Bad Seed

Chapter 12

Wren looked at Rena, this was really turning out to be a surprising day. She started to run checks over the system, seeing that the trans-warp system was repaired.

She then noticed that Rena was doing far better than she had. "Trigon, I need a detailed medical scan before I leave the ship. Also, I need one on Rena. We have to be clear before we leave. I will not put the masters in any danger."

"I have kept a constant scan on both of you. The energy that you absorbed from Miss Rena, though raising your energy level, has had no adverse effect upon you. I do suggest that you refrain from doing this too often," Trigon advised.

A smirk came to Wren's lips as she was about to answer, then thought better of it. "Are you close to a conclusion?"

"I am finishing now. Miss Rena appears to have a higher resistance to the trans-warp energy of all Cetians. Though she has a higher resistance, it is advised that she not try to maintain a very long exposure. You, Master Wren, seem to have a unique make-up of your body," Trigon said.

"Unique in what way?" Wren asked.

"You appear to be more in flux, many times more than the masters. Though you can now take small amounts of trans-warp energy into yourself, you should take care. After the initial large blast, it appears that your body needs time to adjust to what you take in," Trigon said.

"So it has had no ill effects upon me. I do have to admit that I do feel something within me that I can not explain. So, neither of us are a danger to ourselves or the masters?" Wren asked.

"At present, no, Master Wren, I do not," Trigon replied.

"Well," Wren said to Rena as she rose, "We had better get back, don't you think?"

"That might be a good idea. I can only imagine how much the males are worried about the both of us," Rena said, a slight smile on her face.

Wren smiled as the both of them left her ship. They were heading toward the common room when Wren stopped in the hallway. A strange look came to her face as she turned to face the solid wall.

Rena also stopped looking at Wren, almost holding her breath, "what's wrong," She asked of Wren.

"I..." Wren stated, then put a hand to the wall. A moment later, the wall slid aside, revealing a room with a huge type of glowing, pulsating crystal at the far side. Wren almost looked in a daze, then walked straight to it, raising a hand to lightly touch it. "Yes, I hear you, I will attempt to."

It was at that moment that all the masters appeared in the doorway. "What is she..." the first master started to ask his mate.

Rena held up a hand to quiet the others, watching as first Wren, then a small section of the crystal started to glow. Rena shook her head. She was afraid that Wren was going to expire. She felt that it was too soon after Wren brought her out.

The small section of the crystal stopped glowing as the glow came out, stopping before Wren. "I am doing all I can," A now sweating Wren said.

Like with Rena, the glow elongated, starting to take on a more human-like shape. As with Rena, there was a scream, then the shape started to solidify. Rena was trying to send energy to Wren, who was starting to pale and sweat even harder.

"I am trying to help. I don't have much Wren, you may have to stop," A now weakening Rena said.

"No! I can do this, stop before you expire," Wren shouted.

Rena pulled back, falling to the floor, then watched as Wren pushed more into what she was doing. A few moments later, a solid female form was on the floor at Wren's feet.

Wren sighed, looking at the female, then dropped to the floor as her body started to convulse. Rena looked at the new female, then saw Wren shaking.

Rena was crawling as hard as she could toward Wren. "No! I can not let you do this," She said as she tried to pull faster. Finally, she laid a hand on Wren, then was shocked when she felt no less that ten others also lay their hands on.

A moment later, Wren's body calmed as she sighed. The ten males stumbled away, feeling as if they had been drained.

Wren took a breath as she tried to sit up, a mistake causing her to fall back. Looking at the new female, she gasped out, "Are you OK? I did the best I could," Wren said.

"I'm... I'm not sure, it has been so long since I was solid. I am unsure how to proceed," the female said.

A gasp came from the ten males on the floor, "Tiane, is that you?" Wren could see the second Master trying to rise from the floor to get to the female.

"My mate," the female said as she also tried to reach the male.

Wren smiled as the borrowed energy finally ended. With a sigh Wren let the darkness take her.

It was a few hours later when Wren's eyes snapped open. Looking around, she was confused. The last thing she remembered; she was in a room with a huge glowing crystal.

Her brow furrowed, there was someone else there. Actually, she remembered two, a female and... what had that been? What was that huge glowing object? The more she tried to recall it, the fuzzier the memory got.

Wren took a deep breath, then felt something. Turning her head she saw a strange female she had no memory of.

"Who...," Wren started.

"Ah! it's good to see you back amongst us. You should rest, you expended far more energy than you should have." She then placed a finger against Wren's lips, "quiet now, I am Tiane. I am only the second Cetian female to be in solid in a very long time."

"I thought there were no female Cetians," Wren started.

"Shh, quiet rest, all will be revealed soon," Tiane said.

Wren slowly nodded her head, then her eyes closed. Yes, she thought, rest, that sounded real good at this juncture.

Onboard the lead ship, the Empire's lead scientist was working as hard and fast as he could. The Empress was raging behind him. Only his work had kept her from killing everyone there.

With the activation of the shield, her anger had cooled to a far less raging mood. The fact that she had calmed down though, still hadn't calmed the bridge crew.

"You're sure that this is twice as strong as it was?" Esmerelda asked, anger still in her voice.

The scientist pulled up the readings, "here you go your majesty," the scientist said as he pulled up the readings.

"Mmmm," the Empress stated. "It does appear that the shields are almost twice what they were. So," she said as she withdrew, "no one but she can touch us."

"I would say that is correct your highness," the scientist said, watching the Empress closely. He knew he had to tread carefully, though he had half placated her, she was still dangerous.

"Good," the Empress said, "you have become more than useful." Here she turned, putting a hand under the scientist's chin, slightly lifting him off the deck. "Make sure that you remain as such, you won't like me if you make me angry."

With that, she dropped the scientist, who hit the floor rather hard. Picking himself up, he made sure to mask his facial features, no telling who here would report him for anything.

Esmerelda swept her way off the bridge toward her chambers, or sanctuary as she called it. Walking in, she turned as all the safeguards dropped in place. Ah, she thought, the new stronger shield was here also.

She then settled into her throne like chair. Reaching to the panel on the chair, she started to enter a long, complicated code. She then sat back as she watched the power draw that the holo-gram projector had.

She started to tap her fingers as the wait to connect stretched into more than a few minutes. A growl issued from her throat when ten minutes passed.

Then, to her surprise, Thomas' face appeared, "What the hell are you doing? I lost the bitch when she entered some type of portal. It was a type of energy that I've never seen, though we have full readings on it."

"Yeah, I know, she appeared here INSIDE the Ceti - 5 shields. It reminded me a lot of the trans-warp experiment that we were conducting," Esmerelda said.

"Shit! That might explain why she seemed to vanish. The only problem I can see is that the energy used seemed to be living energy. If that is the case, I might not be able to copy it," Thomas said. "We are still working of the mechanical that she was using. We'll get it."

"Good, here is the data that my head scientist brought me. The shield alone is worth more than almost anything," Esmerelda said with a sadistic smile.

An almost mirror smile appeared on Thomas' face, "damn! This is even stronger than the ones those damn Zetcrons have. Oh! To let you know? She destroyed two Jutroc colonies that had a substantial Zetcron population in them. Suffice it to say, they are also after her now."

Esmerelda's face twisted into an even more evil smile, "good. With all of yours and them, she should be dead in no time. Well, when she returns, I'm not sure why she's back here, though she'll have to leave to pursue you."

Thomas started to laugh, "let her come, I'm sure my people and the Zetcrons should be able to handle her."

Esmerelda's face grew serious, "you watch out. Both of us underestimated her twice now. Even with the stronger shields and weapons, she is stronger than we thought she'd be. Remember, she also has some of the technology of the Cetians."

"No, I haven't forgotten nor am I about to forget, just how much I truly hate that little bitch. Eventually she'll make a mistake, then I'll have her," Thomas said, a growl in his voice. Esmerelda nodded then broke contact.

A satisfied sigh escaped her lips as she thought over the day. She wasn't too far away from crushing the Ceti-5 masters. She had the strongest shields of any race to protect her. Four of the races that might unite against her were gone, plus that bitch stepdaughter was close to death. Ah! Yes, the day was getting better and better.

In the new room that was Wren's, she suddenly sat up unsure of where she was. She knew she was on Ceti-5. She just wasn't sure quite where.

The door opened a moment later, two females walking in. Wren could only stare at them, unable to place just who in the hell they were. Staring as hard as she could, nothing came to her.

"Excuse me," Wren said. "They both of you seem familiar to me, though for the life of me I can't seem to recall either of your names."

Both females bowed slightly to Wren as they sat beside the bed she was on.

The first, appearing to be a little older than the second spoke. "You used far more energy than you should. You exhausted what little you had regenerated. Though I am sure you had reasons for it, you attempted to revive her," here she indicated the younger female. "Far too soon after you revived me. Might I ask you not to attempt that again?"

Wren looked at the two smiling faces of the females before her. "Yeah, I agree if it knocks me on my ass like this, I will try to refrain from that." Wren suddenly stared intensely at the older female. "I know you, your name is on the tip of her tongue. R... Re... Rena?"

An even broader smile appeared on Rena's face, "ah! So it appears that your memory is returning. That is very good."

"Perhaps, though unfortunately, there are still too many holes in my memory. I mean, I still can't recall Tiane's name," Wren said, then stopped to stare at both of the females. Wren dropped her head, "I am so sorry Tiane. I should have waited, I put both our lives in jeopardy. I promise the both of you, I will not do this again, at least 'til I am stronger."

A very broad smile came to Tisane's face, "I am sorry I made you panic as I did. It was urgent, though you didn't have to act as fast as you did. With as many males out and no females, the power of the planet was unbalanced. It still is, though with the two of us out it has shifted slightly."

Wren looked back and forth between the females then crossed her arms across her chest. "I think someone needs to explain all this to me before I get lost and am unable to function."

Both females looked at each other, then Rena started to speak, when the door opened, the first master entering.

"I think, mate, that you should tell her all, before we lose her. Like us, she does not like being lied to," Rena said.

"I will tell her what I can..." The first master started.

"No, she is not a stupid little girl, tell her or this might be the end of us," Rena said.

The first master could only shake his head, he'd forgotten just how strong his mate was.

"You know that..." the first master tried again.

"Let me put it this way mate, you tell her or I will," Rena said.

The first master's shoulders slumped as he nodded to his mate, who had her arms crossed over her chest.

After taking a deep breath, the master started. "Some of our history you obviously know. A thousand years ago, a plague had started to decimate the population. One hundred ninety-eight of us learned to transmute into energy. We tried desperately to teach the rest of the planet, we failed." Here the first master lowered his head.

"I know it is hard my mate, please continue," Rena said softly.

"In the last days, we were encouraged by Flugret and his mate as they were able to partially transmute. For eight of your centuries, they existed between both phases. Never quite energy nor were they solid. Two centuries ago, we were finally able to integrate them into the Chrysalis. Though, as you know, their memories of that time seemed to be wiped," the first master said.

"Yes, your mate explained this to me. I have been working on a way to repair whatever damage was done," Wren said.

"You have to understand, Flugret and his mate managed to keep all of us safe. He would occasionally have to bring some of us out. The time was never long, as we had become dependent upon the Chrysalis. I was the only master that was able to last longer than the others, though this nearly killed me," the first master said.

"Now I take it, you can be out for many hours?" Wren asked.

"This is because of you little Wren. Before we all went into the Chrysalis, a seer, I guess you'd say, saw something. A female of another race would sacrifice herself to save us. We obviously have no desire for you to perish. All this time we have tried to accomplish some other way, to no avail," the first master said.

"You might also notice that the air is different now. As I started to explain before, the planet's power was unbalanced. This was because only the males were able to be out. With the addition of myself and Tiane, you might feel that things feel better, though we do need a few more females out to truly balance things.

Wren looked from the females to the first master, then back. "OK, not sure if I am this saviour that you have described, but I will try all that I can. I will also do my best not to die, OK?"

"We are not asking anything more. The fact that the two strongest females are out has given us a great deal of hope," the second master said, having entered while the story was being told.

"Mate!" Tiane said as she rushed to him. "I thought that I would never feel your touch again."

A small smile came to the master's faces, "we are trying to ensure that this does not happen again," the second master said.

"All of you realize that I am going to have to go after my stepbrother and mother. Plus there are two more races that need to be eradicated, before they do this again," Wren said.

This, of course, was met with several looks of disapproval. "Must you have revenge?" asked Rena.

Wren took a breath before she turned toward Rena. "As I have told the masters, it really isn't revenge. These eight races destroyed my home, my mother and sister. No, this is about justice, justice for the four billion souls that were snuffed out. Justice for those that didn't have a chance to fight, only slaughtered. No, not revenge, justice for all the souls that were silenced for nothing."

Rena and Tiane both had a shocked look on their faces at the strength of conviction Wren had. Then they thought about it, most of what Wren had said seemed right. Those killed deserved justice for what had been done.

Rena bowed to Wren, shocking her, "I wish to apologise, though I am afraid that I couldn't seek the justice that you are. I do understand and will not attempt to stop you. If I can help, I and I'm sure Tiane will help."

Wren, still shocked, bowed to both of them, "I am honored that you can accept my mission, thank you."

Less than five minutes later, Wren was leaving Ceti-5, heading out to open space. Making orbit Wren smiled seeing her stgep-mothers fleet. Time for a little pay back, she smiled.

Onboard the lead ship, Esmerelsa smiled when she saw Wren's ship, now she thought we'll see.

A moment later, Wren's ship vanished into a portal. Edmerelsa, expecting this, was surprised when Wren's ship appeared next to her ship.

Smiling evilly, she waited for Wren to fire. A moment later, a strange looking missile launched from Wren's ship. Just as fast Wren's ship winked out.

Esmerelda was smiling broadly 'til the missile hit the new shields. It then winked out, causing Esmerelda's mouth to drop open, then the missile reappeared, blowing a hole in the rear of the ship.

A laugh came over the com., "fix that bitch, oo bad I didn't aim better. Bye, be bitch pretender," came Wren's voice.

Then the strange thing happened as a multi-colored portal opened, then Wren was gone.

More to herself than anyone else, she whispered, "What in the hell was that?I want a full analysis on what that was," Esmerelda was yelling.

More than a few of the bridge crew were running from scanner to scanner trying to sus out what that was.

For the first time in a long time Esmerelda had to admit she was screwed. Then again she wasn't about to admit that to any of the scum of her crew.

Wren was surprised that she had wished that a portal would open that would take her to her brother. A mere minute later, they had crossed more than half the galaxy. She was even more surprised when the trans-warp conduit deposited her only a few ten thousand kilometers away. One look and she knew it was his ship.

"Stealth Trigon," Wren almost growled.

"Stealth achieved, I believe that his ship detected our presence, though I am not sure," Trigon said as he started to run system checks.

"Fire a few missiles at his ship, standard pack, let's see if they can really see us or not,"Wren ordered.

"Compliance master Wren, now firing standard missile pack, impact twenty seconds," Trigon reported.

Twenty seconds later, four missiles detonated on her brother's shields.

"That all you got Wren, please," Thomas said, then started to yell.

Four missiles behind the first four, winked out, then appeared inside Thomas' ship's shields. This second set hit the hull in almost the same spot, effectively putting a good size hole in the ship.

Thomas was cursing as he watched his own missiles speed toward Wren's ship.

Alarms started to go off, "approaching weapons have extensive explosive power, suggest protective cover, Trigon was warning.

"Execute dash and crash at a hundred meters," Wren ordered.

"Warning, warning, maneuver could cause damage to this ship," Trigon warned.

"Shields at full," Wren ordered as the ship slipped into a trans-warp portal. The missiles went with them, then the portal opened up a hundred meters from Thomas' ship.

Trigon had the ship banking as hard as he could, along with the engines at full.

Thomas' eyes grew wide as his own missiles hit his already weakened shields. The resulting explosions knocked almost all his systems off line. Even pulling away as hard as they were, the ship still caught the edge of the explosive force.

Wren pulled herself off the floor, cursing when she saw that half her own systems were offline.