The Purification: Book 3 of the Evaran Chronicles (4 page)

The man extended a hand. “Halt. You are under arrest.”

Dr. Snowden turned his head to see that they were surrounded.

“For what reason?” asked Evaran.

“For being nonhuman and, more importantly, being Evaran,” said the man with a finger extended. “The Evaran Protocol has been activated. You will come with me now.”

“What do we do?” asked Emily in a hushed tone while looking at Evaran.

Evaran turned his head toward Emily. “We go with them.” His gaze bored a hole through the man. “For now.”

Dr. Snowden’s heartbeat ramped up as he studied the situation. It sometimes felt to him that if Evaran were by himself, he would make different decisions. Then again, had he been alone with Seeros in their last adventure, it would not have turned out well. This was one situation where there was no way out without someone getting hurt. Hopefully Evaran had a plan, because going up against these armored monsters was not something Dr. Snowden wanted to do.

The man gestured for them to head back into the room. After an hour of being escorted through various hallways, they reached a circular room that had evenly spaced shielded doors ringing it. The room had the text Unit 4A above it. A man with heavy black armor approached them. He tapped at a console on his forearm, causing one of the shielded doors to dissipate. With a nod from the heavily armored man, the men escorting Evaran, Dr. Snowden, and Emily moved them inside the cell. The black-armored man interacted with his console, resealing the entrance, which became dark gray as a light turned on above them.

Dr. Snowden noticed a small set of benches that extruded from the wall and took a seat. Emily joined him.

Evaran scanned the cell with his ring. “Interesting. I detect emitters between the cells.”

“What’s that?” asked Emily.

“They could disable us in a variety of ways in here.”

“Oh …”

The wall opposite the way they came in turned translucent. On the other side, Dr. Snowden saw a larger room with a table, a chair, and a middle-aged male dressed similarly to the man who had arrested them earlier.

The man walked up to the shielded door and peered in. He smirked and stepped back while placing his hands behind his back. “I’m Ring Commander Sheel. I’m curious … do you know why you’re here?”

Evaran stepped forward. “We are here because I am not a human, and the Evaran Protocol has been activated.”

Sheel nodded. “Yes … but do you know
what
the Evaran Protocol is?”

“I do not.”

Sheel snorted. “Figures. Well then. Let me fill you in.” He tapped at his forearm, causing a hologram of a book to appear floating to his side. “This is a book called
The Human Way
. It contains, in
great
detail, how a human should live their life, the way they should behave, and the many protocols that need to be observed. It has led to this,” said Sheel, sweeping his hand in an arc, “the great Human Dominion. Yet … there are these … protocols, that I believe should not be in there.”

“The Evaran Protocol.”

“That is one,” said Sheel with a scowl. “You got a protocol named after you, so it pollutes
The Human Way
with its very presence.” Spittle flew from his mouth. “
The Human Way
was written by the overlord, and he wanted to make sure that any human that sees you or detects you follows a specific protocol. In this case, I have the honor of being the one that executes it.”

“Why is there a protocol named after me?”

Sheel shook his head and walked around the table with his hands behind his back. “You are considered the highest threat and, supposedly, some powerful being.” He snorted again. “Nonetheless, the overlord wishes to speak with you.” He interacted with his forearm, and the book disappeared. It was replaced by a bronze-skinned head wearing a headband with a large crystal in the middle. The Purifier symbol stood around his eyes.

“I am the overlord, and from what Sheel tells me, the Evaran Protocol has been activated.”

“It would appear so.”

The overlord narrowed his eyes. “Yes … I can sense you, even as far away as you are.” He cocked his head. “Interesting form … but a poor choice. I look forward to seeing it in person. Unfortunately for you, this will be the end of an age-old fight.”

Evaran perked his head up. “Elaborate.”

The overlord chuckled. “All in due time, plane traveler. I will relieve you of the burden of having that form.” He looked at Sheel. “You have done well.”

Sheel bowed.

“Our ship should be there in a day. I have dispatched nearby royal exterminators already. Prepare for my arrival.”

“Yes, my overlord.”

The overlord looked Evaran over, then smiled big. “I will make use of the Torvatta’s time-travel ability and be sure that everyone knows how I got it.”

Evaran shook his head. “I cannot allow that.”

The overlord laughed as the hologram faded.

Sheel sighed.

“You do not agree with the overlord?”

“I think he overestimates you. If you’re so powerful, how did I capture you so easily?”

“A fair point. I have noticed you did not disable us.”

Sheel’s nostrils flared. “The protocol is very clear on that. You’re not to be harmed. If it was up to me, I would kill you and,” he said, gesturing at Dr. Snowden and Emily, “whatever those …
abominations
are. Then there would be no more need for this protocol.”

“Uhh … we’re human,” said Dr. Snowden.

“No, you’re not. You have some type of technology in your body that has altered your purity. A shame, really.”

Dr. Snowden’s right cheek twitched. This was the first time he heard someone say they were not human. It was not something that ever crossed his mind. Sweat rolled down the side of his head as he stood up and approached the shield. “We’re just as human as you, buddy.”

“You’re filth. Just. Pure. Filth.”

Dr. Snowden’s blood began to boil. He clenched his fist. “Well, thankfully that’s your opinion. If your views represent what humanity has moved to, then it’s a sad day.”

“You judge me?” said Sheel. “You’re not worthy of that. You and your dirty niece will meet the overlord tomorrow. You can discuss your inefficiencies with him.”

Dr. Snowden’s eyes narrowed, and his face turned red. “Don’t you talk about Emily like that! You don’t know me or her.”

“I know you’re tainted and you travel with Evaran. That’s all I need to know. You’re subhuman.”

Dr. Snowden pounded the shield with his fist. “You’re
lucky
there is a shield here. I’d be more than happy to
show
you how dirty a human can get.”

“Uh-huh,” said Sheel, laughing. “Just like an animal.”

Dr. Snowden imagined himself breaking through the shield and grabbing Sheel. He would target the eyes first, ripping them out and stomping on them. Then he would tear out his tongue and break his arms and legs. His vision turned red as he began to hit the shield repeatedly while grunting and staring at Sheel. He jumped as Evaran laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Dr. Snowden!” said Evaran.

A pain shot through Dr. Snowden’s heart as he paused. He staggered over to the wall and knelt down with a hand on his chest.

“Uncle Albert!” said Emily. She rushed over to him and helped him sit on the bench.

Evaran scanned Dr. Snowden. “You need to calm down. Your body is stressing itself. This is not normal.”

“Ahh … can’t even handle a simple disagreement. If you’re representative of humans from wherever you are, then it’s definitely a sad day,” said Sheel with a smirk.

Dr. Snowden lunged at the shield.

Evaran caught Dr. Snowden and sat him down. “You need to relax. Sheel is not worth the effort … or time.” He looked at Sheel. “He is just a middleman with no real power and personal issues he needs to work on.”

Sheel rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I came to facilitate the overlord’s hologram, and also to see what the great Evaran was like, and I leave confused. Why a protocol was designed for you, I’ll never understand. You can sit in that cell and waste away your last day pondering about what the overlord is going to do to you.” He tapped at a device on his belt, and the shield turned dark gray.

Evaran stroked his chin.

“Are you in pain?” asked Emily, staring at Dr. Snowden.

Dr. Snowden shook his head as his vision returned to normal. The pain had subsided and a tingling sensation shot out over him. After a moment, a chill swept across him and his breathing stabilized. “I was, but seems the nanobots have kicked in. Not sure what happened. One moment I was thinking why Sheel was doing what he was doing, the next I was dismembering him in my thoughts and everything went red.”

“Your reaction was unusual. I do not know if the nanobots are malfunctioning or if there is something else going on. We will need to investigate when we get back to the Torvatta,” said Evaran.

Dr. Snowden waved a hand at Evaran. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“You’re not fine,” said Emily. “I’ve only seen you react like that twice.”

Evaran studied Emily for a moment. “An excellent observation. The draug and Seeros. Both life-and-death situations. However, this was not a life-and-death situation.”

Dr. Snowden rubbed his eyes. It felt like he had just gone several rounds with a boxer. “So … what now?”

“We wait. I need to think on this situation some,” said Evaran as he sat opposite Dr. Snowden and Emily.

Emily scooted over and tapped her arm as she smiled at Dr. Snowden. “Why don’t you take a nap.”

Dr. Snowden sighed as he laid his head against Emily’s arm. “Yes, ma’am.” His eyes began to drift closed as he wondered how they were going to get out of this.

John looked through the front window of his cruiser as it approached the Purifier space station. Sweat trickled down the side of his face as he focused on the readouts flying around the window.

“If you want some alone time with the window, just let me know,” said Hermes.

John eyed Hermes.

“Relax. We’ll do fine, like we always do.”

John shook his head. “Yeah … I know. Just had an update from Brills.” He tapped at a button on the console near Hermes. The ship-wide communication system crackled. “Everyone, come to the command deck. It’s almost go time.” He let up on the button.

Hermes pressed the button. “And lunch time. If you’re into that sort of thing.”

John chuckled. “You know, if you die, I’m going to miss your humor.”

“And if you die, where am I going to find someone brooding all the time?”

John snorted as he stepped down from the pilot area into the command area. Although Hermes ribbed him a lot, Hermes had proven to be a vital part of the team. His humor had defused many a situation. John’s hands flew across the table console as he studied the information Brills had sent. The rest of the crew filtered in over the next five minutes and assembled around the table. A holographic projection shot up, showing a layout of the segmented ring they were hovering outside. It had eighteen levels with various shafts indicating lifts.

John surveyed his crew before speaking. “It’s time. Brills has sent an update on the situation.” He pointed at a red dot that appeared in the layout. “Evaran, Dr. Snowden, and Emily are here.”

“I still find it hard to believe they were captured. Isn’t Evaran some type of badass?” asked Miles.

“Maybe it was on purpose, hon,” said Shandra, looking up at Miles while under his arm.

“I guess,” said Miles.

“We don’t know if Evaran had a reason or if he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said John. “Doesn’t matter. What does matter is we are going to get him out and then head to the Gallant out past the Galvin Rim. Brills said that all of our inside contacts have left the ring segment, except for him, of course.” He pointed to another red dot on the layout. “He’s still in the segment command area here. We’ll meet up with him, shut down the power to the cells area and docking bays, then meet up with Evaran here,” he said, pointing to a third red dot. “Then we’ll make our way back to our ship. Brills has opened a small window where we can slip through the ring segment shield and get to a docking bay extension.”

“You mean we have to rely on Hermes?” asked Dizz.

Hermes chuckled. “If you want, I can join you on the inside part.”

The crew laughed.

“I thought so,” said Hermes with a smile.

John raised a hand. “There has been a complication. Brills also said the Third Royal Exterminator squad has arrived. I don’t remember seeing that in the Evaran Protocol, so it must have been a decision by the ring commander.”

“A full squad … yeah … that’s not going to be easy,” said Dizz.

“I know, but we have no choice. Once the power is down, they will know we are there. There are a few guards on the way to the command center, but nothing we can’t deal with,” said John.

Miles cracked his knuckles. “Exterminators or not. Bring ’em on!”

Shandra slapped Miles’s chest and nodded at him.

“Okay, suit up for a protracted fight. Hermes, take us in to the prearranged docking bay.”

“On it, boss!” said Hermes with a smirk.

John shook his head as he headed to his room to get suited up.