The Time Refugee: Book 4 of the Evaran Chronicles Page 7

  She checked her reservation at the living area. It was the closest room she could find to Evaran’s, but it was one floor under him. Her nerves would not let her sleep anyways. Checking the time showed it to be about midnight.

  Her hands ran over the smooth metallic disc in her pocket that functioned as a movement monitor. She had brought it to put on the wall opposite Evaran’s door. When he opened the door, an alert would notify her. Satisfied with her plan, she cleaned up the small table where she had been sitting and exited the restaurant.

  As she walked through the crisp air toward the living area, she figured it would take her about thirty minutes. The bustling activity on the streets was a change from Da Nesh. She liked the slower pace of Da Nesh. Most Kalesh cities were very casual in their attitude.

  Follisat was an example to her of what happens when the United Planets integrates a new planet or species. She had studied the history of first contact and the subsequent integration on other worlds, and it always seemed to follow the same pattern. As the native culture progressed and integration moved forward, the native culture got swallowed by the United Planets culture.

  When she reached the building where Evaran was, she hustled up the stairs and set up her monitoring device. After securing it, she headed to her room. As she lay on the bed, she observed it was 12:30 a.m. She did not know how long it would be before they woke up, so she figured she would get a nap in.

  An hour later, her eyes popped open. The monitoring alarm had gone off. She yawned as she sat on the edge of the bed. After wiping her eyes and checking her gear, she exited the room. As she walked up the stairs, several crashing noises reverberated throughout the stairwell. She pulled out her weapon and activated her motion sensor. As she reached the top of the stairs, her sensor showed several Kalesh and humans in the hallway around the bend.

  She pulled off a flat circular device and tossed it against the wall facing into the hallways. The device gave her a visual of what was going on. Two Kalesh had weapons drawn and were standing over another Kalesh crumpled on the ground. Ahead of them stood Evaran, Dr. Snowden, Emily, and a robotic humanoid who she guessed was V. Behind them was another group of Kalesh. It appeared to be a standoff. Time for her to make her entrance.

  She burst around the corner and aimed her weapon at the two nearest Kalesh. “United Planets Security. Drop your weapons.”

  One of the startled Kalesh spun around and aimed at Jane. She fired, causing the Kalesh to fall. The second one pivoted and raised his hands. The Kalesh on the other side of the hallway took off.

  “Against the wall,” said Jane as she crept forward while keeping a bead on the Kalesh.

  The Kalesh complied.

  Jane pulled off two wristbands that glowed. “Turn around! Put your hands behind your back. Now!”

  The Kalesh obeyed.

  Jane placed a band on each wrist. She then activated the bands from her ARI, causing them to magnetize and snap together. She spun the Kalesh around and pointed down. “Sit.”

  The Kalesh slid to the ground and sighed.

  Jane turned to see that Evaran and the others had walked over to her.

  “I am Evaran.” He bowed slightly with his left arm across his stomach, then pointed to the others. “With me is Dr. Albert Snowden, his niece, Emily Snowden, and V.”

  “I’m United Planets Bureau of Law Enforcement Agent Jane Trellis. It’s good to meet you. I’m aware of who you are … among other things. Is everyone okay?”

  “I believe so,” said Evaran, looking around.

  “Good … Do you have some time to talk?”

  “We can,” said Evaran. “However, we are going to get our things and stay the rest of the night on my ship.”

  “The Torvatta, right?”

  Evaran pulled his head back a bit. “Yes, that is correct. If you wish to talk, that would be an ideal place to do so. There is a lot of surveillance around us.”

  Jane narrowed her eyes. “There shouldn’t be. That’s against Kalesh law.”

  “I would suggest you check your moisture harvesters. The rooms also have them implanted in the walls. Whoever operates them will find them mysteriously offline during our stay. Perhaps we can meet in the morning?”

  The Kalesh smirked. “I’m so glad the United Planets respects our rights.”

  “Silence!” said Jane, snapping her head at the Kalesh. She faced Evaran. “Sure, That’ll work. I need to handle this situation anyways. What time?”

  Dr. Snowden chuckled. “How about ten in the morning? I should be up by then.”

  “You’re a late sleeper. Okay, I’ll be there. I already have the coordinates of your ship.”

  Evaran eyed Jane for a moment, then exited the hallway with Dr. Snowden and Emily in tow.

  Jane looked down at the Kalesh. “Do you know who you were attacking?”

  “Who cares who they are. They’re human scum. Like you.”

  “I can tell by the marks on your arms that you work for Warlord Okon. You’re actually lucky I arrived.”

  The Kalesh snorted. “Whatever.”

  Jane tapped at her ARI and selected the local United Planets law enforcement option.

  A woman’s head appeared in her ARI. “Logging call from Jane Trellis, Da Nesh Division. How may we be of assistance?”

  “I was attacked by Warlord Okon’s men outside my current location. There may be more around.”

  “I have notified a security unit in your area. They should be there shortly. Anything else we can help with?” asked the woman.

  Jane shook her head. “I’m good for now.”

  The woman swiveled her head for a moment, then faced Jane. “I have updated the security unit.”

  “Thank you.”

  The projection shut off.

  Jane shook her head as she leaned against the wall opposite the Kalesh. Evaran seemed smaller to her in person. Her scans could not read the handle-like device in his hand, nor the pen-like ones in Dr. Snowden’s and Emily’s hands. She looked at the crumpled Kalesh on the ground. It was still alive, just unconscious. Evaran must have decided to not kill, or maybe that was his modus operandi. She placed wrist restraints on the crumpled Kalesh. Time to wait for her backup, file reports, and get some sleep. Hopefully in the morning, she could convince Evaran to help her, even though she was supposed to offer the help of the United Planets.

  Jane exhaled slowly as her eyes began to open to the sun filtering into her room. The unfamiliar smell of the room alerted her awake. After a brief moment of confusion, she remembered that she was not in Da Nesh, but Follisat. She yawned as she sat up and swung her legs off the side of the bed. Her mind raced as she thought about finally getting to sit down and talk with Evaran.

  Her morning routine was a speed bump as she cleaned up and got into her suit. After a final look around the room, she exited it. Once outside the building, she used her ARI to show green arrows on the ground to the Torvatta’s location. A distance label decreased as she walked. She would reach the Torvatta a bit early, but she did not think that would be an issue. One of the odd things she noticed the previous night was that while Dr. Snowden and Emily looked like they had been awakened, Evaran was alert. She had thought he would be sleeping, but maybe he could not sleep. Follisat can have that impact on someone.

  She yawned as she rubbed her left eye. Having to file all the information and store it on the holonet the previous night took time, and she had been lagging to begin with from the flight to Follisat. At least she had gotten six hours of sleep.

  Her mind wandered to what she should expect. Andrew had given her a crash course on Evaran, his ship, and some of his adventures. She had a hard time believing any of it was real, but Andrew was serious about it, and he was someone she trusted without hesitation. The one thing that puzzled her was that he mentioned that Evaran may not have done half the adventures listed yet. With a shake of her head, she focused on the green arrows.

  After forty-five minutes, she arrived in front of the Torvatta.
She examined its unusual disc-shaped design. It was a lot smaller than she thought it would be. Walking around it revealed that it actually sat on a wide angled cone of some type. It should have been leaning, yet it stood perfectly upright.

  She squinted at the sunlight reflecting off the mesh sides punctuated by black reflective panes. Looking at the back was more familiar to her. Two large dark-blue horizontal panes stretched for a good fourth of the ship before running into two vertical ones. She ran a hand along the pane, but jumped back when her hand went through it. It was the cold shock more than her hand going through it that had startled her.

  “Are you enjoying the view?” asked Evaran from the roof.

  “Oh!” said Jane, taking a step back. She raised her hand over her eyes to look up at Evaran. “I didn’t see you up there.” She made a mental note to have her sensors run a diagnostic analysis. They had not detected Evaran, even though he was nearby.

  “I am glad you came,” said Evaran. He gestured to the right side of the ship. “Please, come to this side. I will meet you there.”

  Jane watched as Evaran walked into a shaft that popped up in the center of the roof. The Torvatta seemed to be more than it appeared. She walked over to the side that had a doorway with a light-blue semitransparent shield with a hexagonal pattern overlay.

  Evaran appeared on the other side, waving her in. “Please, follow me.”

  Jane stepped through the doorway. Her eyebrows wrinkled as she perused the room. It was too small to be a long-distance space-faring ship, and she could see no engine room.

  Evaran walked to the left and went to the third door. He stopped and extended his arm toward the door.

  Jane began to walk toward Evaran. A cool swath of air brushed up against her nostrils. The Torvatta had a comfortable, sterile smell to it. She paused at the first room after sneaking a peek. Her mouth went agape as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. The door led to a large, open area, that did not exist on the outside of the ship. She waved her arm into it and then stepped back. “How …”

  “Dimensional mechanics,” said Evaran.

  “I thought … that was theoretical.”

  “It is to humanity at this age, perhaps.”

  Jane swallowed hard. She had come to view humanity as being at its peak. Matter replicators, condensed space drives, and the United Planets way of life were a few things that humanity had never had before. A golden period. She was trying to balance what she already knew from Andrew about Evaran and the Torvatta and what she was experiencing. She took a breath and entered the conference room.

  “Hello again,” said Dr. Snowden as he and Emily rose from the right side of the table.

  Jane smiled as V escorted her to a seat across from Dr. Snowden and Emily.

  Evaran walked to the head of the table and sat down. After everyone sat, he faced Jane. “Are you hungry?”

  “I’m good,” said Jane. She pulled a thin orange stick from her belt that was the length of her hand. “I have a vitastick.”

  Dr. Snowden pointed at the vitastick. “Okay, you got my attention. What’s that?”

  “It’s a vitamin stick. It has everything you need for about eight hours or so. Standard throughout the United Planets.” She cocked her head. “What do you eat in the morning?”

  “I usually eat eggs and bacon. Or I have a good ham omelet. I always have a cup of coffee.”

  “It’s replicated, though, right?”

  Dr. Snowden nodded.

  “For a minute there, I thought you actually ate the flesh of animals.”

  Emily cast a sidelong glance at Dr. Snowden. “Oh, he does, but here on the Torvatta, there is no need to.”

  Jane jerked her head back as her eyes widened. “Huh. The Kalesh still do that too.” She looked at Evaran. “I’ve read you’re a time traveler, and by extension,” she said, looking at Dr. Snowden and Emily, “I’m guessing you two are as well. What time period are you from?”

  “We began traveling with Evaran in 2012,” said Dr. Snowden.

  “Just over a thousand years ago … ,” said Jane. She cocked her head. “That would explain some things, like your clothing and meat desires. The future must be very interesting to you.”

  Dr. Snowden bobbed his head. “Well, meat desires aside …”

  “Analysis. I was not aware you had meat desires,” said V.

  Emily fought a grin from forming.

  Dr. Snowden shook his head. “What I was trying to say was that once you’ve seen one advanced civilization, you begin to get used to it.”

  The interaction between Dr. Snowden, V, and Emily intrigued Jane. V seemed like he was a young AI. She looked at Evaran. “Not to get off track, but I’m sorry about what happened to you all last night. Please don’t let it paint your view on the Kalesh. They are a proud race, but with all races, there are those who … like to cause trouble.”

  Evaran touched his fingertips in front of him. “We ran into some of the attackers earlier that day. We subdued them, but one of the ones we did not stun said they worked for a Warlord Okon. Do you know of him?”

  “Yeah,” said Jane. “He runs a group that resents the rapid integration of alien culture into theirs. With all the harassment, bombings, and other activity they do, their hope is that it will scare off business and others. I don’t think they will bother you anymore.”

  “I see. It is good that you came when you did. Although we could have handled it, we always prefer the locals to. Are you from the United Planets office nearby?”

  “I’m from Da Nesh.”

  Evaran perused his ARI. “Ahh … that is quite a bit away. What brought you to Follisat?”

  Jane swallowed hard as her eyes darted between Evaran, Emily, and Dr. Snowden. “This … might sound odd … but I got a notice yesterday morning about the Evaran Protocol being initiated. It wasn’t supposed to go to me.” She glanced at Evaran. “It was meant for my boss, Andrew, who had access to what the Evaran Protocol was. He explained the protocol to me and said that if you’re here, then you’re here to fix something.” She noticed Dr. Snowden shoot a look at Emily, then Evaran.

  Evaran rubbed his chin. “Intriguing. What do you know of the protocol?”

  “For starters, I can’t talk about any event unless you bring it up. It would cause problems,” said Jane. “It also lists out all the places and times you have been sighted since the United Planets formed and any events you participated in. Some of those events have who was involved. There are other events listed prior to the United Planets formation, but most are not verified.”

  Evaran shook his head. “Then the protocol missed the part about not recording any of that. It was meant as an identification tool.”

  “Andrew mentioned that,” said Jane. “I was surprised to learn that help is to be provided upon request, should you ask, and that your clearance level is pretty high. I’m here to offer that assistance if you want it. However … and this may be out of line … but I came to see if maybe you could help me with something.”

  “You have my attention,” said Evaran with a hand on his chin.

  “My husband, Chris, died six years ago, on a space habitat near the sun.”

  “You mean the Dyson bubble?” asked Dr. Snowden.

  “Yeah,” said Jane. “I’m surprised you’re aware of what that is.”

  Dr. Snowden chuckled. “We weren’t savages back in our time period. We had computers and were making some great strides in science. We saw the structures on the way in. It looked impressive from what little I saw of it.”

  “It’s an engineering marvel, and that’s why Chris went there,” said Jane, putting a hand on the back of her neck. “He was highly sought after for his technical skills. After he died, I tried to find out details about his death, but the corporation that built the habitats, Advanced Dynamics, obstructed my inquiries. I even tried the official channels to no avail. Advanced Dynamics is entrenched here.”

  “So you wish to go to the habitat and see what you can fi
nd out,” said Evaran.

  Jane fidgeted in her seat. “I do … and I know it’s probably improper for me to ask for help, but I’m out of options. I can’t fly there, and even if I could, I would be denied access to land. There’s another reason I want to check it out as well that is more of a professional one. I suspect that Billozein, the CEO of Advanced Dynamics, is using the quarantine as a cover to sell illegal augments.”

  Emily sat up in her chair. “What do these augments do?”

  Jane bobbed her head. “They enhance the human body. The United Planets has a list of approved augments, and most humans have them. For instance, I have an ocular augment that gives me an augmented reality interface on demand.”

  Dr. Snowden chuckled. “Seems that everyone has augmented reality interfaces nowadays.”

  “That’s right. I also have two in my legs that give me superior leg strength, and others throughout my body,” said Jane, tapping her thigh. “I can turn my ARI on and off from an augment in my hand. Each human can select their own augments, of course, and most go for those that enhance or add senses. For instance, you could hear color if you wanted.” She grinned at Dr. Snowden. “Or you could notice when someone’s cheeks are flushed.”

  “What?” said Dr. Snowden as he ran a hand over his cheek.

  Jane smiled. “The general idea is to make the body better. The illegal ones go beyond that. They have not undergone rigorous testing, can fail with serious side effects, and generally have a degenerative effect on the body over a period of time. Some reports have said they can also cause mutations.”

  Evaran placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his laced fingers. “Would Warlord Okon know anything about these illegal augments?”

  “As part of the criminal underground, I’m sure he has some knowledge of it.”

  “Then our next step should be to talk to this Warlord Okon and gather what information we can.”

  Jane’s eyes widened. “So … you’ll help me?”

  “Perhaps this is why we are here,” said Evaran, sneaking a look at Dr. Snowden and Emily. “If not, at least we can help you find closure, and maybe stop this illegal augment trade.” He faced Dr. Snowden and Emily. “Do either of you have any concerns?”