05

Emily followed Evaran and Dr. Snowden to the research lab. She knew Evaran was anxious to get in there and rescue his last plane form, but breaching the facility seemed like it was going to be tough. “So … what’s the plan?”

Evaran paused at a panel on the wall and interacted with the console there. “I am going to go in and retrieve my last plane form.”

“What’s this I stuff?” she asked. “We’re going with you.”

Evaran shook his head. “It is too dangerous. Besides, I need someone to manage the planar beam generator.”

She pointed at Dr. Snowden. “There’s your someone. I’m going with you.”

Evaran stepped back as the wall panel slid out. He extracted a Time Warden tentacle end that had a flat base with a rod extending from the middle. Several metallic fingers on the edge flailed around as he fidgeted with it in his hands. He eyed Emily. “I understand your concern. However, the Time Wardens are not to be taken lightly.”

Dr. Snowden cleared his throat. “Emily might have a point, though. How are you going to fight them while carrying your last plane form? Be a good time to have that Krotovore shielded transport and someone to push it around.”

Evaran’s eyes darted between Dr. Snowden and Emily. “A good idea. I have the schematics for it.” He shook a finger at Emily. “If you are determined to come, you can pilot it and cover my backside. V and I will cover the front and initiate combat if needed.”

Emily nodded. “That’s more like it. Will stun or repulsion beams work on them?”

“The repulsion might, but the stun will only anger them,” said Evaran. “You have to puncture the body. Your PSD has a special pattern for a sharpened rod. That should be sufficient to puncture the sphere if need be. Hopefully, it will not come to that.”

She pulled out her PSD and opened it up. It took her a moment to find the pattern, but when she did, she activated it. She had seen the pattern before but never understood its purpose. It seemed inefficient compared to the other patterns she had at her disposal. A three-foot-long metallic rod with a sharpened point extended with a light glow emanating from it. She furrowed her eyebrows. “What’s the glow all about?”

“It is the same energy as the Torvatta’s shield. While it may be harmless to denizens of this timeline, it is lethal to the Time Wardens. The more important function is that it can bypass their timeline energy internal shielding.”

“Oh,” she said.

Evaran walked over to the room where the plasma beam generator had been created. After a moment, he replicated a shielded transport.

She narrowed her eyes when she saw it. Evaran had used one to transport friends they had met during their alien abduction experience. It was heavily shielded and could transport up to two creatures. The one in front of her was smaller than she remembered.

“It’s a bit smaller, but we’re not transporting a krall,” said Dr. Snowden.

She remembered the grizzly-sized canine-like krall with plated armor that had saved her and Dr. Snowden’s lives. It was injured again saving her from a cepharus, an alien creature that reminded her of a large walnut with tentacles. She swallowed hard as she recalled holding the krall’s head when it was injured. “It’ll work.” She slid behind it and accessed the interface, causing it to begin moving.

After they assembled on the ramp, Dr. Snowden took his position behind the plasma beam generator.

Evaran interacted with the console, then faced Dr. Snowden. “I have set the pattern to an opening wide enough for us to go through. As you saw from before, it will fire and leave an opening in the shield. That gives us approximately ten seconds before it closes back up. All you will need to do is press the activate button once for us to go through and once again when we get back. You can use your PSD to keep in contact.”

Dr. Snowden nodded. “That seems pretty straightforward. I’m going to put on my survival suit then just in case.”

“We’ll be fine,” said Emily.

V joined them in robot mode. “Defensive mode engaged.” A semitransparent shield appeared around him.

She remembered seeing that for the first time in their last adventure. As powerful as V’s humanoid robot form was, she knew he preferred being more mobile in his orb mode. Given what she knew of how U4, V’s predecessor, had died, she figured this was Evaran’s adjustment to that situation.

“I believe we are ready. Dr. Snowden,” said Evaran.

Dr. Snowden adjusted his glasses and then pressed the activate button on the console.

The plasma beam generator shot out a pentagonal pattern large enough for them to go through. After a moment, the beam dissipated.

Evaran waved forward. “If we hurry to the entrance, we will be inside before the perimeter defense is activated. Let us go.”

Emily pushed the shielded transport through the hole in the facility’s shielding. Once they were on the other side, the hole behind them sealed up. Glancing back, she could not see the Torvatta or Dr. Snowden but knew they were there.

“V, take point,” said Evaran.

“Acknowledged,” said V. He strode to the front and headed toward the door he had flown through before.

Evaran pulled out his utility handle and extended it into a staff, with sharp points at both ends.

Several drones had launched toward them as they crossed the open area and were downed with a few stun shots.

When they got to the door, Evaran walked up to a small circular opening and placed the Time Warden tentacle end inside. With a few twists and motions, the door began to rise.

Emily narrowed her eyes. Her nanobots were tingling, and although it was pitch-dark looking in, she could detect movement. She had thought that since her helmet was up, she would not be able to sense anything, but it seemed she could. What surprised her more was the lack of a response when they walked across the open area. If they were in sleep mode before, they would not be now.

Once the door was open enough for them to enter, V strode forward into the darkness. A barrage of yellow lasers lit up his shielding.

Evaran tossed out two illumination orbs behind V.

Emily’s eyes widened as she saw that a Time Warden had closed the gap to V and was trying to wrap its tentacles around him. The base was on alert, but the fact that there was only one Time Warden meant it was probably understaffed. The door behind them was closing, hopefully cutting off the drones she saw earlier from flying in.

Evaran moved behind V. “Hold it.”

V reeled in the Time Warden by winding up the tentacles.

Evaran stepped to the side and jabbed the body, causing the Time Warden to emit high-pitched squealing noises. After a moment, it stopped moving, and a yellow goo oozed out where Evaran had punctured it.

The goo shimmered for a moment, then evaporated.

Emily gulped at the sound of evaporation. It was like a muted deep sigh with reverberation. The way it went limp reminded her a bit of the moment her father had passed while she held his hand. She exhaled and looked around. The architecture of the hallway they were in made her skin crawl. It had arched pillars with metallic panels between them. The pillars had unusual designs on them, giving her the impression of webs and bones. The dim illumination caused by the embedded lights made the facility creepier.

“We need to move,” said Evaran. “The Time Wardens are networked together. I do not know how many are in this facility, but there is always one active. The death of the drones would have triggered the alert, but this one most likely raised the alert level.”

“Lead on,” said Emily, gesturing forward.

V untangled himself and continued ahead.

When they were halfway to the last plane form and in a large corridor, Evaran raised his hand. He narrowed his eyes as they scanned the ceiling. “We are not alone.”

Emily could barely see the medium-sized holes above her, but they were large enough for a Time Warden to crawl through.

They proceeded with caution until they were near the end of the corridor.

Her nanobots kicked into overdrive as she spun around. She raised her shield as a yellow beam deflected off it. “They’re behind us!”

Two Time Wardens crawled out of the holes in front of them and dropped to the ground. Another one ran along the ceiling behind them, with a second one on the ground, joining the attack.

Evaran pointed at the two Time Wardens in front of them. “V, hold them.”

“Acknowledged.”

Evaran raised his shield and joined Emily.

The Time Warden from the ceiling dove at them with tentacles extended.

Evaran dodged it as it landed. He finessed his staff between its tentacles, wrapping them up. He flicked to the left, causing the Time Warden to crash into the wall.

The other Time Warden rushed Emily, pushing her back.

Her eyes flared. Although her shield stopped the push, its tentacles were reaching around the shield. She pulled out her PSD and extended a morphable blade. It was the one she had become familiar with when she killed over sixty aliens on a prison planet. With a successive series of slashes, she cut off parts of the tentacles.

The Time Warden pulled back and tried to use Emily’s shield to pull her off balance.

Emily dropped her shield arm. She switched to the special pattern that produced a pointed rod. With a lunge forward, she pierced the Time Warden’s body. She stepped back as yellow goo oozed out. The Time Warden flailed around for a bit before it stopped moving. She headed over to Evaran, who had taken out the other Time Warden.

Evaran nodded. “To V.”

They reached V, who had both Time Wardens entangled. They had lifted V sideways, with tentacles on both ends, as if trying to pull him apart.

“Analysis. I could use some assistance.”

Evaran approached the right Time Warden and jabbed its body.

Emily got the other one.

When the Time Wardens stopped moving, V fell to the ground. After untangling himself from the tentacles, he stood. “Thank you.”

“Sleeping on the job?” asked Emily.

“That was not my intent,” said V.

Emily chuckled. “You did fine.” She went back behind the shielded transport.

“That should be the last of the sentries,” said Evaran. “I do not recall there being this many at a facility of this size. Usually just a few sentries and a defender.”

“Umm … defender?” asked Emily.

Evaran nodded as he gestured forward. “They are bigger and much more powerful. Usually somewhere outside the base, although given the size of these hallways, there may be one inside. It is only activated at the highest alert level. I suspect we will encounter it on our way out. Let us get to my last plane form.”

Emily pushed the shielded transport forward as she pondered the sense she felt earlier. She could feel the Time Wardens that had come up behind her. If she had not, they would have killed her. It was like she had a bubble around her where she could detect anything moving in it. She wondered if Dr. Snowden had seen or felt anything similar.

After thirty minutes without incident, they reached the room with Evaran’s last plane form.

Emily struggled to keep up with Evaran as he hustled over to the seal V had marked earlier.

Evaran placed the Time Warden tentacle end into a circular port on the ground.

After a moment of twisting, a hissing sound spit out as the seal interior began to rise in the form of a cylinder.

Evaran closed his eyes. “Yes … I can sense it.” When the cylinder was raised fully, he interacted with a console on the side. A flushing sound filled the air as a part of the cylinder slid back into itself, revealing a naked older man embedded in a green foam-like substance.

Emily noted that the fair-skinned bald man had a gray beard. His closed eyes and light breathing indicated he was in some sort of sleeping state. She jumped back when the man’s eyes opened.

Evaran raised a hand out toward the man. “We are taking you from this place.”

A tear ran down the old man’s cheek.

Evaran interacted with the cylinder’s console, causing the foam to soften. After a moment, he stepped forward and caught the old man as he collapsed forward. “Emily, bring the transport.”

She pushed the shielded transport to align with Evaran and then dropped the shields. Once Evaran had secured the man inside the transport, she shielded it back up.

Evaran picked up his Time Warden tentacle end and put it back on his belt. “Let us leave this prison.”

Dr. Snowden squinted and rubbed his eyes as he adjusted his glasses. His PSD lay next to the console on the planar beam generator. He had been watching the view from V’s perspective. The way the Time Wardens moved made his skin itch. However, when they tangled V up, it was hard to see anything except a mess of tentacles.

He snorted as he caught glimpses of Emily. She was right in the thick of it and was probably loving it, given his recent observations of her. It had been forty-five minutes since Evaran’s last plane form had been picked up, and now they were on their way back.

His eyes widened as the ground outside the front door rumbled, then exploded out. Metal flaps swung up and out as two large Time Wardens crawled out and approached the door. They were huge, at least four to five times larger than the ones inside the base. He tapped at his PSD and contacted Evaran. “Umm … there’re some big Time Wardens outside.”

Evaran narrowed his eyes. “How many?”

“Two.”

Evaran nodded. “We will have to go through them. Prepare to fire the generator when we get outside.”

“You’re going to fight them?”

Evaran’s eyes glowed for a moment. “Yes.”

“Okay,” said Dr. Snowden with a sigh. “I’m on standby.”

Evaran nodded, and the screen closed.

Dr. Snowden monitored the Time Wardens. They were milling around and probing the front area with several tentacles. One of them was pivoting around every few seconds, as if looking for something. He noticed that the disc-shaped drones had been launched and were flying around. His heartbeat ramped up when two smaller Time Wardens crept out from holes in the pillars. There was no way Evaran and the others were going to get through that safely. He opened communications with Evaran. “Looks like there are some smaller ones out, and now drones too.”

Evaran’s eyes flared. “So be it.”

“Still going to go through them?”

“Yes.”

Dr. Snowden exhaled from his nose. “Okay. Just wanted to update you.”

“It is appreciated,” said Evaran.

Dr. Snowden nodded as the screen closed. He inspected the console. It had an interface that was logically laid out. The pattern shaper was a window where a pattern could be drawn or a shape preselected. He peered back out at the Time Wardens and noticed they were beginning to cluster around the front door. Maybe they heard Evaran and the others approaching. Even as angry as he thought Evaran was, this was not going to be pleasant. There was no way he was going to stand around and let Evaran walk into that.

With his lips pulled in, he drew a series of concentric circles in the pattern shaper. He noticed that the window changed color briefly when he was drawing, then settled back in to what it was before. Probably an indication it was active.

Using the movement buttons, he repositioned the planar beam generator to aim at the closest large Time Warden. He pressed the activate button.

A concentric beam shot through the Torvatta’s and facility’s shields and ripped into the side of the large Time Warden, leaving a gaping hole. Yellow liquid oozed out. The drones’ reaction was immediate as they flew over. Several of the smaller Time Wardens had pivoted and faced the Torvatta.

He gulped. The thought that maybe the drones could get through the hole in the ten seconds it would be open crossed his mind. He collapsed his PSD into pen mode and shot stun beams out at the drones.

Zzzt!

One of the drones dropped to the ground. Another fired an energy beam, hitting the generator. The generator’s console flickered.

His eyes widened. He had not considered that they might be able to fire from that range.

Two drones flew closer as the smaller Time Wardens fired.

Dr. Snowden ran in front of the generator and put up his personal shield from his left forearm. He was glad he had put his suit on.

The hole in the Torvatta and facility shielding sealed up.

Dr. Snowden let out a measured breath. He watched as the front door opened and Evaran and V burst forward.

The drones and smaller Time Wardens pivoted around and headed back to the entrance.

Dr. Snowden could see Emily behind the shielded transport, shooting out at the drones. He realized he needed to change the pattern back. He tried pulling up the pattern shaper, but the fading in and out of the screen made it difficult. After a moment, he was able to draw a door shape.

He took a moment to assess the situation. V and Emily were headed over to the Torvatta while Evaran had engaged the remaining large Time Warden.

The two smaller Time Wardens approached V. The drones and Time Wardens fired, but they did not penetrate V’s shielding.

V grabbed one of the Time Wardens, then dragged it along to the second one.

Emily took potshots at the drones while using the shielded transport as cover. She slid the transport up to V, then burst around the side and stabbed both Time Wardens in their bodies. After the smaller Time Wardens stopped moving and the drones were down, she got back behind the transport and began to push forward.

Dr. Snowden gulped.

V untangled himself and escorted Emily back up to the Torvatta.

Dr. Snowden waved them off to the side and fired the generator.

Emily pushed the transport through the shielding hole. V followed her in.

Dr. Snowden observed that Evaran was deflecting the large Time Warden’s beams and they were circling each other. “What’s Evaran doing?”

“Analysis. He asked me to tell the both of you to remain here.”

“What?” asked Emily. “We need to help him!”

“This is personal,” said V.

Dr. Snowden could see Emily simmering. He understood that Evaran did not want to endanger anyone else and knew Evaran could probably shield and run to the Torvatta. It was obvious Evaran had made another choice.

Evaran had extended his utility handle into a staff. One end had a circular blade; the other was pointed.

The Time Warden tried to pull Evaran off balance by controlling Evaran’s shield.

Evaran angled his shield down, exposing its tentacles. With a swipe, he sliced through them.

The Time Warden reeled back for a moment.

Evaran ran forward and jumped onto its body. He spun his staff around several times, slicing off the tentacles where they were attached.

The Time Warden body fell to the ground.

He stabbed it several times with the pointed end.

Its body broke apart into several pieces.

He jabbed at the yellow liquid that oozed out.

The liquid evaporated.

He backed up and, with a running start, kicked the Time Warden across the open area, where it bounced off one of the pillars. After holstering his utility handle, he headed to the Torvatta.

“If I didn’t know better … I’d say he’s pissed off,” said Dr. Snowden.

Emily nodded. “I would be too if I saw what they did to another version of me.”

“Analysis. One of my predecessors, HA4, was killed by the Time Wardens.”

“Oh … yeah … that and feeding off a plane form would do it,” said Dr. Snowden.

V tilted his head. “We should make sure Evaran is pissed on, not off.”

Dr. Snowden chortled as he tapped V’s arm. “Yeah … Doesn’t work like that.” He eyed Emily. He remembered she had a nanobot duplicate. It gave its life to not only save a timeline, but also, he thought, to get back at the being that had imprisoned Emily on a prison planet for nine months. He knew that they had synced, and he wondered if Evaran could feel anything from the last plane form without a sync. Given everything that had happened in the last day or so, he could understand why Evaran was angry. His face might not show it, but his actions did.

When Evaran approached the Torvatta, he stepped to the side and signaled at Dr. Snowden, who tapped at the generator console.

When the hole opened and the beam dissipated, Evaran stepped through onto the ramp. He motioned forward. “V, take us out.”

“Acknowledged,” said V. He exited the ramp and went inside.

Evaran motioned forward. “To the medical lab.”

When they got to there, Evaran gestured for Emily to push the shielded transport alongside one of the slabs in the middle of the room. After she complied, he dropped the shielding and scanned the last plane form with his ring. His jaw clenched for a moment. “He is dying.”

Emily gasped.

Dr. Snowden rubbed the back of his neck as he faced Evaran. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

Evaran shook his head. “Not that I am aware of. Typically when a plane form dies, it is either re-formed, absorbed by the plane, or ejected out of the plane. The plane form can also permanently disable the ability to re-form. If the plane form is damaged or severely weakened, it will not be powerful enough to re-form or leave the plane, and the plane will absorb it, or as I have learned, it will be integrated into the dimension that powers the Torvatta. Every plane is different, though. Some will expel it regardless of state into the Cosmic Medium, while others will absorb it. Some allow re-formation, others do not.”

“Which is this one?” asked Emily.

“This plane allows re-formation and ejection.”

The old man’s eyes slowly opened.

“Can you hear us?” asked Evaran.

The old man cleared his throat. In a garbled voice, he said, “Yes, I can. It’s good to hear another voice.” He rolled his head to the side as his eyes scrutinized Evaran. “I sense … we are the same.”

Evaran nodded. “I am the first plane form. You are the last, from what I understand.”

The old man smiled, then swallowed hard. “I … wasn’t sure if you would come before …” He coughed.

“Syrilus sent me here.”

The old man’s eyes misted. “I miss her.”

“I do too.”

The old man took a deep breath through his nose. “You’ve probably already detected that I’m dying.” He struggled to prop himself up on his elbows. “We’re in the Torvatta.”

Evaran nodded.

“Good. You have a lot of questions … and I have answers,” said the old man. He coughed and lay back down. “I sense you are not corrupted.”

“And I sense the same about you,” said Evaran.

The old man sighed. “I can barely hold this form anymore. If you allow me to re-form, I can sync with you and answer any and all questions you may have.”

“Of course. Your plane form is greatly weakened. However, I am unsure of how to help you.”

“Take me to the re-formation chamber.”

Evaran narrowed his eyes. “I am not aware of any re-formation chamber.”

The old man gestured outward. “It’s in the maintenance area, fifth door to the right of the entrance to the main room.”

“Are there any special instructions to operate it?”

The old man shook his head. “Just push me in there and close the door. We need to hurry. I … don’t want to be absorbed.”

“Understood.” Evaran got behind the shielded transport and hustled out of the room, followed by Dr. Snowden and Emily. When he got to the re-formation chamber, he opened the door and pushed the shielded transport in to a pitch-black room. After a moment, he exited it and accessed the door console.

The re-formation chamber door closed as a part of the wall next to the door went transparent. A dim light appeared in the room. The outline of the shielded transport formed on the wall.

Evaran gestured toward the chamber. “He said it will take about an hour.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Dr. Snowden.

Emily bobbed her head. “Me either.”

Evaran eyed both of them. “Very well.” He tapped at his ARI, and several chairs appeared in front of the wall. “We can sit while we wait.”

After everyone sat, Emily motioned at the room. “So he’s going to re-form now?”

“Yes. A re-formation, if you will. As his plane form is greatly weakened, he would be absorbed. This chamber must give him a boost of planar and cosmic energy so he can re-form and protect him while doing so.”

Dr. Snowden remembered that not only had the overlord from a previous adventure killed a female Evaran, but he had also siphoned off a part of Evaran. While they had tried to resolve another issue, the overlord came back to life with a new body. “So the overlord was able to change because he was not greatly weakened.”

“That is correct. If anything, he was greatly enhanced. Being a Hadryn spawn was probably also a factor.”

“Huh,” said Dr. Snowden. He rubbed his chin. “So … a new form then. Does the old form get any input in what it will change into?”

Evaran shrugged. “Only aspects can be defined. I typically do not re-form but have on other planes before.”

“So it’s pretty rare then,” said Emily.

“That is correct. Usually I go into a plane, and come out. One plane, one plane form. The plane also adjusts, so reentry is not an option. Most planes prohibit re-formation. The Torvatta has changed that, though.”

Dr. Snowden and Emily nodded.

“This re-formation chamber is new to me. In the rare cases I have re-formed, I did not need a chamber. I suspect this chamber is of the last plane form and Syrilus’s design.”

“Cool,” said Emily.

Dr. Snowden focused on the shielded transport in the room. “I guess we wait then.”