The Awakening: Book 1 of the Evaran Chronicles (11 page)

“Everyone stay here. There are two mercenaries coming into 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 the 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.”

Evaran gestured at the oval device. “And that is the locational beacon?”

Galkett exhaled a measured breath. “Yes, every Bloodbore has one. They allow us to see the direction and distance we are from one another. Hulldar’s will most likely stop broadcasting soon, if it hasn’t already, and Jerzan will come investigate.”

Dr. Snowden shook his head. “Why’re we listening to him?”

Galkett looked at Dr. Snowden. “I told them not to interfere with you. When Simas and Rondall transmitted the video of your group on one of the above walkways, I identified Evaran. He is well-known to the Zattari Cartel. Told them to avoid your group at all costs.” He shook his head. “Jerzan didn’t listen, and ordered them to capture you. Apparently Simas and Rondall had other ideas.”

Dr. Snowden snorted. “Why should we believe you?”

Galkett jerked his head back. “Betraying Evaran is foolish. Don’t you know who you’re traveling with?”

A chill fluttered across Dr. Snowden’s body. He chewed on his bottom lip as he thought about what he really knew of Evaran, and it wasn’t much. Apparently Galkett had a better idea of who Evaran was, and he seemed fearful.

Galkett shifted uneasily and looked up at Evaran. “Whoever is on the opposite side of you doesn’t end up well. I want no piece of that. Given your presence here, I suspect you will want Jerzan after what Simas and Rondall did, right?” said Galkett.

Evaran nodded at Galkett. “For that and a few other reasons.”

Galkett took a measured breath and pointed at the shielded door. “Let me leave, and me and Hosk can take Jerzan’s ship, which is actually a stolen Zattari ship. Hosk is there guarding it now. It would leave Jerzan stranded here for you to deal with. You could use the locational beacon to determine how far away they are and in what direction. Since it won’t be on me, Jerzan wouldn’t know I was headed to the ship,” said Galkett.

“Or you could let Jerzan know where we are,” said Dr. Snowden.

Galkett shook his head. “You’re. Not. Listening. It’s apparent you have no idea who Evaran is.” He handed the locational beacon to Evaran.

Evaran flipped the beacon around his hand and scanned it with his ring. “This will be useful. I can redirect pings from other locational beacons to somewhere else while still using it to get a rough idea of where they are.”

The left side of Dr. Snowden’s face raised. “So that’s it? We’re just gonna take his word? We could at least use any weapons he has or something.”

Evaran glanced at Dr. Snowden as Galkett handed him the data cube. “Like the Krotovore weapons, these weapons are keyed to the owner. Mercenary weapons in this time and period are a little more dangerous. They blow up if someone else tries to use them. Besides, Galkett has enough information on me to know it is in his best interests not to lie to me.”

Dr. Snowden looked at Galkett, who was trembling. Evaran truly frightened him. More than the loss of Hulldar even. What the heck was in those stories?

Evaran scanned the cube with his ring and looked around at his ARI. “The data is good.”

Galkett used the wall to slide up. “So we agreed?”

Evaran nodded. “We are agreed. Make sure that ship is gone by the time we get there. Any deception and you will be made priority.”

Galkett nodded vigorously and raised his trembling hands. He licked his lips. “No issues there.”

Evaran interacted with his ARI, and the light-blue shield dissipated. He gestured for Galkett to exit first.

Galkett stepped out into the main hallway and turned to face Evaran. He squinted his eyes shut and took a deep breath. He then opened them and looked at Evaran. “Thank you for sparing me. I have to ask, though. What’re you doing here with a bunch of Dalrun?”

Evaran exhaled sharply through his nose. “They are not Dalrun. They are humans, from another galaxy. They are not supposed to be here at this point in space and time. I am taking them home.”

Galkett swallowed hard with widened eyes. “And Jerzan messed that up.” He shook his head. “He’s fucked.”