The Fredorian Destiny: Book 2 of the Evaran Chronicles Read online

  “That is correct. I would assume if they were taken out, you would age normally again. The downside of not aging as fast as others is that it will be noticeable by others. That level of attention is not something you would like.”

  “It sounds like the safe thing to do is take them out,” said Emily.

  Dr. Snowden adjusted in his seat. “Well, wait a minute,” he said, motioning his hand downward. “Let’s think about this some before we make any hasty decisions. For me, though, I don’t want them out.”

  Evaran turned to Emily. “And you?”

  Emily paused while drawing her lips flat. “I’m not sure. I need to think about it.”

  Evaran nodded. “Very well. I have something to show you.” He interacted with his augmented reality interface, or ARI.

  V flew above the empty fourth seat at the table and projected a holographic display below him. It showed a Krotovore with majestic garb wrapped around its body.

  The Krotovore’s eyes blinked slowly. “Hello. I am Matriarch De’zokaar.”

  Dr. Snowden’s heart raced at the sight of a Krotovore. They were hard to forget. He wondered if the universal translator had adapted from the unusual speech pattern he had heard on the Krotovore ship, since her voice was not as high-pitched or garbled as he remembered. He rubbed his sweating hands and heard Emily inhale sharply. Apparently she was feeling apprehensive as well.

  “I apologize on behalf of the Krotovore for the experience you went through. We had rules in place to avoid sentient species being used for research. The scientists on that ship went rogue after deciding they would never get home. I hope you can forgive us,” said De’zokaar. She motioned to her side at Evaran. “Evaran has provided us with the data from the ship. He said he can contact you, even though you are in the past and would be long dead from our perspective. We have given him a device to remove the nanobots circulating in your body. It is the least we can do. Please accept our deepest apologies.” She placed her hands over each of her four smaller eyes, then covered her two main eyes, then lowered them. The projection shut off.

  “Wow, an apology,” said Emily.

  A few moments of silence passed. Evaran turned toward Dr. Snowden. “Dr. Snowden?”

  Dr. Snowden shook his head and exhaled. “Sorry. I was just thinking about things from their perspective. I was thinking that to them, we must have been pretty disgusting-looking. Nonetheless, you can take the nanobots out if we wanted them out.”

  “I can, should you or Emily choose to do so. I have another projection to show you, though.”

  Emily took a sip of her iced tea and looked at Evaran. “From who?”

  “Jay,” said Evaran as he smiled and tapped at his ARI.

  Dr. Snowden jerked his head back. “Jay! Did he stay on your ship for a month?”

  Evaran swiped his hand across his ARI. “He did. Here is his short recorded message for you both.”

  V projected a display showing Jay sitting in a hot tub. In the projection, V stood in body mode within arm’s reach of Jay outside the hot tub.

  “Doc! Emily! Evaran said he got you both back to Earth. Hope you’re doing well,” said Jay. He put his beer down on the edge of the hot tub. “Evaran said he’s going to take me back when my arm is fully regenerated, but I should wait until he has visited you before trying to make contact. Whenever that is, he has my address and contact information. Give me a shout. We can grill out and catch up and shit.”

  Several women called out to Jay in the background. Jay smiled. “Ahh, yeah. Well, looks like it’s time for V’s next lesson in human culture. Catch you later, man.”

  The projection vanished.

  Dr. Snowden cocked his head. “I don’t remember a hot tub on the Torvatta.”

  “My holo room. It can transform energy into matter. Jay availed himself to it for the month he was around.”

  Dr. Snowden chuckled. “So the women were just holograms, then.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Emily, giggling.

  Evaran pursed his lips while staring at his plate. He then looked at Dr. Snowden. “There is another matter related to why you were abducted. It appears a device on your car called the Krotovore.”

  “Called them?”

  “Yes. A signal was sent out that would have been easily detected by them, but not by anything on Earth. I had the Krotovore check it while I was visiting, and they said it was an emergency beacon. I do not understand how it got on your car, though.”

  Emily gestured toward Dr. Snowden. “Uncle Albert usually handles all the car stuff, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t us.”

  Evaran nodded. “I concur. Someone or something put it there. I have added it to my list of things to investigate.”

  Dr. Snowden finished a bite of his meatloaf and waved his fork in a circle in front of him. “How do you plan to do that?”

  “By checking on your car at various intervals in the past and seeing when the signal is present and when it is not. I can narrow it down from there. That will take some time to do, however.”

  Emily pursed her lips. “What if we see you or the Torvatta back then?”

  “You will not. I will be in stealth mode high above the planet.”

  Dr. Snowden cleared his throat. “So if you do this in your future sometime, does that mean your surveillance has already happened in our past?”

  “Possibly. There are many variables. It would be tied to my future, but your past. If my future changes, your past changes. Given the nature of this universe, nothing is set in stone.”

  Dr. Snowden was always fascinated about the concept of time travel. To have experienced it and to discuss the finer points with someone who does it often was exhilarating for him. He took a long, measured breath and looked at Evaran. “I have —”

  Emily reached out and grabbed Dr. Snowden’s hand.

  Dr. Snowden glanced at her and nodded. “We have a question to ask you.”

  Evaran tilted his head at them. “Yes, you may travel with me,” he said as he dove back into his plate for another bite.

  Dr. Snowden sat in stunned silence. His eyes lit up, and a big smile crept across his face. He glanced at Emily, then back at Evaran. “How’d you know I was going to ask that?”

  “I did not. V, however, calculated an eighty-six percent chance you would ask. He also calculated how you would ask. Your hesitation, breathing, and physical support from Emily moved it to ninety-eight percent. I have given it thought already and, since I enjoyed your company previously, agree to try it out.”

  “You’re seriously okay with that, then?” asked Dr. Snowden.

  “Of course. Both of you have already proven yourselves to be of sound mind. It is refreshing to have a different perspective on things. I will warn you, though. The places I go are not always the safest. Danger is ever present.”

  Dr. Snowden nodded. “We understand it might not always be safe. I do hope not every trip is like the Krotovore ship, though.”

  Evaran leaned back into his chair. “That was definitely not a typical trip for me. However, with that said, where I go does tend to have a bit of adventure to it. After we are done here, grab whatever you want to put in your room. You do not need clothes, food, or the like. The Torvatta will furnish those for you.”

  “How will the Torvatta furnish clothes for us?” said Emily.

  Dr. Snowden could see Emily was worried about fashion choices.

  Evaran half grinned. “V will show you around your rooms and the ship, including the matter replicators in your room, which will allow you to create any type of clothing you wish.”

  Emily looked around the room. “Speaking of which, where’d he go?”

  Evaran crooked his thumb at the backyard. “He is in the Torvatta, preparing your rooms and gear.”

  Dr. Snowden harrumphed. “I didn’t even see him leave.”

  “He used his new arm to open the sliding door enough to go out, then closed it back. He is quite stealthy.”

  “I guess,�
� said Dr. Snowden. Looking at Evaran’s cleared plate, he wondered what happened to the things Evaran did consume, as he did not need food or drink. A smile flickered on and off his face. He was going to get to travel with Evaran, through space, time, and beyond. What would happen with his day job? If they ever decided that traveling wasn’t for them, maybe Evaran could take them back to a minute after they left. He would need to ask Evaran about that at some point. For now, his mind was reeling with the possibilities.

  “Care for seconds? And wow, you eat really fast,” said Emily, standing up.

  Evaran nodded at Emily. “You do broccoli justice, but I am done. On another note, the Torvatta is in your backyard. It is stealthed, but you should see the tip of the ramp sticking out past the shield. Head on in when ready. V and I will be waiting. Sound good?”

  “More than good!” said Dr. Snowden.

  “Works for me!” said Emily.

  “Oh, before I forget. You two will need these,” said Evaran as he stood up. He reached to his side and pulled out two pen-like objects from a container on his belt. He handed one to Emily, then one to Dr. Snowden. “These are your personal support devices, or PSDs as I refer to them. After the Krotovore ship event, I decided to make some upgrades and adjustments across the board. This was the result of one of those adjustments. The PSDs have a range of functionality such as scanning, augmented reality mode, and the like. I would suggest you familiarize yourself with them. They will enhance your survivability by quite a bit. V can show you the finer points if you have any questions, and you can test them out in the holo room.”

  “Whoa,” said Emily as she flipped the PSD around in her hand.

  Dr. Snowden looked at the PSD and saw four physical buttons lined up with a small digital screen underneath them. He pressed the top button, and the end of the PSD lit up briefly. The PSD split in half, with the right side extending out. A thin material connected it to the left half. A display appeared on the material. There were many icons on the display with names like scan, light, and communications. His jaw dropped as he glanced at Evaran. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  Evaran wheeled around to go out the sliding glass doors. “Part of your journey with me will be learning how to use it. Just do not press and hold the green button on the bottom and point it at someone unless you want to stun them. It is a shortcut to the stun beam. It is off by default, so you will need to learn how to activate and use it. One last thing. Think about where you would want to go.” He slid open the glass doors and walked out, closing them when he was outside.

  Dr. Snowden pressed the top button, and his PSD snapped back into a pen shape. He put it in his pants pocket and stood.

  Emily stood and placed her PSD in her pocket as well.

  Dr. Snowden walked over to and hugged Emily. “I can’t believe it! We get to go!”

  “At least now you can stop worrying,” said Emily, grinning.

  Dr. Snowden stepped back and nodded. He helped Emily clear the table and kitchen in record time. They then went their separate ways. A half hour later, they met back in the dining room. Dr. Snowden had a small backpack slung over his shoulder. Emily had a suitcase on wheels behind her.

  “Evaran said we wouldn’t need clothes,” said Dr. Snowden.

  “It’s not clothes in there, just some sentimental things,” said Emily with softened eyes.

  “You’re bringing Mr. Smith, aren’t you?”

  “Maybe,” said Emily with her face turning a slight shade of red.

  Dr. Snowden grinned. Emily had been given the stuffed tiger as a kid by Dan. Although she did not sleep with it anymore, she kept it close. He suspected there were several other things Dan gave her in there. He missed his brother and knew how much Dan would have loved to go on an adventure like this. “Okay. We ready?”

  “Let’s do it!” said Emily.

  “Hmm, we better shut everything off. You get the upstairs, I’ll get downstairs,” said Dr. Snowden.

  Emily bounded up the stairs as he turned off the lights in the living room and kitchen, leaving on just the light in the dining room. He double-checked the other rooms on the ground floor and headed back to the dining room. Emily had already come back down, as there were only three rooms upstairs.

  “Now we can go,” said Dr. Snowden. He walked over to the sliding glass doors and opened them. He watched Emily go out and reflected on the journey ahead of them.

  When they were both outside, Dr. Snowden turned to lock the sliding glass doors. They proceeded a bit into the backyard where they saw the tip of the ramp. Dr. Snowden cautiously moved his hand above it and watched his hand disappear. He glanced at Emily, walked forward, and found himself on the ramp. Emily appeared beside him, and they walked up the ramp and into the ship together. When they entered, Evaran stood in front of the replicator tables directly ahead of them. V, in body mode, stood next to him.

  With outstretched hands, Evaran said, “Welcome back to the Torvatta.”

  “I apologize for sneaking out. That was not cool,” said V.

  Emily laughed. “It’s okay.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Dr. Snowden cocked his head back when he saw V. His body had more armored plastic-like coverings over the skeletal structure, which made the arms and legs more pronounced. The coverings were a light gray, with black borders on them. There were smaller dark-blue coverings around the neck and wrists that looked like they had more complex designs etched in. V’s face had a covering that looked like it was lifted off a mannequin.

  Evaran half smiled. “V, take their things to their rooms. As for you two, you get the high-level tour.”

  “Acknowledged,” said V. He took Dr. Snowden’s backpack and Emily’s suitcase and then went into the first door to the left of the entrance.

  Evaran walked to the right of the entrance, with Dr. Snowden and Emily in tow. “As you recall, each side has three doors. They lead to dimensional regions that are a part of the ship and, as you have seen, do not take up space in this reality other than a doorway.”

  “Dimensional mechanics, right?” asked Dr. Snowden.

  “You remembered. Excellent.” Evaran pointed to the first door. “That is the medical lab. You may remember it from when the krall was in there. It can handle most small crises and is very advanced in terms of what it can do.”

  Dr. Snowden felt a pang of sadness at the mention of the krall. He wondered how she was doing, then realized she was long dead. They had traveled to the past to drop her off. He wished she could be with them, but knew she was where she needed to be. Getting used to time travel and how relative it was would be a challenge. He had seen the value of the medical lab that day, and hoped he would never need to use it. He pointed to a countertop along the side with a rubberlike top. “What’s that?”

  “A matter replicator. You will find them in various configurations across the ship. They are similar in function to the ones you saw on the Krotovore ship.”

  “Ahh, I see.”

  Evaran walked a bit to the right and pointed to the second door. “That leads to several research labs. It is where I spend most of my time, and your PSDs were developed in there. It has work areas, research areas, and a large databank you can peruse. Dr. Snowden, I suspect you will find the planar cartography lab of great interest.”

  Dr. Snowden glanced at Evaran, then looked into the room. It looked like a large hub, with side rooms attached. He really wanted to see the planar cartography lab. Given that the Torvatta had holographic technology, it should be pretty high-tech. One thing he had on his list was to check out some of the planetary systems he had been researching. What information would they show?

  Evaran walked a bit more to the right and pointed to the third door. “That leads to various maintenance centers. By default it is inaccessible to anyone but me or V. That is more for your protection than ours. Now, to the left side.” He walked to the left side of the entrance and pointed to the first door. “This is the general living quarters of the ship and ha
s all the necessary conveniences. Your rooms are in there.”

  Dr. Snowden noticed that the medical lab, research lab, and living quarters were the only entrances not covered by a white shield preventing anyone from looking in.

  Evaran walked a bit to the left and pointed to the next door. “This is the holo room you saw in Jay’s video. Anything within the ship’s database can be recreated there. Emily, I know you like to run, so you could create a track or trail to run on in there if you wanted to. V can show you how to use them.”

  “Wouldn’t I hit the wall?” asked Emily.

  “You actually never leave the center of the room once it starts. It is also good for simulations, learning, and experiencing any location the Torvatta has been to. There are some system programs that came with the ship. They taught me how to use it. You both should try it out at some point, and yes, Dr. Snowden, there are some educational programs that cover dimensional mechanics,” said Evaran.

  Dr. Snowden’s eyes lit up. Between this and the planar cartography lab, he was not sure how he would be coaxed off the Torvatta. At least for a while anyways. The opportunities being provided were not lost on him. How could anyone ever want to leave this paradise of information? He tilted his head. “When you say �came with the ship,’ does that mean you bought the Torvatta somewhere?”

  “No. A stripped-down version of it was given to me by a very old friend when I came to this plane. I have enhanced it since, but there are older systems built in that I am still learning about, such as the universal translator. I continue to upgrade it as the need arises.”

  “That’s a pretty nice friend,” said Emily.

  “Yes. I miss our conversations.”

  “Do you mean universe when you say plane?” asked Dr. Snowden.

  “No, but I understand your confusion. Your universe is but one of many that exist in a multiverse. That multiverse has a core and exists in a plane. There are many other planes out there, and I travel between them.”

  Dr. Snowden’s lips parted as he stared at Evaran. “So the planar cartography lab isn’t just for stellar cartography? It can show other universes and planes too?”