by Adair Hart
V, flying above, hit the other with a repulsion blast.
Two more Kalesh rushed in, but fell prey to V and Dr. Snowden’s combined attack.
Jane realized they would not let him get up. She stood over Dr. Snowden and grabbed his hand. While lifting him, she shot around in a 270-degree arc, making sure not to fire forward.
Dr. Snowden stood and shook his arm ahead. “C’mon! We’re falling behind.”
Jane looked ahead and noticed that Evaran had stopped.
Emily had charged back through a stream of Kalesh toward Dr. Snowden and Jane. When she reached them, she held her ground. “Let’s go!”
Jane grabbed Dr. Snowden, and with Emily, they ran to Evaran. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. Evaran was a blur. He would appear for one moment with his staff on a Kalesh right before it went flying. Then he would be a blur until he hit another one. He danced around in a circle, striking and shooting repulsion beams, while Skar knelt in the middle, firing wildly.
Evaran paused for a moment to check on everyone, then continued on.
They reached the base of the ramp and inched their way up it.
Jane noticed that the group configuration had changed. While she, Emily, and Dr. Snowden held the rear as they moved up, Evaran and Skar cleared the front. This was a lot easier than when they were on the ground floor. V was slightly behind them, keeping the group at the base of the ramp on their backs.
When they reached the top, the Kalesh behind them massed up despite V’s best effort.
Evaran motioned for everyone to head out the mining doors in the distance.
When Jane and the others ran past Evaran and then out the mining doors, she glanced back in.
Evaran was running full tilt toward the door. The two Kalesh guards and V were just inside the doors, unloading on the mutants.
After Evaran, V, and the guards burst outside, Jane motioned for the others to try to close the door.
Dr. Snowden raised his hand. “We won’t need to do that. The twenty minutes is about up.”
Skar bent over, trying to catch his breath. “What happens then?”
“The timeline changes.”
After a few moments, the environment shimmered.
Jane gasped as Skar and the guards disappeared. The mining door facility vanished, and in its place was solid stone. All went quiet as the environment normalized. She looked around frantically. “Where did the Kalesh go!”
Evaran sighed as he looked at where the mining facility had been. “We can cover it when we get back to the Torvatta. V, bring it around.”
“Acknowledged,” said V. He flew off into the distance.
A humming sound nearby boomed out above them.
Evaran motioned toward the trees. “We need to move, now!”
As they entered the nearby forest, Jane looked up. Her heartbeat surged as she recognized the design and logo. It was a Voss Imperium light fighter craft.
Dr. Snowden eased back into his chair in the conference room. V had pulled around the Torvatta in stealth mode, allowing them to board it without being detected. He had come to view the Torvatta as his mobile home. It had everything he needed and could go anywhere. Like Evaran, it was a beacon of hope that made him feel secure. Given all the timeline changes, it was also one of the safest places to be.
He took a bite of the sandwich he had grabbed from the replicator. After swallowing it, he took a sip of his root beer as he watched Jane and Emily choose what to eat or drink at the replicators. Evaran sat in his usual chair, going over something in his ARI. V, in orb mode, had joined them and rested on two of his segmented extensions at the end of the table opposite Evaran.
Jane took her seat to the right of Evaran while Emily took hers on the other side next to Dr. Snowden.
Dr. Snowden noticed that Jane had some type of green beverage, while Emily had a container of water and some beef jerky, or at least that is what it looked like to him.
Evaran looked around. “I will keep this brief. I know everyone is probably tired, and we have done quite a bit in a short amount of time. Billozein has caused a timeline change as you all saw. We will need to discover what the differences are and then try to pinpoint where he is. This time, we are going to put a quantum beacon on his ship. That will tell us exactly where he is even if he time jumps.”
“Good idea,” said Jane. She wrinkled her eyebrows. “Regarding this new timeline … let me see if I got this right. That mining facility never existed.” She glanced at Dr. Snowden. “If we had stayed down there …”
Evaran furrowed his eyebrows. “We would have been encased in stone. Your temporal shielding would have made the stone go around you, but in effect, you would have been immobilized.”
Jane gulped. “We woulda died.”
“That is correct.”
Dr. Snowden looked down. He had thought maybe they could have waited it out. If Evaran had not been there, it would have been yet another disastrous decision. It seemed when pressured, he made shortsighted decisions without thinking them through. He wondered if that was a remnant of his past anger issues impacting him.
“Billozein did not know that we had individual temporal shielding due to the Torvatta,” said Evaran. “That is a unique ability of the Torvatta. Even so, if he did determine that we did, he would have made sure no mining facility was built. I do not know if the Voss ship was to ensure that no one came out or a coincidence.”
“Cover all angles,” said Jane, shaking her head.
“It would appear so,” said Evaran. He tapped at the table console, causing a projection of the ship they had seen earlier to appear. “This ship is of Voss origin.”
“Yeah, but it looks way more advanced than any Voss ship I’ve seen, and that’s from my era, assuming we’re still in the past.”
“We are still in the past, but will go back to the future in order to compare against the previous timelines,” said Evaran.
“Works for me.”
“When you finish having lunch, meet me in the command area. Then we can begin our analysis of this new timeline,” said Evaran. He shut off the projection and exited the room with V in tow.
Dr. Snowden took a bite of his sandwich. “Lot to take in, huh?”
Jane looked down. “I’m twice removed now from everything I knew. It’s starting to sink in.” She looked up with a smirk. “I’m a true time refugee.”
Dr. Snowden chuckled. “Well, you’re in good company then.” He glanced at Emily. “You know, I have been wondering if there is a copy of us back on Earth, given our last adventure.”
“We can always check,” said Emily.
Dr. Snowden noticed a sadness in Emily’s eyes. He knew that somewhere in her heart was the desire to see her father again. With something like the Torvatta, that would be easy to do, assuming it stayed stealthed. Maybe someday they would. He knew he would not mind seeing his brother again, but it would be hard to do without being able to talk to him. It would be even rougher for Emily. A lump formed in his throat.
Jane glanced at Dr. Snowden. “So if I hadn’t come aboard the Torvatta, I would have blinked out like Skar and the other Kalesh.”
Dr. Snowden nodded.
“How do you two do it? I mean, meeting people that potentially might not have ever existed? That must be unsettling.”
Emily bobbed her head. “It can be. On our last adventure, we met a lot of people who now don’t exist, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t real. At least to me.”
“The Earth guard,” said Dr. Snowden.
Jane perked up. “The nonhuman group?”
“Yeah. They were fighting a human-supremacist group called the Purifiers. When we changed the timeline in the past, though, all the people we had met in that future version of humanity disappeared along with the timeline change.”
“The Purifiers … ,” said Jane. “There is a small group that calls themselves the Purists, but they used to be called Purifiers. Human supremacists, very anti-augment. They cling to
a belief that an overlord will save them and travel everywhere looking for that. They’re harmless, but kinda out there.”
Dr. Snowden glanced at Emily, then back at Jane. “The overlord didn’t fare too well with us.”
“If you had told me that before knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have believed it. You two have seen so much. This must be a typical trip for you both.”
Emily snorted. “Traveling with Evaran is never dull, that’s for sure.”
Dr. Snowden finished his sandwich, then stood. “I’m with you there. Ready to see what this new timeline is all about?”
“Yep. Before we leave, though, I wanted to say to both of you, thank you for being understanding,” said Jane.
Emily and Dr. Snowden both smiled at Jane.
They met up with Evaran in the command center and took their seats.
Evaran tapped at his chair console. “V, take us to space, then forward to July 16, 3104, at two ten p.m. Once there, stealth and take us to Corunus.”
“Acknowledged.”
Jane scooted to the edge of her chair and stared intently at the left screen.
Dr. Snowden enjoyed seeing Jane’s reaction to the Torvatta’s traveling aspects. It was routine to him now, but it never lost its charm.
The left screen showed the Torvatta reaching space. Once there, everything faded out, then eased back in.
“Torvatta stealth mode engaged.”
The Torvatta flew for a bit before syncing its orbit with Roeth.
Jane surveyed the screen. “No Corunus …”
“V, long-range scans,” said Evaran.
“Acknowledged,” said V. After a moment, the front right screen showed Roeth, with six green blips around it. “Multiple spacecraft detected.”
“Take us to the nearest one and perform standard scans.”
“Acknowledged.”
Once the Torvatta reached the nearest starship, it flew around and scanned it.
Dr. Snowden noticed the design of the ship displayed on the right screen was unusual. It was large and had an aggressive profile. It looked like someone had cut out an arrowhead and slapped a large turtle shell on top. Labels shot out next to various segments, highlighting how well armed the ship was. Antennae and smaller sections jutted out. The back of it had large orange thrusters, and the body looked like it had large steel straps across it. It was something he had never seen before.
Jane gasped. “That’s a Voss Imperium cruiser, but like the other ship, much more advanced. It’s slightly bigger too.”
“There are four of these, one larger one, and another one similar in size but of a different design,” said Evaran.
“That doesn’t bode well,” said Jane. “The United Planets, and especially the Kalesh, would never have allowed this.”
“It is possible the Voss Imperium war did not end in the Kalesh’s favor. I suspect Billozein’s influence here.”
Dr. Snowden looked at Evaran. “So … what do we do then?”
Evaran touched his fingertips in front of him. “Hmm.” He looked at Jane. “Suggestions?”
“We met Warlord Okon, then Ambassador Okon. Is it possible he’s still around? In some other role? We could also check in with the United Planets.”
“Good ideas,” said Evaran. “We can check on Okon, and then if you know where we could meet with the United Planets, we can do that.” He looked around. “Any concerns?”
Everyone shook their head.
“V, take us to where we met Warlord Okon previously and scan for life signs.”
“Acknowledged.”
The Torvatta angled toward Roeth and flew to it. After thirty minutes, The Torvatta reached the area where they had met Warlord Okon previously and flew around scanning the ground.
Dr. Snowden watched as the scans showed nothing for a while. His attention peaked when a cave entrance a bit away showed three life signs. It seemed to stick out given that they had not seen anything near where they had initially come down.
“Analysis. Three life signs detected. Pattern matches that of the Kalesh.”
“Noted. Take us down and land in front of that entrance.”
“Acknowledged.”
The Torvatta flew toward the entrance, and when it was over it, set down.
“V, scout mode.”
“Acknowledged. Scouting mode engaged,” said V. He took off toward the Torvatta entrance, shimmered out of view, then flew out.
Dr. Snowden watched the left screen with rapture. It showed the view from V, while the right screen showed details relative to what was on the left screen.
When V hovered over the Kalesh, the right screen showed them to be normal. Various statistics were listed, along with a listing of equipment.
Jane scrunched her face. “They’re not using state-of-the-art equipment.”
“If this is where his group is hiding, they may not have the ability to procure much,” said Evaran.
V flew into the cave entrance for a while, showing Kalesh families in tattered clothing. Every third or fourth Kalesh shown had a weapon, some were advanced, while most seemed to be low-tech. It did not take long for V to reach a large opening where Okon was detected.
Evaran tapped at his chair console. “V, relay the command center visual.”
V flew up and shot down a projection of the Torvatta’s command center.
“Greetings. We mean you no harm,” said Evaran.
Kalesh jumped up and raised their weapons.
Okon stood. “Wait!” He walked up to the projection and waved his hand through it. “It’s a projection.” He looked up.
Evaran cleared his throat. “Okon, do you have a moment to speak?”
The Kalesh talked in hushed whispers as Okon stood back. “Who am I talking to?”
Evaran pointed at himself, then around the room. “I am Evaran. I have with me Dr. Albert Snowden, Emily Snowden, and Jane Trellis. The projection you are seeing is being shown by my friend V.”
Okon snorted. “Well … aren’t we all fancy.”
The Kalesh around him snickered.
“What do you want?”
“A history lesson.”
The Kalesh laughed.
Okon sneered. “A history lesson? On what?”
“The Voss Imperium war and United Planets involvement, if any,” said Evaran.
“And … I know this isn’t some Voss Imperium trick … how?”
“Would it help if we met in person, in private?”
Okon nodded. “It would. Where are you?”
“We are stealthed in front of your cave entrance.”
Okon’s eyebrows raised. He motioned at a Kalesh who interacted with a device.
After a moment, the Kalesh shook its head.
“Your stealth must be pretty good. My scouts don’t see or smell anything.”
Evaran tapped at his chair console, causing the Torvatta to disengage stealth mode.
“Check again.”
Okon motioned at the Kalesh again. This time the Kalesh nodded after checking his device.
“Your technology is advanced,” said Okon.
“Thank you. We can meet then?”
Okon sighed. “On one condition. We need food, drink, and medical supplies. You provide it, and I will allow this meeting.”
“You are a true leader of your people. Tell V what you need, and he will make sure you get it while we meet. Fair enough?”
Okon paused for a moment. “You have a deal. My guards will escort you in. I would cloak your ship, though. Last thing we need is the Voss detecting it.”
“A wise decision. We will be out momentarily.”
The screen went blank.
As Jane walked behind Evaran, she grimaced at the poor conditions of the Kalesh. Whatever had happened to them, it did not look good. She had been used to seeing healthy Kalesh during her stay in Da Nesh. Hunger lived in these tunnels as a permanent resident. The tunnels were lit by lights embedded into the walls at uneven intervals, and the pungent smel
l of feces was ever present. Her attention focused ahead as a pale red ball bounced out from a hallway on the side.
Evaran caught the ball and held it up.
A young Kalesh girl that came up to Jane’s knee stood at the hallway entrance.
Evaran bent down and extended the ball toward the young female. With a smile, he said, “Well hello, little one. I believe this is yours.”
The girl’s big eyes blinked as she dipped her head down and to the side.
Evaran extended his arm farther.
The girl grabbed the ball and smiled at Evaran. In a shy voice, she said, “Thank you.”
Evaran’s eyes sparkled. “You are most welcome.”
An elder Kalesh female hustled up behind the girl and grabbed her. “What have I told you about aliens? They’re dangerous!” She shot a glare back at Evaran as she hustled the girl away.
Evaran stood up and sighed. He looked down for a moment, then continued following the guard.
Jane knew the Kalesh were skittish of aliens, and she bet that the Voss did not help things. Kalesh children melted her heart.
Evaran’s kind actions were not lost on Jane. He was still an enigma to her, but with all his power, he did not appear to be corrupt. The thought of traveling with him was easier to digest after she had thought about it. She could not go back to what she knew since it was no longer there. The thought that maybe she could exist in a timeline with her duplicate intrigued her, but it would not be the same. Getting to travel through space and time set her mind on fire with ideas, and it would be with people she implicitly trusted and enjoyed being around. A decision would need to be reached before Evaran and crew left. She sighed as she continued forward.
After fifteen minutes, they reached a large, open room.
Jane surveyed the room. It reminded her of an assembly hall, with rows of benches and a raised platform at the front. Okon stood with several armed Kalesh around him. She picked him out immediately. In any timeline, his physique was a constant. The fact that she was now seeing a third version of Okon was no longer a surprise to her. She wondered what it would have looked like if Evaran and crew had met three versions of her.
The two guards stepped to the side when Evaran and the others arrived in front of Okon.