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

holding out a hand to stop him making more excuses, “this is a different outfit. We’re not just a group of humans you’ve saved anymore. We have multiple cultures involved and have our own self-motivated purpose. So, if you don’t have any other pressing engagements or plans, Mr. Ogun, would you like to officially become part of Uprising?”

He looked around; all he saw were smiling faces. The other conversations had stopped briefly, and the pressure was on the big Fystr. Boy, did he look uncomfortable.

“Well… this is an unexpected position to find myself in. I’m honestly not sure what else I could do?”

“I’m sure the Apochros would let you settle with them. You’d probably fit in well.” I said.

Ialos agreed with me, “You would be welcome to join with the Apochros, Ogun. After the selfless work you have carried out with the humans, you deserve a place among us more than any other.”

He looked taken aback by that option. “That would be an unexpected turn of events in my life. The chance of a future I thought lost with my decisions. Yet, if there is a chance I can help all those billions still suppressed by the Fystr, then I have a duty to do so,” he said to Ialos. Shaking his head with a wry smile, he turned to me. “I can’t believe I am doing this, but yes, Shaun, if you will have me, I would like to formally become part of Uprising.”

I stuck my hand out to shake his, grinning. “No more being aloof, you need to make a stand in arguments and stuff. You're not guiding humans anymore, you're a valued member of a budding galactic team. Deal?”

He smirked at me. “Deal, Captain.” And we ended the handshake.

I saw Ialos looking at me in an unusual way, which had me worried. She took a deep breath and I held mine. “I would also like to join Uprising!” she announced, loudly and clearly, taking us all by surprise.

“What? Why?” I asked intelligently, prompting odd looks from everyone else.

“I believe in what you stand for. As far as I know, you do not have a physician with my experience and the Apochros do not have a great need for me. Ultimately, I have more selfish motives. The truth is, you're all a lot more fun to be around than what I am used to. Accre is an extremely boring place.”

She made good points, but I was speechless. I looked to the rest of the Alpha team to read their reactions, and in particular, Ember’s.

“You know her better than anyone,” suggested Ember. “It’s your decision as far as I’m concerned.”

Multiple heads nodded at Ember’s assessment.

“Fuck it then. Ialos, providing it doesn’t cause too much trouble with your father, you’re in. Welcome to the Uprising.”

“Thank you all for having me. I am quite excited!” she said. Everyone seemed happy with the development, all welcoming her personally.

As we settled into more relaxed conversation, Ember asked, “What do you know about this new ship?”

“Just some random Apochros ship, is all I know. If it’s better than this mule, I’ll be content,” I answered while waving my hand to indicate the battered ship.

“It will be a worthy vessel, if my father has a say in its choosing,” Ialos added. “He wouldn’t want you to have any old ship. He has an extremely high opinion of you, Shaun.”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s deserved, but I’ll take it. I had my reservations about him after the mindwipe fiasco, I’m glad he really wasn’t involved, because I actually liked him when we first met.”

“He was instantly taken with you both too. He was working awfully hard in an effort to free you. Although I must say, his face when you began calling him and his friends Fystr was priceless. You understand that’s the worst insult you can throw at the Apochros?”

“Good. That’s what I was aiming for at the time,” I replied seriously.

Ember patted my shoulder, chuckling. “I’ve trained him well. What I really want to know is what have you been doing for the past month or however long? What exactly did they do to you when they took your memories?”

“They basically tortured me for a full month,” I replied. “Day after day, dawn till dusk.”

“It was training, Shaun,” Ialos added, “and you took pleasure in some of it, so don’t exaggerate.”

Ember raised a questioning eyebrow at me.

“Training through torture,” I snapped. “Strapped into those bloody machines most of the time. They’re not much fun, you know!”

“I know very well. I had a hand in devising and testing them,” Ialos answered, folding her arms across her chest and not looking particularly impressed with me. “Also, what Shaun has failed to mention is that no one has ever increased in levels at the rate we achieved with him as a result of this training.”

“Hmm, go on… in fact, no, don’t,” Ember said. “I want to see this for myself.” Without warning she jumped into my Mindscape—or tried to, as a flare of golden light surrounded me, blocking her access.

“Ow! What the bloody hell was that?” she yelped.

All eyes were on me again. Not just those around me, but the entire damn crew. This new power was not exactly inconspicuous.

“Ah, we hadn’t gotten to that bit yet, that I’ve kinda developed a new power.” Everyone leaned forward now, staring intently at me. “Hey, stop all looking at me like that.” They didn’t. What they all did was start speaking at once, asking their own variations on ‘What the fuck is it!’

“If you all calm yourselves down, I’ll explain the best I can.”

“Make sure to add how I can go about getting it too,” Ember said, looking the most intense of all. Any traces of vulnerability long since replaced by the good old Ember I remembered.

“I don’t think anyone else can get it. I’ll start at the beginning. Shall I?”

Heads nodded; the whole damn crew was trying to overhear. I spoke louder, so no one felt excluded.

“The