Now

“Status on the survivors.” Caretaker spoke directly into the secured team channel.

“Settlement defense forces have taken them off site.” Shira’s voice came back immediately.

“Have the pilot bring the transport into the hangar.”

“Acknowledged.”

Caretaker took the heavy container carrying the glowing blue object. As it turned out it was already on its carrying case. The top of the narrow pedestal it was on doubled as one. It didn’t take them long to figure it out. They strode out of the circular chamber and saw Frequency and Volkharion at workstations with their PID’s attached to the terminals and to a small black disk-shaped device. Without the blue glow of the unknown object the only lights in the otherwise pitch black chamber were Frequency’s and Volkharion’s helmet lights. With confirmation that the entire research facility was clear of invasive organisms from the spires system’s Task completion message. They no longer needed to be on guard.

“Status.”

“We have extracted the contents of the workstations to external storage. These are the last two,” Frequency said.

“Time?”

“Thirty seconds for this one.”

“Forty-five seconds,” Volkharion said.

“Once you have finished we are leaving immediately.”

Caretaker left them to finish their task. They crossed through the rest of the workstations in the chamber and out into the lift platform space where Adjudicator was dutifully standing watch.

“Protect Volkharion and Frequency. Once they have completed their task we are departing the facility.”

“Acknowledged.”

The lift platform was still inoperative, so Caretaker had to pass their precious package up to Dralig before climbing up.

“We are leaving,” Caretaker said.

Dralig nodded. “What do you have for me to do?”

“Escort me,” Caretaker said. “What I am carrying is important.”

Dralig took the lead as they climbed back up to ground level. Their progress was slowed somewhat by the necessity of passing up the heavy carrying case. The three Threnosh Caretaker had left behind on the bottom level caught up and the five of them emerged on the ground floor as a unit.

As they emerged into the vehicle hangar Caretaker directed the others to block them from any potential onlookers from the outside. The object in their hands was likely the reason for the settlement leadership’s insistence on the restrictive parameters of the task. In and out, fast. No deviation. No investigating. Kill the organisms. Their position on rescuing survivors had struck Caretaker. It almost seemed like it was an afterthought.

Primal stood on guard near the opening of the hangar. In the space between the doorway leading to the interior of the facility and the transport, which had landed as close as possible to said doorway.

“Frequency, inform me if the defense forces watching us noticed the item that I am carrying,” Caretaker said.

Tapping into their communications was definitely something Caretaker wasn’t going to do. So, they needed to rely on Frequency’s ability to focus in on and listen to distant sounds. Only listening in on the physical, verbal communications between the defense forces was less than ideal, but it was the best they could manage in the situation.

“Acknowledged,” Frequency said. “I have already detected the squads in the immediate area. They are currently silent. I will notify you if that changes.”

The team boarded the transport. Primal was last. Each secured themselves into their berths and prepared for departure.

“Pilot,” Caretaker said into the comms, “make all appropriate haste back to base.”

“Acknowledged.” The pilot’s voice came back.

“Caretaker. I am detecting something from the defense forces.”

“Did they notice that we took the object from the facility?” Caretaker forced themselves to keep calm. They ran through the excuses that they could possibly use to explain it to the settlement leadership and eventually Prime Custodian 3. They were confident that Honor would need no explanation. They had earned his trust.

“Negative. The soldiers are being recalled to reinforce the west wall. It sounds like their is an incoming assault,” Frequency said.

“Good,” Primal said. “I welcome real combat.”

“Foolish,” Shira said.

“You were able to battle in the depths of the research facility. I spent most of that time standing around. It is only fair,” Primal grumbled.

The transport’s engines whined, the anti-gravity system hummed to life, and it smoothly lifted up off the ground and proceeded to slowly fly out of the hangar.

The torso of Primal’s power armor opened up and the tiny Threnosh looked at Caretaker expectantly.

“We will not reveal that we know of the assault. We will continue as if we are unaware,” Caretaker said.

Shira pointed at the heavy container locked in place next to Caretaker’s berth. “Do you suppose this assault is connected to that?”

“Probable. The invasive organisms that attacked the research facility were trying to get into the chamber that the object was locked behind. It was the only thing of note. It is telling that after we opened the chamber there is another imminent assault.”

The pilot’s voice chimed in over the transport’s communications system. “Subleader. Sensors are detecting a large group of invasive organisms approaching the settlement.”

“Location and distance?” Caretaker said.

“Approximately sixteen kilometers to the west. Along our projected flight path. We will have ascended to cruising altitude and speed long before it can become a threat,” the pilot said.

“Carry on. I will contact the settlement administration for further information.” Caretaker switched to the administration’s direct channel. “Be advised, we have detected a large number of invasive organisms approaching the settlement.”

A voice on the channel came back immediately. “We are aware.”

“Do you require assistance?”

“Negative. Automated wall defenses and our soldiers will be sufficient.”

Primal scoffed. “They could not stop the little screeching organisms from attacking a facility inside the settlement.”

Caretaker silenced them with a look. “Repeat. Are you certain that our assistance is not required?” They spoke back into the channel.

This time there was no immediate response. Until a different voice spoke. “This is Commander Magartha 5102. Your assistance is unnecessary. These invasive organisms are not capable of flight. They are quadrupeds and will not be able to bypass our wall defenses like the organisms that you cleared out of Research Facility 287632.”

“Acknowledged,” Caretaker said.

“Are you certain, subleader?” Shira said.

Caretaker nodded. “The commander is most likely correct.” They switched back to the transport’s channel. “Pilot. Be advised, I suspect that there may be a danger to us from flying invasive organisms. Continue following the flight plan. Maintain vigilance.”

“And the object?”

Caretaker looked at Shira. “You have concerns?”

“If it attracts invasive organisms then we will put our base in danger by returning with it.”

“Once we are within range for direct-link communication I will confer with Honor for our next course of action.”

One, two. Right jab, left straight.

One, two, three. Jab, straight, hook.

Cal’s fists landed thudding blows into the ridiculously heavy bag. He went through the basic combos over and over again. He moved mechanically. His thoughts were on his recent encounter with Zalthyss.

The experience weighed heavily on his mind. Fears and insecurities bounced freely in his thoughts the same way that he bounced lightly on his feet as he tried to vent it all out on the custom punching bag.

The bag was many times taller than what he was used to. It was the only way that he could go full strength. A normal bag would’ve went flying all over the place with his super strong punches or it would’ve burst open spilling sand everywhere. Instead he had Riverport fabricate the monstrosity in front of him.

The bag was about twenty-five feet tall and filled with close to a ton of sand. It was suspended from a setup that resembled four cranes or pillars equidistant from the hanging bag in the center. With the dark brown polymer fabric covering it resembled a tree or an especially thick electric power pole from Earth.

Cal snapped his right fist out twice to tap the bag in quick succession. He then sat down on his knees as he bobbed to the left, going under an imaginary punch. He smoothly uncorked his twisted body. Feeling the power traveling up his legs, to his hips, into his left fist as he dug a left hook into bag. The impact was like a gunshot.

A flock of alien birds roosting in the forest trees several hundred yards away scattered into the air. He called them alien birds, but really they were just birds. Put them next to any Earth birds and he wouldn’t be able to tell from which planet either type came from.

Cal shuffled back from the bag to switch stances. He liked to practice both southpaw and orthodox. Although he was right-handed he did all his boxing from a southpaw stance. It was a holdover from his high school wrestling days. In that sport your lead foot was your dominant side, so when he first took up boxing for fun after college he felt more natural in the southpaw stance.

Switching to orthodox he repeated the basic combinations. This time he added knees and kicks. That part of his repertoire wasn’t as well-developed. Most of his experience pre-spires’ apocalypse was cardio kickboxing classes and videos, although he did hit pads and mitts a few times he never did any live sparring, like he did with boxing. It was only after said stupid apocalypse that he really tried to add leg striking techniques.

Left jab, right straight, right low kick. Thud, thud, bang!

More birds sent flying.

Punch, punch, step in grab the bag in a clinch dig in deep with a knee to the midsection. Shuffle back, hands next to head, slip from one side to the next. Duck low, two hooks, right then left, digging into the body.

Sweat dripped off Cal’s shirtless body. The sun was shining and the wind blew with a constant, light breeze. It was a great day to be outside, but he didn’t take any notice of that. All he could see was Zalthyss’ too perfect face. In many ways it was more frightening than any monster that he had faced in the past. Perhaps with the one exception. A face flashed in his mind. A young girl with a sullen look, long blond hair hiding sunken eyes. The face slowly morphed into—

Cal stopped hitting the bag. He took a deep breath. When that wasn’t he enough he took another, then another. He didn’t know how many breaths it took until he finally banished the image from his mind.

“Fuck!”

Cal’s voice echoed out into the clear, clean air. The cleanliness and the quiet of the place was nothing like anything he had every known on Earth. Nothing compared to it. Not even going out hiking or camping. There was always some reminder of man’s touch upon the environment. He had to amend the thought. After the apocalypse there was silence, but it wasn’t peaceful like this place. No, the silence of his home was that of dead people and the monsters that killed them. It was the silence of dread for the moment when it was your turn.

Cal shook his head. He tried to push the darker thoughts back into a mental lock box. Tried to focus on the natural beauty around him. The Threnosh world was truly filled with unspoiled spaces in a way that was exceedingly rare back on earth. There was no random trash in the middle of nowhere here.

An alert sounded on his PID. The insistent beeping shook him from his musings. It took him a moment to jog over to the base of one of the pillars holding up the giant punching bag. He picked up the PID. A frown crossed his face. It was Caretaker.

They were on their way back from a mission, or a task as the Threnosh called them. The call wasn’t scheduled. Did something go wrong?

Cal steeled himself for a second before he tapped the PID.

A holographic projection of Caretaker’s face appeared above the PID in miniature.

“Is everything alright? Was there a problem with the task?”

“Honor. The Task went as planned,” Caretaker said.

Cal heard the difference in how they said the word. “The spires turned it into a big-T. Nice,” Cal smiled. “Good rewards? Points?”

“Yes, we received a good amount of Universal Points.” Caretaker hesitated.

“Okay… so, that’s the good news. What’s the bad news?”

“There was an unforeseen development and I took initiative, but my decision may have created a different problem for all of us.”

“Just out with it,” Cal said.

“The research facility contained a strange object that attracted the invasive organisms.”

Cal’s interest was piqued. He was still concerned, but that got shuffled a bit further back in his mind.

“In the interests of safeguarding the settlement from future attacks I decided to take the object.”

“Seems like a prudent choice. The settlement clearly demonstrated an inability to keep it and themselves safe,” Cal said lightly.

Caretaker’s holographic projection gave a slight nod. “The decision was prescient. As we were departing another large group of invasive organisms was moving toward the settlement.”

“So, this object attracts monsters?”

“That was my assessment.”

“And you’re bringing it back here?”

“Where else?”

“…” Cal sighed. “There aren’t any monsters chasing you right now are there? Nothing flying and giant-sized?”

“There were, but do not be alarmed. They lacked the speed and stamina to catch or keep up with the transport.”

The wheels turned rapidly in Cal’s head. He was calculating several things in his brain. How long could the transport remain in the air? Was it safe to hover in place at a great height? If not, what was the power consumption if it needed to maintain a certain speed to keep out of the reach of flying monsters? This was mixed in with trying to figure out the production capabilities of his base. How long would it take to build defenses, traps, walls, maybe a moat?

“Should’ve built that wall a long time ago,” Cal muttered.

“Repeat, Honor?”

Cal waved a hand dismissively. “Alright. I’ve got some ideas.”

“I await your orders,” Caretaker said solemnly.

It turned out that there was plenty of time for the wall. Those trenches with metal stakes in them. Those concealed pit traps filled with the same stakes. Oh, and the mines. Can’t forget about those.

They cleared the land for several thousand yards all around the base facility and turned it into a giant kill zone.

Cal was happy that he pushed Prime Custodian 3 for more personnel. The added engineers and fabricators were a boon. Especially for the rush job on the defenses.

Two weeks. That was the amount of time they had to get everything done.

Thanks to the wonders of Threnosh power generating technology the heavy aerial transport was capable of continuous flight operation for that long.

The transport carrying the team landed briefly in the middle of nowhere to transfer everyone, but Caretaker, to another transport. The second transport delivered sufficient nutrient liquids for Caretaker and the pilot to last the two weeks before taking the rest of the team back to base. Even that brief stop was risky as groups of monsters in the area immediately moved in their direction. It became clear that the object Caretaker had taken from the research facility was attracting them.

Caretaker decided that they were the one who would stay with the object as it was their responsibility as both the leader of the team and the one who decided to take it in the first place.

Once in the air the transport was safe from monsters. It flew too fast and too high. From what Cal understood two weeks in the air wasn’t that big of a deal. The pilot’s power armor was adapted for sitting for long periods of time. The Threnosh also had an integrated V.I. in the transport that was exponentially better than the ones in self-driving cars back on Earth. Along with a pilot’s berth that contained the same hygiene maintenance features that Cal had experienced first hand those months stuck in the sarcophagus-like restraining device.

The transport flew over uninhabited areas far away from the base, while Caretaker kept in contact in regards to the defensive measures being put in place.

There was only one problem.

Their appropriation of the object, predictably, didn’t go unnoticed for long.

Fortunately, Cal saw this coming and had immediately informed Prime Custodian 3 of the necessary steps that Caretaker had been forced to take in order to maintain the safety of the settlement.

Cal wasn’t sure, but the prime seemed suspicious. However, they weren’t willing to have another one of their settlements house the object once it became clear that it was attracting monsters. This meant that, so long as Cal’s base could fight them off then he could keep his hands on the object.

After a cursory look through the data that the team had pulled from the research facility Cal was determined to keep it. It belonged to him in the first place as far as he was concerned. He was the one that did most of the work bringing down the flying kaiju. It was only right that its core went to him. It took several months, but fate, it seems, agreed.

Cal swiped at the holographic projections of the data and minimized them. Instead he brought up live feeds from the drone cameras following several of his teams out killing monsters in the encounter zones and spawn points that surrounded their base.

The teams had been going through the monster areas in an effort to thin the eventual hordes that they expected to attack the base as soon as Caretaker returned with the object.

Cal had some concerns with the newest special candidates he had recruited. They hadn’t had the same amount of time to gain combat experience and Universal Points for upgrades to their power armors. He had dipped into the general fund to provide them extra points for what would’ve been the equivalent of their first big boss fight that would’ve been at the end of their first month. It was these few Threnosh that he watched first.

Winding Myriad or Myriad for short was in an extremely thin power armor which made them resemble a scarecrow. Their face-plate was dark with small, twinkling lights randomly moving across its surface. It was like looking up into the constellations in the night sky. The Threnosh inside the armor was proportionally built like the normal Threnosh, yet was taller than the norm. They would have been second only to Caretaker in height had they not been birthed with atrophied lower legs. Their legs were amputated early in life and outside of their power armor they got around on a crude, for Threnosh tech, motorized wheelchair.

Myriad was essentially a wizard or a mage. Cal wasn’t sure how the classification went. Their power armor had attachments that, to Cal, suspiciously simulated spells that he was familiar with from various works of fiction, like novels, rpgs and video games.

As Cal watched the zoomed-in bird’s-eye view from the camera drone. Myriad called forth a spherical force field from several emitters scattered on their power armor. The force field blocked the volley of quills that the horned chimps they were fighting shot from their backs.

Invasive Organism 1413 resembled chimpanzees with horns on their heads, hence the name Cal had dubbed them with. They were also the size of Earth gorillas and terribly strong. The back full of quills that they could somehow launch over short distances wasn’t even the worst thing about them. No, they were terribly vicious and foul-tempered even for monsters.

Myriad dropped the force field and another two Myriads suddenly appeared. The three Myriads sprinted across the forest floor in three different directions. Two moved to flank the group of horned chimps, while the third took cover behind a tree.

Hard light holographic projections. They were visually perfect.

Cal smiled. Shield spell. Illusion spell.

Once all three Myriads were in position they all raised their left hands and fired three marble-sized orbs of glowing light. They zipped across the forest in spiraling arcs and struck the horned chimps. Six of the orbs did negligible damage, like a rock thrown fast. The illusions.

Three burned small holes into the monsters they struck. They behaved like plasma in that regard according to the Threnosh engineers and scientists Cal had on staff. However, they couldn’t explain how Myriad’s attachment generated them or how they maintained cohesion in flight.

Whatever, was Cal’s thought to that. It looked and acted like the magic missile spell that base magic users back home got from the spires. Therefore, to him, Myriad was a wizard.

The remaining horned chimps hooted and pounded the ground before they split up and charged at the three Myriads. They covered ground quickly. The two Myriads that moved to their flanks were closer so the monsters reached them first. They bashed and bit at the Myriads. The hard light illusions shattered and vanished.

Myriad, the real one, turned and ran from the horned chimp headed in their direction. Their spells needed time to recharge. And it looked like they weren’t going to get it as the monster closed the distance quickly.

Until an immense blur of gleaming silvery metal slammed into the monster.

It was the second member of the team. Silver Wolf.

The Threnosh had deferred the naming to Cal. At the time their power armor resembled a giant silver wolf. They were ensconced within the body of the wolf-like power armor and according to them it was quite comfortable. This was a good thing since their skin had a defect. They had numerous patches that were practically translucent, which made them vulnerable to light and solar radiation. They couldn’t leave the safety of their power armor unless they were in complete darkness.

Cal thought it was a fitting name, that became even cooler after Silver Wolf’s first upgrade from the spire. They gained the ability to transform their power armor into a wolf-man hybrid.

That’s right. They were basically a werewolf.

It was this form that Silver Wolf assumed to fight the horned chimp. They were almost as tall as Primal in the form, but a lot leaner.

The horned chimp rolled away and bared its teeth at Silver Wolf. It might’ve been a head shorter, but it had a considerably bulkier build. It slammed the ground and its chest in a challenge.

The Threnosh had several quills sticking out of their power armor, but they didn’t appear hampered. Silver Wolf’s massive wolf-like head threw up a howl. They charged forward.

The monster met them head on.

The collision rang through the forest air like a car crash.

The horned chimp beat at Silver Wolf with its massive arms and fists.

Silver Wolf’s metal claws tore through tough fur and thick muscle deep into the monster’s belly. The monster staggered back, its guts slipping free. It stared at the Threnosh with something like shock and recognition on its vicious face.

Silver Wolf opened their teeth-filled maw wide and bit down on the horned chimp’s head. They shook their head from side to side.

Cal didn’t need to see the rest. He switched the focus to the third member of the team.

The unfortunately named Blueballs.

Cal tried to talk them out of it, but the Threnosh was the plain-speaking type even for a Threnosh. Their power armor shot blue-colored balls, hence that is what they decided to call themselves. He even tried to get them to at least go by ‘BB’ as a nickname, but they didn’t budge. Choosing their own name after being nameless was important to them.

After some self-reflection he decided it was fine. Threnosh didn’t even have different genders, let alone reproductive organs. The reference was meaningless to them.

Blueballs raised their left gauntlet and fired a stream of bullets at the horned chimp a good fifty yards away. The bullets were small balls that were blue. The strange thing about it was that there was no physically ammunition. Their power armor somehow produced them internally as needed. The big brains at the base had no idea how that functioned.

The horned chimp was peppered with tiny blue balls, but it had tough fur and skin. The ones that successfully penetrated that barrier simply lodged into dense muscle. The monster hooted and charged.

Blueballs waited until it was within twenty-five yards when they raised their right gauntlet and fired. The balls that shot out expanded in flight to the size of a volley-ball. One after another they hit the horned chimp and stuck fast.

At ten yards its front resembled a giant bunch of grapes and it could barely move.

Its one exposed eye glared balefully at Blueballs.

The Threnosh shot one more ball into its face and covered it completely.

The monster seemed to struggle for a bit before it collapsed on its back.

The last horned chimp saw that it was now alone and gave a mournful sounding cry before slamming the ground and throwing up dead leaves, branches and other forest debris. It gave one last hoot and charged.

The monster was struck by magic missiles and blue balls before Silver Wolf ended it with a swipe of their claws.

“Poor guy, didn’t stand a chance,” Cal said. He was extremely pleased with how the rookies handled their first outing without a more experienced member on hand to guide them.

The rest of the team members had their hands full going through the other areas around their base.

Cal pulled up the views for the others. He watched each for a few minutes just to make sure everything was going okay. He trusted their experience, abilities and skills. And they had spent a significant amount of time going through all of the monster areas around the base. This meant that they knew the monsters well. It was like they were in a beginner’s area now.

Once he was finished watching he got up from his desk. It was time for one last meeting with Tides, Loaming, Riverport, Mechanica and the rest of the administrators, fabricators and engineers. They only had one more day left until Caretaker’s transport was scheduled to return with the object. Their defenses were about to be tested.

Then

Cal couldn’t do anything to help his brothers. They didn’t look like they wanted any as they each rushed toward a separate group of monsters. Eron’s strides tore up chunks of lawn grass and dirt as he accelerated like a sports car. Remy’s pace was measured as he added to the swirling cloud of small, but dangerous, metal bits that he directed to orbit around himself.

The adrenaline kicked in. Cal felt the fatigue, the invisible weight on his shoulders lessen. “Sorry, love,” he said to Nila, “but you’re going to have to tank that one.”

Nila frowned at him. “That’s what I said I was going to do in the first place.”

“That is true.” Cal swept his arm out toward closest group of gremlins. The telekinetic shove knocked them onto their backs, even the gremlin alpha. “Focus on them!” He shouted to the raid team.

“What about the other group?” Demi shouted.

“I’ll keep them off your backs.”

Cal gripped his trusty ax in one hand and moved toward the other gremlin alpha and its escort of human-sized gremlins.

The monsters charged. He pushed out again with his telekinesis. He had to ignore the stabbing pain in his brain. The smaller monsters were bowled over backwards for several feet. The much larger gremlin alpha staggered backward, but was able to keep its footing. It recovered a moment later and came, snarling, right for Cal.

He ran directly at the monster. He wanted distance between their fight and the rest of the raid team.

The distance between the two, super-powered human and big monster, closed frighteningly quick.

Cal threw out another telekinetic shove. This time at the gremlin alpha’s ankles. It tripped and went skidding across the lawn. He swung his ax down.

The monster pushed up from the ground with surprising quickness for something of its size.

The ax blade sank into the meat of its trapezius instead of its head.

It slashed at Cal with its claws.

It was too close and its arms were too long for Cal to dodge back so he dived over the gremlin alpha instead.

Cal came out of his roll and realized his mistake. The other gremlins had recovered and he was in their midst. Snarling teeth and claw converged on him.

He drew his ka-bar style knife from his belt sheath and stabbed a gremlin in the throat. Another gremlin slashed lines into the back of his tough leather jacket, but he step forward into another monster with an uppercut that broke its neck and sent it flying several feet. The same gremlin that cut his jacket jumped on his back. He reached up over his shoulder with his free hand and grabbed it around the neck to keep it from biting. Its clawed hands and feet cut through his clothing to scratch at his skin beneath.

Cal cursed in pain as another gremlin dashed in and bit through his thick jeans and into his muscular thigh. He brought his knife down straight through the top of the monster’s head and pried it off.

Movement out of the corner of his eye. Another gremlin eager for a taste. Cal fed it his boot. A front kick smashed the monster’s ugly face in.

One last gremlin to deal with. Cal squeezed hard with his hand around its throat.

The monster fell off his back. Its pale, almost white face grew dark as its fingers clawed at its neck drawing blood. He turned his attention away from it.

“Shit!”

Cal suddenly realized that he had lost track of the gremlin alpha. His eyes darted toward the raid team. Two gremlin alpha’s would’ve been their end.

He saw Nila’s small form facing the towering gremlin alpha. The two traded blows. Nila took the monster’s strikes on her shield, while the monster blocked Nila’s bat with its strong arms.

Demi had the rest of their front line tanks, like Keisha, keeping the human-sized gremlins occupied while the majority of the ranged fighters took careful shots at the gremlin alpha.

Cal let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the gremlin alpha he was fighting wasn’t over there. Which meant—

A sense of rage and malice filled his mind. He turned his head at the last moment and closed his eyes reflexively. The move saved his vision.

The gremlin alpha’s bear paw-sized hand raked across one side of Cal’s face. He pushed it away with a frantic telekinetic push and backpedaled as fast as he could.

Cal wiped at the blood flowing into his eyes. He barely felt the stinging cuts thanks to the adrenaline flowing through his body.

The gremlin alpha roared and stalked toward Cal. He tried to focus on it, but his vision was blurry. He held his hand out and telekinetically pulled his ax out of the monster. It crossed the twenty or so feet distance between the two in two blinks of his blood-shrouded eyes to land in his hand.

The thought crossed Cal’s mind that fighting monsters would’ve been so much easier if he could affect the insides of their bodies with his telekinesis. The possibilities were endless. He could’ve crushed hearts and pulped brains. Pinched nerves and shredded blood vessels. Instant kills. Yet, sadly, he lacked the capability. Whether it was definitely impossible or something that he could eventually learn, he didn’t know.

There was another trick he had thought about often. He’d had tried it a few times on the smaller gremlins and mutant animals with mixed success. It had made him extremely uncomfortable.

Cal braced himself and reached out toward the gremlin alpha with his telepathy.