Condition Evolution 4 by Kevin Sinclair (books for 10th graders TXT) 📕

“I agree with Gus. The design makes no sense to me, either,” Elyek added.

“Shit, we will have to keep a look out for tools too then,” I said, disheartened.

“Given time, we could probably fashion some,” Gus grumbled.

“We’ll see what the other teams dig up first, but it doesn’t look like we’re getting through this door today, does it?” I replied.

“The technology here is vastly different from anything we are used to, it could be that it’s linked to mind access,” Ogun offered.

“Could be. In fact, I’m sure Jezai mentioned their technology was designed around their mental abilities rather than physical stuff.”

“I see. That may well be our answer, though applied in a more direct manner.”

“Ogun, seriously! None of your fucking riddles today. I’m stressed out enough without cracking the bloody enigma code,” I said, probably pushing it a bit with our Fystr ally.

Thankfully, he just laughed. “I was thinking perhaps we could use telekinesis to open the doors. If you, Mick, Gus and I can work together.”

I put my head in my hands. “Of course, I was that caught up with our not having any weapons, I overlooked the ones we have with us. That's the sort of thing I’d wind Shaun up about.”

“It is easy to fall victim to habits, shall we try?”

The answer was obviously yes. The four of us lined up in front of the immense doors. “Let’s do this then,” I said. As one, we all pushed with our minds against the doors. After a minute of intense pushing, we achieved a grand total of fuck all. They were locked solid.

“It was worth a try; it seems we are not intended to pass through these doors,” Ogun said.

“Not to cause offence, but you still haven’t exhausted all of your options,” Calegg said, coming up to my side.

“What are you on about, Calegg?” I asked, as Koparr came up alongside me too. They both raised one hand, flames springing from them.

“Ah!” I said as I cottoned on. “You think you're hot enough?”

Neither replied, but I watched as the flames in their hands began condensing. We all just stood, watching in awe as the orange flames quickly became tiny white flames, though heat was still pouring off them. They moved forward and together slowly drew a door shape in the metal. When they met at the top, their flames extinguished and they both stepped back, exhausted, and pale. Calegg looked over to me, slightly out of breath. “Quickly! Use your telekinesis now to push through. The door is incredibly thick, and if you allow the cuts to cool, it will become solid again.”

Not needing to be told twice, we threw all our mental strength against the glowing rectangle. It moved backwards easily under our combined powers, leaving molten metal dripping around the opening.

“Yup, might wanna give it a minute before we go through there,” I joked, for a short moment forgetting our predicament.

Beyond the opening was pitch blackness. The door itself looked to be around four feet thick, and I couldn’t believe the two Torax were able to cut all the way through it. We’d been together quite a while now, how had I not known they could do this?

“That was remarkable, Calegg, Koparr. I can see how the Torax still terrify the Galactic empire to this day,” Ogun said.

“You could kill anyone with that as a weapon,” I added.

Koparr shook his head, looking recovered already. “As a weapon it is useless for the most part. It takes time to condense the heat, and we must be close for it to be effective. Our people use it mainly for mining Suldr.”

“Ah, gotcha. That is kinda useless as a weapon under those circumstances. Once it's safe to go through, are either of you up to providing light? I can see that took a lot out of you.”

“It was just a very thick door,” Calegg answered. “We wouldn’t normally have our heat condensed for such long periods of time. However, I’m almost fully recovered now and I’m sure Koparr is fine too, so in answer to your question, yes, we can provide light.”

It only took a few minutes, for the metal to cool enough to pass through. Koparr and Calegg went first, their full bodies coated with flames, to provide light in the dark tunnel beyond. Their illumination didn’t extend indefinitely, and we ended up continually heading towards a black circle, which left me feeling like we had walked for hours. At several points we considered turning back but the desire to know what the Apochros were hiding in the rest of the station was just a little stronger. Eventually the tunnel did open up into what looked like it could be a massive space, but with limited light, it was impossible to tell.

“Okay, guys, let’s have a quick look around, see if there’s anything worth seeing,” I said, ready to march off once more until Elyek offered a voice of reason.

“If there are more tunnels, and we move too far away from this one, we may lose our bearings and lose which one we came from.”

“You make an excellent point, Elyek. Even perfect recall wouldn’t help in this light, especially if the station has a symmetrical design,” Ogun said.

“Maybe mark the opening?” I suggested.

“I can scorch it up a bit,” Calegg offered, shooting a fireball into the floor at the opening of the tunnel we’d just left.

“That would still mean we have to search in the relative dark for the marking,” Ogun said.

“Shit. Why is this so bloody difficult?” I said as my mind raced for solutions. “How about Koparr or Calegg stay here, while we move around just enough to remain in sight of their light?”

“I’m fine with that,” Calegg said, looking uncomfortable, “but I wouldn't mind some company. It’s pretty freaky and we don’t know for sure that there’s no one else here.”

“Scared of the dark, old friend? Is that why you ran away from home, so you didn’t