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 though, Sam was gone in a flash. Queen Triada, started yelling when she hadn’t been able to stop Sam. Fino and Tynco came running as did Triann.
Both the males picked up the unconscious female, taking her to a make shift bed they had set up. Both males moved back as Triann looked at the female examining her. Her Gasp drew all of them back to her side. Fino also gasp as he whispered, “Thantas? How?”
Tears were starting to fall from Triann’s eyes as she gently caressed Thantas 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 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 ’til Sam returns.”
_______________________________________________________________________________
Sam was traveling far faster than he thought he was. Exiting the wormhole at full speed, he actually over shot their battered, crippled ship. Cursing, he quickly faded 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 faded 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 that 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 an 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 line of defenses.”
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 doctors arm reached for a switch. All around the doctors home went dark, as a sudden hideous scream, then 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 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. It was a moment later, that 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, there was a lot of emotion behind it though, as he knew that wouldn’t last that long.
Then, Triot was being pushed back faster and faster. Sam could see him struggling more and more, to just try and break away around the sides. It appeared as if the minds in control of this 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, plus flying slow, Sam slowly made his way to the IP homeworld. This might work he thought, that was ’til he was within sight of the homeworld of the IP.
The sheer number of IP ships around the planet, had him shaking his head. Ok, this wasn’t exactly 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, it was, 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, then 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 foot tall.
Finally thinking he was out of luck, a male came by that was perfect, thing is he had several with him. Sam thought a moment, then tried what he had before, taking over the males mind. Surprisingly, the male, told those with him he’d meet them later, then walked straight into the shadows to Sam.
Sam, moved as fast as he could, there was no telling if his little stunt had been detected. Finally ready, Sam stepped out into the light.
Sam breathed a sigh of relief, then started to walk around looking for where the council might be. Sam felt he was at his wits end; he was sure this was where they were. Turning a corner, Sam’s eyes went large as there before him was a huge, several storied, cathedral type building.
An old joke came to mind as he thought well, someone is compensating for something that’s for sure. Then, as he moved nearer, he started to feel them. He felt a small flicker of power toward him, he dropped his power to as low as he could. As the flicker moved over him, he breathed another sigh of relief as it didn’t even pause.
This was going to be far harder than he thought, I need to leave and plan more, this was stupid to think I could just march in and put them all down. No, they have far more here than just power. Taking off as fast as he could, almost every window in the city shattered as he accelerated through the atmosphere.
Sam, didn’t feel the huge power that was reaching for him as he got further from the planet. Pushing himself harder, Sam seemed to vanish as the power barely missed him.
In the council chamber, the lord doctor was cursing, how had he missed? How dare that Cliveastone bastard invade their home like that. The collective was staring at the lord doctor, with hatred and mostly envy.
The doctor turned, then roared out, “Find that bastard! He was here, outside these chambers. Not a one of you useless THINGS, felt him. You have the combined power of all seven of you. How all of you survived, I am not sure, though if you stay like you are? We all are going to perish. Get out of my sight, you weak and useless pieces of flotsam.”
The collective trembled, then vanished through the ceiling at extreme speed. The doctor shook his head, at least when they died… no, There was still a chance he just had to find them.
The doctor reached out, then he smiled when he felt the first twinges of power. Let’s see the eight here, the one he knew of, then there was one within one of the Triads? How was that even possible?
The doctor turned in a semi-circle, then he started to search around, extending his mind as far as he could go. Near the edge of the galaxy, he found another. Shaking his head, the doctor knew they were much too far away to reach mentally, at least for a few days.
The doctor was about to send out a summons for help when, he felt another mind on the same planet. Strange he thought, they were never coupled unless…
A wicked smile crossed the doctor’s face, he started to build up his power to get the message all the way out there. Now to wait, if they could, it would take at least three days to reach them. By ship, it would be another two days. If they were elite as he thought they were, then all of them here had a chance, if they could hold out.
The doctor looked at the power readings they had gotten from Triot, yes, he was very powerful now though. The doctor looked up shaking his head, Triot, was a lost cause. The amount of power he risen to, as fast as he had, seemed to completely unbalance him.
Then the doctor smiled unbalanced yes, though still very powerful. If they could somehow redirect all that power at Sam , they would get the needed reprieve that they would need, for the other two to join them. It was risky though, if they were going to survive the growing threat, they had to take it.
________________________________________________________________________
On Queen Triada’s planet, Thantas, moaned as she saw Sam standing before the glass vat. Shit! She was drowning, Sam help me, she was screaming in her mind.
Sam saw her distress, smashing into the glass several times, before he broke through. Bleeding profusely, several large gashes, she watched as Sam took her out of the station. Giving her what little energy and healing he could, smiled, kissing her before, he stopped breathing drifting away from her.
“NO Sam, NO!” She was trying to scream as she reached out to catch his body. It started to drift further and faster from her. “NO, NO, NO!” Thantas was screaming as she fell out of the bed she was in.
“NO Sam you can’t die, you are immune!” Not caring that she was barely dressed, Thantas stood on shaky legs she then started to walk out of the small enclosed place she was in. Two males and females were rushing towards her, she stopped then tried to run in the opposite direction.
She reached a small table, seeing several instruments on it that appeared to be familiar. Grabbing the sharpest, she turned at the approaching footsteps.
In an almost animalistic voice she growled, “Do not touch me! I will end all of you, you will never place me in that machine again. Where is Sam?” Almost toppling over, Thantas quickly brought the instrument back up in front of her. I should kill all of you, like I did all those that hurt me, if it wasn’t for Sam, I would still be there. NOW WHERE IS HE!” This last she shouted, knocking all four of them off their feet.
A tall female, that seemed extremely familiar stood moving a step closer. “Thantas, don’t you recognize me? The male there, don’t you know us?”
Thantas thought hard for a moment, then her eyes went wide. “NO! NO! The both of you are dead, have been dead a very long time. No, this is just another trick, left over from the machine. I didn’t bend then and I won’t now! You!” She stated turning toward Fino, “you are the one that I got the orders from to attack the Tetricons. It was a perfect plan, ’til the others left me there. I was winning, had victory in my hands, then I was hit by an extremely powerful force. I still fought them, was hit by several of their elite. I awoke in a glass vat, then my mind was taken into the machine.”
Triann, had huge tears falling from her eyes, her head was shaking no, she was whispering, “No, by the power of all us, I would have gone mad. We all thought you died, when there was no trace of you.”
A smirk crossed Thantas face, “I highly doubt that, I left the standard distress kit out there. I floated out there for days, before I was picked up by the Tetricons. I thought that you had been monitoring me, then I felt Out los explode. I felt the screams of my people, it nearly killed me, it should have.” A small smile crossed Thantas face as she stood. “Well, it was good to talk to ghosts. Now I have to go after one of the only three of my people left.”
Fino and Triann, could see that she had been stalling for time as her own healing power had started.
Thantas looked at the four people before her, then started to slowly rise off the ground. She wasn’t more than a few feet off the ground when, she was hit from the side, then driven back toward the ground.
Thantas looked at the female that was holding her down. “Mellos! Your life absorb won’t work on me; I am far too powerful.”
“Ha!” Mellos said. “As if, you are so weak right now I hardly had to use any of my power. I don’t have to use that anymore, thanks to Sam rescuing me.” Thantas was about to throw Mellos off when another female sat on her. “Oh, I’d like you to meet Raydy, you might say she was also rescued by Sam.”
This snapped Thantas’s head around to stare at Mellos. “Rescued by Sam?”
“Yes, rescued from me. I am now a pure Cliveastone, as is Raydy. Thanks solely to Sam.” Mellos said a little smugly. “He is the strongest osmosis healer that has ever been seen.” She might not be bad anymore, that didn’t mean she still couldn’t feel superior, well, with the exception of Sam.
Thantas was shaking her head, she’d heard a great amount about Mellos, especially the deaths that she had caused in the last year. Thantas believed that the number was at eleven, if she wasn’t mistaken. “Alright, though I don’t believe you, talk to me.”
Mellos and Raydy sat there with Thantas, going over Mellos story, then Raydy’s, though that took a while seeing how shy Raydy was
“Wait, wait, wait, you mean to tell me that, they are your parents?” Thantas said pointing to Cyan and Tynco. When Mellos nodded Thantas asked, “and the other two, they are Sam’s parents?” Again Mellos an Raydy nodded.
Helping Thantas up, Raydy and Mellos took Thantas to the three chambers. After looking closely at them Thantas could only shake her head.
“I have to admit they are of Cliveastonian design, though advanced even for what I have seen.” Walking to the other four there, Thantas bowed slightly. “I am sorry, what Mellos and Raydy told me, seems like something out of a science story. I can believe it though, our race had made many advances the last few years I was there, that seem more like magic, than science.”
Triann, was about to speak when there was a pneumatic hiss from one of the chambers. Triann and both males ran to the chamber, to help a slender dark haired female.
Thantas, walked up a few moments later as Triann started to examine the female. Walking to Mellos’s father Thantas asked, “sir, you appear familiar to me.”
“We had met before, I am Tynco.” He stated getting an astonished look from Thantas.
“Yes, when we met, you were dying from the clinging cell disease. I, can see no sign see no sign of it on you.” Thantas stated.
Tynco smiled, “I am completely cured, the first.”
“Let me guess, Sam?” Thantas asked.
“Yes, though he damn near killed himself in the process. For a first ever intense healing, he tried to completely heal me. He exhausted himself, he healed not only the disease but my mind also. Oh yeah, if I am not mistaken he healed you enough to activate your osmosis healing. Good thing too.” Tynco said with a smile.
Thantas mouth dropped open as she nodded, that was why the dream, his partial healing of her.