Storiesonline.net ------- Holding On by Openbook Copyright© 2006 by Openbook ------- Description: This is a fantasy idea that I've been working on. A dead boxer's body is chosen to be used by an alien life force composed of pure white energy. Something goes wrong, and the boxer and the alien wind up dependant on each other. Codes: MF fant ScFi cons mc trans het tg ------- ------- Chapter 1 Danny "Pretty Boy" Sanders sat quietly on a training table looking down at his tightly taped hands. The dressing room was quiet as he found himself totally alone with his thoughts. He was trying his hardest to concentrate, to think about what he would soon need to be doing. Being 34 years old, Danny knew that he had to put up a good showing tonight, if he was to retain any hope of getting booked for any future fights. His last two performances had been less than stellar, losing a three round decision to that kid from Phoenix, and then getting knocked out in two, on the under card to a lousy State championship bout, one that had been part of a County Fair. Danny flexed his hands, feeling the pain shoot through the knuckles and wrists. 'Christ, if they hurt this much now, how are they going to feel when I actually hit the guy?' For the ten thousandth time Danny thought back to his glory days, back to when he'd been a brash and cocky 20 year old kid, sporting his flashy undefeated record, convinced that he'd be the "Champ" before his next birthday. He'd definitely had it all in those days, quickness, power, legs that never tired, and an almost magical ability to slip punches. He was possessed of a lightning counter for his opponent's every move. He was really something then, all right. People had been falling all over themselves, trying their hardest to find ways to attach themselves to Danny's bright future. They wanted to be as close as they could be to all the promise he offered, the promise of an almost certain ride, straight to the top. It had all come crashing down around him, the first time he'd ever tasted the bitterness of defeat. It had been amazing, watching as all the hangers on, and the freeloaders, hurriedly uncoupled themselves from his entourage. His own trainers and advisors began slipping away too, leaving just as quietly as they could, all hoping to find another young up and comer, needing to attach themselves to someone with the prospects for a brilliant future. The boxing game has forever been a tough one. Lose just one fight, and you are as valuable as yesterday's news. After that first loss, he'd been 23-1, still a great record, but no longer unbeaten. The mantle of invincibility, once you've been beaten, is forever gone. He had slipped into that all too common category, the beatable fighter. Within days of that first ring loss, the phones in his promoter's office were ringing off the hook. Now, suddenly, some ranked fighters, men who'd been ducking him before, were willing, even eager, to sign contracts for future bouts with Danny. Some of those bouts had turned out well, and he'd won his next three fights, following that initial loss. Because he'd been beaten once before though, everyone now knew that he could be beaten again. His second loss had been hard fought, and exceedingly brutal, ending after he'd been knocked out in the fifth round, by a tough Dominican kid. Knocked out cold too, not stopped because of a cut, or because of an accidental head butt, but pounded into a careless submission, then popped right on the button, and dropped for the count. He really should have given it up then. Just quit the ring after that second loss. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He was still convinced that he had what it took to make it all the way to the top. He still believed that someday he would get himself squared away again, finding that intangible, little something extra, enough for him to become the champ. Danny snapped back from his reverie, looking up as his trainer, and the guy from the boxing commissioner's office, came in to supervise the glove lacing and taping. His trainer for this fight was just a guy from a local gym that Danny had given $10.00 to, and a free ticket to the fights, just to get him to put on his gloves, and work the water bottle in his corner. He no longer had the fancy entourage, the luxury of traveling with his own trainer and personal cut man. Tonight, if he got cut, he'd just have to bleed. With his laces tied and taped, and with the boxing commission's approval, Danny was ready to go. Tonight he was scheduled for six rounds against some kid who was a small town hero. There was one advantage to taking these short notice fights, sometimes you could pick up a good purse, facing very little competition. Danny had signed on for a thousand dollars for tonight's fight, a lot more than the four hundred he'd gotten for his last one. He hoped it would be an easy win for him. He certainly could use one. ------- "Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the Visalia Arena, and to our co-featured, main event attraction. Six rounds of light heavyweight action. Introducing, in the blue corner, wearing white trunks with the gold stripes, hailing from the great city of Los Angeles, California, he weighs in at 182 pounds, with a record of 66 wins, 21 losses, and 2 draws, with 23 of those wins coming by way of the knockout, the former number 3 IBF light heavyweight contender, Danny "Pretty Boy" Sanders." The announcer paused, and there was a miniscule amount of polite clapping at the introduction of Danny. They are all here tonight to root for their hometown favorite. "And, in the red corner, wearing the black trunks, from right here in Visalia, California, he weighs in at 185 lbs, with an undefeated record of 9 wins, no losses, no draws, with all 9 wins coming via the knockout, please welcome him, as he's making his 10th straight professional appearance, right here in the Visalia Arena, Felipe "The Visalia Dragon" Torres!! Torres!! " The announcer paused to let the crowd stomp their feet and howl their support for the local favorite. The ring bell gongs twice before the announcer continues. "Tonight's fight is scheduled for six rounds, and is sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission, Jim Julian, representing the Commission, is here, in attendance, at ringside. Dr. David Cummins is also in attendance, acting as the ring physician. The referee for tonight's fight is Jack Grover. The judges are Sid Terrel and Rudy Cortez. At the bell, and counting for the knockdown's will be Sandra Cheney. The three knockdown rule is in effect, and the fighters cannot be saved by the bell." The bell rings six more times, then the two fighters, along and their trainers, walk out to the center of the ring. They meet there, to get their instructions, and to have their mouthpieces, kidney and cup protection inspected by the ref. Danny touches gloves with his opponent, and then walks purposely back to his corner. The opponent looks big and strong to Danny, but he also notices a small ring of flab circling around his middle. If there's any softness in the kid, Danny will find and exploit it. Finally, the bell rings and Danny turns to face his opponent, who is charging out of his own corner, anxious to do battle. The kid is strong and confident, willing, even anxious, to trade blows with Danny right away. Danny keeps him at bay though, with strong left jabs and some good footwork. It is easy for Danny to see, this kid knows only a single speed, fast and furious. He knows he is going to have to withstand a furious attack from the kid early in the fight. As the kid keeps moving forward, he is letting both hands go constantly. With both hands being so active, he is making up for any lack of training and technique. The kid is relying solely on his youth, his great strength, and on his ability to take a punch. All his punches are being blocked, caught, and parried, but still they strike Danny's arms and his gloves, sending painful shocks into his sore hands and up through his shoulders. This kid has the kick of a mule, but lacks any finesse. Danny counters with a quick left hook and a right cross that stops the kid right in his tracks, but only for a short second or two, before he comes rushing forward for more. The pain in his hands is worrying Danny, and he decides to move more, using the whole ring, slipping and sliding away from punches, just letting the kid tire himself out. For the remainder of the round he glides around the ring, giving the kid a real lesson in boxing footwork. He pitty pats at the kid's head, throwing a series of soft combinations, trying to earn points with the judges, and to keep the referee from warning him about this being a fight, and not a dance. The crowd was starting to get restless, by the time the bell sounded, ending the first round. Back in his own corner, sitting on the stool, Danny felt sure that he'd done just enough to steal the round. By the end of the third round, Danny had the kid very frustrated. He was angry, embarrassed, and getting tired. He'd been chasing Danny for nine minutes, and still didn't have anything to show for all his efforts. The crowd had been booing and yelling, ever since midway through the second round. They kept yelling at Danny to quit dancing, wanting him to make a real fight of it. The referee had come to Danny's corner, at the end of the third, warning him to pick up the pace a little. Danny knew he was going to have to go after the kid, hard, during this next round. He just hoped the kid was tired enough, and that he could be had. If he wasn't tired enough, Danny knew he'd be the one that would have to endure a terrible beating. He gathered himself, preparing his mind and body to make that one, sustained, all out effort at attacking the opponent. When the bell sounded, it was Danny who came out first, who rushed across the ring, catching the kid unawares. He started his own, furious barrage, pounding away, to the head and to the stomach. His strategy nearly worked, it was almost enough. Somehow though, the kid managed to stay on his feet, and to keep his composure. Halfway through the round, it was obvious, to everyone, that the kid had managed to weather Danny's assault. Danny did manage to put the kid onto the canvas for an eight count, later, near the end of the round, but, by then, the kid somehow knew that all Danny's energy had been spent, and he got up with a determined look on his bruised and swollen face. He still had lots of fight left in him. As the round drew to a close, the kid landed his first solid shots of the night. The crowd, having remained silent throughout Danny's fierce barrage, sensed a shift in the fight's momentum. They rose quickly to their feet, shouting out their encouragement to the kid. By the middle of the fifth, Danny was just trying to clinch and hold on. All his thoughts of offense were now cast aside. He was just trying to survive the next round and a half. The kid was swarming him, punching and pushing, trying to land that one solid punch that would assure him of the win. He had to know that Danny was way ahead on all the judge's scorecards, so he needed a knock out, to secure himself the win. When Danny finally reached that point where he just didn't care anymore, he lowered his left hand, and steeled himself for the punch he knew would end the bout. It was a pragmatic decision he made, to take one punch, to keep himself from having to absorb any more of this kid's terrible punishment. By now, he realized he couldn't make it to the end of the fight, not standing on his feet. He saw the punch coming, and he could have possibly moved his head out of reach. Instead, he stayed right there, taking the powerful shot, right on the button. He almost didn't feel a thing, except for the sound the punch made as it connected with his jaw, his consciousness just disappeared from the sheer force of the blow. One second he was tired, in pain, and gasping desperately for air. In the next second, all his switches had been turned off, and he was gone. He didn't feel his legs give way, or know it when his body dropped to the canvas, his head snapping up once, before flopping back down again with great force. Sometime, between the instant that punch landed, and his head flopping back to the canvas, Danny "Pretty Boy" Sanders was dead. The referee didn't even bother counting. He kneeled down, reaching in quickly, to pull out Danny's mouthpiece. Then, he signaled immediately for the Doctor to enter the ring. The crowd had erupted with excitement and cheering when Danny went down, but now, they had quieted, seeing that Danny wasn't moving. They watched, in horrible fascination, as the Doctor was rushed into the ring, helped as he made his way through the ropes. The physician quickly examined Danny, looking first for signs of consciousness, then, checking for any vital signs, wanting to see whether Danny still lived. Not finding any pulse, he looked inside Danny's mouth, and checked both his pupils, before turning his head, shaking it side to side at the referee. In a few minutes, two ambulance attendants came into the ring, placing the body on a stretcher, before carrying it over to a wheeled gurney set up just outside the ropes. They placed the lifeless body carefully onto the gurney, and wheeled it out to a waiting ambulance. Placing the body inside the ambulance, they sped off into the night, heading to the emergency room, where Danny would officially be pronounced dead. Boxers are never pronounced dead in the places where they are killed. Instead, they wait, then let the hospital announce that they were pronounced dead on arrival. By doing it this way, they can pretend that the boxer died of his injuries, en route to the hospital. It is better that people think that boxers are first injured and then, after a period of time, die, rather than admitting that they really are sometimes killed from the actual punch itself. ------- This worked out perfectly for Caleb of the KAL, an alien visitor from a far distant nebula. He entered the ambulance as a pinprick of purest white energy, investing himself into the DNA of Danny Sanders. He wasted no time, immediately making adjustments and repairs. He never paused until he had Danny's body fully restored. In fact, it was far more than just restored. Caleb adjusted it so that it was much better than it had ever been before. With lightning quick ability, he assimilated all of Danny's past memories and skills, retaining them for use with this new bio construct he was creating. The entire process took Caleb less than seven seconds, Earth time. Normally, to do a complete job, Caleb would have taken an additional four or five seconds and subdued the latent consciousness that still lingered somewhere in Danny's dying brain cells. Being in a hurry though, Caleb neglected to perform this procedure. This lack would make his own future far more complex. He opened his eyes, anxious to see his surroundings, just as the ambulance attendant happened to glance over at him. Caleb felt more than a little amusement after smelling that the attendant had voided his bladder. It felt so good to Caleb to once again be a corporeal presence. The most difficult thing about being of the KAL is that they hardly ever send you on a mission where you got to be something other than pure radiant energy. Caleb was determined that he'd make the most of this opportunity. By his calculations, he'd be waiting 52.73 Earth years, before his mission there could be undertaken anyway. A good opportunity for him to savor the enjoyment of having a body, and experiencing all the many sensations that this would allow. "Hold on, buddy, we'll be there soon and the doctors will fix you right up!" The ambulance attendant had recovered sufficiently, to allow himself to begin to function like the professional he'd been trained to be. His buddy, driving the ambulance, was amused to hear his co-worker talking to a stiff, but then he decided to play along, turning on his sirens and lights, and stepping on the gas pedal harder. They pulled into the hospital's emergency entrance two minutes later, rushing into the emergency room with their patient. An obviously conscious Caleb allowed himself to be subjected to much probing and examination before the doctors finally pronounced him well. He heard one doctor remark that, for a dead man, he was remarkably responsive and animated. Several people came over to the section of the emergency room where he was being treated, wanting to see for themselves what all the fuss was about. The administrators finally grew tired of all the commotion Caleb was causing, so they transferred him to a ward, for overnight observation. In the morning, Caleb was examined again, pronounced healthy, and released. Someone from the Visalia Arena came to pick him up at the hospital, transporting him back to the arena, to pick up his gear, and his fight purse. While Caleb was dressing, a reporter for the local newspaper came over and asked for an interview. When asked if he remembered the punch that had floored him for the knock out, Caleb laughed, and said no. He said he remembered waking up in the ambulance, and had been wondering how he got there. He told the reporter the kid packed a terrific punch, and then predicted a big future for him. The reporter went away, happy with his interview, but surprised at how well Danny Sanders was taking the loss. He thought that the previous night's loss probably had marked the end of a long career. It was a career that hadn't been all that distinguished, except for the undefeated start it had begun with. To the reporter, Danny was just another dead ended boxer, one who was sticking around too far past his prime. Still, he was struck with how clear eyed Danny had been, and with the way his mind composed, and then the mouth clearly delivered his thoughts. Most boxers who had managed to have ninety professional fights, would be lucky to be able to string enough words together to form any kind of a sensible sentence. ------- Caleb was really starting to enjoy the sensations of having physical needs again. He thought that very few of the KAL had ever experienced anything so fine as really needing to take a piss. Biting into an olive, stuffed with pimento, was pretty good too. Caleb had stopped at a bar, right before boarding a bus, to make the return trip to Los Angeles. He ordered a martini, and then marvelled at the effect it had on his newly restored bio system. It was really going to be all good, Caleb thought, as he started to chart out the fifty plus years of his future stay here on Earth. Caleb had pretty much resurrected all of Danny's old memories, experiences, and thoughts, and had rearranged them in a more orderly manner, hoping to catalog them for study, sometime in the future. He found himself somewhat amused by the seeming disparity between Danny's actual physical abilities, before, considering what his ambitions had been. After a small time given over to making minute adjustments, Danny's body had now become the vehicle he'd thought he had possessed before. With these changes, the body was now more than capable of taking him to the very top of the boxing world. Caleb wasn't going to do that, of course, but he was amused that he now could. Caleb was looking forward to making good use of the time he'd be spending. The bus ride back to Los Angeles was relatively long, and not entirely uneventful, as Caleb used the time en route, to absorb some of the memories and knowledge of his fellow passengers. He wasn't impressed by their collective life experiences. "Who the fuck are you?" Caleb felt his brain being attacked from within. To say that having Danny speak to him thusly was a shock, wouldn't be adequate. Immediately, Caleb regretted his earlier oversight in not dealing with the remnants of Danny's consciousness. Somehow, Danny had reintegrated sufficiently to have made for himself a presence in Caleb's new consciousness. "I am Caleb, of the KAL. My thanks to you for hosting me, human. It was my intent to resurrect a lifeless bio form. It seems I was not successful in doing so. If I leave, you have insufficient remaining life force to continue to survive on your own. If I stay, we need to reach some accommodation, each with the other. What do you propose?" "I'm dying?" "Technically, you were dead, before I invested my life force into your corpse. It appears that you still had sufficient residual awareness to rally, once your brain and other bodily functions had been repaired by me. You have made yourself a parasite to my life energy." "This is still my brain and body though, right?" "You are correct that you are inhabiting a tiny portion of the space you once commanded. You are incorrect if you believe that you could operate as a separate entity. When I leave, you will cease to function as a viable life force." "What does that mean, in English?" "You'll die, immediately, if I choose to revert to pure light energy, and abandon this host body." "So, what happens to me if you stay?" "You'll need to be quiet while I think about that." A minute and a half passes while Caleb thinks about all the ramifications. "I will host you while I'm here, but, you will die in any case, when I leave shortly." "You're leaving? How soon? You aren't leaving today are you?" "I'm leaving in less than fifty three of your Earth years. I'm sorry, but that is as long as I'm able to stay." "Fifty three years? Shit, I'll be long dead by then anyway." "No, you will live until I abandon this receptacle. I see your point though. Even without your fatal injuries, your normal life span would be so short that death would have been a more probable outcome for you in far fewer than fifty three of your years." "How are we going to work this? Do I just tell you what I want us to do, or what?" "I am commanding this body and this mind now. We will do as I choose. You will only experience that which I decide to engage us in." "When is our next fight? Have you thought about that?" "There will be no next fight. The KAL do not engage in barbarisms." Caleb's right hand rose up, without him willing it to do so, and punched him in the face, and with some authority. It took him but a portion of one second to regain control over the body, but, just being subjected to having control wrested from him, even for the time it took to land that single punch, signified much to Caleb. "Let me think about what this might mean." Caleb surrendered himself back to a full energy setting, examining every aspect of Danny's old body, before finding the root cause of the anomaly he'd just experienced. It had been Caleb's own re-organization of Danny's thoughts and memories that had allowed his presence to become sufficiently well enough integrated to even present a challenge to Caleb's command and control of the body's physical functioning. There could only be a single master though. Something needed to be done to eliminate this potential conflict. A body he couldn't absolutely control was less than useless to him. Caleb knew that he'd already expended far too much pure light energy investing himself in this body. If he carried out his threat to abandon Danny's body, the energy he'd need to expend to invest himself in another bio vessel, might reduce his light energy level to below that needed to adequately perform his mission. He needed to reason with Danny, to come to an understanding with him. The problem with that was, how do you reason with someone who willingly punches himself in the face, to register his disapproval of your responses? With someone who has made a long career out of exchanging blows with another, just to amuse a crowd of strangers? Caleb wished with all his essence, that he was still with the KAL, instead of merely being of them. Should he jeopardize the mission to be rid of this great annoyance, or, should he humor it for the little bit of time he'd be remaining on this planet, thus assuring the success of his mission? Being Caleb of the KAL, he made the responsible choice. He'd humor Danny Sanders, but later, when he caused the planet to slip from it's orbit, and intersect with the Feltarian Fleet, he'd make sure that Danny Sander's body was the first to feel the impact of that collision. Having decided, Caleb felt restored to calmness. "What the fuck is the Feltarian Fleet?" A sharp tremor of anxiety passed through Caleb. This human wretch could hear his thoughts? If that were true, his plan to stop the Feltar invasion was already doomed. "Listen here, Caleb, or whatever you want to call yourself. You don't have to worry none about me interfering. At least you don't, not as long as you do what I want to do. We can work together until its time for you to do whatever you're going to do to them damn Feltars. By then, it won't matter to me what you do, not as long as I've had a chance to do what I wanted to do." Caleb of the KAL experienced a feeling he'd never had before, knowing that he was being controlled by a vastly inferior being. His only two consolations were, it wasn't going to be for very long, and that no one, other than he himself, would ever know about it. ------- Chapter 2 It was a two mile walk from the Los Angeles bus station to Danny's second story efficiency apartment. Danny had only been living there for two months, ever since he'd gotten a new job, delivering parts for an independent auto parts store based in the neighborhood. The owner of the auto parts store was a big fight fan, and had offered Danny a job when he found out that Danny was looking for some part time work. The two had first met in a neighborhood bar, one that Danny had just begun frequenting. It wasn't a great job, but the owner let Danny have a few hours off, during the day, so he could go to the gym and train. Danny's training mostly consisted of working at his other job, being a sparring partner for the boxing gym he frequented. He usually made from twenty-five to thirty dollars for a half hour's sparring session, and he usually had anywhere from five to eight sessions during any given week. Most of the people he sparred with were strictly amateur boxers, men who liked to go back to their regular lives, bragging that they had sparred with a real, professional, boxer. Danny knew better than to ever hit one of these men. This knowing not to hit back, coupled with the fact that he was always willing to let them slip a punch or two through his guard, made Danny a very popular sparring partner. Occasionally, Sal, the owner of the gym, got him some work as a real sparring partner. This had been happening less and less though, over the past year or so, as Danny's credibility as a boxer had diminished among fight handlers and trainers. Now, whenever he did get some work as a real sparring partner, he was mostly being used as a confidence builder for some young fighter who'd just lost his last fight. Some boxers were a little head shy, especially right after a loss. Being afraid to get hit made training them much more difficult, especially in the live practice sparring sessions. Left untreated, this would hinder any chance for further skill development. Danny could have easily beaten most of these young boxers, had he been allowed to try, but his orders were to serve as a live punching bag for them. A half hour of a tame sparring session with Danny would usually be all that was needed to get them over being head shy. ------- Caleb of the KAL took one look at Danny's hovel and groaned to himself in dismay. The place was a filthy dump. The paint was peeling off the walls and ceiling, and there was the smell of mildew from years of leaking faucets and faulty roofing. Danny's lack of care in picking up after himself was also in evidence. Caleb knew he couldn't live with so much disarray and contamination. He also was aware that he could fix the place up in no time, but it required another small expenditure of his precious energy resources. "Human, how could you stand living in such squalor? Have you no pride?" "Fuck you! I sleep here, that's about it. I was going to pick things up before I left, but I was afraid I'd miss my bus. I can clean it now, if it upsets you so much." "You can't do anything, except cause me trouble. Desist, in all your feeble attempts to do anything." There was a flash of energy, one that lit up all three rooms of the apartment. The windows and the door flew open, and a host of unwanted matter started moving quickly through the air. As quickly as it had begun, it was over. Left in it's place was a completely renovated, spotlessly cleaned, thoroughly sanitized, efficiency apartment. Caleb sat down on one of the newly cleaned and repaired dinette chairs, looking around, casually admiring his work. It had required the expenditure of thirty seven and a half yotta joules of Caleb's stored energy, but now, he thought he would be able to inhabit the dwelling. His quiet admiration of the change was interrupted by Danny's voice. "I need to get over to the gym, and pay Sal his cut from the fight. Plus, I need to stop off, to let Ron know I'll be back to work tomorrow." Caleb wanted to argue, to explain the lack of any necessity for him to work, or to have any further need for Sal and his gym. He knew his words would be wasted on his parasitic construct. Danny was nothing, if not single minded, and all he really cared about was staying active as a boxer. To Caleb, an agreement was in place. Distasteful as the need for that agreement might be to him, he would honor it. He would assist Danny in furthering his goals, and in return, Danny would allow Caleb to complete his mission, without any interference, when the time finally came for him to do so. He was aware of the disparity in perception they had on the relative amount of time still left on that agreement. This was a good thing for Caleb. If their time sense had been reversed, and Caleb saw fifty years like Danny viewed it, no agreement would have ever been possible. Fifty years, to someone of the Kal, was nothing more than a few hours would seem to a human organism. "Are you truly desiring to persist in this senseless quest of yours?" "Fuck yes! You said it yourself. Since you fixed me, I've got what it takes to go all the way. I've been thinking things through though, and there really isn't as much money or glory in being the champ as a light heavyweight. How much trouble do you think it would be if we bulked me up a bit, to around two ten, or, even better, two twenty?" "I didn't fix you. I repaired, and then re-animated a dead organism. You are mere flotsam left unjettisoned in my haste. I allow you to exist, such as that existence may be, but I didn't fix you. As for your other query, if you're referring to your body mass, the answer is, yes. That would be easily accomplished. Would one hundred kilos of mass be sufficient to your needs?" "Is that around two hundred and twenty pounds?" "Very close to that. Is there anything else you require?" "How are you going to do it? If it happens too quickly, people will think I'm on steroids." Caleb had taken the trouble to filter through all of Danny's past memories. He had learned, in a few brief seconds, everything Danny had acquired in a half lifetime of experience and training. He knew all of Danny's past strengths, and all of his many weaknesses. He knew that Danny had never managed to hold onto any of his boxing earnings. He had lived from one fight to the next, the money having been spent almost as quickly as it had been earned. Danny liked young and pretty girls, casino gambling, and all types of fancy living. Over the past five or six years, circumstances, caused primarily by the decline of his earnings, had severely limited Danny's exposure to any of these activities. He also knew that Danny desperately longed to get back into the limelight he'd once had shining brightly on him. He was desperately anxious to once again experience, as a certainty, the belief that the whole world revolved around him, that his pleasure was what people enjoyed striving to enhance. He had gone without that knowledge or conviction for far too many years. "I hear what you're thinking, dude, and I'm all for anything that will help to put me back on top. If you have a better way to make it happen, or a quicker way, I'm willing to listen. Anything you come up with has to include having me getting to be the world champion. That is the goal I've been training and working for ever since I was twelve years old. That's my dream. It's all that keeps me going." "We need to take off some time then. We'll get away for awhile, and you can add on this new mass gradually. We'll go to Las Vegas, and you can train during the day there, while I make us some money at night." "You never sleep. I noticed that already. I'm a boxer, rest is important if I'm to be at my peak." "Forgive my saying this, but, in case you haven't already noticed it, I'm in charge of operating this body now. If it needs anything, I'll attend to it. I can assure you that it has never been operated at anything even approaching the efficiency that I've been able to bring to it." "I still get tired. I'm already tired, and I'll need to sleep. How can I be sure you won't decide to try to fuck me over in some way, while I'm resting? You're good at doing that. You would have never gotten into my head in the first place, if I'd been awake and alert." "If you'd been alive, you must mean? That's what you weren't, human. That might account for why you weren't very awake or alert. You were most assuredly dead when I came to invest my energy into your corpse. This matters not at all though, as I've made this bargain with you, and the KAL always honor any agreements they've entered into freely." They walked over to the gym. Danny handed over the two hundred dollars he owed to Sal, for his cut of the Visalia purse, and for the money Sal had loaned him to get up to Visalia in the first place. This was one hundred fifty for the manager's fee, and fifty for the advance money Sal had loaned him to take the bus up to the fight. "Sal, I'm going out of town for awhile, to take some time to think about my future." "That's a good idea, kid. Maybe it's time you give this racket up. It isn't treating you so good anymore. What's that, five out of the past six fights where you came out of it on the wrong end? Could be it's time to look into doing something else with your life." "No, I've been thinking about putting on some more weight, trying out my luck as a legitimate heavyweight. You said yourself, they're always looking for a big fighter to spar with. I can stand to get bigger, I've got the frame for it." "Don't do it, kid. You never had any trouble making weight before. You're a natural light heavy. You don't have the punch to be a heavyweight, plus you already take too many punches now. What do you think it would mean for you, if the guys who were punching you were even bigger? I know it's a tough pill, but maybe it's time for you to quit?" "Look, Sal, if anyone comes around asking for me, tell them I took some time off to decide what I'm going to do. I'll call here once in awhile, in case you get any offers for fights for me." Caleb read the thoughts going through Sal's mind, careful to try to shield them from Danny, even though this meant having to expend more of his stored energy for him to do so. Sal had been witness to the marked deterioration in Danny's skills, had watched as his hand speed and ability to absorb punishment had decreased. He liked Danny, and sincerely hoped he'd decide to quit taking bouts. Danny went to his auto parts job and waited for his friend and boss to be free. They discussed his loss up in Visalia, and Danny told him of his need to put on some weight for some upcoming heavyweight matches that he and Sal were looking into. Ron, his boss, wished Danny the best of luck and told him to call him if he could help in any way. Caleb was surprised to find the genuine admiration Ron held for Danny. They rode yet another bus to Las Vegas that evening. This one filled with a livelier crowd of travelers than the one going from Visalia to Los Angeles. Caleb marvelled at all of the gambling misinformation he found circulating in the thoughts of the travelers. Most had no understanding of probability, and couldn't even begin to conceive of what it took to overcome the casino's advantage, and force a favorable wagering outcome. Once they had arrived in the Nevada city, Danny wanted to check into another low rent hovel located next to the boxing gym he frequented during his past Las Vegas visits. Caleb took them to the Bellagio Casino and headed straight for the poker tables. Being able to know every thought of your opponent proved to be an insurmountable advantage. In four hours of play at one of the Hold Em poker tables, Caleb had won a little more than twelve hundred dollars. Danny was unimpressed with the feat, as he could participate with Caleb in experiencing the opponents thoughts as well. The money impressed him though. As soon as they quit playing for the day, Caleb took advantage of the poker players rate for the hotel, securing a nice room at a discounted rate for them. Next, they visited the buffet at the casino, enjoying themselves immensely on the many different foods available. Caleb had adjusted the metabolism, so that it efficiently processed the food intake. Caleb added just over a net pound of new mass to Danny's back and shoulders. While Danny placed himself in a rested state, Caleb walked through the casino, looking for a roulette wheel he could take advantage of. The first one he found allowed a bet on a single number as high as five hundred dollars. Gauging the speed of the little ivory ball and the speed of the wheel, Caleb was able to calibrate the area where the ball would, in all probability, come to rest. He started betting six numbers for twenty five dollars each. As he progressed, he was able to predict with a greater certainty. He got to where he could predict, within one space either way, forty one per cent of the time. Half of those times, more or less, the ball came to rest in the exact number he predicted. He left the table, never having fully taken advantage of the fruit of his research. Still, he had accumulated an additional fourteen hundred dollars in new winnings. Caleb knew enough to not win too much from the casino. He went back to playing poker, playing in a larger limit game this time. By morning, he had won a sizeable sum of money. Winning money from other poker players mattered not at all to casinos. They made money by collecting for the time players spent at their tables. Who won or lost in their poker games wasn't important to them. They were simply providing spaces for rent in a clean and conducive environment for playing the games. It was mid morning before Caleb again sensed Danny's presence. Danny felt well rested, a thought that amused Caleb. Danny wanted to go over to the gym and sign up for a locker and to pay for membership rights. Caleb insisted they stop for something to eat, favoring the breakfast buffet from the other choices. Once again, while they ate and enjoyed, Caleb added another pound of mass to Danny's physique. This time, he strengthened Danny's abdomen by reconfiguring the underlying muscle layers slightly, making them more elastic, and capable of withstanding greater force applied against them. "We have money now, right? It's been a long time since I partied with some little honey. What say we call up one of those escort services and have them send us over a little something?" Danny was already adjusting himself to his vastly improving economic circumstances. "A prostitute? Let's take care of this training facility you insist on visiting, first. Later, if you are still so inclined, we'll find suitable companionship for you." "Squeamish are we Caleb? Working girls know what they're doing, and you don't need to take all your time trying to put them in the mood for it. It's cheaper in the long run too." "I'm hardly squeamish. I'll be the one enjoying the physical sensations, while you will be nothing more than an interested observer. You will perceive only what I choose to share with you." "That isn't the deal we made. You said I could do what I wanted, as long as I didn't do anything to stop you from sticking it to those Feltarian invaders. I get to enjoy while we wait, not to watch and listen while you use my body to enjoy. I want to taste, feel, smell, hear and see what we're doing. Otherwise, I'm not really living." "My point exactly. I am hosting your barest essence. Stored memories of a lost consciousness. In the most real sense of the word, you don't actually exist. You are the sentient afterglow of a life most assuredly lost." "So, fix it. You seem to be able to fix everything else. Hook me up in some way that I get to enjoy the honey too." "The energy required to make this available to you is too precious to waste in such a foolhardy manner." "That's your problem, and not a part of what we agreed to. If you can do it, you have to do it, that was our agreement." "We had no such agreement. I agreed to allow you to dictate some of the activities pursued during the waiting interval, nothing more. We never spelled out specifics, other than your desire to continue hitting people as a way to earn your way. This energy I've been entrusted with is irreplaceable." "Bull shit! You just don't want to share with me." "I'm not exaggerating the importance of retaining my stored energy force. Do you have any idea of the energy required to move a mass the size of your planet?" "No, but so what? I know that if someone was smart enough to produce the energy required to travel here to throw a whole planet at some space ships, they must be smart enough to figure out how to convert our energy to theirs. Didn't you bring an adapter or something?" "The light energy thrown off by your star itself, doesn't contain enough radiant energy to propel a planet in the manner I've been sent to accomplish." "I don't believe you. All this energy is stored inside me now, right?" "That is correct." "This is stronger than atomic bomb energy?" "A concentrated beam of my energy would be capable of destroying your star." "So, why are you using it to throw a planet? Why not point all that energy at the Feltar Fleet and zap them before they know what hit them?" "We of the KAL are neutral in this war. If we used our energy directly against them, it would leave a traceable signature leading directly back to us. The Feltarian Fleet colliding with a mass as large as a planet would accomplish our purpose just as well, and without leaving a trail pointing to our interference. This is a matter of importance, in as much as we are purporting to be neutrals." "You're killing Earth, just so people don't know about you deciding to fuck over these Feltars?" "A matter of coincidental paths, and nothing more, I assure you." Caleb felt the fist smack into his gonads, and he screamed in outrage from the pain shooting out and radiating from his groin. In his anger, he allowed Danny to experience the pain also. Instead of reacting like Caleb thought he would, Danny was laughing at the pain, knowing that he had accomplished what he set out to do. "How could you do that to yourself?" "A matter of coincidental paths, and nothing more, I assure you." For the first time in countless millennia, an entity of the KAL considered committing suicide. Were it not for the waste this would entail, Caleb might have acted on this thought. His sense of duty prevailed though, and he contented himself with giving both himself and Danny a severe headache. Danny experienced the sensation of pain, but he also noted where the energy came from that caused the headache. It was from the same place the light had come from to clean and repair his apartment. ------- Chapter 3 Caleb settled into a comfortable routine with Danny, by simply allowing him to spend all his awake time at the gym. His workouts attracted the attention of quite a few of the bystanders that often frequented boxing gyms, looking for some little edge in their wagering on fights. Knowing that a boxer was having trouble making weight for an upcoming fight, or that a fighter was nursing an injury, could present a nice opportunity to a bettor. In Danny's case, he was just moving around the gym, shadow boxing, working on the heavy bag, and jumping rope. It is easy to spot a superbly conditioned athlete, they stand out with their body movements and the ease with which they perform physical tasks. Being new to the gym, Danny drew a lot of attention. It wasn't so much what he was doing, it was the casual ease he displayed while performing all of his workout routines. Danny had begun to move around smoothly again. He had been working out for several weeks, when he was approached by one of the matchmakers representing a well known casino. This was a casino with a celebrated boxing history. Danny was being asked to fill in on one of the under card bouts for a world title fight that was scheduled to take place in another week. Caleb had been adding one or two pounds of body mass each day, until he had attained the weight Danny had requested. He had also restructured the distribution of that weight, so that the waist was smaller, the hips narrower, and the back, shoulders, and biceps muscles increased in mass. Danny had always possessed strongly built legs, but now, they were more chiseled looking, and the residual internal scarring from an old knee operation had been dealt with, giving the knee greater strength, increasing, by a wide margin, Danny's ability to push off on it. The knee repair had increased Danny's power with his left hand. Power that he had shown often, as a young boxer, but which had been sorely missed, after the accident that had required the initial corrective surgery. The casino's matchmaker thought he was going to be taking advantage of Danny, by matching him with a highly rated prospect in the heavyweight division. He had looked up Danny's record, and knew he didn't belong in the same ring with the young kid they were trying to showcase on the under card. He thought Danny would present almost the perfect opponent. Danny looked like he'd be formidable competition, but his boxing record indicated his boxing skills had been seriously impaired. When he weighed Danny, he marveled over his quick weight gain. A month before, he'd fought at one eighty four, and on the scales at the gym, he'd weighed Danny in at two sixteen. Danny would have weighed two twenty, exactly, had it not been for the water weight he'd dropped in that morning's three hour workout, which had taken place right before he was weighed. Since the fight was to be scheduled for ten rounds, and was the bout right before the main event, the matchmaker's original offer to Danny was only three thousand dollars. This was an insulting offer, especially since he wanted Danny to take the fight on such short notice. Caleb and Danny knew, from scanning the promoter's thoughts, that the original opponent had been set to receive ten thousand dollars for his participation. This was before he was forced to pull out after suffering a shoulder injury after slipping while training. "This guy I'd be fighting, isn't he undefeated? I hear he's pretty tough. I think I'll have to take a pass on this one. Three thousand isn't nearly enough to get me to climb in there with him." "Don't forget, this could be a nice showcase for you Danny. You've never fought in this weight class. Your last fight was a knockout loss against a nobody. You haven't exactly been burning up the circuit as a light heavy." "That was before I got my hands fixed. Now I can punch, and they don't hurt me at all. I think I can put on a good fight for you, but not for three grand." "I'll sign you for three, and if you do make a good fight of it, I'll take care of you after. How's that?" "No, I'll still pass. I'm not sure I'm ready to move up yet. I'm still trying to shake off the differences from all this weight I've been adding. My timing is a little bit off. I feel like I'm getting muscle bound. I need time to find my balance again." "Look, I'll go to five, because I really want to have a good fight before the title bout, but don't try to hold me up for any more than that." The matchmaker was already getting steamed because, in his mind at least, Danny should have been grateful that someone was willing to take a chance with him. "Sorry, not interested. Maybe in a month when my hands are completely healed, and I'm used to dragging all this extra weight around." Danny and Caleb knew just how far they could push this guy. "Danny, this is a mistake. You and me, we could do a lot of good for each other here. You help me out now, and I could help you out later, when you might need a little help. See what I'm saying?" There was a wheedling, whining quality to the man's speech when he pursued things past this second refusal of his offer. He wasn't used to his offers being spurned, not by punch drunk pugs, dead enders, the likes of Danny. "I'd do it for ten, as a favor to you. We both know what's probably going to happen. I think I can stay with your boy, and hold my own, for six or seven rounds at least, but if I'm wrong, I want to get something for all the pain and trouble being wrong is going to get me." Caleb and Danny waited as the promoter ran down his other options. He could always fly someone in, from out of town, but that would probably end up costing him more in the end, after paying out the purse, and for the fighter's and handlers round trip flights. It would cost a bunch, not to mention having to put the fighter and his handlers up, as a full comp, at the hotel, for a few nights. This pug standing right in front of him looked so perfect. He didn't want to take any chances with his fighter. Danny hadn't knocked anyone out in four years, plus he was a natural light heavy trying to move up. What kind of punch could he possibly have? "I'll pay you eight, and you better not lay down the first time he hits you. For eight, I expect you to really try." "Twelve now, because I don't like it that you tried to feed me to your lion, on the cheap." "I'll pay you the ten, but only because I'm going to enjoy seeing my guy turn you into sausage. I won't forget you holding me up like this either. I've got influence around here, and people will call me to ask what I think of you. After this fight, you better head back to Los Angeles, if you ever expect to get any new fights. This will finish you in Vegas." The next day, Danny stopped off at the Casino, to sign the contract, and to let their own doctor look him over. Later, he had to submit to another physical examination, this time by the doctor hired by the state athletic commission, to give everyone some assurance that Danny would be cleared to go on the day of the fight. "Why do you persist in engaging in this barbaric exercise, human? I don't have so much excess energy that I can continue to waste it on repairing the damage you will be receiving." "This is what I do, I'm a fighter. As good as I'm feeling, who says this guy will even lay a glove on me? I might take him out right away. I had eight or nine first round wins, back when I was winning all the time." "You are not planning on making your usual fight? Are you not concerned that people will notice the marked increase in your abilities? Do you not worry that people will wonder at this new found skill? Can we afford for them to know that you have been repaired and enhanced?" "A win now would be considered as only a lucky fluke. Later on, after I start winning regular again, that's what people will be expecting from me. Nobody will think nothing about it, until after I've strung a few solid wins together. After I do that, then we'll need to be a little more careful about how I look in the ring. We can't start looking too good, or people will start ducking us again." "Why do you not challenge this champion you wish to topple? It seems to me that one fight is infinitely preferable to many." "Fine with me. You set it up, and I'll fight him. I don't know how you're going to manage doing that, but I'm all for it, if you can." "Which one of these men is your champion?" Caleb was looking all around the gym. "None of them. You think a world champion would hang out in a dump like this? There's four different champions right now, and I think they all live over in Russia, or someplace around there. This is America, we don't have any heavyweight champions here, not right now. You don't just walk in off the street, and challenge any of the top fighters. You have to earn your shot at them." "Your thoughts tell me that you believe the process could take five or more years?" "About that. Right now, it's going to be harder than it would be if I was some kid starting off fresh. I've got a lot of previous losses I'm going to need to live down. I need to do something flashy. Enough to make people look at me in a different light, to forget about how many losses I've had. That's why we can afford to take this kid out quick. Nobody will be expecting anything. They'll just think I got lucky, caught him on an off night, or that he came in cold, not ready to fight." As the night of the fight drew closer, Danny had Caleb cease with his all night poker playing. Feeling the need for some favorable pre-fight publicity, Danny was offered a small suite at the Casino that was promoting the boxing matches. In return for the free rooms, Danny agreed to make himself available for any members of the press, or any other media that wanted to meet and talk with him. Except for a single question, asked at the weigh in, by a Los Angeles based reporter, Danny wasn't invited to be interviewed before the fight. "Danny, after tomorrow's fight, will you be announcing your retirement?" "If I should lose tomorrow, I'll have to really consider it." The media people who were familiar with Danny's fight history, over the past six or seven years, greeted his statement with a small chorus of muttered remarks. With the exception of Danny, no one in the room thought he stood even the slimmest of chances in his match. Happy with his official weight coming in at two twenty, right on the button, Danny waited around to pose for some pre-fight photos with his opponent. The kid was tall and rangy, with a big wing span. Danny thought it might be a three or four inch advantage for the kid. They were close to each other in weight, with Danny having a one pound advantage. Caleb was reading the opponent's thoughts, allowing Danny to listen in as well. There was no hint in the boy's mind that there was even the possibility that he could lose. In fact, he was already planning on attending several post fight parties with his new girlfriend. He loved Las Vegas. Loved it like Danny had, and like several hundred other young, still rising, boxers who had come before him. The kid was enjoying the new world that was opening itself up to him. His fists were making his future, and he was determined to make it last for just as long as he could. Danny saw a lot of his younger self in the kid's seemingly endless belief in himself. He had the confidence that came from never having any reason for doubting his future. Danny felt certain that he was going to untrack the kid's future with the upcoming fight. There was a small, wistful, part of himself that wished he didn't have to do it. He knew how devastating that first loss could be. The night of the fight proved somewhat anticlimactic. Danny was as tense and high strung as he had ever been before a big fight. He remembered the feeling. It came because he knew that he was going to win. It had been awhile since he went into a fight having the jitters and being on edge. Caleb didn't understand, couldn't understand what this fight meant to Danny. This was what he lived for. He'd never gotten tired of feeling the energy, the electricity, the sense of anticipation, that went through any crowd gathered in an auditorium, waiting for a big fight. Even though the main bout was only a world's light welterweight title fight, the mood was festive, and the fight was well attended by famous people from the boxing world. When he finally was called out of the waiting room for his fight, Danny was loose and sweating. He felt an unaccustomed strength and power coursing through his body. Caleb, wanting to take no chances at all, had infused Danny's body with highly efficient energy receptors. Every nerve and synapse was functioning at or near its peak performance capability. For the duration of his time in the ring, Danny would be operating as never before. The fight started off with a quick left jab, immediately followed by a straight right hand, both from the kid. Danny blocked the jab, slipped the right hand, then fluidly countered the right with a perfectly timed left hand of his own. That punch, landing perfectly on the kid's jaw, effectively ended the fight, putting the kid down to the canvas for an early eight count. When he got up, he was still groggy, confused from the impact of the punch he hadn't even seen coming. Danny moved right in when the ref signaled it was okay, landing a three punch combination, putting the previously undefeated contender away for the count. The whole fight lasted less than a minute, and the crowd was stunned into silence at the sudden, totally unexpected, ending of the fight. After the fight, Danny was interviewed while standing in the ring. In this interview, conducted by one of the pay per view ring commentators, Danny was able to watch the knockdown, and, later, the knock out, several times on the monitor the crew placed in the ring for the commentator's use in the post fight interviews. Part of the reason for the interview had been to allow a few extra minutes of delay, enough for the main event fighters to get ready to make their appearances. No one had anticipated such a quick ending to the bout. "Danny, I must admit, most of us, gathered here at ringside, we didn't expect such an easy time of it for you." It was obvious, from the commentator's thoughts, that he had believed the fight would end with Danny, himself, being counted out by the ref. He had his notes prepared for the anticipated post fight interview, but it was notes readied for an interview with the kid that was trying, with great difficulty, to make his disoriented way down from the ring. His legs were still quite unsteady, and he was shaking his head in answer to all of his trainer's questioning. "I think he wasn't expecting too much from me. Maybe he saw some tapes of my last few fights, I don't know. I came in here feeling very good. My hands felt good for the first time in years." "You had a hand injury?" "Both hands. For several years now. A friend loaned me some money, so I was able to get them repaired. They don't hurt anymore." "Where do you go from here Danny?" "Back in the gym to train some more. I felt good with the extra weight tonight. I was afraid it would make me slow, but, I caught him when he missed me, and that slowed him enough so I could catch him again, later. We'll see if anyone else calls, wanting me to fight their unbeaten fighters now." "Well, there you have it. Danny "Pretty Boy" Sanders, he wins in a surprise knockout over previously unbeaten George Cloverdale. Let's look at that knockout one more time, Jimmy." The play by play man took over, talking from the side of the ring apron, while the color commentator, who had just finished with Danny's interview, stripped off his headset, starting to walk away from Danny. When the microphone went dead, the commentator's assistant looked right at Danny, thanking him for taking the time to tape the interview. "Tape? That wasn't a live broadcast?" Danny seemed upset by that news. "No, it was put on tape. If the big fight ends early, we'll play this. Don't worry though, your bout went out live to the pay per view audience. They're watching two prelims now, then we'll cut to the main, live again." Danny felt disappointed. He had thought the people watching on the television were seeing his interview. He hoped the title fight ended early enough that his fight, and the interview after it, would be shown. ------- Caleb continued in his winning ways in the major poker rooms in Las Vegas. He marveled at the seeming unlimited pool of poor players frequenting the big cash games nightly. There were several players, professionals, who had seen enough to know to avoid any table where Caleb was seated. Other professionals seemed to have self destructive tendencies, sitting and playing with him night after night. Ego was a common component among these players. They believed their skills were superior to anyone else's, and were not persuaded differently, in spite of their fast dwindling bank rolls. Caleb detected several teams of players colluding with each other in the games he played in. These games were the most lucrative for him since he could side step any starting hand where he was at a big disadvantage. When he had the advantage, their team play simply increased the amount of money he won. Danny was back in the gym every day now, working hard on every phase of his skills. He wasn't improving those skills, since Caleb kept him at peak abilities already. Still, training was part of what boxing was to Danny. He felt better after a strenuous multi-hour workout. It was a whole month before he was offered another short notice bout. This one was in Reno, and it was a four round preliminary for two thousand dollars. Danny accepted the bout, because it was another opportunity for him to improve his record, without drawing any major attention to himself. He flew in and out for the fight, arriving early on a Thursday, and returning late Friday night after an impressive second round knock out. It was impressive because Danny never allowed his opponent to get one punch through his defenses. Danny toyed with him until early in the second round, when he unleashed a well timed nine punch combination for his impressive finishing barrage. Back in Las Vegas, Caleb and Danny were working towards finding a workable arrangement about sharing the sexual pleasure of having a woman. There was this very cute "21" dealer over at Caesar's Palace that Caleb and Danny had both spotted. Caleb let Danny know that she was theirs for the taking. All it required, he said, was a tiny bit of energy, and some minor tweaking of her pheromone receptors. Caleb would enjoy her first, and then, after, when he was done, he'd allow Danny to have a turn with her as well. Caleb knew there was a slight danger in allowing Danny access to nerve endings and pleasure centers, but he also knew he could quickly contain any attempt that Danny could make to seize permanent control. "We need to get close to her when she's outside the casino. I have her address. She gets off at midnight." "Isn't this like rape?" "Not at all. Besides, she finds me very attractive." "You mean me, don't you? I'm the real person here." "Human, you continue to wrongly consider yourself an independent entity. Do you doubt what I've told you?" "I don't doubt what you've told me. I think I'm more than you say I am, but I believe I'm less than I'd have to be to survive on my own. I have ways to control some things, for short periods." "Perhaps, but only when I'm not fully on alert for it." "Really? If you believe that, then get as alert as you can be, and I'll still do something." "Very well. I am prepared." "You think you can prevent me doing anything right now?" "That is correct." Danny started pissing down his own leg. He was pleased to feel Caleb's disgust and anger. His urine flow was quickly turned off, but Danny had made his point. "You can't prevent everything. How much energy did stopping my piss cost you?" "Very little. In fact, it was less than I was prepared to expend to allow you to participate in the sensory enjoyment of Shelly. Instead of doing that, we'll return to the Bellagio." "Caleb, whatever I'm missing out on, you'll miss out on too." "Time is on my side, human. Soon enough you will learn that these minor displays of yours cause you greater harm than they do me. Now we wait until I begin to feel confident that I can trust you." Danny sent out his maximum thought energy to the source of the stored light. He felt a searing heat, then he lost any awareness. It was several months before he was restored to the approximate level of consciousness he had enjoyed before performing his little experiment. "Can you hear me. Caleb?" "I sense your feeble attempt to communicate with me, human. What now?" "What happened?" "Do you mean what happened to you, or what happened to my vessel, and the energy I brought from the KAL?" "What happened to me?" "You were overcome by energy radiation. I am restoring you, because Caleb of the KAL lives up to his agreements, even if you choose not to do so. You have cost me much with your senseless vandalism. I now have need of replenishment, before I can complete my mission." "Are you leaving then?" "That is impossible. My mission needs to be completed before I may do so. When the time comes, I will harvest sufficient energy from other nearby solar systems. Unfortunately, that will deplete this entire sector of the galaxy of it's mass. There is no help for it. Nothing can be allowed to obstruct or sidetrack my mission." "How much time has passed since I was awake?" "Not much at all. Less than one of your so called years." "Did I have any more fights?" "No. That is your dementia, not mine. I refused all offers on your behalf. Instead, I have been using my energies to produce financial security for myself." "I'm a fighter, we agreed. Have you been exercising?" "There is no need, human. You are as ready for your barbaric endeavors, as you were when you tipped over my energy reserves. Unlike with you humans, maintaining peak efficiency is second nature to the KAL. We are always ready." "What happened with Shelly? Did you have her without me?" "Her, and many more besides. As I mentioned before, these childish tantrums harm you more than me. Had you been more cooperative, you too could have enjoyed these women." Danny wasn't certain how it was that he knew Caleb was lying to him, but he did know, and, more than that, he understood that some of the balance of power between them had been shifted in his favor. Knowing, and acting on that knowledge, those were two different things though. "We wouldn't have so much trouble, Caleb, if you'd be content to let me have a fair say in how things go. You need to treat me as an equal." "An equal? I am of the KAL. You are a barbarian. Less than a barbarian, more like the ghost of a barbarian. Do you treat ants like equals on your planet?" "I would if I really needed an ant to cooperate with me. We have a deal, and you still insist on not living up to what we agreed to." "I can force your cooperation, human. Our deal was about allowing you to pursue this boxing passion you seem unable to let go of. It has nothing to do with sex, equality, or anything other than this single pursuit you insisted upon." "You can insist if you choose to Caleb, and you might even win, and have things all your own way. If you do, you won't have my cooperation, and I'll do what I can to fuck up all your big plans for that Feltarian Fleet." Danny allowed Caleb to see for himself the absolute determination he felt about having his own way. He didn't know whether he had the ability to hide anything from Caleb, but it didn't really matter to him in this instance. He was serious in what he'd stated. He was betting everything that Caleb needed his active cooperation. "You've already lost one of your years, Danny." Danny took heart from Caleb having referred to him by his own name, rather than as either human or barbarian. It wasn't much, but it was at least a beginning along the pathway to equality. Danny was unable to read Caleb's thoughts, they were jumbled together, coming too fast for any understanding by a human's mind, or what was left of his. "I can't just roll over and let you get all the benefits from my success. Being the champ is my goal, but being treated like the champ, enjoying the life of the champ, that's why I wanted it." "Your success? You were dead, Danny. That's your success. That you have any life left at all, this is all my doing. Be grateful that I've allowed you what I have allowed. You are pushing me past the point where you are economical to me. It would cost me less, in terms of my precious energy reserves, to just abandon you, or render you back into the void." "Then just do it. Don't threaten me. I don't believe its true anyway. If it was, you'd have done it by now. I've got something new I can do, something you wouldn't have prepared for. I know how to use up a lot more of that energy you seem so determined to conserve." "Stop! This is getting us no where. You force me to make a choice. Very well, I shall cooperate more. You may have the so called fruits of your success, but only if we can agree on one condition." "Name it." "I'll need to leave, for two of your Earth years. I'll leave you enough light energy to retain your current level of physical well being, enough to last you until my return. When I return, I'll be replenished, with sufficient energy to accomplish all that is needed." "So? What's the condition?" "You'll need to lower your resistance, to allow me to exit. Unless you do so, I'll have to divest from you after your life force has ceased." "What resistance? I'm not resisting you." "Danny, when you tipped over my energy vessel, somehow you erected a shield to protect your essence from the energy. In doing so, you've erected a barrier between me and the energy I need. You need to lower this shield in order for me to exit." Danny realized then that this is what he'd been picking up on with the different way that Caleb had been acting towards him. It also explained why Caleb had done whatever he'd done to return Danny to a state of consciousness. He'd been working for almost a year to restore Danny enough to be able to once again communicate with him. Caleb of the KAL was trapped! As soon as Danny had the thought, he could sense a mental groan from Caleb, lending credence to the correctness of his sudden insight. "Tell me again about why I should trust you not to fuck me like you were planning on doing before?" Danny tried to get a mental picture of this barrier that Caleb was referring to, but he could picture nothing. He did 'feel' Caleb's presence more than he ever had before the incident with the energy spill, but he had no idea about any barrier that might be erected. "It is a shield, Danny. Think energy, not a physical barrier. I see it as a grey shadow, surrounding both of our essences. An energy cloak." "I can't see anything like that. If I wanted to help, what do I need to do?" "I hoped you knew. It seems impervious to my best efforts at removing it. It is an energy I've never before encountered. It isn't light energy, and it doesn't radiate or absorb. It simply is." "Why does my being able to create this energy threaten you so? Why are you thinking about destroying me?" "Never before have the KAL encountered such an energy shield. To our certain knowledge, such a shield has never before existed, and yet, it now exists, preventing my reabsorption back to light energy." Danny felt Caleb's fear and wonderment. In all the recent recorded history of the KAL, recent, as in the last fifty thousand Earth years, they hadn't encountered any new energy type. Danny's creation of this new type of energy had become infinitely more important than stopping the Feltarian Fleet. Caleb needed to get himself free, to warn the KAL of this new, possibly, destabilizing, threat to their energy mastery. Because Caleb was so concerned, his fears were communicated to Danny. Because Danny had so much experience with finishing off an opponent in trouble, his first reaction was to lash out at Caleb, to see for himself whether he was vulnerable or not. Had he any semblance of physical control he might have attacked his own body, using his hands and feet to do so, but Caleb had neutralized those two options, knowing Danny's tendencies to strike out blindly at whatever he could reach. What Danny could do, he did. Managing to blow out a tiny capillary in his right eye, and shut down several nerve endings on the back of his right arm. That was it though, and it had taken all of his mental energy to accomplish that much. He sensed Caleb's energy force being deployed against him, but this time he wasn't aware of it in any physical sense. There was neither light nor heat from it. What he felt was a malaise, a sense of being attacked, but it never seemed to grow past a manageable level for him. All it accomplished was a strengthening of his resolve to withstand as well as he could. He wasn't aware of losing consciousness, but when it came, it swept quickly over him. Had he known the level of pure light energy that Caleb was forced to expend in order to neutralize his tremendous resolve, Danny would have been proud. Danny came awake suddenly, knowing as soon as he did, that he was once again in command of his body. He could even feel, from a sense of emptiness, that Caleb of the KAL had departed. He tried to sit up, becoming dizzy with the effort to do so, but still curious to know where he was, and where Caleb had gone. Next to the cushion he was sitting on, was a thin sheaf of papers. Before departing, Caleb of the KAL had left a nine page, single spaced, typed listing of all of the do's and don'ts that Danny was to follow. One sentence stood out in BOLD typeface. YOU HAVE SUFFICIENT ENERGY TO KEEP YOU ALIVE UNTIL I RETURN. DO NOTHING TO DEPLETE IT. Danny wondered what nothing meant. Did it mean that he had to remain in the room he'd awakened in? How long did Caleb say he'd be gone? Danny felt sufficiently recovered from his earlier dizziness to try to stand up inside the room. When that worked for him, he began searching for some clothes. He wanted to go outside and explore the limits of his new existence. ------- Chapter 4 Danny had no idea of how long Caleb would be gone, and even less of an idea about what the alien had meant about his doing nothing to deplete the energy. What he did know was he was somehow back in charge, making all the decisions again. The remainder of Caleb's long list of instructions included details on how to access his money. One hour after awakening without Caleb's presence, Danny was down at the gym he trained at, putting out feelers in hopes of finding his next boxing match. He was determined to enjoy this newfound freedom of his for however long the opportunity lasted. Over the course of the next six months, Danny enjoyed himself as much as possible. In that time, he fought four additional bouts, slept with forty or fifty hookers, and went through all of the money Caleb had so painstakingly acquired. This was in addition to all the new revenue his boxing had produced for him. When he woke up one morning, it was as if a physical clamp had been applied to his brain. He knew, instantly, that the alien life force had returned, and had somehow reinvested itself in him while he was sleeping. His disappointment upon discovering this was immense, and Caleb felt a sense of triumph at having caused it. "I have returned, Danny. Rather than regretting this, you should welcome the improvement my being here will mean." "I was doing just fine without you. I was living large too. I'm ranked number twelve now by the NABF. Not that it means squat, but at least I'm ranked by someone. I've been promised a shot at their title if I come to California and take part in the elimination challenge they're putting on there next month. The money sucks, but the last two bouts will be nationally televised. It could be some good exposure for me." "You had exhausted almost ninety percent of the energy reserves I left here for you. You are fortunate I returned so expeditiously. Another few weeks, and you would have ceased to exist." "That's what you say. For all I know, I don't need you at all any more. I feel just fine. I sure didn't miss having you sitting in my head." "Very well. I brought back sufficient reserves this time. All you have to do is ask me to release you from our agreement, and I shall depart immediately." Danny shivered a little when his senses informed him that Caleb didn't appear to be bluffing. He wasn't sure how he knew this, but he was almost certain that Caleb wanted him to accept his offer. His common sense also told him that Caleb felt there would be advantages to him if he did depart from Danny's body. "Are you upset because I spent all our money?" "Do you wish me to release you from our agreement?" "What happens to me if you leave?" Danny was very worried. In spite of how well he'd been feeling, he could tell that he'd already begun to lose some of his sharpness and energy. It had been for this reason that he hadn't already committed himself to participating in the NABF title elimination bouts. He wouldn't have been worried about one more bout, but the elimination format called for up to four fights, over a twelve week period. "After I first leave, nothing happens. I'll leave you with the remaining life force energy you had when I first returned. If you pace yourself wisely, you should be able to survive for an additional thirty nine to forty three of your days. If you continue on as you have been though, I'd estimate something just short of twenty more days." "If that's true, I'd be stupid to accept your offer." "True. That doesn't mean you might not accept. I'm sensing your reluctance. How about me throwing in enough energy for you to survive for an additional month? Would that entice you?" "Forget it, we already have our deal! I've still got another fifty two years according to our deal. I want all of it too." "I tried. Lucky for you, once someone of the KAL has given his promise, nothing but treachery from the other party can prevent them from honoring that compact." "Did you get enough of that energy thing of yours to give the Feltar's the business when they come here?" "I am now well equipped for any contingency concerning the Feltarian Fleet. That is now the lesser task that I've been assigned. My superiors are curious to learn more about this new type of energy you've somehow created. It is their wish that I investigate it until I learn how to create a shield such as the one you were able to create. Perhaps you might create another such shield for me now?" The first thought that Danny had was that he had no knowledge of this supposed energy shield that Caleb had referred to. Not knowing what it was, he had no idea of what he needed to do to recreate it. What he did know, and this was instinctive knowledge, was that it would impact unfavorably on his chances to improve his deal with Caleb if he were to admit this ignorance. Danny was shrewd that way. He knew how to negotiate. "I'm a little upset right now. Let me think about what you're asking me to do. I notice you aren't all that fired up about sharing any of your secrets with me. How do I know you won't just take my secrets and leave me worse off because of it?" "I could release energy in the same way it occurred before. Perhaps this shield was a non voluntary response? If you are able to create it independently, you should do so. It might be very dangerous to you if I'm forced to conduct trial and error experiments." "There you go making those threats again Caleb. I thought you'd learned your lesson by now? How many times do I need to prove to you that you can't get what you want by trying to intimidate me?" For Danny, this outburst was prompted by a combination of fear and anger. He really didn't like anyone trying to bully or intimidate him, but he was also very afraid that Caleb might try those experiments on him, and, inadvertently or not, extinguish his life by doing so. "That's good, Danny. Hold it right there! This is wonderful, a partial shield. Keep it where it is so that I might study it. No! Bring it back! I still need to examine it." As soon as Caleb claimed to have observed Danny erecting a shield, Danny's anger fled and nothing but abject fear remained. Apparently, this shield needed anger in addition to fear. Danny was doing all he could now to control his angry feelings. "If you want to study something in addition, something we haven't already agreed to, don't you think it would be better if we first negotiated my compensation for providing you access to my knowledge?" Danny could feel Caleb's anger, and his frustration. With practice, Danny was getting quite competent in sensing Caleb's thoughts and moods. While Danny was gaining competence at shielding his thoughts from Caleb, he was also improving his own ability to sense any profound changes to Caleb's emotional equilibrium. He was acquiring useful knowledge of his opponent. This is something he'd trained his whole adult lifetime to be able to do. "Very well. State your price." "It seems to me that you owe me some kind of an apology first. An apology for all those things you said about the reasons why you and I can't treat each other as equals." This got another strong emotional outburst from Caleb. As quickly as his mental tirade began though, it ended. Danny sensed right away that Caleb was on to the fact that he could gain knowledge and advantage from pushing Caleb's emotional hot buttons. "Perhaps you are right. If so, I apologize for my earlier less than generous appraisal of our relative abilities. You have something I wish to examine and study. What would entice you to allow me to do so?" "I accept your apology, really, I do. Unfortunately, because of your earlier threats and actions, I still remain unconvinced that you won't take this knowledge of mine that I'd freely give you and then turn around and fuck me really good after you had it. I need some time, and proof, from your new attitude and actions concerning me, to reassure me that you've honestly changed your opinion as to what my proper place should be in this partnership we've struck." "We struck no partnership! It is the farthest thing from a partnership, this agreement we now have. Is a flea a partner of the dog? I've tried to be reasonable, Danny, but you presume too much when you try to characterize what we have as a partnership. I am of the KAL, you are a mere human. My dog flea analogy was far too generous to you. I am a universe, and you are a small insignificant particle of dust stuck to the hind quarters of that flea on the dog." "Then do your worst. If I'm so insignificant, I'm sure that this energy you were so excited about studying before is just as insignificant. I can't prevent you from doing what you want to, but I sure as hell don't have to cooperate and make things easier for you. Fuck you, Caleb, and fuck all them KAL too. I really hope them Feltarian ass holes find out what you're up to and stick it to you like you're planning on sticking it to them and to us." Without knowing he was doing so, Danny had erected the very energy shield that Caleb was so desirous of studying. The problem Caleb now faced was that the shield had somehow managed to once again surround his essence and now cut him off from the same energy source as before. Additionally, the shield Danny had just erected was now several orders of magnitude stronger than the previous shield which Caleb had barely managed to penetrate before, and only then after first rendering Danny unconscious. The first that Danny realized that something like that might have occurred was when he picked up on Caleb's concern and fear. There was a period, one that lasted for approximately an hour, before Danny's anger failed him and the shield dropped away. During this entire time, Danny had consciously been trying to maintain his displeasure with the alien. It was a fortunate happenstance that the shield surrounding Caleb didn't lend itself to him studying it. In the intensity of Danny's anger, the energy surrounding Caleb seemed more like a fog to him than anything else. It was only in the waning minutes, as Danny's anger began to crumble and fade, that Caleb was able to get any inkling of what the energy might consist of. Even then, he managed to only glean enough to postulate that the energy derived from human emotions. "I was afraid I was going to have to render your last remaining life force null if your shield held like that for much longer. Even for the time that you kept it up, you presented some small danger to myself. I caution you to think twice before coming between me and the energy I control." "Are you quite certain that you controlled the energy, Caleb? It seemed to me that you weren't in control of much while I was showing you the shield as you requested. Why is it that you always resort to threats when I try to show you a better way?" Danny was winging it. Like any good fighter, he knew when he had his opponent a little bit off balance. He had no idea that the shield was doing anything more than upsetting Caleb. "Do not try to make so much of a simple parlor trick, Danny. It is interesting, no more. Had I been so inclined, I could have easily defeated it. Part of my curiosity was in learning how long you could maintain the energy field without anyone else interfering. I will admit it was somewhat impressive. I will also concede that you seem to have good voluntary control over it. To what purpose, I don't yet know. Tell me what you think it might be worth to me to gain your cooperation in allowing me to study this curious phenomenon further?" "I already told you what I thought, but you just mocked me for it. I say we just forget about that, and stay with our original deal. It seems like neither of us have much interest in helping the other beyond that point." "Perhaps you are right. I accept your proposal that we work together under our current existing agreement, at least until such time as you have gained greater confidence in my willingness to be fair in all my dealings with you. You are quite wrong in thinking that I wish to take any unfair advantage of you. We shall continue on just as you desire though. Let me know when your unwarranted fears have been put to rest, and we'll discuss this shield at further length." Danny knew that Caleb wasn't as sanguine as he was attempting to appear to him. He sensed a strong need on the alien's part to get to the bottom of this so called energy shield. He'd already told Danny that finding out more about it was more important than attacking the Feltarian Fleet. Any fool could extrapolate from that information that the KAL didn't want to kill off a whole planet of humans who might hold the key to this wholly new source of energy. Danny sensed their interest was in controlling, exploiting, and profiting in some way from it. Danny wasn't just any fool either, he was the only human who had access to any of these KAL, whatever the hell they turned out to be. If someone was going to turn a nice profit from discovering this new energy, it was going to be Danny Sanders, the original inventor of this new shield. That night, as Caleb resumed poker play over at the Bellagio, Danny pretended to sleep, hoping to gather some intelligence, in the event Caleb's thoughts became less guarded from him. An hour into it though, Danny found himself drifting off to sleep. Caleb had, instead, been concentrating solely on the opponents he was facing in the game. As Danny slept, his thoughts and memories were searched by Caleb. What he learned as he searched was enough to give him pause. Finding out that Danny had been able to erect such a formidable energy force without having any real awareness that he was doing so, was truly frightening to the alien operative. Danny was turning into a very formidable adversary. Caleb wondered if Danny had been able to create this new energy prior to being invested by Caleb and his own formidable resources. He would need to find another human and see whether he could replicate the same result. If he could, then Danny wasn't unique, and Caleb needn't be concerned if something occurred which rendered Danny into a non viable construct. The alien's greatest fear was the possibility of finding that Danny was unique in his ability to promulgate this new energy source. If this was true, then Danny would become someone more valuable to the KAL than Caleb was. He couldn't afford to allow that to happen. ------- Chapter 5 When Danny first awakened, early the next morning, he was aware that his mind had somehow been reorganized. It was as if he'd become more intelligent again, like all his thoughts and memories were once again synchronized. His first thought, after realizing this, was that Caleb had been busy working on him as he slept. His second thought was an appreciation for what Caleb's work had provided for him. He felt sharper, more energetic mentally than he'd recently been. It was as if his brain had been given a thorough cleaning. Everything was as it should be, and his thoughts now flowed smoothly once again. Over his long boxing career, Danny had noticed that some of his thinking and ability to talk to other people had been degraded from the punishment he'd received to his head. When the alien had first come to him, Danny had noticed the improvement in concentration, speech, and his ability to communicate with people. In the six months that Caleb had been gone, Danny had been aware, at least subconsciously, that his skills had once again started to diminish. He was still a better fighter than he'd been, before Caleb, but, in his last fight, he'd had to absorb some punishment himself before he'd managed to defeat his opponent. His thinking had seemed slower, more labored to him. He now realized that it took good mental skills as well as the more obvious physical talents in order to be a successful fighter. The mind told the body what to do. "You messed with my head again while I was sleeping." "If you are trying to thank me, you are doing so in a strange way. All I did was to return your thoughts and memories to where they were before I left. I also repaired the damage to your brain that you'd suffered in my absence." "I didn't get hit that much. Maybe in my last fight I got popped a few times, but I've been hit a lot harder than that before. I felt just fine when I went to sleep last night. Don't pretend you do these things just to help me." Caleb didn't see any advantage to continuing on in the vein they had been taking. He had questions he needed answered, and he couldn't get any of the answers he wanted while he remained invested in Danny's body. Before he'd left the last time, to return to the KAL, Caleb had modified Danny's life force so that it could utilize the same energy it did while Caleb was present and able to provide a substitute energy to power Danny's biological requirements. He had made a slight miscalculation in the amount of energy necessary to sustain all of Danny's life functions. When he had first returned, he was surprised to find Danny still alive. According to the corrected calculations he had made, Danny should have burnt up all the remaining energy, sometime early in the fourth month after Caleb had left. Instead of this being the case, upon Caleb's arrival, Danny still had sufficient energy to last him for as much as another two months. Caleb needed to find out the reason for this, and couldn't do so while he was resident in Danny's body. He also wanted to find out if Danny was unique in being able to create this new energy of his. In addition to all the other reasons for his decision to reside in a different biological host, Caleb was fearful of the increasing strength, and the degree of Danny's control over these shields he was erecting. He believed there was far less chance of his needing to extinguish Danny's life force in the event his own continued existence was threatened again, if he were invested in a separate living entity. He wouldn't make the same mistakes with any new corpse he might invest. This time he'd make sure that every possible life energy had been fully extinguished prior to his taking it over. The only real problem he foresaw in all this was with how he was going to be able to maintain any semblance of control over Danny, once he had divested himself from Danny's body. "I'd still need that energy, right?" Hearing Danny question him like that, as if he had been able to follow all of Caleb's recent thoughts, struck terror into all the alien's synchronized thought paths. He came very close to overloading his system. "What do you mean?" Caleb tried to overcome the stark terror he felt after hearing the question. He hoped that Danny had been referring to something of his own, not inquiring about Caleb's own dilemma. "You want to make yourself safe from me being upset with you. I can understand that. I want to be free of you too, but not so free that I get myself dead again. We both need each other. If you're going to be doing any experimenting, I'd rather you did it on someone besides me. We both want the same thing, so I think we can make some kind of a deal." "How long have you been able to listen in on my thoughts?" "I don't know. I think I could always do it a little, right from the beginning. Now though, it's like you're speaking right to me. When you want to do it, and when you might not want to. It sounds the same to me, and it's annoying too. You never stop thinking." "You agree with me that it might be preferable if I start inhabiting another?" "Only as long as you doing that doesn't have any effect on that other deal we made. I'm still going to get my fifty two years, and you'll keep me sharp, so that I can keep on fighting. Fighting and winning." "I will consider what you are offering. If I were to do this, you would still need the energy you get from me in order to remain alive. Nothing has changed to obviate the necessity for this. Do you have any ideas about the kind of human I should look for to invest myself in?" "Maybe a boxing trainer or a good manager. Better if it were a trainer who can also act as my cut man. Someone it would seem natural for me to be hanging out with all the time. Either that, or else a good looking young chick. People wouldn't think anything was strange about me having a girlfriend." It was later that morning before the answer to both their problems appeared on the television set in Danny's suite at the casino. A famous young female actress had collapsed the previous evening at one of the night clubs in Las Vegas, apparently from some kind of a drug overdose. She was currently in the hospital, on life support. Her divorced parents were fighting over whether or not to order the life support removed. Reports were being made asserting that the twenty one year old girl had ceased all brain function, due to the severity of her overdose. One parent was the beneficiary of a five million dollar insurance policy taken out on the actress's life. The other parent, her father, was refusing to allow the life support to be removed. He was claiming that his ex wife was motivated by her greed at receiving the insurance proceeds. He admitted that his daughter would probably never recover, but said he couldn't bear the thought of letting his beautiful little girl go. Just after noon, the newscasters started reporting that the girl's parents were participating in a closed conference with their respective legal advisor's. It was being reported that they were discussing how an amicable resolution to their dilemma might be found. One reporter said that he thought some kind of deal between the parents was being brokered. "Could you get down there before they pull the plug on that girl? She'd be perfect as my girlfriend. Since she's already brain dead, you wouldn't have to worry about getting any of the same kinds of problems with her that you've had with me." "You are forgetting the problems I would have to face in light of her fame and notoriety." "Her face would open a lot of doors for me. With her at all my fights, it wouldn't take very long for me to get my shot at the title. Do this one thing for me, and I promise I'll work with you all I can to help you understand that new energy thing you've been so worried about." "I'll hold you to this promise, Danny. Let's go before they end up declaring this girl dead." It took fifteen minutes by cab to get over to the hospital where Lindsey was being treated. Once there, they found hundreds of curious people standing vigil outside the hospital. It was a circus atmosphere. Danny felt Caleb leaving him, and knew he'd have to keep standing there, just outside the entrance until Caleb either reappeared, or sent him some signal to tell him to leave. Danny missed the hurriedly called press conference forty minutes after Caleb departed from him. While still in an apparent coma, Lindsey's brain wave activity had suddenly resumed. All her other physical indicators were being monitored. Doctors were unable to explain why her brain wave signals had gone flat for so many hours, and then suddenly resumed again. Speculation among the various television pundits was that something had gone wrong with the monitoring equipment. Lawsuits were already being prepared. At six that afternoon, Lindsey regained consciousness. The first words out of her mouth were to request the whereabouts of Danny Sanders. She adamantly refused to answer any questions until after she was reunited with her boyfriend. By six thirty, some member of the hospital's staff was out by the front entrance calling Danny's name. Word had finally spread down to the assembled crowd that Lindsey was apparently going to recover. Within minutes of word of this change in her condition, mostly coming from people in the crowd who had cell phones and internet access, the crowd began rapidly dispersing. By the time the hospital employee came to the front entrance, shouting out Danny's name, there were fewer than twenty people maintaining their vigil outside the hospital entrance. Danny walked up to the man who was shouting and identified himself. "Lindsey's regained consciousness. She wants to see you. Will you please come with me?" Danny nodded, and then followed the man inside the hospital. He was led to a small elevator and then taken up to the third floor. After walking down a long corridor, he was ushered into a well lit hospital room. Against the far wall he saw Lindsey in a hospital bed. The mattress had been raised up so that she was sitting almost upright. The first thing Danny noticed was that her facial color seemed off, a little too pasty looking, and her hair was tousled and looked dirty to him. She didn't look much like she'd looked in the movies he'd seen her in, or even the TV news reports when she'd been arrested, or when the paparazzi had taken pictures of her outside the various night clubs. She had a high forehead too. On the plus side, he could see that she still had those great tits, and he thought she'd look a lot better after a few good nights of sleep, some healthy food, and a nice long shower or two. "Danny, can you help me get out of here? They're saying they want to keep me here for another few days." "Who's saying this? It better not be the same people that were going around telling those TV people that you were brain dead. We're going to be suing their asses off for telling those people that. Where are your parents?" "I told the hospital not to let them in here. Did you hear what they were going to do?" "I heard. I came as soon as I could, but they wouldn't let me in to see you." Danny turned to the three doctors and two nurses who were in the room with Lindsey and him. They looked nervous. "Do you have any idea of the damage you've caused by telling people that Lindsey was brain dead? Suppose her mother had been able to get you to terminate her life support, and then Lindsey had woken up like she did? We're getting out of here, right now, before you incompetent ass holes figure out any new ways to kill her off. If you try to stop us, you'll all end up defending yourselves against enough malpractice lawsuits to ruin you, financially. Where are her things?" When they nodded to the clothes closet, Danny went over there and saw this tiny black dress. There were puke stains on it, and it stunk to high heaven. He knew he didn't want to be around anyone wearing something like that. The smell almost made him sick, and he was standing four feet away from it. "Where's her under things, and her purse?" "She didn't have anything on under her dress, and she didn't have any purse that we saw when she was brought here by ambulance." The older doctor was telling Danny this. Lindsey was wearing one of those hospital gowns, the kind that was tied by strings in the back. "I think her mother brought a suitcase with some of her things in it, but I don't know where it is now. She might still have it with her. She's been taken to a private waiting room on the floor beneath this one. Should I call down there to find out?" "Go ahead and call her. Tell her she can come up to visit for five minutes, but only if she brings that suitcase with Lindsey's things." Five minutes later, Lindsey's mom arrived, carrying a blue overnight bag. She spent the next ten minutes making cooing noises over Lindsey, getting nothing at all back from her daughter. While she was there, Lindsey got up out of bed and started rummaging through the bag, looking at what her mother had brought for her. Danny had one of the nurses call out for a taxi, and direct it around to a seldom used side entrance. Twenty minutes later, Lindsey and Danny left the hospital together, but not before they made her sign a bunch of paperwork. Danny didn't bother reading any of it, but he'd have been willing to bet it released the hospital and staff from any legal liability concerning her treatment while a patient there. Lindsey wore dark sunglasses, and had some kind of a skiing cap over her hair. The taxi driver didn't seem to recognize her, and Danny had him drop them both off at the corner of Las Vegas Blvd and Flamingo Road. The driver said he couldn't do that, but a twenty dollar tip soon changed his mind. The pair walked up to the overpass crossway on the Caesar's Palace side of the street and walked into the Bellagio from there. Five minutes later, and they were safely inside Danny's suite. Lindsey got on the bed and, not three seconds later, Caleb was pushing himself back inside Danny's mind. "That went well, Danny. I need to get right back to the corpse, but I needed to let you know it was going to be another day or so before I've gotten her completely stabilized. You have enough energy so that this will not be a problem for you." "When will she be strong enough for me to fuck her?" Danny felt something like a shudder taking place inside his head. A second after that, he was gone. He hadn't answered Danny's question before he left. Danny noticed Lindsey's eyes opening soon after, and then she stood up and walked into the bathroom. Less than a minute passed before Danny heard the toilet flushing, and then, the shower starting up. Twenty minutes later, she came out, her hair was wrapped in a smaller towel, and she had a bigger towel wrapped around her, covering up all the good parts. "Danny, you can't do what you said earlier. This is still me. I'm using her body, but I'm still Caleb of the KAL. I have no interest in having sex with you." "I don't want that either, Caleb. Can you fix it so you come over here for awhile, and then we'll both fuck her?" "I don't want to risk modifying her as I did you, Danny. Stop thinking of her as who she looks like. All her thoughts and feelings are now my thoughts, my feelings. Her brain has ceased operations. I'm in the process of rebuilding it, to make it my substitute. I've isolated all her previous thoughts, feelings and memories, but I'm putting them back together differently than I did with yours. She will be only what you were intended to be, a vessel for me to use while waiting to complete my mission." "This is another instance of your bull shit, Caleb. I told you I wanted her for my girlfriend. You agreed to help me. I'm going to be fucking her. A lot. I don't care where you need to go while I'm doing that, but the deal I made was for me to have her as my girlfriend, and to fuck her. Maybe you can fix it so that I can share some of my energy with her while you're gone somewhere else." "If we were to do that, I'd need yet another host. This time it couldn't be another girl, because you'd just end up wanting her too." "Sounds all right to me. Do you need for the host to be a stiff, or to be brain dead?" "I don't need that, but it seems somewhat callous for me to take over an otherwise viable life form." "The guy I'm thinking of, you'd be doing him a huge favor if you took him over. You can fix anything that's wrong with him, right?" "Of course. Still, you were for all intent and purposes already dead, and you still seemed to resent my investiture." "This is different, a lot different. Did you run across any of my memories about Chico Villareal, a friend of mine, another fighter?" "The one who had that automobile accident down in Mexico? The quadriplegic?" "That's him. I was thinking that you could really help him out if you did the same thing for him that you did for Lindsey. He's not brain dead or anything, but he can't do squat for himself. He lives in this place over in Hermosilla, in Mexico? They feed him, wipe his ass, and do everything else he can't do for himself anymore. He's thirty years old, and hasn't moved his own arms or legs by himself in about eight years. I visited him about six months after he got hurt. I was fighting in Hermasillo then. He wanted me to help him die, but I couldn't do it. You, me, and Lindsey, we could fly down there to see him." "Why him? Why not someone easier, someone closer by?" "Lindsey, that's why. When Chico and me ran together, we used to share some of the girls we got. Not like those threesome's you see on the internet, and none of that queer stuff either. We took turns, that's all. Sometimes, we'd have two girls and we'd switch. I didn't mind doing that, and neither did he. Right now, if he's even still alive, I'm sure he'd take any deal he can get. The point is, you'd have another guy who wouldn't mind you taking over his body. We could both fuck Lindsey then, and we wouldn't have to be arguing over it. Chico was a great guy too. If you could help him like this, I'd be grateful to you for doing it." It took some time to get Danny a new passport, over a month. While they were waiting, Danny engaged in another boxing match. This time it was on the under card of a heavyweight title bout. Lindsey was at ringside for the fight, and she got more press attention than any of the fighters. Danny put his guy away in quick order, showering and changing quickly to go join Lindsey before the main event got started. It was an uneven bout, with the Russian champion looking slow and sluggish for the first five rounds. His American opponent had to be ahead on all the judges scorecards, but he got too careless in the early part of the sixth round and ended up being knocked down twice in the round. He survived to come out for the seventh, but was quickly stopped by a straight right hand. During the after fight interviews by the reporters on hand, Danny was asked about his relationship with Lindsey. "We're just good friends." Danny smiled and had his arm around Lindsey's shoulders protectively as he said this. "Are you just friends, or are you lovers too?" Danny recognized the reporter. He was a man who had "dogged" Danny every chance he got. He'd written several columns deriding Danny's boxing skills. "That's none of your business, Frank. We're friends. However we choose to interpret that friendship is our business." Two days after Danny's passport arrived, he and Lindsey flew down to Hermosillo. They didn't find Chico at the home where'd he'd been the last time Danny had come to see him. He got another address from the people at the home, but Chico wasn't there either. Those people had a son, a twelve or thirteen year old boy, who agreed to take Danny and Lindsey to where Chico now lived. When they got there, Danny was appalled at the squalor Chico was being forced to live in. The state government had this building where people like Chico existed, waiting to die. The smell alone was almost indescribable. Living, if that was what you could call it, all bunched together, each patient having an open bay consisting of eight feet by seven feet of space. It was enough for an old surplus army style cot and the two or three cardboard boxes containing all of Chico's personal belongings. All these patients were cared for by a Catholic charity group consisting of lay sister's of the church. Danny took a deep breath and walked over to where the kid pointed. The individual he saw laying on that cot might or might not be Chico. Danny couldn't tell just by looking. "Is that really you, Chico? Man, you look like shit." The hard black eyes staring back at him from that wasted body were really all that remained of his old friend and sometimes sparring partner. Seeing those eyes brought home to Danny that this was, indeed, his old friend. "That you, Danny? Man, what you doing here? You got another fight here?" Danny was happy to see that Chico still recognized him. He had bulked up quite a bit since the last time the two men had seen each other. "Chico, remember the last time I saw you? You wanted to die. Do you still feel the same way, now?" "I'm not sure, man. This ain't so much, but I'm used to it now, you know? You didn't come all the way down here to ask me that question, did you?" "Not really. It would make what I do have to ask you easier though, if you had still felt the same way as before." "You aren't going to try to get me to donate one of my kidneys to you, or my lung, or something like that, are you? Shit, Danny, as bad as it already is, I don't need anymore problems like that." Danny could see the distrust and disappointment in Chico's eyes. "No, not anything bad like that. If I told you what it really was, you'd be sure I was nuts though. What if I told you that I knew a way where you could get up from that cot and walk right out of here?" "I'd tell you to light one of those up for me too, so I could start having those kinds of pipe dreams. Man, I've got a severed nerve in my spine. No way I'm ever going to walk again. If Superman couldn't beat it, how do you think I can?" "Suppose I told you that I was dead, and now I'm back, better than new? Remember that actress, Lindsey? They said she was brain dead, but she's out in the street in front of here, right now, waiting for me to come back out there. The thing of it is though, she isn't really that Lindsey from before, and I'm not the same Danny I used to be either. We're both controlled in some ways by this alien, Caleb of the KAL. We need this energy of his in order to stay alive. We can do all the things we used to do, and we'll be fine, until he decides to leave us. When he goes though, we'll be dead soon after." "Danny, this isn't very funny to me." "I know it isn't, Chico. I told you about both sides of it because I thought you needed to know everything before you decided. You can really walk right out of here, in about five or ten minutes. If you decide to go for it though, you'll have Caleb that you'll need to put up with and deal with. It might take him a month or two, but he could have you fixed up and back in shape to go ten rounds again, if you wanted to do that. You'd have to do what he tells you though." "Why don't you leave now, Danny? You've changed, man. You never used to play games with people like this. This is some very cold shit you're pulling with me now." Danny could see that his words were upsetting his friend. He didn't want to do that. He wished he'd thought of a better way to approach Chico. A way where he could prove some of what he was saying. He turned and left Chico where he was, walking back out into the bright light of Mexican summer. Lindsey was standing there, seemingly comfortable with all the people passing by and admiring her looks. It had taken only a week or so for Caleb to restore her looks to how they'd been before she started drinking, and using all the drugs. Now, she looked really healthy. She radiated that something extra that had first gotten her noticed by the casting people when she was a young child. She oozed vitality and charismatic energy again. In all the time they'd been together, Caleb still hadn't allowed Danny to take any physical liberties with Lindsey. It was frustrating to him. He'd really been hoping that Chico would turn out to be the answer to his problem with Caleb, hoping that with Chico there, Caleb would start allowing him sexual access to Lindsey. Caleb had warned him that Lindsey, without him, would have all the attraction and response of one of those blow up sex dolls. Danny didn't believe that. Danny hadn't ever tried one of those dolls. It didn't sound that bad to him though. If a blow up sex doll looked as good as Lindsey did to him, he was willing to give it a try too. This time, Lindsey went into the building to see Chico. One of the Catholic lay sisters brought her over a stool to sit on. She put it close to Chico's cot and sat down. Using Lindsey's eyesight, Caleb looked over the wasted face and body of the human confined to the canvas cot. "Chico, did Danny tell you that I could cure you?" "Man, you don't look like no alien to me, fine thing. That whack fucker said all kinds of crazy things to me. What's your name?" "I am Caleb of the KAL. Should you wish it, I can repair your body, restore it to full function. In return for my doing so, you would have to first grant me full access and control over your person, after I have restored you." "You are just as dog shit crazy as Danny is. What can you do that a whole damn team of doctors couldn't?" "I can repair the damage you suffered. In order to do so though, I'd need to inhabit your mind and body. I can effect sufficient temporary repairs to render you mobile, but it would take a lot more to completely repair you, or to restore you to full health once again." "Tell you what. I don't believe one word of this, but I don't have zip to lose either. You want my permission? You've got it. Show me something. I'm waiting." "I will be gone for awhile. In order to do what I've told you I could, I need to take Lindsey back to our hotel room. Danny and I will return shortly. When we do, you will be leaving here, soon thereafter." Lindsey stood up and left the building without pausing to hear anything that Chico was trying to say. It was a short walk back to their hotel room. "Danny, in order for this to work, I'm going to need to transfer your life force and non material essence into Lindsey's body. I'll stay here with you, long enough to make sure you are properly oriented, and that there are no problems." "Will this make me into a chick if I do this? How do I know you won't just leave me in here and abandon me?" "If you're serious about wanting me to help your friend, this is how it must be done. I am unwilling to make the changes in Lindsey that would be necessary to leave her, temporarily, self sustaining. With the changes I've already made in you, I can control both you and Chico for a short time. Long enough to get him back here so that I can make the changes necessary to repair his most severe damages. Even after I get him walking again, it will take me a lot of additional time and effort to fully restore him to any real semblance of his former self." It took several minutes for Caleb to transfer those parts of Danny over to Lindsey. Once that was done, he needed to match up their responses so that Danny could access all of Lindsey's motor skills and retrieve her thoughts and memories. After Caleb left, in complete control of Danny's body, Danny tried to orient himself to Lindsey's body. For such a young girl, Lindsey had led a remarkable existence. The level of sexual experience her accessed memories testified to was mind boggling to Danny. She had actually done things he had only dreamed about talking any girl into doing with him. One thing was certain, she had absolutely no qualms at all about fucking her way to stardom. From the age of thirteen, she had been trading her sexual favors, to both men and women, for any advantage she could get to advance her acting career. In addition to this, Lindsey would perform sexual services with anyone possessing even the slightest amount of fame or of any form of renown. When she was seventeen, she had given a Japanese fellow passenger a blow job, in the first class section of the plane they were on. She did this because the recipient of that blow job had mentioned that he'd once shared a Nobel prize in chemistry. Reliving her memories, Danny found himself getting very turned on. Since he and Lindsey were now alone together, Danny decided he might as well take advantage of things by stimulating her further with his hands and fingers. By the time Danny's body and Chico came to the hotel room, Danny had so stimulated her, that he ended up propositioning his own body and Chico. Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity, Caleb got Chico's body settled on the bed and returned Danny's essence to his own body. Once he had reinvested himself in Lindsey's body again, he became somewhat caught up in her sexual arousal. For a few seconds he entertained the notion of allowing Danny to have his way with Lindsey. In the end, he decided against doing that. Working on Chico's problems became somewhat easier than working on either Danny or Lindsey had been. Chico already had an independent, sustainable, life force. Fixing the severed spinal nerve posed little difficulty to Caleb. Retraining Chico in how to control all his bodily functions once again posed the greater problem. They stayed in the hotel room in Hermasillo for ten more days. At the end of that time, Chico had regained most of his prior good health and a good part of his once excellent physical conditioning. There were still problems with his timing and execution, but nothing Caleb was too concerned with. Danny figured a month at the boxing gym, and Chico would be ready for a bout on his own. Danny gave Chico six hundred dollars when he left, telling him to make his way North, to Las Vegas, as soon as he could. Chico had always claimed to be an American citizen, telling people he'd been born in East L. A. Danny didn't know whether or not he believed his friend. For an American, Chico had sure spent an awful lot of his time in Mexico, even before he'd been injured. A week after Danny and Lindsey had returned to Las Vegas, Danny told Caleb that he'd waited long enough. He was going to fuck Lindsey. He'd gotten tired of being made to wait. He and the alien worked out a compromise together. Danny's body would fuck Lindsey's, but the two male essence's would share both bodies while this was being done. Danny had managed to overcome whatever squeamishness he might have previously felt. When he'd been inside Lindsey's head, he'd been able to feel what she'd been feeling. As far as he was concerned, he knew he'd always be the guy, even though he might also experience some of Lindsey's reactions to what he was doing to her. The first time did feel pretty weird to him though. He definitely was aware of some of her sensations. He felt himself penetrating Lindsey, and he also felt Lindsey being penetrated by him. When it came to experiencing orgasms though, Danny soon found out who got way the better of that deal. Lindsey was really a hot little number. She started out a little slow, but, unlike how it was with men, her pleasure just seemed to keep building and building for her. When she finally did manage to get herself off, it was a much stronger response than any sexual feeling Danny had previously known. Caleb too was surprised. His prior sexual references had all been provided through Danny's body. He was thus limited to experiencing Danny's reactions and responses. Lindsey was much more responsive than Danny. Any type of physical or mental stimulation pushed her along a well defined path. She had more erogenous zones than Danny, and seemed to understand the preferred way to build to a satisfying finish. Her objective wasn't just to be carried along to orgasm, it was to experience the fullest, most satisfying, orgasm she could possibly orchestrate. She knew her own body, and had more than enough experience to wring the most from it. In this one area, it seemed that Lindsey was beginning to assume some degree of self control. Danny didn't notice this, but Caleb sure did. During the period when Caleb and Danny were taking a rest, it was Caleb that remained inside Lindsey's mind. He experienced her sexual afterglow, while Danny was content to wallow in his own. For Danny, this had been very satisfying sex. He had been aware of more this time than any of the other times, and he hadn't had to pay her for the privilege. The only anxious moment he had was when he started worrying about whether Caleb would permit him to have any repeats of what had just taken place. He needn't have been worried. Caleb had gotten at least as much out of the experience. Lindsey too, for that matter. She had long been a young woman who had allowed her senses to lead her around. Hence all the sex and drugs. Anything that induced a strong physical sensation in her. What would seem excessive to others, had always seemed like little enough to her. As July gave way to August, Chico made his way North to Las Vegas. Danny had given him his contact information. While Danny and Lindsey had been going at it hot and heavy on the mattress in their suite, Chico was edging his way across the border into Arizona. During his ten day journey north, Chico had been trying to decide whether or not to rejoin Danny and that alien of his. If he had any kind of confidence that they wouldn't come looking for him, he'd have made his way to Los Angeles and disappeared along with all the other undocumented Mexicans there. These fears, and the vague hope that this alien could really put him back on track again as a boxer, were what kept him from turning and heading west. That Danny though, who could have imagined he'd go through so much bother to help someone like Chico? Chico knew he'd always be grateful for that help. Now that he could walk again, and was able to take care of himself and all his bodily functions, he knew he'd rather be dead than have to go back to enduring what he'd lived with for the past eight years. He'd been surprised, and a little ashamed not to have said that to Danny, when he'd asked him the question before. All those years of being helpless had helped to rob him of his former machismo. He was happy to see it coming back. He'd need that, if he was ever to resume his former occupation. Chico hadn't ever been like Danny was. Fighting wasn't anything that came naturally to him. He didn't have the skills or the training that Danny did. For Chico, it was all about grit, heart, and determination. He'd had that once, enough to get him ranked as a junior middleweight, before he was forced by his body to move up to full middleweight. He thought about all of this before he managed to catch a ride into Las Vegas. Back at the Bellagio, Caleb and Danny were discussing their options concerning Lindsey. Ever since her release from the hospital, her only public appearances were when she and Danny went out for something fight related. With her glowing health once again restored, and with her no longer being seen acting up on every gossip or celebrity TV show, some people in Hollywood were starting to wonder if she hadn't possibly outgrown her wildness in the same way that Drew and Demi had outgrown theirs. For the first time in awhile, producers were mentioning her name again. Feelers were going out to see if she might be interested in sitting down to discuss some upcoming projects they had for her. It was common knowledge that Lindsey was shacking up with Danny Sanders now. She was never seen, unless he was right there with her. Everyone who saw her was commenting about how good she looked, and how happy she seemed with Danny. No one understood her seeming attraction to Danny either. He wasn't even that good of a boxer, in spite of his recent record. The only reason people were even talking about him now, was because of Lindsey. "Can she still act? Now that you control her, I meant." Danny wanted to know what limitations Lindsey had now. "She can do anything she ever could do before. Her mother told her that someone was offering her two million dollars for a three week shoot on location in Ireland. She wanted to come over here to drop off the script. I told her no." "Two million dollars? For three weeks, and no one is even going to be hitting her?" Danny was incredulous. "If we were to do this, do you think you could find someone to pay you to fight over there at this same time? They have boxing over there, do they not?" "They had a champion over there only a few years ago, a black English guy. He retired though. I could probably get something, especially if they knew Lindsey was going to come to the fight and watch me." Later, Danny listened as Caleb had Lindsey tell her mother, over the phone, that she was interested in talking to someone about signing on for that movie part. Since that first time when Caleb and Danny had fucked Lindsey, neither of them had brought up the idea of them repeating it. "That thing we did to Lindsey the other day, what did you think of it?" Danny decided he couldn't out wait Caleb, and had decided to reopen the discussion with him. "I didn't think about it too much. It was you who insisted. I went along to make sure there were no negative consequences for her." "Were there any? Negative consequences, for her?" "None that were apparent to me. From the physiological standpoint, it seems to have had beneficial effects. I'm also noticing she appears somewhat calmer since it occurred." "You want to fuck her some more?" "Danny, I'm not going to deny you this access to her. If that was what you were hesitating over, do not concern yourself with that. Now that I'm satisfied no harm will come to her, I no longer would insist on you sharing in her feelings." "Suppose, that I wanted to share them again? That would be all right too, wouldn't it?" "In order for you to do that, I'd have to repeat what I did before as well." Danny got up and turned off the light to the bedroom, after first making sure the sheers and drapes were fully closed. He undressed and got on the bed with Lindsey. He waited until he felt part of his essence being transferred into Lindsey's mind. This time, Danny took more notice and care with his attentions to Lindsey. He knew now what pleased her most. He was willing to wait for his own satisfaction, knowing that he would also be sharing in hers. He felt a little strange going down on her, and stranger still when she first began to reciprocate on him. It was a very good thing that it was so dark in that suite. If it hadn't been his own dick he was sucking, Danny couldn't have gone through with it. Even then, when he came, a feeling of distaste almost overwhelmed Lindsey's mouth and Danny's brain. When she came, and his tongue felt a copious increase in the juices coming out of her, Danny felt a little strange too. He could feel Lindsey coming, and he felt his tongue on her pussy. He worried, lest he begin to enjoy feeling that pulsating pussy too much. Before this, he'd always been a guy who had never had any doubts about his masculinity. He'd been approached by gay men before, but had never even been tempted in the slightest. Being on that same bed with Lindsey now, he had vivid memories of her sucking on his cock. That was fine with him. What wasn't fine was his participating in giving that blow job, and with him sharing that taste and texture as he'd blown his wad into her mouth. The straight fucking afterwards had been fine. There was no ambiguity about his spunk landing inside her pussy. He didn't have a pussy, and his mind understood this. He did have a mouth however, and he couldn't very well forget his first taste of spunk. He knew that he and Caleb still had some work to do to iron out the kinks in his plans for Lindsey. Even though he knew no spunk had gotten in his mouth, as soon as they were finished, Danny got up and went to brush his teeth. Caleb watched Danny running off to the bathroom. He had experienced all the same sensations that Danny had. Perhaps he had less of an objection to these kinds of things. He'd enjoyed the totality of it, participating fully in all four orgasms they'd managed. He'd also felt Lindsey coming more alive as her senses triggered her body's responses. Caleb found that Lindsey was far more accomplished in enjoying physical pleasures, certainly more accomplished than Danny had ever been. As he luxuriated in her afterglow once again, Caleb couldn't resist wondering how sex might feel with a male partner more proficient than Danny. Lindsey retained clear memories of all her previous sexual partners. Some of these were famous men, while others were nonentities she'd just happened upon in her travels. One or two stood out above all the rest. If the opportunity arose, Caleb thought it would be worthwhile to put Lindsey back in touch with a few of her former lovers. No one would ever know that Caleb was invested in Lindsey. He'd have to take pains to see that Danny never found out about it though. ------- Chapter 6 Caleb was dividing his time between Chico and Lindsey. He spent short periods of time invested in Danny too, but, for the most part, he stayed within the other two. In all the experiments he'd tried, neither of the other two had shown any ability to produce the new energy source that Danny had managed to bring forth. Caleb was beginning to fear that it was he who had been the catalyst that had initially instilled this ability in Danny. Each day he carefully measured Danny's use of the white energy still left within him. This use rate was consistently the same, about what Caleb had projected, except for times when Danny was either angry or upset. The effect was even greater if he was also fearful those times when he was angry or upset. When he raised that protective energy shield of his, the power it gave off was adding itself, somehow, to the white energy reserves. Thus far, while the energy produced was impressive, it still wasn't close to being sufficient to power Danny's life force by itself. Despite this, it was a significant amount being produced, enough to make a material difference in augmenting the white energy's projected lifespan in any case. It had been more than sufficient to insure Danny's continued healthy existence after Caleb's miscalculation of the amount of energy needing to be left when he had journeyed back to the KAL before. What worried Caleb was the fact that Danny appeared to be practicing ways to build that energy shield on demand. Caleb was monitoring this practicing, and noticing the progressive ease with which Danny was managing to put this shield back in place. Caleb believed that Danny was unaware that he'd been noticed. He had said nothing to Danny about it. Chico was just as diligent in pursuing his boxing training as Danny was. Caleb, after observing Chico in action, had made significant adjustments, to his physique, hand eye coordination, and his foot and hand speed. In the process of aiding Chico, he had copied some of Danny's knowledge and training, then fed it into Chico's own memory system. As a result of all this extra help, Chico's boxing skills and ring ability were now very much improved upon. Lindsey had signed the contracts to appear, in her co-starring role, in the movie soon to be filmed in Ireland. She was due in Dublin in a month and a half. Chico was in the process of getting an American passport. Caleb had managed to get an original birth certificate issued in the name of one Hector Villareal, born in Pico Rivera, California, thirty one years before. Chico's real name was Manuel, but he was more than happy to become this Hector Villareal, a man who was a real U. S. citizen. The April sixth birthday was welcome too, because Chico had lost track of what his real birthday had been. As soon as Chico's new passport arrived, the three of them would be traveling to Ireland together. Both Chico and Danny had signed for and participated in boxing matches in Las Vegas before they left. Danny fought an eight round preliminary bout against another local heavyweight, and Chico fought a three round preliminary bout against an unseasoned middleweight opponent. Both of them won handily, by knockout. Chico was ecstatic, first, to be back in the ring as a fighter again. Second, to be so much more accomplished as a fighter than ever before. His third reason for being ecstatic, was because, after the fights, he was offered a turn in bed with Lindsey. Danny and Chico took turns with Lindsey for most of the night. Caleb was invested in Lindsey during the lengthy sexual marathon. Danny hadn't mentioned anything about his wanting to participate in any of Lindsey's experiences this time. Chico wasn't even aware that such a thing was possible. If he had been aware of it, he wouldn't have wanted any part of something like that anyway. Caleb had found himself somewhat disappointed in Chico, as a new lover for Lindsey and himself. Both he and Lindsey were more impressed with all the extra effort and energy Danny had put forth that night. Having Chico there now, knowing it was someone he might be compared against, had stirred up Danny's competitive juices to the point where he had really made a strong effort to bring Lindsey more pleasure than he might have otherwise, if it had only been he and Lindsey alone. It was hardly an orgy, this gathering of theirs. At no time during these festivities were Danny and Chico in the bedroom together with Lindsey. If they had been together though, neither Caleb or Lindsey would have had any objection to that. Caleb was actually more than a little disappointed that nothing like that had occurred. Caleb also noticed that Lindsey "came alive" to a certain degree during these sexual episodes. This was another disturbing manifestation to him. He wondered what it took to really kill off a human. They were turning out to be unlike any other life form in his experience. Lindsey seemed to receive some form of energy from having any type of sexual stimulation. At several points during their final coupling with Danny, Caleb could swear that Lindsey had raised and lowered her own hips, acting on her sole volition. This was another thing he'd need to take some time to study and examine. The trio flew to London ten days before Lindsey was scheduled to appear on location for the filming of her new movie. Danny and Chico tried contacting some English boxing promoters, but with no tangible results to show for any of their efforts. They were both unknown boxers in England. On their second day in London, while out seeing the sights, the three of them were accosted by a mob of photographers, and some other people who were referring to themselves as TV and newspaper reporters. They were there primarily to take pictures of Lindsey, and to shout out questions to her about what her plans were while visiting England. No one there seemed to know who Danny was, or what he might be to Lindsey. The same was true of Chico, but he didn't think that strange or remarkable in any way. Danny saw an opportunity though, and he was determined to make the most of it. "We came over with her to see if we could get any of your countrymen to agree to a boxing match with us. I guess you don't have any fighters left now though, not since Lennox Lewis retired, and Mayweather went and kicked Ricky Hatton's butt for him." This brought more shouts and abuse than Danny would have figured. It also got the cameras and microphones pointed his way. He was repeatedly asked to identify himself. "I'm Danny Sanders. This little monkey next to me is Chico Villareal. We both believe we can beat anybody in our respective weight class. That goes double for anyone who lives on this little island of yours. Lindsey likes it a lot when we beat people up in the ring. It makes her horny. Too bad you don't have anyone here with enough balls to give us a go." These words occasioned fifteen additional minutes of excited yelling and screaming. Three of the photographers there in attendance offered to take on either Chico or Danny, right there where they were standing. It seemed that patriotism wasn't dead in the British Isles. Instead of accepting any of their challenges, Danny told all assembled how any interested promoters could get in touch with him. They had lunch, and then walked around for another couple of hours. When they got back to their hotel, there were four separate phone messages from suddenly interested promoters and matchmakers. When they turned on the television, Danny's face was plastered all over it, and the sound bites of what he'd said were being played repeatedly. For once, he'd gotten more press attention than Lindsey had. In the next two days, both Danny and Chico signed on for two bouts each. In the first bout, Danny had signed to fight a London up and comer. For the second bout, contingent on Danny prevailing in the first, Danny would fight the reigning British champion, Danny Williams. This was someone that Danny hadn't ever heard of. In both of these bouts, Chico had signed to box in the semi main event, right before Danny's bouts. Originally, the plans called for the three of them to go to Dublin, to stay with Lindsey while she shot her portion of the movie on location just outside the capitol. Now, with the first bout scheduled for less than three weeks hence, and the second bout only five weeks after that, Danny changed his plans and decided he and Chico would remain in London to train, and Lindsey and Caleb would go off to Ireland alone. Caleb was delighted with this change. It would give him a chance to experience Lindsey with other males. Both Danny and Chico trained diligently after Lindsey left. They were up early and running, then down to the gym to work out on the speed bag and the heavy bag. Both men shied away from engaging in any real sparring, although both of them worked out in the gym's twenty by twenty practice ring, sharpening their foot work, and getting used to the footing they'd have on the ring's canvas floor, and the slightly different rope placements they favored in English boxing rings. Chico and Danny both ended up buying different boxing shoes. The ones they'd brought with them had proved too slippery for the canvas flooring they used over there. Danny had come up with a plan of his own. In England, they had legal bookmaking. These bookmakers would establish their own odds on a fighter, and anyone could take either side of the bet. Danny had been installed as an eight to five favorite for his first bout. Less was known about Chico, but he still was a six to five pick 'em choice for his first encounter. Danny and Chico didn't place any wagers on themselves. The night of the first fight, Lindsey surprised them by flying back to London to attend their fights. The movie's producer had elected to shoot around her scenes in order to garner the publicity for his film that her being in attendance at the fight would mean. Lindsey had shown up on the set each morning, sober, and ready to do her work. For this reason, the scenes she would be appearing in were mostly already in the can. No one had really expected her to be so focused and ready to work everyday. Lindsey had engaged in a brief affair with the leading man, an aging British actor, but it had only been a two night encounter. Caleb had been disappointed. Lindsey had shown the tiniest amount of awareness as she happily added this actors name to her list of celebrities she'd fucked. Caleb still had no notion of how that was possible for her to be doing it. In his first fight, Danny deliberately made himself look bad. Not bad enough to lose though. He was behind on the judge's scorecards though when he appeared to connect with a very lucky looking flailing left hand. When the opponent went down from this blow, almost no one in the audience could believe it. When he later failed to get back up, the booing was loud and boisterous. Chico had handled his opponent rather easily, although he failed to knock his opponent out like Danny had done. The decision was lop sided and unanimous though. Early odds on Danny's next bout were heavily in favor of the local Champion. Danny made his first bet, wagering two thousand pounds on himself, at odds of five to one against. That night in their hotel room, Danny and Chico both took their turns again with Lindsey. Once again, Danny ended up getting the nod from the judges. He had expended less energy for his fight than Chico had for his, and unlike Chico, he still thought of it as a contest to be won or lost. During the second session between Danny and Lindsey, something really strange happened. Danny was on top, pounding away. His arms had Lindsey's legs pulled up so that her pussy was angled up in a way to allow him maximum penetration. Lindsey and Caleb were both enjoying the wonderful sensations this was bringing to them. Suddenly, without any forewarning, Danny's essence penetrated through to Lindsey's brain. This was totally shocking to Caleb. Never, not in his wildest imaginings, would he have believed such a thing possible. He was attempting to formulate some counter to this incredible demonstration of Danny's abilities, when something even more amazing took place. Caleb discovered that he himself had somehow became wrapped up in Danny's energy shield. This time, Caleb really was cut off from access to any of his white energy deposits. He was helpless to do anything to free himself from the energy cocoon that Danny had trapped him in. He was completely enclosed in what appeared to him to be solid walls of thick gray fog. Movement, in any direction through this fog proved impossible. Half an hour later, Caleb found out something else that was too incredible for him to give it credence. As instantly as he had been trapped in that thick shroud of fog, he found himself released from it, just as suddenly, and again, without any warning. One minute he was hopelessly trapped, and the next, he was free. Free, but no longer invested in Lindsey. He wasn't invested in anyone, and, moreover, he no longer had any access to, or control over, the white energy he'd brought to Earth with him. "What is the meaning of this, Danny? Why have you attacked me?" Caleb noticed that Lindsey was lying peacefully on the bed now. His senses informed him that Chico was asleep in another room of the suite. Danny was standing up, aware of, and listening to Caleb's words. "I haven't attacked you. I removed you, but that wasn't an attack. I don't need you inside her head when I'm fucking her now. I can run both of us when we're fucking. It was annoying to me that you wouldn't leave us alone. I told you that you should take over Chico if you wanted to fuck her. I didn't say you could take her over and use her to fuck me." Caleb didn't know how to respond to this threat to his maintaining the controlling role over their relationship. He was of the KAL. No mere human should be able to handle him thusly. It was impossible. More than that, it was unthinkable that one would even try to do so. It went against everything he believed, and everything he knew of the entire recorded history of the experiences of the KAL. The implications of what had occurred were just then coming to him. It would necessitate yet another humbling journey back to his superiors. Worse than that, Caleb would need to humiliate himself further by having to borrow back sufficient white energy from Danny to allow him to make the journey. His alternative, and it was becoming an increasingly attractive one to him, was to extinguish his own life force. Were he anyone else, someone not of the KAL, he would have gladly done so. From his earliest spark though, it had been fed to him that his greater duty was to the KAL, not to himself. He resigned himself to stay with Danny. Just long enough to gain an understanding of how what had just happened, had, in fact, happened. After learning that, he'd attempt to gather to himself sufficient white energy to depart to the KAL, to make his humiliating report of what had transpired. There was unimaginable danger implicit in what Danny had already shown to him. This was made even more important because Caleb was now nearly certain that Danny's growth to the point of even having any of these abilities, wouldn't have been possible, if not for his own bumbling missteps in the beginning. He couldn't fully understand what had transpired to make this all go so terribly wrong, but there was no room for doubting that things had now gone far beyond his ability to control, or to rectify. Worse than that, was Caleb's sincere belief that the problem could still be expanding far beyond where it now stood. Danny was obviously growing stronger in his abilities. If he could already make himself such a real danger to Caleb in such a short time, he would soon present an even greater danger to all of the KAL. "Caleb, none of that you're thinking has anything to do with what I'm really doing. I don't mean any harm to you or any of the other KAL, whatever they are. I appreciate all you've done for me. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye on some things, but I'm still grateful for all the help you've been to me. I'd be dead now if it wasn't for you." "Please, don't remind me of that." "No, really. As far as I'm concerned, we still have a deal. The same deal we've always had. In another fifty years or so, when them Feltarian fuckers come through here, you can still do whatever you want to with them. I promise I won't do anything to try to stop you." "I would be destroying your planet, extinguishing all of your kind in the process. Surely, you would not actually allow me to do that?" "It was our deal, right? I'm like you, I make a deal, I stick to it." "Really?" "Well, mostly. You see, I think we've still got a hell of a long time to go before any of them Feltar fucks come anywhere close to our territory. Am I right? I've been picking up on a lot of these things you've been showing me. I can't see this energy shield the same way you can, but I'm starting to feel something whenever I do anything like I did to you earlier. I know this thing's been growing too, just from hearing some of your thoughts. If it keeps on growing, we can maybe find some other way to do to them Feltarian's what you want to do, without our using the Earth, or any of the KAL's energy signatures when we do it. Maybe I'll have enough of this energy by then to wrap them up just like I did with you? Maybe we can store up this energy of mine, and you can find a way to use it to take them out. Mainly, and I'm being honest now, I'm most concerned about what I'm going to be doing over these next fifty years. I already promised you that I'd help you all I could to find out more about this energy shield thing of mine." "I still have a duty to report what has taken place here back to the KAL." "You didn't fool me, by the way, with that thing you had Lindsey do with that actor guy. That Hugh Grant, isn't he like fifty or so? A little old for Lindsey." "How did you discover this?" "I can read her memories now. You showed me how to do that, right? Did you forget that I could do that?" "What about Chico? Why is he asleep now?" "That would be my doing too. I've learned how to take part of him over now too, just like I've done with Lindsey. I needed to do that in case you got loose somehow and hopped over into his head. I really hope you'll quit worrying about all this and start to relax, Caleb. There isn't anything going on here that you need to worry the rest of your people about." "I'm afraid you'll have to allow me to be the best judge of what I worry about, Danny." "That's what I'm trying to tell you, Caleb, I don't have to allow it. You can draw on your energy for what you need while you're here. I'd rather we wait for awhile and think about what it is you really need to tell the KAL. I'm not going anywhere, or doing anything, that would make me any kind of threat to them." "Just by existing, you've now become a threat to all the KAL." "I just want to keep fighting, win the heavyweight belt, fuck lots of women, and live like a king. Nothing else, I swear to you." "Are you capable of keeping me from my energy reserves? If not, then I am definitely a risk to you, Danny. If you can, then, just as obviously, you are a risk to me." "I don't mean to be a threat to you, Caleb, I swear it. If I were to let you go back to controlling all your energy again, would you still try to kill me?" "I would leave as soon as I was able to, Danny. I must go and report what has happened. If you decide to try to extinguish my life force, to prevent me from leaving, the KAL will send others to investigate. Either way, they will eventually learn about what has transpired here." "When you do go back, will you at least tell them that I mean them no harm?" "I will tell them that you said this. It is not your intent that will worry anyone. It is your potential for actually being able to do us harm. We of the KAL have had a long history of eliminating any threat we find arrayed against us. This same potential you have to harm us might end up saving you instead though. Energy is the necessary ingredient that makes all life possible. If the KAL decide to extinguish your life force, they will also cut themselves off from this new form of energy that you've somehow managed to begin to produce. "By appealing to their hope for profit, you'll do far more for your cause than by expressing your friendly intent. I wish I could return to the KAL with some tangible proof of the existence of this energy. I suspect it is an amalgamation of our white energy and your human emotion. Whatever occurs when the two come together, the strength is increased for both. Your emotions, both anger and fear, they are far stronger than they were before. The white energy you've got stored in the special storage chamber I created inside you seems to burn more efficiently somehow than it ever has before." "How much energy do you need to get to where you're going?" "I'd need to take back everything, Danny. I cannot leave more than a barely sufficient amount for you to remain a viable living entity." "What about Lindsey and Chico?" "Chico will be fine. He doesn't need any assistance from me now. Lindsey, unfortunately for her, will require the assistance of life support, or else she will soon expire." "When you say a barely sufficient amount, exactly how much white energy are we talking about being left here for me?" "The same amount I left you with before. I will top off your storage vessel just before I depart." Danny stood silent, considering what the alien was telling him. He was aware that he was probably signing his own death warrant if he acceded to Caleb's offer. Lindsey's death warrant as well. He had noted Caleb's thoughts upon returning before. His happy surprise at finding Danny still very much alive. He'd learned much since then though. The times when he'd been invested in Lindsey's body had furthered his understanding of other things as well. He had some small semblance of a plan, one that was already starting to germinate in his head. He knew it was a long shot, but he also knew it was the only hope he had, as long as things stood as they now did. He opened himself up to Caleb's investiture, saying nothing to him as he did so. He knew that Caleb could simply elect to extinguish his life force if he chose to do that. He also knew that Caleb could have done that many times in their shared past. It was a risk, but one he felt he needed to assume. Danny wasn't even aware of anything as his body slumped, and he fell in a heap to the heavily padded carpet beneath his feet. Caleb of the KAL felt a sadness as he paused for several seconds to make sure he'd forgotten nothing. It had taken all the self control he possessed to not extinguish Danny's life force as soon as he'd been given the chance to do so. If any of his experiments had shown even the slightest hope that Chico or Lindsey had any of the same ability to create energy that Danny had, he'd have rendered Danny's body lifeless, without so much as a single second of hesitation. He felt the immense threat potential that Danny was just beginning to show. Energy was the lifeblood of the KAL. Individual life itself was nothing, but energy, that wasn't something anyone of the KAL was likely to speed quickly away from. Danny had already demonstrated, in the past month or so, the potential for producing enough new energy to warrant the risks involved in letting him survive until Caleb could return to the KAL and make them aware of what he'd been able to find out. As before, his calculations now showed that the white energy he'd carefully placed in the storage vessel was enough to be maintaining Danny's life force for approximately another four months time. Four months according to the rate of how Danny was currently using up white energy. On Caleb's first return to the KAL, Danny had demonstrated the ability to turn his original four month supply into what had amounted to an eight month supply. Caleb believed his superior's, upon learning of the relatively inadequate amount of white energy Caleb had left behind, would be angry at his endangering the sole known source for this new type of potentially profitable energy. He believed they'd either hasten his return back to Danny, or else immediately forbid him to ever return. In either case, Caleb fully expected that the energy he was leaving behind would be insufficient to sustain Danny for the amount of time required. Caleb took a last moment to contemplate the unfortunate fate of Lindsey. His only consolation was in knowing that he had postponed the actual moment of her death. Caleb hoped he was doing the right thing by leaving Danny alive. Gathering all his energy, he departed. ------- Chapter 7 Danny awakened from the state of unconsciousness that Caleb had induced in him. It took him but a moment to check on Lindsey and Chico, and to make certain that Caleb was indeed on his way back to the KAL. Up to this point, everything had gone pretty much as he had hoped it would. He was still alive, as was Lindsey and Chico. He had a lot of work to do if he had any hope of turning his plans into any kind of reality. Danny crawled up on the bed beside Lindsey and settled down on his back beside her. That done, he invested part of his essence inside her head. The first thing he did was to create another storage vessel, similar in size and shape to the one Caleb had created inside him. Once this was completed, his next step was to carefully transfer a small portion of the white energy from his storage vessel to hers. Once this transfer had been completed, his next task was to attempt to create in Lindsey the same type of energy receptors that Caleb had first created for him. He hoped that the thoughts and memories of how he did this that he'd copied from Caleb's own database would be enough to allow him to make a functioning receptor now. If not, there was no way that Lindsey could survive for much longer without some other kind of artificial life support. It took him much longer than he had thought it would, and he'd finally had to make guesses about some parts of the puzzle that he didn't have sufficient data for. In the end, although Lindsey's receptors weren't as elegant or efficient as Danny's were, they were adequate to perform the immediate duties he required of them. Lindsey was able to live, on her own, using this white energy to power her life force. Upon waking though, Lindsey began to present a whole new host of problems for him. In control of her own consciousness again, Lindsey started to quickly display all the same character traits that had led to her nearly fatal coma. Danny suffered about ten minutes of this behavior of hers before putting her right back under again. He hadn't given much thought to the possibility that Lindsey would be less than totally cooperative with everything that needed doing. After making sure that she wouldn't regain consciousness again before he wanted her to, Danny went into the other bedroom to revive Chico. The two men took a taxi to the boxing gym where they both were training. Once there, Danny went to his equipment locker and put in the combination to unlock the door. Inside, carefully wrapped in a tight gray ball of Danny's new energy shielding material was a quantity of white energy. While Caleb had been in Ireland with Lindsey, Danny had been practicing his energy shield production, and carefully siphoning off any new white energy produced by his efforts. What he now had stored up was an amount sufficient to triple what Caleb had given him when he took off to return to the KAL. Danny had discovered, in the past few weeks, more efficient ways to increase the production of the byproduct of his shield energy. He had discovered that he could increase the effective energy yield from his energy when it was mixed in with the white energy that Caleb had brought back with him. As an additive, Danny's energy seemed to strengthen the white energy, as well as increase the volume of the energy pool. Danny was concerned that there might be a point where dilution would have some negative consequence on the life giving properties of the white energy. So far though, that didn't appear to be the case. The one drawback Danny had found was the lack of having his own energy shield material serve, by itself, to power his own life force needs. It only seemed to work in conjunction with the white energy. By itself, while it had some uses, keeping Danny alive apparently wasn't one of them. It had taken him a long while to produce the right consistency of foggy energy material to hold in the white energy. When he'd first started storing it, he hadn't known what other uses he'd be able to put it to. It was mostly him needing to not be solely dependant on Caleb for the energy needed to keep him alive. That had been what led him to begin siphoning off all these tiny increments of white energy from his own storage vessel. In the past three weeks though, he'd managed to put aside approximately eight months worth of the energy. With Lindsey now dependant on him for her energy needs, what had looked like it might be enough to last him for a year was now barely sufficient to allow both of them to stay alive for three more months. He knew he needed to work on Lindsey's energy receptors, to try to make them a lot more efficient than they currently were. If not, he'd end up using most of his time being some kind of an energy cow, continually milking his emotions for enough of the shield energy byproducts to produce the extra they both would need to be using. Danny had also paid close attention to how Caleb had made changes in Chico and Lindsey. He was confident that he'd be able to make simple repairs on either of them. What concerned him the most though, was learning how to do to himself what Caleb had done when he'd first returned from his trip back from the KAL. He'd really noticed the improvement after Caleb had repaired his brain injuries right after he'd returned. Danny still felt like he needed to continue boxing. It was his life, who he was. He wouldn't give it up, not willingly. For this reason, he wanted to know what he had to do in order to repair any damage his fights might end up causing him. He left the gym carrying his energy bundle inside his gym bag. He took off without bothering to work out. Before he had gone though, he'd told Chico that he should stay at the gym and work hard. He needed to try to keep himself sharp. On the ride back to their hotel, Danny pondered what he could possibly do to Lindsey to make her straighten up and fly right. He didn't love her, nothing like that. She was a pretty girl, and a hot fuck, but she really wasn't anything more to him than any of the other girls he'd been able to fuck in the past. Most of them were just hookers, or boxing groupies, which was almost the same thing. The main difference between Lindsey and any of the other girls, was that Danny felt kind of responsible for her. He'd been the one who had talked Caleb into going over to help her. He knew his patience with her wasn't going to last too long though. She'd first have to be made to understand her new situation. After she knew what could happen to her, if she didn't stop acting like some spoiled bitch, Danny felt like he would have done as much as he now believed he needed to do for her. He'd then let her decide how much longer she wanted to keep on living. His life would be a whole lot simpler if he didn't have her to take care of, in addition to himself. It took Danny almost two hours to figure out how to make sure Lindsey was awake, without her having the ability to either move or talk back to him. He carefully explained what her situation was, and told her about Caleb, and about her being dependent on either Caleb or him to provide the white energy she'd need in order to remain alive and still be functioning. After he finished talking to her, and while he was giving her a chance to think about what he'd said, he decided to knock off a little piece. At first, he tried it with her just laying there, not giving him anything in the way of a physical response. He finally had to agree with Caleb, it wasn't such a hot experience that way. After that, he split his essence just enough to allow him to control all her motor functions. This was better, but it still wasn't all he'd been hoping for. Finally, right about the time he was deciding whether or not it was worth it to continue on until he could cum, he released Lindsey's ability to control her own movements and responses. That was when the fight started. As soon as she was able to, she started screaming and yelling at him, scratching and biting his back and his neck. At first, he mistook this for a show of passion, but when his neck really started hurting, he knew it for what it really was. Just as quickly as he'd allowed her to control her own movements, he took all that away from her. Even as quickly as he'd acted though, she still had managed to tear through the skin on his neck with her teeth. It really hurt like hell too. Danny climbed off of her and spent the next hour trying to figure out how to hasten the healing from the bite, and from the gouges she'd managed to make on his back. This too was mostly a process of trial and error, even though he'd been able to follow pretty closely some of the times when Caleb had either worked on him, or on Chico. Danny had always wondered why Caleb hadn't been anxious to work on restoring Lindsey past the point of reactivating her brain function, her memories, and taking over her speech functions and motor skills. Now he had a little better idea. All the time he was trying to fix himself, Lindsey was staring at him. That wasn't a look of love she was giving him either. Once he was finished with doing all he could manage to repair himself, Danny started considering what his realistic options were for Lindsey. She was scheduled to fly back to Ireland later that evening, to go finish her filming commitment. He believed he could accompany her there and keep her going long enough to be done with her acting work, so that the production company would release the last part of her money due her for agreeing to act in their picture. Most of this money she'd be getting was the real profit that Lindsey would be able to keep. The advance had gone mostly for back taxes, and to pay her agent and various other support people she needed to have on her payroll. Lindsey went through money very quickly. He had no idea of how many people she had to provide for, other than both her parents, but he had paid all the expenses so far for their trip over here. The money he was getting for his two fights, and for Chico's was barely enough to cover what their travel and living expenses would end up being. "Lindsey, I know you can hear me, and I want you to listen carefully to me. You have a choice now between two things. I can take back the energy that I've got set up for you now, and you'll go right back into the same coma you were in when we first came to help you. I'll make sure you get to a hospital in time to go on those life support machines again. After that, we're done with each other. You'll be no better or worse off than you were when we came to rescue you. The other choice is that I'll keep letting you be like you were when Caleb was here. Except, I won't be able to stay with you all the time like he did, or help you do any of your acting. I'm sure not going to do that other thing he did, letting you go around fucking any people like that old English actor, like Caleb did. "We'll even finish up that movie over in Ireland, and then you announce that you're quitting acting to be my girlfriend, full time, twenty four seven. As long as I keep you around and provide the power so you can live some kind of life, you have to continue letting me and Chico fuck you whenever either one of us feels like it. I know that isn't the kind of life you might have planned on or wanted, but that's all you're going to be able to get now. I'll leave you alone for awhile to think about it. To tell you the truth, I'm kind of hoping you'll decide to go back into that coma again. I went to a lot of trouble to get you to where you could keep on living, and as soon as you could, you went and turned on me. Now I understand better what Caleb used to tell me after I did things like that to him." Danny stopped talking to her and left the bedroom. He didn't even know whether the movie people who'd chartered Lindsey's flights would have any objection to him accompanying her. He hoped not, for their sakes. He could put Lindsey on the plane, and control her life functions for a few minutes after that, but, before she even got over to the English coast, Lindsey would be dead. He'd just have to make sure that Lindsey told them she wouldn't board the plane if he couldn't go too. Chico came back to the room before Danny was ready to go back to get Lindsey's answer. Danny set him down and told him some of what was happening. He told him the part where Lindsey decided to scratch and bite him, and how he didn't think he could control her behavior now that Caleb had gone back home to the KAL for awhile. "She didn't like it no more when you was doin' her hermano?" "She's being a bitch, that's all. She's always acted up before, but, Caleb knew how to control her. I don't know how, and I really don't have the time or the patience to learn how. I might just end up taking her over to one of the hospitals here and telling them she had a relapse and went back into a coma." "Where's the puta now, in the big bedroom?" "Yeah. I told her to think about her choices. I'm giving her another half hour and then I'm going to get her answer." "Can I go in there now and get myself one for the road?" Chico's eyes looked like those of a little kid who'd just asked his mother for a dollar, to go buy a sno-cone from the ice cream truck guy. Danny didn't have the heart to refuse him, although he did warn him that she wouldn't be very responsive to what he was doing. The look Chico gave him in return went a long way towards making Danny realize that Chico was mainly interested in his own responses, not with that of the girl. "Sure, go ahead. You probably will enjoy it more if you don't look her in the eyes while you're doing her." "Why would I even want to do that? I keep my damn eyes closed, Holmes. Easier to think of other chicks I wish I was boning, when I do it that way." "Other chicks? You are a sick man, Chico. Who did you ever bone that looked half as hot as Lindsey does?" "You didn't know her, man. There was this girl I met in Corpus Christi once. She's mostly the one I think of. A real big girl she was too, lots of ass on her. Name was Esmeralda. I wish I'd stayed with her longer, but all I had was twenty five dollars. That Chica, she knew how to move that big ass of hers too. I almost got her face tattooed on my chest afterwards. It was when I was drunk over in Stockton, about a month or two after her, but I couldn't remember what her face looked like. I didn't want a picture of nothing but a big old ass on my chest, but that was the only thing about her that I still remembered clearly." Chico got up and went into the bedroom. Danny watched him leave. He was happy that he wasn't that much like his friend. He figured Chico hadn't even thought of having her name put on his chest. Either that, or he and the tattoo artist didn't know how to spell Esmeralda. He thought that was probably the reason he hadn't had it done. Chico came back out a few minutes later, buckling up his big rodeo belt buckle as he walked out. He was smiling, looking like he'd enjoyed himself. "Shame you have to send her away, Danny. She's starting to fuck good now, just the way I like it." "She just laid there, right?" "I guess, but I concentrate better that way. I gave her a good ride though, and that's what really counts." This time Danny stood up and walked back into the bedroom. Chico hadn't even bothered with pulling her nightgown back into place. Danny got her up by investing part of his essence into her again and walking her to the bathroom. He managed to use her hands to get her all showered and cleaned back up again. After the shower, he took her back out to the bedroom to help her get herself dressed. He didn't even consider the idea of letting her have any control over her motor responses so that she could do all of this by herself. He didn't bother with any make up, or with combing out her tangled up hair. Once she was dressed. He let her back down on the bed and released enough control to her to allow her to think and speak on her own. "What did you decide, Lindsey?" "You'll never get away with any of this. As soon as I can get free from you, I'll go straight to the cops." An hour later, the ambulance arrived at the hotel and paramedics were knocking at the door to his suite. Danny let them in. He'd had Chico go out for a walk, figuring the fewer people involved, the better it might be. He had left Lindsey with what would appear to be some degree of brain functioning capacity. He told the ambulance attendants that Lindsey had taken no drugs that he knew about, and said he'd come back from taking his walk and had found her unconscious on their bed. Danny followed behind the ambulance in a taxi that the hotel doorman had summoned. The ride to the hospital was less than five minutes. Danny stayed with Lindsey until they had her settled in her room in a critical care unit. A few minutes after that, he lowered all her vital signs, causing the various monitoring machines to set off their warning alarms. For the next few weeks, Danny visited Lindsey twice a day, often remaining with her for several hours at a stretch. He liked looking at her face. Having not found any evidence of any drugs in her system, the doctors were at a complete loss as far as knowing what might have happened to her. They were suspicious of Danny, but could point to nothing he might have done to have caused her to slip back into a coma and require life support again. Danny and Chico both went ahead with their fights. Danny had managed to wager an additional eight thousand pounds on himself, getting eight to one for six thousand of it, and wagering the other two thousand on him scoring a first round knockout. For this, he was being offered thirty to one odds. In the ring that night, from the first second after the bell rang to signal the start of the fight, Danny was all over his slightly older opponent. The crowd at the ExCel Arena was up on their feet as Danny started a two handed furious assault aimed at the stomach of his grossly overweight opponent. Williams had weighed in at over two hundred and eighty pounds, far too heavy for his six foot one inch frame. Danny had watched a tape of Williams losing to Matt Skelton in their second fight, and to Harrison who had TKO'd Danny Williams two years before. In both fights, weight had played their role. Danny didn't want to waste even one precious second of the allotted three minutes he had to win the sixty thousand pounds he'd get for a first round knock out. After standing flat footed and absorbing this tremendous punishment to his midsection, Williams looked almost relieved when Danny finally started taking it to him upstairs. It was a very clean three punch combination to the head that ended the fight. The referee didn't even bother with trying to count Danny Williams out. He stood in front of Danny, waving both hands in front of his face, his signal that the contest was over. The announcer called out the time keeper's counting for the knock out time as occurring at one minute and seventeen seconds into the first round. Danny and Chico decided to stay in London for a few extra days. Chico had found two not so young ladies of the evening who reminded him of why he had liked his Esmeralda. Danny was sure each of these ladies had to outweigh Chico by a good fifty pounds. Chico offered to set things up so that Danny could share in his riches with these two soiled doves, but Danny told him he didn't feel up to the challenge. Chico took that as a compliment to his manhood. Danny continued going to the hospital twice a day. On the day before he was scheduled to leave England, more as a sentimental whim than for any other reason, Danny invested part of his essence back into Lindsey. At first, his only reason for doing so was to tell her his own personal goodbye. He raised up her brain waves, after first making sure that nothing would register on the monitoring equipment or the life support that was keeping her alive. "Lindsey, Chico and I are going back home. I'm sorry for how things turned out between us, but all I really was after was someone good looking to fuck, and, at the same time, to try to help you out with your problems. I thought it was a fair trade for you." "How long have I been here, hooked up like this?" "Four, no, five weeks. I had my other fight three days ago. I knocked him out in the first round. Made a lot of money betting on myself too." Five weeks? What about my movie?" "Don't worry. They had insurance. I heard they were looking to find another actress that looks like you to finish up the few scenes you didn't already finish up yourself. I heard your parents are both going into court to get you sent back to the states. British laws make it harder for people to pull the plug on these life support machines. I heard they came to some kind of a deal about dividing that five million for your insurance. Your father is supposed to get one million of it now." "I didn't believe you before, when you said you could do this to me. Tell me again what I'd need to do to get you to let me go back and finish that movie?" Danny told Lindsey he'd have to think about what she was suggesting. He could already see many advantages to him if he were to just walk away from this whole situation with her. She was already a drain on his resources. He felt bad about the way things had turned out, but in most ways, he knew he was better off with it being this way. Lindsey was a lot more trouble for him than could be justified by what he had been getting from her in return. Life was tough enough without having to take on troubles that you could easily avoid. On the other hand, she was a real person, and she was a lot prettier than the other women he'd ever managed to fuck in his lifetime. "If I did decide to give you one more chance to choose to cooperate, you'd really need to watch what you say and what you did. The minute you try pulling any more of that usual crap of yours with me, you'll end up right back in another hospital room hooked up to life support machines. I mean it too, Lindsey." "What about me getting some time off so I can go have some fun for myself too? Spending all my time in hotel rooms waiting to be your little fuck bunny, or that other guy's, Choo-choo is it? That isn't much better than what I have right now." "Chico. I guess we could talk about you being able to do some other things too. Not any of the boozing or the drugs though. That's out. Is there anything else you might want to do?" "I like singing and writing songs. I like acting too. I'm not sure I can take just being your little plaything. I like to see other people, party a lot, have myself a good time. I can't do that without having a few drinks and doing some other things to put me in a better mood." "Do you realize that you're beginning to get bed sores on your ass and on your back? The only fun you're having now is when they come in here and turn you over on one side or the other as they change the sheets on your bed. You're as good as dead right now. You see nothing, you feel nothing, you have absolutely no future whatsoever. It will stay like that too, unless I decide to bring you back to life, even if it turns out to be only a somewhat limited life you end up living. How much do you remember about the time when Caleb was controlling you?" "I remember you and that other guy both taking turns fucking me a few times. I remember making the movie and being at those fights with you. I remember it was all pretty boring, and that I hardly ever got to do anything I wanted to do at all." "If Caleb was here, we wouldn't have this problem. He didn't seem to have any problems with controlling you, keeping you in line. I don't know how to do all the things that he did. When we got you from the hospital that time, I thought he was going to fix you like he fixed me and Chico, but he wasn't willing to do that for some reason. When he left, he was in kind of a hurry, and he thought you'd either go right back to being in a coma again, or else you'd die. He didn't know that I had learned how to get you going again." "I wouldn't call what you did to me getting me going again." Danny almost pulled his essence out of her. He came very close to shutting her back down and exiting. To his way of looking at things, she seemed determined to get him to do things for her without her having to do anything for him, to recipricate. "I think maybe we should just both go our own ways now, Lindsey. I don't have time to try to get you to see you aren't the one who gets to decide how things are going to be. I can get along just fine without you. I can get all the pussy I want too. I've got money, and that's all it takes to get laid, anywhere in the world. I'm not asking you for anything I need that only you can give me. You, on the other hand, are just about to go back into a coma that you won't ever come out of. Even if you decide to try things my way, you're only one more fuck up away from entering into that last coma." "It wouldn't have killed you to give me a little part of what I was asking for. It would have made me more grateful to you if you did. You knew I really didn't have any other choice but to accept your offer. How about you keep your friend away from me, just keep me for yourself at least?" "How about if you listen to what I'm telling you and allow me to make all the decisions? You might find out that I'm not the jealous type. I like to fool around with other girls too. You have people you know. I saw your memories about things you've done. You don't need drugs or booze to have fun. Some of those girls you were friendly with, they looked like they could be a lot of fun for me too. I might let you do a little drinking too, if we went out somewhere with them." "You want me to pimp for you?" "There's different ways to have fun, Lindsey. I like running on a country road early in the morning. You ever try jogging?" "With these tits, I don't think so?" Lindsey seemed to be trying to make a movement. Danny saw her mind trying to tell her hands to move up to cup her breasts. She wasn't having any success doing it. Danny helped her hands make the movements he thought she wanted to make. He watched her as he made her hands reach up to cup both her jugs. With all the needles in her arms now, and electronic leads she had attached to different parts of her body, even that little bit of movement was sufficient to set off the alarms. Danny moved some portion of his essence back into his own body. As he did so, he increased Lindsey's brain wave activity. Two nurses came hurrying into the room. "She just moved both her arms. I think she's starting to wake up again. The same thing happened with her in Las Vegas the last time. I think she's some kind of freak of nature." Within two or three minutes, Lindsey's room was a mad house. People were running in and out, and most of them were taking readings and asking questions of others in the room. Danny slipped more of his essence back into Lindsey's body and forced both her eyes open. He didn't dare allow her to have any control over her own voice, thoughts, or movements. He did it all, including answering all the questions they kept asking her. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to control both her and himself for any real long periods of time. He finally had Lindsey appear to go back to sleep, but only normal sleep this time. He kept all her vital signs and brain wave activity up inside the normal ranges. "Lindsey, I'm going to set things up so you can take over full control of things by yourself again. I'm only leaving you with enough power to keep you going for about twelve hours though. If you start telling people stories about me, or about some alien, this power is going to be depleted soon, and, when it is, I won't be coming back here to give you any more. It's up to you now. Behave and you'll be out of here soon, and we can have some fun together. Try to do anything to mess things up for me, and you'll end up losing this last chance I'm offering you to have a life. You understand me?" "You aren't just going to leave me here, are you? You'll come back for me, to bring me more of that power thing?" "Be good, and you have nothing to worry about. I promise. Chico prefers his girls to have a fuller figure. Now that he has some money of his own again, I don't think he'll be bothering you much." "Please come back like you said, okay?" Danny could see the fear Lindsey had. It was closer to being terror than just fear. For the first time he thought he understood her a little better. He wondered if she had known how dependent she was on Caleb too? Maybe that was why she had toed the line better with him than she had with Danny. He quickly left the hospital, worried about how much of a penalty he'd have to pay for once again having to change his airline reservations. ------- Chapter 8 By the time Danny returned to the hospital to bring Lindsey back to their hotel room, she had passed the test he had given her. She hadn't said anything to try to get him into trouble. When he walked into her hospital room, the look on her face told him, right away, just how relieved she was to see him again. Less than an hour later, the two of them were on their hotel bed, taking care of what Danny thought of as urgent business. Right after that, Lindsey was on the phone with her people, trying to set something up so she could go back to Dublin to finish up her movie commitment. The producers of the movie were only too happy to welcome her back. The free publicity for their movie, after her last collapse, had generated a breathtaking boost to the public's interest in their film. Interest in Lindsey, and in the movie she was filming, was still at an all time high. Arrangements were quickly made for transporting her back to Dublin again. It took less than a week to wrap up filming in Dublin. After a brief return to London, mostly to pick up Chico and the rest of their things, the three of them flew back, first to Los Angeles, and then, after Lindsey had time to check in with her people, back over to Las Vegas again. Danny had enlarged the white energy storage vessel he'd placed inside her. Full, she now had sufficient energy to keep her functioning for about ninety six hours. Danny had also enlarged on and expanded his own energy storage vessels. He also continued experimenting with ways to duplicate some of Caleb's earlier achievements with him. He could make basic repairs and improvements on himself now, although it was still easier for him to work on someone other than himself. In addition to trying to make physical improvements, Danny was working hard trying to perfect a shield that would successfully resist any of Caleb's future efforts in trying to reinvest himself in Danny. He knew he had now gotten past the point where Caleb would be forced to consider him as someone potentially dangerous to the interests of the KAL. He didn't believe he was strong enough on his own yet to resist Caleb's best efforts. He hoped to be strong enough by the time Caleb returned. Back in Las Vegas, Danny had somehow been elevated to a higher celebrity status because of his well publicized relationship with Lindsey. He and Chico had no difficulty with lining up high profile televised boxing matches for themselves. As for Lindsey, she was behaving herself, causing no one any problems. It began to appear that she might have finally learned her lesson. Danny had kept her for himself since he'd brought her out of the hospital. After the trio had returned to Las Vegas, Chico had sought out his own preferred type of female companionship, mostly overweight hookers he was able to find in some of the late night bars around town. These were the ones he liked to frequent after his first morning training run. Danny began spending two or three nights a week frequenting the two biggest poker rooms in town. Often, Lindsey would go with him, having a drink or two while watching as Danny managed to achieve great results with his play. During the day though, while Lindsey slept in after their late nights out, Danny kept up his own training routine in the gym. It was an ingrained habit for him, and it felt right to be training hard every day. The lack of rest he was getting seemed to affect him not at all. He felt sharp, all the time, seeming to function just fine on little or no sleep. He did spend time in bed though, mostly with Lindsey. At times, he even took naps by her side. Sex had long been the main reward he got out of his relationship with Lindsey. It still was, but now, they also talked with each other about other things. He found out about her earlier history, about some of the reasons why she had been acting like she had been. In her own way, her life and career had been as disappointing to her as Danny's later boxing career, before Caleb had resurrected it, had been to him. She had felt used by the people she had relied on to help her achieve her dreams. She felt like her only importance to them was as a meal ticket. Events in her life had proved her mostly correct. Her parents, the two people she had loved and relied on the most, had shown, many times, that they would both put their own selfish interests ahead of her welfare. They didn't care what she did with her life, not as long as the money kept coming in, and the celebrity status, both for her and for them, continued. "I find myself feeling better about things since I've been with you, Danny. I know you just started out wanting to fuck me, but now it feels like you also want something better for me, that you care a little about what happens to me." Danny didn't know how to respond to that. They were both sitting up in bed, watching one of those entertainment programs that Lindsey seemed addicted to viewing. They had coupled furiously for about fifteen minutes, just before the show had begun. Lindsey had thanked him for finishing before her first show had come on. She thought he was being thoughtful for her sake. After a minute had passed, Lindsey, realizing that Danny wasn't going to comment on what she'd said, reached out and took Danny's hand in hers. Danny was relieved that she didn't seem to require any answer from him. Lindsey was impressed that Danny hadn't felt any need to try to capitalize on the opening she had left him with her earlier statement. She would have been suspicious of any response he had made anyway. Experience had taught her that the people who hung around her would tell her whatever they thought she wanted to hear, in order to be able to stay around her longer. By not saying anything to her, Danny had gained more of her trust than she had lately given to anyone. She didn't feel so alone with him. He didn't seem impressed with her fame, only with her face and body. It was good to be appreciated for just herself. After both her main Hollywood gossip shows were finished, Lindsey wanted to know what they were going to do that night. "You tell me, Lin. I don't feel like playing cards tonight, so we can go out and do whatever you want." Danny was feeling lazy. He didn't want to try to be the entertainment director for them that evening. His allowing her to decide what they'd be doing was more a result of his own laziness than it was from any desire he might have to cater to any of her needs or wishes. "Can we go out clubbing? We haven't ever done that together. We can go out dancing and partying. Just a little partying. Nothing but a few drinks, I promise." Danny hadn't ever seen her like this. She was as earnest as a little kid, promising to be good if he let her stay up for a few extra minutes or something. Her eyes were sparkling in anticipation. He could see it would mean a lot to her to be allowed to go out on the town like this. "We'll go out and get a nice meal first. Then, if you want to, we'll go visit a few of the clubs after. You have to be good though. You can have a drink or two at each place, but you need to stay away from any kind of drugs. You have to pace yourself too, Lin. If you don't, then I'm going to call it a night the first time I have to warn you, especially if you don't quit doing whatever it is I'm warning you about. You got that?" "Not even a little smoking, Danny? You know weed hasn't ever been any problem for me. Some of that other, yeah, but not just a little bit of weed." "A few drinks and some dancing. We'll see some people, and we'll have a few laughs. None of that other though, and I mean it." Danny was trying to set tough ground rules, not for Lindsey's sake so much, as for his own. He didn't want people to see him as someone who couldn't keep Lindsey from going off the deep end again. If she got herself in trouble, it would reflect badly on him. He didn't want that. He was getting some favorable notice now, both for his fighting, and for settling Lindsey down. People were remarking about how well she was behaving since becoming his girl. For Danny, this would be a little test. He didn't yet know how much self control Lindsey could muster up for herself. "I have other friends besides you, Danny." There was the beginnings of a little whine in Lindsey's voice as she said this. "They will be expecting me to do a little partying with them. Not as much as I used to, I promise. It wouldn't hurt things for you to be a little more relaxed about things. You'd be surprised how much better I can be for you with a little chemical encouragement." "I'm only going to tell you this once more, Lindsey, so you better listen to me. You asked me if we could go out clubbing tonight, and I said we could. I told you what was acceptable for you to do. If what I said isn't enough for you, then we'll just stay in instead. I don't need to go out to those clubs, but I was ready to go because I know how much you like doing that. I'm not going to take any chances that you're going to do something that will land you back in the hospital bed, or over at the morgue. None of that shit is worth you dying over." To Danny, this was just him telling her the limits of what he'd tolerate. To Lindsey, this was a declaration of honest caring, possibly even of love, from Danny. To her, he was willing to put their whole future relationship at risk because of his need to protect her. She wasn't used to that kind of caring, not from anyone. She was wrong to think that was why he was telling her to stay away from drugs, but she didn't know that. Some pretty strong unions have been built from flimsier misunderstandings. As she was getting herself fixed up to go out later, Lindsey was starting to build up, in her own mind, reasons why she might want to let Danny have his way with things. She was trying to talk herself into turning over control of her life to him. This was made much easier by the fact that, under her own stewardship, her recent life had been one long series of embarrassing missteps and wrong decisions. She was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when she managed to finally talk herself into doing that. They ended up going to a nice steak house and loading up on some red meat and carbs. At the first club they went to, Lindsey disappeared for a few minutes with a few of her female acquaintances. Danny got worried when she didn't come back for fifteen minutes. When she finally did return, she seemed fine to him. Her eyes weren't glassy or anything, and he didn't smell any marijuana on her either. They ended up staying at this first club for another hour. They danced together a couple times, but they both spent more time talking to Lindsey's friends, and having some drinks. It was at the third club that things started to fall apart. By then, both of them were feeling no pain from the six or seven drinks each had consumed. This was one of the trendiest clubs in town, noted for the celebrities, and for the other, non celebrity, beautiful people, who patronized it. Drugs were in plain sight throughout the club, so much so that it didn't seem like such a big thing to Danny. He and Lindsey had been offered cocaine by three or four people, him always refusing outright, and Lindsey, only after first checking with Danny hoping to get his permission. She was obviously wanting to partake. The incident occurred when Danny noticed Lindsey trying to bring a small glass vial to her nose. He reached out and smacked it out of her hand. "Why did you do that? I wasn't going to take any." Lindsey was really angry. She wasn't used to being publicly humiliated like that. She felt even more angry because it had all been an innocent play acting she had done for the friend who'd offered her the vial. The stopper in the vial hadn't even been taken off when she had started pretending to snort from it. She had been communicating to her friend that she'd have to save it for later. She had actually been planning to ask Danny if it would be all right to take it once they were both safely back in their hotel room. Several other people, sensing some new excitement brewing, were now trying to goad Lindsey into making a public spectacle with Danny over this. They were making supporting comments to her, trying to get her all fired up. "How many times is it going to take before you realize that shit is going to kill you? You think these other people give a shit about you, Lin? They just want you to provide them with some excitement. You die, and they can all say that they were there, that they witnessed it happening. We were having a pretty good time without that until now." "You were having a pretty good time, Danny, not me. I don't like having people looking at everything I do. That wasn't what we agreed to." "Your choice, Lin. Do what I say, and you'll stay alive. Do what you want, and, sooner or later, you'll die." "Everybody dies sooner or later." Lindsey's eyes were glinting in the available club light, her face was a red and angry mask. "I'm not talking about months or years, Lin. Right now, you're down to only a matter of a few days, maybe only some hours. Your choice. Go get more of that shit and snort it. If you do that, I'll leave you right here with your friends. We both know how that will turn out for you." Danny was starting to really be burned about her obstinate refusal to live up to their agreement. He'd already done all he'd promised to do for her, and now she was once again trying to push him back from the limits he'd set. 'Fuck her', he thought. He turned away and started making his way towards the front exit. He'd tried. It just wasn't worth it to always have to fight with her to try to keep her out of trouble. There were other girls, girls without her problems. Girls who wouldn't cause him so much grief. He'd been back in his hotel room for about thirty minutes when Lindsey started knocking on the door. "Danny, let me in." "Why should I let you in? We're just going to keep going through this same thing. You don't care enough about living. If you did, you'd see what I see for yourself." "I didn't take anything, Danny. I left as soon as you did. I saw you just as you got in that cab. I had to walk back, because I didn't have any money in my purse. You left me standing there in the club broke." "There's a hundred bucks in your purse. I know, because I put it there before we went out." "Oh. Well, I didn't know it was there. Anyway, I walked back. Let me in, please." Danny went over and opened the door for her, moving to the side so that she could walk past him into the sitting room. When he'd first opened the door for her, it had seemed to surprise her. Danny knew, from the look on her face that she'd expected to have some trouble convincing him to let her in. After she went by him, he shut the door and turned to go back into the sitting room as well. He found Lindsey standing with her hand outstretched, the small stoppered vial resting in her open palm. She was offering it to him. "I picked it up off the floor, after you left. I didn't take any either." Danny reached out and took the vial she offered. He removed the stopper, taking it into their bathroom and pouring out the contents into the toilet bowl before flushing. There hadn't been very much coke in there, maybe enough for one thin line. Briefly, he wondered if Lindsey hadn't used up most of the contents before offering him the remaining little bit. He dismissed this thought. She had brought him something. He'd accept that as a victory. She hadn't gone on a binge. This had to represent good progress. Lindsey had certainly never been noted for any sort of moderation in her recent past. In bed that night, they had their usual sex. Danny pounded into her, as was his normal style. He was concerned about satisfying his own needs, and did so in fine fashion. To Lindsey, this session seemed different. For the first time, she saw herself as being a willing participant with Danny. She didn't feel coerced into accepting this as part of any bargain she'd made. To her, they were at a new beginning. She didn't mind that he ended up finishing just when she was starting to enjoy it a little. To her, other than those times when Caleb and Danny had invested parts of themselves in her, that lack of satisfaction with sex was the usual case. She was someone who was slow in her arousal, especially when relatively sober, and in control of her body's responses. Sex, because of her usual low level of pleasurable responsiveness, was primarily a tool to be used to help her get more of what she wanted. The main difference for her now was in this new sense of closeness she was beginning to feel with Danny. Once again, he'd proved to her that he truly cared for her. Proved it by knocking away that vial, then again by leaving her so that she could make her own decision about what to do. Mostly though, he'd proved it because he'd thought about what she might need, and had then put a hundred dollars of his own money into her purse. He'd done so without feeling like he needed to tell her about it. She'd gotten money from several men before, most times it had been quite bit more than one hundred dollars too. Never had she gotten it without them telling her they were giving it to her though. This money now, it had been given to her without any strings or conditions attached, as a gift. In the morning, as the two came awake, they both realized, that sometime during the night, they had allowed themselves to become intertwined with each other. For Danny, this was merely a physical intertwining, but for Lindsey, it seemed far more than that. She was to the point where she was starting to make all the facts fit with her personal perception of reality. She was beginning to fall in love. Danny left for his morning workout, telling Lindsey that he'd be back in time for them to have a late lunch together. After he had left the room, Lindsey lounged around in bed. Half an hour after he had gone, Lindsey managed to bring herself to an orgasm. For her, this was one of the very few times she'd ever managed to do so. She'd been thinking of Danny as she rubbed herself. To her, this was yet another sign of how she was falling for him. One of the normal consequences of loving someone is having the need for them to return your love. Lindsey, for the first time in a long time, had someone, besides herself, to think about. She thought about what she could do to get Danny to love her too. To some, it might be amusing to see another person leaping to so many unfounded conclusions. Had Danny known even a small part of what Lindsey was then thinking, he might have recoiled in alarm. The relationship he now had with Lindsey suited him just fine. She was very pretty, and she was letting him fuck her. Sure, she could be a real pain in the ass, but, she was still pretty, and famous, and she was letting him fuck her. At some level, probably below his threshold of consciousness, Danny too was beginning to change. He'd seldom before been in a position where he had to think about someone else's problems, to find out what other people had to deal with on a day to day basis. Boxing had been his primary focus for most of his life, really the only thing he'd ever cared about doing. He ate, and he fucked, whenever he could, but boxing and training to fight were the only things he'd ever really been passionate about. Having Lindsey around was beginning to change the way he viewed himself, complicating the self absorbed, single minded focus he'd been used to maintaining. During his morning workout, Danny's thoughts kept straying from the business at hand, getting ready for his next bout. He began thinking about whether he could invest himself partially in Lindsey the next time they made love. He hadn't ever tried doing that by himself. It had been easy when Caleb was around, because all of that had been done for him. All he needed to do was experience all the sensations, after Caleb had done his thing. Sex had been different when Caleb controlled Lindsey. Not only different, but more enjoyable for him. He'd felt better attuned to things, experiencing a wider range of sensations and feelings when he'd participated as both himself, and as part of Lindsey. He didn't think Lindsey was enjoying what they were doing as much as she had seemed to before, during those times with Caleb controlling things. ------- Chapter 9 Danny had started experimenting with participating in Lindsey's physical reactions, along with his own, when the two of them engaged in sex. While he wasn't as adept at doing so as Caleb had been, he had managed to improve both his response to Lindsey, and her own reactions to what was being done to her. Feeling what she was feeling went a long way towards showing him the best way to enhance the experience for her. That hadn't necessarily been his primary motivation, improving Lindsey's sexual gratification, but Danny thought of it as an additional side benefit. For her part, Lindsey wasn't even aware of what it was that had turned Danny into being so much a better lover. She was content to experience the increased sexual gratification his changes had now brought to her. She never even remarked about the changes. For her, it was enough that she was now having better sex than she had been previously from Danny. Because the sex was now better for both of them, the frequency of their coupling underwent a steep increase. With more experience, Danny managed to gain some additional added competence. This translated to even greater satisfaction for the two of them. With the passage of time, they both became more comfortable with the idea of being together. Lindsey even started taking an interest in how Danny was presenting himself to the world. She started giving him pointers on how to dress, telling him how he should speak during his interviews with both the sports reporters and any regular reporters or broadcast people. Being Lindsey's boyfriend kept putting Danny's name in front of many more people. That reflected fame started earning him much greater interest from boxing promoters, which then led to even better payday's whenever he actually fought. Danny was still surprised, and happy, when he received a call from a promoter offering him a title shot. The money being offered wasn't all that attractive, but a chance to hold one of the major Heavyweight title belts was more than sufficient incentive to get Danny to accept the fight and sign all the necessary contracts. He knew this was his foot in the door, and that his possession of any of the belts would eventually lead to him wearing all the belts of a unified championship crown. He was several years ahead of the schedule he'd originally outlined to Caleb. Danny was given only seven weeks to train for the fight, but that didn't concern him at all. He was in good fighting shape already. Whatever training he did would only be to learn his opponent's style, and to develop a strategy and fight plan that would take advantage of any weaknesses he found from studying the films of his past fights. Danny was supremely confident that he'd have no trouble at all with finding a fight plan that would accomplish his goal. Danny didn't actually meet his opponent until mid morning on the day before the fight, at the weigh in. It took but a moment for Danny to sense the high level of energy being radiated by the other fighter. Instantly, Danny knew that Caleb of the KAL had invested himself into the other boxer. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Caleb was planning to make some kind of assault on Danny. Danny had known that his actions with Lindsey and Chico, along with his own survival, when discovered, would be perceived, by Caleb, as prima facie evidence of the increasing threat that Danny posed to himself, and to the KAL. It appeared that Caleb had returned and was prepared to take action. Fortunately, Danny had himself as well prepared as he could possibly make himself. During Caleb's latest long absence, Danny had been busy learning how to better control and manipulate the white energy he was now producing. He knew he didn't have Caleb's experience or abilities in controlling the more subtle uses for the white energy, but he felt confident that some of what he'd discovered on his own could be put to good use in any possible conflict with Caleb. Knowing now that such a conflict was imminent, Danny managed to control his growing excitement. He'd had many years experience with controlling his nerves before a big fight. This next fight would be the biggest of his long career. Not only was there a world championship at stake, the fate of the entire planet was riding on Danny's ability to contain anything Caleb would be throwing at him. The fight was being held in Las Vegas, giving Danny a big advantage, since the crowd would definitely be in his corner for the fight. The Russian fighter was much better known, as a fighter, but he was still a foreigner, and unlikely to garner much, if any, crowd support. Lindsey being down at ringside would assure that the fight would be well covered by all the media, not just the sports writers. There would be the fight with the other boxer, the one the people in the crowded arena and on all the pay per view audience was expecting. The other fight would be one between Danny and Caleb. This was a battle that only the two participants themselves would even realize was being waged. The entire future of the planet, and all its inhabitant's, was at stake. To him, it was a positive sign that Caleb hadn't realized that Danny could sense the high level of energy his investiture in the Russian boxer gave off. Caleb was expecting to surprise Danny, in the ring. Even before the fight actually got underway, Danny used his white energy to completely encircle the Russian boxer's brain. He could only hope that this tight shield he'd created would be enough to contain Caleb's essence. Strangely, Danny was curious to see how his own enhanced skills would fare against the other boxer in their match. He knew Caleb was planning on dealing him a mortal blow during the fight, ending forever Danny's ability to aid either himself, Lindsay, or Chico further. Now that Caleb and all the KAL recognized Danny's own energy creating ability, they couldn't allow him to continue to exist. He represented a far greater danger to the Kal than a hundred Feltarian Fleets could ever be. Danny heard a loud excited murmuring in the crowd, just before the bell rang to begin round one. He looked to his left to see what all the commotion was about and saw Lindsey sliding lifelessly out of her ringside seat. Turning quickly to look behind himself, Danny saw Chico falling backwards, his own eyes rolled up as the last embers of his life extinguished. Danny understood he'd been duped, he just didn't know how it had been done, and more importantly, where Caleb was now. He did realize that Caleb hadn't been inside the Russian boxer at the time he'd created that energy shield inside his head. The bell rang just then, announcing the start of the first round of the boxing match. Danny was up off his stool as soon as he heard the bell. He knew he couldn't afford the luxury of fighting this Russian at a time when he knew, for certain, that he was facing a much more formidable challenge from an unknown source who was close at hand. Caleb had invested himself in someone, and Danny needed to discover who that someone was before Caleb managed to do to him what he'd already succeeded in doing to Lindsay and Chico. To that end, Danny raced across the ring and landed nine quick, unanswered, blows to the Russian's head. Just as he was completing the last of his blows, he felt Caleb's energy trying to envelop him. This was when he discovered that Caleb was invested in the ring referee's body. Fortunately, not knowing before where the inevitable attack would come from, Danny had erected an energy shield of his own around his brain and upper spine, trying to prepare himself, as best he could, from just such an attack. The shield held, but only for long enough to have Danny recognize that the source of all that attack energy was the bout's referee. The Russian was no longer a problem, having lost consciousness sometime between the seventh and eighth head shot. Danny, in a panic turned towards the ref and blasted him with as much spare energy as he could safely use. The reserves held back were only enough to allow for short term, emergency, life support. Danny knew the ref was dead instantly. The only remaining question was whether or not it had been sufficient to also destroy Caleb's energy life force. From the force renewing its attack on him right after that, Danny knew he had miscalculated. He'd given it his best shot and it had come up somewhat short. He knew he had nothing left he could fight back with. It would be only a few scant second's before his own shield was completely overcome by the all the radiant white energy being pulsed his way. He stood his ground, stoically waiting for the inevitable, but, strangely, it didn't come. Instead, he felt other energy, besides his and Caleb's, being radiated from just below the ringside. This energy did manage to completely overwhelm the last elements of Caleb's barely failed attack. Confirmed right away by the ref's sudden collapse to the canvas. In the arena, pandemonium was quickly breaking out. Fans didn't know what had happened, not being able to really concentrate on all the many strange things happening in and around ringside. Just when they started to realize that the boxing contest was over, the ref collapsed, seemingly for no reason at all. To add to the mystery, Lindsay had fallen out of her chair, and one of Danny's second's had collapsed in a heap beneath the ring apron. People were falling like fly's, and patrons were beginning to wonder if some kind of sniper wasn't in the building, shooting people at random. Lindsay got completely back up on her feet, smiling when she saw Danny too was still standing. She walked over to where Chico was and revived him with a direct transfer of the white energy she still retained as her reserve. As soon as she was certain that Chico was stable, Lindsay climbed up the steps and into the ring. She grabbed Danny and embraced him in a tight clench, appearing to be kissing him to congratulate him on his sudden stunning victory. In fact, she and Danny were exchanging white energy as well as each other's essence which they'd switched, anticipating that Caleb would be too smart to continue on with his apparent plan to hide inside the Russian boxer. It had taken a high degree of trust on his part for Danny to take such a huge risk on Lindsay. In the end, it had all come down to him knowing that Earth's future was too important to leave to dumb luck and blind chance. To get Lindsay prepared for him to invest himself in her and for her to be invested in him, he had needed to duplicate the same vessels in her that he'd created for himself. She now had the same energy creating ability that he did. Danny still wasn't sure how it worked, or even which of the new elements allowed it to work. What he did know was that it had been possible for him to duplicate it in Lindsay's brain, and that they both were producing more energy now than they consumed. Lindsay's wasn't quite as efficient or productive as his yet, but she was getting there. Later, back at their hotel room, they were snuggled together in bed. It was very difficult for either of them to determine where one left off and the other began. Due to the radiant energy production setup in each, there was some massive level of spillover from one to the other. This affected their separate sense of self. While it seemed very disconcerting to Danny, Lindsay absolutely loved the effect. She felt emotionally grounded in ways she never had, not since her earliest remembered childhood. It was also the effect the whole transfer thing had on their sexual perceptions. They now had a level of sharing which magnified all of their pleasure senses. What one felt, the other did too. It was like an unbroken feedback loop that fed on itself, as the feelings and touching's of each, was received and experienced by both. Danny and Lindsay had been married for six months by the time a small delegation from the KAL came to call on them. The delegation seemed to know better than to try to arrive unannounced. Rather than do this, Danny received a carefully worded mental transmission from an individual standing more than a block away from the couple, requesting a meeting at any time convenient for Danny. He agreed to meet with one of them, but only out on the Northernmost tip of Catalina Island, a place where they would be far away from any possible interruptions or traps. "I am Connor of the KAL, trade emissary for this region of the galaxy. I have come to offer peace to you and your people, as well as our solemn promise not to interfere in any of your future affairs." Danny could see that the alien had invested itself into the mind and body of a middle aged black woman. "I am Danny of the new Earth, creator of the white energy we used to defeat Caleb of the KAL. I am still upset with what he intended, not only for me, but for all my kind, and for this planet as well. He had much to answer for, and his quick death meant he was let off far too easily." "He was a rogue emissary. We of the KAL have never had any wish to harm any other sentient species. We co-exist and have profitable trade with more than a thousand other species. Caleb overstepped his mandate." "What about the Feltarian's? What about your plans for their fleet?" "That is a problem we alone must face. Complex and difficult, to be sure, but still a problem we must be left free to resolve in our own way. It is of no concern to you." "Caleb mentioned that your people sell or trade energy. I took that to mean that the Feltarian's represent some type of competition to you?" "Not to the KAL. We have no competition. Our interest in the Feltarian's stems only from their continuing disruption of commerce along our various trade routes. We've long since submitted our complaint through the appropriate governing agencies. We have every reason to believe our numerous petitions will ultimately prevail." "So, you have no real problem with the Feltarian's, or with me or any of my people then?" "Certainly not. We see you, all your people, as a new potential source of trade and of mutually profitable commerce. We have the established clientele with sufficient unsatisfied energy demands to allow us to profitably distribute this new energy you have created in a way where both our kind's should be able to profit handsomely. We wish to discuss just such a trade agreement with you." "Not interested, thank you for asking though. My former dealings with Caleb of the KAL have more or less permanently prejudiced me against dealing with your kind at all." "Your answer is unacceptable to us. As I informed you before, we of the KAL have no competition. That is how it is, how it always has been, and how it shall continue to be. If you wish to trade your energy through us, we will be happy to serve as your exclusive broker. If not, then we will prevent you from ever becoming our competitor." "You sound just as sure of yourself as poor Caleb was before I terminated him. Did I forget to mention to you that I was able to track his energy signature all the way back to your five home worlds? I found it interesting that you harvest your energy by synthesizing from the dichotomy of light and the absence of light. We do something similar here with heat and cold. Not on such a grand scale, but the same principle, more or less." "Your speech now is much different than the recordings Caleb uploaded to us of his interaction with you. How do you account for this?" "One unexpected side effect from converting to my particular type of energy production was what I've been calling mind sharing. As you might have guessed, I've been making sure that my ability gets spread out as widely as possible. I wouldn't want you to believe you could terminate your new problem simply by eliminating one, two, or even just a few individuals. I have many factory's producing white energy for me now. Not all of them are even on this planet any longer. With mind sharing, whenever I set up a new energy production factory, I inherit skills and memories belonging to that individual, just as he or she will inherit all of mine." "Be that as it is, we still face the urgent need for resolving our present quandary, do we not?" "Yes, we do. That is the only reason I agreed to having this meeting with you. You know where we are, and we now know where your home worlds are. Collectively, each of us could beam sufficient energy to annihilate the other's people right out of existence. Since you are an energy species you don't reproduce in the same manner, or as prolifically we do. You are also far more susceptible to the disruptions caused by highly focussed energy beams than we would be. In an energy war, we'd have to like our chances against you, for these two reasons I've already mentioned, as well as for several others that I'm keeping to myself." "I come to you with an offer of profitable commerce between us, and receive only these empty threats from you in reply?" "That's exactly how it must look to you, and I knew it would. Because of this, and, as a gesture of good faith on my part, why don't you go ahead right now and pick out which one of your five known energy hive world's you want me to destroy? This should be sufficient for me to prove to you that what I claim is actually true. I'll be more than happy to do that for you, right here and now, as proof of what I've claimed here today." "You threaten war to the KAL?" "You listen to me Connor, and you better listen good, I'm not the one who came to any of your world's with the idea of hurling it at a Feltarian Fleet. That was all your people's idea. Your worlds, your species, they mean less to me than mine apparently meant to you. I have no intention of entering into any trade relationship with you. Not now, not ever. What I suggest to you is that you go back to the rest of these KAL, and you tell them, for me, that I'm a fighter, my species are all fighters, and we'll rain so much death and destruction down on your energy monkey ass's, that you'll wish you never got started up with us. I know you're recording this, and I'm glad you are. We've got assets in places where you'll never find them. Each of them have enough stored energy to destroy all your known worlds. We expect you have some planets unknown to us, but that's okay too, because we have your energy signal dialed in now. Wherever you are, we'll always be able to find you, if you should ever decide you want to go to war with us. I don't need to hear back from you about that either. You either do or you don't, so there really isn't anything else we can do to convince you not to risk it." "This amounts to a declaration of war, human. Is this really what you want me to report back to the KAL?" "I'm getting so close to ordering a preemptive strike on all your worlds Connor. Is that what you want to keep tempting me to do?" "No, of course it isn't. I'm merely a trade envoy. I can't make any such determination by myself, or from here. I will see that your message gets delivered to those who are in a position to decide such things. If you have any respect for civilized behavior, you will desist from making any further horrible threats." After the meeting was thus concluded, Danny returned to his hotel in Los Angeles where Lindsay was waiting for him. She'd been so worried when he'd told her of the bluff he'd planned on running if the circumstances seemed to warrant his doing so. About ninety percent of what Danny had threatened was impossible for him to deliver on. He was counting on the KAL not being willing to chance that all or most of it was true. He'd learned from Caleb that the KAL didn't deal with any entity displaying any perceived weakness. Danny knew it would be many years, if ever, before the human race could make good on his threats to the KAL. All he could hope for was his threats buying them the time to do so. Already, he had thirty six members in his mind sharing, energy producing, consortium. He believed he'd need another million more before most of his threats would become possible in any meaningful way. In the meantime, it was good to be the champ. He had so many things to look forward to, his upcoming first title defense, the birth of his first son or daughter, in another three months, and watching his friend, Chico, win the middleweight crown next week. Life was damn good, he thought. It certainly had surpassed all of his earlier expectations. ------- The End ------- Posted: 2006-12-08 Last Modified: 2009-09-15 / 11:42:01 am ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------