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The spiders’ mind was trying to adapt to the weapon. It was a complicated offensive tool. It didn’t matter. Soon, it would have thought of a way around it, and they would be able to continue the feast. They simply had to test themselves against it. ‘We have to get to the Collector,’ Nick shouted, ‘He could be in trouble!’ ‘Your plan is flawed. There is too much risk. I can vaporise the Doctor’s body from here.’ Noan wasn’t listening to Nick’s reasoning. ‘The Doctor said the Collector was the most powerful telepath he’d ever met. If he isn’t already doing something to help us, he must be in serious trouble.’ Noan looked unaffected. ‘He could be our only chance to save the Doctor!’ Noan looked like he couldn’t care less. Nick looked to Alf, desperately. He could see she agreed with Noan. She was too much the soldier all of a sudden. But there was still indecision in her face. She wanted to agree with him. ‘Please,’ he mouthed to her. She made up her mind. ‘Nick’s right, we should try it.’ ‘Your emotional attachment to him is clouding your judgement.’ ‘I don’t care, it can still work. If the Doctor actually makes it onto one of the ships, as you think he will, then you can vaporise him, but it will be a last resort.’ Nick sighed in relief. She was on his side. ‘Agreed. This plan is acceptable.’ Noan responded with typical efficiency. A small hole suddenly appeared in the ceiling, blasted invisibly by Noan’s weapons. Water trickled through, pouring onto the floor but leaving a black residue behind. Nick tried to ask what was happening but Noan shushed him. After a few minutes the black residue had built up into a considerable blob. The blob expanded into an orb, which reached out a limb and sucked in Noan, then Anne, followed by Alf and then finally Nick. The Collector was sitting amongst the chairs in the guest hall. Laid out flat in three feet of water, struggling to breathe. The water level was gradually rising, but it was taking a long time. He was holding the spiders at bay with his telekinetic force, but it was taking all his power. He had no idea what the spiders were, but they were putting up a strong fight, and every time he tried to see into their minds, he was nearly pulled into the void. They shared a group mind, vast and terrifying in simplicity. Soon, they would break through his power and kill him, but he couldn’t think of another plan, as his mental energy was needed to hold them at bay. He was stuck. There was a sudden boom, and a crackle of golden electricity heralded the arrival of a large black orb in the conference hall. A humanoid shape emerged in the edge, and the substance of the ship peeled back to release Noan. The others quickly followed him. Then Noan turned around and let the weapons systems flow from his biodata, back into the ship. He watched as it rose away from him and unleashed its weapons on the spiders. He felt a thump in his mind as the Collector entered it. He opened up his thoughts to the telepath. He didn’t have the time to talk. The Collector felt differently. ° Hello everybody. ° The telepath announced his presence. ° I’m sorry for the intrusion but I’ve read your minds. I need to know where we are. And now that I do know, I don’t like it. But here we go with a plan. You need to bring the Doctor here. ° Everyone was slightly confused by this. ° I’ll explain later, but if you get him here, we should be able to sort everything. I will be able to shield your objective from the creature that inhabits his brain, but nothing else. Whatever you do, don’t think of killing him. He’ll just shut down your body with a thought and trap your mind inside. It’s a living death, not nice and once he’s done it, I can’t undo it. Understood? ° Obviously everyone understood, because the next thing the jellyfish did was wish them good luck.
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