Chapter 3

Again, Ray walked to work; at least all the odors outside weren’t overwhelming him. Walking into the office, he saw that he was early. Good, he thought, now he’d see if they had really adjusted him so that his senses didn’t drive him crazy. Twenty minutes later, his coworkers started to slowly file in, each wide-eyed when they saw that Ray was already there and working. The woman that he’d been with the day before slowly walked by his desk and slid him a piece of paper. Looking up, Ray stared into her brown eyes. It was when she flashed him her almost perfect smile that Ray noticed that the enticing odor he inhaled the day before was back, and this time it seemed to be stronger.

“By the way,” she said, snapping him out of his reverie, “after yesterday, I thought you’d like to know my name. It’s Elisabeth,” turning her petite 5’5’’ body slightly, she leaned over to whisper in his ear, “any time you want another session, let me know ... stud!”

Shocked for a moment, Ray looked deep into her eyes, the genuine smile on her face, plus the almost look of animal lust in her eyes, convinced him that she was telling the truth. Ray looked at his reflection, wondering just what it was that she saw in him. After all, he wasn’t that good-looking, he didn’t have a monster dick (actually, he felt he was average at 7 3/4 inches), and he sure as hell didn’t have money. Thinking a while, he suddenly snapped his fingers; the BLEMS, it had to be what they had done to him. He had to try and remember the next time he went back to ask them just WHAT they had enhanced with him. Watching Elisabeth walk away, the rhythm of her little hips as they swayed were almost hypnotic.

He was almost halfway through the day when he felt a sudden pain shooting through his shoulder. What the hell was that, he thought, looking around? He went to lunch and to the bathroom to check his shoulder as the pain started to intensify. He’d almost reached the door when he felt, rather than heard, a cry for help, a cry that felt extremely familiar.

We are under attack, the voice started, the protection you left is holding them back, but we fear that they will break through soon.

What can I do? Ray thought, I cannot come there physically, and I know not how to transfer while I am conscious. At the present moment, I am unable to enter the state where I can send my visage.

You must try; they have been trying to break through for a unit of your time known as a year. We feel that another of these time units, and they will defeat the protective boxes you left, the voice was almost pleading.

I will do all that I can, but I cannot guarantee that I will be able to transfer there. I will try as hard as I can, Ray said as he sat in the bathroom stall and closed his eyes.

Within seconds, Ray was standing on the surface of the planet. Looking up, he saw the flashes where the star cruisers were blasting away at the shields he had erected. Reaching out, he found all six of the boxes he’d left—three of them and the burned-out remains of the other three. He was about to start creating new ones when he noticed that the reddish-colored mist was back, hovering nearby. Ray felt he had to hurry; with three of them down, the last three were working at twice their capacity. Why they hadn’t failed, he didn’t know. After the first two, Ray was struggling with the others, placing the first two; the flashes grew lighter till they were almost gone. The third in place, Ray decided to keep going, though the first three had somewhat depleted him. Though the shield was now at full, Ray could feel how weak the three that had survived were. He’d just finished the fifth, now having eight powering the shield when he felt a titanic blast on the shield. Though all eight held, he felt that they were all severely weakened.

A look of anger crossed his face as he looked around for the red mist to tell it he was going to the ship to stop them. Looking around, it was again nowhere to be seen; these beings were still odd to him. It seemed he’d never understand them. Shaking his head, he looked up and was instantly outside the ship where he’d bumped into it trying to pass through. Damn, so they remembered. Changing his vibrative makeup, he easily passed through. Passing through several walls, he finally found a comp. Placing his hand over it, he started to draw in whatever he could about their plans, weapons, and everything they had about him. Satisfied, he looked for information on how to disable or destroy the ship. After an hour, he finally found it. Withdrawing, he passed through a huge amount of walls and decks till he found what he was looking for. Reversing several power junctions, he could feel the buildup of power that wasn’t going where it was supposed to. Fleeing, he started to the other cruiser; this time, though, it took no time at all to do what he could, even though he had to hide several times from the hulking spider-like aliens that were moving through the ship. He’d almost finished when several alarms went off. Looking around, he heard several of the aliens saying the other cruiser was having problems and they were evacuating. It was a moment later when the ship was rocked by the huge explosion of the other cruiser.