Chapter 23

Wren finally stopped as she turned to her mother. “I’m sorry that I have to go, mother. I am almost finished with this. Most of the last races are gone, I have to eliminate the rest or no race is safe.”

“I know, Wren, believe me, I know as I am sure that your father did. Be careful, Thomas, is still out there looking for you. Perhaps you can get him first?” Ophelia said.

They all saw her off as her ship took off. She decided to portal out to where Esmerelda’s fleet was. Coming out near where the blasted ship was, she saw that a piece of it was still whole.

Wren sighed she was almost as hard to kill as Thomas was. Entering the portal, she came out a few million miles from the sixth colony world. A wicked smile came to her lips, “stealth Trigon!”

In a line in front of her ship, she saw that the Meltry were starting to get serious. There were five heavy battleships that started to fire as soon as she appeared.

“Fire fifty at each one Trigon,” Wren said, then fell as the ship was rocked by a blast from her brother’s ship.

“Warning, warning!” Trigon said. Three hundred of the six hundred extra areas of the ship have been damaged beyond repair.”

“Jettison it and seal the area before it,” Wren said.

“Section is now sealed and repairs to correct that section have started,” Trigon said.

“Son of a bitch, fire energy torpedoes!” Wren yelled.

“We’re out,” Trigon replied.

“Then use the regular missiles.” she yelled, she needed to end this.

Thomas smiled a wicked smile. He’d somehow caught that bitch of a step-sister by surprise. She’d been so concentrated on the heavy battleships he’d surprised her.

“What’s wrong bitch? Can’t seem to get me, but I got you,” Thomas said, then laughed.

“Enjoy that ass, it will be the last time!” Wren shouted as she was typing at a speed too fast to see.

She looked up to see that four of the five heavy battleships were dark and drifting. The last was still in the fight though it appeared to be heavily damaged.

“Now assimilating new program and instructions. I have tone Master Wren now firing,” Trigon said.

A moment later, four beams lanced out, striking her brother’s ship. There was a huge explosion as his ship went partly dark.

“You bitch! You’ll pay for that,” Thomas screamed.

“No, I don’t think so, now Trigon!” Wren yelled.

They heard Thomas and those on his bridge scream, then there was a hum in the storage area. Wren looked at the reception readout, then smiled. Finally, the ass would be out of her hair.

“I want this one isolated from all the others when we get them aboard,” Wren said.

“Compliance Master Wren, I am detecting several ships attempting to flee the planet, orders?” Trigon asked.

Take them out as well as any fighters that are near. Start taking out the fleet, then when we’re clear get the humans on the planet,” Wren said.

Wren watched again with almost sadistic glee as Trigon decimated the Meltry fleet. When they were gone, Wren stared at the number of humans she saw there.

“Trigon, please confirm these readings,” Wren said.

“Now checking readings, readings confirmed there are four thousand human life signatures. Since we cleared all the storage areas, we indeed have the room,” Trigon said.

“Start transfer, how long? We’ve never taken this many,” Wren said.

“Calculating, it appears it will take almost an hour. I find that I am only able to take a thousand every fifteen minutes,” Trigon said,

It was an hour later when Wren saw another ten ships that were trying to escape. Wren was only too happy to erase them from existence.

“Alright, drop all four Trigon, then we can go to the next,” Wren said as Trigon was moving away.

Wren sighed as she watched the planet shudder then crack. She had ignored all the radio and visual signals that came from the planet.

“Alright, set course for the seventh colony,” Wren said. A portal then opened in front of the ship and before her. “I’ll return as soon as possible, continue on to the next stay out of sight. Go to stealth as soon as you exit the readings might confuse the hell out of them,” Wren said with a small smile.

“Compliance master Wren,” Trigon said as Wren nodded and stepped through.

Flugret turned and bowed to her as soon as she appeared. “Greetings little Wren, are you here to free more?” Flugret asked

“It seems more prudent now than before. When I left, the urgency had declined now? I feel that I need to do this even more,” Wren said.

“I know that the others have said that the Chrysalis seems to be losing power. I hadn’t thought that it had lost that much. I also know that each you retrieve helps greatly,” Flugret said.

“I had thought that also,” here Wren sighed. “It appears that the strongest that have left have somehow weakened the system.”

Flugret seemed shocked by this, “I am afraid that this was unknown to me. I will help you all that I can, little Wren.”

“Thank you master, I am trying to do all that I can. I am still afraid that I am not going to make it. That’s why I have pushed as hard as I could,” Wren said.

“That is all well and good though, if you expire, then it will be for almost nothing. You should take care while you are doing this,” Flugret said.

“I am trying to be as careful as I can, but I feel such urgency that I have to push,” Wren said.

Flugret followed her into the Chrysalis room. He again warned her as she laid her hand on the crystaline, Chrysalis. Flugret noticed that this time Wren was glowing far brighter than before.

As before, two round spots of light broke loose from the Chrysalis. Wren took a deep breat5h as the two spots started to divide. Helene had just walked in when the two became six. It was at that moment that Wren’s body started to convulse.

“Wren! You can’t do that!” Helene shouted as the six became ten. Taking a running start, Helene hit Wren at a full run. Wrapping her arms around Wren, Helene also started to convulse.

Wren felt the current lessen as the ten split again into twelve. Wren’s eyes went wide as it spilt again into fourteen. Holy shit she thought, as fatigue started to hit her.

She could already feel Helene at her feet, though she was afraid that she was soon to join her. I have to hold on, she thought, as the fourteen lights started to solidify.

Wren looked at the doorway, seeing Rena and several of the masters and their mates. Rena just shook her head as she waited.

Finally, all fourteen were solid as she felt her strength start to fade.

“OK, this time I didn’t try to bring out this many,” she said as she looked at the seven males and females. With that her eyes rolled up, her legs letting her slowly sink next her sister.

“We need to get all of them to the infirmary,” Rena said. “I hope that she didn’t hurt herself this time.”

The fourteen were easy to move, as was Helene, Wren was a different story. It took ten masters to just get her off the floor. It was almost the fullest that the infirmary had been.

Rena watched as the newly returned doctor went over each of the Cetians, then Helene. Everything was fine ‘til the doctor got to Wren.

The doctor turned to Rena with a surprised look. “According to these readings, she is almost as strong as the tenth master. I haven’t seen readings this strong in a very long time. Especially from a non-Cetian,” he said.

The doctor’s mate moved to him a surprised look on her face. “Are you sure,” she asked as she brought out another piece of equipment.

The doctor thanked her then ran it over Wren three times, each time his shock grew. “She is very high indeed, though I can see the adjustments that the masters have made. For now, she is very stable, though she should be watched.”

It was almost two hours later that Wren started to groan, what hit me she thought. She had tried to sit up, a mistake as she was still weak. She motioned Rena over, whispering, “I don’t want to do that again.”

Rena nodded in agreement with Wren. “It would appear that you have nearly exhausted all your energy. I believe that, that course of action would be advisable,” Rena said.

“Yes, though there are now ninety-nine out now. Perhaps now, the planet can repair itself,” Wren said, then groaned at the weakness that was affecting her.

“Perhaps, though for now, you should concentrate on resting, don’t you think?” Rena said.

Again, Wren tried to rise only to fall back feeling slightly weaker. “Yeah, I think so, I haven’t felt this weak for a long time.”

It was at that moment that Ophelia entered the infirmary. At first, she said nothing as she stared at Wren, shaking her head.

“You’re trying to make me old and gray, aren’t you?” Ophelia said.

“Sorry mother,” Wren said, her head down. “It’s not like I really have that much control of it.”

“Why do I feel that that is a falsehood? You are a lot higher than me or your sister, plus you’ve been at it a lot longer,” Ophelia said.

“Longer yes though, the control isn’t as easy as you think. Though I have noticed that, if I don’t think about it, it isn’t as hard,” Wren said.

Behind her mother, several of the masters were nodding their heads yes.

“So,” the first master said. “You are discovering what we have known for a very long time. The harder you attempt, most times, the harder it is to do.

Wren could only stare at him, “could you not have just told me?”

“Would you have learned? You know that the more you attempt it, the sooner you learn it,” the first master said.

Wren was about to respond, then shut her mouth, as she thought about it damn, if he wasn’t right. She just looked at the first master and nodded her head.

“So, unlike many of the students we have over the years, you are actually learning, this is good,” the first master said.

Wren had to agree as she tried to sit up again, this time almost making it, then falling back with a groan.