Synopsis:

Scott was on his way west to meet up with his friends to start a new life in L A. What he came across in the desert after his car broke down would change him forever. He wondered if his friends would recognise him once they finally met again. He didn’t think this was what his friend’s intended when they said, "start a new life."

Chapter Thirty

Soon, dinner preparations were completed. Having four people mucking in helped speed up the progress. Sara showed Carolyn and Tyrone the recipe for the pikelets, and soon several batches were cooling on wire racks. Tyrone, having been the one who had looked after the kitchen duties while Carolyn was ill, kept popping in to check the progress of the cooking, while the others relaxed with a celebratory glass of wine. Anita decided to return to being Kevin, so he could enjoy dinner as a man and hopefully get a larger portion, without being hassled by dietary concerns about his figure.

Of course, Sara saw right through his ploy and gently ribbed him about it. The others laughed, seeing the love that existed between their two benefactors.

"Maggie's awake, I'll go get her," Sara said suddenly, sensing with her burgeoning maternal instinct, that their child to be, was rousing.

Sara went out to the RV to see Maggie rubbing sleep from her eyes as she stretched her arms.

"Mommy!" she cried, flinging herself off the bunk with a leap into Sara's welcoming arms. "I's be woked up now. Can I go play outsides?"

"I think missy needs a wash to freshen up," chided Sara gently, lifting Maggie over to the small vanity, next to the shower.

"Awwh, do I have to?" whined Maggie, as she wriggled to get free.

"Remember what little girl's are made of?" asked Sara, poking Maggie on her nose.

"Sugar and spice?"

"Yes and things that smell nice," adlibbed Sara, with a smile. " Let's get you smelling nice." With that, Sara began to wash Maggie's face, bringing back a rosy glow to the youngsters pouting face.

Maggie scrambled for the door of the RV as soon as she was done; she had her favourite stuffie with her, held tight, as she managed the steps to the ground. Once back inside the house, she pounced on any lap that seemed available, giving the owner a hug as payment.

Carolyn couldn't get over the fact that Maggie had been an adult, so camouflaged was she in her role as a little girl, that it was nearly impossible to think of her as anything, but a child. Maggie stayed on Carolyn's lap the most, knowing it would be some time before they met again. Maggie hoped she would still be able to remember her aunty Carolyn the next time. Carolyn was so taken by Maggie, she was considering having another child, or... looking at Tyrone speculatively, maybe Tyrissa could experience childbirth this time. Oh the possibilities. One thing for sure, their lives were going to be exciting from now on.

Dinner was delicious, and luckily the pikelet scoffer, didn't smell or see the desert treat, with the others smells around. The stuffed roast turkey was gobbled up (sorry, couldn't resist lol) till everyone was stuffed. Maggie even ate the vegetables; luckily, there weren't any Brussel sprouts in sight or there might have more resistance. Sara used the tried and true method of getting vegetables inside reluctant tummies, by promising a treat afterwards.

Even Kevin was replete; Tyrone had made sure there was more than enough food to go around, twice in Kevin's case, as he went back for seconds. They adjourned into the lounge to watch the news on the TV while their food settled. Maggie wanted her treat, having endured the vegetable clause. Sara sighed and made to get up, but Carolyn pushed her back in the seat and said she'd do it.

Carolyn with a small shadow following close behind, went back into the kitchen to get Maggie her treat. She put the jug on for a hot drink for the others and poured a glass of milk for Maggie. She enjoyed the hugs that Maggie bestowed her, in thanks for the pikelets and milk. She watched the child eat, while Maggie found space somehow for everything.

That night, Sara and Kevin joined in a nexus to check in with Julie and William. While they were still hovering in the RV, checking on Maggie's sleeping form, they sensed a new presence nearby. Their nexus was drawn over to the house, where they floated above the bedroom of Carolyn and Tyrone's. They saw the two entwined together, but who was penetrating whom, wasn't clear. One thing that was clear was the beginning of a new nexus, as the minds of the pair joined in way closer than that of their bodies. The nexus flickered, as the ying and the yang fought for dominance, finding a balance, the glow of the nexus steadied, becoming a thing of beauty.

The Sara (Kevin) nexus contacted the Carolyn (Tyrone) nexus forming a bond that allowed instant communication. The Sara (Kevin) nexus expressed surprise at the others rapid achievement, and indicated that they join them when they went to visit the Julie (William) nexus. Soon, the three were together, as distance was no barrier to the power they generated. Being more experienced, in nexus travel, Sara (Kevin) pointed out the faint lines trailing from the nexus back to their bodies, to their newest member. Introductions were made and soon everyone was up to date with each other's news. Kim had contacted Julie and William and had given them a number of the modified Krin along with the program and shown its capabilities. Their motorbike was also given an upgrade, and the pair were keen to try out the RV option on their next task.

Returning to their bodies, the three nexi broke apart. The Carolyn (Tyrone) nexus decided to experiment, seeing this was all new to them. They flew across the country, revelling in the freedom of their incorporeal minds. They eventually returned and settled back into their bodies to try and sleep.

The next morning, Kim was a surprise visitor as she drove up behind the RV. Sara was up and working on breakfast, when Kim knocked on the door.

"Hi Kim, I thought you were down with Julie," Sara asked, as she invited her in.

"I was, but you know how things change, and the drive through the night doesn't take long in one of our cars." She grinned, somewhat sadly.

"What's up? You don't sound too chipper this morning." Sara asked, sensing something was troubling Kim.

"It will wait till after breakfast, I don't want to spoil your appetite." Kim answered, with a shrug.

Sara looked worried, but held her silence, wondering what was wrong. She offered Kim some of the bacon she had cooked, saying she could cook some more. Kim ate the bacon sandwich distractedly, after accepting it with thanks.

The smell of bacon soon roused Kevin and Maggie and they sat down at the table just as Sara finished cooking. Greetings were exchanged as they noticed Kim sitting there. Food being more important than conversation, it wasn't long till everyone was finished. Then while Kevin and Maggie dressed, Sara filled Kim in on the speed that Carolyn and Tyrone had formed their own nexus, while they cleaned up the breakfast mess.

"I'm surprised, but then you surprised me too, so I should have expected this development," Kim offered. "The bond that existed between them, before the Krin were introduced, may explain the speed at which they were able to form a nexus," she added.

"That was my thought," agreed Sara.

They were soon back inside the house and introduced Carolyn and Tyrone to Kim. To say that tears flowed was understating things, as the two grateful beneficiaries of Shelke technology showed their thanks. Kim thanked them as well, for taking on the job of spreading the Krin, and congratulated them on forming a nexus so soon.

Kim had them sit down, as she paced in front of them, saying she had something to tell them. She asked Sara to ring Julie and have her fire up the laptop at her end. Kevin turned on their own laptop, and soon a video link was formed between the two. Sara could see Julie and William in the screen, and knew they would be hearing every word spoken in the room.

Next, she had Tyrone fire up his computer, and asked William to do the same with the one in Huang's house. Then telling them both to type in a command, she waited as the screen cleared.

"This is what we are fighting against," she said, as the image resolved. The scene showed a chaotic street scene where hundreds of humanoids were either attacking or being attacked by each other. Even though it looked like a scene from Star Wars, with some very realistic stage settings, there was no doubt in any mind that this was real. Even though the physiology was different to a human, there was no mistaking the look of fear that was on every single face. The smallish grey bodies were being pounded under foot as the main mass trampled them in their rush to escape the nameless terror that was striking their minds.

Some were cowering in corners tearing at their heads as if trying to rid themselves of the demons invading their minds. Sara and the others were glad that the footage was bereft of any audio. The scene suddenly flashed into blinding whiteness before it cut off. The scene switched to one that was obviously from out in space. In the foreground was a planet of reds and browns, with patches of blue marking seas or lakes. Clouds were in evidence, as were bright flashes from what looked like nuclear explosions. The sun was an orange white ball and much larger than earths sun, and could be seen looking past the planet. Suddenly, the sun started to grow larger, turning whiter and whiter as some unknown power had increased its reaction. The screen bloomed, causing the planet to look like a black dot in a sea of white. The ship from where the images were coming from tried to swing away and escape from the exploding sun. Just before this image was cut off, one could see the planet tear apart as the forces against it proved too much.

"This was from 10 light years away from a ship that managed to jump from that solar system moments before," Kim spoke into the silence.

A star field was shown, with millions of white points filling the screen. In the centre, a bright star was shown, and this was the one all watched, as it grew even brighter. Everyone gasped seeing the bright star grew a 100, then a 1000 times it original size.

"We lost many of our people when the sun went nova. Kim stated emotionlessly. " The images on the planet were remote camera's luckily, but 4 ships like the one that beamed the planets end were lost with all aboard. The way she said it, alerted Sara's hackles.

"Were there friends of yours on board?" she asked, reaching out for Kim.

"My birthing parents were in the one that took those images of the planet."

There was a collective gasp, from everyone, and Sara wrapped her arms around Kim, beating the others by only seconds as the others crowded around.

"We are so sorry. You must be devastated, come sit down," Sara burst out, feeling awful for Kim.

Kim sat woodenly, having managed to get through this retelling of news. The others came and hugged her, not really knowing how to comfort Kim in her moment of loss. Not knowing how the Shelke dealt with grief, made things awkward for the others.

"It was quick and we think it caught the Nemesis by surprise and they also lost lives. The Brandorian's were a race that refused our help; we could only observe their demise. "They proved to be more advanced than we anticipated." Kim continued, her gaze fixed, staring into a point that only she could see, as she feed them more information. "They had a weapon that set on a dead man switch that would destroy the sun, in case they were ever overwhelmed."

"Was that the only planet that supported that race?" asked Carolyn.

"No, but the other was consumed as well, there may only be a few survivors in space craft that were out exploring."

As they sat, contemplating the demise of a whole race of beings, it was born in to them that as powerful the Shelke seemed to be, they were subject to the same frailty's as man. They could be killed. In their fight against this implacable foe, they were not perfect. This made the importance of doing something themselves to protect earth so much greater. Humans might not have the ability to destroy the sun, but they could render earth into an unliveable cauldron of nuclear fire.

"Has anyone seen the enemy?" asked Tyrone, as he tried to come to grips with what he'd just seen.

"No, not even us," admitted Kim sadly. "They either have a powerful stealth technology, or are able to able to affect minds in a way that makes them invisible," she added.

"Or both," came William's voice over the video link.

"But I thought..." started Kevin.

"That our mental powers would prevent that?" Kim completed.

"Yes!"

"What we do is resist their coercion powers. We keep in touch with each other with a mental link, this doesn't mean that we are constantly monitoring each other's thoughts; it's more an awareness of the other nearby, so to speak. We found that if a mind is being coerced in some manner, that feeling all changes. Just as you can be aware of a person living in your house, even if they aren't talking, you know they are there doing their normal things they do. However, if they suddenly start jumping up and down or acting oddly, you know something's wrong. With us, when that happens, the link strengthens as we feel the disturbance in normal thought patterns. Once another mind finds the cause, it links up with another to fight off the influence, adding more minds, as necessary till the threat is overwhelmed by sheer willpower."

"Sort of like dog piling on someone till he surrenders," Sara verbalised, thinking of school fights Scott had been in.

"Dog piling? You cover someone with dog excrement?" asked Kim, trying to understand the term.

"No, not that sort of piling," Sara chuckled, seeing the image in her mind. She explained the term and Kim nodded, her understanding.

"Yes dog piling is correct." She gave a faint smile.

There was silence for a few minutes as Kim's explanation sank in

"What if there's not enough minds to overcome the threat, what happens then?" Sara asked, thinking of the limited number of Shelke on earth at the moment.

There was a moments pause, as Kim steeled herself for the reply she didn't want to answer.

"Then we die."

To be continued.

  

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