The Attack (1.2)

The complex's evacuation was implemented with great speed and efficiency. The children left the common room to pack a few of their belongings. Then, organized into groups, they walked out into the bottom of the large crater that served as the complex's launch arena. Groups of guardians hurried about, preparing the oddly shaped ships for space flight, while the rest of the guardians loaded the ships and got the children on board.

As Rivi headed toward the ships, she watched the scene of ordered chaos and hesitated. Rivi turned back toward Ankh and Enuet.

"Ankh, how many ships are available?"

"Just these ten," Ankh answered flatly, already knowing where Rivi was going with her question.

"And their capacity?"

"Twenty," Ankh said with a slight sigh.

Rivi's eyes swept the launch crater to watch the hundreds of Aunantet and human children bustling around the ships.

"We're not all going, are we?" Rivi asked, her voice catching in her throat.

"No, dear," Ankh answered. "Just you children and about fifty pre-selected Aunantet. The rest of us will stay. This is our home planet. We'll be fine."

"Is something wrong?" a senior administrator asked, making his way over to Ankh.

"Not really," Ankh answered, turning back to Rivi. "Rivi, you need to get in your ship now, with the others. The sooner we get you away from here, the safer you will be."

Rivi nodded and then frowned, putting her hand to the side of her head as if she had a headache.

"Wait, Administrator!" Rivi exclaimed, worry etched across her face. "Does the main computer have the ability to shut down launches?"

"I think so, but—"

Rivi paled.

"What is wrong, Rivi?" Ankh asked.

"Call as many comp amalgamators as you can gather and meet me in the central computer room," Rivi said, then ran off toward the double doors in the side of the crater that led back into the complex.

Ignoring the shouts calling her back to the launch arena, Rivi ran down corridor after corridor and through a few door-walls until she reached the complex's main computer. Not far behind, Ankh and Enuet entered, followed by the administrator and another Aunantet.

"Rivinaig, I could only find Enast," the administrator replied as he came through the wall.

"What's going on?" Enast asked.

"We've got to work fast to keep the Aruk out of this system as long as possible so the ships can leave," Rivi said.

"Rivi, you've got to go get on your ship with the other children," Ankh exclaimed. "We'll take care of this."

"I can't leave, Ankh. If I go, the ships will not be able to leave. Enast may be a full-grown Aunantet, but she cannot keep the Aruk out on her own. If you try to do it manually, it will be too slow. I can already feel the Aruk hacking into the system."

Enast nodded in agreement, as she, too, began to feel the problem.

"All right. Go ahead," Ankh responded.

Rivi closed her eyes and allowed her mind to amalgamate with the computer, her thoughts merging into the flow of data and calculations. As soon as she sensed Enast's presence, Rivi began to coordinate her defensive attack with the adult Aunantet's. Together, they closed down and repaired every attempt the Aruk comp amalgamators made at shutting down the launches. Rivi could tell that she and Enast were outnumbered when it came to defending the complex's computer systems. There were quite a few comp amalgamators on the Aruk's side trying to break into the computer. Rivi strained her mind to keep ahead of each attempt to sabotage the launch.

The complex began to shake and rattle as the Aruk began their attack, making it even harder for Rivi to concentrate. She struggled mentally to maintain her concentration and stay united with the computer's systems. Without warning, Rivi felt Enast reluctantly break away from the computer system and retreat into the safety of her own mind in exhaustion. Rivi, even more determined not to give up, sat down slowly on the cool floor, careful not to break her connection.

Rivi tapped into the computer's launch system to see how much longer it would be until all of the children's ships were launched. The slow speed of the launch worried Rivi. She didn't want to let anyone down. The Aruk comp amalgamators were increasing their fight to hack into the system. Rivi shuddered as the amalgamators resorted to trying to attack her mind with computer viruses as well while she fought to protect the computer system.

Finally, a particularly large blast shook the complex, forcing Rivi to break her concentration and pull out of the computer. As she retreated to her own mind, Ankh put a steadying hand on her shoulder and pointed to the statistic screen hanging on the wall above her head.

"You did it! All of the ships have left. They are safe now," Ankh said, and Rivi smiled.

Rivi stood and rolled a cramp out of her neck. She shook hands with Enast, who still looked a bit exhausted.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay in longer to help. Sudden noises have always created problems with my concentration," Enast apologized.

"That's all right. Without your help, I wouldn't have had enough strength to hold out in the end," Rivi replied with a gratified smile.

"We have no way to get Rivinaig out of here, though. The Aruk will surely try and capture her again," the administrator said, looking at Ankh as though they both knew something more about the situation.

"What about the tesser cubes?" Ankh suggested.

"If you're implying hyper-dimensional travel, Planet Ata is designed to constantly change its position. It would be extremely difficult to reach using the tesser cubes. The children's ships have been programed to track the planet. We were worried the Aruk might try to reach it, so Ata also has safeguards against being reached with hyper-dimensional travel."

Another Aunantet entered the main computer room looking in quite a hurry. Even through his harried expression, Rivi recognized him as Ankh's comp amalgamator friend, Orlon.

"I think you all need to hear this," he said, laying his hands on the large computer console in front of them.

A mesh of static high and low-pitched sounds emanated from the computer's speakers and filled the group's ears. Rivi's eyes glassed over as she realized she had heard pieces of the aggravating noise before, a long time ago. Only then, it had been a bit different. She also realized that she had heard the same noise while amalgamating with the computer as she was trying to keep the Aruk from preventing the children's ships from launching. She thought it was just interference, not having the time to concentrate on it.

"Do you feel this is entirely necessary, Orlon? We don't have much time before the Aruk breach the complex," the Administrator queried.

"Perhaps it is," Rivi announced.

"You've heard it before?" Ankh asked.

"Yes, Ankh," Rivi answered as she turned to face Orlon standing by the wall in the small room. "It's from Earth?"

"Yes," Orlon answered sadly. "Any other day I would probably try to sort out this mess. However, with all of the Aruk comp amalgamators no doubt creating havoc in the computer system, it would be complicated and dangerous right now for any amalgamator to attempt to filter out that message from all of the interference."

Thinking for only a second, Rivi fixed her eyes on the computer and concentrated on the noise. Ankh turned to look at Rivi standing beside him. Then, his purple skin paled as he tried to say something to stop her. It was too late. Rivi's head slumped to her chest and she fell limp to the cold floor. Instantly, both Ankh and Enuet altered the atoms of the floor beneath Rivi to soften her fall and absorb the impact.

"What happened?" the administrator asked.

"Listen," Enast said in awe.

The interference cleared and the long awaited message from Earth finally came through.