Chapter 14

Even as he was watching, he saw Mellos’s ship open fire on Drivas and Thellus’s ship. ‘Damn it,’ he thought, ‘I haven’t enough strength yet! What the hell is her problem? First, she ran like a scared rabbit, now she’s hunting me.’

Sam was about to turn back when he ‘heard’ Drivas. [Keep going, Sam. Our shields are more than powerful enough. We also have a secret weapon of our own.]

Shrugging, Sam turned back toward the sun, feeling his strength steadily increase. I have to get closer, he thought. My strength isn’t going up fast enough. Problem is, can I break free if I get too close? Well, only one way to find out.

Doing his best to accelerate, Sam was finally starting to feel more like he’d been before this episode. That’s when he noticed that he was by far a hell of a lot closer than he’d ever been before. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel that much heat at all.

A full ten minutes later, Sam smiled as his strength was actually a little more than he remembered. Good, he was going to need all he had if he was going to beat these councilors. Turning back, he saw that indeed Drivas had been right. Then he looked closer; he could swear there was mental energy mixed in with the regular shield energy.

Feeling a hell of a lot better, Sam streaked toward Mellos’s ship. An angry look plastered on his face, he was hoping it would scare Mellos off. As he drew closer, he then saw that it wasn’t about to happen. He was suddenly between Mellos’s and Drivas’s ships.

Even as the beam was hitting his chest, he saw Mellos’s ship wind up and then vanish into a wormhole. Damn it! I’ve got to get her to tell me about the Cliveastones and Owt Los. Well, that wasn’t going to happen today, that was for sure, he thought, as he had to stop himself from following.

Turning toward Drivas’s ship, he phased through, startling both females. “So, are you going to explain why I saw mental energy mixed with the shield energy? Or is this going to be a mystery I am going to hate?” Sam asked.

Drivas looked at the wall for a moment, then nodded. Sam could feel the thought link, though he couldn’t hear what was being said.

Taking a big breath, Drivas started to try and explain. “Thantas has been strengthening both Thellus and me. She said that you are the only one that we can tell. Both of us have been starting to have doubts. Thantas could see this, making us stronger. I must admit it is painful, though we have withstood it to try and help.”

“Try and help? By being brain dead? I hardly see the merit in that. I...” Sam started.

“Being able to help right the many wrongs that we have seen is more than worth the pain. We both are the strongest mentally, after you and Thantas,” Drivas said.

Sam was nodding. He had to admit, the both of them were stronger. They were nowhere near what he or Thantas were, though they were higher than any other.

Sam suddenly turned in the opposite direction as he thought, [I thought it was you I felt earlier. Don’t kill them, Thantas. If they are going to help, we will need both of them alive.]

A shocked Thantas replied, [I forget just how much stronger than me you are. I was coming to work on them again. I am glad that you wish for them to help, even though at present, their mental powers are still meager. I believe after this, they will be at a more respectable level. I just wish I could expand their minds faster.]

Sam looked at both of the females, then suddenly neither of them could ‘hear’ what the thoughts were. [I take it you haven’t told them?]

[Told them?] Thantas asked, puzzled.

[I really hope that you don’t think I am stupid. I can tell their physiology is shifting, though to what I am unsure, I have a sneaking suspicion, ] Sam told Thantas.

[I will admit I am changing them, though I am not sure if they can completely change. Manipulating their DNA, RNA sequences to achieve what I am trying to is far more difficult than I at first thought. A few is easy; the entire organism is a different matter altogether, ] Thantas explained.

Sam nodded, though some of what she said was far beyond his knowledge. Then his eyes flew wide as he could swear that in a portion of his brain, a door opened. As the flood of knowledge hit him, he crumpled to the deck, grasping his head.

Mellos’s ship had just exited the wormhole as she started to scan. Ah! There that goody-goody was. Damn! Why in the hell were his readings so low?

Suddenly, a feeling she’d not felt in a very long time hit her. Worry and concern. She hoped that the massively handsome male was ... Reaching out, she slapped her face a few times, reveling in the pain it caused. She was going to have to kill that ass when she was more healed. Then she had to discover a way to turn off all these goody-goody feelings.

After her extended stay in her waste center, she was actually feeling a hell of a lot better than she had in a long time. Shaking her head, she grabbed a scanner and went over every inch of her body. Almost all of her internal organs were at fifty percent or more. Hell, some were completely healed.

It was a good twenty minutes later that she yelled to her male slave. “Follow Sam and the IP ship that was behind him. I need to fight him again. I am almost to the point where I don’t need to drain the young ones like us. Problem is, I think he is starting to catch on.” Sighing, she decided, “I guess I am going to have to try and kill him. That ought to make him mad enough.”

Seeing Sam move away from the IP ship, Mellos smiled a wicked smile. Perhaps, if I kill the two IP bitches, he might hit me enough to finish the healing.

“Slave! Open fire on that damn ship! Blow that piece of junk out of existence.” Mellos was yelling, with a sadistic look on her face. Let him NOT fight me now, she thought.

Ten minutes later, the smile was gone, as well as the look. When had they upgraded their shields that much? Looking over the readings, she saw that there was mental energy mixed with the shield energy. Damn it! That was a little stronger than her cannons were.

Looking up, she saw that Sam was on his way back. Shit! He looked far madder than she’d seen him before. Still, she was hoping for a stray shot to get through, then Sam was blocking the blast. Nodding, she’d been ready, as she flipped a few switches, and then the ship slipped into a wormhole.

Looking over the readings, she saw that Sam had gotten stronger mentally. How in the hell had he managed that? Letting out a breath of relief, she saw that Sam wasn’t following. Well, she’d have to build on that.

Sam stopped before Drivas’s ship. [I need to go back to the planet. Something wasn’t right, I need to check it out.] He thought to Drivas and Thellus.

[Alright, we’ll be here when you are finished, ] Drivas advised Sam.

Sam was nodding as he started back toward the planet. Sam didn’t notice that he was moving far faster than he had before. Almost to the atmosphere, Sam stopped, looking back in the direction he’d just come from. They would still be there when he was done? Ok, now something with the two of them wasn’t adding up.

Sam shook his head as he started toward the planet’s surface. He had to get a handle on this situation before it drove him nuts. Landing as lightly as he could, he could see that a great many people were wandering around looking lost.

In the transport, the Doctor could feel consciousness slowly, very slowly, starting to come to him. He’d seriously underestimated the Cliveastone, that was for sure. He wouldn’t do that again. His eyes flickering open, he immediately looked at the chronometer. Shaking his head to clear it, he could see that a good amount of time had passed. Flexing his mental energy, he could feel that it was slightly heightened.

Finally able to sit up, he set the automatic controls for his home. He had to get stronger if they were going to have any chance at all of defeating this Sam creature. The Doctor opened up his communication device as he contacted the councilors.

“This is the Lord Doctor. Are you close to a resolution? I was in contact with the Cliveastone. He is far stronger than we all at first thought. I was barely able to resist his power. Might I suggest that you seven decide quickly before he is too much for all of you combined.”

“Lord Doctor, you weren’t able to defeat him?” the first councilor asked.

“No, as I feared he is far more powerful than the female specimen we captured. As I said, the seven of you need to come to a decision quickly, before he is beyond all of us,” the Doctor replied.

There was a brief moment as the Doctor heard several gasps. “We will decide quickly, Lord Doctor,” the first councilor answered.

As soon as they disconnected, the Doctor shook his head. He could swear he was seeing the end of his race. As he thought before, how had some of the most unintelligent of all of them survived?

Seeing that he was finally at his domicile, he stepped out, surprised that his legs were wobbling as badly as they were. I’d better take nutrients to strengthen before I work on my mind, he thought.

Entering his home, he set several sets of extremely complex lock and defensive systems. Sitting with a thud, he took several tubes out of a machine, ingesting their contents. Laying back with a sigh, he could feel the nutrients starting to slowly course through his body.