The Awakening: Book 1 of the Evaran Chronicles Page 8

  Dr. Snowden swallowed hard. He figured Evaran would have elaborated if he had wanted to, but he didn’t. He filed it away as something to ask about before they went home, assuming they got there at all. He looked around. “Where’s Jay? He got his unlocked it seems.”

  Evaran nodded. “He did, but he is not back yet. V said they are almost here.”

  After a few minutes, Jay walked back into the main room, but hesitated at the entrance when he spotted the krall and mangled alien. He looked at Dr. Snowden with dull eyes and flattened lips. “I killed them.”

  Dr. Snowden’s eyes furrowed. “Killed what?”

  Jay pointed at the alien on the ground. “Its friends.”

  Emily walked over to Jay and gave him a hug. “But you survived.”

  Jay creased his eyebrows and hugged Emily back listlessly with one arm as he pointed to the krall with the other. “That the krall?”

  Dr. Snowden nodded. “Yeah. It protected us. I got stabbed in the leg three times and was poisoned, but I’m okay now. Thought I was gonna die.”

  Jay smirked. “You’re a tough son of a bitch.” He walked over to the wall, slumped down, and put his head into his hands.

  Dr. Snowden furrowed his eyebrows and cocked his head at Jay. “Everything okay?”

  Jay grimaced and looked up at him. “Just thinking about Sanjay.”

  Dr. Snowden lowered his head and drooped his shoulders. “Yeah.”

  “Also thinking about my son possibly never knowing his dad,” said Jay, looking off into the distance. “That and I never killed … ,” he said as he twirled his hands in the air, “something smart like us before, not even when I was in the army.”

  Dr. Snowden sighed. “I know the feeling.” He looked up at Jay. “I got one back in the control room.”

  Emily looked down with furrowed eyebrows. “I did too.”

  Jay’s lips drew flat. “Why couldn’t they just leave us the hell alone? Instead they gotta fuck with us.” He snorted and shook his head. “Credit to Blue Ball, though. He did one of them light shows behind them. It gave me the distraction I needed. Not sure it would’ve turned out as well without him.”

  V glowed a bit brighter. “Acknowledged.”

  Dr. Snowden glanced at Emily and then met Jay’s gaze. They nodded at each other.

  Jay stood up and put his hands in his pockets. “So what now?”

  Evaran interacted with his ARI. “With the main engines online, we have a little less than seven hours to get to my ship. We can head there now. Before we go, though, I need to check something,” said Evaran as he interacted with his ARI. Evaran nodded and then walked in front of the krall. He balled up his right fist and put it on his chest. He then extended his fist toward Dr. Snowden, then to Emily, then to Jay. The krall watched Evaran’s actions intently. “Everyone, extend your right arm, palm up.”

  Dr. Snowden extended his hand slowly, and the krall walked up and nuzzled it. The krall then walked over to Emily and nuzzled her hand. She reached out and patted it on the head. The krall went over to Jay and nuzzled his hand. The krall slowly blinked, then walked back to Evaran. Dr. Snowden saw it blink slowly like that with Evaran. It made him think the krall was happy to not be alone.

  “Umm, why’s it doing that?” asked Emily.

  “The krall understands a limited set of hand motions. The collar on the back of its neck gives it enhanced intelligence. The nuzzling was confirmation that you three are its friends,” said Evaran as he scratched the krall behind the ears.

  “You just happen to know krall hand signals?” asked Dr. Snowden.

  “Not quite, but the collar has an interface. I just tapped into it and downloaded the hand motions while you lay unconscious. Another interesting feature is it can project a shield in front of it. Quite useful when charging enemies with ranged weaponry. Now, let us head to my ship,” said Evaran.

  Jay exhaled sharply. “What about them mercenary dudes running around out there?”

  Evaran paused before speaking. “I have V set to continuous scanning. If we find a group of them, I will deal with it and retrieve information from one of their data devices. Most mercenary groups in this region have a crew locator beacon of some type that we might be able to use as well. That should give us a tactical advantage, knowing their general locations.”

  Jay sighed. “A shotgun would work better.”

  Evaran half smiled at Jay and then walked toward the engine room entrance. They followed behind him. As they were walking out, Evaran turned to the krall and extended his right arm with a horizontal flat hand toward Emily. The krall walked over to Emily and walked beside her.

  Dr. Snowden limped along as he massaged his legs. The poor Grynge. Pulled from wherever they were, to this ship, confused, lost, and hungry. They probably attacked out of desperation. Now they were dead, just like everything else he saw on this ship. The krall, though, was able to feed at least. It had saved his life. He felt safer with it on their side. Just a bit ago, he thought it was going to be his death. Now it was protecting them. It seemed to have bonded with Evaran and Emily. Maybe it saw what he saw in Evaran: hope. Hope that Evaran can maybe lead them out of this hell. He was relieved to be leaving the engine room, but Sanjay’s death still lingered in his thoughts. He was calmer now, and the full impact of it was beginning to dawn on him. His stomach tightened up at the thought of running into more mercenaries.

  They walked out of the engine room. Evaran motioned for V to fly out and then motioned for the others to cling to the wall. He walked a step or two away from them.

  Dr. Snowden figured that was Evaran’s way of being able to deflect shots if any were to come. Dr. Snowden’s limping wasn’t helping things. He rubbed his wounds. Evaran had closed them, but they still hurt. Dr. Snowden’s leg was getting stronger, but each step seemed to aggravate it. He noticed that Evaran appeared more solemn. It was subtle, but the way he moved looked more aggressive. It was obvious Sanjay’s death weighed on him.

  After fifteen minutes of walking without incident, they reached a large hallway entrance and entered it. On the sides were doors leading off to other areas.

  Dr. Snowden was again mesmerized by the size. It looked like it could easily sustain a large amount of traffic. With the lower mist density and brighter lights, he could see quite far. The random shrieks and noises of creatures far off disturbed him, but he knew there was nothing he could do about that.

  V flew back from scouting ahead and projected a map. It showed one of the smaller side doors off to the right side leading to a large room, which was highlighted. Past the large room was a series of rooms connected to each other with two red dots highlighted in one of them.

  “Analysis. Two humanoid life-forms detected ahead. Ninety-three percent match on visual profile indicating mercenaries.”

  Evaran ran his hand through his hair. “Looks like we have an opportunity, assuming they are Bloodbores.”

  Dr. Snowden bent over and took a deep breath.

  “Uncle Albert?” said Emily as she rushed over to him.

  Dr. Snowden held his hand up to her. “I’m fine. Just walking with pain is all.” He glanced at her and smiled while exhaling sharply through his nose.

  Emily tilted her head at him. “What?”

  “Just glad you’re headstrong,” he said with a cracked voice. He straightened up, and Emily put her left arm around his shoulders.

  They followed Evaran, V, and Jay to the door V had highlighted. It opened into a small hallway that ended at the entrance to another room. They walked through and into the large room. Evaran put his UIC on the door console and interacted with his ARI. A light-blue shield appeared in the hallway entrance they just came from. He held his palm up to the krall, then flipped it around. The krall walked a few steps out and shook its head. A static sound rang out as a mostly transparent arced shield appeared in front of it. It reminded Dr. Snowden of a bulldozer’s front blade but reversed.

  “Everyone stay here. There are two mercenaries coming i
nto this room from the opposite end in a few minutes. I will deal with them. The krall’s defensive shield is up. Make sure to stand behind it.”

  “We can help,” said Emily.

  “I can handle this. If there is trouble, the krall will react. I will also drop the door shield behind you so you can run out. I have it up now in case something else comes up that hallway,” said Evaran.

  Dr. Snowden watched Evaran walk to the center of the large room. He noted that Evaran was being more tactical. Their rear was protected, and with the krall in front of them, they were covered. He glanced around the room. It appeared to be full of dining tables and chairs, but the style was unusual. He squinted at the brightness in the room. It was like everything had been cleaned spotless and was shining. He sat down against the wall next to Emily and Jay behind the krall. It had positioned itself in front of them and stared straight ahead.

  Evaran scanned the entrance area where the mercenaries were coming from with his ring.

  A few minutes later, the two mercenaries strolled into the room. They immediately pulled out their guns and trained it on Evaran. Dr. Snowden noticed he could see them in great detail. Maybe that was an aspect of his improved eyesight thanks to the nanobots. The two mercenaries looked like human men to him. The first man had on a trench coat or something like it, with a cowboy-like hat and high-tech sunglasses. This guy was straight out of a Western. The second man had on a sleeveless shirt, baggy green pants, and a belt full of gadgets and there were markings on his arm. He was bald, and his face screamed cockiness. It looked like the guy he saw in the video earlier who liked to sample the entertainment. The way they moved was telling. The first one seemed more secretive and cautious, the second one more cavalier.

  The mercenaries moved cautiously toward Evaran. “Well, well, whadda we got here?” said the second mercenary in a singsong voice.

  Evaran bowed with his right arm across his chest. “My name is Evaran. I would advise you to not step in the slime near your area. It is a vicious creature known as a Slivyn.”

  The second mercenary smirked and glanced at the first mercenary. He walked forward into the slime and stomped his boots. “Yeah, quite vicious.” He exhaled sharply through his mouth and pointed at the first mercenary. “Galkett seems to know you already—said he recognized your profile from the video Simas and Rondall had before it blanked out. When we found them, they were a puddle of guts. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would ya?”

  Evaran exhaled from his nose. “They met their end courtesy of a cepharus.”

  The second mercenary laughed. “A what?” He shook his head. “Galkett also claims you match the visual description of someone who has appeared in over a dozen civilizations across half a million years. Says you’re a legend, but sounds like a buncha crap to me. I ain’t ever heard of ya. Anyways, you’re talking to Hulldar now, and if the name doesn’t scare ya, it should.”

  Galkett’s grimaced as he sidestepped the slime on the ground. “Perhaps we should leave.”

  Hulldar glared at Galkett. “Leave? Enough with the legend crap.”

  “This isn’t a fight we want to get involved with.”

  “Just watch my back. Damn. He’s just a man.”

  Galkett backed away toward a table.

  Hulldar turned back to Evaran. “That yer ship with the tough shield?”

  “It is. You must be Bloodbore then.”

  Hulldar shot a defiant look at Evaran. “What if we are?”

  “Then you have something I need.”

  Hulldar laughed. “And it looks like you might have something I need too.” He gestured toward Emily and licked his lips. “Galkett, I claim first week with her.”

  “I’d like to see you try!” said Emily with balled fists.

  “Mmm, feisty. The best type. Nothing a few shackles can’t handle,” said Hulldar, shaking his torso vigorously.

  Evaran turned halfway around with his hand down toward Emily. He then turned back to Hulldar and Galkett. “You have a data device of some type as all mercenaries do. I would like to have it.”

  Dr. Snowden thought his eyes were playing tricks on him as he saw the slime begin to surround Hulldar’s leg. It had crested Hulldar’s boots and seemed to have leaked in to them. It was also approaching Galkett, who was backing away from it.

  “I have a better plan. I will take the girl as my personal assistant,” said Hulldar, motioning at Emily, “and yer ship, and you and the others can be sold in the slave markets. I get a personal assistant, a ship, and some credits to boot.”

  Evaran turned to Galkett. “Galkett, do you want to live? If so, climb onto that table.”

  Galkett trembled as he followed Evaran’s direction.

  Hulldar bared his teeth as he snapped at Evaran. “Hey! Asshole! I’m talking to you!”

  Evaran pursed his lips and faced Hulldar. “Not for long. You were dead ten seconds ago. I told you to avoid the Slivyn.”

  Hulldar snorted and tried to raise his leg. It didn’t budge. He jerked around as he kept trying to lift his leg. “What the fuck is this? Galkett, help me out.”

  Evaran raised a hand toward Galkett. “Stay where you are. If you touch that slime, you will suffer the same fate as Hulldar. The Slivyn dissolves its prey very slowly. It injects a part of itself into the victim, which eventually leads to full paralysis. Once inside the bloodstream, it is over.”

  “Galkett! Not messing around, man. Get me out of this shit!” said Hulldar with a wavering voice. He fired at the ground around him.

  The Slivyn had climbed to the top of Hulldar’s knees. It dropped a tangent of slime to the ground. When it connected, it pulled Hulldar to his knees. The sharp sound of bones breaking ricocheted around the room. Hulldar grunted twice, then screamed. He splayed out his arms to prevent going prone. His weapon slid out to the side into the Slivyn, which pulled it away. He tried to raise his arms, but the Slivyn held them down. The Slivyn began going up his arms.

  “Oh, shit! Galkett!” said Hulldar.

  Sweat ran down Galkett’s face. His nostrils flared. He looked at Evaran. “Help me, and I can help you!”

  Hulldar screamed as the Slivyn climbed to his shoulders. “Galkett! Don’t leave me here!”

  Evaran pulled out his utility handle. It extended from one end, forming a baton. He pressed a few buttons on the middle, and the end lit up orange. He pointed it to the ground, in the direction of Galkett. He met Galkett’s gaze. “I am going to clear a path to you. When it is clear, jump off the table and run along the cleared path. Any deception and I will stun you and leave you to the Slivyn. Are we clear?”

  Galkett nodded his head violently. Evaran’s staff fired an orange beam in a forty-five degree arc at the ground. He swept it toward the table. Where it touched the Slivyn, the creature retracted. Once a clear path was established, Galkett jumped off the table and ran toward Evaran. The Slivyn attempted to intercept Galkett, but the beam beat it back. Galkett cleared the path and stood by Evaran. They turned to Hulldar.

  “Gaaalllkeeett,” said Hulldar in a low, gurgling voice. The Slivyn had reached his lips and was pouring into his mouth.

  Evaran faced Galkett. “He will be slowly digested over the next six hours. He will be conscious for most of it.”

  Galkett’s shoulder slumped as he let out a slow breath. His eyes turned down. He pulled out his weapon. He glanced at Evaran, then at Hulldar. “I’m sorry, man,” he said with a wavering voice. His hands shook as he pointed his weapon at Hulldar. He fired a quick shot, which shredded Hulldar’s head. Pieces of it fell back into the Slivyn.

  Dr. Snowden recoiled when Galkett fired, and Emily gasped.

  “God, that’s fucked up,” said Jay with his hands on his hips.

  Evaran sighed. “We need to leave this area.” He extended his hand toward the hallway entrance where the others stood watching. Galkett put his gun away and walked toward them with his head down. Evaran followed him, and when they neared the others, he extended a hand out to th
e krall. The krall shook its head, and its shield dissipated. Evaran interacted with his ARI, and the blue shield over the door vanished. He waved for the others to exit the room into the hallway they initially came in from, then motioned for Galkett to go in. He grabbed his UIC and, once inside the small hallway, placed it on the inner console. He interacted with his ARI, and the shield went back up as the Slivyn came within a few feet of the entrance.

  Evaran motioned for everyone to go to the end of the hallway. Again, he grabbed his UIC and, once they were at the end of the hallway, placed it on the inner console and interacted with his ARI. The light-blue shield appeared on the doorway, effectively sealing the hallway for them. Evaran motioned for Galkett to sit.

  Galkett sat down, breathing hard, and eyed the krall uneasily. “Are you gonna kill me?”

  “I do not kill if it can be avoided. I am sorry for your loss, but I warned Hulldar.”

  Galkett forced his lips together and drooped his head. “Yeah, I know. Hulldar doesn’t listen to anyone. We were good friends.” He licked his lips and pointed to the krall. “What is that thing?”

  Jay smirked. “That thing is a krall, but you prolly don’t want to sample its entertainment value.”

  Evaran extended a downward-facing hand at Jay and turned to Galkett. “You said you could help us. Elaborate.”

  Galkett sighed as he reached into his jacket.

  Evaran extended his baton, which now had a blue luminous end, a few inches from Galkett’s chest while the krall stepped forward. “What are you doing?”

  Galkett raised his hands. “Whoa, whoa! You wanted a data device. I have one. I also have a location beacon. I was just getting them.”

  Evaran put a hand out to the krall, who stepped back. He retracted his baton and then gestured at Galkett.

  Galkett pulled out a small cube with intricate designs on it and a small oval-shaped device. He held the cube up to Evaran. “I am a member of the Zattari Cartel and former member of the Dalrun Spy Network. Hosk and I infiltrated Jerzan’s group several years ago. This cube has everything needed to incriminate him. I have tracked his activities since joining.”