Page 10 of Arakiba (Alien Legacy Brotherhood #3)

Chapter Nine

A rakiba? Aah-raack-kee-bah? A-rack-kha-bah?

Ari rolled out the strange name around his tongue, trying it on for size. “Arakiba.” He closed his eyes and let the sound float in the air. No matter how many times he said it, it didn’t feel right. He was Ari.

“Do you want me to call you that now?”

He opened his eyes and focused on Morgan.

She tilted her head and gave him a steady stare with one eyebrow lifted.

Her concern made him smile.

“You can always call him A-Man, like I do,” JR12 helpfully stated from Ari’s shoulder.

Time to nip that annoying suggestion in the bud right now. “No, I like it when you call me Ari.” He grinned at her and ignored the bot. “Less of a mouthful.”

She frowned. “Okay… Ari .”

The sweet sound of her voice with the slight rolling of the “r” in his name made him itchy. In a good way.

“So, Terra Twins,” JR12 didn’t move from his perch on Ari’s shoulder. Even though the bot didn’t weigh a damn thing, having that mechanical voice right in his ear took some getting used to. “Now that we’ve cleared up this muy importante agenda… A-Man ,“ the bot’s slight snicker made Ari’s eye twitch. “Why don’t you clue me in on what’s going on here?”

“Well, first off, what did you mean by saying he blew up Elemi ?“ Morgan insisted. She thumbed over her shoulder at As’ni. Before the bot answered, she put up her hands. “Hang on. I’d better hook you up to my multicorder first. That way you’ll get up-to-date on what’s going on here and give us access to your stored memory bank.” She pulled up her handheld and typed something in it. “Jump to the table and I’ll sync you to it.”

The back panels on JR12‘s silver-gold body parted and iridescent wings flickered out. He buzzed to land on the table and sat on his butt, his back legs fanned out. “Ready.”

“Okay, here we go.” Morgan placed the multicorder next to the spider bot. “After this is done, maybe you can advise us the best way to help Elemi heal so she can get us out of here.“ Pushing on the top of the screen, she stepped back.

The droid became still, nary a twitch from his legs or eyes. A few seconds passed before his multifaceted eyes reflected different colors before settling on the shiny black orbs they were before. “Well, as the great George Washington said, ‘The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.’ And that’s what we got here, boys and girls. An impossible task and nothing to work with.“ JR12 eyed Ari. “Unless we can get you to use your powers for good once again.”

“Huh?” Ari scratched his jaw. “What do you mean?”

“Well, slap me sideways and call me Sally! So, it’s true, then? You don’t remember anything?” JR12‘s head tilted like an inquisitive hound dog’s.

Ari closed his eyes to capture the fleeting images that refused to stay. The harder he strained to grab them, the more elusive they became. His mind remained a fog—a dense barrier that refused to yield any details of his past. Frustration rose like an uncontrollable tide and bubbled inside him, leaving an acidic aftertaste. He shook his head.

“Dang, A-Man. Nothing? You sure?”

With a growl, Ari opened his eyes. “Of course I’m sure. I can’t remember a fruking thing!“ He slammed his fist on the workstation tabletop.

The air rippled with energy, causing loose objects to vibrate and lift off the floor.

With a selfish grin, he welcomed the chaos, feeling a twisted sort of satisfaction as the surroundings mirrored the turmoil in his mind.

The sound of As’ni‘s laughter and clapping hands snapped him out of his brief outburst and brought everything down. His head spun as his mouth soured. Rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palms, he then dropped his arms to his side. Acting like a child wasn’t helpful. No matter what he did, nothing filled the void of forgotten memories. Emptiness gnawed a burning pit in his gut. He was more lost and alone than ever before.

“You okay?”

Morgan’s soft whisper was a balm to his bruised soul. She put her hand on his arm and gave him a gentle squeeze.

He placed his hand over hers, grasping it like a lifeline.

“Don’t know what you’re so upset about, A-Man.” JR12 twirled his golden foreleg around the room. The small bot shrugged, making his upper abdomen shake his four front legs. “Looks like you still got your powers and all.”

“Yeah, well, it’d be nice if I could figure out how to use them.” Ari couldn’t help the bitter tone in his voice. What was the good of having any so-called powers if he couldn’t remember how to use them?

“Maybe you should go up against the purple mental giant over there again,” JR12 offered. “Who knows? Doing the same thing might reboot your brain.”

Morgan’s pretty brows furrowed. “What does that mean, doing the same thing? What did they do?”

JR12 gave a mischievous chuckle. “Why don’t I show you?”

Ari stilled and studied the bot.

In the dimly lit room, the long shadows made the gold and silver of JR12‘s body gleam with a metallic sheen. The small spider-like AI crawled to the center of the table, his legs clicking softly against the surface as he found a stable spot. A single lens on his body blinked to life, projecting a vivid holographic image, small enough for just him and Morgan to watch.

Ari glanced over his shoulder to make sure As’ni was still distracted by his toys.

The crystal man hummed happily as he swished the penlight over the spiral curls.

Looking back at JR12, dread curled in the pit of Ari’s stomach. Not that he’d regained any memories, but did he really want to know what made him lose them? His fists clenched at his sides, knuckles whitening as the scene unfolded.

In the projection, a vast, empty chamber appeared, the walls an ominous hue that seemed to swallow light.

Ari saw himself standing at the far end, his expression one of fierce concentration. He barely recognized his own face, the tension pulling the muscles taut, his eyes burning with an intensity he hadn’t felt since… ever.

As’ni loomed before him in the image. A maniacal twist on his features translated into crass determination that had now been replaced by his simple, childlike expression. The purple crystals that made up his body shimmered and reflected the flickering light of the chamber. Each movement the alien made sent ripples through his crystalline form, distorting his figure momentarily before it reformed into a thousand sharp-edged mirrors.

It took a moment for Ari to recognize the place as the inside of the ship Elemi .

The battle began without prelude, a silent war of psychic wills.

Ari watched himself raise a hand, his palm outstretched and his face twisted as if he summoned every ounce of his psionic strength. The surrounding air wavered and vibrated from an invisible energy, a force that Ari pushed against As’ni, trying to penetrate the alien’s crystalline defense.

But As’ni was relentless.

And Ari saw the struggle on his own face—how the veins on his temple pulsed, how the sweat beaded and dripped down his brow. Every effort he made seemed to falter against As’ni‘s sheer presence.

The crystal alien wasn’t just deflecting his attacks; he was feeding off them, growing stronger, his faceted body glowing with a sickening, ethereal light.

Ari’s breath hitched as he watched the moment he dreaded—the precise instant everything went wrong. In the hologram, his doppelg?nger’s stance wavered, his knees buckling slightly. A flash of panic crossed his eyes, something subtle but unmistakable.

As’ni seized that weakness, his crystalline fist slamming into the ground. The chamber shuddered, and the walls rippled like water.

Ari staggered, his psychic defenses crumbling.

A final surge from As’ni, and the scene froze—the last frame capturing Ari mid-fall, his eyes wide, a scream of agony caught in his throat. His body twisted as if every bone shattered at once, and then the image dissolved into static.

Ari exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. A tight iron band wrapped around his ribs made his chest tight. His heart pounded—each beat sending an icy burn through his veins. The image of his own broken form seared into his mind, echoing with the familiar-yet-fragmented memories of that battle.

He felt Morgan’s eyes on him, but he couldn’t meet her gaze. Shame, anger, fear—emotions hard to distinguish churned inside him, threatening to overwhelm the fragile calm he desperately tried to hold. The memory loss had spared him by wrapping him in blissful ignorance. But now… now the truth hit him like a punch to the gut, stripping him bare and leaving him exposed. He stood there, the weight of his failure crashing down, sharp and relentless. No more hiding, no more excuses—just the harsh reality that he hadn’t been enough.

Just an utter failure.

JR12 clicked softly, and the hologram faded, leaving behind a heavy silence. As the AI’s lens blinked off, he retreated a few steps, as if sensing Ari’s humiliation.

Ari’s fingers slowly loosened, the residual pain from clenching them so tight grounded him to the here and now. To gather his thoughts, he took in a deep breath and tried to make sense of the chaos clouding his mind. Yet the image of that final, failed moment clung to him, a ghost that refused to go away.

He couldn’t say anything. He turned around, his shoulders sagging as he slipped into the shadows on the far side of the chamber. He struggled to outrun the nightmare he’d just seen—one that shattered everything he thought he knew about himself.

Instead of finding himself alone, he discovered Morgan had followed close behind.

“Ari.”

He barely heard her soft voice.

“This is a good thing.”

Ari refused to look at her behind him. “Oh? And how’s that?” he croaked. “Now we know for sure what a total failure I was when I had my memories.” His laugh was hollow. “So what good am I when I can’t remember a damn thing?”

“As’ni here. As’ni help Ari!”

Ari spun around.

There was the purple alien he’d battled and lost to bouncing the coil in one hand and doing a little dance.

Standing next to him was the beautiful Morgan, holding JR12 in her upturned palm.

“Don’t you see?” Morgan stepped close. “The four of us now have a better chance at fixing your lost memories so we can repair Elemi and escape.”

“As the great Einstein said, ‘In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity ‘ .“ JR12 gave a quick, self-satisfied nod. “So, let’s stop dicking’ around and dive right in. Ooh whee! Just imagine the sensational story we’ll have to tell when it’s all said and done!”

Morgan’s heart ached for Ari. She hated seeing the defeat shadow his face, especially when his alluring lips pressed into a tight, unhappy line. It didn’t look like he was willing to dive into what they should do now. Honestly, she could relate. All her life, she’d felt like she didn’t measure up to her friends and family. Living in a world of powerful psychics had been tough when she wasn’t like them.

Especially after her parents died unexpectedly when she was sixteen.

The shield holding the Titans had wavered and cracked. Since they were part of the guardian elites, her grandfather called in her parents to join the team to contain the breach.

Morgan’s father, Kai, had strong telepathic shielding abilities that were crucial in containing and repelling any invasive psychic force.

Her mother, Lily, was a psionic amplifier who could increase Kai’s capabilities twofold. She’d also been a strong influencer, one who could control minds, making the Titan susceptible to containment.

Morgan’s breath caught as the memory of that fateful day flashed before her eyes—the dark, twisted tendrils of the psychic entity of a Titan that ripped through the city’s defenses, its glowing eyes as it fought burned into her soul. She could still hear the sharp crackle of energy in the air, feel the tremor beneath her feet as the icy ground shook with each pulse of its power. Her parents’ faces, etched with pain and fear, haunted her—her mother’s hand outstretched toward her, her father’s last, desperate glance as the entity’s relentless force engulfed them.

The world had crumbled over and around them, leaving nothing behind but the suffocating silence of their absence.

A warm hand on her shoulder made her jump.

“Hey, you okay?” Concern laced Ari’s smooth baritone.

Putting a hand over her racing heart, Morgan gave him a wan smile. “Yeah, sorry. Zoned out for a moment.” She threw her shoulders back. “So, what do you say we go back to the workstation and plan on what to tackle first?” She concentrated on making her smile wide and looked him in the eyes. “Especially the Talon of Ancients. We’ve got to hide that somewhere before the High Chieftain comes back.”

The tense brackets at the side of Ari’s mouth softened. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Grabbing the jewel-encrusted object, she called up the replicron and set it inside a drawer. Satisfied the artifact was as snug as possible, she demanded the machine disappear again.

“As’ni hungry.” The purple giant grumbled as he lumbered behind them. “Ari food?”

“Oh, hey!” Morgan snapped her fingers. “I did a little research to see what we have here for him to eat.” She pulled out a suitcase-shaped device from under the workstation. Something she’d created with a little help from the replicron. “It’s an electromagnetic device that draws unused power from the free-floating magnetic fields the ship emits. As’ni, sit here.” She pointed to the floor and placed the matte-silver device on the floor in front of him.

The soft, pulsing glow from the resonator reflected off his crystalline purple form.

The alien’s lavender eyes widened with curiosity, and his blocky fingers traced the glowing nodes on the surface with childlike fascination. “Pretty lights,” he murmured, tilting his head as if listening to the hum of the energy coming off the gadget.

“I promise, you’re going to love this, As’ni,” Morgan said gently, kneeling to meet his gaze. “Whenever you’re hungry, all you have to do is sit close to it and do this.” She tapped a stubby metal knob, and the device responded with a soft hum. Various energy lights on the surface glowed. “Feel the energy? It’s like the sun, but safer. Just let it wash over you.”

As’ni nodded, his hand hovered over it. “Food... As’ni. Safe... not hurt?”

Morgan smiled, making sure her voice remained calm and reassuring. “That’s right. It’s safe. You’re in control.” She watched As’ni inch closer.

As his body absorbed the energy, the once-dim crystals and mirrors on his body brightened. His eyes and mouth widened with wonder, and the usual blank confusion in his eyes melted away.

“Good, As’ni. Just like that.” She patted his hefty shoulder, surprised by the unexpected warmth radiating from him. “You okay now?”

As’ni‘s full smile showcased his chunky, lilac-colored teeth. “As’ni like!” He turned back to the resonator with his coil toy in one hand and introduced them to one other.

“He’s not going to OD on that thing, is he?” JR12 asked from his perch on Ari’s shoulder.

Morgan snorted. “Of course not. I made it so it would analyze the input As’ni got from it and turn off when it reaches an optimum level.”

“That’s amazing,” Ari praised. “Now if only we could solve Elemi’s problem that easily.”

“Just so you know—“ JR12‘s wings expanded, and he flew back to the tabletop. ”—I tried to communicate with your family back home, but the shields around the Nebula Viper are blocking me.“ His wings buzzed before sliding back into the exoskeleton covering his back. “So I guess we’re on our own.”

The pensive expression on Ari’s face made her step in. She’d make sure they’d look into Ari’s family later. Like when they were safely away in Elemi . “Now that you know what we’re up against”—she addressed the bot—“can you come up with a way for us to help speed Elemi’s healing process?”

“Well…” The spider-bot scratched the side of his round head. “If A-Man was up and running like normal, I’d tell him to use his psychic mojo and heal her. That would be the fastest way.”

Ari’s eyebrows rose. “I can do that?”

“That and more, big guy.” JR 12 humphed. “So, without the psychic amplification Ari could provide, we only have two other choices.” The bot sat on his hindquarters, allowing his back four legs to spread out. “One, regenerative bioengineering. This would aid in reweaving her organic tissue to regrow the cells she needs. Or two symbiotic nanobots. If we don’t have the time for the bioengineering, we can create nanobots to open communication with Elemi so we can determine the best way to help her. Of course, we’d have to be careful not to interfere with her primary consciousness functions.”

Well, damn. Morgan’s shoulders slumped. Neither one of those were good options. It’d take weeks, if not months, to get either of those things going. She fought the tears threatening to grow. She pursed her lips. Crying wouldn’t get things done.

“ Fruk me front and back,“ Ari cussed. “There’s got to be…”

A bright surge of light blazed, making her blind before complete darkness blanketed the room.

“Light gone!” As’ni‘s cry echoed in the large room. “Bad furries come back!”

“Goddess, I hope he’s wrong,” Ari stated as his steady arm wrapped around her shoulders.

For a moment, she let herself fall into this comforting embrace. With a resigned sigh, she pulled back. “I’m afraid he’s right.” She fumbled around the tabletop to find her multicorder. There. She grabbed it and turned the screen light on. In the hazy glow it provided, she looked into Ari’s steady gray eyes. “It’s another system shutdown that puts us in danger. I doubt Welozz will listen to anything we have to say to defend ourselves.”

“Danger? Ha, ha, ha! I laugh at danger!” JR12 exclaimed.

Morgan blinked as she aimed her multicorder at the spider-bot. “I can’t believe you just quoted Simba from The Lion King .”

JR12 gave a quick hop on his eight legs. “Okay, then. How ’bout these cookies? Danger is my middle name !”

Morgan couldn’t help it. Her lips quirked into a smirk. She loved the Austin Powers movies. “Well, considering what we’re up against, it seems a quote from the movie Jaws fits this situation better.”

“Oh yeah?” JR12‘s head cocked. “What’s that?”

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

The distant sound of Ozevroc claws clicking on the metal floor in the hallway made Morgan tense. With deft fingers, she called up the ship’s data to get a quick reading on why the lights went out since the ship’s computer wasn’t working either.

Let’s see… life support, engine functions, and gravity all within normal parameters. Oh wait. Navigation. Not only was it sucking in extra power for no good reason, it was making the ship go way off course. Instead of skirting around Federation Consortium space, the Ozevroc ship now headed straight for the heart of that galactic seat. A place full of patrols and bounty hunters eager to get their hands on any Ozevroc smugglers… dead or alive.

If that happened, she and her new friends had zero chance of survival.

“Someone bypassed navigation to make this ship head straight for Consortium space.” She narrowed her eyes on the handheld as she tried to find a way into the system so she could countermand the current orders. So far, the pathway eluded her.

“And that’s a bad thing?” Ari looked over her shoulder.

“Yeah, A-Man.” JR12 scuttled under the glow of her handheld, his metal legs clicking with purpose. “Our hosts have bounties on their head across every corner of Federation Consortium space. So, if we’re really lucky, we’ll get blasted to bits instead of getting hauled in and arrested.”

Morgan nodded. “That about sums it up.” Heat crept up her neck as she continued to search for a way to fix the problem before the high chieftain and his horde burst in. She glanced at the purple crystal man with his hands over his head, whimpering. His figure was on the outskirts of the glow of her handheld, but she saw enough to know his agitation might get out of hand.

“Quick.” She nudged Ari to look in As’ni‘s direction. “Take him to a dark corner so the Ozevroc doesn’t see him.”

Too late.

Before Ari could move, a group of Ozevroc rushed in. First the sharp smell of their unwashed bodies filled the room, then the clacking of their hard stomping claws echoed on the unforgiving floor. Each one carried pole-shaped weapons in their upper arms that had a glowing tip, giving them plenty of light to see from.

“Human. Today you die!”

And there he was, the high chieftain Welozz of the Ozevroc. Looked like he was in a fine tizzy. Angrier than she’d ever seen him before. His four beady eyes glowered in slashes of red while spittle flew out of his snout and exposed his yellowed sharp upper and lower incisors. Dang, he might even mean his greeting this time.

Putting her shoulders back, she gripped her handheld and faced him, eyes averted. “Not today, High Chief. Lots to fix.” Boy, that was true now more than ever. “Ship headed to forbidden void. Must stop.” She’d learned early on to never utter the words Federation Consortium. The Ozevroc refused to acknowledge anything beyond their little slice of existence. Especially since they blatantly robbed and smuggled whatever they could from the established galactic systems.

“You die! Then stop ship.”

Morgan blinked. Her brain scrambled to see if she’d heard him wrong. Nope, that’s what he said.

“Oh, great and mighty High Chieftain—“ She gave a slight bow, watching him out of the corner of her eye. ”—I cannot fix if dead.” She straightened. “If the ship goes into the forbidden void, all Ozevroc will perish from foul foes.”

With a shrill cry, Welozz swung his staff and lashed out at the smaller guard next to him, making him fly across the room. The smaller alien landed with a clanking thud into a pile of discarded metals.

“You fix! Now!” Welozz pointed his glowing stick in her face, its hot tip mere inches from her eyes.

One of his guards gripped her from behind and trapped her in a tight hold.

With a cry of rage, Ari jumped in front of her, pushing Welozz’s stick away as he shoved the Ozevroc on his ass.

Pandemonium followed.

The other Ozevroc swarmed Ari, slamming him to the floor and pinning him under their crushing weight.

JR12 jumped on her shoulder and shouted at Ari, waving one of his front legs like a tiny fist. “Yo, Ari! If you’re aiming for an exit plan, might I suggest up ? Cause getting flattened under all that rubble isn’t winning you any man-card awards!”

From the other side of the room, As’ni roared and barreled into the smaller aliens attacking Ari.

Furry bodies flew, most pinwheeling in the air with cries and hisses of pain and surprise.

“Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope, it’s As’ni launching fuzzballs into orbit!” JR12 whooped. “Woo-hoo… alien pinball!”

Instead of stopping JR12‘s asinine commentary, Morgan took advantage of the interruption to study her handheld again. She ran an anti-virus app, and it didn’t take long for her system to highlight the problem. A couple of clicks here and there. Almost got it…

“Come on, A-Man! I’ve seen you take down tougher piles than this!” JR12 switched his commentary back to Ari. “Staying buried under aliens isn’t a long-term plan, dude!”

There. The lights came back on. With a hard wave of her hand, she called up her ship’s computer screen. The clear monitor flashed on and displayed the system schematics she’d been working on. Just need to input a couple more…

Hard hands gripped her arm and yanked her away.

JR12 went flying.

She could only hope he had enough time to pull his wings out to keep himself from getting trampled in the melee.

“Hey!” She jerked her arm, but couldn’t free herself from the hard hold Grozzik had on her. He stopped, and she almost ran into him. “I’m not done yet!”

Grozzik jerked her close enough to his snout that his putrid breath made her eyes water.

“I don’t want you to fix it, human .“ His grip tightened and cut her circulation off.

Morgan’s eyes widened when he spoke in perfect English. She never imagined they could speak in any tongue but their own. “I don’t understand…”

He hauled her close enough to hear his insidious whisper. “I don’t care if you understand.” He tugged her back-and-forth. “The only thing I want you to do is die.”

He pulled his top paw back, holding the burning tip of his pole-weapon to drive it into her eyes.

With a gasp, she raised her hands and ducked.

Rage.

Unmitigated, blinding vehemence took over Ari.

His pulse thundered in his ears as the Ozevroc swarmed and covered him, their coarse fur scratching against his skin. Each one was powerful and relentless, pressing him down with their six arms, keeping him pinned to the cold metal floor. The acrid smell of burning circuits filled the air, mingled with the rancid scent of the aliens’ sweat. He could barely breathe under the weight of their bodies, and his ribs strained with every shallow gasp.

But the pain didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except Morgan, trapped by a brutal creature who aimed his glowing pole between her eyes. He had it pulled back as if ready to thrust the radiating sheen of his weapon into her. Her life hung by a thread, and there he was, powerless—a stark reminder of his own crushing failure. Buried beneath a relentless pile of smelly aliens who threatened to drown him in pain and blood as they punched and poked him with their sharp objects.

Thrashing beneath the pile, he strained to break free, but there were too many of them. Their hands—so many hands—grabbed at his arms, his legs, and his neck, dragging him down with inhuman strength. The suffocating press of bodies on top of him threatened to overtake him. In the chaos of the oppressive weight of the Ozevroc, Ari’s world narrowed to a singular, piercing sound: Morgan’s cry.

It cut through the din like a blade, sharp and clear. The sound of her despair sliced through the thick fog of rage and desperation clouding his mind. That cry, laced with pain or fear, shattered him. Her plea was an echoing expression of vulnerability he had never heard from her before. A shiver of dread rooted him to stillness for a heartbeat too long.

It was as if the universe came to a standstill and forced him to confront a terrifying reality of what mattered most.

Morgan.

Every one of his muscles tensed and shoved against the weight of the Ozevroc. He thrashed harder, frantic. The panic of losing Morgan ignited something primal and deadly within him. That she could suffer, hurt, just a few feet away as he lay here pinned and useless was unthinkable. A true nightmare come to life. Everything dimmed around him. His vision tunneled as his mind fixated on that cry, replaying it over and over. Unable to dislodge his snarling captors, he felt a knife of helplessness cut deep into his heart. He screamed in rage and anguish.

Then, just as fear threatened to paralyze Ari, something stirred deep within. His desperation morphed into something dark. Something strong and sinister. It went far beyond mere anger. It was an all-encompassing violence so intense it burned the fear away and left a singular, savage determination.

Save Morgan.

Then, a familiar sense of internal power struggled to awaken. The overwhelming urge to protect his woman, the woman he needed more than life itself, took over. She was the one person who defined who he was. He had to save her. Nothing else mattered.

That cry—Morgan’s cry—was the catalyst that ignited the storm, a raw spark that shattered every restraint and unleased the binding chaos inside him, waiting to erupt.

Something snapped.

His fury and love, fear and desperation, collided and merged, exploding into a torrent of energy that shattered the chains holding his memories—and his powers. Ari let out a primal roar, the sound more animal than human, as the dam within him burst with the psychic power he had long forgotten. With it came something ancient and powerful that was an intricate part of him. Freedom wrapped around him as memories, distant and yet achingly familiar, surfaced, thrusting him savagely back to a time when he had been more than just a man. More than just flesh and bone. A part of something greater than himself.

Time stood still as those memories rushed back in blinding detail.