of energy, fueled by righteous anger. Able to ignore the stiffness in his left arm, the radiating pain from where his suit was punctured, AldaÑ—r began moving across the outer ring. Hand over hand, he grabbed onto the benches, counters, walls, shelves, and other mounted surfaces. Instinct seemed to take over. Turning his head back and forth, he cast the light from his helmet over the laboratories. A slick, shiny gray coated everything from millennia of built up filth, flecks of accreting dust floating in the air, but the shapes of human built objects were clear. But AldaÑ—r had never been in a ring without gravity, making it somewhat disorienting to move about.

He had looked up to the High Commander. The High Commander was the Architect’s envoy, the one who carried His message. This betrayal – this <...

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