The Lost Ship: The Evaran Chronicles II, #0

By Adair Hart

Sometimes it's better to be quiet in a galactic forest.

 

Captain Herix Trellis just wanted to command the UPS Alpaca, not fight to the death against a vicious reptilian alien species known as the Gorkeens. One year after crash-landing on an unknown planet and with his crew dispersed, there isn't much hope of a rescue.

 

One issue is they got there by a portal they couldn't avoid, and now they have no idea where they are or when. Another problem is that over half the crew has been enslaved and used for food. It also doesn't help that another third of the crew escaped and has not been heard from since.

 

Enter Evaran and M, two cosmic beings who travel through space, time, and beyond to help those in need. They, along with Herix and his group, need to rescue the other human survivors and bring justice to the Gorkeens while also navigating galactic politics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adair Hart
• Release date: Feb 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215234518

Book preview

Contents

Title

Copyright Page

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

Note from the Author

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Books in the Series

Title

Copyright © 2023 Adair Hart

All rights are reserved to the author. No part of this ebook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Editing done by Miranda Miller of Editing Realm

Cover done by Tom Edwards

Proofread done by Alexa

Published by Quantum Edge Publishing

www.AdairHart.com

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Chapter One

M wiped mustard off his robotic body as he detected that he was the only artificial intelligence in a space diner that was over two hundred million light years from Earth. It was November 4, 404,890 AD, 1:00 p.m., and traveling to faraway places in space and time wasn’t unusual, but dropping condiments on his chest was.

He didn’t need to project a hologram around him in a place packed with aliens of many types who would have no idea what a human was. Although he was a cosmic energy orb in a robot body, he could fly out, but that was not needed at the moment.

Across from him in the booth sat Evaran, a being who appeared human but possessed cosmic energy, the most powerful of all exotic energies like M.

Evaran and M traveled through space, time, and beyond in Evaran’s ship, the Torvatta, helping those in need. They had decided to visit an interesting civilization and now hung out at a diner near the spaceport where the Torvatta had landed.

Evaran had fair skin with a slight tan. His black hair was pushed up front, and on the sides, it was combed back. He had blue eyes and a chiseled jawline with the outline of stubble that started at his ears and met on his chin and went up around his mouth. Per M’s attractiveness algorithm, Evaran would be considered handsome.

His advanced one-piece suit was made up of several layers. The first was a black mesh that clung to his athletic build. The second layer was a light-gray material that had golden borders and covered certain areas like his chest and upper outer arms. His shoulders, forearms, collar, belt, and boots were covered by white-striped lightly armored pads. His belt also had multiple items on it.

Each forearm had a Personal Support Device, or PSD. They used dimensional mechanics, a technology that allowed something to exist in a dimension outside this reality. That allowed the PSD to shoot stun, mist, repulsion, grappling, and heat beams. M had the same on his body.

M pointed at the dish before Evaran. Your food item looks like a hamburger.

Evaran dipped his head to look at his plate. I guess it does.

Although we don’t need to eat, you ordered an Earth-like item.

It would seem so. Evaran gestured at M’s chest. You got a hot dog, and it looks like half of it is on you.

M looked down. It was more slippery than anticipated.

That or you put too much mustard on it.

Perhaps so. M studied him. You’re thinking of Earth. Maybe we should go there.

We will, said Evaran. My old form could show very restrictive emotions. A half smile here or there, or even a slight frown. This new form is much more expressive, even with limited emotions.

M had been studying Evaran ever since they had died, then re-formed into their current incarnations. Although M could view the video history feed of V, M’s previous incarnation, he had not ascribed any emotions to them. However, he did have an algorithm that could simulate what they would be.

In conjunction with his orb, he could feel emotions. Evaran was different in that his previous incarnation’s memories existed as is. Per M’s assessment, he was depressed, even if it looked like he never was.

Whenever the Torvatta issued a summons, Evaran and M would travel to the point in space and time that was defined. They would then deal with whatever was specified, or if it was vague, they would seek to discover why they were needed there. Instead of going back to Earth where their previous forms had spent much of their time, they had been on over ten summonses outside of Earth since their re-formation.

My analysis indicates you’re avoiding Earth, said M.

I’m not. However, I want to make sure I have control of this form, said Evaran.

M smiled. You’re Evaran. A powerful cosmic being. This would be a trivial operation for you.

Evaran eyed him. Thanks for the pep talk.

Acknowledged. M raised his hand and extended it.

Evaran grinned as he high-fived him. Good to see some things haven’t changed.

M got an alert. "The Torvatta is indicating that a group of security guards are trying to move it."

Evaran’s face returned to its emotionless, neutral state as he stood. Then we must go.

M hopped up, and they took to the air and flew down a connecting street. The soles of Evaran’s boots were pads that used dimensional mechanics. M had the same but only when he was not using density control.

When they had landed at the spaceport initially, an inspector verified their ship had nothing dangerous. She had spent most of her time blown away by the fact the Torvatta used dimensional mechanics. M calculated that the civilization understood the implications of such technology and waited until he and Evaran were away to try to take it for themselves.

The denizens resembled worms with two legs and four arms. They had brown segmented bodies and six eyes on their heads. They were no match physically as individuals, but they were intelligent, had numbers, and were technologically advanced. While M hoped to avoid a fight, messing with the Torvatta was strictly off-limits. He had already hooked into the civilization’s digital network, and an alert showed that the government had put bounties on their heads.

I saw the bounties too, said Evaran.

We may meet unsavory characters on our way, said M.

So be it.

M’s robot body was human-sized to fit in with humans from Earth. He had portholes everywhere where a nanoswarm could emerge to create a sturdier and larger form. However, in defensive mode, he could not fly, but he still had his armor plating, density control, and strong shielding. The downside was he moved slower, and while more durable, he preferred his body’s default state since it allowed him to take to the air. His orb could also go out at any time and stay linked to his body, but he used that for reconnaissance mainly due to being smaller, nimbler, and having the ability to enter stealth.

On the way, two lanky giraffe-like aliens in a mishmash of gear opened fire below them.

Evaran dodged the shots, then spawned an energy shield on his left arm to reflect the beams back at them, knocking them down.

M scanned the aliens as he flew past. They were still alive, and the energy beams they shot were not lethal. They were meant to disable or cause harm, but that would not be enough to slow down Evaran even if he had been hit.

When they reached the spaceport, they landed, and M entered defensive mode. Nanobots swarmed out and added several layers of armor, and his density control would make it hard for anything to knock him down. His shielding output also increased.

They rushed toward the Torvatta.

It was round, roughly fifteen feet tall and thirty feet wide, and M had heard it referred to as disc-like or resembling a hockey puck. It had pitch-black panels near the back, with two horizontal slats for thrusters. The front half was solid metal, although from the inside, they were transparent. A light-blue shield covered the side doorway, which was where they were headed.

A small army of workers and security forces had surrounded the Torvatta, and a machine of some type tried to break through the Torvatta’s shielding. That would never work, but the attackers didn’t know that.

Evaran had already been shot at by several assailants, but his ability to reflect beams caused everyone to take cover. A team of four had tried to engage in close quarters combat, but Evaran had extended his right forearm and used a repulsion beam to send the guards sprawling.

M took on a barrage of shots that lit up his shielding. He retaliated, stunning those he could target, and any attackers that got close were tossed away. One assailant tried to hit M with a stun baton but stunned himself when the hit bounced off the shields.

A hovercraft with a cannon entered the area and fired.

Evaran leapt out of the way, but M stood strong. The blast made his shielding glow, and while he had its focus, Evaran landed on the hovercraft and bent the cannon. After jumping off, they dashed into the Torvatta.

The interior consisted of an open area, with one hallway that led off to dimensional rooms. A chair resided in the middle along with a workstation to the right and slightly ahead. The rest of the room was bare but could spawn hard holograms as needed. Usually when flying, the walls went transparent and the floor semitransparent, and it was like they were floating.

Evaran took his seat in the command chair while M sat at the workstation.

Activate scan profile one and stealth mode, said Evaran.

Acknowledged, said M.

Scan profile one made the Torvatta undetectable to almost everything. Scan profile two made any scan show a small, cramped ship. Stealth mode allowed the visual component of the Torvatta to appear invisible. The only beings who could detect it in this mode were those the Torvatta had chosen.

The confused spaceport force looked around in confusion. From their perspective, the Torvatta would have vanished.

The Torvatta hovered, then ascended.

"We need to downplay the advanced nature of the Torvatta next inspection," said Evaran.

I agree, said M. However, they came in as friends. They betrayed our trust.

Evaran gazed out as they soared to low orbit. It happens, sadly.

It also appears we have another summons.

Where to?

A holographic projection showed various zoomed-out windows. One showed the Milky Way galaxy, and yet another with a planet and a red dot.

"A location on