The Evaran Chronicles: The Arrival | The Awakening | The Fredorian Destiny | The Purification | The Time Refugee | The Evaran Origin | The Shadow Connection | The Human Factor | The Cosmic Parallel | The Unification | The Portal Effect | The Time Cube | The Evaran Impact | The Cosmic Artifact | The Cult Of Evaran | The Final Evolution | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 1-3 | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 4-6 | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 7-9 | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 10-12 | The Evaran Chronicles Box Set: Books 13-15

Hunting a killer clown in a misty forest on a Saturday night was not Dr. Albert Snowden’s idea of fun. Yet there he was, alongside Evaran. V flew around in orb mode while he scanned the area. Dr. Snowden had been back on Earth for two months since their last adventure, and he was getting used to the routine of going on an escapade, then coming back to live a somewhat normal life.

It had been relaxing for the most part, but the current situation was not. It was December 8, 2012, roughly ten months since he and Emily, his niece, had begun traveling with Evaran. Dr. Snowden felt like he had lived several lifetimes in that time span.

Normally Emily would be out with the group, but she was off visiting Jelton, a rift guardian they had met on the previous adventure. Evaran’s ship, the Torvatta, having a rift door was a nice perk. Dr. Snowden concentrated on the cabin they approached.

“You seem worried,” said Evaran.

“Uhh…yeah. It’s not like we’re hunting for a killer clown and his cabin in the cold and dark woods or anything.”

Evaran half smiled. “If you wish for a challenge, we can split up.”

“Let’s not.”

“Very well. V shows the cabin to be a bit ahead. His scans reveal there to be bear traps outside of it, but there is a clear path to get in and out,” said Evaran. He raised a finger. “The traps are covered, so V will highlight them when we get there.”

“Oh, that’s just great,” said Dr. Snowden.

His formfitting survival suit had proved its worth many times in the past. It had a built-in repulsion blaster and had recently been upgraded to support camouflage shielding, something he had turned on for their current mission. However, among the recent enhancements, the one he liked most was the Tirikor exotic matter woven into the suit. It provided stronger protection against most forces, including exotic matter and energy. It was truly unique.

After lowering his helmet, he saw V’s scan of the cabin. As Evaran had mentioned, the bear traps were placed in a haphazard manner. The mist covering the ground did not help the scene, nor did the biting cold. Thankfully Dr. Snowden’s suit could regulate the temperature.

His eyes narrowed. “Why are we hunting this killer clown again?”

“It is an Earth Ward case,” said Evaran. “They have not been able to locate this particular one, but they believe he is in the area due to the unusual deaths and number of missing persons reports.”

Dr. Snowden shook his head. “So the Earth Ward, who represents Earth to the Kreagan Star Empire, can’t find a killer clown? With all the resources they have, you would think they could. I remember V saying there were twelve here on Earth.”

“That is correct. The Earth Ward has already caught one, and soon there will only be ten that are roaming free. These killer clowns are not Outsiders or Daedrould. They are from a parallel timeline. As such, the Earth Ward cannot detect them unless they are in close proximity to one.”

“Ahh. Did they all come over at the same time?” asked Dr. Snowden.

“Unknown, and that is assuming the one in custody is speaking the truth.”

“Well, thankfully the Torvatta can scan for those who came from a different timeline.”

Evaran nodded. “It shows up as an anomaly within an area.”

“Why couldn’t we call in the Earth Ward to search once we found the area?”

“They do not have the resources to scan a twenty-five-by-twenty-five-mile patch of heavy forest deep in the Appalachian Mountains.”

“They do not have me,” said V over comms.

Dr. Snowden chuckled. “No, they don’t. I’m surprised you found the cabin so quickly, though.”

“Analysis. I mapped dead body locations and compared them to nearby towns with missing persons reports. I also analyzed the network of roads and waterways and reported sightings, and observed the flight patterns of various birds. I narrowed the cabin’s location down to four possible locations.”

“I get all the other stuff, but…birds?” asked Dr. Snowden.

Evaran half smiled. “Denizens of this timeline have a natural aversion to those from parallel timelines, even aborted ones. Although that effect is barely noticeable in humans, such as Jane Trellis, it is much more pronounced in animals.”

Dr. Snowden sighed. Jane Trellis was a timeline refugee that he had almost had a relationship with. The mere mention of her name made him frown. He refocused on the current situation.

“Ahh. Then let me guess…out of the four spots, you found the one where the flight patterns were off,” he said.

“Yes,” said V. “In this case, the lack of any. There should be some even at this time of day. However, I discovered the dead spot.”

Dr. Snowden shuddered. Even birds knew to stay away from killer clowns. No wonder the Earth Ward had difficulty tracking them, or anybody from another timeline. It still amazed him he knew all that he did. He had picked up a chicken sandwich earlier, and as he stood in line, he gazed at the people around him. They did not know that they might not have existed, or if they did, might have existed in a different circumstance.

He was happy to have the chance to experience everything he had seen so far. The last adventure had been rough and he had lost a part of himself when they had traveled through parallel timelines. It was an adjustment coming to grips with what that meant. Although slower and weaker, he still possessed half the nanobots from their initial injection. They were still cosmic-energy-enhanced, so he had that going for him. He bumped into Evaran.

“We are here,” said Evaran. He glanced at Dr. Snowden. “Are you sure you are okay?”

Dr. Snowden licked his lips. “Yeah…I just…you know.”

“Analysis. You were thinking again,” said V.

“Yeah, that,” said Dr. Snowden.

He cleared his throat as he looked across the small clearing in front of the log cabin. It seemed abandoned at first glance, but based on V’s scans, there had been recent activity in regard to the outlined bear traps. He would need to walk between them to get to the cabin. V’s thermal scan also revealed someone tied to a chair inside.

Dr. Snowden pulled his personal support device off his chest. Although he did not need his PSD to access information while wearing the suit, he had come to rely upon it for the varying types of beams it could shoot and the morphable items it could extend out and create. For this scenario, he had set it to stun beams.

V hovered near the cabin’s front door. “The lock has been disabled.”

Dr. Snowden gulped. “I guess it’s cabin time, although I don’t think the person in there is the clown.”

“Analysis. The killer clown is approximately half a mile from the cabin and closing.”

“We must hurry,” said Evaran. He eyed Dr. Snowden. “Follow me.”

Dr. Snowden sweated as he tiptoed behind Evaran. There was ample space between the traps, but the thought of falling into one lurked in the back of his mind.

After a few tense moments, they arrived at the front door.

Dr. Snowden scrutinized the broken U-lock on the ground. Apparently the killer clown should have invested in deadlocks. After Evaran opened the door and V flew in, Dr. Snowden took a deep breath, then followed them in.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the unconscious shirtless man tied to a chair. It looked like chunks of flesh had been cut off of him and some of the wounds had been bandaged. A stove sat on the opposite side of the cabin from where they stood. Various cuts of partially wrapped meat with different seasoning shakers around them covered the nearby counter. Next to the meats were jars of organs. Dr. Snowden put his hand on the wall and dry-heaved.

“It appears our killer clown likes to feast on his victims,” said Evaran.

“Yeah…I’m sorta getting that picture too,” said Dr. Snowden. He exhaled as he moved over to the tied-up person. “We need to get this person out of here.”

Evaran extended a sharp knife from his utility handle, then cut the rope bindings on the man tied to the chair. As the man fell, Evaran caught him and laid him to the side in a safe position.

“V, get the hover slab from the Torvatta. By the time you are back, this will be over,” he said.

“Acknowledged,” said V. He shimmered out of view as he flew away.

“You sure we won’t need V?” asked Dr. Snowden.

Evaran turned his head halfway around.

“Yeah, you’re sure. What was I thinking?”

Evaran half smiled. “Relax. Position yourself behind me.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.”

Evaran closed his eyes for a moment. “The clown is near.”

He grabbed two illumination orbs off his belt and tossed them into the air, causing the room to light up. Morphable metal extended out of his utility handle to form a staff. Each end emitted crackling blue arcs.

Dr. Snowden swallowed hard when the seven-foot killer clown stepped through the door. The white makeup, blue rubber nose, green hair that shot in every direction, and the white-and-red fluffy suit made Dr. Snowden’s skin crawl. The mouth with sharp teeth caught his attention. If he had to imagine a scary clown, this was it.

The clown tossed an unconscious younger woman off to the side.

Dr. Snowden wondered if she was a late-night snack. How these clowns had come from a parallel timeline, or even why, was a mystery.

The clown eyed Evaran, then chuckled. In a high-pitched voice, the clown asked, “Who are you?”

Evaran met the clown’s gaze. “I am Evaran, and you are wanted by the Earth Ward. You will come with me.”

Dr. Snowden felt more at ease with Evaran’s command of the situation. He had ice in his veins.

“Oh, is that right?” asked the clown, laughing. He grabbed a pair of butcher knives that hung from his belt. “Maybe…I slice you up and make an Evaran sandwich? I hope you’re not too salty.” The clown shook his head. “I don’t like that.”

V talked over comms. “We have a summons.”

“We can deal with that after subduing this clown,” said Evaran.

The clown looked around. “Who’re you talking to?”

“Not important. Now, it is time to end this.”

The clown giggled, then charged and swung at Evaran with his left knife.

Evaran swatted the clown’s left arm to the side and, with his free arm, extended it with a vertical palm into the clown’s chest.

The clown stumbled back.

Evaran stepped forward and placed his staff inches from the clown’s forehead. “You will not be eating anyone anymore. It is time for you to come peacefully.” With a tap, light blue electrical arcs surged over the clown.

The clown went limp.

“That was quick,” said Dr. Snowden.

“As it should be,” said Evaran. He looked around. “We need to drop these people and the clown off, then see what this summons is about. Let us go.”

Emily beamed a big smile as she exited through the rift door on the Torvatta. She had a full week with Jelton behind her, and her skin glowed. Although she loved that she could now go to a room in the maintenance hub to visit him, she was more excited to see Evaran, Dr. Snowden, and V.

She paused to take in the room. It was compact and big enough to hold the rift door rods and the control podium. It puzzled her that no one was around. She frowned. It would have been nice if Dr. Snowden had been there to greet her.

Losing half of her nanobots and cosmic energy from their last adventure still bothered her, and in a week of sparring with Jelton, it showed. Although he had helped lift her mood, it came crashing down. She would need to train harder now to use her PSD in creative ways. With a sigh, she exited.

She smiled when V flew into the maintenance hub. “V!”

V lights glowed brighter as he flew over and extended a segmented arm to offer her a high five.

She laughed, returning the high five. “Where is everyone?”

“Analysis. We are at Earth Ward facility thirty-four. A killer clown has been apprehended, and is now being turned over.”

“Did you say a killer clown?”

“I did.”

She cracked up imagining Dr. Snowden with his hair sticking straight out. “I bet Uncle Albert loved that.”

“I do not believe he enjoyed it. How was your time with Jelton?”

“It was awesome! I love being able to visit him like this.”

“My calculations predict that he also enjoys seeing you as well.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, I think so too. All right, let’s go to Evaran and Uncle Albert. Lead on.”

“Acknowledged,” said V. He flew away.

Emily raised her helmet and tracked V’s flight route on her inside faceplate. When they exited the Torvatta, she observed that they were in a hangar bay. It was dark outside but plenty of lights illuminated the interior. Smaller craft filled the rest of the bay and she recognized some of the ship designs as something she had seen before when working with Jake Melkins, a friend from a previous adventure.

As she followed V to the back of the hangar bay, she noted the hustle and bustle of Earth Ward personnel. It always amazed her how all of this was kept secret from the outside world.

After a bit, they reached a massive room. On the left side were hallways that led off elsewhere. A long counter on the other side had several people behind it. The center of the room had a large ring of workstations encircling a sunken area with an interactive table in the middle. Grids of screens ringed the workstations. Smaller doorways and one hallway that appeared to be a heavily guarded entrance resided in the back on the right.

Her heartbeat accelerated when she saw Evaran and Dr. Snowden at the counter. They were busy talking to each other. She rushed up and hugged them.

“It is good to see you,” said Evaran.

“What he said,” said Dr. Snowden.

“I’m just glad to be back. I hear I missed an exciting hunt,” said Emily.

Dr. Snowden shook his head. “I’m not sure I would call it exciting, but at least we caught a killer clown. He was every bit as scary as I thought he would be. To make it worse, he had a high-pitched voice and giggled a lot.”

She swatted Dr. Snowden’s arm. “I bet he was scared to face the both of you.”

“Cocky for sure, but nothing Evaran couldn’t handle in a few seconds,” said Dr. Snowden.

Evaran nodded. “He will be transported to a prison in a town called Wild Haven.”

“I wasn’t even aware there was a special prison.”

Evaran raised a finger. “Wild Haven is a…unique town. It caters toward nonhumans and is best known for its college as well as being the Earth Ward headquarters.”

“Sounds cool,” said Emily.

“Yes. We need to finalize some paperwork, then investigate a summons.”

“A summons? Really? Where’s it to? Or should I ask…when?”

Dr. Snowden squeezed Emily’s arm. “Someone is full of energy.”

“I’m just refreshed.”

Dr. Snowden raised an eyebrow.

She raised one back at him.

They shared a laugh.

“And you’re in a good mood too,” said Dr. Snowden.

“Analysis. Earth Ward Director Susan Tornberg approaches,” said V.

Emily focused on the athletic fair-skinned woman with pulled-back brown hair walking their way. She had on a tactical suit that looked more advanced than anything Emily had seen on Earth at the time. A holstered sidearm sat on the right and various gadgets packed the rest of the belt. A far cry from the business-suit-wearing managers the Helians used to use when they ran things.

Susan extended a hand toward Evaran. “Evaran! It’s good to finally meet you.”

Evaran returned the handshake.

Susan nodded at the others. “And always good to see you all here as well.”

Emily wondered how much information Susan had on them.

“I won’t keep you long, and I appreciate your help in apprehending this clown, no pun intended. He’s been one of our tougher cases and I suspect…we’ll learn what happened to a unit that disappeared when they tracked him,” said Susan.

“I am glad to be of assistance,” said Evaran.

Susan eyed Evaran. “If you ever want to hang around, we’d be more than happy to accommodate you.”

“I appreciate the offer, but there are other situations that require my attention.”

Susan shrugged. “You know I have to at least try, right?”

Evaran half smiled. “I will keep it in mind.”

“That’s all we can ask for,” she said. She focused on the others. “Dr. Snowden, Emily, V, that offer extends to you all as well. Lord Vygon and others speak well of you.”

Emily remembered Lord Vygon not only as an ancient vampire lord, but also a good friend. He was sleeping somewhere for a few months, but she wished she could visit him.

Dr. Snowden looked around. “I’ll keep it mind, as long as it doesn’t involve any more killer clowns.”

The group shared a laugh.

Evaran gestured toward the hangar bay. “It is time for us to go.” He nodded at Susan. “I will be in touch periodically.”

Susan smiled. “We look forward to it.”

After another round of handshakes, the group moved off to the Torvatta.

As they walked, Emily glanced at Evaran. “I don’t mean to pester but…we have a summons?”

“It is okay,” said Evaran. “I did not want to discuss that around Susan. Although the summons location is unknown, V has determined that it is in the year AD 514,723.”

She drew her head back. “Really? Wow, that’s like…far future.”

“Relative to your perception. The human timescape is very long. I would compare it to the amount of time that humanity has been on Earth compared to the Earth’s age.”

Dr. Snowden wagged his finger. “So not that big of a leap is what you’re saying. Still be interesting to see where it’s at.”

“My knowledge of that era is scarce, but the Torvatta has some knowledge of events from that time.”

“Cool,” said Emily.

After a good twenty-minute walk, they were seated back in the conference room on the Torvatta.

Emily replicated some orange juice while Dr. Snowden got a cup of coffee. She enjoyed sitting at the table. So much had been done and said there, and a variety of people had visited it. It felt like old times to be in the conference room discussing a summons.

Evaran interacted with the table console.

A projection shot up of the Milky Way galaxy divided up into four quadrants. A red dot blinked on the bottom near the intersection of the east and west ones.

“It appears we are headed to the edge of the galaxy,” said Evaran.

“Huh, wonder what’s out there,” said Dr. Snowden.

The projection changed to show a screen listing out various events from the era.

Emily eyed the one closest to the date Evaran had mentioned earlier. She pointed at it. “Look, it says Earth becomes the central planet in the unification of humanity.”

“That makes me wonder why they need to be unified,” said Dr. Snowden. He scrunched his face. “Wow, you weren’t kidding about only having summary titles and no details.”

Evaran nodded. “That is on purpose as you are aware.”

“Analysis. Before we go, can we visit a restaurant?”

Emily chuckled. “I’m cool with that. It’s 9:40 p.m. and I could use a late dinner.” She tilted her head at V. “I didn’t know you liked to eat now.”

“I wanted to test my new holographic mimic functionality.”

Dr. Snowden looked at V. “That’s new. So you can project a hologram around you?”

“Yes, observe,” said V.

A thin morphable metal rod dropped out of his orb, then branched out to form a stick figure. He shimmered for a moment and formed a hologram of an athletic male human.

Emily smiled when she observed that the face seemed to be a mix between Evaran and Syrilus, Evaran’s former partner. V had on blue jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt. His fair skin, mop of black hair, and green eyes were a handsome combination.

“I like it!” she said. Her eyes widened when she poked a finger at the hologram and felt resistance. “Whoa.”

Dr. Snowden rubbed his chin as he studied V’s form. “So the morphable metal forms the skeleton, so to speak, and from that, you emit some type of shielding, right?”

“Yes. Evaran worked on miniaturizing my robot body, which I could deploy as needed, but it is still in development. This was the next viable option,” said V. His form dissipated while the skeleton retracted back into his orb. “It is not as strong as my robot body, but I can create other forms. It will also register as organic.”

“Awesome. Maybe you can transform into a cat,” said Emily, smiling.

V’s lights glowed brighter. “I can curl up on your lap.”

“That’s the idea.”

Evaran looked around the table. “To your house and then to a restaurant. Afterward, we can attend to this summons.”

“Let’s do this!” said Emily.