The Minds Eye Ch 06

I saw that Dan was indeed impressed, "we have been running for the last few months. Every time we stopped to rest, they seemed to find us. How in the hell is it that they haven't found you?" Dan asked.

I smiled, trying not to look creepy as I said, "well, you might say that I've been at this for a long time. At the moment there are only four of us strong enough to leave here. I have expanded the house so that we all have our own room."

"So," Dan started, "they can't detect us?"

"I wouldn't say they can't detect us. They probably can. I am saying that they cannot get to us here," I told Dan and his sister. "As you found out, it's not easy to get through. If at all."

"So, we're prisoners here?" Dan asked, a slight look of panic on his face.

A movement behind him caught my attention. Shelly, Dan's sister, started to whisper in his ear. At first Dan showed no reaction, then his eyes went wide as he started to nod. A moment later, she stood beside him.

"It appears that my sister thinks that I am behaving like an idiot. She said that she hasn't felt as safe as she does right now. She has a far more sensitive mind than I do," A slightly blushing Dan said.

My eyebrows raised as I looked at Shelly, then nodded to her. "I'm glad that you feel safe here, you should eat and gain your strength back," I told the both of them.

They both looked at me with large eyes, then nodded as they moved to the kitchen.

I turned to look at my daughters, "are you still tracking the alien?"

"Yes," Bell said, "the last three hits it took from you have weakened it even more. In the last few hours, it appears to be trying to find another host. It has passed up quite a few. I am still..."

"It is the minds, they are far stronger than they were when all this started many years ago. The young man that it first took over was an avid gamer, his mind was weak though far stronger in other ways. It appears that the human race has indeed grown stronger. Well, a good many have," I said.

"Wait," Trina interjected, "being a gamer strengthened his mind?"

"As far as I can see, yes," I told my daughters. "As both of you know, games have changed a lot in the last two decades. Hell, hand to eye coordination is remarkable for a lot of games."

All that were there, could only stare at me as if I had lost my mind. "I'm sorry, most of the games made in the last few years feel as if they'd melt the brain, not strengthen it," Bell said.

"Sorry," I said. "The simple fact that he was as avid a gamer as he was, made the blocks he put up almost impossible for it to break."

"Yes, but finding many more like him would almost be impossible," Andy said.

"No, not really. Even the simpler games we played, strengthened our minds. Though I have to confess, we passed him a while back, he was already a few levels above us in blocking. Well, at least when we started that is," I said.

"So, the simple fact that anyone on earth that played these games has a more natural blocking ability?" Dan spoke up.

"Yes, it would appear so though, it doesn't make any of us impervious to having them try to take us over," I told him.

A few miles away, a young man was having a battle within his mind. Somehow, he couldn't get his body to respond. Well, not a lot at first, though over the last hour he was starting to gain more.

He could feel as if something was trying to take him over, much like in one of his favorite paranormal games. He thought hard as he remembered that part of the game, erecting shields and walls to keep anything out.

For a while, it hadn't done more than slow whatever it was down. Now it seemed as if whatever it was, was starting to be slowly pushed out.

The strongest warrior was befuddled. Never had he met any race whose younglings were as strong as this one. A check again confirmed that indeed this was a youngling barely fifteen cycles. He needed to inform the ultimate leader of this fact.

Still trying to gain ground, the mind warrior was thwarted every way he tried. Even worse than that, the alien/human mind was starting to gain more important parts. Hmmm, the Xetron mind warrior thought, it was almost a shame to destroy this one.

The Xetron was preparing to destroy all the mind it was half in possession of. The teen felt a shift in whatever was trying to take him over. Concentrating hard, he heard a scream.

The Xetron was in shock, the youngling had thrown a shield around him. A shield that was slowly starting to crush the Xetron. He saw that they were approaching what the younglings mind saw as a store. Ah! More of this one's species, olderlings! Perhaps a very weak mind to take.

The teen entered the store though he was more hesitant than before. A look around, the Xetron saw several candidates, rapidly it chose an older woman. Less than ten seconds, it had taken her mind.

Ah! Thought the Xetron, this was more like it. There was hardly any resistance here. The alien was savoring its victory, when a weak shield snapped up. This can't be! There was no training here. How?

The Xetron searched, though found nothing. It didn't matter. The energy it needed was here though, the lifeforce was older almost at its end.

A look behind it saw that the teen was on the floor gasping for breath. The older woman smirked as she started to move past the teen, only to stop when the teen grasped the woman's hand.

The Xetron almost screamed as some type of energy briefly flowed into the older woman's body. With an almost supreme effort, the woman snatched her hand from the teen.

A shake of the woman's head, she whispered, "you should be destroyed soon. Your energy is far too weak to survive."

A step aside, soon had the woman moving past the gasping teen.

Outside, the Xetron smiled as it started to move away. Twenty feet away, the woman doubled over, then tried to move faster into the wooded area.

I felt the young man gasp out, looking at my daughters, I vanished. A moment later, I appeared outside an older store.

There was a crowd of people crowded around the door. Damnit! I was too late again, though I could help the youth. I reached out, planting an idea in all the minds there. I had done this before though, not quite on this scale.

I then walked into the store looking over everything, "Oh Doc! Glad you're here. This young man just keeled over," the store owner said.

I nodded as I put a hand on the teen's throat. I then grabbed his wrist. I was fixing all I could as fast as I could.

A mere minute and a half later, I felt the teen start to awaken. I then pretended to give the teen a shot.

"There," I said, "that ought to fix him up. Appears to have overheated himself. As I said, he ought to be alright now."

I then walked out concentrating, wiping the thought of myself out. I turned toward the wooded area, feeling the alien warrior's energy.

A moment later, both my daughters appeared, striding after me as I made my way rapidly through the forest. I could feel the Xetron in an older body moving far faster than I thought it could.

I reached out feeling the Xetron, damnit! It had managed to heal more than I thought it could. I could also feel the older woman's lifeforce starting to fade.

This caused me to speed up even more as I tracked the alien. Finally, I took to the air, moving far faster than before. A minute later, I broke through the trees spying the older woman moving far faster than she should.

I started to fire several bolts at her, hitting her with the third shot. She/it stumbled, continuing forward, causing me to curse, 'til I hit her again.

I could feel both my daughters closing in on me. I could also feel their fear and caution. A moment later, a weaker bolt shot through the trees, striking the woman, again causing her to stumble.

I cursed again as I saw that we were approaching a family's campground. I, almost too late, saw the older woman turn to fire a different blast at me. This new blast barely brushed my leg, again knocking me from the sky.

I immediately thought I jumped up to search for him, shocked when Bell and Trina were standing over me. "How long," I barely managed to get out.

"Just a few minutes, what happened?" Bell asked.

"It used another type of energy that I'd never seen before," I told both of them. "I," I started when there was a sudden influx of information in my mind.

Both my daughters became concerned when I grabbed at my head. "Are you under attack?" Trina asked.

I gasped out, then barely shook my head. I had learned long ago not to take the evidence of no pain, as a sign that it was probably there.

"No, another present from the Bellions. I remember them telling me that, when that part of my mind was ready, I would know. They just failed to let me know how much, how fast and just how much it would hurt. Yeah, it's not good," I said.

I looked ahead seeing the older woman the alien had been in. I moved to her, placing a hand on her, then my head dropped as I felt her lifeforce slipping away. I reached in, easing her pain, apologizing for not making it in time, then I wept for the loss of her life.

I felt her raise her hand to my cheek, then in a whisper she thanked me for trying. I felt more useless than I had ever when she expired in my arms.

I felt a slight nudge on my mind as I looked up. "We were certain when we saw you, that we had found a mind leader for this planet. Do not feel bad about the oldling, she will recover," The Bellion said in my mind.

I could only stare at the being as if they had lost their mind, then I nodded. I remembered that they were thousands of years ahead of us.

"Thank you, now please excuse me, I need to find the Xetron that is loose on my planet," I said. The Bellion nodded then winked out.

I started forward following the energy of the alien. I barely listened to the family talk of a missing family member. I cursed again, as the alien was stronger than it had been, even with the new injuries.

I again felt my daughters as they were close on my heels. "We need to catch up to it, before it grows too strong," I said.

Strange I thought, this one wasn't really trying to lose me. What was it up to? I wish I had been faster, for twenty minutes later I heard the hyper-engines of a craft start.

I rushed faster toward the sound, already afraid that I was too late. I took to the air again, appearing above the slim, silver craft. I immediately started to blast away with as powerful blasts as I could, barely getting past the atmospheric shield.

For a few moments, I thought that I had stopped it as a few pieces fell off it. Alas, I yelled as it started to gain altitude.

I figured it didn't have a chance, firing the last of my energy at the craft, then stared opened mouth as it passed through the planet's shield. I was about to yell again when I heard a low moan.

A quick search revealed the man the alien had taken. I growled, turning, firing a last blast as the craft started to pass through the shield. Shaking my head, I healed the man, then returned him to his family.

"Dad?" I heard Trina say in a low tone, "are you OK?"

I took a deep breath as I started to shake my head. "No, not really Trina, the strongest of them here got away. I am afraid that it will report back any weakness that it found."

"At least you injured it dad," Bell said.

"For now, yes, though for how long? Remember an injured animal, is usually the most dangerous," I told her.

I then tried to rise, finding that I had hardly any energy left. I barely looked up at the spot where the craft had gone. I was really starting to get tired of losing so much.

I think it was an hour later that I awoke in my bed in the house. Amazed a moment, I slightly nodded, yeah I had been out of it if they got me here easily.

I tried to sit up, going through all the new and old information. There had to be something there that I could do to strengthen. I sat up suddenly (a mistake). With a heavy groan, I hit the pillow like a ton of bricks.

I thought that it was obvious how to strengthen, so I felt stupid not thinking of it. With what little energy I had recovered, I tried to strengthen my shielding. I was unconscious within a minute. OK, I thought as the world went dark, perhaps I ought to wait a bit.

It was perhaps two more hours later that I opened my eyes. I had increased my shield, though it had drained me to the edge of death. I was glad that my self-preservation had kicked in when it did.

Yeah, I thought, as both my daughters, Bethany, Dan and Shelly plus Alice walked, in my door. "I felt you pass out again dad, are you feeling better now?" Bell said.

I nodded as I grabbed a glass of water. Trina had moved closer to me, passing a hand over me. "Ah good! I'm not the only one now that can do that." I said.

"Ah, yeah, it suddenly started a few hours ago, as did this," Trina said as I felt a weak stream of energy start to worm its way into me. It wasn't a lot, though it felt better than I did.

"Good girl, you need to do this a few more times to get it stronger. I feel that we are going to need it desperately soon," I told her.

She nodded as she continued for a few minutes. It helped me more than I thought it would.

More than a few miles out past the planet shield, an older, much older Xetron craft drifted. Slowly it floated toward the forty Xetron crafts left.

It had almost been ignored 'til a younger leader candidate noticed. "Commander, we have an almost ancient craft of our people approaching. I was about to destroy it when we received weak, Xetron life signs."

The commander looked over the data, grunted, then ordered it brought aboard. The leader candidate was there, as was the Commander.

When it was opened, they both were surprised when the ultimate warrior was within it. Less than a minute later, the warrior's eyes opened, grabbing the Commander by the throat.

"You will be lucky to be existing when I am done with you, your mate and offlings. I sent an emergency council signal; you chose to ignore it. The leader may want you to be transported to him as quickly as possible,". Here the warrior brought the Commander's face close. "Know that transport is very painful, if you survive the leader may allow you to live. This I seriously doubt it, ready a healing tube," the warrior said, throwing the commander against the bulkhead.

Less than an hour later, the warrior was thought linked to the ultimate leader, "Leader. I bring news."

"Speak," the ultimate leader said. The warrior then started through all that had taken place while it had been on earth. The ultimate leader listened close, surprised at several things.

Without moving, the leader had ordered the second spawning of ten trillion new warriors altered. Finished with that, it turned to the first ten trillion warriors. With a wave of a tentacle-like appendage, the first ten trillion vanished as they were eradicated.

A small smile lit up its face. There was no sense in having weak warriors. Ah, this new set was indeed much stronger, the strongest ever. These pathetic earth beings had no chance. Though this shield that the warrior had spoken of was worrisome.

It concentrated, then was speaking with its top scientists. They were also a little distressed by the shield.

It was less than an hour later that the same scientists contacted the leader. They were still trying to get past the shield though they had discovered that it was made of three types of energy.

"Three? I have heard of two, though never three," the leader thought.

"Yes Leader, it appears to be mostly mind energy, though we have detected mechanical also. It is the third that we are having a bit of trouble with. The only thing we have to compare it with is the Bellion shields," the scientists said.

"WHAT!? As I am aware, you are still no closer to finding a way to defeat those," the leader said.

"We are starting to believe that the third energy is lifeforce energy. With the Bellions, almost all their lifeforce energies are the same. This makes it far harder to pinpoint the source," the scientists said.

"This we are aware of, and the earth beings?" The leader asked.

"At the present time, we are only reading four that might be capable of this. There are another six that are close, so at the moment we are unsure," the scientists said.

The leader then turned back to the warrior, "I am detecting that you are damaged far beyond repair can fix. Let me see," the leader said as it started to draw memories from the warrior.

A great many things began to worry the leader. This one human had executed many moves that were impossible.

"Many of the tactics and fighting abilities are different, many that I have never seen. We will have to integrate these new abilities into the spawning. That should render anything that this human can do," the leader said.

The warrior was nodding its head though a look of worry was still on its face.

"What has you so perplexed, warrior? Surely, we have the numbers, the information to defeat these weak earth beings," the leader thought.

"This I know, leader, it was just that I almost felt as if the human was playing with me. The blasts and attacks were not strong enough to destroy. It was as if it was also gathering information on us. As soon as I managed to pass through its planet shield, I felt it shift, then adjust. There will be no further ships through it, not with what I felt," the warrior conveyed.

"Hmmmm," the leader thought as it watched what little the warrior had seen. "We will need to add this also to the new spawning. If they are capable of this, then a landing would be a waste of the spawning. Also, a good many of their leaders are now, somehow immune to our influence."

The leader smiled as it watched the brain section of the new spawnings grow larger. Yes, the leader thought, these new spawnings were indeed far more powerful.

Ah, the leader thought, as it turned to the commander who had just arrived, now to pleasurable business.

"So, you ignored a council signal," the leader said, as in a cell next to what was left of the commander, its family appeared. "This was the second time in a thousand spectrons." The leader leaned close, whispering, "you will feed many new spawnings!" The leader then ripped the head of the commander off swallowing it in a bite.

The leader then watched with sinister joy. The family was slowly ripped apart. Each part devoured. The leader had thought of saving the spawning mate of the commander, then decided no. It was the last one destroyed as it was dismembered much, much slower than all the others. A smile appeared on its face as it ingested parts of all of them.

"Alright, I believe it's time to get the rest of you stronger," I said as I turned toward Bethany. I knew I wasn't completely recharged, though I needed more of them higher.

"Is this going to hurt?" She asked.

"No, though it might tickle," Bell said.

I nodded as I started to raise her levels above the danger one.

I then turned toward Dan and his sister; they were pretty high as it was. Hopefully, I wouldn't need to raise them much. I was shocked when they both were not far from my daughters' levels. I had hardly expended any energy.

Well, that was six, then I turned toward Alice. I had a look of confusion as I felt her power. My god, I thought, she feels exactly like my dead wife did when she was alive. I knew the rest of them saw my look also.