Characters | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Epilogue
Chapter 8: Brainwashing and soul cleansing are not the same thing
I’ll spare you the details of the torture, but it wasn’t very effective. That’s the secret no one wants to admit out loud; it’s not the pain that makes someone want to give up, it’s the hunger, thirst, and fear.
A good torturer can keep the pain fresh, giving lots of rests, but it’s still the same every time, and even those that break are reacting more to those other three elements.
I’d like to say that my faith in Sol kept me going, or my natural inborn stubbornness, but it was Suzy. Everytime I thought of breaking, I imagined her disappointed face and kept resisting.
Eventually, my time for action came and I called out, “I give up. Please.”
Gerald came into the room and hugged me like we were old friends. I wanted to be glib but I held my tongue.
“Brother, you have seen the light. It’s time for you to bathe in it.” Gerald had a glazed look in his eyes and he grabbed my head.
Instantly, I was transported to a metal platform in space, facing a large blue star and a smaller star that pulsed in different colours. In one voice, the binary stars of Spica spoke, “Your god has violated the rules of the council and will be destroyed for its impudence. You need not face the same fate. Join us and see a great universe.” The voices were like weights on my mind; they made me want to believe them. There was power in their voice, but not the same as Sol. It felt like Spica was trying to burn away everything that was me while Sol tried to burn away everything that wasn’t me.
“Yeah, yeah. Make the Universe Great Again. Politicians have been promising that for over a millenia. It’s bullshit from them and it’s no better from you.”
Gerald had spent a lot of his life converting others to his god. The process was always the same so that by the time the subject was ready, they couldn’t fight back. I had spent most of my time seeing the horrors of my solar system and being shown by Sol how it felt. I was used to pain and was nigh immortal when it came to hunger and thirst, so I was ready for a fight.
Through the connection that Gerald had made with me, I poured my will and power. I treated Spica’s influence the same way I would a virus or bacteria. Both of us burst into flames as Sol’s cleansing power washed over me and his healing power did the same to Gerald.
Gerald was surprised. The other suns didn’t care about healing. Humans were fragile but plentiful. I cleaned the man’s soul and mind of all the corrupting influences.
That’s when I realized the big difference between the council of suns and Sol. The first controlled their Sun Speakers directly, while the latter just guided us. Maybe that’s why Sol never spoke in words, only images.
“What in the Black!” cursed Gerald. I didn’t need to show him the way his mind and soul had been twisted, he already knew.
That level of cleansing would have killed me before Doctor Janet’s eternal youth serum. Instead, it made me feel weak and I collapsed.
Gerald had the guards take me to my cell and followed me. When I finally was able to sit up, he gave me some juice that tasted like sweet grapefruit. It helped me feel better and I asked, “How long before they realize?”
“The power of the council is a little slower here, there seems to be a delay of just under an hour.”
That wasn’t a lot of time, and I wasn’t doing anything fast.
Gerald smiled and said, “Funny you should say that, Sol showed me the way.”
Surprised, I asked, “You accepted Sol as your god?” I’d expected the Sun Speakers to be disoriented and reject their gods, not jump to Sol.
“They asked politely and for the first time in my life I was able to choose.”
Now I was definitely jealous, I’d never been given the chance to choose.
He picked me up like I weighed nothing and carried me to an airlock. He put me gently into it and for a moment I panicked. “I thought you were about to throw me out the airlock,” I said with less confidence than I’d hoped.
“Oh. I am,” He entered and closed the door behind him. I stood up to protest and he caught me. “Hold on to me as tight as you can, brother.”
I wanted to say something either cutting or childish or both but he hit the airlock purge button and we were thrown clear of the ship.
People think all kinds of strange things about space but most of it wasn’t true. The vacuum sucking all the air out of your lungs is true, but at least our eyeballs didn’t explode.
Just as I was starting to worry about my chest collapsing, I felt warmth and breathable air.
The Revenge had a cloaking device and must have been waiting for us. No one could have done the math to catch us. Thank Sol, the ship had a Sun Speaker on it.
With a jovial laugh, Bart helped me up, his tail was wagging. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that. I swayed and he caught me. “You look like you need a vacation.”
“I should have a few days before—” Sol cut me off with a vision so horrifying I don’t want to repeat it. They also let me know that we had three hours to prepare.
This fainting thing was becoming a bad habit. When I came too, I rushed to the nearest trash can and lost the juice from earlier. I wouldn’t be able to stomach that for a while.
“Get me to my ship. My nightmares are coming.” The real war was about to start and I prayed that the rest of the fleet was better prepared than I.
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