The Purification: Book 3 of the Evaran Chronicles (38 page)

The journey he had heard described made him cringe. This bone-eating monster had submitted Organic Emily to enslavement and seemed to kill for pleasure and food. Then there was the shadowy presence. Both monsters had been killed, and it was not lost on him that the shadow presence one was a direct kill, and the other an indirect one. She also killed two small humanoids when hallucinating. The hallucination disturbed him in that his image was used to essentially lure her into a false sense of security.

The cleansing at Central Command, as she had called it, was something he could have never seen her do before. He could sense that she was harder now, and less prone to showing emotion. The bubbly nature of Nanobot Emily stood in stark contrast to the more serious Organic Emily. It was like Nanobot Emily was a control group and Organic Emily was an experimental group with nine months on the prison planet as a variable. What bothered him the most was the casualness in which the killings were discussed. It sounded more like her new philosophy on how to handle threats, and something she would repeat if she had to.

The next morning at nine, Evaran and V in robot mode met them in the conference room. Nanobot Emily had taken Dr. Snowden’s usual seat next to Organic Emily, so he sat next to her with Lord Vygon and V on the other side. Lord Vygon had his usual drink, and V and Nanobot Emily did not take any breakfast.

Dr. Snowden went light on food since his stomach was twisted around. He tilted his head at Organic Emily’s choice of two burgers, a large plate of fries, and a large soda. She usually had something lighter, and if it was a burger, it was half the portion he was seeing and never in the morning. Maybe she was just hungry, but a part of him thought of her as a hungry predator. He could not shake the feeling that there was something horribly wrong with her.

Evaran half smiled at both Emilys. “It is good to see you both here. It makes the place a bit brighter.”

Nanobot Emily smiled back while Organic Emily nodded with lips drawn flat.

Evaran tapped at the table console, causing a projection to shoot up of a large pyramid surrounded by an expansive city.

Dr. Snowden noted that the pyramid looked similar to the one he had seen on Earth, but about roughly ten times larger. There were some landing pads that jutted out at various heights, which suggested they had flying craft. A pulsating red dot appeared in the middle of the pyramid. The projection had wireframe lines inside the pyramid, indicating the various rooms and hallways. A blue line led upward from the ground to about the middle of the pyramid. At the end of that line was a pulsing dot, which Evaran was pointing at.

“That is the main rift stone,” said Evaran. “It is not as guarded as I imagined it would be.”

Lord Vygon rested his chin on his right hand. “Well … this
is
a pocket universe that is only accessible by rift doors, or in our case, the Torvatta. What do they have to defend against here?”

“A good point,” said Evaran. “However, with the main rift stone able to open rift doors to other locations, I would think if they came across a hostile location, more security would be needed.”

“Maybe. Then again, they could just shield the rift door. This pyramid isn’t shielded, so I don’t think they have planned too much on it being attacked.”

Evaran eyed Lord Vygon. “This is true.” He pointed at the blue line that started off at the base of the pyramid and snaked its way up the pulsing dot. “V has defined this as the shortest route to get there.” He pointed at a landing pad. “We are stealthed currently and will land there. Once down, we will follow the blue line and disable the main rift stone.”

Dr. Snowden cocked his head. “And … how are we going to do that?”

“I will use my staff on it.”

Dr. Snowden wrinkled his eyebrows. “You’re planning to smash it?”

Evaran nodded. “Yes. It may have exotic energy coursing through it, but I can nullify that aspect.”

“Like you did with Seeros’s armor pads,” said Dr. Snowden. He recalled Evaran tossing three orbs against Seeros’s exotic-energy-enhanced black armor pads that glowed red. The orbs emitted a white cloud, which nullified the armor’s exotic energy component, causing it to stop glowing.

“Correct,” said Evaran. “Once the main rift stone is smashed, we will exit the way we came.”

Nanobot Emily nodded. “Seems straightforward.”

Evaran eased back into his chair and laced his fingers in front of him. “It does. However, we still need to deal with all the guards on the way there. Once we are in, the area will swarm, so we need to be quick. In and out.”

“Well … I’m wearing the survival suit for this one,” said Dr. Snowden.

“I figured as much. I would have suggested you and both Emilys stay behind for this, but I know you will not agree.”

Dr. Snowden half smiled.

“So who’s in our way?” asked Lord Vygon with a smirk.

“Analysis. Three types of guards were analyzed,” said V.

Evaran nodded and swiped his hand across his ARI. The projection changed to a large man around seven feet tall in a golden suit of advanced heavy armor. He wielded a large energy shield with a solid border in his left hand and had a big forearm guard with a crystal embedded in it. Glowing swords hung off his waist and a staff weapon rested on his back. “This was the first type V scanned. I call it a heavy guard. They appear to be heavily armored with melee weapons and a ranged weapon on their forearms. There are not too many of these.”

“Uhh … that guy is kinda big,” said Dr. Snowden.

“Yes … I suspect that although they are human, there has been some genetic engineering,” said Evaran.

“So much for human purity.”

Evaran glanced at Dr. Snowden, then tapped at his ARI, and the projection changed to a normal-sized human male in a black mesh suit with gray pads outlined in silver. His head was covered in a tight-fitting cloth, and goggles with red lenses sat on his face. Small sidearms rested on his thighs and a sword on his back.

Dr. Snowden wrinkled his eyebrows. It reminded him of an advanced ninja.

Evaran gestured at the projection. “This is the second type that V scanned. Although less in number, they seem to reside in areas of higher security along with the heavy guards. I call them strikers. I suspect they can move faster and are more agile.”

Dr. Snowden sneaked a look at Organic Emily. She had narrowed eyes and was clenching and unclenching her fist. It seemed that she was looking forward to the prospect of fighting these guards.

Evaran brought up the third projection. Like the second one, it showed a normal-sized human. He wore a leather-like suit with sporadic pieces of silver armor on it and carried a staff weapon with a crystal embedded in one end. A cloth wrapped around the lower part of his face, with a headband containing a crystal on the upper part. “This is the third type. These are the most numerous, and I refer to them as the regular guards. The staff weapon they carry can fire bursts of energy. I am unsure how that is possible, as the scan revealed very few moving parts, but the profile is similar to the ones we saw at the first base. I have not had much time to study this technology.”

“So … how many we looking at?” asked Lord Vygon.

V tapped at the table console, and dots appeared near the blue line. A legend showing the type of guard and dot color appeared. The locked doors became visible as well. “Analysis. Base contains a complement of four hundred. The path chosen has twenty-five guards with four doors.”

Lord Vygon narrowed his eyes. “I don’t like it. Something’s off here. I know this is an inaccessible place, but that seems way too weak. Perhaps we can get some help from Atlantis.”

Evaran shook his head. “They have already sacrificed a large portion of their groups and need to focus on Earth.”

“I guess … sure could use more help is all I’m saying.”

Evaran studied Lord Vygon for a moment. “Stealth will be to our advantage. That is better achieved with a small group. V, take us to the landing pad.”

“Acknowledged.”

Evaran faced Dr. Snowden and both Emilys. “Get your survival suits on. You will want your shield deployed and repulsing weapon out.”

“I’d like to keep this suit on,” said Organic Emily. “I could use an energy shield, though.”

Evaran tilted his head. “Are you sure?”

Organic Emily nodded.

“Very well. Meet up at the Torvatta exit in thirty minutes.”

Dr. Snowden exited the room with the others. It seemed like the assembled group would be able to handle any threat. Organic Emily’s choice to not wear a survival suit intrigued him. While her suit seemed sturdier, it did not have the PSD interface bound to it. Maybe she was more proficient with the PSD than he was aware. It could also be that the PSD had more functionality that he did not know of. He shook his head and went to get his survival suit on.

Thirty minutes later, everyone assembled at the Torvatta exit.

Dr. Snowden noted that Organic Emily had a forearm device similar to the survival suit. He did not know if it had been removed from a survival suit or if it was a separate device. Nanobot Emily had on the same suit as he, and Lord Vygon and Evaran had on their regular suits.

“V has landed the Torvatta in stealth mode on the pad,” said Evaran. He gestured out. “There is a hallway leading directly out of here with two guards on each side. An enclosed room is off to the right with a worker. V is hovering there now. Lord Vygon is going to rush and take out the worker, and V will place my UIC on the console. The alarm system will be disabled. I am going to rush the guards. Once it is secured, everyone will advance to my position at the door. Understood?”

Everyone nodded.

“Good,” said Evaran. He nodded at Lord Vygon and pointed forward. “Go.”

Lord Vygon rushed out of the Torvatta.

Evaran waved for the others to follow him to the edge of the Torvatta’s shielding. After a moment, he rushed with shield raised toward the startled regular guards. His utility handle had extended into a baton with a glowing white end. He raised it and fired a repulsion blast, knocking both guards down. When Evaran reached them, he interacted with his utility handle, causing the baton end to glow blue. He tapped both guards with his baton, causing them to shudder, then stop moving. He waved for Dr. Snowden and both Emilys to come over.

When Dr. Snowden arrived, he looked to his right and saw Lord Vygon give a nod from the doorway of the enclosed room.

Evaran tapped at his ARI, and the door in front of them slid up. “The alarm system has been disabled.” He gestured forward. “This hallway leads to a very large circular room. We will take the corridor on the right side of it once we are there.”

Dr. Snowden snorted. This was almost too easy. Then again, what base expected someone like Evaran and his abilities, an ancient vampire, and three people that could stun and repulse from afar?

As they neared the large room, Evaran raised a hand. His eyebrows furrowed. “This was unexpected.”

“I don’t sense anything,” said Lord Vygon, looking around.

Evaran ran his hand over his mouth. “A Hadryn spawn is coming, and I suspect he is not alone.” He gestured toward a console inside the room near the right hallway exit. “V, put my UIC on that console.”

“Acknowledged,” said V as he flew into the room.

Dr. Snowden raised a finger. “And what is a Hadryn spawn exactly?”

“Something not of this plane. They are ancient and powerful. I was not expecting one to be here.”

“Oh … well … that’s just great.”

“I will draw the Hadryn spawn over to the other side of the base. It will come for me,” said Evaran. He swept his finger out. “Everyone else will head to the main rift stone.”

“I’m not leaving you to fight this thing alone!” said Lord Vygon with an intent gaze.

Evaran looked down for a moment. He sighed as he looked back up. “I do not make this decision lightly. If this Hadryn spawn were to interfere, I do not think we would prevail. At best, I can stall him until we can disable the main rift stone.”

Organic Emily waved a finger between Dr. Snowden and Nanobot Emily. “We will be okay if Lord Vygon wants to go with you. V can guide us to the main rift stone, and we can deal with any guards. Three people who can stun and repulse them should be more than enough. Most will be focused on trying to get to this room anyways.”

“I cannot allow—”

“Trust me. Take Lord Vygon with you.”

Evaran eyed Organic Emily. “Very well. You can use the PSD to morph hammers to break the stone.” He handed three orbs to her, which she put in a pouch on her belt. “These will nullify the exotic energy coursing through them.” He tapped at his ARI. “I have opened all the doors there. Once you leave this room, I am going to seal off the hallway behind us and the one you are taking.”

Organic Emily nodded. “We can do this.”

Dr. Snowden’s stomach twisted. It went from easy to hard in a matter of minutes. This Hadryn spawn must be dangerous enough for Evaran to make the decision to accept help in fighting it. Dr. Snowden knew Evaran did not want the Hadryn spawn to involve either Emily or himself.

Evaran pointed off to the right hallway inside the room. “Stay along the walls. Go.”