The Purification: Book 3 of the Evaran Chronicles (23 page)

Dr. Snowden snorted. “Well … won’t that happen with the beacon?”

Evaran nodded. “Yes. However, like the beacon we sent to get this location, it would transmit the location before being … splatted.”

Dr. Snowden sighed.

Lord Vygon looked at Evaran. “I can go get the beacon, assuming you left it in the usual place in the research lab. If not, V can help.”

Evaran studied Lord Vygon for a moment. “Go.”

Lord Vygon nodded and then exited the room in a blur of motion.

“Hmm,” said Evaran. “So once they go through the rift door, they go to this Azoculus planet, and from there, to the prison planet. Does the other facility have just one rift door?”

“Yeah,” said Leah.

“Then the rift door can take on multiple destinations. Can we get to the prison planet from here?”

Leah bobbed her head. “You could … if you knew the destination code. The rift operator here would not have known that, and me and John only know Azoculus. Knowing a destination’s code is taken very seriously.”

“Could the rift door be opened from the other side?” asked Evaran.

Leah nodded. “Yeah … there will probably be more coming through later to try to reclaim the base, unless this rift door is shut down or shielded.”

“I see,” said Evaran. “Once we find out where Azoculus is, then you two can shut it down.”

Dr. Snowden shook his head. “How did these Purifiers get over here in the first place?”

“That’d be the main rift stone,” said John. “It has the ability to open doors to other places, without needing an active rift door on the other end. It’s on the capital planet, but it never repeats an exact destination, although it can get one close by sometimes. It’s kind of random from what I heard.”

“That needs shut down, or Earth might get another wave of this ridiculous purification,” said Dr. Snowden.

“I concur,” said Evaran. “We will after we find Emily.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Evaran walked over to the crystal rods with everyone following him. Dr. Snowden pointed out the pad. Evaran rubbed his chin and then tapped the pad with his foot. He scanned it with his ring. “Interesting. With the teleport down, we should probably shield the rift door. Leah, can you do that until Lord Vygon gets back?”

Leah nodded.

Everyone followed Leah to the rift controller. She placed her hand on the bottom part of the upside-down dome and pressed a panel. The panel emitted a glow as it sank in. A projection shot up showing a scattering of dots with lines linking them. She tapped a finger at a dot, causing the projection to zoom in, and a rectangular box appeared under it. When she tapped at the box, a grid of tiles with unusual designs embedded on them appeared where her finger was.

Dr. Snowden studied the tiles. “I can’t translate them …”

“If the universal translator cannot translate, that would indicate that this technology is from somewhere outside this universe.”

“Universal translator?” asked John.

Evaran shook his hand. “Not important.” He gestured at Leah. “Go ahead.”

Leah selected one of the tiles. The grid disappeared, and the tile now showed underneath the dot. She repeated this sixteen times, which caused the box to blink. The crystal rods shimmered for a moment before a light-blue semitransparent shield surrounded them. “Done.”

“Excellent,” said Evaran.

John slumped down against the wall and sighed. “This is the first planet I’ve seen that’s fought back. I’ve heard of others, but never seen it done.”

“What planet did you come from?” asked Dr. Snowden.

John eyed Dr. Snowden. “Leah and I are from Forath. Oddly enough, it looks a lot like this planet.”

“A parallel timeline maybe?” asked Dr. Snowden as he looked at Evaran.

“Possibly,” said Evaran. “These rift stones could be linked, so if they were split up across timelines, exciting them with exotic energy would seem to open a door between them.” He faced John. “I assume that this prison planet, however, is something else.”

John nodded. “Yeah … don’t really know much about that. Or what a … parallel timeline is.”

“You may know of it as an innerverse, same concept.”

John shook his head. “Yeah … don’t know about that either. We just know there’s a special destination. Makes the rift door have a red surface. From what I’ve heard, it strips nonhumans of their abilities.”

Evaran tilted his head. “Elaborate.”

“Well … not sure if
strips
is the right word, but people who pass through it have whatever makes them nonhuman taken out.”

Dr. Snowden wrinkled his eyebrows. “Emily had nanobots, so it probably would not have done anything to her, other than send her to wherever, right?”

John shrugged. “I … don’t know what nanobots are. I’ve only seen pictures of the prison planet rift door before.”

“I see,” said Evaran. “This rift technology is far beyond the Purifier knowledge level.”

“They aren’t Purifier technology. The overlord discovered them and adapted them for our use. He seems to be the only one that truly understands them. And maybe the high priests.”

Lord Vygon entered the room, carrying a sphere the size of a basketball. “Took me a while to find. Wasn’t where I was used to seeing it. The research lab had a different configuration.” He shook his head with a smile. “Nonetheless, here’s the quantum beacon.”

John tilted his head. “Once you find Azoculus, how are you going to get to it?”

“We are going to fly to it in my ship.”

John jerked his head back. “In your ship … as in through the air?”

Evaran picked up the quantum beacon from Lord Vygon. “Not quite. Leah, can you remove the shield and set the portal for Azoculus.”

Leah took a breath and then interacted with the rift controller. After a moment, the shielding disappeared, and a solid golden surface appeared between the crystal rods.

Evaran tossed out an orb from his belt. It projected an image of V in the Torvatta. “V, have you set up the tracer?”

“The tracer has been activated.”

“Excellent,” said Evaran. He walked over to the rift door with everyone in tow and then rolled the beacon through it.

“Transferring visual,” said V.

The projection changed to a diagram of multiple cylinders. A line zigzagged horizontally across the cylinders before coming to a rest. The line then disappeared.

“Analysis. Timeline 4501 is the destination.”

Evaran rubbed his chin. “Interesting. V, we are headed back. Are there any other Purifiers alive?”

“There are six. Two are in the medical lab, and the other four are under guard by the Ollikrin.”

“Very well. Once we are aboard, take us to Atlantis.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Leah, please shut down the rift door.”

Leah interacted with the rift controller, and after a moment, the golden surface disappeared. “Done.”

Evaran gestured toward the room exit. “We are done here. There are some things to discuss back at Atlantis, then we are off to timeline 4501.”

As they filed out of the room, Dr. Snowden smiled. He now knew where Emily had gone. Hopefully, the prison planet was not as rough as he was imagining, but knowing Emily, she would not only survive, but come out stronger. The question burning in his mind was how this would impact her long-term. He shook his head. First things first. Find her, then he would deal with that.

John and Leah sat to the right of Evaran in the council room. Delia, Lord Noskov, and Lord Vygon had taken their seats to the left of Evaran, along with Captain Laban.

Dr. Snowden also had a seat next to Leah at the table. He had not expected to be sitting there. Looking around the circular table, he noticed it was almost filled. Helian elders Cyrus and Ira rounded out the table.

Evaran raised a finger. “The Purifier base has been captured. There were heavy casualties, but the Purifiers will no longer be a threat to this planet for the time being.”

“That’s good news,” said Cyrus.

“Yes,” said Evaran. “However, I have some points to go over before I leave.”

“You’re leaving?” asked Cyrus.

Dr. Snowden noted the concern in Cyrus’s voice. Evaran had been the unofficial leader which is something that seemed to happen whenever he was present. Maybe it was Evaran’s confidence, which he exuded, or the way he backed up his talk with actions. Either way, Dr. Snowden suspected that Cyrus was not looking forward to having to deal with Daedroulds and others on equal terms.

“I am,” said Evaran. “Dr. Snowden’s niece, Emily, is still missing. We know where she went from here, and we are going after her. I am not asking for anyone to come, as there is important work to be done here.”

Lord Vygon slapped Lord Noskov on the back. “I’ll let Lord Noskov speak for the vampire houses while I’m out with Evaran.”

Lord Noskov jerked his head back. “What? I’m no politician.”

“Then don’t be one,” said Lord Vygon. “You know the issues as well as anyone. Be yourself. Once I come back, assuming I do, I can rejoin the effort.” He faced Delia. “Any concerns?”

Delia eyed Lord Noskov, then shook her head. “None. He has shown himself to be a leader, and I accept him as such.”

Lord Noskov raised his eyebrows.

Dr. Snowden chuckled. He had come to like Lord Vygon, and even had a begrudging respect for Lord Noskov. Having Lord Vygon along made him feel better. Not just for himself, but for Evaran as well. Dr. Snowden now knew that Lord Vygon and Evaran would become great friends, and that he and Lord Vygon would be as well at some point. Lord Vygon was easy to get along with, was knowledgeable, and, if it came down to it, was a force to be reckoned with in a fight. He shook his head. Lord Vygon would be the perfect traveling companion for Evaran. Maybe he was at some point in Evaran’s future.

Evaran cleared his throat. “First point, there are sentinels still out and about. Each sentinel has an implant, and it can be detected. I will transfer that information before leaving.”

“How many are we talking about?” asked Cyrus.

“Unknown. The sentinel we spoke to said there were one hundred twelve, but the attack on Atlantis had thousands. The cleanup effort will take some time, but with a unified council, it should be a top priority.”

Captain Laban raised a finger. “I will guarantee it will be handled.”

Lord Noskov flashed a fanged smile. “For the first time, I find myself agreeing with a Helian.”

“The sentinels’ teleporting weapons won’t have any impact now. However, they still carry weapons and can be dangerous.”

Captain Laban glanced at Lord Noskov. “I think we can handle it.”

Lord Noskov smirked and nodded.

Dr. Snowden thought it was interesting that two people who formerly would have been enemies were here now agreeing to work together. He knew that bonds forged in battle could be strong, and maybe Evaran’s insistence that the Helians be involved in the base fight was to bring that about. It seemed to be working.

“Point two,” said Evaran as he gestured to his side. “This is John and Leah. They are Purifiers who cannot go back since the rift door is no longer active. They were administrative staff, and I do not want them punished.”

Ira narrowed his eyes. “Purifiers … and you want to just let them go?”

“Yes. They were able to operate the rift door to help us.”

Ira snorted. “Sorry … if you think Purifiers are going to be treated with any respect here after what they did … you’re crazy.”

“We aren’t really Purifiers by choice,” said John. “The Purifiers took over me and Leah’s world, and you either joined or died. We decided to live.”

“And that excuses your involvement?” asked Ira.

Delia raised her hand. “They can stay with us.” She looked at John and Leah. “My domain is … not technology based like here. It’s mostly forest and grasslands. You can choose to stay here or make a new life in my domain. Obviously, Purifier ideology won’t be tolerated.”

“Well, I was a farmer before all of this,” said John. “While I’d like to go back to my home world, it would be suicide and … they killed my family.” He looked at Leah. “Maybe we could have a farm?”

Leah smiled and nodded. “Considering the alternatives, I’m okay with that.”

Ira slammed his hand on the table. “They. Need. To. Be. Punished.”

“Then let’s vote,” said Delia, shooting an icy gaze at Ira. “All council members who agree to allow John and Leah to come with me, raise your hand.”

Lord Noskov, Lord Vygon, Cyrus, and Delia raised their hands.

Delia nodded. “It is settled then. They will come with me.”

“This is ridiculous,” said Ira. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair.

“What about the other Purifiers?” asked Lord Noskov. “They were guards, trained to fight. I don’t think they would want to settle down.”

“They are welcome to come with me if they wish,” said Delia. “I suspect imprisonment here is not high on their list.”

Ira shook his head. “
Someone
has to pay for this. If not these two, then the other ones should.”

Evaran eyed Ira. “That decision needs to be agreed upon by this council. You need to remember … if Delia and Lord Noskov did not come to your aid, they would be making this decision … with
no
Helians around. You should be thankful this council even exists.”