D'Mok Revival 1: Awakening (32 page)

She nodded, with tears in her eyes. “I’ll see what I can do for Spark, too.”

“Good idea,
Rylee
,” Naijen said with contempt after Toriko left. “With her like that, she’s no good to us.”

“Considering she protected you after you got knocked out, you may want to think twice before dismissing her like that,” Mencari added.

But Naijen already knew that.

The pair worked their way through a maze of corridors, having to detour around the numerous collapsed sections. They reached an opening into a room where they could see sunlight, pouring through an open doorway that led to the outdoors, with desert stretching away as far as they could see. Stopping on the edge of the room, the two peered into the space and saw that part of the desert had been blown in and covered most of the floor.

“White sands,” Mencari said, pointing.

Naijen shook his head, “Na, it’s moving!”

Mencari looked again, to his shock and horror, indeed the white surface was moving. In fact, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of thin, leech-like bodies squirming about. Small appendages on the front of each looked like little ears, while larger flaps on each side appeared almost wing-like. The tapered fin-like backend of the creatures looked more aquatic than land-based. In great numbers, they gently climbed and tumbled over one another in a huge mass of moving bodies, slowly entangling in a bizarre dance.

Naijen jerked his chin to the only dark corner of the room. “Look. One of those purple things!”

No sooner had Naijen spotted it, a small group of the white creatures swarmed toward it. One arched upward, revealing a large, toothy mouth that didn’t bite so much as crashed down on the squealing creature.

“I think we should go around another way,” Mencari said unnerved. “They don’t look any friendlier than those purple things.”

“Ah, we’re just outnumbered that’s all,” Naijen said with a chastising tone.

Forced to backtrack again and again, they finally arrived just outside a room located at the coordinates of the marker on Eyani’s map. Finding a manual release, Mencari pulled open the door that led into a small laboratory. The room was strangely undisturbed. Stale air implied the lack of any ventilation, unlike the rest of the structure. As Eyani had hinted might be the case, various devices were left scattered across the counters.

“They left in a hurry.” Mencari looked cautiously around. “This wasn’t some planned departure.”

His communicator vibrated. Touching it, he opened a channel to Toriko.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said shyly.

“It’s all right,” he said reassuring. “How’s Spark?”

“Not that different, I did get started on him though, but that’s not why I called,” she said urgently. “Remember those Sand Lars things, the white creatures? Well, there’s hordes of them headed this way.”

“Oh, not those big toothy mouth things,” Naijen complained.

“I’m also noticing some strange fluctuations in the reactor, as if the closer they get, the more strain there is on the power-generating systems.”

Could that have been it? Those creatures somehow had messed with the energy grid? And now that it was turned back on, for some reason they were drawn to it again?

“Let’s collect a few things and get out of here,” Mencari said to Naijen.

Next to a hand-held unit was a strange, but beautiful green crystal sphere. It actually reminded him of the memory crystals he had encountered back on Allia’s world, and other places. He pocketed it, along with as many other devices he could stash and carry, and they headed back to the bay on a quick and direct a route as they could manage.

* * * * *

“This is more than I expected,” Eyani said looking at the goods retrieved.

“And the data—priceless. Those purple creatures weren’t even in the last batch, and now we have combat data too!”

Eyani suddenly blushed and looked at Toriko. “I’m sorry, I know Spark was damaged during the mission. If there’s anything I can do. . . ”

“Spark’s already marginally functionally, which is an improvement, believe it or not,” Toriko said trying to make light of the situation.

“I’ve reviewed the crystal you brought back,” Eyani said, shaking her head. “We can’t make heads or tails out of it. If you wish, you can take it to study on your own. Seigie might be able to pull something out of it.”

“Thanks,” Toriko explained. “If she does, we’ll relay the info back your way.”

“And before we go on much longer, there’s someone here that wants to tell you something,” Eyani said proudly.

“Rhysus,” a young voice chirped.

He turned and saw large, familiar eyes beaming happily back at him.

“Allia!” he said running over and hugging her.

“The doctors were amazed,” Eyani said. “Her body did most of the real recovery. She seemed to work most of the radiation out on her own.”

Ichini played around the girl’s feet. Taking a closer look, Mencari noticed a strange greenish cast remained on Ichini’s coat. So everything wasn’t perfect just yet. But seeing Allia up lifted a crushing weight from his shoulders. The images of his wife and son floated to the forefront of his mind. He hadn’t been able to save them, but he did save Allia.

No, that wasn’t completely true.
They
saved Allia—the whole team together. Maybe that was the key to turning everything around?

“How are you feeling, Allia?” asked Mencari.

“Better,” she said, scratching her temples. “Though I still feel tired and have a little headache yet.”

“The doctors say she’s good enough to leave for now,” Eyani added. “But you’ll want to keep a close eye on her.”

On Ichini as well
, he thought.

“Almost done,” Seigie said.

The tiny purple gem fell gently from Seigie’s hand and made a sloshing transformation into an opaque gel. As it settled, it adopted a quiet glow. Content with her work, grateful that the worst pain only seemed to come during a battle, she stepped back and looked across rows of containers. The gentle illumination reminded her of Bertoli Fortress back on Aeun. With a feeling she didn’t want to admit was homesickness, she swiveled her head to check on the rest of her lab.

Strands of gems grew like vines from mature cultures around the room. Each started from a single gem-seed, and each now sparkled with bold color. The process was one of many discoveries from her obsessive research over the past centuries. With it, she would never run out of crystals of unmatched purity, able to reproduce whatever kind she wanted, if she had the right starter crystal to work with.

She caught herself staring at the walls, pondering the wisdom of putting her cherished research on hold to pursue the Nukari. How many eons had she sought to stop the crystal plague that would surely be her end someday? Or perhaps not kill her, but end her life as a mobile and living organism, leaving her statue-still for eternity.

She recalled the nightmares, back when she still slept often, of becoming a crystal statue, frozen forever in one place, for all of time. Now more than ever, she needed her mobility, slow as it was, along with her other abilities.

She forced herself to look back to her latest addition, and leaned over to grasp the pot. The sound of crystal grinding on crystal rang through the air, and she winced. Had it been five centuries, or six, since she’d spent more than a day outside the cave, before the day Mencari had found her?

She ignored the discomfort and her doubts, and reached for the pot before her. As her power flowed into it through her hands, the crystal’s glow intensified. She watched the seed sprout small appendages and grow before her eyes.

Her stoic expression softened with the accomplishment. She looked at the empty container next to her.

“One more.” She went to the far counter and dug into a hand-sized burlap bag. “Where is it?”

She searched briefly and in vain. Her stony face permitted only a few lines of annoyance while she put the bag down and headed to the sleeping quarters. Mindful of the others, she attempted to tread lightly down the halls, as softly as possible for someone of her composition.

When she entered, she was greeted by Toriko’s heavy snore. She looked over and saw Allia and Ichini sleeping too. In the corridor light, drool glistened from Allia’s upturned lips.
Even sleeping, the child smiles.
She thought of Allia’s kindness, and the offer to help her find a way to undo what the crystal plague inflicted so long ago.

Ridiculous. So naive.
She’d thought that then, and still felt that way. Yet, if there was a way to reverse the infusion, to make it possible for her to stop living on crystal dust and her body to crave food once again, wasn’t that what she wanted? What she’d worked for centuries to accomplish? She sometimes missed enjoying food, its texture and taste. Then again, she never thought a full cure was possible.

And, even though Osuto had lived long, that didn’t mean that she would. Hundreds of years old now, with her body surely stressed by the centuries of plague, she might instantly die if her malady was somehow reversed.

She made her way to her bed and retrieved another burlap sack from under her stony slab. As she dug through it, her hand gripped a much larger object. She pulled it hesitantly out. The baseball-sized sphere glowed in her hand with a soft radiance. Countless memories clouded her mind. How many times had she rediscovered this crystal? So often that she no longer needed a viewer to know what secrets it held. But every time she began a “new life,” she made herself relive her first. Funny she would find it now, when she was experiencing the biggest change in her life since fleeing D’mar. Ironically really, remembering who she once was actually held relevance this time.

She lowered the crystal and withdrew from her memories; her eyes wandered between the burlap bag and the crystal. The cultures were nearly done, and she wanted to finish her work. But the memories in the crystal called to her.

Setting the burlap bag aside, she walked with fervor to the door, any mindfulness of her thunderous steps lost to the will of the crystal. Allia and Toriko began to stir behind her, but Seigie continued her slow, ponderous march into the hall, oblivious to their awakening.

* * * * *

Toriko looked groggily toward the door in time to see the shimmering in Seigie’s hand. Off to the side, Ichini was fast asleep next to Spark. As the door closed, she noticed Allia was awake too.

Allia yawned with a mighty stretch. “Boy, she seemed in a hurry. And she’s never in a hurry.” Her eyes panned lazily across the floor, noting the bag haphazardly pushed under Seigie’s bed. “She left something out.”

“What?” Following Allia’s gaze, Toriko saw the bag.

“She never does that either,” Allia said. Her face contorted playfully. “Let’s see what she’s up to.”

Too sleep-fogged to protest, Toriko gave a weak nod and pushed off her covers.

When they reached the control room entrance, they peeked around the corner to see Seigie slide the crystal into a slot on the console. An old-fashioned two-dimensional hologram projected. The audio was set too low for Toriko to hear, but sounded scratchy. They watched as a clean-cut, square-jawed young man addressed the viewer.

“A soldier,” Toriko whispered. Allia shushed her.

As the man spoke more clearly, fear betrayed his brave composure. “Our window is short. Your orders are to escort your assigned shuttle to the rendezvous point.”

The audio wasn’t stable. The phrases broke up, as the picture panned behind the man to a field of spaceships standing on launch pads. As the images faded, four sets of numbers appeared. Toriko stifled her gasped with a quick hand over her mouth, but too late. Seigie shut off the crystal reader and looked toward the hall. “Someone there?”

Allia elbowed Toriko, and they eased around the corner.

“Um . . . yeah,” Allia said. “Us.”

Seigie scowled. “Woke up after all?”

“We . . . needed a snack,” Toriko said.

Seigie’s face didn’t change. “This isn’t the way to the galley.”

Allia sighed. “We wanted to see what you were up to.”

Toriko glared at her.

“Did I wake you?” Seigie said. “My apology if I did.”

“It’s okay,” Allia replied, and jerked her chin toward the frozen display. “What ya watchin’?”

Seigie paused, then retrieved the sphere from the reader, held it up and gazed into it. “The last thing I was given before the attack on my world.”

Toriko’s eyes bulged. “D’mar? How can we even read that thing, Seigie?”

“Nearly everything here is based on original D’mar designs. Even the readers in the trading post—and other places—are patterned after what we used. It took a little finessing, but…”

Allia nodded at the reader. “Who was that guy?”

Seigie looked up and away, trying to recall. “D’entri? Yes, his name was Ves D’entri. He was going to begin training as a Defender in just a few weeks. Instead, he ended up having to coordinate the rest of us during the evacuation.”

Allia’s brow wrinkled. “What evacuation?”

Toriko turned to her. “You weren’t there when Seigie told us. The Nukari attacked the D’mar homeworld a long time ago, just like they did yours.”

Seigie nodded, her eyes shifting away. “My world is where your people came from, Allia. Before
they
came to D’mar, they attacked our colonies. Your world was among the last attacked, from what I understand, before they came for us.”

“Is that why no one came to help us after we were attacked?” Allia said.

Seigie nodded, but this time her nod was slower. “I suppose.”

Tilting her head toward the frozen display, Toriko asked, “Did you ever find out what happened to the others that escaped?”

“No. There’s nothing there. I . . . don’t know how many of us actually got away.”

Allia pointed toward the display. “That D’entri guy said there was a rendezvous point. And those numbers . . .”

“There were coordinates, yes, but I don’t remember how to read them anymore.”

Toriko thought a moment. “Maybe Osuto can?”

Seigie’s eyebrow rose at the possibility, sending tiny flakes of crystal fluttering down.

Allia glanced behind her, then looked back to Seigie. “That crystal . . . are there others like that?”

Seigie tilted her head toward the cabinet at the far end of the control room. “Yes.”

Allia dashed to the cabinet, retrieved two objects, then ran back to show them. “Crystals!” She jittered with excitement. “This one is from my world. Rhysus told me he found it in the caves I guarded. And this other one is the one from Nicia!”

Seigie looked at the crystals, her glowing red eyes settling on the one from Allia’s world. “That one looks as old as mine.”

She held out her hand. Allia gave it to her, and she placed it into the reader. A ray of light shone into the crystal, illuminating its core. Rays began to fountain from the crystal, forming an image in the air. A bustling city of white gleamed against the side of a snowcapped mountain. Small crafts buzzed across the skyline, flying just above a lush evergreen forest. A male voice talked over the scene. “D’lasa. A thing of beauty and wonder! We’ve only been here for four years, and look what we’ve accomplished!”

Allia turned to Seigie. “D’lasa?”

Seigie pointed at the image and made a shushing noise.

The view panned left across the scenery, showing a dirt path that snaked its way toward a small lake surrounded by ancient birch trees.

“Pretty,” Allia whispered, then gasped, “That looks like—”

As the view continued to pan, a shallow depression alongside the mountain path caused her to shout, “It
is
my world! But, we call it Ubuto.”

Seigie whispered, “Most likely, they’re using the ancient D’mar name for your world.”

“Then . . . that must be the old colony?”

The scene changed. The young narrator’s handsome form now stood atop a cliff overlooking a dense forest. In the distance, purple-hazed mountains disappeared into billowing clouds, and a river cascaded down the side of the mountain. A breeze tossed his blond locks.

“Oh, I could fall into those eyes,” Toriko said, but pointed and added, “look at his clothes!”

“No doubt they’re D’mar,” Seigie said. “The clothes look so much like D’entri’s—”

A female voice rang out. “We are recording this for our future children. They’ll be the first generation here, and they’ll be more than aware of how this started—”

“—than our children’s children’s children,” the man finished.

They both laughed. The image began to warp and the audio garbled.

“What’s happening?” Toriko said.

Seigie shook her head. “The reader isn’t reporting any error.”

“Maybe it’s just too old,” Allia said. “I can’t believe that’s how we used to—”

A new image replaced the majestic scene. A sullen-faced woman in a formal, ornate uniform appeared. “Because of the coming Nukari threat, we have procured this Tertrn crystal. Thank you, Orana and Teras, for allowing us to use it. D’mok Warriors, we hope you will be able to use this to enhance your skills to defend the D’lasa world!”

Allia said, “Huh?”

Neither Seigie nor Toriko heard her. Their full attention rested on the display.

“Please select from the following categories.” The woman began to list off the selections.

Seigie muttered, “It’s a training crystal. I remember them talking about these when we were in camp.”

Toriko nodded and pointed to the reader. “Did she call this a Tertrn crystal?”

Seigie considered this. “Another D’mar name perhaps?”

“Sounds really close to my world’s name,” Toriko whispered.

“Let’s select one of the skills,” Seigie said, reached out and touched the first name displayed in a list next to the woman. The woman’s image abruptly moved to the left, replacing the listing. Her outfit changing, she began to talk of concentration techniques, and explained how to manifest a specific type of power in a defensive maneuver.

“I don’t get it,” Allia said.

“This is how they trained us in camp,” Seigie said. “I don’t recall this particular technique, but it’s familiar. We should show Osuto in the morning, perhaps he’ll know what to do with this.”

“Too bad there wasn’t more about the colony,” Toriko said with a sigh. “What’s on the other one?”

Seigie turned off the reader and swapped the crystals. Sensing the change, a ray of light automatically shot into the crystal, and a new, three-dimensional projection appeared.

“This must be a more recent crystal,” she muttered.

A small group gathered around the young man in the projection. An older man moved in front of the recording device and looked directly into it, saying, “Is it on?”