D'Mok Revival 1: Awakening (6 page)

He glanced at her face. Her expression was of a warrior ready to attack. Who
was
she?
Could
she be helpful in a fight? Instinct gave him his answer. He activated his hand-phaser and whispered, “Ready?”

She nodded, and he clenched his fist. His weapon began to glow, accompanied by the familiar and reassuring gentle hum.

Lady Weun opened her hand, revealing the radiant gems, shining so bright now, it was as though each contained a tiny, blistering-hot sun. Mencari had no idea what she planned to do, but her resolute, confident face told him she was not planning on running away.

Knowing their only advantage might be of surprise, he nodded at her and took careful aim with the phaser, waiting until the robot drew close enough for a clean shot.

As he watched, the robot with the spider arms stopped. It seemed to turn partially back to look at the egg-shaped spacecraft. Then, it turned to face them again, and proceeded slowly forward toward their place of concealment in the bushes.

Not yet. . .

Hold on. . . Here it comes. . . NOW!

A ball of plasma condensed at the phaser’s tip, then ruptured into a brilliant yellow-white ray. The foliage in front of them seared away as the beam cut through. Detecting the attack, the bot turned and lurched, attempting to dodge aside. The beam hit slightly off its target, but still punched deep into the robot’s chest and sheared off one of its arms.

Lady Weun dashed from her hiding spot, found an opening in the brush and threw two gems. As they collided in midair, the charcoal-hued stone liquefied into a thick, tar-like ooze as the sanguine one exploded, igniting the mass. The flaming goo splattered across the robot’s head and flowed over its three sensor-eyes. One arm wildly scraped at the substance, gouging holes where the sensors had been, while another arm lifted coiling fingers toward Lady Weun. Small yellow strips along its fingers burst with light.

Mencari fired a barrage into the exposed cavities. Many of the hurried shots missed their mark, ricocheting off its metal body. Strands of silvery energy began streaming from the yellow strips and toward Lady Weun. She cried out when the whip-like attack sliced through ancient trees near her head like a razor through paper.

Yet she was merely startled, not afraid. “Let’s see what diamond dust does to it!” she called out, then ducked and reached into her bag, grabbed handfuls of the dust and flung each into the air, toward the robot. Then she dove behind the massive tree next to her. As the robot’s energy whip hit the thick cloud, it shattered into harmless shower of refracted light.

Mencari let go his breath seeing she was safe, then aimed his weapon, while changing-up the power setting to begin a super-charge cycle. The robot’s faceplate had finally begun to buckle under the effects of the burning ooze, but the yellow strips along its fingers were glowing again. In seconds, new streams sliced toward them.

Still protected by the diamond dust, Lady Weun pulled two pink and one yellow gem from her bag. Within moments, they pulsed with energy. She peered around her refuge and saw a break in the robot’s attacks. As she hurled the gems, Mencari unleashed another blast from his hand-phaser.

The yellow gem shattered, erupting in a ball of electricity. As its energy consumed the pink gems it created a chain reaction, exploding them with incredible force. The resulting booms echoed through the forest, causing even distant birds to flee into the sky. What remained of the Nukari robot’s metal shell popped and sizzled, then slumped to the ground, arms and legs twitching as though in a futile attempt to restore its balance. Even from yards away, the stench of burned wires and molten metal filled the air.

When they eased toward the smoking hulk, Mencari noticed the crystal fragments scattered all around the robot, and looked at Lady Weun. He shook his head and grinned.

“Hey, you’re pretty good with those things. Those gems—”

“Can be a blessing . . . or a curse.”

“Well . . . either way, they’re something.”

“Sanguine gems are still my favorite…” She carefully looked him over then said, “You’re pretty skilled with that gun. Military training?”

He nodded.

“Is that why you’re here? Some operation?”

“No. I really
am
here looking for fire marbles as a private commercial venture. I could ask the same of you. You held your own pretty well back there.”

She smiled proudly, but then forced a more stoic composure. “If you’re going to make a difference, you learn to work with your gifts. I do my best.”

She knelt to inspect the Nukari’s remains, and Mencari looked to the craft, wondering if there were others inside. Probably not, he concluded. If there were, they’d have come out to join the battle.

“I’ve never seen anything like this around here before. You called them Nukari?”

“Yes, Nukari.” He felt his face tighten into a scowl. “Translates as ‘trouble.’ Here, look at the symbol.”

He pointed to the jagged mark he’d seen so often in his dreams. “I’ve seen this before. But what are they doing here?”

“I wonder,” she mused, “. . . could these things be behind the attacks on our crystal harvesters lately?”

Although pretty certain it was unoccupied, Mencari approached the odd craft with caution, waving Lady Weun to keep behind him. Their firefight hadn’t damaged it in any way. On the outside, the craft’s smooth walls held only a scattering of inset lights. When Mencari pressed on one of them, an entry door slid open silently. Inside, beyond a series of data jacks along the floor, there was nothing of significance. “No controls, or displays, no environmental systems, nothing,” he muttered.

He reexamined the jacks. “Maybe the bots plug in here, to control the ship’s systems? Or maybe it was an automated pod? I can’t think of how else this would have worked.”

He noticed how anxious Lady Weun had become, watching her peer back outside every few seconds.

“It would be best for us to get to our destination and return before nightfall,” she said with a growing unease in her voice.

A burning scent wafted in the air. “Do you smell that?” he asked.

She sniffed, wrinkling her nose. “What is that?”

“It smells like burning wires,” he said looking around.

“There!” she said pointing.

Sure enough, a wispy white smoke was quickly turning gray from one of the connector locations. In moments, the others were smoking, too. The very floor felt like it was heating up.

“It must be self-destructing!” he said, motioning for her to get out.

The air grew polluted with a thick crispy metallic stench.

They both scampered out of the small craft and returned to the shelter of the ancient woods. They heard the entrance to the egg-like pod close, then a muffled explosion.

Mencari looked at Lady Weun. “There’s nothing more we can learn here, let’s move on.”

They backtracked to the main path and continued. He pulled out his map of the area, and she pointed out various features as they went along. They made good time, soon entering a moist section that the map called Dinea Swamp. It turned out to be a dank bog threaded by passable, if spongy, footpaths.

“So where did you learn that trick?” he said. “Scattering the robot’s attack with handfuls of that powder.”

“Gem dust, diamonds,” she said. “From a harvesting accident in the mines a few years ago. The harvesters were using a new laser drill, to speed things up. They ended up trapping themselves behind some heavy drilling beams with no way to shut it off.” She grinned. “Toss a little diamond dust in the way, and you have an easy escape.”

He snorted, impressed, recalling what he’d seen the diamond dust do with his own eyes.

They emerged from the swamp to enter a kind of pasture or prairie, an endless expanse of low grasses that spread out so far on either side, he couldn’t see exactly where it ended. Turning to the left, in the distance he could see the wide base of, checking the map, the foothills of the Dante Mountains, the grand peaks of which soared high above. Straight ahead, though, a deep chasm skirted perilously close to the path that turned toward the mountains.

Coming upon the it, Mencari looked over the edge and whistled. “It’s a long way down.”

“In spots, yes. Sieta Chasm’s the deepest gorge on Aeun. Deeper than . . .” She tilted her head. “What’s that humming?”

A ball of light hit the ground and exploded in front of them. The blast hurled Mencari into the air. He landed awkwardly, crumpling as he hit, rolling helplessly toward the chasm’s lip. Unable to stop, he made a desperate grab for the ragged edge as he slid across it, twisting and attempting to dig his hands into the dirt.

But he caught nothing but a few strands of grass as he disappeared over the precipice, as Lady Weun screamed, “Rhysus!”

* * * * *

The humming grew to a ground-shaking throb behind her. Lady Weun whirled around to see another robot, identical to the one they’d just destroyed. This one’s single red eye shone eerily, as though calculating its next move.

In an instant, she reached into her pouch, grabbing two green-yellow gems and a handful of diamond dust. Her grip tightened, filling the gems with power. With a snap of her wrist, the diamond dust billowed into the air, followed by the gems. She turned and ran toward the edge of the gorge.

A protective cloud of the diamond dust hung in the air as the green-yellow gems sailed toward the robot, then collided and shattered, unleashing a blast of swirling wind. Rocks and dirt created a vortex around the robot, obscuring its sensors. As it fired blindly, its misaimed blasts fell short of its target.

Lady Weun dropped to her stomach and looked over the gorge’s edge. Mencari was hanging onto a narrow ledge. She noticed his dazed expression. Extending her hand in his direction, she could see that he was far below her reach. Panic filled his eyes.

He yelled, “I’m okay. Find cover!”

“Take my…”

“Go!” he yelled again.

Confused, she rolled over and sprang back up to a standing position. Seeing a cluster of trees, she darted sideways along the lip of the gorge, the diamond dust still floating in the air. She called out to taunt the robot, and hold its attention . But suddenly remembered the earlier robot’s cutting-beam, and realized the slim trees couldn’t protect her.

She reached into her pocket and retrieved two sanguine gems. Adrenaline made her hands unsteady, her body flushed with heat. Consumed by strategies, she ignored the cool, refreshing breeze rising from the gorge.

The distinct hum of the robot grew. At least it seemed focused on her alone now. When she peeked out to take aim, it spotted her and opened fire. She realized, too late, the same breeze that cooled her had dispersed the diamond dust, leaving her vulnerable to its attacks. The blast hit a large section of trunk next to her, shattering it into a bloom of woodchip shrapnel. The second blast headed directly for her. She twisted to avoid it, her shimmering cloak opening, leaving her exposed. She screamed as the blast grazed her side, burning her clothes and badly searing her skin. The pain crumpled her to the ground.

“Hang on, I’m coming!”

Hearing Mencari’s cry, she looked up to see that he’d somehow pulled himself above the edge of the gorge.

No! The robot will hear you!
her mind shrieked.

As she’d feared, the robot whirled toward his voice and opened fire. Helpless, she watched the first blast hit close by his left hand, and a second flash landed just in front of him. Horrified, she saw his flailing arms again disappear beyond the chasm’s edge.

She whimpered and closed her eyes, expecting to hear his scream as he fell. Yet she heard nothing.

Praying he’d been knocked unconscious before falling to his death, she moaned at the shooting pains radiating from her side while she scraped along the ground, toward better cover. The robot renewed its advance toward her.

Moaning “No!” she struggled to move faster. At last, she banked herself against a collection of larger rocks, shrieking in pain.

As soon as she was able, she peeked around the boulder. A column of golden light blasted up into the air from the spot along the gorge where Mencari had fallen. The robot stopped suddenly, turning back to assess the anomaly.

This was her chance! She grabbed two yellow gems and filled them with power. She threw them along with the sanguine one with a powerful overhead toss and a loud grunt.

The robot turned as electric zaps surrounded it like a woven blanket. The sanguine gem erupted in a fierce blast. The metal beast disappeared into the acrid dust and smoke of the explosion, becoming a shower of metal shrapnel that flew far across the open meadow.

A few moments later, the breeze cleared the smoke. Only a burned-out husk remained. Lady Weun struggled to her feet and hobbling as fast as she could manage to the gorge’s edge and looked down.

Just a few feet down, Mencari clung to the cliff wall, a golden aura surrounding him. Lady Weun reached down and helped Mencari claw his way back up. As he safely reached the top, the golden light around him faded. Sweat poured from his body, as he collapsed forward.