The Awakening: Book 1 of the Evaran Chronicles

by Adair Hart

  Evaran walked over to a panel on the wall opposite Jay’s slab and opened it. He scanned the inside with his ring. “Here it is. The gel in this container should work on Jay.” He grabbed a round, medium-sized container the width of a dinner plate. A cord ran out the top and ended in a large, square, cloth-like material at the end. The edges of the cloth appeared to have some type of metallic lining.

  Dr. Snowden and Emily walked over to the slab.

  Evaran set the container beside Jay. “I need to put the cloth-like material around the wound and then secure it. Once secured, the container will pump the gel to the wounded area. As the body uses up the gel for regeneration, it will pull more. The piece connected to the limb will then slide down as the limb grows.”

  “That’s some powerful gel,” said Emily.

  Evaran nodded at Emily. “It is. Can you hold up Jay’s stump?”

  Emily gripped her hands in front of her and looked at Dr. Snowden with wide eyes.

  Dr. Snowden smiled. “I’ll do it.” He walked up to Jay’s shoulder area and lifted the arm stump. Evaran wrapped the cloth ending around it and then twisted a circular device that connected it to the cord. The cloth ending molded itself over the stump like wax sealing a bottle.

  “That should do it. It will take a long time to regenerate fully, but at least it will regenerate. I am going to take some of this gel for my own research,” said Evaran. He walked over to a large screen on the side of the room opposite the entrance. “Since we are here, there is some information about your abduction you may want to see. Come over here to this screen. It is showing a list of their rift jumps. They cataloged all of them.”

  Dr. Snowden and Emily walked around the slab to the large screen and stood next to Evaran. The krall walked slowly around the slab as well, never taking her eyes off the Daedrould. She looked at Emily while proceeding to the corner of the room near the screen. She lay down and closed her eyes after getting there. Dr. Snowden, Emily, and Evaran concentrated on the large screen.

  Evaran tapped at his ARI. “A shame. This room has a damaged holographic interface like the rest of the ship. I was hoping since this room was disconnected it might have been spared. At least we have the backup interface in the screen.”

  “That would’ve been cool to see,” said Emily.

  Dr. Snowden had really wanted to see the holographic interface. What would it look like and how would it act? He turned his attention back to the screen. He rubbed his chin as he scrutinized it. This interface was different from the others he had seen previously. While the others had a busy interface, this one was relatively calm. It had a simple circular menu wheel on the bottom left, with the rest of the screen displaying submenus on the bottom and the main content above it, in this case the rift jumps.

  Evaran pointed to the rift jumps on the screen. “You can see there were eighteen rifts based on this list.”

  “The last one should be Earth, right?” asked Emily.

  “Not quite. The last one was the one they took to get out here. Emily, press on the seventeenth rift in that list.”

  Emily walked up to the screen and pressed the seventeenth item, causing a muted click sound. The main content area switched to a detailed three-dimensional galactic map. A semitransparent gold line connected some of the planets. Each planet the gold line intersected had a number next to it.

  Emily glanced at Evaran. “Which one do I pick now? Hard to tell which one is Earth.”

  “Down here,” said Evaran, pointing to a planet near the end of the gold line. “They called your planet 17-31. The seventeenth rift jump and thirty-first planet they encountered. They didn’t bother with names. Even though this lab was disconnected, there is still some missing data. I am guessing some security system was trying to wipe it before it got shut down.”

  Emily pressed on Earth, causing a green outline to appear around it. It zoomed in, showing Earth at the top of the screen. The bottom of the screen had several large, orange, round menu options. After several moments of scanning the options, Emily pressed the specimens one. It lit up, and the other options disappeared. A horizontal list of square images of several humans appeared. Emily studied the images, then looked at Evaran. “Hey, there’s me and Uncle Albert!” She tilted her head. “There’s Sanjay and Jay, but I don’t know who those other two are.”

  Evaran grinned at Emily. “Yes, apparently you are specimen number three, and Dr. Snowden is specimen number four. Sanjay was specimen number five, and Jay was the sixth. Press on the first specimen.”

  Emily pressed on the first specimen. An image of a pale, slender human appeared on the left side of the screen. To the right were details and statistics. There was a comprehensive notes section that spanned the screen under the image and details.

  Dr. Snowden peered at the notes. They seemed to touch on various aspects of humanity that seemed familiar to him. It was the note on blood consumption that caught his eye. He reread the note, then touched the screen, causing the area under his touch to highlight. He turned toward Evaran. “It says here that this guy drank blood? Like a vampire or something?”

  “Good observation. Most vampire types are Daedrould. That is but one type of Daedrould. They missed many other types living on your planet,” said Evaran.

  Dr. Snowden snorted. “You’re serious? Vampires are real?”

  “A few hours ago, you learned aliens are real.”

  Dr. Snowden paused as if in thought. “Point taken, but this is on Earth. I’m sure if they existed, we would’ve known about it.”

  “There are a lot of aliens on your planet as well, but you do not know about them either.”

  Dr. Snowden wrinkled his eyebrows and paused to ponder Evaran’s words. It seemed that Earth was a lot more than it appeared to be. Aliens and Daedrould. What else was living there, and how could they remain undetected? Although he knew Evaran was probably telling the truth again, it was still difficult for him to accept it. It was a matter of putting aside what he thought he knew and opening up to the new reality unfolding before him.

  Emily pointed at a paragraph halfway down in the detailed notes. “Look here. It says they tried to pull this one, but the crew was killed. The retrieval ship crashed, but not before the data transmitted. I’m guessing the vampire had something to do with that?”

  “Most likely. Krotovore are not physically strong, so a vampire of the magnitude they picked up would have easily broken any restraints and disposed of them. However, being in an unfamiliar alien ship with nothing flying it would lead to a crashed ship,” said Evaran.

  “Wonder if it survived. Well, let’s look at the second specimen and see what surprise is in store for us. It better not be a killer clown or something,” said Dr. Snowden. He pressed the second specimen image. A burly man with muscles bulging through his flannel shirt replaced the vampire. The man had a thick beard, bushy eyebrows, and a look that indicated anger. Dr. Snowden peered at the notes and noticed that like with the vampire, the crew died and the ship was destroyed, but not before the data transmitted. It appeared this man turned into an animal when beamed up. “I guess this is a werewolf or something?”

  “Close. They did not have a word to describe what animal it was, other than it was big, furry, and strong. It is a bear shifter and comes from another realm. They are not Daedrould. They are known as Outsiders. They too have specific energy signatures. The Krotovore most likely abducted him in his human form due to his unusual readings,” said Evaran.

  “Another realm?” asked Dr. Snowden.

  “That is a bit complicated to explain. Suffice it to say, there are areas that exist outside the timelines but are still part of your universe. This bear shifter is from one of them. You may be more familiar with traditional Outsiders, like the Greek and Egyptian gods,” said Evaran.

  Dr. Snowden exhaled sharply. “You’re saying all the gods in history were Outsiders?”

  Evaran half grinned. “The ones I have met are. The last one I met was the Greek god Hermes. He has some
issues to work out.”

  Dr. Snowden snorted and shook his head. “So vampires, werebears, and now gods. How have they remained undetected for so long?”

  Evaran looked off to the side. “Humans have a bad tendency to attack what is different. Daedrould and Outsiders have been on your planet as long as humans, some even longer. They have integrated into human society, with the Outsiders doing so much more successfully than the Daedrould and others. They have their own governing bodies, politics, religions, and the like. The one thing they have in common is being able to remain undetected. However, as humanity advances technologically, this is becoming harder for them. Humanity purges them if detected, well, except for one class of Outsiders. This also applies to aliens and others.”

  “I can’t believe these things are walking around,” said Emily, gesturing toward the screen.

  Evaran walked over to another console on the side of the room. “You will notice them when we get back. They have emotions and goals in life just like you do. I am going to get some more data. Feel free to look around. When I am done, we will need to figure out something for docking bay three.”

  Dr. Snowden spent the next several minutes going over the interface a bit more, checking out some of the other stops and specimens that were picked up. There was a lot. He was surprised at how many humanoids they picked up from planets around Earth. Some were reptilian, some avian, but almost all were more or less derivations of a human. The oddest one was around the first planet. It looked like a meatball with two legs, four arms, and an extended neck. He wished he had more time to look through the system thoroughly.

  Emily had walked toward the room entrance and peeked her head out. The krall opened her eyes and looked around the room. She leapt to her feet and growled.

  Evaran paused and tilted his head. “Emily! Get away from the door!”

  Dr. Snowden snapped his head around. He saw Emily peering out the door to the right and heard a slight scuffling noise in the hallway. Two thick, green, veiny tentacles grabbed her by the ankles. The tentacles pulled her hard enough to knock her down. She screamed as she disappeared from view. He lurched forward toward the door but was knocked down by the krall as it barreled out of the room, growling.

  “Dr. Snowden, stay here!” said Evaran. He pulled his utility handle out and activated it. The two ends had extended into a staff by the time he was at the door.

  Dr. Snowden got back up and followed Evaran out of the room. No way in hell was he going to sit still with Emily in danger. Adrenaline stormed through him when he got into the hallway. He recognized the large walnut-shaped shell with random holes in it as the cepharus. It was about the size of a medium car. Much bigger than V’s projection had led him to believe, like the krall. Out of the holes popped massive green tentacles.

  Evaran rushed toward its left side while scanning it with his ring. The krall charged toward its right side, where Emily was being pulled to the shell. She bit through the two tentacles that had grabbed Emily. Emily slumped to the ground.

  Dr. Snowden moved to the wall nearest Emily and crept along it toward her. The cepharus had lost interest in her and focused on the krall. She was busy snapping at its tentacles. Evaran was busy hitting the tentacles with his staff. Every time his staff touched a tentacle, sparks shot out. He figured Evaran didn’t want to use that repulsion blast with the krall so close. The fact the cepharus could fight both Evaran and the krall at the same time was both amazing and terrifying. No wonder it ripped those two mercs apart with ease.

  After an excruciating minute, he reached Emily. He grabbed her by her armpits and pulled her back along the wall. He paused and put two fingers on her neck. She had a pulse. He continued to drag her toward the research lab doorway. A loud shriek from the krall turned his attention back to the fight.

  Severed tentacles lay around the cepharus. It had pulled the krall toward its shell at a great cost. It had wrapped her up in a way that her head was not in range of any other tentacles. The tentacles then constricted her. Evaran switched sides and began hitting the tentacles wrapped around her.

  Dr. Snowden had reached the door with Emily. He turned back to the fight. He was not sure if he was having residual blurriness from his adrenaline or if Evaran was just moving that fast.

  Evaran hit the tentacles with such speed and precision that the cepharus dropped the krall to counter his attack. He kicked the shell out a bit and pointed his staff at it. Boom! White concentric circles bathed the cepharus as it went tumbling down the hallway. Several of its tentacles got crushed on the way. It righted itself and began to come back. Boom! Evaran hit it again with another repulsion attack. The cepharus went tumbling again. Crack! Its shell had small fractures in it when it came to a stop farther down the hallway. The cepharus shrieked and fled.

  Evaran chased it until it was out of sight. When he came to the doorway leading to the other research labs, he placed his UIC on the console. He interacted with his ARI, and the door’s shields appeared. He grabbed his UIC and walked back over to where the krall was. “How is Emily?”

  Dr. Snowden grimaced and palmed the back of his head. “She’s alive, but not sure other than that. She isn’t conscious. Is the krall …”

  Evaran furrowed his eyebrows while scanning the krall with his ring. “She is barely alive. I shielded the door, so we should have no more surprises while we are here, and yes, I know I said that earlier.”

  Dr. Snowden had thought it, but didn’t say anything. “What’d it do to the krall and Emily?”

  Evaran dipped his head and ran his hands through his hair. “The tentacles have small barbs that inject a paralyzing toxin. Once it gets prey close to its shell, it constricts.” He scanned Emily with his ring. “Emily is just bruised, and her nanobots will heal her. Five more seconds and she would have been crushed against its shell.”

  Dr. Snowden’s chest tightened as he realized how close he had come to losing Emily again. It happened so fast. If they didn’t have Evaran, there is no way they would have survived an encounter with the cepharus.

  “As for the krall, the cepharus paralyzed her, but her natural regeneration is already healing her. She also has a broken front leg. It will take several days to heal. That is a problem, as we do not have a way to move her effectively. I can only carry Jay or her, and I cannot leave Jay here,” said Evaran.

  Dr. Snowden’s muscles tightened up, and his face turned red at Evaran’s implication to leave the krall. He gritted his teeth and bore a gaze through Evaran. No way was he going to leave without her, not after she had saved both Emily’s and his life. He could see why the Grimlyn used them. Their hearts were as big as their physical size. “We aren’t leaving her here to die! That’s not an option!”

  Evaran put his hand on his chin and studied Dr. Snowden. After a minute, he motioned for him to calm down. “Relax. We will wait until Emily is back up and able to move. I will check the lab to see if there is anything that might help.” Evaran nodded at Dr. Snowden and then interacted with his ARI.

  Dr. Snowden let out a deep breath as his muscles loosened up. He wondered if Evaran was testing him. Dr. Snowden picked up Emily and carried her over to the krall. He sat down next to her and cradled Emily. He brushed a lock of her hair out of her face and then scratched the krall behind the ears.

  One hour later, Emily regained consciousness. Evaran had been in and out of various research labs during that time and had also studied the krall’s collar. The krall had also regained consciousness, but only the laborious thumping of her tail gave any indication she was alive.

  “What … what happened?” asked Emily as she sat up and rubbed her temples.

  “You were attacked by a cepharus. It paralyzed you, which knocked you out. The krall bit the tentacles wrapped around your ankles before—” said Dr. Snowden, looking away. He removed his glasses with his right hand and rubbed his eyes with his left forearm, then cleared his throat. “Evaran and the krall fought it off, but she is barely alive with a broken leg.”

>   “No, no, no, no, no,” said Emily as she crawled over to the krall. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stroked the krall’s face. The krall rolled her eyes to look at Emily. Emily looked up at Evaran and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Is there anything we can do?”

  Evaran glanced at Dr. Snowden. “She is coming with us. Fortunately for her, she had not used her emergency regeneration stimulant. Every krall in service to the Grimlyn Empire has one. I activated it, but she will not be able to walk for a while. My ship can fully heal her when we get there. Are you able to walk, Emily?” asked Evaran.

  Emily hugged the krall and then motioned for Dr. Snowden to come over. With assistance from Dr. Snowden, she was able to stand up. “Yes, just … need to orientate myself, and I feel like crap.”

  “A side effect. It will pass. As for the krall, I found a hover slab in one of the rooms. The Krotovore used it to move specimens around. We may be able to use it for Jay and her,” said Evaran. He knelt in front of the krall and clasped both hands in front of him while shaking them. She moved her head to look at Evaran but laid it back down. Emily sat again and stroked her neck.

  “She knows that the stimulant has been activated. We still need to figure out what to do in docking bay three. For now, everyone relax. I will get some water from the replicator in the lab and then see about that hover slab,” said Evaran.

  Dr. Snowden sat back against the wall with a thump. The situation was bad, and he wanted off the ship. Everything on it seemed out to get them. He watched as Emily stroked the krall’s head and talked softly to her. At least they were okay, until the next monster or mercenary group showed up to murder them. He sighed as he hung his head.

  Evaran came back after a few moments with two cups and a bowl filled with water. He handed a cup to Dr. Snowden and then walked over to Emily and the krall. He handed the second cup to Emily and placed the bowl by the krall’s head. Emily took a sip out of her cup while the krall, able to move her head now, lapped from the bowl. Dr. Snowden sniffed the water. It had a strong chlorine smell to it. He scrunched his face and took a sip. It had no taste to it.