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

Chapter 15

Only the Lonely

As we made our way to the ship, Jezai and his group circled me, to both obscure me from view and protect me. I guessed it was also to stop me from legging it. But all in all, I had to admit, they were all being pretty cool.

“Hey guys,” I said quietly as we walked along. “Sorry for calling you all Fystr.”

I got a few smirks in reply. It was enough. I think.

We reached the docking bay where we had to deal with the dock overseer. She looked at me with curiosity but was obviously too cowed by the group I was with to say anything about me.

“Good day to you, Pitre. We need to access the Uprising briefly,” Jezai said.

“Of course, Jezai.” She looked at him for a long second, seeming uncertain as to whether to voice her concerns. “You are aware that the Uprising is not cleared for flight?”

“We have no intentions of taking it anywhere,” Jezai reassured her. “We merely need to check something on board.”

“One moment.” She disappeared into the office, returning with the Uprising remote access panel. “Follow me if you please,” she instructed before setting off across the dock at a quick march.

When the Uprising came into view my heart soared with renewed hope. My baby! I loved this damn ship. The overseer handed over the access panel, and Jezai activated the access ramp. It was two feet from the floor, but I couldn’t contain myself. Dashing past the overseer and Jezai I jumped up and bolted into the ship. The lights inside were still just coming to life. I released a mental cry: “HAVOK!”

There was silence for a second, then “Shaun?”

“Yeah, dude, it's me. Where are you?”

“In our quarters. I’ve been trapped in here since you all disappeared on me. We’re going to have to look at getting me some hands to press door panels. I depleted all of my energy trying to get out the old-fashioned way.”

“I'm coming now, mate, don’t worry,” I said, jogging along the corridor.

“So what the hell happened, Shaun? I’m assuming you have a good reason for deserting me like this.”

“The Apochros knocked out everyone in the crew and wiped my memories. I just got them back like 20 minutes ago,” I summarized, while continuing through the hallways.

“Nice one!” replied Havok, “Did you fuck everyone up?”

“Not really, no.”

“Excellent, then we can do it together,” he said, his voice sinister and full of anticipation.

“Ah, probably not, dude. It's... complicated.”

“It's not complicated at all. Grab my handle, swing me at our enemies, once we have slaughtered one or two, I’ll have regained enough energy to do the rest of the heavy lifting.”

“I meant that some of them are friends. We can't just toast everyone. Not if I want to get Ember and the rest of Uprising back safely,” I said as I finally made it to the door. It was badly beaten with more than a few puncture marks showing through. “Damn, dude, you did a number on this door.”

“My energy was low before I’d even begun levitating and swinging at the door all by myself. It’s very energy consuming, you know. If I’d been charged to full capacity I’d have broken through this stupid door in no time. You need to kill people with me soon. I can’t bear to be this useless.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I answered, as I hit the door panel. An awful crunching and hissing noise came from the wall on either side of the door, as whatever mechanisms were responsible for opening the door tried in vain to move the mangled mess it had become. After producing a half-inch gap, they gave up.

“Shit door is stuck, Havok. Give me a minute.” I desperately attempted to fit my chunky fingers into the gap.

Jezai finally caught up and appeared at my shoulder. “What happened to this door?” he asked.

“It was Havok, trying to smash his way out when he realized we’d all been taken.”

“The council left someone on board?” Jezai asked, his face a mixture of confusion and worry.

“Ah, he’s actually an axe, but don’t worry, I’m not getting him to fight with. It’s just because he’s kinda my best friend.”

“Are you now telling me you have a sentient weapon?” He asked, shaking his head in disbelief, before gesturing at the door. “Remember, you have more than just your physical strength.”

“I thought this would be easier, but I can't get my bloody fingers in the gap.” I focused on the door with my mind now instead and tried to push them apart with telekinesis. They groaned and began to buckle slowly, rather than open.

“Allow me to assist, Shaun,” Jezai said, adding his strength to mine. The doors began to fold upwards steadily. Once they opened up enough to admit easy access, I stopped and moved through, finding Havok a few feet away, looking dull in color compared with his usually vibrant appearance. It was a surprisingly sad sight.

“Hey man,” I said reverently as I picked him up, “is there anything I can do for you, apart from murder death kill?”

“No, sadly not. Unless you know of a random, easily accessible supply of life energy just lying about.”

“Oh! Actually, Havok, I think I might be able to help out on that score.”

“I don’t think so, Shaun. Thanks for the positivity though.”

I didn’t reply. Instead I tried to imagine the sensations I’d felt when Havok had healed me on so many occasions. I was going to try and return the favor. Searching within myself, I tried to identify the specific store of energy. It was tough, as it was essentially what filled my entire being. But there was a definite concentration of the stuff. I concentrated on pushing some of the Omni Energy along the bond I had with Havok.

“Shaun, what are you doing?” asked Havok. “You need to stop! That’s your own life force. Stop please,” he begged.

“Nah, dude, I have a bit of a surplus these days.”

“How? Oooh, thank