by Adair Hart
He did not want to be anywhere near that stone. They reached the hallway without too much trouble, although he had to shoot a few transformed along the way.
Evaran was off to the side, fighting dozens of transformed. He glided from transformed to transformed, sending them flying or disabling them in a multitude of ways. His staff was a whirlwind, and each move was like a perfect finisher.
V pointed down the hallway. “We need to go.”
Dr. Snowden glanced at V, then at Evaran. “We need to help him.”
“Evaran will be fine. He will join us once we are safely on the ship.”
Dr. Snowden knew Evaran was tough, but the room had begun to descend on him. Dr. Snowden exhaled sharply and nodded. He turned and ran down the hallway. As he approached the open exit door ahead, he saw Andia and Emily on the Torvatta’s ramp just outside the door. Emily had her head in her hands and was sitting with her knees to her head. He burst through the door with V.
V headed up the ramp. “I need to get Rakar to the medical lab. Evaran is on his way now.”
Dr. Snowden watched V go into the Torvatta. He decided to wait for Evaran and turned toward Emily. “Emily?”
Emily shuddered as she looked up at Dr. Snowden with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, Uncle Albert. I don’t know what came over me.”
“Uncontrollable fear?”
“Yeah … how did you know?”
“Happened to me in that throne room on Max’s planet. Also felt a twinge of it back in the command center.”
Emily grimaced. “What’s wrong with us?”
Andia looked at Emily. “It happens. I don’t think there is anything unusual about that.”
Emily shook her head. “No. It isn’t us. Something’s off.”
Evaran burst through the open door and onto the ramp. He closed the door and pulled the two metal rods shut. The sounds of the transformed hitting the door rang out. He turned toward Dr. Snowden, Emily, and Andia. “Everyone okay?”
Dr. Snowden pointed up the ramp. “Rakar is hurt. V took him to the medical lab.”
Evaran nodded. “I see.” He tilted his head at Emily. “What about you?”
Emily half grinned. “Just got a bit scared is all.”
Evaran narrowed his eyes. “Interesting.” He looked up the ramp. “Okay, let us head to the medical lab.”
Andia helped Emily up, and with Dr. Snowden, they followed Evaran into the ship. They went to the medical room, passing a startled Silva on the way.
“What’s going on? Rakar shut off his body camera a while back,” said Silva with a raised voice.
“Not now. Later,” said Dr. Snowden, extending a hand toward Silva.
Once inside the medical lab, Dr. Snowden noted that Rakar was strapped to a table. Rakar was writhing around with a mix of blood and sweat emanating from his body. Dr. Snowden’s eyes widened. He could not understand the words Rakar was shouting. It was evident that whatever transformation process that occurred on the ship was now happening with Rakar. Rakar’s skin had turned an even darker shade of purple than it already was. A splotchy texture had appeared on his neck. He was not sure how Rakar went from limp to this state but was glad it happened here and not on the Kreagan ship.
Evaran placed his UIC on Rakar. It glowed a light red, then emitted a stable deep-red light after a moment. Evaran rubbed his chin while studying his ARI. V walked over to a device that held several syringes. One of the syringes retracted into the device. When it came out, the cartridge attached to it was filled with a beige-colored gel. V grabbed the syringe, walked over to Evaran, and handed it to him.
“V, take the Torvatta to a safe distance. Make sure it is still within range to send commands to the colony ship.”
“Acknowledged,” said V as he exited the medical lab.
Evaran scrutinized the syringe. “There are biological entities in Rakar trying to control his body. These nanobots will correct that.”
“I think he might be better off with a Kreagan medical team looking at it,” said Silva.
Evaran shook his head. “Not if you want him to live.” He bent over and pricked Rakar in the neck.
Rakar shouted as his hands clutched at the slab he was on. His head shook violently for a moment, then his body went limp.
Emily grabbed Rakar’s hand as she glanced at Evaran. “What happened?”
“The nanobots have shut down his movement while they deal with the biological threat. However, there may be some damage. I need to steady him and make sure his body rallies. I am going in,” said Evaran. He moved to the head of the slab and pulled up a chair. He sat down and placed his hands on each side of Rakar’s head.
Silva snorted. “Going in where, exactly?”
Evaran glanced at Silva. “To his mind.” He closed his eyes.
Evaran faded into a black void. A desert landscape rushed toward him from below. After a moment, he stood on a sea of sand. He raised his hand and looked around. He pivoted toward a voice shouting in the distance and then walked toward it. After a few moments, he arrived to see Rakar lying in the sand. Rakar’s hands and feet were bound with metal cuffs, and a bar ran between them, connecting them.
“Evaran! What’s going on?” said Rakar.
Evaran walked over and knelt beside Rakar. “We are in your mind. You have been infected. I have injected nanobots to remove the threat, but you must stay in control of your mind.”
Rakar shook his head. “I haven’t given up!”
“Your bindings. They are a mental construct. If you wish them away, they will go.”
“What?”
“Focus. Close your eyes. You are in control of your mind. Imagine the bindings away.”
Rakar shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. After a moment, he opened them. “It’s not working.”
Evaran placed his hands on Rakar’s shoulders and then looked him in the eye. “You are a Kreagan ranger. Your duty is to your people. You chose this role because you believed you were capable of defending them from threats. How will you defend them if you cannot control your mind?”
Rakar’s drew his lips flat as his eyes misted. “I am in control of my mind!”
“Prove it.”
Rakar squinted hard and clenched his jaw. After a few moments, the cuffs and bar dissipated. He exhaled sharply through his mouth as he opened his eyes. He looked down at his hands and feet, then struggled to stand.
Evaran reached out to steady Rakar.
Rakar narrowed his eyes as he rubbed his wrists while taking deep breaths. He glanced at Evaran. “Thanks. Why are you here?”
“I entered your mind to help stabilize you while the cleanup occurs.”
“How, though? Telepathy? This feels so real.”
“It is real. The nanobots I have injected to fight this infection have also allowed me to communicate and have a stronger presence here. I am curious why you chose a desert.”
“I didn’t.”
A large version of the obelisk-like portal stone rose out of the desert near them. “Silence.”
Rakar stepped back as he stared at the stone. “What is that?”
“We are your new masters,” said the stone.
Evaran half smiled. “It is a representation of the biological entities in your system. They are trying to break you down.”
“We cannot read you.”
“No, of course not. We are not on the same level.”
A horde of transformed appeared at the base of the stone. They roared and shouted as they ran toward Evaran and Rakar.
Rakar’s eyes widened and his lips parted.
Evaran pointed at the incoming transformed while glancing at Rakar. “You are in control of your mind. Remove them.”
Rakar squinted hard as he balled his fists.
Large humanoid robots rose up in front of him. “Target acquired.” They began shooting lasers from their arms and physically dismantling the transformed.
Rakar smiled. “Let’s see how they handle Kreagan juggernauts.”
&nbs
p; “What is this?”
“It is a realization that you are not in control here,” said Evaran.
“We are the Malazim. We are the flesh masters. This body is ours.”
“I don’t think so!” said Rakar. He gestured toward the stone, and the juggernauts approached it, firing as they went. Several more juggernauts rose up out of the sand. The stone shook, then sank a bit into the sand.
“This is not possible.”
“But it is. This mind is not yours to take,” said Evaran.
“We are gods. You will stop this.”
“Maybe in your realm. In this realm, you are a blight. I cannot allow you to exist here.”
“What are you?”
“Something older and more powerful than you. In conjunction with Rakar’s mind, you are no match here.”
The stone sank farther as the approaching juggernauts increased their firing rate. “You will cease this immediately.”
Rakar shook his head. “You’re not welcome here. You almost caused the extinction of my species. You’ll pay for that.”
“Your species is one of many we have bent to our will. We cannot be stopped.”
Rakar half grinned and pointed up to the sky. “If we ever find any more of your stones, you will deal with this.”
A shadow cast over them as a large ship appeared in the sky.
“That is a Kreagan Dreadnought. It will erase you.”
“Your technology is no match.”
“We’ll see.”
A beam shot out from the Dreadnought, encompassing the stone. The stone sank until just the tip was visible.
“We will be back.”
Rakar balled his fists and shook one at the stone. “And the Kreagans will be waiting for revenge!”
The stone sank into the sand.
Rakar sighed and glanced at Evaran. “So that is what almost wiped out my people. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for them. Thanks for coming.”
Evaran smiled. “You did all the work. I just pointed you in the right direction.”
Rakar pursed his lips and looked around. “So what now?”
Evaran gestured around at the surrounding desert. “This is your mind. You can do whatever you want while your body heals. I must go, however. I cannot leave that ship out there.”
“I understand. I owe you,” said Rakar as he sighed and nodded.
Evaran shook his head. “You do not. This is what I do. You should recover in a few days, although it may appear to be longer in here. I will see you when you wake.”
“Will do,” said Rakar as he shook Evaran’s hand.
Evaran faded out.
Dr. Snowden watched as Evaran removed his hands from Rakar’s head. “I thought you were going to help him?”
“I have. His mind is clear. He will need a few days to heal.”
“You had your hands on his head for a few minutes,” said Andia.
Evaran glanced at Dr. Snowden, then Emily. “The perception of time can be different in the mind.”
Dr. Snowden drew his lips flat. Flashbacks of the virtual simulation aboard the Krotovore ship appeared in his mind. He understood that Evaran could have spent hours in Rakar’s mind, but it would only appear as a few minutes in the real world. He tilted his head at Andia. “Based on my anecdotal experience, he’s right.”
Andia shot Emily a look. “You understanding any of this?”
“Yeah. Imagine doing a year in your mind and only three weeks in reality,” said Emily with a half smile.
Andia jerked her head back. “Well, I hope he comes out of this without any issues. What do we do now?”
Evaran stood up and walked to the entrance of the room. “We have a ship to destroy.”
They followed Evaran out of the room and to the command center. V positioned himself at the front console.
Dr. Snowden saw that V had moved the Torvatta far enough that the colony ship seemed like a small blip on the front screen.
As Evaran sat at his command chair, Silva hustled up next to him. “You can’t destroy that ship! It’s Kreagan history.”
“It is also filled with what caused the mass exodus of your planet. The portal stones do not belong here. I must remove them,” said Evaran.
“You can’t make that decision. Who do you think you are?”
Evaran stood up and fixed his gaze on Silva. “I am the one the great selector chose to speak to.”
Silva’s eyes widened as he took a step back. His chin trembled as he clasped his hands in front of him. He exhaled from his mouth and looked at the ground. He nodded.
Evaran sat back down and interacted with the arm of his command chair. “V, set the autodestruct for twenty minutes.”
“Acknowledged.”
After a few moments, Evaran scrutinized his chair arm. “The ship’s autodestruct has been set.”
Dr. Snowden walked up to the front guardrail and squinted at the ship. Less than ten minutes ago, they were aboard it and fighting their way off it. He was not going to miss it, but his stomach dropped at the thought of all those people long ago waking up to transformed around them. They had nowhere to go and stood no chance. It must have been terrifying for them.
After twenty minutes, Dr. Snowden watched the ship silently explode. He shook his head and faced Evaran. “One down, two to go. Let’s hope the others don’t involve destruction.”
Evaran nodded. “We can take a break. Let us meet in the conference room in five hours.”
Andia smirked. “No argument there. I’m going to get out of this suit and get cleaned up.”
Silva nodded and walked off toward the living quarters.
After Andia and Silva had gone, Emily faced Evaran. “Evaran, I experienced an unusual reaction on the ship …”
Evaran half grinned. “I know. We will deal with it after all of this.”
Dr. Snowden cocked his head. “Do you know something we don’t? This out of control fear thing is dangerous.”
Evaran extended a hand, palm down, toward Dr. Snowden. “Just a hunch. I will need to run some tests later. You both should be okay until then.”
Dr. Snowden glanced at Emily, then at Evaran. “Fine. I’m going to get cleaned up, then take a nap. I am beginning to understand how Sanjay must have felt on the Krotovore ship. C’mon, Emily.”
They walked off toward the living quarters.
Dr. Snowden awoke from his nap to the sound of his PSD chirping. He set an alarm to wake him an hour before their planned meeting time so he could talk with Evaran before everyone gathered. After showering and getting dressed, he headed to the conference room. It was empty, and craving a cup of coffee, he headed over to the replicator pads. After getting his coffee, he moved on to the medical lab. If Evaran was anywhere, he would be there or in the research lab, but more likely in the medical lab due to Rakar.
Upon reaching the medical lab, Dr. Snowden found Evaran sitting in a chair at one of the side tables while analyzing a hologram.
Evaran turned his head toward Dr. Snowden. “Have a good nap?”
Dr. Snowden nodded. He walked over and sat in a chair opposite Evaran. “Yeah. With so much going on this morning, I wanted to get some rest in before approaching you with some questions.”
“What is on your mind?” asked Evaran, rubbing his chin.
Dr. Snowden took a sip of his coffee. “When we were on the ship, I saw the portal stone. It had those red tendrils coming out of it. And I think you knew more about it than you were letting on.”
“Ahh, yes. I did not want to mention it outside you and Emily. It was an Outsider artifact. It acted as a conduit into this realm and, by its very nature of being exotic in its makeup, would be able to survive in deep space. They called themselves the Malazim.”
“How do you know its name?”
“I talked to them in Rakar’s mind.”
Dr. Snowden’s eyes widened. He could not imagine what type of conversation they had. He glanced at Rakar. “Rakar appears to be doing okay, tho
ugh. I guess whatever influence it had went away.”
Evaran nodded. “With a little prodding. If I had not gone in, it would have permanently damaged his mind. Outsiders are more aware of their mortality when in a body. When they use an artifact as a portal, they are less concerned about what they do. The Malazim believed they were gods, and this was another realm for them to conquer. I could not allow that.”
Dr. Snowden took another sip of his coffee and nodded his head. “Wonder how it got on the ship.”
“My hypothesis is that it appeared on a shuttle to the colony ship in space. It would have then been moved when some were infected. Once in space, they would have put it in the middle of the ship and began bringing bodies to it.”
Dr. Snowden gulped. “But Rakar began transforming immediately.”
“The Malazim can control both the infection rate and appearance once inside a body, assuming the host does not resist.”
“All those people. What a horrible way to wake up from a deep sleep.”
Their attention focused on Emily as she walked into the room with a running outfit on. She walked over to the worktable. “Uncle Albert, you’re up early. Good evening to both of you.”
Evaran half smiled at Emily. “You look rested.”
“Did I miss something? It’s unusual for Uncle Albert to be awake near dinner time.”
Dr. Snowden shook his head, then gestured at Evaran. “Evaran thinks that stone on the colony ship was an Outsider artifact. I just had some questions on it is all.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me. They would act like a portal or something, right?”
Dr. Snowden jerked his head back. “That’s what Evaran thinks. You’re awfully observant this evening.”
“It just popped in my head.” Emily glanced at Rakar. “How’s he doing?”
Evaran gestured at Rakar. “He is making a speedy recovery. He should be up and about by tomorrow morning.”
“Awesome.” Emily glanced at the entrance to the medical lab, then back at Evaran and Dr. Snowden. “Going to get a run in. Later gators.” She smiled at them and then exited the medical lab.