The Shadow Connection

by Adair Hart

  The massive doors slid to the sides. Once they were open, everyone entered. The doors started to close.

  “There is no going back,” said Evaran as he faced the group. He grabbed his UIC and gave it to V. “Go.”

  “Acknowledged,” said V. He shimmered and flew off.

  Jake’s hand trembled a bit as he followed Evaran. The confidence he had felt earlier was waning. In its place was anxiety. The room they were in was huge. He could barely see the end of it. Lights at the far side revealed something, but he could not make out anything from that distance. Still, this group was formidable. If this was the type of adventure Dr. Snowden and Emily went on, he could see why they were so confident.

  As they approached the middle of the room, Evaran paused. He pointed ahead to the right with one hand while extending his other hand with his ring. A projection shot up. “The Torvatta is there. It is being held between crystal pillars above and below it with some type of shielding. We will need to remove that shielding.”

  Jake felt more confident seeing the disc-shaped Torvatta.

  “Has V found any way to remove the shielding?” asked Emily.

  “He has not and is scanning around the area. There are multiple structures, but their functions are not obvious to me,” said Evaran. He gestured forward. “Caltorus is sitting on a large throne. I suspect he is awaiting us.”

  “He’s pretty confident about a powerful group headed his way. A little too confident for my liking,” said Zed.

  “Then that will be his undoing,” said Thor.

  “Maybe,” said Zed.

  Jake understood Zed’s concern. It was a bit out of place to be so relaxed if defeat was headed your way. What Caltorus would do was a mystery to him, but Jake suspected that Caltorus would be a rough fight.

  It took them another fifteen minutes before they came within earshot of the large throne.

  An elite guardsman stood next to Caltorus.

  “So … you’ve finally come,” said Caltorus in an unusually deep voice that reverberated throughout the room. “Let’s talk. It’s so rare to have someone of your stature here.”

  Evaran pointed at the Torvatta. “I see you have secured my ship here.”

  Caltorus smiled. “Yes … and it is far more powerful than I was led to believe. I can’t penetrate its shielding, even with my exhaustive power. That shouldn’t be possible.”

  “That mystery intrigues you.”

  “It’s not often I run across something I don’t understand immediately. You’re a mystery to me as well. You are far more than you appear to be. I sense that now.”

  “I operate at a different level of existence than you. It is understandable.”

  Caltorus eyed Evaran. “Doubtful. As you have figured out, I’m a god here. A melding of baryonic and shadow matter in its purest form. My power is absolute.”

  “Raw power does not make a god.”

  “Maybe not, but coupled with thousands of years of knowledge, a race engineered to worship, and an empire that spreads across the stars, I think I fit the definition.” He gestured at Emily and Jake. “At least by their pathetic view.” He motioned at Thor and Guan Yu. “And I am far more of a god than those who would claim that right on your planet.” He focused on Evaran. “Yet I find it intriguing that you do not claim to be a god.”

  “I am not. As I mentioned before, I exist on a level far beyond your comprehension.”

  Caltorus eyed Evaran. “Yet … those you travel with view you as a god. You may not see it, but I do. You could easily take the mantle on Earth, and no one would stop you, yet you don’t. It’s pathetic.” He wagged a finger. “When I first went to Earth, I saw its potential. Not only does it have billions to convert, it has many different types of energy I’ve never seen before. Even the mighty Kreagan Star Empire that protects Earth doesn’t know what they have. I knew a takeover would take time. If it had shadow matter there, this discussion would not be taking place. Nonetheless, even in my weakened form on Earth, I was able to take over the Helian base with a rift door and expand with relative ease from there.”

  “And then you decided to take my Torvatta.”

  “Of course. The first real challenge posed to me in a long time. Our first encounter was disappointing. I expected more out of you, and even now, I see that you require a group to come before me.”

  “In this form, yes.”

  Caltorus tilted his head as he ran a clawed finger over his chin. “Interesting. I look forward to figuring you out.”

  Evaran raised his head a bit. “If you return my Torvatta now and relinquish the rift door, I will consider this an acceptable outcome.”

  “So you want me to do all that, and … what do I get out of this?”

  “My leniency. I will not pursue further punishment and will leave you be.”

  Caltorus narrowed his eyes. “Your arrogance knows no bounds. Without my rift door, I would lose access to hundreds of worlds, and I will figure out your Torvatta. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “I cannot allow that,” said Evaran. “You are not worthy of that knowledge.”

  Caltorus’s eyes glowed bright white for a moment. “Your condescension is becoming tiresome. You speak as if I am subject to your whims.” He nodded at the elite guardsman next to him.

  The elite guardsman went behind the throne and interacted with a console. A glowing white orb shot up and hovered near the ceiling.

  Evaran examined his ARI for a moment. “A viewing device.”

  “Yes … and it will broadcast to all my places of worship, across hundreds of worlds.”

  “You wish to use this interaction as a public relations event.”

  Caltorus tilted his head. “Very perceptive. All Druuz will see their true god in action, and false gods struck down.”

  “Are you sure that is wise?”

  “Enough!” said Caltorus as he stood. He waved at the elite guardsman, who exited the room. “It will be me versus your group. In the end, it will be me standing victorious, with you in a cage, and your group decimated.”

  “I see that reason has no place here.”

  Caltorus growled as he grew in size, towering over them.

  Jake figured Caltorus was now about twenty feet tall. His dragon-like features became prominent, with sharp claws, scales, and ridges on his head. Two large curled horns shot out of his head. His body armor had transformed into an elaborate, metallic heavy armor with bones wrapped around it. Caltorus’s eyes and hands glowed, while light-gray energy strands whipped around him. When Caltorus extended his hands to the side, arcs of bright electricity shot up from the ground and engulfed his hands.

  “You now see my true form!” said Caltorus. He raised a hand toward the orb near the ceiling, causing it to pulse slightly. “This is Caltorus, your god. I will show you what happens to nonbelievers and false gods.” He glowered at Evaran. “Prepare for defeat.”

  Evaran did a quick check over the group. “Get ready!”

  Emily’s eyes widened at the sudden transformation of Caltorus. She was not sure what she had expected, but what was in front of her was not it. Power seemed to ooze out of every pore on Caltorus. The fact that he sent away his elite guardsman seemed foolish to her at first, but after the transformation, maybe Caltorus was confident the elite guardsman would not be needed. She raised her shield and extended her PSD into a baton.

  Caltorus dipped his head forward and shot two beams from his eyes at Evaran, who blocked them with his shield. Due to the force of the beam, Evaran began to slide back.

  Evaran pointed at the Torvatta. “Jake! Zed! Help V! We will handle Caltorus!”

  “You’ll handle me?” asked Caltorus with an incredulous look.

  Emily was not sure how they would get the Torvatta lockdown figured out or how they would handle Caltorus, for that matter. She watched as Jake and Zed took off to the right. She jumped in to replace them and fired a mist, then stun beam at Caltorus’s head.

  Caltorus’s eye beams stopped as h
e raised a hand toward Emily. A gray beam shot out, hitting her shield and sending her sprawling back.

  She could feel the raw power in the beam. It reminded her a bit of the beam that had hit her when fighting a Time Warden commander.

  Thor tossed his hammer at Caltorus’s chest. When it hit Caltorus, he went stumbling back.

  Lady Hassrik pulled out her dual blades and zipped over.

  “Insects!” said Caltorus as he regained his posture. He raised his foot and tried to stomp on Lady Hassrik.

  She dodged the stomp and stabbed him in his foot.

  Caltorus yelled out in pain as he backhanded Lady Hassrik across the room.

  She crash-landed and did not get up.

  Thor grabbed his hammer after it returned. He and Evaran ran up and engaged Caltorus at close range.

  Emily shot sticky globules on Caltorus’s right foot.

  Guan Yu took the opportunity to rush up to Caltorus’s left leg. Guan Yu swung hard, and his guandao embedded itself in Caltorus’s leg.

  Caltorus grunted as he swatted away the guandao. He reached down and grabbed Guan Yu and began to squeeze. “You call yourself a god?”

  Evaran shot a grappling beam at Caltorus’s wrist and yanked it down.

  Caltorus released Guan Yu and then stumbled forward while his right foot stuck to the ground.

  Guan Yu winced as he crawled away, holding his side.

  Doubt crept into Emily’s mind. Guan Yu was hurt, and Lady Hassrik was out for the time being. It was up to her, Thor, and Evaran. She saw that Jake and the others were looking around the area that held the Torvatta. Caltorus’s strength was on another level.

  Caltorus leaned forward and tried to smash Evaran.

  Evaran raised his shield and blocked the attempt but had to kneel due to the pressure being applied.

  Thor tossed his hammer at Caltorus’s head, knocking him back.

  “Your hammer!” said Evaran.

  Thor held up his hammer when it returned.

  Evaran shot a grappling beam at it. “The legs!”

  Thor took aim and tossed his hammer behind Caltorus. When the grappling beam hit Caltorus’s leg, the hammer began to circle, causing the grappling beam to wrap around Caltorus’s legs.

  Caltorus fell forward and crashed on the ground.

  Emily changed her PSD into a staff and leaped into the air. When she landed, she struck Caltorus on the head. The reverberation sent her flying back, and her PSD went tumbling away.

  Caltorus trembled for a moment. He then grabbed the beam wrapped around his legs and pulled it down and off.

  Emily’s eyes widened. Not only was Caltorus’s head strong enough to withstand a full hit from her staff, but he was able to pull off the grappling beam, something she had never seen before.

  Caltorus broke free from the sticky globules on his right foot and lurched forward. He grabbed Thor, and as he held him, he used his other hand to shoot a beam at Thor’s head.

  Thor tried to block the beam, but it was pointless.

  Evaran leaped up onto Caltorus’s arm and, with all his might, struck the wrist on the arm holding Thor.

  Caltorus dropped Thor.

  Emily rushed over to Thor, who was on the ground and struggling to move. This was going bad fast, and now it was just she and Evaran.

  Caltorus tried to grab Evaran.

  Evaran flipped over to the other arm, then jumped behind Caltorus and landed on the back of his neck. He slipped his staff around Caltorus’s throat and, while grabbing both ends of it, applied a choke hold.

  Caltorus fell backward, crushing Evaran against the ground. Caltorus grabbed the staff and forced Evaran to release one side of it. Caltorus then flung the staff off to the side as he rolled over to face Evaran. Once standing, he tried to grab Evaran again, who jumped out of the way.

  “Emily, get the others to the Torvatta!” said Evaran.

  “I’m not leaving you!”

  “They’ve found the shielding console, and V has applied my UIC to the shielding mechanism. Go!”

  “You’re not doing anything, pathetic human!” said Caltorus as he strode toward her.

  Evaran reclaimed his staff and fired a grappling beam at Caltorus’s leg. Once it attached, he yanked hard, causing Caltorus to fall.

  Emily grabbed Thor and began to drag him toward the Torvatta.

  Jake rushed in and grabbed Lady Hassrik.

  “I’m fine enough to move,” said Guan Yu as he limped forward, still holding his side.

  Emily pointed at Zed. “Take Thor!”

  Zed rushed over and grabbed Thor from her.

  She rejoined the fight with Caltorus.

  “Your ship isn’t leaving this room!” said Caltorus as he shot an eye beam at Emily.

  Emily used her shield to block the beam, but got pushed back.

  V flew in and shot a stun beam in Caltorus’s eyes.

  Caltorus cried out in surprise.

  V began to spin at a high velocity and, after flying out a bit, rushed in and hit Caltorus in the back of the head.

  “Insolent creatures!” bellowed Caltorus.

  Emily watched as Jake and the others started to arrive at the Torvatta. She turned around to see that Caltorus had a foot on Evaran’s shield and was pressing down again. Evaran was beginning to buckle.

  She ran under Caltorus and struck up.

  Caltorus howled as he grabbed his groin while dropping to his knees.

  “We can go!” said Emily.

  Evaran nodded.

  As they tried to take off, Caltorus reached out and grabbed them by their legs.

  She was surprised at how fast Caltorus moved. The gripping pressure on her body was intense.

  “Fools! Even if they get to your ship, it’s not going anywhere.”

  Emily began to get a light-headed feeling. She swallowed hard.

  “Ramos!” said Evaran as he struggled in Caltorus’s grasp.

  She looked at Evaran, and then her eyes widened. After biting the inside of her mouth and causing blood to draw, she formed a wad of saliva and blood and then spat at Caltorus’s face, getting it into his eyes and nose.

  Caltorus guffawed. “You resort to covering me with your filth?”

  Emily was trying to stay conscious, but the grip was getting too strong for her. Her nanobots were at full tilt, and she knew that without them, she would be dead.

  A confused look crossed Caltorus’s face as he released the both of them. “What … what is this?”

  Evaran took a moment to gain his orientation, then hustled over to Emily.

  She tried to stand, but the room was spinning.

  Evaran grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder. “We cannot wait around to retrieve those nanobots. Judging by his strength, he will be able to overcome them.” She looked up and watched as Caltorus shifted back into the form she had seen before. The strands of energy were going wild around him, and he was shooting out beams randomly from his eyes as he yelled.

  When they got to the Torvatta, Evaran jumped up into the ramp. He set Emily down.

  She regained her composure and stood. “What now?”

  “The shielding mechanism is gone, but the Torvatta is still physically held. Come!” said Evaran. He rushed inside, with Emily behind him.

  She was glad to see the inside of the Torvatta again. It was her home, and it hit her how much she missed it.

  Evaran sat in the chair in the center of the command area, while Jake and Zed sat on the right U-shaped seating area. Emily was on the left with a recovering Guan Yu and Thor. She figured Lady Hassrik was in the medical lab. Evaran interacted with the chair console, causing the view screen that covered the front half of the ship to pivot toward Caltorus.

  Caltorus had changed back to his large form and was headed their way.

  “Evaran?” asked Emily.

  Evaran raised a finger. “Remember, the Torvatta has had a few modifications since we obtained its schematics on our last adventure.”

  She
remembered that being discussed but was unsure of what modifications would be used.

  Caltorus knelt and placed both hands on the sides of the Torvatta. “You got past my shielding, but now I have you in your ship!”

  “V, raise the shield temperature,” said Evaran.

  “Acknowledged,” said V. “Torvatta shield temperature rising.”

  “Your tiny machines were no match for my power,” said Caltorus, appearing on the view screen.

  “They were not intended to be,” said Evaran. “However, they did serve as a good distraction.”

  “You will suffer for this!” said Caltorus. He yelled as he removed his hands from the Torvatta.

  The area of the pillars above and below that was in contact with the Torvatta began to melt.

  “Take us up,” said Evaran.

  “Acknowledged,” said V.

  The Torvatta broke free from the pillars and then rose. Once flush against the ceiling, it began to burn through.

  Caltorus fired his eye beams at the Torvatta, but to no avail.

  After a few minutes, the Torvatta had burned through the ceiling and was flying above the cathedral.

  “Take us to the rift door.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Once the Torvatta was above the rift door rods and controller, Evaran interacted with the chair console. A light-green beam shot out from beneath the Torvatta. The rift door rods and controller device began to lift off the ground.

  “A tractor beam!” said Jake.

  “That is correct. It will pull them into one of the rooms in the maintenance hub. I have also tied into the rift door controller and shut off the rift door.”

  Emily looked out over the cathedral. It was swarming with Druuz of all types. Some were firing on the Torvatta, others on the rift door.

  “We didn’t take Caltorus out,” said Emily.

  “I did not think we would. However, we did cut him off from doing further damage to the worlds he has interacted with.”

  Thor slowly fluttered his eyes. “What if he has another rift door?”

  “He does on other worlds, but now there is no way for them to get to where he is, or for him to get to any of his other locations.”

  “He’s trapped,” said Thor.

  Evaran nodded.

  Guan Yu gulped. “I don’t think I’ve ever been squeezed that hard before.”