Chapter 22

Ah, she thought that took her back years when she saw them all fighting the invaders. They had fought to the last, destroying over half of those that came. She had wished she could have been there.

“No Wren, had you been there you would have been destroyed or worse caught. Thanks to that, you are free to gain the freedom of as many as you have,” Trigon said.

“How the hell did you know what I was thinking?” Wren asked.

“Thinking?” Trigon asked. “I had thought you were speaking.”

Wren could only look at Trigon as if her A.I. had lost all its logic circuits. “No, I was thinking that. Huh, perhaps I am evolving more? I’m really not sure.”

Wren had Trigon hold the ship a few million miles from Decacon-one. Looking inward, she saw nothing, opening a portal, she appeared on the master’s planet.

I just hope that they can help me, she thought. She was then shocked when Rena and the first master nodded to her. It was even stranger when the first master said in her head, I see you have learned thought talk.

“I think we need to measure you again, it is obvious that you have advanced more,” the first master said.

Wren’s eyes were wide as she nodded her assent. “I think that perhaps, that is a damn good idea,” Wren said.

The first master nodded as he led Wren to the room next to the Chrysalis room. As before, the first ten masters started to scan her. A few moments later, the first master’s mouth dropped open.

“It appears that you are now beyond level forty. There are only a few that are that high, indeed you are powerful,” the first master said. “I am afraid that this next adjustment will severely hamper you going much higher.”

“Really, first master, if I have as bad problems as I am, then I may welcome it. Especially if it gets in the way of bringing the masters back,” Wren said.

The ten masters there were nodding their heads slowly. The main thing at the moment was the restoration of the Ceti-5 people. True, they had fifty-nine now, though they needed more.

“I think I should release more while I am here,” Wren said as she went next door.

As before, the large crystaline, Chrysalis, was glowing a mid-blue color. As of yet there still weren’t any problems with it. Many of the masters, though, were afraid it might still fail.

Wren relayed the fears of the masters to her mother, who was nodding the whole time. Wren then put her hand on the Chrysalis, watching as it and her hand started to glow. This time two large balls of light came off the Chrysalis.

Both balls of light broke off, then started to divide. At first Wren was fine, then she started to shake a little, damnit what was happening? That’s when the light balls divided into four each. Oh, shit Wren thought, as the strain started to grow more.

Thankfully, the strain was just starting to grow heavy when all the divisions of light started to become shapes. “Wren!” She heard her mother yell. Though she held up a hand as she thought her mother was about to run to her.

A minute later, there were four males and four females on the floor next to Wren. She let a sigh out as she started to feel a bit of exhaustion.

“Well,” Wren said, “that’s thirty-four and thirty-three. Now sixty-seven, thank god.”

Wren’s mother and sister ran to her as she started to wabble a bit.

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” Her mother said as they helped Wren to sit for a few minutes.

“No mother, those, as I said before, I am feeling a sense of urgency. I feel that I need to get as many as I can as fast as I can. I don’t even have a fourth of them yet, I have to do better,” Wren said.

“As I and the masters have said,” a worried Rena said as she walked up. “If you expire then all of this will be for naught. You have to take care of yourself if you are to help us.”

Wren realized all this though, the sense of doom if she didn’t hurry, was still there. “I am still feeling that something isn’t right with the Chrysalis, though I can find nothing wrong. Even with th eight today, it isn’t feeling any better.”

Rena looked at her mate, an even more worried look on her face. “Perhaps we should look into this further if she has such a foreboding feeling.”

Her mate, the first master, was also concerned at what Wren had said. He gathered as many of the masters as he could an hour later, scanning the Chrysalis.

He and the others exited the Chrysalis room with grave looks on their faces. “It is far worse than we thought it was. Plus, there is an entity missing from the central energy chamber. This has unbalanced the Chrysalis, far worse than we thought.”

“One missing? Is there any way to tell who it is and how they escaped?” Rna asked of her mate.

The first master was quiet a moment thinking, then he turned to Rena with a look of concern. “I’m beginning to think that it might have something to do with the experiment.”

A gasp arose from Rena and the other seven mates that had been involved. “We had done all that we could to isolate everything from the experiment. How could this have happened?” Rena asked.

“As of yet, we are unsure, it may take all of us to correct all of this. At the moment, we are far below the total power that we need. Only Wren can save us and the one that is missing,” the first master said with a heavy sigh.

Wren had been resting the whole time, wanting to bring more again. The urgent feeling was starting to grow severe. She waited an hour, then, against anything anyone said, she went to the Chrysalis room.

“Wren,” Rena said as soon as she entered. “I don’t think that is a good idea.”

“I’m sorry, Rena, I have to, I fel that if I don’t, then all may be lost,” Wren said as she laid her hand on the Chrysalis.

At first, all seemed to be OK as the two balls of light separated. Then, as they started to divide, Wren started to shake. That’s when the screams started. Damnit Wren thought as she reached deeper for energy.

“NO WREN! You can’t use that, it’s your life energy! Stop before it’s too late,” Rena was yelling as she bounced off Wren across the room unconscious.

Luckily, Wren’s mother had just entered as Rena fell to the floor. She grabbed Wren, trying to pull her lose as the screaming stopped.

Wren shook her head, she couldn’t fail, they were depending on her. The lights were again divided into eight, though much slower; four males and four females.

Wren looked at her mother at her feet out cold. A small smile came to her lips as she also dropped next to her mother. As the darkness took her, she thought, I thought that I wasn’t going to do this again.

The masters were shaking their heads, as were their mates. This was starting to be a reoccurring theme with Wren and her family, though, Rena was a new twist.

The med room was indeed full as they had sixteen Cetians recovering. Along with those Wren had brought back was Wren, her mother and the first master’s mate.

Rena was the first to recover, as well as the first eight that had been brought back. Rena watched at the others were improving a lot faster than they had before. She shook her head, the sense of urgency that Wren felt was a worry. Yes, though Wren pushed almost too far.

Rena didn’t know what she could do to get Wren to not go as far as she was. Rena shivered as she thought of losing Wren, without her, it was hopeless.

An hour later, the Empress awoke, almost no worse for wear. “How much longer do you think?” Ophelia asked as she watched Wren.

“We aren’t that sure, your majesty,” Rena said, then was surprised when Ophelia waved that away.

“You, almost more than anyone else, can call me Ophelia. I see that she got sixteen more, a good number though, she should have waited at least another hour. I hate that she feels she has to rush, there are now what? Seventy-five?

That’s almost nineteen percent? That’s a lot more of you than ever before,” Ophelia said.

“I agree, though the thought of leaving any of them alone in that emptiness is unthinkable. I am so hoping that is not the fate of so many of our people,” Rena sadly said.

“I’m sure that Wren isn’t about to let that happen,” Ophelia said.

“I so hope that you are correct, your uh Ophelia,” Rena said.

Ophelia smiled, she was sure that the others would be shocked when they heard Rena, call her by her name.

Another two hours saw Wren awakening in the med room. She shook her head as she thought with a sigh, damn did it again.

“Yes you did,” a familiar voice said beside her.

“Mother! Are you alright? I felt you go down almost as soon as I felt you touch me,” Wren said.

“I am fine dear, I,” Ophelia said, then noticed that the first master was there waiting to talk to them both. “Yes, first master, may I help you?”

“I need to advise you that you have moved through the seventh level. You are only the second corporeal being to ever achieve this. Your family is quite astounding, your other daughter might achieve this also,” the first master said.

“Just where is she at now,” Ophelia asked.

“The last test we did on her, she was almost at five, very close to what you and Wren are,” the first master said.

Wren’s mouth was hanging open, what the hell was up with her family? “Wait, is it possible that my father might also be like this?” Wren asked.

“We aren’t sure, as he is a male, we will have to wait and see,” the first master said.

Wren was about to ask more when she ‘heard’ Trigon. “Master Wren, I have a commaque from Decacon-one,” Trigon said.

“Alright, I’ll be right there,” she said as a portal opened. “I’ll be back soon,” then stepped through.

“Let’s hear it,” she said as soon as the portal closed.

“Channel is now open,” Trigon said.

“Princess Wren, this is the earth council. We have a new piece of technology that could aid you greatly in th recovery of our people,” came the first councilor’s voice.