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

you providing something to look forward to, but you’re also encouraging people to train. Something that has been sorely lacking since we arrived here. It is a perfect opportunity to keep people progressing.”

“Damn it, Ogun. Smooth way to tell me off indirectly.”

“Not at all, Ember. We are all guilty, each individual member. But it has been a difficult time, and now it looks as though we are about to address the issue.”

“I like the idea,” Calegg added. “I don’t much want to fight, but I’d be happy to take part in races.”

“I’d be up for it, although I’m enjoying the fights too,” Mick said. “I fought a Veiletian yesterday, Harlek was their name, and hot damn! That was an eye-opener, I can tell you! They kicked my ass so fast I didn’t even know what they did before I was tapping on the floor like a baby. But it gives me something to look to improve on.”

“I ain’t doing shit!” Gus grumped, and went back to fiddling with a torn out door panel between mouthfuls of chowder.

I laughed at him. “Don’t worry, Gus, participation is optional. So other than Gus, it’s decided; a competition?” I asked the table, and received a round of nods, other than from Gus, who mumbled at whatever he was doing.

Acclo cleared their throat. “As always, I am happy to organize the event. I will be relieved to have something to coordinate. My mind is clawing at the walls of my head, looking for things to arrange.”

The table as one chuckled at that. “Poor Acclo,” I sympathized, “please, organize to your heart's content.”

“I have countless ideas already. Firstly, we could vary the distance of the races, as we have many different body shapes. I propose a short sprint race, a middle, and a long distance race. As for fighting, I suggest light, middle and heavyweight knockout tournaments. And we shall schedule the first tournament in one week to give everyone time to prepare, then at a frequency as Ogun suggests of once monthly.” Acclo smiled and clapped their hands together with excitement. “How does this sound to everyone?”

“Perfect, Acclo. I think it’s just what we need to raise spirits and it’ll be a great distraction.”

“You all might as well do something,” Gus muttered, slapping the panel he had put down on the table, “because we can’t do a damn thing with this stuff. Everything seems to run off what I think are signal receivers. There is no way to bypass it because there’s just nothing to bypass. Especially not with what we’ve got to work with, probably not even with better equipment. I wish I knew how they did any of this.”

“I am beginning to lose faith myself,” Elyek admitted solemnly. “After these last three weeks, I finally must admit that Apochros technology appears different on the most basic, fundamental level.”

“Something will come up, I’m sure, guys. Don’t get too glum, okay? We’ll continue to search the station until we’ve covered every last inch of this damn place.”

“Bearing in mind that we are limited to only two directions now,” Acclo unhelpfully added. “As Astrid and her group have taken up residence in the other habitation section, it means having to take a large detour just to travel five hundred yards away.”

“I’m aware of that, Acclo, but there's not much we can do about it.”

I was hugely frustrated with Astrid and her small group for splitting from us. It had forced me into having guards on rotation, to cover the access to their section of the station. It left a kinda unwanted stain on Uprising.

“I wonder what her plan is for when we get off here?” Mick said. “Is she just expecting to come back on board with us?”

“I haven’t got a clue what the silly fucker is thinking. I try not to think about her at all when I can help it.”

Ogun nodded in agreement. “That is probably for the best, Ember. I have tried to speak on several occasions, but they don’t wish to hear anything we have to say. It just doesn’t make any sense for her to be behaving like this. Dare I say, it’s out of character for her.”

“Ah, this talk is ruining my day. We’ve enough people to look after and give a shit about. Let's just focus on exploration and tournaments!” I said with a half-hearted fist pump.

Following the announcement of our grand tournament, the areas we could access became a hive of activity. Corridors filled with people running. The main hall saw people doing sprints and laps, with a range of wrestling and shadow fighting. I found it amazing how fickle people could be. One day they were sacks of misery, the next day, members of a high-energy training camp. Laughing, smiling, and panting (not that kind!) rang out in every corner. Eventually, I caved and joined in, running around the corridors with Koparr and Mick. It was far more enjoyable than I had expected.

When the tournament came around, I had only entered the long-distance run around the corridors. We operated three scheduled sessions of races to allow for everyone to take part, with the final the following day. I made it comfortably through those heats into the final race, but I noticed a clear pattern of top performers. They were 90 percent Veiletian. Who the hell knew they were such talented long-distance runners? Unlike the humans, they never jostled for position. They just seemed to slip past like a greased eel and there was nothing you could do about it. I was learning a lot about the members of Uprising here, if nothing else.

The middle-distance run consisted of four laps around the massive hall. There were no heats for this race, as for one reason or another it involved only twenty competitors. Even so, there was actually a good mix of Human, Veilitian, and Torax involved, including Mick and Miraek. I was internally rooting for Mick, but it wouldn’t be good for me to openly favor someone.

The race