Condition Evolution 4 by Kevin Sinclair (parable of the sower read online .txt) 📗

providing a lot of power to the defense. I could feel the maelstrom held behind it ever more clearly now and knew these fools couldn’t match us. Me?

Fiekela shouted again. “How are you doing this, Vakuna?”

I wouldn’t have replied even if I could have. I was empowered to hear I had them rattled.

“It does not matter,” he shouted again. “Kirel, give it everything. This foolish child must see!”

A huge, unexpected surge in power from the two men hit against the door. It shattered my hold on the door. As I fell back, a voice boomed, “YOU WERE WARNED!” My voice? Was it the door speaking? I barely knew what was going on anymore. Whatever the source, it spoke again, this time in a voice so deep that it was barely perceptible as sound. “He was not ready to come here. Now we will all pay!” It was felt more than heard, yet the meaning was as clear as could be. My whole Mindscape filled with a blinding light, speckled with infinite darkness. It was in that darkness that I was swallowed.

Chapter 12

Rufus the Doofus

We settled into Beler 4008 well enough, considering the circumstances. Astrid continued to keep her distance, and I continued to keep the prisoners imprisoned. I had tried to reason with Rufus, but he was so full of anger and resentment that I didn’t even bother entering the room. Instead, I spoke through the roughly cut rectangle in the door.

Acclo and Elyek managed the exploration teams responsible for mapping the station. Details began to take shape on a huge map, carefully etched with fire by one incredibly talented Torax. It spanned a twenty-foot area on the floor of the very first hall we had entered. The unlocked portion of the station includes three separate canteens, all surrounded by living quarters, and one empty docking bay.

Even after a week of searching we were no closer to uncovering anything to explain what was going on and why we had been dumped here. There were no ships or usable technology, other than the basic life support units that we had no control over. That in itself was daunting. All our captors needed to do was turn them off, and we would all be done for. Everyone seemed to be doing their best to ignore that possibility.

I had to be proud of the ingenuity and drive of our people. Nothing useful was left unclaimed, even sections of walls had been cut down to provide material for crating the things we needed. Between the mental manipulations of our humans and the welding, cutting, and carving skills of the Torax, we had managed to start a decent collection of tools. Everything from hammers, axes, and swords, to screwdrivers and crowbars. We were only lacking the convenience of communicators, which were a real miss for our exploration teams.

At the start of our second week, I was sitting with Calegg and Elyek in the canteen when finally we received a communication. No preamble to it, just a voice that began speaking over the station communications system. “Members of Uprising. This is Fiekela of the Apochros Council of Elders. I would like to begin this transmission with an apology. We would never wish to treat you in such a way, but due to unforeseen circumstances it was decided this was our best course of action. Rest assured you are in no danger, and our objective is to release you in the future, although exactly when that can occur, I cannot say. I must emphasize it is likely to be years, rather than days or weeks. We hope this knowledge helps your transition into this phase of your life. At this time we also have your captain with us on Accre. He is helping us with our own situation. I can promise you he is safe and well cared for.

“As for your own predicament, we have placed you on one of our outpost space stations, Beler 4008. It is one of our newer stations, so should be clean and comfortable during your stay. According to our reports, you have managed to access areas closed off to you. While you may believe there is a hope for escape in the locked areas of the station, I assure you that is not the case. We merely haven't turned on any of the systems for inhabitation, other than atmosphere, to prevent any mishaps. It was deemed that the area provided was more than sufficient to accommodate you for the duration of your time here.

“There is also damage to a number of the terminals and interfaces. Please be aware that the entire station is remotely operated. There is no way to bypass this control, hence why the Galactic Empire has never successfully captured a Beler Station for their own uses, and believe me they have tried. Even in our own Beler Control Center the access key can only be completed via a cerebral connection and a complex set of commands. With this in mind, you may wish to fill your time in some other way. Our systems are impenetrable.”

Elyek leaned over. “Nothing is impenetrable. We will get in somehow.”

I smiled at their confidence and believed them too.

The announcement continued to drone on. Fiekela didn’t have a performer's voice, that was for sure. Even though this was all information of utmost importance to us, I found myself not wanting to listen.

“What you have is food, water, and each other. As your ships were beacons to the Fystr, which would have led them straight into Apochros space, they have been disposed of in such a way as to convince the Fystr to believe you perished at our borders. We have retained possession of your flagship as it did not belong to the Fystr originally. We do hope to return it to you at some point, only time will tell when. Thank you all, for your patience and understanding.” The communication ended.

“What an absolute wanker!” I growled, thumping the table.

“At least they let