Free Test of Magnitude (The Torian Reclamation) by Andy Kasch Page A

Brandon’s chair, maybe looking for a hug or something—but he froze when something caught the corner of his eye. He then took three steps backwards in the direction of the video screen.
    Brandon turned around in his seat, and what he saw made him jump up as well. They were no longer alone in the room.
     

Chapter Four
     
    “If we keep sneaking up on them, it’s going to be difficult to earn their trust,” Mip7 said. He was sitting with Yob3 at a folding table in the back of the gray room. They had intentionally arrived unnoticed, having brought the table and chairs in with the help of Yob3’s assistants while the room was still dark and the Earthlings were watching the end of their first orientation video. Mip7 now spoke to Yob3 quietly, so the subjects would not hear their conversation.
    “It was necessary,” Yob3 said. “They’re still in a state of shock, so we can’t have them running through an open door and possibly wreaking havoc in the lab. They are remembering their abductions now, and will be apprehensive about us for some time.”
    The Earthlings were standing in place, watching them from across the room, not speaking, not moving.
    “Well, I can hardly blame them for being apprehensive,” Mip7 said. “All these hidden doors. They can’t even trust the environment they find themselves in.”
    “Perhaps you’re right about that.” Yob3 started tapping on his lightpad. “We’ll make a point of coming and going within their full view now, and will announce meals and any changes to the rooms in advance. We can reopen the doors to the white room as soon as my assistants finish refurnishing it.”
    “I don’t think they will come over to us today,” Mip7 said.
    “That is perfectly fine, and to be expected,” Yob3 replied. “We’ll just sit here for a while. Tomorrow, when we come back, they should begin to get used to us. Try not to focus on them too much. Check your messages, or play a game or something.”
    Mip7 knew he wouldn’t have any messages. He wasn’t very social. Back in his university days he had made friends, of course, but never any close ones. He had always been something of a loner. He opted out of the arranged mate system when he was young, the year before going off to university when all young Torians are asked to make that decision. The few romantic relationships he had been involved in were purely for fulfilling biological urges, at least from his intentions, and none of those Toras had his current contact info. Mip7 wanted it that way. Only a small percentage of the space station population was female. The Toras who did reside there, and were available, could often be found in the lounges, true—but Mip7 had not attempted to meet any of them as of yet. He preferred taking his Redflower-20 in his compartment, alone, and reading or watching videos.
    Mip7 tapped his lightpad and called up a lab journal on the Earth explorations that he hadn’t yet read. Yob3 settled into returning messages, checking the status of his other projects, and whatever else scientists did when forced to sit in one place. The two of them stayed that way for quite some time. At one point, Mip7 looked up and noticed the subjects were sitting down again, only with their chairs pulled around to the other side of the table, right up next to each other, keeping Yob3 and Mip7 in view. If the Earthlings were talking to each other it was being done very quietly, as Mip7 couldn’t hear any sound other than the work being done behind the wall in the white room. He looked back down and continued to read.
    “It says here the field teams continued to abduct subjects even after the department directors issued a memorandum that the Earth lab was full, and no further specimens were needed,” Mip7 said. “In fact, the practice continued for many more years, and over a hundred additional subjects were still taken.”
    “That was before my time,” Yob3 said, “but from what I have seen, our inter-department