Ricky was finally awake. He was sitting up, rubbing his temples, his eyes clear for the first time in days.
"Ricky, you are alive, man!" Luke, out of the goodness of his heart, completely forgot the hellish two days he had experienced at the hands of the possessed Ricky. He jumped forward, pulling the dazed youngster into a rough hug.
Ricky looked as if he didn't recall a single second of the past forty-eight hours. He blinked, staring at the surrounding rocky groove as if it were an alien planet. The deafening noises of the fierce battle raging all around, the roars of monsters and the high-pitched whine of laser fire, startled him, making his shoulders hunch instinctively.
John left the task of explaining the gaps in Ricky's memory to Luke and Elena. He had far more pressing matters to attend to; his mind was already swirling with different scenarios of how to use his new ability to cause the most serious damage and win this war.
