knew the only way to assess whether she was telling the truth—and was really a skilled tech—was to talk with her directly.

Otherwise, it was back to the Trading Post to stare at lists of techs not readily available for a long time.

A clinking of metal feet drew his gaze down the corridor. He listened carefully with growing anxiety. It sounded like there was more than just one person approaching, and Daleron didn’t say he was coming with friends. Even Spark stood at attention, gazing down the hall. It wasn’t until Spark crouched down and digitally snarled that Mencari began to worry.

“Let’s find somewhere safe, Spark,” Mencari said. “Come on, boy.”

He turned and ran in the opposite direction, with Spark following close behind. The metal clanking grew louder, and seemed to follow them despite the many twists and turns Mencari took. His heart sank as he turned a corner and ran into a narrow corridor that ended in a cave-in of rock and debris that blocked the passage before them.

“Okay, then,” he said tapping his wrist phaser, activating it. “I guess we do this the hard way.”

Spark whimpered.

A boom echoed down the hall, followed by the distinct zip of laser fire.

“Come on, Spark,” Mencari said, creeping cautiously back toward the entrance to the corridor, and the sound of fight. Peering around the corner, he saw a small troop of nearby droids blasting it out with at least two attackers. Instinct guided him as Mencari took aim and unleashed his own volley of fire from the side, taking the droids by surprise. Disrupted, the droids hitched and bleeped poorly adapting to the new dynamics.

In moments, they were smoking piles of scrap metal.

“Mencari?” a familiar voice called.

“Daleron?” he said back.

A remarkably tall cat-man emerged from a breach in the wall, placing his weapon inside his trench coat. As he made his way towards the smoldering piles, a second, more rotund figure emerged from the shadows.

“Thanks for the help,” Daleron said. “Good work, too. Those droids can be a pain.”

Picking up one of the robotic heads, Daleron pried it open and pulled a large pink crystal from the innards.

“Is it intact?” the rotund one asked.

“Indeed it is, Palo,” Daleron said. He looked at Mencari, then back at his companion. “Perfect condition. Toriko will be happy.”

“This is huge!” Palo said. “They’re usually fried. Mencari must have surprised them before they could self-destruct.”

Mencari shifted his weight nervously, still unsure of the whole situation. “What is that?”

“Command crystal,” Daleron said flatly. “Should provide us with some useful information--maybe. Toriko will let us know if it’s of any use.”

Daleron pocketed the crystal and paused. He looked down at Spark and spoke to the mechanical dog.

“Toriko, we’re coming back with Mencari. I think he’s okay. Had he been one of them, we wouldn’t have secured an intact crystal like this.”

“Yaay!” she said through Spark. “See you soon!”

* * * * *

“You’re back?” Toriko said excited. In turning to meet the group, she lost her grip on the holographic cube before her. It tumbled like a solid object to the ground where it shattered into a shower of light.

“Oh no!” she cried. “It will take a whole cyber-minute to remake that!”

“What was it?” Daleron said.

“The final interface piece, but I can remake it,” she waved it off, then looked with embarrassment to Mencari. “I’m really sorry about all this.”

“It’s okay, it’s nice to meet you,” Mencari said.

“Look what else we brought back,” Palo said grinning.

Toriko squealed as Daleron pulled out the crystal. “Are you KIDDING ME?” she cried running over to it. “A real, live command crystal!”

Daleron handed it over to her, and smiled as she clutched the gem like a child with a coveted toy. “This changes EVERYTHING!”

“How so?” Mencari asked.

“I don’t have to hack through different ports and nodes,” she said elated. “This baby should tell me exactly where the main command services are located, and how to go right in!”

She ran to the makeshift desk, gently set down the gem, and waved her hands to summon a new holographic cube. A nearly overwhelming sense of excitement surged within her. Finally she had some tangible component she could use from those alien creations. With every hand gesture, she injected hundreds of prefabricated lines of code into the holographic interface, extending its functionality. She loved this holographic, visual interface. Not only was gesturing fun, it was faster than typing out all those code segments.

“There!” she sighed happily. The cube floated over the gem, then engulfed it. Small beams of light appeared to exchange between the cube and crystal. “Almost there. . .  Almost there . . .” she said, gnawing on her lip.

Light radiated like a geyser from the gem, projecting a panel with the Bansa name and logo displayed. “YATA!” she cried.

Suddenly the panel filled with red, and a new logo splashed across the display. “Not again!” Toriko said frustrated.

“Nukari,” Mencari said through gritted teeth.

“Nukari?” Daleron said. “Who are they, because they’re like a virus—everywhere.”

“Yeah, like we were rooted!” Palo added.

Mencari was shaken. “The Nukari are an alien race from beyond our own galaxy,” he answered. “They are violent, aggressive, and stealthy. They’ve already attacked my people. In fact they wiped out an entire space station, including my family.”

“Your whole family?” Toriko looked concerned.

“That’s why I’m here,” Mencari said looking at Toriko, then at Daleron and Palo. “I’m trying to find more information about them, and learn how to stop them.”

“Well, they’re not using a fleet here,” Daleron said. “It’s worse, they’re using Bansa—who runs everything on our world. They can now touch every aspect of our lives!”

“They’ve even convinced my sister Maro to work for them,” Toriko said remorsefully. “And the Professor FX . . .”

She felt tears welling in here eyes. It wasn’t the right place or time for this, but she couldn’t help it. Everything was so frustrating, and she worried so much.

A gentle hand touched her shoulder. Through her blurry eyes, she saw Mencari standing close behind her, his presence radiating an invisible strength. “We’ll save them. Let’s focus. What can we do right now?”

She nodded, knowing she couldn’t let herself get overwhelmed. Looking back at the screen, an anger welled inside her. “I can crack that,” she said forcefully.

“Go get them!” Palo cheered.

She gestured, summoning two more control cubes. The world seemed to disappear around her, as her mind wrapped around the puzzle of security codes and encryption schemes. All perception of time escaped from the room, as Toriko gestured wildly, modifying her hacks to stay ahead of an advanced and rotating defense protocol.

It took every ounce of her focus, and was far more complicated than she anticipated. As time passed, fatigue began to settle in. If she didn’t change tactics soon, her tunnel hack would collapse.

This wasn’t going to work. She had one ace up her sleeve, but was it ready to be used?