Test of Magnitude (The Torian Reclamation) Read Online Free

C4 Banor, however.”
    Mip7 remembered now how intuitive the Sheen could be.  “I see. I have never met my direct ancestors.”
    “Not many native Torians have,” Arkan9 said. “Yet, there is something you find familiar about me, isn’t there?”
    It was true, but Mip7 was now uncomfortable and chose not to answer.
    “Shall we start?” the governor said.
    Arkan9 and Mip7 both nodded. The governor picked up his lightpad and began reading.
    “Mip7, you were summoned to this meeting by the Chancellor of Amulen. You are Mip7, born in the Torian year 5295, approximately 31.2 years ago. You were raised in parental colony Tarrock on Continent-4 of Banor. At the age of 16, you were transferred to Odo University on Continent-3 of Amulen, where you spent six years in higher education. Upon completion of Education-2 you took a job at Odo University as an admissions clerk, where you worked for two years before transferring to Hydrogen Station-19 on Continent-4 of Banor. You were there five years before applying for a food supply position on Cardinal-4, where you were accepted. You were a food supply technician one year before being accepted to a foreign relations position here. That was approximately 1.2 years ago. Is this all correct?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    The governor turned to the Sheen. “Arkan9, you may begin.”
    “There is going to be interstellar war,” Arkan9 said.
    Mip7 and the governor both cocked their heads in response to his abrupt, incredulous statement.
    “Yes, you jerk your heads as a fowl does,” Arkan9 continued, “and take me for a babbling fool, as did every government official I spoke to. But each of them eventually succumbed to my warning, and referred me to a higher office, until now I have reached my final destination.”
    “Well, it doesn’t make any sense,” the governor said. “There has never been interstellar war. It simply isn’t practical. All advanced civilizations in the known galactic regions are peaceful and self-productive. Wars are the affairs of underdeveloped worlds. There can be no victory for an invader, and there is no rational motivation for an aggressor who possesses interstellar transport technology.”
    “If you really believed that,” Arkan9 said, “you would act as though you believed it. Both of you.” Arkan9 turned and looked at Mip7. The brightness of his face had faded and Mip7 could now see him more clearly. Sheen had bigger eyes than Torian natives, and more distinct facial features such as full lips and nostrils that flared. But they retained many inherited Torian features as well, and would pass for Amulites at a distance if it were not for their radiance.
    “What exactly do you mean by that?” the governor asked.
    Arkan9 turned back to the governor. “One’s actions betray their true beliefs. The times are beginning to change, and already in this part of the galaxy, they are changing. Wisdom is being pushed aside and alternatives are being explored, but the only alternative to wisdom is folly, and evil times await those who insist on exploring folly. I come here with a warning, to speak to two Torians who are well-rooted in wisdom—wisdom that may be benevolent to all of Tora at a time when benevolence is needed.”
    The governor shook his head. “I do not understand why Chancellor Renal5 sent you to me. He is the higher seat of government. If you were to pass to higher offices, you would speak to the High Chancellor at your ‘final destination,’ not to the space station governor and one of his junior delegates. If you wish for me to take you seriously, you need to explain yourself better, reveal the source of your information, and tell my subordinate why you have called him here.”
    Mip7 was beginning to wonder the same thing.
    “Dark days are coming for Tora,” Arkan9 said. “There will be a battle. But the battle will only partly be fought with weapons of war. The real test will be in the hearts of Torians. Already, the infection is