Lyssa Thorne's
Science Fiction Novels
Double Dragon Ebooks
WARNING:
CONTENT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR GENERAL AUDIENCES DUE TO EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT.
“SHATTERED EXPECTATIONS”
EPISODE 84 – OVERLOAD
BY: LYSSA THORNE
SUPER: Reincarnation can be great. You can start anew. All the memories wiped clean. Until you wake up and all the forgotten memories slam you. In the beginning, I went by the name Sannaro. That was only half of the problem. Now I know.
FADE IN:
INT. EURYANASSA GYM
NIKKLO crouched low.
MARC's arm whistled through the air as it swung above his head.
Nikklo swung up and punched Marc's stomach. He danced back beyond the taller man's reach.
NIKKLO
Ha, I told you, don't use so many high attacks.
MARC
Ow, you runt! No wonder so many people get frustrated when they fight you!
NIKKLO
Hey, you tall humanoids always attack high. Attack low more often.
Marc swept in with a mid-range right cross.
Nikklo undulated away. Nikklo was regaining his balance.
Marc raised his left foot and kicked Nikklo in the knee.
Nikklo yelped and crashed to the mat. He swung his legs over his head to roll back to stand.
Marc rushed, knelt on Nikklo's chest and pushed his legs back to the floor.
Nikklo gasped in pain.
MARC
Better?
NIKKLO
Better. Can you get off my chest so I can breathe?
Marc rolled off to the floor.
Nikklo rubbed his chest as he sat up. He checked his knee for damage.
NIKKLO
I'll make an Astrisi of you yet, Marcayo Daniels.
Marc stood and offered Nikklo a hand up.
Nikklo took the hand and sprang from the mat.
Marc pulled him into a hug.
Nikklo hugged him and patted his back.
NIKKLO
That's enough training for the day.
Both men walked to a stack of towels and wiped their faces.
MARC
Yuri says we're finally getting low on fuel. Should I order fuel from Regalis and tell you when we can do the upload?
Nikklo stopped and lowered the towel to the floor.
NIKKLO
Regalis, I hate that place.
MARC
You can't change that you were born there, my friend. They're still the closest fuel manufacturer to Gasbaja.
NIKKLO
I can easily phase us to Oronio.
Marc raised his arms and slapped them to his side.
MARC
Okay, I'll order from Oronio if it makes you happy. What's got you so short tempered lately?
NIKKLO
You're right, I'm being too picky. Go ahead and order from Regalis. It's just that Linea won't cry out loud. Cherna isn't hearing her telepathic calls so I'm getting up to feed the baby several times a night. I guess it's impacting my sleep patterns.
MARC
Okay, that makes perfect sense. I'm a father too so I understand new babies are never easy to care for. You should take her to see Danu if your so worried. Amaranta is sticking to Andoku closely while she's learning to be Astrisi, too. So I'm doing a bit more fathering than I was used to as well.
NIKKLO
I'm sorry Amber didn't come with Ama.
MARC
So am I but our marriage was becoming strained since you and I were rescued from Alpha Centauri Seven. We just have to live with the choices we make. You've made some tough choices, too.
NIKKLO
I have and they've been painful.
MARC
Hey, no one said life was ever easy.
NIKKLO
Nope.
Nikklo swept the towel off the floor and tossed it in the laundry bin.
NIKKLO
Hey, before I return to the bridge, I want to bring up something with Toko.
MARC
You're the Commander. You do what you need to do. I'm your exec. I see that it gets done.
NIKKLO
This is personal so you don't have to do any follow up.
MARC
Okay.
Nikklo walked to the flight bay because he wanted to preserve light power in case he had to make a large astral phase suddenly.
INT. SENIOR SHUTTLE PILOT'S OFFICE, EURYANASSA - CONTINUOUS
Nikklo walked into the Senior Shuttle pilot's office and stopped beside a man with flowing brown hair bent over a guitar. He strummed softly to himself.
TOKO
What's up, Nik?
NIKKLO
I want to show you something.
TOKO
My logs are up to date.
NIKKLO
I didn't see any problems with your report.
Toko looked up and arched his eyebrows.
TOKO
Okay, so what's up?
NIKKLO
May I use your computer?
TOKO
Sure.
Nikklo sat down and pulled up his personal files. He brought up a word processing file and sat back.
Toko looked over his shoulder and read.
TOKO
Huh, a poem. Didn't know you wrote.
NIKKLO
I don't always show people what I write and the first time was accidental.
TOKO
I like the rhythm. It's got a song quality to it.
Nikklo flushed.
TOKO
Ho, I don't have to have telepathy to guess where this is going.
NIKKLO
A song for Lifeblood?
Toko shook his head.
TOKO
I don't think I can deliver the feel of this piece, to be honest.
Nikklo sighed and turned off the program.
TOKO
Hey, I didn't say we can't do it. But you can do it. It's your piece.
NIKKLO
You mean. I thought.
TOKO
Don't get weak-kneed, man. You sang with us at the victory celebration. Do your own fucking song!
NIKKLO
It's not done.
TOKO
So we'll get it done but I'm not singing that. That's one-hundred percent you.
NIKKLO
I'm not in the band.
TOKO
You're not?
NIKKLO
I was a guest on those two songs.
TOKO
You were damned good.
NIKKLO
It was fun.
TOKO
So I'm telling you to sing your own song. You're the one with telepathy.
NIKKLO
You're offering me to become a singer in Lifeblood?
Toko knuckled Nikklo's head.
TOKO
Get those ears connecting, man. Yeah, I'm asking you to sing in Lifeblood!
Nikklo gushed with intense joy and howled loudly at his highest comfortable pitch.
Toko stepped back in shock.
TOKO
Shit man, that was a high D! I need to test your vocal range!
Tisa rushed into the office with her gun ready.
TISA
Toko, are you under attack?
She stopped and looked at them with puzzlement.
Toko laughed.
TOKO
Nui, that was just Nik screaming cause I want him to sing with the band.
TISA
Ikata fausa, you startled me!
NIKKLO
Kasai, Tisa.
TISA
If we were on the Kumani, I'd call the PE to charge you with a sound disruption! So what are you guys working on?
Nikklo turned the program back on.
NIKKLO
I think it should start slow. It's called Tsikakayu.
(beat)
How can anyone know my pain?
A lonely man, the only one of his kind
Charged with guarding the children of metal
Forged in fire and blood
under crushing compression.
Gonkacha runs through his veins.
Flowing hair the color of darkness
Skin the color of light.
Raised by the children of the stars
Warriors swift and deadly
(beat)
Now, right here it should speed up.
(beat)
Betrayal runs deep within the children of rock
Hard-shelled and uncaring.
Ripped the limbs from my body
Left me for dead.
Grieving Father cradled his broken son and vanished.
The Tsikakayu awoke from slumber after hundreds of years
Woke from a nightmare not remembered
Children of stone return
Dry your eyes
Do your job,
Tsikakayu.
Formed in fire and blood
under crushing compression
dark space is born
A black hole
Feeds on megalomaniac of stone
Never to emerge from the darkness
Children of metal still live
Great Forge that shapes burns bright
The war is won.
Euryanassa awaits you
Lay down your weary head
Dry your eyes
You are victorious,
Tsikakayu
TISA
Wow, you wrote that?
NIKKLO
Houk, I don't show many what I write but I thought this would be a good song for Lifeblood. Toko doesn't think he can sing it.
TOKO
It's your song, so you sing it. I think it needs polished a bit but the music it needs is already coming to me. I'll go with your idea to start slow then speed up a third through it.
TISA
Well, then I'll get going and let you two work.
Tisa left the office.
TOKO
Hey, we should put that howl of yours in the song, maybe of pain and frustration instead of joy.
NIKKLO
Wow, really?
TOKO
Houk! Have a little shock value and the crowd goes nuts!
NIKKLO
Me howl deliberately? I'm usually quiet.
TOKO
Yeah, you are. It will surprise them that you have a wildness in your core you keep restrained. I glimpsed that wildness when you sang at my side. Let it out. Embrace it.
NIKKLO
You don't understand what's inside me. No one should.
TOKO
We don't have to understand it but you need to be a bit less restrained. Let that pent up emotion have a voice.
NIKKLO
I'll try.
TOKO
Now, this is what came to me when you were reading to Tisa.
He picked up his guitar and began to play.
EXT. MCCOLACH MOUNTAIN, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, EARTH – NIGHT
Young Human Nikklo was in a modern day car traveling through the desert South West. With him were two other men who seemed rather foreign but in a Earth Human North Asian way. They were fair skinned with rounder eyes. Their hair was a bit nondescript like they couldn't settle on a color.
They stopped the car in the middle of the desert near a giant lava rock boulder at the base of McCoulach Mountain and climbed out. They pulled him with them up the incline toward the rocky slope.
The man stopped and pointed to a rocky foothill.
HUMAN NIKKLO
Huh? Like, what am I supposed to be seeing, a foothill?
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
TAUIAN #1
Don't toy with us, Nikklo-tarek-rakul-minek-lovak, look again.
Nikklo looked over the span of rocky foothills and desert brush.
HUMAN NIKKLO
No kidding, man! All I see is desert.
The grabbed Human Nikklo's hand and squeezed it around the crystal at his throat.
Shards of shattered charred glass embedded in the foothills of the mountain. Parts of the wreckage was a spaceship!
Human Nikklo dropped his hand away from the crystal. The horror disappeared.
HUMAN NIKKLO
Hey, guys, uh. I think you've got the wrong orphan. My mom and dad were killed in a car crash.
TAUIAN #1
We have the right orphan You saw the wreckage, you wear the Tauian crystal. Come, you must identify each member.
HUMAN NIKKLO
I don't remember them.
TAUIAN #1
You will.
HUMAN NIKKLO
How can you be sure?
TAUIAN #1
Because, your time wasting on prattling betrays you. You will know them but you don't want to see them.
HUMAN NIKKLO
I sure as hell don't!
Nikklo bolted away.
Nikky soon saw a streak of light.
Tauian #1 reappeared in front of him.
TAUIAN #1
But you will because you know what we can do.
HUMAN NIKKLO
I was just a baby, how could I know?
TAUIAN #1
Because you are the son of Spectranauts. Enter the astral phaser, now!
Tauian #1 grabbed Human Nikklo's arm and pulled him toward the wreckage.
He gripped the pendant tighter as he entered the breached hull.
Inside, the walls were wondrously prismatic. The panels that were still clear cast rainbows across shattered crystalline shards that put on a dizzying light show all over the room.
They reached the forward section of the ship most devastated by the crash. It was dark.
Tauian #1 brought out a crystal that seemed to glow in itself.
Nikky stared at it fascinated.
The man pushed Nikky further inside.
He reluctantly continued on until they were in another room.
This one had chairs situated at certain points around the room. The two at the far end were mangled, surrounded by machinery and the forepart of the ship that was crumpled in on impact. Strewn here and there on the floor were blackened crystalline bodies, shattered and mutilated.
HUMAN NIKKLO
Let me go!
Human Nikklo struggled against the hand that held him. He wiggled out of the man's grip. In total darkness, he ran down the fire-swept halls passed the place of shattered crystal and out of the hull where they first entered.
TAUIAN #1
He exchanged forms! We must find him.
The Tauians were pursuing him.
A man(HUMAN TAREK) was seen peeking around a boulder.
HUMAN TAREK
Nikklo, concentrate on being one of these bushes.
Human Nikklo concentrated on becoming a tree.
TREE NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Who are you? Why does everyone want me?
HUMAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
Quiet, for now. They are coming.
The two Tauians to burst out of the ruin and ran into the foothills.
HUMAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
You can change back, now.
Tauian Tarek came out from around a boulder.
Tree Nikklo shimmered back into Human Nikklo.
Tauian Tarek looked like a normal person sculpted from crystal. Inside, he pulsated blue, vermillion and magenta. The angular crystal body looked odd in contrast to the normal human clothes he wore of a light blue button-down shirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes.
HUMAN NIKKLO
Who are you?
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
Oh, Nikklo, well, I understand. You were only a baby. I am Tarek, your father.
HUMAN NIKKLO
My name is Niklos. Father?! But you’re made of glass!
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
The proper word is Crystalloid. Yes, I am your father but this is not the time for explanations. We must go before they come for us.
He swung his arms around Human Nikklo.
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
Change to your natural form, please.
HUMAN NIKKLO
You mean, like you, all crystal?
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
Yes, like me, you are crystal. You changed once by thinking the change. Your subconscious knows your true form.
Human Nikklo changed to Tauian Nikklo.
The wreckage that hadn't been there the last minute was now visible.
Tauian Tarek elongated into streaks of blue, vermillion and magenta light rising from the ground.
PHASING VISUAL
Then all blurred and before he could even breathe, they were back on the ground.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Where are we?
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
Not as far as I wanted to be. Too much clouds and not enough strong light waves tonight. Did they have to make their move on an overcast night?
Nikky pulled away and crossed his arms.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
I want some answers! Yesterday I was just another orphan living in Henderson, Nevada with a nice foster family and today I'm something out of a science fiction movie!
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
That is because, well, I guess to you, you are, although human movies don't exactly come close. Your name is Nikklo. The humans probably thought you were saying a variation of Nicholas.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Why didn't you find me after the crash? Why did you let me go to an orphanage?
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
I was injured, Nikklo! I would have never let them take you if I had been conscious. Unfortunately, the crystal did it's job of analyzing the life forms and encoding it; giving you that form. Because of the crystal, you became visible to these sub-light beings and was cared for in their manner and custom. Like you thought I was dead, I thought you were dead.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
This is really weird!
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
And we’re being chased. They're coming.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Let's spectral phase somewhere else.
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
Too cloudy. Besides, son, we can't run forever.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Then what do we do?
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
We face them.
TAUIAN #1
Sound advice, Spectranaut!
Tauian #1 appeared from behind a cluster of boulders and grabbed Tauian Nikklo's arm.
On contact, a whole astral phaser appeared and settled to the ground.
Tauian #1 waved Tauian Tarek into it and began to pull Tauian Nikklo in after Tauian Tarek.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
No way! I've had enough of you shoving me places!
Tauian Nikklo slipped out of the hold on his arm and ran away from them.
TAUINA TAREK (PSI V.O.)
No, Nikklo!
TAUIAN #1 (PSI V.O.)
Then prepare to join Rakul, Petra and Kotar!
Tauian #1 pulled the light crystal out again and pointed an end at Nikky. It released a laser bolt, but the laser bolt seemed to be moving in slow motion so he simply moved out of it's way.
The laser bolt passed Nikklo and blew up a Dogwood tree.
Tauian #2 appeared behind Nikklo with his crystal pointed at Nikklo's head.
END ACT 1
ACT 2
Nikklo allowed himself to be led to the astral spectral phaser.
TAUIAN TAREK (PSI V.O.)
You tried, son, I'm proud.
He gave a weak smile and led Nikky inside.
The interior was like the other astral phaser except it was whole and not marred by fire.
The prismatic walls were dancing with colors but the front was remarkably a control room with walls of white light.
When everyone had taken seats, a man who had already been in the control room concentrated to make the ship rise off the ground. The other people laid their hands on the consoles and concentrated.
The ship paused for a second then the light sprang into steaks of color through the ship.
Nikky cried out in panic and he concentrated to grab the light that seemed to feel solid to him now.
The astral spectral phaser responded to him. He grabbed a light wave that was flying in the opposite direction.
The astral phaser flipped around.
Just before it crashed into the ground, Tarek leapt over to grab Nikky.
The control room blurred.
PHASING VISUAL
EXT. MCCOLACH MOUNTAINS, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, EARTH – DAY – CONTINUOUS
The desert reformed around them.
When Nikky's sight cleared, they were in the desert again and nightfall had mostly come.
A hundred feet away from them, a new wreck littered the ground and smoke rose from it like the heat waves that rose from the black top roads at midday.
INT. NIKKLO'S HOUSE, EURYANASSA
Nikklo surged to sit up in his bed. The room was dark. Cherna lay beside him. He was surrounded by the normal natural carved wooden Astrisi furniture of his bedroom on the Euryanassa.
He looked at his arm to see that it was a shiny olive-yellow. He took a deep breath before he laid down again.
RAKULINEA (PSI V.O.)
Mommy.
He turned over in bed and settled in again.
RAKULINEA (PSI V.O.)
Mommy, I hurt.
NIKKLO
Cheri, Linea's calling again.
CHERNA
Huh?
NIKKLO
Lin is talking again.
CHERNA
I can't hear her.
Her mind slipped deeper into sleep.
RAKULINEA (PSI V.O.)
Mommy, I hurt.
Nikklo groaned and raised his head from his pillow.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Lin, go back to sleep.
RAKULINEA (PSI V.O.)
I hurt. Help me.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Can't you cry like every other baby?
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
Don't know. I hurt. Help me, Mommy.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
We had this talk before. You're supposed to call me Daddy, not Mommy or it will confuse people.
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
They don't know. I know. I hurt. Help me.
Nikklo groaned and sat up.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
I'm coming.
He pulled on a pair of shorts then walked to the next room and looked into the crib.
Rakulinea's dark blue-black slanted eyes were wide open. She waved her yellow-gold arms before her tiny chest.
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
You came. I hurt.
NIKKLO
Where do you hurt?
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
I think you said it hungry.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Your stomach hurts because it's hungry?
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
Houk.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Okay, I'll make a bottle. You know, Cherna doesn't have to make bottles? She already carries the milk. Why won't you talk to her?
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
Cherna, Chali, not Mommy.
Nikklo shuffled to the kitchen.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Someday you'll have to talk to Cherna but I'm not in the mood to argue this right now. I'll get you a bottle.
He opened the refrigerator, pulled out the jug of expressed milk and poured it into a plastic baby bottle. He warmed it then returned to the crib. He set the bottle beside an arm chair and picked up the tiny baby. He settled into the chair and slipped the nipple into her mouth. He awkwardly pulled his shoulder length dark hair to his back before he steadied the bottle again.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
Damn you again, Ezron.
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
I sad. Daddy hurt Mommy.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
I know I shouldn't think that way but I shouldn't have learned I was a man and a woman this way, either.
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
I sorry.
Nikklo hugged Linea.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.)
I'm sad for making you feel sorry. I should try harder to contain my feelings.
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
You feel like you feel. I will make you happy.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Linea, you don't want to call me Daddy because you think Daddy means Daddy hurt Mommy?
LINEA (PSI V.O.).
Daddy hurt Mommy. Don't like Daddy.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Nui, Daddy is not Ezron. Daddy is Nikklo. Ezron fathered you but he's not Daddy. Nikklo is Daddy.
LINEA (PSI V.O.).
Nikklo is Mommy.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
But I am mostly a man and men aren't Mommy. Men are Daddy so Nikklo needs to be Daddy. Can't you understand that?
Quiet tears rolled down Linea's face and her little body shook with anxiety.
LINEA (PSI V.O.).
I sorry Mommy mad! I call Mommy Daddy.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Why don't you use your voice?
LINEA (PSI V.O.).
Don't know! Don't know! Daddy, don't be mad! I call you Daddy!
Nikklo set down the bottle, put her on his shoulder and hugged her.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Easy, baby, calm down. I'll calm down, too.
LINEA (PSI V.O.).
Linea want Daddy happy!
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
It would make me feel happy if you'd talk to Cherna.
LINEA (PSI V.O.).
I talk to Cherna. Cherna not hear me. You hear me. Cherna, not like us.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Cherna likes us. She loves us.
LINEA (PSI V.O.).
No, I mean, Cherna, soft-shell. Nikklo, Linea, not soft-shell.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Oh, we're Tauian and Cherna is Saili.
LINEA (PSI V.O.).
What I mean.
Linea burped.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Well, I guess that hug was at the right time. Is the hurt gone?
LINEA (PSI V.O.)
Hurt gone. Sleepy.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Okay, back to bed. I need more sleep before this ship needs me. Commanding my own ship is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have to tell Hadah how much I appreciated his hard work as the Commander of the Kumani. Na'ila'ahina.
He settled Linea into her crib and covered her with a blanket.
LINEA (PSI V.O.).
Nai nai.
Nikklo shook his head and returned to his bedroom.
Cherna was still sleeping.
He slipped in beside her and settled in. He stared up at the ceiling and felt his eyes fill with tears. He sobbed as quietly as he could to not disturb her. He felt pressure on his chest and looked down.
Cherna had her head on his chest and her body pressed along his side.
CHERNA
I'm sorry I didn't wake to help Linea.
NIKKLO
No, it's not you. Linea says because you're not Tauian you have more trouble hearing her.
CHERNA
I'll try harder to hear her.
NIKKLO
And she is having trouble thinking Daddy means hurt.
CHERNA
That is a serious feeling.
NIKKLO
I told her Ezron isn't her Daddy. He may have fathered her but he's not her Daddy and I want her to call me Daddy for less confusion.
CHERNA
I know it's hard on you that you now know you're a gender mosaic after a lifetime of thinking you were completely male.
Nikklo sobbed harder.
Cherna sat up and hugged him.
CHERNA
It's okay, Nikky, let the tears flow. You're a new mother.
NIKKLO
But I was a father twice!
CHERNA
Exactly, you have no experience with being a mother. You're over forty years old. Even though the Saili are longer lived, I'm sure most don't have more children at our age. I'm here to help you.
NIKKLO
I love you so much, Cheri. I need you more than ever.
CHERNA
I'm here and I promise I never want to be enraged at you again.
NIKKLO
I need more sleep before this ship wakes again and the inhabitants want to pull me a dozen ways at the same time.
Cherna shifted to lay beside him again.
He rolled onto his side and returned to sleep.
INT. MEDICAL SUITE, EURYANASSA
Later, Nikklo walked into the medical suite with Linea cradled in his arms.
Danu looked up from the chart in his hands.
DANU
Hey, what's bothering you, brother? Is Lin alright?
NIKKLO
Can I have Jeremy help me with Lini? I have a sinking feeling I want supported by Jerry's special talent.
DANU
She still hasn't cried. Is that why you're here?
NIKKLO
Houk, not even a squeak.
DANU
Jere's coming.
Jeremy entered.
JEREMY
I'm here, Dad. Follow me.
Nikklo followed the slightly taller golden Saili man with sky blue hair into an examination room. Nikklo settled Linea on the table and laid his hands beside the squirming infant.
Danu stopped beside Nikklo to watch.
Jeremy stood on the opposite side and held his hands above her upper chest. He concentrated for a minute.
JEREMY
She has vocal folds so I would think she could speak. She may have vagus nerve problems. We can schedule her for a Laryngeal electromyography to check how the nerves respond to input.
NIKKLO
Does it hurt?
JEREMY
She won't even feel it. Has she had any trouble swallowing? Has she choked on her milk or been unusually spitty? Have you seen tears? Has her body gone into spasms like she's weeping quietly?
NIKKLO
Nui, she hasn't had feeding problems and she hasn't spit up more than usual for babies. I have seen tears and spasms but she makes no sound.
DANU
We really don't know what would be normal since this is a unique situation, Nik. Linea is the first Tauian/Saili infant to exist. Maybe you could ask Tarek since he's a Tauian geneticist and the Great Forger who accelerated the evolution of the Saili race.
Nikklo turned away and closed his eyes tightly to drive the tears back.
Danu put his arm around Nikklo's shoulders.
DANU
Hey, everything will be alright.
NIKKLO
Are you going to tell me next it's just postpartum mood swings?
DANU
Again, I'm out of my expertise here but it's a reasonable explanation since you did get pregnant with Linea before Cherna became the surrogate mother and carried her for you until her birth. Have you been crying more often?
Nikklo dried his eyes.
NIKKLO
I can't seem to control my emotions anymore.
DANU
Have you talked to Wanakaya about your mood swings? She could put you on mood stabilizers for a while until your body chemistry balances out.
NIKKLO
Just give me a goddamn hysterectomy! Rip all the goddamned female parts from my body! Maybe I'll feel better!
Jeremy stepped back a few steps.
Danu turned Nikklo around and bent down to look into Nikklo's eyes.
DANU
I understand your realizing you're a gender mosaic had to be traumatic. Removing those parts won't change who you are. You're still my childhood friend and I care about what you're going through.
Jeremy carefully picked up Linea and cradled her in his arms.
JEREMY
This little girl is still my sister-in-law. She needs help but so do you. We'll pull together and help both of you as your family.
DANU
You better believe we will. Now, I hate to tell you this but my wife is stomping her way to this room to be that bossy sister of yours and I don't dare get in the way or I might sleep with the couch tonight. We love you, Nikklosannaro. Remember that. We'll get you through this like we got you through every thing else.
Varanani swept into the room and looked at Nikklo. She simply waved a hand toward the door.
Nikklo sighed and walked over to her.
Varanani took Linea from Jeremy.
VARANANI
Thank you both. I'll take it from here. Now, Wanakaya has been alerted and she's waiting for us. Let's go.
They walked from the examination room together.
VARANANI
You shouldn't have allowed your feelings to get this bad, Sanna. You scared Jeremy.
NIKKLO
I'm sorry. I'm so confused, Varanani. I look at my body and it looks like a man but I'm a mother of a baby who won't vocalize. I want everything to be alright but I just can't seem to find a way to make me feel better about everything that's changed for me.
VARANANI
That's why Wanakaya needs to step in to help you. Why do you always have to handle everything by your self? You have to trust that we'll take care of you!
Nikklo felt the tears roll down his face.
NIKKLO
I've tried to talk to Cheri! She didn't know how to handle it either. Linea doesn't talk telepathically to Cheri! She says Cheri doesn't hear her so she calls to me to help her at night. I'm not sleeping well. This crew wants my attention every minute of the work hours.
VARANANI
You're exhausted because you're no longer used to taking care of an infant all the time and you've never been the commander of a ship before.
NIKKLO
Cheri mostly took care of Andu and Ambri when they were young and I helped out. Now I'm the primary mother and I'm being run ragged! I didn't understand how hard it was for Cheri to have to wake up every two hours to feed babies. I slept through it! I am such a dick, you know that?
VARANANI
You didn't understand and you were taking the traditional male role at the time. Cheri considered it normal because Ku'an wasn't very involved with her and Di'ok when they were infants either. This is a huge change for you. I know this is hard for you, but be patient with yourself.
NIKKLO
Is patience a common trait in a sentient pulsar?
VARANANI
You're the first one I've met but I can imagine patience isn't an easy thing for a pulsar because pulsars spin rapidly and are under an extreme amount of pressure. I didn't even know pulsars could be sentient until the Tauians showed up and changed everything.
They walked through a door into a small office with several overstuffed chairs and one chair was already taken by a golden woman with magenta hair.
WANAKAYA
Thank you for accompanying Nikklo, Dr. Damirateyak.
VARANANI
You're welcome. I'll take care of Linea while Nikky talks to you.
Varanani walked out and the door swept closed.
Nikklo sighed and looked at Wanakaya.
NIKKLO
So since I'm in custody, what now?
Wanakaya stood up, walked to a cabinet and unlocked it. She pulled out a bottle of medicine.
WANAKAYA
I would like to try you on mood stabilizers. You must warn me immediately if you have any adverse reactions. With your unique body chemistry, anything can happen but we must help your moods become more stable.
Nikklo dropped into a chair.
NIKKLO
It would be better if Linea would just talk to Cherna!
WANAKAYA
She was prematurely birthed in a traumatic incident. She has to be effected, Nikklo.
NIKKLO
She is. She told me, Daddy hurt Mommy so I call you Mommy cause Daddy hurt Mommy.
WANAKAYA
She knows Ezron hurt you. Can you see how she is indirectly trying to ask you to feel better?
NIKKLO
For one thing, a baby that young who can send telepathically in full sentences is odd enough, but it's going to confuse people for her to call me Mommy because I'm a man! If she called me Daddy, it would ease confusion.
WANAKAYA
She is a Tauian so what an infant does naturally as a crystalloid is new territory, but she's only a few months old. Her cognitive abilities are undeveloped.
NIKKLO
That's the rough part. Aw, hell, I love her so much but the changes I've faced since the damned Tauians grounded the Kumani has me so confused. My life as Sannaro feels like blurred memories but I miss that simple life so much.
WANAKAYA
You're still Sannaro, aren't you?
NIKKLO
My face is the same but I found out it was Nikklo's face first. I can still turn myself into a Saili and I still feel the same way I did as Sannaro but it's weird when I change to my crystal form and surf on light waves. I'm always worried about becoming too aggravated because I know I can destabilize space with one thought.
WANAKAYA
What thought makes you destabilize space?
NIKKLO
I will the atomic structure of anything I choose to invert all positive polarity to negative and its molecules fall apart. I can destroy anything and I hate it.
WANAKAYA
So don't choose to destroy anything.
NIKKLO
Too late. I destroyed Tauia, a prism ship, a region of space near Cashanaya and exploded Ezron. My hands are dirty and I can't forget what I did.
WANAKAYA
Have you tried anything to work through your feelings?
NIKKLO
I wrote a poem. Toko and I are making it into a song. Toko wants me to sing it.
WANAKAYA
Do you find this expression improves your mood?
NIKKLO
I think so. Toko wants me to howl during the song. I'm kind of anxious about doing it, though.
WANAKAYA
Why?
NIKKLO
I tend to be a bit quiet. People may think it's out of character for me to show that much emotion.
WANAKAYA
Many people say you are emotionally expressive. Why do you think they'll be shocked if you howl in a song?
NIKKLO
I don't like to shout.
WANAKAYA
Your mind flashed an image of your father.
NIKKLO
My father shouted at my mother regularly.
WANAKAYA
So your concern about howling in a song relates to the PTSD you have from what happened on Regalis?
NIKKLO
I guess.
WANAKAYA
But your emotions are running high right now. Letting it out may help you with your feelings. I'll get some water for you and I would like for you to take your first dose in my office. I'll observe you for a while to see how you react to the medicine.
Nikklo sprawled deeper into the chair and sighed.
NIKKLO
I guess I'm not getting out of this after the scene I caused. I'll wait here.
WANAKAYA
Please do wait. I know you can disappear and avoid being found but I would really like for you to try this medicine.
Wanakaya stepped from the office.
END ACT 2
ACT 3
After a few minutes, Wanakaya returned to her office with a glass of water. She held out the pills and the glass to Nikklo.
Nikklo downed the pills and the water. He sat the empty glass on the table beside him.
NIKKLO
Andoku says I have the heart of an artist yet I'm a warrior. Hell, is that a mismatch. I'm all fucked up inside, biologically and emotionally. My daughter Ambrika looks older than I do. Some people think it's not possible that I'm her father.
WANAKAYA
Cherna doesn't mind that you look so youthful.
NIKKLO
I'm lucky about that. Sad thing is that she looks older than me now. Some people think she robbed the cradle but I was born before she was. I'll never look my age because I actually quit growing at seventeen since I was put through cryogenic freezing with my arms and legs cut off me until I could be healed.
WANAKAYA
You truly have a sad past, Nikklo.
Nikklo laid back and stared at the ceiling.
NIKKLO
I laid dormant for a few hundred years before I was reborn as Sannaro.
Wanakaya looked at the ceiling.
WANAKAYA
Are you looking at anything in particular?
NIKKLO
The ceiling looks a bit bumpy like a rivet pattern. It's a bit interesting though I don't know why I'm staring at it.
WANAKAYA
Is your sight blurred?
NIKKLO
Nope, clear as it always is with some vision impairment.
WANAKAYA
You have impaired vision?
NIKKLO
Yep, I compensate with telepathy. I don't tell many people about it. Zhad knew and Danu knows but that's about it. A laser flash burned my eyes when I was seven. Then Kuro flash burned my eyes again when I was twenty-eight. I see with a combination of sight and telepathy.
WANAKAYA
I did not know that.
NIKKLO
That's why when I was stuck on Alpha Centauri Seven with a sash tied around my eyes, I could still see enough to fight Hadeon. I didn't know at the time that I was using telepathy to compensate so it was quite a surprise.
WANAKAYA
Have you thought about just accepting vision correction so you don't have to work so hard to see? You could have contact lenses made to correct your vision.
NIKKLO
Varanani just told me to stop handling everything by myself and allow my family to help me take care of myself.
WANAKAYA
Your sister cares deeply about you. She missed you terribly the ten years she didn't know you had survived the fire.
NIKKLO
I missed her, too. I thought she could be too bossy but I always appreciated her protectiveness. She's five years older than Sannaro so she couldn't stick to my side all the time.
WANAKAYA
It's interesting how you have to clarify which life you're talking about.
NIKKLO
Considering that I have lived two very different lives, it is necessary to explain what life I'm referring to. If I just said Phyllis and George were my foster parents, you'd say, I thought your foster parents were Zhad and Adara. You would be right because Zhad and Adara were Sannaro's foster parents but Phyllis and George were Nikklo's foster parents before Tarek found Nikklo again and we were forced back to Tauia. See the confusion? I even confuse myself! Two very different lives lived by one highly compressed star sealed in a crystal globe and tucked into a articulated crystal shell. It's rachi.
WANAKAYA
It's who you are.
NIKKLO
Yeah. I had a dream last night before Lin woke me for a feeding.
WANAKAYA
Would you like to talk about it?
NIKKLO
It was the last day I thought I was human. Two Tauians kidnapped me from my bedroom and took me to the crash site of my parent's prism ship. I saw my dead Mother, brother and sister. Tarek showed up and helped me escape them. I reversed their prism ship into the ground then Tarek phased us out before it hit the ground. That was the first time I remember meeting Tarek. He taught me how to light phase during that year before the next team returned to force us back to Tauia.
WANAKAYA
That had to be an alarming dream.
NIKKLO
Since I have retrieved all my memories, I think that's just as uncomfortable to remember as the Regalis Fire.
WANAKAYA
When Sannaro was burned and kidnapped by the Astrisi.
NIKKLO
Houk.
WANAKAYA
Are you beginning to feel calmer?
NIKKLO
I guess I am. I don't get to rest a lot anymore between the nightmares and feeding Linea.
WANAKAYA
Then it's alright to rest here. You seem to be doing all right with the medicine. I would like for you to return to me in three days for a followup and we can talk again. I think you need to give a voice to your confusion about your self-identity while your trying to sort out who you are now.
Nikklo surged off the chair to hover off the floor.
WANAKAYA
Nikklo?
NIKKLO
I sense a threat. I have to leave. I'll come back in three days.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Ambri, scramble Vizha'i. Vara, keep Linea for me? We're being attacked.
Varanani (PSI V.O.).
She's doing fine. I'll take care of her until the threat is over.
TAUIAN NIKKLO PHASING VISUAL
SAILI NIKKLO
INT. BRIDGE, EURYANASSA - CONTINUOUS
MARC
We just got confirmation on the scope. Ambri's launching Vizha'i. So who is it?
NIKKLO
Not sure, although it's usually a safe bet that it's pirates.
SAILI ARCAS
Nik, come look at this.
Nikklo walked over to the helm and looked over his old friend's shoulder.
NIKKLO
How is your new body doing?
ARCAS
Odd that Tarek let me be a shape shifter able to go from Saili to Razorwing, but I'm okay. I'm glad I have hands again, though. Look at this.
Arcas pointed to a small screen on his helm board.
Nikklo looked closely at an odd shimmer that distorted the star scape.
NIKKLO
That is odd. It's almost like a -
Nikklo's form blurred then disappeared.
MARC
Damn it, Nik, where did you go? He wasn't concentrating like he usually does before he phases. I have a goddamned bad feeling about this.
ARCAS
It looked like he phased.
MARC
I don't think he phased voluntarily, though. Arc, did you feel the tingling you get when you're around Nik about to use his powers?
ARCAS
No, tingling. He just disappeared.
MARC
Damn, it screams Tauian kidnapping. Di'ok, call Tarek and tell him Nik's disappeared.
Di'ok turned around and worked his communications board to send the message.
AMBRIKA (PSI V.O.).
Dad's missing?
MARC
Just concentrate on the battle, Ambri. I'll call on your Grandfather to find your Dad.
INT. UNKNOWN SPACESHIP
Nikklo opened his eyes and saw dazzling light around him. He sat up and shook his head.
He stood up and looked around.
Beyond the dazzling light was dull nondescript walls with strange panels raised from the wall.
He approached the light, held his hand up and merged his hand into the light. He felt resistance.
He reached out to the light to grab it. He flew in dizzying circles.
He released the light and fell heavily to the floor. He closed his eyes and willed his vision to steady again.
Once he regained his balance, he opened his eyes and stood up.
He hugged his chilled chest and looked down. He was still clothed in his black leggings with a cobalt blue muscle shirt, black command sash with the symbol of 3 clustered polyhedron crystals upward and 3 clusters downward embroidered on the tails and black knee boots but his arms had turned a pale yellow-gold. The room felt as cold as space.
He willed himself into his crystalloid form to prevent further heat loss.
The light around him danced with increased energy.
He gasped and went into spasmodic paralysis. He closed his eyes to control the panic that swelled in him.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Tarek, help me!
TAREK (PSI V.O.).
What's wrong, Nikky?
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
I'm stuck in a closed current light prison that's generating an electrical field! Ugh, it hurts! I can't move! I can't escape!
TAREK (PSI V.O.).
Marc just called me to tell me you disappeared. I'm looking for you. Hang in there.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
The battle, is it over?
TAREK (PSI V.O.)
Ambri's forces beat them back. They're standing down.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Good, please hurry. I feel like my muscles are screaming, if I had muscles.
TAREK (PSI V.O.).
You do have tendons attached to your exoskeleton and they are hurting. I'm searching for you. Damn, you're the tracker, not me.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Use Arcas. He knows how to home in on me.
TAREK (PSI V.O.).
Good idea.
Nikklo fought the spasms to sit on the floor. He balled up tightly with his arms around his legs and his head resting on his knees.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Let me go or I will destroy you!
Selik entered through a door that wasn't noticeable before.
SELIK
Stop whining, Nikklosannaro.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Oh great, another ADF soldier turned pirate. Seems like a popular career change for you guys.
SELIK
I can say the same for Lieutenant Marcayo Daniels, your first officer, wouldn't you say?
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Astrisi are independent shippers, not thieves and murderers!
SELIK
For many years, Humans were saying we should cast out the survivors of Astris because they were uncontrollable and dangerous. You seduced their feeble minds with trinkets and baubles to let you sail between the colonies. Now that you Tauians have revealed yourselves hiding among the Astrisi and Saili, I say the time is now for us Humans to cast you dangerous aliens out.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
How did you learn how to contain a Tauian?
SELIK
Wouldn't you like to know?
A pop sounded and RAZORWING ARCAS swooped down from the air with his rainbow wings taunt.
Selik pulled a metal panel off the wall and raised it over his head.
Arcas' wings sparked as they screeched across the metal.
The shield fell to the floor in two.
Selik ran through the hatch and the door swept closed behind him.
Razorwing Arcas shimmered and dropped to the floor as SAILI ARCAS. He ran toward the door.
Tarek went to the control pad on the wall.
TAREK
Arcas, wait. Guard me while I turn off this force field.
Saili Arcas stopped and watched.
SAILI ARCAS
Wow, that looks painful, Nik.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
It is painful!
Several minutes more and Tarek was still studying the board.
TAUIAN NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Would you hurry? I'm half faint here and Selik could come back with reinforcements!
TAREK
I'm getting it. One more minute. This is a mish-mash of different technologies rigged together so it's very confusing.
Nikklo shuddered and huddled more into himself.
Tarek poked at the buttons on the console.
The electricity stopped flying through the air.
Nikklo jumped to his feet and did a frantic dance to ease his tortured nerves.
The shimmering barrier finally dropped.
Tarek phased to Nikklo and grabbed him around the chest.
Arcas swooped down and landed on Tarek's shoulder just as Tarek astral phased them away.
Several minutes later, Nikklo's vision cleared and he was at the nurses station of the medical suite on his ship. He tried to stand but his legs buckled under him.
Tarek caught him and stood him up again.
TAREK
Change forms so your doctors can treat you, Nikky.
SAILI NIKKLO
Nikklo shifted forms and screamed as he exchanged his hard shell for his soft Saili body.
Tarek swept Nikklo into his arms and followed Danu to a treatment room.
He huddled in his father's arms and shivered uncontrollably.
Tarek stopped beside an examination table and lowered Nikklo to lay down.
Nikklo curled up on the table and desperately held onto his shaking legs so he wouldn't fall to the floor.
Danu rushed to prepare an injection.
DANU
We have to calm his nerves now or he'll crash.
Jeremy stopped beside him and laid his hand on Nikklo's shoulder.
JEREMY
I'll absorb some of the electrical energy and disperse it.
NIKKLO
Fa'arata, Jerry.
JEREMY
Danu will give you the injection soon, Dad.
TAREK
I'm going to step out and settle your family. They're pacing holes in the deck plates.
Nikklo nodded the best he could.
Tarek left.
RAZORWING ARCAS landed before him.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
You don't have to guard me, Arc.
RAZORWING ARCAS (PSI V.O.).
To hell I don't! You got kidnapped at my side on the bridge!
Danu rubbed Nikklo's arm with a numbing agent and pushed the injector into his muscle.
NIKKLO
Ugh, that hurts!
DANU
You'll feel better soon.
Nikklo felt his muscles stop shivering and he weakly laid flat on the table.
DANU
Good, now I can check you for injuries.
NIKKLO
I wasn't hit, just -
DANU
Electrocuted?
NIKKLO
Houk, electrocuted with constant electrical energy just enough to cause paralysis.
DANU
It may be to your advantage that you interact with light all the time but I'm sure your shell is supposed to keep the energy outside you, not inside you.
NIKKLO
It was strange, Danu, when I was in Saili form, the room wasn't electrified. When I changed to Tauian form, it electrified.
DANU
Why did you change forms?
NIKKLO
It was really cold in there so I changed to preserve body heat.
DANU
So the trap was rigged to make you change form.
NIKKLO
It seems so.
JEREMY
Your captor knew Saili were intolerant to cold.
NIKKLO
I'm not surprised since it was Marc's old ADF captain who sold us out to Hadeon. Selik told me he was telling the Human population to boycott the Astrisi and Saili for harboring Tauians.
DANU
So he rigged the trap to force you to show you are Tauian so he could have his proof.
Marc entered.
MARC
Aw, hell, Selik is a trusted ADF officer. Those damned idiots who call themselves the pure Humans are going to eat his words up and vomit them out to anyone willing to listen!
NIKKLO
Houk, we've got to get word out to the Astrisi fleet.
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
Di'ok, I need an urgent message sent to all twelve Astrisi Commanders. Captain Selik of the ADF is spreading anti-Astrisi messages urging pure Humans to boycott Astrisi business because Selik has been given undeniable proof that the Astrisi and Saili are harboring dangerous Tauians. Be cautious with Human interaction. The Warship Euryanassa is on high alert and will come to the aide of any Astrisi ship attacked by anti-Astrisi forces.
DI'OK (PSI V.O.).
Please tell me you're joking?!
NIKKLO (PSI V.O.).
I wish I was joking, brother. Send this message out with urgent priority.
DI'OK (PSI V.O.).
I'm sending it. It's off.
NIKKLO
Are all of Ambri's fighters back on board?
MARC
Houk. Nik, since things have gotten urgent, are we going to be able to order that fuel?
NIKKLO
Crap, we'll have to just put the order in and hope my old colony isn't a part of the anti-Astrisi movement. Considering how the Kumani burned Bristol, it wouldn't be a surprise they'll turn us away.
Jeremy had his hands hovering over Nikklo's chest for a minute.
JEREMY
I'm not sensing a lot of neural damage thanks to his astral phasing ability that prevented a lot of harm. He does need some serious rest, though.
DANU
I'll continue with the neural suppressors until his nerves are recovered.
NIKKLO
How are we going to get fuel if the seranimite mining colonies turn us away?
DANU
You can worry about that after you recover from this electrocution.
Nikklo withered.
MARC
Di'ok and I'll work on that while you sleep.
Tarek stood at the door.
TAREK
Even you can only take so much abuse before you have to recover. As our last resort, we can check the sympathetic colonies to see if anyone has stored enough fuel to power the Euryanassa. I need to get back to Sailia to fill in the Tsiakuba about this crisis.
DANU
And you are going to sleep for a few hours.
NIKKLO
Okay, I need to sleep, but when this shit fully hits, I have to do my job.
DANU
I'll be sure you're ready to do your job when the shit hits. Now, everyone out.
Everyone shuffled to the door until it was just him and Danu.
DANU
I heard you had a good session with Wanakaya before this attack happened. She gave me the meds since you took off before she could hand them to you. I'll monitor you on the meds while you're in my care. Get some sleep.
Nikklo settled in and closed his eyes. He did feel a heavy exhaustion from the electrocution so he quickly succumbed to sleep.
FADE OUT.
THE END.