I don't really know just how long I was out. It had been dusk when I started to bring her here. Now it was pitch dark.
I groaned as I tried to sit up, then regretted it as I fell back with another groan. Immediately, I felt three females rush to my side.
"How long?" I rasped out, trying to open my eyes more.
"Been a few hours," I heard my daughter Bell say.
"I...I," I started finding that my throat was extremely dry. A glass of water was immediately handed to me by my youngest daughter, Trina.
A few moments later, I was helped to sit up. A look past my daughters, revealed the teen that I had depleted myself to get here.
"You know, all this time and I still don't know your name," I told her.
"It's Bethany, I am alone now. When you found me, my folks were already dead. That piece of trash that tried to take my body, was responsible," Bethany said.
"For now, all of you are safe here. The shield I put around the earth is holding them out, just barely. I need to increase all of you again, these new aliens are a hell of a lot stronger than before," I told my team and daughters.
"I thought that you made us twice as strong," John said.
"I did though, those that we are facing now, are far beyond those we faced before. That, plus they seem to have agents here on the planet. I have already destroyed five of them, including the one in you, Bethany," I told them.
Bethany looked at me with a strange look, "how did you...?" she started.
"The energy signature of it, though somewhat like the Fletecons, are different. Before you ask, I am the strongest, I always have been. Though I have to warn all of you, we are the only ones that can defend the earth," I said.
They were all nodding, then Andy asked the obvious question. "Just how far below the present threat are we?"
I took a deep breath. I hoped that what I said didn't discourage them. "You three," I indicated my old team, "are a long ways below this present race, there are a few you're stronger than." Here I turned to my daughters and Bethany, "you three are more than three times stronger than my old team. Though I am afraid that you are a good ways below the new threat."
I saw that they were all disappointed, though not as much as I thought they would be.
"Dad, I know you can increase us though. I also saw that it wore you out. Is it even possible for you to get us that high?" Trina asked.
"That was because I was trying to get you really up there, as fast as possible. The same as with my old team, at present you have a far better chance; not much but a chance. Let me see," I said as I laid a hand on Bethany's forehead. I immediately felt her mental levels start to slowly climb. Then, to my shock, she doubled!
I pulled my hand back from her as I felt that she wasn't all that far below me. Shocked, I went to Bell, placing a hand on the side of her head. I was shocked when the same damn thing happened! I shook my head as I withdrew my hand, then walked to Trina. My mouth dropped open as almost the same exact thing happened.
I sat down as soon as I was done, then I felt my own mental levels jump almost double! I looked at the three females, their glows were almost what mine had been.
"Dad? What's wrong?" Trina asked me, worried at the shocked look on my face.
"I...I only meant to up the three of you a little. All three of your powers jumped almost double what they had been. Then my own did also, weird thing is? I am not feeling the fatigue that I did before," I told them.
"Wait, you mean that we are as strong as you are?" Bell asked.
I shook my head, "no you're almost as strong as I was. Damn, I am starting to see things I wasn't before."
I then reached out to increase the planetary shield I had erected. Almost immediately, I saw four massive explosions. I also heard what had to be at least forty to fifty of the aliens scream. They were cut off from their destroyed bodies, severing their tether.
I shook my head as the sounds of their deaths seemed to slice through me. I really didn't like to deal death unless there was no other choice. Most recently, that had been the case, especially with this new race of aliens.
Both my daughters ran to me as they saw the grimace that I had on my face.
"Dad?" Trina asked, the concern apparent on her face. "What happened? I felt something though, I wasn't sure what it was."
I took a deep breath, "I increased the strength and thickness of the planetary shield. I obviously caught four of their ships unaware. I swear I heard forty to fifty of them die as their bodies were destroyed."
"That should help, shouldn't it?" Bell asked.
"I'm not sure, I can see at least another ten out there. Getting to them, I am afraid, might not be possible. Hang on," I said as I reached out, extending the shield, catching another four ships, damaging a fifth. I grimaced as I heard even more as the fifth ship tried to move away, then exploded, damaging a sixth.
The noise I was hearing was almost maddening as the aliens started to die at a rapid rate.
An alien face, that looked somewhat like a cross between an ant and a praying mantis appeared. [You and your race have become the most dangerous enemy of the Xetron empire. Know we will bring the might of our race to crush yours. That last ship you destroyed contained the last of my podling birthing. I will destroy you myself for this offence.]
I reached out to shut it up, though it threw two others between my sight of it and itself. Both dropped a moment later lifeless. Then I felt some type of shield that went up cutting almost everything I could see and hear within the craft.
I growled for a moment, then fell back on the couch nearly exhausted. "Shit, here I thought that I was stronger, I need to increase, more myself I see."
"You just strengthened the planetary shield, almost doubled both your daughters and Bethany. Plus, you killed two of the aliens that the other shoved between the both of you shit Bill, rest damn. Did you forget what the Bellons said? I was there. I remember, every time we increase if we use it immediately, then we exhaust ourselves far faster," Tom said.
I shook my head; I had forgotten that. "Well, guess I need to sleep again," I said as the darkness took me, then I fell on the couch unconscious.
This time it wasn't just sleep that I had. I started to see visions of the aliens I had seen. At first I couldn't hear them, then they were suddenly clear.
So, you piece of filth, your race does have a weakness. In this realm I am a master. Soon your body and mind will be mine. I then started to feel a lot of pressure, pushing back. I swear that I heard the equivalent of alien cursing. How is this possible? Your energy is low, no! Retrieve, retrieve! This isn't over.
I suddenly sat up completely awake, damnit can't even sleep because of these idiots. I shook my head, when all the females appeared, rubbing my eyes, I smiled at them.
"I need to find a way to shield the world from these aliens taking over unwilling hosts. The thing is that nothing I have done so far is working. I can keep them out physically, though not mentally," I told them. I suddenly remembered my experience with Bethany. "You were able to put something up to isolate the alien from you, can I see?"
Bethany was shocked when we all looked at her. Slowly she sat, then nodded. I smiled at her as I closed my eyes, then dove into her mind. I didn't push as I waited before the areas I needed to get into. I could have done it, though I knew that, as strong as I was, I would probably have hurt her.
I was finally where I needed to be in her mind as I examined what she had done. I had to shake my head, what she had done was simple. The other shocking thing was that she had kept it out with almost half the force that she had now.
For some damn reason, I just couldn't see, well, I could see, I just couldn't figure out how she did it. I looked at the vision of her, smiled, then withdrew.
I opened my eyes, looking at Bethany. I must have sat there for almost an hour, still not finding as solution to the problem.
I sighed as I thought of the next problem. There were almost a hundred people out there that needed help. I felt everyone of the victims that the aliens had left their minds. Unfortunately, most had been world leaders, major business owners.
The worst was, of course, the U.S. President and the British Prime Minister. They were disoriented, confused, just simply lost. It also appeared that they had lost almost a year. As soon as I touched both of them, I had to work fast to set their minds right, not an easy task.
Who is this? I heard both of them ask.
Sirs, I am not sure if both of you remember a project that was started twenty-five years ago. I believe that it was called mind-buster? Both men said they did, as I continued. I am one of only four that are left. I am afraid that I violated the mind-buster facility, to free one of us.
I could hear both men as they went through what few thoughts they could remember. So, I take it that you are no longer connected to the project? The president thought.
What!? You and the others have gone rogue? I am surprised that the response teams haven't taken you. The Prime Minister thought.
I'm sure both of you remember when the Bellions came? My daughters and I went with them. We are the strongest on the planet. We have a new threat; they were occupying many leaders' minds. I am now able to place blocks in all of you, though I am afraid it is only those that were taken over. Unfortunately, you are the only ones. I will contact you soon sirs, I thought as I cut the mind links.
I looked at the others when the rest came in, not long after I finished. Shit I thought, that should have worn me out, given me a major headache. Strangely, I felt somewhat refreshed.
"Alright, I have set things right with the almost one hundred that the aliens took over. Our government will give support but won't take over," I told them.
I watched as Trina smirked, then said, "yeah right as I said good look with that."
"As strong as the four of us are, I don't think they can do too much," I said.
"Ok," Trina said, "as I said we'll see."
I then reached out to increase the shield around the house to several hundred yards out. I made sure that it was as strong as I could get it. I also tried to add something that would block any type of energy getting through. I found out later that it was only half as effective as I wanted.
I then turned to Andy, John and Tom, touching all of them. I felt their power climb. Nodding my head, I felt that they were almost as strong as the girls had been. Breathing out a sigh, at least now they had a fighting chance.
"Now, we need to start searching for others, we are going to need a lot more than we have here. With those I destroyed, we are sitting better, though the leader of them is pissed. Ah, they are called the Xetron, now we have a name for our foe," I told all of them.
"I thought you said that we weren't strong enough even as high as we are," John asked.
"You aren't as strong as they are, though you three? You have as lot more tricks than my daughters and Bethany have," I told them.
"So, we're not as strong but we are better at fighting them? Is that what you are saying?" Andy asked. "You know, Bill, I am tired of having my ass handed to me. The last race killed a hell of a lot of us, not wanting to see that again."
"I don't want to go through that again neither, last time we went in almost blind. That isn't going to happen again if I can help it. Right, now we have four of us that they can't defeat. You three are pretty damn strong. I am going to hunt for those like us but I'll have to send you out to help get them," I told them.
"You can't just pull them here, like you did me?" Bethany asked.
I shook my head, "you contacted me, that's a big difference. You are going to have to convince them to help. Yeah, I know, that's not as easy as it seems, it might take showing them what these aliens will do. Especially when they have total control, no one will be safe if they are physically here."
Across the country, a pair of teens, a brother and sister were on the run. Many of the law enforcement officers where they lived were suddenly hunting them.
"Come on Shelly," her brother said as he tried to pull her faster. "If they find us again, they'll kill us for sure."
"I'm trying, Dan, so damn tired, can't we stop for a few minutes?" Shelly asked, feeling the extreme fatigue.
"I wish we could, we have to keep moving. Those bastards are hunting us with everything they have," Dan said.
"I wish there was somewhere we could go that was safe," Shelly said, her voice strained from the concern.
They'd been moving through the woods for hours, trying to put more distance between themselves and their hunters. They really hadn't stopped for some time now, though, it was taking a heavy toll on Shelly. Dan turned toward the direction they had come from, damn! He could still feel their pursuers, they were starting to get closer too.
Dan shook his head as he tried to put a wall between their followers and themselves. Damnit! It wasn't nearly strong enough, God he was so tired.
A flash on the other side of a clearing they were trying to avoid caught his attention. Dan blinked, whoever this female he saw that had just appeared? She was packing a hell of a lot of power.
When the female didn't move, he grabbed his sister's hand, then started to move around the clearing. Dan blinked again when the young woman vanished, then appeared in their path.
Dan felt his sister tense up as what he called a clear shield appeared between them and the woman. Both watched in horror as the woman just walked through it!
"Hello Dan, Shelly. I heard you when you wished for a place to go to that was safe. I can take you to such a place, though we will need your help, against others like those that are after you," the young woman said.
"How the hell do we know that you aren't working with them," Shelly asked.
The young woman smirked, "really? You saw what I can do. If I wanted to kill you, believe me, you'd be dead. Now, if you want to be safe, even rest up? Come with me, learn to take the fight to these assholes. If you stay here, they are gonna get you, so what do you say?"
Shelly looked at her brother, "I'm so tired Dan, she's made the best deal I've heard."
Dan only thought a moment then nodded, "OK, what've we got to do?"
The young woman was about to speak when several men came up behind them. "Well hell," she said as she waved a hand. The men were suddenly propelled back the way they'd come. "Grab my hands, see where we need to go, I only have enough for me. Dad has a lot of power, though what you can give will help."
Dan and Shelly could only look at the young woman confused. "Not sure what you're talking about."
"Look at me, I will project where we are going. I want both of you to pull yourself to that point, OK? By the way, I am Trina," Trina said.
Again, the brother and sister looked at her like she was crazy, then they both shrugged. Like she said, a picture formed between the three of them, they both gasped. "Alright. Pull yourself to that point," Trina said.
There was a flash, then all three vanished. A few minutes later, a large group of men crashed through the trees. "We've lost all trace of them sir, should we continue the search," The leader asked over the radio.
"No, return to headquarters. If the machine shows no trace, then they are gone," an authoritative voice said.
All the men nodded as they turned to head back, the way they had come. At the headquarters, the sheriff was already reporting back to the leader. The leader, of course, was cursing in his own language.
Less than thirty seconds later, the three appeared at Bill's house. Trina, Bill, Dan and Shelly nearly passed out.
"Damn," I panted, "even with their help that was difficult. I really need to strengthen that, took quite a bit out of me."
"I thought you said you grew stronger each time," Andy asked.
"I do, though I haven't tried to move more than one at a time. I did most of the move, though had they not helped I might not have been able to get all of them," I said, feeling the fatigue that was threatening to take me.
I then sank to the couch behind me. Dan and Shelly could only look on confused, while Trina and another two females rushed to him.
I looked at Bethany, "glad I tried it on you first. Had I not, this might not have been possible."
I looked at my daughter and the two new arrivals. They were also slowly sinking to the floor. Damn, I forgot that they weren't as strong as me. As a matter of fact, I felt that the two new people were rapidly starting to fade.
"Dad? I heard Bell say, "Are they going to be alright?"
"Yes, after a good rest they should be. They expended a lot of energy trying to escape. Trina should recover faster, plus this will help her also," I told my oldest daughter.
"I'm glad you think so," Trina said as she leaned against the couch. "Feel like I've been vacuumed of most of my energy.
Though I had used a lot of energy, I found for the first time I didn't lose consciousness. It also appeared that my energy recharging was quite a bit faster too. I was going to have to expand the house also, especially with as many as I felt I was gonna have. I nodded my head, yeah, I'd get to that a little later.
It was several hours later I watched as another fifty feet of the house was added with a few more rooms. I noticed that it hadn't strained me at all, nor had the furnishings.
I shook my head when I felt my levels again jump higher. I searched through my memories to see if the Bellions had mentioned anything about this. After several minutes, I shook my head as I still wasn't able to get past the areas that were self-blocked.
I stopped, vastly disappointed with myself. Obviously, my mind still wasn't ready. Damnit! I thought that now, after what I had done, seen and heard, would have helped.
I was about to check on the others when I felt something a long way off. Strange, I thought, almost as strong as the teens. Though it was coming from a single person.
"Bell?" I called out, "I think I found another one. Can you go this time?"
Bell appeared a moment later, "sure dad, got a location?" She asked.
"Yes, feels like an island, somewhere near New Zealand. Here you might need this," I said. I touched her head, giving her the ability to understand the islander language. Bell then flashed out, leaving me a bit worried, something didn't feel right about this at all.
Bell appeared in a lush tropical forest, the smell of plants surrounding her. Not more than ten feet in front of her was a male native to the island.
"Hello," Bell said, a smile on her face.
The male turned a look of at first fear, then anger on his face. "How did you get here? Ah!" The male groaned as what looked like a wild pig or boar ran off through the trees. "Look what you have done! That would have fed the whole village!"
"What? You mean this?" Trina said as the animal reappeared still frozen.
The male's were large as he pointed the spear in his hands at Trina. "Go away demon! I have no use for you and your dark magic." He then thrust it towards Trina, it stepped a foot away, then she noticed it was starting to inch closer.
What!? Trina thought, as she had to go to three fourths her power. Still, she thought, it was barely enough. She was going to have to think fast or this one was going to kill or seriously injure her.