Chapter 22

Sam accelerated away from the station, gaining as much speed as he could. Finally, feeling he was far enough away, he opened a wormhole. ‘Damnit, I hope that I gave her enough for her to survive this trip,’ Sam thought, placing his head closer to her chest. He was relieved to still feel her heart beating.

Even as the wormhole started to close behind him, he saw the flash of light as the station exploded. Shaking his head, he was almost to Queen Triada’s world when he heard and felt the distress from Drivas and Thellus.

Shaken, he landed with a thud not far from Queen Triada. “I have released Thantas from the IP. I am afraid that she won’t recover for a bit. Triot attacked Drivas and Thellus. They are in bad shape. Please tell the others that I will return. I have to go after them, then Triot.”

Queen Triada started to speak, but Sam was gone in a flash. She started yelling, frustrated that she hadn’t been able to stop Sam. Fino and Tynco came running, followed by Triann.

Both males picked up the unconscious female, taking her to a makeshift bed they had set up. They moved back as Triann examined Thantas. Her gasp drew all of them back to her side. Fino also gasped as he whispered, “Thantas? How?”

Tears were starting to fall from Triann’s eyes as she gently caressed Thantas’s face. “I don’t know. She is very weak, though,” Holding a small machine over Thantas, her mouth opened, then she nodded. “I can see Sam’s healing energy within her. He must not have had much time, though what he gave her is keeping her alive.”

“Hopefully her own healing will kick in. As we discovered back then, she is also an osmosis healer. Though nowhere near as strong as Sam, she was still a significant healer.” Fino stated.

“As I remember, she renounced her ability to join the fight,” Tynco stated. “We always kept track of all osmosis healers.”

“It was a necessary risk; we were hoping to find one that would finally be able to rid the world of the disease,” Cyan said as she looked on. “She appears to have been drained.”

Triann made a few adjustments to her machine, then scanned Thantas again. A look of shock appeared on her face. “No wonder she is so weak, half of her vital fluids are missing. It’s a wonder how she survived. She needs nutrients of some kind to replenish her, at least until Sam returns.”

Sam was traveling far faster than he thought he was. Exiting the wormhole at full speed, he actually overshot their battered, crippled ship. Cursing, he quickly phased at the hull, appearing inside.

Inside the darkened ship, he found Thellus on the deck, Drivas slumped over a damaged control panel.

Drivas tried to move, finding that every part of her body felt broken. “Sa ... Sam. Not m ... m ... much time. Atmosphere failing. We ... we can’t, n ... not like you.” Passing out, Drivas’s head lolled to one side.

Almost panicking, Sam phased at the bulkhead, then the ship started to accelerate. A wormhole opened as the ship moved in. Less than a minute later, it exited near Queen Triada’s world.

Sam set the ship down a ways off from the others. Ripping the hatch off, Sam laid a hand on both females. Within moments, they were both conscious, though in much pain. A mere minute later, the pain stopped, though they were both weak.

“There, not sure if I should do more right now. The life-threatening injuries are gone, though many of the small ones will have to wait. I can feel that your bodies need to recover some from the shock before I can do more. Please forgive me, I have to go after Triot. I feel he is far more dangerous than the collective I fought.” Sam said as he streaked off.

“Damn it! Sam, wait,” Drivas said weakly. [He is far stronger than he was. He feels almost as strong as the one you told us about. You need to grow stronger, Sam.] Drivas’s thought said.

[I am far stronger than you think. It is you who need to grow stronger. I almost lost both of you today, not again. Grow stronger. I have a few tricks that I know they aren’t expecting.] Replied Sam’s thoughts.

[I hope so, Sam. I most sincerely hope so. For the moment, you are the only hope we have of defeating them.] Drivas’s thoughts said.

[I have no plans for dying, though if I can’t stop them, it will all be for naught.] Sam’s thoughts said, then were gone as he entered the wormhole.

The Lord Doctor was sitting in the council chamber, thinking over all that had transpired. Shaking his head, it had all seemed to start with the escape of Mellos. A year later, the IP agents had discovered Sam on the primitive planet Earth.

As per orders, they had extracted him, thinking it was the criminal Mellos. They had inadvertently activated him from a type of imposed, power-damping amnesia. After awakening from it, his power seemed to start growing exponentially.

The Doctor shook his head. He was afraid that this was the whole plan the Cliveastones had so long ago. If this Sam was an osmosis healer as they thought, then all that he came into contact with of his race would also gain immunity.

This was bad, very bad. With this immunity plus the power he had, Sam and just a few others of his race could destroy all that he and the other Tetricons had created over the last five centuries.

The Collective was waiting nearby. Though they had gained a great deal of power, they were still powerless against the Lord Doctor.

The Doctor was broken from his thoughts by several alarms going off. “Alert! Alert! Hostile threat detected within proximity of the IP home system. Now activating first and second lines of defense.”

With a sigh, the Doctor stood, moving to the door. “So, it has begun. He is here, I imagine to exact revenge on us. Take care, he is far more dangerous than you believe he is.”

The Doctor stepped into a vehicle, making all haste back to his abode. He started to urge the machine faster. He needed to meld if they were to have a chance at all. Arriving, he entered then locked every lock there to keep everything out. Entering his lab, he looked lovingly at the eight glass vats he’d thought would have saved his race. One might, though at the moment, he was having slight doubts for the first time in centuries.

The door to the lab closed as the Doctor’s arm reached for a switch. All around the Doctor’s home went dark, as a sudden hideous scream, then an alien roar came from within.

All around the home, people were staring, though almost ignoring the commotion. They were still ignoring the situation when the first thirty died. They all dropped suddenly, appearing to be dried-out husks.

This, of course, had most there running as far from the place as they could.

In the council chambers, the Collective was powering up as much as they could. As they watched, all of the first line, then the second line of defenses were destroyed.

They immediately started to shield all that they could. Whatever this was had great mental power. They were barely keeping it at bay. Where had the Lord Doctor gone?

Suddenly, almost all the Collective started to grow angry, feeling that they had been abandoned. The attacking, advancing power was suddenly pushed back several thousand miles. Still pushing, they felt it slip further out, then it almost seemed to vanish.

A few moments later, the Collective felt the entire city shake. Reaching out, they were more than surprised at what they found.

Sam had gone back to the site of the destroyed IP space station. Shaking his head, he looked at the miles of twisted, almost unrecognizable destruction of the station.

He turned in a circle, started looking through every spectrum that he could for a recent, weak energy signature leaving the system. After a frustrating few minutes, Sam finally found what he was sure was the trail left by Triot.

Sam followed it. He felt sure that he knew where Triot was going, though he wanted to make sure.

As soon as he exited the wormhole, Sam knew he’d been right. They were deep within the IP homeworld system. Settling behind a moon, Sam lowered his power as he watched the battle between Triot and the IP system defenses.

Sam could only nod as Triot decimated two different sets of defenses. A moment later, he felt the collective collide with Triot.

At first, it appeared that Triot was starting to overpower them. Then, as he watched, he felt the collective gain more power. Sam nodded, knowing there was a lot of emotion behind it, but it wouldn’t last long.

Triot was being pushed back faster and faster. Sam saw him struggling more and more, trying to break away around the sides. It appeared as if the minds in control were making sure he didn’t get loose.

A small smile lit up Sam’s face. He hadn’t thought of doing something like that. Thinking longer, he nodded—it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Keeping his power low and flying slowly, Sam made his way to the IP homeworld. This might work, he thought, until he was within sight of the homeworld of the IP.

The sheer number of IP ships around the planet had him shaking his head. This wasn’t going to be easy without a lot of ... Snapping his fingers, he nodded. It couldn’t be that easy, could it?

Thinking about it, he had to nod yes. There was no system that he could think of that could track at that speed. It hadn’t the last time; this time couldn’t be that different.

Finally decided, Sam left the moon at tremendous speed, heading straight to the IP world. Landing with an earth-shaking thud, he immediately disappeared.

I need a disguise before I am pointed out; otherwise, I’ll have the whole damn planet to worry about. Almost an hour later, Sam wasn’t sure he was going to find anything. There were no uniforms or anything else to dress in outdoors.

He went by several shops, not sure he could afford anything either. Sighing, he thought, guess I’ll have to do this the hard way. He watched from what few shadows he could, looking for someone near his size. There didn’t seem to be many that were over six feet tall.