The Evaran Origin

by Adair Hart

“That sounds … interesting,” said Dr. Snowden. “At least there will be more options anyways.”

  Emily bobbed her head. “Yeah, I’d like to check those out, but I think we have another issue to attend to first.”

  “Right, right,” said Dr. Snowden. “I’m guessing the plan now is to board the ship, retrieve ourselves, reset the ship’s trajectory, turn on the main engines, then get off it, right?”

  “That is the plan,” said Evaran. “I expect that the Time Wardens will send a ship to investigate, but hopefully we can achieve our objectives and be gone by then. The rift is beginning to close. It appears the Kreagans decided not to fly into it.”

  “Thankfully for us. Okay. In that case, I’ll go get my survival suit,” said Dr. Snowden.

  “Perhaps you and Emily should stay on board. Levaran, V, Edev, and myself should be more than enough.”

  Emily shook her head. “No way. We’re going.”

  Evaran half smiled at Levaran. “As you can see, humans can be stubborn. Even when presented with the safer choice, they can sometimes choose the riskier one.”

  Levaran smiled. “I like it.”

  “Well, we won’t be a hindrance this time,” said Emily, raising her head a bit. “Besides, if it’s our duplicates in there, who better to talk to them?”

  Evaran chuckled. “You both are, of course. I would be remiss if I did not offer the chance for you to stay behind where it is safe, but I should know better.”

  “Yeah, you can’t leave half of Evaran and the gang behind—well, a quarter this time around,” said Dr. Snowden.

  “Thank you for including me in the gang,” said Edev as her lights glowed a bit brighter.

  Dr. Snowden chuckled. “No problem.”

  Evaran gestured at V. “Very well. Take us in.”

  “Acknowledged,” said V. He interacted with the console, then pivoted toward Edev. “In situations like this, it is appropriate to say, ‘Let us do this.’”

  Edev’s lights blinked for a moment. “Let’s do this!”

  Everyone chuckled as the Torvatta approached the Krotovore ship.

  Dr. Snowden surveyed the docking bay that the Torvatta had landed in. Memories of the alien abduction rushed through his mind. The last time he saw this room, at least in his universe, was when V led him and Emily along with the krall and Jay to the Torvatta.

  He was glad to have his survival suit on and helmet up, as the internal temperature was helping to cool him down. The inside of his helmet faceplate showed a view from Edev, who was flying around and scanning everything in sight. She acted like a kid in a candy store.

  Looking to his left, he saw that V was in body mode. Considering what they might face, that seemed like a good decision. Evaran and Levaran were standing next to V and examining their ARIs. They had each placed their UIC on a wall console. Dr. Snowden jumped when Emily touched his arm.

  “Thinking again?” asked Emily.

  “Yeah … I was … remembering is all. I know we’re in good company, but this place … it just …”

  “I know,” she said, tilting her head. “Just remember, this time we’re prepared.”

  He could see the look of defiance in her eyes through her transparent faceplate. With his lips drawn flat, he said, “Let’s hope it isn’t too different.”

  She nodded and they both joined the others.

  Evaran surveyed the group. “Per Edev’s and V’s scanning, this room and the adjacent room appear to be identical to the one from the other universe. That is a good sign. However, the power levels suggest that they are more intact.”

  Dr. Snowden furrowed his eyebrows. “What does that imply?”

  “A good question,” said Evaran. “The biggest concern is that some of the Krotovore AIs are active. Our UICs ran into several of them. That was not an issue before. The global security system appears to be partially active. This means that the engine room may be challenging. There are also some active Krotovore life signs.”

  Dr. Snowden jerked his head back. “I’d like to give them a piece of my mind.”

  “Perhaps you can, assuming they stay alive. One of the life signs is on the bridge.”

  “Should we split up?” asked Emily. “Maybe one group go to get ourselves, and the other go to the bridge?”

  Evaran shook his head. “I think we should all stick together. I understand your confidence. However, there is no need to take chances, and we have a buffer of time to work with.”

  Emily shrugged. “Okay.”

  Dr. Snowden narrowed his eyes. It almost seemed like Emily wanted to split up so there would be more of an opportunity to fight. He knew that the Krotovore ship was one of the more frequently simulated environments that she had practiced with in the holo room.

  She pivoted her head toward him.

  He dipped his chin as his eyes searched the ground.

  “We’ll be fine,” said Levaran. “With V in body mode, that gives us a walking shield.”

  V tilted his head.

  Levaran smiled. “A smart and handsome walking shield.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Levaran raised a finger. “However, we should still deploy our shields and have our weapons ready.” She pulled off her utility handle and lodged it into a groove on her right arm.

  Dr. Snowden stepped forward. “Interesting design. You’re not going to use a staff?”

  “I could, but this can still extend into a baton as needed, and I would mainly use it for stun, repulsion, grappling, or heat. I prefer to use shielded gauntlets.”

  “They’re awesome,” said Emily.

  “Huh,” said Dr. Snowden. He gestured at Evaran. “You going to get something like that?”

  Evaran shook his head. “We have different approaches to combat.”

  Dr. Snowden rubbed his chin.

  Levaran chuckled. “I mentioned this to Emily already, but plane forms are created with unique abilities, relative to a human.” She gestured at Evaran. “He has above-average strength and speed. I am physically much stronger, but not as fast. Some plane forms can manipulate a field or morphable orbs, while others have mental abilities. The abilities are influenced by the plane to some degree. I have been to many planes and seen a great variety of these.”

  “You said … orbs?” asked Emily.

  Levaran nodded. “It was an ability I had on a plane I visited long ago.” She gestured at Evaran.

  Evaran smiled. “I had just taken on a plane form and then knocked myself down because I did not know how to control them. They were powerful, though. I could make them into flattened discs that allowed me to fly or form shields.”

  “Wow,” said Emily. “It sounds like how the Wildborn are, the same energy but different abilities.”

  “There are similarities there, except our abilities are born from a mix of planar and cosmic energy, while theirs is wild energy,” said Levaran.

  Dr. Snowden shook his head while he chuckled.

  Evaran and Levaran tilted their heads at him.

  He shook a hand out. “I’m not laughing at you. It’s just that it … it dawned on me that your orb experience was one that occurred before coming to this plane. You both have the same memory of it and talk of it from a personal point of view.”

  “Of course,” said Evaran.

  Levaran smiled. “We still do have some differences that influence our approaches to situations, such as combat. The utility handle was built to manage all these different approaches. For me, it is mostly used for ranged combat. As I mentioned before, I prefer close-quarter combat with a morphable energy gauntlet.”

  V’s chest lit up. “I like close-quarter combat in body mode as well.”

  “Hopefully we can avoid combat,” said Dr. Snowden. “Not much hope there, but worth a shot.”

  Evaran gestured toward a hallway on the side. “We will try to avoid it if we can. Let us head to docking bay 3. The exit to this room is collapsed as it was in our universe.”

  Dr. Snowden nodded and followed Eva
ran and the others into the hallway. When they were about a third of the way, he examined the ground. The memory of one of Jerzan’s mercenaries being mutilated there sprung into his mind. He took a deep breath and continued on.

  When they reached docking bay 3, they took a right along the wall. They paused as they hit the corner.

  Evaran tossed an orb up into the air. It hovered for a moment, then flew to the ceiling where it positioned itself. “The remote viewing orb will let us know if anyone else comes.”

  “Like Jerzan?” asked Dr. Snowden with a smirk.

  “Correct. However, I suspect if there are any Time Wardens around, they will investigate not only their destroyed station, but also this ship. This is our early warning system.”

  Dr. Snowden nodded. As he followed Evaran along the wall toward the room entrance, he stopped to study a container. He waved Emily over. “Same one.”

  Emily shook her head. “I don’t miss that at all.”

  Evaran paused, causing the others to hold position. He faced the container. “It served its purpose. I am curious about its contents.” He placed his UIC on the container’s console. After a moment, the hatch door flipped up.

  Dr. Snowden peered in. As expected, the arrangement of containers was as he remembered it. He recalled that Evaran had placed him and Emily inside it when the docking bay was depressurized during their abduction. “Hopefully I don’t need to move those inner containers out again.”

  Evaran laid a hand on Dr. Snowden’s shoulder. “I do not think it will come to that. Let us go.”

  Dr. Snowden exhaled, then followed Evaran’s lead out of the room. They had come straight into docking bay 3 during his abduction, but this time, they went to the right. He gestured forward as they walked down the hallway. “New route?”

  Evaran nodded. “This is a faster route to where your duplicates would be. Edev, scouting mode. V, defensive mode.”

  “Acknowledged. Defensive mode engaged,” said V as a semitransparent shield went up around him.

  “You got it!” said Edev as she shimmered, then disappeared.

  Emily chuckled. “Edev seems like she’s so happy.”

  Levaran nodded. “Everything is new to her. Hopefully that exuberance will not diminish.”

  “Analysis. I am happy as well.”

  Emily slapped V’s back shielding. “We know.”

  V’s lights glowed a bit brighter.

  Evaran snapped his head forward. “A creature is approaching.”

  Dr. Snowden could see, via the view from Edev, a large, extremely muscled, scaled raptor-like creature with a crocodile-like snout. It sat on two powerful legs that ended in razor-sharp talons, and its four large arms had hands with sharp claws. The creature reminded him of a dinosaur somewhat, but this one only stood around seven feet or so, and it resonated power and speed from its profile. He rubbed the goose bumps that formed on his arm. “What is that?”

  “It is a Terrox,” said Evaran. “Per the Krotovore system, it does not rely on intelligence.”

  As the creature came into view, V stepped forward.

  Evaran extended a hand out toward V. “Levaran and I will handle this. Everyone, wait here.”

  Dr. Snowden held his breath as Evaran and Levaran approached the now-startled Terrox.

  Evaran extended a hand. “We are not your enemy.”

  The Terrox emitted a low growl followed by a high-pitched whining noise. It stomped the metallic floor and snorted.

  “No, we’re not food,” said Levaran.

  The Terrox uttered a deep growl.

  “I would not suggest that,” said Evaran. He peered behind him, then back at the Terrox. “It would not go well for you.”

  The Terrox took a few steps forward while swaying its head.

  “You will be harmed if you try. We are stronger,” said Evaran.

  The Terrox paused for a moment as it studied the others behind Evaran and Levaran. It then charged forward.

  Levaran extended a hand out toward Evaran. “I got this one.” She ran forward with her left arm shield in front of her. When she and the Terrox met, it went flying back a good distance. It righted itself and, with an indignant shake of its head, took off in another direction.

  Dr. Snowden gulped. He knew Evaran was strong, but Levaran seemed like she was on another level. If it had been Evaran who had hit the Terrox, he would have expected some pushback, or even just a halting, but not a complete blow back like he had just seen.

  Evaran waved for the others to come forward.

  When Dr. Snowden reached them, he raised his eyebrows at Levaran and said, “You’re … quite strong.”

  Levaran smiled. “There’s some residual re-formation energy that resides in me. It’s boosting my natural abilities and should fade away after a while, maybe a few weeks from your perspective.”

  Dr. Snowden harrumphed. “That made this encounter a lot easier.”

  “We should not get complacent,” said Evaran. “The research labs are a bit away. Let us go.”

  Dr. Snowden nodded as the rest of the group moved forward. Although his muscles were still a little tight, the encounter with the Terrox made them relax some. He remembered Evaran’s confidence the first time he had met him. It was unshakable, and Levaran shared that trait. This encounter just bolstered his impression of that. An apex predator that could probably tear apart anything ran off after just one moment with Levaran. It must have sensed it was outclassed. Probably a foreign concept to it, but it recognized raw power. He wondered how often that occurred. With a deep breath, he soldiered on.

  After an hour of traversing various rooms of different sizes, they came to a stop near a four-way intersection.

  Dr. Snowden expected there to be more creatures roaming around, but the only ones they saw had scattered at their approach. The sounds were consistent with what he remembered, and the Krotovore architecture was as he expected.

  They had dipped into several smaller rooms along the way, and dead Krotovore were everywhere. Evaran had said there were a few alive, but Dr. Snowden was not banking on that being true for too long. The delay in the Krotovore ship meant that the times would not align with the abduction experience he knew.

  He never asked before how long it took Evaran to get from the Torvatta to the research labs that held them, but he guessed it was about two hours, and that was probably with Evaran moving much faster. At the pace they were going now, it would probably be another hour and a half.

  Dr. Snowden swiveled his head around at everyone. “Why are we stopping?”

  Evaran raised a hand. “It appears we have a visitor. Edev, show docking bay 3.”

  “You bet,” said Edev. She flew between everyone, then shot down a projection of a small ship in docking bay 3.

  Exiting the ship was a lightly armored humanoid in a power suit with an array of weapons and gadgets. The humanoid then shimmered out of view.

  Dr. Snowden’s skin crawled as the glowing blue eyes on the helmet were the last thing he saw. The humanoid walked with confidence.

  Evaran’s eyes narrowed as he gestured at the screen. “That is Tolkus Gare. I recognize his ship, and the readings and technology align with what I know of him. He is a Dalrun Wildborn, which is exceptionally rare. He can extend a camouflaging shield around himself without the need for technology. In my previous encounter with him, he was the number-one most wanted in this region. He was very difficult to track down and capture.”

  Dr. Snowden raised his eyebrows. “You hunted him?”

  Evaran nodded. “Tolkus had a bad habit of attacking underdeveloped worlds that had not reached the technological threshold for space travel.”

  “How’d you catch him?” asked Emily.

  Evaran inspected the floor for a moment. “U4 … ,” he said, meeting Emily’s gaze, “baited him out of the mountainside where he was sniping people. When he popped out of the cave he was hiding in, I jumped from the Torvatta and subdued him. He is a lethal bounty hunter and mercenary, and one of
the best. He has an array of gadgets and is proficient in multiple weapons. On top of that, his power suit gives him exceptional strength, almost on par with mine. However, even in my diminished physical capacity, I would still be a bit stronger, and faster.”

  “He better not cross paths with us then,” said Emily.

  Dr. Snowden shook his head. “So we know Jerzan is coming, and now we have this psychopath roaming around.”

  “He will head to the bridge after determining where it is. Although he may not be able to decipher the information there, he carries a tool that can pull it for later analysis. We will need to get to the research lab and then to the bridge, hopefully before he does. We have a head start.”

  Emily snorted. “He isn’t the only one with camouflage technology.”

  Evaran nodded. “He is trackable by his thermal signature, and with Edev, it will be difficult for him to sneak up on us. However, we have stopped for another reason.”

  “Oh, no,” said Dr. Snowden.

  Levaran laid a hand on Dr. Snowden’s shoulder. “It isn’t anything bad.”

  Dr. Snowden sighed. “Probably not. I’m just used to things going sideways a lot.”

  Levaran smiled. “The route ahead is blocked by a Jankra Hull Shen, as the Krotovore call it. Its mass is substantial. We’re going to go around it. Edev has already calculated a new route.”

  Evaran raised a finger. “This Jankra was not there during your abduction, so this is new to me.”

  “We can do it,” said Emily. “Bring it on.”

  “What do you mean by substantial? Can we see it?” asked Dr. Snowden.

  Evaran gestured at Edev.

  Dr. Snowden shuddered at the projection Edev cast. The creature appeared to have internal organs stitched together by hairy limbs. He inspected closer, and revulsion swept over him. The creatures that it had killed became a part of its fleshy mass. He shook his head. “That’s … absolutely disgusting.”

  Evaran nodded. “More importantly, it occupies the full height of the hallways and extends back a bit. According to the internal scans from Edev and what the Krotovore report, it appears it can shoot out a fleshy appendage that pulls in prey.”